Mood: Gleeful

Fine day, everyone~

Ms Aya the sheep is going to give you her review on the BlackBerry Bold 9780~!

Do know, this is my first time using a BlackBerry phone so I may not be entirely familiar with it and might make incorrect statements along the way.

At the bottom of this entry, there’s a link to a much professional and reliable review regarding the phone therefore, please bear with my casual way of reviewing for the time being? <^-^>

Alrighty!

In this review, I’ll be covering the following:

1. Phone specifications
2. Phone Exterior
3. Interaction with the phone
4. BlackBerry Messenger
5. Camera and Video Quality
6. Others (Phone audio, battery life…)
7. Wi-Fi and BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS)

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BlackBerry Bold 9780

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Phone specifications:

• Available colors: Black and White
• 2.4 inch screen, 480 x 360 pixels
• QWERTY Keyboard (no touch screen features)
• BlackBerry OS 6
• supports EDGE/GPRS/2G/3G
• Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• SMS/MMS/E-mail
• GPS
• Organizer, Calendar, Memo, Calculator
• BlackBerry Messenger
• 5 megapixels auto-focus camera + Flash light
• Internal memory: 256MB
• External memory: Supports up to 32GB MicroSD

Phone Exterior

The back of the Blackberry Bold 9780. ↓

[ On the left is the camera lens and the right, the flash light ]

For small hands, you might find it hard and difficult to clutch onto the phone but don’t worry of losing hold as the back has a faux leather surface which gives you a good grip of the phone. ↓

The touch of the surface is smooth at the same time, has good grip. It doesn’t have the sticky, rubbery texture nor smell.

[ Left: Lock button, Right: Mute key (mute calls) ]

Beneath the Mute key is the LED light which blinks to indicate incoming calls, text and messages.

You can enable or disable the light indicator to your preference as well as choose a color for specific purposes (provided you activate your Enterprise Account or you can download an app to do so).

Moving on to the side of the phone. ↓

[ From left to right: Headset jack, USB port, Convenience key ]

You will be given 2 Convenience key (located at the right and left side of the phone).

A Convenience key is like a quick key to a certain item. ↓

For instance, you want to have quick access to your Calculator. You can set the left Convenience key to be your Calculator button as shown above. ↑

[ From left to right: Convenience key, Volume/Camera zoom button ]

[ From left to right: Call button, Blackberry button, Trackpad, Back button, End Call/Switch Off button]

The BlackBerry Bold navigates entirely on buttons and has no touch screen features. The Trackpad is going to be your guide here, taking you from item to item. A Trackpad certainly makes scrolling easier and faster too. The sensitivity of the Trackpad can be adjusted according to your preference.

The Blackberry button functions as a Menu button for items. ↓

It’s like an option button. You click on it when you want to explore an item’s properties or actions.

Now comes the QWERTY keyboard.

Each of the buttons are 0.5 x 0.5cm. It may seem small and impossible to some people but it is not daunting at all.

Tipping your fingers should do the trick.

Interface

Above as you can see is the Home Screen. The position of the Battery, Mobile Network and Time & Date may vary depending on what theme you are using.

On the top right, you can see a BlackBerry icon which indicates that your BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) is in use. ↑

Notification alert on the Home screen. ↑

You can set for E-mail, Twitter and Facebooks notifications to appear on your Home screen too!

Then you have your Main Menu.. ↓

… along with 4 more trays. ↓

You can switch trays by sweeping your Trackpad sidewards. Suppose you find too many unused apps crowding in your Menu, you can HIDE them to make your menu look more spacious and neat. In addition, you can reorder their arrangement!

BlackBerry Messenger

BlackBerry Messenger can only be used with the activation of your BIS. You can’t use it through a Wi-Fi network alone.

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) is a messenger client that allows you to chat and send files to other BlackBerry users without any cost. (Well, it’s quite incorrect to say it’s free because you do have to pay for your BIS. This is between you and your service provider.)

Anyway..

Each BlackBerry comes with a default PIN which cannot be altered.

You can also add a BlackBerry user or a group by scanning their bar code. ↓

[ . . . ]

…It’s a chatting tool, what else can I say? <-__-> (Laughs nervously)

Camera and Video Quality

Equipped with 5 megapixels, autofocus and a flash!

Beautiful colors, I say but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Sample photos taken by the BlackBerry Bold 9780. ↓

※  Click images for maximum view

The quality of the photo when viewing on the phone screen. ↓

↑ Zoom x 1

↑ Zoom x 3

↑ Maximum zoom in: 5x

Under a dim light. ↑

[ With Flash ↑ ]

[ With Flash ↑ ]

*A-hem* Camwhore quality. (Laughs) ↑

Portrait mode. ↑

While the camera megapixel and color quality is impressive, the really sad thing is you can’t resize or edit the photos as you like. It doesn’t have these built-in basic functions like many other phones. If that’s not bad enough, you can’t take Black and White photos, Sepia, Negative — you can’t even adjust the brightness as well! <TAT>

Furthermore, there are only 3 sizes available which are:

• Large (2592 x 1944)
• Medium (1024 x 768)
• Small (640 x 480)

So not having the ability to crop and resize is a bit of a let down. <_  _>lll

You can however download apps for photo editing purposes..but what the hell, right? <T_T>

On a brighter note, there is a number of Scene Modes to enhance your photo taking. ↓

All in, there are 11 modes:

1. Auto
2. Face Detection
3. Portrait
4. Sports
5. Landscape
6. Party
7. Close up
8. Snow
9. Beach
10. Night
11. Text

Text mode ↑

As for video quality… ↓

Er…

Ignore the dumb sheep speaking, please. <^-^>lll

Phone Audio, Battery Life..Others

The ringing tone is clear and audible so as the call volume. Phone vibration is also good and strong. Downside is…The contact photos are too puny. (There is an app for this though..but have not tried it out yet)

Operating system is speedy. Speaking of fast, when you switch on the phone, it starts up instantly. I think the phone goes in sleeping mode rather than shutting down entirely.

Regarding the battery life span, with minimal usage, you should be able to stretch it to 2 days long. It depends on how you manage your settings, tones, vibration and the backlight time.

The battery life is measured by percentage so don’t get panicky when you see the battery gauge dropped by a bit. Go under the Device and Status Information to check how much percentage is left. 75%, 65% left? Should be fine then. <^x^>/

Well…

I guess this is as much as I can cover for the features at the moment. This phone has great capabilities to explore, being an awesome communication tool with an easy breezy keypad to keep you clattering.

So is BlackBerry a go for you?

Let’s see…

It has a good camera with flash and auto-focus to take magnificent photos, good for organizing and typing notes, there are apps to enhance your phone usage…

That said, what’s there to hesitate?

Well.. This brings us to the negative part of the phone. <_  _>lll

Do Not Get a BlackBerry IF…!

1. You are using a prepaid line AND not willing to subscribed for BIS.

You may think that it’s alright as long as the phone has Wi-Fi but you are mistaken. Using the Wi-Fi alone doesn’t give you access to Blackberry’s Twitter (that makes tweeting pictures so much easier and awesome!) and Facebook apps. You can only connect and use those apps if you are on BIS. Otherwise, you have to use the browser to go to those pages like any other phones.

BBM cannot be used as well without BIS. You can’t even surf BlackBerry App World.

So this makes your phone pretty much useless.

As for using a prepaid line on your BlackBerry (without BIS), you may find your phone credit getting deducted from time to time, even when you have connected to a Wi-Fi network. I can’t explain why, sorry.

But there is sort of a way to go about this although…it’s not the best method.

What you can do to avoid your credit from mysteriously reducing is to either:

1. Switch OFF your Data Services when you are not planning to use the Internet
2. Switch OFF your Mobile Network (but leave the Data Services ON) when you’re surfing.

※ Take note: switch on your Wi-Fi first followed by Data Services.

You must set your Data Services to ON in order to use the Wi-Fi/BIS. You can however, off it when you’re not about to go online to prevent any credit loss. You can still make calls and texts as well as receive them as long as your Mobile Network is on.

I’ve tried searching online on how to counter this matter but to no avail. So for now I can only come up with this solution that is to switch off the Data Services or Mobile Network as mentioned above.

To sum it up, a BlackBerry without BIS drains out your phone credit like a leaking pipe. Additionally, it becomes less than an average phone if it has no Dataplan. Therefore should you have no intention of subscribing to your Service Provider for BIS and find this manual switch-on-and-off troublesome, do not get a BlackBerry! <≥A≤>

So do think about this matter seriously.

