After holding out on the Lumia 900 and using the dated HTC Mozart 7 for the past 2 years, I finally made made the move to the new Lumia 920 released in Malaysia just a few days ago. Made a pre-order with a RM200 deposit which really makes no difference than buying it on the spot. Just that it was probably harder to get the red one and you might not get the free umbrella and pen drive. Yup, not much difference. Head on over after the break for my thoughts.
I find that I've been writing and intending to write a lot of Korea related posts (I went to Seoul for the 2nd time!) so I figured I should placed them in a separate specifically themed blog like how I did with my previous Bio-Nik blog. For now it's empty, but will hopefully start writing something over at CylusGoesK.blogspot.com. Excited!
Oh in case I've never mentioned this before, I'm a huge Superman fan! I've been following every single development of this movie. Has been a long wait. Hope it's worth it! Can't Wait! June 14th, 2013.
This time it's a special 2 episode post as both features the same guest and you have to enjoy it as a whole. Ok, the reason I liked this episode is simply because it features Girls' Generation! The theme this time was couples. There's definitely plenty of laughs in this. From the way they choose their partners, interaction between the couples and also the missions they perform. Funniest couple was of course Gwang Soo with his crush Yuri. Enjoy!
Here's a new one from a rookie group. It sorta has that pop rock feel that I would say not most K-Pop songs sound like. Very catchy. Don't know much about the band though. Enjoy the video and sing along with the lyrics after the break!
Haven't been touching the Xbox in a while. It's cuz I'm currently hooked on this Facebook game, SimCity Social. I've always enjoyed playing the Sim franchise especially SimCity and the Sims. So in anticipation of the new SimCity game coming next year, I thought I'd give this game a try. Can't believe now I'm hooked to it. Login in everyday and even paying to get the diamonds!
Wow it's been a while since I updated anything. Work has occupied my mind during that time. Lots of posts are left in draft status. Watched a few movies, bought a few albums and there's tons of K-Pop music released the past few weeks. So I'm gonna try to start posting again while I have some free time waiting for my next project. ;)
Been really really lazy lately. Perhaps work is bringing me down. Anyway, one of the biggest idol groups, Super Junior, has released a new song and album. It's called Sexy, Free & Single. It certainly has that unique Super Junior sound in the vines of Bonamana and Mr. Simple. I didn't instantly like it but after a few listen, it's actually catchy. Expect this to hit number one on various music chart shows. Enjoy the video and lyrics!
Here's an episode aired early 2011. I liked this episode as I thought this was the best "Find the Guest" mission in which the Running Men came close to catching the guest but ended up losing in the end. There was also the Guess the Drawing relay in which the hosts and guests show off their (terrible!) drawing skills. Hilarious! The last mission was the less interesting one as all they had to do was perform a musical number to the music of ABBA and choreography of Gee. It was ok but a little too long. Glad they got rid of the One Chance mission. Enjoy!
I haven't been enjoying the new releases since my last New K-Pop post. Simply 'cause I didn't find the new songs by f(x) (never heard a song I liked from them), Jo Kwon (his solo style is way different than 2AM) or Busker Busker (I'm actually still enjoying their 1st album) were any good, or maybe not yet from my intial listen. Any other recommendations? This new one from Sistar, released just a few days ago, is actually not bad. A fun song to be enjoyed over the summer season. I have to warn you though, the video is quite an eyeful ;). But then again, it's Sistar. Enjoy! Lyrics after the break.
It has been a while since I played anything on my XBOX. Simply because there weren't any games that piqued my interest right now and also I'm trying to save up some money. I was browsing about the Lego Batman 2 game but I ended up being interested in the expansion DLC for Arkham City, Harley Quinn's Revenge. I absolutely loved Arkham City as it was really engaging and complex at the same time. You really felt like a superhero and detective playing it. Since there's still no news of a sequel, we're treated to a continuation of the story in this DLC. More after the break.
Just last week Microsoft held a last minute event to announce that they're manufacturing their own tablet powered with the upcoming Windows 8. The line is called Surface, taking over the name from the touch screen table they've been developing previously. Details on the versions that will be available is after break.
We should always try to support our favourite acts by acquiring their music legally by either purchasing the physical CD or the digital copy so that they can continue serving us with more great music. I know we can get them at our local CD stores but I find them sometimes sold at very expensive prices, probably cause of the import duties. There's also the possibility that the CD you're looking for is not available at the store. Here are 2 3 online options, for international customers, that'll help you acquire K-Pop music legally and at a more reasonable price. Check it out after the break...
