serenity.

Food Cravings.

2008-11-12T02:01:00.005+10:00

yes, i know i'm lazy jason. you don't have to point that out. i told myself i will not try to let the blog go inactive but me being me, it was just a matter of time. now that the semester's finally over and not to mention the fact that i'm terribly bored out of my mind, i'll just post whatever comes to mind.

close up of the mighty melon pan.

delicious kare pans

we had these for breakfast at one of the bread stores right outside akiba station *can't remember the name* apple filled, ham and cheese and mushroom and egg breads.

the past few nights i've just had hunger pangs staying up late all night *morning?* and i just can't stop thinking of all the convenient ways one could get food late at night especially in malaysia, singapore and japan. hungry? just take a walk down to one of the kopitiams or 24 hours convinent stores and get something to eat, unlike brisbane here where one have to drive down to milton maccas to get a bite to eat. thinking back to the japan trip last year, i really miss the delicious, sweet and savory japanese breads that they had. my personal favourites were the kare pan *curry bread*, melon pan *melon bread* and the yakisoba pan *fried noodles bread*. shame though we forgot to try the famous giant sapporo melon pan. :(

cheap melon pans on sale, which was our main diet while running from trains to trains :D

when in need of a bite, just drop by the nearest lawson station and head to the pastry section, grab a couple of conveniently pre-packaged bread for between 100 yen to 200 yen before going past the dairy section and grabbing a few hokkaido shipped cartons of milk on the way to the cashier. i'm not sure why, but the milk in japan *the one from hokkaido especially* tastes really different from the milk in singapore or australia. it could be the cool climate, the way their cows are bred, or even the processing technique that somehow allows a richer, creamier taste.

hokkaido milk bottles.

godly otoro slabs.

i hope when i do retire *assuming i'm still alive by then* i would be able to move out and stay in hokkaido. beautiful scenery, fresh mountain air, winter snow and great food, what else can one desire in a place to relax. i've also missed the fresh seafood that can be easily found everywhere and the rich, juicy taste of the kani *crabs* and umi *sea urchins*. failure to mention the delicious toro *tuna* especially the otoro *fatty tuna mainly from the underside* which cost a lot to buy. my only regret that trip was that i was unable to visit tsukichi, the world's largest fish market and experience the hustle and bustle of the place.

kani, kani and more kani.

the owner of the shop posing with us. check out the size of that crab.

umi and kani bowl, accompanied with a bowl of hot miso soup. was around 3200 yen i believed.

hopefully the next trip there i will be able to experience the other stuff i was unable to the previous time.

one serve costed us 514 yen, which was roughly USD$5. it was worth it i say.

Hiatus.

2008-09-02T17:47:00.002+10:00

well, been a while since i last posted something. can't really think of something to worthwhile to write lately so here's some old pictures from bronte beach in sydney taken with my sony dsc-t2

Riot Girl.

2008-07-16T00:14:00.003+10:00

and aya's debut album is out today!

01. LOVE★GUN
02. HERO
03. MonStAR
04. 明日のプリズム
05. Breakthrough(Album Ver.)
06. 冒険でしょでしょ?
07. 曖昧スクリーム
08. ヨロコビの歌
09. Maybe I can't good-bye.
10. NEOPHILIA
11. Harmonia Vita
12. For you
13. 星のかけら
14. RIOT GIRL

need someone to ship this out to me imo. /sadpanda

Seven Days.

2008-07-09T17:13:00.004+10:00

and comes the next update. *warning intensive picture post*

there's nothing much to say really, the internet at home being capped, playing host to fookie and the usual shenanigans in the kitchen. as some of you may know, fookie came by to visit for a few days and being the gracious host i am, i provided him a straw pillow, a thin rag and the cold living room floor for him to sleep on during the cold sydney nights. jokes aside, playing host kept me occupied for a few days which was a nice change from the usual boredom i go through. i wouldn't say it was more of a sightseeing trip but more of a eating spree from the way our itinerary was planned, and still covered most of the major tourist traps such as the sydney tower, darling harbour, sydney fish market and chinatown.

action shots from darling harbour pond.

as luck would dictate, the weekend we decided to go sightseeing the rail transport decided to shut down the north-east railway line, meaning we had to travel by bus which was a lot slower. eventually though, we arrived at our destination; the sydney central station, a hub for both local and interstate trains and buses.

sydney central station.

the first day was spent going around chinatown, paddy's market and riding the monorail loop service around the city. we also visited places like the chinese garden of friendship and went up the sydney tower when it was getting dark.

sydney tower from afar.

being high up there was a breathtaking experience, watching the sun set and watching the busy sydney city slowly coming to life from all the night-lights. no one can say they've experienced sydney without having a visit to the ever popular scruffy murphy's bistro, where we had $5 steaks and grill, washed down with beer off the tap. *the very place where ernest's friend got drunk when i brought them there last year :D* we had a hard time trying to tear ourselves away that night from all the eye-candies that graced the place that night.

water fountains!

outside the chinese garden of friendship

moar ducks.

and baby ducklings.

the next trip, we traveled to central once again and from there on we caught the tram down to the sydney fish market where we had our lunch, but first we had to hunt for a place to sit down thanks to the weekend lunch rush.

inside the eating area.

imagine trying to find a table during the peak lunch hour in takashimaya and you'll get a rough idea how packed the place was. eventually we managed to find a table outside the area facing the marina. it was a great spot, sitting outside in the warm sun, refreshed by the cool sea breeze and having fresh grilled/battered seafood and enjoying the local eye-candies.

our lunch. :D

the batter platter.

and the grilled combo.

after that, we decided to walk down towards darling harbour and take a few snapshots. the weather being ideal, i wasn't surprised by the throngs of families and tourists at the area as well. we spent most of the afternoon and evening taking pictures, smelling the mouthwatering aromas from the restaurant grills and enjoying the scenery.

i looked pissed for some reason...

harbour front in the day.

and at night.

i think it's related to the sydney olympics?

i always loved this spiral water fountain.

upshot of the old SEGA building

darling harbour walk while the sun was setting.

nice boat.^^ *school days reference*

i was half tempted to walk up on the boat armed with a harpoon asking how much to harpoon a whale. :D

night view of the bay.

moar night shots of the marina.

busy busy.

i loved this shot with the lights and glowing sydney tower in the background.

the last day before fookie headed back, we visited chatswood; the other chinatown as i like to call it, there wasn't really much to say except that we did some window shopping and caught "don't mess with the zohan" at the cinemas. the highlight of that day of course was having dinner at suminoya, a japanese bbq restaurant. it was definitely money well spent as we devoured plate after plate of seafood, meat and more meat, and their specialty dish of ox tongue although fookie didn't like the yukke *yukhoe in korean* that i ordered, shame though. 2 hours later, somehow we managed to gather the strength to roll out of the restaurant and explored martin place before heading back.

clocktower along martin place.

in anticipation of the feast.

and the godly ox tongues. :D

pork loin, beef harami, beef rib and avocado salad.

:D~

and here we go :D~~

the yukke.

lime sherbet and green tea/vanilla ice-cream to end the night.

there were places which i wished we could had visited though such as the sandy beaches of bondi or the sydney bridge climb, but due to time constraints or being cheapskate, we didn't. i'll save them for another time in the future i suppose.