2. Not into Purchasing Apps

While there are free apps available on BlackBerry App World, most of them are trial versions. If you are one who doesn’t require nifty apps, perhaps this is not a problem for you. But before anything else, do check out the available apps for better decision in the making.

BlackBerry App World

Also, do read the reviews and check for phone compatibilities.

BlackBerry OS 6 is rather new therefore, the apps are a bit limited at the moment. Plus, good apps require payment. Are you willing to pay for them?

Before settling, I highly recommend that you read this review. Mr James covered a whole lot more about the phone so do check it out for more details.

In conclusion…

…it’s really a great phone if you activate your BIS because the apps for Twitter and Facebook can be very convenient rather than using the browser for them. Then there are notifications for E-mails, mentions and so on, it’s really good for Internet social savvy peeps, plus with a QWERTY keypad, it makes typing fun and easy. Without BIS, you can’t fully utilize BlackBerry and it’s not worth it.

As for whether the phone has a good software, this..I’m not sure. It hasn’t failed me in any way so I can’t say.

So that being said, this is all from Ms Aya, your Ordinary ‘O’ Type Girl…who calls herself a Sheep. (Laughs)

If there’s any question, just ask and I’ll try to answer but please do not expect much from me as I’m a newbie to the BlackBerry World. Should there be any updates and new profounds, I’ll share them with you.

Till then, toodles~

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RESOURCES

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• Wallpaper in use: Here
• App used for screen shots: Screen Muncher
• Photos and video: Mine lar. :p

• BlackBerry App World
• Need to know more about the phone? Read this review, I command! (Laughs)→ http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs/index.php/blackberry-bold-9780-review-4
• For Malaysians, you can check this forum thread for help and support, I guess → http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1590053

- The End -

Mood: Smiley

Yo~oh~♥!

I’m about to blog a review on the Canon Digital Ixus 130 (14.1 megapixels, HD video recording) but beforehand, do note that this review is coming from an average person who knows nothing about ISO, optical lens, light metering and such jargon, one who just wants a good user-friendly digital camera that takes beautiful pictures!

The few points I’ll be stressing on would be:

• Exterior appearance
• Display quality
• Navigation
• Features
• Photo and video quality

Without further ado, let’s begin with the first aspect: ↓

Exterior Appearance

If you have been one who always held on to large, brick-like gadgets, you’d find the Canon Ixus 130 to be very slim, compact and fitting to the palm. The measurements are:

Horizontal length: 9cm
Vertical length: 5.5cm
Thickness: 1.5cm

However its built is rather flat so getting a good grip by the side might prove difficult for big hands.

As you can see above, the buttons aren’t too small, which is good. In terms of its exterior, it may seem normal to those who have or had slim and compact cameras. Besides silver, there are 3 other available colors: Standard black, striking pink and funky orange — very bold colors!

On with the display quality… ↓

Display Quality

The screen dimension is 4.2cm x 6cm.

The display quality is marvelous, the colors are so vivid and vibrant that you would definitely enjoy going through the photos in your Ixus 130. When you transfer the photos to your computer, the quality is just as stunning as you view them in the camera itself. I’ll provide more visual on this later.

Another thumbs up to the Canon Ixus 130 is that you can rotate the pictures simply by tilting the camera as shown below. ↓

With that, you can view the photos horizontally or vertically on the spot, just by tilting the camera. By the way, this camera is fully button-operated, no touch screen features!

Navigation

To select functions manually (such as adjusting for night mode, portrait mode and others), it may take awhile to get used to the navigation however there are quick keys to basic and usual functions like macro, brightness, self-timer and flash.

In addition, there’s an auto mode which helps select appropriate scene/feature upon capturing. Suppose you are taking an up-close shot, it will automatically activate macro mode for you.

Picture Quality

Now we’re at the meat: Image quality.

What I’m about to show you in awhile are some photos taken by the Canon Ixus 130, and how clear it is when you zoom in or crop a certain part.

N/B: The pictures that are posted below has been resized to 400 x 300 pixels. So the actual 14.1 pixels quality may differ. But the zoomed in are cropped from the original sized of 14.1 pixels.

Example: ↓

↑ The full picture that had been resized to 400 x 300 pixels.

Cropped from the original size (4320 x 3240 pixels ) and zoomed in x 5.

↕ Cakes at Starbucks

Zoomed in x 3.

↕Starbucks bottles and cups

Zoomed in x 5

↕ Miniature DIY coffee shop set

Zoomed in x 3

Having these shown, you can assure yourself that zooming in closer or cropping a certain part of the picture will give you quite a reasonable quality. It isn’t all pixeled  and blurry.

Canon Ixus 130 is capable of zooming in up to 10 times.

Features

Some awesome features to spice up and bring your photos to life!

It has most of the basic features that you can find in other cameras, features such as White & Black, Sepia, Night mode, portrait and so on. Therefore, let’s touch on features that other cameras might not have. ↓

Fish-eye effect ↓

Miniature effect ↓

What the miniature effect does is blurring the top of the focused area to make it look smaller.

Kids & Pets mode ↓

To capture active moving things.

Foliage ↓

My favorite mode. It makes colors so bright and vivid! There’s also a Color Mode whereby you can choose what colors you wish to stand out.

Now let’s speak a bit about what might be a downside for this camera. ↑

The one thing I noticed about this camera is that it has the tendency to blur some parts of the picture to the point it does get annoying especially when you want the whole image to get captured. The blurring is good for artistic photos, without the need to edit them in the computer, no doubt. Sometimes you want a normal picture.

Nonetheless…

You just need to get used to the functions and know how to select and capture.

It is not impossible to take a full picture without any blurring effects, as shown beneath. ↓

( ↑ Sushi King’s standard is seriously declining! They are using long beans to substitute green soy peas! This is unforgivable! If this keeps up, sheep might not want to dine in Sushi King anymore! *ROAR*)

Video Quality

See and listen for yourself. XD ↓

Summary and Conclusion

So what do you think?

Is it a good camera? Before I end this, here’s a summary regarding the Canon Ixus 130 specs:

1. 14.1 megapixels
2. HD video recording
3. Maximum zoom in x10
4. Support up to 32GB (SD memory card)
5. Battery lifespan – 6 hours.
6. USB outlet

As for price, I got mine for RM1148, inclusive of screen and lens protector.

Overall, I’m quite satisfied with it. Although the previous camera I had which was the Lumix 6 mega pixels was just as good, I like Canon for its capability to capture photos with vibrant colors. The constant blurring does annoy me but it can be worked out without smashing the camera. (Laughs)

Well then, this review is brought to you by Ms Aya/Sheep, an ordinary “O” type girl.

The content may not be according to how digital professionals would put it so if you do have the same camera model and would like to contribute your opinions, you are very welcome to do so.

Thank you and baa-bai~♥! <^v^>/

Mood: Kyaa mode

(Laughs nervously)

Sheep is about to dedicate a review to her favorite game, Joker no Kuni no Alice~

It is a visual novel game that requires clicking the mouse most of the time. Indeed, a lazy girl’s game. (Laughs)

I don’t think many of you know this game so to whom it may concern, dozo~ ↓

ジョーカーの国のアリス

Ratings for this game: PG13, very mild romance, no nudity, foul words are bleeped and just lots of lemony love.

Language: Japanese

There are no motion pictures for this visual game, note that down please. <^-^>lll

I’m quite a fan of Quinrose’s Alice in Wonderland game.

For first timers…

The story shares a similar ground in which Alice follows a rabbit and falls into a hole, finding herself to be in an enchanted world of fantasy. But for this version, instead of meeting with freaks and reciting their nonsensical poems — Alice meets lots of good-looking men who are at the same time, deadly.

The quest of the game is to help Alice adjust with the people and avoid getting killed or deported back to her world. Also, to capture the hearts of the men~♥.

At the moment, there are 4 installments of the game. First being Heart no Kuni no Alice, followed by Clover no Kuni no Alice, Joker no Kuni no Alice and Anniversary no Kuni no Alice.

I’ve only played Heart and Joker so pardon me for not having sufficient details about the games and the stories. My Japanese is rather poor too.

Anyway, each sequel has a different danger. In Heart, the main danger for Alice is having to go back to her world (Bad Ending of the story) or getting killed by the characters (because of lack of visitation). The characters are quite trigger happy, I must say. Killing comes naturally in their world.

For now, I’m going to focus on Joker no Kuni no Alice which is the 3rd sequel of the game. Please allow sheep to introduce the characters~ ↓

(NB: It seems that the characters don’t have a number to their age and height, no birthdays and blood types)

The Characters of Joker no Kuni no Alice

Name: Alice=Liddell

The player is Alice and reads from her point of view. Alice is rather a skeptical girl but in Joker’s story, she simmers down as she already got along well with the others. She has an elderly sister whom she loves very much and this attachment only endangers her, causing her confusion whether she should return to her former world or continue to live with her new friends.