DoraDora has not even left the ears of K-Pop fans and U-Kiss has already released a new mini album. The title track from the 'specially dedicated to fans' album is Believe. It's sort of a ballad with a heavy dance beat. U-Kiss debuted together with the like of 2PM and SHINee but they've yet to risen to the level of these idols. Hopefully this new awesome song can help them to garner more listeners. Enjoy! Lyrics after the break.
2PM released their first full length Japanese album last year. They took some of their biggest hits and translated it into Japanese and also made new music to make it unique for the Japanese market. How did it fare against their Hands Up album? Check out my review of this awesome album after the break.
Another huge idol group that has made a comeback are the Wonder Girls. After the success of Be My Baby last year, they've been busy promoting themselves in the US with a hit movie on Nickelodeon and english song The DJ is Mine. Now they're back with their new Korean single and with a different sound compared to their previous hits. It's more modern but the girls still have their identity intact. The video though is a bit low budget for Wonder Girls standard. They're sort of going for that fancam style but then does it have to be? We'll just have to get used to it. The song is already rising up the charts. Go JYP! Enjoy guys. Lyrics after the break.
I will not let my laziness get the best of me....Haha. So many great new songs came out lately so I'm gonna be posting them soon. Let's start with MYNAME's Hello & Goodbye. I've never heard of their previous song, Message so I'm not sure how good they were. One thing I felt was different for this song compared to your average rookie songs nowadays is that it has a more mature sound. More R&B but still Pop. I think that's what makes this song stand out. Anyways, listen it for yourself. Enjoy! Lyrics after the break.
Ok so I'm writing this post as my entry for the contest organized by Korea Plaza Malaysia. After failing to win the Touch Korea Tour, I thought I'd try my luck with this contest. Hopefully I'll be able to score a flight ticket to Korea! 2 things I needed to write about..
Originally posted 25/5/12: So I was browsing the web yesterday aimlessly looking for any interesting K-Pop news, then I found out that in fact there'll be K-Pop artists coming here as soon as this weekend. Later in the day I found out about more artists coming. After having FT Island, Girls' Generation and Jay Park touched down our soil this year, can't believe more are coming. Check out who when they're coming after the break.
I notice I have been a bit lazy lately in posting. Stupid work stuff has got me all stressed out. Hopefully it goes away soon as I have a few posts sitting in draft mode. Huhu. Anyway, Big Bang released their latest song last Sunday titled Monster. On first listen, I was already hooked. This is some good stuff. They've been releasing a lot of great music lately that I'm now a fan. I'll be sure to catch them when they come here to Malaysia. I notice for a more serious boy band they do sometimes have a flamboyant image. Take for example the video for this song. Very weird. That's the world of K-Pop I guess. Enjoy this special edition of New K-Pop! Lyrics after the break.
The next few months we'll probably have a lot of new K-Pop as there are quite a number of idol groups getting ready to make their combacks. Wonder Girls, Big Bang, 2NE1, 2PM are all gonna be releasing new music soon. But before that, there's still good music coming from newer acts right now. This week's new K-Pop is from the group B1A4. I've heard of their song 'Beautiful Target' which sounded a bit like Black Eyed Peas' I Got a Feeling but other than that, wasn't really impressed. Until I heard their new song, Sleep Well, Goodnight. After listening to its catchy chorus, I was hooked! It's like a simple innocent feel good song that you want to be listening while hangin' out with friends chillin' by the beach. Kinda brings you back to the days of Euro pop dance acts like Vengaboys or Aqua. But this is a million times better! Enjoy! Lyrics after the break.
The 2nd Part of the Park Ji Sung Special is now up at KShowNow. This episode features UI joining the hosts and footballer in racing to win cash to spend in Thailand. The first game was a 2 vs 7 football match. It then followed with the race mission around Incheon. Click on the image to watch the episode. Check out my after thoughts after the break.
Gym Class Heroes just released the video for its new single 'The Fighter' which features additional vocals by Ryan Tedder. The song is actually from the 2011 album Papercut Chronicles II and released as a single after the success of Stereo Hearts and Back Home. Knew about this song last year thanks to Shazam when I heard it playing in a store. Enjoy!
Yesterday I managed to go to Putrajaya to catch U-KISS performing live for the Hari Belia Negara 2012 (National Youth Day). I thought I was gonna be late arriving at 9pm but luckily they just started! After my dissappointing first K-Pop concert with SNSD during Twin Towers @ Live 2012 (Only manage to watch from far), finally manage to watch a satisfying concert. Yeay! Here are some videos of their performance I manage to capture. Enjoy!
