epik_noodles: (Minato)
2012-07-12 11:21 pm
Entry tags:

No Internet for Me

It is unfortunate that my internet service has been forcefully terminated since last week (a common occurrence in this house). I won't get any internet usage until my new service provider sets it up for me next week. Everyone is probably wondering how it is possible for me to post this, well I am using temporary internet access elsewhere from my laptop. I've been hanging out in multiple Starbucks(I don't even drink coffee) and McDonalds.

For the most part... WHY IS FREE WI-FI SO UBER SLOW?!?!?! Many users on one line causes speed issues. I don't like public places with horrible internet. And then I have internet at work, we have a private network to keep moochers and freeloaders away, yay!!! I am using my aunt's internet connection right now at her house.

I won't be online all the time until next week.
But until then... I restarted my Persona 3 game (in my first playthrough, I got to the last month in the game where you prepare to fight the final boss). In my first play, I played as the male character(MC) Minato (my current icon). I started a new game file playing as the female character (or FemC). With my new game I can date Akihiko and Shinjiro. I can now prevent Shinjiro from dying, I cried in my first game when he died protecting Ken(10yr old kid). It was so sad when they revealed that Shinji had accidentally killed Ken's mother and Shinji died happy knowing that he was at least able to protect Ken till the end. I think Persona 3 is one of the darkest games I have ever played. Most of your main characters die a horrible death. Poor Minato, sacrificing his soul and body to prevent the apocalypse caused by mankind's self-destructiveness. There's an evil Jesus in the game too.

Knowing me, I'm going to spend over 100 hours playing my game... training my characters... *Akihiko pops up* "who said training?!" tch Akihiko= training obsessed protein junkie.

See you next week I guess.

epik_noodles: (Default)
2012-06-30 12:54 pm
Entry tags:

It's Been Such a Boring Month

Okay, for those who didn't know, I've been bedridden all week because my health hasn't been very good and I can't walk.

Next thing, I sent out all these e-mails and gotten no replies for several weeks. I'm still waiting on Arata and Sai. Dammit I really wanted Sai to visit me next year. I haven't seen Sai in like five years. Sai is totally capable of visiting cuz there's not much to do out there.

So one of the things that totally delay me in drawing new comics in AAAttackers is all the model kits I have. I actually would've finished "High School Memories" a lot sooner, but there was one thing bothering me so much... I haven't finished building Liger Zero Jager. Basically, I go crazy if I have an incomplete model kit sitting around. It just eats away at me until I finish it. Part of it is because I will end up losing components or pieces, even though the kit is neglected by me, other people will move it around to clear space, hence misplacing some pieces.

But of course I finished it or else the comic would not have been drawn. I spent $150 on the model kit, well it's a master kit, it had over 50 runners(1,820 pieces). That's more than a Gundam master-grade. I custom painted some portions too or else it would've been mostly blue. I think painting is the most time consuming thing to do. Here's some pictures:

Jager w/jetpack but no armor                     Jager w/armor from side                     Jager different angle
 
It took me several days to build it but Jager looks so badass. Yes, building model kits is my supreme hobby asides from drawing.

Oh man, I got more model kits arriving at my house soon. I gotta start building "Wild Tiger" soon (expect delays in the next comic). Then I got "Leena ver. Gun Sniper: Wild Weasel Mode," "Hi-Nu Gundam," and "Liger Zero Panzer." I'm considering buying a "Berserk Fury" just to have an antagonist.

Then I got my birthday coming up. Got lots of stuff to build.
 

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-07-27 11:05 pm
Entry tags:

I Blame My Clumsy Self

I am the origin of catastrophic incidents!!!
It began four days ago...

Four days ago, because of our house repainting... no furniture in the rooms. I had gotten a new bunkbed (its only the beginning) and I assembled it all on my own. However, during the building process, I dropped the 50 pound bed frame RIGHT ON MY FOOT!!! Therefore, stubbing my toes and bruising my foot.

Three days ago, we were planning to go to Ikea, the Swedish home store. We own a mini-van. As everyone knows, you can pull the seats out to transport large objects. As my dad and I were lifting the seats out through the trunk of the mini-van, I exerted too much additional power from my right arm... thus I ended up pulling some muscles in my right shoulder-blade and arm. Now I can't move my arm, it hurts too much!!!

