Date:	2009-10-23 22:28
Subject:	Three Months Worth of Updates
Security:	Public
Mood:	awake

Lots of cool stuff have happened over the past three months. Being lazy with journal writing makes for old news, but whatever.

August
The coolest thing I did in August was to participate in the City2Surf. It was quite an extraordinary experience enhanced by the fact that I actually participated with a group of co-workers. We didn't run as a group though. Despite organising to meet up by the fountain in Hyde Park in the morning, I only managed to bump into one co-worker.

I was amazed at the ridiculous size of the crowds and even more amazed at the fact that even mums pushing prams and old ladies with their walking groups where participating in the run.

My co-worker wanted to walk all the way, but me, being somewhat competitive, wanted to run all the way (as much as possible). So I ran off on my own. I thought it was a nice easy run compared to the practise jogs I was doing around the neighbourhood (until I got to the "hill" section), but it could have just been the crowd-lifting-morale. I didn't even notice that my feet hurt until the 11km mark, or that I ended up cutting the back of my heel some how until I got home >_>;

I was 6 minutes outside my intended time goal, but I did my best and have no regrets! If the company is organising a group again next year, I'm definitely going to put my name down (and hopefully try for better results).

Your photo and video of you crossing the finish line can be shown here: City2Surf Results.


September
For some reason, I grew an unhealthy obsession with the Harry Potter movies during the month of September. It was good timing too as I was required to house-sit for my parents for half of the month and their flaky, slow-ass Unwired connection put me off logging onto the Internetz for the whole time. My brother happened to have the first five books too so I started going through them as well.


October
I finally finished the entire Harry Potter series yesterday. It was a nice easy read - which is great because I haven't managed to finish any sort of novel besides graphic ones for a long time. Hopefully I can use this momentum to finally finish the Dragonlance Chronicles XD

The last book would have to be my favourite. And Voldemort would have to be the most incompetent evil Mega Boss I've ever seen or read about.


[shameless_plug]
Last Sunday was the launch of this! I think we scared away the randoms who came in to have a look at the photos, but the sample food was excellent and everything turned out really well. Go see the exhibit if you contributed and haven't already seen it!!! (/hint /hint)

And even if you haven't seen it, go see it anyway! The exhibit is on until the end of the year. Guaranteed to make your mouth water and try recipes other people's Mums used to make.
[/shameless_plug]


Sunday will mark 1 year. I still find it amazing how fast time slips away when you get older :3

Date:	2009-07-16 22:40
Subject:	And before you know it, it's July...
Security:	Public
Mood:	chipper

These days, seems like the older you get, the faster time seems to slip through your fingers. But after last month's flurry of activity (especially last week), I've decided to be really lazy last weekend.

Last weekend's Supanova was kinda "meh". Except for some new comics from the Fight! group, I didn't really find anything interesting to throw money at. I wasn't required at an artist table this year, so I spent most of the time hanging around the main stage area with hopexd and kawak.

One of the amusing things for me at the event was bumping into most of my CertIV Japanese classmates. I dragged one of them to Piro's table to get inspired.

Buuttttt... that's about it.

Speaking of stuff at Piro's table. The comic I almost went insane putting together didn't like hotcakes. Not that I expected it to be picked up by random convention go-ers since its full of in-jokes. I just felt like making something and if I happen to pick up fans - that's a bonus XD

Well, at least it was popular amongst my gamer friends :p

( My Thoughts on Gyakuten Kenji )

Guitar Hero - World Tour is currently on sale. Not "dirt cheap" but definitely check when you consider how much it was when it first came out... For the past two weeks I've been angsting over whether or not to throw money at it.

Maybe I should just break down buy it this weekend and get it over with >_>;;;

Show me siiiiign (T~T)

Date:	2009-06-26 23:35
Subject:	No guts, no glory...
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished

And so, after a month of brainstorming/planning and two weeks of cramming:



( New stuff finally - yay! )

Because the content is so obscure and full of in-jokes, I'm not sure what "the masses" will. But I know of some friends who've been eagerly awaiting this for a while now XD

Date:	2009-05-12 12:08
Subject:	ONE OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS...
Security:	Public
Mood:	bored

Last month, Borders inconjunction with Madman ran a manga drawing competition. The theme was to draw Tohru, the main character in the "Fruits Basket" series taking a holiday in Australia.

(lol)


I attempted to make something to submit to the competition, but despite my (last minute) valiant efforts, I didn't end up submitting anything because I wasn't happy with the way the characters were turning out towards the end. I also thought that drawing the story properly would take more than the 5-page restriction. So I decided to abandon the idea.

