Antique Bakery (A slightly yaoi anime) — A+

I've been living a happy and good life for many months now (not that I want to jinx it) and I didn't think I could get any happier for a long time... until yesterday. It was when I came across a new yaoi (not R18) anime, and it brightened my life more than I have ever imagined any yaoi anime would.... *Gets so emotional and cries happy tears*

Now, let's look and think back. Have I ever, ever, in the history of this blog pimped any yaoi anime in any of my blog entries...? N.O. Cos' to be honest most yaoi anime suck. Well I don't mean they 'suck' but yeah they suck. >_>; The good ones are the really old ones like Ai No Kusabi (1992), Fake (1994) and Kizuna (1994), while all the newer ones not only suck but rot (e.g. Sukisho, Loveless, Angel's Feather, Pico to Chiko, etc). All except for this one and only that brought back a light of hope and redemption into the yaoi anime fandom:

Adapted from an original yaoi manga series, Antique Bakery is a story about cakes and four guys, which involves a great mix of comedy, romance and drama. Several times I've stated that no other anime could make me laugh more and madder than One Piece and Slam Dunk, but Antique Bakery now also joins their ranks. I kept laughing half the time I watched the series last night I thought I'd wake everyone up.

The characters are original and highly lovable; the resulting pairing came to me by a pleasant surprise so I didn't go "Meh, I knew it" like I do with most other yaoi anime. *Cries and applauds* I seriously can't wait to go home and watch the rest of it. (I've only seen 6 episodes at this moment, and there're 12 in total) How I wish it were longer... cos' I can already tell I'm gonna miss it so bad already the moment I finish it. T__T

Anyway, I'm not gonna spoil anything in here so any of you who's interested in the entire series can start watching from the above episode 1 (click on the 'enlarge' button to view nicely) or you can check out all the episodes here. I sure hope you'll love it as much as I do. ^__^!!! After all, this is the first 'new' anime I've watched in 1.5 years. (The last 'new' anime I saw was Nodame Cantabile.)

Anime Festival Asia (at Suntec)

I guess you’d call this a convention… though a rather lousy one. LOL. I had no idea what’s gonna be there at all but me and a friend had decided to go for it anyway, just as an excuse for us to wear something different. XD And so for the first time in a long time since the Tales of Anime convention in April 2007, I finally wore my Kingdom Hearts "Organization XIII" coat again. =) But as usual, I’m wearing it as myself instead of following a certain character. In fact, this time I actually went and ‘modified’ the outlook a little. XD

The convention hall was moderately big, but there weren’t very many (interesting) booths and a lot of the areas were empty, which was disappointing. I had expected it to be a lot bigger/complete. However there was this stage with quite a number of audience where a Japanese Gundam designer (or something) was doing a presentation. I wonder if he came all this way just to attend this convention. O_o

It felt like it was gonna be a long talk and all so we didn’t hang around to watch. And since we hadn’t looked around the entire place, we decided to start on that when I found a few cosplayers as usual. Well, they weren’t much… but hey!!! @_@ Bloody hell, I actually found an Agnus cosplayer!! @__@!! OMGWTFBBQ!! I totally wasn’t expecting that!! I was so surprised, impressed and happy that someone actually cared about DMC + Agnus at all! *Applauds*

Next, I found a few framed artwork of some of Shounen Jump’s popular series. Of course, the first thing I went for was none other than One Piece. ^__^! Oh yeah, I found this human-sized Gundam figurine thing too.

And a lot of other figurines... (I didn't realize there were MGS4 ones too! GAAH!!! T__T!)

OOOHH!! I managed to find the ONE and only Slam Dunk thing in the convention too!! OMGOMG!! *__*!! I was so jumping up and down when I saw it!! T__T! *Cries tears of joy* Now… If only it were Sendou… XD!!

Finally, when we went back to the tournament section again there was a guy who asked to take a picture of us and so we did our poses… when like a dozen other people gathered around to take our pics as well… nonstop. @_@;; I didn’t even know which camera to look at! Good thing I asked another friend to help me take a picture as well. XD! Gotta love t3h emo hair… XD

After looking around all that they have at the convention, we hopped back to Bugis cos’ I felt like going to the arcade to play some games myself. For some reason, I was feeling very up for Xmen Vs Street Fighter. XD But damn, for some reason the AI there was so high I died 6 times or so really early and badly before I actually beat the game! WTF? O_o;; What’s worse was that two separate guys challenged me too =_=# The first one wasn’t too bad and I almost beat him (he had 4 pixels of health left?) but the second one was just lame. I can’t even be bothered to explain. (Unfortunately I don't have any video record of the matches...)

