Friday - Still PSP Gaming Day

I was supposed to post this last night but I was playing MHF all the way. hehe

I actually planned to go to Beach Road in the morning to buy new army stuff. My mother volunteered to fetch me there. But then, I woke up at 11 am and realize that she was not at home. Even my shopping list which I had left near my pile of army junk was gone. I called her and it seems that she had already gone to help me buy my stuff. I guess Mothers are one of the best things in the world after all. *sniff*

I went to AMK again to play more Monster Hunter Freedom. This time, my PSP managed to last the whole day thanks to the external battery pack. Played with Orchi, DS, Calvin, Darius and Michael. It was totally awesome.

Today, I will be going to AMK early for lunch, then play some more MHF before catching X-Men III.

Thursday - Three More Days

I had planned to go to Beach Road today to shop for army stuff but I haven't even checked my gear yet. I only did it at night. Most of the day was spent playing MHF. I chatted with JokerZ on MSN about ICT and it helped to make me feel a bit better. The weekends are very close now. I am beginning to worry.

Tomorrow, I will go to Beach Road early then I can drop by at FunZ for more MHF gaming. Saturday will be X-Men III and I guess I'll spend my Sunday being all gloomy.

Wednesday - PSP Gaming Day

I woke up at around afternoon today. Orchi SMS'ed me that he will be meeting Darius for lunch after school before going to AMK to play MHF. I had just woken up so I was not ready yet. I only left home at around 1 pm.

I arrived at FunZ at around 2 pm. Orchi and Darius were there and surprisingly, so was DS. We played for around 2+ hours and this was when we realized that the PSP had truly craptacular battery life when playing wireless. We decided to proceed to Darius' home to continue but I think his socket has a problem or something. The PSPs can only run on the electricity but cannot recharge. We ended up passing the adaptor around to whoever's battery was dying.

At night, I followed Orchi and DS back to FunZ and we each bought an external battery pack for the PSP. Just nice, Calvin came along and he lent us his own battery pack to play a few more games before going home. It was a very fruitful day as I had gathered lots of materials for my character. I wish I can do this again in future.

In case people haven't figured it out yet, Monster Hunter Freedom is the reason to own a PSP. Whenever I check the FunZ forum and see people selling the game only a day after they played it, I laugh at them for being such a big wuss. Yeah, the difficulty may be a little extreme but the sense of accomplishment from playing will be greater. I know I will keep on playing the game until I get really stuck that I cannot progress anymore.

Tuesday - Still Feeling Fine

I woke up at around noon-time today. I chatted a bit with Benedict on MSN; he is at the office as he will be helping out at my workplace while I am at ICT. I thought of filling up my service pay claim for ICT but then, I remembered that part-timers don't get paid. Damn. Anyway, I was supposed to be checking my army stuff and seeing what I need to buy but I feel very lazy. I am always a procrastinator; I'll probably do it on Thursday or Friday.

I felt like going out today but I wanted to stay home because Tuesday night is TV night! I watched ABC-DJ and then waited for CSI but was a bit disappointed that they were showing a retelecast of the Singapore Idol auditions instead. I should have checked the TV listings in advance.

I spent most of the day playing Monster Hunter and surfing the net. I guess I will be going to AMK to play Monster Hunter on Wednesady. I just realized it is almost midnight, and all of a sudden, the 29th seems way too close for comfort.

Last Week Before ICT. I'll Miss My Freedom.

This is my last week before ICT. My mother helped me to put a good word to my boss to give me the week off. I planned to use a few days to go shop for army supplies at the SAF e-Mart but then, I learnt that all their branches are located within the various army camps in Singapore (how the heck can outside-people buy stuff like that!). Looks like it is Beach Road for me.

Basically, I will be trying to make life as pleasant for myself as possible this week. However, the stupid unit decided to spoil my freedom by giving me detachment I/C duties again. How frickin' inconsiderate. I was cursing & swearing when I saw the envelope first thing in the morning. But no choice. I'll try to get it over and done with.

I plan to watch X-Men III this week. Perhaps on this coming Saturday, but my morale would be extremely low by then. I don't even think I will have any mood to do anything on Sunday before ICT. My stress has been growing as I have been sleeping at 4 am for the past few days.

I still spend most of my time playing Monster Hunter Freedom though. If the game had online mode, I know I would be very well playing it from dawn to dusk. It's a lot of fun but getting stuck is highly frustrating (and considering my current state of mind; demoralizing~). Over the weekend, I spent 4+ hours retrying a quest (the 'Urgent' Rathalos quest for those wondering) and finally beat it on my 5th try. Yeah, I was totally elated, but after that quest, I am stuck again since I can't beat the next harder wyvern. I think I had the most fun playing multiplayer with Darius, Orchi, Calvin & others; it helps to make the quests a whole lot easier, less annoying and more enjoyable. Since your character doesn't level up and plays by the "slay monsters -> gather rare drops/materials -> upgrade equipment" cycle, if you can't even slay the tough monsters to begin with, you are stuck. haha.

