ぼくの日記

Great Tool in the Shed

2010-08-25T17:37:00.004+08:00

25th August 2010, Wednesday

Over the past weekend which saw me signing off a bill of $3200 with my credit card, there was a purchase that might well worth every penny.

For a long while, I had been resisting the allure of a smart phone, obstinately clamoring over the fact that a mobile phone is afterall just used for making phone calls, anything else is just periphery.

There has been a iPhone fever sweeping our little red dot since 3GS came into the market many moons back and almost any Tom, Dick & Harry around me had been meddling with their 3.5 inch touch pad whenever they felt bored or simply insecured.

Not one to jump on a bandwagon, I was fiddling with the prospect of changing my 4 year old Motorola Razr which was really lasting despite of umpteen drop from mid air.
The speaker had become rather weak but otherwise everything is a go.

One feature of a smartphone would be nifty would be the ability to surf the web anywhere with a reception for the 3G transmission.
I had occasions when a sudden urge to search of some facts on Wikipedia or perhaps an old song on the youtube.

This feature was really what made my latest acquisition of an iPhone 4 seems so sweet as I just began reading Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol", borrowed from Mr Chan.
There were some intricate description of certain monuments and buildings which would be well complimented if there were some visuals from the internet.

Another fabulous feature was the ability to download podcast off the iTunes which I never bother with the iPod.
Managed to get the latest podcasts off ESPN soccernet which was a treat, perhaps can try Ricky Gervais' famous podcasts soon.

While listening to the dry British humor during my run, I had a need to do some counting down of time for a stretching exercise and instantly use the stopwatch utility on the phone for it.

However I don't forsee myself carrying it for workout as there is a high tendency of dropping the precious gadget.

All in all there are still thousands of apps to really spice up or make life convenient but for now the new phone surely is a real cool tool.

Japanese word of the day: 道具 ~dou-ku~ (Tool) Such a tool would be good for someone like myself who was described as not the brightest tool in the shed

Hang & Crash

2010-08-12T10:49:00.002+08:00

12th August 2010, Thursday

I am at wit's ends with regards to the status of a crucial part of my life and soul: the erratic one known as the personal computer.

There had been signs since months ago that something is stealthily infecting the operating system resulting in habitual crashes, unsolicited restarts and the unknown hanging.

CS had been summoned time and again to fix it and mostly became shortlived remedy as the problem persist.
It was still cope-able for the months of June & July as the glitches appeared less frequent and everything is run pretty smoothly.

However over the National Day weekend, the problem aggravated and now the PC is acting up like a petulant infant, kept throwing a wrench in my wheel of everyday activities when the hanging and crashing came without notice and at such frequency.
Yet I bear with it at the current moment while think of a short-term solution and a longer one.

The former would be reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling Vista to see if it could exorcise any remnants that could be bothering the system.
With my style of getting things online, I am highly susceptible to attack regardless I have the anti virus tool running round the clock.

The latter would be an overhaul of the hardware, barely 2 years since the last upgrade.
I could of course dedicate some hard earn cash for it but I want something that could last but obviously it doesn't work for me unless I religiously maintain and preserve the system and veer clear of all the hap-hazardous phishing sites. which is close to impossible considering how dangerous the world is out there now and I have that undying need of some digital materials.

Well taking a step at a time and hope life will go back to normal soon.
Anyway got an overbearing feeling that my room is cursed for electronic products to last longer as they should.
Last evening the wall fan just lost its power to oscillate. Bummer...

Japanese word of the day: 持続 ~ji-zo-ku~ (Lasting) The only thing lasting about my PC is the keyboard.

Minor Adjustments

2010-07-28T17:10:00.003+08:00

28th July 2010, Wednesday

July seems to last forever.
Though it was hardly a whirlwind of a month, there had been some notable events and more importantly minor adjustments looming over the horizon.

First of all, the World Cup ended in a rather pleasant fashion for yours truly especially with the 2 finalists being both my supported teams.
I know Holland was doomed to be forever the bridesmaid but sure was hoping that the Oranje could do it.
Now it is over I just wanna put it behind me, even abstain from the very little transfer dealing trickling now. Hell even do away with the octopus from Germany

In the latter stage of Red Dead Redemption, and now suffering from the usual "laid off the game at the brink of completion syndrome".
It looks likely that "Lost Planet 2" might be the next game in the pipeline for me although there is a certain degree of curiosity looming for "Starcraft 2".
Sadly the good ol' (barely 2 years) PC is still not in the most stable of state.

What had been preoccupying my free time of late began with a galore of movies on the backlog and now in the midst of a "The Office" marathon which I never wanted to end.
As they said laughter is the best medicine and the antics of David Brent or Michael Scott with their respective motley crews definitely kept me in the pink of health of late.

It seems like La Tendo would be out of Kallang Leisure Park even before you can spell out the full name, so another adjustment I might need to make in the near future.
Pretty anticipating of the new store as well.

Lastly my webpage on my hobby of collecting figurines looked destined not to last 2010.
I had ran out of space with the 1GB space limitation and when the system wiped clean my index page, it was the last straw.
However I am thinking of starting a blog as a replacement and even managed to rope in a few others, so it should be a even more spectacular project.

Japanese word of the day: 調節 ~Chou-Setsu~(Adjustment) One definite adjustment I would love to make is a new traveling route to work without the madness of the crowd

My Past World Cup Experiences

2010-06-07T15:29:00.003+08:00

7th June 2010, Monday

4 days to the big football bonanza which comes once every 4 years...the World Cup!
Excitement filled me as I contemplated on how to keep myself awake for some wee hours matches for the next few weeks.
Applying is the top option and I have catered a few days (yah not more than 4-5 days) to be taken strategically

Would be backing a few favorites for this tournament but would love a fairy tale dark horse story much like Turkey-South Korea in 2002 and less like Greece in Euro 2004.
Thank goodness for the time zone from South Africa (which is around an hour off the GMT) means we can at least catch 2 matches comfortably at the 7.30pm and 10.30pm slots.

I still remembered football took a huge chunk of my life since 1993 when I was introduced to Manchester United and the Premier League.
However my World Cup journey began way earlier:

Italia 1990: Remembered a famed local Mandarin DJ cum commentator kept stressing the name "Ba Jiao" which is a direct translation of Roberto Baggio of the Azzurri., otherwise it was Carlos Valderama's mop that really drew alot of entertainment back then.
Struggled to stay up to catch Maradona and his Argentine contingent reclaiming the cup from West Germany but went down to an Andreas Brehme's penalty. Dozed off halfway through despite RTM's attempt to keep people interested with one of the Star Wars films.

USA 1994: Fully exposed to the intensity of the World Cup held by the land of the global big brother who treated "soccer" is a sports for the kids.
Andres Escobar's assassination, Maradona's shameful drug charges, Iordan Letchkov's bald patch and Henrik Larsson's blonde locks were some of the highlights.
The magical strike partnership of Romario and Bebeto took the Selecao into the final but it took missed penalties from Baggio and Franco Baresi gave Brazil their 4th World title.

France 1998: Before the tournament, not many people heard of Youri Djorkaeff and Zinedine Zidane, how that was to change dramatically.
Missed quite a big chunk because of my military commitment but was glad to catch a few swashbuckling games live including Bergkamp & Kluivert s' combination to eliminate Argentina.
Posh David Beckham was expelled for kicking at a playacting Diego Simeone while Croatia backed by a talented squad with the likes of Sukar, Prosinecki and Boban sent them to the semi finals only to be undone by the hosts especially a particular Lilian Thuram.
A mysterious breakdown by Ronaldo saw him making a last minute entree into Mario Zagallo's line-up but by then the damage was done as the hosts, France demolished the South American giant with a 3-0 hiding.

Japan/ South Korea 2002: Perhaps the most exciting World Cup for me personally. Fresh out of college, I had to make meet's ends by plying trade as a car accessory salesman, so could not catch a lot of early games being played at the same East Asian timezone.
I also went on a Genting trip with the missus back then with out university mates and caught a few matches there as well.
A World Cup for the underdogs saw a resilient Guus Hiddink-led South Korean team ousting the likes of Italy and Spain, while beating Portugal in the group stage. Many remembered the games as biased refereeing favoring the co-hosts.
Japan, USA, Senegal and especially Turkey had a great outing while defending champions France dwindled in the absence of Zidane and knocked out without scoring a goal.
Ronaldo helped Brazil blazed into the final (with Rivaldo's Academy Award winning acting skill against Turkey) with his 8 goals inclusive of the brace in the final itself.
I had footballing chums like Foo and a couple of course mates that kept me very much wrapped in the festivity just north of our island.
Had my hand of gambling (legally) but resulted in me shouting my voice coarse in that semi final duel when Germany nicked a 1-0 win over South Korea.
It was a bad experience for me and I swore off betting on football for life.

Germany 2006 : Not the best timing to start a new job while caught in the World Cup fever.
Remembered a lot of cagey games in this tournament and some of the games did not lived up to its billing.
Netherlands self destructed in the round of 16 against Portugal while Argentina could not get past host Germany in the quarterfinals meaning I really had no one to support by the latter stages.
For France to beat hot favorites Brazil in the Qfinals, signaled the 98 champions are returning to form and another 1-0 feat over Portugal saw them meeting Italy in the final.
Zidane who had set his retirement plan after the finals, went out in disgrace by headbutting foul-mouthed Marco Materazzi which was the most vivid scene from that edition of the World Cup

So what would this year in Africa's first World Cup be like?
Would Spain lived up to their billing or would there be a surprise winner?
Plenty of stars were left out or receded due to injuries, so perhaps the platform for a new Schillaci, Hagi, Suker, Diouf or Podolski to shine out.

4 days and counting then

Japanese word of the day: 選手 ~sen-shu~ (Player) Wonder if Messi would really take this year by storm

Gun-jostling time!

2010-05-31T16:46:00.002+08:00

31st May 2010, Monday

Don't May seems a wee bit too long for my liking?

A long weekend just vamoosed by without significantly leaving a mark though the tiramisu at Pontini was highly delectable and made every penny of the 16 bucks well worth it.

It was basically riding the stallion in the virtual wild west while learning to lasso the horse, guide the herd and hunt down bounties before hooking up with the posse to squash some bandits' den for most of the weekend.
Kind of neglected the missus by the end of it, though herself was pretty absorbed in all the gun-trotting action when she watched me play.

On Vesak Friday, the BBQ birthday celebration for 77 year old grandma was not the most ideal when none of the filial grandchildren had not bother to check with the meteorological station for the most accurate weather forecast.
The whole brood was made to dodge for shelter at least 2 times before finally managed to grilled the remaining food till the very end of the night.

The Sunday game session with TW and CS came off at the very last minute despite it being way truncated than expected.
Nevertheless the whole session succeeded in us impressed (albeit me slightly) with "Lost Planet 2" and TW likewise with "Red Dead Redemption".
Nevertheless can expect the trio of us hooking up online very soon.

Japanese word of the day: 射撃(Shooting) It is always much more fun to do it virtually...

Sleeping with a Broad Smile

2010-05-10T15:48:00.005+08:00

10th May 2010, Monday

The promotion that seems unlikely brightened up a Monday which had been geared into planning for a great 3 months of gaming, watching World Cup and planning for a probable Seoul/Japan trip.

Over the weekend with the folks whetting their gambling appetite in Genting, I had a nice time just hanging around with the missus who had nothing in plan and delicate for me as well as catching up some of the domestic matters.
However I ought to devote less time on the Playstation as Valkyria Chronicles borrowed from Bryan definitely really got me addicted.
Had an excruciating time creating a D.I.Y display stand which had some remote success but barely.
MK II should be better but doubt I have the energy and dedication to do so in the coming weeks.

Managed to get the early bird package for the World Cup telecast on Starhub.
Everyone on the island seemingly was appalled by the hike in price ($66 compared to like $50 odd 4 years ago) and did not mince their complains on the media.
For me, the threshold lies at $80, so the price looks pretty ok.
Now time to plan my precious amount of leave for this.

CS came on Sun with the purpose of rectifying my PC which in the end saw us discussing about the upcoming games on PS3.
The anticipated Capcom futuristic alien hunting game by the name of "Lost Planet 2" seemed to take a hiding from critics and reviewers and really blew it for us.
In compensation, Rock Star, the people who gave us Grand Theft Auto, will churn out a spaghetti Western by the name of "Red Dead Redemption".
The multi-player mode really got us captivated and time to join the posse as they said.

The highly anticipated letter came off the hands of the boss on Monday afternoon and I had to conceal the blissfulness blossoming within upon seeing my promotion.
The monetary boost came at the perfect time as I had list of items to dwell upon while building the savings account for the future.
All in all it made serving in the same institution shy of a decade looked highly rewarding, so back to doing what I do best as usual.

The only mood-spoiling issue over the weekend is the niggling pain along the molar and pre-molars of the left side of my top jaw.
Need to overcome that phobia of stepping onto a dentist chair soon and come clean that I had not bother with visit a dentist on regular basis since ORD many moons back.
Gives me the creep at the slight top of the sound of the drill...*GULP*

Japanese word of the day: 微笑み~ho-ho-e-mi~(Smile) Even can twitch a smile with a toothache

It comes back in a full Circle

2010-04-19T10:19:00.008+08:00

19th April 2010, Monday

17th April 2010 proved to be a real eventful day for the sleepy town of Singapore...
The preceding evening was well soaked in the torrential showers that spitefully arrived every single day during knock off time.
I did made it to Salon de Uno earlier than my stipulated appointment, and managed to get my highly active follicles well groomed by 7.30pm when the missus came to find me straight off work with no appointment planned.
She was to accompany to CS' place after dinner as a rather last minute gaming session was coined with PL's dinner appointment gave her husband some lee time to hang around with his gaming buddies on a Friday evening.

Thought it might be a great session to banter about unraveling the mystery behind "Heavy Rain" but TW's intention was to indulge in PES as usual which we did.
It was well fine but just become slightly too repetitive while a sudden phone-in interview for the host definitely hindered the progress.
At least the missus found her own form of entertainment but I felt bad putting her, who was still recovering from her chronic cough, through this despite it was her choice.

Saturday began not so bright nor early but one could sense the entire neighborhood roasting up for the grand reopening of the Hindu temple across the road which spelt road closures around our place.
It was crucial to start with a hearty breakfast and that was what we had at Starbucks as we were both bought by the strong aroma of freshly brewed Java.

The long awaited 3rd phase of the Circle Line was in operation on that fateful day.
Of course it should cut the traveling time to La Tendo, 19 minutes to be exact as indicated at the route inidcation board before Chan and I took our maiden ride from Bishan Station.
In the end with umpteen prolonged halts (notably at Paya Lebar), it added up to around 25 min which is around the same time we usually waited for that godforsaken Bus 16 in town on Saturday anyway.

Love the Noah's Ark style architecture for the Stadium station though with the ganrty at only one end does not make much sense.
The cement on the footpath to Kalleng Leisure Park was barely dried when we got there, highlighting what a hush hush job it had been.

The opening of the train station surely saw a stark improvement in the human traffic as the store was swarmed almost 80% of the time we were there.
Of course they held a 20% storewide sales helped matters too but the 2 concerts from Taiwanese acts certainly played their part to bring in the crowd.
Like my merchandise-crazed wife who spent close to 300 bucks on the increasingly stale 5 men Taiwanese band, it was easy to spot the hordes of concert-goers with their sparkling new official T shirts on.
The downpour in the afternoon nearly jeopardized the open air concert.

Closing to the final hour of operation, Karen made her appearance after going very quiet on the net and in appearance lately.
She would be getting her working visa in a few days time and the flight to Seoul is imminent.
The crew had intended to catch "Kick Ass!" which Chan had been raving about though my utmost intention was to catch the Manchester derby live with TW.

My buddy who was in the midst of a nice dinner with his missus had thought the match would be at around 9-ish when in actual fact the kickoff was around 7.45pm.
He did say it was likely to catch the Chelsea-Spurs game which kicked off after midnight.
Therefore the plan altered as the movie kind of fell with sprawling interest.
Left for AMK for dinner with yet another meal at Popeye's fried chicken, certainly look to abstain from it for at least a few months.
Bryan was gloomy for most of the day. Made to slave on a Saturday, drenched from the shower and then perturbed by the price of the Macross F Ichibankuji that he felt was not justifiable despite a strong desire to own the figurines.
I wonder if the deep fried chicken could do much to help 'cos the score at City of Manchester Stadium certainly couldn't as his beloved Poo's archrivals looked on course for a possible 19th league title after a Paul Scholes' injury time header deflated the host in laser blue.

As TW mentioned during our journey to his place after dropping PL at her Dad's in Bishan,
"When I heard GOOOALLLL! I knew there would only be one team who had scored as Man City has no fan in Singapore."
Great words indeed.

There was a filler known as "Blacburn vs Everton" to keep us preoccupied before the big one at White Hart's Lane.
Seemingly a scrappy game at first but Blackburn scored a couple of screamer including one from TW's fave player now at least because of the sheer flair of his name, Steven Nzonzi, yet end up losing to lucky Toffees.

Prior to keepoff of the big match, the missus arrived with a seemingly sore throat and high from the adrenaline rush of the live concert.
It was really nice of her to chaperon me for the 2nd night in succession when she would be bore to tears with the proceedings, plus the match would likely ending by 2.30 in the morning.

So the game ensued as we built up with our undying loathe for the likes of Terry and Cashley Cole.
It was befitting that Spurs was the team on form and the star man was defender turn winger Gareth Bale.
The Welshman had transformed his form of late since the days of Spurs-will-lose-when Bale-starts.
After Jermain Defoe hit a powerful spotkick off public enemy's No.1 John Terry's handball, we were celebrating like teenage morons.
Spurs were dominating play the entire first half and deservedly go 2-0 up before half time, from our fave Spurs player now Bale.

Second half was even more exhilarating for us with Drogba cramping his groin muscles before kick off then by my mouth of voodooism, John Terry actually got sent off for 2 yellow cards.
Chelsea was in the doldrums and we were basking in their plight till a late rally which saw Lampard reducing the arrears when we had our hearts in our throats.

Definitely a great night if you are Man United fans (esp when fellow title chaser Arsenal also lost on Sun) but Spurs under Redknapp is definitely dazzling and truly hope they make it into the Champions League.

So a wonderful Saturday ended on a great note as we sort of rekindled the interest in the EPL as the season runs in... Everything like karma will comes back in one full circle, John Terry oughta know..heehee

Japanese word of the day: 円(Circle) Life though cannot keep spinning in circles

Age is just a Number

2010-04-13T16:46:00.004+08:00

13th April 2010, Tuesday

With the missus out of town, managed to beckon the guys for some sort of a meet up despite time constraint.
Lili had a hair appointment surprisingly just a stone throw away from my place which warrant CS a few hours to hang out with me and TW who distinctly indicated that he would be available for the whole of Sunday than originally penned on Saturday.

My nostalgic weekend began on Saturday evening when I was tracking some old friends on Facebook.
Despite being a staunch advocate to ban such networking tool because of the evil tales which crept out of the closet, it was afterall great to catch up with old friends or acquaintances.
Managed to join a group for my secondary school which I had good memories of unlike my junior college years and even finally caught hold of my first real puppy crush though I was resistant to request for a friend addition.

The day began at 10-ish when TW as scheduled albeit hastily over the phone mentioned that he would drop by around 10.
I was barely nibbling my tasty cookie (milk chocolate and macadamia) when he made the house call.

It was apparent that CS would only reach an hour later, so we did the next best thing than merely doing the waiting game: play Pro Evo Soccer on the PS.
We tried to emulate the FA Cup semi final for that night between Spurs and Pompey (which the latter amazingly snitched it despite problem off the pitch) before CS made a much earlier entrance.

Off we swooshed to AMK for lunch and it's fun just cruising with my buddies, only if CS could curb his volatile reception to lady drivers.
Lunch was at Popeye's Chicken which was rather steep a price for fast food but the quality in terms of the fried chicken and other side dishes like their marsh potato definitely is a breathe of fresh air from that offered by Col. Sanders.

CS kept us hanging with something brewing from work while TW filled us in with a rather cringeworthy ploy by a female student of his, on playing the heart of a fellow student to produce work for her.

After wiping clean the tasty chicken and spilling jam on pants for some, the burgeoning crowd in the joint was getting rowdy and we decided to head to Funz Center.
The objective was to source for a new game for yours truly and Quantic Dream's "Heavy Rain", a suspense thriller looked like the prime choice as I told CS that i was more into adventure with a good spin in plot these days than RPG.

Didn't lingered long at AMK Hub and left for my place as Lili was on the verge of finishing her styling appointment, meaning CS could not stay for long.
It was indeed the case as we were a few yards from reaching my place yet we still get to see the awkward control of Heavy Rain while hearing the rest of the scoop of sleaze off CS in the end... Good Times.

After the Pepsiman left to pick up his lass, TW stayed for a tournament on PES, using the uber powerful Spanish squad which we both reckon would do good in the World Cup.
It was midway when TW got a call from CS, claiming that I had dropped by relic of a mobile phone in his car and he would make a return trip from Jurong after sending Lili back, just to return it to me.
I thought it was just an excuse to just catch up which did not transpired.

What was more bizarre was that beside my mobile, TW had dropped his car keys in the passenger seat of CS' car as well which was verified by the latter.
They claimed it was voodoo when I mentioned the name of "the Big O" as we kicked off the day and it came back to haunt us.

TW had intended to hitch a cab ride to fetch his key until I offered him the missus' Ford Focus as a the alternative, meaning at least he would save on the cab fare.
It turned out to be a cool ride as we started speaking about how time had just flew by (with some real classic on Class 95 really helped orchestrate the mood).
In the end despite heading towards the fourth decade of our existence, a good 22 years since we became friends, we still very much remained the same pair of goof balls as age and what not would not deter us off the way we wanna lead our lives.

Despite not granted a longer time than expected, I felt it was real nice to catch up with them again as the havoc we can create when we are all in attendance.

Surely at my age, you would not think one would take urgent leave with the excuse to look after an ailing wife but spend the day finishing up a newly bought console game... yah age is afterall a number as the mindset remains.

Japanese word of the day: 年齢 (Age) The body does tell the real age somehow

Gathering of the Titans

2010-04-06T16:21:00.003+08:00

6th April 2010, Tuesday

In what supposed to be the final La Tendo clique outing before Karen departs for Seoul, it was simply a fine day out.

It's been a long while since we worked those rackets on the badminton courts but the profuse perspiration showed that it was a great workout despite not able to hit the shuttle corks in high frequency.

The food court at the underground carpark of HDB Hub was renovated with the useless artificial birds' chirping, well enough to warrant a 50% hike in food.
And the famous rojak without the queue toteboard saw an immense beeline for a plate of it which made us cringed at the thought of joining that queue.

The rain made its arrival as we rode to La Tendo where a new shipment certainly clusterfucked the limited space available.
With the Circle Line making its way come 2 weeks time, the management surely hopes for better crowd than it was for a Saturday.
The human traffic was so listless that the attendants at the mega electrical appliances store gave us a sour face when asking him to test a digital photo frame.
The frame didn't work and of course we shun off from buying.

It was still drizzling in town when we made our way to ION Orchard as some of them had an insatiable desire to check out the One Piece T shirt available at Uniqlo, in the end only Karen bought it.
Speaking of insatiable desire, the missus had been eyeing on the self-claimed Hokkaido style ramen booth at the food alley in the Basement 2 of ION for a while; the main obstacle is how costly a bowl
I actually was willing to accommodate on her request while the rest can seek cheaper alternatives.
In the end everyone had ramen and the supposedly owner of the joint was zealous in pushing for his product to the whole load of us and even gave us each half a hard boiled egg.
The noodles ain't half bad but still a gulf to cross to match the quality to be found in motherland but the price certainly is overly inflated.

It's been a long while since we caught a movie at Lido but the ageless cineplex still can garner quite a crowd on Saturday evening and the auditorium style Lido 1 boasts such a massive silver screen seemingly good enough to catch a movie like "Clash of the Titans" in.
However the likes of Karen and Chan sitting just behind me commented our bulbous heads blocked their views and the seats from the previous century definitely is not as comfy as those state of the art theaters we have now.

The movie remake of Ray Harryhausen's 1981 epic was not as bad as everyone proclaims though it was a bit hasty to end especially with the slaughtering of the fearsome Kraken rather meek.
Sam Worthington has now been typecast whether he likes it or not while Ralph Fiennes just has that Valdemort aura as Hades.

As we bode everyone farewell, one wonders when would be the next time the entire clique could come out for a movie again.

Japanese word of the day: タイタン(Titans) Sometime my clique seems like Titans in our own way.

Just Hard to be Chirpy

2010-03-29T17:12:00.004+08:00

29th March 2010, Monday

Little sis's customary on Friday was aye ole fine till after the buffet lunch held at a sparkling new hotel at Johor Bahru.
My old man who looked worn down by his age of late made a turn from the hotel to the main road, without putting on his signal and cutting into the outer lane.
At this point, a local Proton wagon blazed towards our tail and made a hard brake prompt enough to avoid collision with a scratch sustained by both vehicles.

Just as we thought the episode was over, the ruffian like locale Malay driver in his bootleg Man Utd jersey and all-so-cool shades walked down from his car while all a long beeline was built up on the road, knocked on our driver's door and demanded my father to stop at the nearest turn in the light drizzle.

Mom handed Dad RM$50, hoping to quell the situation as the first thing that came to our mind was that it was a ploy by the local to lure upon unsuspecting Singaporean, create a fracas and hope to bamboozle a hefty sum for the foreigner who did not want any trouble, especially when their authorities can be bought over with money.

Dad was visibly shaken when dealing with his younger protagonist while I too alighted to render any form of support for my old man though deep inside I was filled with fury and some level of fear since stories aplomb of what these crazy Malaysians were capable of.
The driver was riled at the sight of his all so sacred Proton was scratched minimally while Dad was all so apologetic in his limited command of Malay while stuffing the $50 in his hand which he was of course not satisfied with.

We then fled the scene before he called for back-ups.
Though it was my father's fault ultimately, I was well perturbed for the friggin' hell hole just north of our island and vowed never step a foot there again.

Hours back home my beloved Dolphins fell to Home United rather meekly but it was kind of anticipated.

On Saturday, in the midst of my third season on the Football Manager, there was a hard crash of the PC.
Since it happened a fortnight ago with little repercussions, I thought things were fine but it was not meant to be as I had problem launching the game without the PC crashing once again.
I had heard of the notoriety of the game of crashing but the timing was really sucky.
To aggravate the situation, my PC crashed while I was watching a video stream online...
It was barely a year and a half since my last upgrade but I think I might be tempted to go for Quad Core motherboard soon.

The only oasis in a mired weekend was the gathering with the La Tendo clique for Karen's farewell dinner, sadly almost half the crew could not make it due to other commitments or sickness.
Nice fusion vegetarian with steep prices but at least whet our tastebuds.
It followed by the impromptu karaoke session which stretched till midnight on a Sunday evening.

Back to work on Monday morning to face the email from Shitty Green after my candid response for his flagrant comment on our inadequency in our preparation process.
Created quite a fracas but did not even compare to the fact that my seemingly idle time had raised eyebrows of my younger colleagues who were swamped with work and went to blow whistle on us.
Wintery times at work and overall hard to be chirpy for the start of a truncated week.

Japanese 陽気 (Chirpy) Even the birds don't chirp today

Change is Forthcoming

2010-03-15T16:35:00.002+08:00

15th March 2010, Monday

The other day there was a commotion created by Karen's statement on
"Change is coming".

Many friends and loved ones probed and speculated what the change would be and it seems like yours truly hit the bullseye with my prediction.

I stated that it could be something to do with changing of her job.

It was no major myth to conceal that our teacher friend simply became jaded with her working environment and had started to shake her off the tangent of her mental well-being.

Therefore it was of little surprise when she revealed that she would not be renewing her teaching contract which runs its course come end of the month.
Meanwhile she had managed to hook up with a South Korean animation production house which would see her working in Seoul for 8 months.
Doing computer animation had always been a dream of hers plus the opportunity to work overseas definitely is one to relished, even though she mentioned she would be taking a 50% pay cut for it (imagine a current remuneration..gosh)
An inside joke would be that she can finally fulfilled another dream of hers, get hitched with her pop idol, Rain.
Wishful thinking but never say never.

So by early April, a galvanizing player in the La Tendo clique would be away from the island till the end of 2010 and with Ferris' self projected one year absence, it means the crew is well thinned with the usual guys going to the shop and an occasional movie outing or perhaps dinner.
Karen's infectious giggling would be missed at the time being.
One less person to chat via MSN about the latest development on One Piece, well that is still possible unless her new employers banned all social networking tools.

Caught Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D at Cathay with the gang.
A wonderful rendition from Burton in his signature art direction but getting a bit too tired of his usage of Johnny Depp and spouse Helena Bonham Carter though the latter was perfect for the role of bulbous-head red queen.
Crispin Glover is the great shifty character since his "Back to the Future" days while Mia Wasikowska was comfortable as a teenage Alice.
Anne Hathaway's thick colored lips and broad eyebrows stood out clearly but it was those adorable imaginary creatures like Cheshire Cat and Tweedle-dum & Tweedle-dee which really steal the show.
And yah Christopher Lee, Saruman and not Fann Wong's hubby had like 3 speaking lines as Jabberwocky, Red Queen's draconian champion.

The next movie ought to be "Clash of the Titans" and let the mediocre blockbusters pattern continue for the year of 2010

Japanese word of the day: 不思議の国 ~fu-shi-gi-no-ku-ni~ (Wonderland) Karen would be heading towards her wonderland soon

What Are You Busy With Lately?

2010-03-11T10:46:00.003+08:00

11th March 2010, Thursday

Oh gosh this blog has degenerated into those one post a month blog?
Seemingly so...sigh

The other day while chatting with Chan on the MSN he opened the Pandora's Box when he was baffled at how come I do not have time to get started with Final Fantasy XIII on my long untouched Playstation 3 console (which of late was decapitated by a ploy from Sony to oust those old models forcing pre-existing owners to spend on the new slim and improved ones).

"What exactly are you busy with?" he asked.

The truth is I am not quite sure about what had been eating up my leisure time but at this juncture, definitely spending hours addicted to a console game in front of the TV does not sound very appealing to me.

While the missus has not been the beneficial party of my free time as usual, we do try to spend a bit of time here and there.
Been catching up with old friends and acquaintances over the Lunar New Year period which transpired to be quite enjoyable just catching up old times.
Also stepped into the dark side with the creation of a Facebook account...so done a bit of microblogging which really does not mean much.

Of course the positive start of Sengkang Punggol FC's 2010 campaign got me head over heels and devote quite a bit of time chasing their progress.
Together with my strange bedfellow Foo, the blog we created really causing some buzz in synchrony with the explosive start of the Dolphins.
This created a domino effect for me renewed interest in local football and thus prompting me to work on the database for the Football Manager which really took up quite a bit of time since last weekend.

Attended a concert with the missus at the tail-end of the month.
I would not say she coerced me into it but it was kinda short (~1 and a half hour) to see the Backstreet Men plying their trade despite their bones are getting brittle.
The over-zealous jumping and shrieking of the fans did not help to improve the viewing pleasure.

At work, there's confirmation of a change in our boss...yes the 3rd time in just 3 years.
For us it's just back to the drawing board and do what we do best as usual.
The new platform encountered some issues as predicted but will iron out eventually and seemingly I am the main man in charge.
I am definitely looking forward to hold a more significant role in the group but from the latest appraisal, it looks like I might had accomplished what I set out to do.
It's not so bad just staying put here despite a recent tirade of SMS exchanges with BY indicated that the outside world just ain't as greener a pasture as it seems.

Finally at home, my little sister is getting ready to move out and start her family which we all hoped will be a smooth ride.
She truly needed to tone down her temperament and appreciate her husband who truly is a decent chap.
Mom is going to Hokkaido, sadly I am not the one who brings her there, while my old man just lament that the cost of a Japan trip is way too high for his liking, or he is just plain worrisome and paranoid.

I have no real picture in my head how the next few months will be like, and truly I am in the "go with the flow" state...watch this space.

Japanese word of the day: 流れ ~na-ga-re~(Flow) My mantra of late...no expectation no disappointment

Roaring into the New Year? Not so...

2010-02-17T09:30:00.002+08:00

17th February 2010, Wednesday

My first post in like 2 months, surely do not bode well with respect with the usual routine I have always been banking on.

Work sort of take precedence for like the first few weeks of the year till the whole evaluation thing just ride on choppy waters which I really could bother less.
Beautiness' usual "this year's performance bonus gonna be crappy" talk was not enough to lift the spirit either.

One of my objective this year was to keep in contact with some close aides of the past and was pretty proud to do so over the course of the past few weeks.
Let's see how that transpired as time goes.

The annual repayment of debt to SAF with regards to the IPPT began early this month and I was glad it was close to be over.
Of course it still looked a long shot from fully paying this debt with them holding me hostage with the slow ICT recall, I am just bidding time for the next few years.

The Lunar New Year came and gone with the staple objectives being met.
The typical questioning for a baby was raised time and again and this time it was the missus who got riled.
We are still maintaining the "go-with-the-flow" approach but hopefully the fruits might bore in due time.

