Tranquil Sanctum

Yuuri Morishita (森下悠里) sure looked great when she was young~~

2008-02-08T16:34:00.000+08:00

like the title says, this gravure idols looks great now, but she sure looked like her best when she was younger! ^^ I don't mention about gravure idols here (since they bear no relation to illustrations, games or my daily life. But they ARE part of the "J" pop culture... hmm.. meh..), so this makes it the first. so anyway, here are some decent looking pics! ^^

森下悠里

Credit goes to: JapaneseGirls8.com

...I think I'm in love. XD

ではまた。

a dark premonition? I hope not.

2008-02-08T03:50:00.000+08:00

first things first, a very Happy Chinese New Year to all ya folks out there reading this post. It's a bit late though. =/ its the 2nd day of CNY soo.. bahh. Anyway to keep things short (as I'm doing this post at the most odd hours) I didn't do that well for my O's so yea. Kinda low in morale now, but still keeping hope there. Tryin ta get into a private school known as NAFA (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts), wanna take their diploma in visual communications. So to get myself into that place gotta take test and maybe some interview with a portfolio. And I only have sketch books that I have used to train my drawings these years. No proper full scale drawings. T.T

soo anyway. visual comm they do stuff like a little web designing, illustrations (yay!), poster designing and other stuff. But according to the guide, it was something like that. (she was a pretty guide too ^^) Anyway their open house wasn't a very big scale one, not surprising since IT is a private school. They got tons of good computers there for designing, macs and window systems. Not to mention that cool Skylight room me and mel saw which was for the fine arts students there, awesome-ness~~

putting these aside, something abit towards the gamer side of me. Fatal Frame IV has an official debut announcement recently, not sure how long ago was that, but still worth mentioning since its a title I've been anticipating for quite a while. Fatal Frame IV or better known as, 「零～月蝕（つきはみ）の仮面」 (Rei: Tsukihami no Kamen), is a new sequel in the Fatal frame trilogy, though not much is known 'bout this game, those of you who understand jap can take a look here at gamespot Japan's web. This game is set for the Wii and no other announcement have been made for the other console systems, if I'm not mistaken this game will be released somewhere around summer '08!. Hopefully Tecmo will do one for the PS3 system too, ghost on HD graphics.. wooo!!~ freaky. @_@ anyway gotta turn in soon, but before that here are some of the screenshots.

「零～月蝕（つきはみ）の仮面」 (Wii)

alright folks, thats all Gamespot Japan has gotta offer for now. Hope they will update on some screenshots of the ghostly denizens of this game soon, cant wait! XD

credit goes to Gamespot Japan!

18 more days..

ではまた。

Figure Mayhem!!!~

2008-01-15T21:34:00.000+08:00

During my day off last week, headed to Chinatown area to search for Fatal Frame II & III (yea I'm desperately searching for that 2 games. @_@). So anyway, decided to drop by by China square, to search for the games there, sadly didn't find any of them, but I saw something more massive.. I'm a sucker when it comes to Chinatown, hardly go there and it was probably my first time in China Square. There were so many of these small shop booths setup and many items for sale. They got huge variety ranging from antiques to popular anime figurines. However what was more surprising is that most of these booths and shops put these popular Japanese figurines for sale and other toys and collectables.

I didn't know the trend was so big over here in Singapore, its like as if I entered a miniature Akihabara, haha. The whole place was crowded with people mostly either otakus or toy collectors, the whole place was like a flea market. I wouldn't say I wasn't tempted to buy a few for myself, but hey, I'm short of cash, so the only thing I could afford was walking around and looking at the figurines, cause you know.. its free. D=

Oh btw, did I mention that Ar Tonelico II came out recently in Japan (well at least I think so..), hope they do a english version for it. They got good artworks, not to mention the ladies too.. *.* Ah nearly forgot.. If I'm not wrong I think they are making an OAV anime ver. for this game. Maybe you guys can go watch when you're out of choices.

Ar Tonelico Trailer

Ar Tonelico II OP

39 more days..

ではまた。

CLOUD Vol.1

2008-01-12T17:46:00.001+08:00

2nd post of the day, haha. Anyway just like what the title states, I got this book few days back, I'm a hardcore FFVII fan so it was sorta like an impulse buy =p, plus they had a special DVD that had a whole lot of upcoming Square Enix game trailers and also Square Enix trailers that are already out in the market. They have profiles for all the FFVII characters and also the seiyūs who did the voice acting for the FFVII series, like the famous japanese singer, Gackt. the biography and info in the book is all jap so its gives me more motivation to learn that language in time to come, haha. But for now, I know nuts 'bout the book content, they're probably loads of interviews with the game producers or overviews of the specific games that were mentioned in the book like It's a Wonderful World (すばらしきこのせかい - Subarashiki Kono Sekai).

In short , all S.E fans should get this book if you're into collecting their merchandises. It's a good buy. But if you're not, forget it. It cost quite a bit. It's about SGD $51.90.

here are some video contents in the special DVD:

Final Fantasy XIII (extended trailer)

Final Fantasy versus XIII (extended trailer)

Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete (Blu-Ray ver.)