Two days ago, Miki and I were watching "Grease." We were watching on my bunkbed. My new bed has a full bottom bunk and a twin top bunk, more room for me. Anyways, my new mattress is really springy. I plopped myself down to sit and I ended up bouncing backwards really fast where my head collided with the top bunk railing. I smacked the rail really hard, I felt the sharp pain upon impact and my head rattled a bit. Then it numbed out so I thought it was okay... From then on afterwards, I've been having horrible headaches. It was suggested by my aunt that I should get checked out. You know, to make sure I don't have brain damage.

Yesterday... I was carrying a large stack of bookshelf pieces with my dad into the house. I wasn't looking where I was going... and I... I broke my dad's favorite... priceless wine bottle that he had been saving for over 30 years. Well my thoughts on it are that it should not have been on the kitchen floor where my clumsy feet can kick it. It was supposed to have been in my parents room since that's where they keep it. I was an interesting wine bottle, it was 3 feet tall, the base of the bottle was shaped like a giant snail shell, and the neck of the bottle was the snail's body. I feel really bad for breaking it. It really hurt me when I saw dad's reaction. I could hear him muttering, "30 years... 30 years... 30 years... gone... all over the floor... 30 years... and I didn't get to taste it..." There were many sighs and head shaking from my dad. I feel really bad for breaking the bottle. He loved that bottle so much.

Also, since my muscles still haven't healed from the car seat incident, I now hurt even more from carrying the bookshelf.
epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-07-18 11:44 pm
Entry tags:

Painting in Progress...

I've been taping up corners all week.
The contents of my entire room are now in the basement. I put on a layer of primer yesterday and today we put on the last two coats of the semi-gloss finish I picked out. We went with a different brand so instead of the forest green which was my second choice, I actually got that green apple color I wanted.

My hands are all white and one of my feet is white, but I'll get to that story way later.

We only finished my room, two more to go...
Right now I'm helping Miki clear out her room.

I need to prime all the rooms in the house, then I need to paint them. After that, I need to install hardwood flooring in the hallways and kitchen. Yeah... I know how to install floors... my dad and I are the fix-it people of our house.

I'm fantasizing about the new fixtures I will be putting in my room. New furniture and stuff. I want to have a spot  where I can worship display all of my Reborn! action figures. I really really want a bookshelf. My manga reaches the ceiling and I have no place for it.

Damn my vacation is taking a lot longer than I thought.

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-07-14 12:01 am
Entry tags:

Busy Days.

I thought I would be writing more since I'm still on break, I guess not.
I still haven't even updated AAAttackers, I'm still working on the stuff for it.

I've been working like crazy ever since getting back from Taiwan. In and out of work constantly. When I'm not at work, I'm cleaning out my room because our mom had the sudden urge to repaint the entire house. I had to move all of my belongings into the basement. The only things that haven't been taken out is my furniture,(tables, bed, etc..) and my extensive manga collection (good luck with that). All my cds were put into a crate. *pout* When we were picking colors... at first I wanted a vibrant yellowy-green, but my mom screamed no. I was thinking about orange because I like that color, but then I realized it would be too traumatizing since it would make me think of work (my workplace, the restaurant walls are painted bright orange). I just went with a super pale forest-green color. Miki still hasn't decided yet on her color.

I had been working on a Reborn! jigsaw puzzle I bought from Taiwan. It only took me a little over an hour without cheating (I did not look at the completed picture while working on it) to complete it, seeing as it was only 300 pieces. I was surprised that I only bought the jigsaw for $7 at the animate store in Taiwan. It's official Reborn! merch too. Before going on my trip, I saw another puzzle online and it was like nearly $100 and it was a 1000 piece set. I really wanted that particular one, but of course I never found it, however when I walked into that Taiwanese anime store I assumed the puzzles were expensive and they aren't. Anyways I spent a lot of time framing it. Actually, you know what happened? After I completed the puzzle the first time... I took it apart and put it away. A few days later I finally went out  to buy a frame. I had to put it together again when I was framing it. I put it together and glued it to a posterboard, then I framed it. I will put up a picture when I have time to snap a photo of it.

When I do get breaks, I watch random movies or shows with Miki. I got to see "The Proposal," it was funny and reminded me of a Chinese movie called "Contract Lover." Just yesterday we ended up watching "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." I haven't seen that musical movie since Catholic school. I only remembered bits and pieces. It was so cheesy and I laughed through their choices of music genres. But it was still a good musical. Elvis Pharaoh...

I started working on a miniature building model. It's really cool. I bought it from Taiwan and it's a model kit of a Japanese bakery. I finished gluing the main structure of the building, but I still have much more to do.

That's pretty much it, I work all week and I build when I rest.

