A Certain Otaku Shopping Spree in Hong Kong

It's been awhile since I last posted anything. As it's almost New Year already, I might as well talk about my recent trip to Hong Kong where I spent the festive season (and wallet) until Christmas Eve.

Many say Hong Kong is a woman's shopping paradise...

I beg to differ...

Its also an Otaku shopping paradise. If you can't make it to Tokyo for Comiket, HongKong is 2nd best to Japan. HK has the same pace as Tokyo. Fast-moving in an urban jungle with dense concrete trees. A perfect place to get lost when looking for hobby shops.

As an idiot who is extremely sensitive to the cold, this idiot went to shop in the middle of winter. 21°C by day and 9°C by night, I can only imagine the coldness the European and North American continent must be going through as I'm freezing my ass off in this HK winter...

Maintanence Period

To those who wondered what happened to my blog as it became private and users unable to view the posts.

A short maintenance and changing of domain occurred during the last few days. As I wanted to use "Wordpress" platform and had shifted half of my posts to the new one, I found out it was a lot harder to use and controling it required extra maintenance.

Happy to announce I have returned to Blogger, a very simple method for simple people who have not much experience in CSS but so-so at HTML. Also, I revamped my blog design, providing a more pleasing reading experience with larger fonts.

So, happy holidays and a New Year to all!
Keep frosty but not cold!

明けましておめでとうございます！

National Service Phenomenons and Events

EDITED (18.12.2009)

This is a continuation of my previous post on "Essential Items for National Service". But on a different topic, like, what to expect there and and what not for the next 3 months of hell...i mean camp.

For privacy purposes, I will not reveal my enlisting year for NS as it may give away my age (ultimately my identity. But to my friends and comrades, you know its me ^^) .
But I can say it was recent enough for me to remember (or just because it has been etched in my memory data forever...) the fun times and worse times in NS

Essential Items for National Service

To the foreign visitors (Western population), you may ignore this post as it is a guide for my fellow countrymen who are about to enjoy themselves for 3 months in hell, away from the comfort of home. If you are interested in what our National Service survival items are, please continue.

To the locals of Malaysia, especially those under or aged 17, who were fortunate enough to be "randomly" selected for National Service (NS), good luck. Hopefully your stay in hell...I mean camp, will be as eventful as mine was. However, by the time I returned from NS, I had no regrets as I really did enjoy myself there.

Common questions around this time will be;

• What to bring for NS?
• Stuff to bring for Khidmat Negara?
  
• What are the items for NS?
• What do I need to survive NS?!
  

This will hopefully serve as a last minute guide for those who are about to leave for a part of Malaysia they have never been too. Whether it be in the East coast or East Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak), hopefully with this, you will be PREPARED.

Tunes of Symphony

I've FINALLY found some free time as for the past few weeks, a couple of things came up which could NOT be avoided like;

1. Exams... (hand-ache after every paper)
2. Partying (recommend dosage after every exam ;)
3. Playing Modern Warfare 2 and Left for Dead 2 (All for the winter sales, hoorah!)
4. Laziness.... (need some K-ON-music to ward this off...)

So anyway, I'd like to share a couple of songs from now on, especially vocaloid ones, which have a great impact on my ears and eyes. Well, it may not affect you but its something like a recommendation to all J-pop and song listeners in the Y-generation era.

Parody VS Battle VS Fan-service

It seems that Autumn's Top 10 Fall 2009 Anime lineup has a few things in common. Well, most of them fall under one or more of these 3 categories;

• comedic parody,
  
• sci-fi battles,
  
• exposed fan-service.

Not that I'm complaining, of course... Here's a recap of a few top 10 animes and highlights.

Sora no Otoshimono - そらのおとしもの

If nose bleeding was as common in reality as in animation, I would be suffering from anemia in the ICU by now...

If fan-service is your forte and your fetish, look no further for this Fall's super bare-bodying series that ranked top 5 of the animes this season.

Fan-service is no stranger to many of us (as some started watching anime because of this factor). Having lots of filtered scenes with exposed 'oppai' or 'oshiri' in many parts of the show, I has already claim a top spot on my list.

Tomoki loves his peaceful life in a country town, but a strange girl often enters his dreams, asking for his help. One night, a buxom angel suddenly falls on him from the sky. She turns out to be an "entertainment purpose angeloid" -- and his peaceful life is done for.

#77 Nendoroid Saber Lily [Fate/unlimited Codes]

Its October people! Besides my daily dosages of anime each day, I recently received my pre-order since August. Finally, ITS HERE~!

For those who have yet to watch or barely know the Fate franchise, here's a small summary/synopsis on this nendroid's history;

Originally from the Fate/stay Night series, an arcade-style game was born with an all-star duel between characters of the Fate series. One can even use Saber, a saber class fighter, and defeat her enemies with her famous Noble Phantasms such as Excalibur and Avalon. Unlocking this form, Saber Lily, can only be done after defeating all characters using Saber Alter, the darker side of Saber.

Sittin...I mean standing pretty in the Nendoriod box is,
Good Smile Company Nendroid Series #77, Saber Lily~!

Fairy Tail - フェアリーテイル

We would like a moment of silence for the ending of the Rave series...

OKAY! That's enough mourning! Now moving onto more recent events!

I was disappointed when the final chapter was issued for Rave, missing all those sword-combos and rave stones along with the cool storyline. But, there's a new drug in town people! For you dyslexic and illiterate otakus, rejoice for the adaptation of the overnight sensation manga, Fairy Tail ~!

For the manga, I harbor special feelings towards it (thus, making this post biased. sry) Ever since MMORPG came to existence, I've always chosen the mage/sorcerer (or speed-based) character. Not because of the cool clothing and joining a guild, but also adrenaline when casting the great massacre spells! Muahahaha.. (sry, out of topic there)

Anyways, lets move onto a short summary of this anime;

• 
  
  
  

  Lucy is a 17-year-old girl, who wants to be a full-fledged mage. One day when visiting Harujion Town, she meets Natsu, a young man who gets sick easily by any type of transportation. But Natsu isnt just any ordinary kid, he's the legendary "Salamander" and a member of one of the world's most infamous mage guilds: Fairy Tail. Together, they unravel the mysteries of magic in this "fairy tale" wonderland.

Darker Than Black S2 - Ryuusei no Gemini (流星の双子)

Rejoice humans! The contractor wars have just begun! After waiting for 2 years, SEASON 2 is back with a smashing and cliffhanger ending!

And for those who aren't into post-apocalyptic or supernatural powers, hopefully this will make you a little interested! But for a short summary for season 2 first!

• 
  
  
  

  Two years have passed since Hei and Yin escaped the Syndicate after the events of the first season. Making their way to Russia, Hei encounters a young girl named Suou Pavlichenko, whose family is gradually pulled into the war between contractors and various intelligence factions. Meanwhile, Misaki Kirihara has quit her position in Foreign Affairs to begin her own investigations into Hei, the Contractors and the Syndicate.