見せてやる！ミサちゃんの特別ポース！

This week Mabel decided to give a shot at making Japanese cuisine including sushi, unagi & sashimi. I suggested using Misa as the Guinea pig (haha forgive my pun), but as usual I'm the one to give the feedback and to generate some "constructive" comments.

Mabel places a great deal of emphasis and focus on the asthetics, and I'd give her 10 points for looks of her dishes. She's also more keen on taking pictures nowadays, and takes special effort to place her works where they look better. Good job, but do the dishes taste as good as they look?

I'd like to say so. Although it's her first time making the japanese dishes, she's already done her research before hand and knows exactly what are the ingredients required. For the making of the sushi, there was some trial and error going on before she finally got the portions correct. She can spend hours in the kitchen, and you've got to hand it to her for her determination and effort. Some of the maki were more well received by me than the others, for e.g. I prefered the ones with the chicken meat rather than the ones with the pork floss mixed in.

To end off the meal, I've been given a gigantic cup of teh tarik! We bought this instant teh tarik yesterday while shopping for groceries, and together with the new mug we got from IKEA it fits right into the design of our table and coasters. All in all, it was a fantastic meal although I think I ate too much maki yesterday..... Mabel's next project: other Japanese cuisine such as fried tempura and oyako don.

As this week's entry title suggests, we've lined up a short Misa misa-chan special this week. Misa's grown quite a fair bit after around 1 month with us, and she's very obedient although a little shy whenenver there are visitors or when we try to take her out for walks. When ever she's out of her cage, she seems very attentive to her surroundings, and don't dare to move around much even when we leave her unattended. And she lets anyone pet her, and doesn't try to escape unless you're handling her wrongly. More pictures of Misa-chan to come, and in the mean time here's this week's special clip:

We went to IKEA yesterday, and bought quite a handful of stuff, from our bedroom clock to even a new bowl for Misa-chan. Also got 2 big cushions so that we can slack around the living room even more. We also dropped by Giant for the very first time, and bought the ingredients required for the Japanese cuisines.

We watched the movie "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" on Friday night. I thought that it was a pretty good movie, but like many other super hero films you don't need to think too much of the plot or wonder too much about character development. But unlike Spider-Man 3, there were no major complaints from the fans this time. Personally, just 2 points from me I'd voice out. 1st, I was hoping that Galactus would make an appearance, but he was nothing more than a swirl around the Earth. Secondly, I hated that Johnny Storm was able to absorb all the powers of the other members, making him strong enough to defeat Cosmic Doom. Not very convincing and seemed more like a plot hole.

For the positive notes, I enjoyed the flow of the movie. There weren't any overly dramatic parts (cough *Mary Jane & Pete* cough), and the movie kept the viewers entertained thoughout. The CG was very one done, particulary for the Silver Surfer. Too bad we didn't get a good shot of Jessica Alba after she burnt off all her clothes. :)

I've decided to dedicate a section of each week's entry to showcase some of the Jpop songs I'm listening to currently. I'll try my best to show the PV here as well, and most of these charts can be found off the weekly Oricon (オリコン) top 30 charts too. This week I'll feature 2 songs I've been playing over and over again in my car. First, "Boys & Girls" from LM.C:

Secondly, "Howling" from Abingdon Boys School. This song is also used as the Op theme for the anime currently showing in Japan called "Darker than Black" (黒の契約者). Both songs are mainly pop, but also a little of rock spliced in. Enjoy!

That's it for this entry. I know that the polls are a little dated, but I'm not very sure what other questions I can use as a poll. So if you have any ideas or suggestions, do leave a note in the shout out box. I also need more ideas on how to feature Misa-chan into the weekly updates. I'm thinking of filming down her bathing process so that may come in the future. Until next week, ja~

父の日に美味しい食べ物をやって見ました！

An update after a pretty eventful weekend! We celebrated Father's day by going for the famous Beach Road big prawn noodles. Parking the car was a pain, but we eventually got a lot by the main road. Luckily we found a space for my whole family pretty fast, and the order queue wasn't too long although the shop seemed packed. Good food is worth waiting for I guess.....

The noodles didn't come cheap. They came in orders of $5, $8 and $10. We ordered our shares, and with 5 people (my parents, sister and of course Mabel), the total cost amounted to around $50, with some other side dishes and drinks. It was a little on the expensive side, but the prawns were really huge and the noodles were pretty good too. All in all, it was a fantastic meal and Mabel's already planning for a second trip.

