誕生日おめでとう、メバールちゃん～

Nope, of course that's not our baby. That's Jia Le, baby son of our close friends Wee Lee & Kelly. They became proud parents last november, and I'd be as proud if my baby was as cute and clever as little Jia Le. Although he did gave his parents a little trouble at the dinner table, everybody was delighted at how his smiles and every other little movement.

The occasion? It's Mabel's birthday once more! Time seems to fly, expecially when youth seems increasingly precious nowadays. A few of our close friends gathered for a buffet dinner, and we were chomping away at countless plates of asian cuisine, and as much as our bellies count hold. Cheryl & Adrian's baby girl will be due pretty soon, hence the tummy (no we didn't eat THAT much). Hopefully we'll get to see their baby girl pretty soon, so all the best to parents-to-be Cheryl and Adrian. Surprisingly, a lot of our friends are also expecting their bundle of joy to arrive this year, so I'll probably be posting more baby pictures in the next few months. Certainly a fertile year where we expect little mice to run around the next year (for the unaware this is the year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac).

As for Mabel, she's just entered the 1st week of her 2nd Trimester, and things are looking much brighter for her right now. The nausea feeling is almost completely gone, and she can now enjoy her meals without the need to rush to the sink. Thank god, just as I was getting immune to clearing up the toilet and the sinks. The last visit to the doctor showed that the baby was growing fine, and to Mabel's slight dissapointment he mentioned that there is a 80% chance that the baby will be a girl. Well, Mabel prefers a boy, while I'm completely neutral. Both are as good, and health is the number 1 priority. Mabel's kinda accepted the fact, and refers the the baby as "ah girl" these days. We've even got a name ready, but I'll share it at another update. :P

I took some pictures of my collection for a forum recently. I uploaded the pics to my Facebook account, but I thought it would be good to add them for a blog posting as well. I've only took then out to clean once since I've moved in, and most probably cleaning will be an annual chore. I've been wanting to expand 2 more glass layers, but I guess that will have to wait. Picture on top shows my Bandai Vinvyl Soul of Tamashii Kamen Rider figures, and also the Den-O series RHS and Super Sentai series figures. There are roughly 4 rows of figures in each level, so behind the Go-Onger figures are 3 more rows of Gekiranger & Magiranger.

Here are the rest of the Kamen Rider RHS figures, from Kamen Rider Blade, Kamen Rider Hibiki, Kamen Rider Kabuto, and Kamen Rider Kiva. The front row is dominated by the candy toys and also the Kamen Rider SD Kids series. Bottom level consists of the Super Imaginative Chogokin series, mostly the figures from the Hibiki series. Also there are the Equip and Prop figures from Garo.

Last level consists of the bigger Bandai figures, from various Kamen Rider figures, and also Garo. The rest of the figures are the red rangers from all the Super Sentai series, which come from a set commemorating the 30th anniversary of Super Sentai. There are some random Spidey busts and Naruto/Bleach figures here too.

The next shelf consists of primarily Ultraman and Gundam models. First 2 levels show the Ultraman figures from the UHS, including other various candy toys and HD sets, and also the Ultimate Solid figures.

Next level also shows the remaining Ultraman figures, and the bigger figures as well. Next level shows my painted Gundam models, mostly the anime grade from the Seed series, and also a few Master Grade sets as well. All these were airbrushed by myself while I was very into painting, but it's been about 2 years since I last touched my air brush and compressor set.

Last level shows the other small anime and Gundam sets, mostly not air brushed because they were assembled before I got my airbrush kit. Includes some 1:60 kits from G Gundam, and some kits from Gundam Wing. These would be the first to go if I ever decided to clear away some to make more room.

Next, the area near the TV. Nothing really fancy, just some cute Ultraman stuff and more random stuff, including some softtoys and Ci Boy stuff. Also present is a resin figure of Yuna from FFX2.

Lastly, my current collection of the Kamen Rider Head Displays. More are definately on the way, so I'm thinking of how to create more space for them. I also store my DVDs and my PS2 games here, though I've barely touched them for months now.

Since Mabel's recovery from her 1st trimester sickness, I've finally gotten the chance to watch Ironman last weekend. I've been bugging for her to watch the show for weeks, and luckily we managed to catch a slot as the movie was going off the theaters soon. On the movie, I thought that it was fantastic. I've heard lots of good stuff for the movie, and it delivered in most aspects. I'm not going to write too much on the movie because it's a little dated now, so just some stuff which I thought was worthy of mentioning. First, the cast was fantastic. I loved Robert Downey Jr as Tony Clark. He did a great job and was convincing as a naive billionaire who thought that he was producing weapons for the betterment of his country. Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane was equally fantastic. His role was perfect for a origin movie, and set up the pieces for a final showdown although I wasn't quite convinced that he could manoeuvre the Iron Monger on his first try. The other cast members Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) and Terrence Howard (Col. James 'Rhodey' Rhodes) were pretty funny in their respective scenes, and I was absolutelydelighted when Rhodes looked at the MK II armour and said "Next time." I'm no big fan of Ironman, but I do know of War Machine and this was certainly a nod and reference to future Ironman movies, which have been confirmed by the way. All in all, I'm already looking forward to the DVD release. Here's a cool animation featuring Ironman, together with Spidey and Hulk. Check it out:

Moving on the other super hero movies on the way, I'll looking at The Dark Knight and also The Incredible Hulk, which are due in a few months time. The Dark Knight continues where Batman Begins left off, with Batman now confronting The Joker and perhaps to a lesser degree, Two Face. I thought the first movie was ok, with great chase scenes but too little fight scenes and everything was too dark and the camera work was a little untidy. Batman's gear and the technology he used was explained in a realistic manner, which was good. Hopefully, the sequel will be better and we can expect more of the tank and also more chase scenes. I prefer Marvel to DC, but Batman is one of the few DC characters I like so I'm definately watching this one in the theaters. Check out the trailer here:

I thought the Hulk movie from Lee Ang a few years ago was ok. Like Ironman, I like Hulk but have never been a fan who read all the comics, though I can say I know the background and origins of most popular Marvel Super heroes. The movie was a little slow (as expected from Lee), and wasn't terribly exciting. This time round, the movie promises to deliever the Hulk in an all new action packed movie, and they are starting fresh from the beginning, with another origin movie. From the trailers, the Hulk looks really menacing this time, and much much darker than the first movie. I don't really see Edward Norton as a Bruce Banner, and he doesn't really look too much like the Hulk when he transforms. But well, I'm keeping my hopes high for this one. Trailer here:

On Super Sentai, I'm surprised to say this but I'm really growing to like Go-Onger a lot, and even more so that last year's Gekiranger! The episodes are short and connected, and are really really funny. The humor reminds me alot of Kamen Rider Den-O, which has since become my fave Rider Series because of the humour and storyline. In Go-Onger, nearly every episode has me bursting out in laughter and I'm not the type to laugh easily. I've been showing Mabel the funny scenes and she's also been laughing (either at the show or at me for being moronic). This has really got to be the whackiest and funniest Sentai series ever. Anyway, I love the show and hope it gets better. Here's a video of the ED theme shown in episode 14, in which some kids are shown, giving the users a chance to learn the dance. I'm sure they're going to market this and make a dance video soon. Ka-ching!

Ok, nearly midnight and tomorrow starts yet another busy week packed with meetings. At least there are things to look forward to: Japanese class, new episodes of Kiva and Go-Onger (with 2 new members, Gold and Silver pictured on top), and of course, looking forward to going home to Mabel on our little growing one. Still counting down, and see ya!