1st Paycheck ~ i could still vividly remember the final days of uni when we were all so eager to another step forward into oh-*yawn*-so-*yawn*-exciting career-hood; finally getting to be earning our own $dough$... Nothing beats the anticipation & excitement of getting the 1st paycheck =)

For me, that was a good 2 & 1/2 years ago. Looking at a new freshie colleague of mine, getting excited over splurging her maiden paycheck over a brand new hp; may not be the latest, flashiest nor priciest model, but i'm pretty sure it mean just as much, had me delving back on my own experience. Do you remember what you got or did with your very 1st paycheck?
One of the few stuffs i got, i realized was still collecting cobwebs in my closet. So i decide to save it from its gloomy fate & spent the later part of Sunday afternoon giving it a new lease of life, in the showcase.

Rm129.90 worth of an afternoon of assembling fun. The complexity of these model kits keep me intrigued.

A good 15mins later ~ done with the 1st limb

Behold! EVA Unit-00 Prototype (completed in under 3 hours)
Simply amazing; to think that it has got more flexibility than me. Also comes with a huge arsenal of weapons that puts even my mom's collection of kitchen utensils to shame.
More shots:

From critically succesful & popular Japanese anime, Shin Seiki Evangelion. It's basically an apocalyptic mecha action series with some controversial Judeo-Christian elements. Very cool piece of animation with very high artistic integrity; as long you don't frustrate yourself to much trying to understand what the hell it's all about. One of the most confusing anime i've ever seen ~ come to think of it, even the plot of the 4400 seemed rather simple & plain to digest...

According to Anno, Evangelion was an attempt to make all perspectives into one, creating characters that represent different things to different viewers to make it impossible for everyone to arrive at a single theory. To some viewers, the characters are psychological representations, while to others, they are philosophical, religious, historical, and even themselves.^[16] It seems the main goal was to present characters who reflected the deep depression and eventual recovery that Anno experienced before beginning work on Evangelion^[7][17][18] Assistant Director Kazuya Tsurumaki said of the series, "If a person who can already live and communicate normally watches it, they won't learn anything."^[19]

Source . Get my drift?

~(m)u~ live: Arena Tour 2006 DVD

Received the delivery fairly early, much earlier than the 2 weeks waiting period; but after having to collect it personally from PosLaju & getting taxed by the Kastam. 20% import duty + 10% sales tax. Damn. Dunno why my previous purchase went by untaxed. It was an import too afterall. When asked for the taxable item list, the nice fella in blues handed me a brick-thick M'sian bible of taxes. Who'd be so darned free to cough up a compilation of such magnitude, i wonder? It's just so mind boggling. or maybe i'm just being plain ignorant.
The online retail price was only USD25.75 which translates to about less than Rm90. The only copy i managed to source at Kenyalang costed Rm118. I guess the differentials come in when u factor in the taxes which, i forgot to. Still got it for cheaper than market price, thanks to that fella in blues, letting me name whatever the price was; partly coz there were no pricelist attached with the package. So i get to ring out any reasonable sounding number. Just tell them it cost a mere USD10. But, sadly i was too honest to call for anything less than USD20. So i actually paid Rm20.20 in taxes.

Back to the DVD ~ this one's got all the songs from her least-liked albums to date ~(miss)understood~. Perhaps coz it's an experimental album covering multitudes of genres & sounded very un-ayumi; which, sort of alienated some fans, yet won as much accolades from many as well. It's pretty much like a love-it of hate-it affair.
Personally, i really miss the rocking days from her Rainbow era; though i'd just be as eager to sample her new masterpieces. There aren't many bold enough to always take up the challenge of trying out something new; most just like to play safe & stick to what sells best. Got to give her credit for that ~ she's always reinventing herself, & have always pulled it out with a good measure of success, again & again. I guess that's why she's got so much staying power ~ been almost a decade now.
Have always loved her concerts; i'd pay tons of $$ to watch her perform live. Maybe someday, one day...

