Welcome, my Tweeting Toyboxers! Now that I’ve regrouped and reintegrated my abandoned Twitter and WordPress.com posts into the Toybox, I can now relax with a shiny new entry. This time, we’ll curl, crunch and focus on extreme workouts! From my hybrid “J200XC” to the web-based “BodyRock.Tv” to the highly-anticipated sequel “P90X2″. So, without further ado, let’s rock the show…

Part 1 of 3 > J200XC > My Extreme Hybrid Program

Whew! This morning, I completed Day 126 of “J200XC”, my second 200-day hybrid program. For the dirty details of my uphill path through “P90X”, then my first “J200X”, then my current “J200XC”, feel free to peek at my #1-ranked Toybox post: “From P90X to Insanity” (25 July 2010). Meanwhile, here’s a little taste from my “Exercise” page.

Started February 2011, here’s my next “J200XC” 200-Day Hybrid Program, based heavily on Chalene’s programs. Yup, after 2 rounds, I got tired of Tony’s “P90X”, and replaced it with Chalene’s “ChaLEAN Extreme”. Interestingly, I decided to bring back Tony’s 90-minute “Yoga X” on a weekly basis as the most intense-yet-invigorating stretching session from any fitness program, hehe. Then in May 2011, on Day 63, I decided to replace Beto’s unsatisfying “Zumba” and bring back Tony’s kick-ass “Kenpo X” and “Kenpo Cardio Plus”. Nice.

Consequently, here’s the PDF file for “J200XC”, Version 2. As always, feel free to peek inside.

Haha, but what I didn’t mention was that I couldn’t wait to use my new dumbbell set! So instead of another boring Kenpo Cardio Plus routine, I decided to do ChaLEAN’s Lean 3-40W. Wow, much more intense with a pair of 35-pound instead of 25-pound dumbbells! I can also load it up to 40 pounds! Basically, I ordered the Cap Barbell 40-Pound Dumbbell Set (Amazon) plus four Champion 10-Pound Standard Flat Plates (Amazon) to combine them into the most-affordable and adjustable 80-pound dumbbell set for under $105 USD (free shipping). If I choose to, I can also buy additional plates. Nice!

Here are my new plated dumbbells (black, Cap Barbell and Champion) as they compare to the old hex dumbbells (gray) I’ve had for years before P90X.

Then after my morning workout and stretch, I tossed together a tasty bowl of cereal. Actually, this bowl combines several tasty high-fiber cereals (General Mills’ FiberOne, Kashi’s GoLean, and generic Frosted Shredded Wheat), plus a handful of dried fruits on top. Hehe, fiber is getting tastier every year, isn’t it?

Part 2 of 3 > Body Rock > The Home Workout Movement

BodyRock.Tv. Have you ever heard of this website before? I certainly didn’t. That is, not until a few weeks ago. While browsing YouTube, I accidently stumbled upon one of Zuzana’s many workout videos. From there, I found her website and daily videos, put together by Zuzana and her husband Freddy. Wow, extreme home workouts for free!

While I haven’t done a true BodyRock workout yet, I’ve tried a few exercises that didn’t need specialized equipment. Consequently, the biggest obstacle is my lack of BodyRock workout gear, such as an interval timer, dip station or sandbag. So, to compensate for an interval timer, I assembled my own 21-minute electronica-dance music MP3, with the familiar high-pitched beeps between 50-second “high-energy” clips and 10-second “rest” clips. Yup, last weekend, I improvised a full 21-minute interval workout with the help of my newly-minted mix, hehe. Sound intriguing? Feel free to test-drive the “BodyRock-Mix-2011” MP3 (about 20 MB).

Hopefully, I can incorporate a handful of Zuzana’s exercises into my next “J200X3″ hybrid program. Actually, her “Fierce Friday Workout” (01 July 2011) demonstrates exercises without any specialized equipment. So that’ll be a great start.

Meanwhile, her “Just Did It! Workout” (15 July 2011) demonstrates exercises with a pink fitness ball. Hmm, as more and more accessories and expenses are required for her workouts, the tougher they’ll be to incorporate. I’ll just have to improvise or ignore them, hehe.

Part 3 of 3 > P90X2 > The Sequel to P90X

A-ha, coming soon! “P90X2“, the highly-anticipated sequel to “P90X”. Here’s a taste from the Beachbody website.

Currently in development, P90X2™ is the sequel to Beachbody’s best-selling workout program, P90X. With P90X2 workout, P90X grads can get even stronger, more flexible, and more ripped. This program is designed for maximum intensity and efficiency. In fact, this completely new 90-day program features cutting-edge workouts so intense, we only let you do them 5 days a week.

The original “P90X” Extreme Home Fitness Program released in 2004.

The sequel “P90X2″ with Muscle Confusion 2 coming in 2011.

Need I say more? More fitness balls? Well, I guess it’s yet another thing to incorporate into my next “J200X3″ hybrid program starting in October 2011. Extreme indeed.

Aww, thanks, Aki-chan! Happy Belated Birthday to you too! Sadly, Aki-chan’s message is genuinely fake, hehe. But yup, 5 days after Aki-chan’s March 14th birthday, on March 19th, I climbed another year higher, wiser and more tuned to the ways of live-action J-drama, K-drama, Asian gravure idols, and Japanese onigiri. Not bad, huh? On that note, my Tender Toyboxers, let’s step away from “fake” 2D anime and animation this week, and instead, sit back, relax with a bowl of sticky rice, and enjoy a refreshing bottle of “real” 3D entertainment. Ready? Then let’s do it. Let’s start the show…

Part 1 of 5 > My 44 Live-Action in 2009

During my last mega-cast, you might remember what I said about “fake” anime.

Fake? Has anime started to feel fake yet? Yup, you heard me, hehe. The reason I ask this is that… the unexpected and inexplicable sensation swept over me that: “Anime [is] starting to feel fake”. It lasted for only a few moments. But this was the first time I felt anything like this before, after 4-or-5 years of unwavering anime loyalty. Even during real-life disruptions… But perhaps, over the recent months, my rising consumption of 3D live-action J-drama and K-drama, as well as the growing influence of Asian friends, co-workers, culture and cuisine have collectively caused a greater impact than I realized. An impact both visual and emotional. Perhaps. Thus, for those few moments, 2D anime felt “fake”. It no longer felt “real” to me.

Oddly, despite finishing several more anime titles over the last couple months, I haven’t experienced another “inexplicable sensation” since then. Nevertheless, to highlight my “rising consumption of 3D live-action”, in the tradition of my “annual anime lists”, I now present for the first time ever, my “annual live-action lists”. Yup, to complement My 41 Anime in 2009, here is My 44 Live-Action in 2009. Hey, did you catch that? I wrote “44″ live-action, 3 more than my “41″ anime. Fascinating, huh? From ancient warriors to eccentric pianists to moody lovers to galactic trekkers to insatiable pirates to high-school delinquents to super-rich schoolboys, it’s been a lively live-action year! To be specific, here are my live-action faves of 2009!

Next, here are my complete lists of live-action faves and 44 live-action titles-seasons of 2009. Hmm, while my anime titles witnessed a striking monthly drop after September 2009 through December 2009, my live-action titles witnessed a strong presence during those same months. Whether or not there’s a genuine personal “fall of anime”, it’s tough to ignore a personal “rise of live-action”. And tougher to ignore just by the very existence of this list!

My Live-Action Rating

• +++++ DOUBLE WOW! 5 of 5 stars! Maximum for full seasons or films!
• ++++ WOW! 4 of 5 stars! Maximum for half seasons!

My Top-10 Full Seasons > 5 of 5 stars!

• [41] +++++ Hana Yori Dango – Season 2 (1-11) > Honorable Mention!
• [39] +++++ Jumong – Season 3 (41-60) > Fave K-Drama!
• [36] +++++ Jumong – Season 2 (21-40)
• [35] +++++ Hana Yori Dango – Season 1 (1-9)
• [33] +++++ Jumong – Season 1 (1-20)
• [29] +++++ Torchwood – Season 3 – Children of Earth (2009, 1-5) > Fave UK-Drama!
• [27] +++++ Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend, 2008, 1-12)
• [20] +++++ Terminator – Sarah Connor Chronicles – Season 2 (1-22)
• [16] +++++ Nodame Cantabile – Live-Action (2006, 1-11) > Fave J-Drama!
• [09] +++++ Battlestar Galactica – Season 4 (1-20) > Fave US-Drama!

My Top-5 Films or Specials > 5 of 5 stars!

• [31] +++++ In the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin wa, 2000) > Fave Romance Film!
• [26] +++++ Gokusen 2 – Reunion Special (2005)
• [25] +++++ Star Trek (2009) > Fave Sci-Fi Film!
• [21] +++++ Gokusen 3 – Graduation Special (2009) > Fave Comedy Special!
• [14] +++++ Red Cliff – Part II (Chi bi xia: Jue zhan tian xia, 2009) > Fave Action Film!

My Top-2 Adult Films > 5 of 5 stars!

• [06] +++++ Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge (2008) > Fave Adult Film!
• [05] +++++ Pirates XXX (2005)

My 44 Live-Action Titles-Seasons in 2009

December 2009

• [--] Tomb Raider 2 – The Cradle of Life (2003) – Finished (again) 29 Dec.
• [--] Tomb Raider (2001) – Finished (again) 27 Dec. Yup, finally finished “Tomb Raider” again.
• [44] ++++ Sherlock Holmes (2009) – Finished 26 Dec. Heyyy, not bad, not bad! Maybe 4 of 5 stars?
• [43] ++++ Hana Yori Dango Final – Director’s Cut (2008) – Finished 25 Dec. Aww, added or extended scenes, 4-5 of 5 stars!
• [42] ++++ Hana Yori Dango Final (2008) – Finished 24 Dec. Ahh, the film finale to the TV series. Should I give 4 of 5 stars? Or 5 stars?
• [41] +++++ Hana Yori Dango – Season 2 (1-11) – Finished 22 Dec. Wow, another dramatic 5 of 5 stars!
• [40] ++++ Evanescence: Anywhere but Home (2004) – Finished 17 Dec. Wow, not bad, I’d say 4 of 5 stars!
• [39] +++++ Jumong – Season 3 (41-60) – Finished 14 Dec. Wow, finished my self-defined “Season 3″, episodes 41-60. Epic 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 218.
• [--] Star Trek (2009) – Finished (again) 13 Dec. Yup, watched the film again, a better version of the downloaded movie file! Yup, 5 of 5 stars again! Wallpapers and review at Blog 214.
• [38] ++++ Equilibrium (2002) – Finished 05 Dec. Hey, finally watched this “Matrix” clone. Not bad, I’d give 4 of 5 stars!

November 2009

• [37] ++++ Doctor Who – Planet of the Dead (2009) – Finished 22 Nov. Hey, 4 of 5 stars!
• [36] +++++ Jumong – Season 2 (21-40) – Finished 17 Nov. Wow, finished my self-defined “Season 2″, episodes 21-40. Epic 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 218.
• [35] +++++ Hana Yori Dango – Season 1 (1-9) – Finished 15 Nov. Wow, dramatic, amusing and emotional 5 of 5 stars!

October 2009

• [34] ++++ Battlestar Galactica – The Plan (2009) – Finished 24 Oct. Not perfect but not bad at all, 4 of 5 stars! Images and review at Blog 218.
• [33] +++++ Jumong – Season 1 (1-20) – Finished 19 Oct. Wow, finished my self-defined “Season 1″, episodes 1-20. Epic 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 218.
• [32] +++ Densha Otoko (2005) – Finished 17 Oct. Didn’t quite pay attention to it, due to some physical distractions, hehe. Poster and review at Blog 218.
• [--] Forbidden Kingdom (2008) – Finished (again) 04 Oct. Not bad for a second viewing! Poster and review at Blog 218.

September 2009

• [--] Jumong – Started 20 Sep. Epic! Even though this was only the first episode, I felt I had to mention when I started such an epic series! Wallpapers and review at Blog 218.
• [31] +++++ In the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin wa, 2000) – Finished 20 Sep. Yup, watched the film plus the DVD extras. Wow, 5 of 5 stars! Maggie and Tony remind me sooo much of us! Uncanny! I mean, how did I avoid watching this? Since I already watched “2046″ before, how? After meeting her, must be fate? Poster and review at Blog 218.
• [--] So Close (Chik yeung tin si, 2002) – Finished (again) 11 Sep. Yup, finally finished the film plus the DVD extras again. I don’t remember what rating I gave when I first saw it, but I’d give it 4 of 5 stars today, hehe. Images at Blog 217.

August 2009

• [--] Death Note 2 – The Last Name (2006) – Finished (again) 29 Aug. Yup, watched it with her, hehe. Wallpapers and review at Blog 210.
• [--] Death Note (2006) – Finished (again) 29 Aug. Yup, watched it with her, hehe. Wallpapers and review at Blog 210.
• [30] ++++ The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) – Finished 22 Aug. Yup, watched it with her at Sunset Station Casino. Hey, not bad, 4 of 5 stars! Several moments of near tears. Wallpapers and review at Blog 216.

July 2009

• [29] +++++ Torchwood – Season 3 – Children of Earth (2009, 1-5) – Finished 31 Jul. Whoa, didn’t tear up, but still emotional 5 of 5 stars!
• [28] +++ Lord of War (2005) – Finished 29 Jul. Just okay, 3 of 5 stars.
• [27] +++++ Zettai Kareshi (Absolute Boyfriend, 2008, 1-12) – Finished 24 Jul. Watched the 2008 TV series, followed by the 2009 extra episode. Wow, 5 of 5 stars! With the first ending, so many tears streaming down both my cheeks. Screencaps and review at Blog 213.
• [26] +++++ Gokusen 2 – Reunion Special (2005) – Finished 24 Jul. Wow, two-hour reunion! Teared up too, 5 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 213.
• [25] +++++ Star Trek (2009) – Finished 21 Jul. Yup, finally watched the downloaded movie file. And I’m glad I did, 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 214.
• [24] ++++ Watchmen (2009) – Finished 12 Jul. Wow, finally watched the film-version of the break-through comic, 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 211.
• [23] ++ L – Change the World (2008) – Finished 11 Jul. Ehh, nice to see “L” again, but such a poor plot, 2 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 210.
• [22] ++++ Smallville – Season 8 (1-22) – Finished 03 Jul. Haha, a six-episode marathon till the 22nd-episode finale! Whoa, intense 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 209.

June 2009

• [21] +++++ Gokusen 3 – Graduation Special (2009) – Finished 27 Jun. Awww, wild, wacky yet warm. Yup, no doubt, another 5 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 208.
• [20] +++++ Terminator – Sarah Connor Chronicles – Season 2 (1-22) – Finished 19 Jun. Wow, the stylistic reverence and cinematic adherence to the original film trilogy is uncanny! An impressive 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 207.
• [19] ++++ Blade Runner – Director’s Cut (1982, 1992) – Finished 14 Jun. Hehe, after “Hard Boiled”, I was then inspired to watch “Blade Runner” again, starring Harrison Ford and Edward James Olmos. Still a cyborg-gunning 4 of 5 stars! Posters and review at Blog 207.
• [18] ++++ Hard Boiled (Lat sau san taam, 1992) – Finished 14 Jun. Hey, finally watched this film! Directed by John Woo, starring Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. A bullet-flying 4 of 5 stars! Wallpaper and review at Blog 207.
• [17] ++++ Nodame Cantabile – Special in Europe (2008, 1-2) – Finished 13 Jun. After the live-action series, watched the two-episode “Special in Europe”. Awww, 4 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 207.
• [16] +++++ Nodame Cantabile – Live-Action (2006, 1-11) – Finished 12 Jun. Haha, the live-action version of the extraordinary anime! Wow, sublime 5 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 207.
• [15] ++++ In July (Im Juli, 2000) – Finished 06 Jun. Ahh, a random non-Asian change via Netflix, finally watched this German romantic comedy. Aww, hard not to fall in love with Christiane Paul. A colorful 4 of 5 stars! Images and review at Blog 205.

May 2009

• [14] +++++ Red Cliff – Part II (Chi bi xia: Jue zhan tian xia, 2009) – Finished 04 May. Double-wow! Spectacular 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 201.

April 2009

• [13] ++++ Shinobi – Heart Under Blade (2005) – Finished 25 Apr. Ahh, the live-action film alternative to the novel or anime. Too few ninjas, but not bad, 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 199.
• [12] ++++ Police Story 3 – Supercop (Ging chat goo si 3: Chiu kup ging chat, 1992) – Finished 19 Apr. Wow, Jackie Chan’s third police-punching action-packed roller-coaster ride, featuring the dazzling Michelle Yeoh, 4 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 198.
• [11] ++++ Battlestar Galactica – Caprica – Pilot (2009) – Finished 18 Apr. Heyyy, the pilot for the 2010 series! Wow, wickedly impressive 4 of 5 stars!
• [10] +++ Seven Swords (Chat gim, 2005) – Finished 10 Apr. Stunning imagery, but ehh, not bad, 3 of 5 stars.