This week's new K-Pop is from the new rookie male group BtoB. After debuting with Insane, they turn things around and release this ballad. I must say I'm impressed with their vocals. Usually if you sing up-tempo, you'd stick with it but these guys proved to everyone that they can definitely sing (Damn, a lot of Koreans have huge vocals!). The song is dedicated to the main man in all our lives, our abeoji aka Dad. And so I'd like to dedicate this song to my Dad. Love ya Dad! Wish he can understand it though. Anyway, enjoy! Lyrics after the break.
Last Sunday I thought I'd treat my mum and sis to watch this movie at the cinema since my parents are suddenly into going to the movies nowadays. What I did know initially about the movie was that it was based on a best-selling book. So I thought, this can't be that bad. And look at the star-studded cast. Check out my quick review of this comedy after the break.
In conjunction with his appearance on The Voice, Adam Levine and his bandmates has released a new single called Payphone which features Wiz Khalifa. This is considered 2012's Moves Like Jagger. It's an up-tempo "ballad" of sort which I thought was something totally different from what Maroon 5 has released before. It's more pop than rock. Nevertheless, it's still a good and catchy track. Check out the lyrics after the break. Enjoy!
Newsflash! If you're planning to visit Korea and get a chance to see your favourite K-Pop acts perform live, now is probably the time as a whole line-up of popular K-Pop artists are set to perform over a series of concerts during the Yeosu Expo 2012 period. The table below lists the line up scheduled to perform so far. The concert is free but of course you'll need to pay for admissions to the Expo. Good thing is that Expo looks like it's gonna an awesome event. Wish I could go... More info here.
If you're anticipating new songs from Girls' Generation, this might be good enough. SM has created a sub-unit of GG consisting of Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun. The song has a tinge of Motown but with more modern beats. To me Motown is great but it might get a bit boring after a lot of replaying. It does feels like something familiar you've heard ages ago. But for now, I'm still enjoying it. I also like the other song in this EP titled Baby Steps. Ok now I can't decide who my favourite GG member is as I've fallen for Taeyeon too! Enjoy! Lyrics and links after the break.
Jessie J releases another single from her re-released debut album Who You Are, this time with the help of David Guetta. After Domino, I think she's trying to capture the American market by making more commercial pop/dance songs. I would say they are different from her previous efforts like Do It Like A Dude, Nobody's Perfect & Who You Are. The song has some sort of similar build up like Fireworks by Katy Perry. Either way, it's worth a listen. Lyrics and links after the break. Enjoy!
The latest subbed episode of Running Man is now available thanks to KShowNow. This week's episode is themed Wedding Race. It continues last week's guest appearance by Han Seung-yeon and Park Gyu-ri from Kara, HyunA from 4Minute, Krystal from f(x) and Suzy from miss A. Looks like the hosts and guests are divided into couples and dressed up in wedding attire as they race. Which couple will win? Let's watch! Click on the image to view the episode and I'll follow up with my review of the episode. My review is after the break.
My first ever K-Pop album was my album purchase for the month of March (I sorta have a budget to follow ;p). Since my first exposure to K-Pop was thanks to 2PM's Fly to Seoul and I'll Be Back, I thought it would be worthwhile to check out the rest of the album. And sure enough I have no regrets. Check my well overdue review of the album after the break.
So proud that The Wanted are now even more famous than ever! I'm glad I had the chance to meet them when they were over here and still practically unknown. With the success of Glad You Came in the US, it's time for them to release a new song to keep the momentum going. And so Chasing the Sun is born. This was a new song featured in their US EP and will soon be released in the UK. The track is a little more darker than GYC but will still get you humming to its beats. The US EP features a couple of new songs and also songs from their first 2 UK album. You can check out my review of their 2nd album Battleground here. Enjoy! Lyrics and links after the break.
I think U-Kiss is the most underrated K-Pop act right now. Their songs are good but they are often overlooked. I liked their previous song 0330 which was a really sad song. They are now back with a new EP called DoraDora. I like the title track but no as much as the other track in that EP called Amazing. This song I would say is more radio-friendly and should've been the lead single. Hope they released a video and perform this on music chart shows to make it heard by everyone. In the meantime, enjoy the audio! Lyrics and links to purchase are after the break.
The latest running man man is out at KShowNow. This episode featured 5 guests from top female idol groups, Han Seung-yeon and Park Gyu-ri from Kara, HyunA from 4Minute, Krystal from f(x) and returning Suzy from miss A. The theme this week was Survival Game. I haven't been able to watch it in full yet but the Running Man first votes for the person they want to get eliminated. Then they have to attempt to take off the nametag of the person with the most votes within the given time. Not sure when the guests comes in. Haven't reached that part. If the most voted is eliminated within the given time, they will not proceed to the next round. The final mission will have them try to survive each other and also gain advantage or disadvantage by meeting the guests in around the last location. Enjoy it first by clicking the image below and I'll update with my review a little later. My review is after the break.
