b3 my LAST

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T02:40:00.003+11:00

Happy New Year!

Merry X'Mas!!!

2008-12-25T00:53:00.006+11:00

Initially wanted to post some pics of the many Christmas trees I took leading up to Christmas Day.

But... I got lazy :p So I think I'll just leave you with the most impressive one I managed to get:

Clicky to enlarge

If you really wanna see the rest, they're at my Facebook ^_^

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!

Acoustic Guitar Hero

2008-11-25T03:37:00.005+11:00

One day, I too will be able to play Guitar Hero... minus the TV LOL

Clip from South Park - Guitar Queer-O

Tips for using the loo

2008-10-12T16:36:00.002+11:00

Remember, don't miss... just piss on target.

Riiiight....

Sleeping virgin... or not(?)

2008-10-12T04:43:00.005+11:00

Wanted to post this pic up for some time now.

No particular reason, just thought it was nice and serene.

That is if you discount the fact that she was raped by Josh Hartnett the night before. Gasp! Horror!

Okay, maybe not raped raped, but he did up and ran away leaving her alone on the grass.

The still is from The Virgin Suicides.

The movie. [Duh...]

The Duchess

2008-10-10T15:09:00.004+11:00

So I have me a movie pass to 'The Duchess'. Who wants to go with me? ^_^

Mr. Bond?

More importantly, is it any good? It's about a woman's obsession with her big-ass poofy hair right? And she kills people with her hairballs or something.

For the curious amongst you, the video playing at the back is the new Bond theme 'Another Way to Die'. Which ironically can be achieved by watching the video. Sucks ass.

Wall-E

2008-10-10T01:33:00.003+11:00

EVA~~~!!

Spotted cleaning up the trash at Borders Chatswood.

Jen Hawkins' Cozi @ Myer

2008-08-28T17:17:00.019+10:00

Almost didn't get to go this event due to the erm, after-effects of the Indian curry I had last night :p

Anyhoo managed to get there 5 minutes after they started the show, which promptly wrapped up 10 minutes later. Who knew they'd be so punctual?

Before that I should explain what the event was for. Recognising a market for people who think they can look like the celebrities who design their own clothes, Jennifer Hawkins has launched her own swimwear range. Having unveiled her collection at Myer's spring summer collection show last night, she officially launched it to the public at Myer's city store in Sydney today. Which was the one I went to.

At the Myer show yesterday

As I was saying I arrived slightly late, and there was already a crowd going on. A Myer employee then handed me a card which I was told was for a signing session later. Score! If you've been reading this blog since yonks ago, you would know that this isn't the first time I've seen her in person. But this time, I came prepared with my proper camera, and not the crappy phone cam I had previously.

We'll look at 5 pieces today

Unfortunately she didn't model her swimwear today

That girl in the middle looks cute

Confusing the show for a Lux ad

My impression of a giddy schoolgirl

Are you flirting with me Jen?

"Stop taking my picture!"

Okay just 5 more shots

My God your boobs are bigger than mine!

Can I go now?

Thanks for coming!

Oh yeah, not to forget I snagged 2 autographs as well!

Now when will David Jones hold a 'meet & greet' with Miranda Kerr? ;)

Sunday afternoon

2008-07-08T17:46:00.001+10:00

Borat wannabe & Chobot

2008-06-29T17:54:00.004+10:00

Okay okay I know this is the 3rd consecutive post concerning teh Chobot that I might as well call it Chobot Week. I'll stop after this one. Promise. Maybe. Watch the video. It's funny.

OPTI-Jess

2008-06-28T04:35:00.005+10:00

This is why I heart teh Chobot <3

Game Chicks

2008-06-27T21:18:00.009+10:00

Was browsing the blog archives of Jessica Chobot; you know, the sole reason I bought a PSP. Found out later you can play games on it too. Bonus! :p

Anyway in one entry she pointed out how Rockstar (may or may not have ) ripped off her face as the lolly sucker character on GTA IV's cover.

And she gamely posed for a comparison:

Uncanny, isn't it?

She's cute.

And hot. Normally I'd classify girls as either cute, or hot. Seldom both together. But the Chobot comfortably sits on both sides. cf. Jessica Alba. I guess it depends on what they're wearing. Or how they're wearing it ooo~~

Also, why does Rockstar insist on putting chicks on the cover art that we never get to see in the game? How come VC and SA are integerless? Why is GTA IV not GTA VI? So many questions!

