Unseriously

Miss Bossy was spot on with her post.

During my single days, I use to say the same thing.  Why do girls go gugu for the stupid man-beef-block-heads all the time.   I'm a nice guy! I open doors, I change my underwear (sometimes).  Why weren't girls Googling me?

I originally thought it was a confidence thing. Just being more confident makes you more attractive.  Lots of hair gel, doing exercises before going out (to temporarily beef up the muscles),

But Miss Bossy's post nailed it right on the head - you gotta be interesting! Keeping things un-boring will have people gravitate to me.  And it worked!  I caught myself a girl using octopus hotdogs!

Anyways.  Its been a very random day so I'll continue with some very random pics from the last few weeks.

I was eying the meaty slices amongst the very green pizza box.

Does anyone know where I can get Melon breads? I LOVE melon bread!

Penguins from Madagascar, Universal Studios Singapore.  Hahaha. I love the little kid's expression on the right.

I haven't been blogging because I was busy playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. OMG What an epic game!  Nearly wet my pants when I played The Gulag Level.  Its a level similar to the The Rock (my favourite action movie). Only thing missing was Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery.  I also finished Deep Space. OmG THAT was scary!

Fish foot spa in Times Square, Kuala Lumpur.  The fishies were ticklish.  The experience was enjoyable until they cornered us and started selling skin remover potions $100 a bottle!

Connected

I met someone online.

I was just floating about in my own little world, not really knowing what I was doing.

Then I met this person who changed all of that.

We were online for ages.

And I slept quite late because it was so easy to lose track of time when we discovered we had so much in common.

Of course my girlfriend had a good laugh when I told her about this.

I got her with the first line. Hehehehe.

I'm guessing she thought it was something sinister. But I was merely referring to when I met someone playing Guild Wars last week.

She thought it was cute that I met an online friend (she finds it cute when I make friends).

But I didn't even know if it the other person was a guy a girl a polecat or a hermaphrodite. All I knew was that we were both from Perth and that we both had warrior characters and that were both slugging through the core missions to unlock skills.

I guess that's one of the cool things about the internet. You can be part of a community and interact without the prejudice on who you actually are, but more so on your online persona, which you can change quite easily! I go from Hunky chunky monkey Warrior to my Sexy monk in a few clicks.

I named my warrior after a pokemon character. My monk after ladies shoes.

But like a double edged sword of fortitude (+46 health), that anonymity could mean that i was sharing my night gaming with a fat guy who's secret fetish is warriors clad in very tight armour. *shudder*

I like the idea of the player looking more like Mariah Carey in her Touch my Body video. Coz she's hawt and a gamerz! Hehehhe.

ASL?

There was a time not so long ago (is it ten years already?), when IRC chatting was THE hawt online app for meeting people!

IRC was king.

LOL :)

For a couple of years I remember spending many nights loitering chatrooms playing silly trivia games and making idle conversation.

And a few times, I did meet girls who raised my eyebrow with keen interest. (oh yeah I was da man!)

Progress would be spending more nights just chatting about trivial stuff or even exchanging emails.

And one time *gasp* I even exchanged phone numbers. What a disaster that was - but thats another story.

But I always tended to shy away when they wanted pictures or they wanted to cam-chat.

I guess I just prefer the idea that they look like Mariah (touch my body). Plus I didn't really want to be starting something online. Just not my style.

But its all different now with blogging and social networking sites like MyFacester*TM. I mean, they all still offer chatting and I guess if you find someone who's profile fits your bill then you can just pop them a message.

But its so different to old-school IRC!

In IRC, there was that hidden challenge of trying to make your online persona with just ASCII characters and from what you type and say. And not knowing what a person looked like or what their friends were like were all part of what made chatting fun and appealing. That mystery and that chase. And you can talk and make connections without so much the screening on how you looked or how many friends you have or your bejeweled master score.

