BLOG -- Recap of October

October, as I predicted, has been very heavy with working on my New Year's Resolutions. I pretty much calculated that I would need to find and spend about 30 free hours each week to try finish some of my resolutions. With my 9-5 (sometimes way later than 5) work schedule each weekday, it's very challenging to find that much time. I also have other resolutions to work on after those. 

In terms of my being sick, I'm more or less feeling better these days, but I'm still coughing every now and then. I want my coughing to be gone so I can go karaoke!!! 

Outings / Events in October:

- Hung out with friends overall x3.

- Had a game day with my sister, her hubby, and our friend.

- Had another game day with my sister, her hubby, and our friends.

- Got a haircut. My hair is the shortest it's been in many years!

- Tweeted Akai Ryusei (from Active NEETs) a happy birthday! I wish I could draw better.

- Hand-sewed shorts for the first time.

- Karaoked by myself x0 (I'm still coughing, so...).

- Stayed over at my sister's place x2.


- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn achievements / news: 
-My subscription's run out and I'll leave it that way for a long while... even though I'd love to participate in the Nier: Automata collaboration / event thing.

- Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius achievements / news: 
-My rank is currently 187 (yay I can leave the game alone for 15 hours and 15 minutes)
-Well, after a week of not being able to log in due to issues updating the game after maintenance (I kept getting errors saying to try updating through another connection, and I tried multiple places, multiple times), I've decided to become a super casual player. Frankly, I don't have time to spend being frustrated over this (I have other things to do). Due to this, I won't have this "Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius achievements / news" section anymore moving forward.

Exposures:

- (Card game): Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle -- I thought this was going to be a simple and dinky game, but I had a lot of fun, especially seeing all the Harry Potter references. I also really liked that this was a co-op game.

- (Food): Square-shaped donut -- This is from The Box Donut. The donuts are pricey, but I am willing to try it out a few more times. I really want to try out the tiramisu flavour.

Finished...

Watching:

- (Movie): Parasite -- I ended up watching this two times in the theatre. I was very curious why Parasite was so highly praised. Then I watched it and understood. I think the director has achieved the art of making addictive, strong cinematography.

- (TV Show): X-Files -- I think the series is done now. There were some misses with some episodes, but other ones were entertaining.

Playing:

- (NES): Earthbound Beginnings -- There is something just so quirky and charming about this game (and the Mother series overall). I will have to blog about it later!

Reading:

- Nothing this month.

Currently... 

Playing (not all at once):

- (PS4): Dark Cloud
- (PS4): Kingdom Hearts Final Remix (from Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix)
- (PS4): iDOLM@STER: Platinum Stars
- (PS4): Fez
- (PS4): Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
- (PS4): Nights of Azure
- (PS3): Borderlands 2
- (PS2): Drakengard
- (PS2): Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis
- (Xbox 360): Magna Carta II
- (Xbox 360): Fable III
- (3DS): Story of Seasons
- (3DS): Culdcept Revolt
- (3DS): Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker
- (3DS): Miitopia
- (GBA): The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition   
- (PSP): Persona
- (Wii): Fortune Street 
- (PC): UnEpic  
- (PC): King's Bounty: The Legend
- (PC): Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)

Watching:

- (TV Show): The Walking Dead (Season 7 - Episode 4)
- (TV Show): Criminal Minds (Season 15)
- (TV Show): Six Feet Under (Season 1 - Episode 3)
- (TV Show): The Strain (Season 2)
- (TV Show): Galavant (Season 1 - Episode 5)
- (TV Show): The Office (Season 7)
- (TV Show): The Goldbergs (Season 3 - Episode 15)
- (TV Show): Huff (Season 1 - Episode 10)
- (Anime): Log Horizon (Season 3?)
- (Anime): Attack on Titan (Season 4?)
- (Anime): Food Wars (Season 4)
- (Anime): Psycho-Pass (Season 1 - Episode 9)
- (Anime): Konosuba (Season 1 - Episode 4)
- (YouTube): StephenVlogs (Day 761)

Reading:

- (Comic): Bodie Troll by Jay Fosgitt
- (Manga): Princess Jellyfish by Akiko Higashimura (Volume 3)


That's it for October. Here are some pics I took this month plus a YouTube video.

Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle.
Ron Weasley's parents were available to buy from the marketplace.

I think this fulfills all my Kickstarter stuff for Bloodstained!

The square donut. This was hazelnut flavoured.
It was just okay.

Something I picked up during Hobby Link Japan's super sale.

Yayyy, I got Madoka for Magia Record!

My costume for Halloween.

I decided on this fairly last minute as I suddenly thought, 

'This would go with my really short hair!'

I spent about 7 hours crappily making and hand-sewing those shorts.

Part 1 of Active NEETs x TAM's YouTube livestream on Oct. 31st.
The video I mention above became unlisted so here is 
Active NEETs x TAM's live session of Undertale's "Megalovania".
I don't remember if I've posted this video before, but it's 
my favourite arrangement of it.
I think Sans would be proud! :3 

Thanks for reading!

As usual, if you have any questions / comments about anything, feel free. :)

There's a good chance that I won't be blogging every week to prioritize working on my New Year's Resolutions.

Take care, Happy Halloween, and until next time! :)

BLOG -- My Time in Vancouver (Aug. 8 - Aug. 12)

I had been meaning to blog about this earlier. It is another blog about my time in Vancouver, but this time highlighting some of the things I did outside of attending AniRevo. I didn't get to see as many sights as the last time I visited Vancouver, but I did eat out almost everyday (I will only blog about a few places), and I explored a bit during one day.

Seaplanes! I saw them close to the Vancouver Convention Centre. 

Again, I have to thank my friend (let's call her Claire) and her fiance (let's call him Charlie) for letting me stay over at her place during my whole time in Vancouver. It was a huge money-saver plus it had been years since the last time I saw her.

When I landed in Vancouver (Thursday August 8), it was around 4 PM. Claire and Charlie were still at work. I reloaded my Compass card (a card used in Vancouver for transit) and decided to commute to Vancouver Convention Centre to pick up my AniRevo pass. It was the right decision since I bumped into Akai Ryusei and TAM (my main reasons for attending AniRevo!). 

Afterwards, I met up with my friend and her fiance at an intersection close to their living space. I made the mistake of trying to reach that intersection on foot (it didn't look that far when looking at Google maps!). From Broadway-City Hall station, it was probably 40 minutes' worth of walking (plus lugging my luggage). When we finally met up, we walked to their place to drop off my luggage. Then we went to have some dinner.

Claire and Charlie still had to go back to work, so I went back to their place by myself. I took a shower, changed into pajamas, lay on their couch while playing some phone games, and then... the next thing I heard was Claire saying, "Aww, you poor thing...". I guess I fell asleep. Crap! I was hoping to be awake to say "Welcome home!" when they got back from work, hahaha.

Every day after that, I was able to do some catching up with Claire in the morning before heading out for AniRevo. We also ate out together with Charlie almost everyday for dinner. We have our differences now and then, but she will always be my awesome friend! :)

Me (with my face grey-blocked out) with Claire and Charlie's budgie on my shoulder.
Whenever she landed on my shoulder, I would say "cheep, cheep", 
since Claire said the budgie liked it when people talked to her.

Breakfast on Saturday morning.
Claire and Charlie prepared that.
It was yummy! :) 

MY WANDERING

I was only able to do some wanderings on Saturday, because there were only two things I wanted to do at AniRevo and there was a lot of time between them (the Meet & Greet at 1 PM, and the Animusix concert at 6-ish PM). With that downtime, I decided to look for... a street piano! Days before AniRevo started, I saw a few tweets from Akai Ryusei and TAM showing videos of themselves playing on the street, with Ryusei playing on a piano that was out in the public. After seeing another tweet, I really wanted to find it.

I tried Googling for locations. I picked the closest one and started walking to it (East along Hastings Street). Unfortunately, I didn't find the piano (maybe the location was outdated)... and I found myself in a place that didn't feel too safe. As I continued walking, I noticed a change in the building architecture. Also, there were more and more people sitting on the sidewalk.

When I decided to call it quits, I took a bus back to my starting point. I didn't want to walk through the area again. Later on, I found out that I was walking along Downtown Eastside. I hope that area improves over time!

