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Orientation Group Leader Camp @ Meridian JC

Very simply put, I signed myself up to be a group leader for Meridian JC's 2nd orientation event for the second intake of JC students coming in after the Joint Admissions Exercise, so this meant having to take part in a 2 day 1 night camp in school for some leadership training and to test out the new concepts to be carried out during the actual orientation. Being the nifty guy I tend to be nowadays, I took my (mum's) Canon Powershot to snap some shots and have something to talk about on this blog.


Of course, nobody seemed to mind.

Plenty of stuff happened, but I'll just highlight the more interesting ones. I was supposed to be in charge of an obstacle game station located at a far, obscure end of the school as part of a certain 'amazing race' activity, and this is my crew. We were initially stationed behind the library, and equally obscure place in school, but got shifted to the end of the sports gallery due to the rain. So there we were, setting up a relatively easy obstacle course for our game which I'd like to call 'IRL Snake', meaning you play your favourite cellphone game with real people.
Got a lot of good feedback on that, but the most interesting thing about the whole event was when I was inspired to include a bonus game, just mere minutes before the event started, when I saw a crew member stash the fake prize money into one of fifty two lockers located just beside the course for safekeeping. (You can barely see the row of lockers to the let of the picture)
I immediately set up the whole row of lockers for use, and conceived the bonus game parodying Deal or No Deal, where contestants try their luck at locating the prize money after they've completed the first game by opening up 6 out of 26 lockers (I feel really blessed not just because we had lockers in our vicinity, but halving them exactly gives you 26, just like the real deal), failing which they have to do a forfeit. The end result was excellent, and everybody in the obstacle game station agrees that during Orientation, wet weather or not, we should be located at the obscure corner of the school known as the sports gallery.










The next day was the same thing, except I was not in charge of any station and was involved in the actual game, and that it was held in the Central area of Singapore. My group had to shuttle around first from school (in Pasir Ris) to Clark Quay, then to Harbourfront (where all 17-odd of us managed to squeeze into one lift at that unknown mall located beside Vivocity; see 1st picture), then to Dhoby Ghaut where we had lunch at Long John Silver's (and were serviced by this kindly old pirate; see 2nd picture), then to Somerset and Orchard for some 'fooling around' (see 4th, 5th and 6th pictures). Along the way we collected a bunch of rather interesting items (see 8th, 9th and 10th pictures)...

By the end of it all everybody had gotten pretty tired. I immediately seized the opportunity :P. If you see anything 'strange' in these photos (you know what I mean), you MUST tell me, cos I need to know and I WANT to see.






To compensate for my lack of anime pics I have this, taken in Orchard Road.


Okay, that didn't go as excitingly as i thought. Oh well, could get better next time. till then.

Greetings after a long time!

Sup Guys, I've got good news and bad news.

The bad news is that I'm still alive. ONOZ.

The good news is that I've most recently found plenty of stuff to talk about. Like this:

And this:

But for the most part right now, this:


Focusing on the latter picture, I now would like to introduce a new category in which some of my future posts: Journalism. Now that I have new very own laptop and freedom to carry my mum's Canon Powershot around, I am able to chronicle certain special events accurately and talk about them in more interesting detail right here on my blog.

Also, now that I realize it, I find myself in the perfect position for starting a new journalism section for this site. Many a times I see myself at the sideline of the action, taking everything in from the third-person point of view. Most of the time I form part of the background scenery; I can greet you 'hello' to lighten up your day and show my appreciation to you and only receive a curt nod and barely audible mumble in reply, listen intently to exciting discussions without once breathing a word, but mostly stone at one corner lost in my own thoughts while the world passes by me, occasionally slipping out of my trance to take in the surroundings. I have accepted this well as my position in life, to use my fantastic highly analytical instrument known as my brain to spectate from afar events that come and go, recording them down here together with my personal thoughts and feelings. At any time I may even choose to join in, to have a tiny taste of the experience first-hand, just to better understand how it goes. This, is what I feel is good journalism.

