The Adventure Continues... In Pokemon Black and White!

About 20 days after its release, a copy of it is finally in my hands.

Introducing: Pokemon Black and White.

Having played the last few installments of the game, I picked up Pokemon Black. It was better than I expected.

The 5th generation of Pokemon introduces up to more than 150 new Pokemon to the franchise, and this time, the adventure takes place in Unova Region, which is based off New York City. The game starts off with you and two other friends receiving a starter Pokemon as a gift from Professor Juniper. As with other versions, the aim of this game is to obtain all eight badges of the Unova region and challenge the Pokemon League.

In addition to the aim of becoming the Pokemon Champion, players would also have to thwart the plans of the games' main antagonist Team Plasma, a group that seeks to liberate Pokemon from human oppression.

The game starts off at a very slow pace (for me at least) as Professor Juniper will guide players through the various aspects of the game, such as capturing a Pokemon, so as to allow players new to Pokemon familiarize with the game.

New features included in this game include the seasonal cycle. This means that only certain areas can be accessed and certain Pokemon can only be captured in different seasons. Some Pokemon change appearance according to season as well. Another new feature to note would be the Triple Battle Mode, which increases the challenge of a Pokemon Battle.

After an hour of gameplay, I find the game fun but challenging. It can be quite frustrating for new players, as battles between ordinary trainers can now be quite a challenge even for veteran players too. I was however disappointed by the absence of the mascot of Pokemon -- Pikachu. Pikachu is the reason why many fans are familiar with Pokemon, and Pikachu cannot be found in Pokemon Black/White unless you trade it over from previous versions like Diamond/Pearl/Platinum/HeartGold/SoulSilver. Without this symbolic character, I felt that the game seems be missing something.

But overall, the introduction of new Pokemon and new game features make it an equally awesome gaming experience for old and new players alike.

Before I end this post, allow me to introduce the starter Pokemon of this series:

Tepig - Evolves into a Fire/Fighting final stage. It has the worst Defense, Special Defense and Speed of the trio's final evolutions, but makes up for its limitations with a high HP, Attack and Special Attack. Learns several strong moves to complement its offense-based stats.




Oshawott - Evolves into a Water final stage with an appearance of a sea lion. It is a balanced starter, and can learn all three of the Water HMs, i.e. Surf, Waterfall and Dive. Good for beginner players. Its movepool is decent, with good Water moves like Aqua Tail and Razor Shell, and also stat-boosting Swords Dance and Focus Energy.



Snivy - Evolves into a Grass final stage. Unlike Tepig's evolution line, it is more defense-oriented. It has the worst HP, Attack and Special Attack of the trio's final evolutions, but does have the best Defense, Special Defense and Speed. Pity the narrow movepool though, and its only decent level-up move is Leaf Storm of base power 140, learnt at Lvl.62 (groan).




So after all these talk, I can't wait to continue on my adventure in the Unova region! :D

What If My GP Teacher Was A Geisha?

Note: Before watching this video, please note that parts of the video may be offensive. In that case, please refrain from watching and skip this post.

My colleague introduced this video to me, and I laughed like there was no tomorrow.

Enjoy. :D

Eevee's Evos!!!! :D

This is it.

Every time I see people drawing Eevee and its evolutions, I get spurred to draw one myself.

But then, I never bothered to start on it. Lol.

Now, I have finally decided to draw one to fulfill my satisfactions.

Enjoy :)

How It Feels Like To Be SPENT...

I saw its review on the newspapers.

And without hesitation, I went to try it out.

The review was spot on. It was an awesome game.

SPENT was launched in February 2011 as a collaboration between McKinney and Urban Ministries of Durham. In this game, you start your day being unemployed, broke and only $1000 dollars in your pocket, and you'll have to last a month.

If you think $1000 is a lot for one month, think again. Like many, I thought that was an easy task, and after an eventful, unpredictable month I have only $512 left even with a job. Lucky me, for it could have been much worse.

With that $1000 in your pocket, you will be faced with many decisions and dilemmas in life, such as whether to opt in for health insurance or not. If you do, you may not have enough to last a month, but you will have to pay more for medical bills if you do not. That was just an example of what you, playing as an unemployed single parent will face.

Even though the questions are of multiple-choice, but the hard truth is that over 14 million people in US are unemployed and are facing difficulties making these decisions every day. I feel that this game will educate users on the importance of being thrifty, and also learn about the serious issue of unemployment around the world.

I strongly recommend this game. It may only take a few minutes, but in the midst of playing it, learn of how people live under such desperate circumstances.

Interesting Read -- Fever Pitch

Knowing my love for football, my friend actually recommended me to read this book. And so I did.

I present to you: Nick Hornby's "Fever Pitch".

After reading a few pages, I loved the book. It fully describes and captures the emotions and meaning of a true football fan.

