In which times are getting harder...

Been away for abit (and mood's not too good these days)...I'll tell what I've been through lately.

>Friday<
I went for an interview at APL, an international shipping company for a position of Documentation Coordinator at MidValley. At first it didn't seem too bad, even at the interview room. Alas, I closed the door to this job myself (yes, not the interviewer). Here's why.

The pay was not that great. Yes, I'm a fresh grad, I'm not entitled to complain at all about that...but the reason I complained was because I will have to work odd hours. No, I'm not going to be doing some 9am to 6pm work hour, I'll be working at like..shift based hours. Still 9 hours, but I'll be working till 1am (starting from 4pm). However, it's not like I wasn't informed about this BEFORE the interview - so why did I still go for it you may ask?

Simple.

On their website, it was posted that there was two options, first being the late hours (one that I was offered), second was the usual hours (which is fine by me). I hope I could ask for the usual hours, but sadly they aren't hiring anyone for those hours at that point. Now, you could say, just work lah!

I did consider the prospect of working late hours (thats why I accepted the interview in the first place). But by the interview time I've come to realise that it's simply difficult for me. First off I have no own transport (which I should; but that's for another day) - that means going home at 12 or 1 is hard. Second was the fact that I simply can't leave my grandfather alone at night. Sorry, nowadays the world ain't a safe place - especially at night - and I've come to worry about his safety because of that.

If only they had those early hours I would have gone for it....but it's not happening...

The interviewer did point out that my degree entitled me to a higher pay, but they simply couldn't pay me what I wanted since they did have a fee structure to follow (understandable)...the interviewer even said it's better for me to find somewhere else coz of that.

But as time passes by (even now as I type) - I've come to realise that it's getting very difficult to get a decent job with my kind of degree (2nd lowers). I won't regret this - what good does regret does? I just have to keep on looking. And time isn't on my side...

To carry on with my day - I spent the rest of the day in the arcade while waiting for dad for dinner - did play some games but nothing too much..and at around midnight I went for yumcha with Sato, Jimmy and Tracy at some mamak store in Happy Garden (can't remember the name...)

>Saturday<
Usually, Saturdays are @D4's team meetings/outings...this week's lack alot however. Initially, me, IN and Sato were to go to Sunway but parking was impossible (rounded the place for 1/2 an hour) so we head off to IOI instead...IOI was a boring place...and I still don't like those Wangan players...total Osaka whores last time I've been there so this time I don't even bother to accept challengers...because I'm so so so so sick of freakin' Osaka. Geez. There, I only finished by 2nd loop story mode - and my R32 is then 166 games away from S9. Meanwhile IN and Sato used my ID4 card C*-Eve (because they forgot to bring theirs)..and racked up 6 wins to bring my card consecs to 41. Jimmy and Tracy dropped by but left early. I didn't find out why though.

The thing was Sato had to go back home around 7pm (he's heading back to Japan for a week)..so after sending him back...me and IN..had nothing to do..he sent me back and later we were supposed to go out again with Jimmy for another meeting.

...which never happened by the way.

And what wonderful timing it was for Streamyx to FAIL. Lagging connections..and I've read on forums it was nationwide too. Geez TM, buck up your freakin' services...I didn't pay RM99 to surf at dial up speeds.

...Then again, maybe I did.

>Sunday<
Watched the Clannad Ep24 (the Tomoyo-Tomoya OVA)in the afternoon. Will blog more about that later.

I went to MV later in the evening....and I finished the Perfect GT-R arc on my card as well as clearing 7 out of 10 stages on the first Devil Z arc....and from today I decide to just NOT do the 200 ghosts..and finish another story loop (6 games saved)..therefore..I'm 147 games away from S9 on my R32. I also got...something else. But that..remains a secret. Eventually people will find out though. But until then, it's a secret =D.

I came back, and finished all the Generals Challenge for my CnC Zero Hour game...now to uninstall it. That's about it for now...right now, I'm pondering over some things.

That's all for the 3 days - and trust me, the way things are going...the next week is going to be a crucial one.

Differences.

Today, I met up with Zackler at Amcorp Mall. It's been a long, LONG time since I've seen him...close to probably a year now. I think the last time I saw him was eight months ago over a chance meeting in Sunway while playing ID4. (I could still remember tuning my 86 Trueno then). Amcorp has truly changed majorly since I was there..sure the ground floor looks pretty much the same..but as I head to the upper floors..the difference was simply too much.

Yes, the cafe is still there. Yes, Uncle Snacks is still there. Yes, the book rental shop is ALSO still there. But man has things changed. The cafe hasnt changed much honestly (I can see the back PCs still using the old stuff). Cheryl's working there now (although just on Thursday apparently)..and that just goes to show I haven't been completely forgotten :3.

Had a walk around Amcorp with Zackler, and talked with him a little over a drink at Uncle Snacks...well thanks mate, I sorta have an idea on what to do next. Hopefully it all just goes well...and if it doesn't, well I just got to keep on moving.

