TWG and 2 blu-rays

my wife booked a table for tea at TWG republic plaza for our little new year's eve eat out. tho small but posh, what's cool to me wasnt the great aroma of tea but the food. i tasted the best salmon smoked on chessy frenchie toast. 

we had some tarts to accompany my hot smoking russian while my wife had some cold earl grey. we were offered a variety of jam and pastries to try as well. there's a branch at T3 airport but it's just a tea and oil outlet. my wife took away some tea leave and i got her a little tea spoon with a TWG print.

2 blu-rays for my new year? tho the offer was over for the 50% off a 2nd disc, i was given a 30% off.

foo fighters at wembley bluray

i won the consolation price from gamescore's annual xmas draw, a $100 store voucher. had intended to get aquanaut's holiday R3 english version  at about $62 but i couldnt find anything to fill up the $100 so i put it on hold.

this concert was rated pretty high. i've no foo fighters cd anymore, let's see what will come out from here. the songs are pretty nice to play in rock band and guitar hero series.

upgrading HDD for PS3

it's a sunny sunday after the xmas. maybe it's time to put some plans to task, like upgrading the PS3 HDD (instead of the easy way out, buying another 160G PS3). 

the thought of buying a Hagane PS3 did come to mind. my old 60G PS3 for solely rockband + guitarhero + singstar (cos the DLC takes up too much HDD space) and a new PS3 for other games + demos + videos. the 160G PS3 was a tempting offer. 

the chinese saying "xin chin lai chao", the feeling came, and with some research i went to buy a 250G hard disk for my PS3 HDD upgrade.

criteria for the hard disk replacement is a notebook hard disk of 2.5inch size. SATA version, can be either running on 5400RPM or 7200RPM and some size substantial from your previous PS3 HDD capacity, like 150G or 250G. any brand is fine, i chose a 2.5inch SATA hitachi at 5200RPM, price is $95. i did see a 350G but i'm not sure if there's a limit to the PS3.

it doesnt really take too long for the whole process. i backed up my PS3 data when i was out and time it took was 1hr 15mins. yes u need a external HDD plugged into the PS3 via usb and must be FAT32 config to be recognized by the PS3. u can backup your HDD from system info/backup utility/backup.

unplugged the PS3's video and power cable + power off the back switch. the HDD is located at the left of the PS3. pop open the cover from the little fingernailsize opening catch. it's a good time to dust and clean up your PS3 too.

remove the infamous bluscrew with a philips screwdriver. that unlocks the frame of the HDD. next yank the level to the right to detach the HDD to the connectors internally.

there are 4 screws with tiny philips thread that is screwed so tight that u need to unscrew to remove the old HDD. i did not have the right size of screwdriver so i damaged the thread. i went to the DIY shop and the handyman had difficulty too. he suggested to clamp the screw with a pliers and rotate it.

i have a paul london tool in the car so i successfully undo the screw with much effort. tho my poor leatherman was waiting at home, the paul london did his job. thumbs up.

i did not buy new replacement screws. i read that u need the correct size screwdriver but that didnt come to mind but i'm glad i got it sorted out. i bought a better philips screw driver set to screw it back tho. with the damaged thread it's still ok to screw it back snugly but not tightly.

pop in the HDD in the tray, put in the screws, push the new HDD into the PS3 and slide it to the left til you hear a click, screw the bluscrew, cover the cover, and plug in your power and video cables again. turn on the power and you'll be prompted to format your HDD.

all my log in accounts (6 of them) are there. everything seems like a new PS3 except for the accounts. i did a check and i only yield that much of HDD space. damn.

next plug in the external drive to restore the data from your previous PS3 HDD. from system info/backup utility/restore. everything is pretty on screen instructions now.

it's now 41% and i need to go out for dinner. damn .... 

what i need to verify are the game saves, the DLCs, the sccount credit info. hope all is still intact.

have fun upgrading your PS3 HDD, it's worth the risk.

last blu-ray for 2008?

i've fought not to go hmv. my intention was to check out the natgeo series + the nasa blu-rays. first caught my eye was tropic thunder, a movie i missed in the cinema.

will ferrell and reily c scott didnt do good enuff comedies of late. neither did adam sandler nor ben stiller. they had their fair share of peak movies.

fighting the traffic where orchard is filled with fun poses and photo light flashing. cars with heads engulfed into the window watching the xmas lights. it was a mistake to go into town at 930pm.

and i fought buying blu-rays. but i succumbed to just 1 title. hope it's a right choice.