Name: Blood=Dupre

Character voice by: Katsuyuki Konishi

Location: The Hatter’s Mansion

Blood is a mafia boss and he loves tea very much. He speaks very elegantly and polite but he is not to be taken lightly. His way of showing love can be rather evil as he likes to tease. He is also a very possessive man and coincidentally, Blood’s face bears an uncanny resemblance to Alice’s ex-boyfriend, who has affections for her elder sister.

Name: Elliot=March

Character voice by: Tsuguo Mogami

Location: The Hatter’s Mansion

Elliot March is Blood’s very loyal henchman because Blood broke Elliot out of prison. Elliot loves carrots but denies the fact that he does. He claims that he loves carrot dishes, but not carrots. He also doesn’t seem to know (and accept) that he is a rabbit. Elliot often gets bullied and ridiculed by the Tweedle twins.

Name: Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum

Character voice by: Jun Fukuyama

Location: The Hatter’s Mansion

Tweedle Dee and Dum are twins. It’s easy to distinguish the twins because Dee wears blue while Dum’s red. Also, Dum tends to talk slower than Dee. The twins are the gate guards of the Hatter’s Mansion. They carry spears which can transform into guns. The twins have a liking to collecting weapons, pulling pranks on Elliot and killing. Although they have child-like bodies, they are actually quite matured and can transform into their adult forms.

Name: Vivaldi

Character voice by: Yuuko Kaida

Location: The Castle of Hearts

Vivaldi is the Queen of Hearts. She gets easily irritated and executes people whenever she feels like it. (“Off with the heads!”) She is however, a woman who loves cute things and soft toys but keeps it a secret. She is Blood’s sister. In Joker however, the player cannot capture her heart.

Name: Peter=White

Character voice by: Kouki Miyata

Location: The Castle of Hearts

Peter White is responsible for leading Alice to Wonderland. He is overly obsessed with Alice and loves her too much that Alice does find this to be annoying. Peter is extremely possessive and would shoot anyone who goes near Alice without any hesitations. He will do anything to win Alice’s love and would change into his rabbit form sometimes, to get Alice’s attention. (because Alice likes little animals and their ears)

Name: Ace

Character voice by: Daisuke Hirakawa

Location: The Castle of Hearts

Ace is the Knight of Hearts and the best fighter among all the characters. Despite his silly nature and bad sense of direction, he is a very deadly and unstable man. He does love Alice but wouldn’t mind killing her as well. Ace has a trouble with his role as a knight and is always trying to change that. But with his best friend, Julius the Clock Maker around, Ace becomes more stable and child-like. Though he still likes to spar with the unwilling Gray.

Name: Mary=Gowland

Character voice by: Kenyuu Horiuchi

Location: The Amusement Park

Gowland is the owner of the amusement park. He loves to play with music instruments, particularly his violin (which keeps changing shape), but his performance is absolutely horrible. Gowland is pretty much the happy type of uncle however, he can be quite scary especially when Blood happens to be around. Gowland has a strong hatred for the Mafia boss because he told everyone Gowland’s first name, which he finds to be quite an embarrassing issue. Gowland can’t be captured in Joker.

Name: Boris=Airay

Character voice by: Noriaki Sugiyama

Location: The Amusement Park

Boris, the Cheshire cat who likes riddles — and having Pierce for dinner. He is a fun person and a protective one as well.

Name: Pierce=Villiers

Character voice by: Hoshi Soichiro

Location: The Amusement Park

Pierce, the sleepy doormouse. He doesn’t like Boris because the cat sees him as food. But Pierce likes Peter and Elliot a lot because he feels familiar with them.

Name: Nightmare=Gottschalk

Character voice by: Sugita Tomokazu

Location: Clover Tower

Nightmare is a sickly, mind reading  incubus who vehemently refuses to go to the hospital for his health sake. He is quite arrogant and has the tendency to call himself ‘The Almighty Me’ but the fact is he is such a baby and whines a lot. To take care of his health, Gray resorts to secretly blending medicine into his food. However, there is a mysterious side of him which has not been uncovered yet, a side that is quite dark and scary.

Name: Gray=Ringmarc

Character voice by: Nakai Kazuya

Location: Clover Tower

Gray, the Lizard who works for Nightmare. He is quite a workaholic and tends to push his workers and Nightmare to keep working. Gray by nature, is a kind man who takes care of people and animals. He can be deadly in combat at the same time, for he was once an assassin. When it comes to cooking and art, Gray is very hopeless in this department but he always tries. He does feel inferior to Julius in some ways, especially when it concerns Alice. Gray does not like Ace as well because he keeps attacking him upon sight.

Name: Julius=Monrey

Character voice by: Koyasu Takehito

Location: Clover Tower

Formerly, Julius lived in his Clock Tower but when the world changed to Clover country, he disappeared throughout the sequel. There isn’t a proper explanation on how he got back to the game. Apparently, there is a door leading in to the Clover Tower hence, part of the residence there. Julius Monrey is the only Watch Maker available and by that, he doesn’t fix ordinary clocks. The thing about this world is that the people’s hearts are clocks, so in other words, his job is a mortician. Julius is a very unfriendly and unsociable man. He dislikes going out and regards everything as stupid things. There are only 2 people that he can tolerate which is Ace and Gowland. A lot of people don’t really like Julius as well because of his recluse nature and his role as a mortician.

Name: Joker

Character voice by: Ishida Akira

Location: Circus

Not much is known about him. There are 2 jokers in this story, one being the very modest and polite man, another — a very foul-mouth man who usually comes in a form of a small white mask. The player has to visit him and play a card game with him in order to change the season.

————————————————————————————————–

That’s all for the characters introduction. I’m sorry for being quite thorough because I’m not very acquainted with all the characters. Sheep only know more about Julius and Gray for they are my favorite characters. (Laughs nervously)

So if you don’t mind, sheep wants to blog a little more about Julius~♥ (Laughs)

I love him so much! But I must say, I prefer the way he was in Heart compared to Joker. I’ll tell you why in a moment.

Beneath are some pictures from Julius’s route! ↓

I’m going to be very brief and only provide caption for certain pictures, ok? <^-^>lll And click the images for a bigger view~!

↓↓↓

Here, the squirrels that Gray brought invaded Julius’s room. (Laughs)

Alice persuaded Julius to go for a walk. Here, she kept playing and kicking the fallen leaves. Julius asked what she was doing and she said it was fun. Knowing Julius, he said it was a stupid thing to do but eventually played with the leaves as well until…

Mr Cockblocker interrupted. (Laughs) Blood seems to interrupt couples a lot, I noticed.

The second outing, Alice and Julius came across the twins who fondly teased them about being couples.

Alice managing Julius’s hair while he works.

The third outing was during spring at the Castle of Heart’s territory. Alice wanted to buy a new pajama for Julius. On the way, they bumped into Ace who then gave encouragement to Julius to make his move on Alice.

Buying pajamas. Unfortunately, the shop ran out of female sizes for that pajama design so Julius took the smallest size for guys.

Julius fixing the button properly for Alice and then comes the —

Kiss~♥

In this outing, the boys at the amusement park were commenting on Alice’s bikini. They got too carried away and Julius didn’t like it so he threatened with his wrench. (Laughs)

…His wrench can turn into a pistol!

Anyway, he covered Alice using his jacket and told her not to let other guys see her like that anymore.

My favorite event — The Killer Porridge!

Gray cooked a sweet and purplish porridge for the main role players in Clover Tower. Because I chose to go for Julius, the dialogue differs from Gray and Nightmare’s. In this part, they talked seriously about the upcoming circus event which could be dangerous for Alice. The character that the player pursues will defend and step up for Alice.

Julius got too carried away and ate the killer porridge. ↓

Somehow, it makes me want to cry seeing Julius getting hurt like this. Though Gray sustained a worse injury across his chest, but somehow Julius is more pitiful. He’s just not the fighting type of guy and it’s already saddening that no one likes him. <;__;>

About the ending for Julius’s route, I’m not quite certain if this is it. If you managed to get all 3 of Ace’s friend events, you get an additional part where Ace saves you from Joker.

Guess I have to play one more round to get a proper ending.

I completed Gray and Nightmare’s route. Here are some pictures. I won’t give any summary seeing that someone else has already done it. Click here if you are interested → Gray’s Route

The death stare by Gray! (Laughs)

Nightmare~↓

The starting of Nightmare’s route was very whiny but towards the end, he became somewhat scary. ↓

He tormented one of the hatter’s employees mind for having bad thoughts about him. Then came the cockblocker Blood, for the second time, interrupting Nightmare.

