Ao no Exorcist

Ao no Exorcist or Blue Exorcist is a new Japanese anime that I started watching this week and it’s one I think is worth recommending for those who are looking for a new anime to try out.

Watching this anime for me was initially meant more to kill time than because I read any good reviews about it. I was bored and went looking for something new – Bleach and Naruto manga are still good, but too much of it can be a bore too.

Fortunately for me, Ao no Exorcist has a pretty good and addictive storyline. While the story starts off slow, it picks up after the 10th episode – after which, I’ve been downloading and watching all the way till episode 24, the latest episode released this week.

The Ao no Exorcist manga was first published in 2009 and the anime only started airing since April 2011. So I’m hoping that there will be more to come and be part of my staple diet of anime and manga each week.

I’m not going to do a review of the plot here, but as the title indicates, it's about exorcists and involves a certain son of Satan. For anyone interested, I believe the information on wiki would serve as better place for details than what I would be able to write here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Exorcist).

Last but not the least, I leave you with the anime trailer so you can decide if this is one that is worth watching :)

Skyscraper

Demi Lovato - Skyscraper

Skies are crying, I am watching

Catching teardrops in my hands

Only silence, as it's ending, like we never had a chance.

Do you have to make me feel like there's nothing left of me?

You can take everything I have

You can break everything I am

Like I'm made of glass

Like I'm made of paper

Go on and try to tear me down

I will be rising from the ground

Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper

As the smoke clears

I awaken and untangle you from me

Would it make you feel better to watch me while I bleed

All my windows still are broken but I'm standing on my feet

You can take everything I have

You can break everything I am

Like I'm made of glass

Like I'm made of paper

Go on and try to tear me down

I will be rising from the ground

Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper

Go run run run I'm gonna stay right here

Watch you disappear yeah

Go run run run yeah it's a long way down

But I'm closer to the clouds up here

You can take everything I have

You can break everything I am

Like I'm made of glass

Like I'm made of paper

Ohh

Go on and try to tear me down

I will be rising from the ground

Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper

Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper

Like a skyscraper

No Mere Mortal

The dragon looked at the tiny figure standing in front of him. Puny human, thought the dragon. It was amused by the many ways he could snuff the life out of this insignificant being - a flick of the tail perhaps, or a gout of fire to reduce flesh and bones to ashes in mere seconds. That put a smile to its face - if one could imagine how a smiling dragon looks like.

But unknown to the mighty dragon, that is no mere mortal standing a few feet away, wrapped up in a dark cloak, with its hood down, the face barely visible. Showing neither fear nor concerns, but just stood there waiting.

Then again, a dragon is no mere mortal either...

Beautiful Like You

Let's pretend that the world is waking up...everything that we see is beautiful...like you...

Everybody wants to

Look into the mirror

And feel a little better now

And everybody wants to

Know there's someone out there

Waiting for you to come around

And I wish that

You could feel it

But you don't choose

To believe it

Cause I know that

You can't see it that way

That way

If you could only just stop stop stop running

If you could only take a second to breathe it in

Everything that you know would be beautiful

Like you

You know they're never gonna stop stop stop your love

Let's pretend that the world is waking up

Everything that we see is beautiful

Like you

Like you

Everybody wants to

Tell someone their secrets

Why don't you tell me now

Well, maybe I can fix this

Then I don't want

You to miss this

And the sun is

Raining down

Yeah

If you could only just stop stop stop running

If you could only take a second to breathe it in

Everything that you know would be beautiful

Like you

You know they're never gonna stop stop stop your love

Let's pretend that the world is waking up

Everything that we see is beautiful

Like you

Sometimes is hard to be

Yourself in this crazy world

Sometimes is hard to breathe

Yeah

Everybody wants to

Know there's someone out there

Waiting for you to come around

Come around

If you could only just stop stop stop running

If you could only take a second to breathe it in

Everything that you know would be beautiful

Like you

You know they're never gonna stop stop stop your love

Let's pretend that the world is waking up

Everything that we see can be beautiful

Like you

Can be beautiful

Like you

Can be beautiful

Like you

Oh, Beautiful

Cycle That Which Is Life

"Even the idealist in me blanch at the thought that this...that this was all to prepare me for something worse to come. Why? Was this why you have made me gone through all this?" The man looked up to the sky with only despair in his eyes. There was nothing he could do, but wail at the heavens above for the cruelty of fate and the merciless cycle that which is life.

