In my previous post, I posted many pics I took from Anime Festival Asia, but I left out something very important …. The cosplay pictures!!! Luckily, this time round, I took quite a lot of pictures of cosplayers as compared to my previous trip to License2Play (1 pic) so I decided to dedicate an entire post for these really dedicated and creative individuals. Last time, I was too shy to ask them to pose for pictures but this time I managed to "level up" my courage to ask them for permission to take pictures. I found out that as long as you ask them, they are more than willing to oblige and you will get a really nice pose from them facing you, which make your pictures better looking. I did take some photos of cosplayers without asking though, but only when they were like many others taking at the same time and they are give their best pose =P. No sneaky unglam shots from me he he =X
Cosplayers … I really admire their dedication towards their passion …. their love for Anime. To prepare those beautiful costumes they wear really requires lots of effort, creativity and money too I guess. To cosplayers around the world, especially those in my post … I salute you!!
Let’s see those I have taken and tried to photoshop to make them look nicer as I don’t have good photography skills and a pro cam ha ha.
There are lots more cosplayers that I did not manage to take pictures of, hopefully I can take even more pictures in future events I attend (if someone accompanies me he he). Sorry about the few non-cosplay pics I have included ha ha.
Hopefully I will be able to find people who can accompany me to next year’s Anime Festival Asia. =) By then I will have a DSLR cam, more experience in Maid Cafes and we can power up our food together (instead of us guys freezing due to shock) and hopefully more money to spend on the items on sale there.
For more proness pics and videos of the cosplay competition, click here.
On a side note …..
My room’s TV went ku ku yesterday and I wasn’t able to turn it on. Luckily a hero came and saved the day …. My HTC Hero!!
Because of my phone and TV on Mobile, I was able to watch the live match between Arsenal and Chelsea in my room this morning he he. Chelsea is looking unbeatable this season, too bad it’s not the team I support. All those who know me know that the team I support will forever be Newcastle United and I’m really happy that they are doing very well in the Championship this season. They are like the Chelsea or Man United in the Championship!!
I changed my MSN status to “Newcastle United is Top” some time ago and didn’t have to change the status since then lol. Hopefully they win the competition this season and lift the trophy =) Something they haven’t done since I started supporting them around 14 years ago! I thought that I wouldn’t be able to watch them play this season, but was pleasantly surprised that Starhub shows championship matches every week on Goal TV and majority of them are Newcastle matches! Woooo hoooo! Go magpies!!! Goal TV is on Starhub’s TV on Mobile too, which allows me to watch their matches live when I’m not at home he he. In case you are wondering …. Yes, you can see the ball while watching on your small mobile phone’s screen =p Those who have not tried can try watching next Sunday’s midnight match (aka Monday) for free as TV on Mobile is free every Monday! You even get $1 off Golden Village movie tickets for activating it on Mondays!
And ….
I just brought Kimi for grooming recently and she is looking cuter than ever with her t-shirt on.
Selamat Hari Raya Haji people!! Hope you enjoy your long weekend this week. Public holidays are the best when it falls on Mondays or Fridays right? =)
Last Saturday, I was part of history by witnessing the revelation of the first ever mascots for the Youth Olympic Games. However, the reason why I was at Suntec City was not because of this event …. I didn’t even know it was going to happen until I heard Daniel Ong’s voice at Suntec lol. I was at Suntec City last Saturday because I went to the Anime Festival Asia 09. =)
Shawn had some complimentary tickets and asked if I wanted to go and I said yes immediately he he. How could I miss such an exciting event? Cosplays, maid café, anime, figurines etc etc … hey, I would happily pay for the tickets if he didn’t have them free (provided someone goes with me). So Shawn, Wayne, Ben and I went to Anime Festival Asia 09!
The last time I went for an event with cosplayers was the License2Play event, also at Suntec City. I managed to post only 1 miserable picture of that event, so I was determined to take many more pictures this time.
(The only pic I posted for License2Play last time lol)
As you need to pay to be able to go in (except for us and maybe some others =P), the place was not as packed as License2Play which was a good thing for me. I hate crowds, especially at IT shows where you can’t even walk properly and have to squeeze through people to get to see the products you are interested in. I wouldn’t mind paying to enter IT shows sia he he … dun flame me!