Sheep is getting tired now. Time to wrap this up with a few pictures from the friend events?

Ace’s friend event – Ace goes climbing and the birds starts flocking and pecking him.

Blood’s friend event – Alice visits Blood and read books together.

In the second friend event, the squirrels ‘interrupts’ them. How do you like that now, Blood? Do you like it? Do you? Do you!? (Laughs)

Peter’s friend event – He insists that Alice should stop playing around with dirt but eventually gives in and helps her with the garden. In the third event, Alice comes looking for Peter in the castle but later finds him at the garden. He then presents a pot of flower which he dug out for her.

[ . . . ]

————————————————————————————————–

If you like the story…

RESOURCES

• You can read the manga at → http://www.mangafox.com/manga/heart_no_kuni_no_alice/
• Interested in playing the game? Here, download Joker no Kuni no Alice from here → http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124351
• That’s for the PC version by the way.
• Heart no Kuni no Alice for PSP → http://doujin-games88.blogspot.com/2009/10/psp-heart-no-kuni-no-alice-jpn-iso.html

WALKTHROUGH | GUIDE

• Heart no Kuni no Alice (Japanese)
• Joker no Kuni no Alice (Japanese)
• Summary to Joker no Kuni no Alice Game Play (English)
• Summary to Ace’s Route in Joker no Kuni no Alice (English)
• Summary to Blood Dupre’s Route in Joker no Kuni no Alice (English)
• Summary to Gray Ringmarc’s Route in Joker no Kuni no Alice (English)
• Summary to Boris Airay’s Route in Joker no Kuni no Alice (English)
• Assorted Cosplay Pictures #1
• Assorted Cosplay Pictures #2

————————————————————————————————–

About why I love Julius so much in Heart than Joker? Well in Heart, he was more passionate. And I especially like the progress of his characteristic. You see in the beginning whenever you talk to him, he either tells you to get lost or get someone else to play with. Basically, very mean and rude — makes you want to cry. However sooner a later, after you met Ace already, he starts to feel jealous and tries to win you. I really like visiting him towards the end because he starts saying nice things like, “Stop going here and there! Just stay by my side, please?”, which in the beginning was so totally different. (Laughs)

————————————————————————————————–

[ . . . ]

Baa… <u__u>

[ . . . ]

…Can I go now?

…Please? <´•__•`>

UPDATE! [5th May 2011]

Download Clover no Kuni no Alice BGM

Mood: Gleeful

When I first got my Samsung Star, I couldn’t figure a way to activate the Wi-Fi for my Opera Mini.

Although I don’t quite mind the default browser, for some websites I prefer to get a compact and concise view which loads faster.

Anyway, I finally figured out how to connect my Opera Mini using the Wi-Fi!

Took me a bloody long time to figure this out. <x__x>

So those who would like to use their Opera Mini on Wi-Fi with their Samsung Star, here’s how. ↓

Your Opera Mini should be kept under the ‘Games and More’ folder so go there…

…and tap on ‘More’ and then ‘Connections’.

Here, you can choose the network of your choice. If you have never meddled with the settings here, probably by default, Opera Mini uses your service provider as the primary network to gain access to the Internet thus credit deduction.

Note that you don’t have to switch on your Wi-Fi. Just go to ‘Connections‘ and select your choice of network. However, do save the network before anything else.

Samsung Star is unlike Nokia phones (and probably other phones) whereby it will ask you permission whether you want to use connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi.

You have to set it first before opening Opera Mini.

I’m guessing that every application under the ‘Games and More’ folder will use the same chosen network.

Now once you are done choosing your network, open Opera Mini.

Let’s say, I want to go to Twitter…

After tapping on the link, this will appear. ↑

Select “Allow, ask once.”

If you have not set for Wi-Fi connection, then you have agreed to the chargeable cost of air time in order to surf the net.

However, setting it to Wi-Fi connection will not deduct your phone credit. Suppose you are unsure whether you are connected using Wi-Fi, click the ‘End Call’ button to check. You will see the Wi-Fi icon has been activated. ↓

See? Well, I can be very forgetful sometimes and forget to set the right profile so I have the tendency to keep checking. It would suck to find out a sum of credit gone, just like that. Sheep is paranoid, ne? (Laughs)

After that, here you go!

Feel free to surf on Opera Mini~ <^v^>/

By the way, if you normally use Samsung Star’s default browser to check your HOTMAIL, I suggest you go to their Mobile site instead of the full site.

Hotmail’s mobile site: http://mobile.live.com

Checking your e-mail using the full site with your Samsung Star…can spit blood. <x__x>

Well, it’s up to you~♥ <^ω^>

Hope this guide is useful for you Samsung Star users~~♥ <^v^>/

PS: Expect your Samsung Star to restart when you are surfing websites with heavy content. <T_T>lll

Mood - Sick

Hey~!

After learning from kioko that LG Lollipop is now being sold in Hong Kong, I’ve then started digging for articles relating to the phone. ↓

Well, the results I’m getting from Google search engine is extremely overwhelming however, I’m just so flabbergasted that I’m not getting the kind of information that I want (which I’ll rant about it later).

Anyway… According to the following articles:

http://www.cellphoneanswers.info/lg-lollipop-gd580-review/

http://www.neonpunch.com/lg-hong-kong-lollipops/

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20091224PD203.html

http://ncellphone.com/lg-lollipop-review

LG Lollipop is already available in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

LGE stated that they will release LG Lollipop in China, North America and Europe somewhere in 2010. If you want to keep tracks on this phone or get a rough idea on how much it cost, then visit the links above and read about them.

For the time being, I’m going to scout for reviews regarding the phone. Seriously, I hate it when people post pictures of the phone but don’t say anything about it. <`A´>

If you have been tracking for updates on this phone, I’m sure you’ve read the specs a thousand times already and watched Big Bang meddling with the phone many a times. But the thing about these articles is — we don’t know if it’s the same for the unlocked version. As in — Can we make video calls or take pictures using the front camera? Unlike how LG Ice-cream turned out, it was a light detector instead of a camera. Bummer, right?

What I really want is a decent review from an average person; like you and me. A sense of reality that the phone exist and somehow can imagine the phone in my palms.

Although I don’t have any intentions on getting myself a LG Lollipop, if given a chance, I would like to have the honor to review it. (Laughs)

I love reviewing cellphones!

Oh yea, it seems there are 2 additional colors of the LG Lollipop available in Korea~. ↓

From what I’m getting out of the Google search results, a lot of people are dying to get their hands on the LG Lollipop. This is mass murder, people! <OAO>

[ . . . ]

Baa… <u_u>

This is Ms Aya who is not feeling so well, logging out. <—ω—>/

PS: Please don’t ask me when is it coming to Malaysia, Singapore or elsewhere. I have no idea. Once I do know something, I’ll share the information via Twitter and my blog.

Related Entries:

• A Little Something for LG Lollipop Fans – Published on: July 3rd, 2010 @13:33

Mood - Cheerful!

So!!!

How was your Christmas!!!? <^∇^>/~

Did you have a good time with your family and friends?

No? Perhaps you aren’t one who enjoys this kind of merriment that requires you to visit your relatives and talk about the goodness of sharing and caring. In lieu, you prefer to hang out with your good buddies in your nearest pub, get drunk and countdown until a whole new year arrives! (Laughs)

Now that Christmas is over, we have one more celebration around the corner which is — welcoming a new year, 2010~ \<—ω—>o

Well by then, sheep hope that she doesn’t fall sick. It’s weird. I think it started about 2 days ago. I picked up a very foul smell in my house. At first, I suspected a rat could have died somewhere but when I asked my mother, she said she didn’t find any dead creatures. Otherwise, Auwlithe would be the first to spot it.

How do I describe this smell? <.__.>

Well… It’s a combination of… ↓

It really stinks!

Mother thinks it has to do with my own imaginations in which I think it’s a very stupid idea. Why the hell do I want to imagine a smell like this? I rather imagine a much more fragrant scent of course! I’d also imagine being with Sephiroth, Byakuya, Homura and all my favorite bishies while I’m at it! <`A´>/

Anyway, the smell is still lingering and following me. I guess I’m having a flu or something. Goodness, sheep feels like vomiting!

I felt the urge to vomit in church just now but held back because— I received the body of Christ (in a form of bread) a few hours ago. (Sheep is Catholic by the way)

Of course I can’t just vomit the Bread of Life out, can I? Sheesh! <≥A≤>/

Gu~~waa!

Sheep seems to also have other health concerns but don’t be alarm — “It could just be my own imaginations.”

