Book Launch Postponed

The book launch for Secrets of Millionaire Students at AKLTG Singapore, which is supposed to be held today, will be postponed until further notice, though it will still be within this month.

Due to changes in plans, now the book launch will be carried out in different book shop locations. Further updates on time and location will be given so just check back this site often.

Soon, the website URL to Secrets of Millionaire Students blog will be officially announced (it’s already around, but we need to fix up some technical glitches at the moment).

Sorry for last minute update!

UPDATE 11th October 2008

Chris Shia, our book editor, had just made an announcement on the release of the book into the stores.

Secrets of Millionaire Students - Release

In short…

– The Secrets of Millionaire Students will be in major bookstores throughout Singapore starting 17th October 2008.

– I am still liasing with Stuart and Dylan on scheduling the book talk.

– Release in Malaysian book stores will be announced later.

– If you are on FaceBook, keep tabs on the latest development on Secrets of Millionaire Students by joining the group “Millionaire Students” here. If you’re an active school-goer who already knows very well that the world of jobs is not what it’s painted to be, and you’re convinced that entrepreneurship is the way to go, hop in! πŸ™‚

Other Related Posts:
Secrets of Millionaire Students: Book Launch on 8th October 2008
I am Releasing a New Book

Doom 3 & Resurrection of Evil Reviewed

All hard work would have been boring without playing just as hard. I am glad I bought a new desktop computer and since money was no longer an issue, I invested in a good PC that could let me play even up-to-date games. πŸ™‚

(for the past many years, I had been using faulty computers and didn’t have the money to buy a new one. Friends often joked that I was always ‘one Pentium behind times’.)

And speaking of behind times, I finally got around playing Doom 3, albeit 4 years late. The game is a reboot of the original and critically acclaimed Doom – retelling everything from the start, now with more advanced graphics and latest game engine, id Tech 4.

I also played and finished Resurrection of Evil, the Expansion Pack and sequel to Doom 3. Even though the game had been long out, I’ll still chalk my review here.

Doom 3

Doom 3

Story Line: 9/10
With almost identical graphics quality and gameplay – and the fact that it’s from the same originator, ID Software, I cannot help but compare it to Quake 4 on a few levels though Quake 4 was released near the end of 2007.

And to begin with, I find Doom 3’s storyline and setting more preferable. Games like Half-Life and Resident Evil deal with experiments going wrong and therefore ugly abominations start roaming about. Even the Doom film story revolves to something of that nature. Being different yet staying true to the original Doom style, the player deals face-to-face with the forces of Evil. I’ve watched the Doom movie first last year before I played this game, and I learned that the film is actually a radical departure from the game (as always).

As the silent Marine (who never speaks a word throughout the game), you are not dealing with a virus outbreak or aliens from another planet, but rather demons from Hell. Throughout the game, you will be picking up PDAs and speaking to a few survivors to get a better understanding on the situation, which makes the game all the more interesting and in-depth.

Set in Year 2145 on Mars, you take control of a nameless Marine (you can put your name on him though, and it appears on your Personal Data in your PDA) as you enter Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) research facility. Humans have been on Mars for quite some time and they have developed a myriad of technology, teleportation, and genetic experiments with absolutely no regards to conscience or ethnics.

Seems like a normal day on Day One as a Marine guard, but slowly you’ll notice that people around you are somewhat paranoid or scared out of their wits. Talk to the people around you while you can because very soon into the game, you will have very few to talk to. Long story short, hell will break loose after something goes awfully wrong – the result of experimenting too much and getting too curious, I guess.

I won’t spoil the rest of the plot here but the game is pretty much about surviving against the odds when demons now start warping into the facility. People you once know are now mindless zombies. Your direct commanding officer is now possessed. You meet creatures from the Hell dimension. And the few survivors you run into, they usually don’t live long. Is there really no one else alive?

Graphics: 7/10
Definitely raised the bar when Doom 3 was released. I’ve been exposed to games with more convincing graphics by now though. There was a chill factor when I first encountered the creatures of Hell like the Imp and later the Revenant and of course, the much talked about Hell Knight.

