5h4d0w

Nokia N97

2009-07-20T16:30:00.000+08:00

Can't wait to get my hands on it...

Windows Live Writer

2009-07-15T17:14:00.001+08:00

I’m testing posting a blog entry using Windows Live Writer.
I find this feature quite convenient to use, coz I don’t need to actually log into the website, in fact I don’t even need to open my browser.

Anyway I’ve just got my hand into Windows 7 RC, so I’m currently playing around with it as well.
So far it’s quite an interesting piece of OS, although I found some of the feature advertised not working.
Anyway that’s probably because it’s an RC version or maybe becoz I’m installing it on VMware.

Anyway my Japan trip blog has not been updated for quite sometime… so I guess I should try to finish that one first…

Oh and Windows 7 is going to be available this coming October 22.

5h4d0w mark III Mk3

2009-04-18T21:23:00.001+08:00

Officially alive with specs:
AMD Phenom X4 9950
MSI K9A2 Platinum
Sapphire HD 4850 Toxic with Zalman VF900 (OC)
Corsair 4Gb Kit (2×2Gb)
Seagate 500Gb
Seagate 1.5Tb
Enermax Modu82+ 625W (Modular)
Enermax ECA3052 Chakra with 25cm fan
Enermax Everest 12cm (x2)
Microsoft Sidewinder X6 Gaming Keyboard
D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit Router <- new addition to the family

Salvaged from 5h4d0w mark II:
BENQ DVD Burner
Linksys wireless G USB
Samsung SyncMaster 931BF (19″)

Japan Trip Day 4

2009-02-03T22:05:00.015+08:00

Tue, Feb 03
I really hate winter... I woke up 4 hours behind schedule!
It's not that I didn't wake up when my alarm sounded, but I snoozed it coz I find it too damn cold to wake up...
It was around 8:30am when I went out from the hostel.

I noticed more activity along the way to Asakusa stn this morning.
It was dead quiet last night.

Anyway my first destination today is Sengakuji.
So I took train from Asakusa stn and it took me about 20 minutes to reach Sengakuji stn.
This temple is a must visit if you like the story of 47 Ronin. If you don't know the story, read here.
This is where all the Ronins are buried and many people come here to pay respect.
There's a statue of Oishi Kuranosuke, the leader of the 47 ronin.
There's also a small museum commemorating the 47 ronin inside as well.
Then I met up with Koo at around 10am at Shinagawa Stn.
After buying some onigiri for breakfast, we went to Nishi-Arai Diashi.
We took Asakusa line subway to Higashi Ginza stn then change to Hibiya line subway to Nishi-Arai Daishimae stn then walked to Nishi-Arai Daishi.

There's this Daruma Kuyo Festival that I wanted to see, but since we were late, the festival was already started and towards the end.
There were many people around to see the Buddhist monks burn Daruma dolls.
Daruma is a votive symbol for people wishing for the well-being of the family and flourishing business.
When you buy Daruma, it's eyes were initially blank (not colored).
So then you make your wish and color one eye.
When your wish came true, you color the other eye.
People bring their Daruma figures once a year on this day to the temple, express gratitude to them, and buy new ones for the next one year.
I can see some of the Daruma burnt there only have one eye colored... T.T
And of course when there's festival there are lots of street food vendors as well.
At around 12:30 we took Hibiya line subway to Ueno stn then changed to Ginza line to Asakusa stn.
We walked passed Nakamise-dori (it's a long rows of stalls towards Sensoji temple) to Sensoji temple (Asakusa Kannon Temple).
Sensoji temple, with it's giant lanterns (Kaminarimon and Hozomon) at its entrance gate is probably the oldest and most famous temple in Tokyo.
Both Sensoji and Nakamise-dori have history of several centuries.
Today one of my purpose there is to witness the Setsubun-e Festival (bean throwing festival).
We found out that the festival is starting at 2pm, so we quickly had our lunch there and joined the crowd to get the best spot (which is difficult considering the size of the crowd...).
The festival is to mark the beginning of each season, but usually refers to the start of Spring.
This festival is accompanied by a ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the previous year and drive away the evil of the year to come.
This ritual is called mamemaki (lit. bean scattering). Anyway, in the end we didn't get any beans... T.T

From there we took Ginza line subway to Ueno stn and went to Ueno Park.
Ueno Park is huge... There's a zoo, lotsa museums, temples, Shinobazu pond, Saigo Takamori's statue (I missed that one...!), Toshogu Shrine (Tokugawa Ieyasu's tomb, I missed this one too...!).
Anyway we managed to see the Flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at Toshogu Shrine.
We also saw some festival held at Hanazono Inari Shrine.
There were some performers at the park too.

From there we stopped by Akihabara at about 4pm, but the place was soo big I didn't know where to start...
So in the end I skipped that and we continued to Tokyo Tower.

As we walked towards Tokyo Tower, we stumbled upon this Zojoji temple.
Apparently it is quite a major temple in Tokyo. And more importantly, it has Tokyo Tower as it's background.
So we waited till dark and took some great photos of the temple with Tokyo Tower in the background.
There were lotsa cute Jizo statues in the temple cemetery.

After that we went to Shinjuku and we split up.
Koo went to meet his friend and I had a dinner with Kathryn and hubby, Niko. Thanks for the dinner guys!

After dinner I went back to Khaosan Hostel, but stopped by Asakusa again.
I took some photos there before going back.
The now quiet Nakamise-dori looked so much different at night.
There are some paintings on the stall's door that I think quite interesting.

I thought I know how to get to my hostel after being there once but infact I got lost...
After backtracking my way and checking the map, I finally reached hostel at about half hour past midnight...
I did took some photos of the hostel though.

Japan Trip Day 3

2009-02-02T22:04:00.026+08:00

Mon, Feb 02
Again we woke up at 09:00 today and quickly get ready and went to Kyoto stn.
We took JR from Kyoto stn to Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine (UNESCO).
As expected, this head Shrine of Inari (Inari is the God of business) is another amazing one.
It has thousands of Torii lining up from the base up to some of the smaller Shrines on Inari mountain.
There are also statues of Kitsune (Fox) which is regarded as God's messenger everywhere in the Shrine.
It is said that the two-storey entry gate was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
We had our onigiri lunch there, then we made a move at around noon time to Saga Arashiyama.
We took JR train from Inari stn to Saga Arashiyama stn.

From there we went to Tenryuji (UNESCO), this is considered number 1 of Kyoto Gozan (5 mountains/great Zen temples of Kyoto).

Inside the temple there's this funny looking red Daruma.
I think he was one of the Zen masters that was the head priest in Tenryuji.

From there we headed to Bamboo forest, there are lots of small cute monk statues along the way.

The bamboo forest itself was quite a beautiful scenary, and there's also a small shrine inside it.

At about 2pm we took Subway from Arashiyama stn to Omuro Ninnaji stn.
We then went to Ninnaji (UNESCO), but we didn't went inside (coz we're behind schedule and there's entrance fee...).
Anyway the gate itself is quite interesting with statues of 2 Guardians (Nio), Ungyo and Agyo.

From there we walked to Ryoanji (UNESCO), my wife been wanting to go here becoz of it's karesansui (dry landscape rock garden), but as we guessed before, it was closed from Jan 5 - Feb 5...
Anyway this we managed to get into the temple ground.

From there we walked to Kinkakuji.
It's already around 3pm and most temple closes at 5pm, so we rushed a bit.
Along the way we walked passed Ritsumeikan Uni.
We reached Kinkakuji Temple (UNESCO) in 20 minutes time.
It was the highlight for the day... or maybe for the whole Japan trip itself.
The temple was superbly amazing in bright golden color standing by the lake.
But my camera ran out of battery... luckily I managed to take 1 good shot at it before the camera died on me...