Pff.

That aside, I want to write a little bit on a couple of products~ ↓

I’ve been using this body butter for months already. I think this is my third jar so far. It’s really nice to use. Normally when I use a product, after I’ve finished it I would try out other brands however, I’ve been consequently using this particular brand. For one thing, it doesn’t have that sticky feeling.

Another, it has a very sweet smell~ (so sweet that it overwrites the dead rat+mushroom fungus in porridge smell)

Sheep applies this religiously after every bath! ↑

You know, when you apply some creams or lotions, it sticks onto your skin making you feel greasy. However, this body butter is quite ok if you apply a reasonable amount; so that it can absorb quickly.

It’s made with Bee’s Milk and apparently, bee’s milk is good for maintaining a youthful skin[?]. You can go ahead and Google for more information on Bee’s milk because for all I know, cosmetics will make all sorts of promises and nonsense.

Despite that, here I am — using these products. Why? Simply because I’m a girl. <_  _>lll (Laughs)

Back on track… <T_T>

You can find this body butter in Watsons (Malaysia outlets only). There are 3 types: Lotion, hand cream and body butter.

The body butter cost about RM15.60.

Eto…If I were to rate Be Gorgeous’s Body Butter, I’d give it a 7/10.

Up next…

SuperHeadz.Tokyo camera~ ↓

This is a film-based camera by Lomo-people. It’s like a normal camera whereby you look into the viewfinder and then snap a picture with a single click.

The cover material is made of rubber. There are several other colors available however, only white is made out of plastic because if it were to be of rubber material, it can get dirty very fast and hard to clean it.

But what’s special about this camera is that it is not battery-operated.

The usage is very manual as in you have to rewind the film yourself in order to snap the next picture. With that, you can fathom that there is no flash light or any digital functions such as playbacks and video recordings.

It is a very simple camera. I bought it because I miss having an old type of camera. In my childhood, my family were unable to take many family photos because we couldn’t afford a camera. And when we somehow do take pictures, I remember getting all excited to wash the films and see the pictures.

Although now I have a digital camera and a good cellphone camera, I just thought it’ll be nice to have a camera like this…So nostalgic~~! <^ε^>/

[ . . . ]

Alright, alright! <TAT>

My hands were itchy that day and felt like buying something! <≥.≤>/

Sheep was hanging around Action City and came across this cool stuff which was selling for RM119. I saw many other cool cameras in different forms: Key chains, little books — awesome gadgets!

Baa~ <u_u>

I have not tried taking pictures with it yet but once I do, sheep will post the photos up — definitely~

Oh, do take note: You cannot transfer photos from this camera to the computer!

What a waste, you think?

Baa~ We all waste our money in many ways.

<_  _>

Baa…

[ . . . ]

Good night! <^-^>/

Reminder: A few more days and sheep will be closing the votes. Who has not voted, please do so at this entry. Thank you~<^∇^>/~

Mood - Smiley

As promised, a review on the Samsung S5233W, also known as –  Samsung Star. \<ˆεˆ>/~☆

In this entry, you’ll find out its highlighted features, camera and video functions and quality, miscellaneous functions and more.

NB: This version of Samsung Star that I’m reviewing HAS NO 3G.

<`A´>/

It has been a week now since I bought this phone and by far, no technical problem has occurred — thankfully.

The External Parts of Samsung Star

↓

There are 3 colors available for Samsung Star: White, black and metallic pink.

The screen size is 400 x 240 pixels. Compare its full body size to an iPhone, it’s slimmer and less broader. So take note, you CAN’T use an iPhone cover for Samsung Star because the size don’t complement. Bummer…I know. (Laughs nervously)

The phone is solid, nonetheless. No plastic feeling. <^-^>lll

About the interface…

(Laughs) For somebody who has been using phones with solid buttons, I somehow managed to adjust myself with the touch screen interface.

Yup! Samsung Star is a full touch screen phone~☆. ↓

The sensitivity of the touch censor is just nice, not highly sensitive to a touch neither do you have to tap so hard. There are of course, some useful solid buttons to make navigation easier and faster.

At the bottom, there are 3 buttons being: The ‘Call’ Button, The ‘Back’ Button, and The ‘Cancel’ button which is also the switch off button.

And then at the left side, there’s the volume and zoom button. The battery charger and earphone outlet can also be found on the left side of the phone. ↓

It opens like a latch, which is similar to the LG KF350 Ice-cream phone. ↓

Be careful when leaving the latch open. Don’t brush against it roughly or it might just break off seeing it’s quite loosely intact. >_<

Now on the right side of the phone, there’s the ‘LOCK’ button and ‘Camera’ button. ↑

Having the camera button by the side makes it even more convenient to snap pictures as well as being a quick button to the camera function.

This is how the back of the phone looks like, by the way. ↓

As you can see, there is no flash embedded to the camera. I’ll give you more details on the camera’s usability and quality later in this entry.

But first, we go through the external parts of the phone.

On its top right, a stylus can be pulled out from there. ↓

That goes to say, big thumbs— there’s a stylus to make input easier for you, especially when it comes to ticking small boxes!

Moving on to —

Interacting with the Samsung Star

Let’s begin with the desktop screen. ↓

Samsung Star has a widget sidebar, consisting of shortcuts to files and other applications.

In addition, you can drag out the thumbnail of your choice and leave it on your desktop as shown below. ↓

I dragged out the ‘Games’ shortcut. You can situate it anywhere on the screen. You can drag it back into the sidebar widget as well.

If the screen is too crowded, don’t worry. You have 2 extra desktops. ↓

You can simply swap to the right and left screens, which function as your alternate desktops.

However, changing the front’s wallpaper isn’t going to be very convenient, especially when you want to have different pictures for each slides.

Changing/Customizing the Background

Maybe I haven’t figure out an easy way yet but for the time being, here’s what I do:

Create a new canvas of 720 x 400 pixels, using Adobe Photoshop or any program that allows you to edit pictures. For the 3 different pictures of your choice, you have to make sure they are exactly 240 x 400 pixels. That means you have to crop out any excessive parts.

After you have cropped them out nicely, drag them to the 720 x 400 pixels canvas and arrange them to the order of your choice, like which do you want to be set in the middle and so on.

Example:

Troublesome…Yea… <_  _>lll

As for themes, sadly there are only 2 themes available: Red and Green. ↓

Though, you can change the background of the Menu to your liking. But the black opacity remains.

Note: There are 2 tabs on the top: Main Menu and the Shortcut Tab which will take you to Communications and to other applications.

For more customization, Samsung Star allows you to select your choice of Font Type. ↑

Methods of Inputting Text

The good thing about Samsung Star’s text input is that there are 3 ways to do so.

First being the standard method of keying in the text. ↓

The virtual buttons are reasonably big, so it’s like tapping on a solid button thus easy to adjust your reflexes.

If you prefer using the QWERTY keypad, tilt the phone horizontally and it will activate the QWERTY keypad function. ↓

It’s easier to switch to symbol and number mode however, the keys are much smaller. With that, perhaps the stylus might be favorable to you.

And if you’re not down with that — The Handwriting function is at your disposal. <o_o>

Therefore, there are alternatives to make texting easier and more convenient. <^-^>b

Wi – Fi Feature

Samsung Star’s Wi-Fi feature is very simple to use. Click on the application and it will lead you to the screen above. Tap on the round Wi-Fi button and it’s activated. Next thing to do is tap the ‘Search’ virtual button and it will search for Wi-Fi networks within the area. Samsung Star’s Bluetooth works the same way too.

Speaking of connecting to the Internet, the browser program quite standardize. You can view it in landscape mode just by tilting the screen.

About installing another browser, namely Opera Mini — please scroll down to the Nifty-Gritty section. <^v^>/

Camera and Video Quality

Samsung Star is equipped with a 3.2 mega pixel camera — NO flash and NO auto-focus feature. The quality is quite satisfying but taking photos indoors and dim-lighted places might be a disappointment.

So if you want to enhance the photos, you can toggle the scene mode; Sun light, cloudy, fluorescent — to whichever is appropriate. Plus, you can adjust the brightness. There are also other features such as the Smile Shot, Burst Shots and so on.

Anyway, here are some photos that I took using the Samsung Star phone. ↓

[Sorry, I don't have anything nice to take photos of. Been staying indoors most of the time. (Laughs nervously)]

Taken in a room, lighting ain’t that good so…. ↑

So is the quality up to your satisfaction? You think about it yourself. (Laughs)

But I must admit, the quality isn’t so sharp and crispy. The colors aren’t too vibrant either. <T_T>

Editing and Enhancing the Photos

Editing a picture using the Samsung Star can be rather fun for you can add a memo, text, emoticons and clip art on the screen.

