Kick It With Fifa Online 2! ^.^

While waiting for Fifa 12 to appear in stores starting from 27/30 September 11, I decided to look out for alternative sources to satisfy my footballing craze.
And here we go: Fifa Online 2. This game has been around for quite a long time since 2006 and is  jointly developed by EA Singapore and Neowiz Games.  Teams and their kits have been updated tokeep up with that of the current real-life season. Users can either play through a season or to play against other online players. Playing matches earns you LP, which is the in-game currency used to buy stuff in the game.

My encounters with Fifa Online 2 hd actually spanned over a couple of years. I started playing in 2009 but did not immediately fell in love with the game. While I was immensely glad that I had finally found a free downloadable soccer game, I was not particularly impressed with the graphics of the game and the lagging gameplay (partly due to my ailing computer, but mostly because of the slow connection to the servers) then.It was not long when I became frustrated of Fifa Online 2's shortcomings and quitted the game altogether. Seriously, take a look at that screenshot on the right, and you will figure what I mean.

It has been 2 years since I last touched this game, and when I tried it again for the second time, I was surprised by its many changes. The first thing that caught my attention was its considerably upgraded graphics. Players on Fifa Online 2 now looked much realistic and more alike to real-life players. Gameplay is a lot smoother and more challenging. Every touch of the ball by the players felt pretty real and it was as though I was orchestrating a real match. Now Peter Crouch looks a whole lot happier.

There is also a new World Cup 2010 mode, in which players can lead their favourite national teams to winning the coveted trophy. I tried playing with team Singapore and managed to lead them all the way to the quarter-finals until Paraguay gatecrashed the party with a Lucas Barrios penalty. Oh well.

In addition, there's also the team report card, which gives users an in-depth analysis of each team's performance. This includes personal performances of the players, as well as fouls, shooting accuracy and pass successful rate. Users get to better experience how it feels like to be a manager, who only gets to build the team and strategise tactics in the past before the major upgrade. Users can use the teams they build and play against each other in the PvP mode.


Overall, if you are looking for a online soccer game, this is the game to go for. It's not as brilliant as Fifa 11 or the upcoming Fifa 12, but it more than holds its own as an online game. Get kicking with Fifa Online 2 now!

No Pokemon On Facebook? Be A Tamer At Monster Galaxy!

Calling all Trainer wannabes! For those who are unable to satisfy your Pokemon trainer dreams on Facebook, then this is the game for you!

Monster Galaxy is developed by Gaia Interactive.  Like Pokemon, it is a role-playing game where players can fight and collect over a hundred wild monsters. The monsters, known as Mogas in Monster Galxy, have various element types which are classified according to Zodiac. A Moga with a certain Zodiac type has its strengths and weaknesses when facing off against Mogas of other Zodiacs. For example, a Turtlenie (which is of Virgo zodiac) is very good when battling against Aquarius Mogas but will fare poorly against Sagittaurus Mogas. This makes it challenging and interesting for Moga trainers, as they have to pick the right Moga to battle their opponents. Luckily, Monster Galaxy also gives Tamers a guide on how your Moga will fare in each battle (e.g. 3X more effective, less effective etc.), hence removing the hassle of memorising the strengths and weaknesses of each Zodiac.

As the game is still rapidly developing, Monster Galaxy is still adding new Mogas to its list. Wild Mogas can be found at every location, and its availability and capture rate is highly dependent on its Rarity, so it is not everyday you get to find a Legendary Moga. Monster Glaxy has also recently added the new feature of evolving your Mogas. To evolve a Moga, tamers will have to catch a certain number of the same Moga and possess a certain munber of Evolution Potions, depending on the species of the Moga. Naturally, evolved Mogas have much stronger stats and are much rarer. As Monster Galaxy is still adding on to its Moga variety, there are still many unknown evolutions and thus, many surprises are in store for us.

Other than the variety of Mogas one can collect, Monster Galaxy also has loads of quests that can engage the players in. These quests will reward Tamers with Blue Coffee (which is equivalent to Max Revive of Pokemon), Starseeds (like Pokeballs). Of course, adding to the challenge and fun is the Collection system, whereby Tamers can trade in Zodiac cared collections for items like Starseeds, and sometimes even Rare Mogas that can never be found in the wild! These cards can be found randomly after battles.

