メーベルの初めて母日

It's been over a month since the last post, and this is really the longest ever break I've taken from blogging since I started around 4 years ago. And well, there's a reason for it. I've been really busy due to work commitments, and even to the stage that I didn't get to see Rena and Mabel for a week. I'm glad that May is coming to an end, and that one of the high key events in 2009 is over. Time to sit back, take a break, and to gear up for the second half of the year which promises to be just as busy and exciting.Mabel celebrated her first ever mothers' day this year, and she wanted to make it special by having our family photos taken at a studio. So, we went back to the previous one we went to, only this time the both of us were captured on film as well. Mabel was really pleased with the results, and I thought they were pretty nice too. I'll be blowing one of these pictures up and placing it on one of our living room walls soon. You can see more of the other pictures taken in the shoot on my Facebook album. On another note, it's been some time since my last video and I'll be starting work on the next one soon based on these new images. :)

On a separate note, my ipod Nike+ has finally died after serving me for over a year, with 500km under my belt during this time. Sadly, there is no way of replacing the battery and the only way is to get a new sensor and receiver at the same time. Luckily it's not too expensive, at around $50. But still, a way to change or charge the internal battery would be so much better. Maybe Apple thinks there are enough suckers like me to keep on buying their products after all. My package from Hobby Link Japan finally arrived this week. I've been hesitant over getting the Shinkenger figures online, since I believed that I could get them pretty easily at department stores or Chinatown. But hell no... I could only find the mechas and not the figures which I've been collecting since the Magiranger series. No, I don't watch the series these days but the figures are still too bright and colourful to miss out on. Hah... Anyway, I also got some of the Legend Rider series figures, namely Agito and Kamen Rider X. I've decided not to follow the entire series through, as majority of them are only repaints. Will only get those which I've missed out previously, or when they decide not to con us and give us new moulds and sculpts. Good thing about ordering online instead of getting it at local stores is that the original Ganbaride cards are included, but still, it doesn't really make a difference if we don't get the arcade machines here in Singapore or when I don't get the barcode reader belts.

Quote from Wiki: The film Kamen Rider Decade The Movie: All Riders vs. Great Shocker (劇場版 仮面ライダーディケイド オールライダー対大ショッカー) is to open in Japanese theaters on August 8, 2009, double-booked with the Shinkenger film. The film is promoted to feature a total of 26 Kamen Riders: the original 10 Showa Riders, BLACK, BLACK RX, Shin, ZO, J, the previous 9 Heisei Riders, Decade, and Diend. The film also provides light to Tsukasa's memories due to Decade's relation with the mysterious Great Shocker organization, whose membership is composed of the various villians and monsters that previous Kamen Riders battled with. Moe Arai (荒井 萌) portrays Tsukasa's younger sister Sayo Kadoya (門矢 小夜). Ryuichi Oura (大浦 龍宇一) portrays Nobuhiko Tsukikage (月影 ノブヒコ) who transforms into Shadow Moon. Tetsuo Kurata returns to portray Kotaro Minami (南 光太郎), the man who can become Kamen Rider BLACK. End Quote. I'm really pumped up for this movie! All main riders together sounds really awesome. Check out a clip from the movie here:

Not been blogging doesn't mean I've been neglecting my PS3. Well yeah there's lesser time to play, but still I got the English version of Gundam Musou 2, called Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2. I've been waiting to get the US version of the game ever since the Japanese one was released, because I wanted to read the menus and stories without having to translate it myself. However, unlike the previous game, there was no way to change to voices to the original Japanese ones. This irritated the hell out of me because I was so used to the original voices. But I couldn't find the original Japanese version these days, and had no choice but to give in and bought the US version. The game's good, and I'm slowly getting used to the voices. Will be clearing through the enemies to get all the best Gundam parts this weekend and perhaps the next, and the next.

I've never really watched the anime or read the manga, but the latest trailer from the upcoming movie Blood: The Last Vampire really interested me. I'll find time to go watch the anime, but only after I finish watching the second season of Gundam 00. Yes, I know I'm slow, but I didn't have the time to watch it and I wanted the entire series to end first so as to minimise the pain of waiting in between the episodes. Back to the movie, the trailer looks awesome and I'll definately watch this once it opens.Work is still piling up for me, and to be honest I can't find the passion for it, though I still love being with friends, making new ones, and going for all the runs and games. Still, there is a job to be done and I'll finish it. Only thing is, for how long? While I'm pondering about this, I've also been doing up a lot of reading and bought new books for me to gain new knowledge in a new frontier. Hopefully I'll be prepared for change when the time finally arises. Until the next time, ja!

久しぶりぶり～～

It's really been quite a while since the last update! I've been tied down by work commitments lately, till the point where I had to take work home at times. This of course goes against my philosophy of striking a balance between work and family. Though the working hours have also been extended lately, at least we can still spend our weekends in peace at home with Rena, and perhaps going out for our short trips :)

Not a lot of purchases lately, but still managed to pick up my Den-O SICs which I have already ordered and paid for a while back. They are part of a line which I've been getting consistantly for the Den-O series, but I think I'll stop ordering in advance as they've gotten more expensive and the series never seems to end. Still looking for my Shinkenger figures, but they're no where in sight, meaning I'll have to order straight from Japan again.....

