Random Gobbledegook

A Fresh Start!

2009-11-17T18:47:00.004+10:00

After going on hiatus for a bit, I decided to blog again! Hope to at least make a post once a day with a pic to accompany it too. It still hasn't quite sunk in that I've finished all my exams, and now just awaiting for results before the graduation ceremony. It's been a fairly quick semester, especially covering 5 subjects, but I've managed to survive. =D

So what's the plan for the next few days? Not much to be honest, just trying to find a job to start off with, and hopefully it'll be a stepping stone for me to push start my career. I've decided to try and make use of what holidays I still have to pursue in new hobbies, such as learning how to take good photos, as well as learning to cook too.

I'll leave you guys with a photo that I learnt to take yesterday, it's not much, but it's a start! Basically just playing around with the shutter speed, ISO 200. =D

Update!!

2009-10-04T21:28:00.005+10:00

Wow, it's almost been a good 2 months since I last blogged! Quite a lot of stuff has happened though, but I'll go over the more exciting ones. =D

My TV finally arrived, and I've tidied my work area to look something like this:

I think I can just camp in my room now hehe.

I recently gave my PSP some love, with purchasing the new Gran Turismo on it. It's heaps of fun, and is a good reminder to me as to why I was hooked onto it before. Here's a pic of the version I bought:

On other things, I've just been meeting heaps of people especially through different events throughout. By being in WASABI, I've met a lot of varied people from Japan, with many of them having common interests to me. In saying so, I was able to lead a team of curious Japanese people and I took them out to eat fusion sushi @ Oishii.

They seemed to enjoy it, and we ended up having Tofu Dessert too, at the Just Soy Cafe. Everyone had a nice time, and we finished off with some karaoke as well. =D Good times. Now, back to schoolwork. sigh.

A Great Weekend!

2009-08-10T09:39:00.003+10:00

I had a pretty good weekend, and went to a free WASABI BBQ. It was great fun, meeing heaps of new people around the place. I even met a guy who was a backing vocalist for HY, a J-Pop band. It was pretty awesome, and we had heaps of Okonomiyaki and Onigiri too. I managed to take a few pictures, probably not as much as I wanted though. Still, it was an enjoyable time, though a tad disappointed there was no Karaoke. I'm excited to go to karaoke next time, in probably a fortnight.

Now I have to get back to work, better leave all my playing to the weekend! =)

Stress already. sigh

2009-08-06T08:03:00.002+10:00

Man, it's only the first week and a half and it feels like exam period. With assessments due here and there, I'm finding it difficult to find time for myself to chill out and relax. Not too much to report about, but I feel a little bit more organised this semester, so hopefully my grades will reflect this increase in organisation! haha. Life is pretty boring, and not that interesting, but who knows, maybe something will spice it up in the future. =D

In terms of figures, I'm looking forward to picking up a Nendoroid Mio when it comes out in November. It's just the best definition of 'moe' for me, and I loved her character in K-On! the most out of all the others. I just can't wait til November, when this semester is over, and when Mio arrives in my mailbox! =D

It's Begun.

2009-08-03T07:24:00.002+10:00

After my first week of cruising through this semester of uni, I've decided to improve my study to a whole new level, if I am to graduate uni this year. Completing 5 subjects wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, with motivation being an annoying factor. I can't wait until this semester is over, and I hope to do so soon enough. I'll post here as a record of my progress throughout semester. Wish me luck!

No more Winter Holidays!

2009-08-01T09:54:00.002+10:00

The winter holidays have all finished, probably my last one ever, unless of course I don't find a job in time. I enjoyed the last week, not doing much, but meeting up with people here and there. I'm slowly progressing through Eternal Sonata. It's not a bad game, with an interesting story, and enjoyable battle system too.

I was gonna go to Karaoke with a group of friends too. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, as I waited for a whole hour for a bus that was meant to arrive every 15 mins. bus fail~

Other than that, I really enjoyed this holidays. I even played tennis a few times too. Great fun, hope that I'll be able to do the same some other time! =)

Happy 100th Post!

2009-07-22T22:45:00.002+10:00

I got bored, and decided to post my 100th post! I'm kinda surprised that my blog has survived this long so far, and hope to post a lot more in the future as well, with my interest in photography and other interesting hobbies now. Until next time~ =D

An Awesome Gaming Weekend!

2009-07-20T08:23:00.004+10:00

The weekend that just past was one filled of heaps of fun offline multiplayer action. On Saturday I went to Jono's and it was pretty fun, playing Wii and PS3. There was heaps of SFIV to be had, and it was all good and fun. =D I opted out for Red Steel, as I found that kinda boring, and tried out the inFAMOUS demo on Jono's PS3. It was interesting, and seemed like a pretty fun game, but I'll only play it after I finish all the other games I want to complete.

On Sunday I went to Ernie's for a family friends gathering. I lugged my PS3 and we ended up playing some Bomberman as well as SFIV too. All in all, good fun for everyone to be had. =D

Another Flying Week!

2009-07-18T08:18:00.003+10:00

This week sure flew past. In all honesty, I haven't really been up to too much. Here's a quick wrap up of my week:

I went to a group meeting for my group project, and realising how I have to start some research for it.
Met up with Marina before she departed for her trip to Uluru. It was pretty cool, since I haven't seen her in a few months I reckon! Hope she can tell me stories about Uluru, so I might go visit there sometime.
Had a haircut - for some reason the hairdresser used a straightener on me, so weird! So I had a weird haircut for the rest of that day.
Claiming my free boost - one time I remember waiting for such a long time for a Boost that they gave me a free boost card. It was pretty good, as I was given a free LARGE Boost. I was kinda expecting them to give me a small or medium size, so it was a nice surprise!

Pics to come later, I'm off to another Gaming Party! =D

Guests and Guests!

2009-07-14T22:50:00.004+10:00

My cousin's friend came over to Brisbane from Hong Kong to study Education in an English speaking country. I took her and a few of her friends to have pizza today, as well as taking them to my place for dinner afterwards. Before I met them, I really had no idea what to expect. It just felt weird inviting people to come over when you've never seen them before, and only really spoke to them on msn! I'm glad they had a great time taking heaps of pics at uni, as well as having fun with the Wii at home. I've made a few more Facebook friends now, thanks to them. =D

It was interesting to see their strong interest in cameras too. Seeing them like that, ignited my interest to learn photography more, as well as saving up for a nice DSLR in the future. I still have a lot to play with with my S610, but once I get that done, and have enough money saved, I might invest in my own one. =D I'll probably post the photos later, when they upload/send them to me!

The Movies

2009-07-14T22:44:00.003+10:00

On Saturday, I managed to go watch a movie, with Billy and Bish, called Bruno. I've never seen Borat, so it was an eye-opener for me. Basically like a mockumentary, with comedic elements, there were some bits which were pretty funny, but for the most part it isn't really a movie for me. With a lot of adult references, public reactions can be funny, but over the top, so much so I didn't really enjoy it as much as the person next to me.

We finished the day off with some Daytona at Timezone. It's still pretty fun, pity that we didn't get the track we wanted, cos a certain someone picked the wrong track!! Ah well, fun times.

Another Games Night!

2009-07-12T08:15:00.002+10:00

Last Friday a few friends organised another games night event, which was basically just games, and pizza for the night! It was pretty fun, and we ended up playing some Street Fighter IV, as well as Bomberman, and Wii Tennis. It was great fun, and everyone who went sure had a great time! Playing on a plasma TV makes me wonder when we'll actually end up getting one soon, as it's just sooo much better. =D I'm a bit bored of pizza now haha, had it too many times in the past 2 weeks! Pics below:

Lessons Learnt!

2009-07-09T20:35:00.003+10:00

The past couple of days, I have learnt random lessons that should be learnt in life. One of these is to be careful of what you buy online. I recently bought a game off ebay the other day, but it didnt end up working as the game was a 2nd hand copy. It's not such a big deal, but the return postage was about 1/3 of the actual product price, and isn't really worth it, I just hope I get some compensation as well from the seller themselves. I just know next time, to make sure I know the refund procedures, so I know that I don't get charged for a faulty item. >_<

Another lesson on something, which I usually do, but failed to do this time around, is research on products before you buy them. The K-On! CD mentioned in the previous post wasn't exactly what I had in mind. I thought that the Original Sound Track would comprise of the background music and songs that were used throughout an anime series. I realised now that it only contains background music, and various "light music" pieces, which can be a bit boring, but really relaxing at the same time. I think I might put it on at night when I want to feel more relaxed! I would've preferred the vocal songs that they used in the anime instead! As promised, here is what the inside of the CD looks like:

Presents!

2009-07-09T18:00:00.006+10:00

My parents came back from their 5 week holiday trip, and they were back telling us about their stories of their time in the other side of the world. I managed to get a few presents, and these include the following:

Cross Edge PS3 Game
K-On! Original Soundtrack
BoA BEST & USA
A lot of random key chains etc, I might post them up some other time cos they're scattered everywhere =P

I've yet to open both CD's yet, but will probably take pics of the inserts when I do! I also received a late 21st Birthday present from my parents too. I got a compact DC - the Nikon S610. I like the feel and design of it, and I think this will last me until I get a DSLR in the future! So from now on, all photos will be taken with this camera, until that DSLR arrives! ;) Because of all these presents and the cold weather lately, it feels like it's Christmas in July! =D

Wu's 21.50582th Birthday Party

2009-07-07T20:30:00.002+10:00

Last Sunday was my friend's 21.50582th party, which was basically just an excuse to hold a games party for this holidays haha. (Pics to come later) It was heaps of fun tbh, and he had the resources to make it more successful than my party! There were 3 PS3s setup, 1 360 and 1 wii setup. 2 of the 3 PS3s were dedicated to SFIV, and it was a pretty fun time. I know I have soo much more areas to improve in, but too bad my best mates aren't that into SFIV, so it's basically no motivation to get better!

Bomberman proved popular, but not quite as epic as I had imagined. Still, it was an enjoyable time, and he liked the presents that we got him. It was basically a collection of figurines from God of War, Street Fighter, and Assassin's Creed. I hope i didn't motivate him to start figure collecting, cos that's a pretty expensive hobby! Either way, it was probably one of my more enjoyable parties I've been to, as I am a gamer rather than a party animal. =P

Finally Complete!

2009-07-06T08:09:00.002+10:00

Last Saturday, I managed to finally complete Valkyria Chronicles. While the story was somewhat predictable, it was still pretty fun, with an epic boss battle to conclude. I really like the whole presentation, with FMVs looking very smooth and crisp! I must admit, I'm nowhere near a good strategist, so I ended up using walkthroughs to complete it quickly lol. All in all, a great game with heaps of depth, and highly recommended for RPG fans, and strategy fans too. =D

Winter BBQ!

2009-07-03T01:55:00.003+10:00

I went BBQing today at the Botanical Gardens. It was pretty fun just to chill out and away from the PS3 for the whole day too. I went with Misa's Pharmer friends, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves too! We got more in touch with nature - with a bit of bushwalking/hiking and away from technology, without the electrical BBQ stoves they have nowadays. I'll leave you guys with some of the better pics that I took during the day, enjoy!

We finished off the day with some coffee at La Dolce Vita at Park Rd, Milton. It seemed like a nice place, and I ordered an Iced Mocha! I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but this tasted alright, except the cream was kinda sour, almost like they used whipped sour cream!

Cooking is hard work!