Next up was me going to MV for a bit, where then I by chance met up with a really old friend of mine, Lynn. Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a little but I guess it's been a long time. When I last saw her, she was slightly shorter than me, and now she's the same height :S, and now she's let her hair down completely.

It seemed just like yesterday when we chat about things...somehow it evokes memories of old..she's a whole lot different than before, seriously...before she used to crack jokes at every opportunity but now...she seemed pretty normal, very different. And the way she dresses changed too...it's always been something cute but now its just t-shirt and jeans...but of course, people change over the course of time, so I guess she's just now..different? Well at least she remembers me >_<...considering I don't have a lot of people remembering me :(

But it seems when I asked her the question of how was things with her boyfriend she quickly dodged it...as if she didn't want to talk about it. I was quick to catch on so I quickly changed the topic, but I can very well see she felt very distressed.

Sure enough, as we walked around Metrojaya for a little coz she wanted to have a look around at some things (and I was bored then so..)..it happened. She cried. Not a cry that would attract attention but it certainly got me worried...seeing I never saw her cry before..knowing her as a happy-go-lucky girl - but I guess even THAT changed too.

I'm not going to say what happened between her and her boyfriend (she says it's alright for me to blog about it, but I'd rather not)...but it wasn't a happy story that's for sure. I wasn't very pleased to see how such a happy girl that I know to change to such a pale shadow of herself..all within just 3 years. I told her to go on with life but it seems that she is struggling to get out of the shadow...I wonder what did her boyfriend do to her..seriously...it really hurts as a friend...to see another friend go down like that.

I spent some time with her in the arcade (she's a pretty good Outrun 2 player - and I didn't know she plays Time Crisis 4 too - tagged with her), and she was nice to spend me some games on Wangan Midnight Maxi Tune 3 (didn't want to but she insisted). Then I sent her off to the KTM train home before I made my way back too.

It was a good day in gaming perhaps (25 games to A2 for my R32)..but really, it got me wondering how much she's changed over the years. I guess that one incident really shook her till this day.

That's all for my blog post today.

Reflections of the past.

[Disclaimer: This blog post is 100% on my reflections on my past, and thus will detract from the happy tone I'm used to blogging. However, I would prefer to dwell on my past rather than keep it inside]

As I settle down in front of my laptop, with my cup of tea in hand, I begin to ponder and reflect on my past, and things that should (or should not) have happened. To me, I feel this was an important section of my life..and one that I have really regret over the years.

This was leaving the Comic Fiesta community back in 2004 - end year, barely even a year after i joined the community. We had fun times during the outings, I can still remember them even to this day.

To be honest...it does pain me to leave the community. Yes, there were controversies in the manner which I did leave (I won't elaborate here but those who were closer to me then would know...)...but somehow, I feel very regretful...heck, I actually felt I was very stupid in all this. I just "disappeared" off the radar of all my Comic Fiesta friends just like that. I don't know what they feel towards me now (nothing? hate? anger?) but I know that I really should not have done so. To be honest, this is currently the single most regretful thing I've done...ever.... and if there's a way for me to get back in touch...i will.

I don't know if any CFers I know (or used to know) will read this, but if you do...I really would like to apologize for my mistake...even if you guys won't accept my apology.

I'm closing off for the night...I feel terrible.

EDIT: Somehow I can't sleep anymore.

Mission complete. Now I can finally officially quit ID4 TA with a happy end...

Irohazaka DH Dry 2'43"655 RX-8 Type S (SE3P) - my CP times.

Okay fine, so I didn't really hold true to my vow and quit ID4 TA - but now, I can finally do so. When I did that post down below, I was abit unsatisfied, since I didn't really get to achieve what I wanted - or at least something I can be happy about. Nevertheless, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be serious about ID4 ever again.

Well...at least till today.

I had some major form going on when toying around (just for fun since the MT3 machines were full) with my MR2 (1-1-1-1-0 tuned)...did 2'46"955 Iro DHD with it so I thought hey, why not give it a try again. So I tried my fully tuned RX-8 then. For 8 games I tried I kept getting good CPs with it. While the above time was abit of a disappointment (CP3 was +0.4 off my last personal best of 2'44"1xx) nevertheless it is still a 2'43.

Could I have pushed it? Yes, probably....but no more. I do notice that if I had not messed up the third section (due to the fact I lost 10km/h coming out of the final jump) I would have gotten a 2'43"2xx which would have really been nice, but I don't think I want to push this anymore...seriously, no more....

As far as my ID4 TA times are concerned, this is it...its the end..300+ days since I first touched the machine in Sunway Pyramid. I will never declare that I will stop ID4 for good (like, 100%) because inevitably I will play battles or have some fun games no matter how I try to resist. But as far as seriously time attacking is concerned, "Time Is Up". I neither have the passion, nor the resources to commit myself to this, more towards the former...