My favorite is the ability to scribble some stuffs on the picture, with the help of the stylus. (Laughs)

I made a mess out of Auwlithe’s face… (Laughs nervously) ↑ <^-^>lll

Video Quality

The video below is a sample video that was recorded using the Samsung Star. See for yourself…

… I know…Sheep is not a good and fluent speaker. <;__;> (Tears)

Other Nifty-Gritty

Battery Life

Life span of the battery is a let down. With minimum use, it can last up to maybe 3 days. It really depends on how much you use your phone. It can drop a bar in one or more in one day.

Therefore to really conserve its energy, I suggest you switch off the Vibration Feedback. The vibration will response whenever you tap on an icon or so thus, unnecessary battery drainage.

Switch it off, including key tones if you are alright with that.

Try to minimize the unneccessaries and Samsung Star should be able to keep up with you. <^v^>/

Memory Card

According to the manual, Samsung Star can accept an 8GB MicroSD card. As for its phone memory, baa — Not sure. <_  _>lll

Gmail

(Laughs nervously)

Sorry, sheep can’t help you here. Sheep is also facing difficulties in setting up her Gmail account. I keep getting the DNS error. <≥A≤>/

I also tried for Hotmail but the settings were to no avail.

Suppose I manage to figure this out, I update this entry.

Opera Mini

For a few days, I had problems installing Opera Mini 4.2 into the Samsung Star. For a start, it appears that there isn’t a version meant for Samsung Star. I tried downloading versions that were meant for other Samsung Stars but it was futile.

Finally, I found another way!

Sheep downloaded the Opera Mini ver.4.2 for Nokia N79 and installed into Samsung Star — Successfully! <OAO>!

You can download it here: Click

Select version for N79.

And voila~

If it doesn’t work, then the problem probably lies in your browser profile or network setting. This, sheep can’t help you. <_  _>lll

Misc.

Other tools include:

• Voice recorder
• Loud speaker (when on call)
• Memo (can lock it with a pin number for privacy)
• Stop watch
• World clock
• Converter (length, height, currency etc)
• Alarm
• Calculator

!! Finale !!

All in all, personally Samsung Star is quite an ok phone. I have no complaints…Other than it keeps reverting to phone memory as default storage after I plug it in the comp to make transfers. <_  _>lll

At this moment, everything seems fine and dandy. No technical problems and not much difficulties in interacting with the phone.

To this end, may my review be of help~! <^-^>/

Ms Aya the sheep, making a run now. 

Baa-bai~♥!

↓ UPDATE! ↓

Using Wi-Fi for Samsung Star’s Opera Mini

Related entries:

• LG KF350 [Ice-Cream] Phone Review in Full! – Published on: Dec 21, 2008 @ 23:33
• Second Report on the LG KF350 – Published on: Dec 24, 2008 @ 23:59
• Ice-Cream Phone — Get~TO! - Published on: Jan 7, 2009 @ 19:18
• Ice-Cream Phone – Deco! – Published on: Jan 25, 2009 @ 19:41
• Ice-Cream Phone — Redecora da! – Published on: May 7, 2009 @ 8:24
• Some News on the LG Lollipop Phone – Published on: January 3rd, 2010 @ 8:47
• A Little Something for LG Lollipop Fans – Published on: July 3rd, 2010 @13:33

Mood - Excited

Good morning!

This is the sheep who is still hungry even after eating a big bowl of beef noodles. <—ω—>/

I wonder if my sim is as greedy as me. (Laughs)

Yup, I’m playing the Sims 3 now~

I just got the game yesterday (right after I came to know about it, thanks to Kim-chan)

So, I’m just going to review this game in a nutshell — since I have not explored the whole game yet.

I’m sure a lot of you have heard about this game where you can create individuals (and destroy them as you like), build houses and in short — play God in your own world. <´v`>

Now with The Sims 3, you are constructing and controlling a town in a more realistic manner. Your sims will have more detailed personality traits, demands, wishes, feelings and responsibilities!

They’re enhanced in both character and physical feature wise. (which I’ll brief shortly afterward)

In addition, the sims now have the ability to explore their neighborhood — freely. Yup. They can just walk out their houses and cross over to their neighbors for a lil chat. There’s no need for cabs anymore. Your sims can just take a stroll to the park, cafe or any shops you like. <^-^>

That said, The Sims 3 grants you and your Sims total FREEDOM~! <OAO>/

Indeed, it has certainly taken off to a higher level! <^v^>/

On to creating a sim: ↓

In this mode, as the creator you are to morph your sim as you please. Group ages are available; so as gender, skin tone and body sizes. Let it be a skinny rotting old woman or a big-biggity man, your choice!

You can adjust the tone of the skin color to your preference. If you like, you can even create a red-skinned sim as shown beneath! ↓

(Laughs) There’s also blue and green if I’m not mistaken. <¬__¬>

The good thing about The Sims 3 is that a wide range of colors are available. You can select from the color pallet, color wheel or by the code number.

That’s not all! You even get to create gradients and shades of colors! ↓

In the picture above, I gave the character white highlights or a brown based hair. (Laughs)

Maybe I should try making a rainbow-colored hair! <—ω—>

With that, we can all say good bye to flat colors! <TAT>/

Above is — The tranny version of me. (Laughs)

Anyway…

If that’s not enough you say, you can also customize and select your own fabric pattern for your clothes! You don’t necessarily have to go by the default colors; the color wheel is available for the clothes, accessories, shoes and make-up  too~

Customizing from head to toe! This is going to be one helluva meticulous game~!

\<^x^>/ For certain clothes, you might find different patterns though.

The process of creating a sims does not stop at morphing the face and designing your clothes. After you’re done customizing your character’s appeal, next stop is applying characteristics to your character! ↑

You are to choose 5 traits out of .. -I think more than 15 traits-. Traits such as:

• Loner
• Perfectionist
• Frugal
• Flirty
• Unflirty
• Klepto
• Romantic
• Artistic
• Paranoid
• Brave
• … and the list goes on!

I’m not bullshitting you; The list is LONG!

For my character, I chose: Loner, artistic, clumsy, bookworm and hate outdoors. (Laughs)

Choosing the right character traits will help your character stay in tune with his/her goals and ambitions.

Moving on… Here we have a section where you select your character’s favorite food, type of music and color.

Do you want him to like sandwiches? Classic music? Blue? Whatever.

Plus, adjusting the character’s voice pitch is also available!

Do you want him to say “Soom-soom” in a moody voice or extremely high pitched?

You’re in charge!

Well… This is all I can provide for the time being. I bought a small house and already envying my neighbor’s cabin. I’m thinking of killing her soon but then again, I don’t have to resort to such means.

The cheat to get money is still the same as The Sims 2 which is:

CTRL + SHIFT + C

A text border will appear on top of the screen. Type “Motherlode” in it to get sum of money~!

Baa~ <u_u>

Those who are playing The Sims 3, please have fun~♥!

For others — Baa… Go freeload your friend’s comp! (Laughs) \<^w^>/

Mood - Perky

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen~

This is the sheepish Ms.Aya who is quite perky at the moment. As I’m blogging, I’m wearing my new outfit~! ↓

By now, I should be wearing my house clothes now however, all my pants are still wet. (Cries) <;__;>

So I’m gonna have to wear my new blouse and dress for awhile. (Laughs)

I dropped by Simmy’s blog and it appears that I’ve been tagged to a game which might just win me a bag handmade by Mer.

The game is about passing a word of mouth about this giveaway handbag game.

I checked out the blogshop and I’m quite taken to Mer-san handmade bags. They are really pretty, feminine, cute and simple for an ordinary ‘O’ type girl like me~. <ˆωˆ>v (Laughs) ↓

Mer's tote bag series

Mer's latest creation

To my surprise, Mer-san… is also a SHEEP! <▫д▫>

!! E.rai.kot.cha !!

Baa~ The difference is; She “Meeeers” and make handbags while I “Baa” and — play video games.. <_  _>lll

Anyway, I’m sort of in need of a new one. The bag I’m using now is coming to 3 years old. ↓

The zip part is starting to rip open. (Tears) <∏A∏>

Therefore, it’s about time I get a new handbag. <^ε^>

Oh, before I proceed — Guys, please take a seat at the bench. This is girl’s talk and you probably won’t be interested. (Laughs)

As I was saying… <.__.>

In truth, I don’t fancy shopping for handbags. As far as I’m concerned, the ones I see in boutiques all look the same to the point I can barely distinguish one from another. <¬__¬>

Especially branded ones. If you see PRADA bags here, you’ll probably see it in another PRADA outlet too. It’s everywhere — whether people buy it or not.

