Taiwan

What can I say about Taiwan? Well firstly, Taiwan is an island populated by mostly the chinese. The main spoken language is Mandarin. When I first arrived in Taiwan, I was surprised by its weather. The weather in Taiwan is really erratic... one day it can be hot and humid and the next, it can be cold and windy. Though the only thing not surprising is the time the sun falls. Since it was in the winter season when I went to Taiwan, the sun falls very early at around 5 pm.

Taiwan is a outspoken country in my opinion. Everytime you visit a night market (which is a very popular thing among the Taiwanese), you can see stall vendors shouting and trying to attract customers to their particular stall. Sometimes, I really wonder how these stall vendors make ends meet since there are many, many stalls and they all seems to sell the same stuff. For every country, you can say a particular food that you can relate to that particular country. For Singapore, its Rojak and Durian (you may not agree with me but its just an example) and for Japan, its Sushi and Udon. As for Taiwan, I would have to say its Finger Food. Taiwan has quite a huge variety of Finger Food. Some like the Fried Chicken Fillet (I think thats what you call it in English) are surprisingly good while others like the Fried Fishballs are not so good.

Taiwanese are generally very friendly. Whenever you pass by a stall, the stall vendor would stop you and ask you to try out one of their products. What is commendable is that even if you leave after sampling and without buying anything, they would bid you farewell with a warm smile. Speaking of which, hygiene is a problem in Taiwan. Even in a restaurant which is frequently booked by tour groups, you can find dirt and stains on the utensils. However, that didn't shocked me. What shocked me was when I encountered a man barbecuing some fishballs while smoking. It was clearly obvious that the ash from his cigarette was landing on the fishballs yet there were still customers willing to buy from his stalls. After that incident, I was silently grateful that all stalls in Singapore had to pass a hygiene test before they could start selling their food. But hey, don't let my words scare you! I tend to exaggerate sometimes. Its perfectly alright to try out other country's local delicacies!

One of the first things I noticed about Taiwan was that their traffic police is really efficient (or so it seemed to me...). When I was on the tour bus, every so often I would notice a police car and another car parked by the side with a policeman questioning the driver of the other car. Really impressive... at least for the first day of my tour (the other days there were less police cars).

Taiwan is a big dog-loving country. Every time I'm on the streets of Taiwan, I see passerbys with dogs by their sides. Some of these dogs had a leash on them while others did not and some dogs worn clothes while other dogs worn hats. Taiwanese generally treat their pets really well. In my short stay in Taiwan, I have never seen a stray dog or even cat, though I have never a cat in Taiwan actually.

Another thing to note about Taiwan is that they do not really celebrate western festives like Christmas. Throughout my stay during the Christmas period in Taiwan, I had only seen 1 Christmas tree. After knowing Taiwanese do not celebrate western festives, I was shocked to be informed by my tour guide that there are around 100+ days of holiday for the working class in Taiwan. That meant that roughly every 3 days in the year, there will be 1 day of holidays. Isn't that shocking?!

Well, I can say that I did enjoy my stay in Taiwan though I got a bit travel-sicked at the end (this always happens when I go overseas; I got stomach flu last year in Australia and diarrhoea the year before in Japan). There were some parts I didn't enjoy but hey, that's life! There are bound to be things you don't enjoy in every experience you undergo...

Identical

Ever seen an identical pair of brother and sister? Well, I HAVE. Check below! :)


Wish me luck... hopefully I'll still survive when Mengxuan discovers this photo... ;P

Its A RIOT!

There is officially a riot in Serangoon Gardens. I swear many people got pissed off. Not surprising though, I got rather pissed off myself. I've never got into a traffic jam in Serangoon Gardens yet I was stuck in the '317' bus for an hour. Actually, I wasn't really pissed off... By the time I realised I was stuck in a traffic jam, only the elderly ladies with huge bags by their sides and me were left on the bus. Fortunately, I got off the bus quickly after my big 'EUREKA!' discovery... the roads were sealed and there was no way of reaching home via that bus. Sigh... guess that's the problem with a place so... remote. When there is a traffic jam in such a place, its gonna take a long, long time for the traffic to clear. Well, don't mind me... I'm just... expressing my ermm... emotions. I hardly have a place to just... EXPRESS MY EMOTIONS...

God...

Just don't mind me...I'm just having a breakdown :)

A Turtle & His Imagination

A drawing I did yesterday about a turtle and his imagination. Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed drawing it. :)



Closer looks on the the characters and speech bubbles:

A Sleepless Morning's Work

Wasn't able to sleep the whole night, decided to do a bit of drawing in the morning. Here are the results... of a sleepless morning's work:



Closer looks into the drawings and their speech bubbles:

Black and White Signs

PENLERS PRESENTS: NO FOOTWEAR
BEING A PART OF "BLACK AND WHITE SIGNS"


PENLERS PRESENTS: DANGER
BEING A PART OF "BLACK AND WHITE SIGNS"

A World Without Colors...

PENLERS PRESENTS: SILENT STREET
BEING A PART OF "A WORLD WITHOUT COLORS..."


PENLERS PRESENTS: PEEK IN
BEING A PART OF "A WORLD WITHOUT COLORS..."


PENLERS PRESENTS: COLORLESS LEAVES
BEING A PART OF "A WORLD WITHOUT COLORS..."


PENLERS PRESENTS: COLORLESS FLOWER
BEING A PART OF "A WORLD WITHOUT COLORS..."


PENLERS PRESENTS: THE TRUSTY MAILBOX
BEING A PART OF "A WORLD WITHOUT COLORS..."


