Christmas Dinner '09 @ Graze

It's a lonnggg time since I wore long-sleeve shirt and pants, and yes, it's the very first time I put on a bowtie in my entire life.

What do you think?

Merry Christmas!

Just came back from my Genting trip yesterday.

It was a good trip, with the two couples, we toured around and ate plenty of goodies. As usual, the food at Imperial Rama and The Olive restaurants were delicious, but there were some disappointments at others for serving mediocre dishes. At this time of the year, Genting was superrrrr cold. Was alone in my room covering myself with the blanket and scrambling for warmth, but knowing that I was in the company of good friends each day, there was nothing to worry about.

I hit the casino as usual. No, was not doing anything funny, just played normally on the tables as pure entertainment. In fact, me and Joe had Disie at our backs dishing out 'advice' what to bet at the 大小 tables, and we won a little just relying on her hunch alone. Past midnight, we went into the International Room. Saw some new changes to the rules of the game, and later, I won an amount at the Mini-Baccarat table that could cover my expenses for the whole trip. That was some good ending.

On the last day, we watched <十月围城> at the cineplex. The movie was action packed, which eventually developed into an intense storyline that threaded everyone in the movie together. Great! In all, I think we really enjoyed ourselves =)

Yesterday, was sitting on the return coach thinking what to watch when I casually selected the multiple award-winning <海角七號> on screen. It's a local Taiwanese film, but I think Singaporeans who know Hokkien should understand most of the dialogues. And there was plenty of Japanese too, so it's great if you could understand them as well. Since the story was unfolding rather slowly, I initially did not think much into it, but in the end, I became so absorbed that I couldn't help getting super emotional. So...

哭夭啦，马拉桑！<海角七號>还真他妈超好看！ 

男人的懦弱使到七封真贵的情书寄不出去，但却造就了六十年后的浪漫，和一对新人。

Make sure you catch it on DVD too (make sure you buy the Taiwanese version, not the PRC-censored version, or you'll not see some of the classic swearing scenes).

情诗。。？

男人是最缺爱的动物，所以都希望去爱一个人，和被人爱。

男人最无法抵挡的，就是一个热情奔放的女人，尤其是一个不可多得的美女。

一旦送上门，脑袋和小弟都充血了，头昏昏还管他妈什么世俗礼教，一口吃了再说。

男人如果可以，都会偷吃的。

你看有权有钱的男人都在外边捏花惹草、三妻四妾，不为什么，只因为送上门的女人特别多而已。

Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods 都是自愿的‘受害者’，管你情不情愿，走到哪里都躲不过美女包围，谁做他老婆谁遭殃。

没权没钱的男人谁管你，回家做个好老公算了吧。

世俗礼教，很遗憾，大多是别的女人在说的，尤其是越不美的女人，嘴巴就要练得越厉害。

女人的最大敌人就是女人，而美女的最大敌人就是丑女，尤其是嘴巴一大个，开口就出现神圣光环的那种。

美女如果笨到相信这些长舌妇，很快就会变成圣女贞德或木兰花，去从军或当尼姑算了，阿弥陀佛不须要男人了。

少了一个美女竞争者就轮到丑人作怪，献殷情把自己送男人，管你是不是很吃得开。

美女以姿色做本钱，要劈腿很容易，一脚踏五船的也大有人在(小弟也认识几个)。

可惜美貌逝去得太快太快，永远赶不上比自己年轻的美眉，所以要捞一笔也得尽快。

找个好男人上岸，变成黄脸婆就轮到自己大说世俗礼教，把老公绑得紧紧不让他在外边搞怪。

世间的男女游戏就是如此，敢玩的人就很厉害，不懂的人就靠边站门外。

大家都是公平竞争，受伤也是常有事，不必太介意或太见外。

Games, and More Games

I bought so many games from a variety of consoles that I think I might not have enough time, even in this lifetime, to complete them. This break in November allows me to play some of these to my heart's content, and here they are:

Today I just completed the Legacy of Ys Books I & II for the DS, a remake of the classic Ys game that was first released in 1989. It chronicles how the famous red-haired adventurer Adol traveled from the ground via the Tower of Dahm (Book I) to the magical floating continent of Ys (Book II) to rescue the two goddesses who were enslaved by an unknown evil force. Exciting gameplay intertwines with an involving storyline is a recipe for a long-time classic. Even after many remakes, the Legacy of Ys does not disappoint.

Anyway, I still remember when the now-defunct TurboGrafx-CD console was released in 1989 with the Ys series, I was still a kid with no money to upgrade my old NES to the wonderful system, hence missing out in the very first release of this game. Now I can finally enjoy what this old game has to offer, at better graphics and sound, which is more than making up for the loss. The game also comes with a music CD with remastered soundtracks, which is certainly a bonus.

Next, I also completed this:

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, another classic from my era! Played on the DS as well, this game is now produced in a totally new way. The story continues from Ninja Gaiden in the PS3 after the diabolical Dark Dragon Blade has been shattered by the Dragon Ninja, Ryu Hayabusa. Six months after the incident, Ryu's village is attacked by minions from the Black Spider Ninja Clan, while Momiji, female ninja and village shrine maiden, has been kidnapped by the evil hag Obaba. Hence began a long journey for Ryu to transverse across multiple dimensions to rescue the damsel in distress, while simultaneously halting the evil ambition of the mysterious ancient Fiends.

You move, jump, cut up enemies and use Ninjutsu with the stylus, making the gameplay one of the most innovative around. In fact, I was always rubbing my stylus so vigorously while playing it on the MRT that ppl are often curious what kind of game can involve such intense action. Moreover, you hold the DS vertically like a book, so this adds more uniqueness to the way the game is expressed and how you experience the story as it unravels. Dragon Sword is an interesting and exciting game, definitely worth your time.

Lastly, I also completed this game: 

The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion. The left pic is the English version on the PSP which I played, the right pic is the original version of the Japanese game which was first released on the NEC-PC console in 1996. Yes, this game is a remake as well and comes with better graphics and sound than the original (don't ask me why I like to play old games).

The story tells of Avin who is tragically separated from his younger sister Eimelle when they were children. Eimelle is a special child who possesses the ability to spiritually connect with the Goddess Durga, and so a cult known as the Octum's Apostle are attempting to kidnap her for their evil ambition (erm, how come this sounds familiar?). With his trusty companion, Mile, the two young men journey across the whole continent of El Phildin looking for Avin's sister. He is finally reunited with Eimelle in a port-town, but later separated again when the Octum's Apostle intervened, which even resulted in Mile's death. With his best friend dead and sister gone, our hero Avin is defeated many times, but with a will of iron and some divine help from the goddess, he finally achieves the impossible with 'a tear of vermillion'.

The overall storyline is good, but unfortunately, the gameplay sucks big time. It's a shame that not only is the overall story development often slow and draggy, the cartoonic battles which involve lousy controls are one of the worst I've ever experienced for an RPG. The gameplay is so bad that I was thinking of abandoning it halfway, but since I never got to know what happened in the end, I persevered for god-knows how many tens of hours before finally getting it through. Yes, the conclusion isn't really disappointing, but I won't recommend this game to RPG-gamers who don't have patience and plenty of time to spare.

Another reason why I want to complete this game is that 'A Tear of Vermilion' is part of the Legend of Heroes 'Gagharv Trilogy', which I have bought for the PSP as well. Here are their Japanese versions:

Translated as: Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch and Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean. Well, I haven't played them yet, but I'm going to try part II of the trilogy very soon. Hopefully they are not as disappointing as the first installation, man.