Sunday, November 23, 2008

Anime Festival Asia

Luckily this weekend was a stand-by weekend, or else I would not have been able to make it for the Anime Festival Asia (AFA) held at Suntec City. Remember that I got no leaves left. I already left my leaves for Whompoa Cup next week...

So I went to Suntec City at around 11.30 am on Sunday, and waited for Linxi until about 12. After that we went for lunch and proceeded to Level 4 for AFA. Surprising there wasn't any queue, and we obtained our tickets smoothly. It also wasn't as crowed as I had expected. There were still a lot of space to move about. Maybe it's because it was still very early.

Already saw a lot of cosplays even before stepping inside the exihibition hall. It was kind of interesting to see anime characters using escalators, LOL. This is actually the first time I'm seeing people cosplay, other than on TV. Sadly to say it was quite disappointing. Many people were either too tall, short, fat, or skin, and their hair length also didn't match the original character. A lot of combinations when posing for photos were also weird. The props and costume were nice, but maybe more effort could be put in, at least for those characters that I know of. But then, it is impossible to cosplay until you look exactly like the anime character. Maybe my expectations are too high, haha. =D

Some pics of cosplays:

I don't know what this anime is...

But this girl is quite cute. =)

Zabuza and Haku, from NARUTO. This is one of the more decent combinations.

A robot from Code Geass.

Don't know this one either...

But the girl on the left looks like Otsuka Ai from this angle... LOL

Unknown.

Unknown.

Naruto and Sakura. But for god's sake why are they fighting an Anbu??

Bankai Ichigo and Hinamori, lietenant of 5th Squadron fighting a mere Hollow?? Since when did hollows become so strong...



A rather cute Byakuya, from BLEACH...



Yah, cute... LOL



And a very cute Mario! =D

Why is Sasuke fighting an Anbu...



Resting cosplay personnels.

Unknown, but interesting.

Unknown.

Oh my god!! A HOLLOW!!!!! =P
He was standing very still...

Renji.

Were Byakuya and Gin so friendly? I don't think so...

This robot again.

Buahahahahahaha!!!!!!

O.o, what a great combination.



In the afternoon there was a cosplay competition. People took turns to go onto stage to perform a skit they composed which can be a short clip from the anime. To my dismay, there wasn't any NARUTO or BLEACH cosplays on stage. And many of the performances were quite ridiculous. Like, why would anime characters be singing disney songs?? In the Code Geass performance the robot took ages to climb up the stairs onto the stage. It was hilarious to see the robot doing that, 'cos usually it flies (in the anime). And furthermore some parts of the robot broke off after it went onto the stage, but they still carried on with the performance and completed it.

I took some videos of the cosplay competition. Will post them after I've uploaded them to youtube. Some screen shots:





Noticed this guy in interesting uniform...

But realised he was playing PSP. LOL

Yup, this is the robot.

Finally it's on stage...







Other than cosplays the main highlight of AFA was figurines. Yes, lots and lots of figurines. I heard that some figurines were so popular that they were sold out in the first hour. Looks like there's been a lot of competition here on Saturday... For me I'm not really particularly interested in figurines, unless I really like the design. I still feel that DVDs are more worth it than the some stationary figures.

Here's a look at some of the figurines:

Gundam.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous.

Miscellaneous.

Dragonball!! I used to watch this a lot.

More Dragonball heroes and villaines.

Interesting change of costume. Felt like buying this but it was too expensive...

Goku in Super Saiyajin 4!!

Mini L. If this was available I would definitely buy this. LOL

Mini Ryuk.

Batman.

FF VII.

More superheroes.

FF VII.

I believe this is Cloud (I don't play FF VII...)


This was quite interesting, I didn't know they have figurines for movies as well...

"I WANT TO PLAY A GAME." LOL




Some other interesting exhibits:

Toys.

D.Gray Man poster.

Code Geass poster.

...>< Code Geass with live person.

Interesting drawing of Deidara, and the words... LOL For those who can't see it's written "nice drawing, buy my hair covers my left eye, uh". Haha=)

Itachi. Very well drawn.

People drawing.




At 7.15 pm, the event everyone has been waiting for started: live performance by May'n. I didn't really know May'n very well. I only knew that she sang songs for this anime called Macross Frontier. But her songs were quite nice, and she gave quite a good performance. It was amazing how she carried out all her dance and stuff while maintaining her voice. This is also the first time I've seen a concert in live, and I was very excited. Now I've got another singer to support. And you know what, she's younger than me!! Born in the same year, but her birthday is in October. Haha, maybe I stand a chance?

Photographs and video taking were prohibited during the concert. And I actually FOLLOWED the rules. What a fool of me, I could have just snapped a few pics. After the concert there was this hand-shaking session with May'n for those Diamond VIP pass holders. They will also get a signature of May'n each. I wish I will also get such a chance in the future.