ではまた。

New Year gift #01, Flu Virus. v -.- v

2008-01-12T16:24:00.000+08:00

First of all a very happy belated new year to all you people out there. Currently I'm down with a flu, and throat infection. The throat infection lasted nearly 2 weeks already. @_@ So lemme summarize what happened. New years eve, got body aches high fever and throat infection, didn't see a doc' still went out anyway with Dennis and gang *serves me right.. =_=* Next day could hardly move a muscle, was dragging myself to the doc's place to get a medical cert. to excuse myself from work, it was the 1st of Jan, what a day to get sick.. =_= got better the next 2 days which were my off days, coolio~. and went back to work. During this week one of my colleagues was sick so i didnt gave much thought bout it even though i still had a minor coarse throat. At the end of the week, I'm back here at home bearly able to move, and forcing myself to type this post and to update my cobweb-ed blog. *gimme a yay man. -.-*

but I guess its all for the better, except the fact that tomorrow happens to also be my off-day. hium is gonna suffer managing the whole store alone. Sorry hium, if you're reading this blog, I owe ya dinner for that.^^

Oh yea.. forgot to mention, not working at the airport anymore, to be exact, I didn't even start in the first place. Don't get me started 'bout talking about that job experience. It sucks and thankfully I didn't experience it first hand. But still.. don't wanna talk 'bout it. I wouldn't want a 5 paragraph essay on that. @_@ Currently I'm working at Cold Storage somewhere in SG. The environment isnt that bad, neither are my superiors. well except maybe for one. >.> The only bad pt 'bout the store manager he loves us part timers going extreme overtime. It may sound good at first with all the bonus cash. but.. its gets boring and tiring after awhile. -.- I mean during the week of X'mas I worked 'bout near 60 hours on that week. Talk 'bout ouch man. We part timers work longer than full timers man. Its real tiring, especially when the same cycle has been ongoing for the past 1 month+. Well I seriously hope our manager cut us some slack at least before the Chinese New Year period knocks in, its round da' corner. anyway.. time to click off, I'll try to update soon enough. hardly got time and too tired to do anything after I get back from work. gotta go rest now, I've got a feeling I'm gonna get hell when I get back to work.

ではまた。

41 more days..

target achieved? or so it seems..

2007-11-24T23:12:00.000+08:00

seconds click by, dust bunnies fly high. clearing up 11 years worth of books is no joking matter alright. yes, 11 years, meaning elementary school books are still piling at the dusty corners with cobwebs all around it. well okay maybe it ain't that bad, but still.. dust bunnies have been freeloading that corner for a long time since.. uh.. beats me. =/ anyway ever since my major papers, da O's ended. life seems filled with the freedom of doing whatever ya want ya know. just that you know, every time before freedom gets to you, theres always this long list of "wanna-do stuff". when you finally receive what ya want, you cant really figure out what you want to or perhaps, have to do.

let me try to do a short list.

- clear out my stuff especially school books
- re-organize my space
- start practicing manga and get better
- get work and live life independently
- spend the remaining time I have, get a new habit like reading or something./play games.

right, that should be about it.

so far, hmm.. other than clearing and reorganizing my stuff, I've been gaming, gaming and gaming all day long. =_= But the good thing is, I'm starting work next week and I doubt I'll have anytime for myself like games and stuff, thats probably why I've been locking myself at home and playing close to 24/7. no life? yes I know. I just started drawing once again after some moral encouragement from melcolm, he's doing very well, haha. as for me.. I slacked off.. =p so yup my drawing skills dropped quite a bit. bah, well thats a lesson at least. "never give up!" Monday, work starts, gonna work at the airport, its far from where i stay but haha, doing it work a new working environment, not everyday you get to work on the airfield haha. honestly, I feeling kinda anxious, its my first time working so yea hope I don't screw up on that day. alright, I'm gonna click off for now, I'll try to change the whole blog theme and layout, its getting kinda boring, but that will take time too. hopefully i get it done before new year, a new year, a new layout. XD alright, I'll look forward to doing that. but for now.. *click*

what is life when it has lost it's meaning?
why not just live it to it's fullest?

ではまた。

the arrival of my 17th year of living and 1 more month to go!

2007-09-14T23:06:00.000+08:00

it's a bit late but ya, my 17th birthday past a few days back, and with the preliminary exams over now, catching my breath wouldn't be so tough.. whew.. my so called "free days" are drawing to an end, that means no more getting up late, haha! but still managed to cram the things i want to do, friends, drawing, games, studying. bah. enough 'bout the usual stuff. well, 1 more month to the majors! w00tz! wish me luck! XD *freedom awaits!*

*oh right got a Wii for my B'day too! BANZAI! XD*

right, 'nuff said, today's topic is gonna be a little more emo and stuff, so yea bear with it. Sometimes it just hits me hard how does it feel to be in a real relationship, not your ordinary puppy love crap but when you guys really have something for each other. I know what the adults would usually say would be like, "Don't bother 'bout these things at your age, you're too young for it." At a certain perspective that would be true, but hey, humans are all curious especially when you hit your teens. Things of the "love" genre always kill me, cause many things in the past that happened will always get back to me somehow, be it novels, movies or even manga, they just get their way around me. Well, after reading this manga called "Lilim Kiss" today, it taught me something 'bout true love, or somewhat like that (though I still have yet to figure out what it is @_@), okay putting aside the totally wierd and out-of-the-world story line, i mean it always makes u envious and all seeing couples in love especially since one of them is a hunk and the other is a beauty. mehh.. I guess i stayed in the world of fantasy for too long, so much that I get all lost and messed up and probably got upset 'bout the real world. =/ Also for some reason, after read/watching these stuff I will usually tend to look at things at a much wider span, and also feel that there is so much more to life than what I am doing and thinking at that particular moment. It's depressing. D=

anyways, I'm not doing this post to get your sympathy or anything, just wanted to know how it feels, probably because every time after I read about love/romance I always end up feeling all lonely and lost that sometimes it hurts emotionally. Bah. I guess some things are just worth waiting, don't ya think? heh.. ;p

- on a busy district that is created in black & white,
don't let the the rowdy streets intimidate you,
let not the voices of the astray lead you to the darkened back alleys,
after all, the decision lies within the artist to pick up his brush
and colour this canvas of life.

