And the gaming blog continues....

Really nothing much to update otherwise... Probably will return to blogging world next year since the deadline's coming up at the end of this month and I'll be on vacation in December.

Anyway... Considering the fact that it's not even a year since I bought my Wii, I realized tonight that I pretty much buy a game per month (that's not even counting the DS ones). Here's Game #11 in my collection:



Luckily, I did manage to finish the main story mode in Zack and Wiki (by the way, it's a great game. For only $40, every Wii owner should get a copy...kakakaka) so I can actually start FE right away. Probably go back to Z&W from time to time to do more treasure hunts and try getting to 100% completion.

Game #12 will be coming next week; follow by Game #13 and perhaps #14... November is definite not a good month. :P

Update on Vacation Plan

It looks like I got lucky this year. Originally my itinerary was something like this: MSN > ORD > SFO > HKG > ORD > MSN. It wasn't my ideal plan, but since all the other dates/flights are fully booked, I decided to buy the ticket anyway.

I purchased the ticket last Saturday (20th), and this past Monday, I got a call from the travel agent saying that he was able to find a direct ORD-HKG flight on the 7th as well. Even better, he was also able to find me a seat on the 30th (the original date was 29th) as well. At $1155, i think it's a good deal and i am very impressed with their customer service.

More proof this is becoming a gaming blog...

Nowadays it feels like I only blog when there's something related to either Wii or DS. Hahaha...

Anyway, after looking around for several days, I finally got my hands on Capcom's newest Wii game - Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. The game supposedly shipped this past Tuesday. Knowing that this is Madison, I wait a day before checking the major outlets for the game. So on Wednesday after work...BestBuy - nope; Toysrus - nope; GameStop - nope; Target - nope; Wal-Mart - nope... and then I gave up. I pretty much repeated the same "shopping" (more like searching) trip Thursday and Friday. Finally this morning afternoon after I woke up, GameStop's site said that they have copies in store (finally!) Rushed over, hand over credit card, game GEEEEEETTTTT!



The guy who works there says that the game is flying off the shelf, I was like.."Yeah, tell me about it"

Anyway, the verdict is this: If you have a Wii, you should not miss this game. In fact, go buy it now! Wait, you should call the stores first to make sure they have it in stock to avoid my fun experience



* Yeah, that stage with the frog bomb? Died 3 times... >_<

Next question: should i rely on local retailers for the 11/5 release of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn? Or should I buy it online? Decision, decision...

Notice anything unusual?

Below is the search result I got when from UAL for ticket prices between Madison and Hong Kong. Notice anything unusual?

Totally forgot...

that Nintendo was doing there fall conference tonight (in Japan). Hence the blogs are flooded with new Nintendo news... From what I've read so far, it was quite an impressive event with a lot of new information on new games and release dates.

For those who are keeping an eye out for WiiFit, it will be released in Japan on December 1st for roughly $75.

Oh... SquareEnix has a new WiiWare game (think of them as XBox Arcade or Playstation Network) that is a spin-off from the Crystal Chronicles line - Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Small King and the Promised Country. Being a big SquareEnix and FF fan, no complaint there (well, maybe a release date for FFCC:Crystal Bearer would be nice. Also wouldn't mind getting the main FF line back to Nintendo...XD)

P.S. Fire Emblem DS was also announced during the conference. I guess my game lineup for next year will be as packed as this year. Mwahahaha...

Not enough sleep... it's all Link's fault

Bought the newest Zelda game last Friday and have been playing it since. It's the first Zelda game on the DS (which increased my DS game collection to 15) and I have nothing but praise for it. The game is controlled totally using the stylus and yet it feels so natural. I don't think I can actually go back to the old scheme any more.

And with the stylus, some of the puzzles were extremely entertaining. The puzzle on the island with no maps was definitely an amusing one. Without the touch screen input, I don't know how Nintendo could pull off such genius trick. =) There are tons of jokes/funny scenes sprinkled throughout the game. The story is very compelling and not to mention I totally dig Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass's art direction (cell-shaded cutesy figures). I guess my only concern is that it might be a short adventure (comparing to the 60 - 70 hours I put into Twilight Princess). Now only if Nintendo would let us know when we can expect the true Wii version of Zelda...

Game buying season starts...

with a tiny droplet of water call Dewy. My 9th Wii game:



I think I'll enjoy the game - it's kinda like Kororinpa but with a story and platforming elements. You basically use the remote sensing functionality to navigate Dewy through the various stages and fight bosses. It's definitely not the *greatest* game, but one that definitely fits my gaming styles so it's a nice welcome to my game collection.

Looking at all the game boxes on my desk, it's kinda surprise to see that the number of Wii games I owned is getting close to the number of DS games (Right now, DS collection sits at 14 - but I haven't bought Luminous Arc yet and Zelda DS is coming out October 1st). Apparently I do spend a lot of money into games. XD

Well, I have till late October for Dewy (and i should be fine) before Zack and Wiki comes out.

UGM is finally over

My company's annual Users' Group Meeting is finally over. With the completion of Campus 2 Phase 1, we are hosting almost every single event (except one) in our Verona campus. This means we have around 5000 people around the campus every day this week - pretty crazy. On one hand, it's quite nice to be able to simply walk to the educational sessions instead of taking a bus to the Alliant Energy Center/Monona Terrace; on the other, parking is painful, no excruciating. There are currently around 1500 underground parking spot in Campus 1 - and since we have to accommodate customers who drive, they make some temporary parking spot in the Campus 2 construction site. Parking on gravel (and then walking back to my office) is definitely no fun - especially you are dressed up (Yup - it's the only 3 day in the whole year where the attire is business casual). They definitely need to bring the ice-cream back during breaks. I can do without the lunches, but no snacks, yikes!

We also completed the two final landscaping projects in Campus One: our corporate tree house and the waterfall between Cassiopeia and Deneb. Haven't actually gone up the tree house yet, but the waterfall is quite neat. Here's the Flickr photo set.

Have to Resist the Urge...

Gee... Shooters are not my genre of game, but I am kind of getting hyped up by all the internal media regarding Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. So far the game's getting good reviews and has a strong single player story (key to me as I am not a big fan of online multi-player). The only drawback is that I haven't play Prime or Prime 2 so I might not understand the storyline fully.

Um... decision decision...

Currently listening to...

[This post probably means nothing to my coworkers other than Konphused...kaka]

Leo Koo's Moments
Miriam Yeung's Meridian
Hocc's What Really Matters

Of the 3, I think the least enjoyable is Miriam's. Some of the songs are just too old-style. Leo's good because a lot of the songs are K-able. Hocc's kind of in the middle. Though I have to say 木紋 is my favorite song in all three albums.

歌手：何韻詩 作曲：張繼聰 填詞：黃偉文 編曲：

如果　一手鋸開枯樹　木不會發現痛
不過　日日澆水的我　覺得被挖空
如果　必須結束關係　難扮成從未栽種
讓我　數著年輪　這些年輪　我的心會痛 wo~

畢竟那段如沐春風
早刻進百年長的信
在信中　圈圈緊扣　情感多深厚
前因　非因　錯種

分開簡單　抹去往事極難
幾多溫馨　燭光晚餐
難以用　斧頭一劈　叫畫面飛散
伴侶沒了　記憶會為患
倚星細語　抱月夜談
歷歷在目　錄下年鑑
來年樹倒　身影孤　煙花散
年輪未可推翻　化不~淡
（情長未可推翻　化不~淡 ）

緣慳　但是人非草木　並不會太易慣
刻個　木造的心給我　痛苦未會減
情願　舊事連根一拔　忘滅如燃盡的炭
但我　數著年輪 幾圈年輪　已經濕了眼 wo~

分手與又平復之間
少不過百年零一晚
就怕翻風的一晚　回首貪一眼
回憶急速擴散

就怕新婚的一晚　臨終貪一眼
徒添幾分慨嘆

[Edited] Just noticed it's Wyman's lyrics - no wonder 咁到肉...XD

Do You Have a Friend Looking to Become a Software Developer?

My company recently vastly increased the referral bonus - let say 3 - 5 times more. The catch is that I'll have to refer 3 before 11/30. So if you or your friends interested, let me know. Hohoho~

Vacation Plans...

For the next 3 years... ha ha ha...

For some unknown reason I suddenly figured out the months I want to take vacation for the next couple years (till 2009). Of course that's assuming I am with the same company. So here's the plan:

Dec 2007 - Most likely around the Dec 12th or 13th and till Jan 5th, 2008.
Aug/Sept 2008 - 2 to 3 weeks. It's summer so I can pick up a new set of summer clothes
Chinese New Year 2009 - Haven't been back for new year for a while so this would be nice
Late 2009 - Sabbatical Leave for the win! Haven't quite figure out where I want to go for the extra 4 weeks of vacation. Since company is paying for travel/lodging to a country I've never been to (min 12 days; max 20 days), I probably won't spend all my time in HK.

Am i think way too ahead?

Etridan Odyssey - Done!

At least for now - I can't even remember how many hours I've put into this game. Old school dungeon crawler ftw. XD I think I still need to go back and tie up a couple loose knots but the main quest/post game is definitely done. Though I remember others were saying that there is supposedly a 2nd credit but I didn't see it last night when I been the "final" boss. Something fishy is going on...

Anyway, I have a feeling that this will become a gaming blog for some time... Bwahahaha... Now I need to go and buy Luminous Arc this weekend. Hohohoho...

Side note: Also bought Trauma Center: Second Opinion from a co-worker for half its original price. He said that I am literally the only person who played that game, so it's like new anyway. Um... an almost new game for half the price, I need more bargain like this one.

Mario Striker: Charged

Hard to believe this is my 7th Wii game already. Bought this game last week (I think) and so far it's quite fun. It's the 2nd Wii game that supports Wi-Fi (the first being Pokemon Stadium). I am still playing locally for most of the time to hone my skills - definitely don't want to get pwned when I play against others. I don't have to win every game, just not something like 0 win and 50 losses (well, i wouldn't mind a winning record either). I think I can pull off many of the tricks - but still needs some practices with dekes.