However, the whole exercise did entice me to read the entire 23 volume collection for the third time - and the story hasn't gotten old at all. In fact, a lot more parts of the story was clearer this time around.

For the uninitiated, Natsuki Takaya's "Fruits Basket" is about an orphaned girl named "Tohru Honda" who came to live with Yuki Sohma (the "prince" of Tohru's school) and his cousins Shigure and Kyo. Certain members of the Sohma family are cursed with the vengeful spirits of the Chinese zodiac and turn into their respective animal when hugged by the opposite sex.

As the story progresses, Tohru meets the rest of the "zodiacs" and learns more about the dark secret behind the curse.

I didn't exactly get stellar marks when I was studying Related English, but if Manga was to be added as part of the HSC Englih curriculum, I think "Fruits Basket" would be an excellent candidate for "texts" to study. There's so many interesting themes to analyse - the main one being loneliness and how the characters in the story dealt with it.

I once read in someone's blog how the zodiac transformations are like metaphors for mental problems suffered by the characters possessed by vengeful spirits (and they're all pretty messed up). I thought that was a pretty cool idea too.

Then there's the idea of family and children born to parents who reject them.


I think one of these days, I will try to complete the story I wanted to draw. If anything, to pay homage to my all time favourite series.

I might need to go back to "basics" though, my manga drawing has becoming pretty horrid XD;;;


EDIT: Jam Filled Bunlets are the next best thing @ Baker's Delight since flavoured scones! ^_______^

On Sunday morning, the light on the "DSL" and "Internet" part of the modem died, leading me to believe that my Internet had died.

It kind of felt like being in "exile" - no interaction with online friends or the ability to participate in my "usual online activities".

However, it was kind of refreshing not to be inclined to log online. I even managed to get some drawing done. I was hoping to participate in the Fruits Basket manga competition Borders is holding in conjunction with Madman. But finding inspiration too late and not being satisfied with how the characters were turning out, I decided to abandon the idea for now.

Maybe I'll try for the FFXI Anniversary Fanart competition. It's just fan art, closer to my current interest and the prize is a moogle rod (in-game /swt)

Supervisor from my previous job contacted me today asking if I knew anyone who'd be interested in a Web Dev job. I still believe my true interest lies in developing for e-Learning, but my current master is paying for my health insurance now, so going back to dream job will have to be put on hold for a while...

Date:	2009-04-14 23:03
Subject:	KAAAAMEEEEHAAAAMEEEEEHAAAAA
Security:	Public
Mood:	amused

Tonight was "bad movie's" night with gravityexe. We have this tradition where we go throw money on watching "bad" movies usually based on some kind of anime/manga/video game/comic book hero.

I say "bad" because usually, I go in expecting total crap and usual I come out not as bitterly disappointed as I thought I'd be.

Tonight we saw Dragonball Evolution for kicks. Going in with negative expectations, I actually came out of it not feeling too badly about my $10.

Don't get me wrong, the movie was bullocks from start to finish, I dislike how Chichi was played (she's my favourite character), and how they've tried to "Americanise" it (as only Hollywood can). And the Kamehameha in the movie was piss weak for a move that's so powerful, an entire takubon is dedicated just for the build up.

Come to think of it, DBZ is all about "powering" up, and there wasn't much of that at all.

I did find Chow Yun Fat slightly amusing though...

In constrast, the previous week I went into a session of The Watchmen with zero expectations wanting my money back and hoping the the movie would hurry up and finish already about 2/3rds of the way through the movie.

Go figure.

Date:	2009-04-01 23:46
Subject:	The Lull
Security:	Public
Mood:	bouncy

You know you're obsessed with gym classes when you submit a list of your favourite tracks and most of them get chosen for the "Best of~" weekend >_>

For the first time in what seems like AGES, I was able to waste the whole day playing games - and it was Dynasty Warriors 5.

(HA! Bet you all thought I was playing FFXI)

What lead me to dig the mostly untouched game from my "stash" wardrobe was watching Red Cliff II with chuuchuu. After getting obsessed with the character Zhuge Liang (his plot to borrow arrows from the opposition was just too awesome), I discovered that he was a character in the Three Kingdoms Saga (yeah, I know, I'm uncultured) and hastily dug the game out of storage the next day.

I've forgotten how amusing it was to slice through zerglings like butter. This one's a little more satisfying because I actually know more of the background story (well, a lot more than I did with Samurai Warriors XD)

Speaking of digging out old games, two of my uni friends finally came over to see our "Imperial Castle". After one of them left for the day, the other one got me to dig out my old Street Fighter games for the PS2.

