J's Chimes: Samsung ST100

After an amazing Chinese New Year Celebrations, we went to bought a brand new camera for use with casual photography purposes. So as to say, we needed a compact camera besides the Canon EOS550D DSLR... Stumble upon the Samsung ST100 which is very impressive for a compact camera...


And the best part? Probably because of the New Year Celebrations, this camera is sold at a fantastic price of SGD$399... Yup, we did check around various shops and such and found our that it would be normally price at a retail of at least $450 and above and some were sold at SGD$579 instead... The Samsung ST100 is a 14.2 Megapixel camera with a 5X Zoom and touch screen interface. But there's more...


Yup, the Samsung ST100 has a dual screen capability which allows you to take personal shots from the front. Not only that, you can actually view photos from the front too...


And the best of all would be that the interface is complete touchscreen. The camera also has the ability to edit photos too which makes it so useful and amazing. With HD recording ready, it's seriously worth your money...


One of my personal favs is the editing mode. You could edit the picture using the camera directly. Dun like your current shots? How about spicing it up a bit...


A vignetting edit mode for the Samsung ST100. There are a lot of editing features for this camera and it certainly adds value to it. This compact camera could surprising take closeup shoots too clearly like a DSLR so am pretty happy with the results... Time for a little trial run outside...

J's Chimes: Happy Chinese New Year 2011

Finally the day has come. J's Chimes wishes everyone a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year. Time to collect Ang Baos and buy more anime models soon...

J's Chimes: The Dead Are Back For More Space...

Once again the popular Survival Horror game titled Dead Space is back with a second installment. More gruesome and intense than ever, Dead Space will surely make you scream and go crazy while fighting for survival. Released on the 25 Jan 2011 this year, Dead Space 2 features both singleplayer and multiplayer mode to fight the monsters known as Necromorphs.


Engineer Isaac Clarke returns in Dead Space 2 for another blood-curdling adventure in the sequel to Dead Space 1. After waking from a coma on a massive space city known as "The Sprawl", the lone survivor of a horrific alien infestation finds himself confronting a catastrophic new nightmare. Battling dementia, hunted by the government, and haunted by visions of his dead girlfriend, Isaac will do whatever it takes to save himself and dominate the gruesome onslaught.


The game's pretty cinematic and gives a great and deadly ambiance of the infested station that crawls with the many necromorphs that roamed the place. Not every moment is calm or a safe haven as the second installment releases more terror than ever before, leaving you at the mercy of those flesh ripping monsters. Dead Space 2 currently retails at approximately SGD$58 and above so you might wanna grab a copy because its a recommended game for this year...


Yup, whatever you might see here is the actual footage and gameplay of the game. If you have yet to know what Dead Space is about, there's even a recap mode in the game mode. Or you could even simply purchase Dead Space 1 and play it as it's now a platinum hit which is priced at SGD$39.90 each. You can also visit the website here for more info. Time to survive the horror once again...

J's Chimes: Animes To Watch This Season

It's about a month since the new anime season begins. All animes this winter are already airing more or less so let's take a quick look at what's in store for you to watch and catch up with the episodes before it's too late...

BEELZEBUB

Strong delinquent Oga picks up a baby that turns out to be the son of the Great Demon King! Chosen to raise the baby until he's in age of destroying mankind, together with the demon maid Hilda, they're sure to make mankind die... of laughter!

DRAGON CRISIS

A normal high school boy Kisaragi Ryuji's peaceful life is turned into an adventure by the return of his second cousin Eriko. Ryuji and Eriko seize a relic box from a black broker. In the box, they find a red dragon girl Rose. In order to protect Rose from the black organization, Ryuji decides to fight using his power as a relic handler

FREEZING

Beings from a different dimension have started a war with mankind. To counter this threat an academy called "Genetics" that trains female warriors called "Pandora" who can wield special weaponry and armor was formed. Kazuya Aoi decided to enroll in this school because of a promise with his sister, an outstanding alumnus who died in battle. There he meets Bridgette L. Satellizer nicknamed "The Untouchable Queen" due to her solitary demeanor but also the top student of the academy whose battle simulation streak was undefeated until he came...and slowly changed her.

