Looking to the sky to save me

Just like the west and the chinese have their astrology and horoscopes, the Japanese have their own system of predicting a person's personality, temperament, and compatibility with others through their blood type.

Japanese Blood Type Personality Chart

• Type A
  Best Traits:
  Earnest, creative, sensible.
  Worst Traits:
  Fastidious, overearnest.
  
• Type B
  Best Traits:
  Wild, a doer, cheerful.
  Worst Traits:
  Selfish, irresponsible.
  
• Type AB
  Best Traits:
  Cool, controlled, rational.
  Worst Traits:
  Critical, indecisive.
  
• Type O
  Best Traits:
  Agreeable, sociable, an optimist.
  Worst Traits:
  Vain, careless.

Its application are quite evident in the anime and gaming circle as blood types are often tied down to a particular character's stereotype. Well I've never believed in any of this tripe and especially not now when Type O is listed as being 'sociable'. Pfft!

Won't die if you don't try

For that wickedly explosive taste, try some Afghanistan Pomen-grenades! Only 49cents/100grams!

Just walking through the supermarket today made me realise how many fruits and vegetables i have never tasted before. Off the top of my head, i have never tried eggplants, zucchini, persimmons, those bombs pictured above etc before. Makes me realise how swakoo i am.

But am i really missing alot in terms of taste? Even if eggplants became extinct(?), I'm sure i won't look back and think, "Man, i should have tried them when i had the chance!"

Guitar Hero 3 Hands On @ Tokyo Game Show 2007

I don't think this post would fit in to my other blog despite it being in Japan, but here is my hands-on opinion on Guitar Hero 3 (which i tried on the PS3 cos Microsoft did not bring it to TGS):

Songs Played:

- Welcome to The Jungle - GnR (Hard)
Nothing tricky on Hard, nothing special as well. This would be a cinch on controller for me.

- School's Out - Alice Cooper (Expert)
Looks to be an early tier song in the mould of (a lesser) Monkey Wrench. Lots of repetitive chords. I like it.

- Lay Down - Priestess (Hard)
Catchy metal song. I had a pro-face off with a member of Activision GH3 production team but lost.. In my defense, he obviously knew the song better and the 2nd verse and beyond i hardly missed a note. In fact, i perfected the solo. Not hard on Hard.

- Cult of Personality - Living Color (Expert)
Verse is fairly simple. Caught the riff quite easily but always messed up on the 3-note chords. Solo on the other hand..wow, looks like an easy fail for me without SP! It's not a Jordan, much more organised but its fast and you got to do a lot of finger-climbing on the keys to hit it.

Songs i saw people playing:

- Various songs on Medium:
Just want to say that Medium seems to be bumped up a little bit. It's still not hard but there's a lot more tricky bits in the way so a 100% won't be as easy.

- Knights of Cydonia - Muse (Hard)
This looks a little harder. Some fast passages a la Misirlou that will surely break my streak.

Some other tidbits i got from the Activision guy; game is coming out end-October; he was really quite proud of the improved strum bar which is less clickety-clack and more cushioned at the end, frankly i used the clicks to count my beats so i'm not as enthusiastic as he was; asked about TFaF and he said it was not on this demo, but Knights of Cydonia and Cult of Personality on Expert are as close as he can describe it; wireless guitar+Sony Full-HD TV = major synching lag!; he says there are 70 songs in the game; maybe it was a new guitar but the keys felt really firm.

I can't wait for this to come out. Will be a really good present when i arrive back in Singapore!

Be Still my Beating Heart...

When i was younger, i used to be terrified of the dark. Then i outgrew that fear. Then i used to get homesick very often. I cried after spending 1 month in Australia cause i was homesick. I felt lousy during my entire BMT (my favourite song was '1 more day to BOOK OUT DAY!..")because i was homesick.

And tomorrow i'm going to embark on the longest trip overseas (solo or family) i have ever undertaken and now, the night before, thank goodness i seem to have lost that 'warm' fuzzy feeling of homesickness. That might change during the trip but i'm determined, barring disabilities, fatalities etc, to complete my trip (up till Nov 14th) before returning.

As expected, i'm much too excited to sleep the night before i fly off. So i got to updating both my blogs. I still havent decided whether to update this blog while i'm in Japan, so don't be suprised if this remains as my last post till sometime November.

Anyway, for those not in the know, PLEASE BOOKMARK:

http://japancyclingtrip.blogspot.com/
(MY CYCLING TRIP BLOG)
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielchin/
(WHERE I'LL UPLOAD ALL MY PHOTOS)
(register as a FLICKR member (free) and add me 'shdw_mss[at]hotmail.com' to be added as a friend)

Again, if you're not in the know, i'm flying off to Japan to cycle tomorrow! For 3 months! From the South to North! Please visit my alt. blog and feel free to comment (i'll really appreciate if you do)! Tell your friends all about me if you can! I'll do my upmost best to try to update daily with photos or whenever possible when i'm in Japan.

In closing, i just want to add there's still one fear that i don't think i will ever conquer. And that's the fear of having a close relative pass away and me not being around to say goodbye. One of the biggest regret i will ever carry with me was not spending the last few moments of my grandfather's life beside his bed. (I was sleeping) A lot can change in 3 months. I just pray that God will bless and keep my family safe and healthy while i'm out enjoying my holiday.

Sayounara! Till next time we meet!

Good Riddance ODEX! Farewell Anime!

As some of you might know the main reason i got interested in all-things Japanese is because i was introduced to anime during my poly-days. Since then my taste has evolved to J-music, J-idols, J-movies and now most recently J-dramas. Now i think the think the time has come for me to give up on my first love (anime).

And i blame this on the entire ODEX and AVPAS crackdown on anime downloading that has been going on since the beginning of the year. I always try to place myself on both sides of any argument to try and understand where each party is coming from, so a brief summary on the 2 sides of this matter:

ODEX: Downloading anime is illegal. We own the licenses to officially release anime in Singapore have authorisation to take legal action (meaning: Fine $$) against anyone who had and are still downloading anime in Singapore. We blame our poor VCD/DVD (VCD..haha!) sales on these 'pirates' and won't hesitate to sue the pants off anyone (they actually sued a 9 year old-boy)

The 'other' side: You are just using the excuse of piracy to account for your poor sales when the real problem is that you don't understand what anime fans want. Your releases suck in video quality, subtitles and dubs etc... Using lawsuits and threats to recover your losses is really the lowest.

All this has been going on for quite a while now and my intention was to let all the hoo-hah die down before going back into anime but just recently i've been reading again about all that ODEX has done to persecute (some call it a 'witch-hunt') anime lovers (pirates) and i ask myself, is it all worth it to take this risk? I love anime, but i certainly won't die without watching it.