After that we went back to Tomato Guest house and then to Kyoto stn.
We separated there, I have to go back to Tokyo, while wifey will go to Osaka and Nara.

I took the 17:56 Hikari Shinkansen from Kyoto stn to Tokyo stn.
From there I changed to JR train to Ueno stn then change to Ginza line subway to Asakusa stn.
From there I walked and checked-in to Khaosan Hostel Annex (¥ 1,500 per person per night, excl booking fee ¥ 200).

By then it was very late at around 11pm, so I decided to just call it a day...

Japan Trip Day 2

2009-02-01T22:03:00.038+08:00

Sun, Feb 01
The plan was to wake up at 05:00, but Winter changed it all.
The weather was so cold that we refused to go up or even bathe...

In the end we started our day at 09:00.
We quickly bathe, get ready and made our move to Kiyomizudera (¥ 300 - UNESCO).

We took bus 206 from Kyoto stn to Gojozaka (means Gojo slope), and from there it's a 10-15 minutes up to Kiyomizudera.
It's about 10:30 by the time we reached Kiyomizudera (Pure Water Temple, dera/tera means temple in Japanese). And it is as amazing as we thought.
The temple, the garden and everything there was so well preserved that I really felt like I went back thru time to ancient Japanese.

At the top of the temple, there's this pair of "love stones" placed 18 meters apart. It is said that if you can walk from one stone to another stone on the other side with your eyes closed, then your search for your true love will soon end.

There's also this collection of heavy stuffs like iron sandals and monk's staffs.
It is said that if you cant lift some of these stuffs, that's how heavy your sins are. Hmm... but the logic is not really sound to me... maybe I'll check it out again.
Anyway for me, it's the middle iron staff that I can't lift...

Eventhough I don't think we came at the right time of the year (Spring or Autumn would be best), but Winter gave a different perspective of Kiyomizudera.

The temple ground is so big, it took us some 2 hours to explore Kiyomizydera, and honestly I don't think it's enough.

From there we went to Yasaka Pagoda (another link) thru Sannenzaka (Sannen slope) and Ninnenzaka, it was around 11:45 then.
These slopes connects Kiyomizudera and Kodai-ji temple.
And these two temples were rivals in the old times.

Yasaka Pagoda which lies in between these two were caught up in their fights and was burned few times in history.
This Pagoda is a good example of "the old meets new" in Japan.
It is so hidden inside some residential area and small streets, but you can see it stands out from afar.

Then we went north to Ryozen Kannon, which is relatively modern.
This is a monument built to honor those who died during WWII.
The statue is 24 m (80 ft) high and weighs approximately 500 tons.
This Kannon is is very big we can see it from outside the wall. But due to time constraint we didn't go inside.

It's 12:30 and we're very far behind schedule, so by the time we reached K odai-ji (Eng lish link) & Entoku-in, we just skipped those two.
In all we actually skipped quite a lot of the planned itinerary, mainly becoz of the weather and the immense size of each temple grounds...

Just behind Entoku-in is the traditional looking Ishibe Koji Street, wifey shopped a while for some gift there.
This street is very unique with its stone pavements, a row of ryotei (traditional restaurants), ryokan (Japanese-style inns) and shop houses.

Around this area we also see lots of 人力車 (jinrikisha = rickshaw) and girls dressed as Geisha.

At about 13:05 we went north to Yasaka Shrine (another link), we stopped by here to buy takoyaki (fried octopus) for lunch.
This Shrine which is also called Gion Shrine, is a Shinto Shrine where the famous Gion Matsuri (Gion Festival) usually held.

Our next stop after lunch is Maruyama Park which is just opposite of Yasaka Shrine.
This park is famous for watching the cherry blossom viewing (hanami).
This will be an encouragement to visit Japan again at the right time of the year.
Anyway I took photos with these interesting statues of Ryoma Sakamoto and Shintaro Nakaoka.
These 2 samurai were quite influential figures during Meiji Restoration in 19th century.

After 45 minutes exploring Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama park, we made a move to Chion-in.
This temple looked quite ancient and had a long stairs down to the main gate (San-mon, at 24m is the largest gate in Japan), we did go inside the temple ground, but anyway we didn't see the entrance that should have entrance fee.

We stopped by the opposite shop to buy an umbrella as it's starting to drizzle.
It's the unique looking (or maybe not so unique...) transparent type umbrella.

From there we walked north and passed by Shoren-in and Kyoto Zoo on our way to Philosopher's Walk.
The start of Philosopher's Walk is Nanzen-ji.
We reached there about 14:45, and we only went around the temple ground.

In most part of this Japan trip we only explored temple grounds without going into the temples, which is good enough for us.
Temple grounds are usually massive, has beautiful Japanese style garden (like the one in the pic) and you can see the impressive Buddhist/Zen style temples and shrines

Philosopher's Walk is a 2km walk along a small river.
The lanscape should be beautiful during early Spring time when Cherry blossom can be seen along the river.
There are also quite a number of temples and shrines along the way, but they are quite a distance from the river itself.
It took us about an hour to cover Philosopher's Walk and this is were we managed to pick up the speed from the actual schedule, coz we skipped those temples...

The other end of this walk is Ginkaku-ji (¥ 500 - UNESCO) temple.
We went inside and the main temple is really under renovation...
One interesting point from this temple is the sand formation depicting Mt. Fuji (pic on the left).
Sand formation is quite common in Zen style Buddhism.
It is usually trying to depict their understanding of the universe, Buddhism or the land of Japan.

From Kinkakuji michi stn, we took bus to Shijo-Kawaramachi stn (Downtown Kyoto).
We stopped near Kawaramachi Catholic Church, it was 17:45 and we still got some time before the mass so we went for dinner.
After dinner we attended the 18:30 Sunday Mass at the Church, and guess what... it's a Japanese mass service... something new...

After the 45 minutes mass we went to Pontocho and cross Kamogawa (Kamo river) to Gion.
These 2 places are famous for geisha and home to many geisha houses and traditional tea houses.
Pontocho is said to be the first place where kabuki was born.
On the other side of the river we saw the statue of Izumo no Okuni, errected in her honor and to commemorate 400 years of kabuki.

Gion is quite an interesting place, it looks traditional with it's stone pavements and restaurants, but also a taste of luxury.
The roads are big enough for cars to pass by and we did see lots of expensive taxi drove in and out.
We also managed to take a shot of a geisha walking in a hurry (blurry pic but looked artistic isn't it?).

From Gion we took bus 206 at around 21:00 back to Kyoto stn.
We bought dinner and breakfast (it's onigiri!), then we went back to Tomato Guest House.

Too bad we can't make it to Nijo Castle and Kyoto Imperial Park due to the time constraint.

Japan Trip Day 1

2009-01-31T22:02:00.015+08:00

Sat, Jan 31
Since I'm gonna be flying north from Singapore to Japan, so I purposely took a right window seat.
I was hoping to catch the sunrise, and I did.
Though I managed to get only 1 shot of it (it wasn't a nice shot really...), but the scene was beautiful.

Anyway, my plane was flying round and round for nearly 1 hour before landing at Narita. The captain said the airport was busy.

I reached Narita Airport Terminal 1 at around 08:15, then I proceed to the immigration counter.
I was happily taking photos of the airport when one of the airport staff told me not take photograph of the airport... oh well... maybe because it's near the immigration counter.
Anyway apart from the talking travelator (is that what you call for the walking kind of escalator?) nothing unusual about this airport, I still think Changi is the best airport I've been into.