July 2nd.

2008-07-02T01:35:00.002+10:00

it's been a while since i last updated this blog, mainly due to to a cocktail mix of sloth, indolence and procrastination. fear not for this won't be another one of those 'dead' blogs out there as i'll keep it updated reguarly once more. one of the reasons why i post is to improve my writing skills, which helped tremendously in typing out reports and assignments. also, its a nice way to relax and reflect on things, remembering the small things in life that keep things interesting. sometimes it feels like a chore thinking of what to write, but once you start typing a few words, the rest just flows naturally.

since the start, i've tried doing reviews, event coverages and random rants and got a few constructive feedback from close friends that read this blog. i'll most likely stop doing reviews for it seriously bores the crap out of me but focus more on stuff which i've done and enjoy doing. i may also consider reding the layout if and when i feel like it, or when i can get an idea of what i'm looking for. also rei, i don't care if your eyes bleed reading the posts without any captalisation so cry more. *grins* my blog. my rules. anyways, it's almost 2 in the morning here and i really need some well deserved rest. i've actually had panda eyes from restless nights worring about my results the past few days which i passed by the way, but now that thats over i can sleep peacefully again.

calv out. but here's some aya -chan from her upcoming album "riot girl" *scheduled for release on the 15th* to keep you all entertained. :D

Rawr.

2008-06-19T13:29:00.000+10:00

/wrists

Exams.

2008-06-03T14:19:00.002+10:00

werk werk. crunch time is almost here. bee ndoing heaps of readings past few days, unfortunately the wrong kinds of readings. what i noticed every year without fail, i will have at least 2 exams back to back, with the earlier one at the last night slot followed by the first morning slot the day after. it's a conspiracy i tell you.

13/6 5.45pm ECON2300 27A-Exh Hall

16/6 5.45pm LAWS3101 27A-Exh Hall

17/6 8.00am MGTS1301 27A-Exh Hall

19/6 2.30pm ACCT3102 27A-Exh Hall

Hungry.

2008-05-29T22:48:00.001+10:00

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

Age of Conan.

2008-05-26T21:07:00.004+10:00

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.

2008-05-16T22:34:00.003+10:00

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!

2008-05-14T23:11:00.004+10:00

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.

2008-05-13T22:36:00.004+10:00

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.

2008-05-09T15:21:00.007+10:00

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?

Randoms.

2008-04-27T18:08:00.005+10:00

*to jason, you're just dyslexic.*
*to dan, don't go to japan then and save $!*

it didn't explode! but i'm unable to get the other internal hdd working though, its okay i'll think of something eventually. i've no idea why people keep saying vista is bad, i've reformatted my comp at long last, and installed vista on it and i'm really loving the graphical upgrade. i really do enjoy the sidebar feature which comes with it, enabling me to have various gadgets up there such as post-it and others. i've yet to finish transferring all the data from the old hdd, which i suppose will take up most of my time next week sorting through them.

it's been a long weekend for me, having thursday timetable swapped with friday last week and the anzac day celebrations. planned to go down the coast but everyone got too lazy as usual to make the trip down haha. on another note, the hatsune miku nendoroid which i've ordered has finally arrived. *cheer* she's still in the box as i'm unwilling to take her out yet with my desk being a mess. i'll get around to cleaning it one day, though i've been saying that for the past 6 weeks. i'll leave it to dan to take photoshots with his as i can't be bothered doing one.

my fugly set-up :(

/cheer

who can forget the caramelldansen song.

finally got my watch back from the fossil store when i sent it for repairs way back in february. apparently the waterfall damage was too severe for them to fix and they replaced it with a brand new watch of the same model, and best of all for free :3 i think i'm still covered by the warranty but i rather not take any more chances lest it happens again.

friday marked the pillow fight event at the suncorp stadium, which was organised by the same people who organised freeze day in early april. i didn't go to it this time as i was being way too lazy as usual. i heard that the police came and had to chase them away, and some poor bugger got arrested that night. i suppose if you want to create mass confusion thats fine, but don't be a public nuisance in the process as well. i'm waiting to see what the singapore group plan out their finger pistol event later this year, hopefully it should be entertaining.

got my code geass r2, soul eater and battlestar galactica on standby to watch. until then, here's steve in his asian outfit. complete faile.

wourd yu rike rice with that sir?

Last Post.

2008-04-24T20:29:00.002+10:00

last post before i try and upgrade to vista. can't be too bad else i'll downgrade again to xp. got me a new 500g hdd and a bfg geforce 8800gt video card to boot as well. hope i don't blow up the computer in the process. wish me luck.

Fleur.

2008-04-19T17:33:00.000+10:00

sam, where is my battlestar?

i'm still alive, barely.

=(

2008-04-08T23:39:00.002+10:00

cal is sad. i need to steal ming to comfort me. nothing beats listening to sad songs to get over it. here's bad day by daniel powter, enjoy.

Recap.

2008-04-06T12:44:00.004+10:00

it's been a long and eventful week for me; freeze day, jimmy's 21st, assignments, car troubles and so on, god knows i can sure use a break. i'll try to type down events in chronological order as best as my memory can remember so there might be a fair bit of text wall critting in this post.

a late congratulations to jimmy once again for surviving 21 years of fun and pain, and here's to another 21 more years of suffering with everyone. you need to tell us more about your trip to vietnam when we meet up again and thanks for the rice hat, it's been a blast here at king's. i believe i speak for everyone when i say we all really enjoyed that night and cheers to your parents for organising it as well. *we both know that we only came because of the free flow of drinks but its okay, we still love you somewhat.* hopefully, that painting *i really need to get sherlyn and my sister to draw a comic or something, then i'll keep the profits and be reech! muahaha* we gave you should give you a little culture, and boy do you need some. remember, when it's our birthdays next year we expect something of greater value alright.

got rice?

a lovely piece by sherlyn.
*clockwise from james the dog, rei the racoon, micheal the hamster and calvin the panda*

i've been looking foward to participating in a freeze event ever since i saw the video of the freeze at grand central station in the u.s, and tuesday finally gave me that opportunity. for those of you who don't know what freeze day is, basically it's an event where a large group of people move around at a specific location acting like what one would expect to act like in public, then at a specified time, everyone involved stops moving with the aim to cause mass confusion in public.

here's the grand central station one.

not wanting to miss this chance, we meticulously planned our timetable, *hey, we had to skip a few lectures but thankfully there were others we could go to :3* then headed down to gardens point where we met up with the other agents, around 200 plus people turned up which wasquite good for a event spread mainly through word of mouth. after a quick briefing, we were off to queen street mall. somehow, it was more crowded than usual and just before the freeze, i laughed to myself when i heard someone commented "i wonder why there are so many people here today?" anyways, when the clock struck one, the plan was underway. people froze in various poses; taking a picture, tourists looking at the map for directions, twister game halfway and my personal favourite, someone balancing his skateboard on the ramp for a full 5 minutes.

we achieved what we came to do, many people were confused and surprised at what happened. "what's going on? why isn't anyone moving?" let me tell you firsthand that while standing still for 5 minutes may sound like an easy task, it actually isn't. in fact, my legs were almost cramping as we were standing on a slight incline. with people bumping into you, poking you or taking pictures with your frozen self, it was a chore just to stay still. *poor steve got molested by a bunch of school girls /lawl* anyways, once the 5 minutes had passed, everyone "unfroze" and walked away as if nothing had happened while the crowd gave us a round of applause. would i had done it again if given the chance? yes definitely. in fact, there's another one planned this month though details havent' been given out yet. what people are leaning towards doing are either the xbox hand pistol standoff commercial or a silent rave. *i personally would like doing the pistol standoff but we have to see.*

scenes taken from my olde' trusty T2 cybershot. cheers to david for acting cameraman.