*Will slaps himself with a wet fish*

But I dunno. I haven't really tried socialising with strangers in MyFacester*TM

I shouldn't have to anyways. 'Coz if I did, that means I'm trawling and 'looking for potentialz' which would wrong and would upset certain parties in my currently flourishing and lovely romantic relationship *ahem *ahem. /end disclaimer.

But yeah, maybe I'm just getting old. Or too old fashioned.

Maybe there's something there in MyFacester*TM that lets people connect. I just haven't seen that yet. Probably because my profile is inundated Mafia Wars updates!!! How do I turn that off?!!

Review: Guitar Hero World Tour (Wii)

I've been a big fan of Guitar Hero since the day it came out.   On the PlayStation 2,  I would spend hours and hours pretend-playing rock star until my eyes hurt.

At night I would dream about the gems flowing down the guitar hero highway and I would play the chords on my bolster pillow.

I would "sleep-guitar hero".

So to say that I was excited about GH: World Tour would be an incredible understatement.

World Tour kit comes with everything in picture and microphone minus try-hard guitarist

ROCK AND ROLL!

GH: World Tour is Guitar Hero that can be played with drums and a microphone (Karaoke).  If you can find yourself an extra guitar (with Wii remote), you can have four friends playing simultaneously to complete a (faux) band.

IGN full band screenshot

Last weekend, my friends and I got three people playing together at once (guitar, drums and mic).  I was so happy because we almost sound talented.

Almost being the operative word.  The groupie was not too impressed.

Don't think the neighbours were too impressed either.

Still, nothing beats playing games with mates.  :)

Sadly, the fun of GH: World Tour is tainted with some rather annoying hardware issues.  The guitar I got registers notes even when not strumming.  I'm trying to sort out a replacement guitar.  Rather disappointing considering I've only had it four days. 

Guitar box includes stickers to make your guitar PHULLY SICK!

The Wii version also requires a Wii remote for every instrument including the mic!  I only have two Wii remotes, so I need another one to have a singer for the band.  Taking the Wii remotes out of their protective jelly covers to fit into the drums or guitar is also a bit of a nuisance.

But apart from that, the game is just plain awesome fun.  

The Wii version lets you freestyle rock with your Mii characters. 

The game comes with a comprehensive song list including Eye of the Tiger, Beat it, What I've Done (Linkin Park), Band on the Run (Beatles).  Songs can also be downloaded from the Wii store for 200 Nintendo Points (which works out to around A$3).  The instruments are also compatible with Rock Band 2 and future Guitar Hero titles (Guitar Hero: Smash Hits comming out on my birthday month of June *hint *hint)

For me, the biggest plus is getting the girlfriend (aka Ringo) to play with me.  We started a band called Porcelain Chicken. We played three gigs and had a great time playing songs together.   

Looking forward to touring soon.  

Just a word of warning though.  

Drummers tend to hog the drum kit.  

Ringo didn't even let her little sister play!

Recurring Dream

I woke up to the terrible dream today.

Every once in a while, I'll get this same themed dream. And every time I'd wake up feeling worried, anxious and stressed.

This recurring dream is always the same.

Always about an exam (some sort of mathematical exam).

In my dream I would be chatting with my friends outside the exam hall. We'd joke about how much we studied.

I would half-laugh because I haven't studied at all.

I was too busy doing something else. I thought I can just wing-it for that day.

Seated inside the hall, the guilt of having not prepared would paralyse me.
I'd be really nervous and be too worried of my impending failure.

In my last dream, I barely finished two of the 100 multiple choice questions. I didn't even bother to guess the rest.

I remember flickering the questions book and growing pale after discovering the short answer and essay questions I haven't touched (yes in my dream math exams have essays).

When the time runs out, I would rush to scribble some last minute answers.

But I know its too little too late.

After they collect my papers, I would sit there alone in the hall of desks.
I knew I've lost everything.