After immigration I waited for my luggage.
It wasn't a long wait, so I quickly familiarize myself to the surrounding and went downstairs to JR (Japan Railways) stn.
I exchanged my JR Pass order for the real JR pass and booked my NEX (Narita Express) to Yokohama stn.
I forgot to buy a NEX&SUICA package (¥ 3,500) which can get me a SUICA card to use in Tokyo... but luckily my wife managed to buy it for me.
This is a good deal coz it's only for foreign tourists and 1 person can only buy 1.

I took the 09:15 NEX (Narita Express) train and reached Yokohama stn at around 11:00.
Then I went to Yokohama Tokyu Excel Hotel to drop my luggage there.
The receptionist was very helpful and told me to take local JR train (Yokohama Line) from Yokohama stn to Shin-Yokohama stn.
From Shin-Yokohama stn I took 12:22 Tokaido Shinkansen (Hikari train) to Kyoto stn.

That was my first Shinkansen ever and it was amazing.
It was so fast that when my train was stopping and there was another Shinkansen passing by, my train was slanted for that 1-2 second encounter...

Inside the train the seats are spacious, there's baggage compartment on top and there's also stewardess (I don't know if they're also called stewardess in trains...) walking around selling drinks and foods too.

I reached Kyoto stn at around 15:00, then I proceed to Toji Temple (UNESCO), it was a nice temple, but due to the bad weather I only went around the temple ground.
Talking about bad weather, the umbrella I brought with me from Singapore was spoiled (bad weather = raining & super strong wind...).

From Toji Temple I was suppose to go to Honganji Temples (Nishi & Higashi, both UNESCO), but then again, due to the bad weather, I decided to just go to Tomato Guest House and checked-in.
And that was my first lost experience in Japan.

The hostel was just on opposite side of Kyoto stn from Toji Temple, but I just can't find a direct way to go there... it took me about 1 or one and a half hour to get there.
But anyway I managed to get there and checked-in.
The room charge for a twin private room per night is ¥ 5,800 and for dorm type is ¥ 2,200 per person per night.

We will stay for 2 nights and wifey will stay there for another night.
My wife liked the Japanese style room that we stayed-in.
The staffs are very friendly and helpful bunch.
But the heater in the room is not really strong though, it can barely heat the room in winter.

After resting for a while, I went back to Kyoto stn.
Went to Kyoto Tourist Information Center and bought 1 day city bus pass (¥ 500 per day) for me and wifey.
I tried walking to Higashi Honganji temple (I was thinking maybe the temple is closed but the vicinity is open to public, like Toji Temple), but the temple was surrounded by wall and the gate beyond the wall was closed... so well next time maybe.

Wife sms-ed and said she's gonna be late coz she couldn't make it for the scheduled train, so I met her at around 21:30 at Kyoto Station.
Then I showed her the nearby Kyoto Tower and then we went back to hotel after a short tour around Kyoto stn.
We also bought some onigiri and sushi for dinner and breakfast tomorrow.
They became our favorite food for the entire Japan trip hahaha...

Japan Trip Prelude

2009-01-30T21:59:00.006+08:00

Fri, Jan 30
21:45 I took cab to Changi Airport with wifey. She decided to camp at Changi coz her flight is super early the next day (saved around SGD 30+ for cab mwahahaha...)
22:15 Checked-in & shopped for gifts
23:15 Boarded
23:45 Depart from Changi Airport Terminal 3 - SQ638. I got A380 for the first time and WOW it was greaaaat...!

Look at these pics...

Japan Trip Tentative Schedule

2009-01-29T01:43:00.001+08:00

I'm planning to buy JR Pass prior to my Japan trip, this pass cost quite a bomb (¥ 28,300), yet I believe it will be worthwhile, especially if I'm taking shinkansen Tokyo <-> Kyoto.

There's so many places I want to visit in Japan, but due to the time constraint, my main priority for this trip is to visit iconic places in Japan, including sites that are under UNESCO World Heritage list (marked as UNESCO below).
Anyway, here's the tentative schedule, let's see how much of these we can cover :p

Fri, Jan 30
21:00 Take cab to Changi Airport
21:30 Check-in & shop for gifts
23:00 Boarding
23:45 Depart from Changi Airport Terminal 3 - SQ638

Sat, Jan 31
07:15 Reach Narita Airport Terminal 1 -> Immigration
07:45 Buy NEX&SUICA package (¥ 3,500)
08:11 Take Narita Express (NEX) from Narita Terminal 1 stn to Yokohama stn
09:59 Reach Yokohama stn, drop luggage at Yokohama Tokyu Excel Hotel & take JR Yokohama Line - Negishi Line to Shin Yokohama stn
10:52 Take Hikari Shinkansen from Shin Yokohama stn to Kyoto stn
13:16 Reach Kyoto stn, buy 1 or 2 days city bus pass (¥ 500 per day)
14:00 Walk to Toji Temple (¥ 500 - UNESCO)
15:00 Walk to Honganji Temples (Nishi & Higashi Honganji - UNESCO) -> Kawaramachi Catholic Church
19:30 Check-in to Tomato Guest House (¥ 2,900 per person per night)
20:30 Meet wifey at Kyoto Station -> Kyoto Tower (¥ 770 - Observatory entrance is optional)

Sun, Feb 01
05:00 Breakfast
05:33 Take bus 206 from Kyoto stn to Gojozaka -> Kiyomizudera (¥ 300 - UNESCO)
07:00 Walk to Yasaka Pagoda (another link) -> Ryozen Kannon
08:00 Walk thru bamboo pathway to Kodaiji (English link - ¥ 600) & Entoku-in (optional)
09:00 Walk to Ishibe Koji Street
09:30 Walk to Yasaka Shrine (another link) -> Maruyama Park
10:30 Walk to Chion-in (¥ 400)-> Shoren-in (optional) -> Heian Shrine (optional)
12:00 Walk to Nanzenji (¥ 500) & Konchi-in (optional)
13:00 Walk to Eikando Temple (optional) -> Nyakuoji (optional)
14:00 Walk to Anraku-ji (¥ 300) -> Honen-in -> Ginkakuji (¥ 500 - UNESCO, we heard that the main temple is under renovation...)
15:34 Take bus 102 from Ginkakuji-michi stn, change at Horikawa-Imadegawa stn to bus 101 to Nijojyo-mae stn -> Nijo Castle (¥ 600 - UNESCO).
De-tour to Kyoto Imperial Park is also possible if time allows.
17:00 Take bus 12 from Nijojyo-mae stn to Shijo-Kawaramachi stn (Downtown Kyoto)
18:30 Attend the Sunday Mass at Kawaramachi Catholic Church
19:30 Walk to Gion
21:00 Take bus 206 back to Kyoto stn.

