Friday, February 20, 2004 at 05:19 p.m.
Let's start off this entry with the most recent incident that happened: my Windows registry malfunctioned and as a result Explorer.exe would never load up. So almost everything all programs were unrecognizable, and there was no such thing as Taskbar, Start Menu, or any usable windows. My resolution was simple, reinstall a copy of Windows ontop again (without formatting). I was surprised that in the setup, there was the option of Setup repairing my Windows. So I did it just to see if it can do the job...And well, here I am, using my computer again. Somethings are still a bit "clanky", but they're quite minuscule.
Over the past 3 days I was at my uncle's because the PS2 was there. Yeah, I know that I should actually read during Reading Week, but I'm a guy who loses to temptation often. I tried to read, but it was a futile attempt. While up there, I advanced in my fighting skills in a new Dragonball Z video game, Budokai 2. It's way more fun than the predecesors. ....Hmm, but I have a problem calling the previous games predecesors because this new game was developed by Atari instead of the original company responsible of the earlier ones. Atari, being a US-based company, makes it sad that they can make a better game than the Japanese game companies could. This new one looks better but that can't be argued due to difference of graphics technology of then and now. It's a lot more intense too. Ah well, I had enjoyed it and that is the important thing.

Saturday, February 14, 2004 at 04:10 a.m.
Just finished watching a Japanese movie called "Ichi: the Killer." ....Oh man, was that a twisted, sick film. It was as if rape, torture, the Yakuza, sadomasochism, execution, massacre, mutilation, hypnosis-induced trauma, all blended together. That was one strange film. Gorey and didn't really make any sense.
I just thought I should add this entry in. Heh heh heh!

Friday, February 13, 2004 at 09:23 p.m.
Alright....Yesterday, I finally got the chance to watch the much-talked-about Lost in Translation. Now, I also just discovered that it was nominated for academy awards, one of the best comedies this year, and all that. After watching it, I didn't understand why. I didn't get why it deserved to be called funny. I certainly didn't find it funny. Don't understand me though, it's still fine movie, but I didn't find it a comedy. I suppose I used it in a different way; I found it quite useful being able to see what modern Japan is like...Especially a huge city like Tokyo. I'm somewhat intimidated. BUT, there some nice scenes with temples, shrines, and other historic buildings. Now that attracted me. Now I really desire to go to those places and take pictures! I actually WANT to stand by those classical structures and take pictures.
As mentioned, I didn't find it funny but I think I may know why that is.... I'm guessing that because I already have somewhat of an exposure to Japanese culture and their popular culture. How does this take away from the film? ...Well, it seemed that some parts of the film play on the culture and society over there, which obviously is FAR from mainstream over in North America. So people over here might find it weird but amusing. And also, no subtitles were provided in the entire film. So if you don't know Japanese or German, you would have NO CLUE what the were talking about. Again, since I can pick up bits of Japanese, it doesn't seem strange or new to me. Ahhh, but it's worth watching. Emotions were dealt with between foreigners to Japan.
Oh, and a while ago, I was flipping through channels on the TV and Fox was showing this "All American Celebrities Spelling Bee." Now, some people may quickly assume it'll mock American celebrities and their intelligence; I had briefly thought that too. But I was wrong to have done that; the words aren't as easy to spell as you may think. And most of the time, it's even hard to hear the person who tells them what to spell. It started out kind of slow-paced but near the end, they go through a speed round. I'm surely going to catch it next week.

Monday, February 9, 2004 at 01:10 a.m.
On Saturday, after the JCSA meet, a pack of us (this time 12) went over to Koreatown to have dinner because someone wanted to have Korean food. I've never eaten around there and only walked over around that area only once. I had to meet up with them at a restaurant they had picked, but I had no idea what it was called or where it was located. All they told me was to go to the Christie TTC station to meet them. I looked at my TTC map and saw that Christie was only the 3rd stop west of St. George. So without seriously consideration, I headed west. I thought that it was a walkable distance but I hadn't factored in completely the chilly weather. By the time I reached the Spadina station, it would have been pointless to take the subway for 2 stops so I continued on.
Very shortly, I had met up with them and we went into one of the many Korean restaurants there. As I walked by them, all the foods that I saw were so appetizing that I just wanted to try them all. Anyway, we were at this place which I couldn't pronounce (Korean) the name of. I only remember their sign outside: yellow sign with an owl. What I had was the 'bulgogi'; it was very good. That, and beef/pork bone soup, were the usual items people ordered. So I ordered the non-spicy one. In my opinion, the price was a bit too high, but it was okay....Once-in-a-while thing. And it's just my own greedy opinion anyway.
After that, I walked with some of them heading east but departed as they had to go down to Dundas and University for something. I decided to use the rest of the night to do at least some work.
And today, Sunday, I went up to Scarborough for a special dinner with my family. I had brought my books and all but inevitably ended up playing mahjong. ....Aww, now I'm EXTREMELY behind. ......AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