Wish You Were Here

OK...I don't know why this version got the "sh*t" part censored, but I guess I like to post the clip with the actual singing :P

Hope you enjoy it :)

I can be tough
I can be strong
But with you, It's not like that at all
 

Theres a girl who gives a shit

Behind this wall
You just walk through it

And I remember all those crazy thing you said
You left them running through my head
You're always there, you're everywhere
But right now I wish you were here

All those crazy things we did
Didn't think about it just went with it
You're always there, you're everywhere
But right now I wish you were here

[chorus]

Damn, Damn, Damn,
What I'd do to have you
Here, Here, Here

I wish you were here

Damn, Damn, Damn,
What I'd do to have you
Near, Near, Near
I wish you were here.

I love the way you are
It's who I am don't have to try hard
We always say, Say like it is
And the truth is that I really miss

All those crazy thing you said
You left them running through my head
You're always there, you're everywhere
But right now I wish you were here

All those crazy things we did
Didn't think about it just went with it
You're always there, you're everywhere
But right now I wish you were here

[chorus]

Damn, Damn, Damn,
What I'd do to have you
Here, Here, Here
I wish you were here

Damn, Damn, Damn,
What I'd do to have you
Near, Near, Near
I wish you were here.

[bridge]

No, I don't wanna let go
I just wanna let you know
That I never wanna let go
Let go, Oh, Oh,

No, I don't wanna let go
I just wanna let you know
That I never wanna let go
Let go, Let go, Let go...

[chorus]

Damn, Damn, Damn,
What I'd do to have you
Here, Here, Here
I wish you were here

Damn, Damn, Damn,
What I'd do to have you
Near, Near, Near
I wish you were here.

This March

It's Sunday night and I'm sitting here at half-time, watching the pundits debate over the controversial penalty given to Liverpool against Sunderland for a foul that was made outside the box. I guess this is payback against the beach ball incident last season?

It's more than 2 weeks since the last post and it's partly because March has turned out to be a pretty busy month. I find that I get more than a bit lazy to write when I get occupied with work. Perhaps I just didn't want to put much effort into thinking, but rather prefer to browse the web, read a book or just listen to music. Hanging out with friends is definitely another way I like to take my mind off work stuff.

Speaking of hanging out with friends, we managed to catch two good movies recently. The Adjustment Bureau was a good watch - kind of got me to thinking about the not-so-new question about whether life has been predetermined by some supreme being or whether free will helps shape destiny. Which one do you believe in? If life has been predetermined, I wonder why we spent so much time thinking about what we want to do in life and where we would end up - in the end it wouldn't matter, would it?

Then there was Rango - an animation about a pet chameleon out playing hero ala the Wild Wild West in the Mojave Desert. There was good character build up overall, and plenty of witty comedy moments. The four singing owls (think the Three Amigos) was a nice touch - certainly adds to the laughter. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 89% and my view is that Rango is definitely worth watching at the cinema.

Another favorite past time of mine is reading and today I managed to complete Never Let Me Go (finally), a science fiction by Kazuo Ishiguro. To be honest, the book was a slow read for me, despite getting more interesting halfway through. The setting is in England and the story starts off with Kathy, the protagonist, recounting her life at Hailsham with two of her best friends, Tommy and Ruth. Not to give any spoilers away, but a third through the book I realized that the kids at Hailsham were practically reared to become organ donors when they reach adulthood - which was the only interesting part I found about the story.

Probably I was in the mood for something faster paced, which means that I should have spent 2 hours watching the movie (yes, there is a movie made based on this book and was released last year) instead of spending a month reading the written version. Apparently Time magazine named it the best novel of 2005...and I probably would not understand why.