Find more videos like this on FlashMobs

another p.o.v video from david jackmanson.

and the official video with channel nine news coverage.

steve, rei and cal.

the masses.

t-minus 5 minutes to go.

and cameras ready for action.

agent 2 *ryan* giving the debriefing

and agents 1 2 3 together.

i've already ranted to some of you earlier this week about my fabulous friday but i'll go into detail here. some may know i'm currently taking dance classes in uq, and after two weeks of inactivity, coming back to the class again made a bunch of flopping seals seem more graceful than me. thankfully i'm not the only one so i didn't stick out as much. it's a great place to make new friends as well though, being one of the only three guys in the class enables me to move around and find new partners. *not that i have any ulterior motives or anything /coughs* anyways, once the class had finished, thats where all the troubles started.

i swear the stars and planets have aligned in a constellation so rare that it comes once every ten thousand years that day as i was involved in a car breakdown not once but twice in two seperate cars. while reversing out of the carpark, i noticed that the car was making weird jerks and a horribly loud piercing screech was coming from the front left tyre. thinking that it was a flat, we decided to risk driving down to the nearby shell station to get the tyre's checked, *which was a very dangerous thing to do though* and when we reached the road outside king's, the tyres suddenly decided to move on its on. i seriously never had been so scared while driving before when the car suddenly started swerving left and right without warning. thankfully we were moving slowly at around 30km/h so nothing serious happened. i spent a fair bit counter-steering heaps and by the time we were approaching the roundabout, the steering wheel was literally upside down just to keep the car from moving straight. by then i was too scared to drive and let a more experienced driver take over.

somehow, we made it to the station without harm and after checking the tyres, we discovered the front axle to be bent or misaligned. there was nothing we could do so we had to call for a tow down to the bmw service center and had to call for sam to pick us up and drive us there. *thanks heaps for that* after getting caught along milton road during after office hours, we reached the valley where rei went and did all the paperwork for the car. while heading back, thats where the other car trouble started. it refused to start. we tried push starting it but to no avail, and looked ridiculously retarded in the process. imagine trying to push a toyota in the valley with heaps of people staring at you outside the bmw service center. after several attempts to restart the car; checking the engine, waiting a few minutes before trying again, kicking it and verbally abusing steve's piece of shit car *sorry but i have to say it* we went in to ask the bmw technicians whether they could jump start the car. so out came the guy with all the fancy whatchacallit cables and tried to start, only to discover that we somehow enabled the security feature of the car and that was why we couldn't start it. *seriously, who puts a retarded lets-not-allow-the-engine-to-start-because-you-opened-a-locked-car-from-inside security feature* i bet he was thinking, "yea, you wouldn't have this kind of problem if you had driven a bmw".

this was what i felt like doing to your car steve.

i seriously hope i will never go through it again.

Busy.

2008-04-02T18:04:00.003+10:00

busy busy busy. just not enough time to sit down properly and report april first freeze day down at queen street mall. will try to do so this weekend once i get this irritating general systems theory essay worth 15% out of the way.

on a side note, i've been entertained by rereading bash.org *warning. some of the quotes are not safe for work. NSFW* all over again, and i do say, it does brings back memories from our old irc times. *i still use irc now and then for my hq one piece releases and other... health care needs ^^;* i'm amazed at the i.q of some people on the net to be honest, and while it may be mean of me to say this, i reckon some of them should be nominated for the darwin awards as soon as they are eligible for it.

i told you this will come back to haunt you justin.

i leave you with some of the funnier quotes which i liked as i head back to typing out this essay. courtesy of bash.org*nsfw*

#330261
<+i8b4uunderground> d-_-b
<+bonynomore> how u make that inverted b?
<+bonynomore> wait
<+bonynomore> never mind

#368808
<@David> Yay I get laid today! Been a month.... needing it by now
<@Sony> ...........
<@Sony> TMI TMI TMI
<@David> Only a few hundred pounds but its better than nothing
<+malpine> Thanks for the info
<@David> eh?
<@David> damn i meant PAID
<@David> I get PAID today
<@David> dammit

#362137
<+reo4k> just type /quit whoever, and it'll quit them from irc
* luckyb1tch has quit IRC (r`heaven)
* r3devl has quit IRC (r`heaven)
* sasopi has quit IRC (r`heaven)
* phhhfft has quit IRC (r`heaven)
* blackersnake has quit IRC (r`heaven)
<+iban`reo4k[ex]> that's gotta hurt
<+r`heaven> :(

#287414
<+deadmanshand> haha, last night, me and pete went out to celebrate his engagement and got hugely drunk
<+deadmanshand> we got this great idea to bury eachother in the sand close to the water and see who would chicken out first
<+deadmanshand> took about a half hour, but the water got up to my face so i freaked and got out
<+deadmanshand> i looked around for pete and he must've chickened out before me and stumbled home or something heh
<+deadmanshand> What'd he say when he woke up this morning?

<+thirteen-> uhh.. he hasn't come home yet.. i thought he was staying with you?
<+deadmanshand> holy ****.
<+deadmanshand> i ****ing hope im wrong about what im thinking right now
<+deadmanshand> im ****ing going back to the beach to make sure
<+deadmanshand> if he gets home, call me, i don't want to be worrying about this
<+thirteen-> will do. you better hope he's not still buried, you'll be in deep shit.
quit: (DeadMansHand)

<+tyran> wtf? pete came home last night you ****. Ken's going to be worrying about this shit all day
<+thirteen-> haha yea, but it will be fun while it lasts

join: (PeteRepeat) (bob@3F8C4655.11D1C8C.18637D35.IP)
<+peterepeat> ****ing ken
<+peterepeat> ken... that ****er buried me in the sand last night, i ran off about 5 minutes to it, left him there to be an idiot
<+quiqsilver> pete, ken didn't come back last night, i thought he was with you.
<+peterepeat> oh ****.
<+peterepeat> if ken shows up, make sure he doesn't know that im at the beach digging for his body. i don't want him to think i care or anything.
quit: (PeteRepeat)

<+thirteen-> rofl. Those 2 are going to get a huge surprise when they meet at the beach.
<+tyran> i can't beleive how perfect their timing was

Gold Coast.