Wanted to visit TW and family yesterday but my poor buddy was decimated by a bout of fever, so it was called off.
Staying at home was not a bad buffer for the start of a truncated work week but somehow the missus was reeling under the weather, so MC for her today.

This Sunday will see a rare La Tendo clique gathering under less somber overtone but still Chan is not willing to leave his business party in the lurch while Ferris and spouse s' attendance was still unanswered, so surely it would not be a full reunion but close enough...

Japanese word of the day: 負債(Debt)I dun gamble but there is still debt to be paid...

Ominous Start

2010-01-07T14:01:00.002+08:00

7th January 2010, Thursday

The brand new year is barely a week old and I am starting to loath it.

There had been strong topic discussion on the melancholy people felt after a long abstain from work.
The blues did work its curse on me and I simply dreaded going back to work this Monday.
It was dealing the same shitty qualitative work which really rile me out especially when things do not go according to plan.
I had been taking the foot off from work as I try to get the groove back.

I was running the one man show with Beautiness swamped with "his own stuff".
I could not really connect with anyone at work for the past few days, sort of like becoming a drifter who deem aloof which had been for a while now.

Been going back to gym to build on my stamina before the IPPT prep training in Feburary.
It would be better if my knees did not take turn to ache including that acute one on the left kneecap that shrouded my last few training sessions in 2009.
That ache was excruciating when I walk down flights of stairs and it did not fade away as I thought it would after a fortnight of non tedious exertion.

Then I felt ill with the sore throat and the persistent coughing which I simply abhorred; this gave me an excuse to get a MC and stay home for the day barely 4 days since going back to work.
Next week will see us starting the training for the new platform which mean it's better to rest now than later.

This week marked the end of the tenure of Shitty Green but he was nowhere to be seen since Monday as his presence slowly diminished among us.

Another shocking news that transpired just yesterday afternoon was that following the fateful depature of the patriarch in the Tay household, Vinny's father too had passed on out of the blue due to a heart attack.
The news hit the likes of myself and Karen tremendously and Vinny and Miyano who had planned to return the next few dats had to rush back in a dismal note.

Therefore the next meet-up we had would be another wake...What's wrong with this couple of years?!

Japanese word of the day:トラ (Tiger) The ferocious feline had tore my new year into shreds

2010...Not a year to look forward to

2009-12-31T09:27:00.005+08:00

31st December 2009, Thursday

New Year Resolution?
Try to stay out of trouble, stay healthy and no leakage of money.

Very pragmatic and unelaborative plan for the coming new year as I do not have much expectation of 2010 to be a blast despite the World Cup is hovering on the horizon.

On domestic front, the missus is bugging me to conceive, literally.
Well heading into our 4th year of marriage life, perhaps it is due time especially now that my sister is moving out soon, we should have enough room to welcome a new member to the family.

On work front, I am virtually in no mood to handle Shitty Green's project at the moment but that should keep me preoccupied for the first quarter of the year
2010 looked to be pretty much filled to the brim, in actual fact it is better to be swamped than sitting around idling.
Doubt I will bring up a promotion, which perhaps I might try for the 2011 appraisal.

On personal relationship, I thought 2009 was a good year to catch up with people.
Haven't been sticking closely to my relatives, both maternal or paternal or my in-laws, but truth is I am not a relative kind of guy but I just hope I do not project myself as a stuck up.
Friends-wise, I tried to build the cohesion with the few valuable close friends I had.
It might take some mending with some friends who you might have read over the course of the past year but there was no real altercation, just seems to drift apart slowly.

2010 might see me fulfilling a local in-camp training before a loathsome one in 2011.
There would be another Japan trip for the Wreckers reunion in the pipeline but truth is Foo was still very much in the dark about it and unlikely will be interested.
TW and spouse are yearning for Europe instead, so it might be us bringing CS and wife-to-be over if plans allowed.

As for things to keep me occupied on my own leisure time, I might really need to cut back on some things like attending live football matches and what not.
Console gaming might make intermission appearance over the course of the next year but I doubt it will abstain me from my PC for long.
There still look to be many unfinished business here and there I might look forward to tie up.

So in conclusion 2010 is a year to fulfill some wishes though one can be life defining as well as tying up simple tasks, and try to be less multi-tasking.
Time is not of the essence but health as of late I do fear for the worse as life look fragile, should take precedence in any cases.

2009 had been a year of marriages and funerals, let's hope 2010 steered away from that if possible....

Memorable Personal Happenings of 2009
1. HT's suicide
2. Eriko & Sou s' Wedding
3. TW finally got hitched
4. Letterman returned to local TV

Memorable Events at Work of 2009
1. Slaying of the Shitty Green
2. Closure of the Gym
3. Jason's Resignation
4.. HB's Proposal to XY

Memorable World Events of 2009
1. H1N1
2. World recovery from worst financial crisis since Great Depression
3. Japan Finance Minister's drunken slur in the G8 meeting
4. Obama winning Nobel Peace Prize for nothing
5. World Calamities which increase by several folds

Memorable Local Events of 2009
1. Temasek Holdings losing billions in investment
2. Telcos war on EPL and iPhone
3. Passing of MC King and Chew Chor Meng's illness

Memorable Footballing Events of 2009
1. Real rebuild Galacticos
2. Robert Enke's suicide
3. North Korea making into World Cup

Memorable Movies of 2009
1. Avatar
2. District 9
3. Star Trek

Memorable Songs of 2009
1. Sotto, Zutto - SMAP
2. Shukanshutto - Hilcrhyme
3. Bulletproof - La Roux

Memorable Events in Entertainment of 2009
1. Passing of MJ
2. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi's Scandal
3. Emergence of Kato Seishiro

Japanese word of the day:達成(Fulfillment) Have your 2009 been fulfilling enough?

Not The Festive Season I Had Expected

2009-12-22T13:28:00.005+08:00

22nd December 2009, Tuesday

This the season to be jolly...well not exactly.

Just as I closed in on my final day of work with a long break in view, I got the unfortunate piece of shocking news from my Secondary School chum, HC about the passing of a fellow mate of ours, HT.
I had not been keeping up with almost all my Secondary School chums and had last seen HT years ago, I believed still in the university.
His passing really shook me, especially at our tender age when life barely started.

The following day I hitch a ride in HC's Mazda down to Rivervale Link where the wake was held.
I refrained from having a peek of HT's cold corpse after offering my farewell at the alter and the revelation of suicide really raised a lot of eyebrows though I thought it was not appropriate to probe further as his grieving mother might not be in the right state of mind to tear open that grievous scar again.

The wake did offer a rare opportunity for me to catch up with HC and Zan who was globetrotting as a SIA pilot these days.
The former claimed that I would only get to meet them for occasions like weddings and funerals which I could not refute.
Both were speaking about stocks and living the high lives these days but the same level of caramaderie existed between us; if only HT could thought things over and not resort to ending his fragile life.
The news report stated no cause of the trouble that led to his planned death as the police as they usually would, suspected foul play.

Despite seeing the last of a good friend from the yesteryears, I was still upbeat of a jolly festive season until Vincent called on Friday night that EK and Reedy s' old man who had been en route to recovery after his car accident months ago, suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest and passed on.

Unlike HT's situation, the signs were foretelling for a while, still it drew alot of sadness from the entire La Tendo clique.
There would be no yuletide partying as scheduled which was not totally a bad thing considering the element for laughter, Mr and Mrs Lim, could not make it in the first place.

The pair worked their magic when we gathered at at the wake, the second in 3 days for me, on a very soggy Sunday.
With the exception of Chan who was preoccupied with his booth at China Square on that day, the whole crew made up for the lost time we would have for the X'mas eve despite the fact that we ought to mourn for the senior Tay, perhaps he would like to see us doing our usual banter.
Vinny was constantly soliciting our mutual acquiantances from Iwate, Fure and Kumiko, to Karen and Reedy respectively and slowly drew the other swinging bachelors and bachelorettes into the equation as the topic then osmosized into homosexuals.

The weekend started pretty bright and early on Saturday as we headed to town as scheduled to beat the ERP gantry before 11.
It was going to be whirlwind time shopping the Orchard Road belt although at the end of it, I had the biggest haul and even contemplated on capping my burgeoning budget which spilled that of the intended amount with a pair of cool looking jeans which cost an even cooler price of $600 at "Bread & Butter".
Fortunately there had been some sensible restrain for us as the missus nearly succumbed to temptation at the Burberry's boutique as well.

The movie of 2009 or at least the latter half of the year surely was James Cameron's 13 years in the making extravaganza "Avatar"
It was my first foray into watching 3D film and was overall impressed with the technology despite GV being overly protective of their hefty 3D glasses which tend to slip of the bridge of the nose.
The film which banked on a whole new emotion capture technology and what not had a good storyline and smooth flow to it.
Its strong characterism tends to grip its audience who were captivated by their emotions near the end that one tends to forgo the high definition shit at that juncture.
The storyline had alot of rib on the American military policy and their constant invading of other people's lands and culture at the same time Cameron took a leaf out of Miyazaki's "Princess Monoke" with all the in-sync with the nature theme.

During the dinner after the movie, Bryan gave Chan the early X'mas present as he had chosen him with the Japanese edition of "Final Fantasy XIII" which came with his FF13 edition Playstation 3.
This was followed by my gift to Vincent and Karen's to Miyano the following day as it would be scattered for this time period due to the many little reasons about everyone's whereabouts this period.

While we are planning to meet up for X'mas eve since that day was vacated just for the party, my own family X'mas dinner was a blast as Mom and Sis cooked up a storm and we certainly had our fill for this time of the year...

Well still need to instill some jolliness despite a sullen end of 2009...

Japanese word of the day:かなり(Jolly)Sure hope 2010 will be a much more jolly year to be in

Orchard Road, Almost Unrecognisable

2009-12-14T10:13:00.007+08:00

14th December 2009, Monday

Heading down the final stretch before basking in my alone time at home, no usual hustle and bustle in the train, no gay sashaying from the Beautiness, no unreasonable bullcrap from Shitty Green etc.
Seriously I had not been looking forward to a period of clearing leave as of this year with workload almost asphyxiating at the tail end of the year which drove me to the wall.

One lingering problem would be that I might not be able to complete the things I set out to do during my "retreat" especially since I starting to adopt a laissez faire attitude and let things unfold daily as I welcome the new year.
I definitely need plenty of discipline and maximise the limited amount of time at hand.

Over the weekend, there was supposed to be a mini La Tendo clique meet up at Kinokuniya main branch in Ngee Ann City which imploded as none of them showed up as it transpired, leaving me and the missus just have a glimpse of the chances in the facade of the new lease of life in Singapore's premier shopping street.

It was well documented that a lot of attention drawn away from the road that people expended wads of preciously-accumulated dollar notes rather than just plucking apples and other fruity contemporaries.
However since the exciting development of ION Orchard which really changed the landscape at that part of the Orchard road for me, it was soon joined by the likes of Orchard Central, the reincarnation of Specialist Shopping Center, soon to be complete Mandarin Gallery, a prime shopping stretch before Mandarin Meritus Hotel, the extension for Paragon and now the new boy in town Somerset 313.

The newly constructed malls were aggressively as they leaned precariously close to the main traffic unlike the older siblings like Ngee Ann City and Wisma Atria which were receded inwards.
By better making use of the land, these malls actually have more space for the big boys in retailing to hog their square feet of space.

The whole feel as I think I mentioned about ION Orchard definitely ascended Orchard Road to be comparative to the well known shopping districts in Asia or even the World, the immediate one that I had thought of would be Roppongi Hills in Tokyo.

However while the external was glistering (especially with the Christmas ornaments), the real deal as in the choice of retailers had not been too swashbuckling.

The new wave of retailing focus on the premier brands as the Nouveau riche from China and of course Indonesian expats can pour their wealth without the need to travel great distances, only to be despised for their crude behaviours by the Europeans.
Of course the local caught on the fever in this materialistic climate but seriously how many can afford a diamond-studded Franck Muller timepiece which worth half a million?!

The second wave was to bring in novelty brands which had been rousing in other parts of the world, sometime back to Singapore.
GAP tried its best but not good enough, Muji somehow reached his plateau in terms on recapturing the local buyers but the star of the moment definitely belonged Uniqlo.
The ambitious affordable clothing line which made its staple stronghold in Japan looked to win the hearts of fad-crazy Singaporeans who definitely was allured by the slew of megastores opening around the island.
I had been a big advocate of Uniqlo, known for its durability and offering good style at a reasonable price; but even now I just abstained of visiting a branch when I head to Japan.
From the papers, while new food business ventures are sprawling around town, others like Wendy's and TGI Fridays are making a comeback to give us more selection over time.

While it is good to see new faces in the retailing market, the shopping option in Singapore is still very limited in terms of selection which really became exhaustive once you get around.
The usual Mac Donald. Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Watson, Guardians, City Chain, City Optics, G2000, Comic Connection, Old Chang Kee , so on and so for really left little for imagination and Singapore shoppers, being highly conservative yet the fad chasers do not wince at seeing the same shit over and over again.

Nevertheless it's the season to splurge even though we ought to stay frugal and be stringent with the expenditure but one can't help himself/herself, the real damage will come this Saturday when we actually take the time to search for the suitable purchases...

Japanese word of the day: 流行 (Fad) Are you a newborn Uniqlo sucker?

Pure Adrenaline Rush

2009-11-30T16:14:00.007+08:00

30th November 2009, Monday

A really thrilling long weekend for me at least, maybe even a bit imprudent with the expenditure.

Everything started on Friday with Hari Raya Haji being a much welcomed break after a tumultuous week dealing with Shitty Green and his insolent demands for his project.
I had made plans with CS as mentioned previously weeks before as he tried to sell me "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves".
Before embarking on my journey to his place at Serangoon North Ave 1, I had got a setback with regards to the official bluetooth headset which is the most crucial tool for online gaming via Playstation 3.
A mutual gamer friend, BH had fell short in snaring that item just days prior and it seems like the chance of me getting that on Friday looked bleak.
However a quick stop by at Funz Center after buying the movie tickets at Cathay Cineplex, I was delighted to see a restock had taken place and I wasted no time to snag one off the shelf.
In fact I should have bought a couple more as later we realized.

Before having my hands on to the Naughty Dog produced game, it was the usual series of trailers for upcoming games which CS had scoured from 3 PS network.
EA's "Dragon Age Origin" had tingle the heart strings but it was "Final Fantasy XIII" had indicated why it was a game worth waiting for.

"Uncharted 2" definitely was engaging and really work on the treasure hunting factor which made it so appealing.
The graphics were stunning, gameplay accessible, storyline solid, characters likeable and dialogues quirly.
No wonder it received all the accolades since its release.
Before I knew it I was 1/3 through the game as CS had a quick nap along the way.
He did demonstrated the online multiplayer mode which was seamless and relishing the prospect of endless hours of fun especially when now we can communicate using our bluetooth earpiece.

We caught Roland Emmerich's spanking new disaster movie, and the mother of them all, "2012".
It was a movie that made my poor wife wept uncontrollably as she pondered on the prospect of that same scenario happening in the reality, knowing there was no where we could run and hide.
The movie packed with non-stop roller coaster ride as Emmerich and his crew just banged on fast paced action to keep audience on the edge of their seats while laughing wryly on how on earth could the main protagonist, the author reprise by John Cusack could dodge so many near deaths.
It sort of made us overlook how porous the storyline actually was but overwhelmed by the CG-made spectacle.
It definite was one of Emmerich's better films of late and I rated it better than "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra" combined.

Saturday was spent solely at SITEX, the final of the 4 big IT conventions our tiny island hosts in a single year.
The objective to venture east to the Singapore Expo for it was to net a reasonably-priced portable hard disk drive.
There were definitely plenty on show with the likes of Seagate, Toshiba, Western Digital, Samsung etc hogging the limelight.
But with a real sage in the form of CS by our side to state that Western Digital should be more trustworthy because of the country of its origin and we were thrilled to net a 2.5" WD Passport with 750GB space which should last me a while.

We were joined shortly by TW. It was the first time since his wedding that the three of us got to meet up and sparks flew there and then.
TW had been captivated by "Dragon Age Origin" and had been harping over it meanwhile we had a rib on CS when he came clueless on how to undergo his marriage proposal.
The missus was urging on the discussion of the likely destination for a much anticipated 2010 Japan trip, a tenth anniversary commemoration for "Tokyo Wreckers".
However it was not the right place and the right time.

We headed back into the claustrophobic-ward off Exhibition 5 & 6 as TW wanted to have a look at the laptop available, he would like to get for his wife.
Instead it was us who made a purchase with a Belkin Tunebase FM with Hands Free, a great tool for the iPhone or even iPods when cruising in the car.
The gadget meant to plug in the cigarette lighter allows the driver to charge his iPhone while listening to the songs stored in it using an unused frequency to amplify on the car audio system, while also enable incoming call to be received hands free.
It was an ideal gift for the missus for an early X'mas as she had been scouring high and low for such a device and at a reasonable price we just grabbed it.

This was after taking into consideration of the location of the cigarette lighter which was less accessible on the usual.
We put CS in the stress chamber when it looked unlikely for a while that the connection could be properly made.
The wager would be if it failed he would be left stranded in the Expo car park in the pouring rain, of course it was going to work in the end.

Our next stop was the Ikea Megastore at Tampines.
I had never been to this outlet since its opening a couple of years back despite being a great supporter of the affordable Swedish furniture manufacturer.
The main objective for us would be looking for a new workstation chair as the situation looked more chronic when my fat ass managed to break a foldable chair the other day, itself a replacement for the actual throne early this year.
In the end we had the eyes on one with an extended back rest by the model name of Markus and at $399 looked a steal as similar models would cost much more elsewhere.
However I would not want to jump the gun and give leeway for more searching for a longer shortlist.
The missus was also mindful of what the plan to convert Sis' room into her personal workspace once she moved out to her own place.
A nice white bookshelf with classy glass door seemed perfect but there was always going to be space constraint.

En route to drop my close buddies off to their respective residence, TW suddenly prompted an interest to get online for our "Uncharted 2" party which basically jolt CS into life.
My wife even obliged to turn to Ang Mo Kio where TW could pick up the game and the bluetooth headset from Funz Center.
Suddenly a ray of hopeful glare shone on CS' nonchalant face as he was jittery that it might not work out as we inched closer and closer to AMK Hub.
My wretched mouth spewed the possibility of the headset would be sold out and by sheer ill fate that was the situation when we got to Funz Center which was back to starting comment that I should had stocked up on in when a friend might in need of one.
It turned out to be a fruitless hunt for the AMK region as I even contemplated in borrowing from Chan who was stranded at La Tendo at that juncture.
As we trudged disappointing back to the shopping mall, TW made a last resort as he made his way to the Sony shop in Bishan Junction 8 to look for one while we sent CS home.

Along the way both of us got the missed call from TW who brought us the heartwarming news that he had successfully snared a piece from the shop and our plan for a late night online rendezvous looked palpable especially with Peiling not in the household at the Fus.

We began the online frenzy at the stipulated time of midnight as CS had to lower his volume considerably with his other half getting some well earned sleep after a week of hard work.
We did had many sleepovers dabbling with console games while sports genre is the one that usually allowed us to play side by side but for real multi-playability with such an eye for details only wi-fi or lan connection is able to support.

TW has a penchant for Monster Hunter Portable which allowed him and his mates to meet up to go hunting together but soon it would be likely to be addicted to hook online to the PS3 and with games like "Uncharted" and in near future "Lost Planet 2" allowing seamless game play online.
Our shenanigans of killing computer generated military drones carried on till the wee hours of Sunday before we felt enough was enough.

The next day a text message from CS revealed that he surely had the hunger for more, so expect yours truly to reacquainted with my decades-old buddies on the virtual realms soon.
It was also bodes well that the missus had fun watching us fooling ourselves in the game while helping me solve treasure hunting problems in the game too.

Japanese word of the day: オンラインゲーム(Online Game) We sure had picked it up a bit too late

AFA 2009

2009-11-23T17:39:00.010+08:00

23rd November 2009, Monday

Two straight days of waking up early standing all day long in a convention hall filled with rabid teenage anime loving critters ain't the best way to spend the weekend...Welcome to Anime Festival Asia 2009!

The event arrived in a crescendo of disgruntles for hiking their entrance so waywardly ($15 for a single day entry and $25 for the 2 days which was so many times higher than the $5 and $8 last year).

The exhibitors had to foot a high cost for 2 days rental which was why the usual suspects like Toys n Toys did not even bother showing.
As for our dear ol' La Tendo, the booth was exactly the same size as last year but was a stand-alone complex this time round as seen below:

Ready for action

Despite being embedded in the heart of the part they called the AKB (akiba) Town, there were few and far between competitors for the trade they were dabbling in.
Bandai hogged much of the space, ruled by the despotic Sheng Tai Toys who barred other retailers from selling Bandai products.
Bandai really went all out to display their up and coming as well as recently released gashapons, plastic models, children toys and what not; and together with Danny Choo's Tokyo Toy Show which featured GSC and Max Factory s' figurines, it was an attraction for local collectors especially those who had never been to an event like Wonder Festival.
Speaking of the famed otaku blogger, his presence was felt since day one as he saunteered the hall during the set-up.
Shedding his usual Storm Trooper suit, Danny was almost unrecognizable except for his horde of mindless fans.
KKnM like LT took 4 stall space and segregated into sections for their own products, COSPA collaboration and introducing a battle card game. As usual a beeline was formed on regular basis over at their side.
Passion Toys were in cahoots with their usual accomplice, Takashimya and had an ominous feel to it this year as people reported seeing a certain Stephan Sing from ODEX lobbying for their new venture in Dakimakura (Pillow case) with anime characters printed on it, they realized they can never bank on selling lackluster anime series to people no more.
There was one other figurine retailer by a sheer unknown name of "Robo Robo". Beside engaging in a price war for GSC's Saber Lily with La Tendo, their list of items looked to be of a private collection status.
Some booths just pique my curiosity in their involvement.
Our direct neighbour was Simply Fun who sell official DVDs of films brought in by Encore Films which usually dabbles in Japanese and Korean affairs. They had a bundle offer for the entire repertoire of Studio Ghibli productions but only Ponyo on the Cliff was in my wishlist for now.
There was also a OIO Frozen Yogurt booth just adjacent from us which would be the favorite snack bar during the two days except the yogurt making machine was constantly down for repair while the sales coordinator were donned in the worst outfit possible: a black & white (like Yin Yang) one piece dress which revealed too much of their elephant thighs.

Stephan Sing thought Domo-kun can help atone for his sins

Last year LT sold some printable chocolate and this year Tay-chan's friends came in full force and left many bewildered of their participation.
But at least they drew slightly more interest than Brother International who was there to sell printers while Singpost made their presence felt promoting some Oyako-TOFUman.
UCC Cafe had good response for their Evangelion cans while CTC Travels should garner enough interest for their affordable otaku pilgrimage trip to Japan.
But the biggest seller of them all was this stall which we nicknamed as the weaponry lair selling mock weapons in replica of those famous swords found in series like "Bleach" and "Fate/stay night" at as cheap as $30, no wonder the swords were going off the shelves like hot cakes.

Sales over at La Tendo had not be as brisk as last year but we were in awe of the turnout as we had expected to be much dwindled due to the exorbitant admission ticket but boy were we wrong.
I always knew that the event was set to attract anime lovers from the region but Vietnam and New Zealand were definitely the furthest my imagination could bear.
The wealthy Indonesians came with their wad of thousand dollar notes but no one in the retail scene was complaining.

There was a burgeoning corner for anime studios as Tatsunoko Pro and Project I.G as well as local producation company Storm Lion this time round.
Animax, the premier cable anime network in Asia had an impromptu dubbing studio to fulfill some amateur seiyuu dream of the fans.
The karaoke booth definitely got the crowd going but had hurt many eardrums over the course of two days.
However the biggest draw was not surprising to be "Moe Moe Kyun", the faux pas maid cafe the organizers cooked up and had suckers queuing all day long for a taste of their forbidden burgers...
The maids did not even bother to entertain random photo snaps from casual patrons.

One of the special guest for the event was professional cosplayer, Kaname.
He was invited here as a judge for the cosplay contest as well as an emotional experience-sharing session in his famous Cloud Strif outfit from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.
Kaname with his entourage dropby the stall on Saturday afternoon as his attention was snared by the sight of a Gurren Lagann Revoltech on the official poster, perhaps a scheme as he was donning in the Kamina setup.
At first no one recognised who he was until the commotion among the stall patrons who went trigger happy with their digital cameras.
It got Karen gaga too but she was forbidded from taking a picture with him but Lady Luck was shining on her as Kaname was to purchase the stipulate Revoltech which yours truly rummaged for him and in return of a small token of discount, Kaname obliged a personal picture with Karen.
She well Kaname-gaga from then on and stalked his whereabouts for the remainder of Sunday.
She was sore not to have a chance to replicate that fortuitous occurence with Kaname in his mesmerizing Cloud attire.
Well in the end it was a fruitful trip for her.

Kaname at La Tendo with yours truly at the background

The main draw of the event was the "Anisong Festival" which spanned both evening featuring Mizuki Ichiro (Aniki) and May'N from last year but were joined by the likes of Nagakawa Shoko (Shoko-tan) and Fukuyama Yoshiki from JAM Project.
I missed the entire second day concert as I had to attend Cheryl's wedding banquet but the fact that they barricaded the stage with thick black drapes, in order to block easy viewing like last year, it was not very accessible unless you pay a hundred odds bucks to be on the front rows or willing to join the long queue.
I did sneak in to catch a bit of Hatsune Miku from Vocaloid in action, anticipating a hologram like figure which Bryan claimed.
In the end, it was a wastage of our precious time when it was poor quality video footage but aptly a 15 minutes intermission between Shoko-tan when her horde of fandom took a piss and Aniki.
The Anisong warranted the high cost for the event and I am sure next year the organizers would make it even grander. If they actually bring in JAM project (including the entire band), I might think AFA 2010 will worth every penny.
Nice pictures of Anisong can be seen @ Danny Choo.

The aftermath of the event was the bunch of us carrying our worn out bodies for the remainder of the week.
Without the presence of Vincent and Miyano, it was not the same but it ain't too bad especially our usual poking fun of some absurd cosplayers including a really obese Squall Lionheart and a poor paper-mache Kamen Rider Decade Monster.
Bryan had good fun getting his "exclusives" but the biggest winner might be Karen.
The missus joined us for the second day and was enticed to stay and not heading for her seminar and definitely her point of catching up old time with the gang certainly was valid.
Seeing the cashier being overworked certainly warmed the hearts even for us the helpers and overall the success of AFA 2009 might had saw the organizers laughing to their banks despite Bryan's incessant loathing it certainly served as a platform for a much bigger money-bleeding machine in the last year of the decade.

A job well done

Photographs by Kaname-crazy Karen

Japanese word of the day:詐欺師(Swindler) I wonder if Bernie Madoff is the chairman of the organizing committee with his Ponzi scheme

Mid November Already?

2009-11-16T16:25:00.001+08:00

16th November 2009, Monday

After a nonchalant week of sitting around, going for tea breaks and reaching home before 6 pm, it was back to more routine life, not that I am complaining.
In truth the low-key ICT as the officer in charge mentioned was more for familiarization and my role together with a regular accomplice (who lives nearby and thus the free transport) was to be a guiding light.
In certain aspects especially in imparting what to expect for the overseas training at Kao-Hsiung, we did fulfilled that role.
At the end of the 5 days ICT, we were awarded the medal for good performances...but we are still half way there and an ominously long trip to Australia was hovering across the horizon for the likes of myself in 2011. DAMN!

The weekend was pretty light-hearted and suited my taste in the sense that I could just glue myself in front of my PC, playing my game, writing my tale and just rummaging through the stockpile of shows I had to watch.
Some of the movies I had caught up like "District 9" was sheer classic and one of the sleeper hit for the year while "(500) Days of Summer" really glistered with the performances of leads. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.
There was this slapstick French pierrot style comedy, "Rumba" which was a breath of fresh air as well.
Ending a soggy Sunday evening with the missus off to Kuala Lumpur again with "South Park" was a blast especially with the obnoxious Eric Cartman getting his antics in the right places.

On Saturday it was the cantankerous clash between ASEAN rivals Singapore and Thailand with a place in the 2011 Asian Cup at Qatar at stake.
Foo was holding his horses to see if he could make it for the match but ultimately he did not update me on his status and expectedly he was a no show.
In truth he did not miss much as our boys put out an insipid performance and meekly surrendered to a much superior Thai team, putting their qualification in jeopardy even before traveling for the return game on Wednesday.
The fallout was anything but pleasantry with fans pouring in with less than encouraging comments on local forums and other form of media, voicing their dismay and surely we can blame them.
It was back to the usual shenanigans of finger pointing of the fans not being supportive enough and are a bunch of glory hunters from the team while the team filled with foreign talents lacked the passion and what not; eventually the whole fiasco became a laughing stock to our neighbors who gloated on our expense.

It was easier said than done at times as the quality of professional footballers here had reached its plateau and no new upstarts were ready to make the step up sadly.

Back to work and the team was swamped with the new assignment since last week.
It was time consuming as anticipated but not as daunting as it seems.
The only problem might be the sheer amount of samples to be handled with and at the worst time possible.
My team partners would be clearing the remainder of the annual leave left in the crypt before bringing half the total over to the new year by these few weeks and they knew I would ghosting in and out for the final few weeks as of the past, something I wonder if the boss would frown upon.

The Anime Festival Asia would be round the corner and despite the anticipation level was well reduced from the inaugural edition, it is still interesting to keep up with what's in the scene since I had really lost touch with the anime world despite still stocking the figurines.
Of course the La Tendo gang would/should all be there with the exception of Vinny and Miyano who would be bringing the school kids for another Japanese culture exchange trip.
Doubt the wallet would get lighter by the end of the 2 days events but you never know.

The wallet would surely be lighter after Cheryl's wedding banquet that's for sure on Sunday.
Selina and her beau had confirmed their non-appearance, so Foo and Michelle might be the only viable familiar faces but I can never count the chickens before they hatched.
At least the missus was willing to truncate her seminar thingie to accompany me for it.

An appealing long weekend for the last week of the month and I have already promised CS to have a serious time, going through the prospect of getting "Uncharted 2" a game he could not stop waxing lyricals of and eager to get more people into the multiplayer mode which was the real gist of the PS3 game.
I am certainly looking forward to get my console working again but Football Manager 2010 is another attention stealer plus I could not give up on my adventures with the current FM...
Gosh I wish I had more time on hand!

Japanese word of the day: 予想(Anticipation) Always good to have some things to look forward to

Meeting Neil

2009-11-02T16:07:00.004+08:00

2nd November 2009, Monday

So October went with a whiz and November arrived with what promises to be a month to meet celebrities sandwiched by the event that never failed to retract the strain of perkiness in me...In-camp Training.

As mentioned the weekend was one I had to get used to having the entire apartment to myself.
It was Halloween and gusty wind and incessant raining plagued the latter part of the day.
There was a relentless wrong number from a young lady so adamant that someone with a name I had not heard in my entire life was living here.
The ringing was persistent to a state I had to lift the handle of the phone in my parents' room to get crazy girl off my back.
From this experience, I knew I hated to be alone in the house, especially in the evening.

I had major plans for Sunday.
First to La Tendo, then perhaps China Square Central where Chan was publicizing for his new trade before making my way to Victoria Hall where the Neil Gaiman symposium was held.
The evening was set to have the Wrecking squad gathered for a chat session including having a look at the pictures me and TW took from our respective Japanese trip.
However most of the plan went down the gutter before daybreak.

CS got a bout of fever which saw him bedridden so he was out of the equation.
TW then told me he could pick me up at Bishan, which meant that I can put La Tendo on the backseat for another week.

In the end I was fetched at Ang Mo Kio as he had time left after dropping his new bride to her father's place.
The usual jam on CTE was hindering our smooth ride but we were way ahead of schedule.
By the time we had reached Funan Center where he parked his father's MPV, we had an hour or so to burn.

So we just strolled around the IT Mall and mainly had a glance at what's in store in the game shops.
Then we had a chat with some beverage at Jolly Bean when he gave an insight of his much enjoyable Japan honeymoon which saw him and his missus traveling from Kansai to northern tip of Japan and then to Kanto.

Before we knew it it was 1.30pm and we made headway to Victoria Hall which was stone throw away from our location.
It was blatant a queue had been found which followed the perimeter of the authentic concert hall.
The event as we queued for the tickets weeks earlier was meant for 300 persons or so but now it inflated in volume due to overwhelming popularity of the author whose works transcend many media including comic and movies as well these days.
The final tally of people attending the question and answer session was close to 900 as it filled the hall to the brim.

Neil, in his signature curls and black outfit met with vociferous cheering from the country he labeled "highly organized".
He gave us an insight of what he had been working on, including a "Journey to the West" self journey project, his short film and breeding of honey bees back home in the States.
But in his usual morbid fashion, he started rattling off about having no regret if he was to lose his life from an tragic airplane accident as he was one of the few people in this world who had accomplished almost everything he had set out for.