And since the settings in Doom 3 is dark and eerie that one has to rely on the use of Flashlight very often, the terror was convincing… initially. I got over it a few stages later because the creatures grew predictable I rarely jumped out of my seat.

Face-to-Face with the Imp Die You Imp! Master Sergeant Kelly - AFTER Friendly Fire - not that it matters now since we’re all gonna die

Sound: 6.5/10
The arsenal of weapons available to the player is awesome but the sound effects leave much to be desired. If I were still into modding a bit, I would definitely have the sound effects for the weapons replaced with something that would spice things up.

Game Play: 8/10
First Person Shooter. Like Quake 4, there’s no need to have a USE key since the setting is in a modern facility powered by touch screen computers and monitors, moving the mouse cursor can allow interaction and get things accomplished in overcoming barriers throughout the missions. And boy, I like FPS!

Re-playability: 5/10
After completing all of the missions, I wasn’t into playing the whole thing again as the fun was already less than half. The enemies in the game grew predictable. The chill wore off a couple of missions later. There was no significant secret or incentives to aim for throughout the game. So I put down that the re-playability value is low, unless I engage in Multi-player.

Living torso Marine entering a portal Looking for survivors on surveillance

Overall: 7/10
Still lived up to expectation nonetheless. I had been dying to play this game from the time I first heard of it. At that time, my old computer wasn’t up to handling advanced games and it was the same year I was working full-time and studying on weekends, playing games was at the bottom of my mind.

Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil

Resurrection of Evil

Released in October 2005 as a sequel to Doom 3, players now experience the first person view of yet another silent protagonist, a lone Marine who initially went down a ruin site on Mars and possess the Hellstone.

My review scores remain as the one I did for Doom 3 since it’s a continued storyline from Doom 3, especially from where the Marine in the first game left off. Resurrection of Evil now deals with Malcolm Betruger, the antagonist from the first game. He is still alive and at large in this Expansion Pack, though if you finish all of the missions you will finally see and end to him.

Got time for some arcade? Eat my boom stick! The Maledict

Betruger had been possessed (or rather embraced the power of Evil) and has now become the Maledict, a large winged creature with a horned skull as the head.

The missions are shorted in this Expansion Pack. However you will meet new enemies like Vulgar and the 3 Hell Hunters that have their own strengths: the ability to slow time, berzerk and invulnerability.

The player isn’t going to get the short end of the stick though: you will get your hands on new weapons like the Hellstone (which the player will begin with), the double barreled shotgun and the object-grabber (I think that’s what it’s called).

Dr. McNeil - finally a real woman in all-men …… The Silent Marine II

So there you have it! Again, I know I’m late and chances are many computer game addicts have already played the game as soon as it was out. I hope this is a reminder that ID Software continues to throw out good games for more than a decade!

P.S. There’s one thing I still don’t get it though: why are some of the enemies equipped with technology like rockets and part machinery? Don’t think someone fixed those stuff on them!

The Japan Rumble: Day 6 – Debriefing

Based on my 6 days trip, here’s how I found Japan overall and made some (fair or unfair) comparisons to Malaysia, in no particular order. I’m just going to say it as it is here in point forms, without being biased in my review, so here goes…

So, What Did I Learn About Japan?

1. The first thing I noticed when I landed on Japanese soil was a drop in temperature. It was about 21 degree Celcius when I was spending my first night in Tokyo, and it was a few more degrees less when I headed down to the Fukushima prefacture (17 – 19 degree Celcius, less at night).

2. The Bullet Train – truly a remarkable invention! The distance between Tokyo (the part I came from) and Fukushima is probably similar to Kuala Lumpur -> Johor Bahru, and it took only 1.5 hours to cover the distance. While one may not be able to feel the speed and pressure from inside the train, occasionally one can feel ‘something’ the ears and if seen from outside, the Bullet Train moves at a frightening speed.

3. I must have said this many times to some of my friends by now, but I am motivated to repeat it again here. I understand that there are different types of people that one will find in just about any group, society or nation, but if I am to generalize the Japanese people I find them to be an exceedingly polite bunch. They truly treat their customers like kings, and making acknowledgments or smiles is a social customary and norm. πŸ™‚

4. Also worth noting that in spite of the cold weather, the girls wear rather short skirts and high stockings. πŸ˜‰ Perhaps they are very used to the 4 seasons which unlike in Malaysia where we have only 3: hot, hot, and hotter.