Been a while since I introduced some good unreleased English songs. I thought I'd make this time special by making a music video out of the track. The song, A Million More Years was featured in Olly Murs' debut self-titled album. When I finally got the album, it was around the time Captain America was released last year. I find that the love story portion of the movie kinda fits the song. Hope I can make more but it's really time consuming. Anyway, enjoy this one for now! Lyrics and links to purchase his album are after the break.
This was one of the earlier episodes where they had a few missions to determine the winning team. It features guests Lee Joon from MBLAQ, Victoria from f(x) and Park Jun-Gyu. I liked this episode simply because the MCs were hilarious in carrying out their missions especially the first 2, the chopstick breaking and clothes peg tug-of-war mission. They looked definitely painful. This was also the first episode Gary confesses that he like Ji Hyo. Ji Hyo was still very shy back then. The hide-and-seek mission was different in that those hiding have alarms attached to them so that the seekers can find out their location. The last segment showed clips of the MCs before joining Running Man. Enjoy!
Here's a new song from a new band called Busker Busker. They rose to fame after coming in runner-up in the talent competition Superstar K3 on Mnet. After taking a short break since the competition, they are now back with their debut self-titled album. Their sound is no typical K-Pop, more like what their name stands for. I like this song because of its simplicity. Once you enjoy the melody, you'll get hooked. Lyrics and links after the break. Enjoy!
I'm finally at my last post on my travel to South Korea which happened earlier this year. How fast time flies by. The next days were spent around Seoul checking out places to shop and the historic sites around town. Check my full post after the break.
Spring rolls for breakfast? Meh..
The host at the Amethyst shop explains what Amethyst is all about
I've been setting out to do this ever since finding out about the Touch Korea Tour contest last 2 weeks. Arrgghh.. feels like it's too late now. Entry closes in 2 days and I need to gather views. It's a compilation of clips from my trip to Korea earlier this year featuring me and my cousins. Anyway, I hope, by some miracle, I could win the contest. Thanks for watching!
Yahoo! It's finally here! Summer movie season has started with the opening of The Avengers in cinemas this week. Malaysians are lucky enough to get the movie screened 1 week earlier than the US. Thanks to the persuasion of a friend, I kept myself awake and watched the midnight showing (My inner geek squealed with excitement). After introducing the main characters through multiple individual movies over the years, the first assembly finally happened. It has to be good right? But how good? Head on after the break for my full review.
This week's new K-Pop was actually released in February this year. Not sure if this was released as a single in Korea but I know that he released the Japanese version. This was around the same time as his other single, When I Can't Sing, but I like this song better. It's featured on his self-titled 2nd mini album. I've never heard of Se7en's other songs besides this and When I Can't Sing but this is my favourite so far. It has the typical pop-rock hit formula and the lyrics are addictive as well. Let me know if you like this song. Lyrics and links to purchase are after the break.
We were informed by our tour guide that the day will be very cold. In fact, at -17°C, it was the coldest day in Seoul in 34 years. Our day started with breakfast at a restaurant in Itaewon called Evergreen. It was a sort of Arab style breakfast with Naan bread and curry among the food offered. That was unexpected as I was ready to be content with hotel breakfast. That would've been better though after last night's Indian flavored dinner (Reminds me of New Zealand when I had a lot of Indian food cuz they were halal). The day's activities planned was a trip to Lotte World and downtown Dongdaemun for some shopping.
After the successes of the Transformers and G.I. Joe movies, another popular Hasbro product is brought to life into our silver screens. Battleship is based on the game where the players guess the coordinates of their opponent's battleships and ultimately eliminating their ships. Read on after the break for my thoughts on the film adaptation of this game.
Here's another favourite episode of mine of Running Man. Mainly due to its theme, Super Heroes! This was the 2nd Survival Series in which the members battle to eliminate each other. The last mission was a simple "Take off other members' tag" but with each member having a super power making the mission more difficult. I liked how they manage to give the effect of having super powers. It so made sense. Enjoy!
After spending most of my free time catching up on all Running Man episodes, next thing for me to concentrate on was Mass Effect 3. I already got this early March but could never get myself to start it as I knew I'm gonna have to spend a lot of my time on this. Once I started, I couldn't stop. Spent hours after work every day engaging myself in this. This means it's a good thing right? Head on over after the break for my review of this latest RPG from Bioware.
