Guess where I am? Cow Pony Level in Diablo 3

B1 managed to unlock the pony level inside Diablo III. You get to speak to a dead cow king who tells you he is udderly delighted with your offering, and he opens the gateway to Whimsyshire, where the teddies are cute yet deadly, and the ponies are equally blood-thirsty.  Shake down the happy clouds for free stuff and the hearts are cupcakes here =D.

It was very hard to take a video with my view blocked by the camera, so I screenshot instead. =D

Canon in D solo (Palchelbel)

I have been playing Canon sourly for the last 7 weeks, because I cannot get it right. The score which someone gave me, is a 2nd violin.

Anyway after complaining to Teacher, he said I should find a violin solo with the piano accompaniment. So here it is. I also found a 1st violin score, which Teacher said is the same as my 2nd violin, just that they play at different beats (or something).

[source]

50 levels of fucked - Potentially sleeping on the streets..

I left getting the accommodation (two nights) at one of the destinations, S, too late. I am so fucked. Should have realized this city is much popular than the others that I am going. Shit shit shit.

So far I have been rejected by two B&Bs. I cast out a wider net. Emailed three more. Maybe we will end up camping or sleeping on the streets.

Updated
Well, I tapped heavily on my "creepy" skills, as someone once called it, and summoned the powers of Google to hunt down suitable accommodation.  What was really extremely funny was that, one of the B&Bs which cruelly rejected my $ and my admiration for their beautiful surroundings, referred to me to a nearby B&B. I emailed them (as mentioned earlier), but after tingling with anxiety that they did not see my email or misunderstood me (I did not use English), I went to their site and left a message there as well, this time in English.

What was damn funny was that, when I came home and checked my email, I received an email from the site first, then intriguingly on top of it (so it arrived later) was the direct email reply as well. The reply from my query to the site (English) said no room sorry, but really *lol* funny enough, the email (reply to my query written in another language) said there was, even though that email arrived later....could it be because they gave higher priority to people who can understand their language.

Oh we are fucked again =D... I hope Google translate is accessible there. Hahahah.

Music Recital featuring the Clarinet

Ok, so maybe we have been playing too much Diablo III. Starting to wonder what for, especially as I am starting to develop headaches playing. I also kind of miss playing with CoH friends, especially when I can trap them in conversations during long games. But now CoH is a super dead town because it is summer and everyone is out at the beach, to quote one CoHer friend. I have also been neglecting my German (many weeks), my violin (two weeks - last lesson was embarrassing), and the blog (one week).

So it was opportune that Tante dragged us out to watch a recital at the Australian International School. I have to admit, the reason why I wanted to go was because I have never seen the inside of this school despite passing by it a few times.

Outside the school

The inside of the school

Tante's friend's son was performing. He was the main feature, the clarinetist and the programme expressedly featured his instrument with some solos as well. I have to admit I hate the clarinet almost as badly as I hate the French language, so I was annoyed to discover that it was the main feature. Tante had not said what performance it was (I had naturally assumed that it was the violin). Anyway Tante called the clarinet a trumpet (in Mandarin) when she saw it, so I shouldn't be very surprised.

The Music Recital Programme

That said, I was very intrigued that the audience was totally made up of Singaporeans. The only foreigner was the guy playing the viola. Turned out most of the audience was friends or family members of the clarinetist, which says much for his character, since he has been away for 10 years Down Under to practise his craft. I found it very interesting that he even provided a buffet after the event. It seemed more like an informal session. The guy must have spent a lot of money to put this on. I was quite impressed.

Despite my misgivings, I really liked the performance, though I cannot profess I understand the instrument. I am always impressed by musical performances, since I am overcome by embarrassment when playing my violin or speaking German. So I always admire people who dare to perform in public. Tante liked the first one, probably because of the Chinese element. I liked the Overture a lot. I am thinking of grabbing the string version. 

I also realized that my stupid camera has gone from bad to atrocious. I will need to spend even more $ to replace it soon. Too bad I am too broke to buy a DSLR.

How do I know I play too much Diablo III

Yesterday I logged into CoH to play with T, but found R instead and played a stonewall. I had to resist smashing the barrels by the Manor for free gold and weapons. zzz.

I played so much that I missed out on International Museum Day on Saturday, when all the Singapore Museums were FREE ENTRY for the day. It was a technicality, since I already missed it in the Friday newspaper announcement.