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-07-06 10:20 pm
Entry tags:

4th of July Holiday

Actually we light things up on the 3rd of July in Chicago...
Whatever, we had a barbeque and lit some stuff on the 4th.

Seriously, the 4th becomes another excuse to light stuff on fire and blow things up.
This year, we obtained some "nice" firecrackers from out of state, darn Illinois law against anything that doesn't release smoke.

With our stuff... I nearly set myself on fire...
Though, it was a harmless Chinese firecracker. It wasn't the 1,000 chain one either, this chain only had 12 pieces. I lit it and threw to the side. You know, you light one and it ignites all twelve, well... after it was on the ground, one of the 12 misfired and scattered the other now ignited 11 other ones. They went in random directions, one just happened to fly my way and hit me directly in the gut and exploding on impact. One exploded on my stomach... it left a blast mark on new shirt dammit!

My friends and I nearly got blown up like seven times, thanks to our neighbors. They were lighting "fireworks," the bombs that blow up in the sky. There were so many accidents when they were lighting them. More than often did their funnels fall over and misfire. When they had lit one, the funnel fell over and was aimed right at them. One of the guys quickly ran over and kicked the funnel away towards us. I remember them screaming "GET BACK!" at us. We dodged it when it launched and it blew up several yards behind us. This repeated several times or sometimes it would go up but come up short and then land (instead of being in the sky) nearby us then explode. There were instances where it wouldn't even launch at all and just explode on the spot right in front of them.

Barely escaped getting burned.

Oh yeah... Attack All Attackers.
Jet-lag is still killing me. I wanted to work on a little special. But they pulled me into work after I got back. Awwwww I was hoping to relax this summer but that doesn't look like its gonna happen. Work sucks!!!!!!! I wanted to do like a AAAttackers photo album special with the characters on their trip. I'll get it up maybe next week?

I can't stop ushishishi-ing for some odd reason, I am addicted Belphegor's laugh. I wasn't before but now I am, what is wrong with me?! Before I forget... they got me! I'm actually starting to "like" anime concerts/musicals. I've been pulled in! I feel so weird cuz I'd normally laugh at people who even bring it up... now I'm one of them... oh no.
epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-06-29 03:32 am
Entry tags:

Back in Chicago

*grumble*
That flight was too friggin long! Taipei to Tokyo to San Francisco to Chicago.

We had an hour and a half to chill in Tokyo, which wasn't that bad... and I picked myself up a new wind chime. However, It was San Fran that really killed us. We had to wait 7 hours for our next flight! There were so many earlier flights available, but no... our travel agent had to book the latest flight. It was so boring and long. My flight anxiety was making me nauseous and dizzy (only occurs after I get off a plane for some odd reason).

All we did was eat at the food court... Californians are crazy about healthy food selections. After we ate, we went to our gate to wait another 6 hours for our flight. You know how the chairs have multiple seats? Both me and Miki sprawled ourselves across the seats and slept like that for the next 6 hours. It was really funny because people that would walk nearby would just see my feet dangling over the armrest on one side and see Miki's feet way over on the opposite side. Fortunately the chilly a/c woke me up just in time to hear an announcement about our Chicago flight that will start boarding in 6 minutes.

We got on the flight... 5 hours later, we were at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
We arrived here at midnight and no one wanted to pick us up because it was so late. Our parents still picked us up though. We left for Taiwan with 4 bags, we came back with 6 bags. Bag in a bag method, it helps you bring back so many souvenirs.

I'm more than happy to be on the ground... and to be home.
Pikus was craving attention right when I walked through the door.

Not much happened today...
All I did today was assemble the toys I bought from Taiwan (no different than what I did after I got back from Japan).
epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-06-26 12:06 pm
Entry tags:

Last Day in Taiwan!

Gahhhh...
Last day! Last day!

Yesterday... we couldn't do anything because a typhoon (a mini-hurricane) hit Taipei in the morning. I've experienced monsoons and typhoons in Thailand... and yeah, they can knock you off your feet and you have a high chance of getting impaled by someone's detached roofing. It's really dangerous to be outside, so our apartment was on lockdown from 2am until 2pm. We can hear the high speed winds from our windows as we waited. Oh yeah, no one told us the tenants of our apartment were having a potluck feast downstairs during the typhoon. Of course the foreigners (we) didn't get the memo.

There was a food expo going on the same day. Which we did attend later in the day when the typhoon cleared out. Lots of industries and companies were their. I really want a ice shaver. It's a new model! It shaves ice cream instead of ice. It cuts ice cream into thin ribbons, giving it a fluffy texture. The consistency of the ice cream mixture is different too. It contains more water than cream. The machine costs $400 USD. I want one for my restaurant! We need to market more ice products! We met an old man who makes custom logo touch screen wipers. They were really cool, they had a reusable adhesive backing too that would still retain stickiness even after washing it in water.

