There are a few possible reasons if I don't update my blog in over a week.
We visited our flat again this Saturday, and was pleased to find that majority of the cement work has been done. The feature wall has been started, and the walk in wardrobe walls were up. The false ceiling less the lights were also in place. My display shelves were also up, but sadly the space doesn't seem to be enough to accomodate all of my stuff. Guess I'll have to find some alternatives. Luckily I've already got some contingency plans, heh.
Still, there's about at least 1 more month of waiting before we can finally move in. Until then, we've got a ton of tasks to complete, such as finalising on the colours, and shopping for the rest of the electrical appliances and the furniture. Even the selection of basins, sinks, and light switches need to be carefully planned and selected. It's not easy planning for your house but it certainly is an exciting time for me and Mabel. I'm looking forward to packing all my Gundam models, Ultraman and Kamen Rider and Garo figures into their boxes and shifting all of them to my new shelves. All my old manga from the era of Dragonball to Naruto also need to be shifted in. Heck I even need to get myself a new workspace, though I'll most probably be using my old laptop and desktop for the time being. Not much pictures to be shown for now, as the flat still looks like a complete mess with all the bags of cement lying around and the parquet floor being taken apart. Hopefully everything will fall in place in due time, and that we can finally have our little nest, and a place which we can truly call a home of our very own. : )
Remember the Kamen Rider Kaixa figure I told you guys that I really need to get last week? I've got it! Muahahah! Along with a Kamen Rider Faiz figure as well! It was quite a bargain at the OG sale, but it wasn't really that much of a surprise considering the the Faiz series have ended quite some time ago. I got the 2 figures at $25 each, which is cheap because the original price is around double that amount. Of course, Mabel gave me a hard time but in the time she managed to make a profit she forced me to trade my half of our Takashimaya vouchers (worth $100) for "permission" to get the toys. Well, whatever. Hahaha! *ouch*
Just completed my download of the subsequent Kamen Rider series after Faiz: Kamen Rider Blade. It's shown in 2004, and was the series before Hibiki, my actual first series which I completed viewing. I've yet to start on watching this yet, as there are quite a few shows on my harddisk, such as Lost season 3 (only the first 3 episodes so far), Death note the anime, Naruto, Bleach, and a new JDrama called Akihaba@deep. More on this series perhaps at a later post.
A version of Sukeban Deka (if you're not sure what I'm talking about scroll down to a previous blog entry for a introduction to this movie) is up for download at Jpopsuki, complete with English subtitles! Head on over there right away to download if you've been waiting for this show. It made it's premiere in Japan just a few weeks back and I'm kinda surprised such a good quality version with English subs have already been circulating. I've just watched the show..... and here are some of my thoughts. Spoilers abound so beware!
Well the subs are a little exaggerated at some places, and it made Ayaya overly vulgar in some of her speeches. As for the show itself, the plot and story are really, mediocre at best, and leave too many loop holes and unanswered questions. Most of the time you won't know what the agenda of the characters, on both the good and bad sides. As for the good sites, Ayaya really looked great in the show. Pity there wasn't enough fight scenes and certainly Charmy deserved more screen time. At least give her a better death scene! Ayaya's suit at the end was good, but there wasn't enough of her, and it seemed pretty absurd that she can defeat all those men with machine guns with a yoyo she didn't seem so proficient at yet.
End of the day, it's a forgettable film. Best part of the show? Ayaya vs Charmy. Worst part: almost everything else. Even the other 2 girls from Biyuden, Okada Yui and Miyoshi Erika couldn't make the show better. Ayaya's debut in the movie scene should have been much better given her potential. Given that, I still love her "don't screw with me" look in the show. Well, do give this movie a chance if you're an Aya fan like me, else, you might wanna considering the other Japanese shows such as Death Note or The Sinking of Japan instead.
Zero, a good friend who's also a fellow Ultraman fan and my Japanese class classmate, helped me to prepare for a spoken conversation a few weeks ago. We were supposed to use this conversation for a test, but sadly I couldn't make it for the test due to work commitments. Here's the conversation that he came up with: ゼロ：ションさん、どうしたんですか？
ショーン：別に、大丈夫．．．
ゼロ：気分が悪そうですね。
ショーン：えと．．．妻と喧嘩したところです。
ゼロ：喧嘩した理由は何ですか？
ショーン：妻に昨日買ったおもちゃを発見されて、叱れました。
ゼロ：やっぱり。奥さんは何と言いましたか？
ショーン：「もしお金を無駄遣いすれば、廊下で寝なさい。」と注意されました。
ゼロ：なるほど。奥さんはどうも虎のようですね。残念です．．．
ショーン：妻を怒らせたくなかった．．．ただ趣味を止めたくないです。
ゼロ：奥さんを怒らせないほうがいいですよ。ショーンさん、もし新しいおもちゃを買ったら、私に預からせてください。
What it means in English:
Sean: Nuthin, I’m cool.
Zer0: You look like you’re in a bad mood.
Sean: erm…I just had a fight with the missus.
Sean: I got busted when the toys I bought yesterday were discovered.
Zer0: As I’d expected. What did she say?
Sean: “If you waste money, you’ll sleep in the corridor,” she cautioned.
Zer0: So I see. Your wife’s like a Tigress. What a pity…
Zean: I didn’t want to make her angry, however I will not give up on my hobby.
Zer0: It’s not a good idea to make her angry. Well, if you’re gonna buy new toys, I can be their caretaker.
And due to this week's plot advancement in the Naruto manga, I am compelled to edit this picture of Pinky and the Brain with Akatsuki coats. Hard to explain why but if you read the manga you will know exactly what I mean.
