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.

Rooftop of the World

Went to watch Pirates OTC: At World End with Alex tonight. I really think that Hollywood should stop making sequels to their blockbusters. POTC 1 was good, POTC 2 was meh, POTC 2.1, wait i meant 3, felt almost the same as 2. More new pirate legends to counter another pirate legend that was previously thought undefeatable. Fight scenes way, way too long and over elaborate, and i ended up reading the chinese subtitles most of the way because i couldn't understand more than 3 words of what the pirates were mumbling about. Having said that it's not 'too' bad, at least i wasn't snoring (someone in the cinema was, Alex was probably close to it) but not a movie i will recommend or watch again. Way too long as well (2h30mins). And as usual Alex hated every minute of it, kind of makes me wonder why he asked me to watch with him in the first place. He fell asleep during POTC 2.

Herbert came over played a large part (replace 'large' with something that means 'everything') in helping me clear 7 Achievements (940/1000AP for the entire game now) that have so far eluded my clumsy unsynched fingers. That has also taken me well clear of my 10k AP target (cue fanfare and loud cheers!). And he managed to place 78th in the world on 'Freebird'. That's just incredible. I'm mostly just content to be in the top 1000 (or 10,000, that's where i hover around usually) but to be in the top 100 is truly remarkable.
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Movie: Tegami aka the Letter (Yamada Takayuki, Erika Sawajiri, Tetsuji Tamayama)

The key to enjoying this movie is to accept quickly the premise that the Japanese society outcasts and rejects anyone who has relatives in prison. Whether or not this middle age mindset is really true i do not know, but once you accept this 'principle' the whole movie is actually pretty good. And might i add quite moving as well.
In order to put his younger brother Naoki (Yamada) through to University, Takashi Takeshima (Tetsuji Tamayama) breaks in to rob a household but accidentally ends up stabbing and killing the old grandmother of the house. He's caught and given life imprisonment and Naoki, understanding his brother's intentions, feels guilty and drops out of school and enters the working life. In prison, Takashi finds his only comfort in writing and receiving letters from his brother.

"I've got mail!"

The entire movie has Naoki feeling the burden of being labelled a 'muderer's brother'. He is forced to move apartments and quit his job whenever his landlord or employers learn about his background. His dreams and love life crumbles as well and he is avoided like the plague. Depressed and angry at being stereotyped and carrying his brother's stigma, he slowly stops writing altogether to his brother. Roughly this is how the entire movie (2 hour+) unfolds.

Being a little too friendly with a brother of a muderer..

So how does Erika Sawajiri come into the picture? Her role is quite limited in the first 2/3 of the movie, only appearing in small scenes. She plays Yumiko, a canteen girl who tries to befriend Naoki. Her reasons are not revealed till the final third of the show though (disclaimer: her reason is not really anything shocking).

Someone told Naoki smoking would solve all his problems, or that it was a good way to burn off that awful sideburn.

I personally thought Tetsuji was great in his role as the convicted brother. He's probably the reason i actually felt sad and touched by the show. This was the first movie where i actually thought Yamada couldn't act. His expressions of sadness and shock were totally unconvincing. And he still has that ridiculous '60s sideburn (last seen in Taiyou no Uta) unshaved. Erika (the lesser of the 2 Erika(s)) goes from geeky canteen girl to aspiring hairdresser to mother of a child, pretty versatile acting from her.

This show is far, far from perfect. Some scenes are hastily rushed through without much explanation, some parts a little incoherent and some of the lines seem really poorly placed/delivered. But i still like it. There were some really emotional parts and i ended up sympathising alot with all of the characters. I'll definitely give this a re-watch when i have the time. Might get the DVD if i can find it.
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Movie: Sugar and Spice ~ What Little Girls are Made of (Erika Sawajiri, Yuya Yagira)

The previous 'Sugar and Spice' entry i watched was a 1 episode SP starring Erika Toda. This movie plays to the same bitter sweet love concept as the drama with a new storyline. And the only reason to catch this series is if you don't like happily ever after endings. And of course if you're like me and enjoy watching either or both of the 2 Erika(s) than that's another huge incentive.

Unlikeable little monkey.

Let me be frank. This movie is just your normal love story with a not so happy ending.And i didn't enjoy this love story because i think Yuya Yagira sucks. My principle is that shows are only as good as how much you can 'feel' for the characters. And i didn't feel a thing for him throughout the movie. His face is really distracting; i'm thinking he has very strong anthropoid-ic resemblance or he should be auditioning for the role of Sun Wukong in Journey to the West.

Erika looks really good in this show, but has an unlikeable on-screen personality as well.

Besides her gorgeous smile, Erika's character (another sign that i couldn't get involved with the show; i forgot their on-screen names) is really wishy-washy and irritating. Unacceptable for a movie's heroine.