Well today... we did some last minute shopping near Shilin station, then we went to Taipei Main Station to get to Q-square, which is a popular mall. It was raining like crazy when we were at both places. Of course we didn't have umbrellas with us, we never have one when the sky decides to rain on us. Stupid weather! We ran around outside like idiots from one building to another, one bus shelter to another. We returned to the apartment earlier than usual because I had a stomach ache and the rain was to insane. We also needed to pack, that would be the main reason. Most of our bags are quite heavy.

We have a portable handheld scale with us to weigh our bags. The limit for international flights are 50 lbs per bag. Our scale is off by 4 lbs or so, two bags weigh around 42 lbs individually, but the other two are at 47 lbs, that's pushing it... The things that are weighing our bags down so much is FOOD!!! We packed 5 lbs of peanut cookies, 20 lbs of jajang sauce, 15 lbs of olives, 8 lbs of pineapple cake. All of these things are exclusive to Taiwan. We're bringing them back for our family. Yes... we love them too much that we'd bring them vast amounts of food.

I gotta fly 5 hours from now.
Wish me luck. See ya on the ground back in Chicago!!!
epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-06-21 09:45 am
Entry tags:

One Week Until Return

Aww... I'm down to my last week in Taiwan. It didn't really feel like a vacation because I'm here for a month. It felt more like temporary living. We hit up tons of awesome food places, did a LOT of walking, and we constantly got lost.

Yesterday, we went up Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taiwan, no joke... They have absolutely no tall buildings here... except Taipei 101. Soooo... you can literally see Taipei 101 from EVERY angle, no matter where in Taipei you are. For example...... in our area, the "tallest" building is our apartment... which is 14 floors. Since other buildings don't seem to exceed 15 stories, Taipei 101 is always super visible.

Today, we went to a famous restaurant that is hidden behind a brewery... Really creepy place. The brewery is owned by the government. So, this restaurant sits behind gated government walls... and is well hidden behind a crate stockyard. Yeah... it looks like one of those places where mafia dealings go down... open warehouses... crates of bottles stacked high... lots of delivery trucks parked around... dimly lit. After you walk past the crates of beer bottles, warehouses, and trucks, there's a beacon of light... a string of blue x-mas lights arranged to spell out three simple numbers... "346." The name (which is also the address) of the restaurant is "346." People go there to enjoy the food and the entertainment, as well as the beer. You can get a mug or a few... you can even have an entire keg brought to your table. Today, we had deep fried pig intestines, fried chicken kiel bone, bacon veggie stir fry, and blackbean fried chicken. I don't need to tell you this, but of course I did NOT drink, everyone knows I detest the smell and taste of beer. We were allowed to get coke instead of beer, yay!

We got lost again on the way back, we didn't know where the bus stop was... typical. So we ended up walking all the way back to the apartment.

I haven't shown anyone my updated shopping stash.
I went Gundam crazy here!!!
TADA!!!
I'm so crazy... Every time I buy new stuff, I put it up on the shelf for display, it also helps me keep track of when we need to pack it to take back to Chicago. I got tons of Gundams... The Zaku is for Marvin, Infinite Justice is for Maciek... everything else on the shelves are all mine muahahahaha!!! I got some nanoblocks here and there. Yes... I got a Hitman Reborn jigsaw puzzle... IT'S MISSING LAMBO, CHROME AND MUKURO, WTF?! I got a Reborn mug too... yeah, hardcore fan. I also got the whole set of Reborn keychains... in the entire set... all of the characters are normal, but why are Dino and Hibari the only ones that are naked?! Well they're naked in a hot spring. I need to take a picture later because they were already packed into or suitcase. Out of all the other keychains, Dino and Hibari are the only ones naked? These are official legit keychains! OMG they are totally hinting D18!!! Reborn fans will know what I mean. For those non-Reborn fans out there, the characters in Reborn have numbers (or letters) that correspond to their names, these "numbers" are used in reference by fans. Example, the main character, Tsuna's fandom number is 27, because "tsu" deriving from the English word "two" and "na" from "nana" the Japanese word for seven, tsu + na = 27.

I bought lots of souvenirs for myself, mostly cellphone straps or a model of a miniature building. I bought tea from Maokong (cat mountain). I got headphones from Danshui. I got a One Piece treasure digging set and my Reborn puzzle from the "Animate" store in Ximending. There was also that doll of the damper baby from Taipei 101...