Monday, February 2, 2004 at 10:04 p.m.
Something strange happened to me today. I can't explain how it started and how it stopped. I was listening to music like normal but then when this particular song started playing, I noticed something was off with the singer's voice. Whenever the singer sang at high levels, I noticed that I was hearing double. I suspected that one speaker's output was delayed by about 7-8 micro seconds to the other one. So if that was the case, all I could do was secure the connections or reinstall the sound drivers. But I just left it alone and went to class.
I discovered at class that the speakers were functioning perfectly; the problem was with my own ears. Whenever a girl spoke up, I received the sounds in the same way with the artist's music earlier; as if one ear was receiving the same message except from a farther distanced source than the other ear. But how strange it was for when a guy spoke up, I heard them perfectly without any delay. I only had this problem with female voices. Oh well, can't explain it, didn't even understand it.
By the end of class, my hearing returned to normal. So it was rather weird that it all happened in the middle of the day within 2 hours.

Sunday, February 1, 2004 at 01:02 p.m.
For about a week and a half now, I have been enjoying this new anime series Samurai Deeper Kyo. Actually, it's not brand new, it was aired in Japan in 2002. But from my point of view, it's new! Anyway, it is such a cool show, based in Tokugawa time except with the added bonus of transforming demons and such. In my opinion, the show is so interesting to me because the main character is not a noble, straightforward, goodie hero. He's known as an evil killer but he IS the hero in the show...So far. It's kind of like EVIL versus EVIL in each battle but we would cheer for Kyo. Everyone, his allies and enemies, are all mysterious figures. Having not seen all episodes yet, I can't fully understand many things yet. The main thing is the hero's connection to his alter-personality. The show would not be as fun as it is if Kyo was just a complete goodie goodie.

Monday, January 26, 2004 at 03:58 a.m.
I recently saw Matrix Reloaded again. A second viewing only aided in my understanding of the happenings. Like I said, I only understood a little more. I also watched Matrix Revolutions on Friday and that made me really confused. I had no idea what was going on anymore with the Smith Program. But at least I saw some good fighting and actions scenes. I wonder why the twins didn't show up in the 3rd movie; it's not like they died in the explosion in Reloaded. Something that I feel compelled to say is that the last fight sequence reminded me of fighting normally found in Dragonball Z. Yup! It was nearly identical kind of stuff.
I also saw Phonebooth. Yeah, remember that movie from back when? Well, it was a very good movie and very chilling. Kind of intense since the whole movie sets inside and around the telephone booth. I even cried at the climactic breakdown of the main character. It was one of those times. Yeah, good, and kind of scary kind of situation.

Thursday, January 22, 2004 at 08:24 p.m.
Despite my comments on the film Battle Royale, I proceeded to take a look at the sequel, Battle Royale 2. It's nearly the same content this time except there's some kind of purpose or intention that legitimizes the killing...Sort of. To be honest, I wasn't able to catch the core meaning of the movie because this time the movie I saw had no subtitles. I was just wish-washy guessing the whole way through. But the point is, this time, aside from high school students being killed, there has been slight alterations. First, the students are not against each other anymore, but against military personnel...A lot. Second, all the students are equipped with proper gear and arms. But the students still have to wear those annoying explosive neck braces. A twist to the braces this time around, each brace is partnered to another and will explode if the vital signs of linked person is fails. So you could probably imagine that 1 death is actually 2.
Good thing is, students can work together to survive and defeat a common enemy. Bad thing, their common enemy is many, fierce, and armed as well.
While scouring the shared files, I came across a show with a familiar name...Read or Die: The TV. It's the series, but I'm unsure whether it fits in before or after the OVA (which I already saw). Ha ha, fun show to chase again!