The game is a bit hectic in nature - as in any other Mario sports games/Mario Kart - but in a fun way. Many blogs/forums mentioned that the single player mode is lacking, but I found it just fine. I did play 2 games online - 1W 1L. I think I actually need to do some homework to counter some of the more commonly used tricks (my first opponent exploited on the teleport into the goal trick couple times... Lame. The 2nd opponent i think was a newbie like me so the game was more evenly matched).

Most importantly, if you also bought this game, leave me a comment and let me know your Friend Code (for the game... well, wouldn't mind your Wii FC as well). Here's my info:

Wii Friend Code: 3195-7945-8157-9195
Mario Strikers Charged Friend Code: 365179-336423

List of Upcoming Wii and DS Games that Interest Me

Got a couple e-mails earlier about upcoming Wii games so I figured I might as well assemble my own list for the rest of 2007. At least then I can "try" budgeting for them. =D

First up - Wii! At $50 a piece, we have the following must-buy titles (in no particular order...well except for Mario Galaxy and Fire Emblem):

1. Super Mario Galaxy - 11/12
2. Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn - 11/5
3. Trauma Center: First Blood - 11/15
4. Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 - 11/15
5. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition - Released ($30 only)
6. Dewy's Adventure - 9/6
7. Bleach - Shattered Blade - 10/11
8. Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaro's Treasure 10/18

And the following list for highly-likely titles:
1. Super Smash Brothers: Brawl - 12/3
2. Mercury Meltdown Revolution - 9/26 (should be a budget title)

And the following for "when I have the cash":
1. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - 8/27
2. MySims - 9/20 (unless Animal Crossing comes out first)
3. Simpsons - To lazy to lookup the date

Gosh - 8 games on the must-buy list!? I am definitely contributing big part to the gaming industry. And what's up with November? Galaxy, Fire Emblem, Trauma Center AND Rayman all coming out in the same month!?

Back to the DS side. The good thing is that DQ IV,V,VI and IX won't be ready until next year, as well as FF IV, FF Tactics A2 and FFCC. The bad thing is that there are still a few games to buy. Here's my A list:

1. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - 10/1
2. Luminous Arc - 8/14
3. FF XII: Revenant Wings - Nov
4. Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village - Dec

Tier 2 in the DS Group:
1. Bleach: Blade of Fate - 10/9
2. Heroes of Mana - 8/14
3. Brain Age 2 - 8/20

For DS, everything other than Zelda is contingent on me finishing up Etrian Odyssey. That game is a perfect gift for RPG grinder like me. Hohohoho...

So overall, roughly $700 would cover my gaming expenses for 2007... :P

Such a rare sight...

Look what I spot in Target earlier today - this is like the 2nd time since last November where I actually see them in stock...

Harry Potter 7 - Done!

Yup - done.

Finished the book in a single reading, and it took me approximately nine and a half hour. I think the book is really good, better than the Half Blood Prince - the plot is fast-pace and tense, not too many dull moments throughout the book. I think mainly because there are a lot of grounds to cover in the book. It would also make a very good movie even if they only cover the major battles. There were couple times when I caught myself thinking that I'd love to see this scene in the movie.

Quite a few characters died and i will spare you from any spoiler (at this moment...ka ka ka) Many of them i felt indifferent actually, but when one of the characters died toward the end I was quite sad to see he/she/it/whatever go.

Knowing that there will be no more Potter coming kinda saddens me, but if that's what Rowling planned, I guess we'll have to be content with it. It's been like, 10 years (?) of Harry Potter, like many reviews out there, I too felt that the Deathly Hallow is indeed a good closure.

P.S. Now I just have to find my Book 5 and 6. I know I bought them, but just couldn't find them.

P.P.S. I kinda feel sorry for the Starbucks - for less than $6, I pretty much sat there all afternoon/evening (230 - 9). XD

What a laundry day...

Four loads of laundry and still one left to go - totally not energy efficient :P

I actually don't have a lot of clothes that needs to be washed. The problem is that I separate them out into pretty small loads. I think I am one of the few people that actually uses all the care cycle available with the washer: delicate for my tees; color for my jeans and other shirts; white for linens... also after the "discoloring" fiasco I had last year (or the year before), I really make the point of separating out the colors: brown can go with black, but absolutely not blue; depending on the shades of blue, it could go with off white tees but not the nicer white ones; if it's a new shirt, it's either going with the black ones (unless it's a lighter color) or it's going to be washed by itself (see how energy "inefficient" i am...XD)

Anyway, one more load to go for tomorrow (just because I run out of space to hang dry them - and yes, my tees don't go into dryers)

Got my life back!

Finally have time to blog!

The phase 1 deadline was over earlier this week so I can finally have a life again. Things got pretty "intense" starting last weekend. Pretty much all I did was work and sleep. Well, a lot of work and not enough sleep. I logged at least 10 to 14 hours a day in the past week, but the actual time I stayed in my office was actually much longer (since i didn't count my sanity breaks...kakaka) One reason for all the madness was because the deadline was on the 5th (our deadline is always at 8am). Since the 4th is a public holiday, it pretty much meant that we have to get everything into QA by the 3rd. Yikes. Fortunately all my projects went into QA on time so that's a relief. Yesterday (or Thursday) was the first time in a week that I can see the sun setting instead of rising when I got off work - such a beautiful scene. XD

Easy to spend a day, especially when...

you didn't get up until 4:15... in the afternoon... wakaka

Even though last week was only a 4-workday week, it still felt exhausting by Friday: Helped my TS troubleshoot a customer problem (which probably means more work for me next week), helped another group with the dashboard project (at least this should be live to a few pilot users), my own projects which are due July 5th...

DNA was planning to come up to Chicago this weekend. I was to drive down to Chicago to meet up with him. Unfortunately the plan was called off due to the high gas price. I was a bit surprised when I heard the gas price in Indy was 3.69/3.79/3.89. I think locally the gas prices are around 3.35/3.45/3.55 - 34 cents cheaper! Anyway, I guess we'll just have to meet up later the month then.

Memorial Day Weekend

Nothing really special happened - pretty much like any other weekend. However, the extra day off is rather nice since I really can relax on Sunday (instead of shopping around for grocery, tidy things up, etc).

We tried a new Italian restaurant, Tutto Pasta Trattoria, in Middleton Friday night. We chose to sat outside which might not be the best idea (at least for me). It was still okay when we sat down, but as time went by it got a bit chilly. The food was good and wasn't too pricey (except for MyEvilInsideYou and Karthik who ordered a 5.95 side salad and a 6.95 "special" soup). Overall I will definitely put it in my restaurant list for Friday night dinners.

Also came across the Cafe/Wine bar right across from Tutto, Barriques. King Snort and I bought a bottle of white for the night - pretty much because the bottle's label is funny (note to self/King Snort: I am keeping the bottle!) Apparently they do wine tasting every Friday/Saturday night. Something I am interested in. From their online site, they also have a chocolate club - how intriguing.

On Sunday I went to an outlet close to Wisconsin Dells, hoping to pick up some Memorial Day deals there. Unfortunately there wasn't any eye-popping deals. A lot of shops does have some specials going on, but nothing really interested me. I did pick a pair of running shoe from Adidas and a shirt from Old Navy, but that's pretty much about it.

Comparing between this outlet mall with the one I normally go to (Johnson Creek), this one is well covered, kinda like an indoor mall; the one in Johnson Creek feels a bit bigger (but I don't think there's really that much difference). It has both A&F and Hollister, but lacks CK and Aeropostale (which has became one of my favorite outlet stores recently). So I guess right now, they are tied in my book.

Working Holiday Program in.....Singapore?

雙城記又一章 星向港人招手
(明報) 05月 20日 星期日 05:05AM

【明報專訊】新加坡政府昨日公布一個吸納人才計劃─「工作假期計劃」，由今年12月起，澳洲、法國、德國、日本、新西蘭、英國、美國、香港等8個國家及地區，年齡介乎17至30歲的大學準畢業生及畢業生，可以在新加坡旅遊半年期間，找工做掙錢，之後可以選擇是否繼續留在新加坡。

Full post from Yahoo! News HK

One of my friends has been doing a "Working Holiday" in Australia and New Zealand. I never thought Singapore would implement a similar program as well. If I don't need to worry about my financial responsibilities, a "Working Holiday" program does sound very intriguing. However, would I pick Singapore? Probably not. Perhaps because of all the "competition" between Singapore and HK throughout these years which each city tries to edge the other, I never have a very good impression on Singapore. I know it's a nice place, but it just doesn't feel as vibrant as HK. :P

Should have bought the game...

when I saw it in the store at the mall. *Sigh*

Originally planning to buy DS Game #14 today. It's an old-style RPG dungeon crawler called Etrian Odyssey. I saw it at the mall the other day (I think Wednesday or Thursday, can't remember) but didn't buy it at the time. The main reason being I don't like GameStop/EB Games/Software Etc (same parent company) that much and was hoping to get my copy from BestBuy (not to mention trying to get more points for my BestBuy Rewards). Yesterday after work, I went to all the "big" electronic/toy stores in town (BestBuy, Circuit City, Toysrus...) and none of them carry them game. So I gave in and hope to get my copy from GameStop. I was kinda in shock when the guy told me that he sold the last copied yesterday! I thought old style RPG weren't that popular these days. Do people know what they are buying really???

I guess it's Amazon next then.

Go Liverpool

Though I am not an Liverpool fans, but I dislike Chelsea more. So I have to root for the lesser of two evils - Go Reds! They are down 0-1 from the previous leg so they need to do some catchup. Hopefully they can make it. Otherwise, it would be interesting to see Man United playing against Chelsea in both FA Cup and Champions League. Also add to that the Premiership race between the two. By the way, you should root for Arsenal on May 6th to drive the nail in the coffin. In short, cheer for red teams, not blue if you can't figure out between Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United (all reds).

上表! 上表呀!