And just reading how unreasonable and unfair the law suits are. Basically, they CAN persecute you in a court for $10,000/episode but they will settle for an out-of-court settlement of $3,000 to $5,000, and from what i read you have to sign an agreement that basically allows them to sue you AGAIN for the same thing if they so please). And as someone questioned in a HWZ post, "Pay $3,000 and they still don't give you the anime huh?"

Furthermore, instead of first issuing a warning letter, the lawsuit will just land 'Boom' in your mailbox straightaway. It's like stealing candy from a mama shop and instead of the shopowner shouting, "Oei!" first and giving chase, he just whips out a shotgun and guns you down.

To be fair, i acknowledge that Yes, downloading anime is illegal and wrong. As soon as i read that there would be a crackdown i completely stopped downloading. However, i read that ODEX has the power to persecute anyone who downloaded within the LAST 7 months*!

Now disregarding that they don't send out warning letters before a lawsuit, if they were to suddenly send a letter saying, "Hey, we're going to sue you for what you dl'ed XX months ago. Despite you stopping your downloading when we made public that it was illegal, we still see a need to sue you to earn back our $$." Now they CAN do this. That's just totally unfair and unethical, IMO, moreso than 'stealing' a video.

It seems that they just out to make a quick buck from lawsuits rather than improve their releases and pandering to the anime niche market.

Lastly, just saw this articles today about ODEX director gloating about suing people. If i didn't hate him (or rather his company) before i certainly hate him now. Anyway you can follow this saga through this links:

- Hardware Zone forumers expose Odex director?
- how do i gotten pwnt
- Excuse me, is that Stephen? The Stephen Sing?
- Stephen Sing: Odex Director (Hardware zone Forum thread, their CSI team investigating the 'gloating' matter)
- ODEX Wiki

Anyway after all that is said and done, yes, i will try to wean myself off anime. I DON'T need to 'pirate' to keep myself entertained. I have always imported DVDs and CDs of shows/music i like. I have no financial issues about buying original. I LIKE buying Original.

ODEX, you will never have my support on any of their products unless you stop this lawsuit bullshit and reimburse all the people you sued. I certainly don't need any of your shitty releases. You will need consumers like ME more than i will ever need anything from you. Good riddance.
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Oh ya, after feeling a bit pissed today reading all this ODEX crap, i called the police on the neighbour living across from me. That dumb *insert expletive here* was burning some things and all his ashes flew into our front porch. Talking to him didn't seem to do any good (retard..) so i just called the police hotline to confirm whether i could file a complaint on this matter and the police said yes. So i did.

I feel justified in my decision because i didn't use the power of the law for monetary gains or greed! I'm within my rights and just protecting my property and teaching some idiots a good lesson in return. They should thank me.

BPL Opening Night, Counting my Piggy Bank

I hate the acronyms 'BPL' compared to EPL. It sounds like British Petroleum League. That's like WWF changing to WWE. It just leaves a bad taste in your mouth when you say it.

There were a few good matches and goals but the only match that mattered to me was Aston Villa vs Liverpool and Villa lost 2-1 . I'm only a teensy bit upset because them losing to Liverpool is like a foregone conclusion (cos they haven't beaten 'Pool at home in 9 years).

That's the advantage of supporting smaller mid-table clubs. Your expectations aren't as high. A draw against a big club would be a happy result, a win would be a miracle. But i think Liverpool were lucky to get the win. They needed a Laursen OG and a 87 min to get all 3 points. Poor Villa. And except for Reo-Coker, the entire squad looks the same as last season..
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I finally opened my piggy bank and counted the coins inside on Friday.

Grand total : $374.20. Decent for a year's savings (and considering how often i take coins out of it for bus fares etc) but a little short of my $500 target. Anyway i'll be changing the coins into pocket money for Japan.

Look! It's the National Day Parade! AGAIN!!

Before it strikes midnight, i just want to say something on this, our 42nd National Day and NDP: How many hundred times do we have to watch a NDP flash Live or on our TV screens before we realise we've just been watching the same old-rehashed crap every single year??

I'm not trying to be unpatriotic here, but give me a break! I just turned on my TV and became overwhelmed by a feeling of deja vu; Didn't i see this last year? And when i think back of the year before i can remember myself thinking the exact same thing.

If someone can introduce me to a NDP Otaku who can tell me the subtle differences and improvements from this year, last year and the 36-40th editions, please do. I really want to shake his hand. Makes me wonder why we Singaporeans are so hard-up for those tickets. I guess it just reflects our 'everything free must grab' mentality.
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Drama: Ushi ni Negai wo - Love & Farm (Episode 1 - 3)

This will probably one of the last J-dramas i watch before i fly off next week. Basically there are only 2 things you need to know about this drama, 1, the plot; 6 university students from Tokyo go to a farm in Hokkaido for a farming internship program (this drama is supposed to be 'educational') and 2, Toda Erika is starring in it.

Words of wisdom suddenly ring in Kazumi's head: "Don't have a cow, man!

Annoyingly, EVERYONE from the university is either a loser, spoiled or just a plain jerk EXCEPT for Toda Erika's character, Chiba Kazumi. And i'm being totally unbiased (hard as it may be to believe) when i state that. The show's supposed to semi-educational but i don't really want to know (or care) where my milk and meat comes from...

A quick run-down of the cast and characters:

1 : Toda Erika as Chiba Kazumi: Clumsy but hardworking. The friendly cute girl next door amd the only normal person in the group. If this was a harem this will be the girl you should probably choose to end up with.
2 : Koide Keisuke as Mano Tohei: 101% Jerk. His father is some bigshot and he loves to act like the leader of the group and boss people around. Hates it when someone else upstages him.
3 : Nakata Atsuhiko as Wakamatsu Ryuta: The silent weirdo (read:loser). Loves to draw pictures of people when they aren't looking.
4 : Aibu Saki as Fujii Ayaka: Spoiled, irritating city slicker. She gets jealous over another girl flirting with a guy who is not her boyfriend, even though she has a boyfriend.
5 : Karina as Suenaga Mihoko: The spoiled rich kid who does not want to do a single thing around the farm.
6 : Tamayama Tetsuji as Takashimizu Takashi: His family owns the farm and he wants to run away from inheriting it. Wishy washy and weak-willed.
7 : Extras

Ultimately, what's gonna keep me watching this series will definitely be Toda Erika. The show is low-average 6/10 material at best and unless you got a fetish for cows and farming then you'll probably not care what happens to any of the dumb cows. Watching all the crying and arguing over cow-care just made me hungry instead.
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Found this funny Borat video on Youtube. Quite old stuff but great if you couldn't get enough of his brand of humor from the movie:

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I finally decided to cut my hair before flying to Japan. With a good chunk of my hair off, i feel at least 5 years younger and it's much more cooling, especially since it's been very hot this past few days. No prizes for realising my new 'do looks the same as all my previous haircuts.