I'm not quite ready to return home yet, but I sure do miss everyone.
epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-06-19 06:02 am
Entry tags:

OMG Earthquake!

Yeah, there was an earthquake in Taipei, Taiwan at 6:18pm on June 19th (today).
The epicenter was on the eastern coast, but I totally felt it!

I was sitting on the floor of our apartment, attempting to cool off under the a/c. Miki on the other hand was lounging on the bed.

I was staring at the ceiling, then suddenly... *rumble* *rumble* rumble* the floor began to shake side to side under me and I fell over. I screamed, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Miki turns from the bed (unfazed) and asks "what's wrong?" I yelled back, "the entire apartment just shook, you didn't feel that?! wait but you're on the bed." Then Miki said, "what are you talking about? the apartment is not shaking." *rumble* *rumble* Miki then says, "... nevermind, I just felt that last one."  I finally scream "EARTHQUAKE!" Me and Miki stare at each other wide-eyed... but nothing happens.

Still doubtful, Miki says, "it was probably a thunder boom that shook the building." (as it was raining before we arrived at our apartment) I then protested, "there's no way a mere thunder boom can shake a 14-story apartment!" Then of course we get on the internet to check if it was really a quake.

Fortunately I found a Taiwan government site that has seismic activity records.
And here's what I pulled up:
Ha! Extreme proof that it totally was an earthquake!
It was a 5.1 mag.
That was the first earthquake I've ever experienced conscious.
Most earthquakes back in Chicago occur at night for some weird reason.
 

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-06-04 07:02 am
Entry tags:

Lost... Unlost, Lost Again

I don't have much to write about yesterday.
Besides waking up at 4am from jetlag and getting lost around the SOGO shopping district, nothing interesting happened.

Well... we did go to "Breeze Center" which is a large western-style mall. It was because when we were making our usual round of buying water at the 7eleven near our apartment, I saw a girl carrying a bag  with the "Tokyu Hands" logo on it. Which Tokyu Hands is the best store in Japan EVER!!! Except the logo didn't say Tokyu Hands it said "Hands Tailung." I yelped and told Miki that we must find the Tokyu Hands look-alike. I fortunately found the Tapei locations on google. We got there just fine, but we got super lost on the way back. It was because we decided to hit up a nearby night market. We wandered inside on of the SOGO buildings, exited, then we forgot which direction we should go to get back to our apartment.

We figured it out eventually. But we were really tired from wandering aimlessly.

So today, we woke up really early to go to the weekend flower and jade market a block away. It's the largest outdoor market for both objects. There were so many amazing flowers and plants in the flower market. I really wanted to take a mini bonsai home or even a baby cactus in a pot the size of a tealight candle. They had a lot of pretty orchids too. The jade market which was just across the street from the flower market was amazing. There were so many varieties of jade. There were many rings, pendants, carvings, and sculptures. I wanted a jade ring, but I'll probably buy it next week if I still have a lot of money left. I want more models to build!

We attempt to go see the Dragon Boat Festival today... We took the right bus and everything. We count the distance by stops, since we can't read Chinese. It was 9 stops and we needed to get off so we could hop on a different bus to take us to the river... I think we got off at the wrong stop because the bus we needed to change to wasn't listed at the terminal. We were in an unfamiliar place in the city. Feeling so lost and hopeless, we decided to try the festival tomorrow. Next big issue "HOW THE HECK ARE WE GETTING BACK?!" We figured it out from reading the destination list for the bus routes (thankfully that part was in English).

On the way back, we got off the bus halfway because there was a cool farmer's market on the side of the road. I bought some delicious syrup glazed olives. They are super sweet and delicious. We got some wild boar sausage, YUMMY! We also got some grilled meatballs.... reminds me of Thailand. We also wandered into the electronics market, man it looked a lot like the electronic market in Akiba. Then we finally got on the right bus that dropped us off in front of our apartment.

We ate all the stuff we had bought outside for our dinner.
This sounds sad and makes me feel very awkward, we had to eat our durian in the bathroom bathtub. Durian... the nastiest smelliest fruit in the world which we would've gotten complaints from our neighbors it they had known we snuck it into the apartment. We had to eat the durian in the bathtub because it is the ONLY isolated room with a big window for ventilation. And my friends ask me, "what did you do in Taiwan?" my response, "oh... I ate durian in the bathtub..."

*groan*
I'm so tired from walking so much.
It's more tiring to wander around lost then to know where you're going.