Take this as an example: ↓

Tell me if you have not seen this bag at all. (Laughs) ← Apply to locals only.

BUT-BUT BUT!!! <`A´>/

I can’t safely and confidently tell you that Mer-san’s bags are of better quality than the above since I’ve not owned any of her handmade bags before.

Though… What I can tell you is — Her blogshop is legitimate. ↓

You can take it as a point up knowing that you’re purchasing online from someone credible and actually has a face. (Unlike some blogshops, they just take pictures of their bodies and no faces)

Besides handbags, she also handmake:

• Document holders
• Cellphone holders
• ipod holders
• Small pouches
• Stationary cases
• .. and more!

(Laughs)

Handmade bags are unique. If you are one who likes to have the most unique and urban handbag, perhaps you can check Mer-san’s creations. No harm done.

Or if you are like me — You just want a simple yet somewhat whimsical bag which can match all your clothes, store your necessities, has that Korean/Japanese/Taiwan style and can WASH easily — Then I think Mer-san’s creations would be good for you.

Ok… As the finale of this entry, I tag:

• Szanne
• Kim-chan
• Angelina
• … Synjie too? (Laughs)

The rules can be found here:

→Mer’s Giveaway Game←

Those who are interested, you may tag yourself. <^-^>v

IMPORTANT NOTE!: This Give Away game is open to bloggers in Malaysia only.

[ . . . ]

PS: Guys, are you still breathing? <.___.>{?] Please don’t decay on me yet! <≥Δ≤>/

[ Update! ]

Aqila and Wawa has been added to the tag! \<´v`>~♥

Mood - Heki

Finally — Here’s the long awaited review on Resident Evil 5 by Ms.Aya the sheep~♥

This is my second game review; first being Devil May Cry 4. (Laughs)

It’s going to be a very lucid review because I’m unable to screen capture shots of the game so certain things I can’t point out. (Tears)

Therefore… expect more texts and less pictures.

Before anything else, keep this in mind:

1. I’m not a professional or supreme gamer! – What you may find in this review are my personal opinions. I don’t nitpick on every detail because heck, I just want to play for my own amusement and suppose I miss out some important factors or parts of the story — It just mean the game didn’t interest me enough to catch the whole drift.
2. Contain spoilers! – If you are one of those fussy people who prefer to surprising yourself, please discontinue reading this review. I don’t want to be responsible for ruining your high anticipation.

[ . . . ]

Are you ready?

Gameplay

The game play is similar to its previous sequel, Resident Evil 4 which is a third-person shooter game and don’t even think about having a sip of your coke while watching the cut scenes because you don’t know when you need to hit the L1 + L2 buttons to escape death.

That’s right! RE5 also has the context-sensitive controls where you determine your fate during the cut scenes.

So what’s new?

Well…

The new feature would be having a partner assisting you throughout your missions hence you might feel a sense of security having a partner to back you up and praise your head shots since the previous RE series were rather lonely and vulnerable (Not taking Ashley Graham into account since she is more of a liability than a help).

You can have a friend to co-op with you in the story mode via online. I haven’t tried this so I won’t say anything. But I can tell you that having a friend to play as the second player would definitely be fun and more exciting rather than cooperating with the AI.

I say this because while I worry about the insufficiency of ammo, my partner Sheva obviously isn’t on the same page as she plunges as many bullets into my back. Thankfully, there’s no inclusion of friendly fire damage (except for grenades). Otherwise we’ll always get killed by Sheva/Player 2 AI.

Bottom line is, the AI is extremely dumb.

Side note: The game is over if your partner dies. And that includes Jill and Josh Stone (← Sheva’s friend. You’ll have to back him up in one of the chapters. I thought he was immortal until the Chainsaw Majini beheaded him)

Control and navigation wise -- you might need some adjusting to the new buttons.

Story Line

Chris Redfield

It starts out with Chris Redfield, the main character (and hero of Resident Evil 1) journeying to Africa in order to apprehend Ricardo Irving who is about to sell the viruses on the black market. You know, those viruses that causes the breakout of zombies. But in this case, the viruses has been modified for bio-terrorism purposes.

Upon arriving Africa, he is assign to pair up with Sheva Alomar to accomplish this mission.

So basically, the starting of the first few chapters is all about cats chasing the mouse and as the story develops, it reveals that Irving was just a bait and even though the mission is impossible to accomplish with only 2 members of the BSAA left; Chris and Sheva, Chris fess up and explains that one of his motives to take up this mission is because he has information about his former partner, Jill Valentine is still alive.

Prior to this mission, Chris and Jill went to Ozwell E. Spencer in order to arrest him and they believe he can lead them to Albert Wesker, the antagonist of this episode as well as RE1 and Code Veronica. To their surprise, they found Wesker present while Spencer was dead on the wheelchair of his. So the 3 of them fought until Jill tackles Wesker out of the window in order to save Chris’s life. After that, both Wesker and Jill were supposedly dead.

So the search goes on until Chris and Sheva finds Wesker whose accomplice is a mysterious figure hidden in the cloak. At the beginning of the game and several of parts, this unsub will be seen and later discovers it is indeed Jill Valentine who is under Wesker’s control.

Wesker battles with Chris and Sheva for about 7 minutes and later abandons Jill due to her inability to obey his commands 100%. Then Chris and Sheva subdues her using resilient actions and remove the device off her chest, allowing her freedom at last. Jill stays back while Chris and Sheva pursues after Wesker who is about to exit the area using a ship where all his viruses are stored.

Wesker’s motive is to release the virus so Chris carries on his pursuits with the help of Sheva.

In the end, Wesker meets his end by burning in the flames of the lava pit. Oh, to be precise — A rocket launcher is the final blow. No Resident Evil game can end without using a rocket launcher.

Enemies

Now about the enemies… The common enemies are known as “Majinis”. They are somewhat like the Ganados from RE4 however, they have a wide range of weapons and they are much faster and swift. RE has now developed into a more action type of game so it’s no more fearing mindless zombies who are out to eat you but more like attacking you with weapons such as axes, spears etc. The Majinis are in fact still aware of their actions but aren’t able to control themselves.

I won’t go through the enemies one-by-one but I’ll just give you some highlights on those that I think you should take note and be very careful with.

Chainsaw Majini

1) Chainsaw Majini - He is like Dr.Salvador but only thing is he is black, thinner and quite dumb. You can by pass him easily before he wields the chainsaw which entitles you to an instant death. He is tougher to take down nonetheless.

Just so you know, the reason why I never completed RE4 is due to my consistency of getting Leon’s head beheaded by Dr.Salvador. Somehow, Chainsaw Majini is easier for me to handle. And no, there is no racial discrimination here.

2) Reaper(s) – I died so many times because of these creatures. You will encounter these creatures in Chapter 5-2 onwards. The Reaper will descent from a cocoon above the ceiling. Shoot the WHITE bulb in its chest and when it bends down, 2 small white bulbs will be exposed on its back. 2 blows from a powerful shotgun will do. Seriously, be careful not to let these buggers get near you. Once they grab hold of you, it’s instant death for you.

Oh, do watch out for Majinis with rocket launchers and infected soldiers who are armed with guns.

Tips on How to Deal with the Following Bosses

Uroboros

1) Uroboros (Chapter 1-2) -  ↑ This boss is easy to deal with. Just lock it in the furnace chamber and let it burn to death. Suppose you have a hard time keeping it inside the chamber before you can lock it, knock down the available gas tanks and let it crawl over so that it tangles up within the body. Don’t shoot it until it goes in the furnace chamber. Once it goes in, shoot it and Uroboros will melt into a pile of gooey for awhile. Then you may shut the furnace and let it burn, baby, burn!

You’ll have a rematch with Uroboros in Chapter 5-2 however, you’ll have the help of the flamethrower. Remember to make use of the gas tanks. Uroboros is weak against fire attacks.

2) Popokarimu (Chapter 2-2) – Shooting upfront won’t do you good as its protected by a thick layer of shell. What you need to do is shoot underneath it (the pinkish meaty area). To overturn this bastard, place the Proximity Mines on the ground (find them at the wooden barrels) and lure it to go over them. When it triggers the mine, it will turn up-side-down and you may blast all you want.

3) T8 (Chapter 5-1) – Shoot at the most exposed areas (the arms) and the minute it collapse, arm yourself with a grenade and approach its mouth. The “Toss-in” button will appear on the screen. Hit it to feed the crab some explosion. Repeat this a couple of times and you should be done.

