I’m a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist franchise, and therefore of course I watched the The Sacred Star of Milos movie. It’s another one of those things that I watched a while ago but never got around to posting about. The Sacred Star of Milos is an anime-original side story for the FMA:Brotherhood anime, and here is what I thought of the movie. Post contains minor spoilers.
My four weeks at home have gone very quickly, and last week I took the flight back to the smallish city/town in the US where I’ll start another semester of graduate studies. Just like last winter vacation and the year before that, I spent most of my time at home, relaxing and doing a little bit of research work. I had wanted to go skiing, but I am not really good enough to go on anything other than a bunny hill and I can’t find people to go with me. Plus, skiing near Vancouver is expensive, so I’ll probably do it back in the states where it is less costly. Unlike the previous years, my grandparents were around this winter, and this meant that we ate out more than usual. I had quite a few big meals in Chinese restaurants while I was back home. The food was of course delicious, and I probably ate too much. The food was probably the highlight of this winter break and here is a photo collage of some of the dishes I’ve tasted.
Needless to say, I probably gained around 5 lbs over the break, but I’m confident I can work it off at school. I’m unlikely to eat so much so often back in the states, and I’ll exercise a lot more when compared to my time at home. That’s pretty much everything worth mentioning, and it’s time for me to get back to the mood for school.
Since I’m not following that many new anime series this season, I thought I’d go and watch some older series that have received a lot of praise: the so-called “classics”. Samurai Champloo is one such series, but to be honest I finished the series more than a year ago, but just never got around to writing about it. I thought Samurai Champloo was excellent with its mix of action and comedy, and here are my thoughts about the series.
Some random thoughts on the 4-episode Bakemonogatari prequel Nekomonogatari: Kuro. This “mini”-series covers the events of when Hanekawa transformed into Black Hanekawa for the first time due to stress from her family.
Another anime season has come to an end. I don’t watch that much anime these days, so the only series that I’ve been watching been watching and not blogging that concluded in the season was Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse. Total Eclipse is a show about people using giant mechas to fight invading man-eating aliens. Oh and it also has pretty girls too, so it’s the type of show that I typically watch. Here are some final thoughts I have on this series.
My family has finally gotten into the whole tablet craze that has heated up over the last few years. One of my relatives was kind enough to give an old, first-generation iPad to us and we’ve played with it for a two weeks. My family likes the thing so far, and Apple’s iOS is pretty intuitive and user-friendly that even my parents have figured it out without too much help. So far, my mother and I mostly use the iPad to play games, particularly Bubble Mania which we take turns playing everyday. I also installed the usual big name tablet games such as Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds and Temple Run, but the free versions of Angry Birds have too few levels while Temple Run and Fruit Ninja rely too much on twitch reaction and they get old really quickly. Bubble Mania, on the contrary, can be played slowly and deliberately, and the game changes and gets more difficult as we move through the levels. The fact that the game makes you stop and “recharge” energy after losing a certain number of times is actually a plus in my books since it stops me from playing the game for too long.
Other than games, the only real use for the iPad is for surfing the internet. It does the task fairly well, but everyone in my family has a computer and we all prefer the larger computer screens and keyboard/mouse combo, so the iPad doesn’t get used for internet browsing very much. I suppose the iPad would be good for internet surfing while traveling since it is smaller and lighter than even the lightest laptops.
In related news, I’ve had a smartphone for more than half a year now. I’ve had an iPhone 4S since May, and I’m not sure why I haven’t written a post about it. The 4S is the first smart phone I’ve ever had. iPhones are popular partly because a lot of people think Apple products are cool, but after using my iPhone for a while I can say that iPhones are genuinely pretty good products. As mentioned before, Apple’s software is pretty easy to use and smooth, and the whole product is nicely packaged and presented. Unlike the iPad, I don’t really play games on my iPhone, and I don’t browse the internet with it because the screen is too small. Other than using the iPhone as a phone (for calling and texting), my next most common uses are to check email, take pictures, and use it for navigation. I don’t have a stand-alone camera, and I have even less motivation to get one since the 4S’ 8MP camera is quite decent for simple point-and-shoot. If I ever want to get into photography, I’d buy a compact-system or DSLR camera with interchangeable lenses. The 4S, with Siri is also quite good for finding directions and places while walking around during travels. Google Maps has always worked pretty well for this purpose. I’ve tried Apple Maps, and it sucked, at least when it came to finding walking directions. While in Boston, I tried finding walking directions to a subway stop that was within half a mile of our location and Apple Maps could not find a walking route to get us there. Needless to say, when Google Maps was released for iOS 6 I immediately downloaded it.
That’s it for my random two cents on technology products that I’ve been late to adopt. My parents will keep the old iPad, and I don’t think I’m going to buy a tablet for myself anytime soon. As the iPhone, we’ll see what happens when my current cellphone contract ends. It’s possible I might get a new phone and give the older phone to my parents, but that’s still a year and a half down the road.
One of my tasks when I returned home was to help my parents shop for a new car. My family had a 2000 Toyota Echo that served us well for over a decade, but the little problems are starting to add up and it was about time to get a new car. My parents needed a daily commuter, so the requirements were that the car is good on gas, is reliable, can fit into our small garage, but is bigger than the little Echo. In the end, my parents purchased a grey 2013 Toyota Matrix base model.
The current Matrix model has been around for a couple of years. It doesn’t have the greatest ratings anymore since competitors have newer models in the segment, but my family trusts Toyota’s reliability, and the Matrix is pretty tall and roomy for a compact hatchback. It’s not that much larger than the Echo, but it’s a little longer and wider which makes a difference especially in the back. The Matrix fits into our narrow garage, albeit the parking is a little more difficult than before. And the 1.8 L engine, which may consume a little more fuel than the Echo, is still pretty good on gas. With the new Matrix, we finally have a car that has power windows and locks and keyless entry. The Matrix is the third car my family has had, after the Echo and a rust-riddled 1990 Ford Tempo that was our first car. Hopefully the new car will remain problem free for even longer than the little Echo.