..I feel better now. *_*

ではまた。

Arcadio-Mania;

2007-09-02T12:12:00.000+08:00

whew.. preliminary exams drawing to an end, both a good and bad thing. =/ it's good because you get to rest a bit, bad 'cause the days ahead will just get more boring and tedious as the main exams draw closer. well, I promised to continue revising after this weekend, I just wanna have some fun time, so lets see.. I'm only left with just 1 more paper which starts after the short one week term break, combined science paper 1. ugh.. well, enough 'bout exams, it makes me all blurry.. @_@

for the pass few days, spent some time with some of my friends, headed for the arcade, chilled out at my friend's house, nothing big. BUT! what was big was WHAT we saw at the arcade, Beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD finally hit local shores for the first time! XD (or am I wrong? bah.) well, I'm just real happy I finally get to play this at one of our local arcades, although its all the way at Bugis Junction, but whos complaining (not me at least), cool neon lightings, cool buffer sound systems, a platform for you to stand on when playing, you actually feel the beat of the music moving through where you're standing, an absolutely new feeling compared to the older Beatmania machines. In my earlier posts I've already explained the gameplay so, yea not gonna talk 'bout it. its challenging and fun! XD

started playing another game too, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3, techniquely this is my first racing game I've played since Daytona USA O_O (mann how old is that..) its pretty cool, still gotta get used to switching gears, and getting my way through sharp turns. I know to some of the arcade-goers I may sound noob, but hey gimme some credit, my first racing game in a very long run, haha. but I hate my screwed up name on my card, stupid pedal just clears my whole name when I want to confirm it (pretty sure I was hitting on the accelerator, argh! so I got some silly name instead. not gonna talk 'bout it. this whole arcade is starting to get a little addictive for me @_@, need to control!

but oh well, theres still want to try out a game tt Melcolm-san is play, its called Arcana Hearts, heard his comments, saw some video on youtube, saw the characters at the main website, im set to play it now =_=. yet another way to blow a hole in my pocket, 2 bucks/game for Beatmania and Maximum Tune 3, not sure 'bout Arcana Hearts though, hopefully it's cheaper. virtual entertainment sure are getting expansive, it drains your life and money.

..meh, like i'm one to talk.

ではまた。

- melancholy -

2007-08-18T23:15:00.000+08:00

- clinging on to yesterday's desire for tomorrow,
the future was far too enticing to be ignored.
theories, scriptures, prophecies seemed all to well within reach,
but even at times, the facade within one's mind can be misleading,
even life has its own order..

the chains of time binds down the ideals of men,
men's knowledge over his own heart is limited,
in contrast to its boundless yet simple structure.

men are brazen covenanter of another's life,
once the covenant is broken,
the safeguard of pride shatters momentarily.

emotions embrace this foolery of men with its deceitful arms,
in possession of his ideals and dreams,
it changes the state of mind to a twisted form,
a horrid state that will cripple the heart with fear.

at the brink of dawn,
darkness hides within it's curtain of deceit,
whimpering within these hidden walls.
it's words of sorrow echoed through the whispers of an unheard breeze,
in search of it's acknowledgement from a benevolent maiden.

one of my darker poems that i have written so far, not even sure if it can be even be called a poem, sound like a bunch of emo ranting that came from my head and are mashed up together. bahhh... figured i should drop by and write something, since its been long since I've written anything here. life for me now... how do i put it.. =/ frankly, isn't at it's best right now, so yea, 'nuff said. heading off to study, wish me luck for the preliminary examinations.

ではまた。

time waits for no one indeed.

2007-07-08T23:06:00.000+08:00

yup, you guys probably got tired of me apologising for not updating for so long, blah blah blah. so I'm not gonna do it this time =), it saves us all the time don't ya think? I've got loads of things to talk 'bout, since I haven't been updating for so long, and I'm starting to wonder if my template is collecting dust, or worst, a home for the dust bunnies.. eep! D= (yea ironic that I said I wouldn't be wasting your time. =_=)

lets start off from today, went to a friend's house to pay him a visit, he just got chicken pox cause this is the first time he has it, anyway he won't be going school for a while, like 2 weeks?! o_O and like the O' level orals are like in a few days time, talk 'bout bad timing. =/ hmm.. ohh right! nearly drifted off today's topic, I finally quit Granado Espada, lol it was addictive alright, but I figured it took away too much of my time, and it was starting to bore me, everyday life in the game seems to become more of a routine/chore rather than the fun I was expecting. well, it IS an MMORPG game, so nothing surprising. I'm just curious how can hardcore players of this genre get so into the game that they can stick with the game for so long. I'm just glad I left the game early enough to start on what I have to do, major exams are coming, my days are numbered and theres just so little free time to do what I usually want to do. sigh. not to mention I'm currently in this self-study program that the school has just started last year, sounds helpful ya? I agree, but the timing just isn't right. =_= I mean, after 7 hours in school, I have to stay for another 3-4 hours?! the school says its a period we should push ourselves to the limit, which is a big encouragement(actually, I'm lying. =p), but this is just too tiring. well the good news is, its only 3 times a week. not too bad I guess.

well, thats pretty much what I have to say for now, don't worry, I'll talk more 'bout any events that happened when i was away at the next post, if I remember that is.. =_=

ではまた。

silence is... golden?

