Twin Edge

Finally got the mood to blog about recent events! XD

Recently went to Sitex 2005 for a photoshoot. Originally it was meant as a private shoot for the D.Gray Man cosplayers... however, the heavy rain put a premature halt to the shoot, leaving us no choice but to head into the Sitex 2005 event hall to help out Eugene and his fellow STAC comm members. :P

I realised that there weren't many cosplayers on the event itself compared to the Sitex of last year. I wonder if the date of the EOY event has to do with it, since the date was pretty close to Sitex's.

I did manage to see some 'off-duty' cosplayers around but they are more keen on getting some computer stuffs instead. Couldn't recognise Mori!! Then there were some MovieMania people dressed up as Star Wars characters and of course, the mighty Predator (Perhaps the same guy who went for Cosfest 2005?)

Most of us have already pre-registered for the EOY event, and I volunteered to be a helper. Zeph assigned me an interesting role, something like what I did for the Quedam pre-performance dinner. Can you say... Daddy Knows Best? XD

Talking about Daddy, Holly's been calling me Pappa because I was concerned about her stomach flu -_-;; Get well soon okay? Then you can lend me both Radiata Stories AND Magna Carta muahahahahahahaha!

Been reading a lot of photography books, magazines, even had the chance of using a friend's DSLR camera. I think I am hooked!!! As you can see from my past photo entries, I have a long way to go in improving my techniques. Practice makes perfect, I guess. :P

Oh yeah.. one last thing before I go. I always believe that each person has his or her own beauty hidden beneath. Recently, my friend Nightdevil became a swan for a day, and was rightfully given the prom queen title. I can speak for the rest when I said WOW!!!

Anyway here are the photos taken during the weekend. Cya!


Hmmm.. Bicycle On Wheels indeed.


Ferlyn & Daphne!! XD


David and his cosplay posing.


Cosplayers posing for the numerous photographers.


Vivian & Kula looking like they wanted to eat me O_O;;


Yes, Mr Cow's finally back from MooMoo Land.

Other photos are located in this link.

Recent Photos That I Took...

Been thinking a lot lately.. then I realized that I forgot to upload some of the photos that I took recently! I got a tripod last Saturday, and its worth the money! Sturdy and light, my camera stopped being 'shaky' for a day, haha.

All in all, I have attended a total of 3 photoshoots within the last two weeks! Going to take some photos for LKCRL's official opening this Saturday, and then for the D.Gray Man photoshoot at the end of this month. Sounds fun! XD


Trying out the tripod at a photo shop in Sim Lim.. cool place. Will be back there soon. XD


Took this at Marina City Park.. the place's not bad right? XD


Macross told me this is a good position to take pics, so I just heed his advice and took some shots.


My friend told me this pic's a bit blurred.


A view of the bridge...


The Water of Life


I want this!!! O_O;;


Finally watched the last episode of TRC (for now). I wonder what is that sad song that was playing in the background during the course of the show...

Will be back. I promise.

PS. Gackt is singing the Opening (Redemption) and Ending (Longing) for FF7: Dirge of Cerberus? (Thanks Holly for the information!) XD

Soul Outing (Part 1)

Good morning!!!

All is quiet on the Western Front.. and on the Eastern Front as well O_O

The office's quiet as a mouse, most of my colleagues are on leave due to Deepavali and Hari Raya.

Saturday night was spent working, but Sunday was spent on a J-Rock/Gothic photoshoot at Fort Canning! Went there cos my friends were talking about it, and made some new friends. ;) Going up the stairs was a real pain though, literally...

Anyway keep it short, here are the pics! XD

Day 1




Raziel being hyper.. :P


J-Rock Cosplayers


Ashley, all ready for the day (Wish I had a hat like his...)


Helena's gothic costume


Pose No. 2


Some more poses...


Shirox


Koyuki, his bandmates and friends (Hope to see you guys soon!)


Once darkness falls, they started singing...


Dinner at Pastamania... quite chaotic!


Bwahahahahahaha!~


Day 2 will be posted soon~~

Anyway, wishing all my Muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya! XD

In The Eye of The Beholder....