2008-03-28T03:32:00.007+10:00

the easter holidays have come and gone, then eight weeks of slugging out with the books before the semester is over. it has been an interesting one i suppose, not as interesting as the one in first year where st johns burnt down, but nonetheless.

there's nothing worse than a sprained ankle, except for two sprain ankles. believe it or not, it did happen and it left me crippled in bed like a beached whale. *metaphorically speaking of course* i suppose it's a good time to get some rest and respite, but still being cooped up in the room for a few days straight is enough to drive one insane. a big thank you to rei, sam and steve for helping out during those days.

went down to the goldie on tuesday where we were blessed with a great weather throughout the whole trip. having a debate about jazz and asian music made the trip down so much faster i might add and just slightly under two hours, we were there at number two, first avenue broadbeach overlooking the sea. the place hasn't changed much since the last time i've been there right down to the scorch marks. i held off the urge to run down and jump into the azure sea somehow, and just sat at the patio appreciating the refreshing sea breeze and the lovely sights. *and what lovely sights they were xD* did a little bit of shopping down at pacific fair later that afternoon where the bronzed curvaceous goddesses graced when they aren't down at the beach.

it was around five in the evening when i finally ventured out to the sandy shores of broadbeach with my trusty t2 and took some scenic shots. i really love the beaches of australia with the rich blue waters and loamy waves, as compared to the brown murky waters of singapore and malaysia beaches. with the sun setting, the sky was a beautiful orange-blue with white clouds fanning out as if to envelop everything under it. once everyone sobered up, the seven of us then walked to get some dinner at the local seafood restaurant where we were served with unsavory meals. then again, we did arrive at around nine when the kitchens were probably being cleaned up, and bolstered by the fact none of of us had any seafood at a seafood restaurant. *having pasta, steak and salads at a seafood restaurant seemed like we doubt their culinary skills and that probably pissed off the chef as well* nonetheless, steve and me managed to make our pasta *it said it contained crab and lobster but i couldn't taste any* palatable by smothering it with cheese, pepper and lime. then it was back for another walk along the beach.

i tell you, theres nothing better than strolling along the sandy shore with the waves lapping at your feet under the star filled sky, watching the foam reflected by the moonlight and hearing the slow, rhythmical waves crashing against the shore while being washed over by the cool and salty sea breeze. except for doing all the above with a girl :p i stayed there for a bit after the others went back home, reflecting and clearing my head. you'll be surprise at how well one can think while being alone in such a place. after the shower, phonecall and movie, it was nearing one in the morning when we all retired for the night(?)/day(?). sleeping on the couch with the windows open so the sea breeze floats into the room is just gosu.

*and good luck qing for your final exams today. don't worry too much, you'll be fine. and all the best, here's hoping to hear good things afterwards.*

waking up at five and catching the sunrise is undoubtedly one of the best decisions i ever made. walking down and catching the sun slowly rising across the horizon was really a breathtaking sight. made eggs *scrambled and sunny side*, ham and sausages for breakfast which everyone devoured within minutes. one can't say one has been to the beach without taking a dip in the ocean and that was precisely what we did. it was great being lifted and rocked around by the salty waves, and plowing straight into the swells under the beautiful sun. it was tempting to stay there for another day but eventually we had to leave. drove down to sunnybank for a late lunch *cold ramen with chicken karaage and ice tea latte pwns* before heading back to kings. we definitely have to go down the coast more often.

ye olde sea shack.

Q1, tallest building on the coast for now.

like a phoenix spreading its wings in the heavens...

and in the sea.

5am fun.

breakfast!

morning fog.

footprints in the sand.

wait for it...

almost there...

and here we go.

and it's only 6am.

check out the azure waters.

I'm Back.

2008-03-26T18:30:00.004+10:00

from the gold coast.

and tired,

and burnt.

i'm red,

like a suckling pig, almost.

yay for skimping on sunscreen.

Easter.

2008-03-21T12:23:00.005+10:00

happy easter. *my ass hurts too after dance classes.*

lately i've been too busy, tired or plain lazy in updating my blog. i suppose when i feel like sitting down and doing something, i will. it's the easter holidays over here at the moment, although the massive assignments, test and quizzes awaiting me when classes resume doesn't make it seem like one. happy easter to everyone, may the rabbit gods rain chocolate covered goodies upon you, and particularly to daniel, happy 22nd. now you're slowly getting older as well. i would have linked you a picture of a moe-licious girl or something but thats where i have to draw the line.

i hate injuring my foot, lying down unable to move just plainly blows. i suppose its a great opportunity to get some readings done but not on a great weather like today. the sun not overly hot and the cool breeze wafting through the balcony makes staying holed up in my room sad.

it's weird how one's taste changes over time. i spent a good part of an hour discussing about jewelry and another hour talking about clothes. i do seriously pray i'm not turning into rei, the world forbid two of him in existence. i have to admit though, there are some seriously nice designs out there and with the weakening american dollar, i'm sorely tempted to get a few myself here.

sunburned panda.

i'm evil for finding this funny.

pandamonium.

i'm going to use this week to organise everything properly before leaving for the gold coast this weekend, and hopefully get some more work done on the accursed management assignment.

edit: sorry about the easter pic, was linked from a friend from a site called http://dailyfunnypics.com/

Muse III.

2008-03-17T16:27:00.004+10:00

i need a time machine, so i can go back in time and reclaim all the time which i've wasted away. won't someone please build me one? four days to the easter holidays, a perfect opportunity to fritter and bum away one week worth of time which i should be actively revising my work.

yay for procrastination.

Wahjong.

2008-03-13T15:32:00.004+10:00

feeling tired of your daily life?
a need to feel pretty?
needing a medium to vent frustrations?

wahjong is your answer.

play it now
play it hard
play it here.

it burns...

thx zhi wei ^^;

Panda.

2008-03-12T19:00:00.007+10:00

panda

pan-da [pan-duh]

possibly the greatest animal that god put on this earth. usually very cute and cuddly, they generally spend their lives eating bamboo and sitting on their haunches. their population is very low due in part to the fact that they are too lazy to have sex.

and the Lord came unto the earth and made the panda to his likeness. and HE spoke, saying, "thou shalt be of a cheery disposition and be loved by all." and the Lord smiled upon the panda and gave it a branch of bamboo. (Panda 13:22)

and the Lord came unto the cheery panda and spoke, saying, "although thou art a peaceful critter, thou shalt defend yourself furiously when attacked and rippe the limbs from thine enemies and make them wish they had never been born..." (Panda 15:10)

kleenex plx thx

full panda workout.

and everyone was panda fighting.

whee~

damn they're adorable.

Bagpipes.

2008-03-12T09:07:00.003+10:00

people who play bagpipes at eight in the morning deserves to be shot. bloody emmanuel and their scottish heritage.

Of Kings and Wyverns.

2008-03-11T16:04:00.005+10:00

it has been a while that i'm able to sit down and sort out my thoughts over the past few days. thinking back, i wasn't sure where to go after i finished high school and it was only by chance that a few other harlin house boarders were talking about colleges and kings. four years later, i'm still here. many people from my year are now gone but some still remains. it's interesting that the people from my flat in first year, are all still around and thankfully, have outgrown the shenanigans which we used to do.

i regretted not being able to participate fully in my fresher o-week due to my twisted ankle as that was one of the best times at kingsi reckon. i envy this year freshers as well as o-week '08 seems to be the best one i've seen this past four years. without a doubt, trolley jousting still remains one of the most interesting things that i've ever seen during my stay in australia. kudos to may for editing the fresher video for us kingsmen to see. bandfest is coming up soon this semester and from what i've heard, kings will be giving the other colleges a performance to remember again. here's wishing everyone good hunting for the icc championship. we made history last year by winning it seven times straight, lets make it better by winning it eight times. get ready. get pissed. get wyvern.

all hail the great wyvern.