Jill and Wesker

4) Albert Wesker (Chapter 5-3) - ↑ Your first battle with him might seem impossible because there is a time limit though there won’t be a time display. You can win by hiding and surviving until the time is up however if you want to earn a medal and the Heart of Africa crystal, then here’s what you can do:

In this stage, Wesker basically fights using martial arts and a bit of shooting with Jill’s assistance. But his weakness is he can’t see in dark areas. So whenever he goes by the line of “You’re merely postponing the inevitable” or “You can’t hide…!” — It means he can’t see you.

So attack him from behind but don’t be too greedy. Shoot him 3 – 4 times and then run away. Running away and hiding is time consuming so I suggest you buy a rocket launcher, blast him while he is oblivious. If you caught him right, he would grab the rocket and in this time frame, shoot him and let the rocket do him the utmost damage.

You won’t defeat him or see him lying but you’ll earn a couple of things there. To claim your Heart of Africa crystal, during Jill’s battle, search in between the staircases.

5) Jill Valentine (Chapter 5-3) – Don’t shoot her even though your fingers are itching to do so. Just by pass her and ignore her during the battle with Wesker. And if you’re planning to go on a shooting spree, make sure she’s not insight.

I accidentally blown her up with a rocket launcher because I thought she was Wesker. It wasn’t cool.

After Wesker leaves Jill behind…

To deal with Jill who literally runs amok like a wild animal after her master ditched her, keep prompting her with the “Entreat” action to persuade her to stop behaving like a creepy-crawly animal. Grab her whenever you have the chance and follow the buttons on the screen to remove the shitty device off her beautiful chest. Somethings just don’t belong there, agree?

Excella Gione

6) Excella Gione the whore (Chapter 6-2) - Hehehe… This whore evolved into a huge piece of tentacle shit. ↑ Why do some people get the idea that mutating into a humongous pile of trash is cool? ↓

%#$!@@!

She already has a pair of nice boobs and good figure yet she destroyed them for the sake of tentacles?

Anyway.. It was against her will. Wesker betrayed Excella by giving her the faulty virus and as a result, the huge Uroboros you see above is fused with a numerous amount of corpse.

That said…

To defeat her, you’ll have access to the Stinger Missiles using the Bridge Card that you’ve found earlier.

By common sense, anyone would use this weapon all the way but I didn’t do so. To dismember her large and irritating tentacles, I shot the vital areas (the yellow bulbs) with my fully powered handgun until the giant bulb was revealed. Only then I used the Stinger Missile. I use this tactic because I think it’s faster and I don’t have to keep recharging the missiles. Several of times the giant bulb closed before my missiles were charged. Plus, I had to deal with the annoying small fries..

7) Albert Wesker — again! (Chapter 6-3) – Begin by switching all the lights at every corner. Get Sheva to use the Rocket Launcher which can be found in one of the corners of the area. You can mess around with him and get him distracted while Sheva launches the rocket at him. Like I’ve mentioned, if you caught him unaware — he will still be able to hold the missile back. Then you have to quickly shoot the missile before he throws it away like trash. After that, proceed to approaching him and hit the Action Button to inject Wesker with the syringe to finish him off.

Ok…

Let’s say you screw this up a couple of times and you’re out of missiles, climb up the ladder and ascend to the highest level. You will find a container containing 4 missiles.

The match doesn’t end here. There will be a cut scene involving some context-controls. So don’t go to the toilet yet.

After that, you’ll have another round with Wesker at the volcano stage. This time he mutates into something more vicious and 0% Matrix movements.

In this final battle, you need to display team work with Sheva because if she dies, the jig is up. At one point, she would be separated from you and on your part, you need to push down a rock so that she can reunite with you. Wesker would be chasing after her therefore, you can’t waste any time. If you don’t ram this rock as a stepping stone for her to return, she’ll fall into the lava.

Finally when both you and Sheva are together again, shoot Wesker from his back. You will see an obvious vital spot there. The second he flinches, approach him to restrain him while Sheva slashes the shit out of him.

At last, you have to launch a rocket into his face. Hit L1 + L2 when the buttons appear on the screen.

That’s how Wesker will meet his downfall.

Frequently Used Words

BSAA – Acronym for Bio-Terrorism Security Assessment Alliance. Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar are working under this group. Basically, the good team.

Umbrella - The cooperation that initiated the virus outbreak. Although they met their downfall, their experiments/projects are still being delegated to other franchises hence involving the black market.

Tricell – Tricell is a pharmaceutical company picking up Umbrella’s leftovers hence, Umbrella’s bastard. Tricell was exposed after Chris and Sheva found the laboratories containing victims imprisoned in capsules… Fucking Tricell…

Uroboros – The form of virus. Not every individual are immune to the virus and suppose they’re not — they will mutate into shit.

Partner - Mostly can be heard from Sheva. I don’t know what’s up with her and partnership. Also she keeps saying “God!, Oh my god!”

Terrorism – Haha…

Trivia: The pilot of the helicopter said the F word. We all know that helicopters are too good to be true in Resident Evil games but “Fuck”? (Laughs) Sheva also used the word “Bastard” when confronting El Gigante of Africa. And Chris’s coolest line: “I have had enough.. of your bullshit!” – To Albert Wesker.

Weaponry

I haven’t test driven all the weapons. By far, I’m very comfortable using the shotgun and handgun as my primary weapons. These 2 works best for me. But I can assure you the shotgun in RE5 is way better compared to RE4′s. The impact is bigger and more damaging.

As for the handguns, you can upgrade the critical factor to increase the chances of head shots.

The ammunition is sadly, very scarce though. Moreover, you have to split your ammo for Sheva/2nd player.

Speaking of weapons, you can carry 9 items (+ Sheva, 18, that’s if you want to treat her like your bag pack *Yoko from Resident Evil Outbreak files #2).

You can remove the excess items and do your barter system at the end of every chapter. Oh, there won’t be a merchant by the way. <^-^>lll

Treasures and Emblems

Throughout the game, you can discover treasures to sell in exchange for money. So be on a look out for sparkles on the walls. You can also find them in treasure boxes, attach to masks and uh — try slashing those fire pole. A ruby might just fall out. (Laughs)

As for emblems — Keep an eye out for BSAA emblems. Shooting these emblems entitles you to unlock new stuffs such as costumes, stages and players for the Mercenaries mode.

How does a BSAA emblem look like?

It looks rounds and the color is dark green.

There are 30 in total. I can’t tell you where they are because I’ve only found 5 so far. (Cries)

Sorry. <;__;>

Conclusion

Alas! I’m about to end this review! Though it appears to be more of a minor walkthrough.

Anyway, the game play is alright. It doesn’t feel too new because the game play is so similar to Resident Evil 4.

As for story wise — It’s kind of boring since the whole plot is focusing on terrorism rather than horror. There were no mentions of terrorism until Leon started it in Re4. Well in Re5, you’re gonna hear it a lot.

Even though you’ll get the pleasure to blast Albert Wesker in the face using a rocket launcher, for some strange reason I feel we might be seeing him again. Don’t be surprise if the Wesker featured in Re5 is a clone OR some dude picks up his remains and remake him. <_  _> There are no indications about this though.

Another thing I would like to point out is — The death scenes aren’t extreme for an 18 above rated game. RE4 has more gruesome death scenes where Leon dies like a whale. The death scenes in RE5 are quite pathetic to the point they don’t even show Chris/Sheva’s head get sawed off totally. With the enhanced graphics of PS3, why hold back? <.___.>{?]

Last but not least — Surprises are poor.

The first cut scene starts out with this mysterious UNSUB in cloaks injecting the Uroboros into an unfortunate victim. We will see this figure again when he/she saved Irving’s ass.

Initially when I saw this character, I already knew it was Jill because:

Firstly, I can see humps on the chest. ↓

Secondly, this person is wearing boots with high heels. I don’t have a picture but you’ll be able to see it on screen anyway. It’s so obvious.

Then and there I knew it was a woman and knowing such things, how can it not be Jill? (Laughs)

Now that I’m speaking about Jill… Her new look in RE5 does resemble a bit of Fiona Belli from The Haunting Ground [Demento] ne? ↓

Jill Valentine

Fiona Belli

Perhaps I’m the only one who sees it this way. (Laughs nervously)

Come to think of it — I can’t believe Capcom made Jill look like an animal and an underdog in RE5! For goodness sake! She was the prime heroine of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 3! She defeated Nemesis!

In addition to her disgrace, the suit she is currently wearing looks like Fantastic 4′s uniform!

Urgh! I prefer her brown, bob hair too. The blond tied in one pony tail makes her look like a common civilian.

A~ah well.. Who am I to say.. <u_u>

– The End –