I’m sure if you need to pay, there will be less people who will bring their whole family to look and see and don’t buy anything at all heh. Just use the money from entrance fee to have some lucky draw or instant win thingy for every ticket so that people won’t complain so much =P The last IT show had around 1 million visitors – This equals to 5 million dollars worth of prizes! Actually, if the organizers keep half the money, they would still be giving out exciting prizes lol. People queue up to buy toto for a chance to win 1 mil but have nothing to see, now you pay $5 and can see IT products and get a chance to win 1 mil plus other exciting prizes too! Oh nooo, seems like a good deal …. skali got more people attend the fair instead of the crowd lessening. =P What was I thinking? Maybe they should keep 4mil and give lousier prizes instead … Can I organize my own IT show? There is Sitex this week by the way. I will not be attending this time round he he.
Anywayz …. Back to topic …
Since it was not as packed as License2Play, I was able to take more pictures of the place, cosplayers, displays and all. =) In my License2Play post, I said I wanted to buy a DSLR so that I stand a better chance of taking better pictures and look better when I ask cosplayers to posed for a pic but I haven’t got one yet lol. There were a lot of people with DSLRs at License2Play and I think there are more at Anime Festival Asia .. it seems like almost everyone there had a DSLR! Everyone are becoming pro photographers nowadays huh. However, I had a rather decent compact camera I bought for my trip to Australia in September, and together with my determination to take more pics this time round, I was 10 times more thick skin in asking cosplayers to pose for pics he he. Hope I can have my very own DSLR cam next year so I can take better pictures though.
Soooo …. Let’s see what I took this time round!
We walked around the place looking at the lovely figurines, artwork, anime related stuff on sale etc and I took some pictures here and there.
There were different areas for different interests like the Bandai Kids Land for kids, drawing booths for wanabe (mostly very good) artists, toys, a stage for events like the cosplay championship and the I Love Anisong concert.
It seems like there are lots of figurines and other products of Anime which I have not watched before so I was a little lost. I only knew those older anime like Dragon Ball and Naruto (which I still watch) he he but was still able to appreciate the beauty and cuteness of the things on display heh. Gotta watch more Animax on TV on Mobile to update myself =P It seems like they are showing the latest episodes (same week as Japan!) of Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and Inu Yusha The Final Act every week.
I took some pictures of figurines I know and don’t know as they all look really good and kawaii. I used to buy a lot of these stuff when I was younger but I’m too poor now ha ha. I still buy gashapon items and play those UFO catcher machines though. Don’t think I will grow out of them lol.
Dragon ball, Gundam, Naruto, Ghost in the shell and other Anime related figurines and models – I’m sure Anime lovers would be able to find something they like. I see a lot of $100 plus Bleach swords being snapped up by Anime enthusiasts … rich sia.
As much as I enjoyed looking at all the exhibits, cosplayers and stuff, I got to admit that the highlight of the day was the Moe Moe Kyun Maid Café. =p I have read about these places and saw videos of the maid cafés in Japan but it was my first time actually visiting a maid café. I know there is one at Chimes, but I have not been there before. There were strict restrictions regarding taking of photos and other hanky panky actions but I managed to risk my life and take a few pictures he he. Don’t believe me .. see this video!
Sorry, the last pic is not from the maid café but one of the artworks being displayed he he … couldn’t resist posting the pic =)
Everyone had to order a meal to be able to dine 1 hour in the café, so all four of us ordered a meal which includes a free Polaroid picture with one of the cute maids!! Food ain’t that important as the experience so I won’t talk about food lol. They greeted us masters (they really called masters lol) when we were shown to our seats and drinks promptly arrived. Okaerinasaimase, goshujin-sama!! Aka welcome home, master!! If you ordered coffee like my lucky friend Wayne, the maid will help you add sugar and milk to your liking … that’s what I call excellent customer service!
