Dice’s Drivel

The ever lovely Kureha from the PlayStation 2 game, Shining Wind.

Sculpted by Shunji Hagii & produced by Max Factory,
Kureha stands at a tall of 25 cm. Ok that’s including the length of her
bow actually. Dressed in a rich yellow-orange outfit with wonderful
highlights in her hair and shading in her sleeves, Kureha leaves more
than a few heads turning for sure.

I
went gaga the moment I saw her picture circulating around cyberspace
back in September. She was definitely a must have! But unfortunately I
couldn’t get my hands on her before I went broke. . .

Still I was very truly blessed to be able to photograph her now, all thanks to Mervyn who loaned her to me. And  Super rats for the wonderful photography tutorial (which helped super lots　(ﾉﾟｰﾟ)ﾉ for an armature like yours truly) & of course every one else who left their encouragement from the Nagi Akizuki Figure post.

The only downside from all the shooting was the terrible suffering
of muscle aches from doing too many squats as a result of stooping down
to adjust the camera, standing up to correct the lights &
environment (x probably a hundred times). I think I’m gonna have a
perkier butt very soon.　(*´д｀*)

Can’t get enough of Kureha? More superb photos of her here:

danny the guru 
mukyaa
Happy Soda
Ota desho?

Yakuza Moon - Memoirs of a Gangster’s Daughter | 極道な月
By: Tendo Shoko | 天藤湘子
Publisher: Kondasha International

I’ve been feeling pretty bumped about life over the last few moons
when I chanced upon this book. The loud graphic (of the author) &
bold title immediately caught my eye. It was Shoko Tendo - a Yakuza’s daughter’s autobiography.

The
book spins a heart wrenching real life drama that refutes all happiness
during this jolly Christmas-y season. Written in a very direct 1st
person view, the story depicts hard core use of drugs, Shoko’s
relationships with men & the constant physical abuse from a string
of them.

She was a yanki by the age of 12, then a juvenile delinquent, a glue
sniffer then a drug addict. She spent moons in reform home, painful
years as a kept woman and maybe even decades with abusive men. She was
cheated, beaten & raped, in short, it was a string of bad karma
& ill fate. As a form of liberation, she got herself an irezumi
(tattoo) and had to go more pain from cosmetic surgery because of all
the beatings. The book was presented to the reader in simple translated
English, with a sort of detachment through which you can really feel
the horror that, that this brave woman went through.

What’s in it for me with the New Year fast approaching? I still
(guiltily) remember thinking aloud that I desperately need to read
about somebody who had it worst off than me, to feel better about my
self. I could sit and complaint till the cows come home or I can pick
up and move. But if I were to sum up life in just three words; it’ll
most probably be the same as Shoko’s: It goes on.

So what’s it for you ? Have you already read this book? Do you personally know a Yakuza (how cool is that!)

Find out more:
Blogcritics
Guardian
Japan Today
Smh
The Age

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!

It’s 2 hours past midnight here and I’m just done with
the fireworks photos. It’s my first attempt *blush* with night
photography & fireworks shots; so please pardon any faults ¬(^.*)¬

Pictured: Singapore River
Center: Elgin Bridge
Left: Old Parliament House
Right: Maybank Towers, Bank of China Building, 6 Battery Road Building
Photos taken from Coleman Bridge

The calm before the storm.

Things start to get blur from this point onwards.

Filtered red & desaturated photo

Ok I hope I didn’t bore you with the pathetic shots. Nevertheless a Blessed Happy New Year to all!
And may you all win BIG money (to buy more anime & figurines) hohoho¬
Ψ(｀∇´)Ψ

Jolly greetings from Nekoguchi!

Tis the season to be giving . . . (expired gifts?!?!) There’s
nothing wrong with recycling your presents, especially when you know
that you will NOT use them. But . . .

It certainly irks me when people recycle expired gifts. Things that
have already passed the expiry date should not be passed around. Things
such as this ->

Well, it’s Christmas and I reckon I shall be nice(r).
And judging from all the goodies I’ve received, I thought its not such
a biggie after all. Besides, it’s the thought that counts yeah? LOL.
[<- self condolence (*´д｀*)]

Anyway, here’s the showdown of what I received this Christmas - The Good, the Bad and the just plain ugly.