2009-07-01T23:18:00.003+10:00

Especially for a noobie like me! Making potato salad from scratch took almost two hours, pretty annoying haha. It tasted alright though, here's a pic of it:

I tried to make it Japanese style, with Kewpie Mayo. It's a lot creamier than normal mayo, and tastes sooo much better imo! :D

Games, Games and more Games!

2009-07-01T10:35:00.003+10:00

As the title above says, I've basically kept myself busy with RPGs that I've failed to finish, focusing on Valkyria Chronicles and Xenosaga.

I'm up to the stage in Valkyria Chronicles where I can level up easily with a method I found on Youtube. (Check below) The game itself is different from games that I've played before in that it is a mixture of strategy with an anime RPG style. Maybe the best way I could describe it is like Worms 3D.

Xenosaga is an interesting sci-fi RPG based in the future and is a 3 part series. Only number 2 was released in PAL regions, but I managed to get a copy of the first part while I was in the states. It's a typical turn based RPG fare, but nonetheless interesting and good to try out. I have been annoyed at times where I'm trying to find the boss I have to fight, but end up having to refer back to FAQs for more information. The trailer is below for those interested!

Other than that, I've just been internetting, and doing nothing. I'd better start looking for jobs soon!

Games Party!

2009-06-28T11:28:00.003+10:00

For those that follow my blog, I hosted a games party yesterday, inviting people from all walks of life that I've met from high school to uni to random events. It was great fun for most people, but I've learnt that I should probably have a list of games/things to do in advance. I always seem to forget about it! I have to find a way to see if I can improve the karaoke experience too.

It was fun playing SFIV with different groups of people, and 7 player Bomberman Ultra is by far the best multiplayer game on the PS3. We ended up having pizza for lunch, and some snacks here and there as well. All in all, I'd call it a success, and hopefully the next Gaming Party I'll organise will be just as good. =D

First day of Winter break!

2009-06-25T21:27:00.003+10:00

It feels so good not being guilty of doing nothing as today marks the start of my Winter Holidays, with my last exam being yesterday. Didn't really do much, went to Billy's house, and played some SF4. He actually has some tactics, and is a lot better than me at the game. I won 2 or 3 times out of 15 matches, I need a lot more practise! He had English voice overs for his characters, so it didn't really feel like SF4 to me lol. Or maybe that's just an excuse, I dunno.

I gave Resident Evil 5 a go too. I'm not really a fan of horror, but like what many people said, it's a lot more action rather than survival horror. It's a pretty fun game I must admit, but not something I'd be willing to fork out money for straight away. Again, like Red Faction, perhaps a game I'd like to get out of a bargain bin, or if my friends just have it lying around, I'll just borrow it. Mercenaries mode was pretty fun, where it was focused on killing the most zombies in the time allocated.

We finished off the day with Mirror's Edge, as my friend was stuck in an area. Luckily, as I have finished before, I had more of a vague idea on what to do for each of the remaining chapters that he was up to. All in all, it was still a fun day with heaps of gaming! I'm just getting more and more excited and pysched up for the Gaming Party this weekend. =D

Fun times.

2009-06-21T11:25:00.004+10:00

Instead of study, I decided to chilax a bit, and went a mate's place for some gaming, to try out new titles (he has heaps!) I had a go at COD:WAW Zombie mode - that was interesting, but it just seemed kind of pointless to me, as the objectives was to shoot zombies and protect yourself. I didn't really enjoy it, but he managed to have heaps of fun.

I also had a go at Red Faction: Guerilla. It was a lot different from what I had expected from the series, as I have number 1 in my collection too. It's become a 3rd person shooter, with destruction playing a huge part in it. I can see how it's heaps of fun, and could be something I'd enjoy picking up if it lands in the bargain bin! XD

Because he started console gaming from this current gen, he didn't know much about the awesome back library of ps2 games back then. I lugged my PS2 over, and managed to show him some of the best PS2 titles to have graced the system. Of course, coming from an HD background, and then switching to SD is pretty hard to impress. Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner was the only game that made him go wow, with the cool effects and attention to detail. He was always an action fan, but I'm glad that he appreciates the other types of genres of games that are around. I was heaps surprised when he ordered Valkyria Chronicles, a game where it has a huge RPG emphasis on too.

We finished the day with a few hours of SFIV. My friend was getting a lot better from the first time I played against him, and it kinda helped me improve my game, the more I played against him. He unknowingly found my weaknesses, and acquired that "fighting instinct" he was lacking when he first got the game. In doing so, this results in awesome close matches, and the adrenaline rush was huge as! We finished epically as our last round of our last match match resulted in a double KO! A friend of mine told me it's kind of rare to double KO, but we managed it. I'm a lot more motivated now to get better at this game, youtubing vids here and there. Here's a pic of how we concluded the day:
Great times. I hope my Winter Gaming Warmer Party hopes to achieve this as well! =D

A Day of Catching Up!

2009-06-21T11:03:00.003+10:00

I spent last Thursday catching up with an old mate of mine Chau. It was great, just seeing how he was doing and wondering around teh city at various game shops. I swear I basically know all the video game shops from the 3x EB Games shops to JB....etc...

We got to talking about random stuff, and for the first time I thought that maybe I should go and study Psychology if I can't get a job in the business/IT field. It just seems interesting to see the way people think, and why they do so. But it was just a chain of thought, that's about it for the moment!

We had Japanese Curry at Kadoya for lunch. It was pretty good, but level 5 out of their 10 levels probably is my limit of hotness. I can't really eat that hot food, I just get heated up for no reason. :S Here's a pic of it below:

Finally!

2009-06-17T22:14:00.004+10:00

Hey guys, did you miss me? xD

I'm so relieved and relaxed now after what would probably be my worst 3 exam block that I've had in the 3 years that I've been at uni. I'm pretty confident I passed all of my exams, but whether or not I did better is another question. I'm determined to do as well as I can for my final one as well, but I basically took the whole day off today just to do nothing, which was pretty awesome, since I haven't done it for so long!

So in my day of nothingness, here is what I did:

Cooking! I tried to cook some dishes as my parents are currently overseas, and it made me realise how much I actually enjoy it. I just don't know how to haha. Cooking potato salad was fun, and tasted alright. My first time pasta was easy to cook, and I basically learnt most of it when I was in America. If I had more opportunities to cook, I'd love to cook more! My creations are posted below.
PS3ing! I got through 2 more chapters of Valkyria Chronicles. It's pretty fun, but I got stuck again lol. I hope to be in front of the anime, and plan to finish it this upcoming holidays!
TVing! Managed to spend a lot of time watching food and music programs on TV. There was one from Taiwan, and made me want to go and visit there just to try out the different dishes they offer there compared to here.
Animeing! I watched a few more episodes of K-On! and I must say it is pretty enjoyable and addicting at the same time. Mio ftw!

That pretty much wraps it up, the two photos here are pics of what I made last night and this morning for lunch. Hope it's not that bad for a first timer!

Busy Busy Week! =(

2009-06-08T08:06:00.002+10:00

This week has been hella busy, with assignments finishing, and exams just around the corner. I'm looking forward to my winter break, and finally being able to catchup on some games that I've been neglecting to play recently. I wish I had a job, so I can fund my expensive hobby! Other than that, I've been trying to study, and keeping warm, and cooking too, while my parents are enjoying their trip at the moment! I wish I would've finished all my exams, so I can finally relax!

Assignments, Assignments - sigh

2009-05-28T08:35:00.003+10:00

Hey guys! How's everyone doing? I really haven't been up to much, except being busy with assignments with one on Monday being the Marketing Plan, and one due today being an Advanced Database Systems paper. It's not too bad, and they're both group assignments.
Other news:

I'm not going to China in the winter break anymore, and will have a winter holiday now; got rejected at the interview as I don't have any teaching experience. It's a bit disappointing, but given this current economic climate, it's not surprising.
I'm gonna have to start "nerding it up" this weekend, thanks to my exam timetable. It's gonna be a journey full of stress, and I might become a different person as a result from it. Have to keep procrastination to a minimum. ^_^"
Last weekend, I booted up Valkyria Chronicles again and finally got past the Chapter I was stuck on. This could be my stress reliever in between studies! =D
My parents left for a family friend's trip today, hope they have a safe and enjoyable one!

That basically wraps up what happened this fortnight, will definitely update more during the upcoming winter break!

Busy Busy Week!

2009-05-17T09:49:00.004+10:00

Having a busy week = no social life, sigh. That's basically what I've been up to lately. That plus a horrible exam timetable is the perfect combination of saying goodbye to socialising! Other things I've been up to this week:

First successful Japanese Music Circle for WASABI - it was great and awesome to listen to new Japanese songs too and meet new people.
Had hotpot last night, it was great, and ate heaps!
Working on 3 stupid group assignments all due within the next week or two
Ate at Mi Sushi - pretty good cheap Japanese food in St Lucia, give it a go!
Went to the ICT Industry Networking Night - got some stuff out of it, and realising how good networking is.
Performed my first cold calls - telling people about AIESEC and what not, was kinda nerve-wracking at first, but I'm a lot more confident now. =D
Received a late birthday present from Kelvin, Yao and Sue - a 1/144 Seravee Gunpla; hope to build it when I have a few hours to spare. Thanks guys!

No time for games really, just concentrating on trying to keep a clean room, before my bad habit slips again! Time to bounce~!

Mother's Day 2009!

2009-05-15T09:39:00.003+10:00

Just wanted to make an entry about Mother's Day last Sunday! It was a great day to have lunch with the family, and we ended up going to Oyama in Chinatown. A tad expensive, with Katsudon's going for almost $20. It tasted good, but just a tad exxy for my liking! I ended up getting a card for mum too. I wish I had more money, I'd make sure she'd have a better pressie!

For dinner we ended up having dinner with my cousin, and their NZ friends that have migrated over here. I managed to meet Jeff who happened to be in my year and went to the same school as Wendy, my formal partner. It's such a small world, and everyone knows someone else that knows everyone. It's great!

Another week of stuff!

2009-05-09T13:29:00.002+10:00

I've had a quick week this week, with nothing too exciting to report on. Things vaguely interesting that happened:

I started playing Everybody's Golf: World Tour for the PS3 - it's a pretty fun game, but theres just too many online updates for me! I have no idea when I can actually start playing with people online. It's easy to pick up and play, but hard to master - just like what all good games should be~
I got my exam timetable, its pretty hectic - 15th - 5:45pm then 16 - 8am, 11:15am, and finishing with 24th - 2:30pm. I guess I'll focus on everything but the team project stuff for now. I decided to start studying now, although it is still quite slow in progress. Wish me luck to see if I can apply for a special exam, since its 3 exams within 24 hours.
With regard to my Beijing exchange, I didn't pass the interview with the company. With basically no feedback, and with my fellow friend from Taiwan, we've come to assume that maybe the people working there want non-asian looking English native speakers. It kinda annoyed me cos it goes against the whole AIESEC way, but we'll see how that goes.
Yesterday on the bus, it kinda made me wonder what kids are like these days. I dropped a $2 coin, before i realised it, a primary school kid picked it up, and went off with it basically. *sigh* I guess for next time I should make sure my coins are put in the right place all the time.

That's the wrap up for this week, I'd better go back to studying. >_<

An Awesome Weekend!