********************

Depressing emo dreams aside, looking forward to playing Left 4 Dead this Monday.

Finally rounded up three friends to join the crusade against zombie hordes.

I tried playing it with randoms from the other parts of the world, but I keep on picturing fat nerdy guys so I can't really get into it.

Should be heaps fun hearing my friends scream and swear as they get overwhelmed by zombies.

I think online co-op gaming is the way to go these days. Its just so much fun!

Nothing beats friends banding together to fight a common foe.

Shotgun for zombies. Napisan for blood stains

If my Left 4 Dead company works out good, I might recruit them for Diablo 3.

The Gamer

3Willings

1) Beyonce - If I Were A Boy

2) Tomato and Parmesan Dip

3) F.E.A.R.

Its not the fastest beast on the planet, but I'm very happy with my new computer.

 My girlfriend is not impressed with my inches

The big reason why I'm happy is because I built it myself.  

The building process was stressful but it was very educational and quite rewarding.

Thank you to Tess for all your help.

 

I'm finally running games at decent resolutions and graphics details.

old laptop resolution (click)

New PC resolution (click)

Phully S3k.

 

************************

 

Back in high school, I did a lot of tinkering with computers.  

I played with RAM, 3DFx card, sound card. And toyed a fair bit with the IRQ on the 14.4kbps modem. 

 

And I spent quite a bit of time playing games.

 

Actually that would be a mean understatement. 

 

I spent pretty much most of my waking hours playing on the computer. 

If not on the computer, I'm thinking, dancing, eating and singing about computers.

 

The only thing that stopped me from infusing with the the computer chair was work twice or three times a week.  

Of course work pay I used to fund upgrades for the Cyrix 686 or buying games.

 

I loved my computer.  

It gave me the escape I needed from the craziness that was high school.

 

But Moore's law would have it that my computer wouldn't run the newer games.  8Megs of video RAM and 133MHz of pseudo-intel CPU power would not cut it.  

And very quickly, games started to look ugly and ran like slideshow on my beloved machine. 

Enter the Playstation.  The OTHER woman in my life.  Hehehe.   And PC was quickly forgotten.

********

 

A few weeks ago, when I slotted in the new PCI-e graphics card to the mobo, I got a rush I haven't felt in years.

Its like a jolt of energy traversing down my fingers into my spine.  A mix of anxiety and excitement of tinkering with computers came rushing back. 

 

Suddenly I want to play games again.  And I want to play them all now!

I want to see the worlds I've missed because of all those years I've missed. 

 

Its like discovering colour after living in grey for a long time.

 

But I'm also worried.  Worried that I'll get hooked again.

**************

Last sunday my girlfriend was subliminally trying to tell me she wanted to go to the beach.  

Yeah, I know, subliminal is how she communicates.

 

I knew she wanted to do something, so I ended my Guildwar quest and was quickly adjusting my skill attribute points for my next time playing.

 

'Quickly' turned out to be an hour.

 

I was so consumed by what spells and skills to use that what I perceived to have been 'quick', was an hour in real-people time.

 

Luckily, my charms, manly strength and quick thinking won my girlfriend back quickly.  But that was a close call.

 

This was a minor thing.  The real issue here is girls and their silly subliminal messaging.

But it's still noteworthy, and scary, how time slips away from me when I'm on the computer.

 

And not just me, there's group of girlfriends out there who have lost their boyfriends to computer gaming and MMORPGs.  

The gamer widows as they are called.

 

So I am a bit worried.  But hopefully I won't get addicted.  

Now what game do I play next.  

I heard World of Warcraft is good.

Girlfriend Cheats, Tip and Tricks v0.2a

I'm collecting tips and tricks so I can submit this to GameFaqs. If you guys have additional tips and tricks let me know.

Immunity
Save yourself from the wrath of any girl by making a schedule of their monthly menstrual cycle. Pamper them on their 'special days' and your immunity is secured.