Mon, Feb 02
05:15 Check-out from Tomato Guest House
05:43 Take bus 南５ from Kyoto stn to Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine (UNESCO)
09:00 Take JR train from Inari stn to Saga Arashiyama stn -> Tenryuji (¥ 500 - UNESCO) -> Bamboo forest -> Sagano
10:00 Take Subway from Arashiyama stn to Omuro Ninnaji stn -> Ninnaji (¥ 500 - UNESCO) -> Ryoanji (¥ 500 - UNESCO, we heard it's closed from Jan 5 - Feb 5, crossing fingers...)
11:00 Walk to Toji-in (Optional) -> Ritsumeikan Uni (Optional) -> Waratenjin (Optional)
12:00 Walk to Kinkakuji Temple (¥ 400 - UNESCO)
12:58 Take bus 102 from Kinkakuji-michi stn to Karasuma Imadegawa stn
13:45 Tour Kyoto Imperial Palace
15:30 Take Subway from Imadegawa stn to Kyoto stn
15:56 Take Hikari Shinkansen from Kyoto stn to Tokyo stn
18:40 Reached Tokyo stn, change to JR train to Ryogoku stn/continue to Ueno stn then change to Ginza line subway to Asakusa stn -> walk and check-in to Khaosan Hostel Annex (¥ 1,500 per person per night, excl booking fee ¥ 200)
19:30 Explore Ginza/Tokyo Tower

Tue, Feb 03
04:30 Breakfast
05:30 Take Ginza line subway to Ginza stn -> Walk to Tsukiji Fish Market (maybe cannot as subway start later...)
06:30 Walk to Hama Rikyu Garden (¥ 300)
08:30 Walk to Sengakuji
11:00 Take Asakusa line subway to Higashi Ginza stn then change to Hibiya line subway to Nishi-Arai Daishimae stn -> Nishi-Arai Daishi (Daruma Kuyo Festival)
12:30 Take Hibiya line subway to Ueno stn then change to Ginza line to Asakusa stn -> Nakamise-dori -> Sensoji (Setsubun-e Festival)
14:30 Akihabara (depends on Setsubun-e festival schedule)
16:00 Asakusa take Ginza line subway to Ueno stn -> Ueno Park
18:00 Take JR line from Ueno stn to Hamamatsucho stn -> walk to Roppongi Hills
19:00 Take JR line from Hamamatsucho stn to Shinjuku stn -> Shinjuku
20:00 HardRock Cafe

Wed, Feb 04
07:00 Shibuya -> Harajuku
08:30 Explore Imperial Palace East Garden
09:45 Imperial Palace (Booking required)
11:30 Take JR Yokosuka Line (Track 1,2,3) from Tokyo stn to Kitakamakura stn, take photo of Ofuna Kan'non (Kamakura visit might be separated into 2 days if not enough time)
12:30 Reached Kitakamakura stn -> Engakuji (¥ 300) -> Tokeiji (Optional) -> Jochiji (¥ 200) -> Meigetsu-in (Optional) -> Chojuji -> Kencho-ji (¥ 300) -> En'noji (Optional)
14:30 Walk to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine (¥ 100) -> Jyomyoji (¥ 100) -> Jyufukuji -> Myoryuji -> Daigyoji -> Kamakura stn
16:00 Take JR train from Kamakura to Hase stn then walk to Hasedera & Benten-kutsu Cave (¥ 300) -> Kotoku-in & Daibutsu (¥ 200)
17:30 Walk to Kamakura stn
18:00 Take JR Yokosuka line from Kamakura stn to Yokohama stn
19:00 Check-in to Yokohama Tokyu Excel Hotel
21:00 Minato Mirai -> Queen's Tower (HardRock Cafe) -> Cosmo Clock -> Nippon Maru

Thu, Feb 05
08:15 Meet Hayashi-san at Hotel lobby
09:00 Training in Hitachi Software Division - Totsuka
18:00 Dinner
21:00 Red Brick Warehouse -> Yokohama Bay Bridge -> Chinatown

Fri, Feb 06
09:00 Training in Hitachi Software Division - Totsuka
12:00 Lunch
13:00 R&R in Yokohama (Landmark Tower -> Yamashita Park -> Marine Tower -> Harbor View Park) or continue to Kamakura

Sat, Feb 07
08:00 Check-out from Yokohama Tokyu Excel Hotel
09:00 R&R in Yokohama (Landmark Tower -> Yamashita Park -> Marine Tower -> Harbor View Park)
15:30 Take Narita Express (¥ 4,180) from Yokohama stn to Narita Terminal 1 stn
16:59 Reach Narita Terminal 1 stn & check-in
18:00 Boarding
19:00 Depart from Narita Terminal 1 - SQ11

Sun, Feb 08
01:25 Reach Changi Airport Terminal 1

Wanna do/get things...

2009-01-25T23:28:00.000+08:00

Yay! Just got 1 more thing on the list yesterday, it's a Canon EOS450D DSLR...
Updated on Jan 25, 2009

Travelling:
- Check out my "Wanna go places..." blog entry...

Things:
- TV table (Checked)
- Home theatre system (Checked)
- Desktop theatre system (I know... I know... I want lots of things)

Photography:
- Underwater housing for my digicam(maybe when I decided to continue diving... very ex, got a Canon A720IS & EOS450D now)
- Take a Star Trail pics (north star!!!)
- Take a Water drop macro pics
- Scenaries, Sunrises and Sunsets pics (I have some, but I want more!!)

Sports and outdoor:
- Get my diving license (Checked)
- Get my own snorkelling set (prolly diving too? again, wait long long...)
- Learn tennis, and hmm... re-learn TDK (like I have all the time in the world...)
- Build up more stamina (swimming and hiking to prepare for my next trips)
- Parasailing, Parachuting, Bungee Jumping, Canoeing, Archery, Shooting, etc.. etc..

Pets I want to have:
- Dogs (obviously the bigger the better, I want something looks like wolf, a Husky?)
- Cats (I like big cats though... like those u see in animal planets and zoo...)
- Cute Small furry mamals... (maybe pearl/sapphire? hammies, I got robos few years ago, they're temperamental and they bite)

Others:
- Lasik (yeah I wanna get rid of this myopia, it's really bothering with my activities)
- Convert driving license to Singapore license
- Upgrade my comp (MB + AMD processor + PCI Express GC) (CHECKED)
- Take Accounting and Japanese course
- Download more animes hehehe...
- Deco the flat "Zen"-ly
- If I'm gonna go with a car, I'd say 4 wheel drive with super huge wheels will do fine for me.

Canon EOS450D

2009-01-25T16:34:00.005+08:00

Yay! Got myself a Canon EOS450D DSLR.
Gotta make sure I use it a lot coz it's so damn expensive.
Currently I can't afford to get any accessories for it, so gotta live with the standard spec:
-EOS450D
-EF-S18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

But when I get more $$ and skill, I sure want:
-Tripod & Gorilla tripod
-Remote shutter
-External flash
-Lens hood
-Lens protector
-etc

When the trip gets better

2009-01-17T22:55:00.001+08:00

Bah now both my Friendster and Blogger blogs are blocked by my company... sucks...

Anyway...
Today's topic's about my biz trips' accomodation (trip to Jakarta).
It somehow gets better with each trip.
For my very first trip (which was with my previous company, also my 3rd day with the them) and the following one, I stayed at Ambhara Hotel.
It was great, considering that was my very first ever biz trip and I got a quite good hotel (compared to those budget ones that I got for my own backpacking trips).
Well in fact I can be quite easily contented, as long as there's cable in the room, it's good nuff for me.
For my 3rd trip onwards I stayed at an even better Crowne Plaza Hotel, it's a five star if I'm not mistaken.
In some of the stay I got upgraded to erhmm... executive suite or something... not sure what's the name, but when I do, I got free internet access as well... nice...
Oh and it's just beside Plaza Semanggi hehe...
Anywayzzz... These days I get to stay at Mulia Hotel which is also a five star hotel, but this time I got free internet and 4 pieces of laundry per day for every stay, even better huh.
It's not next to any malls, but Plaza Senayan and Senayan City (which are opposite to each other) is 10 minutes away by taxi (if no jam), it's also quite near to Taman Anggrek Mall, EX + Plaza Indonesia, and many more.
And.. this week I'm here for the whole week for implementation and training, but this time I get to bring my wife with me mwahahaha... so exciting, so after the tiring day at client's place we can go have dinner in one of the malls and enjoy our fave food of the year: JCO Donuts (thanks to Andrea who introduced us to this great food).
Anyyywayzz... the down side of biz trip is... it's more of business than pleasure... and for me the two don't get along too well...
Ciao for now...