The only thing that stands out (again, aside from Erika) is the theme song, Oasis's 'Lyla'. They used the same song in the drama as well. And i just really felt like singing along whenever the song played in the background. Catch this (only) if you really really want to see Erika Sawajiri.
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Note: The first 2 of many movies that i'm starting to watch from my new stash.

A Weak Week

It seems like ages since i last updated. As my X360 Achievement Points inches every nearer to the 10k mark (176 more to go!), i'm thinking of how i should celebrate this milestone. Maybe a Suki Sushi buffet. The problem is there anyone willing to celebrate this with me? Actually i'm just using this as an excuse to pig out. I do so love (cheap) buffets w/ free flow of drinks. And speaking of Suki buffets, some guy, initials DT, still owes me for 1 buffet since last year.

Recently Brandon has been giving me a lot of 'comments' about my appearances, if it isn't my puny biceps, it's my double chin etc. Today it's my dress sense. Yes i will be the first to admit that i have a bad/non-existent dress sense, but i also have to point out that aside from my Aston Villa jerseys, everything else in my cupboard are either hand-me-downs or bought by someone else. Buying/thinking of clothings is like the bottom-est of my priorities, although with Japan coming up i should probably get some nicer clothes (winter stuff too) to go abroad with. And it's just so like Brandon to only criticize someone on his outward physical appearance (I think that's the only thing he can criticize). All these brawny people are so one-dimensional..
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J-Movies: A whole Bundle!

Recently i managed to 'find' a lot of good movies (that i've been searching for to buy) to watch, in no particular order:

• Sugar and Spice (Erika Sawajiri)
• Metro ni Notte (aka "Riding the Metro", the time travel plot looks interesting)
• Tegami (Erika Sawajiri, Takayuki Yamada )
• Neigbour No. 13 (Shidou Nakamura, Ryuhei Matsuda)
• Loved Gun (Miyazaki Aoi!)
• Kamikaze Girls (Kyoko Fukada, Anna Tsuchiya(i love her songs))
• Sinking of Japan (starring someone i know in TMC and Kou Shibasaki)
• Honey and Clover (Aoi Yuu)

Gonna start with the 2 Erika Sawajiri shows tonight first. But they just look like typical teen romance movies so i'm not gonna get my expectations up.
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Game: Guitar Hero 2 (X360)

Well i've played through the 8 new career songs enough to comment about them, and aside from 1 (maybe 2) the songs are really catchy and great to listen to again and again. My ratings:

Top Tier (4-5/5 stars):

• Life Wasted - Pearl Jam: Only the 2nd Pearl Jam i've ever listened too (the other is Last Kiss), both are great
• Dead! - My Chemical Romance: According to the people on GameFaqs, anyone who likes this is an 'emo fag'. Well i like it. Amusing lyrics as well.

Middle Tier (3-4/5 stars):

• Hush - Deep Purple: Didn't take notice of this song when listening to their discography but it's nice as well
• Possum Kingdom - Toadies: Don't judge a song by it's title or by the bandname. Catchy.
• Salvation - Rancid: I'm not too crazy about this but it's not bad i guess
• Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer: I love them RnR songs.

Bottom Tier(1-2/5 stars):

• The Trooper - Iron Maiden: The song (original) is great don't get me wrong. This cover (and i'm solely blaming the singer) is just horrid.
• Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper: Some bad sounding songs have thoughtful lyrics at least. This has neither. And isn't Alice a girl's name?

The remaining 2 new songs (bonus tracks) were instantly forgettable, so i won't comment on them (actually i will, 'Drink Up!' is another bloody lousy song). Add 'FTK' to the thrash songs list too. And yes, 'Yes We Can' still sucks.
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One last note: I just realised 1 more benefit of having a bathroom in my new room: i can walk out of the shower naked! Previously if i ever forgot to take a towel in to the bathroom i would have to sneak the 3 steps to my room butt naked and risk being seen and labelled a flasher. Now if anyone comes into my room while i'm naked he/she must be some kind of pervert. I can do all the flashing i want in my own privacy now!

Miyazaki Aoi, here, there and everywhere

Just found that Miyazaki Aoi had another romance movie released just a month ago, Umidenohanashi. Couldn't find any English description of what it's about. The trailer also doesn't really show what the story is (the song is very very familiar in the trailer but i can't place the title..). I'll definitely keep an eye on whether there's any DVD release coming out in a few months time.

Re-armed myself with 50 new DVD-Rs today! Now i can continue moving all my drama and animes to disc. Also bought another movie on impulse, The Host (small review here). Just thought i would watch a Korean movie for a change, furthermore it's the best selling film of 2006 in Korea (13,019,740 in Korea watched it, compared to 6,847,777 for the 2nd top film). I seriously don't know what to expect, but since it's a creature-feature film my first thought is that it will be pretty cheesy.

Looks like a B-grade movie but its record speaks for itself.

