Just thought I'd post a link to my J-adventure ramblings here: nagasakibaby.blogspot.com

Yeah, it's ugly. But I like blogger in the way that it's parent and non computer-savvy people friendly, so I can keep in touch with people back home. Nobody really reads it though... haha.

I'm going to keep LJ going because I have a paid account. I'll probably use it for fandom/geek-related topics such as...

Concerts I'm going to in Japan

Sunday, May 10. 2009 - Aqua Timez in Nagasaki

I only got standing seats for this one, but I'm really excited as it'll be my first concert in Japan.

Friday, May 15. 2009 - KAT-TUN in Tokyo

OMFG. All I can say is 来たぁ! I've been waiting for this ever since I got to Japan (and missed out on the Queen of Pirates Concert). I joined You&J as soon as I got to Japan, balloted for tickets and got a pretty good seat. I need to pick up my copy of the new KT CD. I pre-ordered it but was in Okinawa when it was released. To be honest my obsession with KT isn't as strong as it was when I was still in Australia, but going to the concert will no-doubt renew it.

Monday, July 27. - flumpool in Fukuoka

I only discovered this band after one of their songs 花になれ (Hana ni nare) was played non-stop on TV as part of an AU Lismo commerical (a cell phone network in Japan). Their first album 'Unreal' is one of my favourite albums ever.

I got paid today, thank goodness. I had 4000 yen in my bank account and I thought I'd get charged an overdraft limit if one of my bills got deducted automatically.

It's another long weekend, so I can't complain too much, but I am freezing. I had no idea Nagasaki could get this cold. I've been abusing the crap out of my air-con/heater every morning; I just can't get out of bed otherwise.

The point of this post is really to whine about how badly I want to buy 街へいこうよーどうぶつの森 (Animal Crossing for Wii), but I don't actually have a Wii yet. It's on my list of things to buy, along with a kotatsu, printer/scanner and DVD recorder. The problem is, I'm broke! I really don't know where all my money goes, because I have nothing to show for it. Also, it seems like I've been wearing the same old clothes (desperately need a new wardrobe).

Anyway, back to the game... I've been watching the commercials on TV for it and you can get a bundle which includes WiiSpeak so you can talk to each other when playing!

I also bought NEWS' new album, 'COLOR'. I'm kind of disappointed with it, because the only songs I really like on it are 'weeeek', 'SUMMER TIME' and 太陽のナミダ (taiyou no namida), which I've already heard! NEWS' 'pacfic' album was so much better. Meanwhile, I am totally loving 'Beautiful days'(嵐) and admit to have totally enjoyed singing 真夜中のシャドーボイ (mayonaka no shadow boy - Hey! Say! JUMP)　at karaoke.

My 3rd year students told me that KAT-TUN would be on Music Station tonight (Thaaaaanks, kids!). :D They performed their new single, 'White X'mas', which I really love, even though it was kind of a dodgy performance. I already pre-ordered the LE edition as soon as I knew it was coming out. Jin looked smoking hot as usual, but what surprised me was seeing Junno's jet black hair. It makes him look so pale. I definitely prefer brown hair on him. I wonder if he's had it for a while and I've just been really out of the KT loop. I used to check the community everyday, but lately I've been so busy with karate and studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Ergh. I need to study right now!

Wow, my throat hurts whenever I swallow. It feels different from a regular sore throat though. It hurts right up the back on the right-hand side. I wonder if I'm coming down with something nasty... like tonsilitus? I haven't had it for so long that I forgot what it feels like. Man, I so don't want to be sick during a long weekend...

Tonight's Halloween. It was never much of a big deal for me in Australia. For one thing, I was raised in a fairly conservative, Asian Christian family and my mother always told me that Halloween was satanic. In Japan, the stores go crazy with the Halloween decorations due to the American influence here, but I noticed that nobody really goes trick-or-treating or to costume parties.

I bought a costume. I originally wanted to go as a Policewoman but the costume was too small. I read the measurements and it said it would fit someone with a waist up to 60cm. I wonder if my leg has a circumference of 60cm? Nothing like Japan to make you feel like a fatass.