24.0 Megapixel Camera!

http://reprolabels.com/camera/

Specifically, it's a sticker you can buy to 'convert' your camera into a 24.0 MP model! Now will there be anyone so stupid to fall for this i wonder? As i'm thinking about this i already have a few IT-morons in mind who might actually believe it.

If the 'Bling Bling' caption wasn't amusing visit the main site here and check out their photo model. He reminds me of this Maddox article.

Stop playing Sweet CHILD! (WCG 2007)

FACT: The only song on GH2 that manages to cross all age boundaries in GH2 is 'Sweet Child o' Mine'. EVERY Tom Dick and Harry went up onto the stage and played Sweet Child. I must have heard it repeated 200-300 times in the WCG hall on the 1st day alone.

I was on and off the Guitar Hero 2 mini-stage playing whatever song i thought i could 5 star. Somehow that didn't work out right, though i did manage to win 2 free GV movie tickets.

"Take the tickets and get off the stage!"

Yup, they had to bribe me to get me off the stage so other people could have a turn at the game.

Herbert went down with me on Friday and Saturday. No prizes for guessing which booth we hung around most of the time.

"I can play this with my eyes half-closed."

And he even got to sit on a special chair. Damn, i wanted to sit down and play too.

Unfortunately, i did not bring my camera on Saturday, which i really regretted because there was a cosplay event (CosCon 2007, there are pics of it at SGCafe, the individual contest winner (maid with a machine gun, which i think is based on this game)was pretty cute) and also because me and Herbert got interviewed by a Channel V VJ, who just suddenly jammed a mic in my face and asked me how my friend (Bert) got so good.

I gave a short answer ('we practice together at my place alot') and then those idiots didn't get my hint that i had nothing more to add on. There was like an awkward 10-20 secs space of silence where i didn't know what to say with the cameras still rolling and then finally (thankfully) the VJ started laughing, "Don't leave us hanging man!" and moved on to interview Herbert. Good thing it wasn't a live feed.

Wish i could have gotten some pictures of that. And if they do air this on Channel V i hope i can somehow record it (but i don't even subscribe to it so my best bet is to hope for some webcast)

Anyway throughout the 2 days there were alot of spectators taking pictures of Herbert playing GH2, so if by some chance anyone comes across any of his pics on blogs or whatever please let me know!

Leaving on a Jetplane (soon)

16 more days and i'll be flying off! Besides deciding on my first few destinations this afternoon, MOST importantly, i have secured my 'sponsor' for my trip!

I was hoping to get a fixed sum to work with for my 3 month trip, but my 'sponsor' is going to get me a supplmentary card so technically, i have no restriction on budget. But in order to curb errant spending (which i am so often guilty of), i'm going to stick myself to my original plan of $100SGD/day, and any extras put aside to possibly further my 90 days (pending a visa extension application come November).

So, first 2 stops for me upon arrival will be... Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Just can't pass up the chance to visit the 2 A-Bomb memorial sites (Nagasaki Peace Park and Hiroshima Peace Memorial) especially since both are just to the west and east of Fukuoka where i will be arriving.

Up next: Gearing up my bicycle and getting a new handphone.

Electric Eye

I was going to have an afternoon nap today but upon hearing my CPU fans humming i was suddenly struck with this thought: I leave my PC on for almost 6 out of 7 days a week, so how much electricity costs am i running in a month or a year? And for that matter how much are my other devices draining?

So after some sketchy research into the subject and some rough guesstimation on my part (meaning for example, in the case of my PC i just took 75% of the max. power my power box can supply), this are some figures i came up with (based on Singapore Powers 1st July '07 electricity tariffs per kWh; 20.52cents) :

-My PC running @ ~330W w/o LCD monitor:
$397.26 if left on 24/7 for 1 year, $33.10 a month

- My Grundig LCD TV @ 200W:
$71.13 if used 7 hours a day for 1 year, $5.92 a month

- Xbox 360 @ 160W:
- $58.82 if used 7 hours a day for 1 year, $4.90 a month
(power usage compared to a PS3/PS2 in this article)

- Daikin Air-Con @ 900W:
$91.66 if used 2 hours a day for 1 year, $7.64 a month
(that's $366.64 a year if used 8 hours a day!)

- Tower Fan @ 40W:
$54.72 if left on 24/7 for 1 year, $4.56 a month

Anyway these are the main things that are used in my room daily. The biggest cost i can save is definitely on air-conditioning (and i only turn it on when friends come over). If i use my fan for a whole year i will still pay less than using the air-con for 2 hours a day. And despite what my parents say, me playing games for 7 hours a day is not the main reason for the high electricity bills.

Again i want to stress that all the figures are just guesstimation that take do not take into account electricity loss through plugs or energy saving settings etc. Reading for 15 minutes and spending another 15 minutes doing calculations did not make me a SME.

And how about environmental impact? Everything above is presented in dollars and sense so if you ask me how much does saving $50 a year in electricity slow down global warming, i seriously do not know.

I just suspect doing whatever little bit we can to reduce wastage (especially if you're a hug-a-tree kind of person) will do much more than say, having a 'Live Earth' concert and having millions of people around the world tuning in on their TVs.

There's lots of good reading online if you really want to find ways to cut billing costs or just do your part for the environment.

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The latest song from Guitar Hero 3 that looks set to dwarf 'Jordan' in terms of sheer difficulty is Dragonforce's "Through Fires and Flames".

If you like the song you can go to the Dragonforce official site and download the full mp3 version of the song for free (it's the full 7:20 version that will be used in GH3 compared to the 5:02 of the MTV).