Our friends came over for dinner on Saturday, because Haiquan and his girl friend Kai Ling just came back from the States and have never come to our house before. They got us dinner from Serangoon Gardens Chomp Chomp, and the dinner spread was a sight to behold.

We spent most of the time either playing games on our PSPs (the guys) or talking about plans for the upcoming Japan trip during the end of the year (the girls). Misa was also the talk of the town for a while, and she was fast gaining popularity as everyone wanted to hold her. She's hot I tell ya.

More on Misa-chan: I've decided that we name her Misa Misa! The poll results: Total of 98 votes, with Misa Misa getting 65 votes and Xiao Bai getting 33! Although I've noted that some of the voters voted multiple times, with 1 guy/gal supporting Xiao Bai and another voting for Misa, the results are final. Even Mabel calls her Misa nowadays. Misa's getting plump these days due to her daily dose of good food and vitamins. I gave her a bath not too long ago, and she looks too cute, being wet and enjoying her hair treatment with the hair dryer. Will try to video it down and post it up after her next bath.

My Mum gave me 2 small SD figurines of Ultraman today. She got them by chance in the toy stores in the market, and of course, knowing that I've got a small collection of Ultraman and Kamen Rider figures she got me these to add to my growing collection. They look awesome and will be a treasured part of my collection.

My sister came back from Tokyo not too long ago and got for us some Japanese snacks as well as these gifts. Mabel's snacking away at the preserved clams as I write this entry, and she's already decided on what to buy during our next trip to Ameyoko, when we visit Tokyo again.

It seems that a new Kamen Rider movie is in the works. Titled "Kamen Rider: The Next", it's a direct sequel to "Kamen Rider: The First". Being the next installment, a new rider has entered the fray. This time it's Kamen Rider V3, and like the first movie which based the design and story on the very first 2 riders, a new suit has been designed, and it looks kickass. Will post more pictures of the movie as I find them.

On the topic of new suits, Batman has just got a new one too. From his new movie "The Dark Knight", which is the sequel to "Batman Begins", he will be getting a new suit. The Batsuit was modified, with new stretchy rubber lines helping bind the costume to Christian Bale, and suggesting sophisticated new technology. It is made of 200 individual pieces of rubber, fiberglass, and nylon. The new cowl was modelled after a motorcycle helmet and separated from the neck piece, allowing Bale to swivel his head. The gauntlets had their razors made retractable and able to be fired. Plot for the new movie: Batman, with the help of Lieutenant James Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, is dismantling the remaining criminal organizations that plague Gotham City. He and his allies soon find themselves the target of the machinations of a mysterious criminal mastermind, known only as The Joker. Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins, continues as the director of the sequel, which stars Christian Bale again as Batman and Heath Ledger opposite Bale as the Joker. The Dark Knight has a tentative release date of July 18, 2008 in the United States.

Plot: High-school student Sam Witwicky buys his first car, who is actually the Autobot Bumblebee. Bumblebee defends Sam and his girlfriend Mikaela Banes from the Decepticon Barricade, before the other Autobots arrive on Earth. They are searching for the Allspark, and the war on Earth heats up as the Decepticons attack a United States military base in Qatar. Sam and Mikaela are taken by the top-secret agency Sector 7 to help stop the Decepticons, but when they learn the agency also intends to destroy the Autobots, they formulate their own plan to save the world. It seems that Singapore is getting an earlier release date than the US, so you can bet I'll be making my reservations soon....

My friend Mervyn passed me this link a few days ago, and it's got me laughing my ass off. It's a clip of an old indian movie, and apparantly it's a rip off from Michael Jackson's Thriller MTV. The best thing about this clip is that some genius added in English subtitles based on what the indian song's lyrics sound like. Check out this clip! No offence to Bollywood fans though...

Now for the Chinese version!

On more funny clips with edited subtitles, here is a new version of the Death Note second OP. Hillarious if you've been watching the Death Note anime or like the song "What's Up People" by Maximum The Hormone.

More Death Note parody, here with a new twist!

I've designed and printed out on paper the above image and pasted it on the rear windscreen of my car. I've been procrastinating about getting my decal done cause I've been trying to design one for the side of my car but nothing good as come up. Still, the paper version I've pasted in my car looks good, and I'll definately want a decal so I can make it clearer and stick it outside my windscreen instead of inside the car. For the unenlightened, the text means "Walking the path of Heaven, the man who will rule over everything." It's the catch phrase from the Kamen Rider Kabuto series. That's all for this update. Ja!