In an exceptional eloquent fashion, Neil Gaiman was not as reserved or moody as one expect from his style of writing and his stories.
He could keep rattling on some of his past experiences and some of his view which never failed to perk up the driest topic available.
His encounter with the legendary Hayao Miyazaki when he had a day off from his "Stardust" premiere schedule in Japan was really a dream comes true for many and we felt it could be the fact that great artists then to adhere nicely together, the likes of Gaiman, Alan Moore, Miyazaki, Yoshitaka Amano etc.

The Q&A session was pretty short (thank goodness the few questions from our local cohort was pretty deep and came from extensive research, thus not pulling the face down of fellow countrymen) as the bulk of the time would be taken for the autograph session held outside Art House and Neil was ready to indulge to the request to all the hundreds of ticket holders even though only one item allowed for signature, that would look to take a long time.

A long time indeed as TW & I were near the tail end of the beeline which stretched to where the famous Sir Stamford Raffles statue which marked where he alighted was.

It was exceptionally humid with sporadic glare from the unsympathetic sun, but fortunately it remained reasonably dry.
The long queue did not look very much like shrinking for the first hour and the crew was kind enough to offer everyone packet drinks to recover some bodily liquid lost through profuse sweating and saliva waste from chatting; much like that crew behind us.

The group led by this guy in insulating turtle neck sweat top spoke with a pretentious American accent but later we found out to be from Hong Kong.
When a friend came identifying them as "Death", "Desire" et al, we knew this group of cuckoo-head surely had took the obsession too far.
Throughout the queue, they went on talking shit literally about comic and something else which we did not bother to decipher but every enunciation just got on our nerves.
It did not make things better when they kept shoving TW on his back.

After 2 hours we barely got near the facade of the Art House building and we deduced that Neil was signing very patiently.
We also made up many possible situations from which the crew would cut the queue just before us and then continue straight after us.

Before we knew it was 5 plus and Foo who agreed to meet us for dinner had already arrived at Funan Center where we supposed to rendezvous at 5pm.
Upon hearing we were queuing for Neil Gaiman, he got enough premonition that we most probably could not make it in time and left soon after.
It was a wise choice as by 6.30pm we finally got int the front pouch area where we named as the "White Arch of Happiness".

As tired, hungry and mentally disturbed from the incessant conversations going on at our rear, teh sight of Mr Gaiman at the autograph booth just bring our spirits up.
Apparently he was a very obliging author who would fulfill your request of an autograph, handshake and even photo-taking.
The last part we felt we could do without but the way he made every signature so special had made the wait well worth it and one could now understand why he is known as the "superstar" in the literacy scene.

By sheer surprise, the main guy helping him keeping the flow of items to be signed as an old Navy training mate of mine and as we were too engrossed speaking about how wretched Navy ICT can be I had forgotten to shake Neil's hand but it did not matter.

By 7, we left for Funan Center well satisfied and in need of food.

After lingering around to search for a Swensen outlet which was not there, we settled for Mac Donald which was the fastest as he was running out of time to fetch his wife.
He guided me through his daily adventure in Japan and despite me making such great number of trips to the country myself, I was still captivated by the places they went and the food they had.

Sadly he could only stop at day 7 before we left for home on a Sunday which was hogged by 3 hours in a long, unmovable queue in front of a group of over-the-top chatty Neil Gaiman fans.

Japanese word of the day: (雑談 Chat) Some people just could not shut up

Hilchryme & Old Doramas

2009-10-26T16:16:00.002+08:00

26th October 2009, Monday

This song had become an ear worm since this morning:

It's the second single under major label for Niigata based R&B (I don't really know if that is the correct genre but they all sounded the same in Japan), Hilchryme.

In truth there had been many pretentious rapping performers in the J Pop scene for the past few years, churned out a catchy tune then fade into obscurity.
Hilchryme might be one of those but this song should win them some fad-chasing fans for sure.

When they appeared on last Friday's Music Station, the vocals, looking like a pimp from Kabukicho with flashy shades and his DJ friend like all DJs in other groups just kept words to the minimum, sounded pretty poor live but once again the song caught on for sure.
Many acts had sold plenty after appearing on Music Station, and it looked probable that this single might do well in coming weeks as well.

The title of the track "春夏秋冬 (Shunkashuutou)" which for Chinese understanding people like myself represents the four seasons and the lyrics also stresses alot on the characteristic features of the seasons which the Japanese people are obsessed with, namely cherry blossoms (spring), sea (summer), red leaves (autumn) and snow (winter).
Songs for a specific season are big sellers which will come back years after years but one which covered all seasons...hmmmm

The weekend went past very much to plan.
I did not want to go out as it was like 34 degree on daily basis and only drop a couple of degrees at night.
The fuse in my water heater blew up spontaneously the other day and it would take a big deal to replace it with another (we did have a spare), so we have to make do with cold water till my parents come back from their short Hong Kong escapde.
It is find considering the water will warm up by natural forces ultimately.

Last weekend was one I got frustrated in front of the PC with Football Manager and next weekend with the missus heading northwards again, I am facing the prospect of being the captain of a ship with no seamen, a long voyage indeed.
So this weekend I just tried to dabble with a median among the two but time flies real fast and not much was accomplished I felt.

One thing did piqued my interest when I was doing a wiki check on Yuji Oda. I had forgotten why I did it anyway but I stumbled on a classic 1996 TBS dorama, "Mahiru no Tsuki (真昼の月)" or "Midday Moon" in English.

This was the first dorama which I took attention of Takako Tokiwa but it was the memorable plot which involved the plight of a victim of a brutal rape as well as the man so dedicated to her that kept me following the show back in those days when Central was known as Premiere 12 and they showed English-subbed Japanese dorama on weekday nights. Good Times.
The theme song, "Now You're Not Here" is a hypnotic track which just suited the mood of the series.

Of course I do not think I knew anyone who had the series that old on VCD but with the magic of online streaming, the entire library of classic doramas is not a click of the mouse away.
The quality is shoddy but I could care less and it was easy to finish the 12 episodes within hours spread between 2 days.
Now I am reminiscing another dorama from that era "Jinsei wa Jyo Jyo da"(人生は上々だ)" or "Friends in Need" (badly translated) starring the star combination of TakuKimu and Hamada from Down Town.
I was in love of Yuriko Ishida and Naoko Ijima from that show and really worth a second watch.

Japanese word of the day: 経典(Classic) Serious doramas these days could not hold the candle to those old classic despite having higher production value

Not Your Average Singaporean

2009-10-22T15:16:00.003+08:00

22nd October 2009, Thursday

I think I am a sore thumb that stuck out in a land which conform and condescend.
A land where people tends to just follow a fad and find its cool to follow what people like.

There's nothing wrong with it of course but slowly you will lose your self identity I feel.

There are many classic examples of typical islander around me and of course I still communicate with them in all modes but there were times where I felt I was not intrigued in certain level when talking with the "drones".
Of course on the flip side I can't be possibly befriending and liaising with people with their staunch interest and ideology, there would be exasperating for sure as well.

Over the course of the past 2 decades, I had been molding myself into a sort of Singaporean who develop an eclectic taste though it was not as arty farty as it seem but I just do not think I fit into the general public somehow.

I had been reading regularly of late on my daily journey to and fro from work.
Neil Gaiman who would be in town in a fortnight's time had been the author I was focusing on and after growing up on "The Sandman" and later "Stardust", I was a born again Gaiman fan for sure and looked to pick up more of his novels (not many actually as compared to graphic novels).
With my growing interest in writing I ought to read more to expand my literary skills and style of writing but I detest going to the library and can't possibly keep buying books.
Let's see how things go from there.

I like Gaiman's rotten Americanism but his spooky tales from the old Victorian English period is appealing as well.
My interest on the 2 major English speaking nations across the Atlantic was immense.
Of course I love the American style of satire and ridicule humor. "South Park", "The Office" and even talk shows like "The Late Show with David Letterman" are important dietary essence in my current well being.
Hollywood films be it blockbusters or indies, be it romantic comedy or at times mystery adventure (I steer away from horror and grotesque features), I am always looking for movies to keep me preoccupied.
However I tends to sneer at big money productions which drones are inclined to watch.
As much as I refrain from "Dragonball Evolution", I still paid good money on "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra".

I love English dry humor as well though strong accent can be a deterrence.
Grew up on children show and comedies like "Mind Your Language", "The Black Adder", "Allo Allo" and "Goodness Gracious Me" from Thames or BBC but these days the spectrum had been much limited.
Ricky Gervais' sitcoms are always welcomed and I would pay good money to watch his standup comedy while I fancy Simon Pegg too.

I always have a strong inclination towards the colorful European cultures perhaps firstly from watching professional football and of course food as well.
I love world cinema and European affairs are high on my list as I tried to catch as many interesting films from the great continent as possible.
Quirky French films have to be a favorite of mine.
I would love to pick up all major spoken languages in Europe and tour all prominent cities inside out, perhaps that's for the next lifetime.

As I cringed at how fabricated the Koreans are, developed some sort of a loathing for the Chinese and found Taiwan and Hong Kong too one dimensional, Japan had always appeal to me that other East Asian country could not.
Of course visiting the lovely nation on yearly basis and having lovely friends there help to bolster the affection for the country many in their 60s still could not forgive for the atrocities of the second World War.
Anyway I am a sucker for their history, their geography, their current affairs, their food, their traditional culture, their pop culture, their fashion trend, their literature, their language, basically I am a walking Japanophile as somoe might claimed.

Many local who as mentioned riding on the crest of the fads might had pledged allegiance to the Korean scene now, I had always been dedicated to the sushi-inventing nation.

Of course I do not follow blindly and there are still many aspects of Japan that does not appeal to me, nevertheless it has plant a seed in me and now reaping the harvest I am sure.

Sometimes I wonder listening to classic J pop songs to accompany the writing of Neil Gaiman is the best combination but hell it worked for me.

Then our budding nation of Singapore, the place where I call home.
The place which I hope could be less of a heat cooker or less sardine packed crowded everywhere.

I am not 100% patriotic. I don't agree to all government policies nor I like most of everything here, be it TV, avenues for entertainment, taxes et al; but I have no qualms about staying here for the rest of my life.
It's a nifty place if you want a peaceful, monochrome life, even commuting day in day out with drones.

I am an amalgam of the good things I fancy from the West and the East while highly contended with everything going on for me on the incredibly hot island of Singapore, I am just not your average Singaporean that's for sure.

Japanese word of the day:アイデンティティ (Identity) I fel mine is a bit smudged, in just the way I like it

Illness is a Crazy Thing

2009-10-19T08:06:00.002+08:00

18th October 2009, Monday

Had to take urgent leave today to tend to my terribly-ill missus.
Apparently a bout of gastric flu had decimated her into feeble soul whose tendency to expunge her gastric fluid (bile et al) had kept her up the entire night while I was well in dreamland...well not much dream worth mentioning in fact.

It was palpable that she was not in ship shape for work and while I was preparing to start a long week ahead myself, she sort of pleaded me to keep her company which of course I obliged as that well-exhausted beady eyes of hers made it almost blasphemous to turn down.

Perhaps it had been the only time in a long while for me to fill the role of a fitful husband to tender to my ailing bride, but still not enough to nominate me into the "Husband of the Year" award.

Despite without His Beautiness who was busy skimpy-dipping with his promiscuous partner(s) around the Kinki region of Japan, the work front had been well run and only bearing small glitches which we can handle aptly.

The mid year performance appraisal is scheduled for tomorrow and it would be the first time with the new boss on the helms.
I had been wary of the various warnings given by ex-colleagues about the new assessor whose real thoughts were hard to fathom.
I am desperately trying to win myself in his books and hope my request on been given more responsbilities to fit my experience will be answered.

All the best for tomorrow then.

Japanese word of the day:夫 (Husband) If there's an appraisal for being a husband, I might be at the borderline of being just proficient.

Eriko & Sous' Wedding Part 4

2009-10-16T14:50:00.003+08:00

17th October 2009, Saturday

Gotten pretty sick of the same line-up for the buffet breakfast at La Fontaine, I decided to splurge a little for the breakfast for the final day.
In truth we did not changed much to spend for this short trip and seriously with our hosts footing almost every bill possible including lodging which was confirmed during check out, we still had quite a bit to spare as we stared at flying back home in a few hours time.

So off we went to Mister Donuts, my favorite doughnuts joint of all time.
There was a running joke between me and my wife that I had always exclaimed "Mister Donuts" with such affection when we bypass an outlet or saw the CM on TV but never really went in and make a purchase except for a time at Kabukicho back in 2007.

This time round there was a branch located just 2 minutes walk from Hotel Ruiz and we had already munch on some 2 nights before.

Tamaki Hiroshi, one of the hottest CM property in Japan for the past 2 years since his emergence in "Nodame Cantabile" was introducing the new campaign for the Cafe Au Lait and I gladly changed it for our breakfast set with Dan Dan Yasai men.
There was not many customers in the doughnut joint at 8 in the morning but if there were, they would be amazed at the large quantity of doughnuts we had purchased to be consumed there including the new Bitter Choco which was a personal favorite of my dark chocolate-fetish wife.

We had our eyes on the limited edition coffee mugs but it had to be redeemed with points for continual patronizing of Mister Donut..damn!

After ensuring we did not left anything behind in the room, we lugged our luggage with a combined weight of 32 kg to the entrance as our hosts come pick us up on a Monday which was a public holiday, for a reason unknown.(later found out to be Health and Sports Day).
Instead of taking the 5 minutes walk to the station, we drove to the carpark which was starting to crowd on this public holiday.

We went to Shinseido, the only store specialized in selling CDs and DVDs in this part of Morioka as the missus made her purchase of the NEWS concert DVD.
It was there I spotted the new single by The Cro-Magnons (the new The Blue Hearts) which I intended to get it as a present for Sou.
After hanging about for around half hour at the CD shop where we actually had visited 2 days back, we felt there was really nothing to see here and I suggested to go to a denki (electrical appliance) shop in the mold of Big Camera or Yodobashi Camera.

It resulted in a 10 minutes drive to this mega store, Yamada Denki at the same heartland area where the wedding venue was.
We did not have the luxury of time and it was a big place to cover.

I had intended to buy the gift for my secret pal for the X'mas but could not come with the conclusive decision to make a purchase, so in the end it looked to be a wasted trip but not for my missus who managed to find a nice bottle of fragrances for Eriko.

It was during the rush lunch in the restaurant who took ages to prepare their Jajanmen as the seconds were ticking away for the shinkansen, that we presented our hosts their little gifts in appreciation for everything they had done for us in the past 3 days.

They did return the favor with a big bag of goodies including a DVD, bath salt etc before we embark on our trip back to Tokyo.
We wondered when we would meet again but the distance was merely 6000km away and whenever possible flying over would not be a hassle.

So Hayate 11 took us away from Morioka, then bypassing Sendai, Omiya, Ueno and finally came to Tokyo by 3.
With an hour to burn we wandered about the new shopping area within the Tokyo Train station which include "Buzz Search", the high end pastry store we last found when we stayed in Shinagawa in February.
Of course we could not give up on the chance to have a bite on their tasty tarts while my missus could still find a shop which sell authentic goods from Kyoto with a nifty handbag.

Not wanting to rush for train like in the first day while trying to balance ourselves with the huge suitcase down the stairs, we had a better time to locate the platform for the Narita Express.

One hour trip to Narita Terminal One and we shall bring this trip to a closing note but she was still determined to expend the final amount she had left while I brought back with me a notable amount for expenditure the next trip.

Compared to the comfortable A380 flight, the return flight was really a torture for at least 7 hours on the air.
The flight was a connecting flight for passengers from the States to New Delhi, India, thus we noticed an abundance of Indian passengers.
Somehow or another they chose to carry their stone hard luggage up to the plane itself, eating up all the spaces in the overhead compartment.
The flight was pretty full and we did not get to occupy 3 seats and had to share with a middle aged Japanese guy.
He took the aisle seat and was sleeping throughout, meaning it would be hard to visit the lavatory at will.
The situation was worsen by the 2 Indians who conveniently inclined their seats all the way back but luckily the seat in front of mine was not occupied.

I was starting to feel all uncomfortable with the lack of cool air while I was itching in my nether region but just had to bear with it till the plane finally touched down at Changi Airport Terminal 3.

In conclusion, it had been a great retreat for me and my wife and the time we spent with our Japanese hosts were very enjoyable as expected.
The wedding reception turned out much better than anticipated and further bolstered my love for the land of a thousand smiles...wait that's Thailand...

Japanese word of the day:暖かさ(Warmth) The only warmth we can offer in Singapore is really the actual meteorological phenomenon of global warming.

Eriko & Sou s' Wedding Part 3

2009-10-16T09:48:00.011+08:00

16th October 2009, Friday

The itinerary of the day was as followed:
Our hosts would meet us at 9 and drive us westwards to the town of Miyako, Eriko's furusato (home town).
There we would have fresh seafood for lunch before heading to the 三陸海岸 (Sanriku kaikan) and the signature 浄土ヶ浜 (Joudoga Hama). I had overheard that they were going to squeeze in a bath session after that and it was much murky for the events after that.

Sou was designated the driver for the audacious 2 hour trip which will cross some mountainous roads to the seaside town of Miyako.
It wasn't long before the nice scenery of the route of highway 106 had become a hypnotizing element prompting my missus to doze off in the coziness of the Mazda with the tune of ikimonokagari playing in the background.

We made a toilet stop halfway through when the weather went a big crazy with a passing drizzle which ended as fast as it came.
The supermarket there showcased some of the farming pride of the local residence as we marvelled at some vegetables we had yet seen in this lifetime.

The pace of the trip sped up and in no time we reached Miyako and Eriko took over the wheels.
First stop was "Heibi no Me (Snakes' Eyes)", a well-known restaurant, just a stone throw from the train station.

As promised, the restaurant offered the freshest and the most tastebuds appeasing raw seafood which took like mere hours from hauling off the trawlers of the local fisherman to the bowl in front of us.
The assortment of uni (sea urchin), ikura (fish eggs), prawns, crabs, squid and of course the star of the season sanma (pacific saury or 秋刀魚) was just exploding in our mouth as we could not stop salivating while recalling the joy of eating even now in our minds.

After a brief encounter of an elementary school taiko (drums) club performing at the front of the train station, we headed for a fish market where we got to see the freshest seafood in their pride and glory.
Unlike the initial thought of being wet and smelly, the fish market was actually quite clean and most the local haul were selling at very affordable price even a life kraken I mean octopus would agree.

Joudoga Hama was not far away from the fish market and being the prime tourist's attraction, it was not surprising to see the car park being well occupied when we got there.

It was a good 10 minutes walk down along the shoreline facing the Pacific Ocean and we were greeted by the flock of seagulls (not the 1980s English electronic band) or what the locals called as "umi neko (sea cats due to their calling sounded a bit like cat's meowing)".

The plan here was to take a 10 minutes boat ride around the bay which those off shore rocks enclosed and will head into a ravine in a slab of coastal rock.

The wait was to be around 20 minutes, therefore we headed towards the those ocean-eroded giant boulders which form the signature scenery of Jodouga Hama.
The only problem was that the beach was filled with pebbles which made walking really uncomfortable and amazing how some ladies can maneuver with stilettos while the fear of anything aviary started to act on the missus as the seagulls did not look intimidated by human at all.

Donning in our glaring orange life vest (which really was not looking safe enough) and a plastic helmet (perhaps to shelter us from the excretions of the flying umi neko), we were ready to board the motor-runned boat as a seasoned skipper cum guide showed us around the bay.
As usual, I just nodded as he narrated the little known facts of the place while trying to enjoy the nice weather while the real skipper of the boat grew weary at the bow.

The main attraction perhaps was the foray into the chasm which one could observe the crystal blue water around this region while the furious wave came gushing back after hitting the back of the cave.
As our boat made for the jetty, curtailing the ride, we saw Sou and Eriko making their way off for their own tour.

Around the jetty, adults and kids were hurling prawn crackers which was supposedly Umi Neko's favorite snacks which attracted and entire flock.
It was like hormonal response as the birds would instinctively pick up the opening of a packet of crackers and soon the flock would gather around the friendly human feeder.
I myself tried dabbling with it and was interesting to see some of the more desperate seagulls taking flight to snatch those that i threw in mid air.

It was close to 3 when we felt our time at the bay should come to an end as our hosts told us it was tiime for ofuro (public bath).
The location was this nice hotel along the coastline where they had a public bath ran by heating the sea water.

In the e-mail the missus had sent Eriko days prior to our flight, she did mention about heading for onsen.
There was no natural hot spring in the vicinity, so this was the closest it can get.

We paired off by gender and went straight to wash the dirt off every inches of our skin before the comforting dip of the warm bath.
Stark naked, Sou and myself had a intimate ....chat about our lives and seriously I was amazed he was still only 25 when he was so much matured for his age.
The way he showered card an concern for his wife definitely was a notch higher than myself which I shamefully had to admit.
He also told me that the wedding reception cost him a cool 3 million yen (around S$48K) but i felt it was a norm there perhaps.
There was intention to dropby Singapore to watch the Formula One Grand Prix in the future and I cordially invited him to stay with us when they are here.

Sou said it feels like heaven to gulp down a pint of the finest lager fresh from dipping in hot water, but because of their need to drive he had refrained from it while going for ice-cream instead.
The beer definitely took effect for my wife and me as we slept like babies while Sou ensured a safe journey back to Morioka as the sun was setting at the ripe old hour of 5.

I felt bad 15 minutes from my slumber and decided to keep myself awake for the remains of the journey as poor Sou tried to keep himself focus on a rather narrow route 106.
It was amazing about the lack of street lights as drivers had to bank on alternating their headlights to check for those indicative pillars along the bends.

We made a toilet break as my missus fresh from her nap requested for it and it was starting to get chilly up on the mountain.

Finally we reached Morioka and they looked to fulfill the last item on my missus' request list: karaoke.
So we arrived at this giant karaoke lounge by the name of "Jiyuukan" which offer 24 hour singing and partying service like none other.

The room was well cozy as we were busy selecting the food which act as dinner while choosing what songs to sing.
Eriko also mentioned "飲み放題" meaning drink is free flow which was always up my alley to try their various sour or mocktails.

After the missus kicked start with a rendition of News' "星をめざして", Eriko went for Kobukuro's "Tsubomi" while Sou started the first of his 3 The Blue Hearts' songs.
However as usual I was again able to draw surprise admiration from my Japanese acquaintances for my knowledge of J Pop songs, old and new and how well I could perform them.

I went for some really old tracks for the night including from the 1970s (もしもピアノが弾けたなら by Nishida Toshiyuki), the 1980s (恋におちて -Fall in love- by Kobayashi Akiko and later Tokunaga Hideaki) and the 1990s (Sukui Onna by Sharan Q) which proved to be some sort of entertainment value for my hosts.

The karaoke session lasted for a couple of hours before Sou looked visibly shagged out and with his consumption of beer felt he could not drive as they employed the valet service to fetch them back in their own car while sending us back to the hotel along the way.
The night definitely looked early for us as we went for more snacks to accompany for the last night at Hotel Ruiz as we packed for the departure tomorrow.

つつく

Eriko & Sou s' Wedding Part 2

2009-10-14T17:52:00.006+08:00

14th October 2009, Wednesday

The stay at Hotel Ruiz came with complimentary breakfast buffet at their penthouse restaurant, La Fontaine.
Why spent unnecessary when it comes in free?

The view was decent, not spectacular but on a clear day we can see the mountain ranges encircling the capital city of Iwate as well as how it was void of those skyscraper of a modern metropolitan city.

We gave ourselves a good an hour and a half for dressing up with the missus especially required the luxury of time to doll up
Then at the stipulated time of 10.15, donned in our best outfit, we rendezvous with the stars of the day who came in cab.

The venue of the reception was a good 10 minutes drive away as it crossed this highway to some sort of a heartland where we had been to a large shopping mall of the name of AEON 3 years back.

Back in February, they mentioned that they had intended to host the reception in the traditional style in a jinja (shrine) which had got us anticipated but they made an U-Turn to go for the modern style which was an experience by itself.

Marry de Mana (you just gotta have some pretentious French feel to the name) was a well manned operation to ensure their wedding ceremony ran right off the script and had a supporting cast inclusive of personal assistants to each of them as well as later as we have seen a dashing valet (whom the missus was itching to take a picture with), a band of well groomed and trained waiters, an announcer (emcee) with a voice that sooth the most arduous situation, an organ playing musician who had a repertoire of classics and English oldies and some of the best flower arrangement team.
This was in addition to the quirky make-up artist cum hair stylist as well as the photographer who for the most of the day trying to balance with that 2 bazooka of a camera of his while trying to keep his clients and their guests going, not neglecting his eye for details; both of whom may or may not be part of the package.

The theme of the wedding was "Hawaii" which saw them decorating the hall with palm trees and the slew of Hawaiian style tunes during the wedding itself.just added on the mood.

For the first hour or so, Eriko was ushered to the dressing room while Sou made some last minute preparation before they went through with the rehearsal.
The two of us just wandered around like a kid in a toy shop to check on the various details of the reception hall, mainly to kill time.

The two items that caught our attention first and foremost were on each seat laid a big bag of goodies which looked like an exaggerated wedding favor (or souvenir) from the newly-weds.
It was apparent that they had put in a lot of effort to come out with the gift items which had some personal touches from individual to individual.
It seems like they had shipped back a carton load of items they had purchased from Hawaii such as the local wine, T shirt and in our case pineapple salad dressing to share with their loved ones.

Sad to admit it, the rolly polly caricature character sure looks like yours truly

One every single serving plate was a well drawn caricature of the person who was invited and assigned to that specific seat.
They said it was done by a professional and sure look like a great souvenir on itself.

With a good 2 hours to burn, the missus decided to drag me to a mega shoe outlet just around the corner where her undying search for that elusive pair of boots continued.
There was little surprise it failed to transpired but it did not stop her from buying another piece of garment from the jean warehouse just across the road.
It was Saturday morning, quite close to noon but the place was definitely a zombie town...

A bit more of hanging around once we got back but soon Eriko was preen and ready for a photo shoot together with Sou in a sparkling off white tuxedo matched with equally glaring white shoes.
Somehow the photographer made the most of the limited backdrop just outside Marry de Mana, even ourselves and the quirky make-up artist were being plucked to add the numbers.

Sou putting on the veil on his beautiful bride

We became glorified backdrop during the shoot

Eriko was known to be a very emotional person since that teary goodbye at the wanko soba restaurant many moons back.
When her aged grandmother came struggling down from the bus her side of the family rented to bring them down from their home town a good hour away, she started messing up her make-up when her tear glands were activated again.

Sou's father tried to make a conversation with us and I tried to decipher with that limited comprehension of Japanese though I did get the last part about just enjoy drinking or something.
His sister Mayu was donned in a nice kimono which was a few we spotted in that afternoon.
There was no presence of Sou's mother whom we realized later that she was suffering from an illness which made her bedridden at home.
Let's hope she'll recover real soon.

Punctuality is a good virtue one has to inculcate and perhaps in Japan, there was little tolerance of being late, so unlike our local wedding banquet, the reception began right on time as we settled at our table filled with Eriko's paternal aunts who tried their best to make conversation.
While one of her uncle was losing sight (literally), the other was a sort of a voyeur when he kept taking pictures of us.

Before the procession began, the announcer highlighted the fact that we had brought with us the Singaporean delicacy (remember the bak gua) and distributed among the tables.
We only bought 2 small boxes so you could imagine the 80 guests having to take a measly piece each.
Somehow they love it and we were cast into the spotlight for the gift as we were prompted to stand and bow.
Uncomfortable moment and it was just the beginning.

So the event began with the entry of the bride in the arms of his doting father who was donning similar tuxedo as his in-laws.
Instead of the usual wedding march or Ave Maria, the music played was something of a Beatles' classic, what a queer choice.

Mr Matsuzaki must have mixed feeling seeing his only child being finally another man's wife.

When the bashful bride was handed to the composed groom, they would exchanged vows and made their signature under the watchful eyes of their mentors at work.
Then the adorable Kororo, the baby of the party (literally) came with the rings before a slightly older hyperactive boy Tsubasa-kun said grace to kick start the dining.

It was definitely weird to serve French cuisine for a Hawaiian-themed reception but it was tasy no less as we worked the utensils inwards.
Though eating Foie gras was unethical in the way they reared the ducks or geese for their liver, it was definitely a gastronomical adventure.
The steak was really Michelin restaurant blue-list level and I helped myself with 2 servings as the missus had abstained from it of course.
But the star attraction for me was the pastry which the newly-weds had to serve in the ending featurette of their reception, just outside in the garden area cum smoking point.

The lime green gown is definitely in sync with Sou's khaki colored tuxedo. Eat that Fann Wong and Christopher Lee!

In fact food took a backseat for the amount of alcohol on show.
The crew constantly load the table with Kirin lager while one can choose from the range of wines, cocktails and Japanese shochu.
The parents of both sides had been carrying out their social etiquette to go around and serve beer to every single guests while after a string of unsuccessful foray into unleashing the while screwed cork from the champagne bottle using a sword, Sou did the next best thing that was to just dislodged using the brute force by his bare hands.
The champagne which I noticed was from the famous Martini brand was simply delicious and we helped ourselves with a few servings and everyone started looking tipsy enough.

Sometime things do not go according to plan.

The truth is that the newly-wed had very little time to get some food into their system.
After returning to the stage with a change of outfit, it was their fathers' turn to deliver some words of congratulations (the bosses done it earlier and was close to a National Day Rally as possible).
Then followed by a video montage of their growing up years before a look of their trip to Hawaii.
In between the groom was joined by his band of close friends in a duel of wanko soba while the bride who was musically inclined was joined by a chum from their school band days to deliver a clarinet-saxophone duet with a medley of "Amazing Grace" (The Japanese simply love that song) and "A Whole New World".
We were also being asked by the announcer to deliver some fitful words after flying such great distance to attend the wedding.
In truth, we looked set to make a mockery out of ourselves with our gibberish but it was enough to make Eriko teared again.

The entire luncheon lasted for a good 2 and a half hours with everyone pretty much doused in alcohol, wondered where all the food went and high on the occasion.
The couple made a final waltz around the tables as Styrofoam hearts were floating illustriously off the ceiling.
It had to be the most aesthetically eye-catching moment of the whole reception and they even had gifts in store for those who snatched hearts with a certain indication on them.

Like our own post-banquet practice with the parents joining the newly-weds to bid farewell to guests who graced the occasion, except in this case they were distributing Hawaiian Host chocolates out like it was Easter.

We left for our hotel on a cab as we had the evening for ourselves.
However fatigue started to eat in, as we wandered about the shopping street within the train station before coming back to the warmth of the hotel room laden with truckload of finger food.

We spent Saturday night fixated in front of the small LCD TV as Fuji TV was reminiscing 50 years of comedy of the likes of Beat Kitano, Shimura Ken, Akashiya Sanma, Tunnels, SMAP on variety shows while on rival network, NTV (Nippon Terebi) was having a 3 hours competition show of all the upcoming programmes for the fall which also include Anpan man and Detetctive Konan in the line-up.
As it was these couple of weeks were the transition period between seasons and the networks would dish out special programs before the new fall line-up were unleashed.

Sunday would start early as the couple would bring us to Miyako.

つつく

Eriko & Sou s' Wedding Part 1

2009-10-13T16:45:00.008+08:00

13th October 2009, Tuesday

Would you travel a good 5688km or so to attend the wedding of friends whom you could not converse fluidly without being hindered on what word you had to boggle your mind with the limited command of native language the other person is speaking.
Friends who we had not been able to see on regular basis and until days before we had seen for like 4-5 times in the past 6 years.
But when Eriko and Sou had sent their invitation for the wedding on the auspicious date of 10th October, we just could not resist the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a traditional Japanese wedding reception or so we thought.

With the air tickets booked at a way appealing price too from Singapore Airlines, we just needed to work on the packing as well as what gifts to buy as the date to fly off drew near.

The flight on the Airbus was comfy (as compared to the return flight) though the Kris Air system over at our end had to run out of service for most of the flight, well on the flipside it made me catch a wink which was a rare phenomenon for me on the usual night flight.
On our flight, there was a Scottish who wore their traditional kilt throughout the flight while his son had the "kamikaze" headband around his forehead.
Then from his T shirt, I realized they were Singapore-based Tartan Army (name of Scottish football fans) who were bound for Tokyo to catch a friendly between their country and the Japanese national team at Yokohama Stadium on Saturday.
When bundled with the rest of the crew, those Scottish started making a din in the most serious place of the Narita Airport, the immigration counter.

Time was of the essence the second we landed at Narita Airport Terminal One as we had like 8 hours or so to get our objectives made at the capital of Japan.

We might have had 30 minutes extra if the queue at the midori mado (JR Green Window) had not be asphixiating as many Thai and united Asian population who like ourselves aimed to get their JR passes.

Despite the spiraling fear of the repercussion of Typhoon Melor, the one that known as Typhoon No. 18 which was going to be the most destructive one in 20 years, it left as fast as it appeared with Aichi Prefecture the main focal point to suffer the brunt of its force.
As a good Geography teacher will teach you about the composition of a storm, the skies will definitely open up wonderfully after each storm and it was what had welcomed us on Friday morning as the weather was just great without the need of lugging an extra jacket around.