*  Lovely Kureha figure (Thanks Mervyn!!! Ψ(｀∇´)Ψ)
* A GT5 Prologue game. . . that comes with the biggest surprise -
* A PS3! (Ok it’s just the deposit being paid for but still, nothing beats the feeling of getting a PS3 for Xmas ・~ヾ(ﾟｰ^*)
* A Final Fantasy 10th Anniversary Limited Edition Potion - WHOOHOO! I
was actually pretty bumped that I missed the actual event by a few days
when I was in Tokyo back in September. I’m so ecstatic I just had to
snap it up!

ﾟ☆,｡･:*:･ﾟ★o(´▽｀*)/♪　みんな　ありがとう　♪＼(*´▽｀)oﾟ★,｡･:*:･☆ﾟ

oooh  sephy -my boyfriend no. 1 ~

And the Most-Absurd-Presents-I’ve-Ever-Received-Award goes to. . .
mostly people well to do enough to buy/make/treat a decent
present/dinner):

* Can food
* Corporate Premiums
* Photo album with rusted hinges (yeah that’s the one above)
* Expired cosmetics. The eye shadows & blushers are fine. It’s the
expired lip gloss that grossed me out. And did I mention that they give
off a weird waxy stench?
* Expired chocolates (I fed them to my "Boss’s" plant)

So what did you give or receive this Christmas?

Another interesting moe food product from Japan.

I was walking around Daikanyama when I saw this Akihabara Oden
Curry selling in a vending machine, inside a lifestyle furnishing
shop!! There was a small note on the shelf giving a brief description
of what it is. Thank god the note’s in English.

What got my attention wasn’t the weird vending machine looking so out of place in a furnishing shop, but the very moe - looking Imouto (younger sister) on its cover saying "Tuck in, Oniichan (elder brother)". Manufactured by Daito and selling at only 500 Yen (SGD$6.60) a pack, I’d say it’s a steal!

The back cover details the ingredients (which are made up of
flavoured curry power, a quail’s egg, beef , sea kelp & radish -
quite standard for a Oden dish) and the methods of cooking. I wonder
why they even bother printing the cooking methods if Imouto chan here
is going to cook it for Oniichan anyway~

Anyway, molded after the popular concept of Oden Cans, this instant
Oden Curry was released in Akihabara on the 25th April this year and
was apparently sold out on its very first day of sale. I was just
wondering if there really were that many hungry Otakus doing the
Singaporean Queue for this curry.

By the way the packet of Oden Curry consist of ONLY curry. Don’t
expect rice to be in the same pack. You’ll most have to buy another
pack of white rice for 200 Yen.

How to cook Oden Curry:

1. Insert the medium sized sealed aluminum pack into water and bring it to a boil. Cook the packet for 5 minutes
2. Once done, transfer the content to a heatproof container, and heat
   it up in the microwave set at 500W and approximately for 2 minutes. (Or
   1 min 30 secs at 600W)

OR

1. Sit and wait for Imouto chan to magically appear from the box & cook the curry for you.

October’s no longer about Halloween in all its eerie squishy Black & Orange. Quite contrary, it’s been recoloured PINK!

Many sites, TV channels, magazines & even retail fronts have gone PINK (Apes
Concert included) during the month of October to bring attention to
Breast Cancer Awareness Month ultimately raising some money for
research.

While most people can’t do much about the research itself, they however, can
do something about the monies funding the research. And I reckon some
even psyched themselves into believing that simply appreciating boobs
are the way to go.

Given sex & erotic watz-notz, sells (very
well actually!) But I give it to the wacky Japanese to come up with,
manufacture & profit from something as simplistic as Oppai Pudding (おっぱいプリン) which literally translates to Breast pudding.

Simply put, it’s just custard pudding that
comes in a creative package. The package needs to be unrevealed in
pieces (much to the joy of many otakus, I believe). At first glance
it’s just another harmless, innocent looking pink box
with pictures depicting three different prefectures of Japan - Osaka,
Tokyo & Yokohama. Once unwrapped, you’re greeted with the over
friendly anime hottie - either a chou kawaii cutie, a school girl who’s
brimming with "innocence" or a no-mess-with-me hot chick.

Interestingly, since it’s going to be a
commercial product the makers probably thought that it would better to
be on the conservative side by giving the hotties bras over their
seemingly oishii boobs. (Really! -.-~!) Much to the consumer’s delight,
you get to undress your pudding! Apparently, each cutie says a
different quirky phrase. My Japanese’s not fantastic. I reckon this
Osaka lady is whispering something like "Sweet secret dessert.If you
lick, you’ll get fired up" or something like that. Are we getting hot
yet???…

I find it seemingly strange though that this
little caption is selling like hotcakes at one of the shops just
outside the famous Asakusa Kannon Temple.

