Thursday, November 26, 2009

Disctractions distractions

Really now, when did everything else besides "play" become a job?

Would firstly like to congratulate Greggy on getting a blog!

Finished my last IGCSE paper on Friday the 13th, Black Friday! Official end of the IGCSEs (meaning the last paper) was on the 16th. There were 2 more fencing lessons, one during the exam periods and one after. Donovan (did I spell that right?) and I were the only Grade 10 students who went for the first session, and I was the only Grade 10 student there for the last session of the year.

Meeting some of coach's other students and having a go with them was really fun, and just blatantly SCREAMED in my face that my current standards are, lacking, to say the least. I've come to known ridiculously fast and precise strikes (ow my foot ;_;). Here's hoping the club will be more active next year.

Got Borderlands recently, really hooked on it. Still waiting for PSN Asia to get the DLC up on PSN. Played Katamari Tribute too. The new stuff in it were awesome, as expected, and the game still retains that charming quirkiness, the old levels are very nostalgic, saying the game is awesome is an understatement.

Nearing the 28th and 29th now. My cousin comes back from Australia on the 28th, and we'll both be getting new computers on the 29th during the last day of SITEX, an IT Exhibition. While my current one is still functioning well, there seems to be some serious problems with the display card,as any games I try to run on it will kill the computer off, forcing a complete reboot. I plan to use this for school work, seeing as it's still perfectly functioning in terms of every other thing aside from games.

Regret not going to the AFA (Anime Festival Asia) in Suntec, because apparently it was filled with awesomeness.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Dun dun! The update that's nearly 3 months old!

Yes, evidently, I've been slacking off big time. Sorry bout my life being that uneventful =p

Finally got Oboro Muramasa when it reached Funzcentre. Beautiful game, and extremely fun, though rather challenging considering I completely ignored Musou mode and just started the harder Shura mode. Got Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days too. Very different from the main games, but stil fun. Panel system confused me at first though.

Got Katamari Tribute too, though I haven't even played it once because I recently revisited Ragnarok Online, playing on a private server. Just 2 days ago on the 24th, Saturday, my mom and younger brother went back to my grandmother's place in Seremban with my aunt to visit a sick family friend. Didn't follow cause I was being an uncaring bastard, and I hate crazy long car trips. That and there wasn't enough space on the car to carry another passenger.

Basically, had about one and a half day of being completely alone at home. I must admit I'm rather fond of it, though I've yet to learn how to operate the washing machine.

Fall Season anime started airing around the beginning of October, lots of good stuff to watch. Funny how I never mentioned anything about studying huh?

Well, tomorrow marks the first day of the IGCSEs for me. For me, it'll last for a total of 3 weeks, with a total of 9 days I have to go to school. RAGING over the timetable because IMO the stupid thing was basically dragging the bloody exams. Only thing I have in my mind is to get it over with, and the only thing I can see is the end.

Won't be posting book logs here anymore, instead, I've decided to keep a private log, not that anyone but me cares. Well, expect a post around mid-November when the exams end, cause I'll be overjoyed to have finished it.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

At Peace

Finished flower today. All I can say about it is that its beautiful, and the whole reviving nature thing can be related to Okami when you revive the lands. It feels great to see the colours being restored to the land. The game itself uses the PS3's six-axis motion control very well, a solid feel and good sensitivity, making it feel exactly right. Relaxing game, although there's no actual replay value, it definitely feels welcoming to revisit the levels. I recommend it for those who have a PS3.

Katamari Tribute/Forever already out in Japan for about a week now. Played the Japanese demo of it, and the game succeeds in maintaining that fun, colourful gameplay that I remember from We Love Katamari. The new graphic filters look great, the songs are nostalgic, and the remixes are fresh, the new gameplay modes are good, and the entire game looks great in HD. Definite buy in September when it comes out.

Geez, doesn't that make this blog look like some game review site? Don't worry, it won't turn into one, though you may see frequent rantings about how great some games are from me.

Been playing Warhawk with Kelvyn and Julian a lot recently. While I'm better at dogfighting and using a tank, Kelvyn's undeniably clever with his use of the various vehicles and Julian can be rather sneaky.