NatGeo and new zines

15mins into my shift i felt the world spinning. lying back the neck doesnt help. looking down makes it worst. i had a good 6hrs sleep last nite. but i complained i work up super tired.

at 430pm i told CHT [tower manager] i like to go visit the doc. they had the T3 controller so i could be relieved.

doc diagnosed me suffering from vertigo. vertigo a cause that could derived from plenty of reasons, i was granted 3days MC.

i could save $8 bucks if i get these zines + my wife's at kino. but it's cool to have em during the hols, + my space NatGeo magazine to read. some nice articles i like to read from the above magazines. i dont online read, it's tedious. a paper in hand with adverts always my choice.

the NatGeo shop is awesomely huge. had only 10mins to walk around b4 picking up my wife. my head still spins when i look down. walk straight bugger.

the NatGeo shop has a special sony alpha DSLR section. nice.

my wife topped up my barkua this time from the super unhealthy oily BeeKhimHiong [do not mis-relate with Bee Khim], also found a big packet PoPo from HoePing, my neighbourhood provision kiosk. the Popo baby is freakish.

sony photo printer

after ikea at tampines we popped over to courts to look for elaine's replacement thumb drive from sony. instead we found something she had loved all this while, a sony photo printer at $245. the printer does not come with any paper or ink. so a 120sheets of blank paper and 3cartridges of ink cost $36. we did a live demo secretly, took a picture of her with my digital cam at 5meg pixel, plug in my mem stick on the spot and the photo was printed in 48secs. it looked amazingly convincing so we grab the printer. 

this is the middle priced model, the lower model prints slower while the higher end one has a bigger lcd screen. plenty of on-screen modifications can be done thru the LCD, like framing, correction, adding text. so it was a pretty fun gadget.

last point was giant which is opposite these 2 mega store. my first time to step into this giant. we grabbed the similar log cake what we had at her company BBQ. it's super chocolatey.

resident evil: degeneration blu-ray

got my resident evil: degeneration blu-ray from gamescore today. the japanese title for this film is biohazard: degeneration. the us version is only release on end of the month, and the release day for japan is 2days ago. but in singapore, we are fortunate to have our local distributors to release the film that soon.

PS3 games collection

sometimes i'll buy the R3 version of a game then "upgrade" to the R1 version when i tested it to be a collectible. 

and sometimes i've already ordered the R1 version but still buy the R3 version while the R1 game is yet or still in shipping transit, but get the local version to fool with it.

the R3 versions will usually be let off to my colleagues at a price cheaper then i will to the forumers, maybe $10-$15 cheaper. 

these are my collection of PS3 games.

from bottom to top,

1) R2 JPN metal gear solid 4 SE

2) R1 metal gear solid 4 LE

3) R1 soul calibur 4

4) R1 GT5 prologue

5) R1 devil may cry 4

6) R1 star wars the force unleashed

7) R1 singstar ABBA

8) R1 singstar

9) R1 singstar vol2

10) R1 guitar hero world tour (guitar bundle)

11) R1 rockband SE

12) R1 rockband2

13) R1 wwe smackdown vs raw CE

14) R1 tomb raider underworld

15) R3 fifa 09 

16) R3 hakuna matata (english ver)

R3s' case and booklet are usually printed either in HK or Singapore. the disc itself is made in Japan.

R1s' are completely made in USA.

the advantage of R1s over other regions is the DLCs, which is faster mostly than other regions's PSN. my entropay is curently still useable, once it's blocked, i'll buy the USE PSN cards for store credits.

some R3 game saves are compatible with R1s. from my collection that test, they are MGS4, DMC4, SC4, TRU.

NatGeo

national geographic has a huge establishment taking over the spain section at vivocity. my wife got to know my keen interest in natgeo franchise [since hakuna matata game] bought me some goodies .... 

2 zines .... natgeo adventure and special edition natgeo space + a super cool tee .... check out the natgeo print in the innerside of the tee near the neck and the right sleeve embroidered logo.

the tee is made in portugal, a rugged basic series.

singstar abba + R1 TRU

managed to intercept UPS's delivery cos i wont be at home to receive it as intended. self-collected my items from changi south itself.

the discount coupon has a new look.

i've added safari, password protection, and threw in some mp3 into my wife's Eee Pc this morning. 

