Because I'm feeling so frustrated, I'm not in the mood for creating banners so it's all just text from here on.

Ok it's official. I now, with the rest of the world, hate Ninety-Nine Nights. You know how I mentioned that I was going to play through Aspharr next, so I just did today. I was merrily hacking my way through all the missions without A SINGLE PROBLEM and what happens next? The last mission is there just to f*ck the players up. 3 times I re-started this stupid mission!

The map is all twisty and long, and there was barely any chests with an item for HP recovery. And before the final boss, I actually trudged through the whole map just to find chests and I only found 2 lousy ones! And they consisted of those stupid blue potions for your Orb Gauge when mine is already full! GRARGH!

Anyway after calming down, I went to check a guide and apparently when during the game I was given a choice of which place to go to next, I chose the path that resulted in me not having Inphyy's help in the last mission. I'm like, WTF!!! Inphyy you traitorous sister!

So ahem, I have half a mind to just chuck the game into a corner out of spite but I'm not going to do that yet. I think I'm going to replay the previous missions so I can get Inphyy's help, and we'll see what happens from there. Because curse you N3! You will not get the best of me!

In other gaming news, I'm slowing down in Patapon because I just realized how to create Rarepons. Yeh it took me 17 missions for this enlightenment, so right now I'm gathering materials and kaching instead of ploughing through the game.
FFCC: Ring of Fates is going well at a steady progress since my focus isn't just on Patapon anymore. The plot thickens with stuff happening, and I'm too lazy to elaborate, so sue me. I'm going to be done with this game soon though.
Halo is fun stuff. Driving the Warthog or whatever the vehicle is called sucks, to the point of me getting nauseous.
Also, I'm planning on replaying The Legend of Dragoon on my PSP because I can, so there.

Hmm crap. I spent the whole afternoon cursing the TV, I forgot to find out what time I'm supposed to work tomorrow, and I also need to type out my resignation letter soon.

I'm going to go pig out on some donuts and pancakes to relieve my frustration and growing headache.

You know how I said I wasn't going to the doctor? Well I did, because I was feeling too lazy to go to work and I don't think my customers would appreciate me dribbling my snot all over them. So I got 2 days MC, plus my actual day off tomorrow. Muahaha. I'm a schemer. Onwards then! And just in advance again, there might be spoilers in posts such as this. You've been warned.

Currently:
Mission 17 - Ray of Hope
Total hours: 5hrs 01min

Pata-pata-pata-pon! Pata-pata-pata-pon! Pon-pon-pata-pon!
Pon-pata-pon-pata! Pon-pon-pata-pon!

Yeh I'm addicted. I'm going through the missions like it's the end of the world tomorrow, but I'm currently at a snag. Before actually attempting Mission 17, there's a side-mission to take care of to acquire an item that'll be most useful. Well unfortunately, said item is a pain in the neck to get. Whatever. Perseverance will prevail!

Pata-pata-pata-pon!!!

Currently:
Rela Cyel - Urn Master Meeth
Total hours: 6hrs 31mins

Active party:
Yuri, lvl 21
Alhanalem, lvl 21
Gnash, lvl 21
Meeth, lvl 20

Dun dun duuunnnn... there's an imposter in the castle acting as Alhanalem, and the king has been confuzzled, obviously. So what is our party to do? Set out to recover proof that the Al with us is the genuine Al of course! And along the way, you're finally reunited with Meeth and the party is complete, yay.
I'm having fun with this title really, despite how generic everything is. Here's hoping to more play-time and to not get too obsessed with Patapon. Oh and did I mention that everytime you upgrade your weapons, armour, etc., your characters reflect the changes? I love that in games! It's pretty adorable to have some tubby thing running around in Dragoon armour.

Currently:
Inphyy's storyline completed

Man what a cheap way to end a character's storyline, and compel gamers to continue playing. Mission 5 (which I stopped at the last time I played) sucked because I suck and took 4-5 tries to emerge victorious. Mission 6, which was the last mission) would have sucked if not for that rather fortunate level up (which replenished my health) and the final boss getting his foot caught in an invisible rabbit hole and thus enabling me to spam my attacks without getting too much damage (hooray for glitches).