Personally i find the song very epic/fantasy-themed and fun to sing along to. Alex says it sound very 80s ala the Transformers (the fantastic cartoon movie, not the crappy shit that came out last month) soundtrack. Bert says it sound very patriotic and that if you swap National Education lyrics in it will probably be a good national song. Anyway the lyrics are as follows:

On a cold winter morning, in the time before the light
In flames of death's eternal reign we ride towards the fight
And the darkness is falling down and the times are tough all right
The sound of evil laughter falls around the world tonight

Fighting high, fighting on for the steel
Through the wastelands evermore
The scattered souls will feel the hell that is wasted on the shores

On the blackest waves in history
We watch them as they go
Through fire, pain and once again we know

So now we fly ever free
We're free before the thunderstorm
On towards the wilderness our quest carries on

Far beyond the sundown, far beyond the moonlight
Deep inside our hearts and all our souls

[CHORUS]
So far away we wait for the day
For the lights are so wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days
Through the fire and the flames we carry on

As the red day is dawning
And the lightning cracks the sky
They raise their hands to the heavens above
As we send them to their lies

Running back through the mid-morning light
There's a burning in my heart
We're banished from the time in the fallen land
To a light beyond the stars

In the blackest dreams we do believe
Our destiny this time
And endlessly we'll all be free tonight

And on the wings of a dream
So far beyond reality
All alone in desperation
Now the time is gone

Lost inside you'll never find
Lost within my own mind
Day after day this misery must go on

CHORUS [Guitar Solo Duel!!]

Now here we stand with their blood on our hands
We've fought so hard now can we understand?
I'll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can
For freedom of every man

CHORUS

Feel A Fear

Met two very old friends, Sun Jie and Alvin on Thursday night after watching The Simpsons Movie and Alone with Alex. Haven't seen them in at least 8 years, since Secondary School.

Incredibly Sun Jie remembers quite a lot of things from back then, even a stupid lame joke that i supposedly made (Alex vaguely recalls it so i guess i did). It's not like me to want to forget my friends (and they were very close friends) but my memory is really terrible.

Anyway Simpsons was better than i expected, short for a movie but still very funny (though i guess pretty soon the net will be choked with Spider-pig jokes and references). For such a short comedy Alex still said it felt draggy. This is a call for Hollywood to produce movies under an hour so they don't lose movie-goers like him.

Alone was above average. I could smell the plot twist coming from miles off and almost all my hunches were proven right. Scares were a plenty (like one every 5 mins) but the shock factor wasn't really high (though to look at Alex cover his eyes everytime the music turned an ominous note, you would think otherwise). Better to have a horror film with more cheap scares than those where you never even see the ghost till the last 5 minutes of the movie. And at least the plot is very accessible/understandable for a Thai film, no cultural references or whatsnot.

Safety is Contagious

My Toda Erika poster arrived today! I really like the picture and I need to go get a frame from Ikea sometime this week to frame it up. From what i know this poster is quite 'rare' in the sense that it's not available via retail, instead it's given out by the The General Insurance Association of Japan (aka Sonpo, the poster(about fire safety) even comes with a letter from Sonpo about displaying it properly) for display around Japan. Quite lucky to find someone selling one on Yahoo.jp auctions.

Went out to collect my Forza 2 Subaru goodie bag today at Dhoby Ghaut mrt. Quite a nice package for just a few hours of racing. It comes with 1 Subaru shirt, 1 Xbox 360 Winning Eleven X shirt (don't ask me why..), 2 Forza car headrest, 1 universal USB handphone charger, handphone strap, Subaru 2007 catalogue CD-rom and some other misc stuff.

Miyazaki Aoi and Olympus

I'm glad my sixth sense led me to buy Olympus, cause look who's the face for their E-410 and E-510 DSLRs! And I can't help but smile when i see her in the commercial. Simply too irresistibly cute...

CM for the E-410..

..and the E-510.

Asian Cup 2007: Australia vs Japan

Looks like i got my wish, though it wasn't a thrashing but in the end it's the results that matters i guess. Quite a big of excitement after 70 minutes when Australia scored through John Aliosi, then Japan equalised through Takahara almost instantly.

Strong, composed finish from Takahara

And a few minutes later, Australia had a man sent off for a flying elbow challenge. I thought Japan would impose their grip on the match after that, but it went all the way to a penalty shoot-out.

Australia had their own selves to blame after their first 2 PK takers (Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill) had their poor penalties saved, but all credit to the Japan goalie. Japan won the shootout 4-3 and will face either Uzbekistan or Saudi Arabia in the semis.

Celebrations after winning the shoot-out!

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Finally completed [eM] -eNCHANT arM- (the NA title is "Enchanted Arms") today. First RPG i've finished on the X360 and it's actually very good. The combat system (sort of like turn-based chess) is unique in that the damage for every move is clearly shown beside the move name, eliminating random damage (or critical hits) so you actually can plan right down to the last HP how much you can hit an enemy in 1 turn.

If you think that makes it sound easy, think again. The final boss(es, all 7 'final' battles) are actually quite challenging and require alot of prior preparation. A little short (26 hours) for the main storyline but that's excluding me entering the bonus dungeon or aggressive levelling (finished at lvl.47).

Next game i want to start on (and hopefully complete) is the IdolM@ster. Looks like only 1 person in Singapore has completed that game so far.

Moonage Daydream

Saw this sign on the way to Funan today to collect my replacment X360. When i saw the the line "Thanks Be to God", the first thought that came into my head about what the developers were trying to say was, "Wow! How did we ever manage to find so many suckers to buy into this property? Thanks Be to God!" But i think that's just me being cynical.

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Matthew and Herbert are officially the first 2 of my friends to visit my room! Played a few songs in GH2 , ordered KFC, watched 2 episodes of Little Britain and then they sat and watched me play Resident Evil 4. Maybe they were being polite (or feeling too sleepy) because no one asked for their turn on the controller, which actually made me feel quite guilty.

Amazingly, Alex just noticed that the girl in my DP (Alex: "so cute!!!!!!!") and the actress in Nana are one and the same (Miyazaki Aoi), which just leads me to conclude he skipped reading every single past post i made on her. He claims i ruined his newfound 'true' love (delusions...) when i told him she's getting married soon.

So he asked me to go spoil her wedding when i'm in Japan and then pass her his love letter. Man, i thought i was stalker-rific/Borat-ish but he really takes the cake.

Asian Cup 2007: China vs Uzbekistan

It's been 5 years since my house's was hooked up to SCV. Now we have 3 sets in our new place and i even got one for my own room. Frankly i don't watch much TV and the only thing that makes the price of cable worth it, in my opinion, are the sports programmes. Gone are the days where i have to invite myself to other people's house to watch soccer or MotoGP!

I was rooting for the South East Asian teams (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam; teams i would normally be booing in the Tiger Cup) but only Vietnam managed to advance to the q-finals.

Caught the China vs Uzbekistan game tonight, and knowing me you know i would be hoping China would lose badly. And probably the best thing to happen to me this week was to watch them get thrashed 3-0.

1-0!

2-0 as the ball takes a slow roll into China's goal.

Too bad i already took my camera down when they scored the 3rd late in injury time.