I finally found it, albeit it's only mp3 and not a movie file, the seventh act in the Chinese opera 帝女花 - 上表. I remembered seeing this act (probably on TV from one of its re-runs) when I was small. However, in recent years, the 帝女花 that I've seen didn't include this act (even in the DVD that I got from someone, this scene's been cut). I am suspecting maybe it doesn't fit the 2-hr slot if the full version is broadcast? Or all 8 acts won't fit on a single DVD? If something has to go, I have to agree that 上表 is the only act that can be cut without affecting the story line (In case you are curious, the acts are 樹盟, 香劫, 乞屍, 庵遇, 相認, 迎鳳, 上表 and 香夭). I mean, you really can't jump from getting married in 樹盟 to finding the princess's dead body in 乞屍. =P

Although it's not as well known as 香夭, in my opinion, it's still a very fun act to watch and contains a feisty act between 周世顯/長平 and 清帝.

上表

（周鍾，寶倫「著明裝」分邊上相對顧盼自豪介）

（周鍾台口詩白）彩鳳門前新面目。

（寶倫詩白）眾官齊集御酒房。

（周鍾寶倫白）有請皇上。

（御扇宮燈伴清帝上介中板下句）開基創業話興亡，北望煤山微有哭聲響。不悼崇禎悼海棠，安民未掛招賢榜，懷柔先借個一朵帝花香。（滾花）筵開百酌買人心，好待新官舊爵同觀看。（埋位介）

（眾白）萬歲萬萬歲。

（清帝白）平身。

（眾白）謝。

（清帝口古）周老卿家，何以不見宮主與駙馬還朝，有累百官在御階盼望。

（周鍾口古）皇上，駙馬持有宮主嘅親筆表章，候旨在午朝門外，至於長平宮主，而家仲住響紫玉山房。

（清帝不歡介口古）唏，我叫你去請鸞鳳還巢，並不是叫你去請宮主寫表，今日鸞鳳和鳴，重有什麼表章可上呢。

（寶倫口古）嘻嘻...皇上，我想宮主上表，無非係拜謝皇上再生之德，此乃先朝 嘅沿例，宮主對宮規儀範都未敢稍忘。

（清帝轉怒為善介白）內侍臣，傳前朝駙馬周世顯上殿。

（內侍臣白）皇上有旨，傳前朝駙馬周世顯上殿。

（世顯「駙馬身」捧表章上白）來呀。（滾花下句唱）藺相如能保連城璧，周駙馬能保帝花香。拼教頸血濺龍庭，衝冠壯志凌霄漢。（入並不跪半揖白）前朝駙馬周世顯向皇上請安。

（清帝見世顯不跪怒介望群臣轉回笑容介白）平身。

（世顯白）謝。

（清帝口古）周駙馬，試問歷代興亡有幾多個新君能夠體恤前朝帝女呢，我好想知道如果你地宮主見到香車迎接 嘅時候，相信佢一定喜從天降啦卦。

（世顯冷笑口古）皇上，歷史上雖無體恤前朝帝女之君，卻有假意賣弄慈悲之主，難怪宮主見香車驚喜交集。

（清帝起身問白）下，此話怎解。

（世顯續口古）無錯，宮主所喜者，乃是福從天降，所驚者，乃是驚皇上借帝女花沽名釣譽，騙取民安。

（周鍾寶倫大矛介）

（清帝冷笑口古）周駙馬，孤王有覆滅一朝之力，豈無安民之策，小小一個前朝帝女，重不過百，試問能有幾多力量。

（世顯口古）皇上，所謂取一杯之水，不能分潤天下萬民，借帝女之花，可以把全國遺民收服，宮主雖然弱質纖纖，年方十六，若果論佢權衡輕重，可以抵得十萬師干。

（清帝不能言介白）哎呀...

（周鍾插白）你說話要小心呀...

（清帝喝白）周駙馬。（開拉大滾花下句）你出言縱有千斤重，好在我有容人海量都未能量。你見否殿前百酌鳳凰筵，後有刀槍和斧杖。

（世顯大滾花下句）唏，你殺人不在金鸞殿，可以一張蘆蓆把屍藏。倘若殺身恰在鳳凰台，銀廓金棺難慰民怨暢。

（周鍾眾人白）皇上開恩...皇上仁慈...

（清帝不敢發作埋位口古）周駙馬，你既然持有長平宮主嘅表章，內侍臣，你快些要他速呈龍書案。

（太監上前跪向世顯欲接表章介）

（世顯捧住表章退後一步口古）且慢，皇上，我想宮主表章究竟都是女兒文墨，恐怕有污龍目，佢再三囑咐，要我遞表之時，為佢朗誦於朝房。

（清帝怒介口古）嘿，我雖身為清帝，未懂漢例，唯是翻開漢史，又幾曾聽聞過表章用口朗誦得咁怪狀。

（世顯口古）皇上，你睇你朝中嘅大臣，多半是宮主舊臣，皇上以仁慈取天下，佢所寫者，不過都係感恩之語唧，皇上既無虧德處，那怕遺臣誦表章。（內場起暗湧聲）

（清帝怒至手震震指住世顯白）周駙馬...你...你...你一字一字你要謹慎的念來。

（世顯白）好呀...

（周鍾一路震長滾花下句）一字繫安危，禍福憑汝降，勸君莫惹下泉台浪，莫向陰司叫無常，我一心欲把紅鸞傍，哎呀誰知傍錯你個少年亡。

（寶倫長滾花）一字重千斤，人命輕三兩，縱使你有心毀碎齊眉案，須防寶殿有刀藏，一命難銷故國讎，恐怕累到三百遺臣同落網。

（世顯冷笑詩白）六代繁華三日散，一杯心血字七行。（反線中板唸表章下句唱）臣不可佔君先，父不能居女後，此乃倫理綱常。既念帝女花，何不念先帝遺骸，尚寄在茶庵，未入皇陵葬。帝女縱堪憐，太子是前朝骨肉，問清帝何以重女薄兒郎。我欲受皇恩，哭君父流浪泉台，憎見舊宮廷，掛上鴛鴦榜。我欲謝隆情，痛骨肉仍歸臣虜，羞牽鸞鳳帶，怕對合歡床。（催快）新帝慈悲人間罕，劈開金鎖放弟郎。（滾花）佢話先安泉台父，後釋在囚人，然後百拜入朝共舉齊眉案。

（清帝震怒介）

（周鍾寶倫級低紗帽一味震介）

（清帝開位搶表章欲撕介「內場食住暗湧」連聲收埋表章滾花下句）孤都未作捕蛇人，點知雙蛇蟠棍上，休說女兒筆墨無斤兩，內有千軍萬馬藏，鳳未來儀先作浪，帝女機謀還比我強。強顏騙取鳳還巢，重新再露慈悲相，哈哈...

（周鍾白）皇上仁慈...

（清帝奸悲白）孤有主意。周駙馬，好啦，孤皇惟有准宮主所奏，佢縱使要取天邊月，為皇都替她摘下來，我從宮主所求就是。

（世顯口古）皇上，你何不速頒下詔書，先把先帝安葬皇陵，再把太子在宮主婚前釋放。

（清帝口古）唏，你請宮主先入朝，再行下詔，庶民都尚可以一言九鼎，何況我是一國 嘅君王呢。（白）駙馬，你代傳口諭，快傳宮主上殿。

（世顯白）領命。（台口傳旨）呔，皇上有旨，長平宮主衣冠朝見。

（長平「鳳冠霞珮」上介台口引白）珠冠猶似殮時妝，萬春亭畔病海棠，怕到乾清尋血跡，風雨經年尚帶黃。（拉腔入拜白）前朝帝女長平宮主向皇上請安。

（清帝重一才仄才關目白）平身。

（長平白）謝。（用目一掃前朝舊臣，舊臣俱俯首自愧介）（長平放寬面口突然露齒一笑介）

（清帝覺奇介口古）宮主，駙馬入朝之時，面帶愁容，眼中有淚，何以宮主入朝，反會一笑嫣然，未有些微 嘅悲創。

（長平口古）皇上，我在未入朝之前，曾與駙馬相約，我話若不能先安泉台父，釋放在囚人，帝女今生都永無還朝之日，適才聞駙馬代傳口諭，可見皇上你都有憐惜之心，帝女亦寧無感激之意呢，想今日在五百群臣之中，屬於哀家舊臣，都總在三百以上，如果佢地見到哀家笑，就會對皇上你心悅誠服，但如果見到哀家喊呢，就會對皇上心懷怨對，想長平一生善解人意，寧敢不以笑面報君王。（向群臣露齒而笑介）（舊臣俱強笑介）

（清帝暗驚長平之詞令奸笑介口古）宮主，你聰明即是聰明，你與呢個憨駙馬都大有天淵之別，難怪崇禎在生對你痛愛。好啦，孤王願替崇禎將你終身撫養。

（長平強笑白）謝皇上。（故意關目口古）噯，皇上，我都經已拜上金階，何以未見你頒下詔書，更未見你劈開金鎖呢，哎呀皇上，我而家不禁悲從中起，我的眼淚都忍唔住咯，我一喊親，怕只怕會震朝房。（欲哭介）

（清帝愕然略驚向長平搖手介）

（周鍾口古）皇上，係呀...係呀...我地宮主真係笑緊都可以喊架，你何不頒下詔書，以慰的遺臣所望呢。

（寶倫口古）係囉，皇上，想太子年方十二，縱使潛龍出海，亦未必會騰達飛翔。

（清帝快滾花下句）今朝莫說前朝事，只求撮合鳳諧凰。

（世顯大滾花下句）先皇未葬弟霸囚，宮主呀你何妨悲聲放。

（長平哭白）罷了先王，君父，母后呀。（快中板分邊向群臣哭著下句唱）哀聲放，帝女哭朝房，血淚如潮腮邊降，且向乾清再悼亡，憶舊讎翻血賬，遺臣三百聽端詳，當日賜紅羅擲在金階上，母后與袁妃痛懸樑，劍橫揮，血濺黃金帳，殺得個昭仁宮主怨父王。（滾花）你地莫戀新朝棄舊朝，我再哭鳳台聲響亮。（執世顯哭叫白）罷了先王，母后，駙馬。（當長平唱時，內場有沉痛反應暗湧介）

（世顯白）宮主...

