Spring Cleaning

It will be the Lunar New Year in a couple of days' time, and, contrary to what a certain smartass has been spouting all over the Internet, Chinese New Year isn't a copy of the Western New Year. It's like saying bak chor mee (minced meat noodles) is a copy of linguine bolognese done aglio olio style.

They're not the same, ok? For one, bak chor mee uses minced pork, bolognese sauce uses minced beef. It's like saying pig copy cow! (ok, we're running away from the topic here)


Anyway!

A tradition in many Chinese households is to conduct a "spring cleaning" of the entire house - that is to say, throwing out old junk that has been accumulating dust and ススワタリ (soot sprites, from My Neighbor Totoro) over the past year.

susuwatari (soot sprite). isn't he adorable?

 Aside from just your physical belongings though, one thing many people overlook is the amount of junk that can accumulate inside your PC/laptop. And I'm not just referring to physical dust, I'm referring to junk inside the little rectangular block of metal that is called a hard disk drive. If you're wondering why your PC/laptop is slowing down, you can thank those junk for it. And yourself, for not doing regular maintenance :p

So here I will give a little guide on how to Spring Clean your HDD, for all the non-geeks and computer idiots out there (Windows only, sorry). Note: You might want to leave plenty of time to complete all these.


Level: Noobcake 

First, do the easiest (and most tedious) part. Go through your files and delete whatever you think you don't need - old pictures, videos, Word documents, Powerpoint presentations, whatnot. Uninstall old programs and games that you've finished playing. Mind you, confine your rummaging to files and programs that you recognize and know, don't go around deleting files from Program Files or Windows/system32 or something horrendous like that.

Oh and do remember to empty your recycle bin after everything.

Run a virus scan. If your antivirus is out of date, or the subscription ran out, or basically is named Norton or McAfee, get a free one like Microsoft Security Essentials (Free download). Make sure to update it before running.


Level: Not bad

Tools required: CCleaner (Free Download)

 Now on to the more serious stuff. You do know that temporary files accumulate after every Internet browsing session right? And that they are the main reason behind the slowing down of your computer? Right? .....right?

After downloading and installing CCleaner, run it. Chances are, it will have removed a few hundred MB worth of temp files. Do note that doing so will delete any cookies as well, which means that your highly convenient "keep me signed in" for Facebook and email and other login sites will be gone. Don't worry though, we'll sort it out later.

Click the next tab "Registry". Do a scan, and click "Fix selected issues". CCleaner will prompt you to make a backup of your registry items. Click Yes, save it somewhere accessible, and carry on with the fixing.

Next head on to "Tools". You will notice an Uninstall manager similar to the one found in the Control Panel. Select the "Startup" tab. This will show you a list of programs that will run the first thing when Windows loads. Disable those programs you don't need at startup. As with the earlier rule, only disable programs that you recognise. Don't worry if something breaks the next time you start your computer, you can easily re-enable it here.

Click "System Restore". Remove all entries EXCEPT the most recent one (and maybe the 2nd most recent one). Chances are, if your computer was working perfectly fine on those dates, you won't have any problems. Restore points are some of the largest space-wasting files you can find, so don't be surprised to find that your HDD free space has increased. Ignore the last option "Drive Wiper".

Now head on to "Options" -> Cookies. Put the sites that you frequently access (and need that auto-sign in) on the right under "cookies to keep". That's it! The next time you go to Facebook, you might need sign in again, but subsequently you won't have to.


Level: F-yeah

Tools required: Time. Lots of it.

Now that your hard disk is all clean and Edward-sparkly, its time to re-organise all that's left to fill up those holes that have been left by your furious deleting. Yes its that phrase we all love to hate - its time to defragment your hard disk!

Go to Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Administrative Tools -> Defragment your hard drive. Start the task. And wait. And wait some more. You might want to do something else while waiting.

Now for the final step - Do a backup of the entire system. Now this is entirely up to you, as I'm not entirely sure what's the normal backup routine for you guys. How often do you do a backup? Post in the comments if you can :)

One thing's for sure, backups can be very, very useful. They can save you from lots of hassle in the event of a (touch wood!) system crash or a lightning strike. In my case, I try to do a system backup once every 6 months. For important files and other documents I try to backup whenever I make changes to them.

For all of us Windows users, there's always the built-in System Restore. Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> Backup and Restore Centre. Choose "Create a Restore Point", and you're done!

Unfortunately restore points don't always work (I've experienced it myself), so the best would be to make a full system backup. You can get some suggestions for software that will do the job here: Best Free Backup Program 

Different people have different backup options. I personally use a 3rd party program and save my backups in a separate external HDD that I protect from the elements. Some prefer to burn to CDs and DVDs, but its difficult to keep track of them.


And that's it! Spring Cleaning isn't that hard, eh?


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To keep your computer running smoothly I'd recommend running CCleaner once every few days to prevent those temp files from accumulating. I run it every time before I shutdown my PC as a habit.


Enjoy the Lunar New Year holidays everyone! 新年快乐!

Hisashiburi!

Whoa, has it been 6 months since my last post? It's been too long. To all my friends, 久しぶり(long time no see)!

Why the long absence from this place? Frankly, after coming back from 6 weeks in Hong Kong, I kept wanting to create a long post describing all the stuff that happened over there, but the evil person called Mr. Procrastinate kept pulling me back. Eventually I forgot about it and there you go - 6 months have flown by. I guess last semester was a pretty busy one, and together with my growing usage of Twitter, I've neglected this place :/

Video killed the radio star? No, Twitter (or for some, Tumblr) killed the Blogger!

So let's see, what have I missed out for these past 6 months... you know how shows like The Walking Dead like to do a recap of the previous episode? "Last time, on the Walking Dead..."

1) YUI HHITS Live in HK

Words cannot describe how I felt during my very first (and last) YUI performance

2) 6 weeks GSS in HK

Food, food and more food :D

3) Got meself an Android - HTC Desire S

Its an excellent phone. Sleek, compact and very usable

4) Back with the band

For the UK Bound bash

5) SCANDAL Asia Tour in SG

Tomomi!

6) Genting

Nope, didn't win money

And of course, back to the daily grind of school, lectures, tutorials and examinations. Had a really enjoyable holiday in December as well, so I can't complain.

So thats it - 2011 was a very eventful year. Lets hope for a equally eventful 2012 (in a good way, of course). As Ueda in Trick puts it - 「どんと来い！」　"Bring it on!"