Surpisingly All About Dogs (Inu No Eiga) was very enjoyable. As you might have guessed i bought the movie only because Miyazaki Aoi was in it. Nearly jumped out of my chair in shock when i thought the movie had ended and she had not appeared yet. Thankfully her cute face popped up for the last short story, albeit for too short a while. Oh and like i was saying, the movie was good. Funny short stories, adorable dogs and pretty good pacing (movie length = 96mins).

Why did Aoi have such a small part??

And because i'm still not quite over Tada Kimi wo Aishiteru yet, i found this interview video on YouTube. Tamaki Hiroshi ('Makoto') looks much cooler in real life. Not quite the idiot that the movie (and also drama 'Remote') makes him out to be. And as always, Miyazaki Aoi has both her eyes firmly glued to the floor while answering questions. Don't understand why she's so camera shy in public but it's cute. No subtitles for what they're talking about but it's on the lines of 'i'm very happy to be acting with so-and-so' and 'i like the character so-and-so very much' etc. Ai Otsuka (singer, ED song, 'Renai Shashin') also says a few things in the video.

Just can't get enough of Shizuru!

And one of the most important piece of news: I'm down to 31 absolute working days in the SAF! That's minusing all the offs and leaves i have left. FREEDOM is in side!

Liar Liar pants on fire

If my life were to be measured by how many X360 achievement points/day i earned, these past 2 days would be considered seriously inefficient by any standards. The problem is that i have too many new games to play and not enough patience to sit down and complete one at a time. So i've been jumping every hour or so to another game after game. What a vicious cycle. On top of that i keep getting disturbed by my family who want me to make MY room comfortable for THEM to come in to play games. (....) I don't really see why i should bother to entertain them. I think out of spite i'm going to make my room so ergonomically uncomfortable that none of them will ever step in.

On the bright side i caught up with some updates for Miyazaki Aoi's upcoming new movie, Virgin Snow; Toda Erika new drama, Liar Game and in addition both Aya Ueto (here) and Ishihara Satomi (here) also have starring roles in new dramas this Spring season.

LEE plays Min, a Korean university student who is transferred to Japan when his father, a professor, gets posted to Kyoto in an exchange position at a university. There, Min meets Nanae (MIYAZAKI), a high school girl, and promptly falls in love with her. Initially indifferent to him, Nanae soon warms up, and their relationship grows, surmounting the linguistic and cultural divide, until one day Nanae mysteriously disappears.

As per normal, i always have high expectations when it comes to a Miyazaki Aoi movie. Mainly because she usually accepts quality scripts (that's why you don't see her in many dramas). The last line of the sypnosis has a feeling of deja vu because i've just seen Tada, kimi wo Aishiteru but i'll reserve my comments till i've seen the show. I'm not so keen on the actor Lee Jun Ki (even though he's supposed to quite popular) because well, i don't like his slitty eyes but that's just me. Hope this makes it to Singapore cinemas. Release date is May 12th in Japan.

Based on the manga series of the same name, Toda Erika plays an honest college student, Kanzaki Nao, who receives a million dollars one day, along with a card saying she has been chosen to take part in the "Liar Game". The aim of the game is to trick the other players out of their one million dollars. At the end, the winner gets one million dollars and the loser is one million dollars in debt. Horrified, Nao tries to contact the game organizers to give them their money back. Her old high school teacher offers to help, but it turns out he actually is her opponent in the game, and easily tricks her out of her million dollars. Coincedentally, Nao notices a newspaper article one day regarding an ex-swindler named Akiyama Shinichi. Desperate, she contacts him for help.

To be honest this series will be worth watching to see Erika alone, but it's based on a manga so i'm expecting it to have a good storyline as well. I'm not expecting a fantastic performance from Erika since this is her first lead role, but i just pray that the story doesn't do a Kurosagi (ie swindling stories). Not to sound repetitive, but the male lead's face kinda irritates me as well. He's the brother of Ryuhei Matsuda (Ren in 'Nana'), another actor i can't stand. To be aired starting 14th April in Japan.

Of course Spiderman 3 is also going to be released in a month so i'd say that there's plenty of quality shows that's on the way. Here's to an entertaining 2 months before ORD!

Everything...very nice!

Death Note Korean Limited Edition Set...very nice!

Been a long time since i had a mini movie marathon. Got my Death Note DVD set in the post today and watched both movies back to back with Brandon. Very nice package overall for ~$65SGD.

Also watched Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru (Heavenly Forest) this morning. Excellent movie. And of course no one acts sweet, naive, innocent and cute like Miyazaki Aoi. It's like she was born to play this part. I had high expectations for the show and i'm not in the least disappointed. Glad that Aoi dumped Nana 2 for this wonderful show that made me laugh and also tear. The rest of the cast is wonderful as well. Edited the subtitles and re-burned it and watched it a 2nd time when i got home too. Ending song is by Ai Otsuka, Renai Shashin which i've heard before so it was pretty nice as well.