But in the end, I got a sailor high school uniform. I know, it's kind of kinky/slutty but what a better excuse than Halloween. The best thing is another ALT is going as a schoolgirl too (she's gorgeous, tall and blonde though, so she could wear a potato sack and still probably look hot) so we'll be matching!

I wonder if some of you remember Ashley. She was my best friend when I lived in Yokohama in 2006. We worked at the same school and pretty much spent every day together for about 8 months. It turns out she came back to Japan too, shortly before I did and to do the same thing. She's an ALT living in working in Shizuoka prefecture, but apparently lives next to a rice paddy. She actually submitted her resignation last week, despite having only completed 3 months of her 12-month contract. Her contracting organisation freaked out and offered to move her to the city, or an 'inaka bonus', an extra 10,000 (about $100 USD) a month. She had been feeling really lonely as she didn't know any other ALTs in her area, so she's actually coming to the Halloween party tonight and then staying in Nagasaki with me for the rest of the weekend. I'm so excited!

Well, I'm staying a hotel tonight. I had better get ready for the party... I will take some photos and post them if I don't look like death.

Oh... my... god. KAT-TUN's new CD, due to be released on 4th June, has been leaked! I'm listening to it right now and it's so unbelievably good. So much better than Cartoon KAT-TUN. I've already ordered the Limited Edition off YesAsia. I can't wait for it to arrive, now that I know how awesome it is. I'm so happy they re-opened pre-orders to the Limited Edition too. I hate buying normal editions of Japanese CDs.

Like I couldn't get the LE of Arashi's Dream "A" Live, so I don't love it as much as my other LE CDs. I am so particular about the stuff I buy, or things I own. To give you an example of something that happened recently, my $150 silk blouse got snagged on something and it has a tiny pull in it invisible unless you look really closely, but I've stopped wearing it since it happened. Just knowing that it isn't perfect anymore really irritates me and I've sub-consciously rejected it.

Track 13, 12 o'clock made me LOL because the JINgrish is so terrible. But I still love him.

Is anyone going to the Sydney Film Festival? It's going to be held from 4 - 22 June. I've already bought a FlexiPass 10 - redeemable for any 10 movies. I'm already watching Crows: Episode 0 and Sukiyaki Western Django (both directed by Takashi Miike) with my sister and have bought two tickets to A Gentle Breeze In The Village for my mum, so I still have four tickets. I can't decide what other films to watch, but I might be going with my friends from high school to see a couple of French Films. I like French movies, but I just don't know what's good.

I'm totally stoked about watching Crows on the big screen and I wouldn't have known about it if I wasn't a member of the Oguri Shun LJ community - how sad. I've watched it twice and just love it. I need to make more Crows icons to spread the love. Apparently Oguri Shun is now dating his co-star from Bimbo Danshi, actress/model Yamada Yu. She kind of has masculine facial features.

I called up the JET desk in Sydney and it turns out they received both my Certificate of Health and Criminal History Record Check documents and have forwarded them onto Tokyo. If there's any problem with my dodgy Certificate of Health, the JET desk said they would contact me. The final step is to wait for a Contracting Organisation to offer me a place, which is the case with almost all participants on the shortlist and happens around the end of May, Early June. I've been reading forums about current and former JETs and apparently Hokkaido (my first placement choice) is one of the most popular placement requests, so my chances of getting placed there are slim. But then, after watching an episode of Cartoon KAT-TUN, where Akanishi and Nakamaru were sent to the town of Rikubetsu, the coldest town in Japan as part of a batsu game, I've started to think twice about wanting to go there. I don't know if I'll be able to survive in  -13 degree weather and apparently some of the JETs living in Hokkaido have problems with their pipes freezing.

I had a customer at work today who sounded just like Kermit the Frog. He was asking me about ACT! Licenses and I just couldn't take him seriously. All I could think of was: "Why are there so many... songs about rainbows?"