Good day! *shoves away his notes*

Think my body's a wreck now. Aching all over the place.. trust me to stay up so late yesterday >_<

Exams are not over yet but a lot of interesting things have happened recently! Let's see...

Quidam



One word to describe the performance by the Cirque du Soleil. AWESOME.

I was expecting the usual circus performance by the travelling troupe. Boy was I wrong, and gladly so.

It was remarkable how the power of visual cue, sound effects and the incredible agility of the artists can combine to give the audience such a stunning performance, that it has the potential to eclipse anything shown on other media (TV, DVDs, etc)..

Roughly 2 1/2 hours long (With a half-hour intermission), the story of a little girl and her imagination enraptures the audience. A variety of performances showcases her vivid thinking, and draws the audience deeper and deeper.

It is truly a story of fantasy, but not the D&D/Tolkien fantasy, but more of the stuff that children dream of, the type of stories that Ms Block would write about... Quidam is everyone and yet, no one. Strange things to ponder, no? :)

I really love the German Wheel, the Diabolos and the Banquine acrobatics.. really a wow-factor to the show... the clown segment are really hilarious too, kinda Mr Beanish.. :P

The only bad thing was the merchandising which really cost a bomb. And the queue to the toilets during the intermission was really long o.O

I would love to watch it again the next time the troupe drops by Singapore.. XD

Sammi Cheng

Wow, Sammi Cheng dropped by the library on Friday night, and she smiled at me! XD

Too bad she had to leave quickly for a talk (together with Stanley Kwan). She looked great in person! (Too bad Spectre can't make it on that day leh.. )

NLB Family Day


Woohoo... My first aniversary working at NLB! Saturday was a hot day but that's okay.. woke up, then prepared some stuff, left the house after a short while.

I met Fer at Harbourfront interchange for lunch first, then we took the bus to Sentosa. Too bad she couldn't stay long for the event.. :P

We found the location of the event but nothing has started yet! So we decided to walk around the place.. took the bus, walked on the sandy beaches, drink a Super Big Gulp at the 7-Eleven at the Palawan Beach, crossed the swinging bridge to the "Southern Point", tried to look for peacocks at the Cable Car station, and found out that the ferry terminal was still being used for tourism purposes.

The Musical Fountain looked run-down though. Somebody please refurbish that place!!!



In the horizon, lies the Southern Point of the island..


They were unhappy with the fact that their handlers got more attention than themselves.. haha!


Bird-watching XD


The Family Day event was pretty fun lar.. a lot of food, nice weather, friendly colleagues.. made a few new friends too! Too bad I didn't win any prizes, but the performances on the day are quite good. A fire-eater actually performed for us, and the heat when he blew the flame into the air was.. wow, "heart warming" indeed!!!

Some of my colleagues won some prizes from the lucky draw.. one of them got a new revision of the same camera she bought last year.. quite funny leh haha..

End of the day, some of us went to McDonald for a chat, and then later on the MRT, we talked some more. Somehow the topic is on dengue and work -_-;;

End

Well that's about it.. but a few misc thoughts that I have..

* I didn't manage to take any photos of Priyanka Chopra. Really.

* I hope the next time they have the event again, bring a Milo van!!! Loved them since secondary school :D

* Hmmm if only Coco Lee were to come to the NLB... XD

* We Love Katamari. Must.. resist...

* My DVD-ROM drive is crap. Want to change but to which model?

* Maths = #@%#!^*%!#!@(!*^#!@%#^!%#!^%

Ah.. felt much better now. Gotta go... cya! XD

The Tale of the Train Man, and his Hermes

How true is this story, where a hapless geeky guy likes this young and beautiful lady, and decides to change himself for the better in order to woo her? What a touching premise right? :)


Densha Otoko (The Train Man), is the tale of a young, geeky salaryman (Yamada Tsuyoshi, aged 23) who suddenly finds his life changed when he meets the beautiful Aoyama Saori (acted out by the amazing Itoh Misaki) in a train. In his attempt to stop a drunken old man from harassing her, he earns her gratitude and she gives her thanks by sending him a pair of Hermes cup. Touched, he is encouraged by his online friends (From an online forum no less!) to ask her out and to get to know her better...


