...much ado about nothing...

Sheraton!!

2009-07-04T08:19:52Z

Today (technically yesterday) marks the day I finally got my new guitar, the Epiphone Sheraton!

It was pretty much between this and the Fender Jazzmaster. Since new Jazzmasters tend to cost more, and I find the Epi WAY prettier (I've always wanted a semi-hollow body! Feedbacks be damned! XD), I decided to go with that. I waited for an entire month for the epic GC-July-4th-15%-off-sale. It was awesome! Goodbye crappy Squier strat! Now I just need to get a new amp (:cough: Marshall MG100DFX :cough:) so I can stop borrowing our bassist's!

This latest conquest makes me realize that I'm kind of a brand-name junkie when it comes to musical instruments, which is weird, because I totally don't care for it when it comes to clothes and stuff. I guess with instruments I truly believe that you get exactly what you pay for. When you make a good purchase, it'll make you smile for a very very long time. ;)

Happy July 4th!

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

2009-05-15T07:18:14Z

I've got a song stuck in my head since the beginning of the week: Beck's cover of "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes," which was played during the season finale of Dollhouse last week. It was also played at the end of "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind," which happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time.

Oddly though, I've only seen Eternal Sunshine once in theater, even though I own the dvd. The movie resonated in such a way that it's 1 of the 3 movies that REALLY made me cry, ever (Wall-e and Grave of Fireflies being the other two). So why haven't I seen it again since? I think subconsciously I'm afraid that it won't live up to my expectation, since my memory has built it up into this ridiculously flawless piece of work. WHICH, by the way, is interesting considering the subject matter of the movie.

So anyway, as always, I don't really have a point. But I'm going to have to take a leap of faith and see it again this weekend, because the Beck song just won't go away and I really want to listen to it in context with the film. It really is a beautiful song.

Hong Kong has the best milk tea!

2008-09-26T09:22:32Z

Just got back from a week-long vacation in Hong Kong. It was as hot and humid as I expected...my pants literally stuck to my legs after spending just 5 minutes on the street of HK. Despite the gross weather, it was nice to visit friends and relatives and of course, my SUPER BADASS GRANDMA! My uncle got married on the day of the mooncake festival, so it was like a mini-family reunion. The wedding day includes tea pouring and hair-combing and a western-style exchange of vow, so it's a weird fusion of cultures and totally HK.

Other highlights of the trip includes: the purchase of my first Vivienne Westwood wallet (I got it at the VW store to make sure it's the real deal ^_^;), my many run-ins w/ HK celebrities, including Stephen Chow (!) @ LAX, Yuen Wing-Yi & Chi Lam plus their kid @ a McD in Tchek Chu, and someone else I didn't recognize. The best part though is hearing my childhood friends talk about what some of our GRADE SCHOOL classmates have been up to. It must be the Facebook effect.

As fun as it was, I don't think I can ever live there again. Can't stand the crowdedness and the horrible pollution. Plus it's so much more laid back here in LA (technically the valley). And I kind of love driving.

GTA4, cowbell, yadda yadda...

2008-05-09T03:06:45Z

For the first time ever, I got the newest GTA game on its actual release date. Surprisingly, I haven't spent tons of hours on it quite yet. Don't get me wrong, the game is amazing...I think I just need some time to really get into the story, instead of driving SLOWLY around Liberty City going gaga over the graphics. Also, even though the mechanics of driving is a lot more realistic than before, I kind of feel a little restricted because of it. Again, probably just need some time to get used to.