I'm going to my cousin's book launch tomorrow.  That's right, she wrote a children's book. It's called Byron and the Chairs. I'm very busy and important.

Oh wow... I just heard a radio rip of KAT-TUN's new single 'DON'T U EVER STOP'. It's really catchy! I was kind of worried when I heard reports that the sound of their new single would be more 'dance' than 'rock' but it's totally KAT-TUN-rashii yo. I can't wait until my CD arrives! I ordered the first press limited edition with the (no surprises for guessing) Jin + Koki solos.

Oh... my... god. The 'Hell yeah' towards the end of the song is so freaking sexy. It's Jin right? RIGHT?!

I just took got my blood pressure taken. It's 110/66. Isn't that on the low side?

I finally watched Crows Zero (without subtitles), starring Oguri Shun and Yamada Takayuki. I'm embarrassed to say I only understood about 10% of the whole movie. Oh my gosh... I failed. They were talking so gangsta (literally) that I had no idea what was being said. But visually, it' was stunning. The fight scenes are absolutely brilliant. The blood and gore made me nauseous towards the end, but being able to ogle Oguri Shun in such a bad-ass role was totally worth it. I have also taken a liking to the blonde guy in CZ (I forget his name but the actor is Takaoka Sousuke) and couldn't remember what movie/drama I had seen him in before but then I googled him and it turns out he had a minor role in Battle Royale (2000) as Boy #11. He's also in the movie We Shall Overcome Someday (2004), which will be showing at The Japan Foundation on May 28th. I must remember to go and watch it. I signed up to become a Japan Foundation member but haven't done anything with my membership since joining.

Work has been quiet the past week, probably because everyone has already gone on holiday. I'm leaving to go to the Blue Mountains with my family tomorrow, which should be fun. I haven't been there since fifth grade, so I don't remember much except for the Three Sisters (famous rock formations, for the non-Aussies). Well, I better go to bed now.

To my fellow Aussies... I hope you have a nice, relaxing ANZAC long weekend.

EDIT: I just realised that SARS have subbed the first episode of Zettai Kareshii! OMG... this is the best weekend ever.

I feel kind of embarrassed to say it, but I'm completely addicted to Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side: 2nd Kiss. So addicted that I felt the need to post about it. Remember when I bought NANA on DS a while back? Well, both Tokimeki and NANA were made by Konami so they're quite similar as far as simulation games go. The main difference is that Tokimeki is a dating sim, with an emphasis on falling in love, while the aim of NANA was to get hired to work with the band.

Story: It starts as a rip-off of Disney's "The Little Mermaid". A young boy met a young girl by the seashore and they fell in love. The girl was a mermaid in human form and couldn't speak. But the girl's gentle ocean-like eyes conveyed much more than words. The villagers found out that she was a mermaid so she had to go back to the ocean. But instead of saying goodbye, they exchanged a kiss. They believed that one day they would meet again by the sea. After they parted, the young boy would spend day after day staring out at sea. And at last with determination, he rowed out to sea in the moonlight.

After that, the young boy never returned.

(the above is my dodgy translation, so pardon the weird expression)

Anyway, the game starts on the beach. You are starting your life as a high-school student with the aim of building relationships with people you meet and getting one lucky guy to fall hopelessly in love with you. You can join a club at school (I joined Oendan as a Cheerleader), get a part-time job (I work as a waitress) and decide how you want to spend each day. On the right-hand of the screen your stats are displayed. They are: stress, study, sports, style, wealth, art, social, charm. The actions you choose can increase or decrease your stats. For example, if you select 'study', your 'study' stats will increase but your 'sport' stats will decrease. You have to consider what guy you are pursuing and build on the stats that he'll like, e.g. if your target is sporty and academically bright you need to focus on building those stats. However you need to sleep sometimes to reduce the stress stats which increase with almost every action. You also need to consider your weekly fortune in various areas of life e.g. love, studies, health etc. by accessing the internet through the PC in your room. Your weekly fortune will determine how successful you are in the activities you participate in. For example if your fortune is bad for sports and you go to cheerleading practice, you might drop your pom-poms and your stats will drop and so will your charm. V. harsh indeed.