It's new K-Pop Thursday again! This one has been released for quite a while. I really like a lot of the ballads that 2AM came out with. Particularly You Wouldn't Answer My Calls, Can't Let You Go Even If I Die and Like Crazy. After I think a year and a half of absence from the music scene, they are now back better than ever with the comeback single I Wonder If You Hurt Like Me. On initial listen, I didn't really quite get the melody it was going for but really liked it after a few listen. The video is quite elaborate (as with all K-Pop videos nowadays). Lyrics and link to purchase after the break. Enjoy!
Previous Posts: Day 1&2, Day 3, Day 4 The fifth day started with breakfast at a nearby Japanese restaurant. Fish chips with Udon. Strange for breakfast but the fish chips were delicious. I guess since we were so used to eating healthy Korean dishes that anything fried is delicious at that moment. After breakfast, it was time to ski! I'm not sure if the ski shoes were suppose to be tight but mine almost felt like it cut all the blood circulation from ankle down. The walk to the slope was at times slippery. We were taken to the easiest slope, for obvious reasons. Only my family opted to learn how to ski. The rest of the tour members just watched us make fools out of ourselves.
After spending 2011 promoting their Japanese album, SHINee returns with their new comeback single, Sherlock. Sherlock is so-called a hybrid of 2 songs individually titled Clue and Note. Being a new K-Pop fan, I find that this is my favourite song from them. The other I liked is only Hello. Compared to their previous sound, seems they're going for an edgier approach to their music. The thumping bass makes this a great anthemic dance track. It's already no. 1 on the Gaon chart. The video also features Jessica of Girls' Generation :). Lyrics and link to purchase after the break. Enjoy!
My trip to Korea continues with us jetting back to Seoul on Day 4 in the morning and heads straight to Nami Island. We reached the harbor at Gapyeong Wharf at about noon. We were told that Nami Island is apparently now an independent republic, having its own passport, flag and currency. I was a bit confused there since we were freely able to go there without any real 'immigration'. We took a boat ride across icy waters to the island known to many as the shooting location of the popular drama Winter Sonata.
The welcome sign to Nami Island at the Gapyeong Wharf before taking the boat
Do you still remember the hit song Buses and Trains from Bachelor Girl? They were an Australian duo that shot to fame over here with that hit song. I had their album, Waiting for the Day and it had a bunch of songs that I thought should've been hits on radios. Unfortunately, their popularity didn't last long here, although Buses and Trains is still occasionally played on the radio. One of my favourite track from the album is You Are Afraid. Lyrics after the break. Enjoy!
Wrath of the Titans is the sequel to 2010's remake of Clash of the Titans. The early success of the remake quickly spearheaded the development of this sequel. Reviews by critics doesn't seem positive for the sequel as seen at Rotten Tomatoes. However, because I really enjoyed the remake (and also I didn't have to pay for the tix ;p), I went to watch the movie without hesitation. I read somewhere that people who went to watch it enjoyed it so that didn't lower too much of my expectation. My review is after the break.
Since my new interest is now K-Pop, I thought I'd make a regular post on new K-Pop music that's out there. I'll start with this one from Shayne Orok. He's originally from Canada, posting regular videos of him singing on YouTube. He then entered a worldwide search for a Korean singing competition called MBC Star Audition and ended up getting 3rd place. From then on he signed a recording contract with Sony Music Korea and released some singles since. Here's his latest, Looking at You, taken from his 2nd mini album, Shayne's World. Lyrics and link to purchase his album after the break. Enjoy!
My February CD purchase was One Direction's Up All Night. I like their first 3 singles so I thought that that would qualify for an album purchase since the album on top of my list, In Case You Didn't Know by Olly Murs is still not out here. Read my review on the album after the break.
I have been listening to a lot of K-Pop since coming back from Korea. One of my favourite K-Pop artist so far is 2PM. I can say I enjoy most of their songs as their music is more to the kind of pop I like. So I got their album, Hands Up and instantly took a liking to this particular song, Don't You Know. The music sort of has a 90's old school throwback to it which I like a lot (the 90's was the best!). Enjoy!
...And the journey continues. Continuing my post for Day 3. If you missed Day 1 & 2, click here. Day 3 started quite early for us as we had packed day scheduled for us. The first stop was Seopjikoji Hill which was used as the shooting location for the drama "All In". They built the church on top of the hill here and kept it for tourist attraction purpose. It wasn't easy to reach there though as you'll need to walk quite a stretch along the coast to reach the different spot available there. I didn't get to go all the way to the lighthouse as we took a while taking photos and videos along the way. There were pony stables where you can ride them for a fee, the church set and a grassy hill top perfect for a picture moment. We also had ice cream on the way down even though the weather is freezing cold.