So the FMV started, and Inphyy was about to deliver the killing blow to the boss when her brother, Aspharr, appeared and was all "Noooo!!", but Inphyy dealt the blow anyway. And before I knew what the heck was happening, some black clouds started forming behind Inphyy, Aspharr went "Innpphhyyy!!", Inphyy looked up with some unreadable emotion on her face (because the facial animations were HORRIBLE) and... MISSION COMPLETE was smacked across my face.

I mean... what the heck?! Anti-climatic much? So now I have this insane urge to plough through Aspharr's storyline to understand what just happened. Didn't I say that it was cheap ending? Gah.

I got the first Halo today and will be playing it soon. Kicked out Guitar Hero II to make way for that.

And just for kicks and giggles, I'm going to list down all the games I've managed to complete in my entire lifetime.

- Jazz Jackrabbit (MS-Dos)
- Duke Nukem II (MS-Dos)
- Chase H.Q. (Sega Genesis)
- Pokemon Red (Gameboy)
- Final Fantasy IX (PS1)
- Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
- The Legend of Dragoon (PS1)
- Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)
- Metal Slug X (PS1)
- Vib-Ribbon (PS1)
- Metal Slug 5 (PS2)
- Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)
- God of War (PS2)
- PaRappa the Rapper 2 (PS2)
- Odin Sphere (PS2)
- Killer7 (PS2)
- Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
- WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (GBA)
- Elite Beat Agents (DS)
- Trace Memory (DS)
- Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)
- Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble (DS)
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All (DS)
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials & Tribulations (DS)
- Touch Detective (DS)
- Touch Detective 2 1/2 (DS)
- Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (DS)
- Bleach: The Blade of Fate (DS)
- Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS)
- Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (DS)
- Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (DS)
- The World Ends With You (DS)
- LocoRoco (PSP)
- Gitaroo Man Lives! (PSP)

It's kind of sad that the system you have the most games for isn't topping the list.

So it's getting late, and I still want to watch my Buffy. I'll leave with a very useful advice for everyone out there:

Loose pajama pants + pocket full of change, mobile phone and keys + quick kip to the shops = Ass-crack = BAD

Tsk, tsk, the lady made me confused for 5 minutes, trying to figure out if that's some obscure book series.

Anyway. Just when I thought that I've got some kick-ass immune system, I think I'm falling sick. My head started feeling warm yesterday while I was working, and it still is today. One thing for sure though, is that I'm going to have a reeaaallyyy annoying runny nose during the day, blocked nose at night.
I'm a stubborn mule so no doctors or medicine for me, just plenty of rest. Woke up at a perfect 11am and started playing Patapon for the majority of today and stopped at Mission 12 (out of 33). What a crazy little game. I should have played it sooner and the beat is definitely stuck in my head. Although right now, I feel a slight headache which I'm going to blame on the headphones, not the game. I hope Patapon won't be distracting me from FFCC: RoF, because I think I'm halfway through the game. I don't think FFCC: RoF is going to take long anyway.
Also caught Hellboy II with my sister in the evening. Not much praise from me other than it having pretty graphics. And the more Dark Knight trailers I see, the more I don't feel like watching it.

Ok more resting for me. Going to lie back down and watch Be Kind Rewind before sleeping.
Work at 5pm tomorrow! Part-time rules.

One last thing. No more Frag Dolls UK? Bummer! They were an entertaining bunch. ):

Today, a friend wanted to borrow my DSLR camera for when he goes off to... somewhere... next week, and I got hit by a pang of nostalgia. I used to love photography but the interest died, and I'm feeling all emo now. I dug around my laptop for a bit and found some photos I took for school assignments, which coincidentally are my last few shots before putting down my 'professional' camera for good. ):

Let's go.