The GTA III, Vice City & San Andreas girls

Finished GTA IV btw. But just the main storyline though. Still got 190 flying rats and all stunt jumps minus 1 to go...

Speaking of finished games, you can add MGS4 to my list. But it's not so much of a game as it is a movie trying to be a game. Or is it a game trying to be a movie? Anyhoo, if you even give a snake's tail about MGS you probably knew all that already.

And Meryl, hoho, has she changed since being all pixely in MGS1. Maybe she looked better in Twin Snakes (the GameCube remake). I dunno, don't own neither game nor console.

But man, is she buff yet feminine in MGS4. In short, consider her tapped. Here's a little trivia: Meryl's last name in Japanese is Shirubābāgu LOL.

After listening to this podcast, it seems Meryl's voice actress Debi Mae West remembers more of The Twin Snakes (which she refers to as 'the remake') than the original MGS1. Not chastising her or anything, just an observation.

I still remember getting MGS1 in Penang during the LTC. Xing introduced it to moi and I distinctively remember him warning me about the looong cutscenes. Gee, how right you were man. Also recall getting Meryl's Codec number from Loopy, who I think got it from FK. Why didn't I just go to GameFaqs.com is beyond me.

And looky here, searching for Meryl produced this on Google images:

It's like looking in a mirror

Jessica Alba as Meryl? Hmm...

'Chat Zhai'

2008-04-06T02:10:00.005+11:00

I'm sure many of the Chinese speaking community know about Stephen Chow's latest film to hit the silver screens during Chinese New Year - CJ7. And if you don't... what's wrong with you?

Now it doesn't matter if you found the movie funny or not, that's not the topic of discussion for today (though I personally found it entertaining). I'm sure by the end of the film many of the audience (read: female) will be wondering where they can get their grubby hands on a 'Chat Zhai' or '7 Chai' plushy. That's the green furball in the poster above.

And you can bet your uncle's toy store a plushy will be produced, as long as there are greedy business people out there ready to take advantage of audience's sentimentalism for all things green and cute. But unless you live in a predominantly Chinese community / Asian country, I doubt it'd be an easy task procuring one. I did a check and realised you can get them on eBay, though you'd be hard pressed to find an affordable and decent-looking (plus authentic) '7 Chai' for sale.

What's the next best thing? Winning them in those UFO catchers of course. Which incidentally are also designed to bleed you dry of your coins. Notice a pattern here?

But yea, since we had a female to please, we tried clawing for '7 Chai' and got it for a measly 6 bucks! With my dexterous hands! Okay okay, I can't take all the credit though. Firstly, my house mate had already primed and knocked over a '7 Chai' in his 2 previous attempts, and it wasn't even my change that we used :p

Heheh, quite ecstatic since I haven't played with one of those claw machines since I was like, what 9? And that was in Singapore too.

Look at that cutie. Oh, and '7 Chai' too ^_^

Incidentally, CJ7 is out now on DVD and later on Blu-Ray.

I can't believe I missed Earth Hour again!

2008-03-30T01:34:00.004+11:00

Believe me, I really wanted to do my part for the environment. Earth Hour this year was scheduled for yesterday at 8-9 p.m. And exactly like last year, I just totally forgot to switch off the lights when the time came. Even though I've been looking forward to it the whole day.

And what was I doing instead? Watching LiLo in 'Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen'. Whaat? I haven't seen it before okay. Don't judge me :p

They should have screened an ad on TV at 8 o'clock to remind all the couch potatoes out there about Earth Hour ^_^;;;

CNY street parade

2008-02-24T16:52:00.002+11:00

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!! Yes, I realise this post is 2 weeks late. Heck, even Chap Goh Mei has already passed. But you can't knock a guy for at least wanting to extend the festive cheer a while longer, right?

Okay, okay, I admit I was too ~~lazy~~ busy to post this up sooner, though I had all the photos already uploaded. But better late than never, right? At least my pictures and effort won't be put to waste ^_^

These were taken during the CNY festivities at George Street, Sydney.

