Journey to the south of Japan - Kyushu! #2

Day 2 - Karatsu, Nagasaki

The next day, we hit the road towards Nagasaki, making a detour towards the town Karatsu on the way. It was a pretty smooth drive on the highways; even though the speed limit was 80 everyone was pretty much zipping around at 100+km/h, even the huge lorries and buses. No speed cameras *wink*

Anyway on the way to Karatsu City, we drove through a pine forest, with rows after rows of pine trees on both sides of the road. It almost created a green tunnel.



The main attraction in Karatsu City is of course Karatsu Castle (nearly every large town has its own castle, dating back to the olden days where war between factions were common). It wasn't as impressive as others I've seen (they're all based on the same design, anyway), but the view from atop the castle was excellent.







As Karatsu is within the Saga Prefecture, my food-loving dad (or, as I like to say in Hokkien, "tam jiak gui") went in search of Saga beef, supposedly similar to wagyu. We found this restaurant at the recommendation of the castle security guard which sold Saga beef!





I wasn't feeling particularly hungry so I settled for a bowl of eel-floss rice. Tasted pretty much like pork floss. The beef was good though! Very tender, and not too fatty. It wasn't that expensive either, with the whole set for SGD$60 unlike the previous time on tour where the tour guide recommended a few slices of wagyu for the same price =.=.

Still, I wouldn't spend $60 just to eat good beef, give me a bowl of Yoshinoya's beef bowl (Japan) anytime. More about that later. Anyway, there wasn't much to do in Karatsu, being a relatively small quiet town, so we continued to Nagasaki, passing Omura Bay on the way.



We reached Nagasaki in the evening, checked into the hotel and made a short trip to the nearby Mt. Inasan for a night view of Nagasaki City. We took a ropeway (they don't call it "cable car" in Japan, to them cable car refers to a tram being pulled by a cable up a slope, thanks to Fujita sensei for that titbit of info :P).



When we got to the top of the observatory the wind was absolutely freezing, even the bunch of schoolkids on excursion were running about shrieking about the cold. I tried to snap a few photographs of the lights before I had to run back into the comfort of the heated building. It was a pretty spectacular sight.





We ran into a a pair of elderly Caucasian tourists, probably American, who were engaged in a pretty amusing conversation with the school kids, involving plenty of gesticulating and a mish mash of Japanese and English. Somehow I find that they (the Japanese) are quite intrigued by foreigners, especially foreigners who attempt to communicate using the Japanese language. More on that later.



We headed back to Nagasaki Station for dinner, and I spotted a familiar sign:



Yoshinoya!



You must be thinking, why the hell would I go all the way to Japan, only to have Yoshinoya for dinner? You can get it in Singapore! Well, all I can say is, once you've eaten their beef bowl in Japan, you'll never touch Yoshinoya elsewhere ever again. I tried it on my first first trip to Japan in Shibuya, and since then I've made it a point to eat it at least once every time I visit Japan. The beef was nice and bouncy, not dry and hard like back in SG, and the rice, having soaked up the sauce, was exploding with beefy flavour. Even the ubiquitous miso soup tasted refreshing, not overly salty.

Nothing like a budget beef bowl to end the day. Like ramen, I could eat this for every meal if I could :D

We shopped in Seiyu for some necessities (and beer!) before heading back to the hotel by electric tram. Very old school, but efficient, if not a bit jerky. And cheap as well! I'd take trams over subways anytime, although they can get very tight during peak hours.





One interesting thing about the trams (and public buses all over Japan), is that on top of the card reader not unlike our EZ Link card reader, they have a money changer incorporated into the coin collecting machine for people (like us) who have to pay in cash. Throw in a 1000yen note or a 500yen coin, and the machine will spit out coins in various denominations, always adding up to the original amount. Then you can pay your tram/bus fare. Cool huh!

Sure beats digging your wallet for coins, or even begging fellow commuters for small change (I did that before, and it was very embarrassing).

That sums up day 2! I was intending to include day 3 with this post, but after looking at the number of photos I took on that day, guess not.

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P.S Quis will be competing in the Singapore Street Festival WOW band competition semi-finals tomorrow, Friday, 11th June, 7pm at Orchard Cineleisure. Do come down and support! Audience votes will be counted :D

Journey to the south of Japan - Kyushu!

I've finally found time to do what seems like a huge task - uploading and chronicling the 12 days I spent in Japan. Its something which I've always done whenever I went overseas, partly to share the photos as well as a way for me to remember this trip. Trust me, 2 years down the road and I'd have forgotten everything, if it were not for the photos.

Day One

Alright then. We touched down at Fukuoka Airport a little past 7am, before checking in at the hotel. The check-in time was 3pm so we had some time to burn.

Our hotel was in Hakata, next to Hakata Station. We decided to explore the area a bit, before heading to the largest shopping mall in the area - Canal City. Its a mall built over a canal, hence the name.



That circular stage, coincidentally, was where YUI performed years ago.

There wasn't much in the mall apart from millions of clothing stores (a scene that would be repeated again and again) and a HMV. So we took a walk and decided to search for lunch, and chanced upon a shopping street (as well as a ramen shop!)



