Boring Weekdays

Now that DS' tournament is over, everything is back to being normal (read: boring) again. I didn't realize that I kinda miss it; it actually gave me a reason to go out and know that there will surely be people at AMK.

Anyway, my relentless downloading continues since it was a quiet Tuesday afternoon. I've got Initial D on my BitTorrent, Yakitate Japan on my FlashGet, and various Marvel comics (Ultimate Fantastic Four, New Avengers, House of M*) on my mIRC.

JN (one of my former project mates in NUS) popped up on MSN to ask me how I was doing. It seems that she was now training to be a motivation counsellor of some sort and it was made evident when she gave me a pep talk on my goals in life. Even though I appreciate her goodwill, I wasn't the sort to think that my dreams/goals would come true so easily because I know my own limits. She even invited me to a motivational talk by a young successful businessman and she went on and on about how one can succeed in life if we wanted to. Well, everything was beginning to sound weird; it sounded as if JN was a follower of a secret cult trying to convert new recruits. Anyway, she reminded me of the group outing this weekend (which has been put off for like four whole months), and in turn, I reminded her that we have to collect our graduation gown on Wednesday. And that was it.

My PT addiction continues as well. My payment period will be ending in a week, but I have recently joined a new clan. Well, guess I might carry on again if this clan proves to me a lot more active than my former one.

(*And no, the M does not refer to Mickey Mouse or that silly cartoon, House of Mouse.)

Initial D was Nice

On Saturday, I went to AMK as usual. Most of the guys felt lazy after the tournament and didn't seem interested in watching any movies in the evening. I had promised to watch Initial D with Amerell, but even I felt lazy. In the end, it was Amerell who managed to persuade a few guys (JokerZ, Fengo, Akira) and we ended up catching the 7+ pm show. While we were in the cinema, we noticed that Steven, Lightbinder and friends were watching the same show time as us.

Anyway, despite reviews I have read, I felt that Initial D was a pretty nice show. The driving scenes were nice and the characters were all great. It sorta ended too quickly for me and left me wanting more. I haven't watched the anime before, but the movie made me feel like downloading the series to watch.

On Sunday, DS lent me Rockman EXE to watch. I actually wasn't really interested in it; I kept hearing it was a Digimon clone or something. But DS told me "there are cute (robot) penguins in it!" and asked me if I wanted to borrow the burnt DVD from him, and I was "alright, thanks, DS".

I also spent most of the day with my other 'DS'. Vincent, Noel and Darius had brought their Nintendo DS to play multiplayer Bomberman with me. Everblue and Uncle Chris joined in for a while and we had 6 human players, but they dropped halfway (Everblue ran out of batteries and Uncle was busy). We spent the whole afternoon trying out all the different game modes and it was a lot of fun. One particular mode required the players to speak into the microphone to detonate the bomb, and I had fun coming up with all sorts of weird things to say ("Cheese Bun!"). While I was playing, Miyamoto arrived and came up to me. He greeted me "Hello, I am here" just as I planted my bomb and it exploded, killing my character. It was hilarious.

Friday Blog - Time for More PT

Here I am, trying to keep up with my 'one update every two days' (trying to keep this like a diary).

I woke up very late today again (3 pm). Thanks to the recent event in Priston Tale (weakened mobs, increased potion drops), I was leveling at an amazing rate and having a lot of fun. Just when I was afraid there'd be no events this month when I am paying. Perhaps I might have an opportunity to play a PT marathon one day before this event ends. Maybe I might even want to try tonight since it lasts daily from 11 to 5 (morning and night). It is just nice the time period in which I can never sleep.

Yesterday, I went to watch another round of DMCT qualifiers. Brainy and Akira were the DS' "slaves" for today. Poor Brainy even brought his homework to do and he was working on a question that he was stuck on since the previous week. Halfway into the day, Brainy's handphone was dying and he needed to recharge it. When we went to McDonald's in the evening, his phone eventually passed away (or was probably clinging on to dear life or in a coma). Brainy quickly called up Chaosmag and asked if we could all go over to his home to recharge his handphone. It was quite strange, but oh, well. The bond between a man and his beloved handphone knows no bounds. hehehe.