So what are you waiting for? Put on your Tamer boots and start your adventure in Monster Galaxy!

19 Aug 11 -- Ubin Adventure! :D

Haha, finally a post in Aug! It has been a busy for me, hence things have been pretty quiet here. But at least, I am BACK! XD

Anyway, just last Friday, my department went to Palau Ubin for a branch cohesion. Admittedly, I was both a bit apprehensive and excited about going to Ubin. Such mixed feelings were due to the fact that I have not stepped on the shores of Ubin since 12 years (hence the excitement) and the prospect of cycling there scares me (I told you I can't cycle -- hence the apprehension!). Luckily, the organiser decided that we should just walk all the way to Chek Jawa, and that had me heave a sigh of relief.

Anyway, we set off for Palau Ubin via speedboat at about 9am, and it took up a 10 minute ride to reach the shores of Palau Ubin. Palau ubin has changed massively since the last time I had been here. All the residents have since moved out, and all that is left on the islands are just the eateries and bicycle rental shops to cater to the visitors of the island. Hence, it was as though this is my first time here.

A 40 odd minute-walk from the jetty into the depths of the well-preserved rainforest brought our group to an information counter at the heart of the forest, where a tour guide offered to bring us futher into the forest and to our destination Chek Jawa.

As we made our way towards Chek Jawa, the tour guide shared with us many stories as well as information on the plants and animals that still live in the forest. After a 15 minute trek, we finally reached Chek Jawa. It is very different from the last time I was here! Back then, when I was on a cycling trip with classmates and teachers (of course, I am not the one cycling.), there was no proper road for cyclists or trekkers, so it as a pretty muddy trip for our class. Fast forward 12 years later, shelters and elevated walkways have been built for people to walk/cycle and at the same time, look out for the natural wildlife living in the rich ecosystem there. As we reach Chek Jawa at about 10-10.30am, the tide was about 1.1m high and hence, we missed out on a lot of creatures like the Noble Volute (a large, beautifully marked snail sometimes encountered on sandy areas near seagrasses and coral rubble, but frankly, they are all buried in the day so there was no way we could have seen them around at that time) and the Common Sea Star (which is ironically not very common given the fact that the tide was pretty high and more importantly, the massive flooding in Johor during early 2007 nearly wiped them out). However, we did manage to catch a glimpse of Fiddler crabs and mudskippers.

After enjoying the scenery at Chek Jawa, we travelled back to the jetty via the same route. We had lunch at an eatery near the jetty before we travelled back to mainland Singapore.

Personally, this is an enriching experience as it is near impossible to observe such wildlife in mianland Singapore, where everywhere is surrounded by buildings, vehicles and roads. A pristine, natural habitat in Ubin cannot be found in most parts of Singapore anymore, and this is a sad fact.

Wild Idea Indeed... T.T

Recently I came with a wild idea to write my stories... and I thought the best way is to write it via a blog.

I admit my English is not outstanding, but hey, I've always thought it is worth a try.

So off we go...after various crashes to my 4 year+ computer, and stupid errors like forgetting to save my drafts, the first chapter is finally out!

Enjoy!

Note: If any resemblance of the characters is observed, it's a coincidence.

Flash Games FTW! :D

Flash games are always my favourite. Compared to other games, they are much easier to download, and they require little waiting or hassle. Most importantly, some of them are actually pretty fun and worth playing. Hence, whenever I am tired of my Nintendo DS, flash games are always the next in line as my source of entertainment.

As usual, I always like to go to sites like Armor games and Newgrounds to search for newly-released games. This week, I found a couple of awesome flash games that kept me well occupied!

1. Kingdom Rush
Ah, strategy games. I am not very good at strategy games (and hence my dislike for them) but this one caught my full attention. Produced by Ironhide Game Studio this year, this games bears resemblance to a typical Tower Defense game. However, it stands out on its own because of its creativity and graphics. In Kingdom Rush, you have to defend your realm against hordes of orcs, trolls, evil wizards and other nasty fiends; armed with a mighty arsenal of warriors and mages of your own.