Finished our IGCSE mocks a week ago, and then the trip that was supposed to happen didn't due to a lack of interest, with only 28 out of some 80+ people actually having signed and payed up. In class, every teacher's reaction was like "You're not supposed to be here in school for another week!". I myself, didn't even sign up for it, and you don't need me to elaborate on why. Full force of school life hit me again after 5 weeks off and 2 more weeks of rather loose days of exams. Damn, I hate this, is what I'd say, but I've no choice but to accept it.

Watched the 6th movie of Kara no Kyoukai. Very airy feeling compared to the other 5, but it fits Azaka very well. 7th movie will be the last, kinda sad about that, but I hope they'll end it spectacularly.

Monday, July 13, 2009

The long overdue update

At last, it's here, right? It's been a month since my last post, and there's good reason for it (or bad excuses depending on how you see it).

School holidays started on the 8th of June, and lasted all the way until the 10th of July, which means it was 5 weeks long. Some of you may know, some of you may not, but I went to London for 3 weeks during the holidays. Stayed in our apartment and met up with my elder brother, who currently lives and studies there. Having most of your meals at the same restaurant everyday can get pretty sickening.

Also went to Amsterdam for 5 days, basically just running around the place and visited some family friends. The smell of cannabis around was pretty much the most horrible thing about that place, and the people's lifestyle and living conditions didn't really appeal to me. No, I don't mean that the place was horrible, just bad for people like me.

Found out about Michael Jackson's death the night after I came back from Amsterdam. Everyone went to sleep and I found out from Kotaku. Rest in peace.


One of the ways they advertise in Amsterdam. Horses were huge.


Thames Square, Amsterdam


Cheese factory~ Holland cheese is good~ Smoked cheese nyoron~


I prefer old cheese though, nice strong taste to it. My dad liked the herb and garlic one.


From left to right: Xui Ting, Jian Xun (elder brother), Me, Jian Kun (younger brother), Tiffany, Cecilia, my mom.


Holland pancakes are excellent, especially the traditional cheese one. This one's banana with whipped cream IIRC, what my elder brother ordered.


This cat here only appears at restaurant when it dark, and only eats beef, nothing else. Oh man, how I'd love to take her home~


Michael Jackson's memorial "shrine" located at the O2 Arena.


Another "shrine" we found while walking around in London.


The O2 Arena, where Michael Jackson was supposed to perform in a few months. We watched Transformers 2 there. Only criticism I had was the typical bad plot, and the slight slack on the CG parts, definitely less attention to detail compared to the previous one.

That pretty much concludes the trip (and my holidays, the non-stop gaming parts omitted). Got back and stayed one night in Singapore, then left again for M'sia. I believe I only stayed in Singapore for a total of 5 days throughout the holidays. The rest was spent in Europe and Malaysia.

Well hey, can't forget the books now can we?
Light novels:
-Toradora! - Volume 8 GET!
-Spice and Wolf - Volume 8 GET!

Got Knights in the Nightmare as well, bloody weird game (not surprising from Sting), but very enjoyable.

IGCSSE mocks started today. And I didn't know about it until last night, when Robert said complained about English Literature being the first paper. My reaction was "English paper? OHSHI MOCKS!"

Updates MIGHT be limited over the next few weeks, but don't count on my word. It could go both ways.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Just made it in time~!

It's been a long while since my last post. Updates are getting less and less frequent nowadays yeah?

First of all, would like to give my gratitude to Brother Michael, who left on a sabbatical and will be absent from 9 months to 3 years. He has, no doubt made school a much better place for many students, and his absence will be greatly missed.

Chinese IGCSE on the 14th and the 19th, I suppose it went fairly well for me, although having to stay in the hall and wait for the exams to end was a slight bit irritating, because there were quite a lot of people who finished the paper ahead of time.

New books are a given!
Light Novels:
- Bungaku Shoujo - Volumes 1,2 and 6 GET!
- To Aru Majutsu no Index - Volume 8 GET!

Manga:
- Bakuman - Volume 2 GET!
- To Aru Kagaku no Choudenjibou - Volume 1 GET!
- Lucky Star - Volume 6 GET!