Oh, well. I shall go and finish off my detachment I/C duties so I'll have more time to enjoy myself this week.

Hunting Monsters

I have not been blogging much for the past week and when I am on MSN, I sometimes put on the 'Away' sign. That is because I have been playing Monster Hunter Freedom (PSP) all week. It's extremely addictive. Possibly one of the best games for the PSP released so far.

It is quite hard to describe the game accurately; even I thought it was a hack & slash dungeon crawler until I popped the UMD in. Some call it a 'hunting simulation' but I would say it feels like an action game with MMORPG elements. You take on various quests and earn money/materials to buy/craft your items & equipment. It is essentially a grind game. The wyvern battles are the game's main attraction and they can be frustratingly difficult, requiring lots of preparation, good reflexes and pattern memorization. The size of the game is amazing; there are so many things to do and a lot of people have clocked several hundred hours of game time on the Japanese release. It's definitely not a game for the impatient.

I have been going to AMK just to play multiplayer with Darius, Calvin and Orchi. It is a whole lot of fun. I am playing the European version though, so if anyone wants to join in, I am afraid you may have to pay a bit more compared to the US & Asian versions.

HappyHappy Sunday

No updates for the past week again. As usual, I surf the net all day when I am not at work. Life is boring. Grr, it's Monday already. Countdown: 14 days left to ICT.

I went to the VS PCQ on Sunday. At first, I felt very lazy about going but I recalled a certain Metagame article that I read last week. It was quite inspirational and so I decided to attend this last Modern Age PCQ for the year. All the usual guys were there. They actually changed the room this time and I took quite a while to find it. I played X-Mental and was very happy that I managed to top-8 this time with several of our friends (Himura, Jeffrey, Darrell). I got to the semi-finals and wanted to negotiate a prize split with Jeffrey, Yap JY and a CCK guy. But unfortunately, Yap turned us down and we played all the way to 9 pm. We were supposed to go for dinner but everyone was tired (especially Jeffrey who was here since 8 am). Those that remained were me, Darrell and Darius, so we went to have dinner at Pasta Mania before going home.

Darius dropped by to pass me my Monster Hunter Freedom (PSP). I played the game at night; it's a mix of an MMORPG and hunting simulation. It is not bad but the pace of the game is very slow. It's quite addictive, though, so I hope it will keep me occupied for quite a while.

VS PCQ - May 2006 (Marvel Modern)

I decided to play X-Mental since I felt it was a good choice in a field of mostly Squadron decks. I did not include cards that were normally good in other matchups (System Failure, War of Attrition, Mutant Massacre, Turnabout) and concentrated on just the straight stalling/brickwalling theme. With the deck built that way, I felt that I had a good chance against Squadron but would have trouble against X-Faces and Hellfire Club (I'll just hope the Squadron guys eliminate the Hellfire Club decks or something)

Match 1: Vs. CCK Guy Number 1 (X-Faces)
One of the first of many CCK guys I would face today. I played him a few times in Hobby League but I can't remember his name. I was quite disappointed that my first match would be against X-Faces since I knew I was going to have a hard time without any tech. However, I was quite fortunate as he did not get any pumps or Faces of Evil. By turn 5, he just conceded.
Result: 1-0

Match 2: Vs. CCK Guy Number 2 (Squadron)
Another familiar face. And the deck that I was prepared to face! I got rushed in the early game, but regained life with Eye of the Storm and kept on flipping it down every turn with Emma Frost. I also tried to brickwall attacks with my Shrinks and Duck & Covers where possible. When it was my attack step, I tapped down Nuke with X-Treme Manuever. The life gain and stalling was enough to get me to turn 7 and I played Exodus as my finisher. (Actually, most of my Squadron matches end up with me doing essentially the same thing.)
Result: 2-0

Match 3: Vs. Himura (Squadron)
It was quite sad to meet Himura so early. I knew he was one of the more experienced Squadron players so I was more nervous than usual. Fortunately for me, I managed to survive through life gain and won.
Result: 3-0

Match 4: Vs. Jeffrey (X-Faces)
I was now sitting at the top table! I was pretty excited but Jeffrey was an experienced X-Faces player and once again, I didn't think I would do well against X-Faces. However, this ended up being like a repeat of my first match as Jeffrey did not draw any Beetle: Armorsmith. I won another X-Faces match owing to my opponent's bad draws which felt kind of wrong.
Result: 4-0