Later I also saw a guy who could do Wolverine’s infinite combo and I even asked him how to do it! LOOL! But alas… what he taught me didn’t feel right, or at least I don’t think I did it right cos’ it didn’t look like how his Wolverine did when he did it. Oh well… so much for that. T_T

I had also wanted to play KOF98 Ultimate Match but alas all the machines were taken so we didn’t have a chance. =/ Sigh… Maybe next time…

Fish Spa ~ 15th Nov 2008

Two nights ago my Slam Dunk buddy convinced me to go for 'fish spa' and for the first time in my life I did. Basically speaking, 'fish spa' is foot reflexology which involves fishies nibbling on your legs. It doesn't hurt... but it's damn ticklish!! @_@!!

The first time I put my legs in the fish tank it was so ticklish I kept laughing. @_@ There were so many of them and they just kept nibbling/pecking at every corner of my legs, the worst being under the feet. But of course, eventually I got used to it... until we moved on to the bigger fishes and the tickle is even worse. @_@!! *Dies* XDXD!

Regardless, it was fun and I'm glad I gave it a try. I've been itching to do something new for the past few weeks and this is a good and easy start. ^_^ Only, it's quite expensive if without discount - $30 for half an hour. That's like a buck a minute. =_=; Oh well...

I watched Madagascar 2 in the cinema today and it was pretty good, better than the first one for sure. I had a few laughs and all but at the same time it was still a disappointment how few screen time the penguins had. They are the reason I like Madagascar at all. Sigh……

But anyway, before I entered the cinema we had an hour’s free time so me and a friend checked out the arcade (which is right beside the cinema XD). I played one game of KOF98 Ultimate Match (which I pathetically lost at Rugal’s stage cos’ the standard KOF98 tactic doesn’t work anymore) and one game of Marvel vs Street Fighter.

Aaaahh… What nostalgia…!! Marvel vs Street Fighter was the game that got me into fighting games at all when I was 11! It was my first fighting game ever and it was where I first learnt how to perform a standard ‘hadouken’… only after several months of playing it. XD!! However, that’s all I’ve ever truly learnt for the game and I stopped playing it around the age of 13 or so cos’ that was when I turned to King of Fighters. In other words, I’ve not exactly touched that game for say… a decade…? >_o;

So I was playing the game today right? And I also lost in the second round and all only to be lucky enough to survive somehow. And so I continued to play happily until someone challenged me…?! Like WTF…? It’s obvious I don’t really know how to play the game…! =_=; So I was totally waiting to die horribly… until it turned out that I beat the guy. =____=;; Apparently he doesn’t really know how to play either… which makes our battle even…! XD Mwahahaha!!

I was laughing to myself when I first beat him, wondering how that could have ever happened, and then he challenged me again. So this time I asked my friend to take a video of it… just to see how it turns out. Well, turns out… I beat him again! XD!! I know, now I sound like a bully but well… he started it! >_>;; So yeah, here’s the vid (the game machine has no sound o_o;;). (I'm using Wolverine + Cammy.)

You can laugh at how badly we both play but hell… I had fun. =P Good thing I still remember how to beat the last boss too (Apocalypse). It was… so lame. o_o. He dies in about 15-20 consecutive hard punches. XD

Magazine photoshoot!

Yesterday was fun. XD It was the photoshoot day for the London Weight Management ‘advertisement’ that I’m doing. The pictures they took in the studios will be used on certain magazines and newspapers (I think), and maybe the TV show as well later on. The last time I went for a photoshoot was when I was 5 =_=; So I was quite looking forward to this cos’ I knew it’d be an interesting experience.

But like crap… first thing in the morning I woke up to realize I was late. =_=|| I quickly rushed over there to be exactly one hour late but it seemed like they were busy anyway and so it dragged on for a while before I was even made to wear my first outfit. Oh, we also had Macdonald’s for brunch o_o;; What a way to promote slimming aye? XD

Eventually I got into my first outfit – white tube and denim shorts. They chose that for me of course, and they said denim’s best for showing off slim legs or something. O_o; Really? Anyway, it wasn’t embarrassing or anything to be standing there in the studio against the white wallpaper taking pics but it was awkward when I couldn’t think of what poses to do. It’s different from taking your own pictures, cos’ I can’t possibly do those cutsie idiotic poses like we do in neoprints. >_>; But well, I did see the pictures on their computer and they look great with the awesome lighting and stuff. And I looked quite fake with all that make up. Wahahhaa!