It was fun seeing the maids serve other customers while we were waiting for our food. All of them were friendly, pretty, cute and made sure we were happy with our food. When our food arrived, the maid who served us POWER-UPed our food!! She said some things which I can’t hear properly (probably due to being stoned by shyness) and casted a spell on our food to power it up! We were all shocked as it was our first time experiencing this and the food definitely levelled up in terms of taste after the power-up lol. Don’t believe me … see the video!!!
I’m in the video, but only for like 1 to 2 secs in the background lol. My friend Shawn was the star of the video clip though he he. See to the end to check out his very “honest” answer when asked which is better – food or the maids?
We have to go back next year for some more power ups!!
After more Anime Festival Asia exploring, we got hungry again and went to the Sakae Sushi at Suntec City for some Japanese food!
There was a 1 for 1 red plate promotion for Sakae Sushi’s 12th Anniversary on when we visited the outlet so we ordered some red plates along with the standard chawanmushi and some other sushi and ala carte food. Still thinking about the lovely maid who powered up our food, we tried to power up our food at Sakae Sushi too lol. I don’t if it’s due to our power up but all the food tasted really good ha ha. Favourite food of the day – Soft Shell Crab Crepe.
After eating till my pants was tight at Sakae Sushi we went back to Anime Festival Asia for a little more exploring and shopping.
I bought a pack of UCC Evangelion coffee and a big pillow for my sofa. I know the design is a little pervy (see above) but the pillow is very comfortable. I sit on it when watching tv with my father in the living room he he.
We also went to Marina Square for some UFO plushy catching. The shop has so many kinds of machines which tempted me to spend over 10 bucks. I only got a really small cookie monster scooped up from one of the machines in the end he he. The bigger one in the pic above was given by Shawn the pro UFO catcher. Sorry, I really can’t resist spending money on a UFO catcher when I see one.
Okay it’s the end of today’s post …
Wait a minute ….
Where are all the cosplay pics??
It will be posted in my next post ha ha … sorry, this post is getting a little too long (too many pics and talk cockness!) so I decided to split it into 2 and dedicate an entire post to the cosplay pics I took he he.
Here is a little preview …
I promise that the pics will be better than my single license2play pic he he.
Lyo and Merly to be mascots for inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games
SINGAPORE: The mascots for the world's first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore next year have been revealed.
One is a male Lion called Lyo and the other a female Merlion called Merly.
The mascots were officially introduced to much celebration at Suntec City on Saturday.
Doing the honours was Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who brought along his three-year-old son.
A contest, won by two Singaporeans, was held to name the mascots.
Lyo is short for "Lion of the Youth Olympics," while Merly gets her name from "mer" meaning the sea, and "l" and "y" standing for liveliness and youthfulness.
Besides Singapore, the mascots will travel to five cities around the world as part of the global torch relay for the Games.
Dr Balakrishnan said: "It is an interesting play on fire and water and the lion and merlion. So there are aspects of which we clearly can identify with as Singaporeans, but really what we hope is these mascots will be embraced by Singaporeans as well as the visitors who come."
It took about six months to design the mascots. Plush toys of the mascots will go on sale at the official Olympic store at Takashimaya starting Sunday.
I actually got to witness this historic event when I was at Suntec last yesterday! I was walking around Suntec City when I suddenly heard Daniel Ong announcing that they were going to reveal the mascots. Being a typical kaypoh and kiasu Singaporean, I rushed to the area with my friends and took a video of the moment they revealed the mascots!!
Heng ah .. anyhow walk also can become part of history lol. It's the first ever mascot for the Youth Olympics ... Revealed in Singapore (the first ever host) and I was there!!
Sorry, I couldn't go to the middle to take the video as there were a lot of people who were more kiasu than me. I only took a few photos after taking the video and there are all around the same.
Luckily Sports Minister Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan was facing my direction he he.
More about the 2 cute mascots ....
Mascot 1 - LYO Star Sign: Leo (duh) Dream: To win a gold medal in an international basketball championship (impossible for Singapore?) Personal Motto: "Never say never" Favourite Food: Chilli Crabs and Chicken Rice with lots of chilli (no chilli for me) Fun Stuff: His paw is shaped like Singapore Island.