Spending weekends off work are costly. Always have that insatiable urge to spend, spend, & spend during my offdays. But looking at the increasing hours logged in the sweatroom each week, this'll be a worthy buy. Physique fitness refinement efforts aside, the other 'physique' of mine that is in need of a bulk-up is my bank account... but with my increasingly diminishing drive to work OTs, it's proving to be yet another M:I. Whatever happened to my unwavering DRIVE? i wonder.

1^st Online Shopping Experience

Made my first ever online purchase sometime ago. The package was delivered to my door step a couple of days ago, after 14-long-awaited days from the initial order date during which, I’ve lost some sleep worrying whether my prized purchase had got lost along the way, sent to the wrong address, got swapped, etc. ~ $$ down the drain? Thankfully it arrived in one piece ~ in immaculate condition. Having heard of countless of online purchase horror stories – getting conned into buying counterfeit products, to receiving defective products/damaged packaging or actual product that is inferior as to what was described in the initial pre-order specification; I decided to stick with the bigger & more reputable online retail sites ~ Yesasia.com Global in this case to source for a foreign audio CD release, dating back to 2005. It may not be the cheapest bargain on the net, but the offered prices are relatively comparable (just don’t compare the local bargains at Kenyalang Park).

Most of the Japan music releases of the current years come in different versions; the Japan version for the domestic Japanese market (which, costs an arm & a leg) & the Overseas version for the general foreign audience. Opted for the premium Japan version, priced at whooping USD25.49 (x 3.402 exchange rate) over the USD17.99 Overseas version (is also no way cheap by local standards), because it qualifies for the free shipping that the latter does not. Standard shipping (6 – 14 days) would have costs USD4.99. With a few bucks difference, going for the premium is a no brainer.

Some cite that the Overseas version is inferior in terms of quality compared to the more expensive Japan version; though the only difference is usually in the printings, booklets ~ some extra stuff, & rarely in some cases extra song tracks, for audio CD. One thing to note is that when it comes to DVDs, there are fundamental differences: Japan uses DVD2 encoding format, whereas the rest of the SEA uses DVD3. So you definitely don’t want to buy a Japan version DVD release which will not be compatible with our DVD player, though both regions are sharing the same NTSC TV broadcast standard. Overseas version are usually manufactured, marketed & distributed by licensed regional recording companies to provide a more competent localized pricing. So it is definitely cheaper, but is quality compromised? Maybe, or maybe not.

An authentic Japan version ~ ￥2667 tag is quite unnerving…

Time to sit back & enjoy the tunes of my latest musical fad collection. I just dig contemporary classical music =)

Wannahaves~

A unique fusion of pop-rock & classical music which, takes on a whole new dramatic perspective & sounds almost magical. Tracks performed with Orchestre Lamoureux ~ Paris, conducted by Yutaka Sado.

Dri-Fit strength training glove ~ so workouts at the sweatroom no longer have to be a palm-bristling affair...

An iPod Shuffle ~ the worlds most wearable music gear to keep me plugged to my favourite tunes when i'm on the run.

A MacBook ~ simply coz it's cool... & gives me another good reason to hang out at Bing or Coffee Bean.

I seem to show deep affinity towards the brand with the half-bitten apple. However, my pockets still feel rather light, so i guess most of these will just likely remain on my wish list for the near foreseealble future...

Among the heaps of junk unearth-ed from my backyard while doing some obligatory CNY spring cleaning...

There's the extra pair of wiper blade, and there's also the freakin' expensive Acura emblem that never fitted. (Boss kit still in use except for the Honda horn cover)

Vision R boom-box with 2.5" inlet and outlet big enough to fit one whole foot + some extra room. Banned from my house coz too damned noisy.

OEM EG9 front lip. I couldn't believe i paid 2oo bucks for this piece of plastic. Had to do away with it when i installed the new bumper.

Got more parts stuffed at my mech's garage. An EG6 front bumper with foglights, a pair of smoked headlights (not sure if still functioning), and an EG8 driver seat are just some of the items. Heck, i might just fill up the whole warehouse. Time for some housekeeping.
Lelong - going cheap. Who wants to buy?