FRACTALE

The story takes place on an island resembling a futuristic Ireland, where a "Fractale System" is beginning to collapse. One day, Clain finds an injured girl called Phryne under a cliff, who disappears leaving a pendant. Clain sets out for a journey with the girl-shaped avatar Nessa to look for Phryne and discovers the secret of the Fractale System.

GOSICK

Gosick takes place in 1924 in a small, made-up European country of Sauville. The story centers on Kazuya Kujo, who is a transfer student to St. Marguerite Academy, where urban legends and horror stories are all the rage. There he meets Victorique, a mysterious yet beautiful and brilliant girl who never comes to class and spends her days reading the entire content of the library or solving mysteries that even detectives can't solve...

HOUROU MUSUKO

Fifth grader Nitori Shuuichi is a rather feminine boy who looks good in girl's clothes, enjoys things like baking, and tends to have mostly female friends. He and his sixth grade sister Maho transfer to a new school, where Shuuichi ends up sitting next to Takatsuki Yoshino, a tomboy that he gets along well with. Soon, they both discover each other's secrets, and find that they are not so different; in fact, they are very much the same.

INFINITE STRATOS

In the near future, a Japanese scientist engineers a powered exoskeleton called "Infinite Stratos" A 15 year old Japanese boy, named Ichika Orimura, is discovered to be capable of operating an IS. Realizing the potential, Ichika is forced by the Japanese government to attend the prestigious Infinite Stratos Academy, an international academy where IS pilots from all over the world are trained. Thus his busy school life surrounded by girls begins.

KIMI NI TODOKE 2ND SEASON

Sawako Kuronuma, called Sadako by her classmates for her resemblance to the character Samara from 'The Ring', has always been feared and misunderstood because of her appearance. There are rumors that Sawako can see ghosts and curse people. But when her idol, the popular Kazehaya, begins talking with her, everything changes. She finds herself in a new world, making new friends and talking to different people. Sawako opens up to new people, making it easy for them to hurt her or help her. Which will her new friends do?

KORE WA ZOMBIE DESU KA

Ayumu Aikawa is a zombie, resurrected by a necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe after being killed by a serial killer. As he tries to make the best of his undead life, he encounters a magical girl named Haruna and inadvertently takes her magic powers, being forced to become a magical girl in the process...

ONIICHAN NO KOTO NANKA ZENZEN SUKI JANAIN DAKARA NE
Nao Takanashi loves her brother Shūsuke despite the incest taboo. Nao thinks that Shūsuke is her blood relative, but in fact she is an adopted daughter, whose parents already died. After Nao learns the fact, she wants to normally fall in love with Shūsuke because siblings by adoption can marry under the family law in Japan, but his old girl friend Iroha Tsuchiura obstructs Nao's wish, claiming to him that Nao is his sister even if she is an adopted child.

PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA

There exist familiars who have the power to grant one wish to a chosen girl. However, that girl must then become a magical girl and fight against witches, evil creatures born from curses that are responsible for murders and suicides. A schoolgirl named Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki are approached by a familiar named Kyubey and magical girl named Mami Tomoe with offers of becoming magical girls. Another magical girl named Homura Akemi tries to prevent Madoka from making such a deal.

RIO - RAINBOW GATE

The "Howard Resort Hotel" is an entertainment destination where people gather from around the world to grab huge fortunes. In the casino is a beautiful female dealer named Rio Rollins, known far and wide as the "Goddess of Victory". In order to approach closer to her mother, one of history's greatest dealers, she does battle to gather up the legendary cards called "gates". Those who gather all 13 gate cards are presented with the title MVCD (Most Valuable Casino Dealer), proof that they are a top dealer...