2009-05-06T07:39:00.007+10:00

I had an awesome long weekend, doing a lot of fun things. These include:

first visiting EB and seeing various people dress up as star wars characters, mind you it was a bit crowded
Went to Timezone with Yoshi, Mio and Anna, it was great fun to ダンレボ(DDR) and try out the new Initial D. I found the physics really different compared to AS4, being that you can't just swerve the wheel to drift, it feels a little more "realistic", and you have to brake in this version. It was still great fun playing vs mode too. I was lucky that my cousin's Timezone card works too, so managed to get some cheap games as well. =D
Played a few rounds of SFIV with Billy online, I have a long way to go in order to be good at it, apparently I'm a tad predictable lol. It's still pretty fun, though I want to get a new internet connection ASAP! We'll see how that goes.

Another Busy Week!

2009-05-03T17:11:00.002+10:00

Another busy week crammed in again. What have I been up to? Here's a quick list:

My brother's 20th Birthday where we had Italian food at Gianni's in Hamilton! The first time I've been there, but there is great food to be had there~
Finalising project plans for my IT group project - its not hard, just uses heaps of time. =(
Getting exam results - I'll have to study a lot more now, too much time spent on job applications! >_<
Tidying up my room - I'll try to keep this up for as long as I can, it just makes life a lot more easier by being organised!
Bought Everybody's Golf: World Tour from Kmart for $30. I've heard that it's great fun but I haven't had the chance to give it a go yet.
I also managed to grab a copy of Shadow of the Colossus - I've heard it's a pretty rare title, and an "epic" game, so I got a copy for $10 without the manual or cover art.

After a quick reflection, I've promised myself from this day forward, I'll try and be a lot organised in order to make things a lot easier for me, andas a result, be able to achieve more in life. I think it comes from after so many rejections from graduate positions, that I need to be unique rather than just a typical graduate. I think I've made a step in the right direction in applying to teach in Beijing for 6 weeks - should be an awesome experience too. I'm doing an interview for it tonight, so we'll see how we go! :)

Brutal Legend Trailer!

2009-05-02T15:02:00.007+10:00

After watching this trailer of an upcoming game, Brutal Legend, it makes me want to buy this game from day one.
It seems like a action adventure type of game, but not enough is known about the game. Jack Black does the voice acting of Eddie, so it makes for a humourous game. The game is designed by Tim Schafer, the guy who was involved with the scripts for Curse of the Monkey Island and Psychonauts. I'm really looking forward to this one, when more details come out! =D

Outrun Online Arcade Review

2009-04-28T18:45:00.012+10:00

I recently picked up this title from PSN (Playstation Network), and it's great fun! It is based on the arcade remake of the original Outrun back in the early 90's. Both of which I have embedded below.

Overview: Basically Outrun is an arcade racer where you start off at A and finish off at B. What makes it unique include: the collection of Ferraris that you can choose to drive, deciding whether or not to drift corners, and which of the 5 final destinations you will finish at. It is really addictive, with the drifting physics pretty easy to execute, and there are 15 different areas to explore depending on your road choice - check the video below out to see what I mean!

What I liked:

Playing this version was pretty fun, with Online multiplayer too.
Classic Arcade experience, with eye candy in pure 1080p HD goodness!

What I didn't like:

My online experience was pretty glitchy, with random glitches here and there that occur randomly - see below.
Online community wasn't as good as it could be, with people disconnecting when they realise they can't win =S
G25 support is almost non existent, and is easier and more satisfying to play with the DS3 instead.

Overall: This game is basically the same as Outrun 2SP, except now in widescreen and HD. I loved drifting around corners in the original, but others may find it not worth the money. The online component is welcomed, if it was done in a better way. It's a great game to pick up and play for those that haven't tried it yet, and at 15 AUD, it's well worth it's money imo.
I'd give it a 8/10, mainly cos the gameplay is addictive, but online is a tad disappointing!

Random Online glitch =S

Original Outrun!

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An Exciting AIESEC Weekend of Fun and Learning!

2009-04-27T21:54:00.004+10:00

Last weekend went by heaps quick, with the AIESEC Member Review Board (MRB), the RICX RETOX Training Day, and AIESEC BBQ night!

The MRB is basically a panel interview done both in a group, and individually to determine whether a candidate is suitable to go and work in an international internship overseas. The group activity was easy in some areas, but difficult in others, in the sense that it dealt with various topics from basic ones to controversial ones too. The individual component felt similar to a job interview, but not quite as intense. It was an enjoyable experience, and I got to meet a few new people as well.

The RICX RETOX was a good refresher for me for my role in AIESEC. Just learning how to sell properly and well as perform a First Meeting/Interview with a corporate too. I learnt a bit more stuff about the whole AIESEC Exchange process too. I was hella tired by the end of it. I ended up passing it, and I'm well on my way to heading to Beijing in July! =D

The AIESEC BBQ was good to just chill out and socialise for a while. I ended up bringing my dad's camera and was the photographer/paparazzi for the night. Photos are on Facebook for those interested! :)

For those wanting more information about AIESEC theres the wiki and the AIESEC UQ website!

An Afternoon of Karaoke and Games!

2009-04-27T07:04:00.004+10:00

Just thought I'd blog about last Friday, where I ended up going to karaoke with a few friends of mine I met at a networking event a month ago. We started off grabbing lunch at Hanaichi in Wintergarden, before heading off to Karaoke for 2 hours. It was pretty fun, but it just makes me realise that I've still got a while to go if I want to go and sing well! xD I dunno why, but I just never get sick of it, so I should get better as time goes on.

We finished the arvo with going to Funhouse near the cinemas, and played a few of those old school ticket games. Ended up coming back with a bouncy ball and a heartbeat too! It was a fun time, and hope to have many more soon. :)

A week of craziness!

2009-04-25T09:08:00.002+10:00

That's pretty much how I would summarise my week. I had 2 mid semesters one before and one after my actual birthday. They weren't too bad, though the one before my bday was theory rather than practical which was kinda surprising.

After exams, I finally spent some time with my PS3, giving GRID a go and playing some more Eternal Sonata. GRID was alright once I changed to bumper view, it was just difficult to play with cockpit view because my screen is so small - you can't see the track! I'll probably give it more of a go later. Eternal Sonata is something pretty magical too - I recognised Hirano Aya's voice instantly haha.

Other than that, just cooling down and going to enjoy my weekend. :)

It's Party Time!

2009-04-19T19:21:00.002+10:00

I had my 21st party last weekend, and it was pretty fun. Not quite how I planned it, but I guess it turned out alright. :) I kind of had a plan of making it similar to the GAME ON exhibition in the city, but I didn't have nearly enough TVs unfortunately. Still, there were 2 PS3s and 2 Wiis there, but no Rockband =( It was a pretty enjoyable night, with karaoke here and there - it was good that everyone got involved. I just want to say thanks to everyone who went, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! :)

A fresh start!

2009-04-18T10:03:00.003+10:00

I recently formatted my laptop, and have now installed a new unix OS, Ubuntu. I really like using it because it's really light on hardware, and my computer doesn't feel like it's being dragged. It's a great operating system, as it has most of what I need from my computer - using the internet, using office programs, and watching videos/listening to music. It is also a free OS with the belief that all software should be free.

I've posted a screenshot below, hope you guys like it!

The Past 3 Days!

2009-04-17T18:51:00.004+10:00

Hello again! It's been three days since I last posted. Nothing too exciting has happened, just making the final preparation for my Gaming party on tomorrow! Checking out that the gaming components work, batteries charged etc etc. I'm hoping that tomorrow will be a successful day, hopefully all the preparation has paid off! Other news:

Ate Mi Goreng two days in a row - I've forgotten how good they are! I think I can keep eating them for a few more days still, but it's so bad for health. I guess everything that is bad is always the best tasting!
Trying to study, it's kinda hard since my party is on tomorrow, it's hard to concentrate lol. I need heaps of catchup, but we'll see how we go. :)
Went to Black Jack's the other day in the Treasury Casino in the city. Not bad, as we had a buy 1 get 1 free voucher, so 10 bucks for a buffet was pretty good! It was only valid until today, so I should've told you guys about it earlier! A pic of the different kinds of food offered there below. =)

Anyways, back to study, and I'll probably get some other stuff ready for tomorrow! ^_^

A day full of fun, and meeting heaps of people!

2009-04-15T09:49:00.003+10:00

Hey guys! I've had a hella awesome day yesterday, and managed to squeeze heaps of stuff into it. :) A quick rundown:

Started the day off doing some work XD Basically just worked with my group in our marketing assignment - basically have a clear outline as to where we have to go with it.
This was followed by lunch with my newly found foodie friends, Sunny and Virginia. We were going to go to Oishii, but unfortunately luck wasn't on our side, and it was closed. Sunnybank Oriental was where we ended up going. I'm glad that we all had a great meal, despite the disappointment.
Afterwards, I managed to kill some time, and met up with Yoshi, Anna, and Mio - three people I met at a networking function recently, might go karaoke with them sometime next week. ^_^
Then was the fun bit - Karaoke! I dunno what attracts me to it, it's just always heaps of fun. Met a few new people there too, hopefully I can go again sometime soon. :)

I'll probably have a quieter one today, we'll see how we go!

Easter Monday~!

2009-04-14T07:06:00.004+10:00

Hey guys! How was everyone's long weekend? I must say it has been pretty relaxing and lazy, just what the holidays is about. Nothing too exciting happened yesterday, finally started some studying and a few more job applications. I started changing the site, and there's a new page above which will be my own game review column, with games that I have played in the past, and whether or not it's good, bad, or just ugly. Today should be a more fun filled day, I'll keep you guys posted! :)

My Latest Gunpla!

2009-04-13T16:37:00.006+10:00

As promised, here is a post about my latest Gunpla, a 1/144 model of Gundam Exia, which is the first Gundam the main lead character Setsuna F. Seiei pilots. I really enjoyed this series, and would highly recommend it for those who love robots, and love for a good story. There are elements of love, the issue of war, and what it means for people to unite. I can't wait for the movie!

This 1/144 Exia took me less than 3 hours to make. Kinda slow, but I'm not really good at building these things. This is probably the second gunpla I've made in years, so there were some hiccups too. I lost one of the stickers that was supposed to stick to the back of the head, but as most of the details are at the front, it's not that bad.

I have here two pics of two different poses I managed to make my Exia do. I really love it how they're easily posable, and would be great if I had more! I should probably do my best to secure a job asap to fund my ever extending expensive hobbies. xD

A fully equipped Gundam Exia excluding the GN Beam Sword.

Exia wielding the GN Sword, reminds you of the gunblade doesn't it? xD

Easter Sunday!

2009-04-13T08:16:00.003+10:00

Hello hello! How was everyone's Easter? Full of Easter eggs? I wouldn't call myself a chocolate fanatic, so I didn't receive any, except from a tutor in a first year course lol.

I managed to skip jogging today, cos of the rain. I'm gonna get fat cos of the weather, haha. I basically spent all morning making a Gunpla (Gundam model kits) that I bought during my last trip. I'll probably do a post dedicated to it soon.

We went to the Chan's for a family friends Easter BBQ in the evening. It was alright, managed to play some PS3 too. Street Fighter IV is still great fun for gatherings, and GT is fun too if both people love cars. We ended up watching the movie Twilight. Some of the lines were a bit corny, but it is a romance film afterall.

Better start studying for my two exams after the break now, and not be like this girl in this pic! >_< (PS - just trying to brighten up my posts with random pics now xD)

Lucky Star Nendoroid Petits!