Anyway, if you've noticed (or tried to access this place by typing the old address), I've changed the title as well as the blog address. Why "The Budget Geek (thebudgetgeek.blogspot.com)"? Well, for one it'll be easier to type without all those goddamnned dashes. And secondly, I realised I'm not a conventional, at-the-forefront-of-technology kind of geek. I'm more of a if-you-don't-need-it-don't-get-it kind of geek.

I hope to post up budget (or value) suggestions for tech buys in the future, so watch this space.

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In other news, Adele's album 21 is the best selling album of 2011. Thank god, real music is still being appreciated. Not trash like *cough* Baby *cough* Friday *cough*

香港へ行きましょう！#YUI

I will be heading off to Hong Kong in about 15 hours' time for GSS (Global Summer Studies) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong! Which can only mean one thing - 6 weeks of awesomely good food! (which is probably the only reason why I go there 8D)

Last time I was in Hong Kong in 2010, (here and here), it was to attend SCANDAL's very first one-man show overseas...

This time, by a stroke of insanely good fortune, I will be attending YUI's very first live outside Japan!!



How fortunate was I?

Her concert will start tomorrow, 26th June, at 8pm. Guess when I will be arriving in Hong Kong?

...26th June, at 10am

MIND-BLOWING! *boom*

Although I won't be at the airport to welcome her (by now she'd have touched down in Hong Kong, as well as touched several of fellow fans' hands D:), being able to attend her live is an incredible lucky coincidence.

I will cherish it.

Enjoy it to the very last second.

YUIさんとYUI-LOVERSの皆さん、一緒に最後までお楽しましょう！

I heart Japan

Its been 2 weeks since the earthquake and the resulting tsunamis struck Japan, and its been on the front pages of newspapers ever since.

While there have been equally devastating earthquakes in the past (Haiti, Sichuan), I must admit I have paid much more attention to the situation in Japan, mainly because of my interest in Japanese pop culture, language and of course the music. While most of the news have been focused on the unfolding nuclear disaster in Fukushima, what shook me was watching an online video showing the tsunamis sweeping aside whole residential areas - the extent of the destruction wasn't that apparent to me until that video.

1 thing really struck me during this whole ordeal - the rise of social media (Twitter) as a tool for information dissemination as well as communication where traditional means failed, and the rising power of the Internet over traditional media. While I was safe in Singapore, I could feel the collective spirit of the Japanese people from various first-person recounts, as well as the non-stop twitter feed of the many Japanese celebrities I "follow" on Twitter. One particular tweet that caught my eye was something that went along the lines of "If you need help, please tweet your location with the hashtag #helpme #jishin".

(hashtags enable people to categorically search for tweets. "jishin" is Japanese for earthquake.)
Another thing that really left a deep impression on me was the ability of the Japanese people to cope with the disaster. When most people would have gone into a state of panic or despair, they remained calm and stoic, despite losing homes, family members and much of their livelihood. Elsewhere in less affected parts, most tried to go about their lives as normal even as blackouts brought down the transport system. I was particularly impressed by a report of thousands of workers walking several kilometers home from work on the day of the earthquake (the trains were stopped) with shops and businesses along the way offering their amenities to them. Orderly queuing for limited trains, voluntarily cutting back on electricity use, buying only what is required (although there were cases of panic buying) - to them, its all about helping one another despite inconveniences to one's self. Their collective resilience and endurance in the face of difficulty really deserve a lot of respect from the rest of the world.

And what can we do, as outsiders, other than dig deep into our pockets for donations?

Well for one we'd do well to stop believing all that bullcrap about radiation reaching Singapore. If you've been talking on your handphone for the past 30minutes you've probably received more radiation than any potential dust that floats our way anyway. And if you've panic-bought iodine tablets to swallow in case radiation poisoning, I can safely say that you've wasted your money.

The same applies to Japanese produce - if it gets past our scanners, its probably safe to eat. All that news about tainted vegetables, milk and water only serves to increase unnecessary fear. Read it yes, but for goodness' sake don't overreact and avoid everything Japanese totally. Paranoia doesn't help anything - if the Japanese economy were to recover, we should do our part to help. On that same note, don't stop eating Japanese food, or buying Japanese products. (This should give me a reason to order a couple of SCANDAL DVDs online :p). There's really no reason to give up all that delicious sushi, sashimi, ramen, seafood and Meiji chocolates just because of some exaggerated news reporting.

On the bright side, I stepped into Isetan's basement market in Shaw House this afternoon and saw a healthy crowd inside. I did buy a nice haul of mini taiyaki to munch on the way home from Japanese class. おいしかったです!

And if you have a Japanese friend or relatives and friends in Japan, do give them friendly words of encouragement instead of pestering them to leave the country. Most of the people I know connected to Japan would love to stay there and help out in some way.

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50% of this blog post was concocted on an aging Nokia E63 phone, due to me switching off everything that requires a power socket for Earth Hour.

Did you turn off your lights? Fortunately for us, its a voluntary thing. For the Japanese in the areas affected by rolling blackouts, Earth Hour happens every few hours.

Something to mull about as we grope around in the darkness.

First geek post of 2011

Since I'm at home on a school day (just went to the doc and he said I'm finally free from crutches!), I decided to write a long-overdue post. And a geeky one at that.

and here it is - the updated list of free, useful apps that currently reside on my machines.

1) Microsoft Security Essentials http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/



I abandoned AVG Internet Security for this, mainly because AVG 2o11 refused to co-exist with my COMODO firewall, something I couldn't sacrifice for the sake of an updated AVG version. So I went searching for an alternative, and MSE popped up with very good reviews. One review in particular caused me to go ahead with MSE "...these guys at MSE are working to protect their own product (Windows)..."

Made sense to me. Low on resources, unobtrusive, regular updates, scanning is fast, and according to many websites has a fairly good detection rate. And its free!

2) COMODO Firewall (and Anti-virus) http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/



I've been using this for many years now, and it hasn't disappointed me yet. It usually detects malicious stuff way before my anti-virus could even sniff at it, which says a lot about its monitoring ability. Excellent replacement for the Windows Firewall.

It has a setting called Defense+ that prevents unauthorised installations, but isn't for the faint hearted - programme updates and innocent installations usually cause it to raise the alarm, something I've learnt to live with. Besides, it does let me know what's happening behind my back in my computer.