（清帝向向周鍾寶茅介白）拉開佢地...（周鍾寶倫分邊拉開長平世顯介）

（清帝白）好啦。（滾花下句）我忙忙寫下安陵詔。（交太監，太監即下）我怕你哭聲向外揚，宮主一哭撼帝城，我忙把前朝世子放。

（太監帶上太子上介長平世顯分邊跪擁太子，太子亦居中跪下快哭相思）

（長平痛哭滾花下句）弟郎你投懷莫聚倫常愛，且去杭州會福王，自有香魂一縷暗追隨，你在離懷莫向宮庭望。

（清帝白）沈卿家，你帶前朝世子去上駟院吩咐兵部派人馬，護送此子杭州便了。

（昌齡攜太子什邊下，太子下時一路哭叫王姊）　

（清帝口古）嘻嘻...長平宮主，你所要求嘅事我都同你做完叻，你應該與駙馬立刻成婚，免負兩旁 嘅儀杖。

（長平口古）唉，長平仲焉敢再逆皇上諭旨呢，難得你答允我，將花燭筵設在月華宮外，個處雖是花無並蒂，但係樹有含樟。

（清帝點頭答應白）孤皇自當准奏，吩咐動樂。

P.S. I think Google just gave me the answer! The one I saw when I was young probably was the 76 version by 龍劍笙 and 梅雪詩. And the ones I saw in recent years were the 59 version by 任白.

The DS game you should get in May

Oops - totally forgot that I was talking about the BEST DS game in my last post. Its sequel is coming on May 17th. MUST...IMPORT...GAME...

Stick Stick Chicken

*I giggle every time I say this in my head*

In preparation of the TRUE sequel to one of the best DS games (if not THE best), I was surfing YouTube for various Japanese MTVs. One of the songs is Tentai Kansoku (天体観測) by the JRock band Bump of Chicken. It is a nice song and you can find its MTV here: Bump Of Chicken - Tentai Kansoku



I was looking for more info about the band and such. It was then when I came across the creative translation by our Taiwanese friends: 棒棒雞 (stick stick chicken)!? I got this when I follow up with a search:

棒棒雞

介紹
“棒棒雞”原為四川樂山地區的傳統風味小吃﹐二十年代傳入成都﹐已入名饌冷碟之列。因樂山古稱“嘉定” 故此菜多以“嘉定棒棒雞”聞名于世。

原料
1. 嫩雞一只﹐
2. 蔥白絲適量。
3. 芝麻醬﹑紅油辣椒﹑糖﹑麻醬油﹑花椒粉等各適量。

烹飪方法
1. 將淨雞以繩纏住腿翅﹐肉厚處以竹扦打眼﹐下湯鍋中煮熟﹐撈起晾涼。
2. 用特制的小木棒將雞脯肉﹑雞腿肉輕輕拍松﹐撕成絲入盤﹐外圍以蔥白絲。
3. 將調料和勻調成味汁﹐澆在雞絲上即成。

棒棒雞的烹制技巧
　　棒棒雞美味的烹制確別有技巧。
1. 首先妙在煮雞。煮前要用麻繩纏上腿翅厚處用竹扦打眼﹐使湯水充分滲透﹐以文火徐徐煮沸﹔
2. 二是以特制的木棒將煮熟的雞肉拍松﹐撕成粗絲入盤﹐利于調料入味﹔
3. 三是以眾多調料調成的味 汁﹐澆于雞絲上﹐使雞絲分外鮮美香嫩﹐有濃郁的香甜﹑麻辣味。

Food & JRock? I didn't think combining those would be possible... =.=
Anyway, the song really is good and for those interested in knowing the lyrics, the following's from LyricsWiki.org. Chinese lyrics from a random blog I searched up:

淩晨兩點 平交道前 我扛著望遠鏡
緊在皮帶上的收音機 看來不會下雨
兩分鐘後你來了 背著誇張的一堆行李
開始吧 天體觀測 來尋找慧星

努力不讓自已被吞噬進 深深的黑暗

那一天 我想要握你 顫抖的手
為了看見看不到的東西 窺向望遠鏡裏
撕開寂靜 產生了好多聲音 縱使明日呼喚著我們
也不曾認真回應 我和你兩人在追逐著

那顆名叫”現在”的慧星 不知不覺裏

總是在一心尋覓著某些東西 它或許是幸福的定義
或許是存放傷心的地方 從誕生的一該到死亡
始終在尋覓 來 開始吧 天體觀測 來尋找慧星
至今曾經找到過的東西 我全都沒忘記
包括沒能握到 你那顫抖的手的痛心

為了看見看不到的東西 窺向望遠鏡裏

尋找著微弱的光芒 彷佛可以把黑暗照亮

當時因此認識的痛 至今我依舊記得
如今我依然在獨自追逐 那顆名叫”現在”的慧星

隨著個子長高 有更多事情想要傳達給你知道
沒有收信人的信 感覺也有如崩潰般的 沈重

我現在過得很好 需要擔心的事情也少 只是有件事
至今依然會想起 在天氣預報沒有預測到的雨中

你那泫然欲泣 一雙顫抖的手 那一天 我沒能握到
看漏了 看得見的事情 再次扛起了望遠鏡 穿過了

寂靜與黑暗的歸途 當時所認識的痛

至今依舊是我的支柱 如今我依然在獨自追逐

那顆名叫”現在”的慧星 想要再次見到你
再次扛起了望遠鏡 和以前一樣 淩晨兩點
來到平交道前 開始吧 天體觀測 即使兩分鐘後你沒來
那顆叫”現在”的慧星 我也要和你兩人一起追逐

Trip to Indy

Just got back from a weekend get away to Indy - wasn't for any special occasion or anything, but I haven't been there for a while (since I graduated) and since my brother is working in Indy, I figured I'd pay him a visit.

Although the drive is considered manageable for many, a 6-hr drive is definitely not in my book. Instead, I chose to fly - I tried Midwest Airlines this time and I think my impression is mixed. I think I'll try flying to Kansas City with them next time to get a better idea. Kansas City is another Midwest hub - so the flight from Milwaukee to Kansas City is one of their Signature flights. I've heard good things so I will be looking forward.

Back to this trip.

It didn't start out too well when my flight leaving Madison departs at 525p Friday afternoon and I didn't get to the airport until like 455p. Fortunately/unfortunately (depending on how you see it), my flight from Milwaukee to Indy got canceled and they have to re-book me to NWA which departs at 630p. I also got "selected" by the airline to do additional screening (also my first time to get selected). I didn't have much carry-on luggage with me (just a couple set of clothes since I didn't want to check my bag) so the experience wasn't too bad. Strangely speaking, if I were going to HK, I wouldn't even have any carry-on luggage. Um...

Nothing exciting happened while in Indy beside hanging out with my brother and DNA. So I'll fast forward...XDD

DNA and I were meeting up for lunch Sunday afternoon at Circle Center. Just as my brother and I arrived at Circle, I got a call from Midwest asking if I can postpone my flight to Monday morning instead. Apparently they got a plane "downgrade" and the new plane can't accommodate all the bookings. They were willing to offer a free round-trip ticket in return. I have to admit it was pretty tempting (hey, the ticket to Indy cost me $300; I wouldn't mind using the free ticket for places like San Fran). Unfortunately the Monday flight departs at 730a, which means by the time I get back to Madison, it'll probably be 9:30 or 10:00. Since I don't feel like taking half a day off, I turned down the offer. If the flight was something later the day, I'd probably take the offer.

Next he asked me if I could check in online because the available seats will be on a first-come-first-serve basis. Well, let see, I probably could check in online, if you call me AN HOUR earlier! Bad! He finally advised me to get to the airport at 4 (when the counter opens for check-in) to make sure I get my seat. At that point, I did ask myself maybe it's better to stick with United :P (Note to self: Need to get a 3G plan so at least I can surf with my phone)

Eventually I gave in and called Konphused back in Madison to help me check in. When I got to the airport, the couple who checked in after me took the last two spots. The ground staff was saying that there were probably 8 or 9 people who can't make it. Lucky me! ;)

Oh one last note, I flew in a non-jet plane - which was also my first time. An interesting experience indeed. My brother is thinking about moving back to Chicago and DNA will be leaving Indy as well, this might be my last trip to Indy? Time will tell. :P

Dinner at Ginza

The name should be obvious enough what kind of restaurant it is, but just in case, it's Japanese restaurant in Madison (with 3 different branches!). It's pretty much the only Japanese restaurant that King Snort and MyEvilInsideYou will go to. And that's only because they have hibachi dinners which to them don't look/taste like other Japanese food.

Having dined there for a couple times, I would say that I didn't enjoy tonight's dinner at all. The food is okay, but the service pretty much was non-existent. It took the waiter forever to take our orders, Sahana's orders were mixed/messed up, he didn't check with us often enough during our meal, we didn't get our steam rice until all the hibachi food were served up (though the other group whom we sat with got their rice right away), etc. In short, nothing felt right. If the tip was not split between the waiter and the cook, I don't know if I would leave a tip at all.

Hopefully the next time we eat there, the service would be better.

Oh - before and after dinner we played Mahjong. I think they are much better at how to score points now (King Snort did erred once and thought he had enough point to win. He had two but unfortunately our minimum is at 3). Soon enough I'll have them playing the Taiwanese style... Bwa ha ha ha ha ha...

Trip to Indy postponed

Probably for one weekend. I was looking at the different options and none is really appealing. I probably could still go on the Easter weekend but it doesn't feel like "budget friendly" enough. So the current plan is to go on the 4/13 weekend instead. Tickets are cheaper (since it's not a holiday weekend) and there are more options (i could fly out from Madison directly, and there are more time slots to choose from on the return trip). Though I'll pretty much won't get to Indy until Friday night, but I think that should still work out okay.

Errrr.... How did I spend...

$150 this weekend!?

Though I did buy a Wii game, that's only $40 bucks. I even held back on getting a couple DS games from Target today. Pay day needs to come sooner!!!

