Game Review - Eternal Sonata

Yes, I know this game's not that new at all...

I played the Xbox version when it first came out, and I was finally able to play the PS3 version recently, and I have one thing to say. PS3 > Xbox.

I am kind of not happy because when they released the Xbox version, they said it's xbox exclusive, which is stupid because they released a PS3 version not long after... WITH EXTRA CONTENT. The PS3 version has extra dungeons, extra cutscenes, extra playable characters, and more in depth story development. I'll talk about the game first, then get to the version differences in detail.

This game is a RPG game that takes place inside Chopin's dream(yes, that composer) right before his death, and because it takes place inside a composer's head (and given the game title), this game has to do a lot with music. Each character's name, city... other stuff is named after something to do music. Its story is very unique, and what I like about it is that they explained enough story to get what's going on, but also left room for thinking and imagination. Xbox version showed more of the imagination part compared to the PS3 version(from extra cutscenes and in depth story analysis).

Eternal Sonata has the most exciting battle system out of all the RPG games that I've played because as the game progresses, the standard formula of the battle system stays the same, but the details keeps changing bits by bits. On top of that this system features a lot of neat features that makes the battle so exciting. It's a turn based, real time battle system -- featuring Light and Dark elements... it's complicated.

I don't really want to explain too much because I don't want to spoil people(that's why I didn't explain any of the plot at all), so just youtube it or something. XD!

~Daniel Chou

五月天 MayDay!

It's not MayDay as in like plane crashing.

It's MayDay as in May, the month, and Day, you know... that bright sunny stuff...(though it's snowing here).

Anyways, MayDay is a Taiwanese Band, and they make good music. I downloaded their whole discography, so I thought I'd share it with you all =]

I uploaded to Megaupload and here's the link.

Enjoy =]~

~Daniel Chou

Job-less. D:

Arg... No job D:!!..

I applied at EB Games, Starbucks, McDonalds, Canadian Tires, Apple Store... but so far, nobody wants me.

They think I suck or something D:!

WHYYYYYYYYY D:

Hanging out with Friends & Lisa's Birthday

Photo Album for the day

Artsy Pictures Updated

Yup, I'm trying to catch up to my blogging, so I am not going to waste time waiting for pictures to upload and stuff. Since facebook uploads the picture so much faster, you can look at the pictures there. I also updated my Artsy picture album. Anyways, on with the blog!!

I met up with Crystal, Melody, Jocelyn and a new friend Annie to go eat lunch together. The food was pretty nice, but it's really nothing special -- just good chinese food, haven't had those in a while. After the good lunch, we went to have some bubble tea~!! We sat and play cards & uno. 'Tis fun. I successfully convinced them to come to Eaton Centre with me because I want to pick up my game (Edgeworth game, will be doing a review on it pretty soon). The deal is that I have to shop with them, which I don't really mind. They went to Zara, and Garage... I believe. We talked, and I got along pretty well with Annie. After the shopping we went back to residence. I said goodbye to them and went out again soon after for Lisa's dinner.

She originally planned her dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, but apparently it was closed. Instead, we went to a Italy? French? Restaurant called Verona. It was a good 'fail'; the food was SOOOO good. I had a hard time deciding what I want to have because everything sounds so delicious.

wow, I think it's my first time using the adjective delicious in this blog even though I talked about food so many times already

I am not a big fan of meat unless it's steak(medium rare), but this restaurant cooks its meat until it's just right. It's not too hard to chew, but it's also fully cooked. The sides are just so wonderful, too. The Risotto is like the BEST risotto I've ever had. I have no problem going back even if it's on the expensive side. It's totally worth its value.

And I had a bit of Lisa's prawns and scallop. OMG MMMMMMM!!!!!! The tiger shrimp is like OM NOM NOM. Yea I don't know how to describe it... it's just so ON NOM NOM-y. The scallop was like BETTER than the ones I had in Guu, and the ones in Guu was above standards already. That's how good it is.

Lisa got her first alcoholic drink because she was legal... or she thought(explain later). It was a Long Island Iced Tea. I tried a sip, it was pretty good. Taste like Iced Tea, like the name suggests, but like Lisa? (or was it Sarah?) said... it was the powdered iced tea. Still not bad, for a drink with all alcohol content.

Lisa got drunk, and she went crazy in the restaurant. Jumping on tables and screaming.. kinda embarrassing...... JOKES!!! Don't get mad Lisa :P~

We had yet another one of Sarah's cake. Mmm!! Good stuff.

Omg, and the service for this restaurant is so good, like beyond expectation. I love this restaurant.