I am now level 36 37 Monk. =D I was 15 levels behind B1, and now I have shot past him. We realized that Babarians and Demon Hunters are really better for fighting. Well, at least I can heal myself and others (as long as I stop propping my head on my left hand, and use the latter for the keyboard hot keys)

The AI that they did for Diablo 3 is really good. So in nightmare mode, the difficulty has been increased, so since B1 is a pretty useless (when it comes to defence) wizard, we depend on my fire ally as a pawn for the enemies =D

Oh if only they were three hot men...

I was chased around a bush by three Grotesques, while trying to recover my healing spell and drinking a healing potion. It was really funny, four of us going around a bush for two rounds already, when suddenly one of them actually changed direction. Impressed. I thought it could go on infinitely or crash (which happens when I am the coder *shameless hahahaha*).

Day 5 @ Level 37

3rd day of Diablo III

My Level 23 inventory and stash

I am doing pretty good at Diablo III.

First day (Dienstag) B1 started installing then playing, while I stayed on CoH because I had promised vlong I would play with him.

Second day (after violin class), I installed Diablo III and played. B1 is level 15 but he played with me so that I could uprank faster. I would have preferred to slowly wander around the map to enjoy the game. Instead he kept rushing me through the game to the big bosses. I ended up with rank 5 (alot of time was wasted at downloading).

Donnerstag (2nd day of playing), we started playing after the server came up at about 10pm and I got to level 13 before we went to bed.

Today is Freitag. I got to level 23 and I have quite a few rare items. Can't wait for the actual cash auction house to open up so that I can sell stuff =D (which is one of the reasons I dumped CoH).

Tomorrow is Samstag. I will play CoH and Diablo III with vlong. I had given him one of the free guest passes in the game (the other went to 12).

Your feedback is important to Me?

Mike, this is my picture for you. Good Luck!

This guy is probably a very candid person and does not pull punches. Or borderline insane (high five Mike!) But he is also probably going to remain forever alone.Until one day he wises up and tears this feedback form up (which he gives to his dates) or he finds an Eastern European fiancee via  ВКонтакте. =D

Please dude, get your feedback like everyone else. Read her body language wrongly and get slapped, shortcuts verboten!

 

[source: Deadspin]

Just a thought - If I were to quit my job today....

Drill sergeant, dungeon masochist, pimp, grifter, socialite, lion tamer, loanshark, paratrooper, spy and fire fighter are probably related job industries that I can look into joining after this gig.
Definitely not something unglamorous like IT support. What the fuck, I went to violin class on Wednesday, after a very (literally) trying day trying to do installations all day, and my violin teacher asked me how to maintain his company website...Not you too! I must go and make that tee-shirt "I did not take a Computer Engineering degree to fix your computer"

B1 said drolly "ask him to pay you, after all, you pay him for your classes."

Banana Joe

Die Fantastische Welt von Gumball ist nicht für Kinder machen!

Hallo DiabloIII Auf Wiedersehen CoH

CoH no longer holds much charm for me. Admittedly one of the few reasons why I play that game is because I want to practise my German, which is why I reach out to players in the game. Then after that, I stayed in the game because of friends I made. Since today I already have said German friends that I am happily in contact with, I think it should be time to call it a day on the game and move on, until CoH2 comes, and just play CoH on weekends, or when friends email me specifically to play on a certain date.

So that's why I am moving onto DiabloIII, which B1 got me, as a surprise after I saw it at Sim Lim Square while buying my anti-virus last week.

DiabloIII installation reminds me of work. Ominous sign. 

野柳海洋世界 Yehliu Geological Park (Part 1) - The Village itself

Taipei to Yehliu 野柳海洋世界:

From Taipei Intercity Bus Terminal (on Chongqing N. Rd., just west of Taipei Railway Station and Guoguang Bus Terminal West), take a Kuokang Bus headed for "Jinshan" and alight at "Yehliu"; after alighting, walk through the village and across the parking lot to the entrance of Yehliu Geological Park. What you don't know is that the place is really deep inside and when you reach the geological park you are rewarded with more walking and...CLIMBING. Bring an umbrella, wear sunblock and drink lots of water!

The bus to Yehliu is at counter 19, run by Kuokang Bus Co. from Taipei Main Bus Station which is outside Taipei Railway Station.

The Bus tickets. It's been so long, I can't remember how much they cost. Oopz

We walked to the Intercity Bus Terminal from Taipei Railway Station. On hindsight, we could have stayed in the area because there was so much shopping to be done in the area. Luckily I am not the shopping kind of girl. We had already "topo"ed the night before to make sure we would find the place, as we were going to cover a lot of areas the next day. From Taipei, it was one long bus ride to Yehliu, then Jiufen, Jingusashi before Keelung (we did not see much of Keelung because we were exhausted at the end of day).