Anyway, I'm now going to jump back to Fantasy for a bit and start on Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. It's the fourth book in the series and if you notice the title, the story this time is about revenge. I believe it should be a good read - at least I'm sure there would be more action than the previous one :)

Oh...and Liverpool won that game by two goals to nil - YNWA! :)

What Are Words

Effie, thanks for sharing this :)
It's a really beautiful song and the story behind the lyrics makes it all the more meaningful.

Chris Medina's What Are Words

Anywhere you are, I am near 

Anywhere you go, I'll be there 

Anytime you whisper my name, you'll see

How every single promise I keep

Cuz what kind of guy would I be

If I was to leave when you need me most

What are words
If you really don't mean them

When you say them

What are words

If they're only for good times 

Then they don't 

When it's love

Yeah, you say them out loud

Those words,

They never go away

They live on, even when we're gone

And I know an angel was sent just for me

And I know I'm meant to be where I am

And I'm gonna be 

Standing right beside her tonight

And I'm gonna be by your side

I would never leave when she needs me most

What are words

If you really don't mean them

When you say them 

What are words

If they're only for good times

Then they don't

When it's love

Yeah, you say them out loud

Those words,

They never go away

They live on, even when we're gone

Anywhere you are, I am near

Anywhere you go, I'll be there

And I'm gonna be here forever more

Every single promise I keep

Cuz what kind of guy would I be

If I was to leave when you need me most

I'm forever keeping my angel close

Trip To The Big Apple (Part 2)

TIMES SQUARE! :)

Times Square is a major commercial intersection at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets.

Filled with colorful billboards! Loads of people milling about, tourist and locals alike :)

Planet Hollywood along 7th Avenue

The Paramount Building at 1501 Broadway once housed 

the Paramount Theatre

Disney's The Lion King - The Broadway Musical. We initially had a thought about going to see one of the musicals, but I guess time didn't permit, too bad.

Also Mamma Mia!

And there you go, the night spent taking pictures at Times Square. Oh...and we had a nice dinner at an Irish Pub/Restaurant called Perfect Pint - I had what they called the Leprechaun Lamb Stew, washed down with a pint of Guiness ;)

Slightly different from the typical Irish Stew (one of my favorites),
but this was every bit as delicious! 

Title.Banner

Finally! I found some time to work out a new banner for the blog title :)
And now I need to figure out what I want to put as the background...or should I leave it empty? I think some patterns or "stuff" would make it look less dull?

Anyway, I'm going to do this a bit at a time, more fun that way ;)

Trip To The Big Apple (Part 1)

So that's it for Chinese New Year this year. A bit strange cause I hardly noticed any difference before and after. Except the two rounds of card playing (what my friends call AGM - try figure out what that means) in between, I guess it's just like any other day. Yes, including the work and all.

Anyway, that's probably just me (second time I've used that this week). I do wish that my friends have had a great celebration, or at least had a very good break from the daily routine to spend time with family and friends :)

I did say in my last post that I was going to blog more about the trip after I sorted out the pictures. I think I'll do the trip in bits so as not to bore you too much with my long-winded writing. As for the pictures, they are uploaded to my Facebook photo album and there will some I'm uploading with this post.

The trip itself felt as if it happened a year ago - although it was only 2 weeks ago that I arrived back in Penang. Despite the very long travel time involved, it was certainly worth the effort, and money to check out The Big Apple - had to pay extra RM1K to get out of New York after our flight got canceled.

If anyone is traveling to NYC any time soon and would like to stay in Manhattan - you can check out Hotel 31 - Thank you Irene for helping me with searching for the flights and accomodation! :) It's clean and cost wise, it's reasonable. And I do recommend that you stay in Manhattan if you are planning to stay only a few days and want to do those usual touristy stuff - it's just more convenient to get around. You can either walk to most places or take the subway, which cost around USD2.50 for a one way trip (goes pretty far I believe, so long as you stay on the same subway line).

The first night CS and I got there, the first thing we did of course was to drop our bags and just went wandering around, snapping pictures and I guess getting used to the cold - it was between -5°C and 0°C, and at that time we just came from Florida which was more like 8°C - 10°C.