Last weekend I had the chance of watching The Hunger Games. It is based on the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. According to my sis, the books were recommended by Twilight author Stephanie Meyer, making it anticipated by Twi-Hards as well. I read it made USD152.5 million on its opening weekend. That makes it right behind The Dark Knight for list of highest grossing weekend ever. The film stars today's rising young stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. as well as big names like Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci and Woody Harrelson. Read on after the break for my review of the movie.
Have you guys heard of Karmin? Well they're a musical duo that started out making covers of songs on YouTube. The lead female singer (forgot her name!) is known for her fast talking/rapping. They are actually an engaged couple! Their first single, Crash Your Party didn't really set the charts on fire (though I liked it) so here's to hoping their new song Brokenhearted will make them even more well-known. Enjoy!
I figured I should write about my trip to South Korea sooner than later, before I don't remember anything. End of last January I went on a tour of South Korea together with my aunts and cousins. Been a while since I took a trip overseas so I immediately jumped at the chance eventhough I didn't know what to expect. Anywhere to get away from work! I ended up loving it and even missing it until now. My journey starts right after the break...
I'm getting a bit carried away with this Korean thing. I missed it so much that I've been embracing a lot of its pop culture. I'm now listening to K-Pop, did try to watch some Korean dramas, been watching KBS World, One HD, Arirang and tvN, and now I'm obsessed with this funny show called Running Man. Read on after the break to find out what the show is all about.
I like listening to different kinds of music. One of the first country artists I listened to was Billy Gilman back in 2000. I liked his songs Oklahoma and One Voice. This was another song I liked from his album One Voice. It's called Spend Another Night. It does felt less appropriate for a then 12 year old but the song is good. Enjoy!
Last Sunday, I got free tix to watch Cuci the Musical: Last Kopek at Istana Budaya courtesy of my awesome cousin who is a dancer in the show. I thought I'd share my thoughts on the musical here. If you're thinking about watching it, maybe my review can help you decide. Head on over after the break for the full write-up.
This morning Malaysia time, Apple announced the succesor to the iPad 2, the New iPad. Some call it iPad 3, some 4G iPad. The new gizmo will sport a higher resolution screen with Retina Display, a faster processor, the A5X and 5MP iSight camera. It will be a little thicker and heavier, but probably unnoticeable. How does the new iPad stack up against its predecessor? Well, to me, hard to say it's anything groundbreaking. It's the sort of upgrades you would expect for a succesor. But of course, it will still fly off shelves once released. Head on over to Engadget for full features and comparison.Besides announcing the new iPad, a new version of iOS, iTunes and Apple TV were announced. Time to upgrade!
One weird thing about me is that I like to read about death. One of my favourite books was 'What A Way To Go' which details some of the strangest deaths ever recorded. Believe me, there are thousands of ways someone can die. Ever since then, whenever I read crimes that involves death in gruesome or even weird ways, I'd get intrigued about it. There's also a show I just found out last year called '1000 Ways to Die' on YouTube. Some of the deaths featured never happened and some of them real. I found out about the Darwin Awards when I was watching an episode of the show. This led me to read the story of the real person who died in that way. Head on after the break to read more about what the Darwin Awards are for...
Boybands are back? The Wanted just hit no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week with Glad You Came. Proud of them. Was lucky enough to meet them when they visited Malaysia in January 2011. Malaysia still hasn't been able to embrace them but hopefully their chart success will make that happen. I wished they'd release their first album in the US so that people could hear the great songs it featured. One of my favorite is Golden, a simple yet beautiful ballad that shows their vocal capability (especially Max). Enjoy!
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona yesterday, Nokia announced that the Lumia 900 is getting the global treatment. Coming to Canada in April and UK to follow after that. The only change the global version will bring is replacing the LTE capability with HSDPA+. Immediately following the announcement, I found out the Nokia Malaysia site has updated its site to include the 900 and also the newly announced 610. This would indicate that the phone is definitely coming here. But when, would be the question. The soonest would probably be Q2 2012. Let's hope it doesn't take too long. You can check out my previous post about the US version of 900 to check out what features are in store here.
It will be selling for about 480 euros which is about RM1945 here. That's reasonable enough given the 800 is at RM1650 and the improvements on top of the 800 is abundant. If you still haven't bought the 800, best to wait for this one as the features are worth the wait. On top of hardware, you'll also get Nokia Drive (voice-guided navigation), Maps and hopefully the other apps (Music, Reading) soon.
Dance Central 2 was the last game I bought so I thought of reviewing it after playing it for a while. It is the sequel to the best-selling dance game on Kinect, Dance Central (obviously). It came from the same developer that brought Rock Band, Harmonix. Read my review after the break.
This one is one of the rare alternative music that I like. I liked My Chemical Romance's 'Black Parade' album especially this opening track. I even used the track as my alarm ringtone to remind me that I better wake up if I don't want to be 'dead'. Haha. Anyway, enjoy the track!