The ramen came as a slight shock because the soup was very dark, thick and flavourful, nothing like I had ever tasted before. I'm not sure what type it was, it wasn't miso, nor was it shoyu, or even tonkotsu. It was good though! Walking around for awhile, I spotted a float used for festivals that was being kept in storage.



Amazing eh? And during the festivals it'll take many guys just to lift it.

We headed back to the hotel to check in and I took a nap as I didn't catch a wink on the plane - was busy watching Nodame Cantabile :P On a side note, Juri Ueno was hilarious, first in Swing Girls and now as Nodame.

As dusk approached, we headed to Tenjin for a little walkabout and to try the much talked about "yatai", or street stalls. Tenjin is really the "Orchard Road" of Fukuoka, everything is concentrated along the main street Watanabe-dori, with towering malls like Daimaru, Mitsukoshi, Tenjin core and others flanking both sides of the street. It even has an underground shopping street stretching the whole length of the road.





The view of Canal City at night. As we walked along the river in search of yatai (thanks to a tip from a local guy, although he did mention it wasn't all as its hyped up to be), I could see the faint glow of lanterns. A whole stretch of street stalls selling ramen, oden, yakitori, and even sashimi!



We ate at a oden stall which also sold yakitori and ramen. Talk about variety! And naturally we had all 3, all washed down with a nice chilled bottle of Asahi Super Dry :D







The whole cost of the meal? 4000yen, which amounted to about SGD60, for a bowl of ramen, selected skewers, oden, and a bottle of beer. Expensive, I would say, considering its a street stall. A tourist trap perhaps? But I also saw many locals (mostly salarymen) tucking in happily. Well, it was a unique experience anyway. Plus the ramen tasted really good! I'd say the same of the yakitori, which included chicken skin eheheh. Not the most healthiest of choices, but definitely the tastiest.

And that concludes Day 1 of the trip! I figured splitting it into 12 posts would be an easier and more enjoyable read, plus it'll buff up my blog posts :P

Til the next post! Still uploading my some 700 photos to photobucket D:

九州へいきましょ！

sorry 'bout the lack of updates, but its to compensate for the flood of posts that will be popping up 2 weeks from now :P

posts filled with bandwidth draining photos from Kyushu, Japan!

I will be lugging my laptop around so I might find time to upload photos during the trip. And hopefully I can get free Internet access in the hotels that I'll be staying. It'll also be my navigator of sorts - Google maps!

Tong-ing 100yen every 15mins to use a computer in a hotel lobby is something I wouldn't want to experience again. Not when the keyboard is configured to display Hiragana. I remember going through 500yen just to send off a couple of readable emails trying to arrange a meetup with a friend over there :S

Occasionally if I manage to hook onto some free Wi-fi while on the move, I'll probably tweet some photos from my lousy 2mp E63 camera phone, so look out for that :D

I must apologise beforehand though. This trip, unfortunately, will result in my carboon footprint being excessively large, mostly due to the fact that it will be a driving trip. My persuasive powers weren't enough to sway my dad to go train-hopping, nor was my attempt to change his mind to choose a Prius over a Wish.

Kinda fits the title of my blog, eh? *sigh*

Well, I guess 2 weeks of not being at home and playing games on my PC probably eases some of my guilt. Economists call it "opportunity costs" - I call it "lame reasoning just to make myself feel better".

Anyway! Green ideals aside, it'll be a good trip. I've already planned out a half-day YUI-stalker itinerary (her hometown is Fukuoka, one of the cities I'll be visiting) :P I'm just praying it doesn't rain too heavily. Plus I've heard the Hakata ramen there is heavenly :D

Just a lil' info about my itinerary - Fukuoka -> Nagasaki -> Kumamoto -> Beppu -> Oita -> Fukuoka

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Oh and if you're reading this and somehow feel the need to contact me, just drop me a message on FB/twitter/email. I won't be contactable by phone, well, at least not willingly. Roaming charges = $$$

Rock 'n' Roll Circus

No more sidetracks this time.

Ayumi Hamasaki's latest album, Rock 'n' Roll Circus contains 15 tracks, 5 of which are singles, 7 are new songs and 3 interludes.

I mentioned before that its another "business as usual" album right? That was indeed my first impression. Well, after listening to the songs a couple of times, I take it back. Compared to her previous not-so-impressive albums such as Next Level, Secret and (miss)understood, this album has a mix of songs that try to break free from the generic pop, rock and ballad concoction and actually succeed, one thing which Next Level didn't manage to do (too much electronica for my liking).

I would place it on the same level as Guilty, one of her better recent albums.

Do note that I'm talking from a totally musical standpoint, as I haven't really taken a good look at the lyrics yet.