2009-04-12T09:42:00.004+10:00

I thought i should probably post something otaku on here, since it does mention otaku in the description! I bought this set almost a year ago, and it was as a result of enjoying the Lucky Star series. I just have a soft spot for chibi stuff, I have no idea why, and it doesn't help that these are really well made. xD I have a few other Nendoroids too, might post them up sometime later too.

I'm kinda glad that I'm not that into figure collecting that much, otherwise I'd run out of money really quickly. Hopefully I'll be able to secure a job for when I graduate, so I can spend money on these hobbies!

Easter Saturday!

2009-04-12T08:58:00.003+10:00

Started off with some jogging, and finally had a go at our new ride on mower that we got recently. It kinda feels like driving a car, except heaps slower, and it cuts grass. Want to see what it looks like? Tada! It really does help mowing the lawn in a more efficient manner. :) I've also read that some people "soup up" their ride-ons for racing which I find really random. I guess it is somewhat similar to a go-kart, but a lot heavier imo.

Afterwards, we went to a chinese restaurant in Yeronga - it was alright, but we had Peking duck with our cousins from HK. That's about it really!

Good Friday 2009

2009-04-11T11:18:00.002+10:00

Just thought I'd write something as a log of my easter break. I'm determined to make the most of everyday where possible, doing things that I enjoy, with a bit of study here and there too. I'll probably start the study after this easter long weekend! :) I might do some different articles over the course of this break, we'll see how we go.

The first day went by quick, played some Valkyria Chronicles, and slowly getting into the swing of things there. I've started doing morning jogs too, hopefully it'll make me into a healthier person for the future. On the other end, i've just been preparing for my party, with an old computer used for karaoke purposes. Once that is done, I might play around ubuntu with my laptop :) I'll keep you guys posted on other stuff!

6th Week of Uni!

2009-04-09T23:41:00.003+10:00

Finally, the holidays are among us, it's Easter! I thought I'd do a quick summary of my week leading up to it.

Did a tax law exam - kinda nasty, with me not remembering enough cases; should've studied more, blame the job applications! (I just wanted an excuse lol)
Went to a BDO Kendalls job interview session, it was pretty intense with individual interviews, group activities, an accounting test, and a written piece.
Got rejected by Deloitte - I guess I probably should've prepared more with my examples to answers of questions, but at least I know what to do now!
Project group for my final IT subject has been decided - so far it's alright, but we'll see how we go in terms of workload etc!

All in all it wasn't too bad. Hopefully, since its the holidays I'll be able to make daily blog entries, and post some more interesting stuff too. :)

5th Week of Uni!

2009-04-05T08:41:00.004+10:00

It's almost Easter! Which means holidays are just around the corner, although it's only a week. So, what have I been up to the past week?

I managed to grab Valkyria Chronicles for 59 AUD off eBay. Sealed copy too!
Went to the final job interview at Deloitte - it wasn't too bad, but probably could've answered some questions a lot better.
Attended The Source launch party - basically a networking event, and did some AIESEC work, letting everyone know how it was.
Filling out some more job applications, I'm going to be so happy when all this is complete!
Doing a job interview on Wednesday next week with BDO Kendalls, we'll see how that goes.
Easter break starts on Friday!

That's about it in a nutshell, until next time~

4th Week of Uni!

2009-03-29T16:39:00.002+10:00

Hey guys! 4 weeks already! Guess I gotta start studying~ I have one mid sem in about a week and a half, so it'd be cool too. Things that happened this week:

Went and took my Korean friend Sunny to grab some Chinese food (was disappointed that they didn't have soft shelled crabs on the night =( ) I'm glad she enjoyed what we ate there though~
Went to Kate's 21st BBQ Party. It was great catching up, and meeting some new people there too. First time I cooked at a BBQ haha, but forgot to bring a camera along, I'd learn my lesson for next time.
Job interviews, going to do one with Deloitte this week, hope all goes well~ I'm currently applying for a Technology Consultant, just something I thought would be suitable, and would incorporate Commerce with IT stuff too!

It's been a pretty busy week, my PS3 hasn't received any love for ages =( Hope to catch up in the holidays coming in a fortnight!

3rd Week of Uni!

2009-03-22T20:02:00.002+10:00

Ah man, three weeks have already past since uni started again. I'm still taking it easy, but now slowly getting into the swing of things, with mid-sems just around the corner! But lately job applications have been quite annoying in trying to prepare for, especially since they're all cluttered to about this time. Hopefully in time though, this will be all be done soon!

Other than that, I've just been planning on places to take some of my foodie friends around. Hopefully they won't be disappointed, and enjoy the many places that are on offer over here. If there are any fellow readers who are foodies too, give me a yell, and join our foodie group! :)

2nd Week of Uni!

2009-03-14T15:12:00.001+10:00

Well, as I approach the end of week 2, I must say, it has been quite an enjoyable one. I've managed to make a few new friends, from Hong Kong to Korea, to Holland(I think) and to Japan.

Lately, I've just been keeping myself busy with attending different careers workshops supplied by UQ, as well as going to various employer presentations too. It just feels so weird that this is my final year of university! >_<>

I also saw the movie Slumdog Millionaire on Friday. It was something different from your typical Hollywood movie, and probably one of the best movies I've seen this year. It's more like a drama type of film, with a few funny moments here, and serious moments there. I enjoyed it, and it's worth checking out! :)

First week of Uni!

2009-03-09T07:56:00.003+10:00

Well what can I say. Gonna start my 2nd week of university today. Uni has been alright, more or less the same, slowly getting back into the swing of things. Classes don't start until 10, and usually finish at 2 or at 4. It's been great slowly meeting new people. It's just somewhat weird trying to get back into the UQ life. Compared to the USA, the community seems to be less close-knit, but I'm sure I'll adjust soon enough! The WASABI BBQ yesterday was great fun, met some people from Tokyo and Saitama-ken too. Hope this year will be a memorable one, as it's my final one~ (hopefully!) Lately I've just been busy playing more Street Fighter IV, and managing to convince a friend of mine to like it now! =D

HK as a tourist! =)

2009-03-03T07:35:00.005+10:00

We ended up meeting our Japanese friends, the Shidara's, and took them to various places in the last few days I was in HK. These included:

Going to the Victoria Peak (Highest and most expensive point in HK)
Visiting the Stanley Markets
Visiting the Convention Centre!
Catching the Star Ferry
Going to Ocean Park!
Eating Peking Duck!
Eating HK Brekky!

Pics will be posted below when I have time to resize it! :)

UPDATE: Here are the pics as promised!

Here is a picture from the Victoria Peak with the famous tram coming up!

Here is a view of the popular Stanley Market!

The HK Convention Centre.

The star ferry to cross the river.

Sealions at Ocean Park!

Panda at Ocean Park!

Peking Duck!

An HK Brekky with various bread from the bakery!

A World of Toys and fun! =)

2009-02-24T11:48:00.003+10:00

The past two days I've spent wandering around looking at various computer stuff, gaming, and anime! I'd post some HK pics, except that for some strange reason I cannot read the memory stick from the camera. I'll try and find a solution sometime soon. :)

I went to the popular Golden Computer Centre, an awesome place full of computer components, from monitors to systems to laptops to different types of accessories. I went to the adjacent shopping place too, known as Wong Gum. It used to be a popular place for copied stuff, but now it consists of gaming and pc accessories at the bottom. I managed to finally get SF4, but it wasn't unfortunately. xD

Another computer centre is the Mongkok Computer Centre. It has 3 levels of shops, but is nowhere near the scale of the Golden Computer Centre. Still has most of what you need, just specific components might be hard to get there.

Kwong Wah Street is popular for plastic model kits, from Gunpla (Gundam model kits), to various car ones. By wondering around there, I started to get an appreciation for this hobby, and the time and effort people put in to build and collect models. I ended up getting two kits, a 1/144 scale HG Exia model, as well as an FD3s Initial D model.

Speaking about models and other hobbies, for those of you who love anime/gaming stuff, be sure not to miss out on going to the Sino Centre. It is kind of the HK alternative to Akiba (Akihabara) that I know of there, with heaps of anime goods, manga, a few gaming stores, and even heaps of Japanese CD shops too. I love to visit there at least once everytime I go back! I ended up getting two posters there, a BoA one and a Street Fighter IV one too. My room's less boring now thanks to it. =) There is also an "Animate" shop nearby that sells heaps of figures, and gunpla too. It's worth a visit if there's a model/figure that you really want.

If you're in the mood for other collectibles that aren't necessarily anime related, you should visit the CTMA centre, or the Trendy Zone. They have various plastic models for sale from Hello Kitty keychains, to unique original ones too. Visiting these places reflects on how much the kid inside all of us resides even to this day!

To HK and beyond!

2009-02-22T09:06:00.003+10:00

Well, I've finally set foot in HK and I must say not much has really changed. Our plane got delayed by 30 mins due to some technical problem, but on the whole it's been pretty smooth. We ended up catching a taxi to the hotel and got back around 10pm HK time. I noticed compared to last time, was that the taxi fares went up from 15HKD to 18HKD, and increments by $1.50 instead of $1.40. I guess it can't be helped, everything is getting a whole lot more exxy nowadays!

Other than that, I've jsut been borrowing a neighbouring wifi, and waiting until the shops open! I'll leave you guys with a cool pic I took from the Tsing Ma Bridge, on the way from the airport. :)

Excited!

2009-02-20T20:55:00.002+10:00

It's finally hit me, the fact that I'll be almost there in HK by this time tomorrow. Although it's only a week, I think it would be still an awesome time. It makes me wonder if my view on travelling has changed since going to exchange. Who knows, I guess we'll see! I've made a shopping list already, and this list isn't definite, it might change as time goes by!

Street Fighter IV for PS3!
Gundam 00 Gunpla (probably Exia or Dynames HG, we'll see)
Initial D Model Car
HDMI cable
HDMI -> DVI adaptor
Long USB Cable
PS3 Fan

We'll see, maybe this list will be longer soon! :)

A Breath of fresh air!

2009-02-13T21:56:00.003+10:00

Hey guys!

Just thought I'd give some life into this blog, with a new template, just 2 weeks a bit late from the start of this CNY. I went for a simplistic look, hopefully less cluttered than the old one where I tried to stick as much stuff in it as I could.

And on with life, what have I been up to? Not much really, I saw Underworld 3 - which was a prequel but I've never seen any of the earlier ones, so I might be missing out on something. It was an alright action flick, just that because it is set with a vampire setting, the lighting was pretty dark, and in doing so it was hard to see what was going on. The camera angles made it worse because it would move a bit too quick for my eyes. It lasted for about an hr and a half, and we saw it at Southbank, so it was alright for $6.50.

Other than that, just been keeping myself occupied with the ps3. I'm anxiously waiting for Steet Fighter IV - it just spells out awesome! Probably my first PS3 game I bought on the day of release. Here is the latest trailer I found on Youtube!

I'll keep everyone posted when there are more exciting things to blog about! :)

High Tea!

2009-02-03T21:38:00.007+10:00

On Friday it was my friend, Misa's birthday. Her friends and I decided to go and organise High Tea as it was something she always wanted to go to. We went to the Brasserie at Stamford Plaza, near the Botanical Gardens, next to the Brisbane river. They had nice views there too. It was $27.50, I thought it was alright, they had some sandwiches too, but these cakes look better!

Above is a picture of my cup of Latte - a bit too strong for what I'm used to, but it was good! It was something different from previous birthday celebrations I've had in the past, and I'm glad to have experienced it.

Happy 牛 Year!