Saturday, January 17, 2004 at 08:47 p.m.
To add to my recently-watched-movies list, American Wedding and Battle Royale. Now, after watching that film, Battle Royale, I felt that I needed to make this entry with a comment on the film. Basically, not too late into the film, 42 students in Japan were forced into a situation which followed the line: kill or be killed...Against each other! Through the whole movie, nearly everyone who was killed was senseless. Yup, the movie was showing nothing but senseless killing. Now, it's not a slasher movie, just a large load of violence. However, I'd say 2 people who were killed was down-right necessary and just. One student enjoyed the slaughter of other people while the other just decided to kill everyone to survive. Everyone else was afraid, if they had killed, they did it out of extreme necessity, by accident, or to protect a loved one. You all know what I'm talking about, right?? Yes, you do!
Yeah, I remember hearing that Quentin Tarantino had used this movie for one of his inspirations for ideas in his Kill Bill movies. Some aspects in BR appear in KB, but there's a slight difference in feeling (to me). In KB, at least the violence was performed onto the villains. But in BR, innocent teens were being massacred. So to me, BR made me feel a little uneasy.

Thursday, January 15, 2004 at 09:57 p.m.
Well, living here sure has it's upsides! ...For one thing, T1 LAN kind of Internet!!!
I've viewed several movies here that I wouldn't consider downloading using slower connections. Why? ...On those services, they are a waste of time. But not here, I can download as much as I want to...Or as much as my HD can hold, which is not very much. Ahh, but fortunately, I don't keep those movies, I simply delete them right afterwards. I so much enjoy downloading at a range from 334kb/s up to 3.21Mb/s. Anyway, I saw Bruce Almighty, Not Another Teen Movie, Undercover Brother, and Johnny English. Doesn't sound like much, but I don't want to go crazy with this privilege.

Sunday, January 11, 2004 at 01:19 a.m.
Saturday's JCSA was the first of this new year, which was important enough to draw me back. And an added bonus, mochi was made by some of the staff members for the other members. It was my first time eating mochi, I believe, and it was actually okay! It was nice seeing some of the guys again.
By night, a group of us decided to go to Chinatown to eat. So there were 14 of us that entered a Chinese restaurant where only 4 can speak and understand Chinese, me included. So we ended up ordering just enough for the table I was at; we had split into 2 tables beside each other. Of course anything said between the server and the others regarding the food orders had to be translated by one of us Chinese fellows. Strangely, no problems had occurred...It was quite enjoyable when Sung, a Korean Canadian who also understands Japanese, knows a few common phrases in Cantonese and had inserted them at the right time with the server that it seemed like it was actually a conversation! It was so hilarious, and I was surprised at how good he was!!
Even later, we walked down to Elephant & Castle spent with the pool tables. I decided to leave early before the subway closed 'cause I didn't want to walk back to residence.

Friday, January 9, 2004 at 09:08 p.m.
How long since my last entry? ...I can't really remember, so I'll just go over brief points from the beginning of the holidays up to today.
The first 4-5 days of the winter holidays was spent still in Toronto, starting some shopping and such. After that, I finally returned to Belleville where I resumed and ultimately completed my Christmas shopping. While there, I spent a few days at Charles' playing Halo while of course my mom played Mahjong. I went to a Christmas dinner party hosted by Charles' family at New Hong Kong. As always, delicious food. Two nights after that, my own family hosted a dinner party at home but unfortunately, I fell ill the night before and only recovered the day after. Most unforgettable symptom was vomitting...Three separate times in the night.
To put some distance from that image, I'll start a new paragraph here, with the celebration of New Year's at Naomi's place. A fabulous and enjoyable night once again.
I visited Royce and his family one day and had Josh and Jordan over to watch Ninja Scroll 'cause I had no time to show them a year-and-a-half ago. On the day before I move back out to Toronto, I invited Elton, Jason, and Emily for a night of mahjong. It almost didn't happen due to the scarcity of young Chinese people who enjoy mahjong living in Belleville.
Back in Toronto, I played more mahjong with my own relatives twice. I was also packing my stuff to move into the Innis Residence. Things went on without a hitch, except for one small unforgivable detail...Lack of Internet! Since I was the only one who moved in halfway through the year, I had to sign documents before able to connect to the network. Today at 5:55pm was my first crack at the Internet with my own computer. I've waited patiently and was able to survive without it for that period.