On a completely different note, I've been thinking about adding a cowbell to my drum kit. It's actually kind of silly...there's really only 1 song my band is playing right now that would work w/ a cowbell (not to mention, it's only about a 10-sec stretch of the song). I've been spending an awful amount of money on gears lately. Aside from the new snare (which sounds AMAZING!), I've also just bought a new hi-hat stand/pedal cuz my old one broke. Plus I've been meaning to get a hardware bag for all the stands and crap, and I still haven't gotten my $600 check from George W. Anyway, I guess my point is, even when everything is frickin' expensive, I'd still like to have my very own cowbell. ^_^;

Mega Man II extravaganza

2008-02-17T21:56:03Z

Chanced upon this awesome music video of a Mega Man II remix:

MM2 has always been one of my childhood favs. Unfortunately I didn't get far enough to beat Dr. Wily before my copy of the game (an HK gameboy "clone") crashed...no amount of blowing air at the game cartridge could revive it. I think that's why later on I was so determined in beating Mega Man X.

Also, I found a really funny MM2 app for Mac OSX users: MegaManEffect

"When you launch an OS X application, the screen goes dark, stars sweep the night sky and your application’s icon is presented in a blue letter box bar with a cheesy 8-bit music introduction."

Genius!

Cloverfield

2008-01-20T01:50:02Z

I'm one of those suckers who's been anticipating this film ever since the teaser popped up last summer. After the long wait, I finally saw it at a midnight showing last night. Judging from the groans that came from the people leaving the theater, I think I'm probably one of the few who enjoyed the movie. ^_^;

First of all, a lot of people seem to have problem w/ the shaky handheld-camera aspect. My friend was pretty much suffering from motion-sickness during the entire movie, and I can see how it might not be for everyone. But if you're used to first person shooter games, it probably won't affect you that much...my eyes were completely adjusted after the initial 5 minutes. Yes, it's been done by Blair Witch before, but this is at a much grander scale, and it has a better story and the execution is far more superb.

So if you can stomach the shaky cam, go check it out, cuz it's seriously one thrilling cinematic experience. You're literally there in the middle of a giant monster invasion (which does remind me of the creature from The Host like so many have pointed out, but I find it resemble the gone-berserk forest god from Princess Mononoke even more). The fx is subtle and nicely done. It's just refreshing to see a creature flick from the POV of regular folks trying to survive.

And, it doesn't end when the movie is over. If you're like me, who's easily intrigued by JJ Abrams' insane viral marketing campaigns, you'd inevitably wake up the next day wondering what the heck the monster was all about. You'd then proceed to look it up online and find, guess what, a bizillion backstories littered all over the net, including a website for a fake Japanese drink product called Slusho! that is somehow tied in to the monster. There's even a manga short story made for it! Love him or hate him, JJ is one of the few filmmakers today who truly understands pop culture. Cloverfield wouldn't have been nearly as effective without the success of youtube, myspace, blogs, etc. This sadly means that I will probably get sucked back into Lost once again, after having stopped watching since that infamously stupid Bai Ling episode. I'm easily manipulated like that. ^_^

last plug and drum babble

2007-10-19T07:54:30Z

More shameless plugging! We're scheduled to go on at 10:30pm this Sat at Infusion Gallery. It's gonna be a multimedia event featuring art, fashion and music.

Last week's show went surprisingly well (meaning I messed up less than I had expected). For the first time EVER, I wasn't ashamed of my gears anymore! My Starclassic sounded so good, I feel like I don't really deserve it. >_< Those new "eBay: shop victorious!" ads really capture how I felt...that I've found this amazing gem among a sea of crap. Anyway, I've pretty much replaced almost my entire kit piece by piece over the year...the only leftover pieces I'm using from my first kit is the snare (which I tried to fix in a rather ghetto fashion - duct tape), the hit-hat stand, and the throne. I think eventually I'll replace those too and sell my old kit in its entirety.

After this Sat I'll probably try to focus more on this illustration project I have going on the side, which is a relief. I've been getting kind of tired of compositing, and work in general lately. The process of turning turd (poorly shot elements) to gold (shots good-looking enough to be projected on screen) is getting kind of frustrating. I wish I can just take a month off and do absolutely nothing.

my new drums!