OK, I might be a little late on this. On February 10th, the new Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 were finally launched here in Malaysia. Nokia really went all out to launch the device at Pavilion, KL. Details on the phone, price and plans offered are also available after the break.
I bought this album last December and hadn't had a chance to review it. Ed Sheeran is the latest british act to storm the music scene last year, and he just picked up 2 BRIT awards this week. I first took notice of his song 'The A Team' when a contestant on the UK X Factor sang the song. From then on I followed his next releases and liked them. Went everywhere to see if his album '+' is released here and finally found it at Rock Corner. Read my review after the break.
One of my favourite documentaries to watch is Air Crash Investigation. I'm never fond flying and watching this makes it worse but I don't know why, I just enjoy watching it. I like watching stuff about disasters (What does that tell about me?). It does gives you an understanding of what happened and teaches you a bit about aviation industry. They learn from these incidents and make the airplanes safer. It's already in its 11th season with a 12th under production currently. You can watch episodes online on YouTube by searching either Air Crash Investigation or Mayday, its original Canadian title. You can refer the list of episodes here. Here are some of my favourite episodes after the break.
Here's a classic. I've been a long time Jason Mraz fan ever since 'I Won't Worry' and my favourite album of his was Mr. A-Z. That set might have produced just minor hits but there were more great songs in there than the others, to me. Here's one of them. I couldn't embed the album version due to copyright but you can easily find it in YouTube. Happy listening!
It's been a while since my last post. Planned a few posts but never got to finish them. I also went on vacation to South Korea about 2 weeks ago. As usual, I'll get obsessed with the places I visit. I'm hoping to write about my adventures in upcoming posts. Ever since the trip, I've been tuning in to KBS World and immersed myself in Korean Dramas and K-pop! Haha... It might just be a phase but while I'm at it, might as well write about it. Here are videos of K-pop songs that I'm really into right now. Any of them your favourite or maybe I manage to make you like them?
This is probably an obvious choice. Before I came to Korea, I didn't have deep knowledge of K-pop. The famous one I remember was Wonder Girls' Nobody.
I loved Journey to the Center of the Earth when it was released back in 2008. It was one of the first movie that utilises 3D technology back then. It was definitely a fun movie to watch in 3D. And I'm a fan of Brendan Fraser since the Mummy movies. He manage to be both an action and comedic hero. Ever since the first Journey hit $100 million at the box office, I was hoping they'd come out with a sequel. I followed every development of the sequel since then. And it's finally here! We Malaysian even get it a month ahead of the US release. Read my review after the break...
Blake Lewis was the runner-up in the 6th season of American Idol. He's the one that loves to beatbox in his performances. Didn't really watch that season but I started to notice his music when he released his 1st single, 'Break Anotha' and then 'How Many Words' which I liked a lot. It's sort of a 90's club ballad. I bought his album, 'ADD: Audio Day Dream' after seeing it on sale at HMV last year and found a number of songs I like. One of them is 'End of the World'
The song is about the hope of finding love even if that happens at the end of the world. I find it inspiring especially for those that finds it hard to find love. No matter what, if it's meant to be, love will find its way. It has that 80's romance movie kind of theme. The song could have been a fitting soundtrack to 'Some Kind of Wonderful' if anyone remembered that movie. Hope you like it!
I'm excited for this review. Why? Simply because I just wanna spread the word how good this album is! When Hot Chelle Rae first came out mainstream with 'Tonight Tonight', I thought they were gonna be a one hit wonder artist. Took them a while to get this out due to their original record company, Jive closing and moving all artists to RCA. Their album was finally released last November and it was worth the wait!
'Tonight Tonight' was the first single released from the album, peaking at no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. A fun party song perfect for the summer. This was later followed by the 2nd single, 'I Like It Like That'. It's in the same vein as 'Tonight Tonight' but its high pitched chorus just makes me wanna jump up n down even more. Haha. There's absolutely no bad song in this set. Enjoyed every single one of them. 'Honestly' is a great follow up to the first 2 songs as it tones the sound a bit but still keeps the momentum going. 'Keep You With Me' and 'The Only One' are up-tempo ballads that fits well in the album. 'Radio' and 'Whatever' brought back the momentum in the middle of the album. 'Forever Unstoppable' is sort of an inspirational song about overcoming obstacle and believing that anything's possible. The one song that's different from the rest is I think 'Why Don't You Love Me' as it slightly moved towards a bit of rock ballad. It features Demi Lovato. Nevertheless it was still a great song to listen to. On my initial listen to 'Downtown Girl', I felt it sounded a bit like Pink's 'Raise Your Glass'. Though I've grown to like this even more. 'Beautiful Freaks' is a bit closer to their previous sound. Preview each songs in the embedded soundcloud widget below.
