Friday, December 20, 2013

So I’m Actually Driving Now…

clannad after story ichinose kotomi

Even if I’m not an expert yet, I can say that it’s actually kind of fun to drive around in my own car.

Yes, I did say “my own” car, even though I haven’t fully paid for it yet. Said car is a cute, little Kia Pride, appropriately named “Stitch”. You may not believe this, but this is a dream car for me! I wanted to own a little Kia since I was in college, but my mom refuses to let us drive small cars because she’s afraid we’ll get squished in an accident.

Ok, Mom does have a point, but medium-sized cars are much harder to estimate and tend to be a little intimidating for me to drive. I know, because I’ve owned a gold Honda City before, and it scared me to drive that car around! Stitch, on the other hand, makes me feel like I can handle him.

Although the first day I drove was really scary because I wasn’t sure about all the intersections and turns, the second day was a bit better. I’m getting the hand of it, I guess, but I still have a lot to learn.

At least I’m not that scared anymore. It would be nice to drive around on my own some time~ Let’s hope I can do that in time for my birthday at least!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Operation: Break the Casanova's Heart

10 Tasks to Accomplish:

  1. Make him notice you.
  2. Differentiate yourself from other girls.
  3. Get an invite to a date.
  4. Make the said date memorable.
  5. Make him take you seriously.
  6. Ensure that he’s sating you exclusively.
  7. Snag an invite to meet his parent.
  8. Get a kiss – a sincere one.
  9. Be the best girlfriend he’s ever had.
  10. And finally, break his heart.

I finally got the time to read OBTCH! I’ve been interested with this book for a while, mainly because it’s one of the few books that speak my first language. Also, I’ve personally met the author, Alyloony, and being the bubbly, happy person that she is, I figured her stories would be just as colorful. Heck, the girl on her book cover reminds me of her, for goodness sake!

Well, I was right. Not only was the story adorable, it made me laugh (literally) and plastered a smile on my face all day long. Of course, there were several parts in the story that made me want to smack Stephen smartly at the back of his head, Naomi too, but that what makes a good story for me; I got to feel what the characters are feeling and somehow empathize with them. And kudos to Naomi, Yannie, and Francisco Juan for tricking Kryzel! That was possibly my favorite part of the book! (Aside from Naomi’s “Oh hell no!”)

My only complaint about this book is that it was so short! I don’t know if it was because I read it too fast, but some parts, I wanted to drag on a little… just a little! I wanted to know more about Drew and his girlfriend. I wish he fought for Naomi a little more! And I wish I knew what happened to Stephen when he was away for 3 years in that boat!

However, that’s what also makes the book great, because I can either write fanfics about it or draw fanart for the parts that I wanted to happen. Hehehe!

I do think that I really read this book a bit too fast. I think I might read it again just to make sure I’m reviewing this right.

Oh, and one more thing? I heard that this was translated from Tagalog to English. I’m not completely sure about said info, but whoever translated this, my hats off to you, sir/ma’m! That was a mighty impressive feat!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Granado Espada Records: Gerero and Jack o’ Lantern’s Coffin

I’ve never encountered the boss on Prison de Joaquin, Gehenna Bridge before. So when I saw one lurking about during my loot today, I thought I might try to take him down.

granado espada - prison de joaquin gehenna bridge boss - gerero

Gerero Stats taken from J.U. Path

He’s kind of adorable now that I see the screenshot, but when I was trying to kill him, it took a bit of time. I was wondering if his level was higher than mine, but it turned out this guy could was healing himself! Oh for goodness sake. I don’t think my attacks are powerful enough to go through that again, but it did give me a level 96 Chrome Gaiter, so I guess it was worth it in the end.

granado espada 2013 item - jack o lantern coffin

Thanks to IAH Games’ Halloween Event, I managed to snag a (permanent) Jack o’ Lantern Coffin for my scout. It suits her current look, but I don’t think I will be getting any more of those. The Halloween pumpkin hat is not really my type either, so I guess I will be getting candies for the rest of my Halloween Pumpkins. I need t earn more EXP anyway.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Granado Espada Records: Pray for the Philippines

granado espada - le noir female fighter and le noir male wizard

Typhoon Yolanda hit southern Philippines pretty hard. I’m very thankful that we didn’t get the full force of the storm over here, but it’s still very scary to see dark clouds looming over us.

Over 1200 people died during the storm. If you’d like, please help by donating or volunteering to any of the charities listed on rappler. Whatever you decide to give would be a huge help.

Thanks guys. Stay safe!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Granado Espada Records: Paying Our Respects

To our fallen comrades of the HeroEmpires and SEES faction:
Though you are no longer of this world
We will continue to pray for your safety and well-being…

May you all some day find your way back
That our paths might cross once more.

You are all dearly missed.

You guys may have remembered a similar screenshot back in 2010. A lot of things have changed over the years, and I really miss being part of a faction… but I guess change is inevitable. Maybe one day I can make my own faction too.