2007-09-28T07:34:13Z

Last weekend I drove all the way down to San Clemente to pick up my new (used) drumset. And, it's not just any drum...it's a set of Tama Starclassic maple 4-piece, w/ Remo pinstripe head!!!

The decision of getting new drums came when we played at a house party 2 weeks ago, when my old drumset began to, literally, fall apart. I thought the toms were going to roll off. It was pretty embarassing. ^_^; Anyway, somehow I managed to get this awesome deal from a cool hippie dude from SC. No more awful-sounding drums made of unidentifiable wood! And, b/c I can't leave anything cool alone, I've named it "Neptune" w/ tom toms "Triton" "Nereid" and "Proteus" after the moons. They're so pretty!! XD

So (plug warning) if anyone is in the area and would like to check out Neptune (and my band, of coz), we have 2 shows coming up in Oct:

Oct 13 8pm @ Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana
Oct 20 8pm @ Public Address @ Infusion Gallery, Downtown LA

You can find out more info at http://www.myspace.com/limbicband

Hm, other than this, everything else is pretty much the same. I still work in Burbank, and traffic still sucks. I did get my first speeding ticket EVER last month...by going 48 near a construction site (which has been there for nearly half a year now). The shame!

Limbic live

2007-07-03T21:32:17Z

So my first LJ entry in over a year is...a shameless plug for my band's upcoming show. Yeah, I figured since I brought it up to the few of you I ran into at AX, I should at least post some more info:

When: Sunday Jul 08, 2007 at 3:30 PM
Where: The Airliner (http://airlinerla.com/intro/)
2419 North Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90031
5 minutes north of Downtown
$5 at the door, $2 beers inside.

Oh and our name is Limbic...currently it's just me on drums and a guitarist who also writes and sings. But we're always looking for more people to jam w/ (..cough..Lisa..cough..) ;)

Anyway, other than the band, everything is just groovy. I'm still working in VFX, and have just finished paying off my first car! YAY! Now my only nemesis left is Sallie Mae...

Art School Confidential

2006-05-07T08:01:45Z

I don't think I've laughed this hard in the theater in a very long time. The last 1/3 of the movie got kind of dark and depressing, but the rest is so funny I'm gonna ignore it. The art student cliches, the "making it big" dilemma of the industry, the pretentious, BS critiques...everything is just so spot on! John Malkovich reminds me of one of my old prefessors, which is kind of disturbing. Anyway, anyone who has ever taken an art class (or had to live w/ an art major) should definitely check this movie out!

Hacky Sack Attack!

2006-03-02T08:29:08Z

So I just started a new job this week. It's been surprisingly relaxing, probably b/c they just made a deadline last week. Apparently, one of our company's many traditions is afternoon hacky sack break. A bunch of us would gather downstairs at 3:30, form small circles, and hack for half an hour. I had my 2nd game today and, though I'm still the weakest link, I managed to do one successful knee-to-foot pass and one successful head hit (though that didn't get anywhere). If I can stay long enough maybe I'll become a hacky sack master one day...

Speaking of hacky sack, my co-worker pointed out that I'm left-footed. It's true...I feel more comfortable kicking w/ my left foot (and dribbling w/ my left hand as well, though I'm right-handed). This makes me wonder if I'm really a goofy when it comes to snowboarding.

And...speaking of snowboarding, I was cleaning my bag the other day and found the winter mix I made for the drive to Snow Summit last month. I thought the first 3 tracks are worth mentioning. They are:

1. Such Great Heights (Postal Service)
2. Drop (Cornelius)
3. Winter Fall (Laruku)

I was trying to be clever, but of course people would only get it if they know the song titles. And once I explained them, the non-snowboarding-experts weren't too pleased. At least I didn't put Alicia Keys's "Falling" on it. That would be a bit much I think (and the song lacks winter "feel" anyway).

In conclusion, Feb has been an odd month.