Good Weather - Nice and warm

The weather was pretty nice for the past couple days. I think it's safe to say that the winter is finally over. This past winter wasn't too bad, except for one or two weeks when the temperature was sub-zero (Fahrenheit). Also got a couple blizzard but I wouldn't say it was anything out of ordinary. Anyway, with this warmer weather approaching, I really should start doing inventory on my summer clothings and see if I need to do any shopping (ho ho ho...more excuses...XD)

The only problem with the warmer temperature is that my skin type changes from normal to oily - and takes a lot more time to manage. The current oil control lotion I got from L'OReal does a decent job the first couple hours. However, its effect definitely doesn't last long enough. :P Probably have to find something more long lasting. I am pretty satisfy with the LabSeries scrub I got the other day, maybe I'll give their oil control product a try and see.

Wii Game #4: Kororinpa Marble Mania

This weekend started out with a new Wii game - Kororinpa is now the 4th Wii game I owned. The concept of the is simple - basically you use the Wiimote to roll a marble from the starting point to the goal, getting past obstacles along the way. No button pressing - just tilting the Wiimote.

King Snort, MyEvilInsideYou and I killed a couple hours on Saturday on with this game. I think at the end, we pretty much agreed we had too much Kororinpa (hahaha). It's a good game to play if you have an hour or two to kill, and don't want to invest too much time into the game (like Zelda). Though each stage is short, it doesn't have the mini-game feel to it. At $39.99 ($10 cheaper than normal Wii games), it's a good deal.

I also almost picked up Red Steel or Pangya Super Swing Golf on Friday as well because they were on sale for $29.99. I am kind of interested in Pangya (cute golfing game), and average on Red Steel (I want to give it a shot some time but FPS is still not my type of game). Consider the fact that there are several Wii games coming out next month, I opted out from getting either of them. Hopefully they'll be on sale some time in the future as well.

Spotted Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance in Hollywood Video - didn't rent it because I don't think I can finish the game in a week. Couldn't find any store in town that carries the game - Sigh! I guess there's always eBay.

Oh also beat Lunar Knights Friday night as well - now playing it again to unlock all the secrets. It really is a better Action RPG game than Children of Mana. For those who loves A-RPGs, I'd recommend it.

Wii Games to Get-
* Cooking Mama: Cook Off
* Bust-A-Move: Bash (Yeah! My favorite puzzle game coming to Wii)
* Super Paper Mario

DS Games to Get -
* Hotel Dusk: Rm 215

Credit Reports

Finally got the credit reports from Transunion earlier. I've had no problem getting the reports from Experian and Equifax online. However, Transunion for some reason won't let me recover my password (their online help really really sucked) and I had to order it by mail. They weren't able to locate my credit report the first time so I have to send it my W2 to "prove my identity". So...Much...Work...

Despite all the trouble, Tranunion is the only company that did not mess up my record. Since my brother's name and mine are identical (we both decided to just use the 2nd word in our Chinese name as our first name and the 3rd word as our middle name. Just coincident that our middle initial is the same as well) and our social security number only differs in one digit, both Experian and Equifax somehow decided that we are the same person and merged our records together. So kudos to TransUnion for getting this right.

Although Experian screwed up my credit report, I am still happy with them because their online and phone service was excellent. I was able to make some simple changes online (no problem locating my file - though the questions they asked to verify my identity were all about my brothers. But hey, when you paid for your brother's car payment, you would know how much you're paying each month...kakaka). I do need to call them up to clean up the rest of my records, but the process wasn't too painful and the CS representative was courteous and helpful. I even got an e-mail notification letting me know that the changes are available for viewing. Good job!

Equifax, on the other hand, was horrible. Though I managed to get my report online, I still haven't figure out how to contact them to correct my record (yeah - it got merged again with my brother's). I think I need to print out a form and send in the necessary documentation, but the form is only for disputing a particular item in the report and didn't mention anything on what needs to be done in my scenario. I also tried looking at the various website for information but couldn't get very far. So at this point, my credit report with Equifax is still horribly erroneous. Sigh!

Overall, looking at my credit reports, I think I am doing much better than a couple years ago. I think only 1 - 2 years more before it becomes feasible for me to move back home. Hopefully by then, my brother's financial situation would approve (crossing fingers) so that I don't have to worry about him as much. :P

300

Watched 300 with co-workers on Friday night. It turned out much better than I anticipated. But perhaps I already know how the story will turn out so there isn't much surprise. One of the movie reviews I've read mentioned the lack of character development and I think I'll have to agree on that. The cinematic and special effects were good. This definitely is a movie I would recommend seeing in the theaters. =)

Afterward we tried to go to UNO's for snack but unfortunately they were closed already. We ended up hanging out in King Snort's place, but really didn't do anything at all. XD

Oh... FPS is definitely not my genre of video game. :P

重演八場都冇我份!

.\ /.

唔公平呀~ 點解佢唔可以揀年尾架~ 四月 Part 1 已經冇可能啦, 點知連重演時都冇機! Yikes!

東亞娛樂 x 林一峰 x W 創作社 - 一期一會
http://www.wtheatre.org.hk/onceinalifetime/

年尾...一峰你年尾開 concert 咁唯有... wakakaka~~~

Fly All the Way? Half Way? Drive?

Planning to go down to Indy in the Easter weekend since I have half day off on Good Friday. It's a 6-hrs drive which far exceeded my self-set maximum of 3.5 hrs. Looking at flying to Indy from Madison, the price's approximately $350. There are other lower fares but the problem is that the return trip is early Sunday morning. Since I planned to go back to Purdue on Saturday, I preferred to stay in Indy for the morning/afternoon on Sunday.

The other options is to fly from another city than Madison - but that means I'll have to drive to whatever airport I choose. The candidates are: O'Hare, Midway and Milwaukee. Midway's further but Southwest does have flights to Indy from Midway so it will be the cheapest. If I pick O'Hare, most likely I'll stick with UA (which a price of ~$184, once again because I want to come back Sunday evening). Milwaukee actually is the leading choice right now. There is this airline called "Midwest" that I'd like to try previously; but while I was at Chicago/W. Lafayette it really wasn't to feasible as their hub is at Milwaukee. It's about an hour drive from Madison to Milwaukee so it's not too long. The ticket price is at $220 but it's a non-stop flight. It's a good pick I think.

And of course I can always try driving to Indy - probably most economical but I'll have to really ask myself if I want to drive that far. :P

My First Purchase @ Madison's Macy's

To be honest, I still like the brand "Marshall Fields" better - probably because of the Chicago sentiments. Macy's doesn't quite cut it for me. :P

Anyway, couple of my jeans are wearing down and it's time to replenish the stock. After getting my car fixed on Saturday morning, I was planning to take a trip to Johnson Creeks (an outlet close by - approximately 45 minutes drive) to see if I can find any. Before that, however, I needed to grab something to eat first. It's been a while since I last wandered into Hilldale's Hong Kong Wok (it's a little Chinese restaurant inside a mall, quite authentic, and they served congee on weekends) and since I finally managed to get up before 3 on a weekend, congee for lunch definitely sounded good. I ordered 生滾牛肉粥, 炒米粉, 油炸鬼 and 豆漿 for a hefty $7.70 lunch. Quality of course is not good as back home, but it'll have to suffice until I go back to HK later this year.

Since I was at the "mall" already, I decided to do some browsing at Macy's before taking off for Johnson Creek's. The location of this Macy's always baffle me - there really isn't anything else at Hilldale except Macy's (well, and a grocery store Sentry). The rest of the stores in the mall are just so...uninteresting. I would be quite happy if one day Macy's would move to West Towne, which is a shorter drive for me (unless I moved to the campus area next year). Anyway, nothing really interested me at first as I walk around the store. I remembered they have CK and Levi's in their Chicago store (I was at the Old Orchard Macy's on the 2nd) but I just couldn't find them. Not too disappointed as I don't have high hopes coming in anyway. But as I was leaving, on the left hand side of the exit/entrance, in the "Young Man" section, are those two brands. "Young Man" huh?

Nothing interested at CK, Levi's a bit challenging since there were a number of styles. "Sits at waist/regular fit/straight leg" - next; "Sits at waist/regular fit/boot cut" - next; "Sits at waist/loose fit/boot cut" - hello!? do you have anything that's not "Sits at waist". Finally I located a style which has the perfect combination (in case you are curious - it's a pair of 514 which is "sits below waist/slim fit/straight leg"). Then comes my horrible realization that American sizes are not my size... 34/30, 36/32, 38/34, 32/30... Err...seriously, people really needs to go on diet or something (wakakaka). After going through like 3 or 4 piles I was finally able to find a pair of 30 waist, 32 inseam. So...much...work... At $30, it looks like a good deal to me, and I don't have to drive out of town. Bought!

Looks like my trip to Johnson Creek's could wait a bit.

P.S. Macy's has UGLY plastic bag!!! I missed the nice little paper/plastic bags I got while shopping in HK.

Missing my sleep T_T

The day started extremely early today - even earlier than my normal weekdays. I had an appointment with Honda Service for an oil change and check up (my SRS light came on recently)...at 8:30am! I have no idea why I would agree to this time when they suggested this time; Normally I wouldn't even be at work yet (typical hours 900 to 1800/1830). Sigh!

It turned out that the SRS light is on because of a controller failure with the seat belt. Apparently this is covered under my warranty and I don't have to pay a dime for it! I was a bit surprised because my car was bought in Jan 2001 and I thought the warranty would probably only be a 5-year one. Well, I guess I can't complain saving a hundred bucks. The bad news was that they didn't have the parts in store and have to order it, so I'll have to bring my car in once the part arrives. The worse news (not really "news" since I was told last May already) is that the struts in my cars are leaking. Replacing it would cost me about $600 - Ouch! Perhaps I should think about whether I want to get a new car or keep maintaining this one. This Civic has served me well - no problem except normal wear and tear throughout these years. However, I do foresee it'll need some maintenance work if I were to keep it for a few more years. Um... tough decision.