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-06-02 09:02 am
Entry tags:

Taipei First Day

When we first arrived at the airport, we could feel the heat right away. It's really hot in Taiwan and I was wearing a hoodie after I got off the plane.

Miki giggled and said, "Wu Chun is going to greet us when we arrive!" She then points to a life-size cardboard standup of "Fahrenheit." I then laugh inwardly at Miki's randomness.

We signed our apartment lease and went to sleep.
Next morning, our first day, we ate breakfast at the Caesar Park Hotel which was only a few train stops down. We ended up wandering for several hours after eating because nothing opens until 11am and we woke up around 7am. It was hard finding a food place open at that time.

We then walked into a multi-story department store called Shin Kong. We were freaked out when we walked in and saw all of the employees lined up symmetrically along the entrance. Right when we get close to them, they bow in unison and shout "NIHAO GOOD MORNING!!!" I actually jumped in shock because I totally wasn't expecting that. They almost gave me a heart attack! It was like that on every floor. Whenever we got up to the next floor, we would walk to the next escalator but not look at anything on that floor, there would still be rows of store employees on that floor to bow and greet you. It was so awkward.

We then went into a neighboring mall that had a few Japanese stores. Guess what's in that mall... Gundam Base Taipei, oh yeah! I looked at the pre-assembled models in the gallery. I also got my picture taken next to "EXIA." I forgot to take my gundam model # list with me, so I actually forgot which ones I needed to buy for myself and my friends. In Taiwan, they look up the Gundams based on model number. Without the numbers I can't find them on my own. I ended up buying BB# 040 and a Sgt Frog character model. I will be going back to buy the ones on my list.

After all that shopping, we took a break in the apartment, then we headed out again.
So we made our 3 train journey to Ximending, which basically looks exactly like Shibuya in Japan!!! But the store layouts on the street look more like Harajuku. It still looks like a mini Shibuya. There are many vendors and shops that sell Japanese products here and there. We left early because we couldn't find what we were looking for (a way to refill our phone card).

After that, we went off to Shilin Night Market. It's pretty cool. Lots of vendors and street food carts, what's not to love? There were so many fried foods, fruits, weird seafood dishes, and strange snacks. FRENCH FRY COATED CORNDOGS?! We just bought some fried crabs, fruit, sausage, yakitori, gigantic fried chicken the size of my laptop keyboard and oyster pancakes... YUM! There were so many carnival games and there was shrimp fishing, the shrimp are too cute, but they cook em for you when you catch one.

I had one adventurous day, we hit so many places in one day. It was fun... except for the random rain which we forgot to pack an umbrella for. We got soaked on our first day running to a 7eleven to buy an umbrella which by the time we got one... it stopped raining.

I have a whole month here, what's in store tomorrow?

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-06-01 09:19 am
Entry tags:

I Made It!

Status update on my trip...
I rode on three planes!!!! I thought I was going to die!!!!!!!

I was in Japan 5 hours ago!
Now I've arrived safely in Taiwan! It's like 10:20 pm right now. I'm settled in my new apartment. I'm off to explore the wonders of the night market.

I'll update soon!
epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-05-18 10:10 pm
Entry tags:

2 Days Left

The gap is closing up and ACen is only two days away!

Gyaaa!!!

Finish my cosplay outfit-    check
Book hotel-                        check
Stuff suitcase w/yummies-  check check
Badges-                             check
Friends-                             check
Enthusiasm-                       check
Fun-                                   yet to obtain

I shall take lots of pictures, now that I have a camera. I get to meet up with most of my otaku friends... the one time of the year that I get to hang out with my friends outside. Lots of anime toy shopping and Gundam shopping for me. I'm so excited!!!

Oh yeah, I'm stuck in the burbs because they wanted me to do some last minute restaurant stuff before I go to the anime convention. Secondly... I'M LEAVING FOR TAIWAN IN TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!

I did start working on the AAAttackers ACen special. So far it's pretty good, but I'm so tempted to add some omakes for the hell of it. Well... we shall see how much I will finish by tomorrow because I will not be able to post during the convention since I'm not paying for internet usage at the hotel this year.

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-04-28 11:02 pm
Entry tags:

22 What's New?

Only 22 days left until ACen...
Ohh I can't wait!!!

I finally got my "Hatsune Miku" Pullip I've pre-ordered since last year. I went all photoshoot crazy on it because I was so excited about my limited edition Vocaloid Pullip.
See what I mean by photo crazy! Oh and I have more (but choosing not to spam)
 
I always get so excited every time I get a new Pullip. A minor hobby of mine.