Death Note live action? O_o

2006-01-27T22:41:04Z

I'm not really liking the whole turn-popular-manga-into-popular-movies trend. Sure there're successful cases such as Nana (which, despite its popularity, is not a very outstanding adaptation imo). But more often then not, the film industry ends up destroying an interesting story (*cough* Initial D) w/ poor actors (*cough cough* Jay Chou) and even poorer scripts. It's just business, I know, but it pains me every time it happens.

This might be old news to some, but apparently TPTB's next target is Death Note. They have casted Tatsuya Fujiwara, the lead from Battle Royale (who was given a pot lid as his weapon on the stupid island), to play Raito. Yup, that skinny kid w/ the gigantic puffy face who managed to deliver all his lines w/ uber melodrama, is gonna play "Kira." With this kind of casting decision, I don't think there's ANY way they can pull it off, unless of coz if tensaibakapunk decides to audition for the role of "L."

Asian pop culture rant

2006-01-13T07:51:31Z

I've finally caught up with some of the Asian films/doramas that have been out lately (or not so lately). Due to my sister's influence, I even finished Hana Yori Dango! I must say, I find the Japanese F4 slightly more tolerable than the Taiwanese one. There, I said it. Even though MatsuJun looks remarkably orange and oily throughout the series, I was rooting for him at the end...just a little. And thank goodness this show maintains some decent production quality...I remember getting so frustrated watching Meteor Garden w/ its bad sound recording and horrid lighting that I finally just gave up. Plus I really couldn't stand Big S/Barbie's gigantic forehead, but that's a different story.

Also finished Kamikaze Girls, which turns out to be surprisingly awesome. It's such a quirky little film! It's fresh, colorful, humorous, and never takes itself too seriously. I wasn't very interested in the whole Japanese lolita fashion culture before, but the movie manages to show some fun aspects of it without trying too hard. The interactions between the leads are simply hilarious. I enjoyed every minute of it. :)

Last but not least, I saw Tsui Hak's Seven Swords, and I was thoroughly disappointed. The swords are pretty, and there are a few good action sequences here and there, but other than that it's just...boring. The story is too choppy. Leon Lai is THE least convincing wuxia hero ever. The romance between Donnie Yen and the Korean actress is silly and contrived. Whoever compares Tsui Hak to Wong Kar Wai must be on crack.

God(dess) of Gamblers, Taoist of the Streets

2005-12-31T19:28:47Z

You know when you've lost miserably at poker, so you decide to randomly pick out a card out of the deck while babbling about that card being an ace? Everyone thinks you're a weirdo, cuz you are, and of course all you ever pull out is seven of diamond or something equally crappy cuz you're not really the God of Gamblers?

But what happens if you DO pull out an ace? And not just any ace, but THE ACE OF SPADE, on your first try!!!?

It's a sign I think...that 2006 will be my lucky year. Anyway, it's been an insane year, but I managed to achieve my goal, and have no longer employed the high beam at my fellow drivers (a task more difficult than you'd think). And so the streets of LA is THAT much safer. For 2006, my resolution (one of them, at least) is to stop flipping people off when I'm driving. I will start respecting all my fellow drivers, for real! It's a tough road ahead...

I hope 2006 will be a great year for everyone. Happy New Years! :)

Narnia screening

2005-12-04T06:56:13Z

This morning I went to the cast and crew screening of The Chronicles of Narnia at Arclight. It was so awesome! The movie completely exceeds my expectation (although I could be biased). I take back every mean thing I've ever said about the director...he had a unique vision, and managed to execute it beautifully. Most of the cast didn't show up, but for some reason, Elijah Wood did! And I got my one second of fame when my name popped up during the end credits. So yay!

And now, my spoiler-free review of Narnia!

Narrative:
I thought the movie flows pretty smoothly. Of course, most people just want to get to the juicy part quickly, but the director does a great job in establishing the characters in the short amount of pre-Narnia time. Also, the story isn't overshadowed by all the fancy effects - not an easy accomplishment.