New York Public Library at night

Fountain at Bryant Park

The next day we started with checking out Madison Square Garden, then routed back to Fifth Avenue and just made it towards Central Park. Along the way Fifth Avenue, one can visit places like the New York Public Library (which we skipped on the first day cause there was some filming going at the entrance and they didn't allow visitors to enter), the Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trump Tower and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

Madison Square Garden,
where famous matches were played/
fought. And like one friend commented
on FB, reminds him of MTV

Outside Rockefeller Center
One should go up the tower and
take in the view of Manhattan from
the top - it's really something!

Central Park was a pleasant surprised - although I have seen it covered in snow in movies like Home Alone 2 and Batman 2, it's quite an experience viewing it in person. Makes me wonder what it would be like in the autumn. The feel would be so different. Golden, brown leaves would cover most of the park instead and I'm thinking that scene would be very beautiful during sunset.

Central Park - All in white :)

Central Park - By the pond

And as the day got darker, we managed to get ourselves to the American Museum of Natural History - remember the movie, A Night at the Museum? Anyway, now that I look at the map again, it had been a long walk from where we started the day from - 31st (hotel) to 79th Street (museum), not to mention the many places we stopped by in between. I guess it made sense that after the museum visit we decided to take the subway back down to mid town  - conveniently there was a subway station on the 79th Street. We were tired and wanted to check out Times Square during the night still. Talk about maximizing time huh? ;)

Inside The American Museum of
Natural History

James A. Farley Post Office - huge!

Anyway, that's a stop for this round - not quite finished Day 1 yet, but this post is getting a bit too long. Will blog more the next time.

Have a great weekend!

48 Hours and Counting

After hours on the plane, with multiple transits, I'm have now arrived back in Hong Kong. That's 48 hours traveling straight from New York. With the final leg back to Penang in another few hours or so. Tiring.

After a night of snow pelt

It all started with the weather getting very bad (snow storms and all) in the US, particularly in the North East. And then our flight out of New York got canceled. I guess it was fortunate that we found out early enough (about the cancellation) that we were still able to get tickets out of New York - else we will probably get stuck there for another few days. The unfortunate part was that we had to pay a bomb for the tickets - last minute and all and had to rush to the airport to buy them.

So in 48 hours, we made it from New York to Atlanta (Georgia), and then to Plantation (Florida), and then to Dallas (Texas), and then to Los Angeles (California), and then finally making the long flight to Hong Kong. By the way, Texas was also hit by the snowstorm a couple of days before and the temperature was still around -8°C when we arrived at the airport - fortunately the planes were not grounded.

It was certainly an experience - though you would probably have guessed that it is not one I would want to repeat anytime soon if I can help it ;)
Particularly when during the journey, I developed a sore throat and have a nose bleed. The throat seems to be fine now after some hours of rest along the way, but it seems that the nose has became a bit worst - hoping it's just being "heaty".

Will be blogging about the trip as soon as I get around sorting the pictures out. Here is one I took in Schaumburg, Illinois. Apparently it's about 20 inches of snow there after the last round of snowing - glad I'm not around to weather it out :)



To friends who are celebrating, here's to wishing you a Happy New Year! May the year of the Rabbit brings you lots of joyous and happy moments!

Weight.Lifted

The word epiphany came to mind - but I don't think I will be shouting Eureka any time soon. Reading this, you will probably be wondering what in the world I'm talking about. You can choose to ignore me now.

You know how certain things happen so fast that the significance only dawns on you after your brain gives it a few days' worth of churning? Well, I kind of had that moment this afternoon. And when that certain realization hit me, I felt as if a great weight has been lifted.

But that is all I'm able to put into words right now. Merely jotting this down as a record.

Switching topics, I was looking out the balcony just now and I just realized how brightly lit the pool area is. Maybe it looks nicer cause I'm in a good mood? Anyway, I thought I snap a picture and share it. Call it a "mou liu" moment :P

P/S: To my "team mates" who might be reading this, catch you guys at lunch tomorrow :D

Of Beer and Witches

So how was the first week of the new year for everyone?
For me, it's been pretty productive, work wise - although it's probably due to the need to meet deadlines more than any sudden burst of energy.