Mr B still smirking despite the usual crouch pinching. He was the only one still smiling

We sat a long and winding bus ride to Yehliu where me and my fats were disgusted to realize that we would have to walk all the way into the the Geological Park *cue here for screaming*  in a sweaty morning where the sun is but a dollop of yellow on an azure sky.

Even though it was a LONG distance in (I was even more "delighted" that there was even more walking and CLIMBING to be done upon reaching the park), we enjoyed checking out the sights in the sleepy town.

The buildings cut sharp angles against the road as everyone hid from the sun. Tour buses with curious tourists streamed past us as we choked on their exhaust along the waterfront.

Typical fishing boats

Yehliu village appears to be a little fishing port, with many boats parked by the side of waterfront. The day's catch laid out in the sun, emitting salty sea odors as we passed. We saw baby squid and these tiny little fish, which seemed to make bad eating, but was apparently used in some condiment which you can buy as omiyage for unsuspecting relatives.

Bad eating drying in the hot sun, emitting Bad smells

As is typical of a fishing port, there is an imposing temple where fishermen and their families can pray for safety at sea.

I switch my allegiance to Bayern 3 =D

I have to get used to the typical German speaking speed. Since I had problems connecting to my beloved Antennae Bayern Love Songs, Schnappi introduced me to Bayern 3, where I proceeded to embarrass myself by asking "why is it Bayern 3 am Samstag, when it is already 10am?"

It was am, as in at/ on. I forgot it was German. This channel does speaks a lot more German, but yes, Schnappi is right, they play almost the same (English) songs. And when the lady reports the news, I go like this...

Sprechen Sie Langsamer Bitte!!! Ich kann nicht Ihre folgen!!!!

Company of Heroes 2 is finally coming

Took you long enough, THQ.

It had better not be EF in disguise, or I am not paying (my inner tight pussy is screaming. I wouldn't even play it when it was free, it had better not be it!!!)

When People are sad and emo what do they do?

They go shopping, of course, and bought lots of useless hair accessories. Chameleon was doing a massive sale, where they bag everything at S$2 a bag. It is sort of like the Japanese's lucky bag, except you can see what's inside each bag. 

Still I made a lot of wild choices, and ended up with similar designs. OOps. I even got some fingernail stickers, decorative bra straps (NSFU), little bands (which serve no purpose). I gave some accessories to Bär for his niece, especially one headband which looked like it was either going to snap or cut off blood flow to my enormous head.

To think, I was actually just looking for bands to tie my unruly hair in a plait when i swim.

貓空纜車 Maokong Gondola

Initially we wanted to go to Taipei zoo. In the end, we took the Maokong Gondola which was impressively high... and didn't get off at the zoo, instead we went to enjoy chinese tea (where I disgraced myself because I did not know how to write tomato in Mandarin. I panicked when trying to write it on the order form). Anyway when we went there, the place was SUPER CROWDED, it being a Sunday, so we had to take queue numbers and queue up obediently when they called out our number range.

Pussy cats guarding nearby Maokong station

Not for the faint-hearted

Panda Boyfriend and Girlfrend

Common sight at Maokong

The total length of the line is 4,030 meters.15 min ride @ 50 Taiwan dollars each.

Neu rules in Company of Heroes to myself

(1) Whoever tells me no rangers in USA stonewall can play by himself. I am not even fond of USA stonewall and only play it to humor 3 persons, 12ax7, Tancock and someone der ich denke meinen Freund ist, aber er nicht mich wie gleich sieht. I am not playing USA stone for the foreseeable future.

(2) I will not play once I am tired. Go to bed on time and face the reality that work sux & Arbeit macht mann Geld.

(3) I will sleep early on Friday nights and play with the Amerikans on Saturday instead of lurking till very late waiting for the Europeans who make me play stuff I don't like. I must buy groceries before I play if not I will get left with rubbish veggies that those aunties have ran riot over with their pinching fingers already.

(4) I will buy Diablo 3 and cut down on playing CoH until CoH2 is ready and Schnappi comes back. Level 16 is the highest I will ever reach so no use bothering anymore.
(5) I cut off making friends with fellow gamers outside game.

B1's quest for Live Squid

One thing that B1 was very adamant while we were on the trip. He must try live squid, which he heard would stick to his tongue in an altogether disgusting and scary way I thought. We were staying at Myeondong which is one of the hip cool places that South Korean youth like to hang out. It has a lot of shopping malls, shops, street food (which came out at night, helping to shape a vibrant nightscape with the neon lights from the buildings) and restaurants.