On the weekends you can go shopping, call someone or go on a date. The Tokimeki calendar follows the Japanese one so there are added events such as 'Fireworks Viewing Festival', 'Cherry Blossom Viewing' etc. as well as Christmas, Valentines Day and birthdays. I went to the fireworks wearing a Yukata with my target Saeki Teru.

One thing I love about this game is that the characters can SAY YOUR NAME if you enter it in at the start. Of course none of them can say my last name 'Sng', translated as 'Sun' in Japanese, but they can manage a 'Suu' so they call me 'Suu-san' or 'Suu-sempai'.

Oh and Skinship... is so amusing. There are so many different kinds of skinship... like you can make eye-contact, stroke their face/arm, ruffle their hair or even kiss them! But they won't let you kiss them until they really like you. I found this out pretty early because I'm so forward, hohoho.

To be continued! Too sleepy to keep writing...

I got up early and went to church with my mother, brother and sister this morning to attend a Good Friday service. I don't go to church regularly, but occasionally I give into my mother's requests and go to services. I was brought up as a Christian and went to church up to the age of 16 when I started working a part-time job on Sundays, much to the dismay of my mother. Anyway, I've heard the story of the crucifixion a thousand times, but it was the first time I had heard such a graphic depiction. They even had accompanying photos to demonstrate where the nails went in and the processes the body went through in a slow and painful death. I felt a little ill after it finished.

Anyway, my parents and younger brother have gone to Mittagong, where my Aunt and Uncle live until Sunday. I'm totally excited because my sister will be out with her boyfriend, which means I'll have the whole house to myself. I feel bad saying it but a holiday with my family just doesn't feel like a holiday because I feel as if I need another to recover from spending that much time with them. I get along fine with my brother and sister, but my dad is insufferable and my mother in anything other than small doses, is also hard to deal with.

I spent the day watching the drama Yamada Taro Monogatari which I've decided isn't all that good. I've now seen 7 episodes out of 10 and I'm struggling to finish it.  As much as I love Nino and Sho, their characters' personalities are just so boring, the show moves slowly and it's also extremely repetitive (and not in a good way!). Also, speaking of drama I just found out that the manga Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend) has been made into a drama and will be aired on FujiTV in April. Although I haven't read the manga, knowing that Hayami Mokomichi (Gokusen 2) and Mizushima Hiro (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) are starring in it is enough to make it a definite on my must-watch list. So much drama to watch, so little time.

Oh! It looks like Yesasia.com finally shipped my kat-tun calendar and NEWS 'Taiyo no Namida' First Press Edition single. I was worried that they would cancel my order because the KT calendar is now out of print and almost impossible to find online. I guess they got another shipment of stock in. I've also decided to start gaming again. When I say gaming, I mean playing nintendo, like Wii or DS. I can't seem to find my DS gamecase containing ALL my games (not very smart to keep them all together, I know) so the only game I've been able to play on DS is a Harvest Moon: Sprite Station for Girls (like Harvest Moon DS) but you play as a girl. I also ordered Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 2nd Season from Play-Asia.com. I've played simulation games with elements of love and building relationships with other characters like in Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing and NANA but Tokimeki Memorial is a full-blown dating sim (Stop judging me). Apparently there's a feature called 'skinship mode', in which the guys will respond to your 'touch' of the DS stylus on their arms or torso depending on their feelings towards you. Haha. I can't wait to play it.

Anyway, I had better go to bed if I don't want to stuff up my body clock even further- I had a nap this afternoon... a 3-hour nap.

I actually went to two events over two days. The first one was Russell Peters and friends on Thursday night, held at the Sydney Opera House. I originally bought the ticket for my father who later decided that he was still too unwell to go anywhere. Right.