2007-05-16T22:00:00.000+08:00

right-o, its been a while since I did a real post, its been a little quiet around here. ironically this place is supposed to be quiet, since its called "Tranquil Sanctum".. =_= *figures...* the pass few days, or should I say weeks to be exact were the busy periods, mid-year exams was in place, so there wasn't much I could do but study, other than that, break time was devoted to 'Elder Scroll IV: Oblivion', its a cool game trust me. =p

actually I could have done this post at an earlier date, because after the last paper for mid year, there was this 2 days free from school due to allignment day and marking day, which was on a thursday and a friday, following by the weekends, making that a 4 days break! (how cool can this get! XD) Well, the reason for not doing this post is.. i was addicted to Oblivion, couldn't stop playing, the quests were too addictive, now that i think about it, that addiction is starting to scare me. D= so yea by the time I stopped playing the game, it would usually be around 12-1am? well, you can say, "why not do it after your game?", well.. thats because I hate doing my blog posts late in the night for some reason which I myself do not know why. Secondly, what makes you think I have the energy to post something interesting after spending bout 8-9 hours on that game? o_0 (yup thats how long I played that game)

ok, so pushing the pointless ranting aside, I'll try to do a recollection of what has happened for the past few days. lets see.. Mr Ezal had his really cool wedding last saturday, it was grand in its own way, music themed wedding, great food, cool LCD TV (only those who went would know =p), it was totally awesome. It even came out on the malay newspapers the next day, forgot what its called. annd sunday was Mother's Day, had the usual annual celebration at my house for my grandmother and yea all of my aunts and of course I bought something for my mum. I'll post some pics on this post, if I have the time or even be bothered to. =/ I think this is about all the stuff that happened recently..

...or so says my mind, meh. =/

a tear for yesterday's memory,
a smile for tomorrow's way,
don't turn back..
switch off the lights,
listen closely to the silence,
take a deep breath,
cast away any lingering memories that haunt you,
down to the very depths of oblivion,
and charge on with an adrenaline rush.

once again another slipshot phrase, I'm getting lazier by the day. =p

ではまた。

- azure skies -

2007-05-01T23:49:00.000+08:00

the skies of tomorrow won't be the same as yesterday's,
neither will time stop for this moment,
only fated to become a vague yet beautiful memory.
but unlike a memory,
hope drifts along the ever-changing skies,
in search of yesterday's azure skies.

so yup. this marks the end of my 7 days report. be back after the mid years are over, there are still a handful of papers left to go through. till then.

ではまた。

- hollow depths -

2007-04-29T12:57:00.001+08:00

it divides you from others

deep as a bottomless pit,

wide as a valley,
acknowledgement longs to fill the gap between

bottomless as it may seem,

but it may also be a way to connect you with others,

they call it opportunities.

it may be difficult,

but as long as you have friends,

you will never have to fear being alone anymore.

lol, i edited this short phrase that i did long ago over at msn space, i got lazy to think for this one. =p

ではまた。

- weakness -

2007-04-15T22:13:00.000+08:00

man's only failure was to define whats right and wrong,
individual perspectives only confuses each other from that sole fact,
then again..
what is right and wrong when there was none to begin with?
we are all fighting on the same battleground,
just for different believes.
my life's biggest mistake,
not believing myself that is...

ではまた。

- lament -

2007-04-04T23:36:00.000+08:00

the dark arctic night loomed over,
after what seems like a 1000 years of bliss.
within the darkness glows a phenomenon so natural,
they call it the "northern light".
the very avatar of life,
and a promise that goes on through eternity..

ではまた。

- tranquil twilight -

2007-04-03T19:10:00.000+08:00

- the rain pouring seemed never ending,
its been a while hasn't it?,
since doves flew across these skies.
a breeze of bliss blew passed,
the dark curtain of clouds parted,
a nostalgic horizon appeared,
"..Twilight" was all I uttered..

ではまた。

- reprised melodies -

2007-04-02T21:08:00.000+08:00

- an absence within the heart,
the mind ponders if one is forgotten,
nonetheless the spirit remembers.
as seasons passed on in a never ending cycle,
the spirit grew weary,
so the heart asked the mind,
"will I remain as part of a memory..?"
"or.."
"..will my silhouette just fade away?"