We went for Marble Stab(ice cream place) after the food, and Yum... ice cream. XD!!! This hobo guy came in the store and start asking for money. The SAME hobo guy asked me for money when I was in that store eating ice cream, too. But I am really good at ignoring people and pretending they don't exist, so it didn't really bother me at all. Mmmm ice cream~

Then finally we head for the subway to go home(and here comes the story why Lisa wasn't legal when she was drinking). She was born at around 11pm, but when she drank her drink, it was 8pm. 3 hours too early :P!!!

After I separate with them I headed to Melody's place to play some Mah Jong. I met some people. I didn't stay there for very long though.. came back and started on the Edgeworth game. =]....

This is also the day where I announced that I am bankrupted. FAIL!!!

I'm finding a job though, so hopefully, I'll find one soon.

~Daniel Chou

Quick Updated - GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD!

=]!!!

CANADA WON FIRST PLACE IN ICE DANCE!!!!

TESSA VIRTUE AND SCOTT MOIR'S PERFORMANCE WAS ASTOUNDING!! WOOOHOOO!!!!

~Daniel Chou

Kristie's Birthday~

Um... Yea. This thing over there (below), also known as the Inukshuk is sitting right in the middle of the field on my campus. From this view, only the the right leg is destroyed, but in reality... it's much much worse... So there you have it, Destroyed Inukshuk, my new masterpiece... joking.

Destroyed Inukshuk

Anyways, back on topic. This post is about the day I celebrated Kristie's birthday, which is kind of ages ago. We went Karaoke at Bar+ Karaoke. There's not much to talk about since we're just singing one song after another. However, there's one song that intrigue me a lot. It's a song sang by Sarah and Vicki, a cantonese song. The MV(yes, we get real MV's! XD) for that song is so intense, and the lyrics(from reading it since I don't understand cantonese) is like a dialogue of a couple fighting. It's amazing how people can accomplish things like this. So that's karaoke. *inserts a picture of a spinning ball*

The legendary spinning ball

We then head to this Japanese Restaurant named Guu. There's a few in Vancouver, but this is the only one in Toronto.

Guu Logo

Guu Exterior

Guu Door

Anyways, the line up was extremely long, and they don't take reservations unless it's over 20 people... so yea, we waited for a good hour or more. Their service was crazy, so that made up for the waiting time. How Crazy?? Well, when we went in every employees literally shouted Welcome(in Japanese), and there's a coat rack for our heavy jackets. A quick look at their menu~

Front Menu

Back Menu

Note: Wasabi is Hot!!

We ordered lots of good food.

Scallop

It's scallop with some really good sauce... I don't know what it is. The scallop is not too chewy, but still chewy -- just like how a scallop should be. I gave this dish a 9/10. Minus one point for being not filling at all because it's $7. =___=

Guava Juice

I also had this Guava Juice. It's nothing special, but it brings back a lot of Taiwan memories. Guava Juice USED to be something I can only drink in Taiwan, and it's like the best juice ever.

Takoyaki

Okonomiyaki

Their Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki is not only real tasty, but also very special. They have a hint of wasabi in it. I never had Takoyaki or Okonomiyaki like that, truly special.

For other people's food go to my facebook album on Kristie Birthday here

This quality of food for this restaurant is really good, but the portions are a big small... so the price is more on the expensive side. I can taste that they use really good quality ingredients, thus the expensive pricing for the dishes.

After eating, we went to a Starbucks so that we can eat the cake that Sarah made, but Starbucks doesn't allow outside food, so I bought myself a hot drink and we left for McDonalds

Me and my hot tea?

That's my hot 'iced shaken lemonade'. Yea, I got my usual drinks, Black Tea Lemonade, but they ran out of lemonade, and they also ran out of cold drink cups. That's totally a hot drink, y'know.

Anyways, at McDonald, we at Sarah's cake and went home. The cake was so good, and she made it herself.

Sarah's cake for Kristie

~Daniel Chou

Ooooooooooooooo Canadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Teehee.

Canada's skating team namely Virtue and Moir placed first after today's Ice Dance Original Dance portion. Totally kicking butts!!!!!

Other notable teams are France, Russia, and Great Britain. I can't believe they could pull off crazy-ass moves like those like it was part of their daily routine or something(which I'm sure it was for the past few months. Lol)

Anyways, just updating that CANADA WON!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I don't care if it's only temporary because I believe Canada will win tomorrow, too!!!!