What next for me? First priority now is to get a job. Yes, I know it's been overdue for so many months now....but I will be the first to admit its partly due to my laziness. Now though, I should get serious regarding this, because despite being in such a mental state that I'm lazy yet I definitely need a job reality hits hard - I need money, and I need it if I'm going to survive.

Signing out for now, bad Streamyx connection doesn't allow me to surf the net much.. being limited to local sites and MSN sucks.

Current music: Nobuo Uematsu - Submarine Nautillus (Final Fantasy 3 DS OST)

One picture that made a whole new difference.

Well, who would have thought just a class picture of the old years would bring me back from the depths of seperation from old classmates. And also re-sparked my interest on Facebook.

Just about two weeks ago, I was bored online so I went to my rather dull and boring facebook account. At the time I didn't really use it much, probably once or twice every week but no more than that. The lack of activity factor was the main reason - why would I want to go on a site to do nothing? And yea, that time, my list of friends on Facebook was rather absymal (It actually still is now). So I thought I'd do a fun search on my old school SK Seri Mega and lo and behold I found a group.

Not just any group. I found some of my old school mates there. And the pic of my ol' 6 Seroja class. So I intro'd myself in one of the topics and commented on the pic. Within a few hours I got some replies from old friends such as Desmond and Esther :).

The rest from there? Well, I met up with Wen Jian, Esther and Sue Li (albeit for a short while) yesterday for yumcha. Had a great time talking about things nowadays (and I do realise I missed out on a lot of things :( ).

Then I managed to communicate with some other friends like Yuen Mei and Brian. Now my facebook routine has changed from once a week to like three to four times a day. Could say I'm addicted now. I'm sorta glad that I actually made the decision to search, or else..well, I'd still be pretty "isolated".

I've felt very happy about the whole thing, all this in just a matter of two weeks. :)

It's official in my book. I quit Initial D 4.

Yes, you read it right. *cue WTF WTF WTF*

I quit Initial D Arcade Stage 4 as of 22nd June 2008. The game has became too frustrating to play for me and this in turn makes it money consuming. As I'm already playing Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 (far more enjoyable than ID4 ever will), I will devote any arcading funds to that game from now on.

Seriously though, ID4 had its chance to redeem itself through v1.5 and the new physics completely killed the game for me. Why penalize players with an idiotic oversteer? Yes, maybe the better players will come here and say "You just don't know how to do the turn right". Well I say, forget it. The physics suck. That's my opinion, you can keep yours to yourselves. Furthermore, I have no other incentive to play when Wangan is so much more fun.

I will still be with @D4 (my Initial D 4 team) as they are still my friends and I will still go out with them on team meets. But I won't play ID4 seriously anymore...because I am frustrated. Very frustrated.

Will I ever make a u-turn to my decision? Highly unlikely, unless a miracle happens (or a new physics ver comes out which is highly unlikely now...). Will I play an Initial D 5 if it exists? Sure, why not? Just don't make them physics damn retarded as this one.

In the meantime... goodbye mountain roads (sans Hakone) and hello to the Metropolitan highways.

Mission accomplished! ...but not with a good end!

Start date: 22 May 2008
End date (supposedly): 8 June 2008
Duration: 17 days (School holiday)
Mission: Gain the next level up from battle (400 stars)
Start point: 100 stars (22nd May 2008)
Ended with: 415 stars (7 June 2008)
Total stars attained: 315. (average: 18.5 stars per day)

With the school holidays approaching I figured it would be the best time to bump my star count up (and rank up: I'm planning to go for S class for my R32). Actually, this wasn't even in my initial plan, seeing that I WAS supposed to go Penang with Team -KS- but in the end that didnt work out for me because of some "problems".

It started off badly on the first day. The first half of the day yielded only five stars out of five games. Totally lost form, kept getting 3rd or 4th...consecutively. Later that day my form improved though it didn't really "come back".

Then later, I was at my best. For the next 10 - 11 days, races kept going my way (luck played a really huge part in some of them), and I easily hauled up to 20-30 stars a day with just ten bucks. Last place finishes were a rarity. I was definitely at the peak of my game, even more so than when I used the RX-8 to battle.

Then when I reached the 370+ star mark, my form started to slide. It started as a slow downhill, then today, it became a steep cliff. I've never had a form this bad that I had literally screw myself out of sure-fire stars just because I was greedy. I did eventually reach the 400 mark on the same day, but still, there were stars that was as good as mine, only to be thrown away at the last 1km.

Nevertheless, mission accomplished. Although the end wasn't such a good thing. I wonder if I need to lay off on Wangan for abit, it seems that my form is on the slide now that its not really a good idea to battle...not for now at least.

Well, at least I managed to come close to beating my personal best of 12.11.9 with Kenji's R32 with my own...came up short by 0.2xx but its my first ever successful TA with the 3rd person camera view...so I guess there are better things to come :)

What's next? Hmm...I guess the next level up (1000 stars) isn't too hard..but that, will be for another time. :)

Just blabbing.