Tada, Kimi wo Aishiteru..also very very nice!

4th and final movie i watched was Heaven's Bookstore, which in all fairness was a pretty decent movie. The only problem was that i watched it straight after the previous movie, which made the show feel too ordinary. Only good thing is that Ee Wei managed to copy down an ogre story for Phar.

Another Saturday out of the way

Not a Saturday well spent because i just kept going back and forth between getting up and going to sleep the entire afternoon. Feeling very sickly and lethargic the entire day and my nose keeps leaking 'stuff' out.

Was bored so i popped in my Nana: Special Edition DVD into my player and watched the movie again but with the commentary on. The 3 people commenting on the movie are the director, Mika Nakashima and Miyazaki Aoi and there was some really amusing remarks they made. It's especially funny to hear them saying candid stuff during the emotional scenes. Really good stuff. Worth all $12.90.

Scene at Jackson's Hole (commenting):
Director: Hachi said something very insensitive to Shoji but she can't be blamed cause she's too cute.
Mika: (laughing) Yes, she's just too cute!

In Hachi's room (commenting):
Mika: I wasn't wearing socks in this scene at first but i remember someone saying, "I can see the soles of her feet" and "It's dirty"..
Director: Eh, someone said that? Was it me?
Aoi: (laughing) It was me..
Mika: It was you??

Ren calling Yasu after the Trapnest Concert
Yasu: (movie)If you don't want to see Nana, i'll take her.
Mika: (commenting) Yes! Please take me!

New show i picked up today was History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi.

Shirahama Kenichi is awalys bullied by the classmates. One day, he sets out his mind to become strong, following an advice of a beautiful girl, Furinji Miu, he goes to a martial arts school. However, it was a tremendously hard school where the strongest martial arts masters teach... from Animenfo.com.

Saw the PS2 game about it in Gamewave and thought i would check out the anime. First 5 episodes were pretty funny and just what i needed to brighten my dreary day. Hope it doesn't get caught in the same old joke cycles (as many comedy animes tend to do) and i'm looking forward to some good fights in the later episodes.

Finally figured out where i've seen Yu Aoi (Alice in "Hana and Alice") before. She plays Hagumi in the Honey and Clover live action movie (old promo news) and also Tanyuu in Mushishi live action (old promo news). Ordered a movie with her in it (All About Lily Chou-Chou) as well as the Death Note Limited Edition Box Set (both movies in a box). And suprise suprise: Found that YesAsia has added Nana 2 movie onto its pre-order list. Expected release date is June 21 though. Hope a HK edition makes it out sooner.

Knew i seen her before somewhere..

Here's to a good Sunday and hopefully getting cured of my persistent sickness!

My poor aching butt cheek..

Had a nice ride today with W.Kim Wee who just bought a new hybrid from AMK Hub's NTUC. Rode him back to his house which is suprisingly near to AMK Central (i keep thinking that 'Hougang' sounds damn far east) and then rode back home. Haven't ridden my racer since Fraser Hill but today i definitely feel much fitter than before the trip. Even after reaching home my legs don't feel shagged. Only problem is i kind of pulled the muscle in my right butt cheek, most likely due to lack of proper stretching before setting off.

Seriously, these 2 are going to fight each other. (L: Nayuki Minase (Early morning version, Kanon) and R: Kanna (Air))

Downloaded Eternal Fighter Zero, a doujin versus game with characters from various Visual Novel games(read: H-games). All i can say is: It's too bloody cute! Characters from Kanon and Air are also in the roster. The moves that some of the girls pull are seriously funny and weird (if you've watched the anime) and i just got a good laugh trying everyone out.

One more reason NOT to get a PS3 (yet): Devil May Cry 4, previously always a PS2 exclusive is going to be released on X360 simultaneously with the PS3 version. I can see other big name games slowly losing their Sony exclusivity and coming to X360 in the future as well. Hopefully MGS4 as well! Unless PS3 has some killer apps coming soon or the Cell starts showing its potential i think Sony should start planning for the Next-Next-Gen now. I still prefer the PS controller over the Xbox anytime though.

I think it's time to retire the DVD player in office. Was watching 'Hana and Alice' today and it kept freezing in between. Couldn't even finish 1 disc even though we were completely Law-less today. Not the first new VCD to be given the freeze treatment. Anyway i brought most of my movies home to watch, because someone was giving all our ears 5-star crapping therapy yesterday about how we all owe him something for something that only he remembers. I think he would make a terrific ghost in Ju-on because he harbours grudges for so long. Oh well, just 2 more months before i'm promoted back to Mr Chin (no more CFC hooray!)...Carry on my wayward son!

And that reminds me...i have to start prepartations for Ja-plan (Japan Plan)! Besides getting a bicycle i have done absolutely zilch after that. Time to lift my one good butt cheek off my bed and do something..