3) VLC Player http://www.videolan.org/vlc/



If you've heard of it, no surprises there. It is THE open source video player that can play almost every video format out there, and has replaced the player I've been using for years (Media Player Classic). Its fast and has no problem playing HD videos, although I've had a few problems with subtitles.

4) MusicBee http://www.getmusicbee.com/



For those who don't own iPhones/iPods or are not using Macs and are craving an iTunes-like experience this player is for you. I was looking for a replacement for my old SongBird, which was crashing and starting to lag, when I chanced upon MusicBee. Amazingly it looks almost like SongBird, minus the lag and the crashes. It scrobbles to Last.fm flawlessly, and playback is smooth, with the songs almost starting immediately once you click "play". One drawback is that it doesn't show up on my Windows Live Messenger, which might be just me.

5) Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/

This little tool was introduced to me by a friend, and its amazingly useful! It works like an online storage box of sorts, and you can sync its contents across all your computers and devices. And its as simple as dragging and dropping into the Dropbox folder in one computer, and voila! You can access it anywhere with an Internet connection! You can also share files with friends who have Dropbox accounts as well.

6) Dekisoft Monitor Off http://www.dekisoft.com/mou.php

This little gadget turns off your monitor with a click of the mouse or by pressing a hotkey on the keyboard. Extremely useful for laptops and can help save battery life as well. I use it whenever I transform my laptop into a music player.

7) GIMP http://www.gimp.org/



Free Photoshop anyone? Does almost everything that Photoshop can do, and is an incredibly powerful image editing software. I don't like its floating interface though, which can be changed via downloadable skins (something which I haven't gotten round to doing)

8) Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/



If you ever need a free relatively basic audio editor, Audacity works just fine. It has tonnes of editing options that I haven't fully explored yet, aside from the usual cut and paste, equalising, pitching and normalising.

9) 7zip http://www.7-zip.org/

Annoyed by WinRAR telling you to purchase the product because your 30 days trial is up? 7zip unrars those .rar files (something Window's native unzipper doesn't), as well as many other compressed formats. And it doesn't annoy you because its FREE. It doesn't pack into .rar though.

There you have it. I have others, like CCleaner, but those have been mentioned far too many times (and underlining their importance).

The Simple Things.

And so, after surgery on my left knee to repair a torn ACL ligament, I am currently one legged. Well, if you count the 2 crutches I use to swing around, make it 3. And with the special leg brace on, I look like I have bionic left leg that could propel me to insane heights or hit insane running speeds. Unfortunately its just a few pieces of plastic and foam.

Nothing much has changed really, except that I can't really leave the house as much as I want to. Theoretically I could, but seeing a 3 legged guy on the bus/train isn't the most welcome sight in the world ain't it? It usually means "Aw damn, I gotta give up my comfy seat now", followed by a fake smile, and gesturing at the person to have your seat. And horrors, what if all the seats are taken up by old people? To have an old woman give up her seat for you, that would be the ultimate embarrassment.

And taxis are just too crazy expensive.

Daily activities and routines now take twice as long. Actually, almost everything takes twice the amount of time. I take 2 times longer to wake up, 2 times longer to fall asleep, 2 times longer to bathe, 2 times longer to get changed, 2 times longer to walk (oh alright, hobble) to anywhere, 2 times longer to... you get the idea.

But really, nothing much has changed. I can still sit in front of the computer screen for hours on end (actually, that's pretty much the only thing I can do). Or laze on the couch with a bunch of Nat Geo magazines and comics. Or watch documentaries and dramas which I haven't been watching for a long time.

And would you know it, my online time has been cut drastically, mostly because its much more comfortable on the sofa compared to the computer chair which has whacked-out cushioning thanks to endless compression by my butt. Which brings me to the realization that the sofa will probably suffer the same consequences. That, and the fact that I've just completed the Starcraft 2 campaign. I know, time to move on to Battle.net, but I've yet to play a single skirmish match against the A.I yet.

All these has made me really appreciate the simple things in life that we usually take for granted. And thanks to a special someone who will be visiting me in the coming days, being one-legged for the next few weeks doesn't seem so bad at all :P

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On that note, it does give me a valid reason to skip the first week of school so that I can camp at home and fight the infamous NTU Star Wars.

Watch out Death Star, I have my proton torpedo locked onto your exhaust port.

Resolutions

Whats your new year's resolution?

I think I can live with my 22-inch, 1680 x 1024 resolution LG monitor screen, thanks.

Oh alright, that joke's already gone stale.

Looking back on last year's resolutions, I wonder how many did I achieve?

1) I will not upgrade my PC any further unless something breaks down.
2) Learn Japanese!
3) Fly to Germany during the summer! (I flew to Japan and Hong Kong instead, so I guess it cancels out too?)
4) Catch Muse live in Singapore!
5) Play more gigs than in 2009!

Anyway, here's mine, for the year 2011

1) Study in Japan during summer! Global Summer Studies!

2) Recover swiftly from ACL reconstruction surgery so that I can go back to playing soccer (don't worry mum, I'll be extra careful!)

3) Win her heart and never lose it again

4) Play more gigs than 2010! (which is kinda impossible, really)

5) Take JLPT 5 (or 4, if I'm ambitious?) and pass it


I realised my resolutions are actually all quite achievable. Not like those vague "I will be more cheerful this year" or remotely possible "I will win Toto $1 million ang pow draw this year".

Although it would be nice if I could win $1 million....

Top 3 lists of top 10 things of 2010!

Its that time of the year again! That time when people are penning down their resolutions for the new year (mine is 1680 x 1024), when the music in departmental stores start to change from "Jingle Bells" to "Ying Chun Jie Fu", and when school children start dreading the start of school once again...

Yes, its the last few days of 2010. And its time for the annual reflective "Top 3 lists of Top 10 things"!

What have you done for these past 12 months?

Top 10 significant life-changing highlights (oh all right, a lil' exaggeration here)

1) Screwing up my left knee and tearing the ACL
2) Falling out of love and falling in love once again
3) Buying and learning bass
4) QUIS (and all those performances!)
5) Forming Natsukashii
6) Travelling to Kyushu (and doing a YUI stalker tour!)
7) Flipping credit card application forms in an ulu part of Jurong
8) Travelling to Hong Kong to catch SCANDAL live
9) Catching MUSE live in Singapore
10) Learning Japanese

Top 11 Music Discoveries (sorry, had to squeeze in 1 more!)