ではまた。

- clarity -

2007-04-01T21:26:00.000+08:00

- on a silent night like this,
the clouds swirled open to reveal the pale moon,
the clouds enshrouded around it as if to form wings.
as the moon radiates an envious glow,
the shadow filled street was bathed with a luminous light,
pride was laid down,
anger was vanquished,
sadness was forgotten.

i got bored, this is totally random, meh.. =/

ではまた。

DJ Max Portable 2 just got sexier!~

2007-03-31T21:53:00.000+08:00

its 31st march today.. ..wait. how long have I not posted anything yet?! o_0 oh well.. =/ today was a smash! got a new game today, and my new handphone! finally! T_T the Motorola V3X was starting to kill me, the slow loading, the tendency of offing by itself, the problem that people have when hearing me over the phone. now all those nightmare-ish days are over, and now to say hello to my new Sony Ericsson Z610i. ahhh... it feels so much easier to use my phone now.~

and for today's spotlight! the long awaited and anticipated I've been waiting for what seem like ages finally arrived! DJ Max Portable 2 is out on the PSP! for you guys who aren't familiar with the DJ Max series, it was basically originated from an online rhythm game by Pentavision, and was then brought over to the PSP platform. and yes as what I've mentioned in my earlier post, this game has a whole new range of titles, be it R&B, modern rock, whatever genre, its probably in it. i've tried the game earlier, its nearly the same as the first DJ Max Portable, just that its even better now! let me start with the graphic wise, nobody can ever forget the flashy graphics that the game delivers when every beat hits, and the cool background cinematics when you play a particular song. well guess what? the graphics just got better! sexier graphics, cooler gears, flashier notes and cooler cinematics! XD as for gameplay, a whole new range of cool songs, be it fast or slow paced, getting used to it shouldn't be much of a problem, Pentavision good job! the cinematics once again matches every song, and every scene seem to synchronise with the music very well. theres also the all new "fever" mode when you're playing a song, its this bar in the middle of your game screen, as you hit every beat, the bar gradually builds up, when it hits a full bar, "fever" mode will be available, upon pressing the X button, with every note you hit, your combo hit does not go up by 1 but multiplied by 2! but for a limited time only. BUT! if you manage to get another fever bar filled within the X2 fever period, and press the X button again, every combo hit onwards will be multiplied by 3, and so on. if I'm not mistaken, the highest you can go is a X5 combo hit. this is definitely good news for fans of the games who are combo crazy! XD

now I'll explain the various modes that the games gotta offer! of course, theres always the single player which is basically the same, just that this time theres a few new additions, the whole new 5 button mode added in for the single player and "XTREME CHALLENGE" in this mode, you get to receive a whole bunch of mission, and completing missions will get ya rewards! now players have their own personnal profile, and oh? did I mention theres an addictive leveling system for your profile in this game, and now the only different thing in unlocking gears and notes now are that, even if u DID unlock the gear and notes, that doesn't mean ya own them. Theres this GOLD system now, whereby you collect money as u advance through the game, you have to pay GOLD to get your new gears or notes. after unlocking, buying and equiping a gear/note, it gives u a greater advantage. what I mean is that, every gear/note has its own stats advantage, for example, you get this particular gear, and it has a "GOLD +5%" stats, this means you earn 5% more of GOLD everytime you complete a song, cool isn't it? this makes things way more interesting and at the same time challenging. probably the greatest addition to DJ Max 2 , is the network feature, you can go head to head with your rhythm-crazed friends in this mode by using ad-hoc, multi-play is good!~ theres also "Link Disc" mode, where veteran players who have their DJ Max Portable with them, can enter the mode, remove the DJ Max 2 UMD and slot in back their DJ Max 1 and playback the old songs with DJ Max 2's graphics, gears and notes. this also allows players to get extra unlocks and items on their collection section in DJ Max 2, this gives player more reason to play both games at the same time, and not letting the older game sit in their dusty drawer and collect dust. =p completing this game in a mere month would really seem impossible to me cause theres just so many things to unlock, if I'm not wrong theres over 500 items to unlock this time, talk 'bout a ton of replay value! XD ok, this is mostly 'bout it, other than that, most of the game modes are the same. overall, this game is a big improvement from the previous one, its simply great and shouldn't be missed out by any PSP owners! I give a 9.8/10 for this one!

ではまた。

The power of the tablet!~

2007-03-14T23:52:00.000+08:00

w00tz!~ its 11:55p.m over here now, and I just finished my very first digital inking for my artwork! yay!~ thanks to melcolm who lent me his WACOM Graphire, but I'm kinda jealous cause he got his new intuos 3 tablet! >=3 but oh well, gotta be contented with what i got now. haha, I sound like a newbie now, being excited over a small accomplishment. but I guess everyone has to start small, gotta press on! OSU!~

frankly speaking, I think this is one of the better drawings I have so far, and I'm quite proud 'bout it. although there is still a fair amount of proportion problems and stuff, still its my first step into digital art! gotta work more on my body and hand proportions, its soo difficult.. *yawn* I'm getting sleepy.. signing off.

pummeled by pressure,
held down by anxiety,
driven out of my sanity,
I'll remove this mask of facade,
and live life the best out of it.

ではまた。

Shirukens, Kunais, Katanas, anything I missed out?