So thus began a heart-warming tale where the lovable 'loser' (actually he is not, just that the rest of the society don't treat him nicely at all) began to groom himself and learn to interact with members of the opposite sex calmly. Initially he is beset by so much bad luck, then things began to pick up from there.

However, there are many obstacles he has to overcome, from improving his self-confidence, to grooming, to even dealing with Saori's friends and family. He even had to overcome his over-dependence on the advices of his online friends because when it comes to the crunch, he must stand up and make decisions by himself.

Why do I like the show? Although I am only halfway done with the series (There are 11 episodes, the other half I will try to borrow from Eugene), each episodes have its good point. Witness the shameless usage of the Star Wars Imperial music to announce the arrival of Saori's 'evil' best friend. Or his adventure into Shibuya. Or even the funny scene where he tries to learn how to surf (Saori thinks he is into surfing when he meant web-surfing)


See what I mean? Hehe...

It's an inspiring show. I realises that in a way, each of us have obstacles to overcome. Whether it is a fear of women (-_-;;) or fear of commitment (Haha) or even lack of self-confidence, we have our own Waterloos to fight. I know that somehow the story is too good to be true, but who knows.. maybe it will encourage some of us to take that crucial step forward. :)

Rating: 8/10

An Advent Children Review

The long awaited sequel to what was probably the most popular console RPG game ever, Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children took place 2 years after the Lifestream managed to stop Meteor from destroying the world. Cloud Strife, now a 'delivery man', is haunted by his past specifically the fact that he is unable to save Aeris (or Aerith) from dying at Sephiroth's hand. And as you all will know, Sephiroth was eventually defeated by Cloud in a final battle that decided who is truly stronger...

Unfortunately things never gotten better after that, so Cloud and his friends continue to search for clues to unravel a new problem known as Geostigma. And that is when all the troubles began...

You know, after waiting for a long time to see what Square-Enix have done to address the remaining issues left after completing FF7, you may think that the movie will answer everything that you have ever wanted to ask. Sadly, this is not the case as the movie is more focused on Cloud, his antagonists (Kadaj and gang), and his own unresolved past.

First, the bad things about the movie. Does Square-Enix ever realise that a good intro is a must? The thing about the first 1/2 hour is that I was literally have a bad feeling about the show, and even thought that they have screwed up big time. The speech by Kadaj at Ajit when he was talking to the children is a real ear-sore to me. And the thing about the voice acting overall is that they are competent but not really fantastic.

The length of the show was also short (1 hour 30 minutes+, excluding the credits), so some parts of the show seem rushed. It would help a lot to have a longer length to cover everything... but I think maybe they want to have an excuse to make another FF7 movie? XD

The other characters who showed up are mostly there as supporting casts and not everyone got equal screen-time. Yuffie rocks, Cid should spew some more colourful words, Barret should have used his Catastrophe, Vincent's cloak is amazing, Tifa is hot, and Cait Sith... where's the big guy? :P Red XIII only spoke once!!!!

Another thing that I noticed but it may not be a bad point is that the style of the movie really tends to follow the general Japanese movie style. Its pretty hard to describe but even a non-fan will sense that the show is made in Japan (It's true anyway haha). Humour-wise, I am not sure which is funnier, the victory theme in the handphone, or Rude's spare specs :P

Now, onto the best part of the film. The battles between Cloud and his enemies are truly to behold. He moves and fights like the unreal warrior that he is, dodging bullets and swords as if it was nothing. From the initial battle at the intro, to the eye-catching battle at Midgar City, to the fast and furious bike race, everything an action fan wanted, it is there.

Of course the thing about the animation during the battles is that it looks really unnatural. Some parts are realistic but that's about it... then again this is Final Fantasy no? :D

And... let's not talk about the grand climax that everyone is waiting for. And Cloud's got a surprise for all of us yeah? ;)

FF7:AC is not a perfect film. Compared with a lot of classical, animated, and modern masterpieces, it is hard to say that it is the best film ever made. However, it is better than all the game-movie conversions so far (Better than FF: The Spirits Within) and I guess most of us FF fans will forgive the flaws (Yes, even the ho-hum beginning).