But enough about that. first post coming up, and it's about the recent OGL amp I attended at my new school, Meridian Junior College. Reviews on my Astray and Compaq will follow soon after.

Happy Birthday to Kobayashi Mao, Amerie, Rob Zombie and Me!

Yes, it's silly, but I like my birthdate just the way it is. It's January 12th, by the way.

Nothing much happened on that day, by the way. No, nothing much at all. Though, the chocolate cake I baked turned into a cookie, and all the cheese over the pizza I baked had turned into a delicious-looking black. The Gundam Red Astray I bought myself about a week ago was considered birthday present enough (pics of it soon, I'm in school right now). I'm still expecting my first order of sangokushi taisen 2 cards from Japan (which I forked out a hefty $160 for), that'll be belated. I didn't go out or do anything, as I still needed to do the housework. I got a bit of free time to play Star Wars: Empire at War and Grenado Espada. I took the day off and didn't do any homework (which meant having to spend 12pm to 6pm on Sunday glued to my desk. Seriously, it's that much. JC's like that, I guess).

Now, compare my situation to those from other more significant bloggers out there. Darkmirage sure had a lot to say about his 2007 birthday, didn't he? No, I'm not jealous, I'm just making comparisons. I'm not your typical anime blogger who's got loads to spend on PVC figures (my Gundam costs only $34-something and it's hardly considered Revoltech material) and other related Akiba-ken items or spend a week in Japan, or who's got a proficient knowledge of Japanese, so he can rant (or boast) about the JPLTs he can take. I'm just your normal insignificant Singaporean Japan-lover who's trying to carve a niche for himself in the whatever industry you call this, in a slightly different way than others. For dislike of being called an Otaku I don't do things to the level other Akiba-ken people do, like buy 1/8 figurines, import doujinshi, embellish blogs and stuff (I've given up on AnimeBlogger for now, those sloths), and I don't plan to change that any time soon. What I do plan is to be different, to be special, to be unique. You may not see anything now, but I can assure you, sooner or later you will. That I can promise. That is all.

And no, I didn't blow any candles this year either.

I apologize if you don't like rants. I'll have to compensate for that.

Remember, Gundam pix! >_<

And I'll just add in one pix here too, since I haven't done so in a pretty long time now.


Teh pwnage.

Nappy New Year!

Yeah, it's been pretty long since I did a last blog post. Lotsa things have been going on that had been keeping me away from the computer, mostly the fact that my siblings are using the computer.

Spent the countdown at a friend's church. Yes, I still kinda disapprove of how modern youths sing praise songs (rock bands, jumping around), and I actually felt pretty awkward there. I highly doubt I'll be going there today. As I speak, I'm receiving at least 5 text messages from my 'new-found church friends' beckoning me to come back.

Back to school again, it's orientation. Lotsa running around, cheering and stuff. the usual stuff. I'll spare the details, but just to let you know I spent the weekend with sunburnt arms and neck, aching sores and an unsightly bruise on my right thigh. But I think life in a JC's gonna be pretty good for me. I feel much more comfortable here now, and less nervous. The JC life promises more freedom and liberty to do your own stuff, but that also means you gotta do your own stuff. Hope I'm ready for it.

I'm typing this from a computer at the school library, so I have no pictures for now. Hope you all had a good new year.

Xmas Pictures!

Because telling a story with only words is rather tedious and boring, I'll use my pictures I took at Orchard Road on Christmas Eve tell the story.

Came out of the Orchard Road MRT entrance. Fought with this crowd on my way to Ngee Ann City. There was a bottleneck way up front, so I ended up getting moshed pretty bad. People were pushing from the front. Even more were pushing from behind. Think I molested a few people (accidentally) during the procession.

Oh, but the lights were so pretty...

Made it to Ngee Ann City. I make it a point to snap a picture of this particular Christmas tree every year.

Had a brief dinner, looked around at Kinokuniya (wanted to get a Kanon picture book but found it too expensive T_T;;), then headed off to the Heeren. Oh, so pretty...