However, the match took an ugly turn early in injury-time when China's striker no.9 stayed downed on the pitch for a good 5 minutes and was eventually stretchered off, quite motionless.

As much as i enjoyed watching them lose, no one likes to see someone get injured in any sport. Hope he's alright. The match ended with an unheard of 11+minutes of injury time because of this though.

Man, i wouldn't want to be China's coach right now. He will be lucky if he is just fired straight. I expect him to be stoned or to face a firing squad when he arrives back in China.

So the quarter finals line up:

Iraq vs Vietnam
Japan vs Australia
Iran vs Korea Republic
Uzbekistan vs Saudi Arabia

Secretly i'm rooting for Japan to win the cup again. Actually any team besides Australia would be fine. Haven't forgiven them for thrashing us 3-0 in our final Kallang Stadium match. Have to keep this Saturday night free to catch Japan take on Australia, and hopefully thrash them.

The Height of the Matter

Skimmed through today's Strait Times and saw this interesting diagram on average (male) height in certain countries:

I don't really care about the main heading that people in the US are shrinking vertically (and probably expanding laterally), but what really interests me is that the average height of Singaporeans is 1.72m, which means that at 1.74m (technically 173.5m), i am a good ~2cm above average.

Cruel as it may sound, any Singaporean guy below 1.72 should probably consider this operation, else you will most definitely be deemed 'below average' and spurned by society. After all, it's only results that matter here in Sinapore.

If you're below 1.65m (the recommended limb lengthening limit is 7cm), you should probably consider migrating to our friendly neighbours up north. We certainly don't want Malaysia or China overtaking us, do we?
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For all of Activision's Guitar Hero 3 buzz, EA's Rock Band looks and sounds altogether like a superior package to GH3. It's being developed by Harmonix, the original developer of Guitar Hero before they sold it to Activision. And it's also the same team that generously donated $2,000 to fansite Scorehero to keep its servers running.

Saw this live stage demo of Rock Band today on Gamespot today. The Fender Stratocaster peripheral which just looks totally awesome (gone are the color-coded keys that made the guitar look like a toy). It also looks almost the same size as a real life Strat.

And the Harmonix staff claims that playing the drums peripheral will actually help you learn basic drumming patterns which will be applicable to real life as well. Considering i'm a hopeless case when it comes to keeping beat and rhythm, this might actually be the most educational game i ever picked up in my life. (in case you were wondering, being able to play the guitar solo for Jordan in-game still does not neccessarily mean you will be able to play a chord on a real guitar).

So i'm definitely getting this game when it comes out. The only problem is, for which console? X360 or (my future) PS3. Herbert will be getting a PS3 so it make sense to get it with him so we can play together. But that will mean giving up a X360's achievement points... Tough decision to make.
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My X360 officially died (red rings of death or ROD) this morning. Called Microsoft Xbox hotline and a replacement set will be ready next Tuesday. Guess this is actually good news since my warranty is up next month and i'll be getting a further 3 years extension from date of purchase under Microsoft's new warranty policy for all ROD problems.

Well it would be 'good' news, except my PC died yesterday as well. I rushed down to Sim Lim and had to replace my power supply and motherboard ($200+ repair..urgh..) so i got it back up the same day. But i'm officially broke for the whole of this month. Probably will have to decline Alex's invitation to Hanabi next Monday.

Where do i begin?

I've only got one thing to say about my new place: Having my own room is too good to be true! I've got so much freedom that i don't even know what i should be doing or how i should spend my time.

But...I still need a 'Do Not Knock' sign to be placed on my door when i sleep. 2 different people actually knocked and woke me up this morning asking if i was awake.

Please feel free to pop by and visit though if you have nothing to do. I'm ~80% done with unpacking (the last 20% will be put up for long-term procastination, most likely) Morning visitations are strictly out of the question though.
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Sad news:

"Microsoft's coporate VP Peter Moore confirmed that Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will not be coming to Xbox 360, the game remains as a PS3 exclusive title."

Was hoping that i wouldn't have to get a PS3 but now it looks likes it will be a matter of time (release date for MGS4~ early 2008) before i move on, hopefully the price of the PS3 will continue to fall (the 60GB model dropped $100USD because the 80GB(potentially 120GB) model is coming out and Sony's clearing 60GB model stock)

The Final Cut

Ok, this will be my last post i ever do at my old house in Jalan Asas. I'm moving my last stuff there in a while (that includes my PC only actually) and Internet won't be up till at least Monday after 5pm (if Singnet doesn't screw things up again).

I was actually planning to move to the new place only after the Internet line came up, but a nap this afternoon on my new Queen-sized bed won me over. Besides, my X360 is already there and waiting to be played on my new Full-HD TV (but i just found out this afternoon i have no 1080p games to try..).

And speaking of X360, yesterday (Friday 13th) was the final round of XBGZ Forza 2 season 1 challenge. Coming into yesterday, i was 6 points clear in 1st place (technically 2nd, but the 1st place guy is the organiser and not eligible for prizes) but i somehow lost my consistency-streak and DNF the final race. In the end i was 2nd overall (lost by 2 points to the guy who overtook me in the standings). Not a good evening.. Thank goodness the prizes (Subaru goodies bag) is for the 1st and 2nd overall. Didn't waste 3 weeks of racing for nothing.
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Exciting time for longtime Guitar Hero fans! First up, SLASH is one of Activision's spokesman for Guitar Hero 3!

You know who it is by the curly hair + top hat..

Slash (left) in-game as one of the boss characters

Besides featuring as a boss character in the game ("one of the more surreal moments of (my) career"), Slash is contributing the theme song for GH3 ('Welcome to the Jungle' original guitar track!)! Other new features are new multiplayer VS modes! And the new wireless guitar model is a Les Paul for the X360! Does ending every sentence with a '!' make me sound trippy?

That's it. Final Asas post. See you after Monday!

Love to be Loved

Came across this really hilarious blog, An Englishman in Osaka. Some of the funny(ier, they're all quite funny) posts i came across:

• Squeezing it in
• Gate gap phenomenon
• The Door of Death
• Love poetry on a T-shirt

Yeah, if you're really bored like me (i've been put on permanent daytime standby to accompany/assist anyone who needs to do anything related to house-moving) go and read some of this.