Anyway, Russell Peters. If you don't know him, you should check Youtube. He's comedian raised in Canada of Indian descent.  Most of his jokes are centered around racial stereotypes and his impression of Indians and Chinese people cracks me up. Be a man. Do the right thing. I bought relatively good tickets, circle seats in the middle. Surprisingly the highlight of the evening wasn't Russell himself, but one of his supporting acts, JoKoy. Unlike Russell Peters, JoKoy's jokes are rarely at anyone's expense except his own and it's mostly observational comedy, which I find hilarious. Russell Peters even said when introducing JoKoy, that he was one of the only comedians that [Russell] would hate to follow the act of at a comedy club; he was that funny. I laughed so hard.

The next evening was the BSB Unbreakable World Tour, held at Acer Arena Homebush. Now I wouldn't consider myself a huge BSB fan but I loved all of their songs back in the day. Even now their legacy lives on by being a standard part of the karaoke repertoire. When we got to our seats, we were amazed at how good they were. My friend Lisa five tickets as soon as they became available online, so they were one of the better A-Reserve tickets. The girls behind us were die-hard BSB fans with one of them constantly screaming "I love you Brian!" and "B-Rock, I want to have your children!" It turns out B-rock is Brian's nickname. I also didn't realise that one of the BSB had left the group, so there were only four performing.

When the concert started, I went crazy. I was so overwhelmed that I screamed and jumped up and down with more enthusiasm than the other fans around us. Hearing their old songs made me feel so nostalgic and their newer songs weren't as bad as I thought. The group have been around for 16 years. 16 years ago, I was just 8. Most of their fans were my age or older, which means we're all old fans who have kind of grown up with the BSB. Can said it was kind of sad, because people only cheered and got into it when they sang their older songs and kind of sat back down for their newer songs, which kind of shows that their hey day is really over. Right after the concert, I was in a daze. My throat was croaky from screaming so much and it felt so surreal, like I had never gone.

Some photos:

I went to Crossing's place for a Disney Trivial Pursuit/movie night slumber party last night. It was so much fun! I kind of sucked at TP, though. Like I couldn't remember the name of the jaguar from 'The Jungle Book' (turns out it was 'Bagheera', which totally rings a bell) and I didn't know the name of the fairy from Pinnochio (The Blue Fairy - I guessed the Good Fairy and was close). I just sucked, but not as much as Kara who couldn't get a single piece. Meanwhile, Lisa kept getting questions about Mulan, which were just so easy to answer. And they had questions about Atlantis, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Seriously, who even watched those movies? Ok, I heard Lilo & Stitch was pretty good, but it was totally not my generation.

We watched 'The Notebook' after the game and I didn't shed a tear. My eyes didn't even water; am I some kind of android or something? I'm usually the biggest crybaby but lately I haven't cried about anything, not even when I left Japan. I guess I was expecting too much since my friends kept hyping up how sad it was. It was sad but a bit corny at times and I don't know why but I don't like seeing old people kiss each other.

When I got home, I took a shower and watched 'Densha Otoko' (Train Man) with my mum. Densha was such a geek but the story was so sweet I was kind of moved because I can relate to the geekery. Granted I am not so much of a social retard but seeking relationship advice on late night IRC channels is something I know I've done before. Yamada Takayuki is quickly becoming one of my favourite actors after I watched 'Say hello to him for me' (2007) on the plane to Singapore. I'm eagerly anticipating the DVD release of his latest movie 'Crows Zero' also starring Oguri Shun. His image in 'Crows Zero' looks totally different so I'm interested to see how versatile he can be.

I got a voicemail from my Manager while I was away at corporate sales training last week saying that the HTML newsletter I created using CSS "wasn't working anymore" and she couldn't figure out why. It was working fine when I left work the Friday before, so I was wondering what she did to somehow make it stop working.

I get to work Monday morning only to discover that she's installed Outlook 2007 on her machine, which made my HTML newsletter "break". I'm probably really late voicing my opinion on this, but what was Microsoft thinking with Outlook 2007 using the Word 2007 engine to render HTML emails instead of Internet Explorer?