Guess who came and welcome us at Tokyo Station?

Ueno was the first stop where we left the luggage in those giant rental cabinets before trying to find our bearing to Ameya Yokocho to seek that elusive pair of shoes for myself and for the missus, a themed mission of getting the boots she desired.
It was autumn and it was boots galore at all apparel stores except none was accustomed to fit my poor wife who felt her ankles were not Japanese-enough to fit those beauty of the boots.

I did got what I came for, a pair of Nike Air with what you would call in psychedelic color while the missus ended up without her boots though she did splurged on clothing in perhaps the find of the trip, a boutique selling classy ladies' apparels without the cut-throat price tags.

We then made our way to Nakano via the shortest route possible, via Rapid Chuo Line from Kanda station.
For rare finds, I always chose Nakano over Akhabara and it proved to be a fruitful trip as I did got what I came for after a good 60 minutes scouting every inch of the Nakano Broadway.
Realizing I was on a shoestring budget, I withheld my spending although nothing much caught my attention to be exact.

The shinkansen we were scheduled to take, Hayate 27 would depart Ueno station at 5.07pm and after stocking ourselves with some pudding and onigiri, we tried to locate the exact platform in the labyrinth below the Ueno Station and it was extremely infatuating especially you had to lug a 21 kg heavy suitcase without any electrical assistance.

The seats we were allocated were a 3-seater meaning by the time the train made its planned stop at Omiya, an elderly man in the typical tweed jacket would be joining us, not that it mattered as both of us were knocked cold as the sun made its descent across the horizon.

As the train departed from Sendai to Morioka, I started to feel a tingle down my spine as if a sign was showing me that the temperature had dropped drastically up north and true as it was, when we got on the all familiar platform of Morioka Station, I was all chilly and had to unleash my Zara jacket.

It was always heart-warming to see familiar faces peering across the barricade or window to come full fledged in receiving you after a long trip.
The sight of Eriko and Sou definitely warmed us up as the unforgiving breeze blew into the station.

The logical thing to do first was to unload the energy-sapping pink baggage at Hotel Ruiz where we were staying for the next 3 nights.

The room as we were exclaimed to be semai (narrow) but still better Toyogo Inn where we stayed in 2007, which was a stone throw away.

狭い！

As the hospitable hosts as they were, we were invited for dinner to appease the gastronomical storm in our digestive system (little did they know we weren't exactly that famished after the onigiri and the pudding).
Well reimen (cold noodle) wasn't the best way to warm the stomach though the turgid glass noodles was still too sumptuous to reject and whoever put a slice of juicy and sweet Japanese pear in a bowl of spicy noodles?

The accompanying yakiniku (grilledmeat) though was was it was appetizing especially when Sou was zealous in preparing it for us, and it went down smoothly and exquisitely with that pint of fine malt beer.

The hosts at work

We chatted a bit of their preparation for the big day tomorrow (though legally they were bound) and how in Chinese traditional, the newly weds were not to meet up on the eve of their customary.
They also showed us some pictures of their honeymoon cum photo taking session at Hawaii which looked legitimately enjoyable for the couple.

We did not drag it long for the night as all four of us needed ample quality rest before a long day the following day.
We left them with a couple of box of bak gua we bought from the airport as we though to be used as gifts for their friends whom we thought we might be meeting for dinner after the reception.
It turned out it was a personal thing and we were excused from it.
In the end, we instructed to them that the bak gua would be served for their friends to savor during their dinner but little did we know that it would prompt us into the spotlight in the wedding reception itself.

つつぐ

The Prez Relinquished his Role Part 2

2009-10-06T14:49:00.003+08:00

6th October 2009, Tuesday

The bride's home was in the heartland of Bishan and by the expressway it was a good 20 minutes as we stay tuned to the nonchalant voice of the simulated lady announcer off CS' Global Positioning System.
I was assigned to be the chap that bear the customary practice of opening the door of the nuptial wagon; and I constantly joked about going to the wrong household such as an Indian one.
I nearly did as from where we had parked, I had the misconception of the exact block to head towards.
Ultimately, I had became redundant as the bride's brood had a dashing lad ready to do the occasion and TW in his best looking tuxedo was ready to receive his bride.

As mentioned prior, there was no usual "gate-crashing" shenanigans although the supporting casts were present on both sides.
The groom though still had to pronounce his undying love for his bride-to-be in front of family and friends.
My buddy was more receptive for those mushy lines yet it was an ordeal for him to go so in depth with the declaration though everyone knows it was not skin deep.

This was followed by the serving of the tea to the elders. Usually for the bride, it would be carried out in a return trip but in this case with the luncheon beckoning, they just got on to it there and then. The trio of us were really standing aside in a state of redundancy except CS was totally drenched in his own perspiration as the morning heat was too excruciating to take.

The return trip was definitely not a smooth ride as CS nearly broke into an alteration with a van driver who was adamant not to be cut his lane by the flashy white Lancer.
My friend who had like many Singaporean drivers had extremely short fuses on the road, decided to sped and overtake the van before signaling his conquest with a blasting of his car horn.
I was sure if that driver was a healthy lad with a few other ruffian-like accomplices, all hell would break loose at the middle of Jalan Eunos.

Back at TW's ivory white maisonette, the relatives were ready to welcome the new member of the family as the toddler and the dog were starting to draw attention as usual.
There was slight delay to the whole tea serving procession as one of the auntie had yet to arrive.
Therefore the free time was used to take family photos while we started to assume the roles of props or merely security due to our lack of involvements.
When we were next to take pictures with the newly-wed, it seemed like the lens were not directed towards us as we had been ostracized.

My buddy was an emotional sop bag on his big day as he choked on words twice on perhaps the biggest day of his life.
First instance was when he was serving tea to his aunts from the paternal side. His emotions perhaps was triggered with respect to his late grandma who was tad too late to grace this happy day.

By around 10 am, the skies around the island were overcasted with an impending storm on its way, there had been news with regards to wretched traffic jams on all major expressways.
The nuptial wagon took some key personnel together with the bride's entourage to the venue of the luncheon, Traders Hotel while CS made his way to pick up his lass who was still caught up with her work.

Foo and myself were to take a ride on one of the aunties' car and it happened to be the parents of TW's cousin, Sarah whom I had went on my very first Japan trip with and whom I adopted the reference of "Jia Biao Jie (doppelganger cousin)".
Along the trip to Tanglin road, we chatted about the atrocities of foreign maids these days, in such a way that you can't live with them yet you can't live without them.

The ballroom/hall for the solemnization ceremony and the buffet luncheon was a rather elongated room but narrow enough to fit just 2 tables side by side.
It did seemed like they had prepared the tables at the very last minute which crossed TW's old man.

By 11 plus, most of the guests had arrived including CS with Lili and Michelle who got stranded around Tanglin Mall somehow.
But there was no sight of the missus who was responsible to send my parents from home.
It seemed like the traffic jam was not showing sign of receding and they would eventually miss the march-in, the solemnization from the justice of peace, the cake (real) cutting ceremony and TW's speech to thank the parents on both sides when he choked for the second time for the day.

My family did arrived in time for the buffet which was quite a spread of cold seafood, sushi, pasta, yakitori, stewed beef, grilled fish with cheese and potato and tasty looking desserts.
My old man was harping over how good the food was and how convenient it was as compared to having the traditional banquet.

With the newly weds being swamped to mingle with friends and families who they had not seen on regular basis, we just had our usual banter usually circling the colorful co-workers of CS whom he mentioned the night before.

Not before long, we lured the couple over to take some pictures with us as seen below:

The Wreckers, all tied up

Somehow you knew we would not stay sane for long.

Foo doing a great impersonation of one of CS' paranoid colleague.

21 years of friendship and more to come

The lunch ended at a good 2 plus when some friends remained to catch up old times while it was all soggy outside.
We had a chance to have a look at the complimentary suite which was pretty impressive but they might be too drained to really enjoy the amenities and facilities.

We bid farewell soon after that with Lili still needed to go back to work while under the insistence of the missus, we had a comprehensive stroll around ION Orchard which really put the "high" in "high end shopping".
There was struck of good luck in the evening as my mom and missus placed a bet on 4D for the car plate number and struck consolation.
The winning sum was quite negligible but it was something to cheer about especially for Mom who had always welcome winning lottery money from any avenues.

The whole event seemed to last shorter than it actually was and now we looked forward to the next wedding from perhaps CS who looked the most probable, well we never know, do we.

Japanese word of the day: 感情的 (Emotional) It had been emotional day, either in the tea serving, speech giving or simply on the road

The Prez Relinquished his Role　Part 1

2009-10-05T10:42:00.009+08:00

5th October 2009, Monday

Into the month of October when notable marriages take precedence over everything else.
Considering my own wedding (albeit customary) was held in October in 2006, it certainly is a month of merry-making, well at least within the Lunar calendar.

My buddy held his solemnization cum customary luncheon on the Mid-Autumn Festival and it was surely a good occasion for some sort of reunion.

The whole event began on Friday evening when after a hair cut, I took a ride on CS' Mitsubishi Lancer down to TW's place at Telok Kurau Lor G.
I was crossing my fingers that he would be back home when I had done with the haircut, and true indeed he barely made it home and needed time to wash up and have his dinner.
He had yet draw the cash for the red packet, so we took a drive around the industrial park before picking Foo from his place.

Foo made a last minute decision to join us for our mini-Stag party since the time we met up had been easy on his work schedule and thus for a long while the Wreckers were back in full force and I certainly cherished the time we were going to have especially when after marriage, TW's precious time might be even divided between work and his wife.

After stocking up on root beer and a tub of ice-cream, we finally arrived at the nuptial villa and the sight of his Subaru R2 ornate for the ceremony was quite amusing since it is so cubic, it looked like a really huge present.
Each of us took one of those ribbon thingies and tie a dead knot on the handle of the 4 doors of CS' car and definitely a significant featurette to kick off the evening.

His household was buzzing with preparation for the customary wedding procedures tomorrow but it looked very much whatever needed to be done had been done, despite TW kept yapping about he might have missed out certain things.

It was well documented that his room had vast space to house all his hobby needs and a workstation.
Even with a queen size bed, a new white (hasn't it been always) chest of drawers and a supposed dressing table which had yet to arrive, there was plenty of room to engage in an Argentine tango in.
He mentioned now that he had acquired a laptop, there was very little need to work in his room as he could do in the living room area where we resided for the night.

Dylan. TW's adorable nephew was well past his napping schedule when he joined the boys to catch the premiere of the latest season of "The Amazing Race".
There was a new twist to the plot this season as the race started eliminating one couple even before the crew managed to hit the airport.
It happened to be this uber-confident Yoga-preaching pair with the guy looking affably like Triple H from WWE.
Nicknamed "Numero Uno", the pair despondently were given the boot when they failed to locate the car plate number with the Kanji for the Tokyo locale of "Shinagawa".
TW and myself were especially enthused about their dismissal as we had a staunch dislike of the pretentious couple.

Despite being a loyal viewer of the Emmy-award winning reality series as it allowed one to marvel at the various alluring corners of our planet, the fact that they cooked up a lame Japanese game show in their first road block where the contestants were forced to gobble down a wasabi-filled sushi via a roulette, hosted by a mock Japanese host who actually was from Hawaiian or Guam and speaking in a poorly choreographed Japanese-style English and in front of a crowd of North Koreans masquerading as Japanese tourists, that was a last straw with their stereotype shit in front of the bunch of us who had been dabbling with Japanese pop culture avidly.
The myriad of colors with poorly sketched animation did give young Dylan a good time.

We then flipped to Star World where David Letterman was entertaining Madonna on his show.
Instead of enjoying Letterman's dry humor, we actually were more interested in how hideous the pop queen is this days behind her cake of make-up.

The highlight of the night arrived when we started gathering round Pepsiman whose endless wretched tales never failed to perk out interest.
Getting remotely drunk on rootbeer float, CS narrated with his usual panache of the various interesting characters he encountered at work.
As TW said the stories kept escalating into an relentless climax as it definitely made CS' workplace a twisted circus that he deeply hated but can't bear to leave.

The seconds trickled past 2 am as the large golden frame clock which was a complimentary from some famous hard liquor company had indicated.
With dawn beckoning and we needed to be up at 6, we had better catch a wink but CS was doused in Red Bull which Foo had offered and prompted him to stay awake while myself too was too high to bring myself to sleep.
So for the next 4 hours or so I just lie on the cold slab known as a mattress, trying to rest my mind for the big day.

With his parents up and running at around 5 in the morning, the 4 of us did got up by the postulated hour as Foo's uncontrollable sinu s problem became synonym to daybreak.
After taking turn in the shower (not together), we started to dress in our best outfit and before the photographer arrived at 7.15am, we were raring to go.

つつく

World in Disarray but I find Solace

2009-10-01T09:28:00.001+08:00

1st October 2010, Thursday

My buddy is getting married in 2 days time and he had been getting butterfly in his stomach.
I knew he was more than ready for the commitment and truly hope he and his other half can walk down the isle of the remaining years in a blissful and endearing manner.

There was no sort of Stag party but it was going to be the usual "wreckers" night out over at his place on the eve of the big day.
The only dent in the build up of it was that a fourth founding member had gone AWOL and his "disappearance" had left me in the limbo, to a state I was starting to get disenchanted.
Perhaps I had thought too much into it and he was just preoccupied with things in his life.

After a weekend of F1 racing, the week went into full gear with 5 long days at work and the only solace was the wedding at the end of it.
After which, it would be another 4 days of work before me and my wife jetting off to Japan and to Iwate to attend Sou & Eriko s' wedding.
It would be another event to be looking forward to and a short escape from the mundane work routine, while in preparation of a hectic end of the year which include a pesky 5 days ICT.

The world as we knew it is now in a state of disarray as natural disasters started wrecking havoc so close to our doorsteps.
A sandstorm sent Sydney in an unhealthy orange hue while a typhoon flooded and ruined homes of thousands in Philippines and Vietnam.
Just yesterday an oceanic earthquake in the Pacific Ocean resulted in tumultuous cascade of tsunami destruction on sprawling islands like Samoa, and within hours Padang, Indonesia received a deadly bolt of 7.6 on richter scale with tremors could even be felt for minutes in Sinagpore.

Together with the pending fear of the H1N1 virus and the bustling terrorism threats, we are not living in the most jolly of times.

A few days ago, there was a report of Singapore population hitting the 5 million mark soon with a bulk made up of permanent residents and new citizens.
It was of little wonder why our tiny red dot is so appealing for many people in the world.
With the major problem of land shortage as well as lack of any resources, we had been blessed from being at the brunt of Mother Nature's cruel game.
If you want to live an uneventful and stable life, here is where you have to be as I myself would say I am all for that.

End of the day, I am once again announcing the fact that I am happy remaining status quo in finding solace of playing virtual management games, getting myself in fits with South Park and second guessing what's the minds of people close to me.

Japanese word of the day: 無秩序 (Chaos) The only chaos in my life is the madness in taking public transport so far

CONflict with the RADicals

2009-09-14T12:40:00.002+08:00

14th September 2009, Monday

So the weekend that I had anticipated for a while gone and in the most satisfactory fashion I supposed.
Spent quality with the missus, totally rested my rigid bones, indulged ourselves in plenty of good food, spend till the credit cards busted and of course taking a great opportunity to hang out with my buddies; It was not spectacular but ain't shoddy either.

The day began at ION Orchard, the new center of attraction in Singapore's most popular shopping street.
The architecture truly stuck out in the backdrop but did not really blemished the mood of the area, instead setting a distinct feature of its own.

We had intended to purchase the JR Pass in the JTB Salpon but that did not go according to plan as we were simply too hasty.

We did had the traditional coffee, kaya toast and half boiled eggs at a cafe which bore decor which was most astutely made to resemble a high class cafe in Great America during the early 20th century or something.

The massage session at The Ultimate Wellness Haven at Shaw Center was set at 11.30 am; the entire penthouse setting was pretty grandiose and looked to cater for the tai-tais with cash to burn and the secret location looked like an exclusive clandestine of sort.
The package the missus was cajoled to buy was done a year back and she was still settling in in th form of a monthly installments.
The whole experience ain't that bad with decent massage therapy and body scrub which rid the rigidness in my muscles around the neck due to my incessant hours in front of my workstation 5 days per week and the tightness in my thigh and calf muscles from all the regular jogging.

We left for Conrad International Singapore as planned but traffic around town on a Satueday afternoon especially with COMEX, another one of those gargantuan IT convention held at Suntec City, was not going to be forgiving.
There was a near alteration when a Comfort Delgro Hyundai Avantis model unreasonably cutting the lane and close to gracing the boot of our car.
A horn of frustration ensued from the offender and from account by the flabberghasted missu, the obnoxious taxi driver still had the cheek to give her the middle finger.

The foul mood immediately evaporated when we made our way to Room 803 where we would spend the night at.

We did not lingered long in the room after settling down as one of the objectives of the weekend for me was to buy myself a decent set of suit for the important wedding procession I would be involved in for the month of October.
Prior to traveling from Orchard Road to Marina, we had took a detour to the Zara outlet at Wheelock Place and had my eyes on this particular made of real soft synthetic material which is well stretchable which is advantageous for someone like me with that kind of irrational figure.
In the end that was what I purchased.
It nearly did not transpired well with limited stock (make it one set only) in the outlet at Marina Square.

We had some rest in the room till it was dinner time as we expected our guests to be coming in around 7 plus.
The buffet at Oscar's had quite a budding reputation for a buffet which serves fresh seafood which did not really whet my appetite but it did looked quite amazing to see a good 8 types of oysters including Coffin's Bay, Irish and Scottish.

There was a "Treat of Nagoya" for limited time as the chefs laid out some exquisite Japanese cuisine from the central Japanese city.
We warmed out stomach and worked that gastric juice before the rest arrived.

Eventually TW and Peiling made their appearance, a good half hour before CS and Lili who was caught in the usual Saturday evening jam on the CTE arrived.
Despite the setting of the table and the constant topping of our plates, the 6 of us had a jolly good time chatting on each others' dining preference and a myriad of topic like the COMEX, the funny incidents in CS' workplace, TW's impending big day and of course spilling the beans from each other's can.
In the pipeline is also the "Tokyo Wreckers" 10th year anniversary" tour which CS lobbied aggressively for and something nice to look forward to the next year.

The dining and the hearty chatty lasted till an hour after the buffet stopped its operation but the restaurant was gracious enough not to hustle us out for making our usual din and even granted us a good deal as I was a patron of the hotel itself.

The gang left after taking a look at the room as the night petered to watching "The Devil Wears Prada" on that 52 inch Sony Bravia.

On the actual birthday of the missus, we began with more guilty indulgence as we overworked our intestinal factory with a fulfilling breakfast at the Oscar.
Before we knew it, it was checking out time as our little escapade for her birthday came to a close, with a parting shot of the view from our room:

Japanese word of the day:ザリガニ~Za-ri-ga-ni~(Crayfish) It seems like every love unshelling those crustaceans, making a whole mess just for that little bit of meat.

South Park- The Unchartered Territories

2009-09-07T16:57:00.002+08:00

7th September 2009, Monday

Spent another weekend confined at home.
While it was great way of damage control to the wallet, I really had nothing in view that would pry me away from the comfort of my room the entire weekend.
In truth, I was conserving myself for the hotel stay at Conrad this coming weekend with the buffet dinner with my buddies and their partners certainly the reason that got be through the days for the past fortnight.

So back to fixating myself to the LCD monitor, trying to work my brain cells to write in my most eloquent command of English for my prime passion of late, story-writing for my game of Football Manager.
It really works as a form of therapy, for what exactly it was left to be seen.

It also enabled me to go through the fast burgeoning playlist of my K Lite Media Player which always bring me all sorts of entertainment, be it from Hollywood, Japan or the more ecletic world cinema.

Of course I needed my weekly dosage of laughter and I decided to keep some true Frat Pack classics as last resot for rainy days, I turned to one which had been sitting around for a while, Trey Parker & Matt Stone s' "Team America: World Police".

Similar to South Park, the duo would satirise on the folly of the Big Brother of the World, the United States of America on how they always thought they did the right things but in the end brought about more distraught and created more chaos with their interventions.
The movie made with an entire marionette cast definitely was a breath of fresh air back in 2004 and even perhaps now when CG animation rules the scene.
It left no stone untouched in poking fun of some of the world's most notable personality, surprising no previous President of USA, the joke known as W.

It of course reminded me a lot of "Thunderbirds" which I had only caught one TV special of the British series when I was really young and was blown away by it (back in those days I was blown away by almost anything); however when you have the duo of Parker & Stone, the focus of the film would be more on the madcap jokes and insults.
It was low brow but I am loving it like the double layer McSpicy.

The show definitely was stolen by Kim Jong-Il (with no effort to parody the name as of all the characters based on real people like the actors in Film Actors Guild (F.A.G)).
Voiced by Trey Parker, there was a strong remnants of foul mouthed Eric Cartman from "South Park:" with the stereotypical aspect of Asian conversion of "l" to "r" though I thought that should purely be owed to the Japanese.
Kim was a badass with a hefty ambition with a emotional side..heehee
But the "North Korean medley" which he put up for the world leaders during the supposed "World Peace Summit" was the one that really pushed me off the cluff into controllable fit which my missus though I might had been possessed or something.

After the movie, i was yearning for more foul mouth low brow joke from the duo and led me to get myself acquainted to the entire series of "South Park" which i had been abstained for a while since everyone back in my college days were very much into it.
There was all 13 seasons (season 13 is on a sabbatical of late) to catch up but I wonder would I get tired of the vulgarities hurled by those kids in the fictitious red neck town in America and whether I might just felt unsympathetic over the deaths of Kenny McCormick.

Another surprisingly good show I caught was "Smiley Face", a stoned out indies movie which might made people who do not understand the marihuana culture of North America turned off as the lead portrayed by Anna Faris was in constant state of stoning, forcing her to just drifting around and at some part very unlikeable.

While she was backed by a great supporting cast of Danny Masterson (Steven of the 70's Show), John Krasinski (Jim of The Office), John Cho (Harold & Kumar) & Jane Lynch), it was definitely a break out show for Anna.
Then again she had always been typcasted as dimwit simpleton like her guest role as the woman that gave Monica and Chandler her baby in Friends, the mother in "Scary Movie 4" and in the "House Bunny".
But Anna is still very charming and like actresses like Amy Adams, Emma Stone, Elisha Cuthbert who I have been following of late, is very pleasing to the eyes.
Will look out for more movies from Anna for sure.

Japanese word of the day: 下品 (Vulgarities) One thing that truly turned my missus off...I can empathize with her though

December 21st 2012

2009-08-31T15:53:00.002+08:00

31st August 2009, Monday

Coming soon on the big screen is another featurette from Roland Emmerich's long line of disaster movies including "Godzilla", "Independence Day" and "Day After Tomorrow".

"2012" is based off the hypotheses that the world as we live in might come to an abrupt end on the dawn of December 21st 2012 in conjunction with the end of the Mayan calendar while famed French apothecary Nostradamus who was known for his books of prophecy also had pictures and quatrains pertaining to events that had occurred were leading up to the "big one" when the sun meets the center of the galaxy.

It might turn out to be a hoax with very little scientific bearing but it still generated a lot of interest world wide with how ancient tellings seemed to match to that ominous date.

Caught the History Channel documentary "Nostradamus 2012" on Saturday night and not for the first time History Channel had been painting frightening pictures of how our earth will cease existence to causes beyond our controls.
It surely was depressing and did gave me a headache in the midst of it but for entertainment value, I still soldier on with the 2 hours special.

I would say I do harbor a belief in that apocalyptic prophecy but I am not overly worried about it with a good 3 years plus to go.
I have to say for the best part of my 31 years of existence, I have live life to the fullest and if we have to go, I would say I have no regrets.

The same thing cannot be said about the missus is still filled with dreams and objectives to fulfilled, so it was just gibberish of negativity to her when I told her.
I also told my mom not to splurge away and just live our lives as status quo for now though perhaps we can kick back and enjoy lives whenever we can from now on.

In retrospect, the prophecy actually guide me to stay positive from now on and live every day as if it's my last and not fret about trivial things, though in Singapore it is just hard.

Well the noir mood for the weekend was the viewing of a 2009 disaster film from Japan, "感染列島Kansen Rettou" which talks about Japan in 2011 under the pandemic of an unknown lethal life-threatening virus known as "Blame" which killed up to over 50 millions people, putting the world's 2nd largest economy to a standstill and decadence.
It definitely was a frightening reflection of the situation with H1N1 virus now as well as the Avian flu (which the movie took reference from) and SARS of the rampant spread of a virus with high mortality rate

The film at 128 minutes is sure draggy but watchable as it banked on human emotions rather than Hollywood fabricated action sequences and what not.
Dashing actor Satoshi Tsumabuki was competent in his role as the protagonist doctor Matsuoka Tsuyoshi who was at the front of combating the virus and eventually lost his colleagues as well as the loved of his life to it.

It was not a happy ending but that's life isn't it?

Japanese word of the day: 世界終末 (End of the World) Where do you plan to be and what you plan to do on the 21st of December 2012?

Loads on My Mind

2009-08-25T15:30:00.003+08:00

25th August 2010, Tuesday

If my professional life is as loaded as the things I had in my mind, I would not lament over the fact that I had become a leech to my workplace.
Having to pick scraps and bits from whatever we can render our help to since the demand for our platform had trickled so remotely since like the 2nd quarter, we now would just spend the day in front of our workstation while seeing how our colleagues slog off with their mounting work load.

I had tried to suggest me jumping over to lend a hand but so far there was no taker; it sure look like I would not be getting the "Employee of the Year" with the looks of it...
I can virtually kiss a fat bonus package goodbye come next May.

At some point I also started to miss the time when BY as well as a few closer ex colleagues were still around.
The coalition of new colleagues tend to cluster among themselves, perhaps due to their work scope and their sitting arrangement.
It looked ordeal to break in, not that I am aggressively finding my way in.

Think I am slowly to encapsulate myself in the way His Beautiness had done and he was thick enough to go through the motion for the past 7 years, money matters at the end of each month ultimately.

I wonder how my other comrades from the same platform felt with the lack of work, the lack of attention from the new boss as well as some of the newer staff gaining more of the attention.
Perhaps I had been thinking too much on my ample free time at work.

Eriko and Sou s' wedding invitation arrived last evening.
We made a U turn to the decision to attend their wedding after the missus first was hesitant to even giving up the thought due to her financial obligation to her car.
We knew it would be a really short trip to Morioka with no stay at Tokyo which had become a practice of sort.
However we could not make up our mind on how many days we are staying and whether if the newly weds have anytime to even entertain us after their ceremony on the 10th of October.
Some good news though was that Singapore Airlines had a new promotion for air tickets to Japan while Japan Railway had a flexi 3 days JR pass promotion... Merely buying tickets for shinkansen is setting our budget aplomb, a trip from Tokyo to Morioka cost like 14K yen!
Hope to secure the air tickets as soon as our Japanese friends gave us the actual plan for us through email.

Desmond called at the start of this workday, stating that he had been called up for the usual high key to Kao-Hsiung next March...yes March not April.
He got news that there would be an Aussie trip at the tailend of 2010 as well and we looked very much involved as well.
The thought of 2 overseas high-key in-camp trainings surely deflated my day but on the flip side, that would reduce the number I need to complete.
It is really a dilemma that on one side I wanna get it over and done with, on the other hand, I loathe the thought of going through the process.
How I wish I could have that remote control as in Adam Sandler's "Click" to fast forward that tepid time on board the ship...
Damn life for us Singaporean men surely is no bed of roses....

With the impending weddings, I needed to set aside a hefty budget for the gift money, the air tickets, spending money in Japan and a set of decent looking suit.
The hotel stay for the missus' birthday is not helping matters but I think I still have things under control for now...no unnecessary splurge though.

After reading "Bakuman" as recommended by EK which is the right sort of storyline I am sucker for, I really envy the aspiration and the courage to dream of the protagonists as they vowed to make a name as a professional mangaka.
This led me to think of my teenage years when I also aspired to be a mangaka...but my drawing was pretty shoddy and plagiarizing was how I usually go by with it.
However I did inspired my buddy TW to where he stand these days, so perhaps our dreams did not went out unfruitful.

How I wish I could have that drive these days...But I don't have that dream to begin with to keep the flame going sadly.

Japanese word of the day: 負荷 (Loads) Wanna clear some off my mind

Good Football Films

2009-08-24T13:38:00.002+08:00

24th August 2009, Monday

Trying to save a quid or two for big plans starting in October, I burrowed within my nest, basically just watching movies or Japanese doramas waiting in stack.

Beside a couple of classic American college fraternity comedies like "Revenge of the Nerds" and "National Lampoon's Animal House" who made one wondered how so many generation survived hazing and the chaos of living in a frat house in North America.
I also caught "20th Century Boys Chapter 2 ~The Last Hope~" which effectively is a cure for insomnia as I wonder if it really meant to be a cult hit despite the high production value.

But I must say the pick among the lot has to be a British film, "The Damned United", which chronicled the wretched 44 days tenure of the late legendary football manager, Brian Clough at Leeds United.
The film directed by Peter Morgan based on the novel by the same name by David Pearce which drew much criticism from the Clough residence and other past persona who was involved in the story for the discrepancies from what actually happened in real life which painted a less than illustrious picture of Clough

However it was a real good biographic film, starring a brilliant Michael Sheen who took on the role of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in another of Morgan's film, "The Queen"
The story was told by juxtaposition the days Clough was signed to take over Don Revie, whose successful stint with the Yorkshire club came to an end when he was set to become the English manager with the time Clough and his right hand man Peter Taylor was resurrecting fortunes at Derby County.

The film really gave viewers a glimpse of the muddy and dilapidated state of football back in the late 1960s and the early 1970s , be it the footballing grounds and facilities or the organization which was world apart from the state of the art stadiums found in the Premier League these days.

There was very little football as compared to perhaps the "Goal!" series but the story was mainly down to Clough and Taylor s; struggle within Derby County board in the latter years after differences with club chairman Sam Longson.
Those footballing shots were from stock videos with a shirtless Kevin Keegan after being sent off for a tussle with Billy Bremner in the Charity Shield which was Clough's first game in charge being the most noteworthy.

The acting of the likes of Sheen, Timothy Spall (as Peter Taylor, last seen as the mousey Wormtail in Harry Potter), Colin Meaney (as Don Revie) and Jim Broadbent (as Sam Longson) are a joy to watch as there was strong accents to add realism but not too strong to deem uncomprehensible.

There had been several decent footballing films from the past but I would rate "The Damn United" as one of the better ones together with "Goal!" which are basically biographic films rather than the usual underdogs rising to the top feel-good type of films. Though "Bend Like Beckham" was more about racial tension in the UK.
Of course Asian representatives like "Shaolin Soccer" and Singapore's own "One Leg Kicking" and "Kallang Roar the movie" are merely for entertainment and did not leave much impression.

The nice touch they did with "The Damn United" made me yearning for the stories of some famous English footballing managers to be put on the big screen including:

Sir Alex Ferguson - Perhaps talked about his early days in Aberdeen, then how he nearly was sacked in Manchester United before Mark Robin's goal in a FA Cup game against Nottingham Forest kick started his legacy at Old Trafford.
Sir Bobby Robson - The late legendary manager had a hand in transforming Ipswich Town's fortunes and had success at PSV and Barcelona as well as a heartbreak in World Cup 1990 at Italy. Surely will be a well scripted chronicles.
George Graham - The former Arsenal title winning coach was known more for his dubious transfer dealings and "bungs" which would make a shameful tale George would not like to see.
Sven Goran Eriksson - The Swede that many in England detested during his time as the England coach looked to go wherever money calls. With his bank account bulging and always in the company of beautiful women, a story about "it" would be great.

Foo mentioned he would love to see a tale on Neil Warnock and I am sure in due time Jose Mourinho should earn a biographic film as well.

Japanese word of the day: コーチ (Coach/Manager) Which football manager's story would you like to see made transitioned to the big screen?

Welcome back David, Seeya Around Jimmy

2009-08-18T13:49:00.003+08:00

18th August 2009, Tuesday

Last evening, there was a major shake-up in Star World's weekdays scheduling.
Being an avid follower of the Asia premier English language channel on cable owned by STAR TV, I had always liken to get myself entertained especially with a good laugh from the myriad of comedies, realty TV programs and of late TV talk shows after a "hard" day of work.

Gone was the back to back episodes of "Friends" which had made like its 20th re-run on the network but it's popularity is still undiminished especially to a sucker like myself who can laugh at the same joke over and over again, same case for "Seinfeld".
In replacement, the programmers astutely replaced the 7.30pm slot with re-run of "Everybody Loves Raymond", the multi-Emmy winning sitcom about a poor chap Raymond Barone (played by Ray Ramano) caught in between his wife and his overly-disruptive family which basically stolen the show in many instances.
I had caught an episode here and there of the 9 season long series but surely it was a tasteful addition to the daily broadcast of sitcom re-runs in tune of "Seinfeld,"Friends" and at times "Two and A Half Men".