I hope to move over to the new place by this Friday (the 13th, to house no. 13 Verde Crescent). I'll have a room-warming once i settle down. That's where you stick your head into my new room and comment how nice/tacky it is before leaving. Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes of everyone's time, tops. And don't forget the room-warming gift.
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Movies: Love & Honor

The final movie in Yamada Yoji's samurai trilogy (all 3 movie plots are unrelated) and in my opinion, the best of them all. And i'm not being biased just because Kimura Takuya is in this, though he did put in a fantastic performance as the blind samurai. My gripes is that the show is much too slow, and if you're one of those who live for the twists-in-plot, you'll be sorely disappointed. To be avoided if you fall asleep easily (ahem..Alex..) or if you don't give a shit whatsoever about Samurais and their code of honor. Rating: 7/10

Love Letter

Finally found the DVD again at MJ dor $12.90 (and the collector's edition at that). Nakayama Miho plays a dual role as Watanabe Hiroko and Fujii Itsuki, 2 woman who share a strange pen-pal relationship; Hiroko, whose husband died 2 years ago in a mountain climbing incident, finds his old address in his junior high school yearbook and out of loneliness, pens a simple "How are you?" letter to the address.

Unexpectedly, she receives a reply from a woman having the same name as her husband (Fujii Itsuki) and discovers that both Fujii Itsuki(s) were classmates in junior high. Wanting to find out more about her husband's past, Hiroko asks Itsuki to share her school memories with her through her letters (a younger Itsuki played by Sakai Miki, very cute at that time (1995)).

The story unfolds with numerous flashbacks, sort of like Be With You but not as sad. It's a really heartwarming romance story, not at all mushy or sappy. The ending is also kind of unexpected (but IMO, a great way to end the film). If you've seen Hana and Alice (also by the same director, which i also just purchased for $12.90) then you will know what to expect but if not, don't be suprised at how it ends. Rating: 7.5/10
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I should make a conscious effort to try and type/ say Japanese surnames before their given name (eg Toda Erika instead of Erika Toda). Will be handy (and more 'correct') when i go to Japan as well. After all, i wouldn't like someone to call me Wei Ming Chin.

If I Leave Here Tomorrow..

Amended my flight plan and collected my tickets today! I'm flying off to Fukuoka Airport at 8pm, August 16th and arriving in Japan on the 17th (Erika Toda's birthday..). My return flight is on November 14th from Tokyo, arriving back on 14th evening at 8pm.

I also visited the Japan National Tourist Organisation (Office at #15-09, Hong Leong Building, Raffles Quay) this afternoon. The staff was very friendly and helped me print out alot of things, including weather charts, rainfall charts, (cheap) hotel contacts and camping sites around Japan. Really grateful to her for the help!

Brochure stockpiling...

The JNTO office had a lot of brochures on each major city or prefecture in Japan. Some people were there and they took 1 or 2 brochures only. In comparison, i took 40 + of them (or almost 1 of everything they had). I was afraid that the staff was going to think that i was exhibiting typical Singapore Kiasu-ism (well maybe a little) but to be fair, i AM going to visit all the places anyway so i had to take one of each.

As for the weather during this period, i don't know whether i can consider myself lucky or not, but August-November is the period with one of the lowest rainfall on the calendar. The tradeoff is, the weather in Fukuoka for August-September averages between 23-27 degress C, which is not exactly my idea of a cool temperature to ride in.

So anybody want to come see me off on the 16th? Anybody..?
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As usual i'm obliged to bring you the latest* J-entertainment news: (*questionable)

- Suzumiya Haruhi's 2nd season has been confirmed! One of my top 3 favourite animes last year and probably one of the most popular anime/book series in Japan (if you've never heard of it, get out from under that rock you've been hiding under and just take my word for it) - Source: Tokyograph

- After her last release 'Taiyou no Uta' and 'Stay With Me' under the name of Kaoru Amane, Erika Sawajiri has released another Single with 3 new songs (under the name "ERIKA", official site here). She is also in the CM for Subaru (CM here). Looks like she gained a few pounds though (chubbier cheeks...). Her songs are still catchy but her vocals hasn't improved much.

Dog in sheep's clothings..

- Erika Toda kisses another dog! Or is it vice-versa? Actually i can't really confirm it's a dog. Might be a doggish-looking sheep since it's from the set of Love & Farm.

Mahou Sensei Negima (or MSN)

- Mahou Sensei Negima (by Ken Akamatsu, author of Love Hina, the first manga and anime i've ever read/watched) is becoming a live-action drama this fall! You can take a look at the full cast of the 31 class girls here (most of them are young gravure idols/models i believe). My first impression is that most of the actress are quite unremarkable. It's a pity they didn't cosplay them (hair color, accessories) to look like the manga characters. Anyway the manga's story (what story actually?) is just an excuse to draw panty shots and the likes, so if the drama is anything like that i'm guessing i might (ashamedly) enjoy it.

Well the only character i like is Asuna Kagurazaka (main heroine) and Nodoka Miyazaki anyway (#8 and #27 if you're looking at the class list) and Sara Wakatsuki looks good for the role of Asuna. Can't say the same for the actress playing Nodoka though. - More coverage and pics here

Nakai Masahiro's All Star Bowling

Found this 'All Star Bowling' special on Veoh.com (part 1, part 2, part 3 38mins plus each) hosted by Nakai Masahiro of SMAP. The guest stars (teams of 6) are cast members from 5 of the dramas currently airing this season, in no particular order:

• LIFE (Kitano Kii)
• Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Horikita Maki, Oguri Syun)
• Yama Onna Kabe Onna (Itou Misaki, Kyoko Fukada)
• First Kiss (Inoue Mao, Ito Hideaki)
• Ushi ni Negai wo ~ Love & Farm (Toda Erika!)

If you just want to see Erika bowl, then click on the 'part 2' link above (from 32:40 - 34:49) but if you have 2 hrs to spare then watch the whole thing cause it's pretty entertaining and funny.

Unfortunately i couldn't get better screencaps because they don't show replays for the bowler unless they Strike or throw a Gutter ball. Erika hit 3 pins, unlike some of the pathetic guys on her team who threw gutter balls.

Notable list of gutter ball throwers: Kyoko Fukada, who came dressed in a hotel maid costume and babbled on much too long before guttering, and Horikita Maki, HanaKimi's team Captain, who looked really guttered (<-pun) after guttering.

Babbled a whole load of rubbish...

Visibly guttered..your team loses all it's points when someone gutters (G).

Really felt like going to bowl after watching this. Alex, quickly organise something again!

There Goes My Hero

Drama: My Boss, My Hero (1-10 Complete)

This is a super hilarious series i just finished watching in one sitting. Nagase Tomoya (lead singer/guitarist of TOKIO) simply steals the show as Sakaki Makio (27), known in the region as 'Tornado Makio', the strongest (but incredibly dumb) Yakuza and next in line to be Boss of his father's clan.