It's exactly 4am on my clock (yes I'm still awake, shut up, don't ask why) and I'm not feeling good. I keep thinking about some things that I really do not need to think about.

Yet I should be thinking about it.

.....

I don't know lah, life just sucks now.

Freedom?

After the hell that is Uni is over (well, at least until the results are out), let me recap on what has happened.

- Uni exams have been hell.
Let's just say if I pass, it's a freakin miracle. I screwed up. Bad....

- Been doing a fair amount of ID.
I have a few targets in mind. Some not even hit yet.

- Picked up another FD
And since I was paid to tune it, woot. :D

- Bought an RX-8 for Wangan Midnight Maxi Tune 3.
So far so good, still haven't lost in story mode. :p

- Finished tuning my Evo IX after about 2-3 months from buying the card.
Finally got around to tuning it XD

- Had some annoyances with some people.
Ever want people to shut up while you are playing but they can't? I wish they would. Yet there are a fair few idiots who don't know how to zip their mouth. If you're reading this and you KNOW it's you, do me a favor and shut up next time. I do not need to hear your comments especially since 95% of what you say is utter trash.

- Met up with Dom (shadow_zero) after so long.
Sorry mate that we couldn't have a better outing, hopefully next time we could do something better.

- Finally met Jake @ Haseo.
Yes you freakin' ant. No more dino jokes. Coz we know YOU're the real dino :D

- 9999999 All 300s SSAY Ouendan 2 Hard & Insane modes done again. XD
The scores were worse spinner wise so no new High score.

- Finally scored the final trainer card in Pokemon Pearl.
I lucked out in the Beauty Contest Master Rank with my Ranger Manaphy (thank you Drifblim for using such useless moves over and over :D). And with a friend of mine cooperating with the CTF bit of the trainer card, I've done it.

- Had a wonderful time at the @D4 Christmas BBQ on the night of Christmas. Unfortunately I forgot to get pics -_- but the outing was a major success. :D

With just barely less than a week till 2008 I hope the remaining days will be a good one. And I'm sure it will. :)

The escape from Error 403. And a blast into the past.

It would have been a bad day entry, but it ended well so I actually feel quite upbeat. Hm.

Anyway, on Friday I went to Mines to renew my YUMI* AE86 card. Now, when I bought the card (also at Mines), I already encountered Error 403 (rotten luck, but I was only buying the card, so no loss there :D). But this time around, the stakes are so much higher -_-

So I popped in the tokens for renewal, got my expired card out. And then I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Then..

Error 403 =___________=;;;; with all the "unable to dispense the license card" explanation bla bla bla.

Uh oh, sounds bad right? The prospect of losing my data was staring right in my face.

Luckily for me, there was a technician who knew how to fix it. (I know how to as well in case he didn't, but it was very convenient that he knew everything from the start). And he helped to recover my data. Granted the other technician present ALMOST screwed up the process (T_T), but in the end it all was good :D and the renewal was good :D Recovery was a success. :D

The end result?



And before I forget, here's Yumi* in full colour. Taken with my Nokia 6300:

As for who is Yumi, let's just say she taught me some IDV2 basics back LONG ago. (Yes, GIRL tutoring ME a GUY -_-) My first mentor you could say :). Unfortunately she isn't, well...with us now if you know what I mean, so as a tribute. The avatar is based off what description I could get of her from some of my fellow ID friends.

Anyway, all's well that ends well. Good night.

Of apple pies, boost off battles, peer pressure and nostalgia.

Okay okay fine, so I didn't update for so long >_< >_< so sorryyyyyy :(

Today was a pretty fine day in my book. One that lifted up my spirits.

I got myself to Sg Wang for two reasons today.
a) My team mate and good friend Loong's girlfriend is present to take the card that I've been tuning for him (-_- and ironically I confirmed its bad luck status, once it got off my hand I feel 99.6% more relieved)
b) Samuel (a good ol' friend from the IDV3 Kotaraya days) called me out to play ID4. (despite me at the bottom off the barrel in money terms :( )

So I got out to Sg Wang from Tun Sambanthan Monorail (its 50 cents cheaper damn it, and I didnt want to walk from TS -_-) and when I searched out Samuel, he hasn't change a single bit. Still super tall as he used to be, I don't think I noticed anything different as I spotted him right away. He however, like 75% of the people I know said "how different I look from before" =_= omg really now, am I THAT different from before?

Immediately, we got down to business. Since there was this S2000 accepting challengers, I decided to bring out my 86, and dragged him to Akina Downhill. Since he asked for boost off, I obliged. Immediately, like ants there was a crowd behind me. Like what? o_o And in the end I managed to pass him at the Death Corner (I like the name, woohoo) and ran away 300+m. Now usually, this will scare off the challenger right?

Nope.