I guess one could bring this piece of creative
to this law abiding country and start making money … … … … …
provided its been approved by the Ministry of Health, gone through the
food calculator, and ultimately rated perhaps an NC16 (for censorship).
-.-!

Hubby + Boyfriend No. 1

Boyfriend No. 2

Boyfriend No. 3 & 4

LOL! i just realised i like the bad guys in human form & the good ones in robot forms. muhahahaha!

And 1 custom made mean red snake baby! Nice airbrush & tattoo dude!

The 3rd food entry from Japan - Grape Juice!

These nicely packaged grape juice comes in GLASS bottles direct from one of the Hokkaido farms!!(Heck you can’t find any ugly packaging in Japan anyway)
And you don’t find many glass bottles now a days cos everyone’s turning
plastic!

Commercial juices contain preservatives and colouring. Grape
juice also contain antioxidants such as bioflavonoids, that provides
some health benefits. I have no frickin idea what kind though.. But I
do know that antioxidants are great for da skin. So ladies, drink up!

Crush a juicy grape and you get grape juice! Simple as that! Purple grape juice is made from concord grapes, while white grape juice is made from Viagra. Yes the same drug as those to treat ED. So guys, drink up!

Oh
and there’s also the rotten (fermented) version of grape juice; more
commonly known as wine, brandy or vinegar. LOL! talk about appetizing!

Ok
it’s not environmentally friendly to leave your fridge door open for so
long just so you can photo your chilled grape juice. So please don’t do
like I did.

If I were to . . .
A) have a Super Power. . .
that would be Teleportation.

If I were to . . .
B) become a scientist
I would devote my whole life to the invention of Teleportation.

If I were to . . .
C) become the richest man in the world
I would invest 3/4 of my money for the invention of Teleportation and donate the rest to charity.

If I were to . . .
D) have 3 wishes
I would wish to have the super power of Teleportation, become a scientist to invent Teleportation and become the richest man in the world so I can invest in the invention of Teleportation.

If I were to . . .
E) die tomorrow
I would give all my money to person B & C above for the same cause of Teleportation.

If I were to . . .
F) stop living in such a hectic, stuffy, smelly, rotten, rude, rushed, unempathetic & fake society
then perhaps I do not need Teleportation.

If I were to . . .
G) stop dreaming
then maybe perhaps Teleportation would realize.

Because I have been travelling.

I have been travelling between my house and lunch downstairs.

I have been travelling from the shopping mall to the shuttle service to the bus stop to home to my lift to my door.

I
have been travelling in the car during the peak to the jammed up roads
and then to the jammed up one way carpark having nothing to do except
to wait patiently in the car.

I have been travelling from my
door to my lift to the mrt station, to the mrt interchange to the next
train to the last station, to the overhead bridge, to the bus stop, to
the bus, to squeeze with the rest of the smelly crowd, to sweat and
shove and squeeze all the way to office. and then im STILL late.

Boy do I HATE travelling. I would gladly give everything i have  just so i do not need to travel.

It’s
a waste of time, a hassle during the peaks, encourages panic attacks,
makes you late, and travelling in any mode consumes energy &
produces wastes. Travelling is evil! Nevertheless, a necessary evil
unless… unless… technology is so advanced so much so that we have
the blessed ability to teleport.

sigh. . . when is the bugger going to invent the teleportation machine!?!

Food
entry no.2! Figured we had quite enough of the cuttlefish from the Okinawa (or wherever) seas. . . Let’s go Osaka for bananas this time.

This
is one of those nicely packaged products of Japan. A layer of freshly
meshed banana spread between two layers of bouncy sponge cake - simplicity at its best! Wrapped
individually in plastic containers that comes with an individual pack of Silica Gel
for maximum moisture absorption and even a guide to teach you how to
get the sponge cake out of the plastic container without getting your
fingers dirty or spoiling the cake while trying to dig for it! How
detail can a piece of packaged cake get!

Food for thought : Bananas are high in Vitamin A, B6, C & Potassium (Yes the same  silvery- white metallic
element that we learned about in chemistry..which makes me wonder… what’s it doing in a banana in the first place) -.-!  Research has indicated that diets high in potassium can reduce the risk of hypertension. And a shortage of potassium in body fluids may cause a potentially fatal condition known as hypokalemia.

So eat up bananas!