2007-03-09T20:10:00.000+08:00

yup, I'm back with another entry! after a long and tiring term, its finally the start of the school holidays! yay~ although its one week only, and there is a crap load of homework.. but hey, looking on the bright side, I finally get to rest a bit and prepare myself for next term. =D

today went rather well, I finally got my new Canon LiDE 70 scanner! muahaha! this means I'll not only be able to post up my artworks, but I'll also be able to start practicing digital art when I have the free time! whee!~ so for a start, heres my latest artwork, its my original artwork unlike the one in my previous post which was a copied art. Very big difference right? haha. its not as good as the previous one I drew, gotta stop copying and advance to the next level! >.< I feel so tired~ gonna head off for now. anyways, critics are welcome. ^^

ではまた。

a start of a new beginning~

2007-02-25T18:09:00.000+08:00

its been rather slack for this week, right after the Chinese New Year holidays, its back to school, but with only a few days left till the weekends, which also means.. more time ta' slack!~ XD and that is why I've enough time on my hands to drop a post.

yesterday, I had time to head over to melcolm's place to chill out and play SSBM (Super Smash Bros. Melee), and learnt a fair bit 'bout photoshop through him.^^ wahaha!, I managed to use his scanner to scan in one of my artworks, I'm gonna use it to practice my digital inking using photoshop for now~ =3 though its gonna be a problem inking the picture.. =/ reason being because I don't got a tablet, and I'm having a little problem using the pen tool with the mouse to ink my drawing. well, the good thing is I'm getting my new scanner soon (yay!~), should be getting it in a week or two. so perhaps I'll be able to scan in my works in future entries? well, depending on how good it is. By the way heres the pic, its not really my character, as the character is copied from the concept arts of the game, "Final Fantasy agito XIII". He is the Lancer shown in the concept art. It doesn't really look like him though, 'cause I drew it in my own style. as for the final workpiece, I'll post it here once I'm done with it, hopefully I can get a hang of the tools of photoshop.

..meh =/

ではまた。

The year of the bright red pig!~

2007-02-18T21:28:00.000+08:00

first of all, Gong Xi Fa Cai (Happy Chinese New Year) to all you guys who are reading my blog! The day of great food, great fellowship and a whole lot of great Ang Bao! (mm.. money is goood~ =X) hope all of you had a great reunion dinner with your family, and for those who don't celebrate Chinese New Year, I hope you guys will have a great holiday and week ahead! As for me, I'll be happily slacking off at home and gaming all day long during the holidays! =3

anyways, I recently got a new addition to my PS2 collection, its called, "Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia". Since I just got it, I don't know much about the game. to put it bluntly, I haven't even started playing it yet. I'm too occupied playing Legend of Zelda: Windwaker. =3 But anyway, the artwork and level design of the game gave me a good enough reason to blog 'bout it. The character sprites in the game are quite good, quite similar to that of Disgaea's, the level and background designs are quite good too, it gives a very "out-of-this world" feeling. (well.. its Fantasy RPG, what do ya expect?) And if I'm not wrong, there is a unusual mini-game, a Dating Sim sort of thing, where you use "dive points" in the game to develop relationships with a girl. and you can only get Dive Points on how well you care for a specific girl you want to get to know. The best part 'bout it is that the game comes with an official artbook! (muahaha I have more references now for drawing now~ =3) There is also an OAV anime for this title, which is cool! Soo.. Thats roughly what I know for now.. I'll update on this post if I missed out on any points. and I can't give a review now, since I've not played the game yet, so stay tuned! ><;

ではまた。

love is in the air~

2007-02-13T20:56:00.000+08:00

tomorrow is the 14th of February, you know what that means! its Valentines Day! ^^ I'm not too hyped 'bout it since I don't have anyone to go out with, but for you guys out there who have your special person out there, I would like to share something with you guys! (This shows that my blog isn't just for games and manga drawings, I do have a lot of humanity left in me ya know? =/)

anyways, I just wanted to introduced a chocolate that is perfect for this day (well at least it is to me.. =/), its called Cho-Pan, manufactured by the famous Japanese company , Meiji. Cho-Pan has a few flavours, but from what I've tried so far, there are 2 different flavours, one of them is the chocolate flavoured one, dark chocolate for the pan-shapped outer layer and 2 layers of different types of chocolate filled in the pan-shaped chocolate. There is also a strawberry-flavoured Cho-Pan which I feel is ideal for Valentine's Day. It has white chocolate for the pan-shaped outer layer, and similar to the chocolate flavoured one, they have two layers of different strawberry chocolate, but for the strawberry flavoured one its a little different. They have some strawberry flavoured bits on the top of the strawberry chocolate enhancing its taste further. The pricing for this chocolate is rather costly, but its still within students budget. Cho-Pan cost about SGD $2.60 for a box of 4 and can be easily purchased at supermarkets or convenient stores, so if you're looking for a last minute buy, you might wanna consider this! ^^

Screenshots:

ではまた。

Adrenaline Skies~

2007-02-11T00:44:00.000+08:00

I'm gonna keep this one short since its rather late now and I'm feeling pooped.. zzz. Anyways, I got my Beatmania Controller, and it totally feels like the actual controls in the arcade. It has a cool and slick feel on the outside, and its quite comfortable to use and allows me to play at ease. Its highly recommended to those out there who are playing Beatmania IIDX games on your PS2 and don't got the Beatmania IIDX controller. I just got my new Beatmania game last week too! ^^ "Beatmania IIDX 12: HAPPY SKY", its currently the best Beatmania game I've played so far. The soundtracks in the game are excellent, the cool sky background Bemani used was excellent, it has a digital yet realistic feel to it. The blue skin used during gameplay definitely suits the theme of "Happy Sky" Its definitely one of the best rhythm games around!

screenshots:

ではまた。

who said only zombies were evil?