Acting:
Overall, the kids are ok. Peter is kind of a dork. Susan, meh. Lucy is actually not that annoying, especially compared to Edmund, her stupid ass of a brother. I'm sorry I called her Dakota Fanning the 2nd. That was harsh and uncalled for. Liam Nelson was great as the voice of Aslan (thank goodness it's not Sh-Sean Connery). But the most memorable performance, without a doubt, comes from Tilda Swinton, who plays the White Witch. I was totally blown away. She's so deliciously evil, and mean, and FREAKiiiie! Also, her fighting stances at the end are so cool they're like the western equivalents of The Swordsman's wu-xia stances. Nice!

VFX:
Without question, this is a heavy duty VFX flick. I think over 85% of the film consists of FX shots, whether they're noticeable or not. Many big-name FX houses joined forces for this project, which is highly uncommon; we have Rhythum & Hues, ILM, Weta, Sony, and a gizillion other smaller companies, making it very difficult to keep everything consistent. But the end result turns out to be this super delux eye candy! My favorite is of course Aslan!!! His animators should be proud! Few can give a CG creature such an air of majesty. There're a few bad composites here and there, but after the final battle sequence, really, WHO CAN COMPLAIN!?

Music:
One word - SUPER! I'm getting the soundtrack! :)

Anyway, it was an overwhelming experience. I've been pondering whether this field of work really suits me - it's stressful, competitive, and highly unstable. But when I saw the shots I worked on for weeks flash across the screen (all 5 seconds of it), it was a very rewarding feeling. Now if only I can work on Superman Returns...;P

The Sims Reload!

2005-11-29T07:47:12Z

I'm still obsessed w/ the Sims. But it's gotten even better now, b/c I've "chanced" upon this japanese site w/ FREE JROCKER SKIN DL!!! They have everyone you can think of: Luna Sea, Pierrot, Hide, Plastic Tree, Dir en grey, even Gackt and Mana! Ryutaro's design is by far my fav. I haven't tested these skins yet but I really want to build a visual-kei frathouse. ;P

Tis ish mad!

They also have anime series such as Fruits Basket. Honda-san is looking mighty creepy...

I just wanted to build that little balcony dammit

2005-11-23T08:48:40Z

I think I'm addicted to The Sims...I know, it's a stupid, stupid game (just like Halo, which is a stupid, stupid shooting game). What I don't get is why I get into these games years after they come out, when they're no longer in. I swear, when PS3 is released I'll still be playing Tetris, or something equally ancient.

embarassing moment #197,945

2005-10-22T20:51:32Z

Since we've been working crazy overtime lately, our producer would order lunch for us once in a while. I wasn't sure if we're supposed to pay him back, so I decided to ask my co-worker via msn messenger. Of course, I messaged the wrong person...and the wrong person happens to be none other than our producer. O_O

me: are we supposed to pay Brady back?
Brady: ...
me: ...whoops
me: do you want us to pay you back? (trying to sound anything but embarassed)
Brady: of coz not, it's work lunch!
me: ...ok, thanks!

The word "dork" comes to mind...

Guatemala pt II

2005-10-11T04:41:47Z

So I'm glad I'm not going to Guatemala after all. I mean...earthquakes!? hurricanes!? KILLER MUDSLIDES!!!? Really, I'm happy just staying in the nice, bright loft in downtown LA, 3 blocks from Little Tokyo, w/ unlimited amount of chocolate-coated expresso beans, while still getting to work on Narnia. Too bad this job is only gonna last another 3 weeks or so. I got my paycheck last week and was surprised to find that nothing has been deducted...no CA tax, no federal tax, medicare...NADA! And then it dawned on me that I'm now officially a freelancer, so I'll have to do my own taxes at the end of the year. Uh, that will be quite a challenge...it's also a painful reminder of just how much our government sux.