March 2009

• [09] +++++ Battlestar Galactica – Season 4 (1-20) – Finished 21 Mar. Wow, glorious final episode of the final chapter! Wickedly breathtaking, heart-stoppingly mind-blowing, with twists, turns and surprises till the end, haha. For a full 90 minutes too. A galactic 5 of 5 stars! Wallpaper and review at Blog 194.
• [08] +++ Snakes & Earrings (Hebi ni piasu, 2008) – Finished 21 Mar. Hmm, a revealing yet startling window into soul-searching underground characters. The plot wasn’t too bad, 3 of 5 stars. Screencaps and review at Blog 194.

February 2009

• [07] ++++ Police Story 2 (Ging chat goo si juk jaap, 1988) – Finished 21 Feb. Wow, Jackie Chan’s police-punching sequel, 4 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 190.
• [06] +++++ Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge (2008) – Finished 20 Feb. Wow, spectacular big-budget adult film, 5 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 190.
• [05] +++++ Pirates XXX (2005) – Finished 10 Feb. Wow, impressive big-budget adult production! Haha, except for the explicit sex, almost like a “real” movie, 5 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 188.
• [04] ++++ Battle Royale (2000) – Finished 06 Feb. Whoa, with all the bloody violence, unexpectedly complex and layered, 4 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 188.

January 2009

• [03] ++++ Police Story (Ging chat goo si, 1985) – Finished 28 Jan. Wow, Jackie Chan’s police-punching classic! Even after 24 years, the stunts are still insane, 4 of 5 stars! Screencaps and review at Blog 187.
• [02] ++++ Doctor Who at the Proms (Special, 2009) – Finished 11 Jan. Heyyy, not bad, pretty entertaining! Such moving and memorable musical pieces for the reimagined sci-fi series, 4 of 5 stars!
• [01] ++++ Sarah Jane Adventures – Season 2 (1-12) – Finished 04 Jan. Ahh, a more child-oriented version of the reimagined “Doctor Who”, but still quite an entertaining 4 of 5 stars!

Part 2 of 5 > Hana Yori Dango to Dae Jang Geum

Congratulations to “Hana Yori Dango”! Although “Nodame Cantabile” stole the prize of “Fave J-Drama”, I couldn’t overlook “Hana Yori Dango” either. So I gave this J-drama an “Honorable Mention”! Let’s take another look why.

• [43] ++++ Hana Yori Dango Final – Director’s Cut (2008) – Aww, 4-5 of 5 stars!
• [42] ++++ Hana Yori Dango Final (2008) – Ahh, 4 of 5 stars? Or 5 stars?
• [41] +++++ Hana Yori Dango – Season 2 (1-11) – Wow, 5 of 5 stars!
• [35] +++++ Hana Yori Dango – Season 1 (1-9) – Wow, 5 of 5 stars!

Yup, not just two seasons, but also a film finale. In the same effective “dramedy” style seen in “Gokusen” (Blog 208 and Blog 213) and “Nodame Cantabile” (Blog 207), “Hana Yori Dango” likewise dances playfully between exaggerated over-the-top comic-violence and heart-breaking-heart-warming tears. Especially captivating are Mao Inoue (as Makino Tsukushi, 牧野 つくし) and Jun Matsumoto (as Domyouji Tsukasa, 道明寺 司), also a graduate of “Gokusen”. And oftentimes, successfully frustrating too, hehe. But yeah, an undeniable 5 of 5 stars overall, across both seasons and both film versions.

To celebrate, ranging dramatically from 1024px-to-3000px resolution, here are 13 wallpapers, scans and other images. Feel free to enlarge!

Inevitably, following the success of the “Hana Yori Dango” (2005, 2007) J-drama series, the K-drama version “Boys Over Flowers” (2009) was born. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy its slower pace. Especially on the treadmill. So after willfully enduring 7 of 25 episodes from January 13th to January 20th, I finally gave up. Ugh, the 7th was the slowest episode thus far. That’s when I switched back to another K-drama, the classic “Dae Jang Geum” (2003) series, hehe. Nevertheless, here are a couple of images for your idle and idol enjoyment!

Coincidentally, on March 2nd, while Autumn-chan was strolling through the library, she managed to pass by an aisle of manga, thought of me, and snapped some shots on her iPhone, haha. Not just “Hana Yori Dango” (Boys Over Flowers), but “Kare Kano” (His & Her Circumstances) too! Wow, it’s been ages since I blogged about “Kare Kano”. Let’s see, Blog 184? Yup, I think that was the last time!

Speaking of the classic “Dae Jang Geum” (2003) K-drama, I also started it on January 13th. But unlike the “Boys Over Flowers” (2009) K-drama, I’ve stuck with it for over 2 months, enjoying over 40 of 54 episodes thus far! Especially on the treadmill, haha. I can definitely see the interrelated influences with other Ancient Korean K-drama favorites like “Damo” (2003) and “Jumong” (2006). I’ll probably discuss it in more detail next time, but for now, here are several wallpapers for your wondering and wandering eyes.

Haha, got enough live-action J-drama and K-drama to fill your bowl?

Part 3 of 5 > Miss Actress to Aki Hoshino

Once again, Happy Birthday to you, Aki-chan! I didn’t forget your photoshoot, hehe. Ahh, my Tantalized Toyboxers, if you’ve peeked at the Toybox often enough, you’ve already seen a few of my posts featuring Japanese gravure-idol photoshoots. Haven’t you?

• Juri Ueno from the hit J-drama “Nodame Cantabile” (Blog 207)
• Yukie Nakama from another hit J-drama “Gokusen” (Blog 208 and Blog 213)

So finally, in the tradition of my previous photoshoots, I present Aki Hoshino (ほしのあき / 호시노 아키 / 星野亞紀) from the Miss Actress Photo Book #070 (2005). Enjoy!

Oh, before I forget, here’s an interesting side note. When I first stumbled upon Aki-chan’s photoshoot months ago, perhaps half a year ago along with Juri-chan’s or Yukie-chan’s photoshoots, I noticed how artsy-and-dark this shoot was compared to other standard bright-and-sunny idol shoots. Very cool. But when I began composing this mega-cast, I somehow lost the link! Fortunately, on February 28th, I found it again! Along with an intriguing interview I hadn’t seen before. Thus, I requested the assistance of Autumn-chan to translate and summarize the text. Thanks Autumn-chan!

Autumn-chan: finally made sense

xJAYMANx: awesome

Autumn-chan: sorry it took so long

xJAYMANx: ohh, no time at all, want to add any comments for those 6 pages?
(for blog)

Autumn-chan: i don’t have anything to add…

xJAYMANx: np, then would it be okay to ask for a brief summary?
or does the english parts sum it up

Autumn-chan: she talks about when she was in middle school and high school, how she didn’t like studying but liked to go to school because her friends were there
she didn’t know how to be friends with boys or go on dates because she didn’t know how to have a relationship with a guy (she didn’t have a father)

xJAYMANx: interesting

Autumn-chan: and then when she was 18 she had a crush on a guy that was 23
she thought he was his boyfriend until she found out that she was only one of his several girlfriends

xJAYMANx: ahh
(sent a final question) [Via email: Here are 2 more without much text. Would they fit better at the start, end or somewhere in between (about being an "all-boys girl").]

Autumn-chan: so he broke her heart and she lost a lot of weight

xJAYMANx: aww

Autumn-chan: then she went to his home to pick up her stuff and when he saw how thin she was, he was kind to her, so she thought if she looked sick he’d like her
she was 35kg which is less than 80 pounds

xJAYMANx: wow

Autumn-chan: but she got over that and started modeling

xJAYMANx: thats super skinny isn’t it?

Autumn-chan: (yes) and she started when she was 24 and no magazine wanted her, but she somehow made it

xJAYMANx: really
that’s late to start modelling

Autumn-chan: yes
very late, she says that’s when girls stop doing bikinis

xJAYMANx: yeah
(anywhere in between, so not start or end)

Autumn-chan: i think it should start with 107

xJAYMANx: i agree
which text page talks about “all boys girl”

Autumn-chan: 107

xJAYMANx: ahh, so you’re right, anywhere in between

Autumn-chan: the second picture is probably in high school which is on 105

xJAYMANx: you mean 102 goes w 105?

Autumn-chan: yes

Without further ado, here’s Aki-chan’s photoshoot! As always, feel free to enlarge the images. You’ll notice the original interview soon enough, hehe.

Hehe, got enough lively bikini idols to fill your cup? But here’s a more intriguing side note. It occurred to my cross-circuited brain: Doesn’t Aki Hoshino remind you of a modern-day Japanese version of the innocent-yet-curvy Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe?

Part 4 of 5 > Japanese Souvenirs to Birthday Dishes

Okay, my Toasty Toyboxers, enough about live-action dramas and lively bikini idols. Let’s talk about food! During my last mega-cast, you might remember how I acquired my rice cooker.

On Saturday, 09 January 2010, based on Autumn-chan’s advice, I finally ordered my $122 Zojirushi rice cooker for just $9, hehe… Then less than a week later, on Thursday, 14 January 2010, I picked up my new Zojirushi from the office front desk. I opened up the box in the office kitchen and checked it out. Nice. The next night, on Friday, 15 January 2010, I cooked some Calrose white rice, mixed some ume-shiso seasoning into it, and ate half with my leftover sardines, mmm. Then made the other half into two onigiri, hehe.

Well, over the rest of January through February and March, I’ve experimented with quite a few variations of onigiri, ranging from plain Calrose white rice, to Calrose white rice with shiso seasoning, to Calrose white rice slightly browned with soy sauce plus shiso seasoning, to Calrose brown rice with wakame (seaweed) mix. Thanks Autumn-chan for the shiso and wakame! In fact, here’s a two-month-old snapshot of my Zojirushi. At near-daily use, it’s still going strong!

Back in mid-January, here were my early attempts at oddly-shaped “cubic” onigiri, haha. Calrose white with shiso.

One month later, mid-February, here were my more traditionally shaped “triangular” onigiri. Plain Calrose white.

Ah yes, souvenirs from the “Tokyo Loot Fairies”! After Autumn-chan came back from Japan, she brought back quite a few intriguing trinkets. A stack of tourist brochures, curry and shiso mixes, a shopping guide and other boxes. Unrelatedly yet relatedly, my close co-worker friend Allie-chan also happened to bring back a little gift. Can you guess which one it is?

Haha, first, let’s talk about the orange box with feet on it! This was Autumn-chan’s primary present for the winter season. Any educated guess what it is? Yup, a type of gel-pack bed warmer! Just take the gel-pack, heat it in the microwave for a couple of minutes, throw it under the bed covers, and you’re good to go for the night. You have the option to stick it in the orange sack to protect your skin from any prolonged contact. But since I wore sweatpants and socks anyway, the toasty heat didn’t bother me. I must admit, it was a nice companion to my portable heaters. But it doesn’t quite exist in the States, does it? At least not on Amazon.

Ah, second, the curry mix! But not just the sauce, the mix also includes the meat, potatoes and veggies. Very convenient! Unfortunately, only enough for one plate. One, maybe two servings. Definitely not something I can find at the local grocery store, even in the “international” or “ethnic” aisle, hehe. Oh yeah, if you look closely, or enlarge the image, you can see the “3″ in the bottom-right corner. That’s a mild or medium “3 out of 5″ in the spiciness range.

Third, the shiso mix! Made from the shiso plant, this seasoning adds a very consistent saltiness to your onigiri. Actually, let me correct that, you can control the density and consistency of the saltiness depending on how you mix up, or don’t mix up, your cooked rice. In any case, mmm, tasty.

Fourth, the “Dessert Pocky”! Why is it called “Dessert”? Who knows? I guess it must be the cheesecake flavoring? Or the very un-dense packing? Haha, I mean, come on, even though they show 12 sticks on the box cover, any reasonable consumer might expect more than that, right? Well, nope. It’s exactly 12 sticks, or 3 sticks in each of the 4 packs. That’s all. Just 12 sticks!

Fifth, the “Super Skinny Pocky”! I forgot what the translation on the big red arrow was, but I think it was something like “Super Skinny”. Is it really “Super Skinny” compared to the traditional standard “Pocky”? Hmm, maybe slightly. But then again, I don’t eat it often enough to immediately notice the difference, unless you told me.

Ahh, here’s another curious side note. I forget who told me, either Autumn-chan or Allie-chan, but “Pocky” treats are normally considered “very girlie” in Japan. I never knew this until last year! How girlie? Well, probably as “girlie” as buying and putting on make-up. Yup, no joke. Which explains why you see only girls enjoying “Pocky” in anime and drama. Which also explains why they came out with a specific “Men’s Pocky” to target male consumers. Like I said, no joke. If I were strolling though Tokyo, I’d probably not want to be seen eating “Pocky”. For example, take a peek at the back of the box. Where Mizuki Kuroda is showing you how to add tiny hearts to your “Strawberry Pocky”. Awww, how cute and sweet. So the next time you have a craving for these chocolate sticks, don’t forget to put on your lipstick and nail polish too, haha.

Sixth, even more onigiri “accessories”, hehe. In the pink packet, sake (salmon) seasoning for mixing into the rice. In the first green packet, wakame (one type of seaweed) seasoning for also mixing into the rice. And in the second green packet, nori (another type of seaweed) for covering an exterior section of the onigiri.

Seventh, the “Japan Shopping Guide”! Covering English, Korean, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. Hardly any Japanese at all! Including train lines, bus lines, maps and product information for all your favorite shopping sites! Featuring Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza, Ikebukuro, Akihabara, Makuhari, Funabashi, Yokohama, even Narito Airport, and bits of Osaka too, hehe.

Ahh, so do any of these Zojirushi rice cookers look familiar? Hmmm?

Well, that’s all of the “Tokyo Loot” souvenirs, folks! Can you guess which gift Autumn-chan didn’t bring me? The gift that Allie-chan brought back? Haha, like a needle in a haystack! Or, hint-hint, like a stick in a pile of chocolate? Meanwhile, speaking of impossibly random finds, one day, while I was flipping through the April 2010 issue of “Reader’s Digest” (yeah, a gift subscription from Dad), guess what I found on page 123? A life-sized android Miku-chan! Imagine that! If you have no idea who or what Miku-chan is, check out Otaku Dan’s post “Miku Hatsune Wallpaper Dump” (24 March 2010). Of course, “Reader’s Digest” doesn’t have any idea either.

Another month later, mid-March, here was another tasty onigiri experiment. Calrose white slightly browned with soy sauce plus shiso.

Then another two weeks later, on March 29th, I finally opened the green packet of wakame (seaweed) seasoning above. Calrose brown rice with wakame. Mmm, brown rice definitely makes a difference. Seems to add another layer or texture to the flavor. My favorite onigiri so far!

Mmm, doesn’t all of this onigiri make you hungry? But now, let’s rewind back over the past week to my other delicious birthday dishes! Remember the green box of medium curry mix above? Not just the sauce, but the meat, potatoes and veggies included too? Well, here’s the mix when cooked in the microwave for a minute, and poured over nice and sticky Calrose brown rice, mmm. Doubly delicious when shared with Autumn-chan. Awww.

Afterwards, dessert! Chocolate bread pudding and yummy apple pie! Need I say more?

Mmm, if all of the onigiri didn’t budge you, then the pudding and pie must have! So that was Saturday, March 20th. A few days later, on Tuesday, March 23rd, a couple of my coworkers Melanie (in brown) and Michelle (in black) decided to treat me to a belated birthday lunch. Awww. My choice: T.G.I.F. With some strawberry lemonade, fried green beans, a Jack Daniel’s Sampler platter (packed with chicken, shrimp and ribs), and of course, the final ice-cream dessert accompanied with the universally embarrassing T.G.I.F. staff singing. Bahhh.

Happy Birthday, dude! By the way, my Tempted Toyboxers, if you’re curious about last year’s birthday antics, appetizers and assassins, feel free to take a peek at Blog 194.

Part 5 of 5 > Firefox Personas to Google iGoogles

Are we there yet? Last but not least, here are a few random technical updates on the web browsers and websites I’ve been using. Back on February 18th, I finally installed the new Firefox 3.6, played with its cool Persona skins, and ultimately settled on the “Black Catgirl” browser skin. Nice! Next, on February 22nd, I finally explored iGoogle, configured my iGoogle home page, and ultimately settled with a 3-column “Black UI” theme. Double nice! So on February 28th, with everything pretty stable and set in place, I decided to take some screencaps (Photoshop-edited for content). Yup, very black, very cool.