2007-02-08T20:54:00.000+08:00

so yea, I know I'm not updating as much as I should, but boy.. secondary 5 life is tough. =/ very different from the old lifestyle I used to have for the previous 4 years in school. well, I shouldn't complain that much since melcolm is much more busy compared to me. he has to balance both work and studies, I wonder how he copes it. anyway, I'll be posting stuff that happened when I didn't blog about for the past few weeks. (don't blame me, I just don't got enough time in my hands.. >.>)

recently I got my copy of Resident Evil 4 (I know I'm a little outdated, sorry =_=), its quite different from what I expected, the game is more of a Horror action survival, very different compared to its predecessors. The game starts off with you as Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survival of the horror that happened in Racoon City six years ago, but is now a secret agent in search of the president's kidnapped daugther, Ashley. In his search, he goes to a small village to gather information on Ashley's whereabouts, but discovered along the way that the villagers were not human but something else.. something less human.

the game now focus more on direct action, rather than puzzle-filled gameplay, which is a good thing because I don't have to crack my brain too much to solve puzzles anymore! =D and this time its no longer up against blood-thirsty zombies anymore, its something else.. like a martian from mars! >.> nah, I'm just joking. but I'm not about to tell you what happened to the villagers or what are they. annd.. oh! how can I forget the ever vivacious but deadly Ada Wong is back in the game with an unknown motive! so if you haven't got yours yet, go buy the game and see it for yourself, hotshot! Its a cool game! ^^

screenshots:

ではまた。

Jamming Session in progress!

2007-01-25T22:01:00.000+08:00

I've been away for awhile due to workload and tests, and majorly because of stress! thank goodness there isn't any lessons tomorrow, which is a good thing! but then again, theres the dreaded annual Cross-Country race at MacRitchie Reservoir, not to mention its quite a distance from where I'm staying. =_= annd!~ since its my last year in secondary school, I'll do my best!~ in walking that is! XD well, looking on the bright side, I can actually take a breather after a long week! phew!

anyways, todays post isn't really 'bout all those trivial matters. for all you rhythm fanatics (yup thats me ^^) out there, I have good news for you! DJ Max portable 2 is coming out this year for the PSP! and from what I know from a reliable source, there will be 150+ new songs for the new game, and the best part of it is that DJ Max 2 is a PSP exclusive game, which most likely mean that the soundtracks in it will be exclusive only for the PSP, unlike the first DJ Max portable which had most of its soundtracks ported over from the popular DJ Max Online. for those who haven't gotten their hands on a copy of DJ Max portable, I strongly recommend you to get it while waiting for DJ Max portable 2. Its a very good game, and extremely addictive. if you don't get it, you're missing out on the good stuff! for some of you out there, the whole news on DJ Max 2 may be old news to you, but it wouldn't hurt to share right? ^^ anyways, here are some screenshots.

ではまた。

a day to be remembered..

2007-01-06T23:12:00.000+08:00

today is probably the best day of the year so far (due to the unfortunate trivial matters that has been happening for the past few days), anyways I went for a exchange field trip organised by the Japanese cultural school where I had my manga lesson last holiday. it was one heck of a day!~ I mean how often do you get to go out with friends from another country, and for my case, they're japs.~ (japs are cool~)

but it wasn't an all "happy-go-lucky" thing, we had to help them with completing their assignments which was given during the briefing before we left for the field trip. the topic was about finding more on Singapore's heritage (..or it was something like that, I forget. =_=) things didn't go very smoothly, we had a major language barrier between us, it was really difficult to communicate with them, the tour around Singapore that we gave them wasn't even considered good at all, because they didn't look like they were enjoying themselves at all, for that.. I feel kinda bad. =/ we couldn't explain to them about the places of historical interest, again because of the language barrier, and my group and I didn't really socialise with them, AGAIN! because of the language barrier. argh! although we didn't get to know much about them, but it was a very good experience, we managed to make some new friends along the way, jap ones and some other local ones that were also helping out in the event. and in the process, we also learnt many things about the heritage of Singapore (I'm not much of a person that visit historical places. =p)

after the whole field trip, we had dinner at Inoue-san's house. (he is the principal of the school where I learnt manga) we got together, well me and melcolm tried to get the e-mail and contacts from our Jap friends, but sadly they either don't have an E-mail account or a computer and we didn't have enough time to get their addresses because the bus that was going to fetch them back to the hotel had already reached. soo, we didn't really get any contacts from them, its kinda sad.. but at least I know we will remain in their memories.

though we may only cross each others path this once,
but our silhouettes will remain in each other as a distant memory.

ではまた。

the birth of a new and dreadful semester

2007-01-02T22:36:00.000+08:00

alright-o, its a new year and everything will turn out great! (well its suppose to be, dammit. =_=) time goes by so quickly, it just felt like holidays just began yesterday. (I'm serious) why is that so? because I still have a load of things that I want to do, but I've not done them yet. and not to mention there are some holiday assignments that I've yet to complete. and uhh.. what? school reopens tomorrow? okaaayy...

...whats a school??? @_@

but well, it is also not all that bad, at the very least you still get to see your friends. lessons aren't all that bad either, it just depends on the moods I guess. the worst part 'bout school is probably the exams, it kinda deprives you from your everyday life, in various ways.. and I'm entering the final years of my secondary school life, and theres this BIG exam at the end of the year, which kinda stinks. its a single piece of paper that will determine the fate of your future and career, its kinda silly if you ask me. i'm not gonna say anymore, because I wouldn't want the authorities knocking on my door anytime soon. =X

school is okay, but exams are a bummer..

ではまた。

the past, the present, the future...