Alternate Ending
If you want to die in an unusual way, give your girlfriend a squeaky toy and a tub of jello and tell her that you've been seeing her best friend.

Unlimited credit
Retail therapy is a natural occurence for girls. It cannot be separated or removed. Asking them to give up shopping is like asking them to cut their arms off. But to stop the unsavoury flavour of credit card debts use the line "Sweety, I think you look HOT in that dress and I'd really want to buy it for you.... But I'm saving for our future together...'
You earn double brownie points for thinking about the future.

Super Boyfriend Difficulty Setting
Tired of the same monsters and bosses? Try a
harder difficulty level by unlocking the Super Boyfriend Challenge Mode. Simply bring a packet of condoms next time you visit her parents and drop it accidentally near her father or mother.

Brownie Point Trick
Things that you're expected to do as a boyfriend doesn't earn you brownie points. Example, picking her up or having lunch with her. But you can earn brownie points by making an excuse for not being able to do such tasks. For example - I can't pick you up coz i still have work. Then, at the last minute, negate your excuse with 'Hi, I couldn't pick you up before, but I'll work over time tomorrow so I can pick you up'. This earns you brownie points on a brownie pointless event.

Double Brownie Point Gift Trick
This is similar to the Brownie point trick. Disappoint then please. When giving a present first give her a crappy gift. She'll have to smile and thank you because its a gift from you, but deep inside she's very very disappointed. Then, give her the real present. She'll be so surprised that she's not getting the crappy present, that you'll automatically get double brownie points for whatever your gift is.

Extreme Ends

Short Talk:
Father Joseph reminded the church of how people can go from one extreme to another in a short period of time. On palm sunday, Jesus was greeted with cheers and smiles and joy. And it would be the same group of people who would shout for his life the next week.
Hate and love. Fear and acceptance.
Such is being human. We go from one extreme to another.

What a strange weekend
Things went from one extreme to another.

Buffet to Entree

First was an all you can eat $10 buffet for Friday lunch. The food was okay but the $10 price tag was just ridiculous value!

$10 would usually buy a plate in a food court. At the place my friends took me, $10 lets you pig out on roast, lasagna, chicken, noodles, curry, sushi, salad - practically anything. There was a healthy food section but I had my eye on greasy food only :)

And while service was almost none-existent, it was a treat to stuff my gut without costing me a fortune.

On the other hand..

Friday evening took me to the other extreme of culinary experiences.

I joined my family for my brother's celebratory graduation dinner. We went to the C restaurant! The C Restaurant is a revolving restaurant on the top floor of some building that I forgot the name of (AAPT?)

A date with the family

Maaan - so nice! Classy with a grand piano and jazz singer. Everyone was dressed so nicely. And the view? Well - I don't think you can get a better view of Perth. Nothing beats a 360 degree view of the city. And the candlelit atmosphere matched the city lights. Simply superb.

I think I did get a bit nauseated at one time, but I blame it on my lunch haunting me. After a while you forget that you're being spun around and enjoy the great company and service of the place.

And even though a touch pricey, I don't think you can get this kind of experience anywhere else (the swivel chair in mcdonalds is just not the same experience).

Geeky to Giggly

Held on to my geeky briefs Saturday morning when my brother and I visited Perth's inaugural video game expo - GO3 2007. Surely when the line is this long - its gotta be good right? Right?

This exhibit is made of traffic cones and tape. Nice.

Sooo wrong. The place was rattling inside. It had no carpet (except the LAN thing that you had to pay for to enter) and the place almost empty. The expo had various electronics stores advertising their merchandise, but really, not much else.

I was impressed how realistic the graphics was.. You could almost touch it.

I was expecting big contributions from Nintendo and Sony but nopes - they didn't have a stall at all.

So my brother and I tried our best to make good of our over-priced $18 entry fee. We tried many of the demos and realised you had to spend hours on it to get a real feel of the game (which was what many of the game freaks were doing - hogging the stations!)