Woo hoo! It's been another jam packed week, but at least I have some time on Sunday nights to do an update. We were on our way home from Chinatown after a dim sum lunch with my family, when a car beside us pointed out that our front left tyre was almost flat. I was definately surprised, and promptly headed to a petrol station to have the problem rectifield. The cause of the flat tyre: a metalic screw stuck in the tyre. We had it taken out and the puncture mended, and had the rest of the tyres inspected as well. Just in case, you know.
I've started watching the Death Note anime series earlier this week. It started its run in Japan earlier this month, and is currently at its 3rd episode. Based on a popular manga, the series has since spun into a live action movie on top of the anime series. I caught the movie yesterday, and like the anime, it shows a lot of promise and I must say I'm hooked onto the series. I'm contemplating on whether or not to get the manga, but after downloading the 1st volume, I've decided to keep to the anime due to its fantastic animation. But this way, I'll have to steer clear of the manga to avoid any possible spoilers.
Light Yagami is a brilliant, but bored, high school student who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground in the year 2003. The Death Note's instructions claim that, if a human's name is written within it, that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's genuinity, believing it is just a prank. However, after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit the Death Note is real. After meeting with the true owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become the "God of new world" by passing his judgment on criminals. Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira", is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill a person just by knowing their face and name. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a race to prove mental superiority between the two begins.
As many of you know, GAM is the group comprising of Matsuura Aya and Fujimoto Miki. Since GAM's debut, Tsunku has decided to make this group a solid unit, instead of a one-time deal. On 13 September 2006 their first single "Thanks!" was released in Japan and made its debut at #2 on the Oricon Daily Ranking chart. The single made its debut - and peak - the following week at number 5 in the Oricon Weekly Ranking chart. The song has so far stayed in the top 200 for 5 weeks. It's also the theme song to Ayaya's movie, Sukeban Deka (see last post).
Their second single, "Melodies" (メロディーズ, merodīzu?), was released 18 October 2006. The single made its debut at number 5 on the Oricon Daily Ranking chart the same day. The NINKI weekly singles chart ranked "Melodies" as the 4th most anticipated new release of the week. "Melodies" features a more mature theme and contains several scenes implying a more intimate relationship between the two singers. Worth mentioning is the near kiss sequence featured in the televised form of the PV; just as the two of them are about to kiss the video comes to an abrupt end. As of late October, it has been speculated in the press that the Single V version of "Melodies" may include the full sequence, although not much information has been disclosed.
No it's not attack of the Spider-women, but rather the girls of Morning Musume in their new outfits for their latest single, called Aruiteru (歩いてる), which means "Taking a walk". It's their 31st single, scheduled to be released on the 8th of September. To be honest, MM has been going downhill ever since the departure of key members such as Mari and Rika, and with the recent departure of Konno and Ogawa, it's going to be hard for them to match up to the popularity they once had. Still, they can safely say they are still the number 1 group in H!P, although other groups such as Berryz Koubou, GAM, Def Diva are going to outshine them if nothing spectacular happens soon. At least the 8th Generation auditions are coming, so we can expect some new members pretty soon.
I've completed watching Kamen Rider 555 this weekend, and I must say I've pretty much enjoyed it. Kamen Rider 555 (or Faiz), is the 2003/2004 installment of the popular Kamen Rider franchise, and since I wasn't a Kamen Rider fan until the Hibiki series, it's taken me this long to realise how good some of the Kamen Rider series were. These shows ain't for kids. There's a lot of drama and suspense in the story, and the plot was pretty much interesting till it began to go down hill near the end of the series. Some of the key story elements fell apart, and many of my hopes and predictions were wrong (it would have been much cooler if they did came true). The ending seemed rush, but at least the character development still existed. I liked the suits in the show, and hopefully I can still find some good figures to start another collection. Well, maybe not a big one, but I must get myself a Kamen Rider Kaixa figure soon!
I was impressed by another Ultraman fan's car this week, and so I wanted to design a logo for my own car as well! Chris's car had so many Ultra stuff inside it was incredible. He even had a picture of Dark Zagi on his fuel lid, which I wanted to do design a decal for too. My first design was of Mebius in his normal pose, but feedback from Chris was that it didn't scream "Ultraman". I agreed, and sought out another design. This time I found something which definately shouts out "Ultraman fan", and it's one of the designs from Coop, our American friend in the Ulltraman Lah forums. You can see more of his fantastic decal work here.
Now what's left is just to find time to head on down to the decal shop and have it done. Expect pictures to be up soon! Originally, I wanted to add an Autobot logo to the back of the car, but it seems that many cars have already done that, and since I didn't really want my car to be named Bumble Bee I've decided to go back to my Ultra roots and make myself known as an Ultrafan where ever I go. Chris is also in the midst of designing a set of car decals using the Lah logo, so hopefully it'll be ready soon. And thanks for your help in helping to vectorise my files!
Renovations work for our flat has finally commenced. It was previously delayed due to some HDB requirements for hacking of walls. Nonetheless, the whistle has been blown and all forces are working on giving us our home in within 5 more weeks. Just slightly over a month before we can finally move into our new place. Too bad I'll still have my Australia trip to contend with before we can finally have our own house warming party. But preparations are already ongoing, and there is still much to do before we can celebrate. We've yet to get some of the furniture although most of the appliances have already been settled.
Here's a view from our apartment of the playground that's just below our block. The theme, like you've guessed, is marine life. There's pictures of seafood every where, and even the training sheds, erm I mean multi purpose halls have sea shells as rooftops. Pretty colourful sight, and certainly better than that of a busy road if you asked me. I still stand by my decision to take an apartment which faces the inside of the other blocks. Sure we might have a little less wind, but I believe the view is worth it.
Another week, another post. Do feedback on what you think I should include in my entries. It's getting a little tedious trying to think of what to update amidst my now hectic schedule. Until the next post, keep your head on your shoulders! 
