Too much info

Talk about customer service.

My trip to Sim Lim square today was a fruitful one. I was looking to get a DIY PC and I was initially afraid that I would not know what to ask for, the specs and all.

All I knew was that the DIY PC shops would be somewhere level 4 and above, and when I ascended to level 3 I was greeted by-

rows of individuals giving out A3-sized pamphlets to whoever was in their way.

Well, one of them just shoved it at me and I took it, and as I hoped, it turned out to be some info about DIY PC shops and the packages they were offering. As I walked along the whole parade of pamphlet distributors I eventually got a stack of it, so thick I couldn't get anymore new ones!

And when I finally filtered out the stuff with the info I needed, I was still left with

A tree-hugger wannabe like me would have frowned at this marketing method (just look at the amount of waste paper in the bins!), except that a greater part of me was delighted that I could make an informed choice so much easier, you know a person like me would have gone, like, "What and where to start asking?".

Perhaps they could consider putting paper recycling bins at every level of the mall. Seriously I think the bins would feel damn at home!

P.S. On my way to Sim Lim, I passed this place which I think Otakus will love a lot. It's both "cool" and "moe"!

M.O.E.

Say hi to my new sneakers!

And the new T-shirt that would probably get me shot in the streets...

Figure 11, own time own target, carry on.

And my new phone I got from renewing my contract!

Sony Ericsson K618i, with a 2 Megapix camera and supports SD memory card.

During cell today Jiansheng had the "honour" to be the first person I captured using the new camphone!

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There's this advertisement I really liked... it's the Heaven & Earth Green Tea advertisement where Godzilla stopped destroying the city after downing one whole vending-machine-load of H&E Green Tea (and finding its "inner peace"). I find it to be one of those advertisements today that brought forth its point in a pretty straightforward manner, unlike those other adverts which either have no point at all or might take a bit more brains to decipher (what those snobs call "witty").

Then again the advert had been cut to only one small fraction of the original... and now you only see Godzilla drinking the stuff, period. All about cutting cost, I think.

Eventually I just wish that these small sparks of creativity we see around us won't get forgotten over time.

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I just finished watching the episode of "Guess Guess Guess" featuring Taiwanese Otakus (my dream vocation!!!) with mixed feelings.

I've been forewarned (via I-weekly) about this episode involving "Otakus" being ridiculed (well sort of) and that there's been a blog response to the show by one of the participants, which is

http://windranger.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!31FFB0C61D590653!270.entry

I personally felt a bit worried about those guys on stage (especially the one who's really nervous!) and at the same time I see so much of them in me. Under-expressive at times (the girl whom I couldn't take my eyes off you-know-what-I-mean), and over-expressive at times (read: thinking aloud).

And not to mention the figurines! One of them even had a Shana bolster, wow!

From the blogger's point of view it seems that all the "stories" were staged (it's very likely in variety shows, you never know) but somehow I just felt that whatever they said (and whatever was in the blog)... smells of an Otaku.

Mixed feelings because there's really 2 sides of me going-

"Those snobs are telling me what to do. Those self-righteous people are saying that it's wrong to stay home and not socialise, and yet when I do some "live action" stuff in front of them they call me a clown. They say it's not right to lose interest in girls beyond 2D, but real girls are so *&&%&^ and so hard to please, so unpredictable. Drawings stay the same, they don't change. Immutable."

"Those Otakus are snobs living in their own world and think that their form of entertainment is the most sophisticated and high-class (cough-French-cough); stuff from other cultures are just "of that kind of standard" (an overused term in Japanese I think). And 2D girls can't give you children anyway. The Otaku living 10 blocks away will have a different definition of your idea of 'moe', which you identify as a symbol of your culture. "

And talking about Otakus, Hiromi Arakawa's got something to say...

"I think the term 'moe' is being abused nowadays."

OK I've always admired Arakawa and his FullMetal Alchemist series...

Sometimes hearing what Otakus have to say scared me quite a bit. They can ramble on and on about the near-godliness of the manga and novels they read, and most of them, well...

Haruhi, my disdain for the series is known to almost everyone I bother telling. Shana, while not a bad concept at all, simply couldn't make novel material -- it's after all manga storyline and the wishy-washy Japanese way of describing things totally couldn't compare with the likes of Harry Potter (my yardstick fo reader appeal). I guess I'll stop following the novel and just go for the manga adaptation which only just started.