Took some photos during the hand-shaking session, but not very clear as I was quite far from the stage. She's quite cute, isn't she? And lively too. She shakes hands not using one, but both hands.











Good luck to May'n in her future career. Fight on!


That's the end of my AFA report. I had a thought when attending this event. Would there be such thing called J-POP festival? If there is I would be the first one to buy the ticket, and if there's a concert by ayu or ai-chan I would buy first row ticket no matter how much it costs. =D

Monday, November 17, 2008

Life still goes on...

One week of Exercise Praxis has ended. Well, actually it's just 5 days, but I had to stay in for one week due to my duty schedule. I've come back from "hell", or so I thought it would be.

In fact it wasn't exactly hell. At least for me. This was because I was selected to be out of the main running team. So basically I didn't run with the rest, and I didn't deal with the situations on the spot like others did. Initially I thought it would be good, since didn't need to run, but when I learnt of the reason I was kind of hurt. They wanted the two most blur guys to be out of the main team, so that our platoon would not screw things up, and I'm actually one of them... Okay, now I realise that I'm actually considered as one of the most "blur" ones in my platoon...

Well, what can I do? It's hard to change people's opinions of you once they are set, especially when you are a person who doesn't talk a lot. It's always been like this... People think I'm blur, lousy and stupid. And because of this mindset, whatever I say will be treated as a stupid remark and won'tbe treated seriously. When will I be given some responsibilities? Who are the commanders to judge me, and think that they are correct?

So, I went through the whole exercise period as slack as I can be, while watching others react to scenarios and run to certain destinations. It was tiring at times, as I had to do midnight duty, but I'm sure it was more tiring for the rest. I wanted to run together with everyone, even though I wasn't very confident... To think I was so "excited" about Praxis and asked so many questions about it... I even went through some of the scenarios in my head! And this is what I get...

Haiz... However, on the overall, I feel that this year's Praxis is not as tiring as I had expected. Other people including those that went through last year's Praxis also share the same opinion. That's good for everyone. Everyone should be feeling happy, all except me... I think the fact that people don't understand me got to do my ability to communicate. I don't show others that I have the abilities, so others don't think that I have. But then, I don't believe in doing things just for show...

Another reason why I'm unhappy is because my relationship with some of my platoon mates is strained. I'm not really getting along well with some of them, and I don't know what I can do about it. Maybe I should go and see a psychiatrist?

Once again I have wasted a weekend in camp doing useless stuff. Oh yeah, I still have one more year to spend here. One more year of time to waste. One more year of time to stay with these people.

I tried doing productive stuff, such as reading books and doing tsumego. But sometimes when you are too bored, you won't be in the mood to do all these stuffs. And that's why everyone in this camp need a PSP. Even I use it almost daily.

Sometimes, I feel that my life is getting more and more disorganised. I'm losing the discipline to do what I should be doing, and I'm losing the ability to communicate with other people. My self-confidence is draining away. Or maybe I never had any in the first place. I'm always afraid of making mistakes. Always afraid of people laughing at my mistakes. That's why I don't talk a lot.

I should be reflecting more on my life. But without action nothing would change.

With or without action, life will still go on, no matter whether it changes or not...

Monday, November 10, 2008

101108

Today is 10th November 2008.

In army terms, we write it as 101108.

What's so special about this date?

Let me tell you... My ORD (Operationally Ready Date, which means the day I complete my NS) date is 101109.

Significance?

Exactly ONE YEAR to ORD!!!!!

WOOOHOOOO!

Let's open a champagne to celebrate!!!!

Cheers!!!!!! =D


P.S. I was in camp going through hell when I "supposedly" made this post.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Hell Week is here...

Tomorrow is the start of Exercise Praxis, which is an annual major praxis in my camp. Because of that, I've got to book in tonight and won't be out until next next Monday... That's 8 days! I wonder how long ago the last time I stayed in for so many days was. I don't dare to touch on the details of the exercise, but basically it involves a lot of running. Running around with LBV, helmet and rifle. Everyday. And it's not just once or twice each day. It's MANY times! I really hope that my body can take it...

Of course it's not a test of our physical fitness. It's more of a test on our reactions and how we respond to different situations. Hence being me, I'm also afraid of doing the wrong things or not doing things properly. My job requires me to control people, but will I be able to do that? The more I think, the more I fear that I will screw up...

Have been watching the movie SAW series these few days. Watched SAW I, II and III in one shot. I was kind of interested in the movie after I watched SAW IV in camp, and realised that the movie is... NICE! I like this kind of movies. Not to say that I like gore stuff, but the whole movie's plot and schemes involved are very nice. And the twist at the end... is amazing. It never fails to give me an ending that is unexpected. Especially the first SAW movie. I was shouting out "OH MY GOD!" so many times! Definitely worth a watch! Gotta catch SAW V after the next book-out (^^).