僕は見ているの特撮、アニメ、ドラマ番組！

This week's update will highlight all the shows that I'm currently "chasing". Not a lot, but enough to keep me entertained. Most of them are either tokusatsu or anime shows, so you're able to either view through youtube or download them. For me, I've been spoilt by having my own space now, so I only watch my shows through my 42' HD TV. Muahaha! *damn those electricity bills*

I'll start of with the only non Toku/anime show:

The recently concluded season 1 of Heroes just left me with more questions and more anticipation for season 2, titled Generations. Hiro is easily my favourite character in the show, not just for his geekiness or otaku like nature. The teaser for season 2 leaves him stranded back in ancient Japan, so I guess more or less the next season is going to focus on him. Next up, the anime shows:

Just a few more episodes before I complete the series! The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu) is a great series, and it's ending sequence has spawned countless spoofs and live dances that it takes a few hours to finish watching on youtube. Great stuff, and some of the spoofs on the ending sequence really makes you laugh out loud, either at how ridiculous it is or how much time some people have.

Still watching DeathNote, although some of the hype has been taken over by a new anime, which I will highlight below. Still an outstanding series, but I really miss L. Some how his successors don't appeal as much, and maybe because I've been reading up on the manga the anime doesn't seem that exciting these days.

I still download the weekly Naruto: Shipuuden episodes, but I don't really watch them anymore. The pacing of the episodes is really really slow, and I'd rather read the manga, which I have been reading in a weekly manner. I might watch a few episodes at one go if I ever run out of stuff to watch.

Bleach is even worse. As much as I like the series, the anime transition leaves much to be desired. I'm much better off waiting for the manga, which unlike Naruto I don't really download, but wait for the official manga from the stores.

Another good show is Kekkashi. My uncle introduced this show to me, and I've been following it since a few months back. It's about demons and such, with a good dosage of comedy splashed in. I've noticed that the manga is selling in a lot of book stores, but I'd rather watch the anime for this particular series.

Been getting this series known as Darker than Black. Only watched up to 3 episodes, so can't comment much. Looks promising, but I've got other shows to finish in the meantime.

Another show which seems promising is Hayate the Combat Butler. I've downloaded this because I hear that it features tons of parodies from other animes and video games, and from the 6 episodes I've watched so far they're correct. There's spoofs of Gundam, Inuyasha, Conan the Dectective, Dragonball, and even Metal Gear Solid. Will try and catch up to the current episode soon. Not too big a fan of the character designs though. Too moe for my likes. :(

Now, the series which has really captivated me and has all my attention. Claymore. It's a really rockin' fantastic series, and I can't express how awesome this series is through words. 5 stars in my records, and I highly recommend this series to anyone who reads this. If you like a series with a good plot together with demons in a fantasy world, this is the perfect series. Trust me and download this now. Episode 1 was already good enough to get me hooked.

On to the tokusatsu shows. 1st is of course this year's Kamen Rider show, Kamen Rider Den-O. It's more of a comedy series compared to the previous few seasons of Kamen Rider. I wasn't really into the rider designs, but kinda accepted them now. Generally a good show, and let's hope it doesn't fall apart like last year's Kabuto.

Last but definately not least, this year's super sentai series: Jyuken Sentai Gekirangers. I've mentioned that I wasn't into Sentai, but this show proves other wise. If I carry on and finish watching this series, it will be the only sentai series I've ever completed watching. I've only seen a few episodes here and there of recent years of sentai, and I didn't really like much due to it's pretty weak plots. But this series with the whole animal and martial arts combo is really entertaining, and I like the 2 female leads too... heh.

That's all for this special update. Check back soon!

吃驚した！妻のｘｘ歳誕生日パーテ！

We celebrated Mabel's xxth birthday this weekend by having a surprise party for her at our place. At around 11pm, our friends gathering near our place and prepared to raid our place with party poppers and balloons. And of course, Mabel got the surprise of her lifetime when they came over and popped confetti all over her. She was so overjoyed that she instantly took off to make herself more "presentable" to our guests.

Although her birthday falls on the public holiday that is Vesak day, most of her friends at work already celebrated it on the night before by going out for dinner. The actual celebrations didn't just begin the day before her birthday. Even during the lunch time her colleagues at work already planned a few surprises for her, including having a secret admirer sending her a birthday cake. She even called me to check, and at first I thought that my surprise party plan had been exposed, but luckily I managed to cover my tracks pretty well and didn't give myself away when she asked whether I had ordered any cakes.

Well, as a matter of fact, I did. I used an image of us and ordered a custom cake to be sent to William and Huiming's place, so that they can bring it over during the night. I almost thought that she found out through my credit card transactions or something, but luckily it was just her colleagues playing a prank on her.