Star Sign: Aquarius Dream: To become an environmental scientist Personal Motto: "You can achieve anything if you pour your heart into it!" (how about striking toto) Favourite Food: Ice Kachang (I love it too!!)
Who do you like more? I think I like Merly more as she likes ice kachang. Youth Olympics, opening of the two IRs .... next year will be a very interesting year for Singapore. =) Too bad Singapore never reach world cup =P
Anyways .....
So what was I doing at Suntec with my camera with me?
I shall not reveal the reason till the next post but I will give you some clues.
This is the ticket you need to get in to the event I went.
It has something to do with Anime, which can be viewed on my mobile phone on the Animax channel courtesy of Starhub's TV on mobile. =)
I'm sure those who went will know what event I'm talking about he he .... All shall be revealed 2 - 3 days later!!
Hello there. This post will be the first of many random videos I will be posting (I always say this lol). I used to have a Random Japanese Videos section, but I guess I will change it to Random Vids instead. So ... instead of only Japanese videos, I will just post random videos I see on Facebook, youtube, links from friends etc etc ...
Lets start the ball rolling shall we ...
1) Time for Miracles (From the movie 2012)
Just watched the movie and loved it! Love this song too ... Adam Lambert!!
2) iPhone band
Missing my iPhone already heh
3) 超級白 Chao Ji Bai
Really sounds like something in Hokkien ;)
4) Prison Break - Dog Version
Really clever dog!! i hope Kimi doesn't try to escape sia
P.S: I have changed the number of post displayed for the main page and the labels to 5 (3 for random videos section) so that the pages will load faster and you won't have information overload when you click on random videos. Previously it crashed my browser but no problems now! =) Go click and find out!!
Hi there. Do you notice a little change in the navigation bar on top?
If you have been to this site before, you might have noticed that there were 5 sections on the navigation bar - My Bo Liao Life, Random Videos, Entertainment, News/Articles and iPhone. I have made some changes to it recently. I removed the News/Articles section as I don’t think I would be posting anything on that anymore and replaced it with the Link Exchange link (just click to see how to exchange links!). I also changed another one of the sections …
Since I no longer have an iPhone, I have changed the “My iPhone” section into “My Phone”. I don’t think I will own the same phone for more than one year due to my bad habit of recontracting my mobile phone plan and getting a phone, so it’s best that I change the section to “My Phone” instead. This way, all my experiences with my new phones can be placed at that section. =)
Enough on blog update, now back to phones!
Before I show you pics of my new HTC Hero, let us all say goodbye to my previous phone … the iPhone 3G.
It’s a really good phone, almost perfect, definitely the best phone I ever owned even though it’s not the 3GS model. However, I wanted to try the android OS, so I had to let it go. I have found a kind and caring Apple lover, Wayne, to take good care of my iPhone 3G. I hope he will have as much fun as me using this baby. I will miss you iPhone 3G. So bye bye my iPhone ………. and Hello HTC Hero!!!
I bought the white version of the android based HTC Hero after renewing my plan with Starhub. As a Hubclub member, I get to recontract my phone every year so I think it’s certain that you will see me changing my phone every year he he.
I don’t really have any complains with the phone at the moment, it does the things I need it to do.
As you can see in the pics, it has more buttons than the iPhone and a track ball. The extra buttons were a little hard to get used to at first, but after using it for 2 weeks, I am now more comfortable with them. I like the search button. When you press it, the google search box will come and you can easily search for contacts, messages, email, information on the internet etc. Google, the makers of android, is your best friend! The screen is the same type of touch screen as the iPhone (capacitive touch screen), which is one of the main reasons why I switched to this model instead of others. After using the iPhone’s capacitive touch screen for almost a year, I think I cannot go back to using resistive touch screens. I’m sure those who own an iPhone would agree with me. You just can’t get used to the resistive screens after using the finger friendly capacitive screens.
As seen in the screenshots above, the interface is quite different to the iPhone. There are 7 “pages” where you can place your stuff. You can fill the pages up with apps and make it look similar to the iPhone or you can add widgets to make it a little more interesting =). You can also use your own wallpaper. You can add widgets and wallpapers on your iPhone too but you have to jailbreak it, which I think is a little troublesome and it slowed down my iPhone 3G. Maybe the 3GS can handle it better.