She's since insisted that I use tables to design all e-marketing materials. I have to resort to using simple CSS as I can't float layers or use background images in my layouts anymore. So much for creating table-less layouts for better web standards. The Campaign monitor blog is totally right in saying that Microsoft has taken design back 5 years as email designers HAVE to adhere to Outlook standards in fear of ostracizing too many recipients if they don't.

On a happier note, I got my YesAsia shipment today. I bought the Oguri Shun photobook 'High', Otsuka Ai's new album 'Love Piece', which is pretty good so far and Arashi's latest movie 'Kiiroi Namida'. I have a new HanaKimi moodtheme thanks to the lovely chochajin. I was getting tired of the Supernatural one.

I went to karaoke with Lisa yesterday at Echo Point on Park St. It was surprisingly cheap, just $5 per hour. They had a fair selection of Japanese songs, too. It made me miss Japan again. I love going to karaoke with Lisa because both of us sing well enough that there's no terrible warbling going on. Terrible singing is my pet peeve and going to group karaoke sessions, well, that's something I have to deal with.

Thanks to karakura_red's heads up, I called Nintendo Australia about a week and a half ago to claim two free wiimote jackets. They arrived today, and fit really well, being an official product. Apparently you can get up to four per Wii serial number, so I'm kind of wishing I got two more *rubs hands together*. Well, I guess I shouldn't abuse Nintendo's generosity.

But seriously, what sort of fool would fling their wiimote across the room from having sweaty hands?

p.s. New job is going well so far. My boss actually gave me some graphics design work to do today, which was just awesome. Even though I'm not qualified to be a graphics designer, I'm better than anyone in the office. *smiles smugly*

I got back on Thursday morning. My mum and dad came to pick me up from the airport. At Sapporo the lady at the counter told me my bags were 10kg over and I had to pay 4500 yen for every 1kg of excess baggage. I almost fainted because I didn't have that kind of money on me. So I took 10kg out of my suitcase and carried it in my backpack. Muahaha. I showed them.

I had to transfer in Incheon, Seoul and OMG... from Sapporo to Seoul, they upgraded me into like... business class on Korean Air and I didn't even realise until I was wandering round the back of the plane looking for seat 9B which was right up the front! Even if it was only for 3 hours, it was wonderful.

At Incheon airport, I changed some money into won and did a bit of duty-free shopping for more souvenirs (I could only afford two shu-uemura eye-liners to give my friends) since I didn't have enough time to pick them up before I left Japan.

The flight home was 9 hours and 45 minutes. ;_; I didn't get any sleep because I was kind of cold and uncomfortable (back in economy class) and was talking to this cool Japanese stunt-man who was sitting next to me. You know Power Rangers? He is one of the guys who does martial arts as a stuntman after they morph. His name is Sato (Satorhiro) and his specialty is acrobatics and martial arts. He told me to watch his show in Darling Harbour outside the Imax theatre. :DI'd never flown Korean Air until then, and they served bi bim bab for dinner! It was awesome. <3

Anyway it feels really weird to be back but looking around the house, it's almost as if I never left. Nothing much has changed except we got this awesome new desktop with a huge monitor (great for designing!). I'm a bit sick now because of the change of temperature (it's still really cold here even though it's Spring). Either that or I'm allergic to dust because I'm wheezing a little bit. :(

I've been absolutely hooked on Japanese drama lately. I finished watching Hana yori dango (both seasons). I've never read the manga, but the drama is bittersweet and the theme-song from season 1 (Planetarium by Otsuka Ai) is hauntingly beautiful.

One of the main characters Domyoji is played by Matsumoto Jun (known as Matsujun) from Johnny's boy-band Arashi. I started listening to Arashi as a result. I even bought the September issue of 'Wink Up', a Johnny's magazine for the Arashi articles and Ikuta Toma. I think it's supposed to be for teenagers though, because some of the new bands like Hey!Say!7 are so young. I was kind of embarrassed to buy it. There are several pictures of Kamenashi from Kat-tun whom I thought was hot but he looks like he's had plastic surgery no doubt. A little more and he'll look like a Japanese Michael Jackson.