Match 5: Vs. CCK Guy Number 3 (Squadron)
Now I was really excited! I think I have secured a place in the top 8! But just in case, I would continue to play normally. Alright, this is the 3rd Squadron deck I have faced today and against another familiar face. This guy surprised me by playing Avengers Disassembled on turn 6! I had my full curve from 2 to 6, so my Sage and Tarot went down. However, my life gap was already too large by then so I survived that turn, went to turn 7 and dropped Exodus as my finisher.
Result: 5-0

Match 6: Vs. Noel Neo (Squadron)
I felt that my place in the finals was assured now. This match was more or less just for fun but then I saw my opponent was Noel. He had such a serious look so I tried to ease things up a little (even though he was known for being nitpicky). Well, at least he smiled when I had no recruits on turn 3. He rushed very quickly and I was quite worried when I had less than 25 life at the end of turn 4. By turn 6, I had 8 life against his 11. However, his board wasn't very favourable with Nuke exhausted due to an X-Treme Manuever. His Songbird took out my Prof. X, putting me at 4 life. He then team-attacked the rest of his guys into my Jean Grey but Exodus made her invulnerable. I took no damage and after some consideration, he decided to concede. It was a very close match indeed.
Final Swiss Result: 6-0

I was very pleased with my results (Oh, wait. I lied. I was totally over-joyed!!! Wee!) Out of 6 matches, I faced 4 Squadrons which was the deck that I was gunning for. Good thing I did not come across any Hellfire Club. For once, I was very happy with my deck choice.

The top 8 were as follows:
- Me (X-Mental) vs. Himura (Squadron)
- Jeffrey (X-Faces) vs. Darrell (X-Mental)
- Yap JY (X-Mental) vs. CCK Guy (Hellfire Club)
- CCK Guy (X-Faces) vs. Noel Neo (Squadron)

Yup, it's not nice that all those who I know are facing each other and gonna eliminate each other. In other news, Jess had top-8'ed in Sealed, too.

Quarter Finals: Vs. Himura (Squadron)

Round 1: Himura rushed me very quickly in the early game and I did not see any Eye of the Storm. I was going to concede when I missed my 5-drop but then, Himura missed his 5-drop, too. Then the game went awry and we both missed our 6th and 7th drops together (we were both under-dropping with 1- and 2-drops). I managed to hang on and when we got to turn 8, Magneto was too much for Squadron to handle. (W)

Round 2: This was another close match. He rushed me silly but multiple Eye of the Storms kept me alive. I was hanging on with 5 endurance on turn 5. Himura's Nuke attacked my Prof. X but when I reinforced, he played Other-Earth. That would've been the end for me but a Mind Control saved my life and I was left hanging at 1 endurance. I managed to win on turn 6 by attacking and tapping down Nuke with X-Treme Manuever. (W)

Result: Win


Semi-Finals: Vs. Jeffrey (X-Faces)

Round 1: My deck decided to burn out. I mulliganed into a hand full of blues. I had no recruits on turns 1-3 and but managed to play Professor X on turn 4. On turn 5, my hand was still all-blue and one Jean Grey. I decided to concede. Considering what happened to Jeffrey in the Swiss rounds, we are now even. (L)

Round 2: I just did the usual stalling and life-gaining. I managed to save my defensive pumps and brickwalled a crucial attack. By turn 5, we both had ove 30+ life so I was in pretty good shape. I managed to win by combat when we got to turn 7. (W)

Round 3: Jeffrey hit the proverbial 'nutz draw', flipping up 3 Amsterdams on turn 3 to find 3 Faces of Evil. He dealt crazy amounts of damage to me on turn 3 and I was left with 20+ endurance. On turn 5, he played Null Time Zone, naming "Shrink". I was holding 3 Shrinks and 1 Duck & Cover in my hand and felt very sad (Grr, why didn't he name Duck & Cover!). I was not able to survive the attack and lost. (L)

Result: Lost

Oh, well. That was it for me. I enjoyed myself very much. The fact that I met mostly familiar faces today helped to alleviate the stress a lot. Jeffrey went on to face Yap JY in the finals but he lost because Yap JY's X-Mental had War of Attritions in it.

Nevertheless, I was still very happy for the day. I was glad that I was able to enjoy myself like this before I go for my ICT in two weeks.

Lonely Sunday

The first week of May is over. Three more weeks left to doomsday. I actually spent some time posting at the National Service section at the HWZ forums. I got some little hints on what I may have to go through. I think I may find myself having sleepless nights from now on.