Oh, and I finally finished reading The Da Vinci Code! It was pretty amusing...brings back memory of my art history class. Our professor used to lecture us endlessly on the absurdity of calling Leonardo Da Vinci "Da Vinci" since it literally means "from Vinci." My professor was a lil nuts. Besides, who in the world would want to type out his whole name every single time, except for the freaks who desperately wanted an A!? But I digress. TDVC proves yet again that you can never go wrong w/ BS-ing when it comes to art. BS is good. BS also stands for bestseller...get it? {...chirps the cricket...}

Speaking of Italians, do you know that Trader Joe sells their own brand of grapefruit soda called Trader Giotto's? It's genius! {...chirp more crickets...}

Last but not least, Peter Jackson is apparently going to produce (and maybe even direct) the live-action Halo movie. This is a sign...that I should finish the stupid game already.

the geek post

2005-09-28T02:07:27Z

Since I've given my old HP printer to my sister, I needed a new one to print my resume and crap. After much consideration (like, 3 hours of browsing online...I hate shopping around), I settled on the Epson Stylus Photo R200, b/c I like Epson, I hate HP, and also cuz R200 comes w/ the print-directly-on-cd/dvd capability. What can I say? It got me. Anyway, I bought it at Fry's for $99, w/ $50 mail-in rebate, so it was a pretty good deal. Finally got around to testing the dvd-printing part today and holy smoke, it is sooooo awesome!!! The print quality is so super high, it makes my crappy demo reel look absolutely pro (from the outside at least)! Yes it's true that average printable dvds cost twice as much as regular dvds. BIG DEAL!!! It's also true that Epson ink drains faster than any other. WHO CARES!? This printer seriously rocks!!!

And, b/c I'm feeling geeky, I'm gonna share a list of other gadgets/tools/software I've been using lately:
-Sorenson Squeeze - compressed my 1.6GB demo reel into a 6MB progressive-download quicktime web reel...AND it manages to play smoothly, w/ sound, and w/ no fuzziness. AMAZING!
-Azureus - it's so much faster than my old BitTorrent client, I have no idea why I didn't use it sooner.
-MacDrive - not really a gadget, more like a necessity for hooking my Mac-formatted LaCie firewire drive to a PC. No more weird Mac-to-PC or vice versa problem.
-Ipod Access - vely vely good!
-FFView - my fav program for viewing manga scanlation...allows user to flip pages via voice command, ala Batman, though it's usually quicker to just press the spacebar. But hey, it's free.

Don't worry, I won't be showing up at any local SciFi cons any time soon, though Siggraph'05 was pretty close. Anyway, I'm supposed to start work tomorrow at Studio C. Dunno what's gonna happen, but at least it will (should) prevent me from playing consecutive hours of Halo. Gosh, what have I turned into!? O_o

meme madness

2005-08-30T05:09:34Z

You got me, randomduckies...

Five people that I love who aren't family
01. my friends (I know I cheated)!
02. Miyazaki-sensei
03. Mr. Wong Kar-Wai
04. Jonny Greenwood
05. Totoro!

Five things I can't live without
01. Taira, my laptop
02. Banri, my ipod
03. Corolla...that's my car
04. food
05. shoes

Five foods/beverages that I love
01. salmon
02. ice cream
03. lemon & lime diet coke
04. miso ramen
05. tea

Five things that I always have with me
01. Banri
02. keys
03. gas card
04. glasses
05. shoes

Five things I will always and forever hate
01. needles
02. roller coasters
03. Glendaliens (aka "aliens from Glendale who can't drive")
04. The Giggler and her evil master, Bob
05. Dakota Fanning

Too lazy to name-tag...if you're reading this you're IT.

sad findings on a saturday morning

2005-08-27T17:42:21Z

Fact #1: My right eye is swollen, like someone has punched me when I was sleeping last night.
Fact #2: For the first time in my life, I am incapable of bending down and reaching my toes.
Fact #3: Fact #1 and #2 must be results of my laughing at a terrible, TERRIBLE joke that makes fun of mentally illed people. I'm sorry, I really really am!!! *__*

nananana...na?