Yup, my “Black Toybox 2007″ blog design is still running pretty well. Three years sticking with the same design, same theme, same look-and-feel. Not too shabby. Not at all.

Heyyy, thank you, my Trusty Toyboxers, for making it this far! I hope you enjoyed my stumble and climb through live-action drama titles, lively bikini idols, and tasty onigiri. Once again, Happy Birthday, Aki-chan! And thanks to the other gracious gals who glided through this mega-cast. Yukie-chan, Juri-chan, Mao-chan, Autumn-chan, Allie-chan, Miku-chan, Maria-chan, Melanie and Michelle. So did you guess which gift Autumn-chan didn’t bring me? The gift that Allie-chan brought back? Yup, the blue-boxed loosely-packed cheesecake-flavored “Dessert Pocky”, haha.

• Doesn’t Aki Hoshino remind you of a modern-day Japanese version of Marilyn Monroe?
• “Pocky” treats are normally considered “very girlie” in Japan. How girlie?
• Of course, “Reader’s Digest” doesn’t have any idea either. Miku who?

Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

Final Flashback

Aki-chan: “Happy Birthday, Jay… Got onigiri?”

Sayonara, 2009! Konnichiwa, my Tirelessly Tumbling Toyboxers! Got onigiri? Are you ready? Ready to endure a tumbling tidal wave of tear-jerking titles, blood-splattering titles, angst-ridden titles, and titles not worth mentioning? Ready to slash and slay another dragon-sized mega-cast of 99 wallpapers? Ready for some onigiri? Hehe, then what are you waiting for? Let’s start the show…

Part 1 of 3 > My 41 Anime in 2009

Fake? Has anime started to feel fake yet? Yup, you heard me, hehe. The reason I ask this is that last week, on Monday, 08 February 2010, as I was watching episode 17/26 of “Madlax”, the unexpected and inexplicable sensation swept over me that: “Anime [is] starting to feel fake”. It lasted for only a few moments. But this was the first time I felt anything like this before, after 4-or-5 years of unwavering anime loyalty. Even during real-life disruptions. Hehe, no, there’s nothing wrong with “Madlax”. I’m pretty sure about that, since it’s actually a rather intriguing anime. Gotta love the music.

But perhaps, over the recent months, my rising consumption of 3D live-action J-drama and K-drama, as well as the growing influence of Asian friends, co-workers, culture and cuisine have collectively caused a greater impact than I realized. An impact both visual and emotional. Perhaps. Thus, for those few moments, 2D anime felt “fake”. It no longer felt “real” to me. Hmm, so rather than an external “downfall of anime” (Blog 201), not only have I outgrown anime as an “escape”, am I beginning to outgrow it as “entertainment” after all? Hehe, who knows? But for now, I’ll try to enjoy the battle between 2D and 3D. Ah, the never-ending battle.

What? Only 41 anime? Yup, I can no longer resist the attraction and distraction of real-life work and play, lol. Nevertheless, the universe continues to be sprinkled with, yes-yes, anime, more anime, and even more anime, lol. In the tradition of My 58 anime in 2006 (Blog 017), My 49 anime in 2007 (Blog 122) and My 56 Anime in 2008 (Blog 182) posts, I now present My 41 Anime in 2009. From shrine maidens to soda-pop girls, from roaming samurais to despairing senseis, not to mention lots of angsty high-school teens, it’s definitely been another vividly animated year. Without further ado, here are my anime faves of 2009!

Next, here are my complete lists of anime faves and 41 anime titles-seasons of 2009. Ahh, notice the striking drop in monthly titles after September 2009 through December 2009? Not only does this coincide with the stunning drop in my Toybox mega-casts, but it also reflects the rising real-life influences of office responsibilities and social distractions. Yup, like I said, real-life work and play. Not to mention, the recent attraction of live-action Asian dramas, lol.

My Anime Rating

• +++++ DOUBLE WOW! 5 of 5 stars! Maximum for full seasons or films!
• ++++ WOW! 4 of 5 stars! Maximum for half seasons!

My Top-10 Full Seasons > 5 of 5 stars!

• [41] +++++ xxxHolic (1-24)
• [38] +++++ Ouran High School Host Club (1-26) > Honorable Mention!
• [35] +++++ Nodame Cantabile – Paris – Season 2 (1-11) (With S1) > Fave Romance!
• [33] +++++ Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Zoku – Season 2 (1-13) (With S1) > Fave Comedy!
• [32] +++++ R.O.D the TV (1-26)
• [24] +++++ Tales of the Abyss (1-26) > Honorable Mention!
• [21] +++++ Ef – A Tale of Melodies – Season 2 (1-12) (With S1) > Fave Thriller!
• [14] +++++ Dennou Coil (1-26) > Fave Science Fiction!
• [13] +++++ Rurouni Kenshin – Season 2 (1-35 or 28-62) > Fave Action!
• [11] +++++ Clannad – After Story – Season 2 (1-24, +2 Bonus) > Fave Drama!

My Top-4 Half Seasons > 4 of 5 stars!

• [19] ++++ Ef – A Tale of Memories – Season 1 (1-12)
• [18] ++++ Minami-ke – Okaeri – Season 3 (1-13)
• [16] ++++ Akikan (1-12) > Honorable Mention!
• [04] ++++ Kannagi – Crazy Shrine Maidens (1-13)

My Top-1 Film or OVA > 5 of 5 stars!

• [25] +++++ Howl’s Moving Castle (Film) > Fave Fantasy!

My 41 Anime Titles-Seasons in 2009

December 2009

• [41] +++++ xxxHolic (1-24) – Finished 06 Dec. Wow, supernatural 5 of 5 stars!

November 2009

• [40] +++ Gundam Wing (26-49 of 49) – Finished 13 Nov (via Netflix). Yup, finally finished the second half, 3 of 5 stars!

October 2009

• [39] +++ Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – Season 2 (New 1-14 of 28) – Finished 27 Oct. Hmm, okay, not bad but failed expectations, 3 of 5 stars.
• [38] +++++ Ouran High School Host Club (1-26) – Finished 19 Oct. Haha, outrageous, 5 of 5 stars! Aww, touching ending.
• [37] +++ Battle Angel (OVA) – Finished 11 Oct. A sentimental 5-star manga, but still a lacking anime, 3 of 5 stars.

September 2009

• [36] ++++ Gundam Wing (1-25 of 49) – Finished 19 Sep (via Netflix). Yup, finished the first half, 4 of 5 stars!
• [35] +++++ Nodame Cantabile – Paris – Season 2 (1-11) – Finished 08 Sep. Wow, when combined with Season 1, another 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 217 > Despair.
• [34] ++++ Trigun (1-26) – Finished 06 Sep (via Netflix). Hey, a bullet-flying 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 217 > Despair.
• [--] +++++ Ghost in the Shell – Stand Alone Complex – 2nd Gig (1-26) – Finished (again) 02 Sep. Still a cyber-thrilling 5 of 5 stars! But this time, Japanese audio, English subtitles.

August 2009

• [33] +++++ Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Zoku – Season 2 (1-13) – Finished 23 Aug. Haha, when combined with Season 1, hilariously mind-twisting 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 217 > Despair.
• [32] +++++ R.O.D the TV (1-26) – Finished 14 Aug (via Netflix). Wow, paper-slashing 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 216 > Rock or Die.

July 2009

• [31] +++ Maria+Holic (1-12) – Finished 26 Jul. Hilarious outrageous priest in despair! Stolen from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, lol. But still a disjointed 3 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 214 > Traps & Treks.
• [30] +++ Kuroshitsuji (1-24) – Finished 25 Jul. An unoriginal 3 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 212 > Butlers.
• [--] +++ Watchmen – Tales of the Black Freighter (Bonus) – Finished 14 Jul. Whoa, 3 of 5 stars. But since it’s not quite anime, didn’t “count” it in my list, lol. Wallpapers and review at Blog 211 > Watchmen.
• [29] ++++ Clannad – Another World – Kyou Arc (Bonus) – Finished 12 Jul. Brief yet tearful 4 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 212 > Butlers.
• [28] +++ K-On! (1-13) – Finished 04 Jul. A mindless yet amusing 3 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 209 > Keion.

June 2009

• [27] ++++ Rurouni Kenshin – Season 3 (1-33 or 63-95) – Finished 24 Jun. Wow, finally finished, a solidly wandering 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 209 > Keion.
• [--] +++++ Battle Angel Alita (“Angel’s Ascension”, Volume 9/9, 1995) – Finished 19 Jun. After years of delay, finally finished the entire 9-volume manga series! Shockingly violent yet heartfelt 5 of 5 stars! But since it’s a manga, didn’t “count” it in my list, lol. Wallpapers and review at Blog 207 > Angels.
• [26] +++ Chaos;Head (1-12) – Finished 07 Jun. Ehh, not bad, 3 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 205 > Chaos Ahead.

May 2009

• [25] +++++ Howl’s Moving Castle (Film) – Finished 31 May (via Netflix). Finally watched this classic for the first time, in Japanese with English subs (hmm, 4 of 5 stars). But wait, a couple of days later on 02 Jun, watched it for the second time, with English dubs (wow, 5 of 5 stars). Even better, funnier and sadder, 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 205 > Chaos Ahead.
• [24] +++++ Tales of the Abyss (1-26) – Finished 30 May. Wow, 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 205 > Chaos Ahead.
• [23] +++ Karas – The Revelation (4-6) – Finished 27 May. Finally watched the second half of the series. Ehh, 3 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 205 > Chaos Ahead.
• [22] +++ Afro Samurai – Resurrection (Film) – Finished 23 May. Hmm, not bad, 3 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 203 > Samurai.
• [--] +++++ Battle Angel Alita (“Fallen Angel”, Volume 8/9, 1994) – Finished 22 May. Heyyy, finally finished Volume 8/9! Another riveting 5 of 5 stars! But since it’s a manga, didn’t “count” it in my list, lol.
• [21] +++++ Ef – A Tale of Melodies – Season 2 (1-12) – Finished 15 May. Double-wow, combined with the first season, 5 of 5 stars max! Yup, a near-straight 12-episode marathon till 3am in the morning! Wow, reminded me of “Air” (TV) and “Petite Cossette” (OVA)! Incredible! Wallpapers and review at Blog 202 > Tales.
• [20] ++++ Origin – Spirits of the Past (Film) – Finished 14 May (via Netflix). Another environmental yet decent 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 202 > Tales.
• [19] ++++ Ef – A Tale of Memories – Season 1 (1-12) – Finished 14 May. Wow, 4 of 5 stars max for a short season! Wallpapers and review at Blog 202 > Tales.
• [18] ++++ Minami-ke – Okaeri – Season 3 (1-13) – Finished 02 May. Aww, touching 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 200 > Toybox.
• [17] ++++ Naruto – Season 4 (1-26 or 79-104) – Finished 01 May. Wow, still a mindless yet ninja-powered 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 200 > Toybox.

April 2009

• [16] ++++ Akikan (1-12) – Finished 18 Apr. Wow, mindlessly and unexpectedly entertaining, maximum 4 of 5 stars for a short season! Wallpapers and review at Blog 199 > Melons.
• [15] ++++ Samurai X – Trust & Betrayal – Director’s Cut (OVA) – Finished 18 Apr (via Netflix). Wow, a darker more-intense interpretation of Kenshin, 4 of 5 stars! Review at Blog 199 > Melons.
• [--] +++++ Battle Angel Alita (“Angel of Chaos”, Volume 7/9, 1994) – Finished 12 Apr. A-ha, finally finished Volume 7/9. Another riveting 5 of 5 stars! But since it’s a manga, didn’t “count” it in my list, lol.
• [14] +++++ Dennou Coil (1-26) – Finished 10 Apr. Wow, spectacular vision, 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 197 > Tsubasa.
• [13] +++++ Rurouni Kenshin – Season 2 (1-35 or 28-62) – Finished 07 Apr. Wow, 5 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 197 > Tsubasa.
• [12] ++++ Tsubasa – Reservoir Chronicles – Season 1 (1-26) – Finished 02 Apr (via Netflix). Pretty but somewhat lacking, 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 197 > Tsubasa.

March 2009

• [11] +++++ Clannad – After Story – Season 2 (1-24, +2 Bonus) – Finished 28 Mar. Aww, wow, double-wow, triple-wow! Such an incredibly awe-inspiring, breath-taking, heart-breaking and soul-warming ride, followed by a cute yet fateful flashback bonus-story, and concluded with a still-gripping recap finale! An ever-resounding 5 of 5 stars! My #1 anime of the year thus far! Wallpapers and review at Blog 195 > Pop Anime.
• [--] +++++ Genshiken (Volume 9/9, 2007) – Finished 27 Mar. Oops, finally realized that I hadn’t finished Volume 9 since December 2007! Thus, more than a year later, restarted it on 10 Mar and finished it 27 Mar. Still an engrossing 5 of 5 stars! But since it’s a manga, didn’t “count” it in my list, lol.
• [10] ++++ Mobile Suit Gundam (25-43 of 43) – Finished 24 Mar. Yup, finished the second half! Wow, the story still holds up after 30 years, 4 of 5 stars! On 25 Mar, unexpectedly watched episode 43/43 again (the English-subbed finale), thinking that episode 43/43 would be the finale. Apparently, I’d already watched the finale yesterday! According to Wiki, the English-dubbed release didn’t include the original 15th episode! So what I thought was the 15th was actually the 16th original episode. The 16th was actually the 17th. And so on, until what I thought was the 42nd was actually the 43rd and final episode! But I’m too lazy to renumber everything in my previous posts. Oh well, lol. Still 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 197 > Tsubasa.
• [--] +++++ Star Wars – The Clone Wars – Season 1 (1-22) – Finished 21 Mar. Splendid 5 of 5 stars! But since it’s not quite anime, didn’t “count” it in my list, lol. Screencaps and review at Blog 194 > Assassins.
• [09] +++ Sol Bianca – Legacy (1-6) – Finished 07 Mar (via Netflix). While the first 3 episodes sucked, the next 3 really improved in drama. Not bad, 3 of 5 stars. Screencaps and review at Blog 192 > Slingers.
• [08] +++ Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino – Season 2 (1-13) – Finished 04 Mar. Entertaining but ultimately not-as-satisfying as the original season, 3 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 192 > Slingers.

February 2009

• [07] ++++ Martian Successor Nadesico (1-26) – Finished 20 Feb. Not bad, more-humorous clone of “Evangelion”, 4 of 5 stars! Wallpapers and review at Blog 192 > Slingers.

January 2009

• [06] +++ Vampire Knight – Guilty – Season 2 (1-13) – Finished 27 Jan. Ehh, not bad, but kinda slow-moving in its over-dramatized soap-opera introspection amongst all the characters, both vampire and human, 3 of 5 stars. Wallpapers and review at Blog 192 > Slingers.
• [05] +++ Devil Hunter Yohko (1-6) – Finished 23 Jan (via Netflix). Hey, still pretty decent for today’s standards, and for its random nudity, lol, 3 of 5 stars. Wallpaper and review at Blog 186 > Harems.
• [04] ++++ Kannagi – Crazy Shrine Maidens (1-13) – Finished 18 Jan. Wow, beautiful animation, hilarious hijinks, and mysterious high-school drama, max 4 of 5 stars for a short season. Wallpapers and review at Blog 186 > Harems.
• [03] +++ Maria-sama ga Miteru – Season 1 (Marimite, 1-13) – Finished 17 Jan. Gentle but satisfying slice of an all-girl’s high-school life, 3 of 5 stars). Wallpaper and review at Blog 186 > Harems.
• [02] ++++ Mobile Suit Gundam (1-24 of 43) – Finished 12 Jan. Yup, finished the first half! Heyyy, the action and drama still holds up after 30 years, 4 of 5 stars! Wallpaper and review at Blog 186 > Harems.
• [01] ++++ Rurouni Kenshin – Season 1 (1-27) – Finished 07 Jan. Wow, even now, still a fulfilling tale of a repentant samurai among hoodlums and bandits, 4 of 5 stars! Wallpaper and review at Blog 184 > Rewind.

Want Even More?