Updated (06 Sep 07):
Added to my biz trip hotels: Shangri-la Jakarta, not bad, but still prefer Mulia hehehe...

Updated (05 Dec 07):
Added to my biz trip hotels: Millenium Hotel.
Quite centralized location, but since it's too near with Thamrin CBD area, the traffic in this area is always packed during office hours.
Wasn't quite satisfied with the service last time I stayed here, the fridge was not there, I had to request for one and internet is not free for corporate rate. Furthermore on my last day the internet was down the whole night when I need it urgently.

Updated (12 Mar 08):
My corporate rate for Shangri-la was stripped from the free internet usage.
Eventhough I've called prior to my trip to confirmed if internet usage is included in the rate, the service desk still argued and charged me for the internet.
I'm very disappointed with that kind of service.

Updated (09 May 08):
Added to my biz trip hotels: InterContinental Hotel.
It's okay, slightly higher class than Crowne Plaza Hotel, but Mulia still the best so far.
I hate the TV compartment, this is the 1st hotel in all my business trips that the TV can't be swivelled to face the study table.
Meaning: I can't watch my Discovery or NG while working... bah!
And no free internet either...

Updated (29 Jul 08):
Added to my biz trip hotels: Courtyard Bangkok Marriott Hotel.
Not bad, this hotel is pretty new, less than a year I think.
We have offer of 1 night stay + 1 night stay free.
But the offer doesn't include breakfast and internet access.
The interior is quite modern with a unique see thru toilet from the bedside...

Updated (17 Sep 08):
Hmmm... somehow this year Mulia is no longer offerring free transport from Hotel to Office...
However, it's still my best choice so far.
I was surprised during my recent stay there that the laundry pick-up guy still remember me...
It was quite sometime ago (early this year if not last year) that I went to stay in Mulia.

Updated (08 Oct 08):
I stayed again at Courtyard Bangkok Marriott Hotel during my recent trip.
It's not on offer this time, but there's no breakfast included as well...
In fact I think this hotel is quite expensive without breakfast.
Oh anyway this hotel is about 5-10 minutes walk from the nearest BTS (Ratchadamri), which is between 1-2 stops away from shopping centers and night markets at Sala Daeng, Siam and National Stadium BTS.

Soon (08 Feb 09):
Going to stay at Yokohama Tokyu Excel Hotel.
Let's see how this hotel's gonna be.
I think this is going to be the most expensive biz trip hotel so far...
Will update again soon!

Wanna go places...

2009-01-17T21:39:00.000+08:00

Here it is the updated list...
Updated on Jan 17, 2009

Trips in the past:
- USA - West Coast [May-Sep 04] (Done)
- Malaysia - Lumbong [Dec 04] (Done)
- Malaysia - Belumut [Mar 05] (Done)
- Malaysia - Sabah [May 05] (Done)
- Malaysia - Ophir [May 05] (Done)
- Malaysia - Cameroon Highland [Jul 05] (Done)
- S. Korea [Aug 05] (Done)
- Indonesia - Jakarta x2 [Oct 05] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Nov 05] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Dec 05] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Batam [Dec 05] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Bali [Feb 06] (Done)
- Malaysia - Genting [Feb 06] (Done)
- Indonesia - Batam [Apr 06] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Batam [May 06] (Biz Trip)
- Malaysia - Pulau Lang Tengah [May 06] (Done)
- Malaysia - Pulau Dayang [May 06] (Done)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Jul 06] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Aug 06] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Surabaya [Aug 06] (Done)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Sep 06] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Oct 06] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Nov 06] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Dec 06] (Biz Trip)
- Thailand - Bangkok [Dec 06] (Wife)
- Thailand - Krabi [Jan 07] (Done)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Jan 07] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [May 07] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Jun 07] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Jul 07] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Sep 07] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Oct 07] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Bunaken [Dec 07] (Cancelled)
- Indonesia - Surabaya [Feb 08] (Wife)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Mar 08] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [May 08] (Biz Trip)
- USA - New York - New York City [Jun 08] (Done)
- USA - Wisconsin - Madison [Jun 08] (Done)
- USA - Illinois - Chicago [Jul 08] (Done)
- Canada - Ontario - Niagara Falls [Jul 08] (Done)
- USA - New York - Niagara Falls [Jul 08] (Done)
- Thailand - Bangkok [Jul 08] (Biz Trip)
- Indonesia - Jakarta [Sep 08] (Biz Trip)
- Thailand - Bangkok [Oct 08] (Biz Trip)

Very Near future (next year):
- Japan - Kyoto [Jan 09]
- Japan - Tokyo [Feb 09]
- Japan - Yokohama [Feb 09]

Near future (<5 yrs):
- Malaysia (Tioman, Penang, Redang)
- Cambodia (Angkor Wat, Siem Reab)
- Thailand [Phuket, Ko Samui, Chiang Mai)
- Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi)
- Brunei
- Nepal (Kathmandu)
- Tibet
- Japan (lotsa place)

Not so near future (5-10 yrs):
- India (Goa, Calcutta, Taj Mahal)
- China (Great Wall)
- Australia (Great Barrier Reef)

Wait long long (>10 yrs):
- Canada
- Europe
- Africa
- Middle eastern
- USA
- Maldives
- Madagascar
- Galapagos Island
- Mexico (Thanks to Xenopus for the insight)

Phew...

2009-01-05T07:37:00.001+08:00

I'm so relieved that my 2 Gerbils survived a 12-day home alone with lotsa food.

of Mozzies

2008-12-27T22:52:00.004+08:00

I used to nag about how we often found some mozzies in our HDB in Singapore.
But recently I'm reminded of how Jakarta is even more mozzie infested than Singapore.
My dad just offered me an insect repellent, but I told him it's okay, I'd rather use the electric racket shaped "Mosquito Hitting Pat".
So every time I killed one, it gives a spark.
And somehow I took pleasure in killing those blood sucking a******s with it.
So far I managed to kill erm... 3... more to go!

Geez... I started to blog these kinna nonsense, I guess I should travel more (or finished my US trip blog... it's 5 months overdue).

Update:
I killed about 15-20 mozzies that night lol...

Next trip...

2008-11-29T23:01:00.002+08:00

Japan! Finally... for business but obviously going to extend.
My only regret is... it's gonna be damn cold in winter...

But before that it's gonna be home sweet home to Jakarta 1st this year end.

Helloo...

2008-11-25T18:59:00.001+08:00

any adult out there want to be treated like a "kid"... ?

What a day...

2008-11-23T00:02:00.002+08:00

I'm starting to think that maybe it's not going to work...
Just when I thought that someone finally understand how I feel (and that really gives me the good mood) and BOOM! one second and then I feel like dropping dead bah!

Remote Blog Test

2008-11-11T18:47:00.001+08:00

Testing this blog for remote blogging purposes.

New Email addresses available on Yahoo!
Get the Email name you've always wanted on the new @ymail and @rocketmail.
Hurry before someone else does!

the longest 1 stop...

2007-01-22T16:54:00.000+08:00

It was 2 nights ago... I clearly remembered when and where it happened...
It was just 1 stop away from our destination.
It was then when my other half saw a mother with her baby son stepped in to the MRT.
She said "what a cute baby", "He's more of fat rather than cute" I replied.