(and it's also relieving news because Canada lost to the states tonight for Hockey)

~Daniel Chou

Game Review - Silent Hill Homecoming

Went to Atsushi's house to FINALLY test my PS3. The reason why I really need to find a way to play my PS3 is because I want to test it. It's not a first hand PS3; it might not work properly or something. There's only one way to test a PS3, to play the PS3. =]

First, I took out my Tales of the Abyss because I really missed that game -- all time favourite =]. I remembered that I don't have my memory card(for PS2)... then I found out even if I had the memory card, it's useless. I need some kind of adapter to transfer my PS2 memory card stuff to PS3, which costs around $20. Right now, I can barely afford a piece of bread, so spending $20 on an adapter is definitely out of the question.

I ended up playing Silent Hill Homecoming: a game which I have been looking forward to.

Before I start talking about the game, I'd just like to say that I'm really scared of horror genre. It doesn't matter if it's movie or game; I'm just so deathly scared of them. I think it's because I played Residence Evil 4 on the gamecube when I was in grade 4. That really scarred me for a long time. I thought I challenge myself into play this game, but it was kind of a disappointment.

I started the game... kinda scared, but I wasn't alone(Atsushi's with me), so it's better. After I got used to the controls(and turning the brightness to max LOL) I started exploring. This is where I get really frustrated and disappointed.

I'm in a room with around 4 doors where 3 of them are locked/jammed. In other words, you can't open it. Why have the doors there if all it's there for is "It's locked", "It's jammed". I understand if there are a few doors that are like that, but when the ratio of openable doors and inoperable doors are like 1:10... something is really wrong.

I didn't played for very long, but the story is kind of annoying, too. I risked my life in the 'Silent Hill' chasing after this boy named Joshua who doesn't even like getting rescued or anything. He seems to like Silent hill a lot... and since all the nurses doesn't seem to attack Joshua(only attacking me), I'd just let him stay in the 'Silent Hill' and leave. The story is stupid. The intro doesn't make sense. Why would the nurse push him(the main character) into this operation room and leave him there when the nurse can just kill him because he's all tied up. Way too many flaws.

I ended up being more frustrated than scared. I spend 10 minutes finding the right door to advance the story line, and the cutscene is like 2 minutes. Then I have to spend another 10 minutes finding the right door to another 2 minutes cutscene. WOW SO FUN!!!

I might change my mind about the game if I play more of the game, but my First Impression of it is really bad(not like scary bad, but like bad bad). I don't really feel like playing more and finding out the rest of the story. What if it still sucks, then I'd be wasting my time...

Why would Konami make the beginning suck so much that people doesn't want to continue playing it anymore...? Good job =__=

I rate this game a 2/10(as of now, but it probably won't change because I don't feel like playing more of it). 1 point for graphic, and 1 point for the 'Silent Hill' series.

super disappointed.

~Daniel Chou

R.I.P. D:

TO My Dear Ireland Sheep Cup.

Shattered into pieces on February 17, 2010 at 1:17am.

Sorry I didn't use you earlier

Sorry I couldn't use you longer

Sorry I wasn't more careful

Sorry I couldn't save you

I'll miss you.

~Daniel Chou

Quick Update - Weather Report??

Good evening. My name is Weatherman and I'm here to give you the latest weather forecast.

At the end of February, please expect some Heavy Rain worldwide. Remember to wear your waterproof jackets out -- or should I say liquid-proof. To be even more specific, I meant blood-proof jacket.

That's right, blood. *end joke (joke stolen from Atsushi)*

Heavy Rain is actually a PS3 game, it's kind of hard to explain.. If you have around 30 minutes to spare, watch the follow two videos. They really explained what Heavy Rain the game is.

First video is a demo --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxw5zaXGzMk

It explains the concept of the game, and a little bit of gameplay.

Second video IS NOT Kathleen-friendly. So be warned.

It's a footage leak of a scene. I will not explain it here because Kathleen reads my blog, and it's not kathleen-friendly.

http://www.qj.net/qjnet/playstation-3/video-leak-heavy-rain-finger-cutting-gameplay.html

Enjoy!

~Daniel Chou

Quick Update - Random info

Just thought I'd share it with the world for no particular reasons

1. Gonna head to Eaton Centre soon... if I ever get out of bed. I need to go pick up the edgeworth game which was released today. I wonder if EB games got the games yet...

2. I've also given up waiting for McDonalds to call me, so I'm going to try applying at other places (like Starbucks) because I REALLY need the money. FAIL

3. It's reading week this week, so I have no school, but it seems like I'm busier than usual. Why does these things always happen to me!!!

4. I am just rambling. Really. There's not much point to this blog at all. 'Tis why it's called 'Quick Update'.

5. If you're still reading then wow, you have pretty good patient. I won't test your patient any longer though. Ending this now (unless I think of something more)

6. Yes, I just thought of something else. Anyone know where this song comes from? ため息(Tameiki) by 柴田淳(Jun Shibata). I found it in my iTunes recently; not a bad song... I just don't know where it came from. Is it the OP or ED of some movie/anime/game?? If you know, please tell me =]!!