Check out the item circled red... It is the LIVE squid (well, it used to be live)

However it was with some difficulty that we finally managed to find a restaurant with live squid in the area. We He (I just sat there and made faces) had it with beef bulgogi, lots of interesting kimchi (including marinated raw soft shell crabs, which both of us boycotted).

Purple Tomato

I was in the *censored* to do some stuff, and brought something downstairs to consult with the ladies there. That's when they started talking about B1, whom about 4 out of the whole team had seen on different occasions (2 of them at Singapore Flyer, 1 at Katong, and another at my town area). The rest of the team had not seen him before and were curious about how he looked.

The Perfect Man

Hard truths are usually delivered to me by The Amazing World of Gumball. So far, I have learnt from the 7.30am cartoon that people are nice to beautiful people, and no matter how hard you work to get a job, a car and a girlfriend, you will always be Fat Larry because someone will always come and f you to get their own means.

But here is one from Dailymail on Mr Perfect, apparently he needs to fit the following criteria. If you do, then you are probably very eligible...(my comments are in pink, my reality is in blue ;P)

My most favorite food in South Korea

I was totally nuts about this street food, hotteok, which were grilled pancakes filled with cinnamon. Yes, I know they come fried too, but fried ones have nothing on the grilled ones, IMHO.

I bought them whenever I saw them as I wandered around Seoul by myself. That was one of the best trips I ever went on, totally worth skipping one week of uni and missing a test (I still got an A for the exam so :P)

B1 was mad that I got to eat all these fun foods while he was stuck at the boring conference. But he didn't like this, especially after I told him I bought it off the street. South Korea is a pretty clean country, so I am not sure why he was so hung up about eating street food. We didn't get to eat any street food while we were there, which was a pity, since every Korean tv serial always have some characters sitting at some random street setup eating away at spicy rice cakes or BBQ while downing soju.

Old Men practising Calligraphy at a park

I realized I brought Mr B overseas to a few places, but I only uploaded the Vietnam and Taiwanese fotos. While hunting for the Japan fotos, I hit paydirt and found my South Korea fotos. Will be uploading them slowly in lieu of lack of content (I lead a busy but boring life).

South Korea is one of the few countries that give the elderly their due respect (due to the Confucian school of thought) and the old live healthy and enriching lives even after retirement. While at Seoul zoo, which has a few hiking paths leading outwards, I saw groups of elderly friends walking together, or sitting down at one of those huge table-like benches enjoying one another's company.

Training to go on holiday? WTF?

Though seriously unfit, I always do backpack holidays ever since I was 15 and on a tour group to Hongkong, saw the same inevitable steamed minced pork dish for 14 consecutive meals. The whole family was traumatized enough to never cook this dish ever again (though I did once at the new house, because we are poor people and cannot complain. Also frozen minced pork was on sale.)

After realizing that I have 34 days of leave, I have decided to go *censored*. Planning is ongoing, and we will definitely be visiting with my friends there. I am seriously looking forward to this trip, especially meeting up with them. Looking through the WIP itinerary, I feel the familiar chill down spine where I ambitiously plan a lot of activities but then lack the energy and endurance to survive it). Case studies: Japan (+ winter clothes, wrapped up like Michelin Man), Vietnam (fucking upslope and worse, downslope paths) and Desaru (cycling 104km).

TGIF Specials 22 (really belated, sue me): S*it Yourself?

[source: Gawker]

Long Lost Shoes

Well, the two pairs of rubi shoes I bought gave out after they encountered some bouts of angry rain, which weakened the glue (ohmigod, cheap shoes are so badly made).

So I thought, since I need new flat heels for my violin class... why not go and buy some? Then dear Mutter unearthed some pairs of shoes (woman probably wants to free up the space for her own shoes), that she said I had forgotten.

Thanks mom. I didn't even remember having the red ones. oopz. Anyway given how my upcoming *censored* is going to bleed me dry (it already does), I might as well swap these for my high heels when it's time for violin class instead of buying a new pair. Sigh.

Anyway I found out why B1 didn't pick me after his evening out, he was totally wasted, until he puked on the new shirt I bought him. No wonder he kept asking me to wash the clothes the next day, and looked totally guilty and sheepish when he was caught washing the same shirt again by me.

Updated!!!
After my outside meeting, I went out for lunch with my client, only to end up buying two dresses and two new pairs of black stockings (my old ones were starting to ladder). Sigh.