Warning: loads of pics to follow below. But I reckon they shouldn't take too long to load, considering they're taken from my mobile phone, ergo smaller file size. Would've taken them with my camera, but I left the battery charging the day before, and promptly forgot to put it back in the camera later... *doh!*

So anyway, here goes! (Click photos for larger images)

rat made from 'ubi kayu' (tapioca)

follow that cheese!

obligatory dragon chasing pearl thingy

tail of dragon. Ideal for making soup

Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore

so that's where all the signs went. I've been turning into wrong streets all week

another giant (pink) rat

winners of some beauty pageant. Sponsored by TVB (?)

lion dancing

bike taxi that thinks it's a rat

rabbit making mochi

red dragon

fashion show

bang those drums

little scholars

raise the red lantern

living, breathing terracotta warriors LOL

China Tour Guide Guild (jk)

fairy maidens

back of fairy maidens

dragon warriors

Okay that's it for now. Stay tuned for part II with even more pics of random costumed people walking down a street!

And what's this I hear about lolis?

Maria wins the title!!!

2008-01-26T17:03:00.000+11:00

Nice.

Australian Open 2008

2008-01-25T01:19:00.000+11:00

This is a match made in heaven. My heaven specifically. Maria Sharapova vs Ana Ivanovic. Women's finals. This Saturday.

Oh what a time to be in Australia, or better yet in Melbourne, cos, you know, the matches being held there and all that... Oh yes, the freedom to wake up late and catch the first games which start at 11 am, and napping again whilst the uninteresting (read: non-Maria/Ana) games are played. And it's nice to be in the same time zone when the matches are being played, and not having to stay up all bleary eyed to watch the live telecast. Though there was this Lleyton Hewitt match which lasted till 4.34 am...

Today was great, since I managed to catch the semifinal matches of Maria vs Jelena Jankovic at 1.30 pm, and subsequently Ana vs Daniella Hantuchova right after that. With both my picks emerging victors; thus ensuring the finals match which I've hoped for since mid-tournament.

As an aside, had to rush home to make sure I didn't miss the matches since I had a health check appointment in the morning ^_^

I guess I don't need to babble much about the 'Pova. She of the TAG Heuer ambassador billboard which I pass by everyday on my bus ride home during summer work experience. She of many grunts, which sends me to a special place in my mind every time she does that. She who posed in a bikini in Sports Illustrated, of which I have a copy :) but is not with me right now :(

Speaking of grunts, I know I speak for others when I wonder if the tennis players produce the same sound bites when they participate in, erm... indoor recreational activities.

Having not seen her before, I was thrown aback when I saw this cute, sweet girl in a blue dress running on the court. And she plays good tennis too.

Did I mention Ana looks cute? Especially in that blue dress?

As you can tell, I'm totally smitten.

However, unlike Sharapova who looks naturally gorgeous no matter how you photograph her; sometimes Ana... doesn't look like how she does on court. Case in point:

kinda looks like a man...

Yet, she is able to come out from photoshoots looking like this:

But I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, photoshoot is just a few letters away from Photoshop.

That's not to say she's not beautiful. But what I'm trying to say is that her beauty is not consistent, if that makes any sense. At least not consistent to me.

Ah, watching the Australian Open has reinvigorated my interest in tennis again. Not since Martina Hingis was in her prime that I've actually given more attention to the sport save the occasional 'Ooh, she looks hot' in the sports pages.

And my tip for the finals on Saturday? Maria, if she maintains her exceptional form she displayed against Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic in the lead-up to the finals (though to be fair, Jankovic had some back injuries).

Here's to Maria lifting the cup in Rod Laver Arena this Saturday!

So, is there a Silver Compass then?

2008-01-16T03:25:00.000+11:00

Just watched Golden Compass in the cinema, and I must say I'm a tad disappointed. Here I was expecting some fantasy epic in the vein of Stardust (which I surprisingly enjoyed), probably Narnia, or maaybe even LOTR (which would be kind of a stretch I do realise). The closest thing I can compare it with is 'probably' Eragon. The reason I say 'probably' is because I haven't actually watched it, but I'm getting the same kinda vibe from it :p

Firstly about the controversy ('oooh~') and protests from Catholic groups and the like. Seriously, if they hadn't said anything about the anti-Church messages supposedly in the movie, I wouldn't have sniffed it as being (anti)religious, or anything to do with religion for that matter. Sure the book might've gone a little more in depth with the whole anti-Church thing, but the movie removed or euphemised most of those messages already. If you absolutely have to criticize about something, you'd have better luck (and reason) aiming those arrows at the books methinks (God being killed, anyone?).