"Reminds me of myself in the past" she continued. I sensed some uneasiness in her face, so I threw in some jokes to melt the icy feeling. She replied short and then there was silence. Must have been a bad joke, I thought.
Not long, her eyes started to get watery. Geez, what have I done, I thought. I noticed she kept on looking at the mother and son that's now sitting in the corner seat. I know she's been thru a hell lot, must be her overwhelming sympathy towards her that made her cry. Something that I am (most of us are) lacking of.

It was heartbreaking for me to see her cry (at least this I still have), the same painfull feeling I felt 10 months ago when I first heard of her story. But what can I do now? I took another glimpse at the mother and son then asked myself again, what can I do? I don't know what her problem is, I don't even know if she had any problem. So I turned back to my other half and said "Baby, I am so sorry". "It's not you", she replied.

My thought went wander...

People are experiencing different experience in life. It is easy to say that others would not understand the painfull strive one has experinced in life. But one should understand that it is sometimes a painful strive for others to sincerely try to understand what one might have experinced.

I only wish to do the best I could, I realized that I am lacking of many things in life, the fun fact is: I didn't even know what I'm missing... that's precisely why I need guidance. I have to admit that ever since I knew you I learnt lots of new things I never even knew it exist before. I explored deep into myself, those corners that I myself never (refuse to) look into before. The way how things looked differently from your eyes.

I've had my long years of contemplation too, I don't expect anyone would understand what I've been thru either, no I don't think anyone would. But now I chose to be happy with my life, yes, this is how I try to appreciate life. Life that no one has ever walked before, it's my life! It's nothing bad, far from worse, but it's not perfect either, it has rooms for improvements! How can I make others happy if I can't make myself a happy person?

I myself believe that I should start doing a better job from the smallest part of the society: my own family. This is the corner stone that I want to shape as foundation. Once I get this one straight I will set up the next level and my goal is toward the rooftop. My life is not mine solely now, it belongs to my family.

Beep... beep... beep... and then we reached our destination, we left, and so is the feeling...

That night I cried. Lonely? perhaps... I'm a human too...

It's only words

2006-10-10T11:59:00.000+08:00

Was I mistaken to have faith in love?
Why am I hurting this much if not?
Am I just a laughingstock, a means of escape?
Loving someone who never really loves me?

I've never doubted how powerful words can be.
They can be sharper than any blades you can ever find.
They can pierce directly to your heart and left you heartbroken.

With every pierce to my heart, I died, resurrected and then prepare myself for another strike.
Should I live the rest of my life carrying this cross, falter not I shall.
For I have decided to love, and to love I shall live my life.
Should I lose everything dear to me, I shall praise God for He have once given me those.
For we are born carying nothing and nothing we shall bring on the day we die.

I do feel the happiness and it is real, just as real as my pain.
I thank you Lord for even in pain I found hapiness.
I do not regret anything and I shall not.
Lord God grant me faith and strength, for I am weak...

5h4d0w the legend

2006-07-27T11:54:00.001+08:00

-In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [5h4d0w] upon the face of the deep-

Thus explains that 5h4d0w was already making its legend back in the early creation.

Ok enough with the crap, my 5h4d0w was born in 1996 and made its legend in the late 2000. Entered its golden age and stayed there among the top for 3-4 years and gone into decline in 2004.

Today I started a campaign (for myself) in remembrance of the Legendary 5h4d0w, hopefully to revive part of its glory.
I will list down it's achievements (collection actually, but still need to double check on availabily).

Anyway here it is:

.Hack Sign [1-11] (incomplete)
.Hack - Legend of Twilight's Bracelet [1-4,6-12] (incomplete)
Ah! My Goddess OVA [1-5] (complete)
Ah! My Goddess movie (complete)
Ah! My Goddess TV [1-25] (complete)
Ah! My Goddess Chichaitte Kotoha Benridane [1-48] (complete)
Ah! My Goddess TV Sorezore no Tsubasa [1-10] (on going)
Air [1-13] (complete)
Air Master [1-27] (complete)
Akira (complete)
Alien Nine [1-4] (complete)
Angel Sanctuary OVA (complete)
Angel's Tail [1-12] (complete)
Angel's Tail 2 [1-11] (complete)
Animatrix (complete)
Appleseed movie (complete)
Aquarian Age [1-13] (complete)
Arc The Lad [1-26] (complete)
Ayashi no Ceres [1-24] (complete)
Bakuretsu Hunter TV [1-26] (complete)
Bakuretsu Tenshi [1-24] (complete)
Bastard [1-6] (complete)
Battleship Nadesico - Movie (complete)
Berserk [1-25] (complete)
Bleach [1-90] (on going)
Blood The Last Vampire (complete)
Bubblegum Chrisis: Tokyo 2032 [1-8] (complete)
Bubblegum Chrisis: Tokyo 2040 [1-26] (complete)
Candidate for Goddess [0-11] (complete)
Card Captor Sakura Memorial Vid [1-3] (complete)
Card Captor Sakura Movie 1 (complete)
Card Captor Sakura Movie 2 (complete)
Card Captor Sakura Kero-chan (complete)
Card Captor Sakura TV [1-70] (complete)
Chobits [1-26] (complete)
Chrno Crusade
City Hunter Movie ?? (complete)
Cooking Master Boy [1-52] (complete)
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on heaven's door (complete)
Conan (M1)Skycraper on a Timer (complete)
Conan (M2)The 14th Target (complete)
Conan (M3)The Last Wizard of the Century (complete)
Conan (M4)Captured in Her Eyes (complete)
Conan (M5)Countdown to Heaven (complete)
Conan (M6)The Phantom of Baker Street (complete)
Conan (M7)The Crossroad in the Ancient Captial (complete)
Conan (TVSP)12 Million Hostages (complete)
Conan (SP1)Conan vs Kaito Kid (complete)
Crayon Shinchan - The Adult Empire Strikes Back (complete)
DBGT [1-64] (borrowed??)
DBZ Movie 12 (complete)
Di Gi Charat [1-16] (complete)
Di Gi Charat - Summer Special [1-4] (complete)
Di Gi Charat - X'mas Special (complete)
Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventures TV [1-13] (complete)
DNA 2 [1-15] (complete)
Elfen Lied [1-14] (complete)
Escaflowne: The Movie (complete)
Escaflowne: Tenkuu no Escaflowne [1-26] (complete)
Evangelion: Shin Seiki Evangelion [1-26] (complete)
Evangelion: End of Evangelion (complete)
Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (complete)
eX-Driver - Movie (complete)
E's Otherwise [1-26] (complete)
Fafner in the Azure [1-25] (complete)
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (complete)
Final Fantasy VII Last Order (complete)
Final Fantasy Unlimited [1-25] (complete)
Final Fantasy The Spirit Within (complete)
Flame of Recca [1-42] (lost??)
FLCL [1-6] (complete)
Full Metal Alchemist movie: The Conqueror of Shambala (complete)
Full Metal Panic! [1-24] (complete)
Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid [1-14] (complete)
Gate Keepers [1-24] (complete)
Getbackers [1-49] (complete)
Ghost In The Shell (complete)
Golden Boy [1-5] (complete)
Gundam 0079 MS Gundam movie 3 [1-3] (complete)
Gundam 0080 War in Pocket [1-6] (complete)
Gundam 0083 Afterglow of Zeon [1-2] (complete)
Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory [1-13] (complete)
Gundam 08th Mobile Suit Team [1-12] (complete)
Gundam F-91 (complete)
Gundam Seed [1-50] (complete)
Gundam Seed Destiny [1-17] (incomplete)
Gundam Wing - Movie (complete)
Gunsmith Cats [1-3] (complete)
Happy Lesson OVA [1-3] (complete)
Happy Lesson TV [1-5] (incomplete)
Hanaukyo Maids [1-13] (complete)
Hellsing [1-13] (complete)
Hellsing OVA [1-??] (on going)
Hikaru no Go [1-75] (complete)
Hunter x Hunter TV [1-62] (complete)
Hunter x Hunter OVA1 [1-8] (complete)
Hunter x Hunter OVA2 Greed Island [1-8] (complete)
Hunter x Hunter OVA3 Greed Island Final [1-14] (complete)
Ikeru Futari [1-16] (complete)
Initial D 1st Stage [1-26] (??)
Initial D 2nd Stage [1-13] (??)
Initial D 3rd Stage (??)
Initial D Battle Stage (??)
Initial D Extra Stage (??)
InuYasha [1-167] (complete)
InuYasha movie 1 Toki wo Koeru Omoi (complete)
InuYasha movie 2 Kagami no Naka no Mugenjyou (complete)
InuYasha movie 3 Tenka Hado no Ken (complete)
Ippatsu Kikimusume [1-16] (complete)
I Wish You Were Here [1-4] (complete)
Jinki Extend [1-11] (incomplete)
Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu [1-26] (complete)
Jungle Wa Itsumo Hale Nochi Guu DELUX [1-6] (incomplete)
Juuni Kokki [1-10] (incomplete)
Kaidohmaru OAV (complete)
Kanon [1-13] (complete)
Kite the movie (complete)
Kochira Katsushika-Ku Kameari-Kouenmae Hashutsujo - Movie (complete)
Last EXILE [1-26] (complete)
Legend of Crystania - Movie (complete)
Lord of The Rings Animated (??)
Love Hina [1-25] (complete)
Love Hina Again [1-3] (complete)
Love Hina Spring Special (complete)
Love Hina Christmas Special (complete)
Lupin III - Dead or Alive (complete)
Lupin III - First Contact (complete)
Lupin III - Return of Pycal (complete)
Lupin III - Stolen Lupin (complete)
Macross OVA [1-4] (complete)
Macross Zero [1-5] (complete)
Magic Knight RayEarth [1-49] (complete)
Magic Knight RayEarth OVA [1-3] (complete)
Mahoromatic [1-12] (complete)
Mahoromatic year end (complete)
Mahou Sensei Negima [1-??]
Mai HiMe [1-26] (complete)
Mai Otome [1-26] (complete)
Mamotte Shugogetten [1-22] (complete)
Denshin Mamotte Shugogetten [1-8] (complete)
Matantei Loki - Ragnarok [1-26] (complete)
Memories Off OVA 1 (??)
Melody of Oblivion [1-24] (complete)
Mirage of Blaze [1-5] (incomplete)
Naruto [1-194] (on going)
Naruto Jump Fiesta 2004 (complete)
Naruto Daikatsugeki! Yukihime Ninpocho Dattebayo!! (complete)
Naruto Daigekitotsu! Maboroshi no Chitei Iseki Dattebayo (complete)
Ninku - Movie (complete)
Noir [2-26] (incomplete)
Ocean Waves (complete)
Outlaw Star [1-26] (complete)
One piece - Movie (??)
Onegai Teacher [1-13] (complete)
Onegai Twins [1-13] (complete)
Patlabor Movie 1 (complete)
Perfect Blue (complete)
Petshop of Horror [1-4] (complete)
Pita ten [1-26] (complete)
PlanetES [1-26] (complete)
Please Save My Earth [1-6] (complete)
Please Save My Earth - Movie (complete)
Princess Mononoke (complete)
Rahxephon [1-14] (incomplete)
Read or Die [1-3] (complete)
Read or Dream TV [1-26] (complete)
Record of Lodoss War OVA [1-13] (complete)
Record of Lodoss War TV [1-27] (complete)
Ruin Explorers [1-4] (complete)
Run=Dim [1-13] (complete)
Rurouni Kenshin OVA 1 [1-4] (complete)
Rurouni Kenshin OVA 2 [1-2] (complete)
Rurouni Kenshin movie (complete)
Saber Marionette J [1-25] (complete)
Saint Seiya - Movie (??)
Samurai 7 [1-26] (complete) special thanks to Xenopus ^_______^
Samurai Champloo [1-26] (complete)
Samurai Deeper Kyo [1-26] (complete)
Seikai no Danshou (complete)
Seikai no Monshou [1-13] (complete)
Seikai no Senki [1-13] (complete)
Seikai no Senki 2 [1-10] (complete)
Scryed [1-26] (complete)
Serial Experiments Lain [1-13] (complete)
Slayers Premium (complete)
Sol Bianca [1-3] (complete)
Star Ocean Ex [1-26] (complete)
Steel Angel Kurumi Zero [1-3] (complete)
Studio Ghibli: Howl's Moving Castle (complete)
Studio Ghibli: Kiki's Delivery Service (complete)
Studio Ghibli: Mononoke Hime (complete)
Studio Ghibli: My Neighbour Totoro (complete)
Studio Ghibli: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (lost??)
Studio Ghibli: Spirited Away (complete)
Sunabouzu [1-7] (incomplete)
Tales of Eternia [1-13] (complete)
Tenchi movie 1: Tenchi in Love (complete)
Tenchi movie 2: Daughter of Darkness (complete)
Tenchi movie 3: Tenchi Forever (complete)
Tenjou Tenge [1-24] (complete)
Tenjou Tenge OVA [1-2] (??)
Tenshi no Shippo [1-12] (complete)
Tenshi no Shippo Chu [1-6] (complete)
Those Who Hunt Elves [1-12] (complete)
To Heart [1-13] (complete)
Tokyo Underground [1-26] (complete)
Trigun [1-26] (complete)
Trinity Blood [01-24] (complete)
Vampire Hunter D - Movie (complete)
Vampire Princess Miyu [1-26] (complete)
Vampire Princess Miyu OVA [1-4] (complete)
Vandread [1-13] (complete)
Vandread 2nd Stage [1-13] (complete)
Violinist of Hameln (complete)
Wild Arms [9-13] (incomplete)
Witch Hunter Robin [1-26] (complete)
Wolf's Rain [1-20] (incomplete)
Xenosaga [1-12] (complete)
X OVA (complete)
X TV [1-24] (complete)
You Are Under Arrest - No Mercy (complete)
Yu Yu Hakusho [1-112] (complete)
Zone of The Enders OVA (complete)

This list is still under construction due to lost, unreturned or damaged collection.
The series in red show that they're either incomplete, on going or completed with some lost or damaged episodes.
No guarantee the rest are still intact though LOL

Re-post from: Friendster Blog

Mall Hopping

2006-07-25T09:11:00.000+08:00

Hahaha yea after Church Hoppin now there's this Mall Hoppin, so after Church off we go to Malls. Neeways its only those Malls I've visited before
Not planning to write anythin much on the Malls though, just gonna list em up for my reference, well... prolly gonna add some important infos too, like cinema or somethin.
So next time we need to decide on which Mall we should go, I can just check this entry for reference, sweet no...? :D :D

Imma gonna start from the nearest one from ma place:
>> LOT 1 Shopper's Mall <<
21 Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4
Beside Choa Chu Kang MRT
Shaw Cinema

>> Bukit Panjang Plaza <<
1 Jelebu Road
Within walking distance from Bukit Panjang LRT