Forumwarz.

2008-03-07T22:30:00.004+10:00

forumwarz. i really don't know how people can come up with this kind of stuff. i really don't know either why am i playing it. damn you doggy, damn you.

"introducing a role-playing game so epic, you will never again leave your mum's basement. seriously. not even to take a dump"

i lasted 15 minutes before my brain died.. what's your time?

Confucius.

2008-03-07T16:45:00.006+10:00

confucius says,

"man with bigger stick wins argument."

very true especially it's a big stick with nails.

i just love college debates.

Night.

2008-03-06T22:19:00.003+10:00

night runs are fun, and tiring. many bats, possums and rabbits to keep one company. i must be mad going out for one.

Feb 29th + 1

2008-03-01T19:47:00.004+10:00

Warning!

some of the pictures in this post are not safe for work. (nsfw) view them at your own discretion.

i've been meaning to do this post last night, but coming back at almost 12.00am, having a hectic morning and having to shower made me put it off. february 29th, the day that only once every four years, and also the day where women are allowed to propose to men. i wonder how many people still follows this tradition though?

yesterday had been a really hectic day for me, busy busy busy running around all over the university and city. although i'm not complaining as to the things i was able to enjoy that day. the day started off with going down for the trial latin dance classes in the uq gymnasium and gyrating my hips and feet for the next hour or so like a disabled monkey with alzheimer's. (if anyone felt tremors that day, it was probably me i apologise.) i really had fun though, the experience wasn't anything like i expected honestly, although there were some really unbalanced match-ups with partners. imagine trying to spin a 1.9metre tall girl without trying to lose balance. the class had a lot of eyecandies that day, including the dance instructors.

later that day, i had to run around the place to meet up with people all over the campus thanks to murphy's law that the person that you have to meet up, will always be on the furthest part of the campus where you are. the japanese girl groups throughout the campus, wearing their short skirts and tight tops made the trip bearable though. later that night, we met up with justin in his restaurant for dinner and caught up on things. i sometimes envy him for having a goal and the drive to start his own business after high school. it's great that he's doing alright and having plans to start another restaurant in the valley later this year. all the best to you.

now coming to the main event of the day, the brisbane sexpo '08. for those that don't know what sexpo is, as quoted from the website, "sexpo - health sexuality and lifestyle exhibition is a four-day public event looking at all aspects of health, adult entertainment, sexuality and adult lifestyles." or in simpler words, breasts, vibrators and porn-stars. it was really an intresting and entertaining convention. for a open minded country like australia, i was actually surprised at how shy and reserved the people at the convention was. the majority afraid of approaching certain booths such as the demonstrations and signings. well, i'm not one to complain, it just made my queues shorter.

the main events were the amateur strip tease competition and the autograph signings by several adult actresses such as roxy jezel, monique alexander and arianna starr. to be honest, meeting them in person wasn't what i expected. they were quite nice to talk to (though that may be part of their job) and were the girls you would take home to your family kind of sweet. i managed to take a few pictures with them (which is a very fun and "interesting" experience) and get it autographed. there was this awkward moment, where after talking to roxy, her necklace came off and i tried to help her fix it. try to imagine yourself, as a healthy 22 year old male, with a skimpy dressed adult actress on your lap, trying to fix a broken clasp with her close to your face, trying not to stare at her clevage and thighs, and her keep moving constantly. the whole time, my hands were shaking haha. we also saw other events like a hypnotist on stage, getting people to think they are adult stars, penile painting, texas hold'em strip poker and the gerbil, a short sex train tour ride. i'm not sure if i would go to another sexpo in the future, but if i do, i may get a pair of pink fluffy handcuffs.

floor plan of the convention.

posters around the place.

ez-fit!

penisaur, boobasaur and penisman.

signing booths.

strip poker anyone?

get your happy high herbs!

behind the scenes actions.

more behind the scenes actions. they change the performers quite often.

mc arianna starr and some guy.

arianna star performing.

more starr.

mr bean for justin. he won the male striptease that night.

female participants.

more girls.

:D~

more performers.

that's a daring thong.

you can light my fire up anytime.

loots from the sexpo funbag.

i need a gold pimp cane and necklace.

bobbi starr and sophie paris.

arianna star and me.

roxy jezel and monique alexander. <3>

arianna starr and friend.

roxy and me.

monique and me.

Leap.

2008-02-29T23:26:00.004+10:00

this post comes only once every 4 years.

/cheer

leap years ftw.

Econo...wha?

2008-02-27T23:57:00.004+10:00

econometrics. seriously now, what kind of word is that. it's like someone took two very complex words, chopped them up and spliced them together to make a new complex word. and why didn't i had the sense to avoid that subject just by reading the title itself. i walked into lecture, and it scares me that sanskrit made a lot sense to me than the equations that was shown on the lecture slides. "don't worry, it may look hard but it isn't" quoted the lecturer. right.

i could probably bitch all night about this but i won't. the bottom line is, economics is evil incarnate.

haven't got the chance to update much lately due to the whole moving-back-into-college and stuff but i'll try and make time whenever i can. it's been a while since i've stayed over at reimen's house and im ashamed to say i got lost again on my first day, i kid you not. time and time again i've told him to get maps or install tracking systems in the house so people won't get lost in there, but does anyone listens to me? no. i wouldn't be surprised if one day i stumble into the original construction workers trapped in that labyrinth since it was constructed.

putting all jokes aside now, it's really nice to be back in brisbane somewhat. i mean, after being stuck in sydney with practically nothing to do, coming back here is like a god bless. i got stuff to do again. some may remember the garage which i've talked about before, the one housing heaps of imported cars and larger than the flat at holt road, and i had the chance of driving and being in some of them last week. i'm not a car buff, so please don't ask me what model, engine, horsepower etc. the cars are because i really have no idea besides their brand names. but i got to say, it's really nice being inside a luxury car. the leather smell and overall comfort is just unbelievable.

the bently in which we picked up derrick from his primary school. had a lot of stares at the school crossing...

bmw z4 which i really enjoyed driving. the response time is great.

red ferrari taking up space in the garage. i've never seen it left the garage before to be honest.

the inside of the bently from the passenger's seat. it really looked like some rocket science instrument panel.

ps. reimen you really have some hairy legs imo.

the rolls royce and lamborghini that time were covered so i didn't bother taking their pictures in the garage. just google their pictures online if you really want to see how they look like though. it's all the same to me.

nothing much can be said during the week before university except that we more or less enjoyed ourselves everyday. every night me, rei, chia siang, sophia and fendy would hit into the wine cellar and open up a bottle. i still can't believe how we managed to finish up the bottle of blue label that night. then again, fendy did had a fair bit and we had to clean up the mess that she spewed up later that night. having someone puke over you while carrying them is a big no-no. if i am not mistaken, the damage for our nightly escapades were a few bottle of red wines, one bottle of blue label, half a black label and finished up the leftover baileys/hazelnut haven.

p.s playing mahjong while semi drunk yields interesting and funny results.

going back to university this week has been fun. i've met up with a number of old acquaintances throughout this week, and it's been kind of weird with all the ex-juniors whom i used to be in charge of back in bgs harlin house, enrolling into kings college this year. thank god i'm no longer in charge of them. funny thing though that little matthew harrianto came to kings as well, for those that don't know his name, he was one of the little juniors which we stapled onto the wall back in bgs during our last week as seniors. i wonder if he still remembers the incident?

if i've said it before, i'll apologise for saying it again. i love my new room in williams!

p.s.s brisbane sexpo starts today!