2005-07-27T06:24:51Z

I knew it was coming...I was just trying to block the whole thing out. Nana the live-action movie is here. Being the somewhat obsessive Nana fan that I am (look at my avatar), I've never been very thrilled with the idea of a Nana movie. I mean, Kagen no Tsuki? Initial D!? Face it - mangaflicks are just disasters waiting to happen. Then I saw the name Ryuhei Matsuda on the cast list of Nana and for a brief moment, my faith was fully restored.

Ryuhei Matsuda, who's famous for his roles in Gohatto and Aoi Haru, plays Ren. Ok, maybe I'll buy that. Maybe I'm even slightly giddy about that. But Mika Nakashima as Nana, one of THE most badass female leads ever appeared in shoujo manga!? Give me a break! So maybe she got the look down, but there is absolutely no way she can pull off the 'tude! We're talking about an overrated pop singer (Nakashima) who's once slipped down the steps at a Music Station live taping! It's embarassing! and sad! and I had to bring it up cuz really, how can anyone forget!? So yeah, in case I haven't made my point clear: clumsy Nakashima as kool punk rocker Nana = BAD!!!

Also, possibly much to amazonrane's dismay, Nobu is played by Hiroki Narimiya, the annoying scarf kid from Gokusen. I'm sure he'll continue to be annoying in this movie. Anyway, I can't believe I've written yet another pointless entry complaining about movies. I was gonna yap about The Island too, but I heard it's not doing so well, so I'll leave it alone. Gosh, I need to stop watching all these junks!

Ano...

2005-06-24T07:39:23Z

Congratulations to those who have just graduated! Time sure flies by quickly (beware, I'm in full-on cliche mode tonight)...

So, I just got back from Japan on the 19th. Yeah...I can't believe my 10-day vacation ended so fast either. It was truly a blast though...a great adventure, considering the number of times Hsin and I got lost (as expected). I'm not sure if there's a good way to summarize the trip, so I've decided to point out some of the highlights instead. By the way, the Japanese phrase that I've used most often throughout the trip is: DING! "Koko wa doko desu ka?" [frantically pointing at an obscure spot on a map].

From Narita to Kyoto to Tokyo and back:

So, without sounding like a complete moron, the first thing we noticed when we arrived at Narita Int. Airport is...Narita is NOWHERE close to Tokyo. I know, that sounds pretty moronic. Bad research on my part, but on the website the hostel is clearly called Skycourt Tokyo Narita, which led to my misunderstanding. Luckily, we only had to stay there for 2 nights. Met up w/ my sister in Tokyo the next day, hung out in Akihabara (the geek district), Shibuya (the always-crowded district), and Harajuku (the ultra-kool district). Clothes at Harajuku were surprisingly cheap; I got several cute tops for around 1,000 yen a piece. We visited this store called Sexy Dynamite, which has a neat collection of Vivienne Westwood items, as well as cheap Westwood-ish lookalikes. Awesome!

Shinkansen ride to Kyoto was hella expensive! And train station bentos were really yummy (and pretty to look at)! It was raining, so couldn't see Mt. Fuji on the way, which was a shame. Our hostel in Kyoto is kinda ghetto, but it was really easy to get around, since the bus system there is so well organized. We visited most of the major temples and shrines. Hsin got lots of mosquito bites (while I didn't get any, ha!). I wrote my first charm ever...it was for that one famous fox shrine (Naruto shoutout!) in southern Kyoto. But due to lameness on my part, I wrote my wish entirely in English - "I hope my Japanese will be better the next time I visit Japan." One can always dream...