"I'm gonna kill ya, bastard!"

After ruining a 30 billion yen deal (because he couldn't figure out if 25+5 is bigger than 27), his father, the head of the Yakuza clan issues him an ultimatum: graduate from high school with a diploma or he will name his (smarter) younger brother Mikio as the next Boss of the clan. To fulfill his dream of becoming Boss, Makio reluctantly heads to St Agnes High School.

Won the match, lost his shorts.

From being extorted by the class bully, volunteering to be the class representative (the "Boss" of the class), to playing basketball (and losing his shorts), everything Makio does is made extra funny by his super versatile vocal and facial expressions. Tomoya really puts alot of energy and enthusiasm into his performance. His stupidity and wild Yakuza imagination (and instincts) are just priceless.

Man of a thousand expressions.

In between, he falls in (and out) of love for the first time with classmate Umemura Hikari (17), played by Aragaki Yui, who was actually the main reason i caught this series in the first place, but she got easily outshone by Tomoya. Quite a sweet performance from her though.

Buying a ring for his first love @ 27 years old.

A quick sideward glance while she's preoccupied with her phone.

I highly recommend this series. Very good, quick pacing (didn't want it to end though..) plenty of laughs and very likeable characters. If i wasn't a fan of Nagase Tomoya before this, i sure am now. And Aragaki Yui gets + points in my book just for co-starring with him.

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Something i need for the next Guitar Hero guitar that i buy; firmer springs for the strumming thingie! The whole thing went soggy after mine and Brandon's 'jamming' the past few nights.

And i finally bothered to find out what the chorus lyrics are for 'Hangar 18', it's "Possibly I've seen too much/Hangar 18 I know too much". Couldn't make out what he was singing before. And Herbert, i was wrong, this song's riff IS very catchy.

Today is also Independence Day! Happy 4th of July to my cousins the Wilsons, in Mississippi!

Wake Up and Smell the Roses

Cycling down the Orchard stretch at night was not as fun as i thought it would be. The main problem for a cyclist is the endless line of buses jostling with me on the left lane, forcing me to weave in and out between them the entire way, and the neverending traffic lights every few hundred metres. It seemed that i was unlucky enough to get stopped at every single traffic light from Raffles City to Wheelock Place.

Fortunately, the rest of my cycling on Sunday night was pretty enjoyable. Went down to Pasir Panjang to Shenton Way, to Kallang Stadium; stopped for Tau Hui at Selegie, cycled through Orchard Road (worst part) and down Holland Ave back to my place. I'm practicing the 'art' of riding leisurely so i didn't feel tired at all when i finished my round trip. Got to keep in mind not to gulp down too much water at once or it will leave my stomach feeling all bloated.

Cycled back to Sembawang Camp this afternoon to catch up with my ex-colleagues. The place is SO much more peaceful (and stress-free) compared to my home, so much so that i stayed the entire afternoon doing nothing but talk cock and exchange gossip, mostly with Ee Wei. Feels damn long since i ORD'ed, even though in reality it has just been 3 1/2 weeks since i've been gone.

Probably will drop by camp again next Thursday(12th) to take my IPPT with Ming Wei (failed 1st attempt). Everyone's been laughing at him cause he failed sit-ups and running, so i hope i don't end up the same. Think i have to work on my pull-ups. The only upper body exercise i've been doing the past month involve only my fingers...
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Drama NEWS

- Finally some screenshots of HanaKimi (official site here)! I was eagerly waiting to see how Horikita Maki would look like dressed as a guy, and my first impression from the pictures is... she's not very convincing. Still can't wait to catch this series though.

Spot the male-wannabe. (click for bigger pic)

- The drama taking over Liar Game's Saturday 11pm slot this season, LIFE, looks interesting as well:

First episodes' ratings (11.0%) look decent for such a late slot. Will definitely give this series a shot. Theme song (also titled 'LIFE') is by Mika Nakashima as well.

- Aragaki Yui's (one of the Pocky girls) first leading role-drama aired on Sunday, Papa to Musume no Nanokakan.

Not too crazy about her (but she was voted the no.1 most popular celebrity 18 yrs and under, as a reference, Erika toda was 3rd) and not too memorable in 2 of the dramas i've seen with her so far (Galcir and Dragon Zakura). This drama's slated to be only 7-episodes long. Gonna catch it to see what all the fuss about her is about.

I Should go to Taiwan..

Some exciting Erika Toda news:

Fire Prevention Poster Girl 2007, nothing to do with the following news though..

Rising teen star Erika Toda is set to take her first step as an international actress. She has been cast in the movie "Tea Fight," a collaborative work between Taiwan and Japan. The story follows a young Japanese girl who travels to Taiwan in search of a legendary tea that may help her father (Teruyuki Kagawa).

The idea for the tea-themed film began two years ago. The Taiwanese director approached a Japanese production company to discuss the project, and he was introduced to Toda, who at the time was acting in the Fuji TV drama series "Engine." He was impressed by her acting skills, and has been following her progress since then.

Toda has also been gaining popularity overseas due to her appearance in the "Death Note" movies. "Tea Fight" is scheduled to open next year throughout Asia. Distribution will be handled by Movie-Eye Entertainment. Filming is planned to take place from late October to early December, with about 80% of the filming located in Taiwan. Casting for the major Taiwanese roles is currently in progress.

Of course i'm excited to see Erika in a mandarin film, but the filming schedule (in bold) kind of conflicts with my plans to find her in Japan. Hopefully i will get to see her at some event before late October. Or maybe i should go to Taiwan instead. There's probably a higher chance of meeting her there. Anyway i will have to lower my expectations of meeting her on my Japan trip.

For those of you who don't know yet, i'm flying off on August 17th, which is also Erika Toda's birthday!
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Another interesting news; just found out that my no.2 favourite actress Miyazaki Aoi is getting married! To this guy, Takaoka Sousuke, and although i've seen some of the shows he has acted in before, i don't have the faintest impression of him at all. Hope she still continues to do movies after this though.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

For all the hype about today being the last match day at the National Stadium before it is demolished, surprisingly i didn't feel a single bit sentimental about the entire event at all. At the end of the day all i really cared about was watching a good soccer match. Overall i'm much sadder to see us lose than to know this is our last game at Kallang.

One last pic for old time's sake. You can tell the true fans by the shirt.

And we played well** against Australia. To lose 3-0 despite having so many chances to score just reflects how badly we lack the killer instincts in front of goal. Even big-game scorer Indra Sahdan couldn't break our duck, and was guilty of missing a fantastic 1-on-1 chance in the first half.

