Fried Tofu and a few minor updates

The fella in the center is Domo-Kun, supposedly a fried tofu from outer space. Cute eh? OK down to business, I've finally gotten the entire Age of Empires 3 series, the original Age of Empires, The War Chiefs expansion and the Asian Dynasties expansion. Been playing it whenever i have the time and so far I've got nothing but praise for this game, simply perfect, can't wait to go back and challenge the rest. Have picked up more and more injuries since my return to the soccer pitch, basically an increasing collection of bruises, scratches and abrasions on my right leg and both elbows. And now i think I'm coming down with some illness, pray for a speedy recovery i will.

It comes and goes.....

Christmas has just come and gone, albeit a rather quiet one since my grandmother was afflicted by stroke. The usual family gathering which has never been quite the same since last year when she was brought low by stroke, till that time i always thought of my grandparent's as "immortal", omniopresent like they would always be there, this incident obviously showed the immaturity of my thinking. This might be the inappropriate time for me to dwell on such dark thoughts but i feel that during this festive season and the last few days of 2007 it's a good time for me to reflect on everything which has happend, a time to remember the people and the events which have shaped the path which i am on now. During this time of the year my grandmother would make this dish called "tang-yun", a sort of chinese and peranakan fusion(my grandmother of course took the liberty of adding extra peranakan like ingredients) dish where all the grandsons would come together and help out. As time passed i was the only one who would still go over and help her out every year. Since her stroke attack which left her incapable of doing much of anything this dish was never made again. One day i plan on making it again, maybe next year or the year after next but i will definitely make it again.

The End of an Era

The Seventy-Six has finally arrived and it's currently festering inside it's box. I have no intention of swapping out my sim card yet as i still don't feel like changing my phone(gotta adjust the settings on the new phone and such, all rather tedious work which i'm trying to put off for as long as possible). So there you have it, the days of the 6260 are numbered, it is the end of an era. It's been a great run, a good four years of rather error-free service and although I've finally got the Seventy-Six i suddenly don't feel like changing my phone anymore.

For now.....

Drink, drink, soccer, drink, club, drink and did i say more drinking? Yes that's exactly what i've been doing since i came back, lots and lots of drinking(i bet there's more alcohol in my blood now than blood), clubbing and soccer. Just played my first proper game of (street)soccer on Sunday, not a very good game for me if i might add although i did pull off some very good saves, but it was just not good enough. I expected as much since the last time i played was a good 6 months ago, and as a result my movements and senses were quite stiff. There's going to be a field match this Wednesday and i hope i play much better then(basket, almost everyone has switched over to the new addidas F50 boots whereas i'm still sticking with my good ole' Predator "Dragon" boots). Supposed to meet some of the other(chinese) chaps from 4E3 on thursday, a small reunion of sorts, but this is as of yet unconfirmed. Then on Friday Brendan wants to go out and quaff a few as usual, with Andrew,(maybe) Ivan and the other ex-Taylors people. Saturday is pretty much the same only difference is that i'm going clubbing with the Upps. Well i don't plan on going out to club and drink for the whole duration of my vacation(as much as i would love to), i already went for a job interview at a job agency last week(due to my mum's incessant nagging) and within the half hour they called me back and said that a few banks were interested and that they would call me back after they finalised everything. Now am i good or what? Aside from the fact that i have no intention on starting work till January.