Wednesday, December 24, 2003 at 03:01 a.m.
So I have finally returned to Belleville and living with my family for the winter holidays.
So far, I have completed my Christmas shopping and sent out my Christmas greetings pictures just now. It felt kind of nice to be able to drive around town again. It was pleasant seeing how much Quinte Mall has changed. So many more clothing retailers. I didn't expect an American Eagle to be in there.
I've been here 3 days, but have yet to start my homework. With events popping up and friends that I need to meet, who knows when I'll actually lay a finger on the work.

Friday, December 19, 2003 at 03:04 a.m.
I was invited Saturday to a little party today because a few friends wanted to host a "end-of-the-year" party. It was held at the Sutra Lounge here in Downtown Toronto, so there was no dance floor or karaoke. Just a long single, narrow space with tables and chairs to chat and drink. It was my first time to have experienced going out to such a place. 'Cause a bar is a bar, but I definitely was not expecting this. The four boys that hosted this event was Jimmy, Paul, Sung, and Yoshi; all of which I know from JCSA. But it wasn't another party in affiliation with JCSA, just special friends and such. It wasn't open to outside people thereby making it strictly an all-friends social.
I only imagined to see a few people I knew, but the results were more than expected. I thought I saw Mitsuko for the last time when I had lunch with her yesterday, but she showed up...Giving us all one more chance to say farewell. Also, Saturday was the last time I would get to see Yumiko since she's also going back home...However, she and her friends showed up too. While there, I was able to see some brothers and/or sisters of my friends since they are not part of the JCSA background. I thought it was nice to know that. Fortunately, I made 2 new friends, Aki, Kevin, Hiroko, and Omoe.
There was one thing that absolutely bothered me...That was the loud music they had turned on. The music itself was acceptable, but the volume they had it set on was annoying since we couldn't even have a conversation 1.5 feet from each other. A bit inconvenient considering that everyone there wanted to chat with others. So I basically had to either approach the listener's ear to be able to talk to him/her or yell it out. Oh well, it was nice to have gone and now I need to sleep.
Oh yeah, one more thing, I may have mentioned this months before, but I'm saying it again...Stupid TTC!!! I waited for a streetcar with no avail, so I decided to walk down the street so I'd be closer to my destination while simultaneously waiting for a street car to approach. I had looked far back, spotted no streetcars and proceeded. In between 2 stops, a street car passes by me out of nowhere! Couldn't catch up with it partly due to an observation of mine: people taking TTC late at night stop less frequently than during the day. I had to wait for the next one....GRR!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2003 at 06:11 p.m.
Over the past week or two, I have been avoiding adding entries since much of what I had to say would have involved studying. Now that I finished my last exam, I can finally fill in some things...
I tried out Mario Kart Double Dash at my uncle's a last week. It is one entertaining video game; like all Mario Kart games. It was great! Me, Kinsie, Chester, and even my sister, played like a tag team race around a simple up-and-down track launching attacks on each other to reach the finish line. I have tried to race against the computer sprites in Grand Prix mode, but can never finish 2nd or above.
Also last week, my aunt from Hong Kong came over to Toronto to visit us all for 4 days. It was nice to see her again considering the last time was when my cousin Angie got married 2 years ago. And as always, I got to see her new Nokia phone. I'm so envious of the advancement of cellular phones and other portable electronics over there in East Asia!
This morning, so early in the morning that it actually includes last night, I played Sould Calibur 2 (on GameCube) and Mario Kart Double Dash for 6 hours straight to celebrate the end of my exam for the fall semester. Then at 8am this morning, I came back and went to bed. I woke up a little while after because I had to have lunch with Mitsuko, one of the friends I've made at JCSA. Since she'll be returning to Japan next week, I thought we'd eat something at Gabby's, being close to her class today. Plus, Gabby's has good food! I noticed that even when we weren't in a JCSA setting, but just simply friends having lunch, we still talk about differences in our respective languages. This just means I'm in need of assistance in my studies of the language...G'ugh! Anyway, after lunch, we headed over to Chinatown and walked around trying to search for a suitcase to purchase. Understandably, since she arrived in Toronto, she must have accumulated numerous items.
And here I am now, proceeding to vaccuuming all the carpet and tile areas.