For now, belated Happy Halloween! And I hope you guys have visited your Family Graves… I haven’t, and I should go soon!

Monday, October 28, 2013

Granado Espada Records: Demonic Prison de Joaquin

While contemplating whether or not I should go on a solo mission in Demonic Prison de Joaquin, I happened to chat with another helpful player in the Bounty Hunters Guild. We chatted up on how much I failed in using potions since I’m heavily reliant on my Scout’s healing ability, she told me to go to my Family attribute page and upgrade Renae’s healing power.

granado espada demonic prison de joaquin mission accursed the chrysalis

It worked out pretty well. I should consider going to these missions more often to get more points, but solo missions are costly for an unskilled, returning player like me. I told her that I failed in accomplishing Demonic Prison de Joaquin once before, and she advised me to run whenever the hoards of enemies attack at the same time as the boss since that Accursed Chrysalis is practically immobile anyway.

granado espada demonic prison de joaquin mission accursed the chrysalis

Worked like a charm. It’s kinda nice that there are helpful players now, unlike before… but I’m wondering, for certain players like the last one that gave me a ton of weapons to help me out, are they now tired of playing GE? Is GE still a healthy game, considering all the new ones coming out now, or should I stop before I get too addicted?

All these considerations are making me sleepy… goodnight.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Granado Espada Records: Breaking Novia’s Seal

Finally got around to finishing this part of Gavin’s recruitment quest! The weird thing was that I remember this being my second try, but I wasn’t allowed in the Ice Wizard’s Tower the second time around because, according to the statue of the frozen girl, I needed to finish all of my Katovic’s quests first. Weird?

Well, “Maxed-Out Player” bypassed that problem with his character so I got in anyway. What I don’t understand with Granado Espada lately is that their lag is getting worse everyday. My characters tend to get their HPs reduced to less than half before they could actually start moving!

I already mentioned that Scouts are pretty much useless when you’re at higher levels, right? Well, I gave Renae a Silver Rosario, so she’s not completely useless anymore. I still need to use pots every so often, but at least her character buffs are worth the headache.

Also for this quest, Rue’s Levitation stance was far more useful for this part of the quest than his expert stance. I guess floating in the air made most of the enemies unable to attack him, and Photon Splash was really effective too.

And that’s it! Back to the drawing board for now… Ugh… I feel so burned out…

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Granado Espada Records: Rue Kuassary

granado espada male wizard le noir

Like I mentioned before, Rue is the last character I’d expect to become head of the Kuassary Family since wizards are so weak! Their power only comes from special attacks, since their melee attacks and defense are not very high… but under previously-mentioned-player’s advisement to ditch my Summoner, Rue power-leveled to Expert, and later, received a Master scroll.

He’s now at level 121 in Le Noir armor for Wizards… And those cat ears? Well, they were a gift, and I don’t think you can get them anymore, so I’ll let Rue wear it, possibly forever! Heehee~

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Granado Espada Records: Power-Leveling Day

Some time in August, when I had just begun playing Granado Espada again, I met a certain obnoxious player who claimed he could take anything GE could throw at him.

A few days of chatting up with him both in game and in the forums, he told me that he could level up my primary characters in a few hours of raiding with him. I didn’t believe him, because I pretty much thought he was showing off again, but I went along the Castilla Mine raid.

Ok, he was right.

granado espada castilla mine raid

We went on the raid twice. Three times if you count my lethal, noob attempt at killing a level 120 boss. And basically power leveled Rukia (my Fighter) and Renae (my Scout) to Expert, Rei (Catherine Summoner) to Veteran, and Rue (my Wizard) to Veteran.

He bought me an Expert stance for Rue too. I guess he’s really generous, or he’s just really maxed out in GE. Who knows?

If I didn’t have manga work keeping me busy, I would have continued on playing and leveling up my primary and secondary characters. I never would have thought Rue would have higher levels than Rukia since he’s so weak, but hey! Now he’s the head of the harem family!

Guess I’ll be playing this for a little while longer.

Oh and by the way? Scouts are kinda useless once you get into Veteran and Expert levels. I need new NPC healers.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

BEBOP Hobby Shop Prize: Hakuoki Chibi Figure Set – Rasetsu Version

bebop hobby shop prize - hakuoki chibi figure set - rasetsu version

I still can’t believe I won out of all who entered this BEBOP Hobby Shop's contest! To be honest, I kind of forgotten about ever entering this since I often enter these types of contests just for the heck of it. After all, it’s nice to dream about owning items you can’t afford (at the moment), right?

Well, look what came in the mail today!

Friday, August 2, 2013

Granado Espada – Revival of the Kuassary Family(?!)

granado espada female fighter level 94

Well, ok, not really. I don’t exactly have the time to play MMORPGs right now, but I was curious to see what’s been going on with one of my most favorite games of all time.