You can view all your programs in the programs tab and you can view all your notifications (email, sms & others) by sliding your finger from the top to bottom …. I like! The android os which my HTC Hero is using also has an appstore called the android market. It is not as user friendly and does not contain as much apps as the appstore though. I can’t access the paid apps here in Singapore so I can’t really compare the quality of the apps, but I think the apps on the iPhone should be better heh. They have so many really good games from big name developers at the moment. Maybe android will catch up soon heh. It has enough bo liao apps to keep me entertained though lol.
Anyways, who needs to play with apps when you can watch TV on your phone …
When I go out, I can watch quite a number of Starhub channels with TV on mobile. There are my favourites like all the 3 football channels (football channel, goal tv 1, goal tv2), my father’s favourite CTI TV to see all his Taiwanese variety and political shows and some channels like Animax and the Asian Food Channel which I don’t even have on my cable subscription! There are other channels too. If you are interested you can click here.
A few days ago, when I went out with my father to help him with some work related stuff, I took out my phone and surprised him with the live streaming of the CTI TV channel he he. I used it in the car and while we were waiting for some drawings and had no lag in both situations. =) Being able to watch tv channels on the go really helps to make my father a little more patient when waiting for the drawings.
I will try to play around with my HTC Hero more next time and post some updates. Android 2.0 is coming to Hero soon I think, so I can get to have a new experience soon after using version 1.5 he he.
(Images Taken From: My digital camera, my HTC Hero)
Last week, I celebrated my birthday in traditional fashion. Another steamboat at home with my family! I think I have been doing the same thing for many donkey years but I still like. A nice simple celebration with my father, mother and sister =) Steamboat rocks!! This year’s steamboat is sponsored by my sister as a birthday present to me. Thank you Jiayi!!
Before the steamboat, I had a yummy salt-baked chicken for lunch. My father bought it from Tampines Mall along with my birthday cake he he.
In the afternoon, my sister and I went to the supermarket to buy the food for the steamboat plus some other of my favourite food. We bought quite a lot of food and the cashier thought that me and my sister were going to eat all the food by ourselves lol. We got back just in time for dinner and prepared the steamboat! Okay most of the preparation was done by my sis he he.
We had prawns, various mushrooms, slices of pork (shabu shabu styled), cheese hotdogs, shark meat (dunno just try), toufu, vegetables and some more. Just put them all in the pot, and let it do the magic …. My favourite food in the steamboat?
I love it when steamboats have this kind of fishball and will usually take a lot of it. Delicious! But that’s not all ….. Besides the steamboat we also had Satay and nuggets!
Satay is one of my favourite food of all time and fortunately we were able to find a stall selling them at one of the coffee shops. They were really good!! Nice tender chicken and mutton satay!! I can eat at least 50 sticks of satay if anyone once to sponsor me thank you. The nuggets were quite tasty too. We bought the cheese flavoured once out of curiosity and used the oven to make it crispy. =)
So the night was spent eating the steamboat, watching some tv and blowing my birthday cake.
Thank you papa, mummy and sis for being with me on my birthday!! I hope this tradition continues forever. Presents time …
This year, I have the usual ang paos from my parents and Fei bought me a t-shirt he he. I also had an early “birthday present” from Starhub …
The kind folks over at Starhub gave me a Nokia 5800 to try out the TV on Mobile service. So kind of them to do this. They also waived off my caller ID service fee for six months when I recontracted my plan … totally unexpected and cool. I love surprises! Hubber for life! Ha ha. The TV on Mobile service was smooth and easy to use on the Nokia 5800 - just sms to 6757 and click on the link they send you =) …. Too bad I was already planning to recontract my phone line and get the HTC Hero, so I passed the Nokia to my mom who wanted a new phone. I prefer capacitive touch screen la pai seh. I downloaded a cute theme for her from the Ovi store lol.