~Daniel Chou

Year of the Tiger~ RAWR???

On S.A.D. (also known as Single Awareness Day) this year, it was also Lunar New Years, so I gathered with my sister and we had hotpot in Chinatown.

You know when you're in Chinatown when you see things like this...

Oh, the wonders of Chinatown... No more commentary needed.

Before going to hot pot, we stopped by a bookstore. My sister was looking at cookbooks, so I looked around, too. I saw this book called "神奇番茄" which means Magical Tomatoes, but they translated as Wonderful Tomatoes (hence why I've been using a lot of 'wonderful' in my blog). There's this one recipe in that book that teaches you how to make tomato mousse. You know, like chocolate mousse, but instead it's tomato. I thought it was pretty interesting....

After a while, we got to the hot pot place... and what else do we do. We eat =] Unfortunately, I didn't take any picture of the hot pot, but there's really nothing to take. It's just a bunch of raw stuff being cooked in a pot.

My sister's friend has something really interesting in her wallet though.

Yes, it's made from a real $20 bill. What's funny is that the face is on the from of the POLO shirt(it's not even just a T-shirt XD). It's like the face was the design for the polo shirt. Funny stuff.

Anyways, after the food, I went to my sister's place in Mississauga because I wanted to play Beatles Rock Band. My dad bought a lot of little magnet plushies you stick on your fridge not long before, but since I have no fridge I have a reason to shove it all to my sister =] (yes!). I finally see it for the first time when I went to my sister's place. They look interesting I must say. Can't say they're completely useless, but they are pretty useless. Some designs are okay.. (by the way, if you want any of them, contact me.), but the Ladybug one cracked me up. I laugh for a good 2 minutes when I see the ladybug one.

I took a picture of every single one, so voila~

Lion

Giraffe

Reindeer

Blue Cow?!

Koala

Sheep

Duck

Dog

Of course, how could we forget the lovely ladybug~!!

Ladybug???

~Daniel Chou

P5 - 'Tis not Persona 5.

I knew about this info a while back, but I was too busy fanning(not the actual fanning...) over it, so I didn't have time to blog about it(voice: excuses).

According to serebii.net, the official pokemon site revealed the images of two fifth generation pokemon. Namely Zoroa and Zoroark. They are due to appear in pokemon's 13th movie. Phantom Champion Zoroark. For the longest time, the movie was named Phantom Champion Z because the names & images of the pokemon wasn't revealed yet.

Either way, so far I like the pokemon design for the fifth gen; a lot better than the fourth gen. But as Jon(my friend) said "there's only 2 though xD", so we'll see how things turn out to be. Hopefully it's wonderful?

Left to Right: Zoroa, Zoroark

~Daniel Chou

Quick Update - The Gummi Bears that you can't eat

Recently I found the Gummi Bear theme song. At first I didn't know what it's for until I showed it for Kristie. She said that it's the opening for the show Gummi Bear(really really oldschool)

So I'd just like to share the theme song with you all ---> Here

If you want the full good quality version of the song visit here

~Daniel Chou

Chinese New Years Eve!!

Surprise Picture!! THE INSIDE OF A MOUTH!!!

Okay, I lied. It's just this picture with flash on.

I went to Scarborough to celebrate new years eve with Kristie, Lisa and Sarah. We had a wonderful dinner at Sarah's residence -- blasting my music (Sam & Kurt's album -- The Covers).

Sarah sure can cook, and Kristie sure makes good steak! (except I don't have any picture of the steak....). Yup, the dinner was good. And yes, all I did was eat. =]

After dinner, Kristie brought out her 年糕(rice cake)... thing. It's sweet and stuff(dessert). It was good already by itself, but Lisa and Sarah said they always had it with eggs.

Before

After

It's a whole different taste, but both are good. =]

Oh! Did I mention that I whipped the eggs? (See, I helped. Don't judge me! D:)

Hmm? What am I doing?

Just poking the eye socket out =]

See, the eggs are crying.

Then I killed them. Oh well.

Yes, I wasn't fooling around AT ALL. Anyways... while eating the rice cake, we played my Monopoly World Edition. Yes, putting it into use for the first time ever =D!!!

We all started with 15 million, I ended up with all the transportations, utilities, and the red blocks(all hotels) and 28 millions. Did I mention I also had Montreal and TAIPEI?!?! =] I'll not go into the details because I don't really remember them either. LOL

Anyways, I'll end this blog with some Artsy Pictures I took during that day.