2009-01-29T20:52:00.003+10:00

Ah yes, it's that time of year. Happy Chinese New Year!
身體健康!
龍馬精神!
心想事成!
新年快樂!
Hope you all have a wonderful year of the Ox.

We had a family friends party on CNY Eve. It was good fun, with the PS3 and Karaoke too; not too mention the awesome food there! Kudos to the parents who made the food.

I spent the new year just with my group of high school friends, and just went to the GAME ON Exhibition in Southbank. It was just great fun playing some 2 player games including DDR, Street Fighter 2, and 5 player Bomberman on the SEGA Saturn. Great day in all, just to spend time with friends.

Other than that, I've just been catching up back with anime. Code Geass is what I'm watching, and it's pretty awesome. Kinda like an alternative Death Note. Highly recommended!

The Past 2 weeks!

2009-01-25T10:38:00.003+10:00

So, what have I been up to in the past 2 weeks of not blogging? Many things, but the most exciting being my friend from Shanghai that I met during exchange in the USA. I'll cover this in a separate entry. Other than that, it's just been hanging out with friends in the city: from watching movies to going to arcades.

We watched Yesman. I thought it was one of Jim Carrey's better comedy films, as it wasn't over the top. It was good for a laugh, and had some wonderful hilarious moments too. Unfortunately we had to sit in the 3rd row seat, and our necks were pretty sore by the end of the film. Still, it wasn't bad for a $6.50 film!

Afterwards we got our HK souvenirs from Billy - solar powered torch keyring. It was pretty cool, could be helpful in blackout situations! We tried to go to Replay, only to see that it's been converted to Timezone. I couldnt use my remaining tokens unfortunately, but it's ok. I can use my cousins gold card now! :)

Other than the above, I've just been spending some time with the PS3 - managed to finish Prince of Persia finally. It's a great game, and it's worth the money, despite the adventure being a tad short. Heaps of fun, well recommended for anyone looking for an engrossing story, and wonderful artwork in terms of the cel-shading graphics. =)

Nothing like spending time with friends~

2009-01-08T10:30:00.004+10:00

The past two days, I've been blowing my money with spending time with my mates.

I went and saw The Day the Earth Stood Still - it was an alright sci-fi flick, probably average, not good, not bad lol. I also dropped by Replay, to see if my Initial D skills have improved, but I found out that the wheel that I have is so much smaller than the one they have at the arcades. It was still fun, but hard to adjust imo. Hopefully someday, I'll be able to master it. Had a go at DDR too, but it sucked cos I had pretty bad shoes, and I haven't played for a while, was good exercise though.

Yesterday I went to Game On with Misa. It was pretty interesting to check out the games over there. Unfortunately there you couldn't take your camera in with you lol. They had many classics, just not the classics that I'm that into. It was fun, and well worth it for those of you interested in games. After that we just walked around Southbank, and I had a go at spinning these plastic plates too. My wrist was too stiff and took a long time to be able to do it. After that we just wondered around the place. We had the Happy Hour special at Gelatissimo which was 50% off. Too much sugar for me in my opinion, so not something to do on a daily basis. ^^"

Just spending time with friends is great fun, and I love it. Just wish there was more time in the world!

Returning life back to normal!

2009-01-05T22:43:00.002+10:00

Ah yes, another week has past since my trip from the USA. Life is slowly settling down, and slowly settling back down to something that I'm more familiar with. My mum came back 2 days ago, and I was glad to finally have good food last night. Lately I've just been keeping myself busy with the PS3, mainly with Initial D, and Prince of Persia. I hope everyone had a very Happy New Years, and best wishes for 2009!

Speaking of which, here are my new year's resolutions (writing it down so I can follow them):

Learn how to cook 9 different dishes from mum
Learn how to sing well (I realised that I love karaoke now!)
Finish 9 games - any console!
Maintain a clean room (This would probably be the most difficult one)
Save enough money, to go on a nice trip/meetup with friends back in the USA!
Meet a lot more new people, and becoming a more international person I guess.

Half a day in Taipei!

2008-12-31T17:08:00.007+10:00

Seeing as I don't have that much at the moment in terms of work, I thought I'd blog about my half day free tour in Taipei that was offered to us as part of the 15 hour stop off. After arriving there at close to 7am, I decided to go check out the free half day tour that was advertised when I booked my flight to the USA. It was pretty much a guess work kind of thing, as there wasn't that much clear instructions.

After clearing customs, I met up with the tour guide. There were 3 others with me, and unsurprisingly all waiting for that same 15 hour flight. We got onto our minibus (小巴) and started doing a tour there. We saw a really old street, I can't exactly remember the name now, but it was cool to see some old Chinese architecture around. We went to a few temples, with the guide explaining features of each one etc after that.

During our walking trip, we managed to go through some markets too, here is one with different soy marinated food:

Afterwards we wandered to a pottery street, there wasn't too much there to see, just admiring different types of art. Many of the places there didn't allow photos, so I can't really show some of the interesting pieces. We stopped by a 7/11 and grabbed a nibble, I had one of those shallot buns, and sushi triangles, that you can't find in Japan.

Afterwards, we just went back to the place via the minibus, and waited for 7 hours until the flight. It was better than spending there for a longer time. =P I had dinner at the airport with a famous Taiwan dish, see if you can guess:

It's stewed pork belly! =D

First week back - life is slowly returning back to normal.

2008-12-29T21:52:00.005+10:00

Ah man, life is slowly returning back to normal. It's taken me a few days to come to the realisation as to how different my life was back when I was in the USA. Compared to my lifestyle here, the USA one had me being a lot more responsible for what I did, and had to take care of myself. So what have I been up to in the past week:

Arriving back from a 38 hour trip - it was horrible, and I was smelly by the end of it. I might do a day in Taipei entry later. :P
Helping a friend of mine move house - He's going on exchange next semester in Singapore! Wish him a safe trip.
Celebrated a quiet Xmas with Dad and Misa - her family has gone on a trip overseas, so invited her over so it wouldn't be such a lonely Christmas.
Finished the first season of Gundam 00 - it was pretty good in my opinion! Though, it's the first Gundam series I actually finished. =)
I have a new toy to play with - I've finally joined/given into the PS3 family. After checking the HK prices compared to here, there wasn't a significant difference, so I managed to grab one yesterday. Out of all the games I have so far, I must say that Initial D is the most engaging one, probably because of the wheel I have with it. I'll do quick reviews of the others sometime in the future!
Reflecting more or less on my experience in the USA, and how to make myself a better person learning from those experiences.

I'll do pics later, kinda lazy to upload with my slow connection! Haha.

The last days of the USA!

2008-12-23T21:10:00.005+10:00

Now that I'm back home, I have heaps of time to blog about stuff. It has taken me a few days to start working on it, but here it is. This is how I spent my last days of the USA:

Having a Christmas dinner with Kelvin, Yao and Kristen at Kelvin's house - we had rib eye steak, with beans and salad, topped with apple cider/wine. It tasted really good, and it was great seeing their look of surprise when I gave them all a small present each. It was basically a variation of chocolates, a Xmas card, and a picture of me and them.
We went to karaoke, Yao, Kelvin, and I. This involved mainly singing Chinese songs - it was great fun, and made me realise how much I love singing and going there. Too bad many of my friends here aren't into it.
Had some Korean food - still need to get used to Kimchi haha.
Went bowling: this was the first time in a while since I last ten pin bowled. I won the first game, but came 2nd in the second game. I'm rusty =(.
On the last day, we just went and had some greek food - it was interesting kind of cuisine, pics will be up later!

I really miss you guys, I hope we'll meet up soon, and that I won't be forgotten! You guys have made my experience in the USA worth that while. ^_^

The past 3 days of SCing =D

2008-12-18T05:17:00.006+10:00

What can I say? It's nice to have a change for a while, taking it easy, relaxing, before going back home. We did quite a few things in the past few days, from seeing snow a few minutes from the campus, to going to the beach, and to going to the arcade as well as eating some sushi! I can't really ask for more, spending time with friends everyday. Better make the most of it. :) Here are some pics:

Oishii ne~

Day 2 - A better day!

2008-12-15T16:59:00.002+10:00

What can I say. I found out today that doing something for others is something really rewarding. Like my friends said - I'm pretty weird, most people could survive with tv and internet, but for me, I was just bored of it. I ended up getting some presents, and Xmas cards too, and helping with some housework. Hopefully, everyone here that I know will enjoy their Christmas! =D

Day 1 of nothing

2008-12-14T18:00:00.002+10:00

What can I say? I didn't expect extending my stay in the ILC to be like this. I am literally bored out of my mind over here. Basically, it feels like I am wasting my time here not being able to spend my last few days in the USA with my friends. Oh well, I ended up getting some nice surprises for a Christmas dinner soon. Hopefully things look better tomorrow.

Last UCSC week, not USA though! =P

2008-12-13T18:24:00.005+10:00

What can I say. The final week of UCSC has past. Having to spend most of this afternoon by myself helped me reflect on the times that I enjoyed here. Pics later! What did I do on the final week? Here's the list:

After waiting for a week, I finally got my exam - it was easier than what I had expected, could be a good/bad thing haha.
Celebrated Kana's Birthday
Went to a farewell pizza party
Attended a small gathering late at night.
Cooked instant Yakisoba

I have learnt a lot coming here, not just academically, but personally. I might actually add more later. Things such as:

There are certain types of personalities I like hanging around with, no matter what their background - usually people who are warm, and with a touch of innocence.
People that I don't like hanging around with: people who are just arrogant, by always thinking of themselves rather than others (self explanatory)
Although being money conscious is good to survive, you can't enjoy life if you don't spend some.
No matter how trivial a promise is, it is still a promise, and you should follow it out anyway.
Miscommunication is always an issue - we just have to minimise it.
Goodbyes are not forever losing someone, rather, it is more the beginning of something more.
I'd like to avoid loneliness if possible, I'm just realising the aftermath effects of it, after seeing people just a day ago!

Things to reflect on:

If it wasn't for UCSC, I wouldn't have participated Modern Dance. It has been really fun participating there, and I have met some cool people, like Sam and Janey! I can confirm how unco I am now.
Working at the soup kitchen was a new experience for me also. Just knowing that being there, can make a difference to someone, and it has slightly changed my view to those people that live on the streets. Doing that subject has allowed me to meet people like Bee, Anita, and Sujin well. It was also my first time doing painting too.
Having people come over and appreciating the breakfast that I make is something that I want to take further. I realise how much I love cooking now, and I'm determined to learn more from mum!
Actually understanding the American way of life - not so much in Santa Cruz, but when I was in LA, the fast paced way of life was a real eye opener for me.
The friendships made - nothing can describe this as I never thought I would be close to people since it was only a 3 month period we spent together. I'm just glad that the world is so connected nowadays, that it's easy to meet up with people. It's always cool to find people from different countries that have common interests too. Who would've known? Tatsuya, and his otakuness being one of them =P

Either way, I don't regret coming here to UCSC. It was bumpy at the start, without knowing anybody, but it has turned out awesome. Just the different types of people, as well as life skills of course. Part of me wants to go back home now, yet another wishes that I could stay one more quarter here.

Week 12 in UCSC!

2008-12-09T02:02:00.004+10:00

Wow, week 12 already. I skipped last week, as the only interesting thing was LA =P. Time sure flies over here. It was basically the last week I could spend with people. So what happened over the past week? Here's a quick summary:

Took heaps of pics
Last round of classes
Christmas College night
Attended the farewell party - exchanged notes with people that I knew.
Went to DDR with David - he's pretty good!
Chilled out with Kelvin with Gundam vs Gundam on PSP.
Made an Aussie brekky for a few friends.