Friday, December 5, 2003 at 05:42 p.m.
I have an early entry to submit today due to the fact that I will need all my consciousness tonight to finish my essay. I have another question about science I wonder sometimes. ...Although, it could be perceived as science-fiction science.
And today my concern was the result of watching the commercial from "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time." ...Hmm, you know, this will be another time-related question... Anyway, apparently in the game, the user can manipulate time in a number of ways. And this made me wonder if someone were to stop time, would gravity and other natural phenomena effect that person while time is frozen? To me, in order for gravity to function, it requires time to pull things with its gravitational field. I'm basically talking about our planet's gravity. For the planet's gravity to exert force downward, does it need time to do the job. I'm wondering if time freezes, will that person be able to swim around in the air? Other than existence, for anything to happen, I believe time is required. Hmm, while typing this, I've branched off wondering about other things. But I confused myself with too many crazy theories. So I should stop.

Wednesday, December 3, 2003 at 12:12 a.m.
I finished and presented my art assignment today, finally, and now I have to completely concentrate on my last remaining essays before I begin my 2-week study for my exam.
Time travel has just been hovering in my mind recently, because I came to a specific question about a certain aspect of it. The movie Timeline, which will open soon, was partially the reason I thought of this. Strangely though, this only came up now, but I have been aware of and thought about time travel since Back to the Future or Star Trek TNG.
I noticed how shows or movies that dealt with going back in time, people would always end up in the same location just in a different time. That seems quite normal, to see how that particular spot changed in different times. Now to my question: when somebody travels back in time (or forward), why does the destination location of one time always appear to be the same location in the other time? My point is, if we look at time travel not from a perspective on Earth's surface, but from outerspace, why wouldn't the person end up in space?? Simple example, I travel from December of this year back to July of the same year (half a year). Obviously, I start off on Earth in December, but if I go back 6 months time remaining at the exact position, Earth would have been on the other side of the sun (July). ...Which leaves me floating in space at the position where Earth will be revolving over in 6 months time. ...Right?
OK, I know nothing of temporal mechanics or paradoxes or anything. I'm sure that sometimes the calculations to place a person back on the planet in a different time were accomplished. Afterall, they have managed to manipulate space-time. Still...I have never thought of this problem until now. Fascinating!

Wednesday, November 26, 2003 at 08:49 p.m.
I'm so happy that I have finally finished one assignment! Even though it was past the due date, but at least it's gone. Now I'm left with one more essay and an art project. ....Oh joy.
Yesterday, just spontaneously, I typed int a search for Inuyasha episodes from the P2P network. Oh, did I mention before I started to watch Inuyasha now? I started out on YTV with their decent English dub-overs. So anyway, back to my downloads of Inuyasha. I discovered that the episodes I obtained (all over 100) were done from computers. Granted that computer-drawn images are cleaner and brighter, but Inuyasha WAS one of the few shows that still upheld the proud tradition of classical, celluloid, animation. But it doesn't look too bad now. In fact, I could even question whether it's CG or not. Their traditional animation looked so nice that I am having a little trouble distinguishing the two. Goodie shows!

Saturday, November 22, 2003 at 02:48 a.m.
The only thing worth noting today was that I was invited to join J-V and Darren out for dinner at Tokyo Grill. Oh, the memories of the previous year in residence came back to us and just like last year, we mostly talked about funny cartoons...Family Guy, Simpsons, etc. And yes, my 2nd time eating at that place; I had previously stated that it is my new favourite Japanese restaurant. Apparently, J-V and Darren have tried Tokyo Grill multiple times, which means I unlikely made a poor choice about choosing it as one of my favourites. It was a delightful time. They proceeded back to J-V's place while I turned back to my own due to unfinished essays. Speaking of which, I will be quite busy with them this weekend....Oh yay.....