[Tangent: My SF:Turbo II New Challengers for the SNES is still missing. I think one of my brother's friends ran off with it. Shame that was my very first console game :(]

Anyway, all I can say was boy am I out of shape. A good two hour session caused blisters on my left thumb. I was doing pretty well to stay unbeaten for SF:Alpha III, but I kept getting my ass handed back to me when we switch to SF: Gem Fighter :x

Look out fluffyduck, here I come! :D

That is all.

Date:	2009-02-14 05:35
Subject:	夢。夢を見ている。。。
Security:	Public
Mood:	sleepy

And so, the busy week starts - sort of. I kind of slacked off a bit on the gym sessions during the week because I wasn't up for it. But losing Tuesday and Thursday is enough to wear me out anyway.

My first impression of J class was: "OMG everyone's way younger than me XD" As usual, the first week was devoted to revising the contents of the pre-requisite course (which I completed a few years ago). Even though it's just revision, I've picked up random vocabulary here and there. Plus the teacher likes to throw in the random vocabulary and sentence structure.

We had a staff meeting at work the other day so that the MD could tell us how we're all in strife and as a result, the directive from the CEO in Milan is that there won't be any pay reviews this year.

Urgh. There goes my plans of taking a holiday to the UK.

( In other news... )

Date:	2009-02-03 22:39
Subject:	These are a few of my favourite things~
Security:	Public
Mood:	bouncy

Wedding expenses, Christmas season, an extremely large pay change and lowered interest rates meant that I was a little bit slack on the whole saving and budgeting for the past few months or so. I've mostly be splurging on manga, music CDs and DVDs instead of games though...

Manga
I decided to try a new artist and bought Captive Hearts by Matsuri Hino on a whim. The pacing of the story is kinda fast and disjointed, but the story is utterly ridiculous - which is something I really like in my manga. It's also only 5 volumes long - something else I like in my manga XD

A while back, I decided to start going through J manga I've collected but haven't been bothered to read (because reading in J made my head hurt at the time). Amazingly, reading in J didn't hurt my head that much this time around. Although I had to guess what the characters were going on about every now and then, I got the plot in general (most of the time).

I was in the middle of Marmalade Boy: Perfect Edition when I decided to check to see if she had any new stuff published. I ended up getting all four of the books she published after だって好きなんだもん (Because I Love You).

One of the things I noticed is that she's changed her style a bit. It's a lot more detailed and her stories are a lot more "mature" - especially her last two/three books. It took some getting used to - I always loved her work for the cuteness and the fluffiness. But the cuteness is still there and the stories are still short and sweet.


Music
I've been obsessed enthusiastic about attending the Les Mills exercise programs at the gym lately. I try to attend Body Combat and Body Attack classes religiously regularly. I like Body Combat in particular because I tend to like the tracks in the program better and I can pretend I know Kickboxing.

I've bought the following CDs thanks to Body Combat influence:
- Can't Take Me Home, Miss Undastoodz, Try This, I'm Not Dead - Pink (I guess I'm going to have to add Pink to my K-repertoire hehehe)
- The Best Damn Thing - Avril Lavigne (*teehee* @ fluffyduck)
- The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

Overall, no regrets about getting any of them :>


DVDs
Enchanted - Funniest movie Disney's come up with for a while. Very classic.
Speed Racer - Who am I kidding. I got it for Rain.
Resident Evil:Degeneration - Definitely a Leon-fan's only purchase. I like it for the extra features, especially the Voice Bloopers. Claire's Flare is classic.


OMG! NO GAMES?!?!? lolwut?

Date:	2008-11-03 02:42
Subject:	{Welcome back.} Sleepless nights...
Security:	Public
Mood:	awake

The past two weeks came and went in a blur. And now I'm back to my usual bad sleeping habits schedule.

But apparently I couldn't sleep until I wrote a paragraph or two about this year's Fisher's Ghost Festival.

( Some communities organise festivals to celebrate heroes... )

Date:	2008-10-10 02:14
Subject:	Time Pressures
Security:	Public
Mood:	aggravated

I swear, one of these days, I'll go to work and come back home the next day without realising that I've worked through the night...

Date:	2008-09-17 23:58
Subject:	time? what's time?
Security:	Public
Mood:	awake
Music:	Kamikazee

Hey everyone, long time no see - *lol*

So like, I've been spending the last month back at my parent's house taking care of their "baby" (fluffy family dog named Gizmo) which means I haven't been able to indulge in my usual online vices. Which is probably a good thing because a major life milestone will be laid down next month and I've got things that need to be completed before hand - and I don't think finished the night before is going to cut it for this one XD

In terms of preparations, I'm hoping to finish the last of the major errands by the end of this month so that all that's left are loose ends.
( brief thoughts on a few things )
( werk )

So like, about a month ago, I handed in my resignation and a little more than a week ago, I said "goodbye" to my work-buddies of four years. It was really devastating to have to go the way I did, but it was a necessary change.