As a whole the album sounds pretty dark, with just 2 song providing a little sunshine. Some of the better songs:

Microphone - this is the reason the album has the words "Rock 'n' Roll" in it. The use of the organ during the opening and ending is epic, as well as the floor-shaking guitar riffs combined with her powerful vocals. If there's one song to look forward to in every new album of hers, its the rock anthem. If she wasn't a J-pop singer, she'd be the frontman of a kickass rock band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMAntfxf420

Sexy Little Things - I didn't like the song at first. After repeated listens I discovered the reason why. It was different! Its a cheeky and fun little song, and although I don't care much for the electronic music, it does fit in pretty well. Definitely a refreshing change from the usual pop/rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B73K8pJYjgo

Don't look back - the opening hits you like a hammer. A sitar! Followed by a tabla! Not to be racist here, I did feel the urge to bob my head a lil' bit while listening to this song. Another breakthrough song, especially with the infusion of the Arabian/Indian inspired background music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn3sI4OFn_k

RED LINE ~for TA~ - the most meaningful track on the album. Apparently this song was written to encourage a fan who had suicidal thoughts. It's an uplifting song that certainly deserves to be placed among the best "last tracks", alongside "Who...", "Memorial Address" and "untitled -for her-". Coincidentally, "untitled -for her-" was written and dedicated to her close friend who committed suicide that year.

"If you have a feeling of despair, please remember
This day called today on which you are going to give up,
Is the tomorrow on which somewhere, someone didn't want to give up.
And that I'm tightly, tightly
Holding your hands"

it ends with her singing the chorus A capella, definitely one for the fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC9EUb0PUdY

Well, thats it! This album may signify better things to come in the future from Ayumi Hamasaki, and has been described by many as her "comeback album", considering the quality of her albums haven't been very impressive since My Story. Something to look forward to, definitely.

I bought a CD.

When was the last time you bought a CD?

Alright I'll give you some time to think. Rabid fans of *insert popular musician/band here* exempted.

Can't recall? Not surprising really - its the worst kept secret. Fact is, CD sales are tumbling. Remember Sembawang Music? It used to be THE place to go to get the cheapest CDs on sale, compared to inflated prices from the likes of HMV and Tower Records. Where is it now? Gone. Even the gigantic Tower Records has left our shores.

Left standing are HMV, which has since vacated its megastore at the Heeren, and a couple of smaller shops sprinkled over the island like Gramophone and Music Junction. It used to be the fact that in every shopping center you'd find a CD store. Not anymore.

The point is, buying a CD nowadays is a rarity. Nowadays, getting an album means downloading it, legally or illegally, not heading down to HMV and paying 20 plus dollars for a piece of plastic and some paper. Besides, who listens to CDs anyway? Everything fits into that tiny thing in your pocket called the mp3 player. You don't carry boomboxes or discmans around anymore.

And so I am proud to say this - I bought a CD.

Speaking of which, I had to overhaul my CD/DVD drawer just to accommodate the new CD which I just bought recently, Ayumi Hamasaki's Rock 'n' Roll Circus. It was full to the brim when I opened it to slot in the new addition. I had to migrate the DVDs into another drawer, clearing a ton of junk from that drawer in the process. And that was just the Japanese section of my music collection. The remnants of my English/Mandarin listening days are stuffed into another corner. I'm running out of storage space.

Here's the part where I stop and think about how convenient it is to store hundreds and thousands of CDs worth of music into a single hard drive.

+1 to the growing list of reasons "Why we stop buying CDs"

So why did I buy a CD?

The only reason I can think of is this - musicians depend on CDs to make money, so they can use that money to make good music which we listen to and appreciate. CDs are the holy grail to all musicians, especially to the newbies hoping to strike it big. Its a common consensus - the day you make it is the day you release a CD. Not a playlist of Youtube videos nor a digital album distributed over the Internet. Its the physical, piece-of-plastic in a jewel case CD.

I always say this - if you support the artist, buy their CDs, as long as they're within reach and within financial means. I'm lucky enough that stores here actually stock some of the more popular Japanese artistes (overseas versions at reasonable prices, not those crazy imported ones in HMV), although I do wish more were available.

Without people to listen to their music, buy their CDs or cheer them on, musicians are as good as nothing. So take heart, fellow music lover; somewhere, out there, with every CD you buy, with every song that plays on your mp3 player, you are being appreciated.

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Before this Internet age, can you remember the feeling of buying a CD of your favourite artist from the store? The feeling of opening the cover, looking through the included booklet, sitting back and listening to songs you've been looking forward to listening to?

I still get that same feeling each time. And that, is the reason why I buy CDs. Sure, I admit to a bit of fanboyism, but hey, at least I have a reason for it.

This post was supposed to be an album review, but uh, guess I got a "little" bit sidetracked :P

Post-exam activity #1 - Don't Say "Lazy"

What does a guy do alone at home the day after he finishes his exams?
.
.
.
He watches anime!

Alright, I suppose this doesn't apply to the generic "guy" in the street, more to the inner otaku in every one of them.

I've been a huge fan and rabid follower of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood even though the storyline matches the manga word for word. Its got something to do with getting a kick out of watching all the special effects blaze to life, something you can't get from reading the manga.

But even I must admit, I've been watching too much FMA. Its getting too emotional, too serious to really enjoy watching. Its more for the story, really.