Thursday, November 20, 2003 at 01:36 a.m.
Right after my last class today, I proceeded over to Innis for the 2nd viewing of the TJSFF (Toronto Japanese Short Film Festival). Before going, I had no idea what to expect since I've seen only moments of 2 or 3 Japanese movies and 1 full one. Of course, there's all that anime, but that doesn't count. So anyway, they were all fairly short except for a few which took half an hour. ...And oh boy, it seemed like they were MUCH LONGER! I'll explain later. First, I was surprised and intrigued by the short but hilarious film that had to do with 'pair skiing'. It was a short 3D animation, but it was the best out of the bunch (in my opinion of course). I feel like the whole situation was like "Man Getting Hit by Football" from The Simpsons; liking the funniest and ridiculous one.
Several were actually insightful and it really made me think about the way I consider and perceive things. Many were just pointless and senseless. I couldn't understand those ones because it seemed like there was a large chunk of logic just ripped off. Those were just the short ones. The longs ones really felt stretched out due to their slow pace, incomplete explanations, strangeness, etc. Although I didn't enjoy those ones, I'm sure a handful of other people did.
And I just got back 10 minutes ago since 7:30. Yup, took up a lot of time since I sat through the whole 3 sections of the festival. But of course, it was fun. ....NOW, back to my essays. -_-'

Saturday, November 15, 2003 at 11:13 p.m.
The first thing I did this morning was wash up and go to lunch with Emily, who had started studying at McMaster this school year. For this weekend, she returned to Toronto. We went to a place called Tokyo Grill (on Yonge St.) and I tried my first ever RAAMEN. It was some kind of thin, wriggly noodle. Not instant noodles though. Anyway, it was really delicious! Looks like I have a new favourite Japanese food now...Hahaha!
After that I went to JCSA where I had intended to do my tasks and sit around drawing for my visual class. ...Unexpectedly, I was asked to participate in language exchange 'cause they were short on English speakers to balance out the Japanese people. The result, my sketchbook is still empty. Uhhh, so I hung out at Second Cup with the rest of the group chatting. It was so crowded tonight....It was hard to find chairs for everyone. But it was a relatively compact coffee shop anyway. Caught up with Yumiko, Azusa, and met Mariko there. Did you know Santa Claus Parade is (tomorrow) Sunday? I didn't know; it was those 3 who told me. I realized that most of us Canadians (or maybe just me, heh heh) is oblivious to the special events around the city. I take for granted the special things people partake in. Oh well.
When that was over, I didn't want to, but was obligated to go find some references at Robarts. I had already searched for the call numbers of the books I need, I simply needed to find them. But as some us already know, when an entire class works with the same list of topics, there are bound to be a short supply of materials for everyone....Like me! Of the books that the database stated was in the stacks (5 floors of archived old plain-covered books), most of them were missing. Not too surprising...

Monday, November 10, 2003 at 12:53 a.m.
Well well, finally finished my rought and final copy of my SAKUBUN (grammatically correct writing) for my Japanese class. It did however cost me a night out with some friends watching the Leafs game on Saturday. But as we all know, studies come first. ....Which means I shouldn't be so behind in my other essays. More sacrifices must be made to ensure the completion of my essays. What I really meant is for myself to stop sitting around the TV!
I feel kind of hungry, a craving for Arby's. I have discovered that the closest Arby's to me is in the Eaton Centre. I rarely go as far down as Dundas, but I will have to if I'm going to buy that kind of food. If anyone wants Arby's, I have coupons...Yeah!