King's.

2008-02-24T20:32:00.004+10:00

i'm back and loving my new room! too tired unpacking to write more. brisbane was a bitch yesterday, hitting the records at forty-two degrees. spent the whole day hiding in the wine cellar enjoying the cool air in there. i need to invest in a portable aircon in my room but no money to get one. anyways, hope it will all be over soon, only 2 months to go before the weather cools off. classes starting tomorrow and i have no idea what my lecture notes are telling me. i'm so boned.

Return.

2008-02-20T16:39:00.003+10:00

getting ready to fly back to brisbane tonight, packing up my comp last as usual. i hope it will be uneventful. curses to dan for his blog pictures, gave me nightmares of chucky last night. i really need to get over that phobia one day seriously. hopefully will have everything back up by this weekend. until then...

release the warhamsters!

Insomnia ii.

2008-02-18T01:09:00.007+10:00

its 2.10 am over here and i can't sleep. it's bad. my body clock is still used to malaysia time although i had almost a month to fix it. talk about lagging jet lag. damn u ben for showing off you could rewatch the whole unbeatables series. if i could, i would sign up for that service in a heartbeat.

jason : i was actually looking for the ugliest slide to select as the preview, then your face came out automatically so i didn't change it :3

justin : well i don't know, i love cooking thats true, but i may not be able to handle cooking full time? who knows.

tried taking the opportunity to pack my stuff before i head back to brisbane. two socks and a pair of pants counts as packing im sure. time sure flies, it still feels like last week that i came back from the hospital. part of me is sad because i can't slack anymore, part of me is happy because it means i have something to do now. weird conflicting thoughts i know, call me an oxymoron. fookie's already in melbourne settling in, zw flew off on sunday and probably arrived in perth already. all the australian university students getting back to studies again. got a new room this year in the williams building, w28 a.k.a upper right. it's a lot bigger than the other rooms i held previously and i get my own personal balcony. flipside? can't think of any yet until i meet my flatmates. i seriously hope i get wyverns (king's college students) that i can live with.

some of you may remember when i said my old house in miri burned down, not once but twice, back in november last year. i actually walked over one day and took a few pictures of the place. it looked pretty bad, the living room and guest room wing got burned down totally. some parts didn't even have a roof. it was really a shame seriously, i really loved the guest room wing when i was young, with all the projector home theater set. at least my old room, which was at the far back of the house wasn't affected at all. i wished i took pictures of the room, it was really spacious and had a nice view of the sea out the window, and also was the only room i had so far that had a desk which could fit all my stuff on. i didn't bother to find out what caused the fire. some said it was a wiring fault, some said the new owner set it on fire for insurance, some said it was bad karma. (i heard rumours that the new owner's niece died outside the house after being involved in a hit and run accident, didn't really bother to check if it was true or not but seriously, the house is located on a long stretch of road so one can spot any incoming traffic a good 400 meters away on either side. one must be blind and deaf not to notice any cars coming.)

the main gate from outside.

small resting pavilion in the front part of the garden.

front door and part of the living room which was destroyed.

another view of the damage.

slightly less than a week left before university starts ahh.

Cuisine.

2008-02-16T14:34:00.004+10:00

it's no secret that i like cooking, in fact i love it. the method to transform simple foodstuff into a mouthwatering platter of temptation is in fact, fun and rewarding. my interest in it started way back when i was still young, spending many hours inside the humble kitchen of 208 taman bumiko watching and learning from others. sometimes, i can still remember the sweet aroma of spices, the enticing smells and the vivid, bursting colours of the food, especially just before a special occasion. and with all the different styles out in the world, one can only continue to learn.

there are four things that i i believe are important in making a dish, which first and foremost is simplicity, followed by smell, sight and taste. i always believe in making a dish, it should be easily recreated and everyone can enjoy it. also, when cooking, one must always keep in mind of the people whom one is cooking for. is someone allergic to seafood? can they take spicy food? catering to minor details about a person's taste is worth it as they eat is very rewarding when you see their empty plates and smiles at the end.

the first thing anyone will notice when entering the kitchen is the smell, so care must be taken to remove the odour from strong smelling ingredients such as fish and lamb. this is where spices are your best friend. a small handful of rosemary or plums can mask the smells or one could just soak them in milk beforehand. the presentation must also be attractive. contrasting colours and garnishing such as mint and goji berries *i'm a sucker for them :3* helps make certain dishes more colourful. more often than not if i probably see a horrible looking dish, i would think to myself as quoted from martin pixel, "jesus, joseph and doggy style mary. that looks like a pile of dogshit" and will tactfully pass on the dish. i'm such a hypocrite i know. *rolls eyes* last of all is the taste. everyone's taste differs so one must always try to find an ideal balance of taste for whom they are cooking for. i always tell my siblings this, before serving anything to anyone, always always make sure you give it a taste first. if you find the taste terrible, its highly probably everyone else finds it horrible as well. i can still remember the time when i was around 7(?) when i made a bowl of fried rice, and while adding salt the top came off and spilt into the rice. of course, being the naive chef i was then, i just removed the salt that i could see then continued cooking. needless to say, when it was served, the fried rice made salted fish taste like chocolate covered strawberries.

lately i've been playing around with photoshop and vegas, and readers may have noticed the new banner i made, a product of my boredom. i'm still working on that picture video that we talked about jason, but unfortunately im still awaiting some more pictures from you and the others before i can start. i have already got a rough idea in mind of what to do, thanks to advice from jared and frank, though i'll probably tweak a few more stuff here and there. in the meantime, here's a small sample of the video i made from the pictures during the december '07 singapore trip. for some reason, theres heaps of pictures of vinc and zw in it, i should had checked before using the pictures though but its still okay. i recommend downloading the higher meg version which can be found here as the video and sound quality is a lot better. anyways, here's the youtube version for those that can't be bothered. enjoy!

Caramelldansen.

2008-02-16T04:53:00.004+10:00

ahh! can't get enough of this song. i can't get it out of my head!

caramelldansen! yes its a loop but i love it still!

Nice Guy.

2008-02-15T23:41:00.005+10:00

its friday! my last weekend in sydney. don't know whether to be sad or be relieved, maybe a mix of both? props to dan for pointing out this blog out to me which cover's the otaku's love. here's a quote from it.

Nice guy.

Yet, the label ‘nice guy’ can be such a taboo label in a courtship.

Save for some trolls, most of the otakus are well adjusted, introverted geeks with a good heart. They have a rich inner world, full of thoughts and emotions, yet sometimes they find it difficult to express themselves. At least not in the bold, suave or flashy manner like the dashing heroes do in the pictures.