Go My Way!

My 2nd YesAsia DVD shipment arrived today. I really prefer buying DVDs from overseas because everything just looks more professional than the local prints of movies. The price is about the same if not cheaper, there's a bigger catalogue to choose from. Anyway this delivery only took 6 days, which is damn fast for free shipping.

Of note among the DVD Su-ki-da (Korean edition) and i'm really impressed with the package i got. Subtitles (Korean, English and French) looks good when i scanned through the first chapter and it comes with some nice extras. Click on the pic below to see the stuff included.

Was playing IdolMaster last night and spotted an easter egg. If you've seen Nana the movie you will recognise the music store that Hachi goes into to buy Trapnest's album. Well the same background is used in IM and the bottom right you can see the Nana DVD on sale on the shelve.

IM is pretty fun. I chose to 'produce' Chihaya Kisaragi for my first idol but i later read that's she pretty hard to manage. I'm on the last 12 weeks of my 52 week idol cycle and i need 510k more fans to get the A-rank achievement. Don't think i'll get it this playthrough but now that i've more or less got the hang of the game mechanics i think it should be no problem for my next starlet.

Pre-audition grilling ala Singapore Idol.

I have trouble even talking to girls, how the hell do i motivate them?

Another Audition passed! Idol Rank UP!

Another audition failed...Time to use the sign-out and reload trick!

All for a chance to perform in front of a crowd.

Can you say "Star Power!" ?

The gist of the game is that you have to train your idol (Visual, Dance and Vocal stats) through mini-games and then guide her through auditions. If she makes it through she gets to perform (you can produce 5 singles for 1 idol initially) and you get more fans. Rinse and repeat. The hard part is managing the girls because all of them have very different temperament. Sort of like DOA Extreme 2. The bad thing is that i used up my 5th single about 10weeks too early so i've been stuck with hearing her perform 'Go My Way!' for the last 20+ weeks.

Out of the Ashes...

>Introduction
>Post-Chapter 1: Where i bitch about Singnet and admit how sexist i am
>Post-Chapter 2: Where i try to muster your sympathy for my sufferings up Fraser Hill
>Post-Chapter 3: Where i boast about new stuff that i bought this week
>Post-Chapter 4: Where i try to get you to watch what i think is interesting
>Post-Chapter 5: Where i write on games i don't own on consoles that you probably don't have

Introduction
WARNING!! THIS IS AN ETERNALLY LONG POST..SO LONG THAT I HAVE TO DIVIDE IT INTO CHAPTERS. AND (FAINT..) THERE ARE CLOSE TO ZERO PICTURES!

Post-Chapter 1:
FINALLY...After a record 5 days without access to the Internet i am finally back online so that i can get myself in touch with the world outside of the newspaper. I wouldn't be in this predicament if it wasn't for Singnet's extremely lousy broadband link and customer service (7 days to the earliest appointment to fix my line..).

True story: I called Singnet's helpdesk last Thursday and a woman 'technician' picked up the phone. I was already feeling a little sceptical (because you can't trust women with tech stuff) about whether she could help me so i described to her how my ADSL light kept blinking. Her immediate response (midway through my sentence no less) was "Oh, that means your modem is spoiled!". Her answer left me in a 50-50 state; one half was groaning at the cluelessness of the girl on the phone and the other rejoicing that i was proven right in my prejudice. (FHI, the ADSL signals blinks when the modem can't detect a DSL signal in the phoneline and remains lit when the connection is established. And just because i LOVE to be proven correct, i tested the line (used new phone cables as well as different DSL phone jacks in my house) with my 2 other modems and guess what? All the ADSL lights were blinking.) Anyway i gave her my explanation above and asked politely that she have someone come to check the lines. I called Singnet again on Sunday as well and this time a guy tech immediately concluded that the fault was the phone lines.

So bottom line is, Singnet's broadband reliability sucks. The outage this time coincidentally happened a night after my previous post 'Singnet Sucks!' was posted. Hmm... I would suspect a conspiracy but after my experience with them i can assure myself that they are too lazy to bother to do such a thing.

Post-Chapter 2:
I was gonna post details before a cycling trip with my family to Fraser Hill last Friday to Sunday but if you had read PC-1 above you would have known why i couldn't. I thought that i was fit enough for some uphill cycling but boy was i wrong. Fraser Hill (it's more of a mountain than a hill) consists of 2 notable sections, the gradual climb (about ~26km) up to the Gap from the main road and the "short ascent" (all 9km of it) from the Gap to Fraser. Too bad the site doesn't mention what a killer the last 9km are. It's the type of gradient that you can't find in Singapore (having been up Bt Timah Hill and Mt Faber) and it's also damn bloody long. I'm actually quite proud to say that i did not resort to pushing my bicycle up.