360-ing

Bought two new games for the 360, Need for Speed: Pro Street and Ace Combat 6: The Fires of War. Two very good buys if i might add, real good for keeping the boredom at bay when I'm stuck at home. First up is Need for Speed, and like all car enthusiasts and players of driving simulators i have to admit that i had very low expectations for it. After having played games like Gran Turismo and Forza which are two very superb driving simulators i have to say that the Need for Speed series is sorely lacking in terms of realism, challenge and detail when compared with these two games, until now. Pro Street is by far the most impressive Need for Speed title in this long series, it certainly trumps Carbon and Most Wanted in terms of detail, challenge and realism. When played in "King Mode" you almost feel like you're playing Forza instead of NFS where you have to actually brake into corners. Gone are the days where you can take a corner at over 100, now the standard is a more realistic 60 odd. And no more reckless driving by those unskilled drivers who only depend on speed to win a race. Crash into a wall or another car? There goes your body panels and windscreens, dented and shattered. Miss a turn and go over a curb? If you're lucky you get away with some dents and scrapes on your bodywork, if not your car flips and it's all over. And whats more the car doesn't "auto-repair" at the end of each race, either you pay for it with cash or trade in a marker. The price you pay usually depends on how badly you messed up, total your car and you usually have to foot a hefty some to get it fixed, usually almost costing as much as a new one. So how good is the new Pro Street? Well driving simulator purists will still say nothing comes close to Gran Turismo in terms of realism and challenge, but for the everyday casual gamer or beginner i say it's good enough. The only fault i can find with the game is that it does not offer the free garage anymore where you can select 20 cars and modify them to your liking, which i have to say was one of the main factors why people purchased the last two NFS games in the first place. Another point is that it's hood designs are rather limited this time around with those which they have offered being rather repulsive. Next up is Ace Combat 6, a classic amongst console fighter simulators. While not being the best one out there it has a nice and simple game play and a good collection of fighters. While it's storyline is as good as redundant it tries to make the game have more dept than your usual "shoot em' all down" kind of simulator. In terms of realism it's as real as pirated DVDs which already speaks volumes, graphics wise it's quite OK except for the part when you fire off a missile which looks very distorted. A decent game for the casual gamer but don't expect much more than that.

Home. Again

So here it is my first post since coming back home. Just a short one as i just came back last night and have not really been up to anything yet. The laptop has been assembled but is for the time being redundant as my useless internet connection and ridiculously unreliable wireless router have seen it fit to refuse my right to the internet. So here i am at my old, cranky, not as unreliable but still unreliable and ancient desktop lamenting on the perils of a crap internet connection. The 360 has been dusted and broken out and all i need to do now is get me some new games before i can get started on gaming again. So here's the itinary for whats left of the week, going out to quaff a few with Brendan tonight(Friday the 7th Dec) and then the day after there will be the event which everyone has been waiting for, Suj's annual party(Saturday the 8th Dec). Seriously wonder who's the lucky bastard whose going to get shat wasted this year, definitely won't be me i promise you.

Home

Going back tomorrow, 6th of Dec, SQ228, 17:00 flight(Melb time). Due to the rather unfortunate event of John leaving his house key's at home we were locked out after having dinner and as such my MP3, Descent of Angels novel and the Microsoft Office 2007 which i borrowed is all impounded. So first thing i have to do in the morning is call up the locksmith to confirm the 8am appointment and then head off into the city to collect my stuff. I also hope to have breakfast with what's left of the group before i head back to Box Hill and settle my final preparations. I now pray that the locksmith turns up on time at 8am sharp tomorrow and that my flight back home will be a good one, preferably next to a nice good-looking girl(must be single of course). So this is my last post of the year from Melbourne, I'll see you fellas next year then, till then Good Night, and Good Luck. And remember kids "Drink, but DON'T!, get drunk".

Oh Shat.....

OK here's the deal, my much lauded and favoured laptop has gone off the deep end on me again(yes it has happened before). As such I've lost a years worth of Uni work, pictures, music, anime, movies, saved games and the list goes on and on. I have just managed to get msn and the other essentials updated and running so that my laptop won't be an idling piece of scrap. And now i must begin the painstaking process towards laptop normality.....Windows Media Player 11 is still a tad cranky as it takes an awful long time for it to recognise the codecs which are needed to run my anime. Ah well at least IE7 and Live Messenger are back on.....And if this isn't proof enough for me to get my hands on a new XPS i don't know what is. So if any of you bums out there are reading this give me suggestions on what kind of program your basic computer should have, oh and I'll need all your blog addresses again.