Which was why, in the midst of studying for the exams last week, I chanced upon an anime which I knew was around but never bothered to watch. Yes, call me Mr. Lag. This always happens to me, yes?

K-ON!

When I first heard the opening theme song on Youtube, I nearly cringed at the overly cute vocals, even though it matched the entire theme well. I didn't know at that time, but K-ON! was one of the most popular animes in Japan when it was first aired. After watching a few episodes I kinda knew why, and well it sort of made for a good post-studying pre-bedtime activity :P



In a nutshell, K-ON! is about a 2 high school girls, Mio (Bass) and Ritsu (Drums) forming the "Light Music Club" (Kei-on in Japanese) in their school. Short of members, they go on a recruiting spree and manage to recruit Mugi (Keyboard) and Yui (Guitar). Packed into 13 episodes with practices, high teas in the music room, desperate crises, new members, training camps, school performances and many epic, L-O-L moments, I'd say K-ON! is definitely not the kind of anime you'd wanna catch for a strong storyline.

Rather, its that kind of anime that brings a smile to your face after a long day at work/studies, no thanks to the antics of the 4 girls, each with their own set of unique characters. Its more of a brainless, overly cute comedy than a music-oriented anime, even though the music aspect first drew me to it. Not that the music isn't good; the ending song "Don't Say Lazy" is catchy, as well as the songs the girls perform on stage "Fuwa Fuwa Time" and "My Love is a Stapler". Yup, strange song titles indeed.

Its currently into its 2nd season now, and while I can almost predict the story already, I'm gonna follow it just for the laughs and entertainment value. If you happened to walk past my room while I was watching K-ON! in hall, you'd have noticed the wide smile on my face, with the occasional outburst of laughter. I hope it didn't look weird :x

K-ON! is freely available on Youtube for those who'd like a peek, so go ahead and have a laugh :)

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In other news, Command and Conquer 4 didn't live up to my expectations. After just 4 campaign missions I gave up. More on that in a later post, perhaps.

A list...

of the things I want to do after tomorrow :D

1) Move out of hall. Yeah, bummer. Hopefully I can stay next sem

2) SLEEP.

3) Play my backlog of games. Others have work backlog. Or homework backlog. I have games backlog :P

4) Watch my backlog of live performances and movies

5) Practice guitar/bass! My fingers are itching now. Especially after watching K-ON! Unfortunately all I can do is to touch my Materials Science notes -.-

6) On the same note, jamming! My ears feel the need to be stuffed with earplugs again!

7) Soccer! I haven't exercised since... well since the word exams found its way into my daily vocabulary.

8) Find a job. Hopefully I'll get down to it as soon as possible. Though considering the amount of stuff I need to catch up on...

9) Buy CDs! I still haven't bought Ayu's latest album D:

10) Celebrate! Spending the whole day in a tiny room studying can get quite claustrophobic.

Oh, wait. I still have another paper this Thursday. *sigh* It'll come soon enough. Soon. Very soon. Very VERY soon....

****

exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams exams

if that's not enough to drill it into my head, I don't know what will.
I'm going cold turkey, locking myself in Hall 6, 32-3-XXX.

If I don't answer the door, call for help.

:P

Catch me @ Can 2, if you're lucky.

Dreams are(n't) my reality

Its strange how dreams can pop up from nowhere with totally random storylines - you wake up and you go "What was THAT all about?!?!"

Especially since in my case, dreams are about as rare as catching a Mewtwo in Safari Zone.

Which is why most of mine are pretty memorable.

I remember having 1 ages ago during Primary school (yes it was that long ago), where I was standing at the top of a super-long escalator that stretched down in some random shopping mall, and it was snowing. Indoors.

Don't ask me what that means.

Then there were the numerous occasions where I would be falling indefinitely, waking up at the exact moment of landing. That was scary. People say it means insecurity, but I think its just the brain's way of saying "Ok, the alarm's gonna ring pretty soon, so why not I give you a lil' ride just for fun".

And many others which I can't really remember. I can only vaguely remember the characters present in some of them - A polar bear (must have been a really hot night), an elephant (uh, ate too much peanuts?), and random people from my childhood.

Like last night, a fragment of my childhood surfaced yet again. Can't really recall the exact story, but it involved a certain person, a bungalow, a strange proposal, a celebration, Facebook, an interview, a revelation and a dilemma. Its strange right? Having a dilemma within a dream. And I think I actually had to make a decision, which of course affected the course of the dream. WEIRD! Its almost as if I was inside directing the whole thing. (I thought dreams were supposed to be uncontrollable?)

It might be due to waking up at 4am to hunt down a god-forsaken mosquito that was happily slurping up my blood. Just to let you know, I didn't manage to smack it. Yes I know, all future NEA employees should come equipped with mosquito swatting + mosquito breeding site spotting skills. I'll work on it, I promise.

Dreams reflect what our brains have been thinking about, our fantasies, our worries, our hopes, our anxieties. But I really hope they don't reflect reality: Imagine dreaming about giant commando mosquitoes that attack in squadrons.