Heck, I had to wiki and imdb the movie to actually understand what the religious connotations were all about. So if you've watched the movie, basically the Dust represents the Original Sin, hence children are less likely to be affected, still being in their innocent stages and all. And the children's separation from their dæmons are the church's efforts to protect the children from the effects of sin. The dæmons here being the animal manifestations of their souls. (Much of this explanation is taken from 'The Open Critic'.)

I was hoping for a more interesting story though. Was kinda drab and while the concepts and ideas were there, it didn't really engage me enough to care about what was going on.

Too little of Mr. Blond Bond, Daniel Craig. I paid good money to see him on the big screen before Bond 22 dammit!

Adolescent love thing going on between Roger and Lyra too corny and creepy at the same time.

I also found some of the elements in the film too simplistic. Case in point the RPG-like 'Big armoured polar bear has joined your party!' scene. Ooh, just because a little girl magically told you where your armour is, you immediately pledge your life to her, without first verifying the truth in her words? Please! Iorek, I expected better from a polar bear, especially of your stature.

But absolutely stellar is the armoured bear fight. Easily the highlight of the movie for me. I reckon "Is that ALL!!?" should catch on as the one-liner of school bullies everywhere. Until they're smacked and left without a jaw.

I never felt this way about her before, but Eva Green is totally hawt as the flying witch, Serafina. But why does French-born Eva's English sound all British-like?

I was thinking to myself how come she wasn't recast in the upcoming Bond movie, when I remembered she didn't quite make it out in the end of Casino Royale ^^;;

Ending totally points to a sequel. If it even gets made. Studio execs still waiting to see how it fares in box-office receipts. While it bombed in the US, I hear its doing well overseas. But New Line, you've gotta stop with these 'Fellowship of the Ring'-type endings.

Only time will tell if there will be Silver and Bronze Compasses, but let's not hold our breaths too long for this one.

Hyori Lee PSP wallpaper

2008-01-15T00:59:00.004+11:00

You think Hyori is hot? Me too! You own a PSP? I do too! Well then sir, to commemorate this absolutely serendipitous occasion, I'll share with you today a Hyori wallpaper fit for your PSP!

click for larger image

Do note that this is based on a desktop wallpaper (which someone posted somewhere that I forgot ^^;; ), and I merely cropped and resized it. So credit also goes to the person who made the original image.

I reckon it fits nicely as a wallpaper, and her face doesn't get too much in the way of the icons. Hope you like it!

Graduand

2007-12-06T16:23:00.000+11:00

Break out the bubbly people!! Checked my results this afternoon and guess what?! I can graduate!! The world rejoices as yet another computer engineer joins the job market!! ^^

I would like to thank my family , the friends that I've made and met in uni and also those who have stuck with me since my schooling days, lecturers who may or may not have contributed to my degree with their varied and unorthodox teaching (Jim, I'm looking at you), and also all those random people I've encountered throughout my uni life that have helped me without me even realising it. And I do mean random in a good way :) Hontouni hontouni arigatou gozaimashita!! //end_acceptance_speech

Just got back this morning from Christchurch. Will start posting about my trip once I get all my notes, pics and vids organised, uploaded etc. etc..

Vacation

2007-11-28T14:42:00.000+11:00

Hey guys, I'm now busy holidaying in New Zealand, The Land of the Long White Clouds, as I've discovered. Ergo, no updates for at least another week or two. But do not fret dear readers! For I plan to publish excerpts from my journals in a (hopefully) 14-part series of my adventures.

Am at an internet kiosk atm paying NZ$2 for 20 minutes at the Wellington Ferry Terminal. Already explored the south island, am venturing over to the north for the coming week. Coming home probably after that (obviously...)

Oh, and I did my first bungy! Stay tuned for the video!

Aya-chan & her pink PSP

2007-11-02T03:52:00.001+11:00

OMG how 可愛い is that? Hot chick + PSP = instant l♥ve

Hirano Aya-chan is of course, the voice actress behind the title character in Haruhi, and most recently Izumi Konata in Lucky Star.

