K-ON! Photoshoot

Was so busy recently that I only free to write a post of an event that happened 8 days ago 0.0
[23/12/2009]

Yup! Went to the 'Don't say Lazy' version of K-ON! photoshoot. I was one of the photographer there.


[TV-SIZE]


[FULL SONG]

Back to main topic, the photoshoot!
We met up at Liang Court before making our way to Four Tones, where we had our main photoshoot. While waiting for the full team to arrive (sadly Yui did not come) I found some familiar faces and made more new friends. We then made our way to Four Tones on foot from Liang Court while the cosplayers took cabs.

The equipments there do look complete but they seemed quite old. Nevertheless, the work great! However, the total turn down is the lighting in the studio. The lighting there was not bright enough and we had to depend on our flashes a lot. Even with my external flash I had a hard time with the exposure settings and with the auto-focus. The space was not that big as I have imagined and I even had a hard time taking a photograph of the whole K-ON! band with my 38-76mm lens at Full-frame.
Thus, I concentrated more on solo shots of the cosplayers.

 We had our lunch at CENTRAL's Burger King and due to some financial matters (spent too much on AFA and on many photoshoots xp) I can only buy a Medium cup of Sprite. And yes, I made that star as I was so free, waiting for the team to finish eating, and attached it to the straw I was using after finishing my drink.

We then did some shots on the bridge on the way to 'Clarke Quay Festival Village', more shots at the fountain in the middle of the 'village' and somemore shots at Liang Court.
Ending the day off, we had a group shot (the whole team including the photographers and helpers) at Liang Court.

And here is the taichou, without shoes!

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Sequel And Song Pack News

Found some interesting information from a website called Siliconera yesterday and decided to share it over here.

Posted by Spencer in that website:

"Calling all Hatsune Miku fans! Sega is making a Hatsune Miku: Project Diva sequel. Aside from confirming a follow up, Sega hasn’t said anything about Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2.

A downloadable song pack for Hatsune Miku: Project Diva, tentatively called Hatsune Miku Songs, Second Helping, is also slated for 2010. The pack has nine extra songs including “Puzzle by Kuwagata P” and it will cost 1,890 yen ($21).

Sega plans to release more deluxe song packs in the future, a PSP custom theme, and Hello Planet (pictured) an action game of sorts."


Sounds very interesting eh? Wonders when exactly would it be released ^W^

Toradora! Photoshoot

[19/12/2009]
Today was the first time in a photoshoot that I was left as the only photographer for a few hours! Hope the photographs I took would turn out great as I do not want to disappoint the group. (I used a CANON EOS 888 SLR camera which uses film)

I started off the day pretty badly, had a bad stomachache when the shoot was about to start, but luckily other than that the whole shoot was quite smooth, except for the sudden downfalls that caused the shoot to pause for some time and making some shots to be cancelled I think. The shoot started off with Taiga and Ryuji in the rain under an umbrella, which I did not manage to take, followed by some shots of Taiga falling down the stairs while running up (which had many NGs) with ryuji behind, also running up the stairs. The helper which was supporting Taiga while she was doing a falling pose must have had a tiring time, supporting a load of 40kg+ for not a short period of time. We moved off to another place not far away (still at Central) to do some shots of Minori and Ami fighting, and of Ryuji, Minori, Kitamura and Ami looking into their handphones (in anime/manga: to see the message Taiga sent them - a star in sky), then of them looking at the sky after looking at their phones. After that we went to the ticketing area of Clarke Quay MRT Station to do some shots of Kitamura's and Minori's funny way of receiving Taiga and Ryuji at the station (if I'm not wrong - I have not rewatched the anime for some time. Would edit if I'm wrong after rewatching). When we were completed with the shots there, a security guard came over to warn us that photography is not allowed in the MRT station and we need a license. Luckily we have already took what we want and got ready to move off to have our lunch...
(Would continue to post after I got my photos to refresh my memory. Quite forgot the sequence of events  >.< gah.. lazy update here liao.. too many stuff happening that I want to blog on xp)
... We made our way to Liang Court and visited Kinokuniya to look at some books first before continuing the shoot. After that we made our way to the top of Liang Court and found the view of the city on top picturesque, thus I started to take some photos of the city, which is quite out of topic 0w0 then, in my head, I went, " Let's get back to main work" and started to shoot solo shots of the Ryuji, Minori, Ami and Kitamura. We then made our way to a 'secluded' area (on top of Audio House, outside Audio House office) to do some intimate poses between Ami and Ryuji, and between Minori and Ryuji, and not forgeting some Yaoi between between Ryuji and a 'stalker'!!
Ending the day, the cosplayers dressed down and the group made their way to get some dinner while I made my way home for dinner. It had been a great and enriching day where other than having a lot of fun, I made more friends and importantly, learned new stuff and gained experience on photography!