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What did you dream of last night?

ソラニン

The reason why I'm "wasting"time writing this instead of doing my work is, I can't concentrate unless I let this out. In case you're wondering if its something epic, no its not. Rather its just me getting all melancholic over a song/manga/movie.

If you've been noticing my MSN status recently, its been playing the song "Solanin" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation. I've put it on loop whenever I feel like listening to it (laughs). Its their latest single which they wrote the song for an upcoming movie adaptation of a manga of the same name "Solanin". The lyrics were written by the mangaka (author), which appears in the manga.

I finished the manga in a few hours in 1 shot (thats how addictive it was) - read it here:
http://www.onemanga.com/Solanin/

The movie trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EMFvvv2hF4



The movie stars Aoi Miyazaki as Meiko, an office lady who quits her job, hoping to escape the tedium of her daily life and finally figure out her place in the world. Her long-time boyfriend Taneda (Kengo Kora) is a part-timer who belongs to an amateur band, but he too is stuck in life. Meiko tries encouraging him to seriously pursue his music dreams, but things aren't that simple. A tragedy triggers drastic changes in Meiko's and the band members' lives, following which they have to struggle with their internal conflicts and pick themselves up.

The story is both a reflection of the challenges faced by our generation as well as how we feel at times, and an inspiration to get out there to do something worth doing. I really emphasised with the protagonists Meiko and Taneda and the challenges they faced. I hope to catch it in cinemas over here, failing which I'll have to resort to "other ways" :P

The full song "Solanin" (PV), by Asian Kung-Fu Generation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kn8g0QHVNY




The lyrics to the song Solanin were written by Taneda in the manga:

Translation by Sato (akfgfan.com)

Mistaken thoughts from beyond the sky
A life spent saying goodbye?
The little piece of the future I saw
Was waving goodbye

The small room I once lived in
Is now occupied by someone else
The horrible things I said to you
The days that were wasted

Perhaps if I'd taken that chance, if I could go back to that day
But I'll never be that person again

Even if that frail happiness
had somehow lingered on
A bad seed would surely have sprouted
So I guess this is goodbye

The cold cans of coffee from freezing winters
That long rainbow coloured scarf
I stroll through the back alley
It all comes back to me

Even if that frail happiness
had somehow lingered on
A bad seed would surely have sprouted
So I guess this is goodbye

I guess

Goodbye, that's enough
You can cope anywhere
Goodbye, I'll manage somehow too
Goodbye, that's what I'll do

From the lyrics one assumes it to be a "Farewell song" to a loved one, as Meiko initially thought. But she soon realises that Taneda meant for it to be a farewell song written to his past self.

.
.
.
.

How many of us can say goodbye to our old selves and start anew?

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Alright, now that I've gotten it off my chest, back to mugging. Can't say goodbye to the old mugger in me, at least for now.

And I know I know I know...

And so the significant other has left for Germany on exchange. Guess it'll be a quiet 5 months while she's away. All the best over in currywurst land! Can't wait to fly over - it seems so far, what with exams standing in my way. Sigh...

On the bright side, it means more time for me to study... If it even resembles a bright side.

Still, its amazing what technology can do. Email used to be considered the cutting edge tool to keep in touch, now Skype can do that, complete with live video and audio! And for free too! If you discount the cost of the equipment that is. The 7 hour time difference is a killer though; more often than not email would be the only option.

Coincidentally, the song "Ain't No Sunshine" was kept on constant loop in my head today, ever since I bought Olivia Ong's latest album from HMV today.

Simply titled "Olivia", its her first album under her new record label HIM. The packaging is unique as well, with the standard jewel CD case enclosed within an envelope-like package, sealed with stitching.

Containing 2 new original songs and 8 covers, this all-English album would fit nicely in a quiet eatery or lounge. Without much deviation from her previous works, this latest album doesn't really break new ground nor does it aim to impress. Instead, it builds upon Olivia's soothing and crystal clear vocals, giving a new and refreshing take on old songs that were once radio hits of their time.

Notable tracks on the album:

"You and Me" - An original song that's lighthearted, simple and sweet. Sounds better each time I play it!

"I Feel The Earth Move" - Slightly more upbeat, with a playful bounce to it. An interesting, jazzy reinterpretation of the original song.

"Bittersweet" - The 2nd original song on the album. I first heard it live on TV during this show which showcased local bands (I forgot the title of the show already :x) and was quite impressed by it. The album version is a different take on the same song, but somehow I prefer the live version (maybe due to the groovier feel)

"Ain't No Sunshine" - The best song on this album to me. I don't know why, but it just sticks in my head for some reason.

"Luka" and "Stars" - Both are simple covers of the 2 hits of the 80's - 90's and yet she does them flawlessly, her clear vocals standing out in both renditions. I must say she does Simply Red songs very well, first "For Your Babies" in the previous album and now "Stars".

Overall? The novelty of covering popular songs may have lost its shine slightly after 3 albums, but it still is a tried and tested formula, and one which Olivia does wonderfully. Throw in a couple of new songs to freshen up the mix and you have an easy to listen album that would appeal to anyone.