PENLERS PRESENTS: WHERE HAVE ALL THE BIRDS GONE?
BEING A PART OF "A WORLD WITHOUT COLORS..."

The Gym

I hate The Gym
Its strong smell of disinfectant
The air which reeks of sweat
I just hate it

I love The Gym
Equipments that keep you occupied
The opportunity for time to fly pass
I just love it

I hate The Gym
The immense strength needed to carry weights
The aches and sores after a workout
I just hate it

I love The Gym
The pain from working out
Is like caffeine in coke
I just love it

Do I hate The Gym
Or do I love The Gym
Frankly I don't know
I just don't know

Maybe I do hate The Gym
Or maybe I do not hate The Gym
Perhaps I do love The Gym
Or perhaps I do not love The Gym

But one thing is for sure
I will continue going to The Gym
And hopefully
So will you!

Just a poem about my love/hate affair with The Gym. :)
I hoped it made you laugh... it was meant to make you laugh. xD

In The Spotlight... Fable 2

Being a huge Fable fan, I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of a sequel to the popular role-playing game ever since I first heard rumors of Lion Head Studios working on Fable 2. I have to admit that my cravings for Fable 2 resulted in me daydreaming of playing the game while I was supposed to study for my 'O'-Levels. Well... that's a bit exaggerating but still... you get what I mean... Now, I have already played the game and I'm gonna give my honest opinion on the game below but before I do that, I have to warn you people. Everything below is my personal opinion on the game so before you starting flaming me for something I wrote below, please remember that I'm not trying to offend others with my remarks; You can choose whether you believe/agree with me or not. Another point to note: the last time I played Fable was ages ago, thus, some things I write about it may be inaccurate. A piece of advise: If you haven't played both Fable and Fable 2, chances are you won't get what I'm saying. I apologise for this.

Expectations
Fable was one of the best role-playing game I've ever played. It's storyline was filled with rivalry, revenge and betrayal. It was very much like reading an excellent book except that instead of you imaging what happens in the story, you actually 'experience' it yourself. Yet there was a flaw in this jem of a game: It was incomplete. Due to impatient fans, Fable was released too early. What do I mean? Well, heres an example: In Fable's Bowerstone Market, there was a water fall with a ship in the waters. It was extremely clear that these waters were meant to be a path to another region but due to pressure from the all too impatient fans, they eventually turned it into a waterfall. Thus, Lion Head Studios had to release an expansion: Fable: The Lost Chapters to make the game more 'complete'. However, this was just something minor in my eyes and Fable eventually became one of my favourite games. When I heard of works on Fable 2, I was skeptical. Fable was incredible and I had doubts that Lion Head Studios could release a sequel that was near the standards of the first game.

Oh my god. Is this happening?! That was fast...
Fable 2 was in the same storyline mould as Fable, with the main character losing his family, getting taken under the wings of a powerful person and then, embarking on a journey for revenge. I was rather impressed with the game initially. The cutscene at the very start of the game was magnificent and it showed of things to come with a landscape shot of the vastly changed town we grew to love in Fable: Bowerstone. However, things begin to go downhill from then on. I'd previously read on a forum that Peter Molyneux, the man who had promised great things for Fable 2, had made a promise to gamers that the childhood days of the main character would take at least an hour to complete. However, I took a mere 10 minutes to complete it. Another big disappoint for me was that the game cuts straight from the childhood days to the main character's early adulthood. The apprenticeship days were a crucial part of the story in Fable for me. It kind of strengtens the storyline and makes you engrossed in the game as you 'experience' everything the main character experiences. However, Lion Head Studios decided to cut this part from the storyline in Fable 2. Immediately, I was not as drawn to the storyline as I was to Fable. Lion Head Studios made up for this by making the maps more detailed and items harder to obtain. The main character's companion/dog was also a cool addition to the game and it soon became a vastly important part of the game for me since it was capable of finding treasures and digging spots. But I felt that it was absurd that there was only 1 dog in Albion which was that of the main character's. Another aspect of the game I felt ridiculous about was that you couldn't die in the game. This meant that no matter how many times your health points ran out, you were NEVER gonna lose. I was excited about facing new enemies in Fable 2 but when I played the game, there was not many new foes; just a revamp of the old foes. This was another major disappoint to me. The storyline was also a letdown... it was not as great as Fable's storyline although I was surprised that Peter Molyneux exclaimed that it was better than Fable's. This led me to wonder whether I had actually really finish the game and whether I was missing something in the game however after searching online, I realised that was not the case. In the end, I ended up murmuring to myself, "Oh my god. Is this happening?! That was fast...".

Conclusion
Many would say that I am not neutral enough to talk about Fable 2. Others would try to remind me that Fable 2 was created for casual gamers in mind. I agree with them to a certain extent. However, I also have this to say... Fable 2 is a sequel to Fable. This means that you would expect the same features that made Fable a success to be in Fable 2. But where were the legendary weapons in Fable 2? Where was the amazing and lengthy storyline? Where were the huge and invincible-looking bosses in Fable 2? Fable was a game for 'hardcore' gamers. By making its sequel more for casual gamers, it made all the gamers who enjoyed Fable vastly disappointed. Besides, you wouldn't expect casual gamers to play a role-playing game. I hate to say this but in my personal opinion, Lion Head Studios was too greedy. They wanted both hardcore gamers and casual gamers to buy Fable 2. Fable 2 was a bad experience in my opinion. However, if you forget that its a sequel to Fable, it would be an alright game. But in my case, it was a bad game that brought back fond memories of playing Fable... how I wished Fable 2 matched the brilliance of Fable...