Oh yeaaahh!! Speaking of make up. Duuuude~~! The make up artist was so awesome funny and fun!! There were only two make up artists there and both were males. The one who did my make up was also blatantly stereotypically gay but he was so much fun!! XD!! I tried to ask him how long he’s been in this line and he said “Two days.” I was like “Huh?” and then he said “Yeah, I sold fishball noodles before this. I started this only cos’ my friend asked me to join.” LOL. So I continued on to ask, “No, what I meant was how long have you been doing make up since you started?” And he said “Oh, you mean these make up products? I’ve used them for 20 years. My dad gave them to me.” LOOL. OK fine… I got the hint… XD OoOoo!! What really made me laugh was when I asked him "How do I take off the fake eyelashes?" (cos' I've never put one on in my life) and his answer was "Oh, you know, just put your head in the toilet bowl and flush it while shaking your head and it should come off." LMAOZOZOZWTFZORS!? *Dies from laughing too much*

It was also quite hilarious when I asked to take a picture with him before I left when the photoshoot’s done. I told him “Hey~ I wanna take a pic with you!” and he said “Oh okay~ But hold on, I gotta touch up on my make up first~” XD!! Hahaha! He’s so adorable. And so yeah, here’s our picture:

Anyway, there was a second outfit after the first denim one. This time it’s the same white tube and a pink mini skirt. O_o; It’s something I so totally won’t ever see myself wearing on my own. And oh, they changed my hairstyle too cos’ I had to look different overall in style between the two outfits.

So yup! That’s pretty much it. The whole thing took 5 hours cos’ everything was so slow that most of the time I was just sitting around waiting for my turn. Sigh. But still, it was fun and I’m glad I got chosen =D (Of course, at the end all of that is for the purpose of getting that $2000 voucher. LOOL. Sorry I can’t help it. I am money minded.)

Meeting up with my *gasp* Slam Dunk buddy from facebook!!

So, after the photoshoot, I met up with a new friend I found through facebook at Takashimaya. Simply put, SHE WAS BLOODY AWESOME!!!! It’s interesting how I found her, and I’m soooo glad I did!!

As most of you know I’ve been into the Slam Dunk craze for quite a few months now and no it’s not died down yet! So one day, I was bored and I decided to look around facebook for the hell of it. I’ve just finished writing my Slam Dunk fanfic 2 weeks or so ago and so I was still very into the Slam Dunk yaoi mood, and I decided that I’d try and see if there are any Slam Dunk yaoi communities on facebook. So I typed “slam dunk yaoi” into the search bar and the results came up with two or so such communities, myself, and this girl.

And so the only two people that showed up on the results page are myself and this girl, and the best part is, she’s from Singapore! And so I was like OMGOMG!! @_@ I’m gonna have to make friends with her, cos’ I totally want a fellow Slam Dunk and yaoi geek buddy!! And so I messaged her and later she messaged me back all excitedly and just like that we clicked!! ^__^!! Whoo hoo~!! *Dances around* I can haz Slam Dunk geek buddy!! KyaaAaAaA~~!!

So yeah we met up and talked and talked… It was awesome how we share a lot of similarities, and we’re both equally hyper/active about our passion. It was like a blessing from the skies or something for me to have found her so incidentally. ^_^!! We ended up hanging out till close to midnight and then I had to catch the last train back home. But yarrr. We’re so definitely hanging out again soon!! *Jumps in joy*

Extra interesting encounter…

And hey, OMG, guess what?? While walking towards Takashimaya to meet my friend, there was this lady who approached me and gave me her name card, saying that she’s from an advertisement company and that they’re looking for new faces who’d be willing to do free lance modeling. @_@!! LOOOL! Like OMG!! I’ve never imagined that to ever happen to me!! LOOOL!! I swear it’s the make up and fancy hairdo. I looked like one of those girls at Geylang (aka prostitutes) but still… this is pretty cool. I’d totally give it a shot (assuming I pass their standards once they see me without make up and shit) IF it means earning extra cash… $_$ Like I said, I am money minded. Nyaahahahaha!!!