• My Anime Ratings 2006-2009
• My Anime Collection 2006-2009

Part 2 of 3 > Zetsubou to Sayonara

[01] +++++ Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – Season 3 (1-13). Ahhh, yes, the despair resumes with Season 3! Yup, my 1st anime title-or-season of the year. Finished 10 January 2010. Season 3 with 13 episodes. Haha, I’ll say it again, just as mind-alteringly and mind-frakkingly uproarious as Seasons 2 and 1. Especially with its brain-bending analysis of Schrodinger’s cat, tail, teacher and anything else you can stuff in a box! Don’t forget Naughty Ms. Kaede and Kiri-chan’s national security blanket! So, by combining Season 3 with Seasons 2 and 1, the never-ending manic and maniacal odyssey into psycho-intellectual minutiae once again earns a desperately indubitable 5 of 5 stars! Here was my previous review back in Blog 217 > Despair, Devastation & Delight (Sep 2009).

Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Season 2) [33]. Ahhh, yes, the despair! But let’s see, where to begin? Well, about 17 months ago, back in mid-April 2008, I finished the first season of “Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei”. And I was utterly blown away! In fact, I gave it a 4 of 5 stars maximum for a half-season. Plus an Honorable Mention for 2008! So from 27 July 2009 to 23 August 2009, when I finally completed “Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei” last month, I couldn’t wait for more! Yup, my 33rd anime title-or-season of the year. Season 2 with 13 episodes. Haha, just as mind-alteringly and mind-frakkingly uproarious as Season 1. Especially with its psychological cocktail of over-analytical despair-torn classmates plus teacher! Whoa, by combining Season 2 with Season 1, the series earns a desperately impressive 5 of 5 stars!

To celebrate, ranging wildly from 1024px-to-5300px resolution across both seasons, here are over 50 wallpapers, vectors, scans and other images to soothe your over-analytical soul, lol. Feel free to enlarge. Ahhh, bask in the air of despair!

To celebrate once more, ranging hopelessly from 1024px-to-4600px resolution across all 3 seasons, here are 90 more wallpapers, vectors, scans and other images to add to the 50+ wallpapers from our last odyssey in Blog 217 > Despair, Devastation & Delight (Sep 2009). Feel free to enlarge.

Part 3 of 3 > Zojirushi to Onigiri

Ahh, onigiri! Over the months of October 2009 through December 2009, Autumn-chan was kind enough to share her onigiri with me. And over those months, I think it was inevitable for me to embrace the idea of making my own onigiri rice balls for not just myself, but for her too. Unfortunately, the lack of a high-quality rice cooker was a major obstacle. Never owned one before. Well, as my luck would have it, December 2009 witnessed the sending of 3 Amazon Christmas gift cards-certificates — from Amazon itself, my ex-dad-in-law, and my brother Joel — to none other than myself! Totaling over $100!

So several weeks later, on Saturday, 09 January 2010, based on Autumn-chan’s advice, I finally ordered my $122 Zojirushi rice cooker for just $9, hehe. Oddly enough, I found a couple of other bags of rice in the pantry too. Jasmine white rice and Basmati brown rice. Imagine that. Then less than a week later, on Thursday, 14 January 2010, I picked up my new Zojirushi from the office front desk. I opened up the box in the office kitchen and checked it out. Nice. The next night, on Friday, 15 January 2010, I cooked some Calrose white rice, mixed some ume-shiso seasoning into it, and ate half with my leftover sardines, mmm. Then made the other half into two onigiri, hehe.

And guess what? I took pics of both dishes, and resized the best photos in Photoshop, hehe. Shortly thereafter, I wrote a “Thank You” email to my brother Joel and ex-dad-in-law for their Christmas gift certificates, in helping me get my awesome Zojirushi rice cooker. In fact, here are the photos I attached to the email. Not bad at all. The rest is history. One month later, I love Calrose rice.

Well-well, my Tested Toyboxers! Did you survive the desperately dragon-sized battle? Well, if you made it this far, I’ll assume you did, hehe. But amidst the high-flying barrage of wallpapered bullets and multi-starred missiles, you might’ve noticed the plummeting trajectory of monthly anime in 2009 and incoming waves of onigiri rice in 2010. Yup, the battle between “fake” 2D artistry and “real” 3D culture rages on. It’s gonna be fun.

Has anime started to feel fake yet?

Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

Final Flashback

Kafuka: “I’ll ask this only once… Got onigiri?”

Jumong (Korean Drama, 2006) | Enlarge 1024px

Konnichiwa minna-san! Greetings, my Tingling, Trembling and Tumbling Toyboxers! Well, enough of the pompous pleasantries. Let’s get to the point. Are you ready? Ready to withstand another soul-smashing tsunami of spellbinding anime, American sci-fi, Hong Kong classics, Japanese comedies, and Korean epics? Ready to digest rock bands, canine menaces, cute costumes, and mouth-watering waves of food-food-food? Ready to battle an unimaginably monstrous mega-cast equaling fifty or more mere-mortal posts? Not yet? Then please leave the battlefield, hehe. But if you are, better polish your psychological shield and sharpen your cultural sword! Prepare to engage! On with the show!

From Autumn to Halloween

Ah, yes, from Autumn to Halloween, let’s navigate through the next 18 days of September and 31 days of October. Alas, a 49-day odyssey through overstated subtlety and understated ecstasy. Abandon hope all ye who enter here!

13 September 2009
Sunday. Somehow, got up 730am. While doing the laundry, worked on Blog 217. Chat too, lol. Napped 1230-230. More chat, lol. Replied to blog comments. Then back to work on blog. Tread w “True Blood” 5/xx. Even more chat, blog, etc.

14 September 2009
Monday. Home. “Ouran” 1/26 (finally started it). LOL, boy is a girl! Opposite of “Maria+Holic”, hehe. Finally installed the magenta ink I received today. Gahhh, when I uncapped it, it splattered! Damn! Luckily, the lemon degreaser I used on my foos table was able to clean the ink from the carpet and my skin. Gah. Tread w “True Blood” 6/xx. Worked on Blog 217 again. While I chatted till 1030pm, lol.

15 September 2009
Tuesday. For lunch, decided on “Burger King” in the Outlet Center food court. Oops, we parked at the wrong end, so we walked-talked across the mall, hehe. But it was fun! Home. “Ouran” 2/26. Near tears! Already? So soon in the series? Tread w “True Blood” 7/xx. Worked on Blog 217. Then sketched a cute little doodle based on our discussion, hehe. More blog work till 11pm.

15 Sept | Burger King | Enlarge

15 Sept | Burger King | Enlarge

15 Sept | Burger King | Enlarge

16 September 2009
Wednesday. Hehe, decided to wear my pink shirt w black striped tie. Why not? Left at my usual 4pm. “Ouran” 3/26, lol. Later, 8:30pm chat. Then skipped my tread-run to finish Blog 217! Hey! Finally done! At 10:45! But we continued to chat till midnight.

17 September 2009
Thursday. Heyyy, visited Kris-chan’s “Bento Bako Weekly“, lol. Left 4pm. Home. Heyyy, Guiness is back! “Gundam Wing” 21/49 w dinner. Napped 6-7pm w Guin, aww. Hmm, Lois’s Facebook comments; offended by my Blog 217 statement about “one girl’s pain, is another’s panic, is another’s pleasure”? Later, tread w “True Blood” 8/xx (still too slow). Then 10pm chat. Till 11pm, hehe.

18 September 2009
Friday. Then after her meeting, 12:30 lunch at TGIF! Mmm, Jack Daniels appetizer sampler and mozzarella sticks! Vanilla cheesecake plus free vanilla ice cream! Haha, photos too, lol. Otsukaresamadeshita! I said it right! Asked her to “Kabuki”? Nahhh, we were still too full from TGIF. And tired, lol. Hugs. Ah, home. Guiness! “Gundam Wing” 22/49. Napped 6-8pm? Tread w “True Blood” 9/xx. WTF? Sam the dog? Dumb. Revealed too late in the series. Should’ve happened in the first few episodes. Forget it. Forget the show. Chat 10pm-130am! Happy Birthday!

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

18 Sept | T.G.I. Friday’s | Enlarge

19 September 2009
Saturday. Wow, got outta bed 10am! Then as usual, let Guiness outside into the backyard. Sunny! “Gundam Wing” 23-24-25/49 (finished [36] first-half of season; 4 of 5 stars!). Ah, groceries! Through her influence, bought tons of fruits (apples: 3 granny smiths, 3 fujis, 3 braeburns; group of 7 bananas, 7 peaches or nectarines) and veggies (celery and lettuce), not to mention, generic low-sodium vegetable juice, lol. Right after that, decided to get a car wash, finally. Napped 3-5pm? Chat, lol. Then 6pm dinner. Since “True Blood” failed, tread w “Trinity Blood” 1/24? (again). Yup, stopped the “True Blood” crap, lol. But wait, after browsing through my Amazon lists with DivX players, decided to check my DivX player. Heyyy, the “Jumong” SRT subs work on my newer (exercise-room) player! Nice. Thank you Amazon! More chat. Till 1am, hehe.

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995) [36] and [40]. As of 19 Sept, my 36th anime title-or-season of the year. First half of 49-episode series, 4 of 5 stars. As of 13 Nov, completed the second half of the series, my 40th anime title-or-season of the year, 3 of 5 stars. Overall 3 of 5 stars.

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995) | Enlarge 3000px

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995) | Enlarge 1024px

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995) | Enlarge 5300px

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995) | Enlarge 1024px

20 September 2009
Sunday. Whoa, up 730am! Finally applied Soft Scrub Bleach to the shower tiles. For breakfast, had an apple, banana, pecan spinwheel and yogurt, lol. Did more soft-scrubbing to the shower. Then with her hard-drive situation in my mind, decided to back-up my iMac’s Windows XP files (19GB) to my WP Passport portable USB drive. Followed with some blog comment catch-up. From 1-3pm, watched my Netflix of “In the Mood for Love” (2000) plus extras. Wow, 5 of 5 stars! Maggie and Tony remind me sooo much of her and me! Uncanny! I mean, how did I avoid watching this? Since I already watched “2046″ before, how? After meeting her, must be fate? Later, chat while she was studying at the library. Meanwhile, during our chat, ordered “Battle Angel”, “In the Mood for Love” and its sequel “2046″ on Amazon, lol. Lunch w “Ouran HS Host Club” 4/26. She finally left the library at 7pm. Watched more extras from “Mood for Love”. Then tread w “Jumong” (2006) 1/81 (started, 1st half hour). Later, study/chat, hehe. Till 12 midnight.

In the Mood for Love (2000) | Enlarge 1200px

21 September 2009
Monday. Home. Dinner. Celery and lettuce for salad, along w my leftover roast beef sub. “Ouran HS Host Club” 5/26. Napped 6-820pm? Tread w “Jumong” 1/81 (2nd half). Afterwards, chat 10pm-12midnight, hehe.

22 September 2009
Tuesday. Heyyy, wore my blue shirt and purple-blue-striped tie! So I left around 4:30pm. Well, at home w Guiness, I got her call at about 5:20pm, while she was at the parking lot, lol. Basically, she wanted to tell me in private what happened at her meeting. Wow, awesome! That’s the news she wanted to share w me. Dinner w “Ouran” 6/26. Then later, 6-645, chatted w her while she was in class, lol. Tread w “Jumong” 2/81 (1st half). Ah, bills bills bills. Hehe, another chat 920-11pm.

23 September 2009
Wednesday. Around 4pm, my car engine slowed way down. Light indicator: “Service Engine Soon”. Damn, maybe the air intake duct again? Damn. So took the local roads from work, down Warm Springs, all the way to Gibson, then Henderson Nissan dealership at the Auto Mall. Like before, tightening the air intake duct took a quick 15-minute fix! Wow! Dinner w “Ouran” 7/26. Napped 6-7pm. Then around 7pm, she called! She finished her exam! Congrats! Told her it was nice to hear her voice. Tread w “Jumong” 2/81 (2nd half). Later, chat from 915 to 11pm, hehe.

24 September 2009
Thursday. Happy Birthday, Joel! Yup, last night, sent him an Amazon gift email, lol. During my morning commute, noticed the 630-640am sunset in my rearview mirror, aww. Yup, early to office, 640am! Home. Guiness! “Ouran” 8/26. Chat, during her class, lol. Sorries over my earlier behavior! Meanwhile, I continued work on my web “triDocs”, lol. Tread w “Jumong” 3/81 (1st half). Chat from 9pm-11pm.

25 September 2009
Friday. Came to work early, at 645am. Because I arrived early, left early, at 3:45pm. Home. Guiness! “Ouran” 9/26. Later, chat 530-6pm. Tread w “Jumong” 3/81 (2nd half) from 830-930pm. Chat again till 1030pm. Hmm, did she fall asleep? So after an hour, around 1130pm, I wrote: “Sweet dreams.” Aww.

26 September 2009
Saturday. Up 6am. Because of air intake duct issue earlier this week (Thurs?), took the car to Henderson Nissan. Also decided to do the intermediate maintenance ($331.99, ouch). Waited from 8-10am, but did some web “triDoc” work. Afterwards, groceries ($108), including tons of veggies (2 celery stalks, 2 lettuce heads, 3 tomatoes, bag of carrots, container of grape tomatoes) and fruits (10 nectarines, 10 fuji apples, bag of 12 granny smith apples, bunch of 10 bananas). Whoa, 40+ pieces! Hehe, chat from 11:30-12:30. Whoa, napped from 12:30-3:30. Three hours! “Ouran” 10/26. Then intermittent chat throughout the day, as she studied. Later, 530pm tread w “Jumong” 4/81 (1st) since I was going out soon. Then 7pm, sent a bye-bye hug and signed off chat to take a shower, get changed and head to Coley’s “Beatles Rock Band” party! Wow, 730pm till 130am! Six hours! Not just Coley in his orange Sgt. Pepper’s costume (as John Lennon?), but also Vu, Bliss, Sam, Thomas, Andres, Edward, and of course, the cute Kate! Not to mention a dozen or so of Coley’s Asian students, lol. Funny that we rotated through the Beatles songs at least 2-3 times before we got tired of it about halfway thru the night, enough that Vu switched it back to regular “Rock Band”, haha! No complaints from me! Wow, I probably sang about a couple dozen songs! Including “I Am the Walrus” a couple times w Kate, haha. Not to mention, my favorite grunge tunes like “Man in the Box” (Alice in Chains) and “Alive” (Pearl Jam)! Loved singing “Wonderwall” (Oasis) too, but failed “Jane Says” (Jane’s Addiction), haha. Too high! My throat was scratchy and dying by then! Luckily, at my desperate request, Bliss and Kate saved me on that “Jane Says” song, aww. Vu and Kate left about 1230am, but I finally left 130am. Wow, home by 2. Bed by 230am. Whew.

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

26 Sept | Saturday Rock Band | Enlarge

27 September 2009
Sunday. Somehow got up at 730am, lol. After a mere 5 hours of sleep, lol. Grocery shopping. Tons of fruits (10 bananas, 10 nectarines, 10 oversized Fuji apples, bag of 12-13 Granny Smith apples), lol. Laundry day. Called to tell my parents: “Happy 40th Anniversary!” But left the message instead. Oh well, lol. Put together a new Excel spreadsheet and line chart of my various savings and credit account balances. Interesting! Not great, but not as bad as I thought. “Ouran” 11/26 (aww, almost cried) and 12/26. Napped 1230-215pm. Heyyy, opened my last two-pack wrap of Strawberry Frosted Pop Tarts! Wow! While I still have some left at the office, my 3-year Pop Tart phase is drawing to a close! Chat from 230-430pm. Heyyy, Mom and Dad called back! Wished them a Happy Anniversary, talked for a bit. Till 5pm. Later, chatted from 630-8pm. Tread w “Jumong” 4/81 (2nd half). Even more chat, lol. Till midnight. Aww.

28 September 2009
Monday. Heyyy, didn’t wear my elbow pad for the first time in weeks! But then, garage, 7am “Service Engine Soon” again? Headache too. Texted them, asking to pick me up. But they were tied up. In fact, I decided to skip the shuttle and stay anyway, in case it was a quick fix. Which I expected. And which turned out to be the case. Done 830. Work 9am. “Ouran” 13/26. Napped 530-730pm or so. Chat 8-930pm while I uploaded “Rock Band” photos, hehe. Thus no tread.

29 September 2009
Tuesday. Home. Guiness! Texted her: Good grape luck! “Ouran” 14/26. Hey, for easier image-copy-pasting w my web-help project, installed Office Enterprise 2007 on my iMac’s Virtual XP. Also moved files from XP to iMac to make some room for disc burning. Tread w “Jumong” 5/81 (1st). Chat from 930-1030pm.

30 September 2009
Wednesday. Early to work, 645! Chilly for the first time! Got texts from Lisa: She may be picking up Guiness tomorrow night! Home. Guiness! Another huge salad dinner again, mmm, w “Ouran” 15/26. Followed by nap 6-7pm. Tread w “Jumong” 5/81 (2nd). Chat from 845-10pm.