After weeks of intense advertising, the network also welcome "The Late Show with David Letterman" or at least the "Best of" episodes for 2009 before the normal syndicated show, aired one day after the telecast in the States.
Back in 1995 to around 1997, the previous incarnation of Mediacorp's "Central (no okto)" known as "Premiere 12" used to show the CBS late night talk show that could rival NBC's "The Tonight Show" on daily basis.

From 11pm to 12 am, my buddy TW and I would stay tuned to the telecast and that together with several sitcoms (like "Friends", "Seinfeld" etc), were our first foray into American style sense of humor which had been a intrinsic part of my everyday life now.
Not that I am pro-star-spangled banner or anything but I could relate more to the humour of the American and usually of the dry humor of the British more than our local type which lacks form and characteristically shallow.

Back in those days, Letterman like many of his late night contemporaries would tend to make fun of anything and everything happening and current affairs in the United States.
The politician namely the incumbents in the White House are always at the brunt of the ribbing..back in those days, Bill Clinton was known as "Big Bubba" and his Lewinsky-gate could not escape the constant hounding by Letterman and we simply dug that.

When TCS (Mediacorp's previous persona) ended their reign of "Late Show", an important part of our lives had been disrupted but by then I was in the army and had not much time to watch TV.

Over the next decade, David Letterman can only be seen on youtube but it kind of defeat the whole purpose being a daily night talk show.

When Star World decided to bring in ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" since 2008 (or was it late 2007), I was enchanted by the energy of late night talk show and Jimmy being a young upstart in the field as compared to Leno, Letterman or O'Brien got his writers to make jokes which incoporate a lot of actual scene editing which really satirized the actual event.
Since the show is based in Hollywood, the guests are usually directors, actors, comedians, musicians etc who plug their latest works which surely was up my alley as it gave me a glimpse of some films that might ultimately come to Singapore.

I would have hoped Star World to place "The Late Show" alongside "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" but it was simply wishful thinking as they felt the viewers in Asia are not prepared to watch 2 late night talk shows side by side, so Letterman literally bumped Kimmel of the late night slot.

I have grew an affection to Kimmel and his motley crew of relatives and security guards like Uncle Frank, Guillermo, Cleto and the Cletones, Cousiin Sal etc, now I just need to reacquaint myself with David Letterman again with his Top 10, Paul Schaffer, Rupert Jee, Biff Henderson etc.

Japanese word of the day:夜遅く (Late Night) You don't expect me to sleep so early do you?

No Point Being Petty over a few Dollars

2009-08-17T15:58:00.001+08:00

17th August 2009, Monday

There was this kid who worked at La Tendo ages back (he was the first employee they ever had) whom I had little liking of.
As a brat in those days, he could get on one’s nerves for his petulant way of talking back to people and famous for his misdemeanor and was one of the least like person for myself.

I also wondered why I disliked him so much back then as speaking to him would have my blood boiling in some extent to JxMMy D and at times His Beautiness.

Once he had to concentrate in his tertiary studies and quitted his stint at La Tendo, the air seems a bit fresher at my regular haunt as I never envisioned crossing path with this bane of mine until last Saturday.

For some reason, he invited himself for a group dinner for the clique which had weeks in the making.
Vincent and Miyano s’ absences were felt but his presence was always to get my fuse shortened though the entire it was Tay-chan who clawed him relentlessly with swiping at his various little dining practices while coercing to do things he was unwilling to oblige.

After a truly filling meal filled with gluten-composed faux meat and meat analogues as well as the usual banter among the group, it was time to go and we foot the bill.

It came to me that the boy was residing around my neighborhood as well and was rather reluctant to send him home.
But my missus was much magnanimous than yours truly and helped him save a few pennies and dimes from taking public transport.

Then it came to my mind that we had split the bill without into consideration of his share.
Of course one would argue on his defense that he is still schooling without any earning capacity and the fraction per head of the bill was pretty hefty, so it would be kind of all of us to pay on his behalf.
But what had he warrant for the free meal? It was neither his birthday nor did we invited him over for the meal which we would have it just fine by ourselves.

I nearly wanted to blow the whole situation up with the rest of the gang till I felt what my mom mentioned was correct.
The perception of the rest on me would be a petty fellow who pick on a little boy without any source of income.
So it was not worth it be labeled so unglamorously because of a few dollars difference as everyone seems fine over it.

Anyway during the course of the dinner, we had the usual X’mas party group selection and gift exchange secret partner.
Then came to the agenda of the venue to host the party and Ferris looked pretty reluctant this time round to be the host which left me befuddled with his adverse reaction.
But the idea of going for a trip or even a cruise was brought on the table which got everyone pretty excited over it.
The idea began to take form when Karen and EK had been brainstorming on what is the best possible option if every single one of us agreed to go for it for this afternoon.
Let’s stay tuned what would be the outcome in the forthcoming weeks or months.

Had a walk around the Singapore Toys, Games and Comic Convention for this year and felt they surely had taken the effort to expand the space allowing human traffic to flow more regularly as it had been a scourge of last year’s edition.
Since our time there was much decimated due to Ferris’ late arrival to pick us up, we just walked briskly around the exhibition which had pretty much nothing that caught our eyes.
Caught up with TW who had been obediently manning his booth of his company/school and looked like he had pretty much hated the idea of soliciting for students over weekend on such a convention.
There is still the Anime Festival of Asia (AFA) latter this year to contemplate with.

Starhub had been enticing sports lover (more like football loving viewers) with the availability of Football Channel, Star Sports and the other channels in the package on the Preview Channel since the start of this month,
It really was a strategy to lure many who either had been deterred by the $25 fee per month or unknown of the allure of watching Barclay’s Premier League live every weekend, back to signing on to the plan.
I was adamant to be moved by it but I wouldn’t mind watching it for free was the starting weekend of the BPL filled my Saturday and Sunday evenings as Arsenal looked like a real deal with an unexpected 6-1 mauling of Everton at Goodison Park.
Man Utd also started with a win at home to Birmingham but was not overly impressed, then again it is just one game.
Not surprisingly, the German Bundesliga proved to be a much better source of entertainment over their English counterpart.

Japanese word of the day: 小さい~chi-sa-i~(Petty) I am a bigger person than that...or am I?

Money is Paramount in Singapore

2009-08-11T15:59:00.002+08:00

11th August 2009, Tuesday

After a wholesomely welcome 3 days break, it was back to work with the usual routine and getting my body to shape after nights of snacking on some junk food which had plagued my personal life the past few months.

On Sunday, our budding nation celebrated its 44th birthday with the usual shenanigans which the old man pointed out much to the ire of Mom who felt he was all too negative but in truth he was part of a whole nation of disgruntled old men who felt the government had robbed them of something yet they would just complain vociferously on the sideline, knowing it was a lost cause anyway if they band together and went on a rally or something.

I had no love lost with my country, finding the place simply too restrictive and cramping our style but patriotism had never been in my blood maybe perhaps in sports.

One thing for sure our little red dot had been well fortunate to be sheltered from natural disasters like how Taiwan, China and Philippines had been bracing themselves from Typhoon Morakot.
With my cable TV package filled with Taiwanese cable news network, we had been exposed to the atrocities of how Mother Nature can create as torrential rain pelted indiscriminately from the south to the north of the island nation, resulting in monetary loss and of course loss of human lives.

Speaking of cable TV, while we are only going to be introduced with the high speed fiber optic cable connection in the near future unlike some nations like Japan who had laid it eons ago, we just had to make do with the typical cable provided from Starhub.

To me having cable connection for internet and paid TV subscription is paramount to living in a place like Singapore.
Once I realized the connection level of my apartment had been unstable since 2 weeks ago, I was prompt to engage the technical support from the service provider who responded in a speedy fashion to my satisfaction.
The outsourced technician recommended relaying of a new cable connection after finding my old one which was laid before the major renovation had been done to my nuptial room seemingly was the cause of the reduction of connection power.

A pair of friendly Hokkien-speaking Starhub-sanctioned contractors dropped by on Saturday morning and resolved the issue which luckily needed no major relaying of cable and now connection had resumed to the optimum.

The job needed to be paid and in addition to some unforeseen usage of money such as a couple of nights ago when I paid my respect at TW's late grandmother's wake, I saw my original plan to hold the fort in terms of expenditure been thwarted.
Certainly in Singapore, money is almost everything and one just simply go living off beyond their limit.

Now with the missus burdened with her car loans as well as other financial commitments for her mode of transport, I simply had to be the one footing the bill when we are out whenever possible.
Sometime one will wonder if a bag of money would drop down from the sky out of the blue.

That was simply a madcap adventure in the Dream Academy's National Day production "Sing! Dollar" which had a run at the Esplanade Theater and we had the opportunity to watch it as they extended the run over the National Day weekend.

I was first attracted by the play due to the stellar cast including funnymen Hossan Leong and Kumar, 2 names enough to buy anyone over.
Plus the Dim Sum Dollies (Selena Tan, Emma Yong, Pam Oei), Lim Kay Siu, Najip Ali and DJ Sebastian Tan, you have like who's who in the local theater scene honing their comedic skills.

At the end we had a great them simply floored by the antics they pulled on the stage even though our seats at the 2nd level balcony can be a bit strenous to the neck but as Kumar said we can just not been cheapskate and buy the more expensive seats right at the front.

With the backdrop in Geylang, the story was about greed of our kinsmen plus ribbing at how stereotypical we are with regards to people who traveled great distances here to earn some money (like Kumar's Bangledashi worker character, Emma Yong's Chinese prostitute Lan Lan and Pam Oei's reprisal of a Filippino maid).
The story which was scripted by the truly talented Selena Tan also intertwined many contemporary issue like the Mas Selamat fiasco, Reverand Ming Yi's case and even an uncontrollable rib on the Temasek Holdings.
With Kumar and Najip in the line up, there were always going to be referance to their recently deceased hero, Michael Jackson.

But overall the play was in right tempo, the songs were well receptive, the props were adequate and even spectacular especially the Chinese temple pillar in the last scene and of course the performances of all 8 actors simply wonderful.
Sadly I think Hossan was over-shadowed by the rest because of his part, nevertheless it was a great way to spend the Saturday afternoon with my wife.

It definitely had more entertaiment value than "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" which we caught with some of our La Tendo associates in the evening.
At least the film by Stephan Sommers who gave us "The Mummy" and "Van Helsing" was much watchable than the Transformers shit.
Funny to see how the kid from "Third Rock from the Sun" (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) had transformed into a hideous mad scientist and eventually as the manianical Cobra Commander while the benevolent pharoah from The Mummy (Arnold Vosloo) who become a shapeshifter who like to whistle kids' songs.

A play at the Esplanade with local flavor, a dinner at Carl's Jr, 2 movie tickets, some collectibles from La Tendo, some snacks for the remaining of the weekend and fuel and parking for the car and the budget for the weekend was blown out of proporation.
This is surely living a Singapore Dream.

Japanese word of the day: 帖当(Pledge) Did you say your pledge on 8.22pm on National Day?

After Flu Bug is Exterminated...

2009-08-03T14:28:00.002+08:00

3rd August 2009, Monday

I was decimated by a bout of flu over the course of last week starting on Saturday. The rhinorrhea (i.e. runny nose) concocted with the raspy tonsils to brought a wretched cough that affected me for days.

I had not had a flu for months now but still the immune system I had been aggressive;y trying to strengthen by doing regular workout did came on top by the end of the week and life is back to the norm.

During those days I am rupturing my larynx with persistent coughing, I together with my team were employed to help out the cardinal aspect of our work scope which was tedious, routine and repetitive that I developed some sort of spasm on my fingers'' digits at the end of it.

Fortunately there was ample manpower on show to expedite the process though His Beautiness was adamant not to get himself involved in something as painstaking as this.
This led to a rumpus over his non appearance by those group of us.

Back in the domestic front, nothing too elaborative over the weekend except for a trip down to Sembawang Shopping Center in the missus' "baby (Ford) Focus".
The trip to the mall was a yawning affair and the subsequent trip to La Tendo was not any much better despite the likes of EK, KJ and Bryan who had just returned from a transient Japanese escapade had some tale to share.

Internet access had been erratic over the weekend and I was relentless in my pursue of the truth for the multiple time the modem had reset by itself.
After buzzing the Starhub customer service hotline, the technical support managed to isolate the problem of the cable box showing low power reading and I had to make an appointment with a technician sometiime this week.
Let's hope the problem is not difficult and costly to resolve.

The highlight of the weekend surely would be a 2 hour long chat with CS on the phone as we reminiscencing the good ol' days when we first acquainted as well as the history of our ill capability to chase skirt back in those days.
I was always fascinated to listen to how wretched CS had manage to narrate his younger days as we agreed on more of such intimate sharing moments next time we meet which would be on coming Sunday, National Day at his place with the rest of the gang of course.

Surely looking forward to clear the rest of the week before a long weekend beckons as I will bring the missus to Esplanade to watch a theater play which look set to tickle the funny bone before hanging out with my buddies (finger cross it will happen) on Sunday.

Japanese word of the day: インフルエンザ (Flu) Some flu bug is more aggressive than H1N1 these days

The New Commitment

2009-07-20T16:02:00.002+08:00

20th July 2009, Monday

As of Saturday, we are (more specifically the missus) proud owner of a 3 year old 2nd hand Ford Focus.

It hard surely been a dream come true for my wife who had been fixated with the thoughts of owning her own wheels since she got the joy of driving.
The idea of car sharing with my folks in that Geely with the off peak license plate had not been well received by her for many instances.
Now she could go wherever she wants whenever she wants.

As for me, driving had never been my forte but it would surely be a handy skill if the traffic in Singapore is reduced by 3/4.

Calling the new car "Baby", my missus picked the toddler off from the orphanage in Ubi as I took my maiden spin with Chan and Bryan after a trip to La Tendo.
Commutting from Kallang to Ang Mo Kio was pretty hectic on the CTE but just glad we were not going on the reverse direction.

Crusing on the highway significantly reduced the chore of endless waiting for a bus. It would be followed by cramping it up like sardines in a can while you tried not to caress the hair follicle of the fugly baitch who eyeballed you as if she was the fairest of them all.
Hell you can even take a sip of water on the train now without $30 fine slapping you on the face!
But when we got to the madness human rampage at Ang Mo Kio, we faced the predicament of finding the right place to park the car.

So give and take at least for now we could paint the town red till the wee hours and still do not be held ransom by the cab drivers.

The license plate nearly was cause for joy when it was a number shy on hitting the first prize in 4D on Saturday which surely would recoop the dent in our joint account.

While she had to pay for the monthly instalments with parking fee, road tax, radio tax, insurance, fuel price etc, I will devote more on mending that hole in our joint account and should not be sweating too much for now.

Nevertheless it might turn out to be a decent investment and as long as she is happy..until she came home one night saying she is buying a Maserati though...

Japanese word of the day: 責任 (Commitment) My greatest commitment these days would be ensuring I have enough juice, yogurt and chips to keep me high on calories

Work Climate 2009 Q3

2009-07-15T14:12:00.002+08:00

15th July 2009, Wednesday

It was out of the bag that Sigeeta had tendered her resignation and would be leaving the company by next month.
Her departure would mark the end of the "Tea break" clique which got the likes of BY so perturbed a year and a half back.

When Jason left months before, Shitty Green was so alarmed that he would snag Sigeeta, a close confidante along with him, leaving the platform they were in charge of totally uncovered.
Half a year later, Shitty Green's involvement with the group was almost minimal as he relinquished his group leader role to the American Chinese guy.
With the writings on the wall, Sigeeta did eventually left as she had intended to for a long time to come.

Barring His Beautiness & HB, I am like the last few remnants of the group of staff that started off 3 years ago when I first came over.
The turnover rate in my group had been alarming including the lab manager and group leader.

I would not say it was a bad place to work in with the culture rather laid back as long as deadlines are being met while work would generally kept within the boundary of the office or the lab and wage renumeration is decent.
But as usual, people just treated here as a stepping board for something better out there and surely those who had left, had found better things...but overall happiness, it's still a myth.
Of course very few would actually made a U-turn as it would reflect badly on them but for those of us remaining, every colleague departed just made us feeling we are holding on to something that is on due time will just self decay.

The truth indeed is that my department look like a sinking ship on the outside, a less than glamorous facade which really did not deter us much except for a drop in morale.

I had been sitting on my ass in front of my work station with nothing to do for the past month, together with the rest of those on my platform.
I am sure our lack of work had been frowned upon by others but there surely was nothing to be done and we are not simply loafing around.
Our impending projects look to be on the horizon but without a definite date.
Everyone is second guessing whether either would seek a way out eventually. Beautiness would be but he had been saying so for umpteen times yet still remains. XY and HB just tied their knot recently and I could not forsee both leaving at the same time but you never know.

With this new boss, the chance to be appraised with high regards look remote but still it is not so bad as I have reap the rewards of the past few years and can actually endure some mediocracy in bonus and pay increment though still it pains when you hear how good the others are taking in.

If I ever was to leave, it would be from headhunting or introduction basis, I just do not have the patience and finesse to go through the job hunting tourney again.

Of course with the recent purchase of the car, I felt I need to top up the joint account much faster with the missus' well tied down to the car loan.
Then the thought of having a child also being brought up again and it might actually be in the pipelines, so money and job security are utmost importance for the next decade or so.

Well then again you never know what life can lead you to...I better save up every cent possible and live the moment...

Japanese word of the day: 多数の脱出(Exodus) Does not spell good when your workplace face this issue

Buying and Selling

2009-07-13T14:15:00.002+08:00

13th July 2009, Monday

There have been a flurry of buying of I would say items of luxury in my household of late.

I had overheard from my folks that they had been contemplating on a new refrigerator since the existing Sanyo one was getting pretty run down. I supposed it had been around for more than 5 years now and I always thought it should last till the end of time.
Then of course my household greatly utilized the fridge and freezer due to our culinary preference to eat in.
The new Hitachi fridge had a really sleek chassis and with at least 3 ticks in saving electricity, it was surely a good buy. They even managed to scratch a lucky draw card which award them some vouchers that enable them to get a rice cooker for Sis' new place... Double good deal!

This weekend marked the appearance of the new iPhone 3GS which sent the entire nation into a frantic queue at the Comcenter for it.
I scorned at their "jump on the bandwagon" syndrome and made fun of them braving the drizzle and wastage of precious time....
But wait who's that familiar face in the midst of the human snake...It's my wife!?

Yes my fickle-minded missus who had been switching her target for a smart phone for ages now finally got her eye on the iPhone 3GS.
Like many Apple-idolizing fools, she was prompt to make a reservation for the the phone from Singtel, the monopolizing service provider who made full use of M1 and Starhub s' inability to struck the deal to bring in iPhone days before (though she was less an Apple-idolizer than myself)

After a 4 hours wait she finally got the phone with sheer ecstacy and came home harping about it. At $400 for a 32GB memory space smart phone, it was a decent deal I must admit.
The following day, my Sis also acquire a 16GB version for merely $188 as she was a new subscriber of Singtel.
The montly subscription of $50+ was rather reasonable which really threw those who rushed the gun (I.e. Ferris) who spent close to a thousand last year for the much inferior iPhone 3G, off the boat with a big "SUCKER!!"

However my missus was cooking one more purchase which will surely be the mother of all buys.... A CAR!
Her strong yearning for an automobile had reached the feverish threshold and what had been holding her back was my nonchalant or seemingly lack of support.
Of course for me it was about the financial side of things.
After missing out a good deal of a second hand car just 2 weeks back, she immediately fixated on another from the online car-mart and took time with her old man to check out the car.
Over the weekend, she had been enduring the difficult decision of whether to make the purchase, all this time while fiddling with her new phone.
I agreed on using the money from the joint account for the first payment which really caused a big dent in the sum we had painstakingly accumulated over the past 3 years.
But as my mom said, we should simply indulge in life sensibly when we are still young and vibrant.

After working out her budget, she finally gave the call to the agent for the deal as it looked like half her month's pay devoted to the car alone.
Of course, she had to make the first move before another prospective buyer will.

Myself the main spending I made during the weekend was around $15 on groceries with 2 boxes of pastry style biscuits as an lavish indulgence.
But I did sold a figurine for $160 (waaaayyyy below what I had wanted to sell), so it all added up nicely...

Japanese word of the day: 購買(Buying) After the car, think we had to live a very frugal life from now on... *sob* (;___;)

No Time Left for me from Now on

2009-07-06T13:31:00.002+08:00

6th July 2009, Monday

"Sorry, love there was no time left for you from this point on.... "
That was a replica of the words my missus spewed last evening before we turned in for bed.

She had been totally decimated by her work of late, mentally and physically and what alludes her from fulfilling her dream to escape from that hell hole, she is now determined to make it happen.

I of course will render any support possible but felt I could not be the strongest cheering troop around for her, just had to endure the less amount of time spent with her like we did over the weekend.

My folks had gone to Genting for like the 800th time this year. They truly enjoyed hitting the jackpot machines in the casino in the cool Malaysian highlands and whatever makes them happy and seemingly economical enough, I felt it is good to have a monthly retreat there for them.

We began a cozy weekend with the island been doused with generous amount of rain and much cooling weather, something new for a long time, with some wine and dine at Paulaner Brauhaus.
The German restaurant at Millenia Walk is celebrating their 10th year in operation in Singapore and offering mugs of their home-brewed beer at $10 we just couldn't resist that offer.
At the end of it with sumptous food (all at $10 as well) and 2 pints of beer, I felt my digestive system could take no further punishment despite stretching it with a peach Melba which I shared with the missus.

After buying half a dozen of Premium Parfait at Marvelous Ice cream which I coerced my lady to buy, we should really be heading home straight before the ice cream just melted into a liquid mess, instead we spent a good 40 minutes in HMV where I just went rampage on buying DVD at sales price on some titles I was looking to add to my library.

Saturday was one I spent time alone after the missus made me some breakfast before leaving for a full day of wedding banquets, one the afternoon one for the evening.
While listening to Will Young's "All by Myself" and feeling a bit of self love (yikes sound really bad isn't), I was very much still awe-struck that Man United had snagged injury-prone Michael Owen from free transfer.
The Anfield legend surely would not be a fan favorite with his history but it might look like a wild card for the coming season and for such small price before the crescendo of Real Madrid throwing obscene amount of money into the transfer market one wonders did Bernard Mudoff was the one masterminding the moves with the money he swindled.

Sunday began with a nice breakfast at Swensen's as both missed the fragrant toast in the breakfast sets which gave us a poignant start to a Sunday with the rain god showing some belated aggression while Star World just feed me with a 3 hours marathon of "Seinfeld" which further making the missus hated George Costanza to the core.
While watching "The Break-up", the missus had the epiphany that the show kind of reflected our marriage when I persistently failed to reciprocate the affections she had showered. However I felt I was not as obnoxious as the Gary character reprised by Vince Vaughn or am I?
A romantic comedy surely was one for thoughts...

So I might not see more of my wife for perhaps the coming month, so less fritcion and bickering not that there was much to start with.

Japanese word of the day: 摩擦 (Friction) There's a reason why people should not spend time together 24-7...like in the prison

Michael Bay oughta be Shot (by his own explosives)

2009-06-29T13:30:00.002+08:00

29th June 2009, Monday

Before we begin, would like to show my appreciation for YH to treat everyone to watch "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" after she had successfully sold the car she won from the lucky draw for shopping at Suntec City which was by coincidence the venue we caught the film. It was down to pure generosity and the joy of sharing from her but sadly the flow of a pretty lousy film spoiled the night for me....

The association with Michael Bay's explosive, adrenaline filled action films began with "Bad Boys" which I caught on a video tape at TW's place.

My first theatrical experience of his film was "Armageddon". It was the apex of all disaster films of that era and really put "Deep Impact" into smithereens in terms of box office taking.
I remembered I thoroughly enjoyed the film and was at the verge of crying when the surviving Freedom crew made their truimphant return to earth after really did blew the meteorite into smithereens and Chick (Will Patton) were embraced by the son he had never saw till now.
Of course the movie went sour when Channel 5 showed it like 4000 million of times together other Michael Bay features like "The Rock" and the "Bad Boys" series.
It was also we can see that Bruce Willis couldn't act for nuts and Liv Tyler just always pout her thick lips to earn her bucks like she would as Arwen in LOTR.
Not forgeting "I don't wanna miss a thing" had been banned from my iPid playlist as "My Heart will goes on" and "Heaven's Knows".

"Pearl Harbour" was one of the first few date movies with my wife back in those days. I did had a thing for war epics and in an age where the more explosives the better without the need of any storyline to back it up.
The movie was terribly long and for the first time in my life I had to leave in the middle of the show to pay a visit to the Gents.
It was not totally awful especially Cuba Gooding Jr had a reasonably good performance and for once viewers got to see how hot Kate Beckinsale is.

Then came the much hyped collaboration with Steven Spielberg and his Dreamworks production for a 1980s cartoon which got many fanboys wet their pants and cried till no tomorrow when Optimus Prime, dying from the clash with Megatron and passed the Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus in "Transformers: The Movie".
Expectations were heightened as the movie drew closer before premiering in 2007.but when news leaked out that the design of Optimus Prime had a mouthpiece, many fanboys just went crazy.

Personally I was not a big Transformer fans and readily accepted the irradical ideas Bay and his crew had for their live action version of the Robots in Disguise.
But what I couldn't stand was the fact that he put so much focus on the US army and all the scenes showcasing the army weaponry prowess.
In the end the pace of the story worked out fine with Shia LeBeouf's performance's adequate, Megan Fox sizzled up the screen, Bumblebee delighting many fans with his interlude of radio broadcasts as speech and of course Jon Voight was in it. The movie was watchable and had it's entertainment value.

With a smashing box office return, it was of no wonder that the money milking Bay, Spielberg and co. began the production of the sequel almost instantaneously.

The bastard child from the rush job and a result of the ultimate milking scheme came this sequel which everything bad about a Michael Bay's film was brought to live.

It was action pack almost from the beginning to the end and explosives and other techno effects all set to blow the audience's minds away... I don't mean to sound indifferent or pompous but I think I had outgrew that, so that already didn't appeal to me.
There was a greater number of Autobots and Decepticons including the Fallen and Jetfire which will really beef up their toyline to suck collectors' blood.
While the concept of Soundwave as a satellite was cool, Devastator looked totally awful.

Megan Fox pouted and juggled her bosoms twice as much to make up for her lack of acting ability while Shia was getting on my nerve and they even introduce a secondary irritatable characterin Leo Spitz (Ramon Rodriguez).

There was a serious overdosage of the American military shit this time and for me the point of US soldier engaging in battle with Decepticons always will burn my brain cells.
Not forgetting the over dramatic scenes Michael Bay love to incorporate with all the slow motion and dramatic chase or over the hill conversation between Sam and his father at the near end.
Not forgetting Bay's depiction of Shanghai and Egypt is laughable...One major issue would be when a local police helicopter landed, you could see the Chinese characters for "Police" but it was in Traditional Chinese but in China, they used Simplified Chinese...Go do your home work, Bay!

The build up to the climax was actually decent like a wild ride of sort and John Turturro reprising the Reggie Simmons role was entertaining but with a limit. Of course Rainn Wilson as the college professor is a point of salvage (with any cast of The Office is good by me).
The latter half hour was a torture for me as you can see it was heading into the direction of Michael Bay's ultimate wet dream coming through...
Even the final scene with Sam and Optimus standing at the bow of a aircraft carrier

I sensed a second sequel once Megatron and Starscream survived and escaped and was verified that it was due for July 4th, 2012...

Woohoo!

I was slurring words of discontentment in the theater near the end to the dismay of my missus who supposedly enjoyed it more than myself.
It seems like I won't be catching anymore Michael Bay's film any sooner, not after I finished going through the "Bad Boys-The Rock-Armageddon-Pearl Harbour-Bad Boys 2-The Island-Transformer" marathorn...woo the humanity!

Rest in Peace, King of Pop

2009-06-26T09:38:00.002+08:00

26th June 2009, Friday

Shellshock was exactly what I felt when I heard of the passing of Michael Jackson whom I refer to as Wacko Jacko in recent years had passed away at his Bel Air Mansion due to cardiac arrest at the tender age of 50.

The jokes made of his child molestation trial was actually a mean to see that people still care

Despite his demise over the past decade with the line of controversies and failed resurrection of his music career, the King of Pop is still an icon and certainly played a crucial part in my childhood...no I was not touched by him anywhere when I was young only perhaps my soul...hmm even that doesn't sound right.

I think it was when I was 7 or 8 when my paternal aunts were still crazy about American pop music with MTVs and Solid Gold back in the mid 1980s.
When the music video of "Beat it" came on, I was bought. The catchy tune the spectacular dance choreography and Michael, still black back then, with his signature red synthetic jacket surely had the whole world under his feet.

Michael Jackson - Beat It

Uploaded by sofresh305. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

This made Michael my idol back in 1986

My aunties bought me the "Bad" album in 1987 and it nearly "dissolved" into the cassette tape player when I listened to it such umpteen times.

Then I caught the music video of "Bad" and I was hoping to get what Michael was wearing at the same time what happened to his skin.
But it was at this juncture that MJ looked the most decent before he went on to pay more visits and surely more truckload of money to his plastic surgeons.

Even in 1991 when his "Dangerous" album, I was quick to buy me a copy. Like "Bad", this album had high replayability with so many great songs and of course he outdone himself with those MVs which was ahead of its time.

The subsequent years saw Michael heading toward his demise with all the allegations, trials, nose-droppings, hooking up with Lisa Marie Presley, making babies with his nurse etc etc.

All I could say is Michael was my very first pop idol and I am sure to many millions of children (damn doesn't sound right in this context again) back in those days.
As I told my buddy over MSN, if he had stayed sane and black till these days, his legend would continue always and always.

Well here's my ode to the icon and the true King of Pop, may you rest in peace (that is if you didn't fake your own death that is)

Japanese word of the day: マイケル・ジャクソン (Michael Jackson) Man MJ was a god in Japan as well...they might even offer him their offsprings

Wow, seems like it had been a great weekend...

2009-06-22T15:04:00.002+08:00

22nd June 2009, Monday

When I was bitchin' to the missus as she was in the midst of some "mahjong tiles-memory matching game" on her Facebook that I dreaded Monday while myself in the midst of a late surge of Japanese dorama marathon of recent episodes of "Shiroi Haru 白い春" (Trying to hold back the tears when Abe Hiroshi had to lie about dislike his own daughter), "Mr Brain" (equally piqued over the fact they left a major cliffhanger and we had to wait another week to find out who is the murderer) and catching up on "Tenchijin 天地人" (More Abe Hiroshi is good for health).
I should really had no qualms about the past 72 hours which had been grooving out fine as a seemingly perfect weekend.

As scheduled, I applied for leave on Friday to the incense of the missus as she dreaded seeing me in bed still while she had to drag herself to work.

Rented a couple of Frat Pack-associated movies "Semi Pro" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" which I hope can become a staple of entertainment on weekly basis now, kicked off my day on Friday morning as the rest of the day was cascaded with Football Manager and Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 but hit a glitch when CS called and announced his no-show for the gaming that evening with a machinery issue that would keep him at work till the wee hours.
It surely took the gloss from what looking to be a great night with Foo hoping on the bandwagon as I hailed the cab after my hair-cut and picked him up along the way en route to TW's place at Telok Kurau.

The ribbing was still present but the usual angst antics of CS would had been even better but little did we expected to complete the full leagu till 5 in the morning.

Foo, visibly fatigued the day's work and then the long hours staring at the LCD TV while his thumbs numb from handling the PS3 controllers, collapsed on the parquet floor and totally knocked out.
TW soon to follow as he was decimated by the snooze monster. I caught myself some sleep on his workstation chair before the first ray of light came about and I hustled Foo to make our way home.

Tried to sleep after the missus had already got her day going as she went to meet a friend at 8 plus, but some persistent drilling kept me awake till around 2 in the afternoon when I actually felt into slumber but merely for a couple of hours.

The lads had planned a dinner for some nostalgia reminiscence but many of those joints we had hit back in those days had either closed down or being replaced by new upstarts.
After much pondering, we decided to meet at Thomson Plaza, the place itself was a relic of my youth.

Just as I was preparing to make my way for my bus ride to Thomson Road, the sky opened up as cruel raindrops pelted mercilessly, so vehemently that there was no visibility at all at the peak of the torrential raining.
It certainly delayed my schedule and things weren't help by the wretched wait for the bus which seemed to be the longest wait among the cluster of bus service for that bus stop.

That was surely a classic wretched way to start the night.

The dinner was attended by CS' lass, LL and eventually joined by my missus, returning from a trip to Johor Bahru.

We dined at this family-style restaurant cum dessert shop, Miss Clarity along Thomson Road and before you knew it, our "aura" came into effect as diners started to made a frantic beeline out of the place and by 9 pm the restaurant was empty with the exception of us doing our usual antics and throwing our usual corny jokes.
Seemingly LL had a great laugh over the course of the dinner that her facial muscles were in spasms by the end of it.
It was truly gratifying to see our other halves getting well aquainted with us and one another as our friendships are always going to be endearing and surely beyond our usual game sessions or what-nots.
The biggest running gag between us on that soggy Saturday evening would be CS not being pleased with the words I had projected him to be in front of his girlfriend and was determined to had me assasinated.
Of course we did caught up of people from the past especially their old Secondary School friends, scarily most I had came to know as well.