Monday, November 3, 2003 at 01:45 a.m.
To begin, I'll start on Saturday morning when I went up to my uncle's to prepare for a trip back home to celebrate my grandmother's birthday over dinner.
So back in Belleville, naturally, my mom and other relatives created a delicious meal! Some friends and family came together and had a fantastic night. Later that night, Andrew and his parents came for a visit. It was so fascinating chatting with Andrew because I had so many Star Trek-related questions for him; things I didn't understand. And we had short discussions about details on the entire ST realm. OH RIGHT, before I go any further, as I waited for Andrew to arrive, it made me think of him as Charles' replacement since Charles is of course studying. We had there someone who had been called "Charles" several times that night, he drove the Ford, at night, by himself...It just reminded me, visually, of Charles. Strange? Haha, probably I was just being stupid.
The next day (Sunday) we returned out to my uncle's house and there, I played this new game on PS2: Time Crisis 3. I played in combination with Kinsie, Damian, Jordan, and Nicky with the shooter guns. I must applaud many shooter games with actual pistol-like controllers. The best were Lethal Enforcers (SNES) and Virtual Cop 2 (SegaPC); those, I used only a mouse/keyboard or controller pad. The general gameplay is simple, but what cause my GAME OVER were timing and my own stupid mistakes. We did gradually improve, but not everytime. Thus, fun fun fun, it was.
Afterwards, my cousin, Nicky, treated a bunch of us (including Grandma) to a Japanese place for buffet. It would be unfair I think to label any kind of grade for the foods because my tastes are indeed different from others. Regardless, I still was full and liked it. ...But one thing I will say is: the server for our table was not considerate, a tad slow (effort, not mental status), and sort of disliked by 3 of us.

Saturday, November 1, 2003 at 03:17 a.m.
I realize it has been a while since I last posted here. Nothing was too important to add; and besides, I was busy with studying and assignments.
Ah, but Hallowe'en night, that night was definitely once a year. Since I'm staff on JCSA, I had to wear at least some kind of costume to their party. I chose the 'last-minute' approach, so I bought 2 items. So it wasn't really a costume at all. Just accessories.
At the party, it was interesting, things were picking up gradually. I helped redirect some lost souls headed for the restrooms. Umm, many people had good costumes. Of course, compared to my attempt, everyone who dressed up looked like they put in 110% of effort on their costume. Anyway, so I chatted with different people, from one group to another. Never danced though.
About 4 hours into the party, the overwhelming amount of people was obvious; crowded and noisy. But hey, it was a party. Soon after that point, it was outrageously crowded. People were literally stuck if they wanted to get some air, go to the restroom, or simply leave the dance stage. Reason being...There were the JCSA people, JAVA (Japan Visitor Association), and the KCSA people. However, luckily for me, I was either outside holding the door open for ventilation (and chatting with some friends) or inside sitting nicely behind our little frontdesk (also chatting with a friend).
The party was at a restaurant/pub called Elephant & Castle. After the party, I realized that the TTC subway had already closed. I took the subway to get there earlier. So I had to walk, from KING WEST and SIMCOE back up to BAY north of COLLEGE. According to MapQuest, that's a 2.48km distance. Uh, except I probably walked 2.92km since I took a wrong turn and went too far off course. Heh heh, oops!

Thursday, October 2, 2003 at 09:54 p.m.
Oooookay, the Gundam Seed series has come to an end last Saturday as the last episode was aired in Japan. I've seen the raw, unsubtitled version (pure Japanese) because I couldn't resist watching the ending. I watched it and somehow thought that it was rushed to be finished. I also thought of the actual ending to be insufficient for me. I think it needed more dialogue at the end. ....I'm hoping that they did it on purpose so it'll lead to an OVA or movie. Wahaa!!
Focussing on another anime series here on YTV....Inuyasha. Sure sure, it IS an English-dubbed version, but at least they keep the Japanese names intact; not like "Serena" from another imported series. So anyway, I think I'll keep myself aware of this show, but I won't track it down like Dragon Ball Z or Gundam. I saw only 4 episodes of it on YTV and already, I love the end theme: My Will by Dream. Sounds really nice to me. For some reason, I also like (a little) Change the World by V6.
Heh heh heh.....Let's put it this way, at least I don't try to sing the V6 song as one individual used to. *wink* *wink* C#@&!%$
And just one more topic tonight. I have currently engaged myself in a thriller series known as Angel. Yup, Angel as in from the Buffy series. I never watched Angel before or kept track of Buffy after its 2nd season until now because I saw an episode of this season (5th) yesterday. What really caught my attention from the show was when Angel had saved a potential murder victim and then his own "crew" with makeup and cameras arrived on the scene. It struck me as odd how Angel had those kinds of personnel at his disposal. Out of curiosity and growing interest I continued watching. As I watched more, I saw how cool and funny the show can be. Even better, as a self-sacrifice from the final episode of Buffy, Spike re-materialized at the end of the Angel episode. So now, I'm hooked! However only season 6; I do not need to, nor plan to find out what happened in the last 4 seasons of Angel.