It's a pity "Ru Yan" wasn't included as a bonus track or something. Its the song that brought her to local fame after all.

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"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone....."

Recess week!

The best way to start off "recess week" is of course having a make up lecture on a Saturday morning! What an educational, informative and productive way to spend a wonderful sunny morning!

Needless to say, I won't be going. Online lecture videos FTW!

I suppose you've already noticed that I haven't been posting for a period of time, ever since the Muse concert (that seemed so far away now). Reason being, its been a mad rush these past few weeks, with Chinese New Year celebrations, followed by back-to-normal school life, and then a weekend of pure mugging for tests. Followed by another last minute bombshell quiz the next day after completing 3 tests back to back.

Bloody hell, its still Chinese New Year! (13th day, to be exact)

The term recess week is actually a misnomer. Recess should be a time where we all head down to the canteen merrily to eat that delicious mee rebus, that scrumptious wonton mee, the forever-long-queue western food. Not to mention the 50cent drink comprising "everything". Some will choose to spend that time playing soccer in the field, basketball, carom, or just simply hang around and talk cock.

What recess week actually means is catching up on lessons and tutorials, completing that time-consuming lab report, and trying to do as much webassign as possible. Coupled with band practices and culture night rehearsals. Phew!

I wish I was back in secondary school again. Or primary school. I really won't mind wearing those tight shorts again. Aren't they in fashion now?

We're not droplets in the ocean

Its been exactly a week since Big Night Out 2010.

And, no matter what their fans say, Saosin and Rise Against were no match for the imba-ness that is Muse.

I don't really have much inspiration now to write out a huge concert report chunk so I guess I'll make it brief.

In a nutshell, the concert was -

Crowded!
The queues outside for the standing pens were stretching out as far as the eye could see. Once inside, especially once Muse started playing, the half empty Pen A (right in front of the stage) as well as the upper floors of seats filled up to the brim.

Crazy!
The jostling and pushing in the crowd was crazy during Saosin's set. I wonder if the Muse fans got restless and decided to do something to up the excitement. It got worse during Muse's Uprising - everyone wanted to get as close to the front as possible. Luckily common sense took over halfway into the concert, people started spreading out to get a better view and more fresh air. Coupled with lots of jumping, fist pumping, singing (some were sadly out of tune) and a placard which read "F*** Me Bellamy!!", I guess crazy is the right word to use. Even Matt said, "You guys are crazy!"

Tiring!
5 hours of standing, jumping and trying to avoid being crushed is no joke. With a recovering left knee and inherent high arch feet, my legs were in a murderous mood. Thankfully the adrenaline during Muse's set was enough to numb the feeling.

Spectacular!
You would have expected a rock concert to be just that - a rock concert. No frills, just music and crazy fans. But nooooo, the effects people had other ideas. The opening effects, backing videos as well as the lighting were all top class. They even had individual cameras filming Matt, Chris and Dominic the whole time, screening the action live on 2 huge screens for the poor people at the back. The laser show during Undisclosed Desires was awesome.

Loud!
I almost lost my hearing during the concert. I never though music could be this loud. Even so, it was the louder, the better. I could feel the floor shake with every drum kick and bass note.

Masterpiece!
Last of all, Muse themselves were absolutely kickass. If I had to choose one band who could motivate their fans to remember every single lyric, shout out every anthem and sing out every guitar riff, I would choose Muse. The indoor stadium was literally shaking during Uprising and Starlight, everyone's voices as one. Their performance was flawless, nonstop until the very end. They played most of their hits new and old, such as Supermassive Black Hole, Hysteria, Starlight, Map of the Problematique, Time is Running Out, the surprise Plug in Baby and the final encore Knights of Cydonia, as well as tracks from The Resistance (Uprising, Resistance, Undisclosed Desires etc).The whole concert was very surreal, everything just went by too quickly, song after song. I couldn't remember a thing immediately after Knights of Cydonia (the final song) ended. It was just a "Whoaa....." kind of thing.

And that's it! I'd post a picture of the wrist tag and the tickets, but lazy la..

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And in the aftermath, the ringing in my left ear has returned with a vengeance. Should have put in ear plugs. But then again, it wouldn't do Muse justice.

A Troubleshooter's Nightmare

It all started from another usual complaint from my mum regarding the speed (or rather, the lack of it) of the ol' family computer. I like to call it the Pentium4. Anyway I ignored it as usual; I couldn't make it much faster than it already was.

Until this morning. You know those flashes of "Ya hor! That might work!" ? I had one of those moments, and from there on the nightmare started.

You see, Pentium4 was configured to dual boot Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux on separate hard disks a few years ago as an experiment, since I had a leftover hard disk from the now-scrapped Pentium3. Apparently after the experiment the Windows partition slowed down considerably, but for the sake of keeping Ubuntu I lived with it.

As experiments go, Pentium4 didn't use his Ubuntu alter-ego as much as he should. So I decided, on this fateful morning, that it should go. Just remove the old hard disk and everything will be back to normal, right? Or so I thought.