The best thing that could happen on a lazy Sunday afternoon would be profuse raining, setting a gloomy yet cooling atmosphere and you have snacks and endless entertainment on the TV or PC and you just laze your day away.
That's what I did and for the missus catching up some lost sleeping time over the week.

Durians are cheap and in abundance of late and we got to savour the "yellow sin" in large satisfying quantity over the weekend to our heaty delight.

So a fabulous weekend of sleep, games, movies, doramas, great company of friends and durain, doesn't get as good as this...

Japanese word of the day:完璧 ~kan-pe-ki~ (Perfect) Of course the ultimate fantasy is 4 of us engaging in a PES marathon with the usual squabbling while our other halves feeding us durains...

Swinging with the Pepsiman

2009-06-15T14:40:00.002+08:00

15th June 2009, Monday

Looking at the 12K of hard earn cash being "invested" for the audio gadgetry pleasure of my buddy, I can vouch he is living for the moment and surely nothing wrong with it.

It was a date with CS on Saturday as he beckoned me to join him for a trip to the PC show. With a strong disdain for the omnipresence of the huge crowd making maneuvering around simply impossible at times, I usually would give such exhibitions a miss unless there is a piece of IT product needed to be bought urgently.
But with nothing on hand on a rather cloudy Saturday morning, I obliged to Mr Pepsiman's request.

The trip ended empty-handed for both of us as we had not had the scant intention to splurge but we nearly did when some local start-up company was all guns blazing to solicit the crowd with a tool which can cut household electrical bill by 20%.
It surely drew our interests much like the next bill-concious Singaporean at the show. But neither of us went near to dishing $200 for it, well we nearly did.

The top draw for us was at the Gain City booth where the latest Samsung LED TV was on show. The slimness of the TV and the overall design just made us salivate but the introductory price of $3000+ (including discount) was the putting off factor especially when we knew the price would plunder in due time.
Our own LCD TVs at home are working fine as well, so no incessant splurging that day fortunately.

I managed to pick up some pamphlets of the top end printers (with many built in features like faxing, photcopying etc) as the missus deemed interested in getting but not just yet.

The target was to get out of the show by 2 but we got off much earlier than that. We then headed to Millenia Walk where he was interested in some designer chocolate from this "Chocolate Research Facility" as his other half seemingly had a sweet tooth.

We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on some things in our lives as of now as well as hitting the nostalgic note.
He was very much alive when he spoke of his adventure while improving the gadgetry of his car which was pretty interesting to listen to as no one really get to see a Maserati on the streets of Singapore any other day, especially not when the owner is a teenager born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

It was apparent that my buddy seemed immerse with upgrading his car but he was conscious not to go overboard especially when he had other interests (i.e. gaming) to catch up on.
But he did had intention to settle down with his lass, just he looked more captivated with living for the moment.

I for one was not ready to try to deter him from that ideology as myself wasn't willing to take the next step in life readily.
But I am sure w e will both turn out fine at the end of the tunnel.

Nevertheless a nice day to hang out with CS which does not concern game playing or PC fixing; I am just glad to be able to catch up with my buddies at greater frequency of late.

Japanese word of the day: 瞬間 ~shun-kan~(Moment) It's good to plan ahead in life but sometime should try to live for the moment.

Watch Out! The Frat Pack is here to stay!

2009-06-09T14:50:00.002+08:00

9th June 2009, Tuesday

In Hollywood, it is well known that certain directors love to engage the services of their pet actors or staff like how Peter Jackson love Andy Serkis, Steven Spielberg had pedophilia towards Shia LeBeouf, Guillermo del Toro trusted Doug Jones while J J Abrams always had a role for confidant in Greg Grunberg in his project.

We also know how that in the entertainment scene a certain clique of friends would always work together like Kevin Smith and his clique (Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Lee etc) as well as Adam Sandller and co. (Rob Schneider, David Spade, Chris Rock, Kevin James etc).

But one force in the Hollywood cannot be disregard... The Frat Pack.

The crew of comedian friends with the core of Ben Stiller, the Wilson brothers (Owen & Luke), Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell had been under the media spotlight for their multiple collaborations for most of the 21st century so far and a derivation of "Rat Pack" & "Brat Pack" was slapped for their clique.

I have always had a thing for Ben Stiller's movies since "There's Something About Mary" & "Meet the Parents".
I just digged his style of comedy in which he played the frantic guy caught up in the most outrageous situation he needed to bail out of.

In many of those films, you'll see Owen Wilson, the big nosed blonde guy who slowly carved a name on his own usually an aloof arch rivals of sort.
Jack Black first caught my eye in "Shallow Hal" and looked like the irritating fat guy type but grew to be really lovable with movies like "School of Rock", "Nacho Libre', "The Holiday", "Kung Fu Panda" etc.
Vince Vaughn looked like a haughty no-good-do-er in shows like "Starsky & Hutch" & "Be Cool", was never really good in my book while Will Farrell's ancension to fame was a bit mind stifling unless you went to catch his underdog sportsman style of comedy like "Anchorman", "Talladega Nights", "Blades of Glory", "Semi Pro" etc.

Of course Steve Carrell had been a favorite of mine since "40 year old Virgin" and then as Michael Scott in "The Office".

I had been beekping tab of the movies by these bunch of guys predominantly Stiller, Black and Carrell but don't really mind Ferrell.
However their influence in the scene had spread so immensely outwards with their connections that the associated members of the pack had made a significant impact in the Hollywood scene since the past year or so.

Once close ally of the Pack is director/writer/producer Judd Apatow who himself is like the rising star in 2007/2008 and maybe stretch for the next few years since the breakthrough of "40 year old Virgin", "Knocked Up" and "Superbad".
He led a band of close associates and friends such as Paul Rudd, Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse etc who looked like big players in the comedy scene in the future.

The influence of the Pack might even spread to television since many had roots in Saturday Night Live, the successful factory to generate talented comedians at will.
Therefore the likes "The Office", "30 Rock", "How I Meet Your Mother", "Arrested Development" etc had traces of the Pack despite they were not working on it.

Despite the comedy might be a bit low-brow and uncouth for the masses (and very well-liked by the American viewers), I had a kick out of most.
"Tropic Thunder" is a great example of how Stiller and gang would do a great satrical feature on the good old Vietnam War craze back in those days.
Whenever possible I will try to keep an eye of any upcoming featured films of the Pack or of Apatow and associates.

It was by no mere coincidence that my weekend was filled with films which the Pack left their mark.

I caught "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of Smithsonian" which of course starring Stiller and Owen Wilson but the supporting cast and cameos were littered with friends within their circle of trust. Hank Azaria was the antagonist, the evil Pharaoh Kahmunrah, Bill Hader as the narcissitic General Custer, Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart, Jonah Hill as Brendon the Security Guard and a string of The Office crew like Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling and Craig Robinson.
Channel 5 was showing the prequel "Night at the Museum" on Sunday night of course.

As mentioned I rented some DVDs which included Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited".
Wes Anderson was a college buddy of Owen Wilson and therefore by no surprise Owen was in many of his films including Darjeeling.
It made 3 doses of Owen Wilson for me in one weekend.

Another movie I rented was "Role Models" starring Paul Rudd and Sean Scott William. Paul of course was a dominant figure in the Pack and the movie also starred Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the geeky Augie who enjoyed cosplaying as fictional fantasy character.

I wouldn't say I am a connoiseur for comedy but I love to have a regular dosage of laughs and the Pack, Apatow and even Sandler and co. are right up my alley and will be continuing to support them...

Japanese word of the day: 派閥 (Clique) Well it's always great to build a chemistry with your friend, especially in the creative field

Roman Holiday...with my wife style

2009-06-08T15:11:00.002+08:00

8th June 2009, Monday

Time and money...two of the most elusive assets which men could never ask enough of.
Time and money.. also the main bane to create little tiffs between the most stable marriage.

I must admit I hadn't adorned either of the above in great amount to my wife over the past 3 years, once again highlighting how inept I am as a husband.

But when an opportunity arose with a bit of inspiration, I somehow tried to heal some scars culminated over the period.

The folks went for another Genting escapade but left on icy terms when my old man went on his cranky mode two nights before and shouted at my poor mother.
Well after 30 years I wonder how much more she could tolerate...

I applied for an off in-lieu from the Vesak Day in May which fell on a Saturday, so to spend sometime with the missus still in the "force-leave taking" practice from her wretched workplace.

We headed to Tampines One, the new mall more well known to be "that one with Uniqlo".
It was school holidays, so we assumed it would be pretty insane to part the sea of boisterous kids in town and Tampines is mere 25 minutes of bus trip away.
Boy were we wrong as the shopping hub of the Eastern part of the island looked to amass its own crowd on a Friday afternoon as well.
However at the cineplex, it was like years ago with my transient stint as a "Science Fun" instructor at a primary school with children running amok.
There was no sheppard out there good enough to curb this herd I tell you.

Fortunately they were to catch "Aliens vs Monsters" while we opted for "Night at the Museum 2" which had opened a week ago, so the kids might had caught that.

So movie, some shopping (at Uniqlo no less) and overworking our digestive system at the Japanese style Marche, known as "Manpaku" (literally mean well stuffed), we looked to had spent a rather meaningful day at Tampines despite me constantly hounding her not to splurge, a role I am well aquitted to fulfill.

We ended the evening watching rom-com (romantic-comedy) "27 Dresses" I had rented on her request while dousing ourselves with the sparkling Shiraz I had willingly and lavishly acquired.

Saturday was when she needed attend a seminar the day long as I had the whole place to myself, but lucky I didn't dance naked like Rachel did from "Friends", just getting more frustrated at how I can't score goals more fluently with that mediorce team in Master League of Pro Evolution Soccer. Then again i could always restart when results don't go my way, if only I have that same "PS" button in real life.

Sunday was out with the boys to set up stall at China Square Central but had a decent breakfast at Swensen's before I made my way.
The food was affordable, tasty and filling and there was no rabid herd of children in sight!
She came to pick me up at CSC where we expend my day's earning on some pies for breakfast, a Banana Spin from Spinelli (not grande, not venti, just large) and some groceries for dinner which she dutifully whipped up.
Although she had very limited cooking ability, I could never say no to my wife's pasta which she might had picked up at her stint in Italy.

The night before a long week at work ended with some squabbling as we watch more Japanese doramas as she blew my mind with more things on her wishlist to buy....

It was a decent 3 day affair where we shared nice moments over things we loved (food, shopping, watching movie or doramas) and I hoped it do wonders to galvinized a seemingly blending marriage life.
More ideas were thrown in the air as I could apply leave 2 Fridays from now to coincide to her next off day as we might go for some massage at her spa or even book a hotel room as we always love to...

Japanese word of the day: 修理しなさい (Mend) Trying hard to mend things up...

A Cool Night Out with My Chums

2009-06-01T14:59:00.003+08:00

1st June 2009, Monday

The entire last week was culminating towards Friday evening when I had got TW and CS on board for a hang out session with the usual playing of games on the console and let the proceedings flow and see where it took us to.

My friendship with my buddy began almost 21 years back and it never seemed to waned as we were so alike in many interests and ideologies and he always knew how to entertain me.
Over the years I had grew tolerance for his staunch way of handling things, his passion in whatever he does as well as not conforming to how we would like him to, such as a simple matter of hooking a LAN cable to his Playstation 3.
CS was TW's secondary school friend but it was surely fate how 3 of us would stick out like an odd trio over the years.
Perhaps the time we had been apart (TW with his days in Vancouver and Osaka while CS spent 2 years in Glasgow pursuing his degree) had galvanised our friendship even further.

It could be a quartet of wrecking buddies but the missing link was as it said, "missing".
I assumed he was on call for national duty but he hadn't update me on anything else for like 2 weeks now.

The evening began when I got home slightly early after entitled to leave an hour early from work with the "Eat With Your Family Day" program encouraged by the Center of Fathering (what in the world is that?!).
After preparing the stuff I promised to bring along to TW's place at Telok Kurau, a change of scenery for a game session which usually was at CS' place or my place if it was just the 2 of us.

I arrived at CS' block at Serangoon slightly ahead of time and could feel the humidity driving me to the roof as the stickiness of the skin from the sweating just ain't my ideal way to begin the night.

Fortunately my IT-savvy friend didn't made me wait too long as we hopped onto his white Mitsubishi Lancer. He did pointed out he might not last long for the night as work during the day surely would take its toll at due time.

When we arrived, the first person...well we always regarded him as one was his household pet mongrul, Happy.
The aged canine was still enthusiastic over the years since I first saw him as a puppy which couldn't stop yapping away.
Behind him was a little toddler with a very familiar face... Immediately it got to me it was his baby nephew, now closing in to one and a half years old and developed sturdy limbs to see him walking steadily.

TW's older sister was staying with her family as she is expecting the 2nd child, the water at her place is sure fertile.

Little nephew yearned to join us for our virtual football yet he was not to comfortable with 2 strange faces wearing black shirts, came knocking in the middle of the night.
Nevertheless being the baby of the household and a pretty adorable one, it was understandable he is well doted and soon he would leave us on our own, doing some theatrics which his mother was real proud of before making his departure.

So we began some kicking about on Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.
Barcelona's comprehensive victory in the UEFA Champions League final at Rome Stadio Olympico was the inspiration for us to take the Catalans giant.

CS who surely hadn't touch the game in a long while was rusty but patiently we put him into the groove though we can't be too proud as he had set the level on "amatuer" since the beginning of time.

Chelsea with that bugged talent known as Joe Cole proved to be hard for our Barca but we perservered, i.e. kept replaying them in the exhibition till we ultimately reached our motive of just mauling the Blues from London.

Then we began a whirlwind Konami Cup which featured clubs as well as countries including a Cameroon side we faced in the semi finals, containing the clone of our star striker Eto'o.

It was a of hearty great fun to rib at each other's errors while glamouring each stunning goal we conjured especially when TW found the way to convert goals with well precision.
It would be better if we could all shut off our mobile phone but it was impossible as it seems.

After that tournament we began engaging in a conversation which we hadn't done as a trio for a while.

The crux of the conversation surrounds our life with regards to our career as well as our other half.
I vividly remembered a good 14 years or so back, we were discussing about how our lives would be when we reached 30... It was a tad too uncertain but we knew someone up there must have loved us, bestowing us a jobs and a partner which 3 of us deemed to be our live-long companion.

TW gave us an insight of his new job which required him to serve as the chief lecturer, he sure is going places among us.
But he had his issues with taking charge of a band of established professionals in his field who aren't exactly comfortable to taking orders from someone like himself with less credentials.
Meanwhile CS just hated his job to the core and when times are good, I forsee him making the jump.

We also touched on my missus' sideline which had one chap nearly "conning" CS to join, laying the bait of an attractive career prospective.
As much as I am fully supportive of my wife's involvement and her aspirations, we are all just too skeptical about the probability to be a success story as many inside had vouched it could happen.

Then there was some brainstorming for TW's forthcoming wedding and marriage in Singapore on the whole.
He had managed to economize his ceremony with a very understanding bride but he was incensed with the Singapore housing situation, refusing to pay a ransom for a HDB flat which one would hold for just 99 years.

We all starrted speculating how things would take a turn in this crossroad of our lives.
Personally I revealed my fear of how long could I see myself in my line as 40 might be too old for comfort in my field.
Nevertheless we are all just too glad to remain status quo, spending our leisure time playing games and doing very "fanboy" like stuff while our other halves led a more happening lifestyle on their own.

The time was close to 3 in the morning when by now CS' eyes were sodden with veins as his body was yelling for him to rest and we called it a day.

It was great time shared with 3 good friends and from TW, he would like to do it again...I hope it might not wait for another few years or even months for the next one.

Japanese word of the day: 連絡をとりなさい(Keep in Touch) The problem with good friends tends to be too captivated with their own lives and failed to keep in touch

Not the Best time to be in Singapore

2009-05-25T15:23:00.003+08:00

25th May 2009, Monday

Friggin' hot is an understatement of how the weather is like for now.
It was so warm and humid even at night when air is still with almost no breeze even when you are outdoors; I would start sweating even through the mere process of respiration.
It was time like this you have to thank Mr Willis Haviland Carrier, for the invention of modern day air conditioning.
Don't know what I'll do without it.

The previous week ended pretty nicely with my renewal of contract after the bloating of the bank account, at least it is another 3 years in the same job with much security unless I committed a grave error at work or the department got disbanded *TOUCHWOOD*.

A wake, a wedding banquet and a dinner with my in-laws occupied my weekend.

It was supposed to be down to Jalan Besar Stadium for Friday night football but a sudden change of mind made me decided to attend Vincent's Grandma wake at Jurong West instead.
The change of mind was largely due to the fact that the chance my team making a triumphant return was pretty bleak (which they did, by sheer luck) and it was galvanized by the fact that my usual partner-in-crime had totally looked like turning his back on watching the live football.
I cannot blame him altogether as the time could be put for better usage that watching listless footballers dishing out football to treat insomniacs.
I was rather perturbed by his lack of interest thus far but the words of my missus who on a day off from work and gave me company on my way home off work soothed me, stating that it had happened before and most likely will occur again.

So off to meet some friends who might be truly worth my effort on the humid Friday evening which was partly the reason why I was so cranky before we set off to the west.
It was also one of those rare occasion I had hoped we had our own car...that's a story for another day or maybe not.

The whole gang with notable absentee Chan who was caught up with his night shift again, had arrived in force to show final respect to our friend's paternal grandmother who might has passed on peacefully, nearing the centurion mark.
The entire Buddhist style wake was pristine and peaceful. Despite all dressed to the occasion (no flashy bright colored clothings), the mood wasn't too somber as the gang unleashed the chipmunks in them, chomping away on peanuts and watermelon seeds the entire evening as we chatted heartily mainly on Vincent's lack of neck (a topic in warmly inititated by his other half), Vincent's judo club adventure and his trophy-winning swimming era as well as how I advised EK to slap Steven Gerard when he and his Liverpudian chums came down to Kallang Stadium in July.

The entire gathering concluded close to 1 in the morning and the intention of watching "Night at the Museum 2" hadn't even been brought up.

Saturday was pretty laid back as of these days Saturday and Sunday mornings were filled with rerun marathorns of episodes of "Friends" which was already shown on weekday evenings.
I wonder if it was an addiction or it had become a part of my daily routine that I still religiously catch this sitcom together fellow classic NBC "Must Watch" entree, "Seinfeld" despite I can already memorize the lines.
Each viewing still never fail to tickle my funnybones....

Andy's wedding banquet was held at Carlton Hotel which is located in town, Bras Basar to be precise.
Beside having to enter the ERP-gantried region, the traffic can be intoxicating as we had to travel on the longer route to avoid a sudden twist of traffic jam when we boarded CTE.

It was a poor attendance for Andy's banquet from our side but we did have a rare appearance of Johnny who we hadn't seen since our own banquet back in 2006.
The even more shocking cameo was Kenneth who couldn't try to stay on time of what the invitation card has stated like he did during Edmund & Jing s' banquet.

I was non-chalant as usual in front of my University friends as usual and it was well-documented how local wedding receptions always bore me to tears with the same usual shit.
But at least the company was quite interesting this time round with Sherry being the joker entity while Kenneth always up to his old devious way to try to sabotage the newly-weds.

The bride came from some "Lam-kee" clan which I postulated to be from Hong Kong but now spread all over the world with her parents been residing in Mauritius, and looked very eloquent and outgoing, certainly not like most local ladies I presumed.
There was a 3 men band crooning endearing romantic tunes with the groom himself dedicating Ronan Keating's "When you said nothing at all".
Then like what the Caucasians would usually do, they got to the dance floor (or how limited the space before the stage) and did a slow dance with their parents which was something different than the usual perhaps.
There was also the apearance of a Mediacorp actress which perked our interest a bit.

Sunday was mainly back to my new hobby of writing before joining the missus and her whole family down to the newly renovated Sembawang Shopping Center for dinner at "Fish & Co.".
It was apparent she really basked in a rare opportunity for a family dinner with her family and surely is a happier time than those tumultuous years before our marriage.

One time Premier League title contender Newcastle Utd, a luminary of the early days when Kevin Keegan was in charge and earn the adoration of a growing herd of fans in Singapore for their gung-ho attacking style, was relegated on Sunday together with their Tyneside rival, Middlesborough.
Both had been despondent the entire season and in the case of the Magpies, even the return of the prodigal Alan Shearer as the stand in manager couldn't inspired them to escape the drop.
Their fellow relegation contenders, Sunderland and Hull City weren't exactly putting a fight till the very last day as all 4 sides lost, surely not in the same wavelength of those days when West Ham valiantly battled to the 40 points mark and yet got relegated.

A late viewing of "Troy", one of the Blu ray I bought recently very much ate into our sleeping time, ill preparing us for the long work week ahead which she lamented.... as usual.

Japanese word of the day: 時間の無駄 (Waste of time) Apparently some friends are a good waste of time while others are definitely not

Not an Angel but definitely not a Demon

2009-05-18T15:14:00.002+08:00

18th May 2009, Monday

Managed to catch the film rendition of Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons" by Ron Howard on Friday.
Many people might had the misconception that it was a sequel due to the prior production of "Da Vinci Code".
However it sure seemed like director Howard and producer Brian Grazer had the intention for this adventure to be following the events of their earlier film.
Renowned expert in iconography &symbology, Robert Langdon portrayed by Tom Hanks looked much older as the actor himself had shown signs of aging in recent years.

Personally I had read the story after "Da Vinci Code" as well. While I marveled at the mastery of Dan Brown to cook up that conspiracy behind Da Vinci's work with religion, I must say I had a stronger inclination to the prequel.
The story which saw a race against time within the Vatican City and nearby City of Rome was vivid in my mind with alot of detailed description of the smallest nation in the world as well as the works of Raphael, Benini and other great artists who had contributed to the epitome of Catholicism in that era.
There was also the in depth research on the "anti-matter" which in recent times hit the headlines as a similar Large Hadron Collider was in construction in Switzerland leading to an Indian girl committed suicide in fear that the black hole would be created from the particle collison within the Collider.

The movie very much truncate a seemingly detailed novel which would be too dry for viewing pleasure.
While it captured the essence of the wild ride around Rome in his quest to rescue the 4 kidnapped cardinals from the Illuminati, the movie still lacked something that the novel possessed, which I find it hard to describe.
There was no chemistry between Langdon and the heroine, Professor Vittoria Vetra unlike in the novel, a romantic spark was imminent from the start which even lingered to "Da Vinci Code" when the pair broke up.

The film was very much a showcase of the beauty of the Italian capital which brought a lot of reaction from my missus who reminiscenced on her time in Italy back in 2006.
The musical scores by Hans Zimmer also brought out the mood of the story especially in the frantic search for the anti matter bomb.

Somehow the film quality from Cinelesiure was pretty shoddy, much resembling a better quality bootleg DVD, world of a difference as compared to the clarity of "Star Trek" in digital format we caught last week.

In the end, Karen who bought the tickets days before treated us for the movie as the gang had the usual after thoughts while lingering outside the theater before calling it a day.

Two little surprises lit a rather uneventful weekend as the pay had been put in since Friday instead of today which didn't really matter much but always happy to see my bank account bloated.
My Amazon order came in on Sunday delivered by a little girl no more than 12 years old to my doorstep, merely days when I foot the shipping bill. I was taken aback by how fast it was sent.
The Blu-ray discs and DVDs came in right time as almost all the drama series and sitcoms I am following from the States had reached their finale.
Especially "Lost" which left some sort of cliffhanger as avid fans will want to unravel the truth in the final season, starting late this year.

Got news of the passing on of the father of one of my junior back in university.
Although we aren't exactly considered chums as myself had been alienating from my friends from that time period, I find the lad a nice chap who made an effort to attend my wedding when many closer ones failed to.
I had intended to attend the wake on Saturday but couldn't find anyone to tag along, so in the end I gave it a miss.
I wonder if there would be any repercussion but from the frown on my missus' face, herself preoccupied with her seminar the entire weekend, it seems like I hadn't be the "angel" she had hoped to marry.

Japanese word of the day: 天使~ten-shi~(Angel) I wish t have a guardian angel to bless me in this period when I think my job might not be that secured.

Change of Mood

2009-05-12T15:32:00.002+08:00

12th May 2009, Tuesday

If ever in my life I hadn't experienced a bout of Monday blues, yesterday might seem to be the epitome of the bluest Monday I had ever gone through.

Woke up on the wrong side of bed and still yearning for more sleep on Monday with the prospect of 4 such wretched mornings to pick myself up from the comfort of my comforter, things surely didn't start off the best way.

On the way to work, I was feeling really groggy from a combination of wanting to sleep and a bit under the weather. If I hadn't scavenged for the elusive seat to begin with, I might lose consciousness in the usual Monday human traffic stuffing on the train. Schools and some workplaces gave their students and workers respectively a Monday off from the Vesak Day that fell on Saturday but still the train was really cramped; imagine a typical Monday morning!

The lack of work to be done let my mind wandering else where as I lamented over a matter which had been bothering me since the beginning of this month.
My contract would be up by June, and under such climate where a job, much less an ideal one, is readily available, I just wanted to secure with the fact that I can secured employment for the next 3 years.
Well it was surely a waiting game till I get the green light from the Human Resource.

Although we had dreaded bringing up the elusive letter which indicates the amount of performance bonus we'll be getting, we were all anxiously anticipating for it and knew it would be this week before the pay day comes. But a Monday went by and no letter was seen.

To add salt to the wound, the delivery of my recent amazon purchase was undelivered and seemingly needed someone to pick it up from a nearby US Postal Service office. I would do it if I was at Portland, Oregon!
I contacted vpost which was the service I used to send the parcel (starting to regret as I might had gotten the parcel by now if I had allowed amazon to send it directly to me); and started wondering they would bother to handle undelivered parcel just to earn that few dollars in shipping...bummer...

A storm swept the island before lunch time and came on and off for the rest of the day. Rain meant that I could kiss climbing the hill to the gym goodbye as the lack of shelter just ruined the mood. I still find that it made no sense carrying an umbrella just to go work out.

Lack of sleep, lack of usual aerobic exercise & my dosage of endorphin, the second half of the day was rather lethargic as I had anticipated and couldn't pit myself to commit to work properly.

Foo once again will be a no show for the live game, at the furthest western stadium, Jurong West. Somehow I had read the signs with my tea leaves for his reluctance to make the trip West.

It didn't take long for me to reach Pioneer MRT station being like mere 20 minutes from Bouna Vista. I had intended to have a quick dinner by myself at the coffeeshop just on the left of the station.
But boy people in Jurong don't eat home cooked food as the place was well crowded with hungry diners.

I thought I might grab something light at the stadium then. There was a couple of restaurants in the Sports and Recreational Center (pretty impressive compared to the puny and dilapidated Hougang Stadium) but didn't fancy spent like more than $10 on food which that might not whet my appetite.
So I just rummaged the 7-11 convenience store there and went on to spend like $6 on virtual tasteless sandwiches.

As expected my team lost the game but in the most heart-breaking fashion with schoolboy errors in goalkeeping and defense.
Gutted with no rewards at the end of it my day ended as I at least got a free ride home.

Slept pretty late so it was no surprise strong sense of reluctance when all the alarm clocks buzzing this morning.

But for sure the blues were extinguished as I got my work out at last despite rain came at the wrong time, strandling me at the gym.
We got the letter and was slightly better than I had expected; even got news from the HR lady that the contract renewal was put on the backseat due to the preparation of the letter. Crossing my finger that I get the renewal before the month ends.
However we also got the news that for sure we are now incorporated to the new group with the imminent departure of Shitty Green...uncertain times ahead, so enjoy while it last.

Also checked the status of my parcel marooned in Portland had been delivered on the 2nd try, so it's all good for now in this 2nd day of the week.

Japanese word of the day: 上昇(Upturn) Surely had been a contrast in events and thus mood within 2 days.

Star Trekking & Love Shuffling

2009-05-11T15:25:00.003+08:00

11th May 2009, Monday

The Vesak-Mother's Day weekend combo went pass nonchalantly as I didn't feel at shred of festivity in my blood.
Didn't bother to jump on the propaganda bandwagon like many of my foolish countrymen to hit the restaurants and what not to shower their love to their mothers.
I would bring my folks out another day when places are less congested (like there would be any).

It was a "boys out" from the La Tendo clique on Saturday except Miyano of course as we hit AMK Hub to catch the new rendition of "Star Trek" by J.J. Abrams and fellow Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof.

A thorough fanboy machine when Abrams worked on the alternate reality option with the time-space continum shit when the story focused on James Tiberus Kirk and Spock in their youth and sprawling to carve a niche in the Federation and their progress were hastily rushed when a renegade Romulun troop from the future came back into the past and caused a lot of chaos.

It was hell of a ride with alot of action and several take on the classic series to appease the most avid Trekkies out there.
Thought Chris Pine did a decent job as the character that shot William Shatner into fame. That blue-eyed American hero was a stereotype nonetheless.
Zachary Quinto or Sylar from "Heroes" got on the Spock persona well though I found him less stoic that Leonard Nimoy who made an appearance to dispel all the claim that he was dead from many years back.
Karl Urban (Eomer from LOTR), John Cho (Harold from Harold & Kumar) & Zoe Saldana all did good with their reprisal, though my words aren't justifiable for I had never caught the classic Star Trek series.
The one that steal the show for a while has to be Anton Yelchin who was the Russian navigator, Chekov who's instruction on the PA in his strong Russian accent put everyone in the theater into fit.

We caught the show in the digital theater though I couldn't really differentiate that to a normal version.
Nonetheless "Star Trek" looks to be the Dark Knight of 2009, easily will garner the movie of the year in my book; others in the coming weeks and months have a big shoe to fill.

On Sunday, just laze around with the missus as we went on a Japanese dorama marathon.

The show in focus this week was a TBS series from the 2009 winter season, "Love Shuffle".
The series talked about 4 executive-style neighbors who got acquainted only when trapped in a lift breakdown during a blackout decided to play a "love shuffling" game after all showing signs of jadedness in their relationships.
So in a talk over dinner while enticing their respective partners, the 4 couples agreed on playing the Labu-Sha (short form) game which on weekly basis, everyone rotate their partner to gauge how they would feel with someone new while allow the others to analyze the partner.
The story itself made use of a lot of Japanese pun to create some jokes between the cast which will be bewildering for non-Japanese speakers.
Hiroshi Tamaki, the main lead nicknamed Usagi was in his usual frantic best as a paranoid boyfriend who always thought he was 2nd best for his wealthy fiancee, Mei.
His frantic nature resembles alot of his previous roles including Chiaki from "Nodame Cantabile" and even as Sakamoto Ryoma in "Atsuhime"; but his boy-next-door nature plus a young chap with alot of dreams made him lovable in this dorama series, cemented his "prince-like" status further.

The cast had been pretty decent for the ladies viewers as joining Hiroshi is Matsuda Shota who played a really cool photographer who showed a passionate heart despite his aloof hide.
Daigo, the lead singer of Breakerz as well as a talent with ascending popularity in Japanese TV played the wealthy yet eagerly seeking for true friends, Yuki and the dashing Tanihara Sosuke (from "Handsome Suit") played the gentlement psychiatrist, Kikuta.
The show reunited Hiroshi, Matsuda and Tanihara from "Top Caster".

As for the male viewers, actress-model Karina will always be an eye candy assumes the only female neighbor, translator Aiai (nickname) while a seemingly fresh face on the rise, Yoshitaka Yuriko (now can also be seen in "Shiroi Haru") as the suicidal poor artist, Kairi.
Usagi's girlfriend was a relative unknown, so was the sexy vixen wife of a poltician, Reiko.

The concept of Labu-sha was interesting but can be detrimental when you have developed an interest for the other party's partner.
The story also came with a twist in the middle which really perks things up but the chummy happiness among the group had been enveloped with the suicidal tendency of Kairi, a character who spoke more than 1 sentences each time.
The show which featured some high end executive lifestyles in Tokyo surely is not the best thing to be seen in current economic climate; one would even felt the whole game was something rich, self-centered young Japanese would play out of boredom.
However it did got a bit more real when Usagi quit from his job after a fight with some gangsters and found it hard to survive with his lack of actual qualification.
His pursuit of a career which could give him dream and aspiration led him to be a politician which also delved into some pain the sprawling youth of Japan is facing now.
However that supposed to take a backseat for the love comedy which is the main theme here.

Nevertheless the script by famous trendy dorama innovator, Nojima Shinji was rather entertaining and I found myself liking almost all the characters, including the creepy Kikuta.

Japanese word of the day: 混合(Shuffle) I wouldn't mind weekly shuffling of partner with the likes of Karina and other Japanese actresses of my liking

Taking Up Dead Space?

2009-05-04T15:23:00.002+08:00

4th May 2009, Monday

The May Day long weekend was pretty well spent in my books.
With my folks off to another Northern excursion back to Mom's relatives' place in Johor, we were left in charge of the apartment again.