1) SCANDAL - Temptation Box
2) YUI - Holidays in the Sun
3) Asian Kung-Fu Generation - Magic Disk
4) Fukuhara Miho - Music is My Life
5) The Bawdies - There's No Turning Back
6) Ayumi Hamasaki - Rock 'n' Roll Circus
7) Utada Hikaru - Single Collection Vol. 2
8) Orange Pekoe - 10 Anniversary Best Album Sun & Moon
9) Marie Digby - Unfold, Second Home
10) chatmonchy - Awa Come
11) Olivia Ong - Olivia
Top 10 Gaming Experiences

1) Starcraft 2 (just got it 2 days ago!)
2) FIFA 11
3) Assassin's Creed 2
4) Left 4 Dead 2
5) Mass Effect 1 and 2
6) Street Fighter 4
7) Team Fortress 2 (you can't grow tired of this game!)
8) Resident Evil 5
9) Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (awesome expansion to the best RPG in 2009!)
10) Bioshock 2

In case you've been a loyal follower of this blog for the past 2 years, you'd have noticed the omission of 2 lists, namely "Top 10 Geeky exploits" and "Top 10 Green exploits", this year. Well, to be honest, I can't really recall anything geeky or green I did this year, other than fixing my keyboard space bar and keeping the air-conditioner off.

Maybe its about time I change the name of this blog once again. Which is highly unlikely, since the name kinda stuck with me already.

Oh well. Guess I'm about to become a not-so-green-and-not-so-geeky-normal-person.

Hope you had a meaningful 2010! Now, on to 2011!

終わった

EXAMS ARE OVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Which means...

Life.

Starts.

Now.



Note:

This is a meaningless post, and it marks my return to updating this blog more regularly, until the new term starts.

Watch this space.

SCANDAL @ Anime Festival Asia 2010 (AFA X)

Alright I know I should be studying for my finals right now, but I gotta write this out before its too late. The next post is likely to come after Christmas, which is around the time my exams end :((

Warning: Beware of excessive fanboyism.

All wonderful pictures credited to ken0601, from www.ani-culture.net, because my camera phone pictures were really bad.

To start off, AFA X was held on the 13th and 14th on November at Suntec Convention Centre. I didn't attend the past 2 AFAs - I was in India for overseas exercise in 2008 (which I wish I didn't go, because Quis were invited to perform, and had the chance to take photos with May'n!), and wasn't very interested in 2009.

But this round was different. Thanks to the amazing organisers of this years AFA X, SCANDAL were invited to perform for the "I love Anisong" concert!

Needless to say, I snapped up the tickets the minute they went on sale.

Fast forward to Thursday, 11 Nov. News had leaked that the performing guests of AFA were touching down at Changi Airport at 5pm, so I rushed down after class to meet up with a bunch of local SCANDAL fans at the airport, mostly members of SCANDAL-Heaven, an international forum.

First out of the blocks was May'n, AFA's loyal supporter for the past 3 years! She looked really sweet, and waved happily at us even though most of the fans there were waiting for SCANDAL.



and of course, SCANDAL followed soon after!





They looked really tired from the flight, but were all smiles and waved at us. They walked past us rather quickly though, smiling, nodding and waving, saying "arigatou!", but not before Rina took a glance at where me and Eugene were standing (he was holding the placard), acknowledged us with a slight nod and smile, before zipping off into a waiting van :D

First impressions of the girls in real life? Haruna looked pretty cute with glasses (she's really short!). Tomomi as well, and she looked really, really slim. Stick thin D: Rina looked really mature with the pony tail and that jacket of hers, while I didn't really notice Mami, maybe because of the mask.

And so that was it for the red carpet welcome.

Fast forward to Sunday, 14 Nov. Oh wait. Before that, on Saturday, I was preoccupied with project work so I didn't join the gang for the first day of AFA X, but I managed to spot a tweet by Mami (her iPhone's data plan works in Singapore!) about visiting the maid cafe in AFA, so I relayed the news to Eugene. And a few hours later he called back, sounding positively delirious. Apparently they had close contact with the girls at the maid cafe. I was feeling just a tinge of jealousy D:

Back to Sunday. We headed to the convention hall early to catch the screening of the Haruhi Suzumiya movie "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya". Great movie, even though I didn't understand the inside jokes (didn't watch the anime series beforehand). After the movie, I heard that SCANDAL were appearing on the mini stage so we bullcharged through the crowd towards the stage. And true enough, they were the judges for the Anisong karaoke competition!



I did pity the contestants slightly, because most the attention was on the judges, instead of the stage :P The last contestant was very good though, so good that the original singer of the song that she covered (Angela's Shangrila) came on stage to give support (Angela was coincidentally one of the guest performers as well).

We had a little surprise when SCANDAL's manager Eisuke and staff member came on stage to do a little cameo cover of Dragonball's opening song. The girls were having a fit laughing from their antics!



I think we were the only ones who recognised them, and when Eugene cheekily shouted "Eisuke kawaii!", the girls collapsed into yet another fit of laugher. I bet he's mightily pleased about that.

Team SCANDAL!



One of the guys managed to get Rina to wave at his video cam :D



What followed next was utter chaos, as the girls took their leave to go backstage. When walking past our camping spot (arguably the closest we could get to them), Tomomi and Rina slapped Eugene's outstretched hand. You can guess what happened next. The man was incoherent for the rest of the day.

We hung around the exhibits for awhile before the girls appeared again! This time it was at the handshake booth, where lucky winners could get a handshake with them as well as an autographed poster. I didn't win :(. Anyway, it was nice to have a nice clear view of the girls, and I could've sworn Tomomi looked at me in the eye and smiled on a couple of occasions

Since I've already been to a SCANDAL concert (refer here), I wasn't as pumped up as the rest of the guys. Still, I was pretty excited since they were on performing on our "home soil".

Angela were up first. I wasn't expecting much, but they were pretty good! The vocalist Atsuko has a beautiful powerful voice and it shone especially on their hit song "Shangri-la". Most of their songs were rather techno-esque, and didn't really click with me with the exception of "Shangri-la". But I was impressed most by the guitarist Katsu and his showmanship, doing crazy solos while swinging his guitar around his body - he literally flinged it around-the-world style. The only grouse I had was that his guitar was overpowered by the music track being played over the sound system.