5. Schools – students here go to school 7 days a week! And I thought that Chinese schools were already extreme with their length of school hours.

6. $1.00 = 105++ yen. So to sum it up easily, 1 Japanese Yen is almost likened to 1 American cent. However, things in Japan are costly as I have been told (and warned) by many. To give you a rough idea: the average McDonald’s meal costs around 650 Yen. That’s almost $6.50 or 22.10 MYR ($1.00 = 3.4 MYR).

7. While the cost of living is high, employees overall are compensated with high weekly pays and salaries. The average employee brings home $800 – $900 a week, and the managers and employees that belong to the higher levels of a company are expected to make more.

8. The employee job security is different altogether though, and this is where it differs from most other countries: most employees sign a limited time contract of say, 3 – 9 months (or more, whatever the figure is) and after the contract with a company expires, they have to go out and look for another job again. Suffice to say, job security isn’t good here.

9. Japan is populous – 180 – 190 million people population.

10. ATM machines are more rare here. While I could find an ATM machine in almost every 7-11 store (very common here), people here believe in carrying more cash around. The average Japanese carries about easily $1,000-2,000 in cash in their wallets.

11. Night life isn’t that happening even when I was in Tokyo for 2 nights (first and last night here). This is where Malaysia beats Japan BIG TIME. πŸ™‚

12. Food choices aren’t many and as diverse either compared to back in Malaysia – mostly Japanese food, some Western and some Korean. In Malaysia, you can eat food from almost any culture – Chinese, Malay, Indian, Thai, Vietnam, Western, Japanese, Korean… did I miss anything out?

13. It’s a bummer that I couldn’t speak Japanese. Otherwise I wouldn’t have passed up the chance to interact with the people here and find out more fun facts about Japan. Even though I could only speak a word or two in Japanese, people here are easily approachable. And when approached, they generally do not have ulterior motives.

14. On the other hand, Japanese people have no or little command of English too which I think was a waste, otherwise I’d love to talk to some of them more. With the exception of hotel, posh areas and better parts of the city, the general crowd doesn’t speak English.

15. In retrospect, my initial fear before going to Japan was a racism issue. To my understanding (World War II and how a few movies portrayed it) Japanese and Chinese people don’t get along with each other well. Fortunately that was un-found, at least from the amount of people I’ve met there so far. Interesting to note also, people there look quite similar to the Chinese crowd back here in Malaysia so there was that ‘homely feeling’ even in foreign land.

16. Onsen or Natural Hot Spring – aaaaah, good one! πŸ™‚ We sampled the hot spring up in the mountains of Fukushima and it was rejuvenating, needless to say. The smell of sulfur was a put-off though. LOL

17. Internet connection speed here is extremely fast too – I uploaded a few 50 meg YouTube videos for my previous posts (since they were all in MOV format) and it took only minutes. Wouldn’t had been possible to achieve that on Streamyx, even though on both occasions the speed read 100.0 mbps.

18. Bleach, Naruto and Death Note are exceptionally popular Anime and Manga works here, though there are gazillions more that I was not aware of. At every book shop and turning I make, I could almost expect to see either or more of them.

19. Most of the signs here are written in Japanese Kanji so admittedly, I was frustrated when it comes to going around here as I couldn’t read a word, and there were few English signs – usually reserved for hotel or posh areas.

20. In spite of being notoriously known for poor English a.k.a. Engrish, I have yet to see any signs or published works with significantly funny English.

21. It is very common for people to use bicycles here – whether you’re going to school or work.

22. I’ve been to Central Tokyo and Fukushima and I’ve so far found the place to be unusually clean! It’s a wonder since I noticed that public trash cans are not that common here. Shame on Malaysia – even though we have ample trash cans placed on almost every street, many of us still choose to discard our trash on the street (but I’m not one of them). Speaking of trash cans, they are organized in that too – they have divided the trash cans into compartments for cans, papers and others.