My brother at the nVidia display (take note of the legs behind him)

We had a turn playing Gears of War - which was mind-blowing (literally) that was good fun. But what made for a good show was the cosplay competition. Its amazing what lengths some people will go through to imitate their video game and anime idols.

This entrant got a lot of cheers. Daaamn she was hot. She was trying to look like I-no. She did pretty well I reckon :P

I managed to get a photo with the Nvidia models. My brother who took the photo didn't even get their legs :( He has soo much to learn when taking photos.I didn't take this photo.. but I wished I did

Speaking of long legs. I spent my saturday evening in the company of men in anticipation of just that - long long legs My friends' workmate was having his buck/stag night and I was lucky enough to tag along.

Things don't get more manly than a curry dinner with lots of beer and talk of women.

I feel sorry for the toilets all across Perth because beer and the extremely hot vindaloo make for a fiery mix. Hold on to them noses :P
Dinner was fun and the company a blast. I didn't know the guys that well but they were really easy to get along with.

Sadly the night was ruined by a two hour wait for our main entertainment. The guys agreed that this was just a stunt by the establishment to make us buy more drinks.

Although this gave the stag more time to alcohol, it left many of tired and restless.We all left a little bit annoyed and frustrated.

Funny how quickly some things turn.

Comfort Zone & DS Lite Foam Grip

There is a point in a relationship when individuals start letting their hair down and relaxing their guards because they've grown quite comfortable and at home with their partners.

The comfort zone.

Its a time when strict disciplines are loosened because you finally realise your special someone loves you enough to see through your flaws and quirks. They know you're only being yourself.

Once in the comfort zone, personal standards start dropping because you're already attached! Its no wonder that some people start becoming sloppier or gaining weight after being in a relationship (either that or they go on too many dinner dates).

Back when I was single - it was exercise, exercise, exercise!! Needed to look my best to catch me a yummy girl. Presentation was up there in the priority list.

Now I'm a lot more relaxed.
Actually, too relaxed. I think presentation is now at the bottom of the list.

Now the starting point of the 'comfort zone' is when you or your partner openly fart in front of the other. Some reach the comfort zone faster than others (or they have poor bowel movement). The end is when one starts screaming to the other "change you're underwear please!!" Obviously its not a 'comfort' zone when there's unpleasantness.

I digress. My point is, when you reach the comfort zone, you return to your slack, unattractive self. Which is not good.

Not good at all.


*************************

Since my girlfriend's been away I've been indulging myself in video games. Happy happy joy joy... or so I thought!

Last night I discovered why I was doing so bad in Mario Kart DS - my fat fingers are too big for the Nintendo DS lite!!

How can I play endless hours of Final Fantasy XII DS (when it comes out it May?) if the diminutive console strains my hands after thirty minutes of play?

Shrink my hands? - Nope. No way in hell do I want to look disproportionate.
Plus I don't want to ruin my sex life.

Make the DS bigger! Yes!! That's the way!!

So I googled my way around the net to discover Nintendo DS Lite hand grips. US$30 for plastic majiggies?! No way Jose. I can make something cheaper than that!

.
.
.
In fact that's exactly what I did!

I took a brick foam used for padding some appliance bought long ago. Why foam? Coz it's made of inert polycarbonate compounds that don't react to skin. Its porous enough aerate the hands - important when your fingers start sweating from excessive play AND is ultra light weight.
And its the only material I could find.

Then I carved out a DS cradle.


Cut out the corners and made it ergonomic
Presto!! Beautiful!

Now for the test drive!

Before my foam grip - I couldn't even come 3rd on the first race of 100cc Flower Cup - Mario Kart DS.

With the foam grip, I've finished Flower cup. I came first in all the races on my first go!
*sigh* I'm in gaming heaven. ITS SOOO GOOOOD!!
I'm so IN my comfort zone.