I love big trees. BIG...

With him holding up the sign like that and airing his armpits, it's no wonder he hasn't been getting any all night...

Made it to Heeren. Got a pretty nice view from the fourth floor. But that's not what I went there for. Got a lil' present from HMV (His Master's Voice) for somebody special. Costed me $56 altogether, almost 50% of my savings.


Back outside. By now youths with foam spray cans were waging gang wars on each other and innocent passers-by. A very unsafe place to get moshed, cos you have no place to hide.

Alas, I was not spared. That's it, I'm never stepping into Orchard Road in Christmas Eve again. Guess I'll have to plan earlier if I'm gonna get next year's Ngee Ann City Christmas Tree pic.

Did I mention that the gift was for something special? Well, I'm someone special to myself, aren't I?

This is what costed me $56.
How did your Christmas go?

Dear Beloved Readers and Subscribers of my blog...

It is unfortunate that my personal life blog and otaku blog have to be in the same page. Sadly this is the case, as this blog has indeed started off as a personal life blog, so I feel it is only appropriate that my life rants continue to go here instead of somewhere else. After all, the blog URL says 'Our World' in Japanese, but I am still part of this world after all. I guess you can say this is the advantage, or disadvantage of my blog in comparison to other otaku blogs.

My parents were involved in a very bad squabble late last night, which lasted till about 2 am this morning. It wasn't anything new, and not as serious as last times, thankfully. I believe it had something to do with my dad, in his usual nighttime drunken stupor, criticizing mum about her work-over-family priorities that evening. This came about when he found out that morning that I was at mum's office helping her set up a new printer, when I was supposed to be at home working on dad's admin assignments with the home computer. I did get back to his work later in the afternoon, but made little progress as I still had to share the computer with my siblings, since mum's brought the laptop to work. Dad was really frustrated, cos he was the one who keeps telling me that he has taken good care of the family, and that all of us are indebted to him. He criticized my actions of helping mum out in her office by questioning if I owed her company anything. In a fit of rage he even tried to delete all my admin work, but thankfully, being the computer-illiterate person he is, didn't know how. There he was, yelling at me, "I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!", and a few moments later shouting, "HOW DO YOU DELETE THIS DAMN THING?!"

I hit the roof too. In the middle of their squabble I put on some clothes (trivia: AK's always only in his underwear and shorts at home) and run out the door. It was 2am. I decided to take a walk down to the nearby marketplace then back, hoping that the argument had died down by then. a few things I learned from my journey:
The majority of cars going up and down the mostly empty roads are taxis.
At this hour there are still people walking around, usually in pairs (not couples).
The nearby LAN gaming shop was STILL OPEN. The LANMaster and one pudgy 20-something guy were still inside.
This hour is usually when a certain Indian Coffee House gets the most customers. It was practically packed when I walked past.

Today dad's locked himself up in his room, and mum's at work again. Even our maid's taken the day off. Looks like it's up to me to hold the fort. Wish me luck.

Today's pix.

Tsukino <3 <3 <3

Yes, that's her above and on the blog header; she happens to be my current new unofficial blog mascot, in a bid to glorify this site a bit more. Once I've figured out how to use a picture rotator you'll be able to see four different variants of her. ^_^

For those who are wondering, she's from a highly successful shounen manga created by Hhashiguchi Takashi, called Yakitate! Ja-pan. I first heard of it during Animax's Yakitate! Ja-pan anime promotions (the one where they joined hands with Breadtalk and created all sorts of ridiculous IRL Ja-pans which, try as they might, could not elicit a single worthy reaction from me), and got hooked when I checked out the manga at onemanga.com.

So yeah, that's about it for now. If anybody can tell me how to incorporate musical instruments with VOCALOID2 it'd be appreciated. Forever Love for Miku's done (thanks a lot to VOCALOID2's ability to import Guitar Pro files), and all I gotta figure out now is how I can put her together with the rest of X-Japan (excluding Toshi) to create one awesome collaboration.