I don't know where all the sparkles came from. It is NOT photoshopped.

The Soup

The Lamp

~Daniel Chou

History in the making!!

Feb 11, 2010 == A very good day. =]

So first, a quick story leading up to this day. Atsushi and I planned that Thursday, we're going to a Japanese restaurant because I said I wanted Takoyaki (and he knows a place). Lisa then messaged me not long after asking me if I knew about this lunch thing happened on Thursday, which I have no idea. Lisa said the lunch is at 12, so I asked if Atsushi wanted to go there first, then Takoyaki later -- he was fine with it.

So at 11:30 I got to Atsushi's house to meet up with him to go the this restaurant called La Fenice. We got there around noon, just on time. Lisa and her friend, Jinglin are already there though (damn we lost D:). We went in the restaurant and our face went like this ---> OoO.

The restaurant was so high class; every customer going there was wearing suits and dresses. Everyone except us. We're wearing hoodies, t-shirt and such -- so out of place. We all got one appetizer, one main course, and one dessert because it's all that for $20.

I got this Mussel thing for for appetizer

Zuppa Di Cozze
Mussels in light tomato and white wine broth with garlic and fresh herbs

It was not bad, but for a 'high class' restaurant I kind of expected more. This just taste like a bunch of mussels with this sauce. As for the main course I got...

Cioppino Di Gamberi E Calamari
shrimp and calamari in a light tomato broth with garlic. fresh herbs and chili flakes

It was just okay, too. Nothing really special that makes me want to talk about it, so I'll just move onto the dessert.

creamy chocolate ice cream with a gianduia centre, covered with crushed almonds and hazelnuts, dipper in dark belgian chocolate

This is the only dish, which I thought was good. You can't really go wrong with dessert though... Still, the dessert was good, but nothing special. I was the only one that got this while the others got this

creamy amaretto ice cream with a mocha centre, covered with amaretto cookie crumbs

I think I'm gonna stay away from coffee desserts from now on (after the Apricot Tree failure). Group picture!!!

Left to right: Lisa, Atsushi, Me

All the pictures from this restaurant was from Jinglin(which I stole off of her facebook XD)

After this lunch, we walked to Eaton Centre to get our crap sorted out. I had to return something to the Apple Store, Atsushi exchanged stuff at the Apple Store, and Lisa bought an ipod using my credit card. We then headed to the Japanese restaurant for Takoyaki.

Not long after we're here!

Manpuku entrance

This wonderful place known as Manpuku. First have a look at their menu.

Back of the menu

Front of the menu

I know there's not much selection, but quality is what matters =]. I came here to eat takoyaki, so of course that's what I got. Two orders of takoyaki and a milk tea. Lisa got just the milk tea, Jinglin had the takosen (takoyaki and senbei), while Atsushi had the takosen and milk tea. (Yes, I know I ordered the most and we just had lunch).

Failed Artsy shot of the milk tea

I don't know what this milk tea is, but it's good. I love it. The bottle is so pretty, too!! If I ever go to Japan, I'm gonna buy so much of those!! =]

Super good Takoyaki!!

It was so good. They cook to order, so it's fresh, but you have to wait 20 minutes. The inside is soft, but the outside is crispy. The dressing they used is so good, too. Lisa said she couldn't taste the octopus, and I didn't really pay attention so... In my defense, a good takoyaki is good when the octopus doesn't stand out; it blends in with the rest. I wouldn't like a takoyaki where the octopus is way too chewy or something.

I looked at Atsushi and Jinglin's Takosen, too. They were really interesting. I think I might get it next time.

Takosen before squished

It's basically Takoyaki being sandwiched by two senbei(rice crackers). And yes, when I said sandwiched, it means you need to squish the takoyaki. It should look something like this:

Takosen after squished.

Yup! It looked so good. Mmmm. Next time I go there, I'm gonna try the Udon or the Don =]! Thanks Atsushi for introducing this place to me.

Enough about the foods. In the first restaurant, it was still pretty awkward, first time meeting, plus the high-class restaurant tension. It lightened up a lot when we're at the Japanese restaurant though. We talked a lot (mostly me). I talked about some pretty dark and deep stuff, and I wouldn't usually do that if the situation was awkward, so it's a sign that the atmosphere was pretty good.

Today was a really good day. After around 4~5 attempts of trying to introduce Atsushi to Lisa and Kristie(and vice versa), it FINALLY worked.

Lastly, here are some artsy pictures that I took recently.

It's that really good milk tea from the Manpuku.

Carbonated water with different concentration of cranberry juice.

~Daniel Chou