He came back for Tsukuba as expected. Boost off again despite me knowing how dangerous it is, but I looked at his TA times and suspected something. Which was confirmed the moment we hit the first turn in CP3. Coz with a crap speed I was actually catching up and passed him by the start of CP4 -_-;;; and ran away by 100+m.

With my free game I pulled off a 2'50"9 Tsukuba OB with my then 7-2-1-1-2 AE86T. -_- It was such a nice run but I hated the highway CP that was CP2. -_- Now, during the free game, I received some calls on my phone, I didn't think of much.

Until I saw who called that is. -_- Now I had to wait till 4.30 to pass back the card. Bad feeling UP!

Anyway, I got Samuel to make his ID card. Luckily enough there was no 403 (Sg Wang is notorious for such an error -_-) and I got him to buy his Trueno. Well....actually initially he wanted to buy the Evo 4 or the GC8v...but I showed him the awesomeness that is the Trueno (yay free game for my card again XD) and he bought it. He immediately showed interest in Iro, which I showed him how (well...at least for 3 CPs -_- I kinda reversed on the fourth jump, and it was damn nice too =.=).

Then, he started playing Iro, first game being something like a 3'06, but I managed to help him a little with wall ramming and stuff, and when I taught him the all important penalty cancel tech, he actually did it very well. Better than me even O_o. I see his accel brought back to life everytime he uses it. He then brought his time down to 2'59"0 within a few games. Then he himself got into a battle, which he won. First win for him. Congrats :D

What happened next was pure awesomeness.

Sam: Eh, so pressing the view change + start button, what will happen ah?
Me: Force Quit...you've played V3, you should know.
Sam: Like this?
"TIME IS UP"
Sam: Oops.
Me: WTF YOU WASTED YOUR FREE GAME
(guy next to him was hoping to rechallenge but he can't :p)
Sam: Err...(takes card) I didn't know ma
(I walk away with him)
Me: Let's admit it, you did it on purpose so that the other guy didn't get the chance to challenge back.
Sam: Yeah la of course :p

LOL.

Then we head off to McDs downstairs, where Samuel treated me to a Med.Coke, and an Apple Pie. Thank you! ^o^

Although I wonder why you want me to eat the apple pie that badly O_o

Me: (chats about other things)
Sam: Yeah, cool. Eh, eat the apple pie la.
Me: -_- Later la.
(30 seconds later)
Sam: (chats and suddenly...) Eh, eat the apple pie la!
Me: -_- Yes la eating la.

So we chat a lot actually, among things the old Kotaraya gang and where the others went to (that's Yian, Barry, Alv, David (Croix), Nic, Jason (the OTHER one), himself (Sam), Ash, Roy, Ceres and the other specky dude that the name escapes me). Somehow, talking to him brings back thought of the good old days where i used to be super free for ID right after class, or before it. Before it all came crashing down thanks to the main V3 arcade closing. Sad.

Then we went back up to the arcade to see him play some more Akina and Iro. -_- I wished he'd listen to what I say.

Me: So this corner, use In-In-Out lining yes?
Sam: Ok.
(sees Sam use Out-In-Out)
Me: =_+ errrrrr......
Sam: Sorry got used to it -_-
Me: =_= right....

Then, Loong's gf called and I made my move to Royale Bintang and passed the card to her. Suddenly my mood returned after a few days of absence :D

Next, we headed off to TS, where I picked up some more battles. Awesome. I didn't see anyone I know except Kim (who disappeared right after saying hello =_=) and that "X-FAST" kid. =_=. Poor Sam lost 2 battles in V3. :( Disappointing day for him. I got something like an 06 for Akina Downhill with 7-2-2-1-2 but I was so disappointed that I didn't do better. Then we went off to dinner at the TS food court upstairs where I had my Fried Rice and Sam having er...Salty Fried Kuey Teow =_=;;; which he returned and got the...not so salty one which he theorized that they put his Kuey Teow through water and then served it out again.

After that we head off back to the arcade where Sam finally realized he's overspent for the day (not really broke but he didnt expect to spend so much XD). But somehow my bored self managed to coax him BACK to Sg Wang where I got 2 battles (won the first, lost the second, damn my Akagi sucks, and first loss for my 86) and Sam got his 57 Iro. I then tried Iro with my own 86, and got a crappy 2'48"9 with 7-2-2-2-2. Lost 10km/h for some of the turns. Felt like screaming but never did -_-

Then I managed to pull this off:
Sam: Eh dude, that 2'48 is quite fast ah...
Me: You can do it too. Wanna try my car? :D :D :D
Sam: Eh cannot la I overspent already!!!
Me: My Yumi* Trueno is calling out for youuuuuuuuuuuuuu.........
Sam: .... (goes to the counter)
Me: XD (whee free game for my car :D)

And he ran like...a 55"9 or something. Trying to tempt him again didn't work -_- :p.