ABERDEEN CENTRE

I checked this out for a little bit on my last day (thanks to Claire for suggesting it!). I got to the airport early, so I got back on the SkyTrain and got off at the Aberdeen station. Unfortunately, most of the shops were still closed (I got there around 10:30 AM and the shops opened at 11 AM).

Luckily, there was a Daiso at Aberdeen Centre, and it was open. I really needed to get some cheap earphones for my flight. On my flight to Vancouver, earbuds were being sold instead of being given as complimentary. From all my past flights to Japan, I had been used to the latter!

I would like to check out Aberdeen Centre next time when it is open.

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FOOD PLACES

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THE WHIP

Location: 209 E 6th Avenue, Vancouver Google Map

Contact: (604) 874-4687

Website: https://www.thewhiprestaurant.com/

Type(s) of Cuisine: Burgers, sandwiches, various

Specialty (if any): None that I know of

Price Range (for a main dish): Mid (Approx. $16-26)

Restaurant Size: Small

Recommend? Yes

Brief Impression

I thought the service was pretty good, and the atmosphere was nice.

What I Ate / Drank ...

Poutine with Bacon -- I really enjoyed this!

Some drink -- I forgot the name of the drink, but it was good.

Poutine with bacon. Mmmmm....
It looks like a small bowl, but it was really filling.

The drink. I think it had a peach-flavour.

MIKU VANCOUVER

Location: 200 Granville #70, Vancouver Google Map
Contact: (604) 568-3900
Website: https://mikurestaurant.com/
Type(s) of Cuisine: Sushi, seafood

Specialty (if any): Aburi sushi (nigiri sushi where the top is partially grilled)

Price Range (for a main dish): High (Approx. $17-20 per sushi; more for other items)

Restaurant Size: Medium-Large

Recommend? Yes!

Brief Impression

One thing I really wanted to do in Vancouver was eat some good sushi. So I Googled "Good sushi in Vancouver" and Miku popped up. I checked out the site and saw that it was pretty pricey... but I still wanted to check it out.

I got Claire and Charlie to join me and I offered to treat them, as one way to say "Thanks for letting me crash at your place!". Claire pinched me everytime I mentioned it was my treat. We were lucky to get a table. We didn't make any reservations and we were told that bar seats would be available in 10-15 minutes.

Miku looked really spacious and swanky. Definitely not a place I'd be able to afford going to on a regular basis! When we were seated, the server told us that Miku specialized in aburi sushi and told us that each sushi was sauced just right, so that it could be enjoyed without needing any soy sauce.

We decided to each order a roll and share them.

If you are ever in Vancouver and enjoy sushi, I recommend trying this place out at least once!

What I Ate / Drank ...

Ebi Fritters -- This was really yummy.

Red Wave Roll -- I didn't really like the bits at the top (I think they were onion). Other than that, it tasted pretty good.

Miku Roll -- This was my favourite. The combination of all the ingredients made for a nice flavour and texture.

Saba Oshi Sushi -- This was light and refreshing. 

The ebi fritters. It was really, really good!

Far left is the saba oshi sushi. Then on the top right: Miku roll. 
And bottom right: Red wave roll.
Out of the three, I enjoyed the Miku roll the most.

THIERRY CHOCOLATE PATISSERIE

Location: 1059 Alberni Street, Vancouver Google Map
Contact: (604) 608-6870
Website: https://www.thierrychocolates.com/
Type(s) of Cuisine: Quiche, soups, pastries, desserts

Specialty (if any): Dessert

Price Range (for a main dish): Mid ($7-9 per cake piece)
Restaurant Size: Very small

Recommend? Yes! 

Brief Impression

This was a dessert shop Claire and Charlie took me to. It also sold some cafe items like quiche and danishes, but all I focused on when I entered the shop was all the chocolate and yummy-looking cakes!

There were very few tables for dining in, so unless you plan to stake out a table, expect to buy for take-out.

What I Ate / Drank ...

Passion Fruit Cake -- This had a very strong tangy-sour taste. I liked the macaron.

Tiramisu -- I enjoyed this the most, although I would switch out the dark chocolate pieces for milk chocolate.