YUMEKUI MERRY

Yumeji Fujiwara, a young male student like any other, gained the power to see the aura of other people's dreams. Since then, he started to have weird dreams with cats following him for an unknown reason. One day, as he was about to come back home after his errands, a mysterious girl named Merry falls on top of him who is actually a dream demon and is searching for a way to go back into her world...

J's Chimes: Spice Up Your Facebook...

Got a little bored with your Facebook profile picture? How about making a continuous banner of your photos that runs onto into the status bar on your profile page? Experimented it a little when I stumbled upon Youtube clip by accident that gives a tutorial on how to make these... Below is a short clip in which you can view and learn how to make this...


However if you do not have the photoshop software to make this, there are many other ways to make this too. All you need is MS paint and that's about it. (I did it using MS paint so you don't actually need something so sophisticated for your artistic work...)

J's Chimes: Meanwhile Back In Singapore...

Been posting a lot of things about Japan lately... But seriously what's happening in Singapore now? Fellow friends from other countries, if you think you'd find anime and stuff in Singapore, am really sorry to say that you'd probably be disappointed with the passion and exposure which is more or less pretty minimal unless there's a anime convention and sorts. But fear not, this hobby is certainly increasing between younger teenagers and audiences in Singapore. So probably let's say that anime would be popular in the future ahead, provided that nothing bad should happen to the industry given the fact that anime will be following the rules and regulations of the law in coming July...

J's Chimes: Retired Figures

Sometimes you just have to make way for your hobby collections by disposing of the older models. Though it may be painful to do so, but its necessary to so as to make way for the new. I have little intention to keep Gashapons now due to the fact that will only be concentrating on scale models soon. So what do you do to your retired models too?

J's Chimes: Happy 2011

J's Chimes wishes all a very happy new year! Time flies and its already 2011... New Year resolutions anyone? Hopefully this would be a good year for me as there are plenty of happenings that seriously rocked my life last year that wasn't really pleasant to begin with. Wished everything will go smoothly this year just as the horoscopes have mention...lol. Anyway, have a good day ahead of you...

J's Chimes: Cleaning Clearing Models....

It's the time of year once again and had decided to do a major spring cleaning of my cabinets that houses my scale models and figures. It is wise to check your models and clean them occasionally because it might be stained or dirtied after exposing to the environment, which is especially so in Singapore because of its wet and humid weather.


I just had to take out and clean every single one of the models, figures and Gashapons that I had. Just as mentioned before about how PVCs may melt overtime, it is wise to clean it so that further damage would not occur to your hard earned models... This is especially so to gashapons as they are made of poor quality plastic materials that may melt overtime when exposed to the environment...


After which, I would rearrange the placement of the Gashapons at the bottom of the display cabinet. I absolutely adore the Mecha Musume series which look similar to Sky Girls or the anime Strike Witches. However, the materials melt and thus would have to do a really thorough cleaning to wipe off the stickiness of the melted plastic that covers the figure.


The second level displays my classic anime figures that I collect from years ago till now. The arrangement is kinda bad though because of the mixture of small to medium sized figures... Well, due to space constraints it is inevitable to place it properly though...


The 3rd level contains mostly the BOME series from Kaiyodo and some miscellaneous models from Evangelion to The Revoltech figure boxes behind... I love BOME series models because its rather detail and nice. However, it seems that the series had stopped somehow...


My favorite models are placed on the 4th level within eye level. Scale models include Pixie Hoyori, Nagato, Mina, etc. My figmas are also placed behind in boxes... One of the problems with figma figures is that I just do not know where to find a place to store their additional parts. And I just couldn't make a wonderful pose for the figures to display, and thus they stay in the box for safe keeping... Occasionally took them out to play for a bit...


The 5th level also displays some of the few models that I loved too. Also making way for this shelf space for the newer models am getting next year... Yup... Some of my scale models are still inside the box. Sometimes I just couldn't bare to expose them into the environment. And the box looks so cool too that its unbearable to throw them away...