If you haven't been to Fraser Hill, all i can say that it's small, peaceful, cooling, has beautiful scenery and flowers, and also totally devoid of any type of life or entertainment. The only way to enjoy (or torture) yourself would be to bring a bicycle up or if you like golf there is a beautiful course up there. I want to post some pictures of my trip but it'll have to wait till i get my home internet up and running.

Post-Chapter 3:
First up would be my new DSLR camera which i bought primarily to bring with me to Japan. Bought it on day 1 of the IT show (Thursday) cause i wanted to test it on my Fraser Hill trip (CP-2). Confession: I'm an absolute noob when it comes to cameras. I contacted Matthew Chuah (whom i haven't spoken to in 7 odd years) and Ah Chua to ask for some recommendations cause i know they have some expertise on this matter and both recommended the entry-level Nikon D50 for a newbie like me. Anyway the D50 has been out of production for some time so i went to the IT show and went for the best deal, which to me was the Olympus E-500. (review here and here)



Price was well within my budget of 2K ($1,199) and it came bundled with an extra lens (40-150mm) on top of the kit lens (15-45mm), 2 X 2 GB CF card, tripod, lens cleaning kit, bagpack w/camera compartments and some other extras. Well i read the reviews of it only today but it looks pretty well-rated for its price range. And i'm happy with the performance and also the ease of use of it. I even taught Brandon how to adjust and shoot with it pretty quickly. Took 500+ shots (w/o flash) with it in Malaysia and the battery indicator still showed over 50%. Might get an extra battery pack before my trip.

Bought some more DVDs from YesAsia.com today. Synesthesia, The Twilight Samurai, Confession Of Pain and Su-ki-da (Limited Edition). I haven't watched the DVDs from my previous order yet but i'll post my comments if they're any good.

Lastly i bought Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 for X360 from Funz Centre which moved to the new AMK hub. Haven't played GRAW 1 before but i've only heard good stuff about the game from the net and friends. Gamespot rates it better than the original GRAW but nowadays i'm apprehensive whenever reviews say the best part is to be found online. Xbox Live was fun for the first few weeks but now...it's just a novelty. Give me a good story-based game anyday. Furthermore i don't have any close friends who has the X360 and the same games as me. So i end up selling my games once i'm done with the story and after dabbling online for a few rounds. That's the same gripes i have about MMORPGs.

Post-Chapter 4:


Watching 2 'new' series, Egao no Hosoku which i have not got much to write about since i only managed to dl the first 2 episodes before my internet died. It stars Takeuchi Yuko (i always enjoy her shows) and Abe Hiroshi" (Hero).

2nd show is Stand Up!! which Joseph Wong kindly lent me. Easily one of the funniest dramas i've seen so far (up to ep 7 of 11). The story is about 4 childhood friends who find themselves the last virgins left in school. So during summer vacation, the 4 of them try their best to get laid. Standing in their way is their too conservative parents, lack of experience with girls and their reputations as virgins. There's Shouhei who probably the most normal, except he's deeply in love with his English teacher and often fantasizes of her in her lingerie; KenKen, who is extremely faithful to his girlfriend, except her priority is getting into Tokyo University before getting into bed with him; Hayato, the self-proclaimed Ero-King (he can identify an AV actress's from hearing her moan) who's just a plain loser and finally Kouji, the soccer captain who's too shy to even talk to girls. There's some good (but predictable) jokes and slapstick but the cast is good and the entire show very enjoyable. Screenshots after i get back online at home.

Post-Chapter 5:
God of War 2!. The Gamespot review makes it sound really awesome. After reading it i'm pretty sure it won't disappoint like other sequels (ahem, Guitar Hero 2 and Devil May Cry 2). Really looking forward to this.

End of the month will see the release of DDR: Universe and possibly Guitar Hero 2 for X360 as well. Abit torn between the 2 because i never owned a DDR (w/mat) before but i definitely like GH2 better than it. Hope i have enough money at month's end to get both with the accessories as well.

STUPID SINGNET!

Finally got around to hard-subbing Gal Circle. Did it once previously but i didn't like the Divx quality of the re-encode (used VirtualDub with filters). So after testing many different codecs i decided upon Xvid because of its video file size-to-image quality ratio. Think i'll rewatch Gal Circle again cause it's in English this time round.



No prizes for guessing why i'm watching it again.