Chaosmag went to watch Initial D at night. I will be watching it with Amerell during the weekend, so I didn't join him. I was slightly disappointed when Chaosmag told me that the characters called each other by the literal pronunciations of their Japanese names (e.g. "Takahashi" = gao1 qiao2). Yucks, that is so 'fake'. And the characters are all supposed to be Japanese. Well, at least he said the show was not bad. wee.

At night, we went back to FunZ Centre. I was excited about purchasing the long-waited Bomberman DS that Auntie said would be arriving that day. Unfortunately, it got delayed and will probably come during the weekend. That is not such a bad timing, though. Vincent (aka CKTien) and his friends will be at AMK during the weekend; it's a good time to try multiplayer Bomberman.

A Day at Home

I was actually hoping I'd wake up late today so that I'd be in time for the Priston Tale event that starts at 3 pm. Strangely, I woke up in the morning which was weird for an insomniac like myself. (Whatever happened to 'automatically' waking up in the late afternoon?)

I received a call from an old friend during my NS days. His name is Perry and I remembered him to be an 'ah beng' playboy who was a handphone salesman. Definitely not someone I'd expect a call from. He said that he had recently got into computer gaming and the first thing that came into his mind was me. (I guess everyone in camp remembers me as a gamer.)He told me that he was working at his Dad's shipping company. When I heard some motor noises in the background, I asked him if he was on the MRT, and he replied that he was driving. Argh, he has a job and he drives. I felt kinda envious. We talked for a couple hours which was fine with me, since I had time to waste until the PT event.

I spent the rest of my day tidying up my room while waiting for my anime to download. I am not really a hardcore anime downloader since my Bit Torrent download at miserable rates (it shows 0 kb/s most of the time), but thanks to a direct download site that Akira recommended, I can actually get my anime quickly and hassle-free. Because of this, I was able to watch Trinity Blood recently; it's not bad, but I was kinda hoping it'd live up to the utter level of badass that Hellsing was. Now I am actually getting Gundam SEED Destiny online; there goes my plan of waiting for the DVD release.

Double the Dentists; Double the Fun

I woke up today at around noontime and my Mom told me that the dentist had scheduled an appointment for me today. I was notorious for missing all my dental appointments because they were mostly in the morning and I was always waking up at 2 or 3 pm. This appointment was over a month overdue so I just decided to go for it without complaints.

There was a new female dentist today; I guess she might be an apprentice/assistant or something as she was rather young. As she cleaned my teeth, she remarked that they were very dirty & unhealthy and reprimanded me for being careless about my oral hygiene (I attribute it to the fact that I ate lunch before coming; I always skipped my meals before a dental appointment so that food won't get stuck). Anyway, she soon left and the regular dentist came to carry on from there. I felt a little guilty and kinda took a hint from the lady dentist by purchasing a bottle of antiseptic mouth rinse on my way out.

When everything was over, I went to the 7-Eleven that was directly next to the dental clinic. I have made it a routine to buy candy/chocolates/chips after every dental appointment. I considered it a form of celebration for enduring the painful once-a-month cleaning session. I was checking out the potato chips when I suddenly spotted the same lady dentist in the store. She was talking on her handphone, so I wasn't sure if she had noticed me. I immediately dropped the idea of taking my time to shop for tidbits and went straight to the counter. When I made sure she wasn't looking, I quickly bought just one Mars bar and my 8-Days and left the store.

I gotta take better care of my teeth before I splurge on goodies again.

Late Night Out

I went to AMK on Sunday because DS was having his DM tournament. I felt that it would be a good time to sell my DM cards. Uncle Chris did tell me it was okay to sell to friends, but when I stood out in the open yesterday, I had strangers going through my stuff, which felt wrong. I shall be less conspicuous next time. I hope I will be able to clear my stuff soon; I hate selling.

At night, a bunch of us went to Breeks for dinner. I think we went at a bad time cos' it was a busy day for them. We had to wait for over ten minutes while they set tables for the nine of us, and even our food got delayed. We ended up sitting in Breeks for two hours.