Oh I also got new wind shield wipers and blades - now I can finally see when driving in the rain. Wakakaka...

What should you do when you have too many eggs sitting in your fridge?

Make dessert of course. I've been making these for a while since I desperately need to get rid of the eggs before they go bad. =P


This one's from last night, but I did make one tonight as well

One of the simplest Chinese dessert:

Egg - 1 large size
Milk - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 2 table spoons

Mix together. Put in bowl. Cover with cling wrap. Steam (should be 燉 - but what's the English word for 燉?) for 8 minutes. Done!

For better result, use a strainer when pouring the mixed ingredients into the bowl. DO NOT OVER COOK!!! Let me say it again - DO NOT OVER COOK!!! This is supposed to be a dessert, you don't want it to come out like a breakfast dish.

Children of Mana - Done!

Leveled up too much - the final boss was like "meh - that's it!?" But it's a game finished nonetheless. Onward with Lunar Knights!

Eye High Hand Low

I can't keep smiling as I am typing the title - some definitely will be clueless... Ho ho ho...

Anyway, while doing grocery in China town, I decided to buy ingredients to make soup on Sunday. The grocery store did have 紅蘿白 so I settled on 青紅蘿白煲雞 (normally i would use carrots as substitute). Picking out the 紅蘿白 was easy enough because they were smaller and it wasn't too difficult to find a package of the right amount. The packages for the 青蘿白, on the other hand, were either too big or too small. I think I actually spent at least 5 minutes picking up each package and tried to determine if it was too few/enough/too many.

Apparently my instinct cannot be trusted - or perhaps it's been a while since i make soup? This is what I ended up with:


Unfortunately, I totally forgot about one "kind" of ingredient - can you guess?

After adding 2/3 of the 青紅蘿白, I was like "Oh crap!" because the pot was almost filled up (with an inch or so left). And I haven't even add the chicken into the pot yet! (by the way, the chicken was those frozen Cornish hen you can find in the supermarket - what you see in the plastic container is the whole hen). Decision, desicion...I could either 1) Throw away the extra stuff, which seems like a waste 2) Find another pot and make extra 3) Put them extra stuff back to the fridge and make more the next day, since I can't "freeze" them. (Side note: for those who don't know, making these type of soups takes time. You want to let the whole pot boils at a low - medium heat for at least a couple hours) (Side note #2: I actually had to call back home to ask my mom what's the minimum time I need since I don't want to wait all evening :P)

I finally opted for #3 - so there's another pot of soup sitting in my kitchen right now. I've never had that much soup in two consecutive days (I had left over from yesterday plus some from today. I think I still have half pot sitting on the stove now cooling down). I grew up with lots of 湯水 (三日一小煲, 五日一大煲 is a frequent term I used to described my mom. That doesn't count the 滾湯 which took place on the days she did not "煲湯") so a bit extra doesn't bother me much. But two pots in two days by myself - that's definitely something.

Now answer to my missing ingredient: I forgot to add 蜜棗! 失策!

DS Game #12

Lunar Knight - Got!

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't pick this one up until next month or so. Lunar Knight is an Action RPG game similar to Children of Mana (but better according to the reviews - which are quite favorable). For the past two weeks I've been trying to finish off Children of Mana (wrapping up side-quests, leveling up the characters, etc) and I've put in a lot of hours. I have roughly a hour or so of main story before finishing the game (which brings the total to approximately 40hrs - pretty amazing considering the fact that FF3 took up about the same amount of time too). I'll see how tired I am with the genre afterward. However, I did open up the package and try it out early tonight - the first impression is that I have to "unlearn" my Children of Mana control scheme. "Can't they share the same control scheme?" is the #1 question on my mind right now.

The was another possible candidate - Hotel Dusk: Rm 215. Sadly I couldn't find it in either Best Buy or Target. I guess I'll have to pick that up later.

Side note: Cooking Mama for the Wii is coming out later this month too!

Side note 2: Need to find a copy of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (a GameCube game) before Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn comes out in the States.

Spendy Weekend

Yeah - I think I over-spent this weekend. T_T

Friday night dinner
Tony Roma's $21 (Only finished half and FORGOT to bring the rest home!)

Saturday trip to Chicago -
Gas $40 (though I still have half a tank left in my car)
Lunch $11
Haircut $30
Dinner $30
Grocery $20

Luckily my brother is not in-town this weekend so i just had grab a quick lunch. Phew~

Sunday
DS Game #12 $32
LabSeries Facial Scrub $18
Grocery $32 (What did I buy!? Since I do grocery every week this is a lot for one week's worth...@@)


Yikes! A $250 weekend...can't afford too many of these (Sadly speaking, I think I'll need to do some shopping for jeans...Sigh! There goes the tax refund)

Saturday Night Dinner

Japanese at Akai Hana in Wilmette, IL. It really has been a while since I had Japanese (since I got back?) since both King Snort and MyEvilInsideYou are too fond of Asian cuisines (and yet they are okay with Teppanyakki. =.=" In return, I eliminated Mexican from the list of restaurants we would go to for dinners... Muahaha)

Though Jasper couldn't make it, I still want to meet up with Vicky to see how's everything going for her. Her big day's coming up in 3 months and she will be the first one in my closest circle from Purdue to get married - Congratulations! She and her fiancé were in the northern suburb that afternoon so I picked some place up north (Wilmette) for dinner. Peter also managed to show up with Linda as well. And of course throughout the night we recalled funny stories of Peter and the various "adventures" we had with his little red car (that has no heat). I think he's getting Realtor license (or something like that) soon. So if you are planning to buy real estate in the Chicago area, he would like to talk to you (Alright, I've done my part). Meanwhile, if you would like to order delivery for Thai food in the Chicago area, you might run into him as well. Apparently he made a delivery to some unit in Vicky's condo building Friday night (he didn't know Vicky is living there then) - small world.

Lastly Chun-ho also showed up. I don't remember when was the last time I saw this guy - it must be quite a few years. I faintly remembered seeing him the first year I started working in Madison (I went down to NW to see the basketball tournament), but not 100% sure. I MSN him on Friday night to try my luck, didn't expect much. He managed to leave me a message early Saturday morning (while I was asleep) and I gave him my number before I took off for Chicago (while he was asleep - I assumed). Little by little we have a full table for the night. =)

It was a good thing that they gave us the table all the way in the back - I laughed quite loudly for a couple times and it definitely would draw some attention if we were sitting in the front part of the store. Lots of "Peter stories" came up throughout the night (a good thing since I start to forget some of them - it would only be better if DNA and Richard are here as well) and we pretty much did a status update. Hopefully this time, it won't be another 2-3 years before we meet again - after all, there is a wedding in June!

Haircut

Finally got a haircut over this weekend. The last one back back in January before I left Hong Kong so it's been a good two months already. Normally it would be 3 months between each haircut but this time, it was quite necessary since I kind of changed my hair style so that the front part is an inch or so longer than the rest. Hence in the last two weeks, while I can still manage the side and back part, my hair in the front was giving me so much trouble each morning. lol

The salon was full on Saturday. A bit unexpected (since it was 315 already which is usually a slow time) as I have to wait. I think this was because a group of 4 or 5 college students just went in before me. I was told to come back around 4. Fortunately, the grocery store is just two doors down so I did some shopping. And of course I have my DS with me. heehee... However, I think I'll call ahead and make an appointment next time since I didn't get the stylist who normally does my hair. =P

Anyway, so Billy the stylist was busy and I ended up with another one. I don't remember if I've had this stylist before. Seeing him cutting my hair at first wasn't very comforting. He would make a cut in one section of my hair, pause for a bit (i think he wasn't too sure how to proceed???), and then start again from another part. It happened a couple times and it definitely made me nervous. Not much conversation until the end when he was drying my hair after the final wash. He sounded a bit surprised when I told him I am from HK (I was like, what the heck!?). Looks like the HK-aura from my December trip is fading - maybe I should plan a mid-year trip to refresh.

Fortunately, things turned out quite well. Not the best cut I've had but definitely above average. Good spent of my $30 ($26 cut + $4 tip). My next challenge is whether I can gel it back to what it supposed to look like tomorrow morning... Bwahahaha...

Any Korean Guru?

Trying to find the original version. It's a bit difficult since I don't know the name of the song (either does the one who posted the video). =P

The other question I have is where did these two record the video? Is it at their home or in a karaoke place? If it's the latter, that would be quite interesting. Riding on the hype of the Web 2.0, the karaoke stores install video camera for the customers so they can record their "performance" and perhaps sell it back at the end? Or put these recording on their sites as a mean to increase the company site's traffic and try to establish a community? I think this might not be a bad idea considering all the odd things people put up on YouTube. Maybe I should write to Neway or sth... kakaka!

Thoughts on couple games

No dominating game this weekend like Twilight Princess. In fact, my game hours were split between several games.

Friday night I bought my first Virtual Console game from the Shop Channel (Side note: after switching to using Channel 11 instead of 6 for my wireless router, I did notice a dramatic improvement in connection speed. Those complaining of slow connection for their Wii might want to give it a try). Partly because I bought the Classic controller several weeks ago in Chicago (only to find that the local Toysrus did have them in stock earlier), but mainly because Super Mario World is an awesome game. =) For those who don't know, I've never owned any console prior to the Wii, but I do remember playing this game at my cousin's place and had a lot of fun with the game. I worried that the A/V output wouldn't work well on my monitor but it turned out okay - probably would be better if I hook my Wii up to a real TV, but it's fine for now. The practice I got from DS's New Super Mario Brothers is definitely helpful. I don't remember blasting through 2 worlds this quick back in my younger days. Oh well - can't complain. However, I might have to try googling for a guide sooner or later though just because I don't remember how to unlock all the secrets. :P

Saturday afternoon I rented the newest Wii game - Sonic and the Secret Rings. I originally planned to buy this game but decided to rent it first to see whether I like it or not - since I've never played any Sonic games (maybe a stage or two from the original Sonic and that's it). Overall the game very enjoyable and quite often I found myself replaying several missions trying to get a better score. Only need to focus on moving Sonic left & right, jump, grind, homing attack... Things I think I can still handle. They added a skill set components to it which varies the game play a bit - you want to equip Sonic with different skills to aid your mission. However, there are a few skills which I have no idea how to use - could use some more instructions there. The sound track is okay - a couple catchy tones here and there but don't think they will become my favorites. The only problem I have is with the scripts and the voice acting - bad! To give a score, I would give it between 7 to 7.5 - meaning I would probably pick it up when it goes down to 39.99, just not now. Since I don't think I'll finish the game before I need to return it, let's just hope that I still remember how to play when I buy the game later. [With Sonic out till later, the debate on which game to buy next broils down to: Trauma Center - 2nd Opinion (Wii), Lunar Knights (DS) and Hotel Dusk - Rm 215 (DS)].