Who'd have thought a dorky kid like this:

would blossom into a beautiful rose like this:

the letters that follow C are U & M

Not me, that's for sure. One day, I'm going to Japan to get me a wife. I'll even wear this T-shirt on the plane to make my intentions clear the moment I touch the grounds of Narita Airport:

"Looking for a Japanese girlfriend".
Get the T-shirt from J-List

I reckon my requirements are pretty low. As long as you're cute and have a PSP, you're definitely a shoo-in! ^^

Behold... PSP-2000FB!

2007-10-11T18:49:00.000+10:00

That's it right there, my PSP Slim & Lite! But the FB in the product code does not stand for 'fat boy', uhn unh. How could you call it fat when it's oh so slim? And lite? And she's not even a dude (yes, I assign genders to my gadgets). Anyway, FB refers to her colour ie. Felicia Blue.

Despite the gay-sounding colour name, I love the blue! I mean, how could you not? It's pastel, and when you look upclose it's also got this sparkly glittery stuff going on. And it's only available from Japan, kids, only from Japan.

Having now established that my PSP is a she, the next natural progression is to come up with a name. Initially it was just a toss-up between Jennifer or Marion. Then I thought maybe I could call here Rei, you know as in that blue-haired chick from Evangelion? But since we're on the topic of blue, how about Aoi, the Japanese word for *duh* blue? Also a good homage to Aoi-chan from Ai Yori Aoshi (whose hair incidentally, is purple). Although a front-runner, it doesn't really roll off the tongue that smoothly.

Any other suggestions, anyone?

And before you even think about it, Si Biru will *not* be considered.

In the meantime, here's the wallpaper I'm using on Jennifer/Marion/Rei/Aoi/~~Si Biru~~ at the moment:

I like how the background is blue to match the colour of my PSP. Oh, there's also the kimono-clad Japanese chick ^^ (that's Utada Hikaru btw)

I'm having a blast with my baby since I got her, playing Tekken: Dark Resurrection, listening to music and enjoying videos. All in the loo, if need be! So if you've got some extra dosh lying around, and you fancy getting the Japan-only PSP colours (Rose Pink, Lavender Purple, Felicia Blue) or even the black or white ones, I can recommend getting them from Play-Asia.com. From my experience in dealing with them, their prices are reasonable, they answered my queries fairly quickly, and you can choose from a few shipping methods as well.

Links to Play-Asia are on the sidebar ~> Yes, this is a thinly-veiled attempt to get you to click on them. Please support me by clicking on the links before making your purchase. Me pretty low on funds and I could use your help ^^; I'll even make the deal sweeter, I'll give you a banana muffin if you promise to click, heheh.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Going off on a tangent now, I'm currently hooked on Weeds. The TV show, not the real thing. (Although... if you know where I can score some, my contact info is on the upper right corner of the page ^^) Mary-Louise Parker is quite the attractive drug dealer. Maybe part of my fascination lies in the fact that she (literally) disrobed in the Angels in America miniseries... But this woman has won Golden Globes before okay, so don't play play.

And since we're here, I might as well tell you what's on rotation in my playlist: Stephy Tang. Don't know much about her aside from she's an ex-Cookies member, and... that's about it, really. Her songs are your typical manufactured Cantopop, but easy listening. Haven't seen many images of her so I can't really comment about her looks.

That's it for now, and remember: Click clickety click!!! [and make a purchase of course ^^]

Hallelujah, it's here!!!

2007-10-05T17:30:00.001+10:00

Thanks UPS delivery guy! ^_^

My PSP is coming!

2007-10-02T23:41:00.000+10:00

Oooh, waiting for my PSP to ship has been pure unadulterated torture!!! Wasn't originally planning on getting one, but my interest in the handheld was reignited when Sony released the PSP Slim & Lite last month. That's Sony's 'subtle' way of telling everyone that the new PSP is not only slimmer, oh no, but lighter too.

I ordered a Japanese version a few weeks ago because they have a wider range of colours to choose from. Black is overrated. Anyone care to guess which colour I chose?

So yeah, Play-Asia informed me they had it shipped today; and that's only after I shot them an e-mail asking them where the bloody hell is my PSP!! Coincidence? I think not.

So until I see my PSP smiling back at me in the mail, I guess I'll just have to contend with staring at this sweet sweet pic of Jessica Chobot (it's taking every sinew in me not to yell out robot):

Please, don't tempt me any further!!!