I ordered around $50 worth of McDonald's food that night, as I was afraid of starving my guests. As for entertainment, I bought 2 new DVDs just in case we didn't have much to do. But luckily, one of the games I thought of was well received and we managed to play until the leftover food was just for punishment, after we had exhausted our supplies of drinks which the loser had to drink. The game we placed was based on bluff, and we had the idea from the Taiwanese variety shows. We splitted up into 3 teams and the objective is to catch teams which you think are bluffing based on a total of 12 dices. It was a fun game, and even better seeing each other trying to swallow nuggets and drumsticks.

On the actual day of Mabel's birthday, we headed over to Vivo city with some friends. It was a big place, but nothing to facinating. Had our dinner at one of the chinese restaurants there, and the dinner was a well deserved one after spending hours on our feet waiting for the girls to finish shopping for their cosmetics.

On the H!P and Morning Musume front, more sad and shocking news. Fujimoto Miki (藤本美貴)(pictured left with Matsuura Aya (松浦亜弥)on the left), current leader after Yoshizawa Hitomi's (吉澤ひとみ) graduation last month, has quit the popular girl group. The reason being the fact that she and Tomoharu Shoji have been dating has been revealed by the tabloid magazine Friday. According to Miki, she felt her action went against her role as the leader of the group. Therefore she made the request to resign from MM and UFA has accepted her decision. Miki said, "I've done something that violated the MM code and I feel deeply responsible. Effective immediately, MM will be led by Ai Takahashi and Risa Niigaki as the sub leader.

Friday magazine reveals news of the two leaving a sauna, and having a 3-day-long date. Both are seen entering Shouji's 4WD car, going for a 2-hour-long dinner to a Japanese-style dining bar, then stopping at Miki's apartment and leaving in less than one hour for a sauna salon. Just after midnight, they are seen going back to Shouji's apartment. It's sad that being a celebrity means paparazzi catching you with a date. And in the eyes of the Japanese, this is a no-go as the MM girls are portrayed as idols for the younger generation in Japan. This is the 2nd leader that MM have lost in recent years due to scandalous reports concerning boyfriends. The other was Yaguchi Mari.

"To all my fans and supporters. I, as leader of Morning Musume, have the role of a guide to the other members. I've violated one of the promises I made as a member of Morning Musume, and I feel a heavy responsibility. I'm very sorry for all the trouble I've caused with my actions. In this way, I cant continue on as leader, and I took it upon myself to resign from Morning Musume. I feel deeply apologetic towards the fans that have supported me up to now. I'm really sorry. I'd ask you to please support "Fujimoto Miki" in the future. " It's sad for all MM and Mikitty fans, but at least she's just leaving MM and not H!P. So, most probably she'll still be part of GAM together with Ayaya, since their album was just released very recently.

Moving on with happier news, Viyuden (美勇伝) has just released their new single called Koisuru Angel Heart (恋するエンジェルハート). It's a very lively song and I'm playing it most of the time in my car. Too bad I still don't really like their over sexy image, as shown in the PV they try a little too hard to have sex appeal, and it's a little bit over the top in my opinion. Rika and gang should just remain on the innocent but cute image profiles. Check out the PV here:

I've uploaded a clip from this week's episode of Kamen Rider Den-O. The most funny part of the show is how Momotaros loses his will to fight, and when called upon by Ryoutaro to take over his body, he does so with a cannot-care-less attitude. Even his famous line and pose for "Ore, Sanjyou!" is done in a half assed manner. Absoultely hillarious if you compare it to his previous styles. Another funny part is how he skips part 4 of his hissatsu waza (sure kill technique), and says it's great enough to skip a number. Check it out!
Momotaro's normal henshin pose + "ore sanjyou"

His half hearted pose + "ore sanjyou"

I've also uploaded a small clip from this week's Jyuuken Sentai Gekirangers. Story goes of how Jan (Geki Red) and Retsu (Geki Blue) becomes a kid and a baby respectively after having their kandou stolen. Ran (Geki Yellow) takes over as Ran Mama and tries to get the 2 back to their original forms. The clip shows Jan, still a kid, henshins into Geki Red and saves Ran. First time we get to see a kid in a ranger suit, and it's damn cute in a SD sort of way.

That's yet another week's posting. Been procrastinating about updating this week, even though I've got quite a few pictures. And yeah last I checked Misa's still leading the polls in the "Name our pet" polls. Keep those votes coming for those who's yet to vote. Till next week (again), ja!