I’m both surprised and disappointed.

Rie, my Catherine (STR), only has fighter stances now, and I’m not sure if purchasing elemental and wizard stance books would actually make a difference or not. Usually when you need a book for a new stance, the stance can still be viewed on the menu. Even those are missing from Rie’s list!

Leveling up is surprisingly easy too! I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a returning pioneer, but I jumped from level 89 to 94 in less than two days! And that’s with active leveling, with a few EXP cards here and there, but even still, that’s a 5 level jump! Have the level caps been lowered, I wonder?

Another surprising news is that most characters that were once exclusive Feso (real money) missions are now available through free quests. I’m hoping that this doesn’t mean the end is near for this game, because I really enjoy playing three characters at the same time. Granado Espada’s probably one of the only games where I’ve ever gone this far in leveling up.

Too bad it’s back to reality for me though. Time to get to work!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Pangya Journey 2013.07.23

pangya spika entrance to game

It’s kinda nice to get back to playing Pangya again. Spika’s adorable, but I wish she had other costumes I could buy for her. I don’t like revealing outfits like this… Although I could only imagine how I could look like that when I’m working out!

pangya spika with roi give up crying

I do think Roi’s adorable though. Even if I get boogies on purpose just to maximize my pang farming, I also do my best to get a +5 or “Give Up” to get the animation above. Hee-hee~

pangya max getting a birdie

And since I have two rare items for him, guess who just joined my Pangya family?

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Pangya’s New Character: Spika!

pangya's spika on wiz city

I took a little break from all the manga work I’ve been getting lately (which I’ve very grateful for by the way) and decided to reinstall Pangya to see what’s been going on.

pangya's spika double power shot with papel on silvia cannon

Surprisingly, they have a new character, whom I’d first though was Kooh in a new hairstyle! Her name is Spika, and she’s a spunky, tsundere type of character whom I find to be absolutely irresistible!

pangya's spika with roi getting a birdie on pink wind

Her little robot friend, Roi, reminded Chippy of Haro from Gundam. To be honest, Spika reminded me of Asuka from Evangelion and I’m thinking about changing her hair color to orange… But then, if I later decide I want to change it back to blonde, I’ll need to use real money for that hair dye! So I guess I’ll leave her as Misa-Misa from Death Note for now.

pangya's spika getting a hole in one in pink wind

Oh, and since I haven’t been playing for a long time, all of my records have been wiped clean! Which means no more course records either! Now I can break records one score at a time again to pang farm! And I’ll be needing a lot of pang for all the upgrades I want to do! As well as buying new characters and clothes!

Ah… if only I could just play and play and not work anymore.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

A Pot of Piyo-chan

piyo-chan flower pot of magic beans

When I was window shopping at Saizen, the Philippine version of an awesome Dollar Store, I saw this little flower pot that reminded me so much of Piyo-chan from UtaPri that I decided to buy him even if I have no actual use for him!

That changed yesterday though. I remembered how we used to grow beans for science class, and they were incredibly easy to care for. So I bought some magic jellies (that look like clear, tapioca pearls) and planted five green beans for starters. I should have planted seven, one for each member of Starish, but I don’t think this little pot can support all seven saplings!

I didn’t know if they’ll actually grow in this little pot of magic jelly, but today, I noticed the roots have begun to sprout out! It’s funny how excited I am over a bunch of tiny, sprouting beans, but it’s somehow very satisfying to come home from work and “water” my plants! (Which is really, putting a few drops of water on each of the seeds! I have no life!) I hope they grow big and strong!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

King Chef - not exactly “kingly” anymore…

king chef dimsum

There’s this restaurant near our place known as “King Chef” that my family and I enjoyed ever since it opened. The dim sum there was one of the best in Manila and the asado siopao was absolutely delectable that my brother and I used to eat 2-3 paos each.

Note the past tense. Because the quality has gone down significantly since it opened.

Nowadays, my family enjoys other places more than King Chef. Since it’s on the pricier side, if we don’t really like it very much, then we’re not willing to pay for it. I’m not sure what’s wrong exactly, but I do remember the siomai having actual shrimp in it back then. The asado tastes different too… and I’d much rather have the asado in Wai Ying than King Chef now. At least the fried shrimp dumplings are still ok?

I’m kinda sad… I really loved that place. I wish their quality would go back up again since they’ve already opened a second location in Manila. C’est la vie~

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Uta no Prince-sama Petite Nendroids

I wouldn’t be much of an Uta☆Pri fan if I didn’t buy the petite nendroids now would I? And in case you’re wondering, the musical instruments didn’t come with the set, it’s actually from Sylvanian Family.

I think I might actually like Otoya best in this set, mainly because those headphones are the cutest thing! I was disappointed that I got doubles of him at first, but now that I think about it, I actually like him a lot, character-wise.

More photos after the jump!