After Angela left the stage, we were speculating if SCANDAL would be up next. And true enough, when the stage crew brought out Rina's signature pink Pearl drums, everyone went crazy. I was screaming at Tomomi's bass stack :P They took some time to set up, with their manage Eisuke getting the usual cat calls from us :D

And of course, when the girls took to the stage, there was this huge roar.

They kicked off with Everybody Say Yeah, and the fun started. They played mostly songs from their Temptation Box album, including Girlism, Aitai, Playboy part 2, Houkago 1 H, Hello! Hello!, and the kickass Hi-Hi-Hi. I was waiting for them to play that song, and when Haruna announced the title I was over the moon. The reason? Tomomi's awesome slap bass solo :D

Throughout the performance Tomomi was practically all over the place, jumping around, walking to and fro (especially to my side of the stage :D), dancing, headbanging and pretty much looking like she was having the most fun on stage. Haruna's voice lost a bit of power during Aitai - she was straining throughout the song - but otherwise she was excellent. And Mami did what she did best, striking epic guitar poses during her many solos and riffs.

Soundwise, they were tight, though not as tight as their HK concert, maybe because most of the songs were new. I think Rina missed a beat during Hello! Hello!, but she recovered pretty well. And there was a technical glitch with Tomomi's bass, but it was solved pretty quickly. Other than that, they delivered a fist-pumping performance!

And of course they did their signature songs Doll, Shoujo S and Shunkan Sentimental, the last of which really pumped up the crowd even though it was near the end of their performance. Everyone practically sang out the whole song together, it was pretty surreal.

Quotes of the day (during SCANDAL's MC)

#1 Haruna: "Next, bass.... TOMOMI!!"
Tomomi: "Hello!!!!......... Hello!!!!!......... Hello!!!!....... *whispers* I love uuuuu~"

#2 Tomomi: "We went to... Night Safari! Hippopotamus... very... great smell. I... die."

I nearly died laughing.

After SCANDAL's performance, I felt drained. Eugene looked dead while Kaito was staring into space.

Not long after, May'n came on stage. We were all absolutely lifeless, but I mustered up enough energy to at least wave the lightstick around.

Still, I was impressed by May'n's performance. She commanded the stage like a pro, and her vocals were very controlled and clear. I've always thought that her voice was one of the most unique around. Even during those impossibly high notes, her vocals came off as controlled and calm, not a hint of waver or near-screaming. She even danced in those crazy high-heeled boots! Its not surprising that she's crazily popular in Japan (and in Singapore too!). And when the intro of her signature song from Macross Frontier "Lion" started playing, I had goosebumps. I liked the song when I heard it on youtube, but hearing May'n sing it live was an entirely different experience.

Too bad she didn't perform one of my favourites,"Kimi shinitamou Koto Nakare", opening for the anime "Shangrila".

She did an encore of her new song, which was to complement a 3D movie/documentary about May'n to be screened in Japan (and maybe Singapore?). Man, a 3D documentary? That only proves how popular she is over there.

And with that, I conclude my AFA X experience. Awesome day.



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Ok I just wasted 2 hours typing this post. GG. There goes my plans for studying tonight.

ソラニン

And so I've finally watched the movie "ソラニン" (Solanin) starring Aoi Miyazaki.

Refer to: http://thebudgetgeekthebudgetgeek.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-post.html

This was after 1 week of watching the sad but very inspiring Japanese drama "1リットルの涙" (1 Litre of Tears) starring Erika Sawajiri.

And so I'm currently filled with so many thoughts that I just had to type it all out.

Forgive me, but this post is really just a random, blabbering post. I might use this for writing song lyrics someday :>



We're no longer invincible. When we were kids the world seemed so big, that we could do anything we wanted. That's no longer the case now, but we gotta learn to accept it.

Reality may be harsh on yourself, but living in a world of dreams is even harsher on the people around you.

Strive to achieve goals, but always keep the feet firmly attached to the ground.

Failure is only one reason to keep moving forward.

Limping around is better than staying on the ground after falling. (lol)

Cherish the living beings around you. Friends, family, pets, colleagues, classmates.

Forgive and forget.

Having a choice beats having none at all. Follow your heart and instinct when it comes to making choices. Consider, but not follow blindly, the advice of other people.

Never regret your actions.

Pity and sympathize with others, because it shows you care.

Help out of the bottom of your heart, not for the sake of anything else.

Love hurts, and only because it shows that we're human.

/end random blabbering

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Tomorrow is Halloween! Have a very frightening Halloween :D

I must apologize for the lack of updates. If you've noticed, statistically, the number of blog posts drops significantly once school starts. Daily lectures, tutorials, projects, lab reports, quizzes and tests - school sucks. Wednesdays are the only days I look forward to, and only because of Japanese lessons :D

I don't have much time to craft out a well-thought out post, plus with the stuff on my mind these few days its impossible to even try to write something meaningful. Hence this pretty short and meaningless post ;(

Its at times like these I marvel at the convenience and usability of micro-blogging. Just a few words and poof, its an update! So, until I find the time and inspiration to type something worth reading, my Twitter will be kept updated. Not to mention with the new Twitter available for preview already, it'll be even more user friendly.

No Music No Life

How many of you feel the same as me - that life wouldn't be enjoyable without music?

What if one day you find out you won't be able to listen to music anymore?

I really don't wish to find out.

I'm writing this after playing a gig in the afternoon (and listening to other bands). Possibly due to the venue itself, the volume of the whole event was nearly unbearable. Despite that I noticed that many of the audience and band members (many of them close friends of mine) tolerating the high volume without any protection, while I stuffed both my ears with earplugs.

I think some of you might already know this, but I'll relate my story again, just to emphasize the importance of this. The story behind my earplugging-obsession.

I'm suffering from tinnitus in the left ear, that is, the ringing sound in the ear you often get after a gig or a rock concert. For most people, the sound goes away after a few hours, or perhaps in a few days. For me, it doesn't. It stays low most of the time, but reappears after a gig (even with earplugs), once I start to think about it, or when its really quiet. I would say its ever-present, just that my brain has learnt to shut it out under normal situations. As I write this post, my left ear is constantly ringing to remind me of its existence.

How did I end up like this? It all started from a stupid mistake I made back when I was in army. I had my earplugs in alright, during range live firing. Then came an order to relax due to some situation, and I removed my earplugs. In my whole life thus far, thats the one thing I regretted doing. When the order came back to resume firing, I forgot to put the plugs back on.

