明けましておめでとう！2008もお願いします！

It's a little late to say Merry Christmas at the time of this post, but at least I can still wish you a happy new year. Wishing you a fantastic 2008 starting from day 1 tomorrow! Me and Mabel organised a 'mini' christmas party at our place last week. Well, it was supposed to be mini but in the end we counted and had over 20 guests, whom we must give thanks to for the wonderful time. We had a gift exchange session by the christmas tree, and it was fun trying to guess what our lucky pick was, and then realising that size doesn't really matter in this case. Again, thanks to those who came, and made this Christmas a memorable one.

Mabel's a really cheeky wife to have. Having promised each other not to buy any gifts, she bought me this Spider-man 3 bust figure, and gave it to me at the stroke of midnight. I told her once that I really liked this figure, so she got it for me secretly. I didn't plan anything for her because I was obedient. Haha but at least I gave her a surprise earlier that week, by bringing back the christmas tree and setting it up at home before going to pick her up from work. When she opened the door and saw the tree she thought a burglar had entered our house. Yup, one that leaves behind a christmas tree and doesn't steal anything else. :p

During the holidays that followed, we went around shopping in town. I got myself a couple of books on separate trips, just to make sure that I got something to work out my new year resolutions. The books included a couple of JLPT level 2 preparation material, and also a "thicker than your yellow pages" type of book on Photoshop CS3. Although I work a lot on PS, there are still a lot of things left unexplored, and I gathered that it was time to go a step further and see what I can do with these new features taught in the book.

Haven't been taking any photos of Misa and Kiki recently, so decided to give them a shot in this entry. Both of them have grown quite a fair bit, especially Kiki, who's the same size as Misa now. Kiki's the noisy one, making noises whenever we open the fridge or walk pass the cage. Misa's still the same, cute but lacking in the emotion department. She can stare at you for hours and not take a single step, even when you leave her in the open for hours.....

The official site for the new Tokusatsu shows of 2008 are up, although there's nothing much inside right now. Teasers have also been broadcasted on Japanese TV, and are readily available on youtube. Check out the teaser below, which I have embedded for your viewing convenience. The advertising slogan for the series is "Wake up! Release the chains of destiny." (Wake up! 宿命(さだめ)の鎖を解き放て). Wataru Kurenai (紅 渡), a young man who likes the violin, is destined from birth to become Kamen Rider Kiva to fight the Fangire (ファンガイア) that feed off of humans' lifeforce and are the very race his mother came from. Wataru is assisted by a creature called Kivat-bat the 3rd (キバットバットⅢ世) who attaches to the Kivat Belt (キバットベルト) to allow his human partner to transform. Kiva accesses his arsenal through whistles on his belt called Fuestles (フエッスル).

The Wake Up Fuestle (ウエイクアップフエッスル) opens up the chains on his right leg so Kiva can use his Darkness Moon Break (ダークネスムーンブレイク) attack. Kiva has five other Fuestles, but the names are not currently known. Kiva's motorcycle is named the Machine Kiver (マシンキバー) and his base of operations/mecha is called Castle Dran (キャッスルドラン).

The Go-onger team is composed of Go-on Red (ゴーオンレッド), Go-on Blue (ゴーオンブルー), and Go-on Yellow (ゴーオンイエロー). Go-on Green (ゴーオングリーン) and Go-on Black (ゴーオンブラック) support the main team. The Go-ongers' technology revolves around the Engine Souls (炎神ソウル), sentient chip-like items that imbue power into the items that the Go-ongers employ. When not in use, they are kept in the Engine Soul Holster (炎神ソウルホルスター). The motif of this series is animals and the motor industry. I don't really see myself following this series as nothing known from the series interests me at all right now. We'll have to see how it goes, and having said that Gekiranger is the only sentai show I've seen, and really enjoyed.

AKB48 is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group produced by Akimoto Yasushi. AKB48 currently consists of 48 members divided into three teams: Team A, Team K and Team B. Each group contains 16 members. The group has their own theatre in Akihabara where they perform once every weekday. A much bigger group than any H!P act such as Morning Musume, I've been listening to one of their single called "Bingo". Check it out here:

Local company 77 Star is producing an anime short film “1,000 Stars and Squalls” 「千の星とスコール」, and is now recruiting production staff. The production staff recruitment opens on 28 Dec. Priority will go to experienced design students that attends 77 Star’s 6-month course in animation production. This course is meant for those with prior experience in design, and the course is at S$288 per month]. Students that attended the 12 months course [S$350 per month] may apply as a part-timer positions. The animation section of 77 Star productions is looking for 30 people to staff the Animation Section, and another 10 people for the Voice Acting section. This project marks the first locally produced anime short film, right here in Singapore. Produced in collaboration with Yoyogi Animation School (代々木アニメーション学院)in Japan,77 Star aims achieve recognition and awareness for the local anime industry in Singapore. Here’s a sypnosis of the story.

Year 2008, Summer…

I met her in the International Exchange Programme that was held in an university in Tokyo. Her name was Mai, an overseas student from a Singapore university who liked Japan very much. On a rainy day, I got to know her from a little incident.

As the summer ended, the time for her to return to Singapore had arrived. Before she returned, I couldn’t express my real feelings towards her…. After she had returned a month later, her letter came. On that letter, there was only one word written on it: ‘arigato’.

I noticed that the word had been rewritten again and again. I felt that something had been attracted deep inside my heart. ‘I have to express my feelings to Mai…’ Then, I decided to travel to Singapore. In order to meet Mai once more……

I'll be logging off soon, to meet a couple of friends for dinner and to catch a midnight show (yes, counting down in a theater....). Although I've read some extremely negative reviews for Aliens Vs Predator II: Requiem, I can't help it but to watch it and bitch about it later on. So, expect a review in the next update. I'm not saying it sucks (yet), but I'm not having my hopes pinned high. Well, happy new year to all reading this. Thanks and see ya. Ja!