The story begins when the author's father brought him to a soccer match between Arsenal and Stoke City in 1968, and despite Arsenal being infamously known as a "boring, aggressive and rough" team then (unlike the pass-and-move style that is now adopted under Arsene Wenger's tutelage), the author felt in love with the Gunners. And this began the love affair between Hornby and Arsenal Football Club.

I loved this book for various reasons. One of which is that I am able to relate to the author's thoughts and perspective as a football fan. As an ardent supporter of a favourite team, one rejoices when the team wins, and feels sad as the team loses. This is something non-football fans will never understand: that the fans and the football team are one. Nick Hornby fully demonstrates the traits of an ardent Arsenal fan when the Gunners lost 2-1 against Aston Villa:

" I was stunned and exhausted by the defeat... the next morning a girlfriend phoned me at work, and, hearing the tired dejection in my voice, asked me what was wrong. 'Haven't you heard?' I asked her pitifully. She sounded worried and then, when I hold her what had happened, I could hear, just for a second, relief - so it wasn't after all the things she had momentarily feared for me - before she remembered who she was talking to, and the relief was replaced by all the sympathy she could muster. I knew she didn't really understand this sort of pain..."

Another factor that endeared me to this book is that the author brilliantly captures the culture of football in England. While I was reading, I could vividly feel the atmosphere of a soccer match around me. I bet you will feel the same too...

"I loved the different categories of noise: the formal, ritual noise when the players emerged (each player's name called in turn, starting with the favourite, until he responded with a wave); the spontaneous shapeless roar when something exciting was happening on the pitch; the renewed vigour of the chanting after a goal or a sustained period of attacking."

The Highbury has an attendance of 50,ooo odd people every match. On average, Singapore's soccer matches have a woeful attendance of about 2000. There's no way one in Singapore could feel the same way like in Highbury.

But of course, the book also highlights the ugly side of football in Europe -- hooliganism. Hooliganism is a major threat to European football and has led to many tragedies in football, for example the Heysel incident (when a masonry wall failed then collapsed under the pressure of escaping fans in the Heysel Stadium in Belgium as a result of rioting before the start of the 1985 European Cup final between Liverpool & Juventus.)and the West Ham stabbing as described in the book. Such is the violent side of football, and unfortunately, it cannot be eradicated completely because without it this isn't football either.

If you are a football fan, this is a good book to read through. If you are not a football fan, you may not exactly endear to the author's thoughts and views, but it's worth reading to understand how a typical football fanatic feels.

OMG. -.-///

Ah...I am so tired.

So tired that I actually forgot to update.

But fret not though, as I recently picked up a couple of books from the library. They may be old, but after a few chapters I felt it was worth the read. Will recommend one of them soon. It's by Nick Hornby. Hint hint. :D

Valentine's Day -- Sealed With A Naughty Kiss ♥

Wow. Valentine's Day is around the corner.

Blimey, it's actually tomorrow! o.O

While I will probably spend Valentine's Day at home this year (as usual), at least I have something to keep me entertained for the day!

Guess what! I just borrowed one of the latest Korean drama "Naughty Kiss" recently and I am actually watching it! :D

Basically, "Naughty Kiss" is based on the Japanese comic series "Itazurana Kiss" by Tada Kaoru. (Taiwanese idol drama fans may find this familiar. Well, this has been made into a Taiwan idol drama before, starring Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng.) This is a romance story about a girl named Oh Ha-ni (Jung So Min) who is a clumsy student who practically fails her exams all the time, and the perfectionist Baek Seung Jo (Kim Hyun Jung) who has an IQ of 200. So Ha-ni has a crush on Seung Jo since high school, but Seung Jo is indifferent towards her and rejects her love. When Ha-ni's house collapses, she and her father moves into his long-known friend's house. Coincidentally, it turns out that Seung Jo is the friend's son and Ha-ni is given the opportunity to be staying close to the guy she loves. This is when their relationship starts to become closer...

Well, after watching about 3 odd episodes, I felt that this is a good show to watch if you are looking for a light hearted Korean comedy. Some parts were really funny and I guess that's what that kept me glued to the show. (For Kim Hyun Jung's fans, this is one show you guys can just watch at how cool he always acts. :D) As expected for all rom-coms, the ending will always be a good one. Yay.

However, imagine this, if a girl keeps sticking to you like a chewing gum in real life, maybe the guy will really get sick and tired of her after a short while even if he likes the girl a lot. I think it will give the guy very little space of his own and he may feel that he has lost part of his privacy. For example, would you like your girlfriend to stalk you everyday, 9 hours a day when you are working? (this happened for Seung Jo when he was working in a family restaurant and Ha-In kept going to the restaurant to keep an eye on him, but if you want to know what really happened, you'll have to find out yourself...). Love is one thing, but obsession is another.

So...go watch this drama if you haven't started! Meanwhile, I'll carry my DVD copy along with me to watch on Valentine's Day night. Can't wait to finish all the episodes! :)