p.s. “Your kungfu is no match for mine! is a deus ex machina in the card game of Kungfu. I played that a few weeks ago at Mindcafe, where you mindlessly throw tables at your enemies for the heck of it. Damn fun, do try!

p.p.s. Also I’ll try writing a small Starcraft II column over at www.xykopath.com. If you’re into SC2 do visit the site from time to time :D

Having recently completed my diploma course, and unofficially graduated, our school, Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of IT offered to us a NYP Study Trip to Tokyo! Accompanied by two lecturers, the trip which has been modified to our likings and whatnots, will be nothing short of fun! Especially since the season in Japan now is winter. I’ve been to South Korea once during winter, and I loved the cold weather ^^;

Our trip will include a short exchange programme with Waseda University, and Yoyogi High School. At Waseda we’ll learn about how overseas undergraduate programmes are like and the life of a Japanese (or foreign) undergraduate student, as well as the Japanese educational system. At Yoyogi High School, we’ll get to experience a typical high schooler’s day in school. Since Yoyogi High School specialises in animation and voice acting (I think), we’ll also have a chance to experience a voice acting session where we’ll do some seiyuu-ing ourselves!

Other places of interests we’ll visit during the entire trip will be:

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office
• Sony Corporation
• Tokyo Stock Exchange
• National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (miraikan!)
• Oedo Onsen Monogatari
• DisneySea
• Hakone, Mt Fuji
• Japan Earthquake and Disaster Prevention
• Harajuku (Takeshita Dori, 100yen shop, Meiji Emperor’s Shrine, Yoyogi National Park)
• Ameyoko street market
• Asakusa Kannon Temple
• Akibahara
• Yokohama

Anyone in Tokyo wanting to meet up? ^^;

p.s. Bloody excited! Can’t wait for tomorrow! :D

Probably because of this

A while ago I went for the Singapore Airshow 2010, and not only did I feel like wasting a good 21 bucks for some dismal flight displays (especially the cancellation of the F111 flight), it seemed to have set off a chain of accumulated health issues. No thanks to the fact I’ve probably been spending the last month or more in an unhealthy-lifestyle, in true programmer fashion.

And that of course gives me an extremely crappy new year that made me look like I’m constantly withdrawing from sniffing opiates… But that grouchy talk aside…

A happy chinese new year to all of you here! Wishing readers a prosperous tiger year!

あけましておめでとうございます！

Also a happy valentine’s to those out there deserving a heavenly smite of a manly single’s wrath.

Have fun collecting your loot from the festivities! I’m looking forward to mine! To contribute to my graduation trip fund ^^;

p.s. I’m goddamn scared of hotpots. Gotta give me a day off please. Also nose and throat pain. Damn.

We were up against a Bant (White/Blue/Green aggro) and a Grixis Unearth (Blue/Black/Red combo) deck. The game itself was getting wearily long; my partner drew up his polymorph but was wary of the Bant opponent’s removal. The match went on with my partner controlling the Bant player’s aggro, while the Bant player kept his removal for when my partner plays his polymorph. So meanwhile it was up to me to try to make some progress. The other opponent plays a Grixis Unearth deck, making lethal damage to creatures quite useless, while digging his graveyard up to attack in waves. I almost had trouble fending the waves off as my draws were quite crappy, and I was having less angels than my opponent had zombies. Towards the end of the game, I had 4 of my Sigil of the Empty Throne out, and was drawing nothing whatsoever to churn some angels out. It was then my opponent decided to come up with a huge wave while I had some angels as blockers. He unearthed a bunch, and I had to block them.

The little unearth stint caused me to dump a bunch of cards into my graveyard, leaving a measly 5 before I end up decking out. When I sifted throughout the milled cards, I saw in them most of my angel-producing enchantments and with them gone, I thought the game was lost. Until I got introduced to the concept of a ‘destiny draw’.

I drew this

‘Hilarity ensues’ just can’t cut it. A fifth friend who was spectating our lengthy match saw what I drew, and went wtf. I got stunned at the draw for a while, and burst out laughing while I played that spell. My two opponents went into shock as I picked up my graveyard, and started dumping a dozen enchantments on the field. They promptly conceded, before I could count my army of 48 angels ^^;

Christmas

The entirety of Christmas week had seemingly disappeared, with the festive cheer turning into postsantum depression, leaving a bitter aftertaste. Could I have done more?

Perhaps. Perhaps it’s the feeling another year has gone, that makes you think what more you could have done. Maybe I should have picked up photography, tried more games, or learned new skills? But sometimes, what we miss is what we’ve actually done. Maybe it doesn’t sound a lot, maybe it doesn’t make an impressive list long enough to make it a scroll-of-the-year. But it’s always the little things that count, the things we take for granted that count…

It sucks to have to pass your Christmas week with a semi-empty wallet, but that’s what happened. A little financial mishap before the holidays, and I was stuck gloomily with no money to spend for the week. Nevertheless, I managed to have as much fun as I could (without spending money).

1.) Had a little Magic gathering, wasted the day trying out my new Angel-Vampire deck. Worked reasonably well to a certain degree. Also, py finally got his deck, a G/R ally deck.

A reprieve from bad weather

2.) Spent Christmas on Pulau Ubin, where py’s parents booked a chalet at the Celestial Resort. It was a semi-quaint place, with a lagoon and a nice-looking beach. It even had facilities like a rock-climbing wall and flying fox. Drizzled a little in the late noon, and while Chek Jawa was nothing new, the rather high tide just screwed the whole experience. The roads there are now meticulously paved, making the whole road trip ridiculously easy. I feel like our past years’ worth of falls and crashes were… lame. Also, my butt didn’t hurt as badass as last time. Then I was overnight at py’s place, since the rest of his family was out at Ubin, and spent it lazing around while he was engaged in a galge. Slept 3 hours before I returned home to prepare for the EOY day.

Domo-kun was totally bushed

3.) Driving to EOY, being located at the National Library this time round, means ridiculous parking fees at Bugis Junction. A 5-6 hour tallied over 7 dollars in parking charges. (Yes I’m a student, also meaning I’m a miser when it comes to parking fees ) Somehow I’ve clean forgotten about Shaw Towers where the parking is considerably cheaper. But there was that ERP tollgate right outside the Shaw Towers carpark… The event itself was pretty fun, with a lot of participants (I particularly liked the FFXIII and the Guilty Gear groups). The local band performances were pretty good too. But seriously, to say the drama centre was inadequate space is an understatement; people are basically packed on that floor, and most cosplayers evacuated to the foyer to continue showcasing their costumes, and also to get some breathing space.

4.) And when I finally got some money, I head down to the Kinokuniya Main Store… and blew them away (again). Their 20% storewide discounts are that irresistible orz

5.) With the end of the Christmas week, the second and last week of my term break faces a more gruesome fact; time for projects. The idea of my relentless workload to come constitutes much of my postsantum shag, and by no means will I get a break… all the way till the Februrary CNY/ Valentine’s.

So how did you spend your Christmas?

p.s. I had to miss out on a friends’ gathering at Sentosa for the EOY on Boxing Day, really wished I hadn’t gone EOY instead. :/