This was for Film Criticism and Analysis and we were studying about the French New Wave at that time. The picture was part of a series of stills we took for an assignment, and I honestly forgot what it was all about. I just know that our plot was about an angsty rebel. How dull of us. And we were feeling pretty shifty while doing this shot because really, no smoking was allowed at the staircase.

Now this was fun! It was for a photography module I took as an elective and we had to capture motion and at that time, I learned a new technique where you twist the lens right when you click the shutter to achieve a swirled or zoomed-in effect. Definitely something different than what the rest of my cla.ss was doing, because most of them were being unimaginative and stuck to the age-old slow shutter speed technique. My friend was being a nut and jumping around doing random parkours, so that was perfect for what we had to capture for the day.

I actually hate this 2 photos. Also for my photography elective and I believe was one of our last few lessons, we had to do a fashion shoot. I was wearing my oversized hoodie and the sun was scorching hot, so it really wasn't an enjoyable day for me. I don't really have much to comment on this other than in colour, the lines on her shirt made me dizzy, hence it being in black and white.

And look, I didn't just stay behind the camera! I had to be a model too! (Yes, it was used once as an MSN display picture for I have no shame.)

Although not for the fashion shoot, thank god. It was about portraying moods, and I was picked to portray 'mysterious'. Yeh sure. More of emo-goth if you ask me. But what was amusing was that when the cla.ss was aked what mood I was trying to portray, most thought it was 'seduction' or something along that line.

Anyway hmm pointless post.

Haven't been gaming much either, other than a bit of FFCC:RoF and DJ Max Portable 2. Speaking of DJ Max, IT SUCKS! Ok not the game, just that when I changed to my new PSP, my previous save file was linked to my old PSP so I couldn't continue but had to start from scratch all over again! Grar rar!

Also, bought a couple of DVDs too. Got Be Kind Rewind and the complete first season of Without a Trace. Can't wait to watch them, although I have to finish Buffy first before starting Without a Trace. Yes you read it right. I'm still not done with Buffy, and I'm still on the fifth season.

So many things to do, and the days are just too short. Can't wait for Sunday where we get our new work schedule and I'll be a part-timer then. Can't wait for the 21st of August as well because that's when orientation starts and then official learning will begin on the 25th. I haven't set a date for when I'll be quitting Borders, but it'll probably be at the start of August just so I can get a few weeks of bumming around before life gets busy again.

Well I just looked at the clock and went 'Oh crap...' because it's 3am now and I have work.

Yay.

There was a reason for upgrading, I swear! My UMD drive was making a racket and apparently, the motherboard is screwed up or something. I could have sent it in for repairs, but I'd rather trade it in for a new one instead, so I did. Now I'm a proud owner of a Mint Green PSP Slime & Lite and I'm happy. (:
Got a game, Crush, to go along with my new PSP as well and with the spare change, I let my second sister choose a game for her DS. She got Mario Party DS. Err. Yeh. Wi-Fi on a single cart though, so that's ok I guess.

Other than thaaaat, I completed The World Ends With You! The ending was 'bleh' for me though, but it was a fun game while it lasted. The parody game, Another Day, when you completed the main story was amusing but I've run out of steam to actually complete it. Not going to bother with completing everything 100% as well too because I've got other games to worry about.

So right now I'm playing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and about 3 hours in. My impressions? Well hmm let's see... cute, cute, adorable and did I mention cute? Seriously. Yuri and Chelinka as kids (I assume they're going to grow up at some point during gameplay, since pictures and everything shows them as more mature characters than what I'm getting now) looks so huggable and when you get a back view of them running off somewhere, it looks like they have frickin' diapers on! As for the plot itself, nothing has been revealed yet but I'm not going to hold my breath. And for an action-RPG, it's pretty light-hearted and straightforward. Just smack bad things along the way with a few simple puzzles thrown in to get to the big boss at the end.

... For a gamer, I'm pretty blasé about the quality of what I'm playing. It's a good thing, right?