You can probably guess what happened next. My right ear was spared thankfully because it was pressed against the rifle butt.

I've already gotten used to the ringing sound, but what I'm more concerned with is the prospect of losing my hearing. Ever since that incident the hearing in my left ear probably isn't what it used to be, and the difference between both ears becomes more obvious whenever I listen to my mp3 player.

All I can do now is to protect my hearing, because I want to listen to music until the day I up-lorry. Now you know why my ears are always plugged during gigs and practices, except during MUSE's concert in Singapore and SCANDAL's Hong Kong live - I had a horrible time trying to get to sleep after that. All for the sake of "enjoying music to the fullest".

So what's the whole point of all this?

Wear earplugs. Period.

I know some music lovers have this misconception that earplugs would lessen their "enjoyment" of music during gigs and concerts, or, for the musicians, that earplugs would prevent them from listening to their bandmates or their own instruments and thus affect their playing.

Not true. Yes, it won't sound as powerful, and the sound might even be slightly muffled, but otherwise the music is as clear as it would have been without earplugs, and at a more comfortable volume too. There are even special musician earplugs that cut the volume without sacrificing quality (but these cost more of course)

My fellow musicians, I know you guys love to listen to and play music, and would love to continue doing so for as long as you can. Don't throw your hearing away for the "love of music" - if you love music, you'd do well to protect your ears. Same goes to band supporters and regular concertgoers. If you've experienced that ringing sound before (and I know a lot of you do), some damage has already been done, however minor it may be. It might be reversible over time, but not with constant prolonged exposure to loud music.

So please, wear earplugs. Noise-isolating earphones do the job as well, if earplugs aren't available.
Musicians and sound crew can also do their part to lessen the impact on fellow bandmates and audiences as well by controlling their amp volumes, but ultimately, your hearing belongs to you and you only, so you shouldn't place it in the hands of the people on stage or the person behind the mixer. Wear earplugs.

On the same note, mp3 players are a major culprit of hearing loss as well, so control that volume (loud enough to be heard above surrounding noise). Mine is set to less than 50% of maximum volume and I find it good enough, especially with a good pair of earphones.


For more information and reading:
http://www.ehow.com/about_4597232_do-ears-ring-after-concert.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Music,-Musicians-and-Hearing-Loss&id=780153

http://ezinearticles.com/?Listening-to-Loud-Music-For-a-Prolonged-Period-of-Time-Can-Actually-Cause-Irreversible-Damage&id=3407105


This site in particular has many practical advice for fellow rock musicians, so do take a look:
http://www.healthyhearing.com/articles/28798-so-you-want-to


If you need a pair of earplugs, any DIY store should sell those foam types cheaply. Music stores too. For the guys, you can get them at E-mart :D

I'm not sure where to buy good quality musician earplugs locally, but I'd definitely want a pair:
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.aspx

Do spread this to your friends and others who you know attend gigs and concerts regularly.

夏: SCANDAL - TEMPTATION BOX

Temptation Box, SCANDAL's 2nd full-length album to date, was released just last week on 11/8 and needless to say after a week of listening to it I had to do a review.

In case you didn't know, SCANDAL are a 4-girl pop/rock band from Osaka, formed in 2006. They debuted in 2008 under indie label Kitty Records, went on a US tour, played at anime conventions in France and Hong Kong, before getting a major debut under Epic Records. They released their debut album "BEST SCANDAL" in 2009.

SCANDAL are Haruna (guitar), Tomomi (bass), Mami (guitar) and Rina (drums).

At first listen it doesn't impress as much as their first album, "Best Scandal". I would say this album leans a bit too much to the pop-ish side compared to what I was used to, but then again "Best Scandal" was all out rock. I'd say its a more balanced album that may appeal to the mainstream pop listeners - many of the new songs are definitely radio material.

Tracklist:

1) EVERYBODY SAY YEAH
2) Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY
3) Shunkan Sentimental
4) Houkago 1H
5) Namida no Regret
6) Hi-Hi-Hi
7) Shoujo M
8) GIRLism
9) Playboy Part II
10) Hello! Hello!
11) Aitai
12) Sayonara My Friend

Notable tracks (as usual, I'll intro the newer songs):
Note: All links are provided to give you a preview, please refrain from downloading and buy the album instead

1) EVERYBODY SAY YEAH
I liked this song the first time I listened to it. It makes for a perfect opening song with its upbeat techno-rock feel, and the chorus is downright addictive. Its quite obvious that they wrote this song for live performances - its hard to not bounce along to the beat and scream "yeah!" every time the chorus comes along. The bass octaves and the guitar wahs interspersed throughout the song contribute to the overall "hell yeah lets dance!" feel. Definitely the best song on the album.

5) Namida no Regret
Its their latest single before the album was released, and probably their saddest song so far. The song itself is simple, straightforward and impactful, with the strings thrown in for the ballad-ish effect. Rather, its Haruna's vocals that shine on this track, expressing the poignant emotions directed by the lyrics, which tells of breakups and moving on. Its no coincidence that the title is translated as "Tears of Regret". The ending "lalala" part may be slightly cheesy to some, but it ends the song pretty well.

6) Hi-Hi-Hi
I'd like to imagine the girls were high on Red Bull and caffeine when they were composing this song. This is probably one of their more technically challenging songs, and I'm not just referring to the instruments - if they sang any faster during the verses I think they'd bite their tongues. Strange title, random "Hi Hi Hi"s and the overusage of synth aside, its one of those in-your-face rock out songs. Heck, Tomomi even does a mean slap bass solo midway through after Mami's done with hers \m/

9) Playboy Part II
Unlike the original Playboy, Part II discards the synth and techno-esque feel (thankfully) and goes back to old-school rock. And when I mean old-school, I really mean it. The verses sound as if they came out of retro Chinese (more likely Japanese, for them) records with the upbeat (as opposed to downbeat) guitar riffs and the super old-school basslines. Luckily, it also retains the catchy-ness of the original. I love this song just because of its retro-ness.

11) Aitai
Another straightforward and simple song. Like Namida no Regret, Aitai also brings out the best in Haruna's singing. The title "Aitai" means "I want to meet you" and you can really feel that in her voice. The vocals do get a bit overwhelmed by the instruments during the verses though, but as the song goes into the chorus the rest of the band chimes in to support. Its songs like these that make you wonder if the girls are moving towards a softer sound in their songs, and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. This is definitely one of their more mature works.