On Sunday, I watched a movie called "Frequency" on channel 5. It was about how a weird phenomenon in the sky allowed a man to communicate with his future son via wireless radio. The son warned the man of an accident that killed him and it was avoided. The man lived, but other tragedies happened and his wife was murdered instead. It was quite an intriguing and somewhat creepy show.

In the evening, I went all the way to Orchard just to sell one of my PSP games (I seem desperate for money). After that, I had nowhere to go. I went to Kinokuniya and look at some of the comics. I met Michael there and he was with Ange. At first, I thought of asking if I could join them for dinner but I was afraid I might be intruding on their privacy so I just kept quiet and went straight home. hehehe.

I went home and did some net-surfing. My Starhub wireless is quite problematic and I have to reconnect/repair the connection at least once a day when it stops loading pages. I asked quite a number of people and it seems that this is 'normal' with Starhub. Grr.

Anyway, I disturbed DS online on MSN at night. It was past 1 am and he told me he was waiting for his Hokkien Mee to be delivered. I thought he was joking then he showed me this website: http://www.dabao.sg

Oh, wow, I didn't know there was a delivery service for such food so late at night. Maybe I should try it one day. Beats making boring old cup noodles at 1 am in the morning.

Let's Talk Comics

After several months of excitement, DC's Infinite Crisis storyline has finally come to an end with the recent release of Infinite Crisis #7. The ending ties things up nicely and will not disappoint. All in all, it was a great story and one of the most memorable comic events that I had the joy of reading.*

For those wondering what's next, DC will be following up with 'One Year Later' (after Crisis, storylines in most DC series jump forward by one year) and "52" (books that detail this one-year gap). I don't think I will be able to read that.

Anyway, with that aside, let's talk about the Infinite Crisis expansion in VS. After much examination (and much controversy on some forums), I realized that the Infinite Crisis expansion is 'incomplete'. Most of the cards from the expansion mainly covers the events from the old Crisis on Infinite Earths (i.e. the Crisis team), a bit of Identity Crisis** and the 6 Crisis mini-series. None of the stuff from Infinite Crisis #1-7 are mentioned at all (except for 2 minor spoilers***). This is quite disappointing; some fans even felt that the set should be called "Crisis on Infinite Earths" instead. Oh, well. Never mind, there is always hope for future legacy cards. Maybe then we can see the psychotic evil SuperBoy Prime in his full glory.

*For those who missed out any Crisis books, you can find me on MSN and ask me to send them to you.
** It's a 7-issue story released in 2004. Reads like a mystery novel. Very dark and sad. Worth reading.
*** One is Alexander Luthor (which was needed to avoid confusion) and the other is more of a preview for Speedforce

A Penguin's Crisis!

This month is going to be quite a sad for me. My first ever reservist ICT (in-camp training, for those wondering) will be on the 29th May and will last until the 9th of June. A lot of people keep saying that reservist will be very slack but then I keep reading about people who say it is very tough. I guess it really depends on what your vocation is. I don't really know what to expect but I fear it will involve outfield exercises.

I feel as though this month is like my last chance to have fun before I get tortured. I have already begun thinking of the things that I want to do this month. Like, I wanna watch Mission Impossible III. I haven't watched a movie in aaaages. Whatever happened to Scary Movie 3? *sigh* At least there's X-Men III: The Last Stand, out on the 25th of May. The official site is up. The trailer makes the movie seem quite dark & grim. Check it out at: http://www.x-menthelaststand.com

I guess I'll also play more cards and video games. I have been quite busy with work lately, too. I mentioned before that my boss has sacked his other assistant so I am now the only guy in the office. Oh, well, I will leave my Web Messenger on whenever I can if I am not too busy. hehe.

Sneak Preview: Infinite Crisis

I realized I had failed to post anything for the whole of last week. I saved several drafts but none of them were worth publishing. Anyway, nothing much happened. I was a little ill but that was it. I was also slightly more busy with work but I'll save that for another time.

Sunday was the day of the Infinite Crisis Sneak Preview. I was so excited that I could not get to sleep the night before. I ended up sleeping at 5 am and then waking up at 7:50 am to take a cab to Suntec. I arrived at the usual room at around 8:30 am and joined the first flight at 9 am.

I played a total of three flights for the day. I managed to get the winner's EA and got one of each prize item. I also got to say the magic words whenever little Billy had to transform into Captain Marvel. It was a riot. All in all, the new set felt pretty average but that is probably because the previous set was just so good. I am a little disappointed that my favorite team (Villains United) isn't as good as I hoped they would be.

Time passed very quickly for the day. I kept telling myself to break for lunch but I didn't and stayed in the room all the way till 7+ pm. At night, we had dinner at Carl's Jr. They serve humongous burgers and have free-flow soft drinks. My tummy was hurting like crazy after that.