Went out with Greggy, Patrick, Robert and the lot to watch Angels and Demons, although my original intention was to play Melty Blood Actress Again at the arcade with Greggy before the movie start, but eventually decided to watch the movie when Patrick and the rest wanted to watch it earlier.

Went for a Shakespeare play, called Much Ado About Nothing. Played MBAA again before we headed to the play. Ended up playing through Story Mode and beating the final boss all on one playthrough. Was a pretty fun night, especially on the way to Gothic Gate where the play was. Whole group of us gathered at Plaza Sing, next to Dhoby Ghaut MRT, and started walking there, but it soon turns out that we were lost, and pretty much spent about 10 minutes walking around in circle, trying to find our way, going up and down the hill.

The play itself was pretty understandable, given that none of us haven't actually studied it yet. Rather amusing, I must say. After it ended, me and Gerard decided to share a cab back home, stopping by 7-11 near Cathay for a drink first. Talked with the taxi driver, who ranted endlessly about people driving in Malaysia, pretty amusing too.

Went to Funan Digital Mall today to get a new camera, point and shoot, nothing fancy like a DSLR. Got the Canon IXUS 990 IS, which has automatic mode that camera idiots like me and my family can use to take pictures properly. Definite improvement over the last camera we had, with pictures to prove.


Another picture of my room, compare it with the one I posted before, and you'll notice the significant difference in picture quality.


Bought a new bookshelf on the 23rd, a MUCH larger one compared to the my old one.


!!!

Tada! I got a PS3! A white, shiny, new PS3! Although now my wallet is flat. Got an arcade joystick that works with the PS3, PS2 and the PC, so that I could play Melty Blood with it. Whee~

Hopefully I'll update soon yeah? >_>

Sunday, April 12, 2009

The Promised Update~

You know, looking back, this blog really was active wasn't it? 8 updates per month...what the hell prompted me to write so much?

Well, it's probably because my life's been rather uneventful lately, though I can't say I don't like it. In fact, I prefer it this way.

The whole time I was in Segamat was pretty boring except when I met up with some friends. You could say it was mostly due to the crappy net there. Seriously, the cables outside are so badly maintained that one rain is enough to kill the net and phone lines.

New desktop finished and functional when we got back to Singapore, so I installed a few things to try it out, definitely works excellently, unlike my current laptop. So, I was thinking to getting a desktop next instead of another laptop seeing as I won't be going anywhere soon.

Man, time really does fly when you're having fun (was I?) and tomorrow, school's starting again.

New books~
Light novels:
-Bungaku Shoujo - Volumes 1 and 2 GET!

Manga:
-Bartender - Volume 9 GET!
-Bakuman - Volume 1 GET!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

And then, BAM!

It's been more then a month now yeah?


Huge arse box there is my cousin's Hayate figure.


Pictures of my small, old room.

I moved out of that rented apartment on the 28th of February, and moved into a new one. Much bigger place, and I now get to have my own room.

Regardless of how I much complain about it's size, or how dusty it gets the moment the windows are open (the reason why I almost never open them), or how noisy some of my (former) neighbours can be, I have to admit that I'm gonna miss the place.


New desk and whatnot. Having that slide-out side table is great for doing work on. I now have a proper desk to study~


Same old bookshelf. Since I have more space now, I'm trying to see if I can get a larger one. After all, the amount of books I have will only increase.

The view from above is great, especially at night. Only thing I don't like about living 11 floors above is that the elevator kinda takes it's own sweet time.

New books corner~
Light novels:
-Toradora! - Volume 7 GET!
-To Aru Majutsu no Index - Volume 7 GET!
-Bungaku Shoujo - Volumes 1 and 2 on order, 3-5 GET!

Illustration books:
-Kozue Amano Illustration Works - Alpha, Stella and Cielo GET!
-Aria the Illustration Avvenire - GET!

Now my Okami Art Book has companions.

I'll be going to the PC Show at Suntec City next Saturday (14th of March). There's a few things that I need to buy there. Things have been rather hectic as of late, with our teachers now starting to push us to work and the approaching IGCSE. While some may whine about it, I just wanna get over and be done with it.

Have semi-solid plans for the future already. After much thinking, I figured it'd be better if I just finish my IBs here and then go to a University here in Singapore.