Trip to Plaza Singapura

[17/12/2009]
Went to Plaza Singapura and found some interesting stuff while walking around. I finished my community-involvement-programme at the zoo (refer to Home blog) at around 3pm plus and would be celebrating my friend's birthday at Plaza Singapura (or supposed to be at that place... We went to eat at Plaza Singapura, browse Kinokuniya at Ngee Ann City and played pool at Dhoby Ghaut). To save time and money, i decided to just go straight to Plaza Singapura and window-shop first instead of going home.

I went straight to the seventh floor and checked the store, 'Movie Replicas'. They have a neat collection of figures and collectibles of characters, items, etc you can find in American movies, Japanese anime, etc. There were also many other popular collectibles on sale such as the Qee, etc.

What caught my eyes is the Ranka Lee (Nya Nya Version.) figure by MegaHouse.
Its a 1/8 figure and I think it costs approximately 8000円 (¥8000) in Japan, according to the other version I know.
The other version is the same as this version except the clothes (cheongsam if I'm not wrong) is in blue and it comes with a Ranka Lee (Nya Nya Version) keychain.







When I took the box down to take a look then did i found out some product the store sells does have a price labeled. I didn't bother to ask the store attendant the price as I was quite lazy and am not thinking of buying it yet. Maybe next time I go there, I may ask for the price and if it's okay with me, I may buy it! =D

I went to Otaku House next and spotted a Tsukasa Figma (Summer Uniform Version)

 ...which reminded me of the Tsukasa Figma (Winter Uniform Version) I have at home...

 

After asking whether Saber Lily figure by WAVE is in stock and receiving a disappointing 'no', I took a look at the swords in CAESARS before heading off to my friend's birthday celebration.

Traditional Japanese Games

Braving the light rain I walked all the way from one side of the Bedok Reservoir to the other (half a round around Bedok Reservoir = ~2km walk?) to reach Temasek Polytechnic and find myself lost in the school. I was supposed to go the the room, 5-5-15 (block 5 - 5th floor), to try out some traditional japanese games, which is organised by the students by Temasek Polytechnic. Students from Singapore Polytechnic, specifically those from SP Japanese Cultural Club (SPJCC), were invited to try out the games there. I entered the school through Gate G (East Gate I believe) and walked through block 4 and past block 5. I did not know it was block 5 and reached the centre of the school, which looks like a U-shape on the school map. I walked around the school for about over 40 minutes, then I found out that the first block that I stepped onto is block 4, which is very near to block 5. So when i reached the destination, 5-5-15, almost all of my club mates were already off for lunch. I was introduced to all the various traditional games by the current president of SPJCC and had some crazy fun with the 紙相撲(kamizumo), or 'paper sumo'. 

We then went for lunch with some of the Temasek Polytechnic students, who were organizing the event, at Flavours, which is a food court at block 4. I did not buy anything as I already had my lunch at home and am already very full. XD
Back at the room (5-5-15) I met the other club members and played ビー玉(B-dama), or marble. We had some crazy fun while reliving our childhood memories. Like when we were small, we named the marbles we used with funny unique names like fire dragon or Charizard (a Pokemon) for a red marble, etc.

We played till we got bored and we wandered around, looking at others games and trying them out.
Although I did not play most of the games there, I had a lot of fun with my club mates and the people there. I would certainly be looking forward to any similar upcoming events!


These are some of the photos of the games I took there:
めんこ(menko)

いろはがるた(iroha garuta)

羽根突き(hanetsuki)

.. and the punishment for losing in  羽根突き(hanetsuki) >D  .... get drawn on the face with ink!

剣玉(kendama)

御手玉(otedama)

だるま落とし(daruma otoshi)

タコ(tako)

こま(koma)

.. and not forgetting the drink that was recently banned in Singapore for some safety reasons (disputable)...

ラムネ！！(ramune!!)

