Hungry.

need to replace the food pictures flashing on my vista toolbar. it's giving me cravings.

Age of Conan.

this will be the last time i'll get anything from electronics boutique. seriously, how can one not know when the stock is arriving? especially a huge multi corporation like eb. anyways to the main issue, i finally have my retail copy after a week past the early access and frankly, i never expect it to be so big. i had to carry not one, but two of those huge encyclopedia wanna-be from the city back to my room and it wasn't a easy task. an artbook, dvds and a leather map does not justify making the box that big in my opinion.

fat. *see how small my k800i is*

and the loots.

for those that haven't heard of the game, the lore or history, conan and hyboria is a fantasy setting created by robert e. howard in 1932. and 76 years later, spanning a wide collection of novels, comics and movies *one in particular starring a certain californian governor* the mmo game is finally here. the game is made so one can choose to be either one of three races, aquilonian, cimmerian and stygian and also one of the twelve classes avaliable. like most rpg games, certain classes are restricted by the race one choose. *no gnomes /cheer*

character making screen.

now before i go on, i have to make it known that aoc carries a mature rating here in australia, which means by law only 18+ year olds can play it. *as if that deters anyone below 18* and humbly request to please do not make this a age of conan vs world of warcraft debate. pretending that i do want to hear about it, all i have to do is just log into the forums and see the multitude of posts dedicated to it. both games are different, like an apple and an orange, both have their own unique flavours. that being said, i'll continue on.

stygian armor sets.

aoc is without doubt a visually stunning game and in order to enjoy it fully, one must try to play with high visual settings. being honest here, one definitely need a good system in order to run aoc smoothly. right now i'm running on a vista-32 with a 8800gt gfx, 4 gigs of ram and an intel core2 6400 2.13ghz processor and it's barely enough to run the game on high settings. i have to tweak the settings slightly to run the game on high - medium visuals and even then i'll still get an average of 25 fps with a few fps spikes here and there. the landscapes, the ground details, and the environment is just breathtaking. as one runs along the field one can see the grass wavering, the fading decorations of long abandoned ruins, and when your avatar enters the water, the game engine adds in the ripple effect. the armor designs are detailed and eye catching as well, especially the egyptian themed stygian designs. last but not least, i truly enjoy the little things the developers have added in such as hearing rats run away from your character as you explore the damp sewers, or watching the sun rise above the mountains as you stand near the top of the valley. also, instead of the normal click quest, click hand-in, click okay quests, one can actually select from a variety of dialog to make the role-playing much more enjoyable.

the forgotten ruins.

what is so unique about the game is the combat system. instead of the normal auto-attack / skill mashing system like other games, one must actually execute each strike and through combos. it may sound tedious and boring but with the huge variety of combos available, many different combinations can be made. if you like, one can even chain a series of combos together to deadly effect and may even achieve a fatality. when i say fatality, i mean the kind you find in those old mortal kombat games where you behead, disembowel or chop the enemy in half kinds of fatality. how do one know if a fatality has occurred though? through the blood splatters all over your screen of course, followed by the dying moans of your victims. best of all, this feature is just not limited to npcs, non-playable characters but also to other online gamers as well. there was this time where another player decapitated my character while questing in the sewers, and i just sat in awe watching my character head roll into the drain and my poor decapitated body slowly fall to the ground in a puddle of blood. the music score is impressive and matches the theme of the area to a t, especially hearing the soft melancholy muse while you stand atop the mountains in conall's valley giving you the saxon-like feeling from braveheart.

finish him!

more fatalities ingame.

it would be a sin not to mention how much effort the developers have design the starting area or also known as the newbie area. after making your character, the screen shakes and you see yourself flung into the sea. after a short cinematic, you find yourself washed up on the beach where you start your first steps in the game. your first quest involves saving a scantily clad female tied up on the island then making your way to the main city, tortage. as with many role playing games, tortage is a culturally diverse place of vice and danger and with plenty of quests and plot devices to keep you entertained for ages. you will be guided through the basics of the game within your first five levels and by then, all you need is practice to get used to the system. completing certain quests pans out into a nifty in-game cinematic that brings life into the characters in game, not to mentioned the impressive and sometimes hilarious voice actings as well. i won't give away much but one will ultimately end up in a city riot, where one will see the town transformed into a burning pyre and the npc's you have interacted with running around the streets in confusion.

overlooking a part of tortage.