Got to hook up with 2 of my buddies as well as managed to watch a whole chunk of backlog of doramas in my computer.
I even caught a nearing 3 hour long commemorative special from Fuji Television, on their 50th anniversary, reminiscing some classic dorama series from the past with the slew of top billing actors and actresses we had watched since young surely helped to make the occasion even more meaningful, especially yours truly who is infatuated with nostalgia.
The show was hosted by SMAP, and perhaps Tsuyoshi's last live appearance before his scandal. Anyway heard he will not be charged, and could make a comeback soon...we'll see.

My weekend really started on Thursday when TW came over for some Pro Evolution Soccer fun.
I actually had intended to organize an impromptu gaming session at CS' place on Friday but seemingly my wife-doting buddy had to commit his time to his bride, and felt perhaps we could catch up on Thursday itself.
We sure had a good time taking Spain national team (our favorite outfit in the game) and simply wallop our opponents (in amatuer mode of course); but the penultimate objective was to totally humiliate England which we both loathe (in the game and perhaps in real life) but after umpteen attempts we just couldn't win convincingly.
The playing took a toll on the missus who was gracious enough to leave the room for us.
A good chat to catch things up with each other ended at around 2 when he hailed a cab home, very much similar to another of this session back in December.

While the missus went on a hiking trip with her business partners at the South Ridges walk, I decided to find my own program when I called up CS who as usual in the comfort of his home, playing his beloved games.
Things sure got a bit lonely without TW or Foo but we made the best of things when he showed me the latest in the game industry, the usual of whetting my appetite even when I find it hard to squeeze time to concentrate in engaing in console games (hard to multi task unlike playing FM).

The bulk of the time there was when he let me have the hands on on a chilling game he even had chills down his spine while playing in the day time, "Dead Space".

This horror game from EA Games is much unlike any other of the same genre such as Capcom's "Resident Evil" series.
The game which very much inspired from the 1997 sci fi horror flick "Event Horizon", will create a spine-chilling atmosphere as the protaganist, engineer Isaac Clarke unraveled the mystery over the annhilation of the crew onboard the Ishimura Planet Cracker ship.

CS left me on my own for most of the time and as much as I had a strong disdain towards such game despite an urge to pick up Resident Evil 5 though, I found the control easy and not too nauseous.
The developers surely know how to create the morbid environment which at times you as the player would not be sane enough to explore.
Fans of grotesque slasher movies like Saw would love the amount of blood and innards that one can generate while dismembering those alien creatures, which love to sprang out from no where to scare the shit out of the player.

The game won many awards and accolades and for a casual player myself who got intrigued enough to continue on, it sure deserves to be rewarded.
On some level, the game is much more than just blind slashing and killing, there are several stages when you need to seek the best solution with your other skills like Statis and Kinesis to get machineries to work.

The game took me to 1 plus when I saw CS was pretty bumped up for the night though he was cool enough to give me a ride home in his brand new Mitsubishi Lancer with all the dazzling gadgets as we would expect no less.

Saturday was basically home bound with the missus who was preparing for her make-up competition on Sunday with Karen as the model.

A couple of good results going for the teams I support with Man Utd beating Middlesborough in a rather yawn-inducing affaor but one wouldn't have time to even bat an eyelid in the El Clasico at Santiago Bernabeu with the irresistable Barca machine went riot over the hapless host, Real Madrid with a 6-2 scoreline which could be more for the Catalans.
Both teams are on course for their domestic titles and I hope to see them squaring up against each other in the Champions League final, though Barcelona surely deserve to win it as in all competitions they are in, for showing the world such delightful positive attacking football.

I didn't had the chance to catch up with the final of my Wrecker buddy as Foo sort of bailed me out (but to spend time with his other half is definitely take the precedence) as I made the journey to Tampines alone to catch the Cup preliminary round which didn't end up good in terms of the scoreline (as I have expected) but the spirited display and the cheers I heard for the team was pretty heart-warming.

Japanese word of the day: 恐怖 (Scare) There were moments we just scared each other, pretty silly that we couldn't stop laughing

SMAP: An end of an era?

2009-04-28T13:38:00.002+08:00

28th April 2009, Tuesday

The news that surely hogged the Japanese entertainment scene these days surely has to be Kusanagi Tsuyoshi's (草彅剛 of SMAP) arrest for indecency exposure after a rampant drinking session.

Despite his earnest apology in a press conference, the damage has been done on his clean boy-next-door image the Japanese public has been so accustomed to seeing.
Japan Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Hatoyama Kunio was especially crass in reprimanding Tsuyoshi's absurd behavior as he is the ongoing spokesperson for the transition of Japan's terrestrial TV to the digital format.

The whole affair see him losing plenty of endorsement and ad money which at such times will really be hard.
At his prime (around 2004-2006), Tsuyoshi is surely the A-list actor with popularity even upstaging fellow SMAP member, Kimura Takuya.
While his acting has been pretty one-dimensional, usually the Mr Nice Guy (even dark comedy like "Food Fight" cannot see him breaking through the mold), the uber-popular "Boku no Ikiru Michi (僕の生きる道)" was the pinnacle of his dorama career which spawns 2 sequels, non coming as close in terms of viewership.
He also had appearance on the big screen with success in "Yomigaeri (黃泉がえり)" and perhaps "Nihon Chinbotsu (日本沈没 )"
He even took the accolade of "Best Jean-Wearing Male Artist", once again upstaging Kimu-Taku (which resulted in the friction between the pair as speculated).
Tusyoshi has a strong fanbase in South Korea as well due to his fluent Korean, even released a single as his Korean alter ego Cho Nan Kan despite he possess the 2nd worst singing voice in SMAP.

While the elder statesmen like Kimura and Nakai Masahiro are noticeably crossed by Tsuyoshi's folly, he was backed by perhaps his best bud in the group, Shingo Katori.
The pair hosted in the famous 24 hour charity show (think in 2005) and made cameos in each other's dorama.
Little surprise when Shingo made an emotional apology on a live telecast SmaSTATION on Tsuyoshi's behalf:

Popularity of SMAP is waning despite they can still warrant massive crowd in various Domes for their annual concert tour.
"SMAPXSMAP", their Fuji TV prime time variety show which enjoyed such longevity of 14 years are facing the axe when viewership plunged in uncanny fashion.
They hadn't had a hit single for a while to rival that of "Sekai hitotsu dake no hana (世界に一つだけの花)", the last 2 singles released in 2008 enjoyed lukewarm success.
While the various members are still oozing X Factor which see them immensely popular as individual or as an unit in the scene for 15 years or so now, the likes of Kimura and Tsuyoshi hadn't manage to recover that kind of popularity now that so many up and coming artistes are putting their positions in jeopardy.
Having uneasy relationship with their representative company, Johnny's Jimusho was further strained when they thought they are huge enough to break it out on their own.

A disband looks to be on the horizon for SMAP with Tsuyohi's arrest a strong catalyst.
The poor chap with bad drinking manners might not be able to recover from this fall from grace while the others might still be able to sprawl in this business.
Kimura with a new dorama in May still possess a star appeal which span the entire Asia though it's hard to break into Hollywood despite his appearance in "I come with the Rain".
Nakai is still a renowed variety show host and safely cement his position with constant hosting of kohaku of course.
Shingo who still possess that sunny boyish appeal took on more serious roles in acting these days such as in "Bara no nai Hanaya (薔薇のない花屋)" and "Kurobe no Taiyo (黒部の太陽)", worlds' apart from his Shingo mama or Goku in "Saiyuki" days.
As for Inagaki Goro himself was caught up with law in a traffic altercation in 2001 was never the most outstanding one.
He does possess good looks but stagnant in image for the longest time we have seen him. He can sing well but not good enough. His acting also reach a threshold and no dorama series for a while indicates that.
The variety show "Goro's Bar" which he hosted is still quite popular, and of course he can look forward to his upcoming marriage with fellow actor, Kanno Miho.

Well Johnny's & associates has always been looking for predecessors for SMAP if ever they lose their prized assets.
SMAP, in fact, started off as back-up for Hikaru Genji (光GENJI), their star boy band of the 1980s but went on to build on bigger things to a proportion that left their company in awe for sure.
Many groups were formed to build on SMAP's success with the likes of V6, Kinki Kids, Tokyo, Tackey & Tsubasa, NEWS, Kanjani 8, KAT-TUN, Hey Say Jump etc.
But the one group that might be the heir apparent in terms of their ability to transcend between music, tv drama, movies and commercials has to be Arashi.

Arashi, which made up of 5 members as well had a great 2008 in terms of acting and singles sale (finish top 2 in Oricon Top 100 chart of 2008).
For the past few seasons, you can see that their members are passing on baton to one another to be feature in at least one prime time tv series.
While singing might still be their forte (they do sound better than SMAP for sure), they can build on their popularity in all spectrum despite they are arguably not the best looking group around.
But like SMAP, they possess the X Factor...whether they can make it cut, we shall see...

Japanese word of the day: スキャンダル (Scandal) Don't forsee the lads in Arashi doing something as foolish as Tsuyoshi, well then Ohno sure is one little devil as well

$100 spent at Cold Storage!?

2009-04-27T15:19:00.003+08:00

27th April 2009, Monday

With my sister off to her 3 weeks travel down under and my folks off for another Genting escapade for the weekend, the missus and myself had the entire house for ourselves and ultimately fend for our gastronomical requirements for the past 3 days.

Well as you know, I ain't earning big bucks and at such arid time of economic uncertainties, never would we have the audacity to grace the Cold Storage at Takashimaya and spending a cool $100 just on mere groceries...
It was what exactly happened on Saturday in a scheduled trip between us...

Of course beside the extravagant spending, we also faced the prospect of decimating the value on our cash card with at least 2 ERP gantries to cross and that obscene amount for parking in Ngee Ann City itself...Then there was the mad traffic both automobile on the expectedly cramped Orchard Boulevard and the human congestion in Takashimaya which really didn't give the missus a pleasant time.
One really ponders why I insist to hit the joint, well days before I recieved some Takashimaya vouchers from my workplace in appreciation for the time (what time?) I put in for some committee.
It was a welcome surprise but I accepted it without a trace of remorse like I damn deserved it maybe I do.

So I better spend the vouchers as fast as I can find the opportunity.
The idea was to get some ingredients to whip up a fast but nice dinner, some for breakfast for the next 2 days as well as my weekly yogurt and juice needs.
So we went around the aisles to pick up the foodstuff which quite a portion was imported from our beloved holiday destination.
Cold Soba would be the main carbohydrate source with unagi (eel) and some sushi platter to whet more appetite.
I even went to get some items which I rarely would pick up even to appease myself due to the high cost of it.
Despite our trolley being half failed by the time I went to foot the bill, I could still hardly believe my eyes when the cash register went beyond the $100 mark..
I didn' use up all the vouchers and paid quite a fraction by cash; I still felt the pinch and we might had overspent this time.

But it was a nice dinner for us which matters most...

Sunday was pretty quiet all by myself for most it before the storm which had been brewing due to the unbearable heat swept the island.
Met up with the La Tendo clique for badminton on Saturday and a good time to catch up especially Chan who had been a no-show for a while now.
Heard that YH was selected for a lucky draw for some spending at Suntec City and had a 1 in 5000 chance to walk home with a car; well she couldn't be more lucky, firstly to be one of the 20 contestants picked up for the key selection and then picking the right key to unlock the Mazda 6 sedan.
Perhaps our birthday boy Vincent (on Saturday) might have brush off some luck to her...

Japanese word of the day: 運命 ~un-me-i~(Fate) Some people get shopping vouchers, others win a car...

Super Robots Fetish

2009-04-20T13:28:00.002+08:00

20th April 2009, Monday

While my Playstation 3 had remained dormant since the turn of the year as Chan mentioned my account was offline for like 100 over days now.

From the beginning I had mentioned I ain't a big gaming person, and now with the console now gathering dust at alarming state; it further emphasized that I shouldn't had spent on that luxury item.
Fortunately it was before the economic crunch as this year performance bonus looks bleak.

One stumbling factor for my less than enthusiastic interest to hook up my PS3 again is that when I'm at home, I tend to be more attracted to my PC (something which the missus frowns upon for course); my tolerance while playing a long-winded game on PS3 is truncating as time goes which is bad since most games have to be decently length to make any penny worth.
Once you lost the zest for a particular game, it's hard to pick them up again (i.e. Metal Gear Solid 4 and Disgaea 3 which I don't fancy picking up from where I have left them).

Meanwhile portable gaming console is so popular due to the fact that during the mundane traveling hours, it can be a great companion.
My 2 years old NDS Lite has always managed to deliver and with that wide array of games, I am always spoiled for choice.
Recently I am hooked to the latest offer from a game series which always made me go ga-ga over, "Super Robot Wars".

My first contact with this Banpresto series which feature an orgy of who's who in the animated robot series world was the Alpha and Alpha Gaiden on Playstation back in 2002.
That was a time when my knowledge of the robots featured were very much limited to Gundam W, Evangelion and Macross but I soon my interest grew to those Go Nagai's classic Super Robots like Mazinger Z and Getter Robo as well as Combattler V and Voltes V from the Robot Romance Trilogy. Not forgetting my all time favorite Reideen, the bow and arrow carrying, falcon-changing robot with a highly addictive theme song.

While I have been a sucker for turn-based strategy role playing game, Super Robot Wars just bring a notch further with beautifully animated battling sequence (which can get bored after repetitive viewing and thank god for the option to de-select it) and the respective theme songs of the various series which one can never get sick of.

The only down part of those 2 games and all the other games in the series spawned prior and after, it is strictly Japanese based due to licensing issue which restruct it to be port over to the North American scene.
It would be more fun if you actually can understand their dialogue especially since the creators ingeniously tied the famous storylines of various series up (such as Kamiyu going crazy in Gundam Z).

The nice battle map with fully colored 3D pawns of the robots in Alpha really got me hook as well and when I see that the processing power for the PS2 engine for the next incarnation "SRW Impact" I was tempted to just get PS2 to play that, maybe it was a blessing in disguise I didn't.

One reason for me to get my NDS was also to play a newly released "Super Robot Taisen W" back in 2007 as well.

Sadly I didn't had the endurance to keep my interest in it and halted midway through the mundane battles despite having familiar mechas from Full Metal Panic which I was watching back then.
The lack of voice acting and the dull blue-red icons on a flat battle map was a big turn off from the Alpha days (look more like the classic SD Gundam Generation series).
Then again the size of the game was very much dwarf as compared to what the Playstation counterparts can produce (even as compared to those ported to PSP for sure).

Therefore when Super Robot Taisen K was released just a few weeks back I was skeptical I would kept up my interest for it for long but was pleasantly surprised I was still hyped about especially when a walkthrough is easily acessible online when any fellow gamer has bothered to upload the information.

This incarnation caught everyone's surprise by excluding many usual big names like Great Maziner, Mazinkaiser, Getter Robo (and it's kinship) as well as none of the Robot Romance Trilogy.
There was also no UC Gundam series with the uber popular SEED trilogy holding its flagship (thank goodness for no Turn A or G Gundam).
In replacement are some young upstarts which inclusion might have some mix reviews such as "Sokyu no Fafner: Dead Agressor", "Gun X Sword" and even "ZOIDS Genesis" which belong to rival company Takara-Tomy.
Some Super Robots to beef up the line up with Mazinger Z includes modern sequels of classic series, Kotetsushin Jeeg and Gaiking: The Legend of Daiku-Maryu.

Rumours are sprouting about the development of a "Super Robot Taisen PS3" which surely will perk my interest considering the kind of engine PS3 boasts which also allows Namco Bandai (who took over development from subsidary Banpresto) to take advantage of.
Mahy recent mecha anime series may fancy a chance to add their names in the long list of series featured in the SRW such as Gundam 00, Macross Frontier, Code Geass and of course Gainax's Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan.
Would be good to have some returning series like Gundam W Endless Waltz, Reideen, Gravion which have some of coolest themes.
Well we shall see...perhaps it will make me wipe off the thick layer of dust off my PS3...

Japanese words of the day: スーパーロボット(Super Robots) Think the fetish began when I have some classic Popy diecast Super Robots when I was a kid

Patriotism or Just mere gathering

2009-04-08T16:15:00.003+08:00

8th April 2009, Wednesday

Not every day you have a J League 1 top side like Kashima Antlers to hit town for a competitive game...
When SAFFC made it into the AFC Champions League group stage, many local fans truly salivate at the prospect of catching top East Asian sides like Suwon Samsung Bluewings as well as the Antlers in our local arena.
While we toyed with the idea of flying to Japan to immerse in the electrifying live match experience of the J League (perhaps one of the best in Asia), it was more economical to just head to Jalan Besar as we did last evening.

As expected the stadium was flooded and dominated by a strong local Japanese fraternity who came to cheer on their country-men.
As for the local support, there were fervent Warriors supporters at the North Gate-orientated grandstand, drumming vociferously, perhaps intimidated by the 50 odd Kashima Antlers Ultras at the opposite Gallery stands with their synchronized and ruly chanting, drumming and flag waving to cheer on their team in gold.

Kudos for the J1 side to bring their full squad except for some injured personnel such as ex international and FC Basel man Koji Nakata and Brazilian midfielder Danilo; surely shown us more respect than the Koreans the last time.
Situated in the midst of the local Japanese expat, we provided abit of SAF-cheering at the South end of the grandstand.
However the patriotic crowd had more to cheer upon with the vastly superior Antlers crushed our champions.
Patriotism, perhaps? But Japanese live with pride and themselves are testament of their pride.
Expats in Singapore should have a life of comfort though things can be mundane in this metropolitan city; therefore even in a hot and humid April evening which decimated poor Park Joo-Ho, Kashima's South Korean fullback was well parched for the 1st half, the Japanese came in on rampage to render their support.

In Japan now, sakura (cherry blossoms) are blooming to everyone's delight in spring and the locales gathered for their usual hanami sessions; perhaps they might have treated the match to just meet up and have a good time chatting and dining.
Almost all the Japanese players plying in our league came with their entourage as well...

Overall despite the hiding dished by the Japanese side, it was an electrifying live soccer experience which our local professional league lacks and perhaps it is an excerpt of what one would experience in the Japanese scene which is something I would aim for in the future...

Japanese word of the day: 愛国心が強い (Patriotic) Many punters were gleefully throwing away their patriotism when Bennett scored that final goal to give them the odds for a handsome win at the betting station.

Unfathomable Human Nature

2009-04-06T16:00:00.006+08:00

6th April 2009, Monday

Went to La Tendo on Saturday evening and caught up with Vincent and Miyano; which was when we heard the news about Ferris had bought a car with an off-peak season (weekend) license plate.
All these while, we had only know that Vincent is getting his own automobile (though he used to commute happily in a van or a motorbike, both belonged to his brother apparently), behind the smoke-screen, the elder Chong has secretively fulfilling his own desire to own a 4-wheeler (he too had been a motorcyclist all these while).

This led to a shock awakening on why he piqued out that day on MSN when I made crass comment about the Korean car model he had been waxing lyricals about (for info both his and Vincent's car are of the same model, just different color).

It sure is bewildering why he want to be so secretive about it but then again it's sometime good to keep things to yourself, and not broadcast to the rest of the world, you never know how people percieved it.

Speaking of broadcasting, Foo and my recent blog adventure on our favorite local football club which had blown very much out of what we had intended it to be when we started, got caught in a sticky situation of late.

With a draw at home against a team we felt with the talent we had in the playing squad, we should had easily truimphed over at the comfort of the home ground, we went on to lash out undiscerningly on how disappointed we were, without thinking twice about mincing our words.
This brought an uproar in the hierachy in the club management who felt we are just some negative media trying to unsettle the team morale or something.
The bigot German coach even blew his top and sent me mails, stating his indignation upon reading our gratuitous criticism and groundless deduction of his tactics and game play etc.

While I defended my point with Foo's backing, it was pretty much an ugly fall out between us and that arrogant head coach, so don't expect us sending each other Chirstmas cards anytime soon.

Despite having the support of the understanding chairman who oversaw the whole situation on an unbiased ground, it didn't really turn out the way we had intended but we had to state our stand as a fan who coldn't just standby and watch the team getting into a rut (we are bottom of the table by the way) and still unbashfully plaudits the team for their lackluster performance.

While I might have come off a bit too defensive and strong with my words, I didn't expect my partner in crime felt I was rather uncalled for in terms of self-imploding with the whole situation.
I knew he shared my passion if not more, but he tends to keep things subtle which was antagonistic to my style.
There was no wrong or right on how one decided to express themselves; you never know his calming nature could be the remedy to my rash, indiscreet style.

The truth is I might felt jaded with the fallout but I was not that bothered but he seemed to try to think I might have got too involved in it, now trying to distance from it for a while.
I agreed to his stance to sooth the situation by not going against it heads on which might implicate other people, but somehow I wish there was some sign of support throughout the whole fracas.

I know I am a rather self-centered and perhaps egoistic guy, but I would treat my real friends with sincerity and support whenever I could though it seems it was not reciprocated at times.
This incident together to another incident many X'mas back brings me back to square one about truly understanding my buddy.

Japanese word of the day: 人間性 ~nin-gen-sei~ (Human Nature) Still unfathomable even when you thought you know one person long enough

The Joke that Played on me

2009-04-01T23:08:00.003+08:00

1st April 2009, Wednesday

April's Fool and the biggest joke seemed to be played on me.
The recent spate of miserable weather, extreme heat and humidity concoction with showers making things worse see a hike in people down with the flu.
The missus and myself jumped on the bandwagon and after struggling to contain the flu and grogginess yesterday, I felt I just need a a good sleep at home today...so MC it is.

Today also marked the first day we had to utilise the gym up the hill... Pretty sad about the previous one since I had been hitting it for 4 years now and then it was gone..bummer
Thought it was an April Fool joke but obviously it isn't.

Karen flew off to Seoul for her usual April spring break and she must have hoped the whole court fracas with her beloved Korean megastar, Rain was a joke as well.

The biggest joke for me today was sitting uncomfortably in Hougang stadium, slightly feverish as my imuune system tries to win the battle against the virus and witnessed a torrid display for my home team....just kill my day

Japanese word of the day: 冗談 (Joke) Any joke played on you today?

Work Climate Q2 2009

2009-03-18T14:11:00.003+08:00

18th March 2009, Wednesday

The young couple went on their Gallic escapade for the next 3 weeks, so at work we are a little short-handed. Not that it is a subject to whine about since it's my responsibility after all which earns me my monthly dough, but you can see the stark difference when we have to run 3 locations at a time with the same amount of output.
Things are aye okay if everything went as planned but since the beginning of the week the robots are giving us problem while there are other small errors which aggravate the situation.

Not that the bosses are in dire needs of results or do they?
Shitty Green after embracing his new presidential homeland since January returns at the end of the week; despite that he is not the most likeable guy in my book, our department is like a ship without the captain at helms, very susceptible to incoming perils.
The Chinese American guy was almost negligent of us which may not be that bad for some as he doesn't clamp the style; but it was too aloof I felt.
He was gone for some conference apparently as well this week.

Since last week I had this slight migraine acting on the back of my cranium and by this week it became persistent and niggling especially during office hours.
I wonder if it is the poorly ventilated workplace or the lack of quality sleep for the past fortnight or just need another break, but if it doesn't go away by tomorrow, I am considering seeing the doctor on Friday.

The usual harbinger of bad news (and sometime good news), Beautiness gave insight of how bad the performance bonus for this year would be as his impressive netwroking skills had once again excelled.
With the ailing economy with the government cutting edges here and there, our sector is still considered rather secure but we cannot expect bonus of the incorrigible magnitude of those AIG management.
"0.5 month or nothing" said Beautiness with the recognisable tone of dejection.
Who wouldn't after 2 good years preceding this wretched year, I'm just glad to have my job seriously as I pray every night to the tooth fairy that my contract would come into fruition by May (a month before the current contract ends and the usual period when HR would prepare the new one)

The earth shattering news today was that the gym across the road will go into the book of history come 1st April (and I hope it's an April Fool joke).
With speculations of the gym wrapping up for months now, the HQ finally wield the axe when they managed to tie down with the alumni house on the slope behind us, we now have to the option of working out at the gym there.
Seemingly that place was much inferior to the incumbent in terms of the space, equipments and amenities which really upset a Chinese post-doc at our side who like myself a regular at the current gym. This is all on top of how inconvenient it is to make our way there but once the HQ made the decision, like all the Singaporean government and associated organisations, the decision would not be overturned.

I have always prepared for such a day to come but it still saddens me that the gym and their instructor which had grown to be an important aspect of my life will be gone... hope I will continue my regular work out still by then 'cos my health really banks on it...

Japanese word of the day: 終えなさい (Axe) They should just axe the shuttle service as well it's awful

My Favorite Directors

2009-03-16T16:08:00.004+08:00

16th March 2009, Monday

Caught "The Watchmen" with my buddies yesterday despite many complained of the film being an exact replica of Alan Moore/ Dave Gibbon s' comic book series for DC Comic back in the late 1980s, taking leaf directly from the pages from the 1st graphic novel which left me in awe when I borrowed it from a community library a good 15 years back.

While director Zack Snyder might be lauded for paying tribute to the award winning mini series, many like Foo who had read the series umpteen times found it a grueling 2 hour and 40 minutes with storyline they were already well versed with.
Alan Moore, the whimsical yet talented comic book writer had always distanced himself from the film adaptations of his work but he should be slightly proud of what former TV ad director Snyder had done with the Watchmen.
I thought Snyder had created the right mood for the entire story with an eye for details including the selection of the cast including Patrick Wilson as Daniel/Night Owl and Jack Earle Haley as Walter/Rorschach.
The beginning sequence to highlight the golden age superheroes was quite brilliant and though it might be too graphic with the violence, it was what the story leeched upon and wasn't done distastefully.

With his adaptation of Frank Miller's "300" right up my alley as well, Snyder has slowly joined the ranks of a few directors I took a liking on.

Got an opportunity to catch Danny Boyle's Academy Award winning film, "Slumdog Millionaire" on Sunday as well.
The story was so tight and well narrated and truly deserve it's accolades.
Director Boyle has no intention for it to be a Bollywood film and it wasn't yet it did not deviate too far to relate the difference in class and statures in present day India and the problems and prejudice the poor people in the slums still face these days.

It did reminded me of an earlier Boyle's film I had caught back in my Naval days as one of the fellow ship crew brought a "friendly" VCD version onboard once during sailing, "Trainspotting" which gave a vivid insight to the drug abuse problem in England and helped launched the career of Ewan McGregor and Robert Carlyle...There were still a few scenes that would vivid in my mind including a shit infested bowl which you better avoid during meal time.

"Slumdog Millionaire" 's main competitor in the 81st Academy Awards was "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by another of my favorite director, David Fincher.
A renowned music video director, David had several big screen success including 2 of my all time favorite movies "Seven" and "Fight Club" which together with "Curious" is the Brad Pitt trilogy with Fincher.
His fiims tend to be a bit quirky but the background story is always solid and captivating.

Finally my heart will always go out to Peter Jackson for "The Lord of the Rings" of course but his lesser horror-comedy "The Frighteners" with Michael J. Fox is another worth a look.
Tim Burton with his staunch gothic style is a favorite for many since the days of "Batman", "Beetlejuice", "Edward Sicssorshand" and "Nightmare before X'mas" as for his more recent ventures I can't say they were as good but nevertheless he is still the king in his genre

Japanese word of the day: 監督 ~kan-to-ku~(Director) Wouldn't expect me to include Takashi Miike as omy favoriet Japanese director

Galileo vs Krauser

2009-03-02T14:04:00.003+08:00

2nd March 2009, Monday

My wife had a big crush on Fukuyama Masaharu, the evergreen and ageless Japanese yuu-sei (actor) cum singer-songwriter cum thousands of other things he is good at...
Surely someone the guys love to loathe (due to envy) and women just couldn't stop swooning... Of course at the grand old age of 40 (still like like 20) and labeled as the most eligible bachelor in the Japanese entertainment scene (consistently winning title of "the male artist women desire"), Fukuyama had carefully chosen his career path without letting paparazzi or other side news ruined his career so far....

Anyway this post ain't about adoring Fukuyama as an Adonis or anything but over the weekend, the missus dragged me to catch a Japanese movie based on the popular Fuji TV dorama, "Galileo", starring of course Fukuyama and Shibasaki Kou.
The chemistry between the two (alleged romance as well) bind well with the intricate detective storyline brilliant concocted by famous mystery writer Higashino Keigo.
The fact that he added scientific theories to unraveled some cases is a breath of fresh air albeit can be a bit dry during the explaination.
However everyone enjoys the sight of Fukuyama as the stoic Physics professor, Yukawa, scribbling on floor when he had an epiphany or came out with the solution.

The movie version, "Yougisha no Kenshin" pit Yukawa against a Mathematician genius, his old college friend, Ishigami (reprised by the brilliant Tsutsumi Shinichi) who helped a neighbor he had a crush on (played by Matsuyuki Yasuko in her most bijin (beauty) form).
The usually stingy movie critic from the local free-to-distribute paper awarded this movie with 4/5 popcorns and mentioned one would feel the heartache after a intriguing crime-solving process which really surely describe my feeling after watching it.
The story was well pace and the actors displayed to their potential; even people who didn't catch the TV series and special should go watch this movie...

In the midst of the long, gruelling process of waiting for the movie to begin (it's GV cineplex afterall), the trailer for "Detroit Metal City" was shown.
By sheer coincidence I managed to get hold of a copy of the movie over the weekend, and since I was thoroughly entertained (more like "floored") by the anime series done by Madhouse Studio; I was really looking forward to the live action version starring Matsuyama Kenichi.
I know of 2 other persons who are crazy about watching this movie, my buddy TW who too was well captivated by the anime series, the other is Karen who grew into a Kenichi fan of sort.

The afterthought of the movie is that truly it would entertaining if you have no idea of what the story is all about.
It would be good to have prior knowledge of Japanese visual kei death metal music and oshiare (fashionable) kei style of music like Swedish bubblegum pop.
Thought Matsuyama did a brilliant reprisal of the anatagonist Negishi/ Johannes Krauser II (including that distinct running stance)and once again Matsuyuki Yasuko had her presence felt as the rather insane president of Death Records.
Perhaps watching the anime prior spoiled it for me as a few scenes I felt was funnier in the animated version plus a few interesting characters like the poor ojichan landlord who was converted into a disciple to DMC music unwillingly or the Capitalist Pig guy were sorely miss in the movie.
Perhaps the producers felt those scenes are not suitable for the general public...
Then some jokes were transpired badly in real life as well but the scene about Krauser disciplining Negishi's wayward brother at his home's field as well as the talking in the toilet of the amusement park between Krauser and Negishi's college junior who always had took him as an aspiration were still funny.

The ending was wry and Gene Simmons, the demonic bassist of KISS which had a lot of influence to DMC of course cameo as the legendary death metal king, Jack Ill Black didn't really constitute much of my interest. Though there was one scene about how he wanted to show everyone his actual passion in music floored me again.

All in all, 2 Japanese movies filled a weekend which I just wanna coop at home under the soggy weather...

Japanese words of the day: 甘い恋人 ~A-ma-i-Ko-i-bi-to~ (Sweet Lover) How cheesy Negishi can get with his lyrics...

Harsh Reality

2009-02-24T15:09:00.003+08:00

24th February 2009, Tuesday

Been back for 5 days now from a trip which was truly gratifying for me and the missus and surely one to savor at the end of it...you can read all about it here (though it would only be out next week or so).

So it's back to reality once the fun has subsided...
Work was almost non existent once I had returned with the completion of whatever project at hand since I had left. While new projects are at the horizon, the lack of work surely makes me a bit uncomfortable.
Retrenchment has been everyone's mouth since the turn of the year and now at the crest of recession, everyone just want to hold on to their job.
Myself will want to hold on to this job I cherish very much and with my 3 year contract coming to an end, I do have a fear within...*fingers crossed for a new contract come May*
From the townhall session the director had with the company last week which I had missed, it seems like our department will not be taken with much regards for the coming work year and with the gaffer now in Boston, we just hope for the best...But I still have optimism that our group will be crucial to the institute.
As for performance bonus, since this recession is even worse than the SARS period, I can't expect much this year...no expectation no disappointment...

As for the missus, her industry being at the brunt of the diminishing demand for their product has started to adopt the four-days work week to reduce cost.
At the moment it is alternate Fridays till September and with her annual leave fully expended, it means her pay will be downsized due to this policy.
At least she keeps her job...

Our government had came our with a recession package including a employment credit to ensure we remain status quo and double the GST Offset package with the first payment coming in a week's time.
The amount is not much but sure do help in some way... The electrical bill is set to reduced (though still overpriced) as well as public transport (by mere 2 cents)...
As chatted with Beautiness this morning, it surely is a year to try scrimp and save as much as possible....

In such times of recession, I still hear some nuptial bells ringing... Firstly my buddy TW in October and coincidentally that of Eriko and Sou in the same month.
We have decided to fly down to Morioka just to attend the ceremony due to our friendship as well as perhaps the only chance to witness a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony which they had intended to go through instead of holding in a chapel.
Lastly my sister and her beau are thinking about tying the knot soon but maybe not the customary just yet...
Really time to get a decent suit...any good tailor to recommend?