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

30 Sept | Guiness the Menace | Enlarge

01 October 2009
Thursday. Whoa, got to work early, 645am? Then to celebrate Melanie’s b-day, 12 noon lunch at “Kabuki”! Sat in the bright sunny patio, met her friend and Muay Thai fighter Patti, ate colorful sushi “Sunkist” (Patti) and “Firecracker” (Melanie) which made my salmon California rolls look sooo plain, lol. Afterwards, walked two feet away to the “Yogurtland”. I didn’t get anything, but the do-it-yourself process was intriguing! Hehe, took final photos, then about 1:30pm, drove Melanie and myself back to the office. Yup, back to reality. Home. Lisa already at the house to brush and bathe Guiness. Mmm, my 3 Oreo+Cheesecake blizzards! Plus ordered Papa John’s pizza plus Cinnamon Pie! Mmm. Somehow I even took a mini-nap before Lisa inevitably left w Guiness about 7pm. Awww, his last day! Super-brief chat w LovelyDuckie-chan, lol. Tread w “Jumong” 6/81 (1st). Then chat 930-11pm.

01 Oct | Kabuki with Melanie & Patti | Enlarge

01 Oct | Kabuki with Melanie & Patti | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day at my House | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day with Papa John’s Pizza | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day with Papa John’s Pizza | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day with Papa John’s Pizza | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day with Papa John’s Pizza | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day with Papa John’s Pizza | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day with Papa John’s Pizza | Enlarge

01 Oct | Guiness’ Last Day with Papa John’s Pizza | Enlarge

02 October 2009
Friday. Wore my elbow pad again, bahhh, lol. At 12 noon, lunch at the “Galanga” Thai Eatery. Wow! Tasty Pad Thai and Peanut Curry. Delicious! Finally decided on Outback Steakhouse, since she wanted “quiet and cozy” and hadn’t visited it before. So I suggested it and we got there about 5:30pm, lol. Nice chat. Until the check came. Apparently I lost or misplaced my credit card! I was so flustered! But after calling to ask the “Galanga” place, she calmed me down and reminded me that I used my card to order pizza yesterday! Whew, felt so much better. We finally left 7pm or so. Dropped her off at her car at the office parking lot. Home. The neighbor’s wife found and gave me the foosball score markers for the table, lol. But told her I already bought new ones from Amazon. Then I asked her and her kids to take a look at my cleaned-up foosball table (one kid said “Whoa!”). Later, realized her markers weren’t complete anyway. Oh well. Napped from 7:30-9:30pm. Then we chatted till 10:45pm. Thus no tread. Finally went to bed at midnight or so.

02 Oct | Galanga Thai Eatery | Enlarge

02 Oct | Galanga Thai Eatery | Enlarge

02 Oct | Galanga Thai Eatery | Enlarge

02 Oct | Outback Steakhouse | Enlarge

02 Oct | Outback Steakhouse | Enlarge

02 Oct | Outback Steakhouse | Enlarge

02 Oct | Outback Steakhouse | Enlarge

03 October 2009
Saturday. Happy Tsukimi (based on an earlier chat), hehe. Up 8am! Somehow felt like searching for “In the Mood for Love” wallpapers and other images. “Ouran” 16/26 (whoa, moved to near tears). Heyyy, a surprise discovery, downloaded “Clone Wars – S2″ episodes 1-2! Grocery time from 11:30am-12:30pm, tons of fruits, veggies, even a couple of Asian DVDs (“Forbidden Kingdom” [2008] and “Memoirs of a Geisha” [2005]), hehe. Chat while having lunch, salad and slices of leftover pizza, hehe. While we chatted throughout the day, each did our respective house-cleaning, lol. I did my laundry, vacuum, washing Guiness’ intensely smelly blanket, the same one knitted by my Mom, lol. Finally moved out the various plastics bins to keep Guiness out! Yup, my anti-Guiness defense walls (around my iMac desk area, and at my bedroom door), haha. Meanwhile, we chatted and chatted all day. Then at around 7:20pm, she decided to call my cell. And we talked and talked. Fortunately, we picked up our Gmail chat at 9pm, lol. And we chatted and chatted all night, as I moved myself and my work laptop from the couch to the kitchen table, back to the couch, then on the floor, lol. Chatted till 12 midnight! Thus no tread.

04 October 2009
Sunday. Hmm, restless sleep. Not really dreaming, but waking and falling back to sleep, thinking about her. Ah, finally found time to replace the ceiling air filter. Dusty! Fiddling and fixed the main light timer. Vacuumed the dust off the exercise-room treadmill and fan. More dusty! Aww, chat during lunch. Napped from 1:30pm-3pm. Heyyy, from 4-5pm, watched my downloaded “Clone Wars – S2″ episodes 1-2 of 22 episodes (?). After that, decided to watch one of the DVDs I bought yesterday, “Forbidden Kingdom” (2008). Not bad for a second viewing! Till 7:30pm. Tread w “Jumong” 6/81 (2nd) and 7/81 (1st) till 9pm. Yup, two half-episodes, but still 1.25 miles treading plus interspersed biking. Aww, followed by chat from 9pm till 11:30pm.

Forbidden Kingdom (2008) | Enlarge 2800px

05 October 2009
Monday. Based on last night’s chat, wore my blue shirt and blue-purple diag-striped tie, lol. Heyyy, radio station FM 107.9, “The Alternative” began its commercial-free Mondays. Sweet! “Ouran” 17/26 w huge bowl of salad again. Ham shreds and ranch dressing, mmmm. Chat. “Jumong” 7/81 (2nd) and 8/81 (1st) till 9pm! Wow, 2 miles, 360 calories! Even more chat till midnight, lol.

06 October 2009
Tuesday. Left eye was a bit red, runny nose, allergy? Left 4pm, left eye bothering. “Ouran” 18/26. Nap 6-8pm. Chat. Tread w “Jumong” 8/81 (2nd). She went offline 1030 (fell asleep?). Resumed till 11pm. Hmmm, Vacation Mondays? Again?

07 October 2009
Wednesday. Left 4pm, eye bothering. Vons, green and red grapes, lol. “Ouran” 19/26 w huge salad & BBQ meat, lol. Nap 7-8pm? Brief chat. Tread w “Jumong” 9/81 (1st). Eye bothering less. Chat till 11pm?

08 October 2009
Thursday. New clock alarm setting at 4:27am. Still somehow got up 4:30-5am. To work 7am. Left 4pm. She says she won’t be online tonight? “Ouran” 20/26. Overnapped 8-9:45pm. Brief chat before run. Tread w “Jumong” 9/81 (2nd) from 10 to 10:40pm. Then chat after run, 10:40-11:15pm.

09 October 2009
Friday. Second morning of new alarm: 4:27am. Early to work 6:30am! Dark and gloomy! Haha, 5:30-7:30pm Outback (appetizers+soup) dinner again! Afterwards, during drive back, she said she liked my voice (so I sang ABC’s), dropped her off at office parking lot. Nap 8:30-10:15pm (?), overnapped. Emails. Replied. Fallen for her. Tread w “Jumong” 10/81 (1st, 2nd). Two miles, from 11:30 till 1am.

10 October 2009
Saturday. Up 9am or so. Thinking of her all night. Laundry. Small bathroom, soft-scrubbed the tiles. Chat 10:30am (?) till noon. Lunch chat till 12:30pm. Groceries 1:30-2:30pm. More chat till 3:30pm. Nap till 4:30pm. Finally decided, Fettucini cooking! My first time! Boiled water, add salt, pasta, oil, stir for 15 min. Classico Italian Sausage sauce in microwave. Pics. Done 5:30pm! Mmm, ate tasty bowl. We chatted briefly till 6pm. Intermittent connection. Tread w “Jumong” 11/81 (all), 7-8:15pm (?). Two miles, 360 cals. Replied to emails. Chat from 9:30pm-12:15am. Wow.

10 Oct | First Time Cooking, Fettucini Pasta | Enlarge

10 Oct | First Time Cooking, Fettucini Pasta | Enlarge

10 Oct | First Time Cooking, Fettucini Pasta | Enlarge

10 Oct | First Time Cooking, Fettucini Pasta | Enlarge

11 October 2009
Sunday. Up 9am or so. 8am? 9am? Brief chat 10:45-11am. Bills! Lunch time. Mmm, fettucini leftovers. Saved some for Monday, hehe. Watched extras for “Forbidden Kingdom” DVD I got last week. Till 2:30pm. Chat 3-4pm. Watched “Battle Angel” anime DVD 4-5pm (finished [37]; 3 of 5 stars). Sentimental (manga) but still lacking. Afterward, 5:30pm, watched “Densha Otoko” (2005) film (from Netflix) w my big chicken salad. LOL, funny, condensed version of series! So I stopped after the first 20 min to save for later download, save it to watch w her. Planned to mail it back to Netflix. Burned “Haruhi – S2″ DVD. Added Amberlin and Butterfly Boucher to my iMac’s iTunes list. Amberlin amazing. Tread w “Jumong” 12/81 (all). Two miles = 360 cals. Random biking = 200 cals. So 360+200=560 plus 280 (another 50%) = 840 cals. Chat 9:45pm till midnight.

Battle Angel – OAV (1993) [37]. As of 11 Oct, my 37th anime title-or-season of the year. Two-episode OVA, 3 of 5 stars.

Battle Angel – OVA (1993) | Enlarge 2000px

12 October 2009
Monday. No radio, no 107.9, instead played one of my burned Amberlin CDs in my car! “Ouran” 21/26. Download of “Densha Otoko” film done! Burned to disc. Mailed out “Densha” Netflix DVD in the morning? Then watched first 20 min again, lol. Browsed, searched Amazon. Ordered new Philips DivX player for living room! Tread w “Jumong” 13/81 (all). Two miles, bike, 350+350 cals. Chat 9-9:40pm.

13 October 2009
Tuesday. Left 4pm. “Ouran” 22/26. Napped 6:30-8pm. Tread w “Jumong” 14/81 (all), bike only, 14.5-15 mph = 700 cals. That night, no chat. Tried something new: Set my bill reminders on Google Calendar. Till 11:30pm.

14 October 2009
Wednesday. What the fuck! On my way from my car to office door, pulled out my keys and realized I lost my key fob! Dammit! Fuck! Not in pockets, not in car. Heyyy, the fob was found a couple hours later! Left 4pm. Vons groceries, got more grapes, 6 lbs! “Ouran” 23/26, big salad w turkey coldcut slices. Set up new DivX player, 7pm. Tread w “Jumong” 15/81 (all). This time, something else new: Decided to lower tread grade/slope to 1.5% (instead of 7.5%), in case I run w her in a couple months. Tread 1.25 miles = 200 cals (instead of 225 cals w 7.5%); bike 25 min = 300 cals. Chat 9-11pm. Added more bill reminders to my Google Calendar.

15 October 2009
Thursday. Home. “Ouran” 24/26. Napped 6:30-8:15pm. Tread w “Jumong” 16/81 (all) at 1.5% slope. Tread 1.25 miles = 200 cals. Bike = 50-60 min = 600-700 cals. Bike 12 cals/min. Chat 10-11pm or so.

16 October 2009
Friday. Early to the office: 6:30am! I left 4:15pm. Long day. Crashed into a nap 6:30-8:30pm. Text, pix, chat till 9pm, lol. Tread+bike w “Jumong” 17/81. Two miles! Tread: 1.5% grade/slope, 2 miles @ 7.5 mph = 17 min = 300 cals = 18 cals/min = 150 cals/mile. Bike: 10 miles = 38 min = 500 cals = 13 cals/min = 50 cals/mile. Total time = 55 min over 75 min period, 9:15-10:30pm. Aww, more chat 11:30pm-1:20am.

17 October 2009
Saturday. Up 9:30-10am. Chat. Breakfast w “Gundam Wing” 26/49 (starting 2nd half; while 1st half, 25 episodes, was [36]). Added Amberlin tracks to my home laptop iTunes, yeah! Awesome band. Groceries at 1:30pm. Removed my closed Borders credit card account from my list, confusing! Wow, at 2:30pm, after her meeting, she visited my house! We watched the Japanese film “Densha Otoko” (2005) while laying on the floor against the pillows and couch. Ate grapes. Sooo comfortable as she lay her head against my shoulder. Sooo adorable when she napped for a few minutes. Or when she sat up and recognized one of the plazas in Tokyo, lol. Watched it from about 3-4:30pm. She left about 5pm. But after she got home at 5:30pm, we continued to chat a bit online, aww. Salad dinner w “Gundam Wing” 27/49. Journal catch-up. Tread w “Jumong” 18/81, from 8:15-9:30pm. Tread: 300 cals = 2 miles = 17 min. Bike: 470 cals = 10 miles = 35 min. Chat from 9:30-10:40pm. Napped till midnight. Dozed off again. Overnapped till 1am, bah. I think I waiting for my Trend Micro to finish updating?

Densha Otoko (Film, 2005) | Enlarge 830px

Observation. Having seen both, I still think that the “Densha Otoko” (2005) TV drama starring Misaki Ito is significantly more entertaining and emotional than the “Densha Otoko” (2005) film. Significantly.

Densha Otoko (TV Drama, 2005) | Enlarge 1430px

Densha Otoko (TV Drama, 2005) | Enlarge 1000px

Densha Otoko (TV Drama, 2005) | Enlarge 1600px

18 October 2009
Sunday. Up 9am. Laundry! Extended monitor! Yup, decided to bring my HP desktop monitor to the kitchen table to attach to my Dell laptop, lol. Breakfast w “Gundam Wing” 28/49. Chat 11-11:45am. Continued chat, hehe. Mmm, big chicken salad lunch 1pm-1:40pm w more “Gundam Wing” 29/49. Chat resumed, lol. Napped about 4:30-5:45pm, during which she sent me a Pocky pic from her iPhone, lol. Brief 7:30pm chat. Tread w “Jumong” 19/81, from about 8-9:45pm. Tread: 2 miles = 300 cals. Bike = 500 cals. Total = 800 plus 50% more cooling-down burn = 1200 cals. Even more chat from 10pm till 12:30am.

18 Oct | Seafood City Pocky | Enlarge

18 Oct | Seafood City Pocky | Enlarge

19 October 2009
Monday. Up 5:15am. Breakfast w “Gundam Wing” 30/49. To the office 730am. Home. Dinner w “Ouran Host Club” 25-26/26 (finished [38]; 5 of 5 stars, aww, touching ending!). Tread w “Jumong” 20/81 (all; bike only) (finished my self-defined “Season 1″), from 7:15-9pm, 735 cals. Chat.

Ouran High School Host Club (2006) [38]. As of 19 Oct, my 38th anime title-or-season of the year. Full 26-episode series, 5 of 5 stars!

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20 October 2009
Tuesday. Fuck! Woke at 4am the morning because of a god-fucking cramp in my right-leg calf muscle! So instead of 5-5:30am, got up at 4:30am, trying to massage and shake the pain away. Breakfast, shower, dressed, got ready, left 7:45am, arrived 8:15am for our company’s User Conference! UC Day #1. Yup, as greeter and room monitor. Fortunately, my leg ache faded in a few hours. Occasional texts between my cell and her Yahoo IM, hehe. Long but interesting day. Till 5:30pm. Home 6pm. Big salad dinner w “Haruhi – S2″ 2-3/14 (“Endless Eight”) till 7:45pm. Wow-wow, opened my email to see Apple’s brand-new 27-inch iMac! Damn! Worked on journal. No tread, to rest my calf muscle. Wow, watched first 20 min of “BSG – The Plan”! Wow! No chat that night.

20 Oct | User Conference | Enlarge

20 Oct | User Conference | Enlarge

20 Oct | User Conference | Enlarge

20 Oct | User Conference | Enlarge

21 October 2009
Wednesday. Up 5am, dressed up by 6:30am. Breakfast w “Haruhi – S2″ 4-5-6/14 (more “Endless Eight”, lol) till 8am. Then left for the User Conference. UC Day #2. Since I’d be there for only a half-day (half-vacation), actually decided to go with blue shirt (no tie), black slacks, and black blazer w brass buttons. Slick! I mean, both Mary and NaTasha complimented me, hehe. Saw Kelly (from IBM) again, haha. We couldn’t figure out what was so funny during our Training class back in March! Nice to see her again. Stayed from 8:30-11:45am. Then left to pick her up from the office to go to Borders. But first, we visited the Apple Store to see the new 27-inch iMac and wireless touch-mouse, wow. Then walked back to Borders. Finally found an open table. Nice long lunch (with fruits? grapes? plus a couple pastries from the UC, lol). Yup, Apple plus Borders from 12noon-1:30pm. Back home 2pm. Random chat from my Yahoo at home to her Yahoo at work, hehe. Napped 4-4:20pm. More chat till her 5pm class. Dinner w more “Haruhi – S2″ 7-8-9/14 (wow, finally ended “Endless Eight”!). Brief chat. Tread w “Jumong” 21/81 (all; started “Season 2″). Tread: 2 miles = 300 cals. Bike: 500 cals. From 8:45-10pm. Plus peeked at the first 5 minutes of my downloaded “Blood – The Last Vampire” (live action), wow.