The sound on this album is like a mix of Smash Mouth and All-American Rejects but heavy on the pop. I actually didn't expect them to have a pop album with their initial image. I thought 'Tonight Tonight' would just be used to entice listeners to buy a somewhat mediocre album but my guesses were wrong. It has high replay value. Been listening to the whole album over and over again since I bought it. Your first impression might say all the songs sound the same but with more listen you definitely can tell the difference. It's a fun party album to bring your mood up and make you jump. It's hard to find an album where you like all of the songs so I definitely would recommend you listen to it!
There's so many great TV shows nowadays that you can't keep up! I used to like to watch dramas a lot back when I was studying. Smallville, Everwood, the CSI series etc. But now I get bored easily and enjoy comedy more. There's no denying Modern Family is one of the most funniest new shows right now. It's hilarious! This show also makes me laugh hard. It reminded me of Friends a little bit, but crazier.
Happy Endings tell the story of 6 friends living in Chicago (I think) surviving the every day challenges of life. There's Alex (Elisha Cuthbert, '24') and Dave (Zachary Knighton, 'FlashForward'), best friends who were suppose to get married but didn't when Alex ran out on her at the altar after having second thoughts. After a while, Alex returns so they have to learn to live with what happened if they still want to hang out with their other friends. There's Jane (Eliza Coupe, 'Scrubs'), Alex's sister, who kinda has OCD and likes to be in control, who married to Brad (Damon Wayans Jr., 'Dance Flick'), who seems weirdly gay but straight. The one who's really gay is Max (), who's also a lazy slob. Lastly there's Penny (Casey Wilson, 'SNL'), who's desperately seeking love hoping not to end up a spinster. Here's a clip from the first episode of Season 2.
The series started OK with the first episode but was unstable with the comedy throughout the first season. The 2nd season really made me love the show. The casts have great chemistry together and you could really feel like they were best friends. The show's not really blowing up the ratings although it airs right after Modern Family but luckily it has enough viewers to get a pick up. I hope it just gets better from here on. You guys should really check it out!
I love Katy Perry! Haha... I have to admit I was captivated by her big round eyes when I first saw her. But of course, there's also the music. She just makes great pop song and her voice just suits the type of tracks she sings. Teenage Dream might've been her best album (very very high replay value) but she also had great songs in her debut that are worth listening to. One of them that I've recently been listening to is the other ballad in that album, I'm Still Breathing.
The meaning behind the song though can be interpreted to 2 things. It's about the relationship not going so well so either she's alluding her other half that they should just break up or she wants to end her life due to the lyrics about preparing for her funeral. Either way, I think it's smart for not being straight-forward. Hope you guys like it!
2011 brought me Arkham City, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Gears of War 3 and I got Kinect! It's only the beginning of the year and we already know a lot of big titles coming out this year. I can't wait! Here I count down my 3 most anticipated video games coming to the Xbox 360 (and other consoles).
Mass Effect 3
Pre-ordered mine already! I just love sci-fi games. The human vs aliens genre gets me every time. Played the first 2 and I loved it. I think this is like the only RPG I've ever played til the end. This time they said they've improved the combat system. I hope the improvement is making it feels more like a proper shooter. I felt that the combat in the previous 2 games were a bit unstable. There's also co-op support so I hope this could my friends to get the game as well. Those countries where Kinect voice recognition is supported can now use voice to select the desired dialogue. It's coming out March 6th.
BioShock Infinite
When I tried out the demo for the first BioShock I was freakin' scared. The soundtrack was so haunting that I was afraid that something would jump out from every corner. When those dead zombies (forgot what they're called) suddenly rushes to you, I scrambled to figure out which ADAM to switch to. The sequel wasn't really engaging. The main story already ended with the first that there was no way to continue it so they made a prequel story. I didn't even finish playing it. This new one will feature a whole new back story and a more brighter environment. From the trailer, it looks to have you swinging between lands floating in the sky. Comes out later in the year.
Halo 4
Of course! The game that made me addicted to the Xbox is continuing! No report on what the story will be about. A continuation to what happened to Master Chief would be nice since I was a bit sad he didn't make it back home. Tentatively releasing in the 4th quarter of the year. Definitely pre-ordering.
Honorable mentions: GTA V (Never played GTA so I might start with this one), Prey 2 (Played the first but it's been so long I forgot how it goes), Kinect Games (no news on any yet) and Assassin's Creed 3 (Given Ubisoft intends to release an AC game every year, this is possibly happening. If true, definitely getting it)
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