Hatsune Miku Recommends...

There's a website that features your ideal Hatsune Miku song video according to your name and birthday. All you have to input is the month, followed by day, then your name into the blank spaces, and hit to button to the right.
This is mine, by the way:

Speaking of Hatsune Miku, I've been toying around with VOCALOID 2, having installed it just this afternoon. Was a bit confused about how I should go around inserting notes, until I downloaded an English Interface to overwrite the Japanese one (it's not completely effective, by the way), and played around with the controls for about fifteen minutes. The great thing about me is I never consult manuals; I learn how to do something or do something more efficiently by toying around with it first and getting the hang of it, before thinking of alternate methods and modification and seeing if they work. Currently I'm getting Miku-chan to sing X-Japan's Forever Love, and so far it's been going very well (completed two verses). Will upload on YouTube when it's done, not to worry.

OMG Miku sings Portals' "Still Alive"!

Complete with Japanese Engrish! Win!


This Was A Triumph
I'm Making A Note Here:
HUGE SUCCESS
It's hard to overstate
my satisfaction.
Aperture Science
We do what we must
because we can.
For the good of all of us.
Except the ones who are dead.

But there's no sense crying
over every mistake.
You just keep on trying
till you run out of cake.
And the Science gets done.
And you make a neat gun.
For the people who are
Still alive.

I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you!
Now these points of data
make a beautiful line.
And we're out of beta.
We're releasing on time.
So I'm GLaD. I got burned.
Think of all the things we learned
for the people who are
still alive.

Go ahead and leave me.
I think I prefer to stay inside.
Maybe you'll find someone else
to help you.
Maybe Black Mesa. . .
THAT WAS A JOKE. HA HA. FAT CHANCE.
Anyway. this cake is great.
It's so delicious and moist.
Look at me still talking
When there's science to do.
When I look out there,
it makes me GLaD I'm not you.
I've experiments to run.
There is research to be done.
On the people who are
still alive.

And believe me I am still alive.

I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.

I feel FANTASTIC and I'm still alive.

While you're dying I'll be still alive.

And when you're dead I will be still alive.

STILL ALIVE

One Factor That Might Influence Me into Watching CLANNAD.

Douzo girl (Fuko). Oh so Moe.

I feel like starting on Gurren Lagann too (yes, I know I'm late). Can't find episode 2 on Youtube (or anywhere else for that matter, aside from torrent sites, which I'm choosing to stay away from) though. My progress on Ninomiya-kun! so far is at episode 7. Yup, it's not much, but I'm definitely picking up momentum again.

A few more updates on my situation:
-Access to the Lenovo laptop has been reduced to just my mum and me. In other words, when my mum's not using it (which is most of the time) I have complete possession. Not like last time, when my sis used to dominate it.
-I've just started on Grenado Espada. femminile family (small f), Caravaggio (Italian for feminine, the closest word I could get that sounds like 'family').
-I'm reviving my rusty PangYa and Trickster accounts. Now I have to work out a timetable so I can devote equally divided attention to all my games.
-I have to divide an equal portion of attention for gym too. the one near my house has just opened.
-Some of this 'time' actually falls under the wee hours of the morning. No, I'm not afraid. :P
-Not much progress on stories.
Kay, that's it. that=nks for the page hits, everyone who's viewed my blog! thank you, Danny Choo, for creating otaku.fm! Drawing page views has never been easier!

MOAR pix?

Feedburner tells me that I received 38 clicks mostly from otaku.fm to my previous pix post.

Something tells me I should post more pix to draw more traffic to my site.

This post is officially dedicated to Hatsune Miku.


Nosebleed!

wow. That was random.

One of my faves.


Nice boat.

Seifuku is fine too.

a Yuki is fine too.

A Nodoka too, is fine too.

Perfect for a bumper sticker.

Because you can't get enough pantsu.

WANT TO SEE MOAR? Don't tell anyone I'm sharing these pics, chances are the illustrators wouldn't want to hear of it. Read more about it here.