Pics are on my facebook album here!

Sorry the post has taken a while, been heaps busy with farewells, study etc.

Last two Days in LA

2008-12-02T07:04:00.002+10:00

I think I'll upload the pics after Thursday, when most of my assessment has been done.

My last two days in LA were a lot more quiet and relaxed. It involved going to have some decent Chinese food that I haven't had for ages, as well as visiting the Getty Museum, and just car tours here and there.

We went to the Getty Museum, having no idea what it was. It ended up being an art and architectural exhibition that was interesting. Unfortunately, I'm not really a person that can appreciate art that well, but I have taken a few pics here and there, for all you readers who appreciate art.

Afterwards, we just had a car tour around Santa Monica, especially the beach. Unfortunately, the two ladies at the back were a bit exhausted, so all we did was drive past different areas.

For dinner, we ended up getting Bo Zai Fan, which is claypot rice. It was not the best Chinese food, but a lot better than what I have had here in the Bay Area. We also had some of the Chinese Chinese food with rice that I miss so much. Afterwards we had bubble tea - they call it Boba here which I was confused at before. It wasn't anything special to me, but a good change from soft drinks.

For our last day in LA, we just ended up getting Yum Cha Brunch, they like to call it Dim sum over here. It was good to have Yum Cha after so long, almost 3 months now! Kinda bored of the Dining Hall food they served here already. My favourite Dim Sum would have to be Siu Mai - a pork and shrimp dumpling that is a staple to the Yum Cha Diet.

We ended up departing for Santa Cruz at about 2pm, and managed to get back at about 1am. I really appreciate the work the Kelvin put in to driving us there and getting back safely. He almost fell asleep on the wheel though mind you.

This LA trip made me realize how sacred time is, because before you know it, it is all over. I thought it would have been a nice slow paced, 4 day holiday, but it went past just like a flash. It was good to actually get to know my three friends, but reality shows that all good things must come to an end. I hope that we will at least keep in contact, and go on another trip again some place else around the world. But I might just be a little bit optimistic, but who knows, it could come true.

2nd Day, 3rd night in LA!

2008-11-30T03:38:00.004+10:00

Hey there guys! How's everyone going? Like last time, I'm gonna put pics up later, as some of my friends have better pics.

Well, after having a crazy tiring day last night, we ended up taking it easy for this day, and cruised around two Asian towns for a while. We ended up leaving the hotel at about 1ish, and decided to grab some ramen in Little Tokyo.

We went to Daikokuya, apparently the restaurant with the best ramen in LA. We had to wait for about an hour to get a seat - I'm not sure if it was really worth it because I was too hungry! It was good I must admit, and I tried a variation of it called Tsukemen. I can't give an honest opinion, because I was too hungry, it was almost 3pm before we could get any good food.

Afterwards, we decided to sightsee Little Tokyo for a bit. To me, it reminded me of some really old Japanese town that was built in the early 1900s. The shops were pretty primitive, but on the whole still a site worth checking out if you love Japan like me!

Before doing some last minute Black Friday shopping, we went to Chinatown too. It reminded me of old Chinese markets, but it was in no way close to being as lively as the San Francisco counterpart. Chinatown is still Chinatown, so it was basically more or less the same. I feel really bad to showing people around our Chinatown back at home, there isn't much to see and do there in my opinion.

We ended up going to Beverly Hills to go do some last minute shopping. Beverly Hills is a nice place basically in Hollywood, with a lot of big brands etc etc. You can tell by the pics, which I'll upload later. The whole street lights up, and it is a really good place to go visit on a tourist destination. I wouldn't mind coming back again to come visit.

For dinner we decided to go the fast food route, and had Yoshinoya. Unfortunately there was a sign to say no cameras inside the premise, so I can't show u what it's like. It was alright in my opinion, but i prefer the HK/Japan version. They actually give you a porcelein bowl.

When we got back to the hotel, we manged to spend about 3 hrs playing uno and card games. A great way to chill out I guess for the evening. Hopefully today will be just as exciting!

1st Day, 2nd night in LA

2008-11-29T04:08:00.003+10:00

This day seemed like a really really long one. It started off with having some brunch at Subway, before heading to the Universal Studios. I'll post pics later.

Subway in my opinion seemed heaps smaller than the Australian counterpart. I grabbed a meatball sub cos I was so hungry, it tasted alright, but it filled my empty stomach. =)

Before going there, we had no idea whether or not to go to Disneyland. We decided to go to Universal studios instead because it is Hollywood, the place where good movies would be at. Personally I thought it was good, because there was only small queues for each ride. But compared to the Japanese one, I thought it wasn't as spectacular, both in terms of shows/parades and souvenirs.

Afterwards, we met up with Kelvin's friend, and had hot pot dinner together. Unfortunately it wasn't too much like hotpot, rather, it was more like Sukiyaki soup with rice. It tasted good though, I might go and make an entry about it on Oishiilog. Check the pic below!

After that we went to what I would call shopping hell. Black Friday as they call it, is the day after thanksgiving where big outlet places/malls/shops have big discounts, and they start from 8pm on thanksgiving. Some started at 5am this morning too. There were heaps of huge lines in front of different stores everywhere, and it basically seemed like chaos. I couldn't pick up anything, it was just not a pleasant experience.

We ended up arriving back at our hotel at 5:15am. It was the first time I had ever slept that late, I guess it wasn't too bad because I had 2 1hr naps. Either way, it's still a once in a lifetime experience, something I wouldn't do again for a while.

1st Night in LA

2008-11-28T00:55:00.014+10:00

I think for the next few days in LA, I'll do my best to blog every morning. Images to come later, currently having trouble uploading some of them. =P

OMG, I finally arrived in LA. There were 3 others that went with me, Kelvin, Yao, and Kristen. After leaving at around 4ish from Santa Cruz, it took us roughly 8 hours to get here. I guess it didn't help that we were basically following the peak hour traffic to arrive.

Horrible traffic!

During our long trip, we explored many avenues of topics, from cars to cultural differences to music preferences. I feel bad for Kelvin, our driver who drove us there - it seems really crazy to drive for that long. I don't think I could do it, lol. We drove past a Maserati which was cool, first time to see one in my life. Unfortunately my camera is not good enough to take a good pic, this was the only pic that I could take.

We stopped by Taco Bell for dinner though. It was my first time, and I thought it was alright, but not that filling! xD Oh well, guess not all American sizes are THAT big. Check the pic below!

Unfortunately there was something bad in Kelvin's one though, and we had to take a toilet break on the way.
Roadtrips are not as fun in reality compared to the movies, but it's still a worthwhile experience to go on, as you can get to know others in the car better, provided they aren't sleeping!

We're currently staying at the Renaissance hotel near the airport. It's 4 stars, and alright for 30/person/night. Last night was the first time I shared a bed with someone outside of my family lol. Had to get used to sleeping straight for the first time in a while, didn't want to occupy that much space haha. I hope I don't scare away the people staying here though, cos I'm known to be a sleeptalker, and sleepwalker in my younger years.

Renaissance Hotel inside

Anyhow, today seems to be the official day for Thanksgiving. We'll probably head to Universal Studios, as there probably won't be that many people there, and nothing else is open, except for food places I think. Depends on the weather actually. We're gonna try to get a turkey too tonight. I'll keep you guys informed! ^_~

Week 10 in UCSC!

2008-11-25T07:20:00.008+10:00

Hello guys! How is everyone doing? I hope all is well. Week 10 now, it's almost the end of the quarter with Thanksgiving day around the corner too. I basically did not get up to much this week, due to assignments slowly catching up and getting the better of me. Next week should be more interesting perhaps! Here is a quick summary of the week:

Assignments - they're just so annoying!
Went to the Italian Culture night, had homemade pizza and tiramisu, check the pics below!
Had sushi again at totoro! Had some pretty decent sushi too, check the pics.
Spent all of the weekend help painting a soup kitchen's kitchen. Before and after pics below as well.

What is a soup kitchen? Basically it's a place where we serve people who are less privileged than we are, who live on the streets, or below the poverty line. I started volunteering there every Friday lunch as part of one of my courses, as I believe it has helped me understand the community of Santa Cruz well. I have made some cool friends too, who are fellow volunteers there. We decided for our final project to help them out by painting their kitchen. It has been a success, and all that is left is for us to do a final presentation. =D

Anyhow, here are the pics from this week~

Homemade pizza, Italian style! It was pretty good I must say...
a lot better than Dining Hall haha.

Homemade Tiramisu!

Me and Marin at a random dining hall night.

Dragon Sushi at Sushi Totoro!

Sujin, Alice and me at soup kitchen

Before

After

Anita and her crew that helped with painting.

Some random Japanese youtube videos!

2008-11-20T07:54:00.002+10:00

Haha, it's been a while since I shared anything cool that I have stumbled upon on Youtube. I have two videos from Japan I think? And hope you guys like them! First off we have a performance of a wonderful world:

Secondly: we have a video of a remake of the Doraemon song, using the final scenes of death note. It has a bit of blood, so not for the squeamish of you out there =P

Week 9 in UCSC!

2008-11-18T15:57:00.004+10:00

Week 9, 5 weeks to go! OMG. Time flies! It only just felt like I last blogged yesterday. I've had an alright week, assignments getting the better of me nowadays. I'm still trying to enjoy every moment of here though. I think I'll start to take some more photos from here on, since I basically only have 3 weeks before exams start, and I won't be able to see some of the many cool people I have met in the past 2 months for a long time. Sad, isn't it? But such is life. I really do hope to travel sometime to catch up with these friends that I have made, and wished that the time in the US was longer, though I do miss staying in my own room, with a bit more space. =P Of course, the people too. Okay then, here's a wrap-up of what happened in the past week:

Going to the Computer History Museum - despite it sounding geeky, it was pretty interesting to see that something so small in computers nowadays, had to have a room to replicate it.
Going to a Chinese Hot Pot party - involved going to a restaurant place they hired out, and eating some "Da Bin No" which I haven't had for a while. It was good, but there was just too many people to actually enjoy it in my opinion. Good to meet some new people though. =)
Eating out at Sushi Totoro - despite being based on the character Totoro, I thought it was alright, and more or less similar to I Love Sushi. They had a lot of fusion sushi, as well as soft shell crabs! For those of you that don't know soft shell crabs are crabs that have just changed shell, so the insides of the shell is soft, and when fried. It was good, but I still prefer Oishii at home.
Visiting San Jose! It was the first time I went to a shopping mall, the one in Capitola didn't count. I went to Valley Fair - there were more than 250 stores, but discounts were nowhere near what Gilroy had to offer. =) I also went to get some asian groceries - how I miss mi goreng! I splurged and shared some uni with Kelvin - uni being one of the more expensive of Japanese sashimi. We finished the day off with having some ramen too. I had a Kotteri Miso Ramen. I reckon it was pretty good, but the wait for it was a little bit long. =( Otherwise it was an enjoyable day in San Jose!

Enjoy the pics! =D

The first ever computer.

Fusion sushi at Totoro.

Maya, Me and Patty @ Totoro

Kotteri Miso Ramen

The Japanese supermarket!

The Asian supermarket!

Xmas stuff at Valley Fair!

Hot Pot food!

Uni!

Week 8 in UCSC!