Cloud Strife. He fights for the people who believe in him. That is what makes him stronger. And that is how I feel too :)

8.5/10 (Minus 1 point for the beginning -_-;;)

The Gate Has Opened...

It took me a while to get a hold of myself. Even until now, my mind is clouded with many things. Perhaps it is best to forget about them for the time being... but my feelings for her remained unabated.

That being said, I recently dropped by Suntec to attend the World Cyber Games 2005 - Singapore National Finals. I met so many of my friends there! The cosplayers, the Unreal Tournament gang, the guys from HWZ/Gameaxis, Spikeout, even Lord Angelus was there! I was actually there to support some of my friends who are taking part in the cosplay competition and also the Halo 2 tournament (Cheng Kai's KnS team).





Among the games being played, there were DOTA, CS: Source, Need For Speed: Underground 2 , Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne, and many more. It looks just like any other normal gaming event. I was hoping that the grand final will be more exciting.. XD

Anyway, back to cosplay. I took a lot of photos, and made some new friends in the process. Some of the cosplayers are really good, especially Maria and Mafuyu.


Lenne the Hunter. Beware her Double Strafing!


Eileen (left) and witch_cat XD


Luel flashing her .. cards.


Yes, Eugene's the man.. he's seen with some babes recently :P


Jodie aka TJ, posing when she should be taking pics instead.. :P


Kula... w00t.


Thanks to Ash for the pic ^_^


Moo!!!!!


Ahhh!!!!! David took this photo of the famous Cassandra Ng!!!!!!!! *nosebleeds*


The event ended happily with the rest of going to Meridien for some nice Korean food! ^_^

* Recently had an enjoyable dinner with Ashley. Talked about work, life, and yes, the ultimate dream ... to have an unforgettable road trip from San Francisco to New York!!! Yeah.. she's back due to some complications with her job, but I am sure she will bounce back soon :)

* Read in the news that some bloggers are being arrested for defamatory and racist remarks on their blogs. Guess a lot of people will be cautious in what they wrote.. except for Rockson Takumi Tan that is.. haha! (http://rockson.blogspot.com)

* My sister's birthday is tomorrow!!!! Happy Birthday!!!! XD

* Got the ticket liao from my company (1 free ticket per person):



* FF7:AC is coming out this week. Enuff said.

Well that's all for now! Time to hit the books again.....

Alive

Hey, minna-san.

Natsu Matsuri's finally over. The chaos, the days of anticipation, the chase.. it was over and done with.

The day started off well enough. Met with Takumi and Phelliostar, then Vic and her friends showed up. Turns out one of her friend is also Marchecoz's classmate, so we basically talk a lot on our way to the arcade, LJS and finally Tanah Merah MRT station.

SpiderKim, Nightdevil and the rest are already there, and already putting on their yukatas. Some of the other people who are going there helped out with the fixing up of the girls' obis.. then we are off! It was raining by the time we reached the school though.

Lining up at the queue was fun in a way, because many of my friends join up the queue as well! We basically talk a lot and pose for photos, and Lacus finally shows up with Hiyuki, her darling and Daryl. Lacus' really pink!

See? :)

Saw Chibi-Meli and her friend.. :)

Anyway as the queue gets longer, some of us decided to sit down and relax...

AngelZhou (centre) showed up and began to pose for pictures..

Witch_cat, why are you half-sad, half-happy?

The Natsu Matsuri crowd...

Lacus holding a fan! Kawaii...

Taiko performance

JL (right), Fumiryu (left) and Michael (partly hidden) enjoying the day..

Holly (right) and her friend. Megaten games rule!

Thanks Holly for passing me this far-better photo of us posing.. XD

Lacus, Hiyuki (centre) and Kyosuge

Masa (centre) posing with some people...

Vic (left) and Kula

The FF group posing..

The Gamersquare peeps~

So... it is over. It will be coming back next year. Would be looking forward to it. New memories, new friends.

Although some things never seem to change....