Went to SWA yesterday to register for the Whompoa Cups. Heard that this year's Whompoa is much more competitive, and there is even a profesional 3 dan from China playing. What the... Why are professional players allowed to go for Amateur competitions? And to think SWA even allowed it... Don't know what they are thinking. I just hope I can get into the first five, so that I will be able to go for the selection for the World Amateur Tournament next year...

Gotta prepare for book-in now... Please let this week pass faster...

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

心・战





翻天覆地携手浪逐浪 千杯不醉只醉月光
会心一笑不必讲 对看 一切都雪亮

赤手空拳心机里攻防
铁壁铜墙也敢碰撞
今生不枉这一趟 烈火 烧出凤凰

把泪风干 这一仗 心的战场
赢得漂亮 一起上 输也坦荡

谁怕夜长 狂啸当歌 相知 最难忘
滚滚长江 滚烫 依旧在胸膛
狂啸当歌 何妨 惊涛裂岸 不枉

脱口成句意短却情长
千杯不醉只醉月光
会心一笑不必讲 对看 一切都雪亮

赤手空拳心机里攻防
铁壁铜墙也敢碰撞
今生不枉这一趟 烈火 烧出凤凰

心理交战 这一仗 心的战场
以战止战 一起上 痛快一场

谁怕夜长 狂啸当歌 相知 最难忘
滚滚长江 滚烫 依旧在胸膛
狂啸当歌 何妨 惊涛裂岸 不枉

这一刻 在何方 这一杯 我先干
为你受过伤 是我的勋章
多少的悲欢 都尽付笑谈
今夜这月光 先喝光


阿兰 - 心・战 ~RED CLIFF~
作詞:李焯雄 作曲:岩代太郎  編曲:中野雄太


这是我向大家介绍的第一首歌。这首歌是今年重头剧《赤壁》的中文主题曲。不过我听到这首歌不是因为这部电影(何况我根本就没有看><),而是因为我一直都有收集阿兰这位歌手的日文歌曲。《赤壁》11月1日在日本全国各地上映,而它的日语主题曲,《RED CLIFF ~心・戦~》,在10月15日发行。而这首歌,也恰巧收录在这张单曲里。

阿兰是一名藏族女歌手,出身四川美人谷。因某种原因被日本艾廻公司(Avex)选中,所以一直在日本发展。且不说她的人吧,我认为她的歌声相当动听,跟这首歌优美的旋律搭配得很好。可能是因为她的日语不怎么样,也可能是因为我的中国血统在作怪,比起那首日语版的我更加喜欢这首中文版的。至于词呢,网上有一些人说这个歌词填得不好。不过我这种“凡人”是很难判断得出来的吧~何况她唱得那么好听,歌词怎么样都无所谓啦~=P

听完这首歌之后我更加对这部电影感兴趣了。日本人真是会包装啊,连外国的电影都如此努力宣传,还作出这么好听的主题曲。真想听一听诸葛亮他们在日文配音下会是什么样的效果...

让我们为阿兰这位在日本打天下的中国本土歌手加油吧!



顺便说一说我的近况吧。

昨天从兵营出来过后,和小熙吃了一顿饭。好久没有见到他了。他前几天刚从澳洲回来,现在正在放一个多礼拜的长假。真爽啊,做我这种工作的人是不可能有长假的...=(。不过他的头发还是一样短,而且比我的短很多,哈哈=D

回到家之后看了最新的火影和死神的漫画。死神真是发展的好慢啊...真不知道什么时候才可以看到十刃出招。火影呢,不会吧,难道又有一个大人物要死了?已经死了那么多人了,如果连卡卡西也死的话就太悲惨了...

今天去了Jurong East的夜市(Pasar Malam)买东西。那里的东西价钱都还不错。于是我买了一个包包,两件衣服还有一个...一个闹钟...-_-"。买完之后去了一个叫什么QBHouse的地方剪头发。他们就在巴士转换站外面盖了一个很小的房间,一次10块钱,10分钟。虽然那地方不可以烫发或者洗头,而且我不认为每次剪都肯定少过10分钟,但是10块钱就能搞定我的头发,还挺方便的。

后来我要去乘车的时候有一个人来找我谈话,原来是什么Prudential的员工。他们向我介绍一个储蓄基金加保险的一个计划,大致的概念就是每个月储蓄一点钱年底就可以而外拿到额外的一笔钱,而且利息也会增加到3%。保险也会一直存在,直到25年后他们才把那笔储蓄的钱退还给你。其实这个计划我觉得好不错,而且是完全免费的。不过这种事我一向都不敢自己打主意,况且如果申请的话我每个月能花的钱将减少,失去了金钱上的自由。我说我会回家考虑过后再回复她,不过应该是不会申请吧~

下个礼拜我兵营里有一个演习,整个礼拜都不能出来,可以称作Hell Week。具体这个演习是什么样子的我不敢说,可以说的是我们会一直全副武装跑来跑去,就算累到半死也要继续跑,而且跑完过后还要继续值班。天啊,希望下个礼拜赶快过去...