2008-11-11T02:05:00.014+10:00

Wow, it's past halfway already, and I have roughly six weeks to go.... I'm starting to wonder what would happen, when I realise that I'm almost on a plane already. Now that I think of it, I kinda wished that I could have stayed for the year, but due to the fact that I'm almost at the end of my degree, it is difficult to extend my stay and actually study, rather than it being a holiday. Enough of the depressing stuff, here's what happened this week!

Australian dollar dropping at an all time low for a while! 63 cents atm! T_T It is sooo depressing lol....
Went to 3 birthday celebrations: Benedetta on Tuesday, Hiromi on Thursday, Kasane on Saturday. This might basically just be the birthday week! =D
Ernie and his friends dropped by down here in Santa Cruz - managed to get a Cal shirt too.
Boring assignments that I had to finish...-_-"

Happy Birthday Hiromi!

Ernie and Friends!

Me and Bene, Happy 22nd B'day!

Me and Kasane! Happy B'day!

Me and Ernie!

Week 7 in UCSC!

2008-11-04T16:08:00.007+10:00

Well, it's another week gone by, another week til I go back home! =D The rain decided to mark my first mid term as well. So what else has happened this week?

Your weekly round-up:

Celebrated Halloween: did it American style, which involved a parade downtown, with everyone dressed up in spooky costumes.
Celebrated Alice's 21st Birthday! It was cool, with a dodgy version of karaoke.
And in doing so, did my first attempt at cosplay with what I had. Guess who, when you check the pics!
Did my first exam: exams at UQ are a lot scarier, over here its basically like a relaxed environment where it's just like class, except you're doing it
It rained for the second time in the year - in doing so, it was pretty cold, and I think I caught a cold from it >_<

Birthdays, and more birthdays! Anyhow, here are the pics~

Happy Birthday Alice!

Snacks at the party!

Halloween!

Week 6 in UCSC!

2008-10-28T16:58:00.007+10:00

Hey Guys! How's things? It's finally become colder now, starting to feel a lot more like winter, and not the bipolar temperature that has been happening lately. I think I've seen most of the wildlife here, but I never manage to snap any of them on camera. I've yet to see the famous banana slug though, but my friends have. >_<>

Finally enjoying the winter side of things =D
Eating homemade Japanese Stew - I thought it was pretty delicious, and something different for a change!
Went to a Japanese mixer - involved eating some nice food, and meeting some new people because of it
Ate at a Thai restaurant
Australian culture night!
Bought some manga for friends of mine
Pissed off at the assignment submit system - had to submit an assignment late because they say I didn't submit it...*sigh* I wish it was on paper.
Still in holiday mode, when my first exam is coming on the next Thursday! T_T

It has been pretty enjoyable so far, let's hope it never stops!

The two manga I bought for friends of mine.

Aussie culture night!

Thai food!

Japanese Mixer!

At Kana's house with the delicious stew! (see below)

Japanese White Stew!

Week 5 in UCSC!

2008-10-21T02:59:00.007+10:00

It's that time of the week again! The 5th week already! Here's the usual summary of my week:

Went to Gilroy Premium Outlets - where I managed to spend 70USD on clothes = I have to start saving now, before I run out of money soon. I managed to pick up 2 shirts, a pair of shoes, a necklace/choker thing (I'm not sure what they call them lol), and a belt.
Tried out Jamba Juice - pretty decent, but more or less like the Boost Juice we have at home.
Ate some Häagen-Dazs as it was on special - I love cookies and icecream.
Had a try at the I Love Sushi restaurant - made me realise why I hate hype, with some people claiming it to be the best sushi restaurant. It was alright in my opinion, but in no way the best place to have sushi. It was more or less like Oishii, but all the dishes were basically the same, instead of the variety they have at Oishii.
Ate some decent American food at Chilli's in Capitola - pretty good I reckon, expect to see it on Oishiilog soon! Dessert was good too there for you chocaholics!
Met some new people along the way!
Same old classes

I added a small bit at the bottom to show some difference between America and Australia as a side note. Hopefully I'll find enough to put one there every week! Here are the pics of this week!

Decent outlet place, that surpasses the ones in Brissy by far!

Random Necklace thing I bought at Gilroy's.

Boost equivalent!

Decent American Food place I have had with variety that doesn't involve just burgers/hotdogs and fries

Part of the monstrous main meal I had at Chilli's

Awesome dessert at Chilli's

Cheap Haagen Dazs ice cream!

Oishii equivalent!

Australia vs America differences 1:
Fairy Floss = Cotton Candy

Week 4 in UCSC!

2008-10-14T15:56:00.007+10:00

Well, it's basically been a month in the US already! What can I say? I've had another fun week too. This week comprised of:

Flatmate Birthdays (Yuko and Spencer) - both involved parties and having a great time, check the pics and videos below, Yuko turning 22, and Spencer with his 21st birthday, with a cool surprise too.
Going to the Boardwalk again - this time going to the beach and eating at a restaurant on a pier for the first time
Making breakfast on a Sunday morning
Classes as usual
Meeting more people

Me and Yuko

Me and Spencer

Boardwalk/beach pic

Charbroiled Mahi Mahi (fish)

Beach Sunset

Attempt at English Breakfast!

Acapella surprise for Spencer, setup by his family friend!

Week 3 in UCSC!

2008-10-07T14:31:00.007+10:00

Hey guys! Just wondering how everyone is going wherever you are. Wow, time seems to fly when classes start. I'm already starting to feel the workload now, although its basically one week of classes. You sure do get tired here though going from one side of the campus to the other. So, here is the usual list of things happening this week:

Attended my first dancing lessons - it was modern/contemporary dance, and it is painful: there is so much stretching involved! Basically modern is a mixture of ballet + jazz, with some yoga/pilates to the side as well.
Dropped a class - thought since that I'm only here for a quarter, I shouldn't bombard myself with unnecessary workload, although that course was interesting.
Met a few more people - it's always cool to compare different cultures, making new friends and increasing the facebook friend count! xD
First Rain occurred! Visit here for more info.
Went to San Francisco for the first time since I have arrived in Santa Cruz - attended LoveFest to see what that it was about. LoveFest = a big party of parties with at least 20000 people in the middle of San Francisco. Visited Chinatown and Japantown, Pier 39 and had proper food instead of Dining Hall food! Finished the day off with some karaoke too.
Had homemade lasagne for the first time!

All in all, I'm settling down in Santa Cruz pretty well, people are nice enough, and it's not as crazy as they say. Here are some pics for this week! I also included a random travel video too! I might take some more from now on~

Homemade Lasagne!

LoveFest 2008!

The famous Pier 39
Sealions!

Chinatown!

Good Food!Karaoke!

Week 2 in UCSC!

2008-09-30T15:40:00.009+10:00

Hey guys, it's already week 2 of my time here in UCSC. Time flies doesn't it? I've done a fair amount of stuff already! A brief list of things I did in the week:

Went to the OPERS which is basically the equivalent of the first Market Day in O-week, with different clubs or they call it fraternities
I managed to go to the Boardwalk as mentioned in an entry earlier last week.
Had my first game of tennis in ages
Went and celebrated Hai Shang's 21st birthday.
Met some more people, made a heap of new friends!
Had Pizzas at Woodstocks - it was good but not enough for a big international friends program, I also met my buddy there too.
Started classes :(

I haven't been able to take any good pics of any wildlife yet. It's just so difficult to catch them at the right time with my camera. I've noticed that you can tell between a Freshman or not, depending on their reaction when you tell them you're from Australia. I'll leave you guys with some pics!

OPERS Festival

The group of people that celebrated Hai's Birthday!
(the guy being pointed at)

Me and my buddy Courtney at Woodstock's

My random Nachos I made!

Under the Boardwalk~!

2008-09-25T02:06:00.004+10:00

Being in Santa Cruz, once must experience what is known as "The Boardwalk". Basically it's a small theme park along the beach, and it is great fun with a few rides here and there too. I went on a rollercoaster as well as a swinging ship. Also had a game of laser tag, which is basically the US version of our Laser Force. I have tried an American Greasy delicacy known as "funnel cake". It was huge and I doubt I could finish it even if I wanted to. It's basically fried cake. Pics down below!

Side view of the Boardwalk

The Pirate Ship

The Big Hurricane!

Funnel Cake!

Week 1 in UCSC

2008-09-22T01:34:00.005+10:00

Hey guys! Just thought I'd start to do a summary of each week with things that I have done, as I might not have any time when school starts. So yeah, basically, it has been a whole week since I have been in Santa Cruz, and I must say, it is pretty enjoyable. I have settled in pretty much, I know my basic way around the place, and met a number of different people from France to Turkey! In general, the culture here tends to be laid back too. I'll be studying mainly computer science/engineering stuff to get credit for my degree back at UQ.

So what else have I been doing the past week? Pretty much just these:

Having free dinner with the local residents at ILC - we had a BBQ, Italian food last night, as well as Pizza!
Going on a free shopping shuttle to pick up stuff in Target (Their Target is sooooo big compared to ours, and they sell everything there including food), Safeway (Basically our Woolies), and Best Buy - where I basically helped a friend preorder a PS3 game there too.
Having most people move-in except for one person - Spencer and Julieanne moved in the other day
Meeting up with 3 other fellow Aussies - One from UQ XD and the other two from Latrobe in Melbourne
Chillin' out with Spencer and going downtown
Seeing a random deer out on the footpath, and seeing squirrels around - I haven't been able to take pics of them yet >_<
Living in a forest with heaps of tall trees (I've been told they filmed Return of the Jedi here with the Ewoks scene) and extreme weather - Summer during the day, Winter at night.

All in all, it's pretty enjoyable so far, I'm just wondering if it'll stay the same when classes start. I'm pretty sure it will be, as my time here so far has been pretty cool. I'll leave you guys with pics of some of the scenery you can see as you leave the uni, my table who I ate dinner with last night and a pic of the BBQ:

Kinda feels like Road Trippin'!

A cool friendly mob I met yesterday!

Cheeseburgers on a BBQ!

My Apartment!

2008-09-18T15:01:00.006+10:00

Hey Guys! Since I moved in, I thought it would be a good idea to show you guys what my apartment is like. It's known as the ILC (International Living Centre) which basically is a group of a few buildings of apartments together, and comprises of 50 - 50 international and local students living together. It's pretty cool, and helps people develop cool friendships, and learning about various different cultures of the world.

Recently, two more people have moved into my apartment with Kyle and me. A girl from Japan, called Yuko, and the other from the US, Julieanne. Yuko is pretty cool, and surprisingly said I had good Japanese haha. Julieanne on the other hand seemed nice, and brought along a lot of fresh fruit to share. Sharing is caring! =D I also met fellow Aussie, Thom who's also from UQ who arrived today. Other than that, I've just been meeting heaps of new people, both local and international students, and everyone seems pretty friendly! =)

I'm starting to get the hang of the orientation of this 2000-acre campus, and how to get around everywhere. There will be more and more people moving in soon, so at least the campus will have some life soon! =D

Here are some random pics of my apartment:

The Living Room

The Kitchen

The Hallway

The Bathroom

PS - I'll post a picture of my room soon! =P

Best of Asia, Bring on America!

2008-09-15T15:57:00.005+10:00

Omg, BoA is joining a lot of other Asian superstars - like Jackie Chan, Rain - onto making the move to debuting in the U.S. She revealed this in a recent interview named with her initials BoA - Best of Asia, Bring on America. I dunno, I personally the old pop style BoA, and she used to be my favourite Japanese artist, when I first saw her perform Double. I guess as people mature more, their music changes as well.