22 October 2009
Thursday. Ah, arrived at 7:30am to an empty office building, hehe. Due to the User Conference. Left work 4pm. Dinner w “Gundam Wing” 31/49. Napped 6:30-9pm. Chat till 9:40pm. Tread w “Jumong” 22/81. Tread: 11 min, 1.3 miles, 200 cals. Bike: 45 min, 12 miles, 600 cals. Then chat 11-11:20pm, hehe.

23 October 2009
Friday. Breakfast w “Gundam Wing” 32/49. Office at 7:30am. Later, Outback w her, 5:30-6:30pm. Mmm, coconut shrimp, French onion soup, salmon! Back home around 7pm. Brief chat. Napped 7:15-9pm. Up a bit. Then napped again 9-11pm, lol. Thus no tread. But some work on typing up journal. Meanwhile, for the past week, still listening to Battlestar Galactica (BSG) soundtracks (since 10/18), Plumb (since 10/18), Amberlin (since 10/17) on all 3 of my iTunes (iMac, home Dell laptop, and work Dell laptop), hehe. Journal-typing till 2:30am. Bed about 3am.

24 October 2009
Saturday. Up 9am. Chat. Breakfast: Bagel, apple and anime. “Gundam Wing” 33/49. Decided to skip Lowe’s (thought of canned air and multiple sockets). Vons groceries (got multiple-socket surge protector). Continued chat 11am-3pm. “Gundam Wing” 34-35/49. Cleared out the numerous blog items in my Google Reader, whew. “Clone Wars – S2″ 3/22(?). Bills bills bills! Tread w “Jumong” 23/81 from 8:30-10pm. Chat till 11pm. Then decided to watch “BSG – The Plan” (4 of 5 stars) from 12-2am! Not perfect but not bad at all! Afterwards, browsed through Amazon for glass L-shaped desks till 3am, lol. Hmm, instead of using the kitchen table (for the past month)?

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25 October 2009
Sunday. Up 9:30am or so. Checked Gmail and cleared more from Google Reader. Otaku Dan asked where I’ve been, lol. Chat. “Clone Wars – S2″ 4/22(?). Cooked fettucini! My 2nd time in 3 weekends! From 11:30am-1pm cooking! Ah, saved some pasta for tomorrow’s lunch. Some grapes too, of course. Nice call w the parents. She left about 1:40pm to do her groceries. Meanwhile, did some more Amazon browsing for external hard drives and headsets, hehe. Decided to continue “Haruhi – S2″ 10/14. Chat 5pm till treadmill. Tread w “Jumong” 24/81 (2 miles = 300 cals) from 6:30-8pm. Back to chat, hehe. Till 10:30pm. Hmm, why have I been using my kitchen laptop more often than my iMac?

26 October 2009
Monday. Left 7:05am. But halfway to work, realized that I almost forgot my fettucini lunch! So drove back home by 7:25am. Then drove back to work by 7:45am. Gahhh, annoying! Then 11:20am lunch downstairs. Mmm, fettucini w Spicy Tomato & Basil, but I think I like Italian Sausage better. Hehe, while I heated it up, NaTasha was surprised that I cooked it myself. Nah, not the sauce, just the pasta, lol. Left 4:30pm. Dinner w “Haruhi – S2″ 11-12-13/14. Almost done. Then tread w “Jumong” 25/81 (2 miles = 300 cals) till 9:30pm. Brief chat till 9:45pm. Created her “To-Do List” and my “To-Watch List”, lol.

27 October 2009
Tuesday. Breakfast w “Haruhi – S2″ 14/14 (finished [39]; hmm, okay, not bad but failed expectations, 3 of 5 stars). Whew, getting cold! Left 4:15-4:30pm. Wow, freezing outside! Even texted her, lol. Dinner w “Goong” 1/24 (started; not too bad, Kris-chan recommended it). Tread w “Jumong” 26/81 (2 miles = 300 cals). Hmm, laundry my 80′s shirts for Melanie’s Halloween Party? Chat. Sweet. Warm.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2009) [39]. As of 27 Oct, my 39th anime title-or-season of the year. Season 2 with 14 episodes, 3 of 5 stars! Can I hit my typical target of 50 anime by the end of the year?

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Observation. The infamous “Haruhi 2 – Endless Eight” arc. What’s the big deal? When you strip away all the impatient whining and restless ranting of short attention spans, it is incredibly unique. I remember an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” which follows a similar premise, looping through time for 17 days. But with the “Star Trek” episode “Cause and Effect“, you never get the feeling of “endlessness” depicted in this 8-episode “Endless Eight” sequence. Genius? Tragedy? Insanity? Or dare I say, esoteric art? If you’ve seen a favorite film at least 8 times, and have always found something new, then maybe you shouldn’t whine so much, hehe.

28 October 2009
Wednesday. Up 8:30am. Vacation Wednesday! Jaw still sore but okay. Like I said, felt like an over-extended muscle that just needs time to heal. Then 9am chat after I sent a text to her. Around 11am, took out all the house trash! Worked on journal. Needed to catch-up. Hmm, leverage journal for my blog too? Chat. More journal. Lunch w “Goong” 2/24. Still not a great K-drama, but okay. Ahh, Amazon, intriguing DVD binders? She left 4:45pm for her exam. Browsed Amazon for knitted beanies? Ah, ordered the classy-looking leather-ish DVD binders! Since spending $50 to store 150 DVDs in binders is cheaper and more compact than $100-150 of cases to store the same amount! Napped 6-7:30pm. Hehe, her call woke me up. Decided not to tread. Instead, cleared iMac hard-drive space and virtual XP space, burned Asian dramas to DVDs, cleared more XP space by moving these files to iMac space. Ah, she was back 9:45-11pm. Ordered a brown beanie to match my brown jacket and brown moccasin shoes. Plus ordered my 3rd Lasko portable electric heater. Nice.

29 October 2009
Thursday. Happy Birthday, Jeff! Heyyy, found a decent table on my neighbor’s curbside! So why not grab it? I was looking at tables on Amazon anyway, lol. Ah, back to work. Home. Ah, Lisa had already stopped by, took her books and ivory coat. Laundry: olive bed sheets. Dinner w “Goong” 3/24. Halfway through, napped around 7:30-9:30pm. Must’ve finished “Goong” afterwards. No chat. No tread again. But played w my foos stats on Google Docs till 1:11am, lol.

30 October 2009
Friday. Brrr, another cold night and morning. Hmm, should I wear a black outfit for the Halloween office lunch? Matrix style? With my air gun? Nahhh, maybe not. Just blue jeans. Especially when I’m going to be running around and printing. In prep for the office move, extracted my personal 20-inch Dell monitor out of my cube and carried it to my car. Haha, Paul jokefully shouted, “Stop thief!” Noon. Halloween lunch! So I went downstairs to check it out. Pizza! Kids kids kids! I passed out candy. Took photos too, haha. Relaxing after-work chat. Aww. Till 6pm. Home. Cleaned up the curbside table. Moved my laptop and monitor onto it. Chat 8:45-10pm. Done 10:15pm. No tread for the 3rd night straight.

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

30 Oct | Halloween Friday Office Lunch | Enlarge

31 October 2009
Saturday. Up 5am! Happy Halloween Saturday! Breakfast w “Outlaw Star” 6/26. Readied for Melanie’s math study at Barnes & Noble by Seafood City. Yup, location was my suggestion since I was in the mood for Jollibee Filipino food. Especially if she was paying, hehe. Arrived at Barnes & Noble by 9am. Found Melanie, met Brad. Surprised how much geometry, trigonometry, algebra, calculus, probability and statistics I still retained! (But not matrices, lol.) Impressed Brad too. Dozens of math problems till noon, wow! Most of which I just looked at for a few seconds, before finding a solution or direction! Afterwards, Melanie paid for our Jollibee lunch. Mmm, ChickenJoy, Palabok, Shanghai Rolls (lumpia)! Lunched 12:15-1pm. Including food photos, lol. Then we finally left. Groceries 1:30-2:30pm. Afterwards, checked emails, torrents and Amazon. Browsed for desk chairs? Napped 4-6pm. Chat till 7pm. Salad dinner w “Outlaw Star” 7/26. Brief chat. Then tread w “Jumong” 27/81 (2 miles = 300 cals, bike = 500 cals) from 9-10:30pm. Wrote an email to Kris-chan about 11:30pm. Another chat till 12:30-12:40am. Started filling my new DVD binders (received them yesterday?), plus DVD burning. Till 1:10am. Stayed up till 3am. But due to Daylight Saving, actually 2am, lol.

31 Oct | Barnes & Noble Math Study with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Barnes & Noble Math Study with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Jollibee with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Jollibee with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Jollibee with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Jollibee with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Jollibee with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Jollibee with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Jollibee with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Jollibee with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City’s Pocky with Melanie | Enlarge

31 Oct | Seafood City with Melanie’s ALIAS Fight Wear | Enlarge

From Goong to Jumong and Beyond

Ah, this time, from “Goong” (2006) to “Jumong” (2006), let’s weave our way through my week-long email exchange with Kris-chan, author of her “Bento Bako Weekly” column. Why? So we can see how much I was disappointed by “Goong” yet utterly amazed by the epic “Jumong”!

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Anna Tsuchiya, Song Ji-hyo’s Japanese look-alike? | Enlarge 1024px

27 Oct 2009

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: In case you’ve been wanting to buy any of these. They do have Jumong. I just ordered Goong/Palace. ^_^

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Hey, thanx! Actually, it’s a coincidence since I started downloading “Hana Yori Dango” last night. I even peeked at the first 5 minutes of rich kids and limousines, lol. Seems to be very “Ouran Host” like! Hey, I might’ve mentioned I already burned “Jumong” and “Goong” to disc. Oh man, “Jumong” was exactly what I was looking for to continue my “Damo”-style craving for ancient wartime dramas. Awesome, already up to episode 25 out of 81. Makes my nightly treadmill runs sooo much easier, lol.

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: Oh, well, I have (most of) it burned, too. But it’s a good show, a fantastic production. And it was on sale. I kind of just wanted to support the distribution company, so they’ll keep licensing that sort of thing over here… By the way, when will you have a column again? I miss them… Speaking of columns, I missed my Girl G33k blog this week, because I ran off to get married. ^_^ I did get a Bento Bako out, though! I made an indirect reference to you, lol. You and your silly Moon Phase.

28 Oct 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Haha, Kris-chan, r u crazy? If I’m supposed to believe u got married, I’m also supposed to believe that u still needed to get your blogs and articles out? What kind of priorities do u have, hahaha. Yeah, Skip Beat is still on my list, but haven’t moved in that torrent direction yet. Though I do have a question: I’m planning to download the Korean “Boys Over Flowers” after I download the Japanese “Hana Yori Dango – Season 2″. Have u compared the two Asian versions yet?… Oh yeah, congratulations! I think… ^_^

P.S. Heyyy, Kris-chan, just finished “Goong” episode 1 last night. A little slow, but not bad… Now I see where “Jumong” got some of its locations and archery scenes from, haha. “Jumong” is way cooler, like “Goong” injected with a shot of “Lord of the Rings”, hehe.

29 Oct 2009

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: Heh, well, my Bento Bako post I had been working on for over a month (along with the one going up next week). But yeah, I’ve been really busy with getting that together, and wedding crap, and haven’t been watching much anime lately…so I haven’t had anything to review anyway! I just finished the AIR movie though, so maybe I’ll get that up for next week. ^_^ My priorities are…well…. I mean, the wedding didn’t take much work, since it was really small. And I didn’t work on either website during the days we were gone. I did the Bento Bako post well before hand… I tried some Japanese food for the first time. Turns out I don’t like salted plum rice balls (when they say salted, they mean SALTED). I liked the curry sauce (it was actually kind of sweet in a way), and I LOVED the Tamago (egg omelet). I didn’t eat any sushi (I don’t like fish), but I did eat some veggie Maki-Zushi which was really delicious.

I was talking about the Skip Beat manga, lol, but the anime is good, too. I hope it gets another season. I thought there was going to be a live action from Taiwan but…I haven’t seen anything about it since I saw an announcement about it. I wonder if it was ever made, or if it’s going to be? Because I’m ready to drool over some hot Asians again… And I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about Boys Over Flowers; I haven’t seen the live action, or the anime, or anything. It’s certainly something I plan on getting to eventually, though. Just threw the anime on my Netflix list… Yeah, Goong is a little slow at times. It probably could have run a bit shorter and been OK. But the production value is so high, you tend to forget the pacing… I’ll get to Jumong someday, too. I was just way overwhelmed by the number of seasons and discs there were, so it will have to wait some time, until my Netflix clears up… And thank you! I mean, things don’t really feel any different, because we’ve been together for so long, and have been living together for 4 years or so. But now we can get a tax break. ^_^ How is your autumn of Autumn coming along?

30 Oct 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Happy Halloween!… Ah, no worries! After 5 years together, my ex and I had a small wedding too. In Vegas. Not as small, but small. Did u eat those onigiri correctly? Just teasing, but when I take a bite of rice, I only bite a little bit of the salted umeboshi to balance the rice. Little bit of umeboshi at a time, not all at once. Otherwise, saltiness can be too intense, hehe. Mmm, onigiri. Simple yet tasty. Especially when Autumn-chan makes them. Hmm, if not sushi, have you tried California rolls? Those are just as tasty too. Yeah, up to “Goong” episode 3. Still pretty slow. Especially when the characters are sleepy after their ceremony, lol. Well, I think the production value simply enhances what’s already there. In this case, it might actually enhance the slowness. Just as high production value would enhance the action in a action-based series. This might be bad advice, but if u downloaded or burned the first episode of “Jumong”, just watch the first 15 minutes to get a taste. Can’t hurt. Then u can drop it, continue, or do what u want after that. I won’t bother u again, lol. Ah, Autumn-chan. She’s been swamped by both work and classes, so I’ve been supporting her as much as I can, while trying not to be selfish with her limited time. Which can be frustrating. But understandable. Not just me, she thinks she’s selfish too. Eventually, when her last semester ends, she should be more free and flexible. Otherwise, we chat almost every night. Plus telling her “Osaki ni shitsureishimasu” (I’m finally pronouncing it to her standards) or telling each other “Oyasumi”. Which is always comforting… Haha, hot Asians… ^_^

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: Yes, Happy Halloween! Will you be doing anything? I don’t know that we will, but I have a costume anyway, which I can just wear around the house, lol… No, no! I totally only took a little bite of the plum with some rice. I chewed it for a couple of seconds, then spit it out. It was VERY salty. The rice itself was salty too. I’ve had regular plums before, and I liked them. I guess something about the salt and the tartness of the plum just didn’t work for me… Isn’t a California roll sushi? What I basically mean is, I don’t like seafood… Well, I hope Goong doesn’t disappoint you! I’m afraid it will likely remain at that slow pace. It annoyed me on occasion, but it didn’t turn me off. I still really enjoyed it; it’s a lot better than most of the stuff on TV here, at least… Haha, no…I’m afraid to even glimpse at Jumong. If it’s that good, I might abandon everything else and just absorb myself in it, which would be bad, lol. So I’ll wait until I have the time to devote to it.