Chris had closed shop already, so there was no ride home for me. I also felt that it was a pity to spend the money I had made on cab fares, so I followed Bahamut & Fengokill home on the bus and got off at Paya Lebar MRT station. The MRT station was completely deserted when I reached there past midnight. I waited ten minutes for the eastbound train and when it arrived, I realized that I was on the very last train home. It was actually quite crowded for a 'last' train; I guess there are more people who go home late than I thought.

I chatted with whomever was online on MSN before I went to sleep.

Batman Begins - Awesome Movie!

Wow, I just watched Batman Begins today. I was totally blown away. The plot was ingenious! Halfway into the show, I thought the movie was about to end, but it suddenly picks up again and ties up the whole story together with a very satisfying finish! I won't give away any spoilers here because the plot was essentially what made the movie a totally enjoyable experience for me.

The cast was great. There's the usual Bruce Wayne and Alfred, now joined by Lucius Fox (great addition) and Commis..., I mean, Sergeant Gordon (who played a very huge & deserving role in the movie; I like him very much). The villains were awesome, too. Ra's Al Ghul was a total surprise and very excellently done; the whole League of Shadows thing (yup, they weren't called 'Assassins' here) was just great. Dr. Jonathan Crane (aka Scarecrow) was very sinister & psychotic, yet sophisticated for a villain (he poisons people with his trademark 'fear gas'). For the observant, even the obscure Mr. Zsazz makes an appearance in two scenes.


I'd highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys the action/superhero genre. It puts all the previous Batman movies to shame with its darker and more mature theme. I really hope they release a sequel to this since this show kinda re-writes the history of Batman laid down by all the previous movies. I'll rate it 4.5 out of 5.

Changes in VS

Article: Unexpected Developments: Time For a Change or Two

Upperdeck had issued an errata today that has dealt with the notorious Light Show deck. I am so happy now that there is no more lame infinity combo in VS. But then again, they went ahead and banned Overload, which was quite a shock. It wasn't even a truly broken card. To me, it was a card whose very presence in the metagame kept certain decks in check and prevented them from becoming overly strong; sort of like an invisible prison cell. Now that this prison cell is gone, all hell can break loose and there is no one to stop them. (My greatest concern is the non-combat oriented Fantastic Fun deck.) I'll hope Upperdeck has made a clever decision and in the months to come, we'll see the results of their decision.

Speaking of VS, I am beginning to feel that the AMK VS crowd is not very conducive for playing the game. None of them play for extended periods at one sitting; I don't learn much from playing with them. It is also very irritating when Mr. LupIt and his good buddy, HQ, are so self-centered about winning; it makes me don't even feel like playing with them at all.

Why can't the VS guys be like the M:TG players who are always sitting outside Chris' shop? Sure, the M:TG guys be jerks, but I envy the way they always play againt each other for like hours upon hours until the store closes. Now that is what I call serious play-testing.

I Have the Flu Bug; VS has the Bug Bug

I went to Suntec today for another monthly VS PCQ. I was still feeling a little ill, but I didn't want to waste my entire week at home. The Golden Age format was back and I would've liked to join it if I was feeling better.

Every time I reach the tournament room, the first thing I'd do is go check the standings for both Sealed and Constructed to see if I can spot any familiar names. Out of those whom I know, only Jeffrey, David (Office Guy) and WaiLeong (Policeman) had joined Constructed.

I was curious to see if the new and highly controversial 'Light Show' deck would make an appearance here. Indeed it has, and it was rather a sight for sore eyes. No infinite combo should exist in any TCG (well, except maybe Type I M:TG); I hope Upperdeck will deal with the cards/combo soon in the next errata update. The top 8 consisted of 2 Light Show decks, 4 Curve Sentinels (Jeffrey, David, Yap), 1 Mono Gotham Knights and 1 Brotherhood/Assassins (Noel Neo). That lucky Jeffrey top-eights every time and this time he gets an EA Overload. On a side-note, I felt that the Light Show players were both very very arrogant and somewhat bitchy. In the quarterfinals, Noel and Jeffrey each had to play against one Light Show opponent and I think they were deliberately causing trouble for the two morons by calling the judge every few minutes.