(**To quote from this Soccernet article: "The result might have been different had Singapore capitalised on goalscoring chances they created in a scoreless first half after opening up Australia's defence." and Australia's Coach: "Our attacking play was fantastic but we've got some work to do in defence. I was not happy with that side of things,' Arnold told reporters.
'Singapore tested us and were very unlucky. We have a lot of work to do.")

Viduka getting the better of Noh Rahman.

Australia's striker, Mark Viduka on the other hand, was a class act. The ease at which he found space to score his 2 goals was just fantastic.

Kewell going by Aide and Precious

Harry Kewell came on for the last 30 minutes and scored Australia's 2nd goal, as well as assisting Viduka for the 3rd.

They must have had like only 10 firework to shoot off.

Good thing we didn't stay for the fireworks display and the closing ceremony, cause the fireworks were just pitiful. It's as if they were on a shoestring budget. Managed to catch the display just before we boarded the bus.

Anyway, farewell to the Grand Old Lady of Kallang. Thanks for all the good memories (not last night though). Really a shame we couldn't win our final match.

Tale of Two Cities

"Tell me what you can hear

And then tell me what you see

Everybody has a different way to view the world"

2 events in the past 2 days kept making me think of this refrain from the song 'Different World' (Iron Maiden):

1) About the football i watched 2 nights ago, i wrote that i thought our team played like crap. Newspaper and S-league.com (and even the Saudi coach) gave rave reviews on our performance. I must have been at the wrong stadium watching a different game. And i always thought i had low standards and expectation in football. I am an Aston Villa supporter after all.

2) Strait Times today (29/06/07) had an article on 2 newly promoted 1-star Generals in the SAF. One of them was my old boss COL John Wong. To quote from the papers:

"Navy Colonel John Wong Chee Meng is not your typical career military man - he is also a doctor. True, he stands ramrod straight and looks lean and fit"

I really must commend the Strait Times, that they are doing their bit for the society by hiring blind reporters to write their articles. I don't think anyone with eyes will describe John Wong as lean and fit..
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Spent an hour painting something on my Subaru WRX STI '05 last night in preparation for an online Forza 2 tournament later on (11pm). What do you think?

Brandon says it looks childish. Which is probably one of the least insulting comment he has ever given me (it's my birthday that's why). But i kinda like the plaster design w/ the car number on the bonnet and the sides.

Coicidentally, this birthday post happens to be my 100th post as well! So Happy Birthday and congratulations to me on my century post!

The Big Three

Ikea Tampines is BIG (first time there, besides Ikea, there's a gigantic Giant and an enormous Courts Megastore just across the road. )! I feel tired just walking through it twice. Spent the entire afternoon there buying some of my furniture, but mainly to assist and advice my dad (who doesn't really listen to me anyway so mainly to accompany him..)

And of course the management are clever enough to place the Hot Dog bistro right at the exit. So walking 2 rounds meant i ate 2 hot dogs (w/drink, only $1.70!) at the end of every lap. 4th time to Ikea (3 to Alexandra branch) this week and by my count this must be the 12th hot dog set they've tricked me (and my stomach) into buying..

Went to meet Zhaoliang and Sau Kit at Kallang after that to watch the Singapore vs Saudi Arabia match. Disappointing crowd and atmosphere at the national stadium. And Singapore played the same old long-ball style again, to no avail against the Saudis (who are one of the top 5-6 teams in Asia and have featured in the last 2 World Cup).

We lost 2-1 which is a respectable losing score on paper but we were dominated the entire game. Can really see the gulf between the 2 teams calibre. Furthermore they had a man sent off in the 2nd half. Our freak goal came seconds before the final whistle. Pretty funny goal. Ashrin Shariff shot a point blank shot straight at the keeper and the rebound just happened to glance his head and drop into the goal (off the post too..).

Let's hope we play better (doubt it) against Australia this Saturday. Didn't bring my camera out so no pictures today.
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Like i predicted, Transformers got a poor 2/5 rating (the 2nd opinion gave it a 3/5) in today's Life reviews. The ONLY saving point for the movie now is that the review was written by Ong Sor Fern, someone whose opinions i will never trust. In fact i loathe her reviews. She is the type of person who can criticize an action flick for having too much action. And she always give poor and biased reviews on our local movies.

Cheers for No. 1!

Guess what? Looks i'm ranked no. 1 in Singapore for Guitar Hero 2 for the X360 in terms of achievements. And no one else has completed Expert on GH2 yet (or Jordan, i can't complete only 1 song in career on Expert; Misirlou). So i can either conclude 1) Herbert is the best GH player in Singapore in GH2 or 2) Everyone who owns a X360 can't play GH2 for nuts.

And for what it's worth, i'm ranked no. 2 in Forza 2 (achievement wise) as well.

Battle of Bukit Timah

The Bukit Timah Mountain Bike Race took place yesterday. Brandon was taking part but warned all of us (in our family) not to go see him race (weirdo..he also refuses to take off his shirt in the presence of anyone in the house, but everyone of his friends have seen him half-naked except for us..). Anyway i still went cause i wanted to go take some pics as well. Besides the entrance to the trail is just behind my house and down the road.

As expected, even though he told us not to go see him race, he invited his friends over to watch him. Race for his division (Boys 'A' 14-19yrs old) was 2 laps around the trail (2 x ~7km). He managed to finish a respectable 3rd for his first race, but at this rate (read below) he's going to mess up my plan to be the brother of 2 former Boys 'A' champions. (Kevin won 2 seasons of the Boys 'A' about 8 yrs ago).

Brandon (351), eventual 1st place (343) and 2nd place (the blue guy in the back)

The first 2 finishers (both malays, Brandon claims they are not locals) were in a league of their own. After winning the Boys race, they took part in the next race (Mens Open, a category for National riders and semi-pros) and finshed 3rd and 5th. And the Mens Open race was 5 laps! That means they rode approx. 49km altogether and 1 of them managed to get on to the podium against the pros as well.

Crashed twice (ha! small cut on left knee) due to chain problems

Brandon's excuses for finishing 3rd was because he crashed twice due to some chain problems. And after the 2nd crash he lost sight of the first 2 guys and then didn't bother to chase anymore. Yeah, whatever. There's still quite a bit of races left in the season but unless he improves on his technique and especially the mental portion of racing he's not going to win.

FULL GALLERY OF MTB RACE PICTURES (must have a FLICKR account, ask me for an invite to view my photos)
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I decided to scrap the Erika Toda photo gallery at the bottom of the site; instead i've move it to the sidebar. It'll randomly show 30 of her pics with every reload with a link to the bigger picture.