Sunday, September 28, 2003 at 12:36 a.m.
After much anticipation, the next vanilla "whipped" cola has arrived...Pepsi Vanilla! I've already tasted Vanilla Coke since 7-8 months ago, and I really liked it. With Pepsi Vanilla, I hope it can stand at least as an equal to Vanilla Coke. I finally tried one....Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I had hoped for. It was a radical mixture of something that didn't hint at either Pepsi cola or vanilla. It tasted as bad as Pepsi Twist because that also didn't taste like either Pepsi or lemon. It seems to me that the cola Pepsi makes isn't compatible with other flavours like Coke is. The more recent combinations from Pepsi haven't reached my standards yet. Wild Cherry Pepsie, like Cherry Coke, managed to tickle my tongue. When it comes to base colas, I like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or others.

Wednesday, September 24, 2003 at 01:59 a.m.
.....After watching the 49th episode of Gundam Seed, an unwelcomed sorrow dwelled within me. Why? Simply, the amount of characters that died in that episode....Not just those expendable soldiers in the background, but characters who had a larger part. I cannot mention who they are because I don't want to spoil it. However, I still have this depressing feeling floating around inside. That phase where one wishes in futile that they didn't die; grieving, I suppose. I don't think I'll drop this until at least 13 hours later.

Monday, September 15, 2003 at 09:30 p.m.
Alright, school's underway with plenty of reading sprouting all over the place. Although my schoolwork is quite interesting to talk about...Ahem...The purpose of my entry today is about a cartoon series called Teen Titans. Teen Titans is another addition to the many series those particular animators created for us, like Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, and Justice League. What I have to discuss about the show is that it exhibits obvious styles that of Japanese animation. Specifically, Teen Titans try to mimic the comical antics that anime uses. If you watch just one episode of Teen Titans, you will likely be able to recognize immediately the multitude of facial expressions used, just the look of one girl's eyes, and silly appearances only found in anime.
From what I've said, I sound like I detest Teen Titans. I suppose there is some truth to that. OK, to be clear, I have nothing against Japanese animation (obviously) and nothing against the animators who gave me the previous DC cartoons. In fact, I praise the style that group of animators has developed through their shows. They are in a league of their own. I like the way those cartoons looked and I like their stories. ...BUT, with Teen Titans, I am disgusted at how they blatantly imitate anime. To me, it does not look appropriate. Something is missing in their fusion of styles....Uncertain of what it is, but I can't swallow it down easily.

Friday, September 12, 2003 at 09:32 p.m.
My Fridays during this fall school schedule have no classes, but today, instead of just sitting at home and possibly read some school materials, I decided to keep my promise of helping Komuro-sensei and Kondou-sensei with the Nihongo Circle Book Fair which they were involved in. They had previously told me that I was supposed to be in charge of carrying large loads of books up to the 14th floor. I was relieved to discover that I only had to move many SMALL boxes up onto a cart and help push it in an elevator. Whew! From there, I helped set the tables and books, sorted, and cleaned up with some other volunteers. The book fair's main purpose was to provide EAS120Y students the chance to purchase their textbooks and dictionaries. It was also an opportunity to sell imported anime and manga. Of course I was drawn in and had to inspect their stock. ....But since I found nothing I needed nor wanted, I restrained myself from spending any money. I had the opportunity to meet Sugimoto-sensei, Takai-sensei, Rosa-san, David, and Simon. Oh, and I bumped into Shibayama-san in the elevator, I haven't seen or talked to her for more than 4 months. So I am glad I helped out today.

Tuesday, September 9, 2003 at 09:33 p.m.
Ahh, the new school year has arrived! Many to most of us students complain that it has come too early....But we just have to accept it.
So far, since the start of my classes, many other students I met last year were in the same classes as me. That is to be expected in large lecture classrooms. In contrast, however, I knew nobody in my large classes. The people I knew were in my smaller classes. Though as surprising as it was, I am glad I'll be able to see them more often.
Also, Monday marked the first day of work and paid training in my very first job in Toronto! ...But, according to my classes so far, it appears that I will definitely not have a shortage of homework and assignments. ...Yayyyy....Actually, booooooooo!