Saw 3 movies the past few days, first would be 'Letters From Iwo Jima', or as Sau Kit calls it, 'Letters from 1WO Jima'. When i told Peng Xiang that we were going to watch '1WO Jima' i thought he would know that i was mocking Sau Kit but turns out he is another bodoh. He went to the ticket counter at EW West Mall and asked for tickets to 'that 1WO show'. I had to step in quickly and correct him. That auntie behind the counter tried to act smart by telling me it is pronounced EYE-woh instead of EE-woh but i'm 100% sure my pronouciation is correct. Movie was slow paced but i liked it (i'm sure MW will hate it). It's a complimentary film (from the Japanese perspective) to 'Flags of our Fathers' which i haven't seen, both films were directed by Clint Eastwood. Rating: 9/10

Ken Watanabe (Right w/binoculars) as General Kuribayashi

2nd show i watched was 'About Love' which is basically 3 short stories about love (duh!) short by 3 different directors in 3 different locations (Tokyo, Taipei and Shanghai) that has to do with breaking cultural and langauge differences. All 3 pairings are played by a Japanese and a Chinese actor/actress. And suprise suprise! Ichikawa Yui pops up as a minor character in the first story! Didn't expect to see her in this movie. Besides her the only other people i recognise were Misaki Ito (Densha Otoko, YUA, Ju-On etc) and Takashi Tsukamoto (Battle Royale, Midnight Sun). But i thought that Chen Bolin was pretty good-looking, and he rides a bicycle as well! Gonna get a jacket/long pants combo like him to cycle around Japan. Movie was light-hearted, nothing mushy or to cry about but i enjoyed it. Rating: 7/10

Story 1: Tokyo

Story 2: Taipei (suckiest of the 3)

Story 3: Shanghai

Last movie was "Midnight Sun" which is basically the movie version of Taiyou no Uta (see post below). Even the characters names are exactly the same in both versions. The story however has quite a few changes (Koji can't play the guitar, for example) but all in all i was pretty disappointed with this version. I preferred Erika Sawajiri over Yui as Kaoru Amane. Erika's insert songs ('Stay With Me' and 'Taiyou no Uta') i found to be more catchy then Yui's ('It's Happy Line', 'Good-bye Days' and 'Skyline'). It uses less Engrish as well. The story is far too simplistic as well and even though it's a 2 hour movie alot of the screen time is wasted on awkward silences and unneccesary camera panning. It fails to have the same impact on me as the drama. Would i be feeling the same if i had watched the movie and then the series? I honestly don't know. I loved 'Be With You' the movie but i'm a bit apprehensive about picking up the same drama series with different actors. It doesn't help that Takeuchi Yuko is one of my favourite actresses as well. Anyway i would highly recommend the drama for Taiyou no Uta over the movie but if you do want to catch both, then watch the movie first so you won't be so disappointed. Rating: 6/10

And i want to add that this is probably the most annoying post i have ever had to write because i kept getting D/C while i was searching for URLs and uploading pics. Singnet is fast when everything's normal but more often than not there's alot of problems with the connection. I want to say that the grass is greener on the other side (Starhub) but i bet many cable users have their own complains as well.

New Stuff (Again)

Went out after work to Sim Lim Square on Friday with Bernard. Picked up 2x512MB RAM (for $128) for my PC. Now it's up to 2GB of RAM! And the difference? Well honestly, i don't see any difference after running some memory intensive programs (VirtualDub + VLC + BitComet + PSP Video 9). Still slow despite the RAM boost. Maybe it's because of my processor.




Also bought a new Samsung DVD-RW ($69) that can burn DVD-RAM and DVD-9 as well. Bought it caused my old DVD-RW was a bit (actually there's nothing wrong with it except it can't read my Tekken 5 DVD) screwy. But i was quite happy that i actually managed to install the drive myself. I may be an IT student but i have no experience doing DIY on computers.




Last thing i bought was the Taiyou No Uta (Midnight Sun) movie DVD ($21.90). It's the exact same story as the drama Taiyou no Uta (starring Erika Sawajiri) but the cast is different. Acting as Kaoru Amane in the movie version is singerYUI. Haven't heard any of her songs before but she should be a better singer than Erika, not to say that Erika's 2 songs in the drama ('Stay With Me' and 'Taiyou no Uta') were bad. I liked them alot actually.


Also saw Synesthesia starring Miyazaki Aoi on sale in the same shop but it was a bit pricey ($29.90) and i had already overspent for that day. I remembered that the same edition online was cheaper so if i decide to buy it i will order from YesAsia.com as well. (free shipping too)

About This and That

Watched Umizaru and Yamato today in office. Both movies were good but i think Ee Wei didn't like Yamato caused he was complaining it was boring at the 90/144min mark. Ming Wei was asking alot of questions during the movie (as usual) and reminding us every 5 minutes that he hates the Japanese (during Yamato). Ok i think we got your point the 5th time you repeated that...

But i feel that he is condemning the entire Japan for the actions of their ancestors in the war, which i find pretty unfair. That's like saying every Muslim is a terrorist because of a few extremists (ahem, Alex and Soo Lim). I think Ming Wei lost the focus of the movie if he just concentrated on his hatred of the Japanese. Ming Wei was so sure that the entire movie was twisting history but from the wiki entry on the history of the Yamato i would say the gist of the show is pretty accurate.