One mildly pleasing news is that the high key in-camp training to Kao Hsiung had been cancelled..
I speculated that it could be due to the funds been cut but got wisp of the fact that it could be the unavailability of ships...
No matter what it's good to know I need not visit the southern city of Taiwan again for the 3 year in a roll though I still have one more high key to clear in the coming years...

Finally been really in groove with Foo for our side project in our quest to support of our beloved team, Sengkang Punggol.
The trip had taken us to unbelievable height for now as we meet some crucial characters in the local footballing fraternity.
Somehow watching the games now seem to hold more meaning and life surely become more interesting at this juncture...
At least it takes some blues about current economic climate away...

Japanese word of the day: 現実 ~gen-ji-tsu~(Reality) surely everyone has to wake up and smell the coffee...

At the eve of flying off...

2009-02-09T16:02:00.003+08:00

9th February 2009, Monday

The flight will be at 11.45 pm tomorrow... We have done the on-line checking in and secured 2 pretty good seats on the upper deck of the Airbus A380 (surely one of the highlight for me for this trip) though not the exact ones we wanted.

This is a trip I really look forward to relax myself, not that I am in the midst of a really tensed and highly wound-up working life but a good get-away for me and the missus who had surely yearned for an overseas trip like this since an entire year of confining within Singapore or the most Malaysia.
Planning this trip took a great amount of time, think since 2nd half of last year, but with the financial recession tsunami tiding it, things got stifled abit but it didn't douse our enthusiasim for the trip since I had set aside the extra dough for it for a while ago.

In the end we were glad to get a "once in a lifetime" deal from SIA and with the lodging at Tokyo also seemingly affordable, we manage to tide over the high yen rate.
The amount we intended to bring over should be more than suffice for a good eating and shopping trip but still you never know with the hap-hazard Japanese economy now.
The yen rate dropped in drastic fashion immediately after we had changed the currency, just a reason to get on my nerves...but just had to ignore it...

Have great expectations of the onsen ryokan, mainly due to the amount of money we were going to pay.
The objective to the snowy Akita surely is to laze and indulge in the healthy hot springs and taste some good food provide from the ryokan.
Spending will be kept to the minimal except for some Akita-limited omiage (souvenirs) but wonder if we ever had the time to venture out of the resort since there are quite a few hot spring to sample.

The really short spell at Morioka will be great to catch up with Eriko and perhaps her beau, Sou.
It had been 3 years since we last saw them and it's a pity we couldn't stay a bit longer. But seriously ran out of idea what we can do in Morioka except for catching up old times.
Of course I will seek her assistance to look for Hiroki and his family whom I had totally lost contact with.

Diseny Sea on Valentine's Day would be a great day out for us...I really enjoyed myself at my first Disneyland trip back in 2005 despite I could do without the sun-burn and felt we shouldn't had rushed to go off.
This time round with a full day planned to the poorer-aquatic cousin of Disneyland, we can immersed in the romantic moment (since many touted Disney sea is more for adults) minus rampant crowd and some death-defying rides of course.

We had plans to visit the likes of Yokohama and Shimokita, venues in Tokyo we had yet to explore while plans for the likes of Akihabara, Nakano, Ueda are always in the plan as well as Shinagawa where would be staying.
Eating good food surely is my utmost priority for this trip and will need to aggressively shed off excessive "baggage" when we return.

I might had gone at the wrong time with the S League now buzzing into the final week of pre-season and a lot of major news transpiring but I am sure my partner in crime, Foo will get those covered... One of the trivial thing in life that get me excited of now.

Yesterday we paid a visit to my buddy's place as we had not been doing so for the past Chinese New Year.
It was great catch up with my buddy who is in the midst of his marital scavenging and from his words sound like a real adventure while CS who came by too was fervently taking notes....not!
But he did showed us his new wagon, the Mitsubishi Lancer EX which had all the gadgets to appease our dear buddy.
We then followed TW and his parents up the Bukit Timah hill to the British Club where we had dinner at high altitude.
The humid after rain weather and the spices from the Indian cuisine is a sweaty concoction but as the night worn off, it got cooler and we were totally immersed in TW's father's wise words about the current economic downturn and the repercussions not everyone got to see unless you are doingh business like themselves.
It was a good Sunday night with my buddy and those who had seen me grown up as well as my wife... will surely render all help possible when his big day arrives in October...

Japanese word of the day: 流れ ~na-ga-re~(Flow) Wanna go with it for the coming trip

Khatib FCC could be the next Facebook

2009-02-06T09:43:00.002+08:00

6th February 2009, Friday

After completing the final IPPT yesterday afternoon for my recent IPPT Preparation Training (IPT) course, I have paid my due for this work year with regards to that painstaking debt we national service men had to commit if we are fit enough.

As anticipated, I did not made the grade but 5 legitimate chin-ups surely was an unprecedented phenomenon in my long history of IPPT for sure...

While I was granted 2 sessions being stand down during the Lunar New Year (yeah will plan subsequent IPTs around this holiday), the truncated amount of time spent at the Khatib FCC allowed me to meet some old acquaintances, with a pleasant twist near the end.

I was always a loner going for such trainings since it was tough to coordinate to any chums who had profligancy in attaining the minimum scores for the test, due to the time difference in our "window period" (attributed to our birthdays).
I rarely made an effort to pick up conversation with mere strangers as they would always be negative about the entire training, unwilling to put in a wee bit of effort to train and demanding "out-pro" vehemently.

This time I did found a familiar face earlier on... A comrade from my ICT unit, whom I had mentioned I found boring speaking to previously.
With a couple more years to the golden age of 40, he was just strolling down the sunset as military reserves beckon.

The pleasant surprise I spoke of happened on the last actual training on Tuesday.
As the PTI made the reluctant troop get the body conditioned for the test with a short jog round the tracks, I spotted this rotund Malay chap huffing and puffing, making the efforts to keep jogging consistently.
He looked really familiar and instantly the acknowledgement that he could be our old footballing team mate back in the mid 1990s, Shaban.

During warm down, I approached him for confirmation of his ID and true indeed my natural gift of remembering people in my life and strong ability to put the right name to the picture works again.
In fact Shaban had noticed my presence since the beginning and always thought my name was that of my buddy, TW whom he had close allegiance back in their Secondary School days.
TW would be thrilled that I managed to reunite him with yet another old classmate whom himself had not met for like 13-14 years now.
As we exchanged contact numbers and had a brief walk down the memory lane, we both agreed that money can never buy the great memories we once shared in our lives.

I do forsee a mini get together with my buddies, myself and Shaban for perhaps coffee soon as we relinquish the good old days of training at the old pitch, something our aged (and for some of us "bloated") bodies would cringe at the thought of.
Surely another wonderful jab of nostalgia for me...

Actually also spotted an old University friend in the midst of unfamiliar faces. In fact he just lived a block or tow away from me but we never had the opportunity to meet again since start of my working life.
He was an avid S League fan back in those days with season ticket to watch Sembawang Rangers, would be good to chat with him over my renewed interest in local football; but missed the opportunity when I choose to speak to Shaban instead.

Japanese word of the day: 認識 (Recognition) Surely is one of my rare talent to recognise people I had encountered in my life

Uncertain Times hit the Clique

2009-02-02T13:42:00.002+08:00

2nd February 2009, Monday

Mt. Asama at the prefecture of Gunma had erupted last evening, another meteorological hindrance that could jeopardize our trip in a week's time...yeah right...
If that crazy yen rate didn't stop us, nothing will....

The final piece of the trip preparation jigsaw was settled as we looked up Chiaki on Saturday to purchase the JR East pass.
We had intended to change the money but at 1.685, reluctance was still within me to budge... perhaps when the time draws ever so near, would I condescend to part my S$ to the Indian money changers...

After helping out La Tendo at the AFA 2008, I think the good people there wanted to give us a treat and could only jump on the occasion of the Lunar New Year to give the helpers a treat.
The main treat as it turned out was a karaoke session which of course by this juncture, I am jaded by the mandarin pop crooning that warrants our hard earn cash into it.
I went abit later than the others hoping to catch the gang just before dinner but was coaxed to attend a concert given by the usual entertainer, Vincent.

Over another nice vegetarian dinner which filled us to the brim, we talk about almost anything from Kaka's fallen transfer to Manchester City to who the hell are in Dragonball GT, Vincent's secret video watching behind Miyano's back and a little on the current economic climate.

Although it has yet to hit us directly but with a bulk of us in the semi conductor industry including my missus (Chan and YH are the others), they had already had the brunt of force annual leave-taking, pay-cuts and taking no-pay leaves... all the measures to at least ensure employment in a bleak market with decreasing demands.
Bryan's electronic industry still unscathed but the signs are ominous...let's hope not...

As for the rest of us in the government-linked sector, things still look pretty stable for the upcoming year with perhaps try to curb the audacity to wish for handsome wage increment or at least a decent bonus although we can almost guarantee that Karen's teaching line will be pretty sound.

As for retailing itself, considering La Tendo's goods are generally luxury collectibles surely will be one of the first thing ailing middle class collectors with a shruken pay-check or pocket money would give up without any consideration.
The escalating yen rate is not helping matters and for the past few weeks I had been comparing prices with other retailers with my fellow collectors, as usual because it seem like our good friends had been over-charging people ($30 at one instance).
We had been very frugal with pre-orders these days with the likes of Chan even concentrating on what to collect...perhaps I should follow suit eventually...
I wonder the shop is badly shaken from the downturn but with the recruitment of another staff, it doesn't seems so...well all the best to them and most importantly a sound Year of the Ox for the gang career-wise and of course everyone is good health...

Japanese word of the day: 削減される(retrenched) Surely not a word anyone wants to hear this year

Incoming Bull Run

2009-01-28T15:49:00.004+08:00

28th January 2009, Wednesday

So the Lunar New Year came and gone...work resumes on this day but a truncated week should see us still buoyed in festivities mood surely....

The new year brings in what they call the "golden ox" but the wave of retrenchment in many sound companies like Caterpillar and Pfizer surely seems like the ox is trying to replace human in terms of employment...Ultimately we just had to slog like an ox to ensure we have a job to keep the money in by the end of the day.

The preparation of the New Year didn't started off on the right foot when yen rate as compared for Singapore dollars rose to unprecedented (or at least since I start noticing the rate because of traveling to my motherland) rate of 1.72!
While really setback on my plan of exchanging at 1.55 just weeks ago, it also resulted in my good friend over at La Tendo to increase their new stock according to the rate.
However that was not the sole excuse to jack the price of a set of prized item figurines (Part 1 out of 11) which I had my eyes on to collect for this year to $210 for mere 7 figurines...and each is barely as tall as my right thumb?!
I'm sure it was down to terrible assortment issue that the lads resorted to such exorbitant means but still I just couldn't help ranting about it...surely not worth to pay so much...money saved in such hard times for sure...

Pretty much the same old routine for the next few days just a change of schedule and scenery here and there....
Met up some relatives who we had not seen for a while now and I developed a sweet tooth over the course of the few days and now it seemed body was inflamed with the heatiness from all those New year delicacies.
Dialed "999" for the 1st time in my life to get the police to inspect a rampant stomping of the door of my Malay neighbors a level below us which woke the family at 12 midnight on the 1st day of the New year. Turned out it wasn't loan shark or a drunken man as we fear but our inconsiderate neighbors themselves as their grandpa with hearing impairment had padlocked the main door...don't they know of a technology called telephone?!
Got a ride on my brother-in-law's luxury toy, his BMW wagon which was surely a state of the art and comfort included....
Played some mahjong with the family when Lady Luck smiled on my old man and my missus who were just picking the game as of late...talk about beginners' luck...

The coming year by some almanac fortune-telling would be quite okay for those under the year of horse with our lucky color white (yes....white socks everyday). Need to curb on my temperament and seemingly I will meet my fated benefactor...let's hope so....

Meanwhile with the New Year gone, all I can look forward to now is the start of a new S League season and of course my trip to Japan in 2 weeks time....

Japanese word of the day: ウシ ~U-shi~ (Ox) Yah better not blow it off like a bull in the china shop this year

Hawaiian Affair at Goodwood

2009-01-19T13:46:00.002+08:00

19th January 2009, Monday

This year's Dinner and Dance theme was an "Hawaiian Affair" with strong reference (wonder did they paid the legal rights to Disney) to the 2002 animated feature, "Lilo & Stitch" with Hawaii as the backdrop of the story.

Unlike themes like Masquerade (unless I had visited Venice or Water 7) and Shanghai Night (not into oriental clothing) in the past years, this year theme allowed me to just dig out this really old Bossini Hawaiian shirt and complete with my favorite (and only decent pair) bermudas from Uniqlo 3 years ago and a pair of flip flops, I couldn't had wished for an easier time to dress up for a DnD.

The event was scheduled to start at 6, but my usual procrastination saw me sashaying to the ballroom of Goodwood Park Hotel by 7 with my colleague CH, whom I encountered while surviving the mad crowd in the Orchard MRT stationon a Friday evening.
With the complimentary garlands as well as the coconut drink on the table, the organizing committee surely went a great length to build the mood.

Our table were slowly occpied but only XY came earlier than us as the event kick started with a Stomp-like performance from the organizing committee which did got the crowd going.
Then there were the Hawaiian duo (who look suspiciously like Eastern European because of their features and accents) entertaining us with some Hawaiian dance and got some rather drunk staff up to play drums and learn some dance moves as well.
The generous "flesh" display was something to drool at, with the night's theme some ladies in the crowd were also dressed to the occasion the whole evening surely is a feast for the eyes especially the all-ladies table across us...
The event company this year were helmed by a rotund emcee who reminded me abit of the late MC King.
He was quick-witted but too many local anecdotes which can be running dry at times...

The mass games were quite fun...Your truly was the bane of my group, causing us to lose because of a wrong choice of apparel to wear during the relay.
One of our bosses, the Chinese one were thoroughly high with alcohol and didn't shy off from publicly taunting the opposition which was a great fun to watch...once again inclusive of the directors, it's good to see the fun-loving nature to these people who meant business most of the time during office hours.
Then there were the best dress competition which we saw a deputy director up for the awards for a 2nd year in a row, well at least he bothered to put in effort for the occasion.

The climax boils down to the lucky draw with a 42 inch Plasma TV the main kitty.
I had my eyes on the leg massager but in the end got a slow cooker....better than nothing you say?
Well it was quite a hassle transporting it from the hotel to the MRT station before calling the missus to pick me up.
In the end, the slow cooker was not much used for Mom nor anyone or put up for auction, yet it was a pity to throw away...perhaps must find time to donate it to Salvation Army or something.

A rather enjoyable DnD despite the lack of some personnel from the past and surely will be missed by more in the coming year...

Japanese word of the day: 海岸の衣類(Beachwear) I would veto for a Bali night next year followed by Caribbean or Maldives one in the future.

Sengoku VS Sangokushi

2009-01-13T15:50:00.005+08:00

13th January 2009, Tuesday

Men are bestiary creatures and the yearn to engage in wars had been testament of that point for thousand of years....
Lately the Israeli army had been displaying new tricks against the tacky Hamas militants at the Gaza strip which the entire world seek a ceasefire real soon.
Personally I am thoroughly anti-military, and if there are no wars, there might be no need of self defense thus no army..Yoohoo...but you and are know it'll never happen.

However I do like to watch military movies...not really for the large scaling killings or genocides but during such turbulent times, we tend to see extraordinary people risen to prominence, some even as martyr...

Over the weekend, I managed to whet my appetite for some romantic (not in terms of actual romance but more like spicing things up) take of some ancient history of both Japan and China.

First up, the new taiga dorama "Tenchijin" from NHK...
2008's "Atsuhime" was a huge success and saw the meteoric rise of main actress, Miyazaki Aoi. The tale which told the main patriarch who oversaw the bakumatsu and the end of the Tokugawa shogunate reign ended rather bleakly after the 50 episodes run with many main characters passing away at such tender ages...
Tenchijin brings us back to the Sengoku jidai closely associated to 2007's "Furinkazan". chronicalizing the story behind Naoe Kanetsugu, a loyal retainer serving 2 generations of the Uesugu damiyo, most notably Uesugu Kagekutsu who he was made to grow up with.
The opening scene was set at the familiar Osaka Castle (which we had been of course) when one of the great damiyo, Toyotomi Hideyoshi tried to woo Naoe who he had great admiration for to join his camp only to be rejected boldly as he pledged his allegiance to his donno, Kagekutsu despite the lure of wealth and even the threat of death.
Episode 1 mainly started with his youth as in the regular fashion of previous taiga doramas when he was forced at the age of 5 to assist Kanetsugu, himself only a few years older in grooming to become a competant sucessor to Uesugu Kenshin.
The 5 year old boy had a great performance and one surely felt for him to made to leave his parents at such tender age. but we all know this is the making of another great man.

Once again NHK managed to gather an ensemble cast to make this series a must watch. Great actors of various generations were selected to build a chemistry on screen perhaps for once in a lifetime opportunity.
Tsumabumi Satoshi, the other half (or ex) of Shibasaki Kou, who renowed for his acting ability since "Water Boys" and stepped into the lead role of Naoe comfortably.
The 2 Uesugi damiyos he served are heavyweights themselves. Abe Hiroshi was truly convincing as Kenshin while Kitamura Kazuki (of Akihabara@Deep and Yaoh) fame was a solemn Kanetsugu, the latter would be a crucial cast for most part of the series for sure.

Even within the first episodes you'll see many familiar faces from the doramas you had watched ut just can't link the name to, for example Naoe (or when he was young was known as Yoroku)'s borth mother was reprised by Tanaka Misako, who was a great actress as a mother in shows like "2nd Chance" and "Brother Beat".
Many top tier young idols were roped in for his series including Oguri Shun (no intro needed), Shirota Yu (Tezuka in Prince of Tennis, Rookies), Koizumi Kotaro (former PM son, Gokusen 3) and Tamayama Tetsuji (Brother Beat).
Surely such masculine series need some gentle feminine touch how about the likes of Tokiwa Takako (20th Century Boy, Beautiful Life), Fukuda Kyoko (To Heart, Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake), Aibu Saki (Zettai Kareshi, Triangle), Nagasawa Masami (Proposal Daisakusen, Last Friend) and Kimura Yoshino (Over Time, Perfect Love).

Such eye candies make a history lesson less sleep inducing for sure and of course very eager to see how these characters get out of the predicaments during war and rise into prominence...

IN the 1st episode, there was a mention of Zhuge Liang is the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper to Liu Bei's Big Dipper.
It truly was a surprised that they drew a referance to the Three Kingdom history of China which is coincidental that on Sunday I caught the 2nd part of the epic film "Red Cliff" (has it been half a year already?!).
It carries on where the story ended the last time with Cao Cao's troop managed to build in strength at the base across the red cliff with his naval forces looking decent despite they hailed from the inland North.
The weaker alliance between Sun Quan's army and Liu Bei's feeble force had to plot whatever means to fend off the arrogant Northerners who claimed to be carrying out the Court's orders.

For a good hour or so, there were more tactical on the paper with Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang working their wits which is perhaps the best part of this 2nd half.
The part with Sun Shang Xiang infiltrating the Cao's camp and report everything via doves to the allies was a bit far fetched; she even made friend with this blockhead who was promoted as a commander because he can kick soccer well (and he looks uncannily like that blockhead hubby of Faye Wong).
Of course, my most hated involvement of Lin Zhiling as Xiao Qiao was pretty okay in the end as she played to the main outcome of the war as John Woo had wanted it.

Overall the actual breakout of the battle was what people anticipated and with the help of CG, it didn't fared too badly at all.
I like the part when John Woo put the light that Cao Cao was a motivator to his army and he showed compassionate side when talking about his youngest offspring.
I also fancy the intensity the Sun Quan's army felt when their commander asked them about their will and not to fear death
The aftermath of the battle with the field covered with perished soldiers and Zhao Yun mentioned, "There was no winner, everyone lost" was quite relevant to the context of why there shouldn't be war but those with powers just don't give a hoot.

Think John Woo did the best he could with an endearing piece of literature based on an important part of Chinese history.
He jazzed things up which might led to some frowns from avid fans of the story...
Kudos to the cinematic exposure with the CG, the massive battle ensemble and the details of the costume, backdrop and weaponry, but I really don't think this is a classic...

Anyway still good to catch up abit on how people of great importance of the past rose to the occasion when situation requires them....

Japanese word of the day: 戦士 ~sen-shi~(Warrior) Who is your favorite actor to be a notable warrior of the past? I would think Abe Hiroshi more than Tony Leung

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

2009-01-07T15:44:00.003+08:00

7th January 2009, Wednesday

Over the course of the last week as the year draws to an end, you can see plenty of award show or year-end or countdown gig in Japan.
The line-up of artists generally remained the same...from the usual A list to those with a good performance or breakthrough act for the year.
In 2008, there was an 8 year old girl Ohashi Nozomi and 2 60 something uncles Fujioka Fujimaki who broke into the scene circa July 2008..the song "Gake no Ue no Ponyo", the theme song of the latest Studio Ghibli theatrical production of the same name.

Since conceptualized in 2006, grand master Miyazaki Hayao and his lads from Studio Ghibli had been back to the drawing board for yet another comeback after his son's failed project "Gedo Senki (Tales of the Earthsea)".
A story which Miyazaki sensei came out with when staying with a friend at Tomonomura and took him 170,000 hand-drawndrawings to make.
It was perhaps the movie with the biggest box office netting in Japan but then no Studio Ghibli productions fare too badly (yes even Gedo); everyone knows the excellent track records for sure.

Here in Singapore, there are a bunch of rabid Studio Ghibli fans perhaps me, my wife and my La Tendo chums could be part of that demographic group.
On Saturday, much appreciation from Bryan and Yanhui who gave us a movie treat for the birthday gifts we bought them; the timing however was near midnight when we took like one of the last train to town which was really an experience.

Despite the show time, the theater was all packed with many local fans alike to discover the magic of the sea creature known as Ponyo.
101 minutes later many of us were bought by the simplicity Studio Ghibli had delivered with Miyazaki's beautiful visual extravaganza.
The story which resembles Little Mermaid's wish to be a human was very well written without any beating round the bush.
The typical environmental message was strongly heard when the seabed at the opening scenes were polluted by human activities while the former human father of Ponyo, Fujimoto plotting a revenge on the human race.
Ponyo is an infectious little sea pixie who resembles Mei from "Tonari no Totoro" and watching her all drained and exhausted from using her powers, one just can't stop giggling and for the missus, the eyelids getting as heavy as hers.
The tsunami thread mill for Ponyo as well as when she expands Sousuke's toy boat are just scenes to behold.
The old world seas creatures which appear after the flood also revealed the amount of research done and surely up the alley of those aqua-enthusiasts.
The couple beside us were having a great time chatting about the storyline but ourselves as well as Vincent and Miyano at the other side too enjoyed so much we couldn't stop chatting about it.

The nice flow of the storyline was well complimented by the enchanting music by Miyazaki's old chum, Joe Hisaishi who also written the theme song of the movie as mentioned and seen below:

Personally I prefer this over "Howl's Moving Castle" but "Laputa- Castle in the Sky" is still my all time favorite Ghibli movie... I know Miyazaki-san is nearing seventy but I do hope for more quality stuff from him in the future

Japanese word of the day: 崖 ~ga-ke~ (Cliff) There's a scene of flashing signaling between Sousuke and his father at sea which reminds me of my navy days

2009...what will it bring?

2009-01-05T16:13:00.002+08:00

5th January 2009, Monday

After a good fortnight of leisure time at the comfort of home, staying up playing Football Manager till the wee hours and slept till noon, it's back to waking up at 6 in the morning, 5 days week at work doing routine stuff, mad rushing for public transport and fought valiant among the dark force of Unruk Hai on the platform...hey that pays for my livelihood, so no qualms...just slowly need to get the groove back...

I knew I had problem falling back to sleep at 12 midnight so to have ample rest the next day, but I didn't anticipate a bout of insomnia which at this point as I am typing this, I'm amazed that my eye lids managed to be kept open.

2009 at work seemed to be very much like the latter quarter of 2008 with projects piling up and datelines to meet as my team trying to appease all the bosses and collaborators.
I still see Shitty Green but not for long as he would be residing in Boston for almost half of his time...It is still sketchy who will take over...But the prospect of anything good looks bleak (appraisal, bonus, promotion et al) but at this climate, I'm just glad to have my job and I'm willing to pledge my allegiance for a long term any day.
The annual dinner and dance will be round the corner as well; great time to interact with our direct colleagues...well surely not as fun without BY's persistant worries about who to sit and what not, but still mandatory to show my presence somehow.

Back to work also means back to working out which I really need as for the past 2 weeks of lack of boisterous physical activities, I'm starting to feel my age...Stepping on the threadmill today, my stamina had decimated to nothing, but I have faith I can build it up again.
IPT is just a week away to...just want to get done with it as well as another daunting trip to Kao Hsiung and I don't want to hear no more from the forces for the rest of the year.

Chinese New Year at the tail end of this month, when we bearly welcome the new year...while mood is not there once again but for the likes of our folks, we just had treat it seriously...
Perhaps another tour of the households of the La Tendo clique is something to look forward to...surely won't be a long weekend (from Saturday to Tuesday) to savor

The new year brings new footballing extravaganza..in the local flavor...
After the despondent loss to Vietnam in the AFF Suzki Cup semi finals, the Lions now have a daunting task to qualify for the Asian Cup with the mighty Iran as well as Jordan and Thailand awaiting to skewer us...but we will hold the believe we can conquor them all.
S League begins in early March, and things are buzzing at Hougang Stadium for our beloved Sengkang recently...sure positive vibes to keep us so excited...

Then there is the Japan trip which is very much conceptualized and waiting to be delivered...
We are hoping for an amazing free fall of yen rate for the next few weeks now...*crossing our fingers*

All in all, 2009 remains uncertain times...I'm not too optimistic neither do I have ground to be pessimistic...Just hope I would stay off any radar of unwanted and tacky affairs and lead my comfy life as I want to....

Japanese word of the day: 好まない(reluctant) Reluctance to come back to work reuslt in insomnia..sure is scary

No Expectation for the New Year

2008-12-31T09:12:00.003+08:00

31st December 2008, Wednesday

So we came to the final day of 2008...seriously 2008 doesn't feel like a complete year to me, more of like a few months which juxtaposition 2007 & 2009, well we'll see if 2009 itself feels like a year in 365 days...

On the macro, 2008 saw a new American president and more importantly the historical first black president to be elected.
In this time and age, the color of our skin as well as gender has reach a level of equality yet somehow there are still classes between the wealthy and the poor which increased exponentially with the financial turmoil.
The Bush regime left the States as well as the rest of the world in major debt and the subprime situation had caused such a tsunami experts were saying it will take the latter part of 2010 to see us back to the good days....so plenty to be pessimistic about 2009.
Though my sector had been given reassurance from the government, we can never rest on our laurels could we...to cut cost , the HQ might come out with drastic measures, so I better prepare for the worst.
As for now the employment status of me, the missus as well as the rest of the family remains status quo, and I hope it will stay so come the new year.

There are been alot of chaos in recent months for our fellow Asian nation and our attention had always been with our Japanese cousins.
Aside for the incredible hike in the yen rate, everything seems fine over there, though not as rosy as the new Prime Minister Aso had wanted it to be.
In Taiwan Ma Ying Jeou toppled the Green power while the out-going president Chen Shui bian is now facing the wrath of his corruption behind bars.
In Thailand we saw 3 PMs taking the seat of Thaksin who went from owner of Manchester City to a seeker of foreign asylum.

In local aspect, 2008 gave us plenty of excitement with our 1st silver medals from the Olympics as well as the inaugural F1 night race which received plenty of accolades.
Our Lions had a good showing in the 1st ever 3rd Qualifying round of the World Cup but sorely missed our 3rd Asean Cup.
We saw increase in price of public transport, telephone bills, electrical bills due to the erratic price of crude oil while COE dropped to the unheard of level of $1 for below 1600CC vehicles (while my missus' interest in owning our own car was not subjected to changes in COE of course).
Mas Selamat was still not to be found while Venerable Mingyi followed the footsteps of T T Durai.

In sports, Man Utd did the double while Spain got alot of reprieve with a spectacular year with the Euro 2008 victory, Nadal winning many Grand Slams and their cyclists doing well on Tour de France.
Michael Phelps won unprecedented 8 golds in the Olympics while Usain Bolt is really a bolt of lightning on the tracks.
Lewis Hamilton just barely beat Felipe Massa in F1 while Boston Celtic claimed the NBA title but not for long.
Heath Ledger joined the likes of Paul Newman & Bernie Mac in the obituary this year but The Dark Knight took the cinema by storm.
While Mariah got married again and Madonna got divorced, Britney made a comeback well so did Boyzone...
In the Asian scene, Lydia Sum would be missed but not really will Edison Chen who is now the unofficial hero to many testosterone-driven guys.
A pretty good year for Japanese movie scene with Studio Ghibli's "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" and "Hana Yori Dango F" drawing big crowd to the cinema while Taiga dorama, Atsuhime once again drew the younger demographic to watch the yawn-inducing (not to yours truly) history lessons.
Tetsuya Komuro got arrested for swindling while Koda Kumi got into trouble over some quick words which offend the feminists.
People are still wondering if SMAP would still be a group come 2009 while their predecessors could jolly well be Arashi who had a great 2008 with many chart topping hits including the number hit on the year end Oricon chart.

On the domestic front, I bought Playstaion 3, a new iPod, a new CPU, a new home theater system, a really dear Shure earphones a new mobile and won an iPod shuffle while the missus topped the IT spending with a new laptop.
It also spelt a year of bad luck we had with our gadgets which is well documented.
Not to be outdone, my old man got a new LCD TV for the living room which also saw the previous CRT one got burnt to non-existent.

My parents enjoyed many trip to Genting as well as a short escapade to Hainandao while the missus enjoyed none for the year as she looked at me begrudginly for my 4 days stint to Japan for the Wonder Festival in February.
In April I went Kao-hsiung again for ICT and hope to not see the gloomy southern Taiwan pcity but seems like the Navy just wouldn't let me go for the new year again.

At work, the likes of BY and my French supervisor left for greener pastures while I was changed my work scope after the 1st quarter which see me working in sync with His Beautiness, yes he is still around.
Shitty Green became slightly more tolerable but he would not be around much for the new year.
While my previous employers saw major axing of lab and staff who many jumped ship over here, I look forward to my 7th year of employment (riciculously long in Singapore standard) in 2009, seemingly rather contended with my wage package, benefits and even my designation.
One of the main attraction at work, the gym is rumored to be closed in the future and I am crossing my fingers it would not be realized...I don't want to be lerthagic at work again.

Though we had not meet up as much due to the distance required to traveled to the new shop at Kallang, the La Tendo clique is still as closely knitted as ever with several new inductions, hope for more in 2009.
Had alot more of good times with my buddies especially ranting about movies, TV shows and local soccer with Foo while moaning at our luck with supporting Sengkang Punggol.
For most of 2008, I had been hounding CS to fix my PC but he was truly glad I join the PS3 community which see an exponential growth this year with the likes of Foo and Ferris being "baptised" into the knighthood as well.
As for TW, he pop the question to his lass somewhere in October or November but it took him a trip to San Diego to have the epiphany about getting hitch.
It's been a while since I last saw the likes of Selina and Cheryl but both seems well with their respective hubbies and their new homes.
Lastly lost much contacts with my University friends though the occasional meet-up on wedding banquets, same for friends from the Secondary schools.
Overall I had grew to be much more a hermit if I was a major one previously in the year of 2008...sad but true

While most of the spending had been on IT products, I had tried to curb spending on my hobby which see the reduction for figurines channeled to perhaps console games as well as my new found love for amazon and their great offers in DVDs.
Had not wander into any major investments though my current CPF ones are giving headaches as the government change some ruling which embargo transfer of funds unless a minimum of 20K is met in each acocunt.
As I felt most of 2008 just zooms past me without a squeak, my time might not had spent as useful as I hope them to be; then again no point remorsing over loss time...perhaps 2009 will see me making better use of whatever time I have.
Health wise, being pretty fit for the past year which is a blessing but there were several niggling issues which I hope will not make a return in the new year.

Finally marriage... Over the past month, my lack of basic husbandry had been exposed time and again. And the missus' grumble about me seems creditable.
I have to be one of the worst husband of all time but I am really glad my wife tolerate with my nonsense all these while.
I know I have to improve or I might lose someone so dear to me like her...Let's hope 2009 will be a year for me to change, though I still cannot change my personality to suit the company of people who I felt to be wasting my time.
The 2 major investment she had yearn so dearly, cars and babies had always been the first agendas I tried to dodge but not any longer I supposed.
However we can only focus our time and money on one and the latter seems more viable and it would bring much more life to everyone around us; once again my lack of preparation especially in the mental aspect is holding me back.
I am already such a lousy husband, what make you think I would be a a father...I shudder at the thought.

All in all, as much as I am not having great anticipation for the new year, I still have to face it dearly.
A rather hectic 1st 2 months awaits and I just want to get the ICT out of the way, hope everyone I love stays healthy and happy while I would gain more satisfaction in everything I do...
Seeya'll in 2009!

Japanese word of the day: 羞恥心~shu-chi-shin~ (Shame) The biggest surprise J Pop hit of the year and sometime I ask myself whether I have any Shuchishin