Supreme Boredom

I am seriously supremely ultimately bored.....Most of the people who made life in Melbourne rather tolerable have already headed home, the ever cheerful and perverted Xander, the car fanatic and perv-in-training Sibu Angkau and most of the kids. So which poor sad souls are left here? Well unfortunately for me this year i'm part of this dreaded list, then theres John(uncle) who isn't going back to M'sia for one reason or other and has decided to stay in Melb and find some employment so that he can rack up some cash while everyone is away. James as usual is still left here followed by Ryan and the girls. And here's the departure roster for the week, James leaves on Tuesday(Quantas, ah ha ha), Alicia leaves on Wednesday(SQ), I leave on Thursday(SQ, bloody hell screwed up my planned 1st Dec derparture.....) and Ryan on Sunday(MAS). God knows when everyone is going back but if your flight out of this miserable place is not within this week then good luck to you. So here i am stuck in my spartan room going on and on about not being able to get home sooner, truthfully a delay of five days isn't much, but then missing out on five days of possible clubbing is a bit much. The delay might have been a tad bearable had a certain factor not have flown off last night. Every minute spent here is a damn waste of my much treasured leisure time which could be better spent in Singapore along with my rather good friends. Heck i've known all of those nuts on average a good 6-7 years already, with the longest being 12 years and 14 years. We've been through some seriously crazy shit at times as well. Most of which usually involves pranks, fights, getting drunk and escaping from possible reprecussions in one piece. Sure some might act like jackasses at times but after going through all that wild crap we just let these kinds of things pass. So having a reunion with them at the end of the year where we can all get together and remember the ole' times and catch up is always something to look forward to. Cheers to great friends and Patricians. Oh and a few SJI fellas too. And Quacker's if by any chance you're reading this again i'm surprised that you can give such sound advice, and thanks.

Groups. Why?

Been bugging me since last year, the thing with groups and people being left out. Was out having dinner with "The Kid" today, at Chom Chom as usual. Were talking bout' the usual stuff, cars(well only i was going on and on about that), games, murdering people, random wanton acts of violence, military stuff and the glorious past. So we were just talking about such random stuff when we drifted back to talking about the old times, and i forget what we were talking about but suddenly he said something like "Oh forgot I'm not part of your group". Now hearing that being said aloud for the first time really struck a chord with me, as we all know i feel that if there's some occasion to be celebrated or a gathering to be had for whatever reason the more the merrier. Unfortunately the people who think this way are a pathetically few minority, and now i ask this question, why is this the case? Sure i know that people and their groups usually try to limit the amount of friends so that there will be a balance of sorts and that those with a ridiculously low self-esteem of themselves will feel that as the group gets larger the less time there will be for his friends to pay attention to him. Now i will proudly state that i was never tight with any group, me being a wanderer as such, i only joined if asked to and am not thick skinned enough to impose myself on others, so of course there were often a many times where i was left out. It's like "Oops sorry we forgot about you", but of course i take such petty things in my stride. If my presence is not wanted than it will not be there. Besides if i really wanted to be arrogant I'll say things like "You should be thankful that I'm lowering myself to your status to interact with you". Friends. This is what they call themselves, but they will not call you out if they feel that your presence will be inconvenient for them in any way. Friends. This is what they call themselves but they will not offer you assistance if they feel threatened by what you may accomplish. I've had kinder enemies than these kinds of useless friends. In fact I'm ashamed that i even thought of such distasteful people as friends, like how the hell did they get pass my screening? If anyone should be accused of being arrogant it should be these kind of screwed up people who will only talk to you whenever they feel like it. Jumped-up shits. Then of course there are those who feel that as they are older they have the right to talk shit to you. OK, you little prick you might be a bit older but i can bet my arse your sad life has been a right bed of roses, gone through what i have before you accuse me of being anything little shit. So to groups i say a right FUCKING NO! The thought of leaving some of my friends out sickens me and tarnishes my honour. To the kids i don't belong to any group, and if any a group i wanted to be a part of it would be yours, the kind where age doesn't matter, the kind where more is always merrier.
"Keep a closer eye on your friends rather than your enemies, because only they can stab you in the back, and it would most certainly hurt more"