For a girl that they like, they will do small things like, finish their Calculus homework, repair their computer…or build them a Gunpla model customised to the girl’s favourite colour scheme. They will listen to them go on and on about their hair, how she chipped her nail, why isn’t Aaron answering her calls…They do all the nice things for the girl that they like but…

And when they finally confess their feelings for the girl, the girl says,”You’re such a nice guy, but…” By then the otakus can hear the familiar refrain “We’ll be good friends forever….” It’s the ultimate sentence that says GAME OVER when the cruel hand of fate deals the ‘Nice Guy’ card.

DO YOU F**KING KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE HANDED A NICE GUY CARD!!!????

can't stop laughing thinking about m when reading this post though i really shouldn't. i feel that most of us have had gone through this before at least once. read the blog for more though, its really funny. again another youtube video taken from danny choo, featuring the nendoroid dance. god damn they're cute.

watch out for the white hair girl @ 1:15. hilariously cute when she's confused.

edit : once again, credit goes to dan for this info. the white hair girl is called yowane haku. 弱音ハク. her name means “speaking weak words” (‘speaking’ here has connotation of a pent up sigh or muttering.) she got her start from a thread in 2chan where a user commented “i bought hatsune miku for her cute looks but no matter how hard i try, i can’t get anything better than mechanical sounding songs out of her.” an artist took this and ran with it to create yowane haku, an alter ego of all unskilled users of hatsune miku. haku is a sad vocaloid who just can’t sing as well as miku. she is always crying because of her frustration and vents her frustration by drinking. her image colors are silver and purple. her character item is a sake bottle.

if you don't know who is hatsune miku, shame on you! *j/k but really, go find out if you don't*

Valentine's.

2008-02-14T17:49:00.006+10:00

another valentine's arrived and gone. not much to talk about really, except well wishes to those born today and those making it a special day. i myself, believe that things that matter comes not from the pocket, such as heart shaped boxes of candy or red roses, but love and tenderness from the heart. or maybe i'm just a hopeless romantic.

here's a music video for everyone out there, be it whether you're alone or with someone special today. i have always loved the song, my heart will go on, but prefer the softer voice of yuna ito compared to celine dion. happy valentine's day 2008 everyone.

Conclusion.

2008-02-13T19:52:00.005+10:00

i finally finished devil may cry 4! sore thumbs and finger cramps but i'm happy.

/loveheart

Muse.

2008-02-11T14:38:00.001+10:00

i hope everyone is having a festive lunar new year wherever they may be. and thank you for the well wishes that i have received over the past few days. it has been almost 4 years since i have celebrated chinese new year in malaysia or singapore and to be honest, i really do miss all the festive tidbits that comes with the festival. don't get me wrong, it's not that i cannot find them in australia, it's just that the quality and taste is different, if you know what i mean. yes i know, i am a very fussy eater, hence many people may understand why i always insist on local food when i travel back haha.

i have been hooked on the jdrama liar game these past few days. for some reason, i could hardly immerse myself into those american psychological thriller series such as csi, to me it seems to be missing that something that liar game and galileo brings. some of you may recognise erika toda (love those eyes) from her role as misa in death note. somehow i love to watch shows that dives into the human psyche. what could compel someone to act this way? why are you doing this to me? i find topics about the human mind very intresting. is it really that easy to break down a person's mental state, to be able to control and manipulate him or her? how can i avoid it? some may think i am a sadistic son of a bitch for enjoying watching these kind of shows, but as quoted from an old movie, "i just want to see what makes you tick, my dear." i personally believe, it is not wrong to know how to manipulate and control someone, however it is more of a guard of what may be used against me. it is not the knowledge which makes it evil, but the motive to abuse it that makes it evil. to tell the truth, i actually considered taking up criminology as my undergraduate study back then, (hospitality coming a close second) and sometimes i have to wonder, would i have truly enjoy it? i may never know. "the human mind is, indeed a dangerous thing."

i want a poster of this picture!

another valentine's day is coming up soon, and honestly, it saddens me a little to be alone again this year but its okay, i know eventually it will not be so. for some reason, two faces came to mind as i was typing this up. it has been a while since i thought about ny, wherever she may be, i seriously wish her happiness always. and of her, what could she be thinking off right now?

The way to love anything
is to realize that it might be lost.

Natal Day.

2008-02-06T00:45:00.001+10:00

twenty-two. i feel older but none the wiser. can't sleep, thanks rei for waking me up in one a.m in the morning. i'll give you panda rabies on your birthday next year don't worry. busy day later, mass cooking and stuff. i mean, who makes the birthday boy cooks for his own dinner? my family thats for sure. on the flip side at least i have to cook only once this year for both my birthday and chinese new year dinner.

need sleep. probably will go club myself to sleep with a seal.

Addictive.

2008-02-05T12:08:00.001+10:00

somehow, among the hectic chinese new year preparations, i managed to download the devil may cry 4 demo last night, and i am loving it! the graphics, the movements, the attitude, it's just wow. even though it's just the demo, i have been playing it nonstop since last night. addicted much? i wonder. dmc4 still retains many aspects of its previous games, like the beautifully choreographed moves, the dark gothic surroundings and the bad boy devil may care attitude but loses the trademark ebony and ivory (the dual black and white pistols) and a new character called nero is the main character (you get to fight against dante though :3 so i'm not complaining). capcom added in a few new features as well, such as the ingame minimap and to make up for the absence of dual wielding pistols, nero gets a sick looking devil arm which can grapple enemies and to swing across ledges. below is a decent trailer which i could find showing the demo boss fight against berial, a pit lord lookalike, and it is eyegasmic.

watch the 2:50 mark!

nero.

dante.

dante vs nero.

fights!

three days to go for devil may cry 4 release!

Dreams.

2008-02-02T23:38:00.001+10:00

"you haven't seen the last of barbados slim, now goodbye forever."

rejoice! for futurama is back in the air after 4 years of hiatus with the movie bender's big score. now all is left is for firefly to make a return and my eden will almost be complete. it is refreshing to once again view the crazy antics of fry, bender and leela as they battle to save galaxy express from the nefarious scammer aliens. fans will no doubt love the little references they threw into the movie, such an example when bender travels back in time and steals the nobel peace prize, and the huge space fight involving dozens of solid gold death stars. in all seriousness, watch it, or else i'll set hypno-toad on you!

i think i have been watching too many sci-fi series lately which involves time traveling. for some reason, i have been having weird dreams about going back into the past. whats weirder is that for some strange, unexplainable reason, dan has been in nearly everyone of them. no, i'm not gay but for some reason, he keeps making camo appearances in my dreams. take the latest one for example; me, dan and fook somehow went back to feudal japan and armed with only botan, we have to save someone? the messed up part of the whole thing was jason suddenly appearing and wearing the whole terminator gig, leather suit and shades, said "follow me if you want to live." fortunately i either woke up or can't remember the rest of the dream. i really need something to keep my active imagination occupied, ever since i hardly play wow anymore. like the saying goes, "an idle mind is the devil's playground."

edit: zomg! tin tin movie! bring back more classics!

Postscript.