Spent a total of 3 days in Kyoto. When we got back to Tokyo, it was still kinda cloudy. Our 3rd hostel was this cute little place in Asakusabashi, w/ tatami and...stuff. I love the smell of tatami! Went to Tokyo Tower (where I posed as Kamui...I know, L.A.M.E.!!!) We were supposed to explore Japan's nature scene in Hakone the next day, but it started sprinkling, again. So we went on a shopping spree instead. Needless to say, I'm pretty broke.

Due to curfew issues, we crashed at my sister's place near Yokohama for the night of the PLASTIC TREE Concert. Spent the day at Odaiba, where Zepp Tokyo was located. Man, it was like stepping into the surreal world of Nana and Kera magazine!!! Everyone's dressed in the cute Japanese-girl-punk outfits...the 3 of us really stood out (Hsin especially, who was in pink - and no, not the hot-topic pink...the BABY-pastel pink)! There were a lot of Ryutaro cosplayers...which, kawaii! Zepp Tokyo is about the size of Wiltern. We were pretty close to the stage...sadly, so were these 2 kids w/ gigantic spiky hair, who happened to stand a few rows in front of us. The Miffy Twins (cuz they were wearing bright yellow Miffy T-shirts), as well as most of the kids there, pretty much headbanged for 3 hours straight. I was totally impressed, and was feeling pretty old (my feet were dead after the first 30 minutes or so)! Anyway, Plastic Tree was way awesome! Akira was a lot more popular than I thought, and his solos were chilling! And Ryutaro...he was just so SO adorable! ^_^"

Ok, moving along. Next day we went to the Hide museum, which, sadly, is going to close down in September. Oh Hide, you'll always be in our hearts! The bus that took us from the station to the museum was in the shade of Hide-hot-pink, complete w/ chibi Hide cartoons all over the sides...just as spiffy as the museum itself! If you get a chance to visit, be sure to check out the bathroom! It was nice to see Hide's legendary guitars and costumes...very touching moment.

Last but not least, the Ghibli museum! I thought I was gonna scream I was so in awe! I mean, those galleries w/ their early sketches of various work...and the complete storybook volumes! Sugoi! I took a few pencils from their jar...for inspiration (apparently it was allowed). Too bad I couldn't get on the Neko Bus; it was reserved for kids. Could not fake my age this time since I was twice their size. Anyway, too much has happened on this trip and this entry has indeed turned into a summary. Oh well, I will have to come back later and fill in the stuff I missed. Will post pictures soon.

Anyway, I'm working again. Same place, same project. The lay-off fever at our studio has died down somewhat, but I won't hold my hopes up. I must say though...our film? It's starting to look pretty good! It's gonna be 1 of those silly, but hilariously entertaining (probably not intentionally) monster flicks. Meanwhile, I will keep my fingers crossed.

Initial D live action UPDATE and RANT!

2005-04-19T02:40:40Z

This might be old news to some, but the official trailer and promo for Initial D live action movie are out! Here is Jay Chow as Takumi:

Hmm, doesn't seem like they tried very hard to get JC to look like Takumi. In fact, I think they decided to just stick Jay Chow in the '86 and be done with it. Marvelous. Other good and bad news: Edison Chan plays Ryosuke. Now, I'm a little confused here...Edison, the dude whose facial expression has been compared to that of a gorilla numerous times by the HK media, is Ryosuke, the (flaming) rose prince!? It makes absolutely no sense! Though I have to give him some credit for consistently looking kinda good in most of his movies (I'm not his fan, but c'mon, have you SEEN Infernal Affairs 2!?) Anyway, I still think he would be a better Keisuke, but it doesn't matter now, because THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE A KEISUKE!!! >_<

How can they do that!? I mean, you can't have Ryosuke without his ultra-cool brother! That's just wrong!!! But yeah, he's not on the list of main cast, so I'm assuming he's nonexistent. Schade. They are, however, including the leaders of all the major teams, including the Emperor bald guy. Pfft, he's boring anyway. If you want to watch the promo, in which Jay Chow acts like a complete dork, you can check it out here.