Aisaka Taiga Dollfie

While browsing dannychoo.com, I came across this very 可愛い(kawaii) Aisaka Taiga dollfie and my hands are already itching to get one when I have enough money (either buy one or construct one with the parts, dollfie costme and wig). Sad thing is the price goes up to the grands and currently at my situation (I'm still a student) I can't afford a dollfie! Well.. only thing I can do is to post it on this blog and look at it whenever I'm free till the day I can get my hands on one.

Pictures from Danny Choo's Figure.fm
Dollfie from toel-uru

K-ON! Akiyama Mio All Print T-shirt/Black

"Left hand bassist Mio Akiyama is featured all over this cool T-shirt! Wear it to show your love for Mio!"
Yes! 秋山 澪 (Akiyama Mio) 大好き！

I bought this T-shirt, made from 100% cotton, during the Anime Festival Asia 2009 and have been trying my best to take very very good care of it, as Mio is one of my favourite characters in animes (and the tee is not cheap >.<). To reduce the chance of damaging the tee and to reduce the rate of wear-and-tear, I hand-wash the it instead of throwing it into the washing machine. I also let it to drip-dry instead of putting it outside to be exposed to the sun and have never ironed it. I used a hanger to hang it up, letting gravity do the job while saving up for that kind of 'mist iron' (don't know what they call them) that clothing stores use.

Saw this under Latest Product in COSPASEA website (T-Shirt Copyright ©かきふらい・芳文社／桜高軽音部) and it is priced at $45.90 (same price as at AFA09.. ehto...like duh. COSPA booth 0w0).

A must get for all Mio lovers out there!

D.C.II To You Yume Asakura Big Towel - COSPA

I was browsing the COSPASEA's Latest Products and my eyes nearly popped out when I saw this! The price of COSPA's big towels are already amazing and I almost fainted after seeing this. It is made from 100% cotton, measures 140 by 80 centimetres and is selling at $79.90 at COSPASEA website. Hmm... now I'm thinking if I should buy one...  XD

"Wow!! That was unexpected!! Such a (little dirty!) accident becomes a big towel!! But don’t stare at her for long, she’ll kick you out!"

Copyright ©2005-2008 CIRCUS

天樂 (Tengaku) (Music of Heaven) - Rin Kagamine

Romanji:

aoi jikan   sayonara tsugeru
amayoke no kasa wa boku wo hoori suteta
otozureteta   natsu ni mo kizukazu ni
koko wa doko da   boku wa dare dato   hoeru

owari ga nai, to   iki saki wo korosu
wakaru hazu ga nai, to   keshiki wo sashita
jibun de kizuita mori no soto ni fumi dasezu ni

naze   aruki dasanai no?
naze   tsukuri agenai no?
soushite nani mo hajimaranai mama
kuchite kusari yuku hito wo   shikabane wo   koete

ima   uchi narasu shoudou no yaiba ga   sekai wo kudaku
asayake ga oitsuku mae ni   gusha gusha ni wareta oto de kamawanai
tengaku wo

kezureta pikku (PICK)   kuchi hateta gitaa (GUITAR)
itazura ni boku no tobira wo abaku
toori sugita   aki ga sugu soko made
hajime you   buzama na shinjitsu wo   kakuse

naze   tachi domatteita no ka?
naze   kobami tsuzuketa no ka?
soushite nayami tsuzuketa saki ni wa
mebae kurui zaku oto wo   kaeri michi   sutete

ima   uchi narasu shoudou no yaiba ga   sekai wo kudaku
me ga kuramu hodo utsukushii   utakata ni yureta oto de tsuranuite
tengaku wo

ima   saki hokoru kyoushoku no ha ga   sekai wo kazaru
asayake ga oitsuku mae ni   sono kaku ni fureta koe wo hari agete
tengaku wo

O^2

After the long battle with the Tomogara called, O-Levels, I finally got time to start blogging again! For this blog I would be mostly be blogging on my hobby which basically deals with Japanese anime and manga (Anime, Manga, Cosplays and events, Figures, Collectibles, etc) and anything Japanese! Although this blog would be totally be unable to be compared with those by the famous Danny Choo and the Singapore version, Gordon Ho, I will still try my best to make it look good. If there's any suggestions to make this blog look better, do put comments and constructive feedback (not again... no nonsensical complaints allowed...) and I will look into it. =]