When Scott and I were first dating, I was still in college. We only saw each other on weekends. I would drive out to see him (we lived about 40 mins away in different cities) after classes on Friday, and stay until Sunday, then go back to school. I don’t think we talked just a whole whole lot during the week, because he worked all day, and I had classes, then homework, and sometimes theatre crap. So I get the being busy thing… What does “Osaki ni shiklajdiohjdisdi” mean? I’ve heard “Oyasumi” …that’s goodnight, right?… And yes, hot Asians! They make everything better. ^_^

31 Oct 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Konnichiwa, Kris-chan! Happy Hallow’s Eve! Still 11pm in Vegas. Nah, too dead tired to do any trick-or-treating. Instead, woke up early to help a software coworker at 9am study for her math exam (her last of several exams, applying to be a teacher when she leaves our company soon). Man, I can’t believe how much trigonometry, geometry, algebra, logarithms, statistics and calculus I still retain from high school Mathletes, AP Calculus and college, haha. Melanie and her friend Brad were shocked at how I could look at a graph, function or equation for 2-3 seconds and guess correctly. Several dozen problems for 3 hours. Flew by. My brain hasn’t been so math-fried in ages, lol. But enough about my math skills…

Maybe it wasn’t the best or typical onigiri? Who knows? Typically, California rolls are made with tasty crab meat. Mmm, unfortunately, I guess you wouldn’t really know. Ahh, seafood. I miss Red Lobster’s salmon and lobster… No worries, I’ll stick with “Goong” for now. While still mixing my Netflix’s of unfinished “Gundam Wing” and “Outlaw Star” along the way. Still treading to “Jumong” episode 27. So while it makes exercising fly by much easier, it never really drowns out all other shows or anime either, lol. I mean, I can ship you a disc copy of the first 12 episodes as an early Christmas present, if you’re willing? Somewhere in Texas, right? Free of charge.

Ah, yes, “oyasumi” is “good night”. A little bit different from “konbanwa” (also “good evening”). While “konbanwa” is more for greeting, “oyasumi (nasai)” is more for departure, like the end of the night, before going home or going to bed. Meanwhile, “osaki ni shitsurei shimasu” (“excuse me for leaving before you”) is typically said when leaving the office earlier than other coworkers. And their reply would be “otsukaresama deshita” (literally “you must be such a tired person!” but translated as “thanks for your hard work!”).

01 Nov 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: P.S. Well, I gave “Goong” another shot w episode 4. While the brotherly intrigue is getting deeper, I think it’s time to switch gears w “Hana Yori Dango” (Japanese version) anyway. Sorry. I’ll come back to it in 3-4 weeks (since “HYD” S1+S2 has 20 episodes plus a film)! ^_^

Kris-chan @xJAYMANx: Aaaaah! I hate math… I am SO terrible with numbers. It’s funny, because my mother is a math teacher, and my father is all into science (he’s a uh…chemical engineer maybe?), but I’m AWFUL with both subjects. I don’t remember any math from high school or college, and in HS, I went all the way up to AP Calculus, and was taking some Calc in college too (it was a class called uh…business math or something… it was the next one up from Algebra, and I had to take it). Much, much better with books (fortunately my boy is excellent with numbers). ^_^ But that’s awfully nice of you to help your coworker study.

Maybe the onigiri was off. Who knows… Anyway, totally against sea food here. Only fish I eat is tuna fish, out of a can, and mixed with boiled egg, relish, miracle whip, and a touch of mustard. I’ve thought about giving salmon a try, since I hear it’s very good for you. But there’s no way I’d eat it uncooked. Anyway, I had an opportunity to try new food, and I’ve been wanting to try Japanese for a while, so I ordered various things to taste. Scott hates that kind of food, so I can only ever order it in for myself… I’m sad you’re not enjoying Goong like I did. But I can’t deny its slow pacing. Haha, you don’t have to send me any Jumong! I promise I’ll get to it! It’s just that my Netflix currently has 426 DVDs in its queue. I’m going to start the Beserk anime tomorrow morning… By the way, been meaning to say, feel welcome to add me to your Facebook, Netflix, or whatever you’d like.

Oh! I’ve seen “osaki ni shitsurei shimasu” translated in manga and anime. Usually as “I’m leaving first.” It’s one of those funny sayings like “Please take care of me,” when a character visits someone else’s house. Unfortunately they don’t explain those sayings very well, so the cultural aspects sort of pass me by most of the time. I kind of just assume that the Japanese are exceedingly polite (which they do seem to be).

02 Nov 2009

xJAYMANx @Kris-chan: Thanx Kris-sensei, although I feel bad for Melanie since she didn’t take calculus or probabilities in high school. So she’ll have a really tough time, even if the passing grade is 50% of 50 questions… Ah, as a Filipino, I grew up on seafood. Mmmm. So it’s not a big leap to enjoy Japanese dishes… What?!? Umm, 426 in your Netflix queue? Actually, here’s an idea. In case the 81-episode “Jumong” is too large a main course, what about the earlier Korean TV drama “Damo” as a 14-episode appetizer? Many of the same historical, stylistic and cinematic themes are presented in it. And much quicker to enjoy, hehe. If you enjoy this Korean appetizer, you’ll definitely be ready for the full course, haha.

While I rarely check my Facebook or Netflix pages or friends, there’s nothing stopping you from adding me either. I have an inkling that you’ve already verified the existence of my accounts… Ahh, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of the Japanese culture. For me, after watching anime and Japanese drama on Jap-audio and Eng-subs, almost non-stop since 2006, you can’t help picking up the sayings and holidays and foods. Even the mentality. Both the good and bad. Both admirable and repulsive. Fortunately, it prepared me. As if I was meant to meet Autumn-chan. ^_^

P.S. Would you mind if I reprinted excerpts or entire sections of this email discussion in a future blog post? Anything I shouldn’t mention? That is, if I ever make another blog post, of course.

“Ja ne!”

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Jumong (Korean Drama, 2006) | Enlarge 900px

LG ad featuring Song Il Gook from Jumong (2006) | Enlarge 900px

LG ad featuring Song Il Gook from Jumong (2006) | Enlarge 900px

LG ad featuring Song Il Gook from Jumong (2006) | Enlarge 900px

In fact, due to the overwhelming international success of “Jumong“, not only has Hawaii declared a “Song Il Gook Day”, “Jumong” is aired in Iran with ratings of 70-85%! Unreal. I’ll even make the following recommendation: If you only see one Korean drama in your lifetime, then let that drama be “Jumong”. I mean, if “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy was toned down in special effects, yet stretched out into a day-to-day yet emotionally-wrenching 81-episode epic odyssey, wouldn’t you watch it too?

So my Treasured Toyboxers, did you survive? Did you withstand the soul-smashing tsunami of spellbinding anime, American sci-fi, Hong Kong classics, Japanese comedies, and Korean epics? Did you digest the rock bands, canine menaces, cute costumes, and mouth-watering waves of food-food-food? Did you battle the unimaginably monstrous mega-cast equaling fifty or more mere-mortal posts? You did? Then I applaud your strength and stamina! Likewise, let’s thank the glorious girls who graced our gleaming mega-cast. Thank you, Maggie, Kate, Bliss, Melanie, Patti, Lisa, Alita, Hermes, Misaki Ito, Haruhi Fujioka, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, NaTasha, Haruhi Suzumiya, Song Ji-hyo, Anna Tsuchiya, Kris-chan, Duckie-chan, and of course, the adorable Autumn-chan.

Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (2007, 2008, 2009) | Enlarge 1440px

Despair! Devastation! Delight! Can you truly distinguish one without the others? After all, one girl’s pain may be another girl’s panic may be another girl’s pleasure, don’t you think? Haha, welcome back, my Traveling Toyboxers! Welcome to yet another deliciously disturbing taste of another marvelously mad mega-cast! A mega-cast of classroom-crashing desperation, triple-pistolled typhoons, purse-lipped pianists, lunar-licking digestion, and hardware-clashing relaxation! What am I talking about? Well, buckle up, pipe down, lean back, and let’s figure it out, lol. Ready? Three, two, one, let’s start the show!

Part 1 of 5 > Despair, Here, There & Everywhere

To fall or *not* to fall into despair? To fire or *not* to fire your weapon? To perform or *not* to perform your music? Those are the questions of the next 3 anime titles. Yup, 3 more anime titles-or-seasons: “Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei” [33], “Trigun” [34], and “Nodame Cantabile – Paris” [35]. Yes-yes, for a total of 35 completed anime titles-or-seasons in just about 8 1/2 months so far! Well? What do you think? Despite work, play and live-action films, can I hit my typical target of 50 anime by the end of the year? Ahhh, the despair!

Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Season 2, 2008) [33]. Ahhh, yes, the despair! But let’s see, where to begin? Well, about 17 months ago, back in mid-April 2008, I finished the first season of “Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei” (2007). And I was utterly blown away! In fact, I gave it a 4 of 5 stars maximum for a half-season. Plus an Honorable Mention for 2008! So from 27 July 2009 to 23 August 2009, when I finally completed “Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei” (2008) last month, I couldn’t wait for more! Yup, my 33rd anime title-or-season of the year. Season 2 with 13 episodes. Haha, just as mind-alteringly and mind-frakkingly uproarious as Season 1. Especially with its psychological cocktail of over-analytical despair-torn classmates plus teacher! Whoa, by combining Season 2 with Season 1, the series earns a desperately impressive 5 of 5 stars!

To celebrate, ranging wildly from 1024px-to-5300px resolution across both seasons, here are over 50 wallpapers, vectors, scans and other images to soothe your over-analytical soul, lol. Feel free to enlarge. Ahhh, bask in the air of despair!

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (2007, 2008, 2009) | Enlarge 1600px

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (2007, 2008, 2009) | Enlarge 1280px

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So did you fall *in* or fall *out* of despair, huh?

Part 2 of 5 > Guns, Dunes & Humanoid Typhoons

To fire or *not* to fire your weapon? That is the next question. Ahhh, the guns!

Trigun (1998) [34]. Ahhh, yes, the guns! Once again, where to begin? Man, I’ve seen and heard about this classic anime for years! Ages! Yet I never got around to watching it. Why? Who knows? Maybe because there always seemed to be other better titles to watch? In any case, from 20 May 2009 to 06 September 2009, with the help of Netflix, I finally completed “Trigun” (1998). Finally, after more than 10 years later! Yup, my 34th anime title-or-season of the year. Original season with 26 episodes. While some of the wandering tales fly as dry as the sand they’re drifting in, there’s a certain mythical gust to the scenes, shots and characters. Even the shadow of tears may have flickered across my eyes toward the final showdown. But in the end, the series earns a decently wind-blown, sand-torn and bullet-bitten 4 of 5 stars!

To celebrate, aiming carelessly from 1500px-to-3400px resolution, here are 10 wallpapers and other images to vent your vengeful heart, lol. Feel free to enlarge. Ahhh, bathe in the hail of bullets!

Trigun (1998) | Enlarge 3400px

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So did you fight, flee, fall, or fire your weapon, huh?

Part 3 of 5 > Pianos, Paris Trips & Pursed Lips

To perform or *not* to perform your music? That is the final question. Ahhh, the pianos!

Nodame Cantabile – Paris (Season 2, 2008) [35]. Ahhh, yes, the pianos! And yes, this will be my third time featuring “Nodame”, hehe. First, my Blog 178 (Dec 2008) when I gave the first season of “Nodame Cantabile” (2007) an extraordinary and unforgettable 5 of 5 stars. Second, my Blog 207 (June 2009) when I gave the live-action drama (2006) a sublime 5 of 5 stars. And third, this Blog 217. Need I say more? Sure, why not? This time, from 26 August 2009 to 08 September 2009, I completed “Nodame Cantabile – Paris” (2008). Yep, my 35th anime title-or-season of the year. Season 2 with 11 episodes. While not as focussed, driven or intense as the first season, it is still an irresistible ride through the romantic-comedic world of classical music. Yet another shining and inspiring 5 of 5 stars!

To celebrate, soaring melodically from 1024px-to-2500px resolution, here are 25 wallpapers, vectors and other images to inspire your orchestral spirit, lol. Feel free to enlarge. Ahhh, soak in the shower of rainbow sounds!

Nodame Cantabile (2007, 2008, 2009) | Enlarge 2500px

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So did you push, pull, pretend or perform your music, huh?

Part 4 of 5 > Another Autumn Embrace – August Moons & Noodles

Despair! Devastation! Delight! Which one will it be this time? After falling into “Zetsubou” despair, firing “Trigun” weapons, and performing “Nodame” music, let’s skyrocket beyond the anime atmosphere into the starry embrace of our surrealistic reality. Whatever that means.

Hey, remember my first weekend with Autumn-chan? Back in my Blog 215 > Embrace of an Autumn Night (Aug 2009) mega-cast? Well, on 17 August 2009, the following Monday morning after that weekend, as I let Guiness out into the backyard to do his duty before my getting ready for work, I noticed the prettiest sight in the eastern sky. Not just the morning Moon. But, correct me if I’m wrong, I believe Venus as well! As always, feel free to enlarge the shot.

17 Aug | Monday, Morning Moon | Enlarge

Another shot. Are the Moon and Venus smiling at my Autumn embrace?

17 Aug | Monday, Morning Moon | Enlarge

A zoomed shot. Check out the enlarged version.

17 Aug | Monday, Morning Moon | Enlarge

Another zoomed shot.

17 Aug | Monday, Morning Moon | Enlarge

Aww, wasn’t that pretty? Then, two Mondays later, on 31 August 2009, or two weeks ago, Autumn-chan and I decided to have lunch at “Jollibee“, lol. Haha, yup, the same Filipino fast-food place that I visited with Vanessa back in my Blog 060 (May 2007), more than 2 years ago! On Opening Day! Crowded! Crazy! But two weeks ago, it wasn’t so crazy. Well, not as crazy as me, lol. I know you want to enlarge the shot of those noodles, right?

31 Aug | Monday, Jolibee with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Nahhh, not as crazy as me.

31 Aug | Monday, Jolibee with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Mmm, Pancit Palabok!

31 Aug | Monday, Jolibee with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Another inexplicable shot taken by Autumn-chan.

31 Aug | Monday, Jolibee with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Hmm, wondering what she’s aiming at?

31 Aug | Monday, Jolibee with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Ahh, another painfully posed photo.

31 Aug | Monday, Jolibee with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Concluding with yet another delightfully deranged Jollibee-eyed composition.

31 Aug | Monday, Jolibee with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Mmm, I think I’m getting hungry again. Damn Jollibee.

Part 5 of 5 > Another Autumn Embrace – September Hardware & Foosball

Despair! Devastation! Delight! Can you predict which one it will be next? After some surrealistic Autumn moons and noodles, let’s catapult across the chaotic chasm into the concrete embrace of materialistic reality. Is it truly real?

Real or not, guess what? The following day after Jollibee, on 01 September 2009, my ex-sister-in-law and ex-roommate Lisa decided to thank me for watching Guiness the Menace all these months since she moved out this past July. Thank me how? Well, with more than a dozen Asian DVDs! Wow, nice! Thanks again, Lisa! But don’t mind the “True Blood – First Season” box set. Yeah, I know it’s not Asian. I just borrowed it from my coworker Mary because she recommended it, lol. Still halfway through it. Not spectacular, but not utterly bad either. So I thought, why not toss in the DVD box set along with the rest of the DVDs? Yeah, why not?

01 Sept | Tuesday, Asian DVDs | Enlarge

Ah, Satoshi Kon’s “Millennium Actress”! Breath-taking anime film. But haven’t seen Jet Li’s “Red Dragon” or Tony Leung’s “Flowers of Shanghai” yet!

01 Sept | Tuesday, Asian DVDs | Enlarge

Still haven’t seen the Korean animated film “My Beautiful Girl, Mari” either!

01 Sept | Tuesday, Asian DVDs | Enlarge

Haha, can’t wait to see the Thai comedy “Iron Ladies” about transvestites, transsexuals and homosexuals! LOL! Or Beat Takeshi’s “Taboo”. Man, so many I haven’t seen yet!

01 Sept | Tuesday, Asian DVDs | Enlarge

Ahh, here’s the full DVD spread.

01 Sept | Tuesday, Asian DVDs | Enlarge

Here’s the reverse angle.

01 Sept | Tuesday, Asian DVDs | Enlarge

Finally, here’s a close-up of one of my favorite Hong Kong female-fighting flicks “So Close”! Delicious spy-girls and cop-chicks! Watched it again just last week, lol.

01 Sept | Tuesday, Asian DVDs | Enlarge

Haha, makes you wanna grab and enjoy another Asian film, doesn’t it? Well, not just yet. Because the following Saturday, on 05 September 2009, Autumn-chan visited me in another unforgettable installment of my adorable “Autumn Embrace” series, lol. Yup, first my Blog 215 > Embrace of an Autumn Night mega-cast. Then my Blog 216 > Time to Embrace, Rock or Die mega-cast. Now, this Blog 217, including “Operation Laptop Fan”, lol. Essentially, she surgically opened up her main laptop, as I assisted, so we could find the serial number on her malfunctioning boot-stalling fan.

05 Sept | Saturday, Home with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

I suggested taking photos to help her remember how to put the bits and pieces back together. Yup, she insisted on taking it apart herself! Again!

05 Sept | Saturday, Home with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Hmm, probably the trickiest part was remembering how the fragile wires snaked around the various curves and crevices.