I got the best presents too. <3 them all!



No rest for the weary though, I had to start the new job on the next Monday.

I've been working for the education sector/eLearning since I graduated seven years ago, so it was the first time I'd be developing for a commercial company.
( The pros and cons of changing directions... )
So far, but I've apparently been signed to work on is "bleh" compared to what I was actually working on at my previous job. And I don't really like the fact that I'm making mostly promotional applications. But I guess I should give it some time.

Things should pick up as the days fly by.

Date:	2008-04-25 21:00
Subject:	Stuff I'm Supposed to Have Ranted About Months Ago (pt 1)
Security:	Public
Mood:	amused

Four months into 2008 already. Time sure flies. I've been meaning to make comments on the following but haven't managed to take a serious attempt to getting around to it.

( Breaking the RPG Drought )

( Home Pwning )

( I Luv Musicals Part II )

Date:	2007-11-21 23:40
Subject:	On meeting your idol - My Great Otaku Adventure
Security:	Public
Mood:	cheerful

November has been a pretty busy month. So far I've had something on every weekend: Miss Saigon, crazy Uncle's birthday party where your Aunts tried to get you drunk on Midori and Vodka...

Last weekend was the weekend I've been waiting for since I found the promotional postcard being distributed at Supanova: the Eminence Concert featuring music composed by Kajiura and a guest appearance by Kajiura herself!

I was over the moon. I couldn't buy the tickets fast enough. Actually, I tried to restrain myself a bit, since I'm in stupid amounts of debt and I had bought Miss Saigon tickets off my cousin earlier - but of course it didn't work.



( I've never felt like such a raging otaku... )
( Eminence Concert )

Date:	2007-11-07 21:00
Subject:	i luv musicals
Security:	Public
Mood:	excited

Last month my cousin offered to sell me her Miss Saigon tickets at a discount because she wasn't able to make the session anymore. I remember borrowing the CDs of her back when I first got into Les Miserables and not thinking much about it. But they were discounted tickets and I've never been to see a stage musical before, so why not.

So with chuuchuu in tow, off we went to the Lyric Theatre to see the Matinee performance of Miss Saigon.

The short verdict is that it was fricking awesome!

( The long verdict... )

I guess I didn't think much of the story at first because there weren't any scenes or people to place the music. Now I'm feeling like I want the soundtrack for myself. I wonder if I can get it cheap at JB-HiFi XD;

I found another cool video from my favourite Pinoy Rock band XD



The song is basically about a guy lamenting on how he's always fighting with his girl. How she always seems to be grumpy at him and she's always jumping to conclusions whenever he's late.

The girl in the video is trying to find where her husband ran away to after she catches him being all smiles with another girl.

*waits for fluffyduck to summon the "ye Gods" again*

( Lyrics Translation (go, go online dictionaries) )

Well, everyone is back in the house. It's kind nice having extra lights on around the place. After my parents came back from their cruise, my Dad stayed home for a few days before flying off to the Philippines to visit his relatives. Or at least that was one of the objectives. The other objective was to bring me back some curtains from the Divisoria. He came back home with a luggage full of flora print curtains - enough to cover the entire ground floor.

To be honest, I would have preferred single coloured curtains - but you can't really argue with the "gift" aspect.

<3 Dad

He also came back with my requested goodies :D After learning more about Filo Music through RadioBlogClub, I asked my Dad to get me some CDs from a few groups I've taken a liking to based on one or two of the songs I've heard on RadioBlogClub. Most of the groups were alternative/rock bands.

( More about Pinoy Rock )

In other news, I accidentally sent my glasses flying across the car park >_<; Luckily, only the top corner of the left lens was chipped and I can still see through it. I went to see the optomerist this evening to get a new pair of glasses and a check up. Grades slipped a bit, but apparently it's slowing down - woot! It was pretty expensive though because I opted to get special lenses so that they don't look so thick on my thin frames.

Resident Evil: Extinction was released this month. I've never walked into a Resident Evil movie thinking it would be award-winning stuff. At the same time, I haven't walked out of any of the Resident Evil movies and thought "this was complete crap" until I watched the latest installment.

( Read more about the horror that is RE: Extinction )
Incidentally both chuuchuu and I went home with massive headaches after the movie. I wonder if there was something subliminal going on @_@;;