Team outing: Karaoke session!

Today, my team at work got a free half day off for a team outing as my boss’s boss (aka big boss) is flying back to the UK after being over for a company trip here. And so following the boss’s suggestion, we decided to go for lunch and karaoke~

We had lunch at a restaurant called Tampopo at Liang Court. All four girls ordered katsudon (it doesn’t have egg though) and man the pork (and rice) was goood~! But I do have to say that even though it was good it would be an expensive choice for me if it weren’t free (cos’ we used the team’s budget for this LOL).

As for karaoke, we had it at Party World (also at Liang Court) which is actually a pretty nice karaoke place, and it lasted 4 hours cos’ that’s how long the deal was. LOL. We girls sang the most (XD) but I think we all had just about as much fun… I hope? ^^;

Oh, my boss sings really well. He has a strong voice and he sounds good, and all the girls agree. XD And what’s most awesome was when he actually sang together with big boss. XD!! Check the vid below to see them go crazy singing the Bohemian Rhapsody XD!! Please don't mind them going nuts in their singing for this song tho' cos they're just having fun. =D Also, boss is the one on the left. The right one is big boss. (Pardon my nonstop laughter cos’ I couldn’t help it…@_@)

Isn’t it awesome to have bosses like them? ^__^! I for one sure feel blessed! *Thanks to all the gods and people who blessed me with such fortune* And now… it’s my turn… >_>;

^^; I know I don’t sound awesome but you can always pretend otherwise >=P Anyway, we finally survived 4 hours of singing and craze and here are our group shots before we separated ways and went home. Good bye to big boss for now but we’ll see him again next year. =)

KOF girl gang outing... AGAIN! XD

It seems that we’ve been hanging out a lot the past three weeks aye, considering we used to only hang out once in a few months. >_o But I love hanging out, so good thing for me, woooot~! But as usual, it wasn’t like there was a lot on our agenda. Sometimes I do wonder if we could do something different, like going to playground (LOL) or something instead of visiting the malls but I kinda doubt the other girls are into that… Sigh…

So anyway we hung around the same old places, visited the arcade blablabla… and had dinner at some place just right next to Hong Kong Café that sells zhu chao （煮炒）dishes. I was originally eying some other dish I forgot which I ended up getting the “Crap meat thick soup” (what a name LOL). I was hoping it’d taste something like my grandma’s crab soup (used for her shark’s fin’s soup) but well, turns out it’s just fine. Maybe next time I’ll try their Beef Horfun （牛肉河粉）cos’ it looks good. =D

After that we went back to the arcade and OMG!!! For the first in I dunno how many months I actually sat and played KOF!! XD!! This is finally a true KOF gals outing!!! @__@! Me and two other girls found a KOF98 Ultimate Match machine with no one playing and decided that we should give it a try (we’ve only played KOF98 before but not KOF98UM). It was fun~~!! ^__^! Whoo hoo~~! Except, we aren’t used to the new high difficulty (?) and new adjustments/changes to characters both old and ‘new’, so we couldn’t quite get past the 6th stage (?) where you either fight against Takuma or Heavy D’s team (or some other team I forgot). >_o; But duuuude, it felt great to be able to use KOF98 Iori again cos’ he’s just the most awesome character to use in it (and one of the easiest too =P)!! Despite getting owned it was still bloody fun~~!! ^__^! KyaaAaAa~!

And just before going home after playing KOF98UM, I went over to Street Fighter IV’s section again to check out a friend challenging the arcade’s resident SF4 king. I love watching that friend of mine play. He uses Ken and the way he plays is just… so fun to watch. XD He’s not a hardcore SF gamer but my other friends says he’s good anyway, except he’d be even better if he’d only actually sit down and master the game’s system, cos’ it seems that he’s playing it like he plays KOF. >_O;;

Anyway, cos’ it was fun to watch him play I decided that I’d totally steal some footage! WOOOT!! XD!! The video above is 3 minutes long and I dunno how many of you guys would actually wanna watch all of it, but let’s just say despite him being ‘good’, he’s always challenging the best so he’s always getting pwnt. LOL (His opponent keeps switching between 2-3 guy friends too so you’ll see that Blanka’s level of awesomeness varies with each round, LOL)