>> West Mall <<
1 Bukit Batok
Beside Bukit Batok MRT
Eng Wah Cinema

>> IMM (International Merchandise Mart) Building <<
2 Jurong East Street 21

>> Jurong Entertainment Center <<
2 Jurong East Central 1 Street 13
Within walking distance from Jurong East MRT
Shaw Cinema

>> Jurong Point Shopping Centre <<
1 JURONG WEST CENTRAL 2
Beside Boonlay MRT
Golden Village Cinema

>> Causeway Point <<
1 Woodlands Square
Beside Woodlands MRT
Cathay Cineplex

>> Tiong Bahru Plaza <<
302 Tiong Bahru Road
Beside Tiong Bahru MRT
Golden Village Cinema

>> Great World City <<
1 Kim Seng Promenade
Golden Village Cinema

>> Plaza Singapura <<
68 Orchard Road
Within walking distance from Dhoby Ghout MRT
Golden Village Cinema

>> Cathay Cineleisure Orchard <<
8 GRANGE ROAD
Within walking distance from Somerset and Orchard MRT
Cathay Cineplex

>> Shaw House <<
350 Orchard Road
Within walking distance from Orchard MRT
Shaw Cinema

>> Bugis Junction <<
200 Victoria Street
Beside Bugis MRT
Shaw Cinema

>> Eastpoint Mall <<
3 Simei Sreet 6
Beside Simei MRT
Pet Lovers Centre, The Pet Safari

To be continued...

Church Hopping

2006-07-24T10:16:00.000+08:00

This entry is a continuation from the Friendster blog I had.
Due to the limited space given in Friendster, I couldn't upload anymore photos there, thus any post that requires me to put photos will be posted here with a notice from Frienster blog :D:D:D

Alrighty, inspired by Jeffry and Ivon, I'm planning to do some Church hopping too~

Planning to take loads of pics and write about the Church, transport, eating places nearby, etc... (provided I have the time to do so). Will be updating this entry every week (I hope~).

Church of The Holy Cross

Here's the map showing parish boundaries I got from Holy Cross Church.
Btw, when I was in Santa Cruz, CA, I went to a church with an exactly same name... what a coincidence...

It was said that the first expedition arrived there set up a cross in 1769 and called it "Santa Cruz" which means "The City of The Holy Cross". Check out Holy Cross Church Santa Cruz website for more info.

Ok enough about the other Holy Cross, let's get back to Singapore's Church of the Holy Cross.
Different from Santa Cruz's Holy Cross, this Church got its name because it has a piece of The True Cross of Jerusalem by which Jesus Christ was crucified.

Situated at 450 Clementi Avenue 1, this church is probably the most convenient (closest) Catholic Church to visit for NUS students.
That's why I went to this church most often and got very much comfortable with it.

You can prolly see from the pics that there are Crosses everywhere in the building's architecture.
You can observe two Crosses side by side from the front (from across the street).
And you see another one from behind the building too.

Another good thing about this Church is you don't have to care for the weather, no need to bring umbrellas.
Coz "The Son is always shining" there!

This is the Church of The Holy Cross Logo.
For more info and how to get here you can check out Holy Cross website.
It is also within walking distance to Clementi Central where you can find eating places and MRT.

Church of St. Joseph

Last weekend we went to this Church by accident, we wanted to go to St. Mary in Bukit Batok but the bus (970) happened to pass by this Church before St. Mary.
The architecture of this Church is quite interesting, it has a Japanese/Chinese castle look.
The structures look quite old and have no aircon, but the total compound is HUGE, including a kindergarten, Halls and Stations of The Cross.
I wanted to take some pics there, but the thing is it ran out of battery when I got there... sweet...
Neeways we couldn't explore that much too coz of the drizzle that day.
I would want to go there again, I'll make sure my batteries are fully charged next time.
Oh. anyway, this is the Church of St Joseph's website.

Photos are ready... but this time I didn't bring them to office... (yes I blog from office).
I overslept this morning, almost late to go to office, no time to copy them into my thumb...

Church of Holy Trinity

This Church is situated between Simei and Tampines MRT.
So if you stop from Tampines MRT just follow the MRT line back to Simei direction for about 10 minutes and you'll reach there.
However from Simei MRT is a bit tricky, you gotta detour a little as the bridge crossing expressway is somewhere further from the MRT line.
You can check the Church's website for more info.
Inside the Church was this walls and windows where you can see the level below and above, it somehow separates the front half section of the Church with the other half.
It's a bit difficult to explain, but here's what it looks like.

There's this nice carving of the Last Supper on the Altar, but this pic doesn't show as nice coz the back light was already turned off right after the mass... will try again next occassion.
This church also has a nice collection of colored glass windows.
None of my pics can show it right now, have to go there earlier so I can catch it when the sun's still shining on them...
Oh and there's also the baby room :D:D:D:D

Here's some other pics inside the Church and the Shrine of Our Lady.

Oh and remember that bridge I mentioned if you walk from Simei MRT, I took some nice pic with slow exposure effect on the expressway :p

Kusu Island

2006-07-15T23:31:00.000+08:00

We were suppose to meet at Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal at 6 am, do you know how early is that? Especially from Chua Chu Kang...
Anyway taking cab from home at around 5.20 am (yeah it's + 50% charge) we reached the ferry terminal at around 5.50 am (after getting lost and picking up someone to guide us there and paying S$24 for the fare).
And so we waited for the Blue Water Volunteers (we signed up this activity from them, you can check out their website for more info on their activities) to come up with the attendance list.
And so we waited till 6.45 am to board the boat and dunno when we actually departed (it was said 6.30 SHARP the boat will depart), sigh if they're planning to leave later I could have saved the + 50% charge from the taxi ride.
Oh have I mentioned that it also cost S$15 per person to sign up for this activity?
The boat ride took about 30 mintues at most and we reached Kusu Island when the sun is already high and we shouldn't have brought those torches they told us to bring (We're suppose to reach the island before the sun rises and it will be pitch black... or so they told us...)
Once we reached there we went for toilet break before starting the reefwalk.
Anyway, a bit about Kusu Island, it's located south west of Singapore, near St. John's Island and Lazarus Island.
Hmmm... on a 2nd thought I'll save the info for your own research, you can visit this web for more info on Kusu Island.

There are 2 shrines in the island, Chinese Ta Ba Gong Temple (Temple of the Merchant God) and Malay Shrine called "Keramats".
It is said that if you want to have kids you can try going to the "Keramats".

The chinese temple has a wishing well and a huge pond (looks like a small artificial lake though). Inside the pond we managed to see 2 huge turtles and some huge crabs...
There's also this Tortoise Sanctuary which houses hundreds of tortoises.

So those are the things we saw during our trip to the toilet :D:D imagine how long is the toilet break hahaha...
Oh and we managed to catch a huge centipede...
will show you all photos when I got home from office :D:D (Yeah I'm bloggin in from office hahaha...)

Anyway, once we're back, sprayed some repellant then off we go to the reefs.
It was around 8 am and the water level almost reached my knee that time, the sun made a good reflection on the shore.
We could see lots of interesting marine creatures, but the highlight for today were these
heart-shapped anemone,
these beautiful colored-corals,
fish eggs (remind you of ikura/tobiko sushi??),

anemone shrimps,
trapped octopus,
tamed gobbies,
mudskippers,
and fighting crabs.
The walk ended at 10 am, we wash our legs and shoes near the toilet and the boat left the island at 10.30 am.

Main Blog

2006-02-16T10:58:00.000+08:00

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