Anyway besides portable gaming, haven't played much on my 360 (not going to mention the other system I have here in my room) other than a bunch of demos and XBLA trial games.
Ninja Gaiden II? Why does a ninja need a scythe?
Grid? Couldn't control my car AT ALL after smacking into a wall.
Burnout Paradise? Oooh fas-- OH SH*T ONCOMING VEHICLE!
Geometry Wars? @_@
N+? I'm a ninja! See me jump real far and blow up into little pieces!
Castlevania: SotN? ... Death stole my pretty shield. ):

I exaggerate. They were fun games.

So.

Caught Wanted today with my eldest sister. Awesome action scenes, but the ending just spoiled everything. Worth the free tickets I got. Ahaha. We're watching Hancock next, and of course Hellboy II and Dark Knight when it comes out.

I'll be working part-time starting next week so I'll have more time to myself. Yay! But I'll be getting lesser money, which is not so much of a bummer since I don't spend much on anything anyway besides games.

Also, school will be starting for me on the 25th of August. I'll be taking Bachelor of Communications (PR & Journalism) for 2 years because they docked a year off thanks to my diploma, at PSB Academy which is affiliated with University of Newcastle, Australia. What does this mean? It means the universities I applied to rejected me. Hmm. I'm kind of glad though because I've been having last-minute second thoughts about pursuing animation. I'm barely drawing anything anymore and I know deep down that I'm not cut out for the industry. I'm not passionate enough.

Alright I'm done. Work in the morning tomorrow. I think I'm getting burned-out from Borders. They have awesome people there and I love being around books, but it's just a place that is bad for your health for prolonged periods of time. And just ONE single customer can spoil your mood in an instant. It's like, 9 hours passed by without any problems and you're about to knock off in 5 minutes when this one f*cker lady shows up and just flipped everything around for you and you go home with a black face. That's the part that sucks.

Ok I'm shutting up now.

Neku/Joshua, lvl 34 (up 9 level)

Pins:
Tin Pin Golem - lvl 3, 56 atk
Sushi - mastered, 58 atk
Ichimonji - mastered, 50 atk
Angel Magnum - lvl 1, 90 atk

Game Report:
ESP'er Rank - Master Player - C
ESP'er Points - 390 pts - E
Noise Report - 27 types, 28.1% - D
Pin Mastery - 17 types, 5.5% - E
Item Collection - 130 types, 27.5% - D

Currently:
Chapter Joshua, Day 5
Towa Records

Dun dun duuunnnn.... We got to find out how Neku died in the previous Day! Or supposedly died. Although the reason why is still a mystery. Other revelations and speculations in the previous Days are a blur so I won't dig into that.

...

...

...

Uhh that's the only game I managed to play for the past week tiil now. Sad isn't it? I'm hoping to change things when my next work schedule comes, because I'll be changing to part-time instead of working full-time. Well that is if the change is approved, which it SHOULD be.
Also watched Beetlejuice and The Goonies. The Goonies was awkwardly awesome, but Beetlejuice wasn't as entertaining as I found it to be when I was a kid.

Oh I just realized that I had the month for my previous Day Off Progress wrong. Anyway...

I went out with both my sisters today and we spent quite a bit at only 2 stores - Borders and GAP. Total expenditure? Close to S$600, despite the Borders staff discount (Staff Appreciation Day on 26 - 27th June so we save more than usual!) AND 50% off every original priced item + 10% off for UOB card holders at GAP. It's definitely crazy. But I got a bunch of neat stuff like a book light clipper and a pencil case for my drawing pencils, and... wait for it... A DRESS.

I'm getting more fashion-conscious.
Underneath all the layers and layers of geek, I'm still a girly-girl.
Although I'm still attracted to her.
It makes me all happy and squishy inside when I saw her ecstatic reaction to our similar working hours tomorrow. (:
Until she pulled my scarf and tried to choke me when I teased her about something. ):

Alright I'm done, but I'll leave with another music video from my current obsession. Have a nice weekend guys!

Mercy - Duffy, Live on The Culture Show