Wrapping up for the weekend is Children of Mana. I bought the game from King Snort prior to trip back home. I played a lot while I was back but really didn't pick it back up after I returned - probably because Wii's dictating all my video game time. Apparently, I was only one or two more levels before I beat the game. However, the problem is that I totally forgot how to play that game. So this weekend I decided to give it some attention and sharpen up by skills. Hopefully Poppen will join Luneth and Link in the next couple weeks.

[Note to self - still have Contact and Rayman left]

One more news before closing off, one of the best DS games is coming out with a sequel this year: 燃えろ！熱血リズム魂 押忍！闘え！応援団2 (Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Tamashii! Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan2). I'll import it, and so should you if you own a DS!

Stuck in Snow

Earlier this week, I was wondering if there will be more snow this year; and this weekend we got hit by another snow storm.

My car got stuck in the road when I got back from dinner (Outback - which was dead quiet - which means very good service. There were only a couple tables occupied). I realized something wasn't quite right as soon as the front hood hit the snow. As I was thinking whether my car would make it to the garage door - my car rolled into a stop! Darn - STUCK!

It wasn't snowing too heavily (yet). The main problem is with the wind blowing the snow sideways and piling up on the road leading to my apartment unit. Look like 12 - 18 inches deep. Luckily, I managed to wiggle my way through: Shift to Reverse, Gas, Shift to Drive, Gas, repeat... went outside twice (from the passenger side since I can't get out from the driver's side because of the snow) to clear up some of the snow in front/behind the front wheel. Finally made it through after half an hour or so. I wonder what's the tire damage. :P

There was another car trying to get through as I was pulling into the garage. Hopefully he/she will have better luck since I should already opened a path up.

Yikes!

Wow! 1000 Mii Parade - Impressive

Unfortunately it's not mine (which is at mere 74 right now)

  

Web sites

Is it just me or are people designing web sites have no idea what they were doing when they design the page or wrote those JavaScript?

In general there are two types of sites that i absolutely loathe. First, sites that only display content in like, half of the available space. You see this huge white (or some other background color) vertical band on the left (or right) side of the screen, and yet the text is either too small or the sentence is breaking a new line every 3 words. I think CNN used to be like this, and still is on the sub-pages. However, at least their main page is much better now.

The other more annoying pages I've encountered are those that resize your browser for you. While I understand that the page looks the best when the screen resolution is, like 1024x768 or 1200x960, unless you can detect my native screen resolution (currently at 1920x1200) and determines that you need to resize it - although to be honest, I prefer you NOT to touch my browser window size at all, NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER resize my browser window!!!!! Nothing is more annoying then seeing that after my browser window is resized, the majority of the screen is white and the content only occupies a tiny bit of the screen.

Rant over!

Chinese New Year

Comes the year of the pig!

Didn't do much cleanup this year (hahaha) and of course no day-off for me on Monday (even though it's President's Day =P) I felt good this year since I sent extra money home ^^ The phone card company must be handling tons of call tonight. My usual number (Chicago area) couldn't go through for like 15 - 30 minutes. I kept getting the busy tone. Finally I just logged into their web site and picked a number from some relatively unknown city.

Luckily relatives in HK hasn't made it to my parents home yet so I don't have to talk to every single one of them. It was a long call (2 hrs or so) since we have a 3-way conference call: me, my brother (once again in Chicago) and my parents in HK. Nothing meaningful was discussed, and as a matter of fact, I already forgot what we talked about.

It really has been a long time since my last Chinese New Year in HK. It probably dated back to the time before I came to the States for college. The problem with Chinese New Year is that it's typically in late January or February - definitely not vacation-time-friendly to college students. And despite the fact that I am no longer a student, I prefer to have my trips back home in the 2nd half of the year instead (so I don't go into the "hole" in the beginning of the year). Until I have one more week of vacation (then I can split them up and do two trips back home in a year), it will remain difficult to go back home for Chinese New Year. =P

Look who's following Luneth...

After putting in 62 hours, I finally wrapped up my first run of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess this weekend. It was a very fun game and very addictive once you start playing it. The story is compelling and I enjoyed every single bit of Hyrule. Despite some people thinks that it's too easy, the difficulty level is just right for me. I didn't have too much trouble with the different bosses (including the final boss - though with 18 hearts, I still need 2 Fairies and a Blue Potion to make it through). They were challenging, but not overwhelmingly hard to beat. They served their purposes of wrapping up their part of the storyline and let the story progress.

I know I didn't get to every single Heart pieces, Poe, min-dungeons, etc (I did get all the golden bugs! But I totally forgot to put on the Magic Armor in the last boss fight - Duh!). But for now, I am okay with letting the game sit on the shelf for some time. After all, fully completing all the side quests will be a heck of a task, and will definitely take me more than the 60 hrs I put in this time.

For those who don't know, Twilight Princess is a GameCube game in its core. It just happens that Nintendo pushed this game back to launch with the Wii. I can't even imagine what a true Wii Zelda game will be like, but just hope that it can surpass the greatness of TP. Some day, we will meet again; until then, take care Link!

P.S. Still like Impish Midna better~!

P.P.S Now that I updated my other TP post, my RSS feed is totally messed up...

Twilight Princess

is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday. Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday.Twilight Princess is not meant to be played on a weekday.

P.S. Funny that this post did not get into the RSS feed - interesting...

Finally! Good-bye Luneth~

Took time off from my Wii tonight and picked up its little brother that I neglected ever since I got back to the States - the DS Lite!

After a couple mishap in HK playing with FF III - didn't save properly the first time I beat the game; dead in the middle of the last stage during the 2nd time; friend erased the quick save record - I finally wrapped up FF III tonight!

Only Contact and Children of Mana left!

It's freezing...

Actually, it's past freezing!!!

Temperature below zero makes it not fun to go outside. I went down to campus again on Saturday with a couple friends from work for dinner. We were supposed to meet at 6 but they were late, so I stayed in the car until they made it to the campus. Since I don't want others thinking that I was leaving (I actually found street parking this week), I didn't have my car running. The moment I shut down my car, I could feel the heat dissipating already. And it was such an inconvenient timing because if I got there earlier, I probably would go to a cafe to warm up. However, getting coffee around 6 would totally kill my appetite. I also thought about going to shop around, maybe hop into the Gap and wait. However, I didn't think I would survive the walk to the Gap either. Without much choice, I stayed put inside my car.

When I got the car, I realized that it was already way better than the weather outside. Perhaps because of all the surrounding buildings, it was kind of windy walking down the street. Oh man, the wind chill was simply unbearable. I did the sensible thing - ran down the street trying to get to the place as quickly as possible. When I met up with my friends, it sounded like I wasn't the only one running. BW3 is on State street and I parked on Gilman - which is like a block from BW3. They, on the other hand, parked at the parking garage on Carol - like twice as far from my parking spot. Felt sorry for Chris since Aaron and Ryan ditched me and rode with me on the way back. :P The dinner is okay - it really has been a while since I dine at BW3. We used to go there for lunch when we were still working in CP. But ever since we moved to the new campus in Verona, going to the UW campus for lunch isn't quite feasible (unless we take a 1.5 - 2hr lunch of course).

Hang out at King Snort's place afterward - a hour or two of Wii followed by 2 movies. We called it a night around 1:30ish. Probably a good idea since I definitely want to wake up before 3 or 4 tomorrow for Jamie's SuperBowl party. When Chris called this afternoon around 1 or 2, I was still in bed. Zelda pretty much took all of Friday night (and Saturday morning) - didn't went to bed until 3 or 4. But hey, that was another 7 hrs of Zelda and I progressed by 1.5 temples. Perhaps another 20 - 30 hrs and I should be done! Simply can't wait.

My Sleep Schedule

Got totally messed up over this weekend... XDD

Friday night was a Zelda marathon. By the time I went to bed, it was already 5 or 530 in the morning. Well, since it was Saturday and there wasn't any incentive to get up "earlier" (Chicago trip was postponed to probably 2 weeks later), I didn't wake up until 4:30pm - hmmmm, 12-hrs sleep, about right for a weekend.

However, comparing to the Saturday night, Friday night wasn't too bad. It was Petris' last weekend in Madison so we went to a Turkish restaurant for dinner (I ordered a chicken dish, served in a creamy sauce - delicious. Photo included of course, taken with my newly acquired N73). The dinner was later than usual, considering the fact that we didn't leave the West side of Madison until some time around 8:30 and the restaurant was a good 20 minutes drive (it's on State street in the UW campus). So by the time we were done, it was like 1030 already. The plan for the rest of the night was some board games in King Snort's place. A couple more stops and we finally arrived at his place around 1130p. Definitely a late start even to me. Ha ha ha...

Played a few new games (I think 2 rounds of 3 games), mixed a few Wii tennis in between. Unfortunately I didn't bring my controllers so we were stuck with 2 players instead of 4 (altogether we had 8 ppl though so we kept it short by doing 1 set matches). After a long night of festivity, it was 415 when i finally arrived home.

I should have gone straight to bed - but going to bed without checking the IMs, newsgroups, BBS, bulletin boards seemed so wrong (wakakaka). Besides, 5am = 7pm in Hong Kong, there were a whole bunch of friends on MSN - can't possibly skipped this opportunity to do some catchups.