The controls are fairly simple; all you have to do is click on a plot of land and you can start building your tower. There are four different types of tower, each having its own set of advantages and upgrades. My favourite towers are definitely the Musketeer Tower, which can hit high area damage when equipped with the ability Shrapnel Shot, and the Arcane Wizard Tower, which can penetrate physical defenses and comes with a Death Ray special.

Adding to the fun are the many types of enemies you can fight against. Ranging from the simple, weak Goblin to the tough, powerful (but luckily slow) Yeti, the game provides no end to the types of enemies available. Kingdom Rush is also user-friendly such that it provides the description of each type of enemy and gives you tips on how to deal with them effectively. My personal favourite is the Spider Matriach, which can be ridiculously hard to defeat for novices due to its high magical resistance and its ability to spawn spiderlings. And I never liked spiders anyway.

In additions, here are many types of terrains available, ranging from a town to the frosty icelands. Each terrains has own challenges, hence the same strategy cannot be applied across all the stages.

However, one downside to this game is that it restricts where you place the towers. Plots of lands have already been allocated for you to place your towers, so it reduces the flexibility of your set-up. But other than that, it is overall a cool game to play.

2. Achievement Unlocked 2
Always dying to unlock all the achievements in a game? This is definitely the game for you! Achievement Unlocked 2 is the sequel to the original game and has definitely increased in difficulty level. You will be playing as an elephant, and your objective is to be able to touch all the squares in the playing field and of course, complete all the achievements to win the games. The graphics are fairly simple, but it is the challenge of completing all the objectives that leaves you wanting for more! There are in total 250 achievements, ranging from a simple (but dumb) Playtastic (unlocked by finding the Play button) and Rollout (rolling the mouse off the game) to Best of all, you can either play alone, or you can play together with your friends in a single game!

P.S. Dying is also an achievement! Cool story bro!

What are you waiting for? Get started now! :)

Drawing Using Com Is A Challenge!

Recently I started to draw using editing software.

It's very much different from freehand drawing, and the challenge is that you need to know and understand how to use each of the functions before you can get down to drawing.

And I used what I have self-taught to draw my favorite singer.

Presenting the HOTTEST, BADDEST female from Seoul! :D












Perhaps, if I even have the time, I might even draw all four members of 2NE1. Hmmmm....

COOOOL Body Facts That You May Not Know!

I was listening to a radio program the night before and learnt some new information about the human body. Piqued by my increasing interest, I went online to find out more. The following are the top 5 facts that I thought was the coolest and the most amazing:

1. 80% of the brain is water. So people keep describing the brain as the "grey matter" within your thick little skull. However, it actually is a squishy, pink and jelly-like organ due to its high blood and water content of the tissue. So in Mandarin, people tend to use the words "大脑进水" to describe someone who is crazy. And unfortunately, they are factually correct.

2. Monday is the day of the week when the risk of heart attack is the greatest! Another good reason to whine about Monday blues! A 10 year-study revealed that 20% more people die of heart of heart attack on Monday as compared to any other day of the week. Perhaps it's the stress of getting back to work after partying too much during the weekends.

3. Women with larger breasts "have higher diabetes" risk. To the well endowed ladies, you have been warned. Young women who have a fuller figure are at greater risk of getting Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes only occurs when the body becomes non-responsive to the insulin produced by the pancreas, hence unable to bring the glucose level down. The fatty tissue in the breast, known as adipose tissue may have contributed to the percentage of fat in the abdominal area. And as we all know, obesity, especially fat storage in the abdominal area, has long been pegged as a key contributor to the ailment.

However, there isn't much to worry about yet! There are many other factors that contribute to diabetes, including an unhealthy lifestyle. So as long as you eat healthily and exercise regularly, you should be able to steer clear of many health risks! :D

4. A normal human produces enough saliva to fill up two swimming pools during his/her lifetime. Saliva plays an important part in the digesting system by keeping the mouth lubricating and breaking down the food via the enzymes present in saliva, and your mouth produces quite a bit of it on a daily basis. But two swimming pools worth of saliva...? Ewwww...

5. We are about 1cm taller in the day as compared to in the evening. Our cartilages between our bones get compressed by standing, sitting and other daily activities throughout the day, making us a little bit shorter by the end of the day. Darn, I bet I always took my height measurement at the wrong time of the day! I knew I was taller! :D