The highest level sits a couple of models which also may be retired soon enough as newer models are being bought next year. Behind sits 2 figures of Mikuru which is wrapped in plastic. The top of the cabinet is considered as the blind spot of my collections as you'd rarely paid attention to it because its so darn high... Ya can't put Gashapons there and would seem to be the most neglected corner of all...

J's Chimes: TA-Q-BIN

TA-Q-BIN is a courier service based in Japan but had recently establish itself in the Singapore market. I only got to know of this company back when they had displayed their services at the Anime Festival Asia X (AFAX) back in November 2010. A survey was done to allow more people to get to know about TA-Q-BIN and a gift will be sent to them upon completion of the survey. Well it had finally arrived at my doorstep yesterday and am eager to open up the contents...


Was rather happy with the service as they would message you about the product date of arrival and will call you on that day of delivery. Rather smooth transaction which is similar to Speedpost in Singapore. But sad to say I would rarely use this service because ain't really got anything bulky to send or received in Singapore, not to mention overseas... (Unless... J's Chimes could have a contest and would use TA-Q-BIN to deliver the goods to those lucky winners...lol)


The contents include a TA-Q-BIN mascot plushy, a 'manual' fan and a letter of gratification. Not much for a surprise but its the thought that counts. Imagine having to deliver the same stuff round Singapore for those who take the survey and got the freebies... Anyway, now the Cat is displayed on my computer desktop... (Because it looks like Fenix the Cat from a classic cartoon...)


For more information about TA-Q-BIN, you might wanna visit their main website for Singapore residents at http://sg.ta-q-bin.com/. Perhaps you have some stuff to deliver so a best time to find a courier would be now...

J's Chimes: Time For A Drive...

Late posts nowadays? That's probably because am learning to drive now starting this month at the Bukit Batok Driving Center in Singapore. Too much Itasha influence too also resulted in me wanting to get a license too so that I could one day own a car and start scribbling it too with some anime characters... Well perhaps it's still too early to say since there's a sudden increase in car taxes and expenses in Singapore. Even so it's still vital for me to get a license so that it would be beneficial i future and when I wanna get my car to have a complete makeover... lol. Danny Choo here I come!

J's Chimes: Happay Christmas Eve Greetings

Today's Christmas Eve, so have you bought your presents yet or prepare to have a sumptuous meal and party all night long till tomorrow? 2010 is ending real soon and looking back, one could only wonder what the future might hold. Anyway let's keep our heads up high and look forward to celebrating and wishing all the best for the days ahead... And more good animes to be aired real soon...

J's Chimes: The Difference between 2D And 3D...

Unless you are born rich, charismatic, good-looking or masculine, you would probably be able to get a beautiful girl on the left. But mostly, this isn't the case with people like us. And as such, 2D anime would be the only option for a girlfriend that could accompany you at home. Much of these examples could well be seen in love simulation games in the market. So what exactly are the differences between 2D and 3D girls?

1.) Proportions - You could probably get the right 3 sizes of your favorite girl with little flaws...
2.) Personality - From Tsundere to Yandere, Cute to Bossy types, you could get your favorite in these games...
3.) Money & Dating - Ya don't need to spend a single cent on dates and stuff. (Except the price of your game and electricity bills)
4.) Feelings - Somehow or rather, 2D doesn't betray you. (Unless you got a bad ending) Nevertheless, they won't cheat you of your feelings.

However so, there are certainly some things you couldn't do without a 3D girlfriend as feelings in real time are different in comparison with something out of your monitor screen. But points 1 - 4 will probably be something to toggle with...

J's Chimes: Console Gaming

It's been a long time since I've touch my game consoles and would probably be spending some time playing my xbox 360 these days. Bought Final Fantasy 13 just recently so thought of trying it out. Yup, regardless of many bad reviews and stuff, I'd still bought it due to the fact that Final Fantasy had been with me for a long time since childhood. Hopefully it doesn't turn out just as bad as the reviews...