I didn’t know the Nokia has its own store like the iPhone’s app store now ….so sua ku la me heh. At the moment, Apple’s store is much better though =P. Even the android market I’m using now is not as good. I’m getting used my new HTC hero now though and I’m loving it the moment. Too bad we don’t have paid apps in Singapore yet. When will it come out ah?? For now, I can only be a cheapo and download those free apps he he. The Nokia 5800 supposed to come a card which will enable me to download unlimited music for a year but I lost the card!! I wanted to try out how it actually works, but too bad I don’t have the chance now. =(
My dog Kimi also had a birthday present for me ….
She changed her bed sheet for the week to match mine. So sweet and cute!! Thanks Kimi!!
Oh oh. Its been more than a week since my last post … I have been “busy” watching tv shows, J dramas I bought, celebrating my birthday and of course finding a job. I have a job interview on Wednesday and hopefully I will get the job. Dear blog, I’m so so so sorry about not updating you as often as before. I promise that I will update you at least 2 times a week for the next few weeks of even months. I love you blog.
Part C2 will carry on from the last post which showcased my random presentation slides. Last time I showed you 5, and now I will show you another 5 of my presentation slides I made in school. I usually customize my powerpoint presentation slides to match the topic or company the project is about, although sometimes, I get lazy and use readymade templates for the slides. The selected slides below taken from my group project or case study presentation slides are mostly the ones which I customized. Nobody wants to see those readymade templates which you can easily find right. Hope you like them. =)
These selected groups of slides are the next half of 10 powerpoint presentations I will be posting. The first 5 can be found by clicking here.
1. Anti-Drink Driving Slides
2. Best Buy Slides
3. ERP slides
4. AEC Slides
5. Dell slides
Nothing much to crap about for each set of slides so I decided not to say anything and let the pictures do the talking. Once again …. Just SEE and GO.
2 more to go in my End of School Special. Next post in the series (don't know when): Its back to My Random Group Project Visuals!! It will be part 3 and last of the random visuals before the final series post - My Bo Liao Guide to Forming a Good School Project Group
On a side note ….
There is a major change in my life … something that will alter my lifestyle, how I do things, how I look at the world etc etc. I didn’t have to make the change as life before the change was great. However, I felt that the time is right to let go of something wonderful, almost perfect in place of something new which may or may not be as good as or better than its predecessor.
My itchy hands struck again …..
Despite having a phone which I felt was almost perfect and declaring my love for it through some of my blog posts, my bad habit of wanting to try out new gadgets led me to changing my iphone to this new baby ….
I have only used my new HTC Hero for a few days and have not really explored all the functions and potential of the phone so I can’t comment on whether it is better than my iPhone or not. What I can say at the moment is that I like the interface and widgets of the android based phone but I’m missing some of the apps and the Safari browser I had on my iPhone already he he. Hopefully the upcoming firefox browser will be better than the one they have now on the Hero. One thing I couldn’t do with my iPhone which this phone can is using Starhub’s TV on mobile. =) I used to be able to use this service on my old windows mobile based phone but had to live without this feature when I was using my iPhone. I’m glad that I can once again watch Starhub’s channels on the go and will definitely be using this more often when I go out, or maybe even when I’m at home lying on my bed heh. The connection seems more stable than the last time I used it. No lag experienced while watching so far sia. Will try at more places in the future. =)
More about my new Hero and TV on mobile in future posts. =)
P.S: Please note that these slides are for our school projects, and the companies mentioned are not involved in what we have included in our projects. Cheers. =P
In my previous post, I posted many pics I took from Anime Festival Asia, but I left out something very important …. The cosplay pictures!!! Luckily, this time round, I took quite a lot of pictures of cosplayers as compared to my previous trip to License2Play (1 pic) so I decided to dedicate an entire post for these really dedicated and creative individuals. Last time, I was too shy to ask them to pose for pictures but this time I managed to "level up" my courage to ask them for permission to take pictures. I found out that as long as you ask them, they are more than willing to oblige and you will get a really nice pose from them facing you, which make your pictures better looking. I did take some photos of cosplayers without asking though, but only when they were like many others taking at the same time and they are give their best pose =P. No sneaky unglam shots from me he he =X