I also chopped off my hair. My "annual" haircut took place during spring break (last week). The only person who had a major reaction was one of my employees, James. He went into shock when he heard that I had cut my hair super short. He doesn't come to work unless we have a major event (like a fair or Thai New Year). So I rarely get to see him, but I mainly see his mom all the time since she works at my restaurant too.

I got my "Reborn!" artbook two days ago and I drooled over the pretty concept art... *drool* Hibari... so hot...
"ahem" I got some hand towels too. One of Giotto (Vongola Primo) and one of Hibari...

For stuff to watch... I recently got into "Fairy Tail." It reminds me so much of Rave Master, since it is made by the same creator. All the characters look the same too. Natsu looks like Haru with pink hair, Gray = Musica, Lucy = Elie, Leon = Let, Jellal = Sieghart and so on... But it's a good anime overall. Natsu has the best magical abilities, "roar of the fire dragon!" (Natsu then spits fire).

I'm going to read some Reborn fanfics till I knockout and then when I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to start storyboarding this week's AAAttackers comic since I have some impatient fans that see me face to face on a daily basis bugging me about when the new one will be up. Don't worry, it'll be up soon and I'll even do an ACen special during ACen weekend.
 
epik_noodles: (Nerd)
2011-04-13 11:51 pm
Entry tags:

37 Days til ACen!

I forgot to start the countdown way earlier, so I'm starting it now...
ACen is sooooo close! Right after ACen is my vacation to Taiwan. The end of the semester is approaching too!

ARGHHHH!!!! I need to prepare comics in advance for the days I won't be in Chicago.
I'm gone for ACen (my awesome anime convention) for the entire weekend. Then I'll immediately be in Taiwan for A WHOLE MONTH! Yikes! That's 4 comics I need to draw in advance.

My spring break starts next Monday, so that means I'll have plenty of time to work on my cosplay outfit and I can get some comics done.

I have a lot of stuff to think about until then.
epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-03-24 12:19 am
Entry tags:

Still werkin on stuff

Notice the icon...
I've become a huge Spanner fan...
Technicians are so hot....

*ahem* I'm still slowly recovering from classwork. Believe it or not, I stayed up Sunday night and lost a days worth of sleep working on my workbook assignment on the "Roman Empire" for my Humanities class. There were so many questions! Roman history is so screwed up in terms of government. Being firm believers in Democracy, they killed, replaced, killed again, replaced, killed yet again, then replaced pretty much every king and emperor they ever had for several decades. The only good one they every had was Augustus Caesar and he was a smart one. I lost all interest in my prof's lectures since he puts 3/4 of my classmates to sleep which is really sad.

I've been working on updating the AAAttackers site, it's going to be so awesome now that I've refined my skills. I finished all of it, I'm putting it up today. I changed the character pictures and the layout, it's going to be good.

Oh yeah, I went to a sauna with my family last week (we got a discount). It was lots of fun! The place gives you funny looking pajamas to change into, then you can just walk into any steam room you want. They've got the weirdest rooms... the first is the experimental room, which is to adjust your body to the dry heat for the other rooms. The other... this is just wacky, this room's walls are lined in one million dollars worth of amethyst, a steam room filled with raw amethyst. Then there's a salt room were the walls are lined with mineral rock salt. Then another room with walls made of charcoal (hello carbon-monoxide poisoning!). Then... I kid you not, a room lined with real gold bricks on the walls and ceiling. The next room is made from yellow clay. AND... *drum roll* The hottest room in the facility... the FIREROOM... designed like an igloo oven, low doorway included, maximum temp is 200F... a household oven's minimum is 300F... Right when you walk into the fireroom, you see a circle of old men seated indian-style and clutching their feet while they're in extreme meditation. Once you sit down in there... you'll understand why. Not too long after walking in with my dad and taking a seat on the floor, I too clutched my feet, shut my eyes tight, tried to take my mind of the heat, and control my breathing. It felt like my face was melting off. As for the difficult stuffy air, it felt like someone was shoving lit charcoals up my nostrils. Humans aren't meant to be exposed to that high of a temperature. It was still fun and I felt so refreshed after leaving.

I got lots to work on regarding my web-comic site.

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-01-14 10:31 pm
Entry tags:

We're Famous!

This is something that I should technically be putting onto the restaurant website. Or even the restaurant facebook account, I'm not going to because our facebook page is fan-run (knowing "them" they probably already put it up).