Millefeuille -- This was great.

From top left to right and then bottom: Tiramisu, Millefeuille, 
and the Passion fruit cake. 
Out of the three, I enjoyed the tiramisu the most.

Here is a breakdown of my spending in Vancouver (Excluding any spending related to AniRevo). Even though I treated Claire and Charlie to Miku, they treated me to a couple food things, too, which I really appreciated! :)
UP express tickets (roundtrip): $18.50
Plane ticket (roundtrip): $858.61
Compass card: $60
Total foods (airport snacks / water, all dinners): $145.20
Misc spending (earphones, batteries): $17.76

Total spending in Vancouver: $1,100.07.


That's it for this blog. Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions or comments on anything, feel free.

Have a good rest of the weekend and until next time! :)

BLOG -- My Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, it is Thanksgiving in Canada. As I've mentioned in earlier blogs, my family doesn't really celebrate Thanksgiving. In the end, I often take this 3-day weekend as a chance to relax and catch up on whatever I need catching up on.

For this weekend, I definitely wanted to do these things:
-Watch anime
-Play video games
-Blog
-Work on my New Year's Resolutions

I think, with this blog being done, I succeeded! I was hoping to do more of my New Year's Resolutions, though. There is still so much to do before the year is over!

WATCH ANIME

I've been watching more of Food Wars. When I first started the series, I was completely turned off by the suggestive reactions characters would get from eating good food (I don't want to think about that while I think about yummy food!). I also thought the main character, Yukihira Soma, would be one of those prodigy genius characters who would never lose a battle. Despite my initial thoughts, I watched more because I wanted to see more creative foods. Also, I liked many of the other characters (Megumi is a superb girl!).

I'm glad I stuck with it, because it got so much better. My thoughts about Yukihira never losing a battle were thrown out the window, and I have a lot more respect for his character. While I still don't like the suggestive food reactions, I'm glad not all the food reactions are suggestive and there is a bit more variety.

I'm currently going through Season 3. I'll likely wait until Season 4 is done before starting that. I don't want to be left hanging at any cliffhanger episodes!

Edit -- October 19, 2019 -- It looks like I spoke too soon when I said not all the food reactions are suggestive. After watching the rest of Season 3, I'd say over 90% of food reactions were still suggestive. They also added flat out panty / underwear shots for some of the female characters in a few episodes. Frankly speaking, I'm not a fan. I would definitely love this series if there was less fanservice.

PLAY VIDEO GAMES / WORK ON MY NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

I was able to do "Play video games" and "Work on my New Year's Resolutions" at the same time, because of the game I was playing -- I was playing Mother (Earthbound Beginnings) on the NES. If you are wondering how I am playing Mother on an NES when it was never officially released in North America for the NES... ummm... I'll let you figure that one out. BUT -- I will say that I plan to buy Earthbound Beginnings from the Wii U eShop on my sister's Wii U the next time I visit her. While I do my best to support what I love and get things legitimately, playing Mother in English was a bit out of my reach since I don't have a Wii U. Anywho...

Playing Mother ticks off my "Work on my New Year's Resolutions" because it is one of my New Year's Resolutions ("Find 200 hours and put that towards catching up on either the Mother or Shin Megami Tensei [SMT] series"). Why that is even a New Year's Resolution... I can explain in a future blog.

So far that I've played of Mother... I can't really make a set opinion about it yet. The level grinding annoys me a bit since I don't really have time for that anymore. Some of the themes and ideas, though, I was pleasantly surprised to see in an NES game. I'm hoping that all the mysteries will eventually come together in the end. 

I have to say -- I love the music. For a long time now, I had been exposed to many of the music tracks for Mother (like "Pollyanna", "Bein' Friends", "All That I Needed (Was You)"), so it was very nice to finally hear it in the game. Seeing the scene for "All That I Needed (Was You)"... I could not stop smiling, it made me so happy.

Once I finish the series, I'll likely blog about it.



Thanks for reading!

If you have any comments or questions about anything, feel free!

I am going to take the rest of today and try to finish up Mother. I really want to know how it ends!

For those celebrating Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving!
Take care and until next time! :)