2006-12-31T23:14:00.001+08:00

alright, from where I am right now, its will be in an hours time before its the new year! well frankly speaking, nothing feels different, its feels just like any other ordinary day if you ask me.. =/ nothing feels different, I doubt I even changed much. (call me boring if you will..) annnd, I havent been posting anything new these few days, well.. haha because I felt rather lazy, secondly, I've been busy trying to rank up in Battlefield 2142.. lol. so, lets see whats new recently. hm..

27th December'

I just got my first rhythm game for my PS2, and I'm pretty sure you guys reading will be quite familiar with the series, its called "Beatmania IIDX RED". Theres nothing much to talk about this game, since its like most rhythm games, you play to the beat!~ Anyways, the soundtracks in it aren't that bad, and the various modes in the games lives up to the reputation of its predecessors. and I'm rather new to the seven button controls, I've been playing the old Beatmania at the arcades, those with the traditional 5 button controls. I'm not really updated on the Beatmania series.. eheheh.. ^^; well, here are some screenshots.

28th December'

its the opening day for Death Note: The Last Name, and I had a chance to watch it on the day itself too ^^. and I'm quite surprised, according to Jeremy most of the seats were booked, and so far from what I saw, there were actually many seats filled up by working class people! anyways I only have one thing to say about the movie, the scriptwriter did a really good job with the script. although it was a little rush, but still, I'll give him credit for it. I'm not going to touch on the content of the movie, but do watch it! its worth ya money!~

- so anyways, this pretty much wraps it up, when you guys read this, its probably the year 2007, may all your new year resolutions come true!~

ではまた。

its ALIVE!?!

2006-12-28T00:24:00.000+08:00

"go to the museum! it is the place where history comes alive!", now that certainly sounds cliche, or corny. but just for today, its kinda true! XD well I caught a movie with my mum today (and its been a long time since shes been to the theatres, believe man, you wouldn't wanna know.), had dinner with her at The Cafe Cartel over at Plaza Singapura, then it was off to that new Cathay building which wasn't too far from where I was having dinner.. well anyways, thats besides the point, the movie that we were watching was "Night of the Museum", Adam Sandlers was playing as the main role (that guy never fails to crack me up! XD), it was a damn hilarious movie. Well you peeps out there who haven't watched it yet, go watch it! its worth ya money! and if you guys are looking for introductions or reviews, go on the web and search for movie reviews or something. I wanted to give you guys who are reading, a summary of the movie or a movie review or something.. but you know.. laziness got the better of me... >.> so yea, this pretty much wraps up for today.

ではまた。

Digital Dream

2006-12-26T23:36:00.000+08:00

have you ever pause a few moments of your hectic life to think, what is it that you want to do in life? and sometimes, you do have an idea what you want to do, but then again.. was it what you REALLY wanted to do? well I certainly do have an interest for manga drawing, but I don't really know if I have a passion for it. I've been doing manga for almost 2 years. I've learnt many valuable experiences and improved quite a bit.

what I do want to really know is this the path that I really want. lately, I've been having these doubtful feelings, because between the age of 16-18 is a time where you make many mistakes. and I certainly don't want to regret many years later for doing something that I realised wasn't my real passion, but it was actually something else, it would be a big waste wouldn't it? I want things to go as perfect as possible (yes. I'm a perfectionist, shoot me if you will.), but sadly life is full of flaws, and there is a limit to everything. well.. I'll continue to search for answers, but till then, I'll remain stubborn and continue to stick with manga! >.<

ではまた。

Blood Champagne anyone?

2006-12-25T14:20:00.000+08:00

its that time of the year again.. Christmas caroling on the streets, fancy Christmas decorations and how will Christmas be like without the fake Santas(s)! ( sorry kids.. XD ) well, its true anyways, when you're grown up, this sort of stuff would seem like.. hm.. how do I put it.. un-true.. but well Christmas isn't really about the gifts or Santa, to me.. its more about celebrating for the birth of Christ, but well I'm not about to change this post into some religious talk, it would be offending to some.

for this holiday season, well lets just say I'm not really hype about it. sooo, i've been pretty much occupying myself with my PS2 and playing this really cool game I got recently, its called "Melty Blood: Act Cadenza", its actually originated from a group of fans who made a doujin game for this anime/manga called "Tsukihime". The amazing part is that the game caught the attention of game developers and TYPE-MOON themselves! that was when the game first hit the arcades, the demand for the game soon became higher, it was then further developed and sold in the Japan market for various platforms, like the PC, dreamcast and the PS2. Well, enough of my talking, here are some screenshots.

the people who made this game did a really good job, though doujin games converted over for platforms isn't a really uncommon thing in Japan anymore, but you gotta give them credit for making it this far! annnd! it shows that the manga artist there are really talented! >< ..if only Singapore had a bigger market for the manga industry.. sigh.. anyways, for those of you reading, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Cheers!~

ではまた。

Curtain Raiser

2006-12-24T21:18:00.000+08:00

hey guys! for those who read or seen my blog, uhh thanks for following up. for those who never.. well.. hm.. I hope you'll enjoy your stay! ^^

soo.. basically. this is my second blog, and I hope it will be my last. I pretty much hope I will settle down in this one, and I'll be posting and updating as much as I can, when I'm not so lazy that is.. >.>

annnd.. since this IS suppose to be a curtain raiser, I'm gonna keep the introduction short. sooo.. you guys just makes yourself at home ya? ^^;

ではまた。