With the bonus which came in recently, I decided to spend a little bit on technology to make life better. Now instead of using my handphone's built in GPS, I've bought a Garmin Nuvi 205w so that I can see the maps much easier. I used to squint at the little handphone screen using Nokia maps, but that's tedious and moreover the license was ending soon. Now, with a dedicated machine, I can update my own maps at ease and gain access to information such as the nearest ATM, AXS machines, petrol kiosks, etc. Convenience at my fingertips, really.

Another little gadget I bought was the official Sony PS3 Bluetooth headset, for use with the PS3 and also any BT enabled mobile phone. I've been wanting to get one since I started playing Metal Gear Online, but never did go around buying it until I started playing the co-op modes in Resident Evil 5 with a few friends. It was really hard sometimes not being able to speak to a team mate, and having a headset really makes the game all the more fun. On the subject of Resident Evil 5, I've already completed the game on all modes except Professional, and have almost all the trophies. Almost got all characters in Merc mode too, and will try to clear the hardest mode with my online friends soon. The downloadable content's selling on the PSN with around $8, but I'm not sure if I'll get it considering the new mode's just a modification of the existing Merc mode.

From Wiki because I'm lazy to write: The Wonder Girls (원더걸스) are a South Korean girl group. They are produced by singer-songwriter Park Jin-Young and are signed to his talent agency, JYP Entertainment. Each of the five original members were selected through auditions. Debuting in early 2007, they became popular in the fall of that year with the song "Tell Me."Since then they have scored 3 consecutive #1 hit singles with "Tell Me", "So Hot", and "Nobody" and in 2008, won two Daesangs ("Artist of the Year" Awards).

I've been listening to their songs lately and they're awesome! Finally, another girl band not from Japan which have captured my heart. They songs are really catchy, and their dances in the PVs are really nice. The song "Tell me", have also cause a dance sensation in Korea, similar to how the Haruhi song in Japan caught on among the otaku crowd. Just do a search in youtube and you'll see how many people know the dance (which is damn hard to learn). Attached here is the "Nobody" PV, which I absolutely love. Take note that the song "Honey" at the beginning of the song is sung by their producer JYP :)

I managed to watch Detroit Metal City recently, and unexpectly, I loved the show! It was a really well done movie, and although I didn't read the manga or watched the anime, I'm pretty sure the movie managed to capture the feel and essence of the original work. Plot from wiki: Soichi Negishi is a shy and gentle young man who dreams of a career as a pop musician. Dreams don't pay the bills, so he's ended up as the lead singer of a death metal band called “Detroit Metal City.” In stage costume he is Johannes Krauser II, rumored to be a demon, to have killed and raped his parents, to wield his giant death penis with abandon, etc. etc. Negishi despises DMC and all that it stands for, but so help him, he's a terrific performer and can't walk away from that. As DMC's star rises Negishi tries to satisfy both worlds, but can he? End quote. Unlike other manga adaptations that fail (I'm looking at you Dragonball Evolution), this movie was a joy to watch and gave the audience a feel-good feeling. Lotsa funny moments too, and I'll be glad to get the DVD upon its arrival.

The movie Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen will soon be released world wide in a matter of around 2 months. The teaser's been out for a while, and finally we have a new clip to tide us over until the official trailer is out. Here is the new clip, consisting of dialogue between Sam and Bumble Bee, followed by a montage showing off the robots which we will see in the film:

In February 2009, Toei announced that they would begin rebroadcasting Dragon Ball Z as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebrations. The series premiered on April 5, 2009, under the name Dragon Ball Kai, with the episodes remastered for HDTV, featuring updated opening and ending sequences, and a rerecording of the vocal tracks by most of the original cast. They were also re-edited to more closely follow the manga, resulting in a faster moving story, and damaged frames removed. As such, it is a "new" series created from the original Dragon Ball Z footage. I was being naive after watching the awesome opening sequence and thought that perhaps they re-drawn the entire series. I couldn't even finish watching the episode after that, but I'll look forward to the Freeza and Cell sagas.

I've not been watching any animes lately since Macross Frontier ended, and more or less the only shows I'm still chasing is Kamen Rider Decade. I'm still downloading other toku shows such as Tomica Hero Rescue Force, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and also Kamen Rider Ryuki, but none of them interest me that much to watch on a regular basis. Decade, on the other hand, is really awesome and I find myself watching the raw as early as a few hours after the initial broadcast in Japan. The main character's been hopping around the past riders' worlds on an average of 1 world every 2 episodes, and it's cool watching the past riders teaming up with him. Hopefully the movie won't disappoint.

Think I've spent enough time talking, and so I've leave you with another clip featuring the Wonder Girls. Until the next time I find myself with enough inspiration and time to blog, see ya!

Rena - 4 months young

As promised, here is Rena's latest video! Just in time to commemorate her 4th month as well, as indicated by the video title. For those who have been following my videos so far, check out the last section of the video for the conclusion to the previous video! :p