And now the rest of the tracks:

2) Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY
This single was released sometime in June which explains the summer-feel to the whole song. Very cheerful and upbeat, and if you've watched the PV you'd agree with me. Its that sort of feel good song that brings a smile to your face.

3) Shunkan Sentimental
This was probably the single that propelled them to their current popularity (after Shoujo S), which was chosen as the ending song for the crazily popular FullMetal Alchemist. The song oozes power rock from start to end, and probably ranks among one of their most kickass rock songs.

4) Houkago 1H
Tomomi does the singing on this track, and while her high pitched vocals matches nicely with Haruna's lower and huskier singing on other songs, I don't think its suited for a full song, especially not when she piles on the extra kawaii by emulating Hirasawa Yui from K-ON! Still, its bearable and if you look past the squeaky vocals its actually a pretty cute song with cute lyrics.

7) Shoujo M
I thought it'll be a sequel to "Shoujo S", but apparently the "M" stands for Mami, who does the vocals in this track. A rather average track, with Mami's unique voice given a leading role (she usually does harmonies). Too much synth if you ask me (sounds like those robot catching machines), but definitely a catchy song (pun intended) with a nice chorus.

8) GIRLism
This song reminds me of another song by MICA 3 CHU - "I Don't Know". Like "I Don't Know", GIRLism sounds pretty much like a badass girl-power punk song. Definitely headbanging stuff, if not for the questionable lyrics "Yes is no! No is yes!" (?!?!)

10) Hello! Hello!
Nothing special to me, just another typical SCANDAL pop/rock number. Easy on the ear, very radio-friendly, upbeat and cheerful.

12) Sayonara My Friend
I expected this to be a ballad, and it did turn out to be a ballad, albeit a slightly more cheerful one. From the title its probably meant to be a goodbye song, built along the same lines as "Sakura Goodbye" from their first album. The inclusion of the accoustic guitar is a nice touch, and this time the "la la la" parts do sound a tad too cheesy. Still, the lyrics are certainly very meaningful.


Overall I'd say the album is quite well-balanced with a good mix of fast, punchy songs, cheerful upbeat songs as well as slower melodic ballads. In terms of quality "Temptation Box" definitely sounds more polished compared to the raw sound of "Best Scandal", but somehow the songs don't resonate as well with me. For first time listeners to SCANDAL this album might seem a little underwhelming, and for that reason I'd recommend a listen to "Best Scandal". But of course fans of the band wouldn't want to give "Temptation Box" a miss.

"Temptation Box" is now on sale in Japan, Hong Kong and online stores. Singaporean fans, the overseas version has yet to hit our shores, so I guess we'll have to wait a little longer, or order online (I already did :P)

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Just a little update, Quis will be performing as part of the YOG celebrations at *Scape, next to Orchard Cineleisure, this Sunday 22 August, from 4.30p.m onwards. Come down and enjoy the music!

SCANDAL live in Hong Kong 2010 - The concert

I decided to include this on a different post after realising the amount of stuff I want to say about the concert. So here it is:

Day 3 - SCANDAL live in HK!

Finally, the day of the concert. Lazy to search for breakfast, so we had dim sum brunch in the hotel restaurant. Not too bad, the har gau, siew mai and egg tarts were excellent.



And quite reasonably priced too, considering its a restaurant.

We then set off for the concert venue, Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre (HITEC) in Kowloon Bay. Upon reaching the place at about 1.30pm, we spotted a queue that had already formed in front of the auditorium doors D:



We had no choice but to join the queue, or risk getting a lousy seat. So we sat there for 6 hours, fiddling with our mobile phones, trying to hook onto the elusive free Wi-Fi and spam Twitter updates, munching on snacks and hot dogs. Everything was getting stale when suddenly a small crowd walked past, and amongst them were 2 girls wearing distinctive checkered skirts. Haruna and Tomomi were right in front of our eyes! They were smiling at the crowd and Tomomi gave a wave, while I nudged Eugene and stared in stunned silence. In a flash they disappeared through a door, without allowing me time to dig for my camera.

Not long after the doors finally opened, and we rushed in to get good seats. We ended up somewhere in the middle, but not too far from the stage. It wasn't what I expected, the stage was pretty small for a rock concert, and reminded me of the auditoriums back in my JC and secondary school days. And of course, the concert finally started.

01. SCANDAL Theme
02. Shoujo S
03. S.L.Magic
-MC-
04. Anata ga Mawaru
05. DOLL
06. KOSHI-TANTAN
-MC-
07. Koi no Kajitsu
08. Switch
09. Namida no Regret
-MC-
10. Shunkan Sentimental
11. Taiyou to Kimi ga Egaku STORY
12. SCANDAL BABY
13. Space Ranger

Encore
14. Kagerou
15. EVERYBODY SAY YEAH

I've watched several of their performances on video so I kinda knew what to expect, but still, being part of the audience is a whole different experience. It was my 2nd live rock concert (after MUSE) but I was still taken aback by the loudness of the amplifiers.

Watching SCANDAL do their stuff on stage made me wonder why I hesitated to become a fan a few months back. Whatever doubt that I had of their talents evaporated instantly that night - if you could play as well as they did, dance around on stage like nobody's business AND get the crowd all hyper, then you definitely deserve to be called a star.

As a band they were very tight - all 4 of them knew what each other was playing, and there was this togetherness that they exuded on stage, you could tell from their faces and their eye contact. And most importantly, they looked and sounded as if they were having the time of their lives on stage, which of course infected the audience as well - everyone was waving their hands and singing along to the songs.

Haruna was the main culprit, constantly interacting with the crowd and getting everyone all hyped up with her fist pumping whenever she wasn't singing or playing her guitar. Tomomi was being her usual self, wide smile plastered on her face as she bounced around on stage, flinging her hair all over the place, all while playing her complicated basslines. Rina was stuck on the drums so I didn't really look at her (sorry Eugene :P), but from what I could see she really whacked those drums hard. Of the 4 of them though, Mami really deserves the accolades for that night - showmanship to the max. Every solo was greeted with loud cheers from the crowd, not surprisingly considering how she does them coupled with headbanging, jumping, epic-guitarist poses and of course the guitar-in-your-face move.