Anyway, because of the Light Show deck, I was able to witness a lot of funny tech cards in everyone's decks. This was the first time I have seen so many Have-A-Blasts across several tables.

I didn't stick around to the end to see who won.

Incidentally, I was highly anticipating the results of the Syndney 10k. I was hoping that the Light Show deck would get 1st place, and it did. Because if more Light Show decks get 1st place, then it would prove that they are indeed a threat, then Upperdeck would be more inclined to fix this 'bug'.

Very Sick

I fell sick yesterday. Took some Panadol and went to sleep in the afternoon. I woke up in the evening feeling just as bad. When it was night, I went to see a doctor who confirmed that I had a high fever and told me to get lots of rest.

I went straight to bed when I got home. My headache still felt pretty bad and my body was very warm. I woke up in the middle of the night with chest pains and felt very nauseous. Fortunately for me, I felt a lot better when I woke up in the afternoon. I still felt a little drowsy; it was as if I had slept for two days when it had only been one night.

The doctor did point out that I looked like I slept late every night. I am beginning to think that my insomnia may have something to do with my illness. (Come to think of it, maybe I should've told him I was suffering from insomnia so that I could get some pills.) I should learn not to stay up too late.

The Hitchhiker's Guide To Crappy Movies

So much for trying to post once every two days.

Been alternating between Namco X Capcom and Priston Tale for the past week. Since both are highly time-consuming games, time passes very quickly and before I know it, it's time for bed.

I went to AMK as usual during the weekends. Brainy was supposed to rejoin me in Priston Tale, but sadly, something went wrong with his computer so I am still alone for now.

I went to watch the movie "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" with Darrell since it was a boring Sunday. There have been a lot of sci-fi movies recently (Star Wars Episode III, and they are showing Mars Attacks and Independance Day on channel 5), so I guess I got in the mood to watch it. Unfortunately, the movie was horrible; probably the worst movie I have ever watched in my whole life. The plot was non-existent: Planet Earth gets blown up, guy escapes into space, meets some aliens, wonders around aimlessly for the whole movie and finally, finds a 'new Earth'. There are no villains, no action sequences, no nothing. Just a bunch of people wondering aimlessly from one scene to another as the Hitchhiker's Guide Book relays information about the things they see. And the jokes weren't even funny. I wonder how can its producers even sit through it without realizing its faults. Avoid this movie like the plague.

Weekend Movies & Games

I was very excited on Saturday because I was going to get Namco X Capcom. I went to Mega Multimedia to get it in the afternoon, but I was too eager to try it out, so instead of going straight to AMK, I went home to play it for a couple hours first.

When it was near evening, I left for AMK to meet Himura & friends. We were going to watch Madagascar. (Incidentally, I saw the trailer for this movie last year, which is what made me want to watch it.) I followed Himura, Orchi and Jeffrey to the Taiwanese restaurant on the 2nd floor of Jubilee for dinner. Due to our bad communication, not all the movie-goers were together and DS, Amerell and Chaosmag ended up eating at Sumo House. Dinner was good; I am a 'western food' person but I found myself enjoying dinner very much.

After that, we went to catch the movie. Madagascar was unfortunately rather short. The plot seemed to be rushed and the ending was abrupt. The penguins also didn't have much screen time (silly me; they aren't the main characters). A little bit of a let-down, considering that Dreamworks made Shark Tales, too, and that had a better story.

Oh, well. I went home that night and played more Namco X Capcom. The game is great, but a little repetitive; it feels a whole lot like the Super Robot Wars series. Sadly, the game feels a little easy so far. I was expecting SRW-style hair-pulling frustration, but Namco decided to give the heroes all the flashy combos and special moves, leaving the regular enemies with very weak and uninteresting attacks. Fortunately, the bosses feel just right and are fun to fight. wee.

As for Priston Tale, I am now on a short break from it. It looks like the loss of my weapon hurt me more than I thought. I feel demoralized thinking about it. Oh, well. Brainy says he might rejoin me in PT this month. It'd be something to look forward to.