23. I also noticed that their taxi models are the same as the ones used in Singapore.

24. Majority of the people here are of the Buddhist or Shinto religion whereas Christians of all nominations only form 2% of the population.

25. Vending Machines – the way of life. Vending machines are very, very common here. Apparently, there is 1 vending machine for every 26 people living in this country. And the vending machines are more sophisticated and sells a wider variety of items other than just drinks and snacks. My sister, Ashley, has been in Japan around the same time last year too and she told me that vending machine vandalism is almost unheard of here. People here depend on vending machines like we do on oxygen for living. πŸ™‚

Overall…?

I really like Japan for its place and the people have really, really impressed me. (FYI I’m not an easy person to impress)

I have to admit that I didn’t really look back to go back to Malaysia, at least so soon, even though I had a tiny regret of not preparing myself better i.e. learn up some basic Japanese and pan a better plan to visit more places.

All in all even though many have said that traveling to Japan is expensive, I found the experience to be PRICELESS. I am definitely considering re-visiting Japan again. πŸ™‚

Oh Yes, Before I Forget…

I also want to take this opportunity to thank the following people:

James Brown and Mari Wakamatsu – for inviting me to Japan in the first place. πŸ™‚ Also, a hearty congratulations on being officially wed!

James B Allen – for being kind and generous, especially on my second last day here in Japan. You helped me secure a hotel room and reserved a shuttle bus to the airport. Yeah I was nervous since I couldn’t read or speak Japanese!

Frank Bauer – without this guy the trip won’t be half as fun. πŸ˜‰

Fidens Felix – nice meeting you for the first time. This man is the Karaoke King!

Mr. and Mrs. Brown (James Brown’s parents) – nice meeting you too. and Mr. Gylnn Brown, thanks for joining the group in picking me up from the airport on the first night I came.

Stuart Stirling – for taking time off and driving us around Fukushima outskirts. πŸ™‚

Pete Leong – I look forward to the photos you’ve snapped on the wedding day! πŸ™‚

UPDATE 11th October – new photos from James & Mari’s wedding here.

And everyone else I’ve forgotten to mention here as well… thanks for making the trip an awesome, unforgettable one! πŸ™‚

THE END… OR UNTIL THE NEXT ADVENTURE! πŸ™‚

The Japan Rumble: Day 5

UPDATED 3rd OCTOBER 2008…

It’s my second last day in Japan, and the last day we all hang out together before we part ways. We took one last drive into the country side and explored other areas before we had our final lunch together and head our own directions.


Nice emerald lake Big fishes! Emerald lake Us

Everything at the market is huge too! Inside one of the morning markets Dried grasshoppers, anyone? Stuart, Frank and James

Hanging out at the morning market The market Going into the long tunnel Last lunch together

Spending the Last Night in Tokyo

Frank Bauer and I were the last men standing after we bid farewell to the rest of the gang back in Fukushima. James Brown and Stuart S. belong there. Fidens had to part ways somewhere in Tokyo and James Allen was generous enough to take time off and helped me secure a room at the Shinagawa Hotel and made arrangements with the Shuttle Bus to the Narita airport for me. (thanks a bunch, JA!) πŸ™‚

Soon with JA heading back to the rice fields, Frank and I walked around Central Tokyo, taking pictures and yes we can proudly say “we’ve been here before!” πŸ™‚


Busy Central Tokyo Central Tokyo In the residential area Frank Bauer

Holding a piece of the skyscraper ;-) Outside Shinagawa Train Station - East Building Edmund Frank outside Sony Main HQ Building

Tokyo at night

Shinagawa Hotel

Frank was the last person in the gang I see and from the last night on, I was already on my own – all the way until the next day (Day 6) when I would board the MAS to fly back to Malaysia.

I think I got myself a good deal here – Shinagawa Hotel is reputedly to be a top-tier hotel, one of the top 10 in Tokyo. WOW! πŸ™‚


Room Room

No wonder it was pricey though – 16,000 yen a night (around USD160 a night)!

To be continued… the next post will be the final account on the Japan trip! πŸ™‚