Ikuta Toma (look at my icon) plays Nakatsu Shunichi in the drama version of Hanazakari no Kimitachi e also starring Oguri Shun and Horikita Maki. HanaKimi is kind of silly but entertaining nonetheless. Nakatsu is the star of the show for me and his thought sequences complete with gestures are absolute gold. There have been also been several gratuitous shower scenes with half-naked young men. Well, it's not called 'Ikemen Paradise' (Hottie Paradise) for nothing. I just hope the yaoi fangirls in ikemen_paradise don't ruin this show for me. Sometimes I think I'm getting too old for fandom. I used to be so obsessed with forums but these days I mostly lurk because there's so much stupidity.

I also started watching Gokusen because I heard Matsujun was in it. I was surprised to see heaps of other familiar faces, like Hiroki Narimiya (Nobu from NANA), Oguri Shun (Hanazawa Rui from HYD) and Dorm Leader 1 from HanaKimi... I don't know his name though.

I'm in the market for a new domain hosting company. I'm happy with shared hosting (as opposed to reseller) since websites are like a hobby of mine. I'm not sure which company to choose since I'm not really involved in the website community anymore.

I don't want to spend more than US$10 a month. Uptime and technical support are the most important factors.

I read some good reviews for Surpass Hosting and Dreamhost.

Does anyone have any domain hosting advice/suggestions?

1. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
2. Tag seven people to do the same.
3. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag whoever wants to do it.

1. I shower at night, not in the morning. If I come home after a big night, I still need to take a shower or I can't sleep. Even though people claim that showers wake them up, I feel sleepier after taking them.

2. I really like multitasking, especially when food is involved. Studying and eating, preparing for classes and eating, surfing the internet and eating. I feel like I'm killing birds with one, stone so to speak. I don't like listening to music when I'm studying, though. That's distracting.

3. Beer makes me really drunk, really fast. I can drink other spirits without too much problem, but beer always makes me turn tomato-red. I don't understand why.

4. I am ok at a lot of things, like playing pool, doing well at school, playing basketball, making websites, playing video games, playing the cello, etc. but am not spectacular at anything. I guess I haven't found my calling yet or I lack the dedication to actually do something enough to get good at it. :(

5. The characters in my Chinese name mean 'feminine' and 'charming'. HA HA... but I can't write it

6. I'm short-tempered. It's something I've been working to correct over the years. I think I've mellowed with age. =p

7. Sometimes I laugh so hard that I actually cry. I'm talking serious tears rolling down my face. It's kind of embarrassing, but at least it doesn't happen often.

I tag: lastseptember, lacrox, whitecrane, pantsu_pirate, dumblydore, karakura_red and missdeep

(If any of you already did this, sorry!)

The Spice Girls officially announced that they will be reuniting for one last World Tour. I loved the Spice Girls when I was in 8th grade and have fond memories singing 'Stop' with my friends when I went on tour to Europe with my orchestra in 1998.

I sometimes sing Spice Girl songs at karaoke like 'Viva Forever' and 'Spice Up Your Life', so you can obviously imagine how thrilled I am to hear the news. They'll be touring Sydney for one concert on January 17. 2008. I'm really anxious about the fact there's only going to be one Sydney show. I MUST get tickets... O_o;

In other news... I bought myself a paid LJ account on a whim. I'm not even sure why I did it; it's not like I can take advantage of the icon-space since I don't have Photoshop anymore. I don't even think I remember how to code a layout and it's only been one year of inactivity.

My domain host E-starr has increased security on their servers, rendering my websites with "oudated coding" obsolete (thanks for the tip, Amy. Now go to hell you condescending bitch). I'm sorry I don't have the time to work on websites and learn new coding like I used to because I have to work and earn money to live now.

Don't choose E-starr for a host; their customer service sucks.

