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had this nagging concern at the back of my head which I cudnt put a finger to before getting the DS. Strangely, it became clear after I had the DS on hand at home, seating infront of my com, just before switching it on. See, when playing games on iPod, they tend to be fun for a short while before losing its appeal. You know, like not engaging enough. On the other hand, games on a console or PC tends to draw one in with their graphics, story and gameplay in order to transport the gamer to another world (escapism)
Its like why people tend to like to go to the cinema, so as to lose themselves, forget their troubles for the next hour or two and immerse themselves into the story and its characters. The really good ones try to anyway (notable examples includes the original Metal Gear Solid, Halo, Resident Evil 4. I’m speaking for myself here)
Back to the DS. The concern was whether games on DS will be essentially minigames that are great for short bursts of gaming but not nearly engaging enough. I’ve read reviews of DS games, but still.. This feeling held the purchase back quite some time, till i saw a good deal on ebay. (Note to self for the 26th time: salesman always tend to over praise their products. Take their pitch with a lot of salt.)
After gaming on it for a few days, i am glad. Been playing Rhythm Heaven. gamespot gave it 7.5, so had the impression it just a okay game. After trying it out for myself I found it really addictive.. the songs keep playing in my head! Its difficulty level makes me feel rhythmically challenged tho. interesting how it makes use of the stylus pad with just a few simple motions (tap, tap and hold, flick etc) and yet the stages feels varied and fun. Innovative use of the stylus pad in games makes the DS stand out from the PSP.
Bought GTA Chinatown Wars and Zelda Phantom Hourglass on eBay, still waiting for them to be posted. Wait will be long as the seller is from overseas. Got kinda overly competitive in the last few minutes of the auction. They are still good deals, just not as good as before the aggressive bidding near auction closing. Just shipping for the two items cost ₤12! Aiming for Chrono Trigger next. These games are the primary reasons why I bought the DS in the first place. There are quite a number of rhythm beats games available, eg Elite Beat Agents, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Taiko no Tatsujin etc shud be amusing too. The great thing about buying a console late is the wealth of games available. Advance Wars series is another I wanna try, plus Final Fantasy 5, Suikoden, varangt profile rpgs and on.. Prays Shining Force Feather gets an American release!
Biggest compliant is the cost of games. $69.90 for chrono trigger? i can buy star ocean for the xbox360 with that! Reason why eBay is good as an alternative. Have to be careful tho, search and check before committing to buy. Some I think are actually bootleg games that are made to look like the original..
I got interested in this anime after it was mentioned by two persons when asked individually what anime they were watching.
Chiaki, Kana and Haruka
It’s a comedy about the daily lives of the 3 sisters, each with their own quirky personalities. I remember watching the first episode unsure of what to expect but by the end of it i was madly in love. Lovable and hilarious, highly recommended even for non anime fans!
Below are screen caps from the first episode, specifically where Kana discussed what a kiss is with Chiaki and in the end Kana wanted to kiss Chiaki to see how its like. Chiaki refuses to be kissed by her and Kana chases her around the house. I think this is where i began to fall in love with this anime 
2007 seemed to have passed by very quickly. Remember seeing an amazing rainbow on the 1st day of 2007
It was one of the nicer experiences in 07. The effect of 7% GST adjustment was felt fully the other day at Swensens, together with 10% service charge the bill was increased almost 20%.
Exam results were better than i expected. Not good results but at least managed to clear all subjects I was really worried about maths, stats and e-commerce, especially stats with all the careless mistakes. Oh, how do you guys check your results? I have to use a book to cover my computer screen and view grades for each subject one at a time. The thought of seeing all (bad) results at one time is too stressful.
Most Useless Tutorials award goes to E-commerce and second half of Shopping Econs taught by Colonel Sanders. They’re tied. Both required preparation of presentation materials which were time consuming but in the end added little value in the quest for better grades.
Merry Christmas to all~
I received a gift recently, my bday and x’mas gift from xt:
Hugmug from max brenner. Thanks so much xt
Results will be out tml. It’s what i’ve been dreading since after the exams. I shall check them on monday so as to enjoy the weekend. Oh, Mr & Mrs Smith will be shown on ch5 this Sunday, 715pm. It’s an entertaining show, funny, action packed and romantic. Catch it if you can.
Last week was bad, two projects were dealt with. I really do not like project work at all. Seems too much work compared to having a quiz of the same weight-age. Individual grade does not reflect the effort the person puts in since everyone gets the same grade. I would rather spend the late nights revising for the subject and sit for a quiz! Can we pls have quizzes instead of projects? And i found out how to slack as a uni prof. Too lazy to set questions for tutorial classes? Divide the tutorial class into groups and assign them questions to present during tutorial classes. You wont even need to talk much, the students will be presenting anyway. sigh..
Tried shihlin chicken and it was great
Wave 1/10 Mikuru Asahina Bunny Girl Version
Now it’s time to get serious with studies! There’s only about 20days till my first paper. Mikuru-chan is here to cheer me on!
Mikuru with a mic.. and ak47 and sign posts! just like in the series’ episode 00
blushing.. kawaii!
jiayou jiayou!
Hmmm i’m considering to set up a figurine blog to haolianshowcase my figurines.. but if that’s to happen it’d have to wait till the exams are over at least and when i’ve more stuff to show. Above pics are amateurish without nice background.
I’ve been spending wayyy too much time and attention (not to mention moolah) on my new hobby: collecting anime figurines. Am so drawn to it that i’d have to eat bread for this month and probably the following months..
Unfamiliar locations like sunshine plaza and china square central became places of interest as they are the local figurines paradise. Lots of figurines can be found and/or preorder at the shops there.
The figurines of my affection are from the anime Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsuthe (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi).
The lady in the first pic is the main character of the anime, Suzumiya Haruhi. 2nd pic features the main cast. This anime is one of the the most interesting animes i’ve seen (actually it does’nt count for much since the number of animes i have seen can be counted with both hands). The kawaii girls definitely add to the watch-able factor. The gist: Haruhi is a stubborn girl who “has no interest in mankind” and only wants to meet “aliens, future people, and ESPs”. She forms a club in school called “Sekai wo Ooini moriagerutame no Suzumiya haruhi Dan” or (SOS dan for short) with her objective of finding weird stuff in mind. Club members all seem to be there for a reason as the plot unfolds… Don’t wanna post spoilers! More info can be found here or you can wiki it. One feature of the series is it does not run in a synchronous manner, ie for example events that took place in episode 7 can be after episode 10. This makes viewing kinda confusing but in the end it’s actually one it’s the alluring points; it adds to the mysterious factor (or something like that).
I wanna get the limited edition dvd from amazon.com (hint hint) but the episodes in the collection run synchronously. Not too big a turn off but it feels like the original flavour is being taken away. Eh, it’d have to wait till after beginning nov to see if i have to get it myself (cough cough). Hehe. Hopefully it’d still be in stock!