So by the time i really went to bed, the sky's already lighted up. A look at the clock - 730a. Oh well, glad it's a weekend. :P

Mentioned earlier, my meal on Saturday night:


P.S. Jan 2007 is now officially the month of the most blog posts!

Back to Hyrule!

Doesn't look like anything will happen tonight - I guess it's a perfect time to go back to Link, Midna, and the land of Hyrule!

The New Channel is also up today. I am quite impressed with the interface and presentation. Unfortunately there's no HK-related news today.

*Update: Play time tonight: 6 hr 41 min; Progress? One temple - Sigh. This means that I probably have another 30 or 40 hrs to go before I beat the game.

BR

Um... I thought I was done with BR. Their last couple seasons didn't appeal to me at all. However, I was doing some window shopping last weekend and decided to go into the BR shop at the mall. To my surprise, there were a few items that I liked.

Being me, of course I didn't buy it - yet. I can't justified spending more money on clothes this month - not after my shopping trip back home last month/earlier this month. However, the end of the month is coming and next month is definitely another story. Ho ho ho ho ho...

P.S. I definitely need some sweater type of clothes - HK apparel may not be most suitable in the midst of a cold cold winter. :P

P.P.S Also found another shirt at A&F - but priced at $60, I need to think about it a couple more times.

Three Years in Wisconsin

So this month is the 37th month I lived in Madison - looking back, time really does fly by quick! My company has the tradition of giving those who's reached the 3 year mark a little roast in the team meetings. People shared funny stories and bought gag gifts for the 3yr guy. I had mine last Friday, and to be honest, it was too bad. (what a relief!)

I haven't brought back all the stuff home yet so i don't have photo for the gifts. However, I did bring the following item home:

 

3 years at Epic - it really didn't feel that long despite the fact that I've moved offices 4 times. First from CP to TDS as the company tried to bring all clinical teams into a single building; then back to CP because the main clinical products themselves now needed the whole TDS building, and finally Andromeda in the new campus in Verona. Still remember the first couple nights in Andromeda - since we were the only floor occupied (1st and 2nd floor weren't even done yet), supplies are rare, if not non-existent. Each night around mid-night (there was a deadline then), we would raid the other buildings and bring back much need supplies. Ah good time!

Since I started working for Epic, I've been working on the same product for six different releases. In fact, I think I am still the only full-time developer for my product (hee!). There are a couple releases where i am the one working on the various projects. Definitely a challenge trying to push "logs" through PQAs, but luckily that's no longer the case. Yippee!

Thinking about it, I think all the folks that was on the team either switched working on another product or left the company. Michael pretty much was the only "full time" personnel (but he's also working on another product as well) when Erica and I joined. The three of us comprised the main Dev, QA and TS for the application. So much fun working with them. Unfortunately both of them have left the company. The flip side is that Erica is still in town and Michael is working on the other side of the fence nowadays.

I am surprised too that I didn't get tired (mentally) yet. I think I am the kind of Gemini that needs new things constantly. Hahahaha... Overall, all I will say is that it has been a really good 3 years. =)

Dinner on Friday

Just posting two pics from Friday's dinner. The restaurant was Granite City. When I left for vacation last December, it was still under construction. I guess they opened up soon after I left.

The food is okay - nothing really stood out. I ordered a blackened chicken linguine, and the chicken was very salty. However, their portion was quite generous so I got to pack up the left over for later.

The Chardonnay I ordered, however, was definitely not the best I've had. It didn't have too much aroma or flavor. I think I won't be picking up this brand anymore.





P.S. I need to find a way to better make use of the NokiaLifeBlog that came with my phone. I like the fact that it tracks all the stuff that i did with my phone (e.g. there are entries for the text messages, photos/video taken, etc). However, i need to have those selectively synch up with Blogger. Once I figure that out, and get a data plan with my phone, then I think you can see more entries on this blog. ;)

It's a Wii, Wario...

I just bought my 3rd (or 4th depending on how you treat Wii Sports) Wii game - the amazingly hilarious WarioWare: Smooth Moves. So far I am having a blast with this game. Basically the game is a collection of micro-games, which are games that are even shorter than mini-games. Each game in Wario (except the boss stages) less a few seconds only, and requires you to use the Wii-mote in one of the many positions.

Mini-games and micro-games are one of the few genre of games that I like because they don't require me to invest tons of time to it. I can simply pick it up and play for like 10 - 15 minutes in between things. (However, my love of RPGs totally contradict this "pick-up-and-play" concept...XD) Besides, games like WarioWare and Rayman are perfect party games. Even when you are not playing, it's very funny to watch other playing.

And since we are on the topic of Wii, let see my up-coming Wii purchase plan:

Mid Feburary - Wii Play (I think they are doing that bundle package Nintendo had in Japan & Europe, meaning for $49.99, you can Wii Play, similar to Wii Sports, and a Wii-mote. Since the Wii-mote itself costs a hefty $39.99, you are really only paying 10 bucks for the game).

Early March - Mario Party 8 & Bust-a-Move Bash! My favorite puzzle game coming to the Wii, can't pass up on that! And as for Mario Party, please refer to the 2nd paragraph of this blog post. :P

Late March - Cooking Mama International Cook Off. Don't really know if this game is really releasing in late March. However, I had a lot of fun with the DS version of this game, so I think I will pick this Wii version up as well. In case you don't know, Cooking Mama is, well, another collection of different mini games. Bwahahaha

I was planning to get Trauma Center: Second Opinion too. However, since some one from work already bought this game, perhaps i can just borrow it. Heeheehee...

離家出走

雖然首歌係唔錯, 但係我好想同 Janice 講, 可唔可以唔好"罩"我. 我次次一聽到"別要管誰咒你"嘅時候, 我梗係聽到"別要管誰罩你", 跟住我就會好唔明咁諗無端事點會有人走黎"罩"你呢!?

另外首歌唔係太 K-able 啵 - especially 對於男仔黎講. 我諗冇幾多人可以唱到上 "天與地" 同 "不顧忌" 果兩個位~

P.S. 個 "嘅" 字好似終於出到喇啵~ Hohoho~

HK Post #2: Before the evidence disappeared

Looking at a friend's blog reminded me that I probably should mark this down before I throw away the score sheet... ho ho ho...

V 友人	Y 友人	Me	E 友人
45	37	0	11
45	80	30	20
51	102	41	20
93	102	64	68
107	106	64	93
184	106	73	174
203	129	73	183
203	174	104	207
298	211	105	207
306	217	108	207
313	226	121	207
339	235	121	211
359	269	146	211
451	277	148	211
461	291	148	328
461	375	158	387
467	397	158	408
532	430	158	415
551	446	197	415
		Won!

 

HK Post #1: 快要失踪了的蓮蓉飽

My family is a dim sum family (well, at least my parents are). I think 9.5 out of 10 days I ended up going to dim sum for either breakfast/brunch. In my past two visits back home, I noticed that one of my all time favorite dim sum gradually disappeared from the menu!



Out of the so many kinds of buns available in a restaurant, my favorite is the 蓮蓉飽. And when there's a choice, I definitely prefer 白蓮容 over 黃蓮蓉. However, I found out that not that many restaurants has this anymore. They still have the 叉燒飽, 奶皇飽, 菜肉飽, 流沙飽... just not my 蓮蓉飽! I remember when I was young, the most abundant 飽 you can find any day in the restaurant are 叉燒 and 蓮蓉. From time to time, you would hope that they would have something other buns other than these. (Of course with the introduction of 點心紙, there aren't many chance where you can see those "push-carts"). So it's kind of sad that I only had my 蓮蓉飽 twice while I was in HK. I already where I had the first one (probably 美心皇宫 in Shatin coz I think my aunt was there). The other is all the way in Yuen Long 大榮華 (where the above pic was taken - normally it comes in 3 but I already finished one before I remembered to take a photo). And amazingly these were 白蓮蓉飽 - Yummy! :9 Hopefully next time I go back, they would still have them.

Side Note: the other thing I always ordered is 碗仔翅. Luckily, this is a more available item nowadays. I would say 8 out of 10 restaurants have it. Unfortunately, not the restaurants in Chinatown. :P

Re: Interesting Question

In response to one of my friends blog entry. Basically the question is under what circumstances will your lady friends to your guy friends (ladies: interchange lady/guy)

My friend listed different scenarios detailing how she would handle the various cases. I am, however, a very lazy person. So my answer to the question is almost always. Don't you think it's troublesome to maintain different social groups? So unless there is a really special circumstances, I tend to "mix up" my friends so that know each others. Let them mingle by themselves and I can save the work of being the middle-man. Less work can't be bad... hee hee hee...

Case closed.

Mii Plaza/Parade

My Mii Parade head count kinda stuck at 46 recently - need more friend codes... however, I think someone is still waiting for their Mii Parade... hee hee hee~

On the other hand, my Mii Plaza is kinda sad - Sahana is the only lady Mii in the bunch. :P

Still haven't pick Zelda back up yet - mainly Wii Sports lately. I manage to beat the tennis "champion" the other day. Hohoho~~~ Put in Rayman early tonight - got stuck at the hog racing game... I'd rather do the FPS than this hog racing...Yikes!

Wario should be coming out this week too - I have high hopes for that game, largely because it's a collection of micro games and I can just pick up and play for a short period of time, like 15 - 30 minutes. However, from my newsgroup friends, it sounds like the game's selling a bit cheaper in HK... >_<

When the Saints go Marching In...

The New Orleans Saints that is...

* I probably should blog about my trip back home, but too lazy at the moment...hahaha~ *

So the N.O. Saints beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday and the Bears beat the Seahawks today, setting up a Saints vs. Bears matchup next week in Chicago. Um... difficult choice regarding who I should root for. On one hand, Chicago has been my "home town" in the States for some time; on the other hand, guess who's QB for the Saints? I guess I'll go for the N.O. since I kinda settled down in Madison already. XD

Though the same dilemma will come up again if Indy tops New England... Um...

*** Though Chicago has been my "home town", the place where I stayed the longest is still a little town in Northwest Indiana called (West) Lafayette... ;)