We walked all the way down from Sg Wang to Kotaraya. Was fun to chat with him continuously haha. Then we got to Kotaraya to have a look see around the former hangout for us. Somehow, it doesn't feel the same. It's now 1.5x times more smoky (there's even smoke coming out of some of the aircon vents =_=). More importantly. where did the last pair of V3 machines go? All they have now are crappy as hell V2 machines, and a bunch of Cyber Cafes (as if that building needs more than 2...). And the former "main hangout"...well..it's empty now. Deserted. Crap man, thinking about all this makes me and him almost cry.

Then we split from there. A nice and interesting day to cap off what was a high and low week. I didn't expect so much from this, but in the end there were many things that were memorable.

Thank you for reading, and good night :)

(And while I wish I capped this off with pictures, I didn't take any. Sorry >_<)

Limit.

When you are playing something competitively, be it an FPS game like Counterstrike or a racing game like Initial D or even a music game like Guitar Hero, you will always have a limit of your own when you play.

Training or learning on your own does help you improve your game, but eventually when you are at the top of your game, there will be a barrier. This barrier is different for everyone (can come late or early) but this barrier is usually a barrier that is tough to knock down because there is (usually) no more room for improvement. At least for the person.

Maybe for example, you reached a pinnacle by scoring a fast time in Mario Kart, but as hard as you try you never seem to be able to beat that guy who was way faster. Eventually you might beat it, or you might not. It can turn into a psychological mess if you stress yourself over it.

Here's my example, with Initial D v3:

This is...or rather, was my best track/weather condition to play in Initial D v3. And I might be second now, but I'm happy to know that I at least managed to snag the top spot for a short while.

When I first started playing this map, I got an early 2'49"737 (see rank 10), and thats with plenty of mistakes. Even then, I continued to improve and I got what I wanted, a 2'49"190 (rank 5), but it took me roughly 5-6 months for this (as well as buckets of money retrying). I thought I was on top of my game....

Until I got beaten.

At that time when I posted the 49"190 up, I was 1st. It didn't take very long for it to get knocked down to 2nd. And then there's the urge to take back the record. And so began the battle against the barrier.

A huge barrier. I actually thought of giving up because there was hardly room for improvement. The feeling went on until during the last game, I saw a big improvement. And the fight went on until I broke the barrier. And scored a 48"787. :D

Which was #1 for 9 months until it got shot down. By that point I've already stopped so I didn't bother to continue. I might be able to beat it...or...naaaah...

More or less I was inspired to break the barrier because of the feeling of rivalry. (The dude that is #1 btw, is a Sarawakian, from Miri IIRC).

Looking back at Initial D, there were plenty of runs which were not at limit yet, but with Version 4 already out in Malaysia, and the fact that I have better priorities with my money now, makes me decide not to pursue such targets anymore.

And recently, just yesterday, I finally reached the limit for now....for Ouendan 2.

There was no other game has managed to push me to display my best before this. Not Ouendan, not EBA, not Mario Kart DS, not Tetris DS, not Counterstrike, and not even Initial D. It was Ouendan 2 which managed to bring the best out of me. Why? I don't know. And to think I spent MORE time each on all of the other games!

Initial Target: 187000000
Current: 188120370

It was an unexpected one. My calculations told me I would be hard-pressed to reach even 185 million. When I got to 187 million, I thought there was NO way I would be beating this.

And 6 hours later, I managed to push that to 188 million. But futile attempts to increase that suggest that I probably have hit the limit for now. Not the absolute max, but it did take a lot of work. (And I managed to get Zenryoku Shonen on Insane all 300'd too :p). Whether I might be able to push this to 189 million....well...that's hard to say.

So for now, thats my limit for both games....in Initial D, I will never go back to test the limit anymore seeing that the newest version has arrived, and as far as Ouendan 2 is concerned...it's not the absolute best score, but I'll have to work hard to increase this further. But I must stress that although it is difficult to break the barrier once you reach it, learning is a wonderful process, and it helps to break the barrier. There are many more limits in life that I have experienced, but it will take me a very long while to blog it all out.

What are your limits? Be it in gaming, or in life, strive on, and you will be able to set new limits for yourself.

Thank you for reading.

Old, but still gold - Ouendan 1 thoughts.

Simple, is it not?

Browsing through my DS games, I had a quick look at this. It's the first ever Ouendan that would end up getting a sequel and a spin-off. Seeing that I had a few minutes to spare, I decided to pop this back into my DS. And man, does it bring back good feelings about it.

The graphics, sound quality...heck..everything was far weaker than what EBA had to offer. So why did I not get rid of this? (No, I'm not selling this, go somewhere else for a second hand Ouendan). I mean, hey, it's a quick way to get a couple of bucks.

One word: "Memories"

"This guy's insane already. Call the men in the white coats"

Whoa, hold it right there. It's true.