Eee PC

bought a asus Eee pc for my wife at funan. most shops seems to be low or no stock and the shop we bought was last piece. we did see the LG 3.75G mini notebook but it doesnt appeal.

added another gig of RAM to 2Gig at $99. total damage $897.

hakuna matata

afrika is the japanese safari game for ps3. it was re-named as hakuna matata in asia. but a new version with english/chinese options was also available in the asia region.

i had given up this game but when i found out a english version i was enthralled. it's tied up with sony alpha DSLR for the cam equiptment. national geographic picked the game and tagged it as a NATGEO product.

to all wondering if english/chinese has any hidden meaning, the game is in pure english. the menus, the subtitled conversations [as the characters dont speak], all are in englsih. if your set is set to chinese then it will come up with chinese menus and subs. 

the graphics, expansive awesome. would be a great game to play with your kids for educational purposes.

star wars the force unleashed DLC

the new apprentice mission pack is a pretty short and frustrating mission. tho the haords of troopers are endless that gives u plenty of chance to clock more points, it can be overwhelming. the boss fight is pretty tough in my opinion, but i'm glad i made it thru.

a clone trooper with a light saber, nice.

and with the new cosutme pack 2 + costumes from the apprentice mission add-on, now there are plenty of costumes to fool around with. it's cute to be in c3po fighting the foes. he's got real agility.

the list of costumes are as below:-

chacracter pack 1 DLC -->
jedi knight anakin skywalker

jedi knight obi-wan kenobi

darth sion

imperial commando

kit fisto

jedi knight luke skywalker

ki-adi-mundi

hooded combat gear (galen)

sith assassin (galen)

general starkiller 

character pack 2 DLC -->

spirit apprentice (galen)

republic trooper

tattoine luke

utility combat suit (galen)

ben kenobi

animated style (galen)

jango fett

c-3po

plo koon

count dooku

apprentice mission pack -->

darth maul

mace windu

qui-gon jinn

dark stalker (galen)

sith training gear (galen)

lightsaber training droid

combat training droid

temple exploration gear (galen)

cybernetic reconstruction (galen)

thru game progression -->

training gear (galen)

heavy training gear (galen)

light training gear (galen)

medical robe (robe)

bounty hunter disguise (galen)

corellian flight suit (galen)

jungle combat gear (galen)

industrial explorer outfit (galen)

jedi adventure robe (galen)

kento's robe (galen)

sith robe (galen)

ceremonial jedi robes (galen)

sith stalker armour (galen)

via cheat codes -->

kota

emperor

drunken kota

bail organa

incinerator trooper

kashyyk trooper

proxy

scout trooper

shadow trooper

snowtrooper

stromtrooper

stromtrooper commander

seletar reservoir photoshoot

me and my wife went a long awaited photoshoot of toys at seletar reservior at the hot sun of noon ....

some pictures for the day ....

goodies from the edge of heaven [sun plaza]

after our afternoon photoshoot at seletar reservoir, we drop up north to sun plaza for a quick fix. got some goodies ....

mkvsdcu guide

ah don's survivor series 2008 vcd

and my wife bought me BK .... yes !!!

mortal kombat vs dc universe kollector's edition "making of"

glad i bought the KE version of this game. the making of videos are in a blu-ray and all in full glory HD.

the comic con video is a nice lengthy 27min conference. total running time excluding the digital komic is 77mins.

mortal kombat vs dc universe kollector's edition

every word that starts with a "c" will be replaced by a "k", in the mortal kombat world/universe.

so it's mortal kombat not combat. it's kollector's not collector's. it's kat not cat. maybe not every word but most words. 

i found no time to play fallout3 so i traded it in for $30 [yes a little low for R1] and bought mortal kombat vs dc universe kollector's edition at $103 reduced to $79.

again tomb raider underground being the last game for 2008 was an understatement. so i thought i wouldnt buy QoS but i did. and MKvsDCU was one targeted purchase that got taken off the list but now re-emerged as bought games. but i know i wouldnt buy Prince of Persia for sure. and it has to stay that way.

the box is kontained in a standard transparent slipcase, the box has a velvet feel, but it's a kupboard box. i would go for the normal edition, kos the kontent of the kollector's didnt really appeal. moreover i am inclined towards marvel universe, but i dont wanna go regret like i did for 1) devil may cry4, 2) soul calibur4, both of which i bought the normal versions. if i like a game so much, i must have the guide, and the kollector's or limited edition if it exist. R1 version is also a requirement [unless due to certain conditions that override] but my TRU is R3. 

the kontents:- 

1) the little komic, the artwork is great. but would be kooler if jim lee did the pencils.

2) a blu-ray disc with making of kontent.

3) the game itself.

4) and also a pull-out artwork from the front kover of the box.

so the excuse for buying this rejected game? batman and joker from the dark knight movie stirred my emotions.

junshen was in the queue at funzcentre when i bought the game. i never met him b4 so i didnt recognize him. GodofSpeed was in the queue line when i bought MGS4 earlier this year. 

robber joker or brothersrobber

used to have a brothersrobber by brothersfree .... now i only have brothers joker. now gotta decide to get the awesome IronMan Mk3 when it's released. i was thinking it's nice to be delayed to next year.