To cut the over-technical story short, installing Ubuntu screwed up the Windows master boot record (or MBR) which controls the booting up of OS when starting up the computer. So I was busy trying to figure out how to repair the MBR, when I accidentally deleted my Windows partition (thanks to Compaq Recovery).

I was left with an unbootable hard disk AND no data to boot (pardon the pun). Thankfully, I had a backup image, so I restored it and prayed it would work. The data was back, but it still wouldn't boot.
I did what most people would do - Google.

To cut another long technical story short, I downloaded a burnt a couple of utility CDs that were supposed to solve the problem, but they didn't work. I got fed up and went ahead with Compaq Recovery to restore my hard disk back to factory settings, hoping that the MBR would be fixed in the process. Nope.

And then I threw down my last card in frustration - wipe out the entire hard disk, and try to restore the backup image which I tried the first time round. If that didn't work, well at least I'd get a 80GB external HDD to play around with. Here's the best part: While attempting the restoration, I noticed an option that I missed out the first time - an option to restore the MBR as well. *facepalm + head-on-wall-banging*

And surprise surprise! It actually worked! After a whole day of trying. Does this warrant a failblog.org entry? Or perhards FML?

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Twisted my knee during soccer yesterday. Not that serious, but it does feel kinda wobbly. I hope it gets better in time for the Muse concert on Wednesday! Standing ticket, of all things.

When we were young...

(QUOTE)
sighz...weekend was spent setting up the new comp...compaq presario, comes wif a 17 inch lcd screen...looks dam big...not used to it...

anyway i discovered the integrated VGA card sux...64mb only...so i opened it up, and guess wad? the slots were not compatible wif my nVidia Geforcefx 5200...gotta live wif lousy graphics until i can get a compatible one...

70GB of HD space...omg thats so gay~ y would anyone need so much space lolx...

loading speed is also gay...2-3 seconds for fifa2005 compared to 10-15s on my old one..

righto enuf of my comp...

i ran 4++ km yesterday...1 round bedok reservoir...surprising that i didnt feel tired, maybe cos i ran xtra slow...

(UNQUOTE)


4 years ago, that was my writing style.

Looking back, I think I was still pretty n00bish in writing a proper, readable blog post.

I've come a looong way haha.

Do take note of "70GB of HD space...omg thats so gay~ y would anyone need so much space lolx... "

Technology is amazing, don't you think?

Reading my old archives can be a pretty amusing (and embarrassing for me) experience.

School work is piling up. Damn.

Again

Its been a pretty eventful holiday so far, probably one of the holiday periods where I actually spent the least time at home so far, compared to holidays of the past. Sounds like a geek coming out of the closet eh?

Still, I stayed at home long enough to complete 1 round of Dragon Age: Origins. According to popular consensus, it's definitely worth a replay, just to see what happens when choosing an alternative plot route.

A rewind moment to reflect on the last holiday of 2009

Had the last of my exams! Seems so far away now, just thinking that I have to go through another of those in another 4 months time is giving me a stomachache (ok actually I'm feeling hungry, but I digress)

Batman Arkham Asylum and Modern Warfare 2! Spent many happy hours killing and getting killed.

Welcomed Ming Hwee and Ming Hao back to Singapore with a "reunion" soccer game!

Celebrated girlfriend's 21st birthday party at NSRCC resorts. Really great place to hold parties and gatherings! Great party, great company, great food and too much drinks :P I was surprised no one got really drunk. Spent a nice lazy day there the next day after the party.

Celebrated Wesley's birthday at a Thai restaurant. Somehow a lot of people were born in December, I wonder why hmmm....

Watched 2012 and Avatar, potential movie of the year. Wonderful visuals, stunning graphics. Its amazing what technology can do, especially when comparing to the movies of old. Story was kinda predictable though - High tech Pocahontas?

Christmas week was really packed.

Attended Sean's Xmas party, which was really a very filling dinner , a Saboteur tournament and a talk cock sing song session :)

EOY '09! Had a wonderful experience there, performing in front of a great crowd. The organisers and fellow performers were very friendly as well. Lots of things to see and hear! Cosplayers and photographers were everywhere. Stormtrooper vs Krauser = epic. Saw Yui Makino during the rehearsals :P

Went for ex-alpha interns' Xmas BBQ at Hui Xian's house. It was nice meeting everyone again and of course goofing around with the guys.

Became a Karang Guni for a morning, traversing HDB floors in a corner of Sengkang lugging stacks of newspapers, magazines and tonnes of other chapalang stuff to raise funds for Hexis. One hell of a workout!

Went for David's 21st birthday party! Spent the whole night playing mahjong and Wii. Next day everyone was pretty stoned.

Played LAN with David and his friends, followed by shopping at Sim Lim. L4D2! Not a bad game I'd say, much more fun and exciting than the original. Gonna wait for a discount before I even consider getting it.

Met up with the Kevin and the army dudes for lunch @ Marche @ 313 @ Somerset! Followed by another LAN gaming session (this time we went old school - Counterstrike!) and dinner of ramen in an ulu corner of Orchard Plaza.

