"Robotech!"

My new hobby~~! Ever since rewatching the Robotech series last year, I always wanted the Valkyrie fighter.... but Yamato's 1:48 scaled model cost RM6xx and the 1:60 model costs RM4xx, way too expensive to collect alongside the ever present Star Wars. But last week stumbled upon the Ban Dai's build-it-yourself model kit, cost only RM99.90. Oh, what the heck, buy some UHU super-glue, get the blade sharpened... and start assembling!


Fighter mode

Guardian mode

Battroid mode

And posing with the box!

At this point, it's pretty obvious something is missing with the model: NO COLOUR!! Yes, some more I didn't know how to use the decals provided (thought they were some stickers or something, but not!)... so have to paint it... :-S Sorry la, not really into painting...! But assembling the model from scratch was pretty fun. I spent 2 days to finish it, with glue all over my hands and several 'accidents'!

Sooo... yesterday went to buy the other one I was interested in...


The SDF-1!

This one cannot transform, and it's a 1:8000 scale, so it was pretty small and far easier to assemble! Hurray..... and only RM29.90 :P

But I also saw the Yamato's 1:60 model, fully transformable, painted, and inclusive of the Super Strike Parts selling for RM468. Hmm........... should I?:D

"DOME Cafe and Manila Place"

Last week was Gf's birthday, so as usual... go makan2 :D

Part 1: DOME cafe @ Queensbay

Before this, I'd been here once during the company team building. Liked it alot, so recommended to Gf...

Hers: Catch of the Day. Very generous with the slices of grilled fish fillet! Accompanied with brocolli, small tomatoes (which when warm, all the juices pops into your mouth!) and buttered rice with sauce.

And mine: Gourmet Chicken and Mushroom Pie!

and inside... Mmmm.... heavenly! Doesn't look like much, but once you wallop the pastry at the top, mix it with the soup, it's really filling!

The drink, Iced Chocolate~~~ phew...


The setup in Dome... nice and cozy...

The bill came out to about RM60+, which is pretty reasonable for this kind of place. But obviously we're going to have a Part 2 (since she said, Hey so cheap only ar?? -_-'' )

Part 2: Manila Place (Gurney Plaza)

The next day, while walking around thinking what to treat her... Kim Gary? Nah, tried it few times dy... Taiwan Food? Umm, not too special... ah, how bout this little shop here, seems pretty packed, lets go!

Iced Lemon Tea (ugh) and Peach Tea (yay!)

We ordered set lunch meals, so they came with mushroom soup and bun with butter... yummmm! Especially the warm bun spread with the butter. slurrrpp...!

Ok, then her meal came, which is... Tomyam Chicken Udon... whoa, I didn't take too much of that. Scared later stomach can't take it! :P

And mine, Penang style curry chicken~~

served with rice and this small bowl of curry.. Yumm, love the curry!

And it also comes with carrot cake desert... which tastes terrible! :-S

So, luckily we ordered this: 7th Heaven! Mango with vanilla ice cream with choco syrup with whipped cream.. superb way to top it all off!

Bill came up to about RM50+, which is also pretty affordable I'd say, especially if order the set meals. Ok, finally she's satisfied. :D

"Penang Bridge"

No story to this one, just posting a shot of the Penang Bridge, taken from outside Queensbay Mall during the evening...

"Monument Valley"

Today I heard one of the guys in the office will be going to Arizona. Wow, Arizona! Just last weekend I chanced upon a book called "Natural Wonders of the World" and one entry was on Monument Valley, on the border of southern Utah and northern Arizona. I'll bet you've seen it before:



(Pictures stolen from Wikipedia)

Magnificent, eh? I checked Google Map and Monument Valley is just 3.5 hours from the Grand Canyon. Probably I should go this weekend! Umm.. wait. I forgot. I'm back in Penang. Erk. Sigh, so much for checking the map...!

In a way, I think I never came back from US. Sometimes I wake up not sure whether I'm still in Plantation or not! Perhaps that would explain this restless feeling inside. That gnawing yearning for that One Last Epic Adventure. To feel the sun on your back and the wind in your face once more. Ok, let me go and find that book again this weekend....!

"What the--?!"

During an internal review session, two days ago:

Leopard: "We will perform Test ABC on this task."

Ninja: "No, no, no. I dun understand why u r doing test ABC. You need to do test XYZ."
Leopard: "So, why do we need to do test XYZ...?"
Ninja: "Because the other teams always complain about this failure. So we need to do this and that"
Leopard: "Okaaay...."

Later, during the formal review session with project stakeholder, Robert DeNiro:
Leopard: "We will be performing test XYZ on this task."
Robert: "This is just a prototype. Why are we spending time doing something else?"

Ninja: "We need to adress the failure issue that the other team complain about."

Robert: "But it's not in the scope of this project."
Leopard: "Ok, so we wont do test XYZ."
Ninja: "Then how u want to test this task?"
Leopard: "I think we can use test ABC."
Ninja: "That's why. I don't know why u say we need to do test XYZ."
Leopard: WHAT THE--?!!

Another day working with the Ninja!

"The Fate of Indy"

Nope, this is not the title of the 5th Indiana Jones movie (although Harrison Ford says talks are picking up momentum!) but the sad end of Hasbro's very short running Indiana Jones figures... :'(

In a Q&A session with Hasbro regarding Indiana Jones line, here's the response given:

CoolToyReview.com (Dan): Is the German Mechanic figure shown in the second Raiders of the Lost Ark wave scheduled for January going to include any accessories (wrench, removable hat and shirt etc...)? Also, would it be possible to see a picture of the stands that will be included in this wave as well as Mola Ram without his head dress?
Hasbro: Right now, we are not going to be revealing any more details or information on this wave due to the likelihood that it will not make it out.

CoolToyReview.com (Dan): what is your internal "doomsday date" to determine the future of the Indiana Jones line at retail? Or, what specific date in the coming months is the "point of no return" for Indy's future? Will there be enough time to "rescue" the line to produce and distribute post-Temple Of Doom/Wave 4 if the Indy line indeed starts to sell at a faster pace?
Hasbro: Right now, it's highly unlikely that the line will continue significantly beyond the holidays this year.

CoolToyReview.com (Dan): Would you consider continuing the line as online exclusives with a higher per-figure price if it is not feasible to continue the line at stores like Wal-Mart and Target? In order to get figures like Oxley, Mac, Donovan, and Marcus collectors would be willing to pay more.
Hasbro: It would not be possible to continue the line in this manner, since the size of the IJ collector base is not enough to sustain development work and production volumes by itself.

My collection has Indy figures from Wave 1 (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Wave 2 (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Wave 3 (The Last Crusade) was practically impossible to find even in the US, what more in Malaysia where I heard Hasbro M'sia was very reluctant to bring in after lukewarm response to the first 2 waves. The Temple of Doom wave is supposed to be out next month, but most likely we can all kiss goodbye to finding that!

Hasbro points to the poor sales from kids for ending the line. I say the mistake they made was rushing the first two waves out. The paint job (especially in the eyes, hair) and to some extent the face sculpt was so poor that even kids shun it. I managed to get some better one after searching through dozens of stores and cases in Plantation!

Oh well.... dream dream dream.. that's all we can do.....


Wave 3, The Last Crusade. I actually found them once in US, but I passed it on due to lack of space. Big, GIGANTIC mistake.

Wave 4, Temple of Doom. Notice they keep repeating the older figures?? This is another reason why the IJ line died so fast!