nipple slip *oops*

this game has a few faults as well though, the most obvious one being the small cluttered chat box. it's easily rectified though by dragging it bigger and selecting what information you want displayed in the chat window. *though it took me a while to figure out how* another fault i have is the ingame minimap, where too much information may be presented and how small the party icons are shown. dying and resurrecting in game brings you to a load screen, which means if one has an average system, it may take a long time to load back into the game and especially on a pvp server, it may mean another death. that being said, i'm sure given time funcom will continue to upgrade and patch the client to a more tolerating interface. it's hard to say whether it will be big enough to compete against blizzard and their pet project but i'll be enjoying myself with this game for a fair bit. *after my exams of course ^^*

Krispy Kreme.

i swear krispy kreme's doughnuts are the devil's offspring. how else can those puffy and sinfully rich circles of dough and sugar make one keep on eating them? glazed, custard and jam filled, sprinkles or chocolate coated, with fifteen different varieties in their normal menu and not counting their specials, one can hardly get tired of them. especially when they are piping hot straight off the ovens and glazed right in front of you. warm, soft and chewy delights with the right amount of sweetness, what more can one ask for. *well maybe with a cup of milk to go in hand*

glazed originals. *yum yum*

when they announced a branch was going to open in brisbane, i myself and a lot of other people were excited about the prospect of savoring those heavenly glazed pastries, and though i did not make it to store opening, i heard there was a massive turnout. more than two weeks later, the queue is still there and in fact, due to their popularity with the local qlders, they opened up another branch not more than 100 meters away from their first stall. i bet within those two weeks, they probably had made enough to cover their costs of starting a business and tripled it that they could open another one.

the huge line which snaked around the corner to the left. took me 20 minutes just to get into the front door.

this reminds me of the time in singapore where they had the massive bubble tea craze back in 2000, where there were huge queues and waiting in line for ages just for a cup of pearl milk tea. a lot of people tried to cash into this craze and started their own but eventually, due to the waning initial popularity and competition, many of those business closed down. the thing with krispy kreme is that they have a great marketing campaign to attract customers and make sure they are well known. even though there are other competitors like dreamy donuts and donut king around, when you mention doughnuts most people will think of krispy kreme first. secondly with the huge variety of doughnuts to choose from and a big lineup of beverages, one is spoilt for choices and can either eat at the store or take it home. the staff were very friendly as well, and even gave out free samplers freshly off the glazing machine to those in the line.

or if you would prefer the assorted instead? *the lemon filled are my favourite*

on my visits to the place so far, i've noticed a lot of high school students between the age of 14 - 17 hanging out at the place once school has let out. looking at them kind of reminds me of those old 1970's grease-style parlours where teens hang out often, save the presence of an old jukebox. one can probably get a lot of insight on how to manage a business successfully if one looks into krispy kreme's business plans.

anyways, i'm off to sample more of the delicious delights which i bought earlier today. twenty more left in the box which will probably last me until next week. *or less if people stop stealing them off me!* there goes my diet :(

i'm one fat panda.

p.s nothing still beats red bean and mochi though ^^

well maybe except fresh dango :3

Want!

someone please buy this for me.

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10069686

and this, badly want. here's hoping play-asia have a third preorder. :(

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-8x-49-en-70-2qjm.html

p.s: i'll give cookies!

Bored.

remember, we is be watching you always.

and yay for a new signature.

edit: credit to zw for sharing this. i choked on my krispy kreme watching this, no joke.

Niju Menso no Musume.

i wasn't really expecting to watch niju menso no musume (daughter of the 20 faces) until a friend recommended it to me, knowing me to be a bit of a mystery fan. i'm sure many people can agree with me that the japanese do have their fair share of cute women, and aya hirano's one of them. she does the voice of the protagonist chizuko or chiko as she is referred in the series; an orphaned heiress who desires to be break free of her boring life and escape into the real world. 'rescued' by the phantom thief 20 faces, *d.n.angel anyone? :p* she then starts her journey meeting friends and foes alike. what i like so far about this series is that there is no giant robots, fancy technology or magic, just things you would expect in the 1960's. *think chrono crusade without the magic* the first few episodes seems to be setting the stage for the characters and it'll be interesting to see how the plot will turn out once chiko gets into the action. josh anime's blog has some nice screen caps of the series which can be found here.

i'll end this post with some pictures of aya, which can be found easily through google or by visiting choo's website. *not danny's but his can be found here as well* and her latest single unnamed world.

you is be liking long hair or short?