Dragon Age : Origins! Really addictive game. RPG of the year, definitely!

That's about it!

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School starts in less than 15 hours. *sigh*

Here we go again...

First post of 2010!

Frankly, it doesn't seem any different from 2009, apart from the fact that school starts in a week :(

Well, I suppose its appropriate to create a(nother) list of new year resolutions....

1) I will not upgrade my PC any further unless something breaks down.
2) Learn Japanese! (This hinges on whether I'm able to successfully bid for HMJ1)
3) Fly to Germany during the summer!
4) Catch Muse live in Singapore! (Well this is almost done, ticket's with me)
5) Play more gigs than in 2009!

I suppose 5 should be enough, yes?

10, 9, 8,.... 3, 2, 1...

Its the annual endless-Top 10-lists post!

Something to reflect on this past year and something to motivate me into the next year!

Top 10 Geeky Exploits!

1) Giving my PC a massive rehaul (half of it off the 2nd-hand market)
2) Getting sucked into the portal that is Hardwarezone.com.sg
3) Overclocking my PC + undervolting my notebook
4) Zhng my notebook cooler!
5) Going to 3 IT shows (missed the last one) and hanging around Sim Lim Sq countless times
6) Getting a "smart"phone (E63)
7) Joining the grid computing network
8) Taking the course "How Computers Work" and actually enjoyed it
9) Taking the course "FE1008 Computing" and didn't actually dislike it
10) Spending hours trying to get the perfect geeky desktop

Top 10 Green Exploits

1) Interning @ Alpha Biofuels Pte Ltd
2) Buying and using a "green" harddisk (Western Digital Caviar Green)
3) Donating processor time to run climate models (climateprediction.net)
4) Being a Karang Guni man for half a day
5) Continuing my abstinence from air-conditioning at home
6) Undervolting my notebook and CPU
7) Studying to be an Environmental Engineer
8) Staying in hall (which prevents me from playing games on my power hungry PC)
9) Sticking to the usual Saturday morning cycling to soccer routine
10) Farting less (and failing)

Top 10 Gaming Exploits

1) Dragon Age: Origins (still in the process of playing)
2) Batman Arkham Asylum
3) GTA IV
4) Modern Warfare 2
5) FIFA 10
6) Left 4 Dead
7) Team Fortress 2 (and its never ending updates!)
8) Atlantica Online + Rappelz (grew tired of both, but great games nonetheless)
9) Old Call of Duty games (Modern Warfare and World @ War)
10) Starcraft / Plants vs Zombies / World of Goo (ultimate nothing-to-do-in-hall games)

Top 10 Artistes (songs)

1) Fukuhara Miho -(Let it out, Yuki no Hikari, Believe my way)
2) Superfly (Ai wo Komete Hanabata o, Alright!, Precious Time)
3) YUI (Again, It's all too much)
4) Ayumi Hamasaki (You were... , Sunrise ~Love is all~)
5) Muse (Uprising, Undisclosed Desires)
6) Bugy Craxone (Come on, Cheeseburgers Diary)
7) chatmonchy (Last Love Letter, Kaze Fukeba Koi)
8) Do as Infinity (Umereyuku Monotachi e)
9) Lady Gaga (Bad Romance, Poker Face)
10) Michael Jackson (need I say more?)

Top 10 Things that affected me in a big way

1) ORD LO!
2) Interning @ Alpha Biofuels
3) Starting school once again
4) Staying in hall
5) QUIS
6) Hardwarezone
7) Turning 21 (not much of a big deal, but well, just to fill in the spaces...)
8) Economic recovery
9) Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
10) I can't think of a last one... Oh wait, does losing Ronaldo and Tevez count?

Goodbye 2009!

All I want for Christmas is....

Its the time of the year again, where endless lists start appearing on my blog.

To start off, here's my wishlist for Santa (although I suspect he might be having some problems fulfilling it)

1) Final Fantasy XIII on PC
I'm still praying Square Enix doesn't confine FF13 to the PS3, something that is very likely to happen. This climbs to the top of my "wanted" list after watching the trailer on YouTube. Oh, and I'd gladly substitute this for a PS3 emulator.

2) PC component upgrades
Including a new sound card (ASUS Xonar!), speakers (Aego M/Gigaworks T3), a bling bling ram cooler (OCZ XTC), lots and lots of LED fans, a new casing (CM5 II). Heck, I'd say dump everything for a totally new PC, but that wouldn't be environmentally friendly, considering I just recently did a major upgrade a few months back.

3) A+++++++ all the way!
NTU exam results release on 30th Dec, which definitely qualifies this as a wish for Santa.

4) Holiday extension!
Apparently January is coming too soon for all of us...

5) Save the Earth
I'd like to see Santa try this one. Maybe he should start by losing weight, for starters. His reindeer would love it.

What do you REALLY want for Christmas?

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6) An Avatar.

Desktop - whore

Is there such a thing as Desktop-whoring?



Finally tweaked to my satisfaction :D