I just wanted to write about it somewhere...
My restaurant is in a two page spread in the "Kane County Chronicle!" It's a review by a critic, have a look:


And I have a close-up in case anyone wants to read the article. Click to open a bigger version.

 
It's the first time my restaurant's in the newspaper.

I'm just really happy that we're being heard. We're popular from word-of-mouth, you know "if ya like us, tell your friends." We never advertise, and we don't need to. I hope my web-comic will gain as much popularity as my restaurant. I have wonderful friends spreading the awesomeness that is my web-comic.

Thank you KCC, our customers, and friends!

epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-01-13 10:25 am
Entry tags:

CD Dilemma

Yesterday I took my cousin Nutt on a small tour of my old high school, yeah alumni class of '07! She wants to study abroad here in Chicago. I will sponsor her as her host family as she attends Taft High School. So she needs to get her paperwork over here in August because enrollment is around that time and she needs to take a English proficiency test. Then she will join the other members of my weird family that have become international students. But the main issue that needs to be taken care of is the student visa that they need to request from Thailand. High schools don't give out student visas for their abroad program.

Anyways, my cd problems... I forgot to write about this when it happened, but when I received my Paradise / Endless Fighters single, I got Naoya cards again?! I propose that there may be a possible surplus of Naoya cards in the batch of cds that yesasia sells. Yes, my bad luck in Naoya cards.

Another thing, I was actually going to ask everyone what the deal was with the new AAA single plus album that was going to released next month. I had known about it for a while as "title to be determined," but then I had some clarity after finally looking at the fan comm (which I haven't looked at in months). I now know the names of both cds, however, I was dying of curiosity over the first press / limited edition of "Buzz Communication." What makes it different from the regular version? It's like $86, why is it so pricey?! Then I found out from another source that it's because the first press comes with an extra dvd that has 90 minutes of bonus footage. If it's just one extra item, that still doesn't justify the price, give me more Avex! I need more details on that.

Now my main conflict was contemplating whether to buy it or not. I'm a total sucker for super limited editions (I think a lot of people are). I want to buy it because I'm an avid music collector and I really want it. But it costs so much! I compiled all the cds I wanted for this week in my cart and it comes out to $150!!!! I'm about to spend $150 in AAA cds in one go!!! My buying record for cds in one purchase is $180 for Dir en Grey cds, this is pretty close. I usually buy both A and B versions of their singles (I get them for the dvds), that's why I always blow a lot of money on them. I'm about to spend my salary, no, five weeks of my savings on cds!

I was originally saving my money to buy a guitar... Being inspired by Beck and K-ON, I've always wanted an electric guitar. I found a good deal on an ESP (electric sound products), which is a famous guitar brand in Japan. It's Japan's equivalent to what Gibson is to the US. The model I wanted is in the thousands range, but I found a really good deal for $250. It's a modded version so it's not see-through and the fingerboard is a little different. It's based off the guitar that Daisuke Ando uses. Saying the word "similar" would be an overstatement, it's like comparing a super-model with a body-builder. The guitar I want just looks nice and is okay for playing as to Daisuke's guitar is designed for quality sound and power.
The decision is between $150 AAA cds or $250 guitar.


epik_noodles: (Default)
2011-01-05 12:27 am
Entry tags:

Ha! I Knew It!

I got another phone call this morning from the vacation group.
I totally called it!!!

All their visa requests were denied!
My roommate whom is dumber than a pile of bricks, cannot begin to understand the reasons why all the people who flew in from Thailand including herself were denied access into Canada.

Miki and I explained in the easiest to understand terms.
My mom and dad can get into Canada no problem, but it's the 4 people from Thailand who have problems.

These are the reasons why they were denied visas:
  1. Roommate goes to language school in Chicago (not considered credible institution) (no incentive to return)
  2. Roommate's mother is retired and has almost no financial background (high risk of illegal residence)
  3. Aunt Nang, runs a legit business but it does not appear in career registry (no career background, flight risk)
  4. Cousin Nutt, travels with her mother (auntie Nang), she's in the same boat as her mother.
No matter how many times we explain to my stupid roommate, still doesn't get it. Too focused that she got denied. As for auntie Nang, she runs a shrimp farm with her husband back in Thailand and they're raking in a lot of dough, but in Thailand, the business registration is run differently, especially for independent businesses. As a matter of fact, we kind of don't have an FDA...

Anyways, Miki and I are high fiving each other out of happiness because we didn't go with them. Now they can't go to Canada, so instead they're going to Buffalo to see the falls from the US side. They'll arrive in Chicago tomorrow.

So glad we didn't go with them.
Oh man, I totally called it!