It's not an attempt to glorify or vindicate the Japanese but more on how on either side of the war, the ones involved are humans with family and loved ones as well. Does killing innocent people by dropping a bomb make it more forgiveable than torturing the same people before they die? Would shooting someone in the head make it less cruel than injecting mercury into a person's bloodstream? Even Clint Eastwood knows better than to continually potray the Japanese as villains; he takes the same humanisation approach in Letters from Iwo Jima as well. Be it the US, Israel, Pakistan, N.Korea or Japan, when it comes to a war, everyone is just duty-bound to act in the best interest of their own country. For all we know if Singapore gets in a long war we would have to follow orders and do something unthinkable as well.

Anyway all this talk is pretty depressing so i want to add i'm pretty impressed by Matsuyama Kenichi as Kamio in Yamato. I already liked his performance in Death Note as L and i will take note of future films he acts in. Also of note was Ai Kato in Umizaru. Pretty sweet as Kanna. Pity about her nose though. Never seen any of her other films before today but will also take note.

Matsuyama Kenichi better known as L (Death Note)

Ai Kato as Kanna (Umizaru)

Way Of Blue Sky

Stayed back to watch 'Way Of Blue Sky' in office today. It's hard to get into a movie where all the actors/actresses are by Japanese television standards, ugly. Especially when the girls aren't cute. You can tell how low the movie budget is when they can't even buy sailor school uniforms for the the actresses.

The main actor (forgot his name) is planning to move to the USA to play basketball. Trouble is, he can't even act like he can play. At least Erika Sawajiri (1 litre of tears) and Erika Toda (Nobuta wo Produce) could act like that they could play B-ball. And here we have a) a guy, b)the school basketball captain, who can't even do a lay-up. That's disgraceful.

The look on his face says even he can't believe there are so many girls crazy for him.

The girl in the middle looks like a Filipino maid.

The rest of the show is a typical high-school harem. 5 girls want to confess their love for him before he leaves but he already has someone among them in mind. Like so many harem-anime i've seen before the girls are broken down into the usual stereotypes, there's the studious/shy type, the sporty-type, the transfer student, the childhood friend and the best-friend type. Not having someone cute to root for, i went for the childhood friend (4th from the left) to end up with him. Boy was i disappointed. The storyline was flat and took itself too seriously You would think and hope the director would add some love scenes to save the viewer from boredom but alas it was not to be.

If you want to watch a real live-action harem, look no further than this drama, 'Shimokita Glory Days'. A mark of a good harem is the amount of panty-shots and nosebleeds the male character gets and this show has no lack of that. But if you do pick this up please know that it has quite a few nude scenes (no sex) so watch it when you're alone. I can't say much for the storyline for this drama but at least the actresses are pretty.

More of a visual treat than a film for thought.

The Sore Feet Post

Both movies (see post below) i watched today sucked. Tenacious D was amusing for the first 15mins before it started to get really really lame and unfunny. And watching Kyle Gass and Jack Black baring their bottoms wasn't exactly a pretty sight. The songs were shitty as well. "Greatest Movie Of All Time" my ass.

Ju-On 2 was as bad as part 1. Even D.Law was wondering why no one wanted to run away from Kayako instead of just backing into a corner and crying/screaming. And please learn to turn on the lights when entering a spooky house or room. The scriptwriter has got to come up with more believeable human reactions to the scenario. As such the only thing that's scary is how dumb everyone in the movie is. And Ju-On's poster child Toshio irritates the shit. I wonder what's supposed to be scary about a over-powdered kid who makes irritating sounds for no rhyme or reason. He sounds like any young children i know. At least float around or do a 360 head rotation so that people will know you are supposed to be a ghost.

You can tell how much Toshio's mother loves him by the amount of baby powder she applies before he goes out haunting.

Dinner at Cafe Cartel with Alex (finished a Crispy Combo meant for 3 people) and we went for a walk around BP to digest the food and talked about our favourite Mushishi episodes (among other things). I'm surprised i forgot to tell him about the live action Mushishi movie that's coming out in March. However from comments that i've read about the initial screening at a film festival i think i shouldn't get my hopes up for the movie.

Joe Odagiri as Ginko.

Aoi Yuu as Tanyuu(from episode 20).

Anyway the stories that look to be covered (from the pictures) in the movie are Episode 3 "Tender Horns", Episode 7 "The Rain Falls, A Rainbow Forms" , Episode 12 "The One-Eyed Fish" and Episode 20 "A Sea of Brushes" from the anime. There might be more that are not revealed. I passed the entire anime series to Ee Wei and Gavin last time but i wonder if they have watched any of the episodes. I think i wasted 2 DVD-Rs.

Bought/borrowed the following shows in preparation for next week at work: "Way of Blue Sky", "Yamato", "About Love", "Umizaru" and "Umizaru 2: Test Of Trust (or Limit of Love)".