OK in the end my point is, my upbringing and personality would have made me an Otaku but I didn't have the money and the internet connection (jolly blogging with Dial-up) back when I was "ready". And now having seen that the Otaku kind of path isn't exactly as sensible as they say, I might as well forget it.

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Random shots again...

Taken during a class gathering with 10/04. We've transited from talking about NS to talking about ORD. Good to be alive.

Ima Ai Ni Yukimasu!

The VCD of the drama hasn't been restocked for quite some time, but now it's in a power-packed package with extra behind-the-scenes footage, but it costs $44. Dear dear dear me I won't be buying.

But I'm still glad it got back on the shelves again. I personally was very much affected by the drama and I wish that more people can get to know of this wonderful story (blah blah-) but don't read the book first. The original story was quite dull actually... got to admire those who added the extra flesh and blood into the movie and drama stories.

P.S. I find "Zai Bie Kang Qiao" (Goodbye Cambridge) by SHE really nice and soothing.

X-man

After selling my Triton LE, I finally got myself an X-50!

The reason why I wanted an X-50 was because of the light weight... it's about 4.5 kg, so it's less than half the weight of my Triton LE.

I can hold it this way! That's how light it is!

Also it was clearly a keyboard engineered for portability. I fell in love with it's trademark side handles the moment I first saw it.

The handles!

Now, easy... easy...

Ahhhh...

The piano sample is also nicer sounding than older Korg keyboards, not to mention the increased user-friendliness.

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Bernard had quite an awesome 21st birthday celebration organised by his friends. Some of us in CPC who were in his generation were invited, and I finally got to see Jimmy, whom my (ex-) colleagues mentioned more often than not.

Along with the usual card-playing + TV watching (xiao di di won Campus Superstar!), Bernard had to do this forfeit (not exactly one, actually) where he did some of the moves he picked up from his Wushu course outside school. Took a video of it, but no stills.

Jianyuan and I got him a shirt from 77th street, which, in my opinion, suits him quite well. Took a photo of it, but it was too blurred so...

Nick was late!!! Expected lah, since there was Natsu Matsuri (Summer Fest) on the same day at the Jap School. But he came with a fish he got from the fish-scooping game which is common in Natsu Matsuri.

Hmm recently Yichuan was talking about how pets can be very healing companions when you're feeling down (he 's got a cat at home). The fish episode impressed on me that it wouldn't be too bad to keep a small fish or two at home (aren't they just cyuuute?)

After a trip to the aquarium, however, I decided that given my irregular daily schedules and my short time spent at home, I'll only get a fish after I get into Uni and if I get to stay on Campus.

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Other snapshots of my life so far...

I was at the Army Half Marathon! I didn't run the "half marathon" though... merely 6 km.

Alphonse Elric, my new handphone companion!

I guess my favourite character in Fullmetal Alchemist has got to be Alphonse... the intimidating battle armour (a temporary housing for his soul) belies the pure and kind soul within. I once read a 4-box cartoon (official one lah duh!) on what it would be like if the short-tempered (but equally likeable) elder brother Edward was the one who lost his body (therefore needing the armour housing) instead, and it certainly wasn't a beautiful picture! Hence I appreciated this story arrangement even more.

Death Note: Retold

To date, the Death Note series has undoubtedly been the most difficult-to-read series for me. If not for my having bought the whole series at one go, I would have stopped after L died (OK I've probably been telling that to almost everyone I knew). L is my hero hahaha.

Still, with Near's "Ages 2 and up" finger puppet figurines, it's not that difficult to figure (pun intended) it out!

In the beginning there was Kira, who sought to rid the world of baddies, obviously by killing them with the Death Note

Along came L, who swore to stop him

Then came Misa, who looked up to Kira and became Kira no. 2

Together, by the power of love (so-called), they barely Pwned L

Hot on their heels were M (Mello) and N (Near), who continued in L's work

Hold on, where's Takada?

Anyway, Kira Pwned M (with the help of his L337 followers) and N took Misa out of the picture.

N (& Company) VS Kira (& Company)

Kira got "wrote off" (well, sort of)

And so, our heroes L and M got avenged!

And Misa was left without a clue...

Credits: Deathnote figurines bought from Comics Connection at bargain price! Special appearance: Isaiah's finger as, erm... N's finger