The MC parts were hilarious, mostly due to the translator Billy, who reminded me of a dog responding to its owner's calls every time Haruna called him out on stage. The crowd loved him for some reason, despite us not needing his services - most of the audience could understand what the members were saying in Japanese, I could pick out bits and pieces as well. Poor Billy. Oh, and Tomomi said she loved to eat "Yum Cha" when asked what she liked most about Hong Kong :P

Their setlist was quite predictable, most of the songs were crowd favourites like Shoujo S, Doll, Taikimi, Scandal Baby and Shunkan Sentimental, which for some reason (FMA, I believe) was the most popular song for the Hong Kong fans. I think they practically sang the whole song together, and Haruna actually left out one chorus for us to sing.

Surprisingly they also did a couple of B-sides, one of which was Natchi and Eugene's favourite, KOSHI-TANTAN. It was nice to hear some of their older songs like Koi no Kajitsu which I never heard previously, S.L Magic, Kagerou and my personal favourite Space Ranger. They also introduced their new song Everybody Say Yeah during the encore, and despite no one hearing it before, everyone managed to follow along and sing. It was a great song, perfect for lives.

After about 90mins of concert they finally ended with Everybody Say Yeah. It was too short in my opinion, I was expecting a couple more songs for the encore. After the concert ended everyone gathered in front of the stage to take a group photo, and I tried to force my way in by standing on the auditorium chairs. Don't think I could be seen though :(



After SCANDAL went offstage I whipped out my camera to take photos of the place, while Eugene rushed off to queue for his handshake session, which only those who had pre-ordered their new album Temptation Box could join. I didn't pre-order as I had no way of collecting the album (so was Eugene, but he went ahead anyway - hardcore fan).



For more pictures and a full account of the concert (in mandarin though) - http://www.anisong.org/?p=1159


After the handshake session Eugene looked like the happiest dude alive.



Ears still ringing from the concert, we headed back to our hotel where we managed to find some supper. I had a bowl of beef tendon noodles, which tasted pretty good (the beef was very tender and the soup had this spice to it)



Back at the hotel we blasted SCANDAL songs through the night and celebrated with beer. Our final haul of everything SCANDAL related.



I bought a copy of their BEST SCANDAL album, while the autographed postcard was Eugene's reward for spending 30 bucks for his 5 seconds of contact with the girls :P

And so that concludes my short trip to Hong Kong.

Mission accomplished!

More pictures on my Facebook and my Photobucket asuna88

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SCANDAL's 2nd studio album, Temptation Box will be released in Japan on 11/8, in Hong Kong on 13/8.

I hope it'll be released here in Singapore, but I'm not too hopeful - its tough to even find BEST SCANDAL here.

SCANDAL live in Hong Kong 2010

I had heard news that SCANDAL, a 4-girl Japanese rock band, was coming to Hong Kong to perform for ACG 2010 (Anime-Comic-Game). Staring at 2 plus more months of school holidays and the imminent end of my job back then, I half-jokingly planned out a little trip there to catch them live, with the money I earned for the past month or so. It wouldn't have materialized, if not for the next piece of news that reached my ears - that they were holding their own one-man live concert in HK on 1/8/2010.

Almost instantly Eugene and Natchi joined the "OMG I wanna go!" club.

Who cares about the ACG when you can catch a full-length concert? Plus the tickets were going cheap, around $50SGD. Coupled with a relatively good deal on Tiger Airways tickets and a reasonable hotel price - the decision was unanimous.

It was the first time a Japanese artist that I was following closely was going to perform so near to Singapore (Ayumi Hamasaki did hold a mega-tour in HK 2 years back, but I was in army then, her tickets were crazy expensive and impossible to get) and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity. Exchange trip to Japan won't be for another 2 years, and who knows what'll happen then?

And so after some planning and online bookings, we were all set to go.

Day 1

We reached HK at about 10.30am, after an ungodly take-off timing of 7am. We checked in at our hotel in Prince Edward, Kowloon, before heading off to explore the surrounding Mongkok shopping street areas.

Lunch was pork chop rice with ham and egg. Sinful, yes, but I was freakin' hungry :P



Ladies' Market



We wandered around, looking at random shops and stalls (perhaps still a little woozy from the lack of sleep), before heading down to Tsim Sha Tsui by MTR.

The famous view of Hong Kong Island as seen from Tsim Sha Tsui



The Avenue of Stars, where HK movie stars get their palm prints encased in concrete. And this here is arguably the biggest of them all



That famous pose



We planned to catch the Symphony of Lights at 8pm, so we took a little tea break at McDonald's (where else? :P). I've always been amused at finding non-halal food in overseas fast food restaurants, and here I found the mythical McPork.



Finally, as dusk fell across the harbour, the lights came on





The Symphony of Lights was a 15min light show involving the lights of those buildings you see in the previous pictures. Imagine those lights flashing along to techno and traditional Chinese music. That was about it, nothing spectacular, other than the green lasers shooting out from the roofs of certain towers.

We headed back to our hotel, stopping to have the best wonton mee in town for supper



The noodles were super springy and unique, the prawns in the wontons were huge and very fresh despite the time of the day, and the soup was very satisfying, not too salty and definitely not MSG-laden.

Of course we had to have dessert, and I found my favourite steamed milk




Day 2

Breakfast was century egg porridge



We ordered a plate of roast goose to try, and it was damn fatty and oily. I must say it tasted pretty good, if you ignored the feeling of having oil smeared all over your lips.

We then met Teo for lunch/tea break at a traditional HK "Char Chan Teng". We had assorted Bolo buns and some of the best milk tea I ever had. Teh peng super gao gao :P



Teo brought us around shopping in the Mongkok area, where I managed to find a nice pair of Puma sneakers for a meager $35SGD. It doesn't look fake to me, so I guess its a pretty good deal. We also went to Hong Kong's equivalent of Sim Lim Square where I spotted Starcraft 2 on sale for about $94SGD. I was very tempted, but I didn't buy it.

In one of the buildings we found a very old-school lift!



After some shopping we headed over to Central on HK island, via the Star Ferry, a surprisingly quick and cheap way to travel between Kowloon and HK island.



The glitzier feel of the "other side"



We had tea at another "char chan teng" before going up the mid-level escalators, which is a series of overhead walkways with very long escalators. After the short tour we bade Teo farewell and took a walk to the Peak Tram station for a ride to The Peak. Unfortunately, the tram was swamped with people, and the queue stretched as far as the eye could see. In the end we queued for nearly 2 hours for a 10min ride in the tram =.=



But the view at the top was worth it





Next day - SCANDAL live in Hong Kong!