This game reminded me of how noob I was. :p

- Tapping the notes the moment it showed up. >_>
- Spinning AND changing direction on the spinners mid way through it <_<>_> <_<>_>

And it also reminded me of
- my first S rank. Loop & Loop on Normal. What? >_>
- the painfully hard song (then of course) of Ready Steady Go (damn you lifebar)
- How awesome this game was (that lead to the purchase of EBA :p)

After playing RSG Insane (yay S rank, boo 5.9 million :( ), I can say that despite the massive shortcomings (lack of replays, bad graphics), it's still a damn good game to play.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish the stage (Shanghai Honey go!) I was playing. Thanks for reading :p

In which I Ouendan 2'd the day away.

And so I played Ouendan 2 as usual, trying to secure better S ranks. Then I did Music Hour on Insane-Hidden. The try came out....

259 300s, 1 100

Oh yes, that 1 100 is sticking out like a sore thumb. So I spent the next hour trying to all 300 the thing, finally doing it at last! (after X amount of tries - I didn't count)



ALL 300 Music Hour. Take that you stupid game!

And then came Countdown. Doing it on Insane-Hidden as well...and then history repeated itself.

168 300s, 1 100

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Oh and by the way, I didn't manage to get all 300 on this one....first section is so hard to get the timing right *sob*)

[EDIT: I got Glamorous Sky in Hard-Hidden ALL 300'd right after this post. HAH! Take that you stupid game!)

Glamorous Sky ALL 300 with EBA's Chieftain! Take that!

The LYN NDS Gathering - A mini review.

Before I begin, here's a log from the LYN forums outing thread.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time : 1030hrs - 2000hrs;
Date : Saturday, 23th June 2007;
Battleground : Food Court, 10th Floor, outside IMAX Cinema, Berjaya Time Square;
Status: SUCCESSFUL!

Attendance
01) Mudmaniac
02) Mudmaniac's friend
03) Phoenix_Cypher_K1
04) Corez
05) Pr1me_Minister
06) Yuki Ijuin


Games played:
Mario Kart DS
- Round 1 (Mudmaniac, Corez, Yuki Ijuin - DL play)
- Round 2 (Mudmaniac, Corez, Yuki Ijuin, Mudmaniac's friend, Phoenix_Cypher_K1 - DL play)
- Round 3 (all - DL play)
- Round 4 (Pr1me_Minister, Corez, Yuki Ijuin, Phoenix_Cypher_K1)

Tetris DS
- Round 1 - (Corez, Mudmaniac, Mudmaniac's Friend, Phoenix_Cypher_K1)
- Round 2 - (Corez, Mudmaniac) <--- this was interesting tongue.gif
- Round 3 - (all)

Elite Beat Agents
- Round 1 - Corez/Phoenix_Cypher_K1 vs Yuki Ijuin (DL play 2 vs 1 tongue.gif)
- Round 2 - Corez/Phoenix_Cypher_K1 vs Yuki Ijuin/Pr1me_Minister (DL play 2 vs 2)

Ouendan 2
- Corez/Phoenix_Cypher_K1 vs Yuki Ijuin/Pr1me_Minister (DL play 2 vs 2)

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (trade)
Phoenix_Cypher_K1, Pr1me_Minister (thank you for the Togekiss and Articuno tongue.gif hope you enjoy the Latis)
---------------end report------------------------------------------------

Well, I went there at around 11.40am (was busy uploading vids to Youtube coz the GameFAQs forumers were asking for some Ouendan 2 EBA mode vids - hence the lateness - and said vids are also uploaded to my subsite, check the sidebar). When I reached, I could not find them, till I saw them over at the seats outside IMAX. Mudmaniac and friend, Yuki and Corez were already there. Pr1me Minister arrived last, and there were no more arrivals after that.

The games were fun. Pr1me and I definitely enjoyed switching leads on top of the MKDS leaderboard at least a dozen times while Corez did enjoy his moment of fun on top for 2 rounds. Tetris, no contest, again, Corez won most of the matches. I pulled a win tho :p. Then EBA and Ouendan 2 gaming sessions, were pretty limited (download play), but it was still fun (I'm not used to playing Normal mode tho)

The meeting effectively ended at 5, but Yuki, Corez, Pr1me and me stayed back for dinner (Yuki having the worst Yong Tau Foo ever), and had single player fun (Yuki finished Nanostray !_!, Corez playing The Anthem on EBA till...his battery packs ran out, and Pr1me actually playing Ouendan 2 despite having a busted touch screen, I played Ouendan 1 in the meantime, while pulling off another (crap) 9999999 on SSAY Insane-Hidden on Ouendan 2 when I did get to play it.

At 8pm, Corez and Yuki went off, while me and Pr1me went off to Starbucks, as he wanted to surf on his Ninty DS browser (while I took the advantage to eat cake + Mocca Frap :p), before we both took the train home.

As for the outing, as per report it was a success. However, Times Square is starting to be a cursed place for outings for low turnouts. I'm beginning to think about NOT suggesting Times Square in future.