On getting to know the characters:

If you're dressed (and made-up) a certain way when you meet a character, for example punk, casual, branded or formal, a special tone will sound after you talk to them, showing their approval. Once a character likes you more (and their head appears on your statistics screen), they will stop and chat for a longer period of time and ask you a question. Your relationship with the character will improve or worsen depending on your answer. You have to think like the character to answer correctly, so a knowledge of NANA trivia is really helpful. Who knew Ren liked Chinese food more than pasta or steak? =_='

If you talk to Hachi at 'Junko's Room' during the day, she'll advise you on what item each character really wants as a gift (e.g. a poster, CD, necklace, item of clothing) and you're supposed to go out and buy it for them. I haven't quite figured out how to give a gift yet but I think I need to get closer to them before they'll allow me to (like in Harvest Moon games). Also once you get closer to the characters, you will be able to call them or send them e-mail with your cell phone and arrange dates to meet them. ^____^ I haven't been able to yet.


This is my character. See the resemblance?

The four heads on the statistics signify the four characters you are closest to. I'm dressed punk so Shin, Nana and Ren will like me, haha. ._.'

I got a new game on impulse yesterday, the new NANA game for DS: NANAライブスタッフ大募集！〜初心者歓迎〜 ('Nana Live Performance Staff Mass Recruitment ~Beginner's Welcome~', or something like that in English) is supposed to be a limited 'Special Simulation' game. I've been playing it for a few hours and I can't quite figure out if it's an RPG or simulation, but it's pretty damn addictive.

Image source: Konami Style
The game begins the same way the NANA story does; a girl moves to Tokyo to start a new life. As the title suggests, the primary objective of the game is to get hired to work with the bands (Trapnest or Black Stones, I'm not really sure). In order to do this, you must work part-time jobs, befriend the cast from NANA and improve your abilities and talents as a musician, photographer, stage/set designer, hair and make-up artist and stylist. You only have three months to achieve your goal.

It's kind of like an RPG in the way that you need to level up your abilities, watch your stamina meter and savings and get important information from the characters. Instead of equipping yourself with items in the traditional sense, you put on make-up, change your clothes and your hair style and colour in order to gain favour with the characters. There are many different stores for everyday living including a family restaurant, gyuu-don restaurant (like Yoshinoya), drugstore and convenience store (where you start off working) as well as places you can go to go clothes shopping, attend a live performance or just chill out, hoping to bump into one of the NANA crew. Time passes only when you engage in an activity such as working your part-time job, talking to characters, practicing guitar, shopping, etc. You need to eat and sleep to regain stamina.

One of the most important objectives is to work to survive. You need money to buy pretty clothes, go to karaoke or eat. You can search for a job by reading a careers magazine or by word-of-mouth. You then call the company by your cell phone to arrange an interview. There's a really great shift-change feature in your inventory allowing you to reschedule your part-time work shifts if something important comes up, like an interview with a Punk/Gothic Lolita clothes store (which, incidentally, rejected me as I failed the test).

I spend most of my time at Junko's bar, hoping to find out more about the other characters weekly routines, preferences, etc. For example, Hachi told me that Nana likes it when people dress in punk when they see her, so I have to change my outfit if I know she's going to be shopping at the drugstore. It's pretty intense and I feel like a stalker. When Junko's bar is closed, I spend my time wandering around town hoping to bump into the characters or engaging in self-improvement activities such as guitar lessons or reading fashion magazines so that I can improve my musical/style stats.

There's a lot of text and my Japanese language skill is really not up to standard. I failed several mini-games and interview tests because I couldn't read fast enough to answer the questions! I might have to take it to work and get someone to help me get a good job. :O

It's also worth mentioning that the characters in the game are voiced by the same voice actors from the anime, and the opening song 'Lucy' by Anna Tsuchiya plays at the title screen.

I have just recently mastered UFO-catchers in Japan. I learned that the aim is not to pick the toys up with the crane, but to drag/flip them into the prize chute. Why I didn't figure this out before spending billions of dollars, I don't know.

( They were so cute I couldn't resist. )