Friday's dinner with the gang was a good one. We tried out Weissbräu (click the link for a review by Gourmet Garden), the newly open German Bistro and Bar at Straits Quay. I had the Hungarian Beef Goulash, though I ordered it mainly because they didn't have the Braised Pork Shank that night. The food was OK, but I would say I enjoyed the Erdinger Dunkel better ;)
We had some good laughs that night and it was certainly a good way to end the week with.

By the way, unless you are a  a movie titled Season of the Witch. Unless you are a Nicholas Cage fan, you can probably skip this. Let's just say that the show doesn't have much to do with witches. And there was just no plot to the story.

OK...maybe now that I have lowered your expectations, you might actually enjoy it a little if you are to go watch it. Let me know if it worked :P

I'm glad that tomorrow is still Sunday and I can have another day to rest at home, probably trying to finish that book I started three weeks back - was juggling a couple of things lately, but no excuse I guess. All I want to do now is to get back into a comfortable routine and make sure that I get the "work life balance" thingy correct (clichéd terms, yes I know). And apparently my astrology forecast tells me that I should focus on career this year (got this link from Ling) - maybe I should take the advice. But then again, I thought that's what I've been doing for the past two years...more of the same then?

To LFC fans, tomorrow is going to be a big day. With Woy leaving the club, I'm hoping King Kenny can work some miracles (keeping my fingers crossed), although it's going to be a bit tough. But...You'll Never Walk Alone, right? ;)
As for Woy, sorry mate, your poor tactis and face rubbing antics kind of consigned your fate to walk out from Anfield alone.

Till the next posting, adios!

And Now It's Twenty Eleven

Yeah, so I'm reviving this blog of mine. I apologize to friends and readers for going on a super pro-longed hiatus without leaving a note - and didn't reply your comments either. Terribly bad of me.

Anyway, we are beginning the year 2011 and I guess it's a good time as any to start blogging again :) Was still having second thoughts about it last month and it's all thanks to Jacylenne for giving me that final push to start writing on this blog again.

2010 has been one eventful year for me - there were good ones and as usual with life, came with the bad ones as well.

On the working front, although there are risks involved, I decided a few months back to take up a new and different role - plenty to learn about and in a way need to start over in certain areas. But I believe I made the right choice - just need to make it work.

On the other hand, I made some decisions in life that I hope will not come back to haunt me. But life will and has to go on. "After a hurricane comes a rainbow" so say a song I heard on the radio recently.

2010 marks the big upgrade to version 3.x. Makes me think back to 10 years ago, when the bunch of us were happily partying away (ahem...I mean studying) at university, without much worry over...well, almost everything else.

Looking back to what I have achieved today, I guess I could have done better. But we can't have everything, can we? ;) I got the promotion that I wanted, moved into a new apartment, made some really good friends over the years (and managed to keep in touch with them regularly), and had lots and lots of cherished "moments". Not much to complain about I guess.

I learnt that the pain of losing someone you love cannot be explained nor understood. And with reaching the 3.x mark and looking back at 2010, there were so many moments that I would have loved to have shared with you, mum. Makes me miss you all the more.

2011 started as well as I could have hoped for. I'm back in hometown and typing this while watching my nephew and niece play with their toys...has a relaxing and nice feeling to it.

Met up with an old friend yesterday and was told that I'm the first on his list of friends to catch up with in 2011. Or could it be that I'm the last on his list from 2010 that got spilled over to 2011? ;)
(If you are reading this, you should have guessed that I was going to bring this up right? haha...)

Also, I was at a wedding dinner of another old friend from university and had loads of fun, particularly during the after party, which lasted till 2am! Gave me a massive hang-over this morning though haha...

I'm certainly looking forward to 2011 and what it has to offer. I'll certainly be writing again, hopefully in a more consistent manner. First thing would probably be to do some "face-lifting" to this blog. I'm still thinking about what the theme should be for the header and the background. Hopefully a thoughtful blogger and friend can give me some inspirations? ;)

Here's to wishing everyone a wonderful New Year and a fantastic 2011!