A tale of three DS'es (Part 2) - The White and Pink Partnership.

(My first NDSL. Awwwww....:p)

Yup, thats the box. The US version. It didn't have a strap so I curi from my phat DS (I had it at the time so meh :p). Also the edges are pretty dirty (no way to clean it AFAIK unless I rip off that plasticky cover thing). The DSL's pretty good. :P

Opened up....

(That's Shirosaki Rin cheering by the way. :D Go!)

Now, one thing I didn't like about the White DSL was the fact that it collected stains fast. (You can probably spot them on the pic...) I didn't really notice them until Pr1me_Minister told me about it some 4-5 months after owning it (Yes I'm pretty oblivious to the stains). The D-pad, and the buttons (except one...) works fine till now, as so does the touch screen. (The alignment is very slightly off in the center but everywhere else, it's fine and dandy :D)

And when I put it up Flat....

(Baby BANG BANG BANG! XDXDXD)

No, despite mine being the "famous White US DS Lite that cracks", mine didn't so I put it up flat. That's a relief. (Actually, it's pretty cosmetic anyway). And pardon the picture, I'm not too good with the digital camera (just got it back after a long while :) )

So, this DS Lite was pretty fine. Until the R button got stuck and became 50% responsive. (Probably due to MKDS :( ). I already sold off the phat DS at this point of time, and since the R button was pretty important, I figured that it's time to pick up the Pink.....

(Box shot with the Pink DS Lite)

(Tsukasa Hiiragi desu~! Balsamic vinegar FTW!)

This one I bought from Gamers Hideout (no not the subforum in LYN, the shop over at Cineleisure). Recommended by SWATwolf actually. For quite a nice sum, this pink was all mine. And yes, I was criticised left and right for picking pink of all things.

And no, the casing and all are bought later. :p

(The Pink DSL when opened. And yeaaa....99999. Walking the dog everyday helps. Woohoo!)

This DSL served me quite well. It's all fine except for the touchscreen. It's...off. Well, not that bad actually. The left and right of the touch screen are perfectly fine, but.....

(OMG nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!)

......the center is off (not by much). And attribute it to Ouendan all you want, but considering that I've been abusing the White DSL even longer, I'm pretty surprised.

Not that it really hurts, since I'm still playing Ouendan on it despite the White one having a better touch screen. And it doesn't seem to affect me at all O_o

But anyway, these two DS Lites have been such a partnership. I use the Pink one more than the White, but the White one still has its uses. *coughR4cough*. In any case,

(All my DS stuff. Oh, and don't bother looking for the R4, it's not there)

(Oh, and if you haven't noticed the subliminal messaging, buy Ouendan and Ouendan 2 :D)

Nintendo DS FTW. :D

A tale of three DS'es (Part 1) - The DS Phat and the beginning.

I joined the NDS community rather late. May 2006 late (Hey that's a year and a month ago! :p). All this while before I had the DS I had only my faithful GBA SP (Silver, sold off). But anyways, my friend in a way influenced me to the way of the NDS.

At the time, I didn't think that the Big Mac DS would be so much big of a difference to the DS Lite (note: I am not all that bright back then -_-), but anyway the DS suited me more, so for a nice sum from a shop at Sunway Pyramid, I picked up the phat DS. Silver it was and it was the Asian version (from Maxsuck/Sucksoft/Maxsoft, whatever you want to call it, any one is fine). I then picked up Advance Wars Dual Strike (first ever DS game I had woohoo!) over at Mission World at MV.

Of course, then I picked up Mario Kart DS (from the same shop) a week later. [And it turned out to be the only game I had that lived through my several rounds of selling DS games] The phat DS was a fine piece of hardware I had at the time, and certainly it was 580 well spent I might add. Fun with friends w/MKDS? Oh yes.

But then by end of June, the shortcomings of the phat finally overran me.

1) Bulky. When it is open, it feels comfy. But when it's closed, it's....not so compact as I think it would be. (And for one, I always put my handhelds in my pocket, I can attest to that)
2) Battery Life is not enough :( (P/s - This time last year, I had time to burn. Obviously, I can no longer say the same now)
3) Weak backlighting. It made the GBA SP frontlight look good. (No offence...but I feel so)

So come July, despite being barely two months into its life, I decided to pick up another NDS - This time, I decided to get a DS Lite. A white one, US version (which currently serves me to this day). And it is well worth it.

*End of Part 1*

Note: I am not bashing the phat DS - I just feel it's just a bad purchase on my behalf. If you feel the phat DS is more godly than the DS Lite that's all fine and dandy because I have friends who think that and I respect that. However, I will delete flaming comments on sight. Keep them to yourself.

Note2: And no, I do NOT have pics of my Silver Phat DS because I sold it off to a friend (I'll make mention of this in future updates). I'll make sure there'll be some pics in the next one though.