2008-01-30T21:01:00.002+10:00

first of all, here's your thank you post ning for ripping and sending me that song. as promised, the first batch of panda cubs will be yours but be careful, they bite heaps especially in their first month. but its okay, you just got to show it who is the boss then everything will be alright. secondly, thank you rei for the fan boy transformer belt and firefly figurines that you got for me. both of them are hanging proudly in my room the moment i got back.

it's been a busy weekend i reckon; going down to brisbane for rei's 21st, clothes shopping and catching up with the rest of the group. it's great to see everyone doing just fine. i still can't believe i flew all the way back just to make sushi which i didn't even get a chance to eat myself at the party, but i suppose as long as everyone else enjoyed them, i can live i suppose. it kicked off around five in the evening, with the beautiful sunset falling across brisbane city. it has been a while since i met up with the other hii families and i could hardly believe how some of them have matured since last year. big congrats to sherlyn and darius for getting top marks for their qcs, and raising the benchmark for your poor unfortunate younger siblings.

after the party had "officially" ended, we had our own post-party drinks in rei's room where either due to temporarily insanity or the need to show off his male hormones, rei skulled four fingers of blue label. it did made the night interesting though with his crazy antics and incoherent ramblings. too bad it didn't occurred to me to get his bank details while he was that state but oh well, there will be other times i suppose.

click me for more pictures!

handrolled sushi...

and sashimi ones! *yes i did them myself*

the ambrosia of the gods.

jimmy after one too many rum and coke.

taka and aiko.

rei's and claud's side.

look! it's cousin ugly!

the most asian looking couple at the party seriously.

calvin, reimen, derrick, isabelle, samantha, sherlyn, valene, claudia, beverly, darius

from the three hii families.

leave the martial arts to us asians please.

i have yet to do my chinese new year clothes shopping, but honestly can't find the time to do so since coming back. i've managed to buy a few clothing now and then, but i doubt that they are appropriate for the occasion. which brings me to the other issue at hand, i need more money. i really do. clothes shopping, textbooks and games are already eating into my budget for this year. i really don't know how can i save up enough money for the planned japan/hongkong trip on the middle of the year with rei, micheal and jimmy. i suppose i have to pray for an intervention or something. until then peeps.

eight days to go until devil may cry 4 is released! must endure!

Flight.

2008-01-26T15:55:00.001+10:00

i am going back to brisbane for the weekend. i will be m.i.a until next tuesday so until then, heres some merry christmas mr. lawrence by ryuichi sakamoto. if anyone have this song, please share it with me and i'll have your panda babies as i have been searching for it for a long time. calv out!

Panda^3

2008-01-24T20:22:00.001+10:00

i haven't done clothes shopping in a while. to think about it, its been almost six months give or take, that i last bought new clothings. i'll be heading back to brisbane for the weekend to celebrate rei's 21st party. was told it was going to be some formal cocktail party thingy, and all my formal clothings are probably still in a box somewhere in kings, so had to go out get something smart. i myself would prefer to walk up in sandals and singlet though.

the main item for the day though, was the panda hat i bought :3 to be honest, i had a hard time deciding whether to get it or not and in the end, impulsiveness won over reasoning. i regret not having it earlier in japan as it doubles as a very nice hat and ear muffs, not to mention walking down the streets of japan in a panda hat will no doubt attract attention ^^;

panda head butt attack!

reaching home, i rearranged my room again to make more space. i can't really decide where to hang the posters without making them clash with one another. too many items too little walls. on the bright side, i'm almost done with cleaning up and just in time before chinese new year. i also got some nice pictures of bronte beach. i sometimes wish miri waters were as clear as them, then i wouldn't mind going back there now and then. i really should start editing and uploading the k.k and miri pictures as well, but can't find the time for it. might just do a huge batch shot together with bronte beach and rei's 21st once i come back i think. sorry zw, no pictures to back up the dog and the top story. it's okay, i laughed heaps on your behalf.

Spring Cleaning!

2008-01-22T22:58:00.002+10:00

one thing i hate after having a holiday is the repacking. one must find space to fit both the old and new stuff, and more often than not, theres always no space. on the bright side though, it means i finally get to clean up my room, and just in time for chinese new year as well.

i mainly spent most of today rearranging my room and finding available walls to hang up my comiket lewts. most of the posters and bags are already up, but theres still the huge pile on my bed that i have no idea how to sort them out. i'll eventually think of something but for now, it occupies half of my bed. uploading and editing the holiday pictures was also a real bitch. first, i have to browse through over two thousand pictures, select the nice ones, resize them, save and arrange before uploading them online. also, i found out that flickr only allows a max of two hundred pictures per account, so i have to keep making dummy emails just to upload them up.

anyways, here they are. theres a fair bit to view but it is worth the time i assure you. below is a few sample teasers for you all to see. :3

part.1
part.2
part.3

yarrr!

trippy 'Shrooms anyone?

i'm a rock!

pandapandapanda!

and we were going out for a boat trip that day...

look jason! chocobos in the middle display!

'dan'druff!!! bad pun i know :3

and something for the boys..

its 7 degrees and they're wearing skirts!

i really love her smile ^^;

Insomnia.

2008-01-22T01:13:00.002+10:00

can't sleep. lovely 3 hour difference making me guard the house at night once again. on a side note though, finally uploaded the japan food feast. enjoy and happy drooling.

> clickhere. <

Reflections.

2008-01-21T15:21:00.001+10:00

its only been day one and i'm already missing the times i had during the trip. all the laughs and tears; friendships made and friendships lost; though bittersweet, will give one many memories to remember throughout the years. as i sit reflecting on the previous year, many things comes to my mind. what could i had achieved? why wasn't i more straightforward? how could things had been better? these regrets constantly have been chipping away at my heart.

'07 was a fairly quiet year for me, partly due to the long recovery period i had. however, it also gave me plenty of time to think about things. too long i have been afraid of change, and as a result, influenced my laid back lifestyle. i feel it is time to wake up and move on forward, to start the next chapter in my life. i have many resolutions, but knowing myself it will be impossible to adhere to them consistently. here's some which i will seriously try to keep.

keep fit.
no more procrastinating.
stop being shy.

there is a whole year up ahead to see how far will i meet my goals. and a year from now; if i'm still around; it will be great to reflect once again. theres a saying someone had told me a long time ago, but i will always remember it. "we had the good times. we had the bad times. we had the best times."

p.s tagboard up so stop hounding me justin!

Genesis.

2008-01-20T15:48:00.002+10:00

well, finally back after a month and a half trip around the place. it was great considering the long recovery break i had in 2007. shoutouts to daniel for organising the japan trip and to the #s0ul that managed to meet up during the short sg transits. for those of you who have been pestering for the japan pictures, yes i'll upload them but eventually so be patient. here's a small teaser though for the time being until i'm finished unpacking and sorting out my room.

i'm not drunk, i swear!

now thats a wine party.

miyazaki nahoko from shibuya, japan.

comiket73 lewts!

took a two hour jungle trek in miri to reach this waterfall...

and fell down the waterfall after snapping this lovely flower.

boat trip to the islands in kota kinabalu!

seashell collecting! love the white mountain design

i will try to keep this blog active this time, with stuff from vacations, hobbies and events and layout tweaking in the days to come. until then, cal out.