After watching these two previews - I think I would buy her American album if it happens to be here when I'm still in the U.S. It's supposed to be out 7th October, and album coming out later in the year. I personally love her ballads though. :) But yeah, be the judge yourself, and see whether or not it's your style of music:

Videos, news and image source from:

On the road to Santa Cruz!

2008-09-13T15:59:00.009+10:00

Woke up early to catch the plane at 10am. I've been on a plane for about 22 hours in total, with a 6 hour stop off in Taipei. Here are some random cool snaps I managed to take while there:

Pretty nice BRAVIA TV set here

A cool pyramid comprised of model planes

When in Taiwan, you must get Taiwanese snacks - these ones here are mini pancakes with cream and red bean paste!

I finally arrived in SFO International Airport, after a 11 - plus hour flight. I managed to find the hotel shuttle and arrived at the hotel in the evening at around 10pm. Here is the lobby there:

When I woke up in the morning I decided to catch the cab, and get the Grey Hound coach. Little that I know, was that the cab that was booked happened to be those extra luxurious ones, that cost a fortune. It costed me more to get to the airport than to get to Santa Cruz itself.

While waiting for my Greyhound bus, I spotted an electric bus? It's basically like a tram without tracks in my opinion:

Here are the pics of the coach I caught, and the ticket itself. It was a 3 hr trip with a few 10 min stops, so it didn't feel like a drag.

I managed to arrive in Santa Cruz in the arvo, and met up with fellow roommate Kyle. He's a pretty nice bloke, and having a car in Santa Cruz makes life a whole lot more convenient, even more than in Brisbane! Santa Cruz is kinda like the Gold Coast, but without the high rise hotels.

The apartment is pretty cool, not as small as I had imagined previously though. It's relatively new as well, and is in the middle of the forest - literally! I'll take pics and show them to you guys later.

I hope this is just the beginning of a fun filled adventure!

1 more day to go!

2008-09-11T09:35:00.005+10:00

Wow, the past month just seemed to have flown. The past week full of farewell gatherings with a few friends of mine has definitely made this week go by even faster. It involved a range of things, from:

Eating steak at a good steak restaurant

Eating Ramen

Eating good pizza

Going out to Karaoke

It has been a really fun week, and I want to thank all those that I managed to meet before I head off. I promise to take heaps of photos, blog about them, and keep all you guys informed! Hope everyone has a safe time back at home, and watch out for my adventure of a lifetime! (Hopefully, lol)

Miku Miku!

2008-09-09T17:25:00.008+10:00

Recently a mate of mine gave me a Nendoroid as a very belated birthday present - this one from the vocaloid series, Miku Hatsune. It's a really popular figurine - it's currently out of stock at the moment, but Good Smile always seems to keep on making them - being restocked at retailers in December. Pictures of my Miku down below.

So what's a Nendoroid? Basically it's your typical SD (Super Deformed) or chibi-fied figurines of various anime/anime-related series. Some of these include characters from Haruhi, Lucky Star, and Fate: Stay Night. They are of good quality, and usually require a stand to stand them up, because their heads are usually heavier than their bodies. They usually are cute, and are great additions to any collection.

So what's the vocaloid series? It is the name of a computer software that interprets what you type, and outputs it as a song or speech, kinda like the old Microsoft Sam days. But instead, you get a kawaii anime character (like Miku) for each different software. e.g. You can get Rin and Ren I think? You can hear what Miku sounds like with my Miku clock on the side as well by clicking on the musical note.

I haven't bothered unboxing my Miku just yet, as I'll be leaving here in a few days time - it just seems better if I open it later when I come back from the States. I might take better pics of it when it gets unboxed. =P

I hope this isn't the start of me getting into figure collecting - it could become a really expensive hobby!

Cute isn't it?
可愛いですか。

Riverfire 2008!

2008-09-04T21:10:00.005+10:00

Ah yes. I never thought I'd actually go to this event. I thought it was good, except for the annoying tree that blocked half my view there, and the amount of people there was crazy. Security was pretty tight, and I had a relatively cheap kebab. (only 7 bucks!) After watching the fireworks, we went for some karaoke, it was pretty fun too! Bus was annoying - too many people around, meant that I had to wait for three buses until I could get on.

This is probably my first time I've actually been to a fireworks event, rather than just watching it on TV. I'd probably go next year, if I can find others to join me too! A few pics down below.

The huge new ferris wheel at South Bank.

The best fireworks pic I could take from where I was.

The cool bridge fire dump? Or whatever you call it on Victoria Bridge.

Digging in on a kebab

Karaoke afterwards.

Yuna Ito new song release!

2008-08-27T23:04:00.003+10:00

Finally, a new Yuna Ito release! I really like her voice, and this is a very nice song, that's flowing and in a style that I enjoy listening to. I might end up buying her next album, depending on what other songs would be on it.

Hope you guys like this song too!

Three weeks to go!

2008-08-22T18:58:00.004+10:00

It's only 3 weeks left before I depart for San Francisco, and off to UCSC. All the plans are under way, with housing over there confirmed too. In my floor I have 5 other people staying with me - two other exchange students, and 3 local ones. The journey to get to this stage took ages! From not knowing which uni I'll get into, to the tedious long online apps to fill in, to visa issues, to health insurance stuff - it's been a long trek. It should hopefully be well worth it, after all this time and effort getting there. I've been told that Santa Cruz is a kinda hippy town, with a forest and a beach at the same uni.

I can't wait till I arrive there, and hopefully will be an enjoyable experience then! Will keep you readers posted on how everything goes. =)

P.S. the above is the logo of UCSC (University of California, Santa Cruz), and is of the mascot, a banana slug - wiki it for more info.

The world ends with me!

2008-08-18T19:51:00.008+10:00

The boxart cover of TWEWY

Ah, yes. I could've sworn I was never going to give into playing a DS, since I'm a loyal (enough) Sony Fanboy, but this game changed otherwise. My friend who played this game earlier than me, decided to lend me their DS, along with this game, The World Ends With You.

It is an action RPG, but it is sooo different from your generic RPG, that I'm tempted to get a DS now, to play some more of it xD. The story starts off being kinda emo - with a "everybody hates me" and "I don't care" attitude. As it progresses the message, is that the world isn't as bad as it is, as it depends on what you make for yourself. Hence the title, 'the world ends with you'. (I won't spoil you guys on the plot)

It has a lot of replayability, and unlike traditional rpgs, levelling up isn't a chore anymore, with the variety of different ways that you can use different moves depending on pins you use. From striking the touchscreen using the stylus, to blowing into the mic, to dragging objects on the screen to attack - no battle can get boring!

You can gain some extra exp from playing the game next to other people with wifi-enabled on their DS's no matter what game they're playing. In terms of other multiplayer functionality, you can play with your pins in a game called Tin Pin.

Overall it's a great game, with an interesting storyline and innovative gameplay, highly recommended to those who love a good story, and something that isn't conventional.

The inside of the box

The back cover of the box

Let the Games begin!

2008-08-10T10:16:00.002+10:00

At last it has finally started, the 2008 Bejing Olympics. The whole ceremony was nothing short of spectacular. From bits of history to intensive drumming to hip hop dancing/calligraphy to Tai Chi performances to making different symbols with oars to cool mechanical tiles to a lot of other things. If you haven't seen it already, try and track it down somewhere. It makes you realise the effect that a large population can make in an Olympic ceremony like this one.

Photo from here:
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2008/08/08/beijing-cp-584-5292733.jpg

Anata To PV is released

2008-08-04T21:04:00.002+10:00

OMG! The PV to the next ayaka X Kobukuro collab is on youtube already. The single won't be released til end of Sept though.... =(

A day in Sydney!

2008-07-30T21:28:00.008+10:00

Yesterday I left home at about 5:15am, to get to the airport and arrive in Sydney by 8:30am. It was (in one word) cold. I managed to make my way to the consulate pretty easily thanks to Google Maps, and got everything done, visa approved, and was off on my short day trip to explore Sydney! (Note: Pics are taken form my phone so they can be dodgy)

First up I walked into what I believe was the first David Jones store. It actually feels like a department store that I've been to when I've been overseas. With a "foodhall" as the basement, with some gourmet food to devour and purchase, to some high class brands such as Polo having a store inside the department store.

Inside the foodhall

The food halls have a variety of different stores and bars as you can see here. Bars usually have a wine glass and is usually a sign of upper-class status. I hope next time I ever come back here, I'd have enough money to actually try one of these places.

Aussie Apple Store

As I was wandering around, I stumbled across the talked about, Australia's first Apple shop. I do admit, it was a pretty nicely designed shop, and most people inside were just leeching off the free internet that the shop offered while you try the new macbooks, and iphones. Using the iPhone first hand here, made me realise that touch screen gadgets are still not practical enough to use in my opinion. They had some cool stairs too:

I decided to head towards Chinatown direction after that, for some "real" Chinese food, and found an asian foodcourt. Inside this place, it felt like one of the hawker places in Singapore, where there were a lot of small stalls, with pretty cheap food. I ended up getting Hainan Chicken Rice for $7.80! Pretty good deal, and was pretty tasty. =D

Afterwards I just helped mum get some asian bread from a bakery called "Bread Top", as they make really different bread from the bread you can get here. The joys of having a higher population.

Speaking of which, I almost felt that stepping into Sydney by myself this time around, I was in a different culture. There were more smokers, jay walkers, and everyone just seemed to be really busy people. Perhaps next time I ever come visit here again, I hope that I would have more time to visit a few different places outside the city worth checking out.

Highlights:

Fast interview process
Interesting city to wander around compared to Brisbane
Chinatown in Sydney is actually Chinatown, and feels like you're in an Asian country
$1.30 afternoon tea (see below)

$1 Apple Pie and 30c cone from Maccas at Sydney Domestic Airport (yay!)

The next ayaka X kobukuro collab!

2008-07-27T17:04:00.004+10:00

As you should have realised already, I am a huge ayaka fan. Within a month of her album release, ayaka has been working with Kobukuro to produce their second collaboration single, "あなたと” (anata to - I believe it means 'with you'). It is used for the latest Nissan Cube ad, like this one:

Some people find the deers cute, others reckon they're just plain scary. Either way, it's a nice tune, can't wait to here what the full release sounds like! You can listen to more of it here, but there are some commentary in the background:

The previous collaboration WINDING ROAD was also an ad for the Cube too. This song really popular, and was the highest selling single for ayaka! Here is a clip of the live performance:

Something small...

2008-07-22T21:11:00.007+10:00

My friend came back from Hong Kong recently, and I told him to grab me this while he was there. This is a pqi Intelligent Drive i810 Plus - it's a series of USB flash drives that a Taiwanese company, pqi made. This series markets the fact that it is the smallest usb drive ever. Even compared to the Sony Microvault drives, these ones are smaller. How small? Just check out the following pic:

Compared to (the width of this drive is the same as the above):

How does it manage to get that small? The thing is, it is a retractable flash drive. Beneath the "shell" of the drive is a moveable section that you can use to have the usb connectors stick out, just like this:

And all that is left is to stick that into your pc! Pretty clever, ay?

This flash drive was 18AUD - roughly around the same price as your typical usb here. The thing is, you can't get one for that price for something this small - the Sony Microvault drives are sooo much more expensive!

Credits to Hexus for the pic!