05 Sept | Saturday, Home with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Even more wires, curves and crevices.

05 Sept | Saturday, Home with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Plus a weird wire with a gooey bit of newly-detached tape.

05 Sept | Saturday, Home with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Finally! The surgically detached laptop fan!

05 Sept | Saturday, Home with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Yet oddly enough, despite the “7701A”, there was no sign of a proper serial number! Gahhh. Oh well.

05 Sept | Saturday, Home with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Ahh, food! After consuming a couple of hours to disassemble, rest, then reassemble her laptop, it was about time for a sushi break in the sunny relaxing front-door breeze. Quite relaxing. Hehe, and yeah, the same sushi party tray of California rolls, surimi, shrimp ebi, and edamame, as last time. Plus baby carrots, a can of Diet Sunkist Orange, and a can of Diet Sunkist Lemonade, lol. Why not?

05 Sept | Saturday, Home with Autumn-chan | Enlarge

Yeah, as always, the soy-drenched sushi hit the spot, lol. But to make a long story short, despite the lack of Guiness the Menace and his attention-starved antics, Autumn-chan and I settled back and cuddled against the pillows and cushions to watch, smile and laugh at my embarrassing family videos taken during my East Coast Vacation (Blog 067) in 2007, lol.

Sadly, and all too soon, it was time for her to leave. So to soothe the momentary heartache, I decided to go to the 7pm Rock Band Party of another coworker Michelle’s house. Once again, I sang a ton of rock tunes on “Hard” difficult without any problems, lol. But when Michelle’s friend Nick noticed my elbow support, and listened to its foosball origin, he challenged me to a one-on-one foosball match, while inviting me to his barbecue party set for the next day. Haha, why not? Besides, as the Foosball Ninja (Blog 189), I need an occasional foosball challenge, right?

Fast-forwarding to the next day, on Sunday, 06 September 2009, we find ourselves at Nick and Vicki’s 2pm Barbecue Party! Whoa, so many young pretty people and their alcoholic activities, lol. Not only that, the birthday boy Zack on the far right is the spitting image of Lex Luthor as portrayed by “Smallville” (Blog 209) actor Michael Rosenbaum! Uncanny.

06 Sept | Sunday, Barbecue & Foosball | Enlarge

Here we go! Getting ready to make a toast! Hehe, I believe the blonde holding the bottle is Irish-born.

06 Sept | Sunday, Barbecue & Foosball | Enlarge

Making the toast to the birthday boy!

06 Sept | Sunday, Barbecue & Foosball | Enlarge

Cheers!

06 Sept | Sunday, Barbecue & Foosball | Enlarge

A-ha! Nick’s foosball table.

06 Sept | Sunday, Barbecue & Foosball | Enlarge

A closer view. Looks just like a Harvard-brand foosball table. Like mine.

06 Sept | Sunday, Barbecue & Foosball | Enlarge

A random kitchen view.

06 Sept | Sunday, Barbecue & Foosball | Enlarge

Another random kitchen view, lol.

06 Sept | Sunday, Barbecue & Foosball | Enlarge

Well, to make another long story short, despite the lack of familiar faces, I was more comfortable playing some fast-flying foosball with Nick, Paul, Zack and Kyle in various two-on-two combinations. While Zack and I won twice as a team, Kyle and I lost twice as a team. But let’s not forget Nick’s original one-on-one challenge! In between the food and beer sessions, I lost the first game by a score of 5-to-10. But later on, despite the tight foosball rods and the sloped corners, I still managed to adjust, defeat Nick on his own table, and win the second game by a score of 10-to-7. Awesome. A worthy opponent indeed. In fact, while I genuinely complimented him, “You’re awesome”, he wasn’t smiling too much when he replied, “You’re not half bad yourself.” Hmmm.

Fast-forwarding once more to the next day, on Monday, 07 September 2009, we find ourselves on the Labor Day Holiday! Yup, on this day, I finally decided to clean my salvaged foosball table. The same old foosball table that my next-door neighbor abandoned on the street curb for garbage pick-up, back on 06 June 2009. Ugh, that solidified soda puddle on the playing surface was the worst! But wow, luckily, the degreasing cleaner I bought slowly-but-steadily dissolved that puddle. So, after 3 months of sitting in the garage, my foosball table has finally been cleaned up. Not perfectly. But decently. All that’s left to do is to cover the bare and torn spots with some new wallpaper, reattach new 10-point score markers on either end, and add 3 shiny new foosballs. Hehe, I can’t wait! For now, here’s my newly-cleaned Harvard-brand foosball table.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

A closer view.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

An even closer angle.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

Zooming back out.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

A reverse angle.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

A closer reverse angle.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

Much closer, lol.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

Reversing the reverse angle, lol.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

Finally, an on-the-field perspective. Feel free to enlarge the view.

07 Sept | Monday, Labor Day Foosball Cleaning | Enlarge

So, from DVDs to laptops to foosball, was it truly real? Which one was it? Was it despair, devastation or delight? Is it time to play foosball yet?

Despair! Devastation! Delight! Depth! Descent! Delicacy! Destiny! My Tragic Toyboxers, did you distinguish one from the others? Yeah, right, lol. You didn’t even try, did you? Unless you think one girl’s pain and another girl’s panic and another girl’s pleasure, are all the same thing? Nevertheless, didn’t another deliciously disturbing taste of another marvelously mad mega-cast dissipate into the darkness? Didn’t another mega-cast of classroom-crashing desperation, triple-pistolled typhoons, purse-lipped pianists, lunar-licking digestion, and hardware-clashing relaxation all dissolve into despair? They didn’t? Then I thank you. Just as we should thank the glistening girls who graced our glittering mega-cast. Thank you, the girls of “Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei”, Nodame-chan, Lisa, Mary, Michelle, Vicki, and of course, the adorable Autumn-chan. I still think I’m falling for her…

Can I hit my typical target of 50 anime by the end of the year?

Till next broadcast. Peace. Out.

Final Flashback

To fall or *not* to fall into despair? Ahhh, yes, the despair!

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (2007, 2008, 2009) | Enlarge 1900px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1024px

Time. Space. Grace. Rock. Death. Life. Love. Welcome, my Tragic Toyboxers to yet another timeless mega-cast! Time for another revealing look at our otaku outlook, another animated moment to read or die, another intricate instant to travel through a temporal labyrinth, another warmth embrace in the arms of an autumn night, and another screaming rush of the rock-band spotlight! Fair enough? Foul enough? Well, then, ready or not, worthy or not, crazy or not, it’s time to kick-off the show!

Part 1 of 5 > Time for Another Otaku Outlook

Time! Anime! Otaku! Well, it’s finally happened! While it took a month or so longer than anticipated, the question I posed back in my Tales (May 2009, Blog 202, Part 2) mega-cast, and in my recent Watchmen (July 2009, Blog 211, Part 1) mega-cast, has finally been answered. The question: Will “Sankaku Complex” finally double the theoretical value of “DC”? The answer: Yes, without a doubt. As always, feel free to enlarge the graph.

22 Aug | Website Outlook – Blog Worth Over Time | Enlarge 800px

In our next graph, if we focus the estimated theoretical values upon the $0K-to-20K range, you’ll notice a slight decline across most of the listed otaku blogs. Ah, yes, including my own “Toybox”. No excuses there, lol. Just the embrace of an autumn night, right?

22 Aug | Website Outlook – Blog Worth Over Time | Enlarge 800px

Beyond that, in our final graph, if we focus upon the $0K-to-3k range, our newest winner is: Rhythm Emotion, a.k.a. Lene-chan! Congratulations, Lene-chan! Like with our first winner Duckie-chan (in Blog 207, Part 7) and second winner Coco-chan (in Blog 211, Part 1), we don’t know what prize you’ve actually won, but we’ll figure it out eventually, lol.

22 Aug | Website Outlook – Blog Worth Over Time | Enlarge 800px

So what have we learned from all this? Hmm, not much, I’m afraid. But if indeed you’ve learned anything new, feel free to let me know what it is!

Part 2 of 5 > Time to Read or Die

Time! Read! Die! If you haven’t learned anything new, here’s a bit of overdue anime to mend your merry way. From merry blogging to merry reading. Now read and learn something new, dammit! Or else, lol.

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) [32]. You know, I first started this series quite a while ago. Years ago! But after a handful of episodes, I had given up. Why? Well, the story didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Luckily, over the last couple years, I’ve learned to finish what I start. And “Read or Die” was one of the titles that popped back into my primary memory. So, on 05 May 2009, I finally restarted the series via Netflix. And a couple of weeks ago, on 14 August 2009, I completed my 32nd anime title-or-season of the year. Sequel to the “Read or Die” OVA (2001). Full season with 26 episodes. Yup, I finally finished it! And I gotta admit, it’s really good! From the heart-breaking sisterly relationships to the imaginative paper-cutting battles, wow, the series earns an unexpectedly impressive 5 of 5 stars! Who would’ve guessed?

To celebrate, ranging from 1024px-to-3500px resolution, here are 30 wallpapers, vectors, scans and other images to satiate your paper-based soul, lol. Feel free to enlarge. Enjoy!

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1280px

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Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 3500px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1600px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1280px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1900px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 3000px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 3000px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1280px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1280px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1600px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1280px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1900px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1900px

Read or Die – R.O.D. the TV (2003) | Enlarge 1280px

So did we waste enough paper yet? LOL, okay-okay, forgive me, it’s animated paper.

Part 3 of 5 > Time Traveler’s Wife

Time! Travels! Wives! So after our first weekend (15-16 Aug) at the mall, Autumn-chan and I decided to try our second weekend (22 Aug) at the movies, hehe. Namely, The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) which opened just a few weeks ago (14 Aug). Autumn-chan had heard from other sources that it was better than what the critics thought, but I had no expectations whatsoever, lol. My only reference was that my ex-wife loved the original 2003 novel. Which may or may not translate well onto the big screen. Nevertheless, we were intrigued enough to take a chance. And I must admit, both Autumn-chan and I thought it was pretty good! Very good! Despite the intricately-interwoven paths of time, the story was still impressively clear, convincing and mesmerizing. Including a few teary-eyed moments for me, lol. Wow, a heart-breaking yet heart-warming 4 of 5 stars!

To celebrate, ranging from 1280px-to-3000px resolution, here are 11 posters, wallpapers and related photos to both shatter and soothe your fragile heart, lol. Awww. First off, here’s my favorite poster from the film. Feel free to enlarge!

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 1500px

Here’s the cover of the book as “National Bestseller”.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 1200px

Next, here’s the cover of the book as “International Bestseller”.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 2200px

Aww, here’s one of Clare’s earliest magical meetings with Henry.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 3000px

Here’s one of Henry’s earliest meetings with Clare. Confusing yet?

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 3000px

Another magical moment between Clare and Henry.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 2700px

Here’s a close-up view.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 1280px

A wallpaper version.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 1280px

Another wallpaper version.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 1280px

A more heart-breaking wallpaper.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 1280px

Finally, a wallpaper version of my favorite poster above.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009) | Enlarge 1280px

So did we waste enough time yet? LOL, okay-okay, forgive me, it’s fictional time. Or is it?

Part 4 of 5 > Time for Another Autumn Embrace – August 22

Time! Autumn! Embrace! After Autumn-chan and I enjoyed “The Time Traveler’s Wife” at the “Sunset Station” cinema, we decided to take a lazy stroll to the “Sunset Cafe” at the other end of the smoky casino. While she didn’t feel hungry enough to order more than a cup of tea, she was content enough to watch me devour my hot turkey sandwich, lol. And to capture some embarrassingly random moments of me doing so!

Why, thank you for the half-eaten view! Again, Autumn-chan’s too shy to appear on camera, lol.

22 Aug | Saturday at the Sunset Casino | Enlarge

Come on, are you sure you don’t want some processed turkey?

22 Aug | Saturday at the Sunset Casino | Enlarge

Not even some semblance of gravy paste?

22 Aug | Saturday at the Sunset Casino | Enlarge

Ah, forget it! The cranberry-based substance is mine!

22 Aug | Saturday at the Sunset Casino | Enlarge

Faster than a speeding gullet!

22 Aug | Saturday at the Sunset Casino | Enlarge

Heyyy, watch where you point that thing!

22 Aug | Saturday at the Sunset Casino | Enlarge

After dinner, we strolled back out to the sunset-lit parking lot. Damn, that palm tree is huge!

22 Aug | Saturday at the Sunset Casino | Enlarge

After a quick stop to rest at my house, she drove back to her place. But an hour later, we were crazy enough to video-chat, lol. For the next five hours! Here’s a screen-cap sample of my insanity from Autumn-chan’s point of view. Don’t pay attention to the time. It’s set to a different time zone, lol.

22 Aug | Saturday Night on Video Chat

Umm, “heading” into some trouble?

22 Aug | Saturday Night on Video Chat

Okay, who’s making sense?

22 Aug | Saturday Night on Video Chat

Where were we “heading” again?

22 Aug | Saturday Night on Video Chat

Are you talking to me? Are you sure? Because I’m not available, am I?

22 Aug | Saturday Night on Video Chat

Haha, another three hours of video-chat insanity on the following night.

23 Aug | Sunday Night on Video Chat

Yup, she’s trying to capture my Diet-Coke pose, lol.

23 Aug | Sunday Night on Video Chat

What? Okay, Autumn-chan, this isn’t a Diet-Coke commercial, lol.

23 Aug | Sunday Night on Video Chat

Yeah-yeah, I know. Can’t leave Guiness out of the fun, can we?

23 Aug | Sunday Night on Video Chat

So yeah, that was our second weekend! What else can I say? Hours flew by like minutes. Minutes like seconds. Yet the following weekend, some moments felt timeless.

Part 5 of 5 > Time for Another Autumn Embrace – August 29

Time! Another autumn! Another embrace! Most recently, for our third weekend (29-30 Aug), we decided to just relax at home with Guiness, lol. Including a sushi party tray, some chocolate lava, and a mini-marathon of the live-action films “Death Note 1″ (2006) and “Death Note 2″ (2006) on my 24-inch iMac!

Of course, let’s not forget the intriguing-and-intrigued Guiness the Menace, haha.

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

After our random sushi party tray of California rolls, surimi, shrimp ebi, and edamame, Autumn-chan revealed her decadent lava-centered “Heart of Darkness” chocolate cakes! After 20 or 30 seconds in the microwave, the lava centers were perfectly melty, lol.

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

A decadently tempting close-up!

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Hmm, I was skeptical. Are they really that good?

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Umm, yeah, not bad…

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Well, not quite life-shatteringly mind-blowing, but tasty nonetheless!

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Come here, Guiness. Wanna taste?

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Come a little closer!

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Here ya go. Come on.

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Come on, Guiness, can’t you smell the decadence?

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Mmm. See that? Mmm, mmm, tasty!

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Come on, Guiness… Bahhh, I give up.

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

What? Not even the chocolate crumbs?

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Ahh, there you go! Finally!

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Yeah, finally! What took you so long? Hey, wait, is that Autumn-chan’s arm?

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

So after lunch and dessert, Autumn-chan and I finally sat in front of the iMac, settled back against our pillows and cushions, and began our “Death Note” marathon. For those who have no idea which films I’m talking about, here’s a “Death Note 1″ wallpaper from my Blog 210 (13 July) mega-cast.

Death Note 1 (Live Action, 2006) | Jump to Blog 210

Then after “Death Note 1″, we leaned back into the inseparable sequel “Death Note 2″. Similarly, here’s a “Death Note 2″ wallpaper from the same Blog 210 (13 July) mega-cast.

Death Note 2 – The Last Name (Live Action, 2006) | Jump to Blog 210

Wow. While this was my second time enjoying the films, Autumn-chan was surprised at how much she actually liked watching them for the first time! That’s pretty cool! Hmm, and I think it helped to have her head on my chest, and my arm around her shoulders, hehe. Awww. Here’s Guiness the Menace still resting in Autumn-chan’s spot during the “Death Note 2″ closing credits, haha!

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

Ah, see Guiness stretch.

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

See Guiness snore.

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

See Guiness fart. Ewww, lol.

29 Aug | Saturday Death Note Marathon | Enlarge

After her six-hour visit, Autumn-chan poked and prodded me to hurry up and attend the “Rock Band” party of my co-worker. Even though she didn’t feel brave enough to join me, she also didn’t want me to miss out on all the rock-and-roll fun. So after some hesitation, I finally took her advice and got ready. Haha, she even waited for me to leave, so I wouldn’t chicken out! Awww. So at about 6:30pm, we left my house in our respective cars.

I gotta admit, I enjoyed the party! Not only the “Rock Band” room, but once I ran out o