Living for the Weekend

What have you got planned for the weekend? I would be running in the forest reserve nearby, in anticipation of the Penang Bridge marathon (I'll be doing the half marathon, 20+ km) this June. Aside from that, I've a SD Gundam model to assemble.

I was told that SD stands for Super Deformed, and despite the weird sounding name, these SD models are pretty detailed. The one that I purchased earlier this evening is the Verde Buster Gundam from the Gundam Seed Stargazer anime. The thing I like about this model? The mask. The worse I can do is dip the whole thing in black paint, and make the model look like Zorro.

Now how's that for a limited edition SD Gundam? On to other purchases made today on Play-Asia:

- Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2007. This might be a suprise to some, but I do need to get my Collectible Card Game fix from somewhere right?
- Animal Crossing Character Phone Strap (Theater Version). Just released and rather cute looking and as a break from the norm, I just ordered 1 phone strap, instead of the entire set.

- Animal Crossing Character Bottle Phone Strap Gashapon (Theater Version). I've blogged about these before and my mum found them to be rather cute, not to mention interesting. So this one is for her. Interested as well? Purchase details are available here.


- Dot-S Puzzle: Bomberman (10-Type A). It has been a long time since I've bought one of these Dot-S puzzles, the last one being Link from the Legend of Zelda. Click here for purchase details.

Gashapon

Aside from games, there are quite a lot of Nintendo related merchandise out in the market, ranging from small figurines and plush toys to tumblers and lunch boxes. I'm more of a figurine (gashapon) fan and that was why I quickly made an order for the "Animal Crossing Houses, Figures or Accessories Gashapon (Theater Version)" collection when I received news that it was up for sale.

Basically the third in a series, this gashapon collection has 6 sets, consisting of figurines of characters from the game with the addition of houses and accessories such as beds, TVs, tables, et cetera. Because of this, each set sells for a higher price compared to the ones I got earlier (here).

Another gashapon collection that I've set my eyes on is the Gameboy Advance Cartridge Rubber Gashapon collection. Unlike the Animal Crossing collection, I have not made an order for this collection but experience has shown that these sort of stuff sell very fast.


Basically there are 9 gashapon in this collection; these are miniature versions of popular GBA game cartridges and are made out of rubber. It is fascinating how miniaturization works and at the same time retaining a respectable amount of detail to these gashapon.

If you are interested, click on the respective names above for purchase details at Play-Asia.com.

Sun, Sea, Sand and Jelly Fish

When I was in Dubai, I had the opportunity of seeing how jelly fish infested water looked like. The river separating Bur Dubai and Deira was filled with those beautiful but painful (if you touch their tails) creatures of various sizes, and most of them being pink in colour. I took a boat ride across the river to get to the Gold Souk and I remember loathing the thoughts of the boat sinking or being thrown overboard because it would meant swimming in that water.

I had the good fortune of witnessing jelly fish infestation again, but this time in a local beach. Unlike Dubai, the jelly fish that I saw measured around 30 to 40 cm in diameter!. Some of these huge creatures were beached and some were floating near the shore. The bulbous dome kinda reminded me of a Metroid; probably the game developers were inspired by jelly fish. One interesting note, I've been to this beach so many times in my life but I've only seen small jelly fish until yesterday.

I don't subscribe to the stereotype that all video gamers tend to be cooped up in their rooms but I do know some of people are that way (hence fueling the stereotype); so may I suggest a trip to the beach? Beaches aren't just about coconuts, coral and sea shells (ala Animal Crossing), go get some sun, meet new people, get some REAL sand in between your toes and get fascinate (and not stung) by jelly fish. If you can afford it, go wind surfing or jet-skiing.

Short Stuff

According to its Wikipedia article, a gashapon translates as a "trading toy". It's also commonly known as capsule toy due to the nature that they come in capsule dispensed from vending machines. Capsule toys have been around for as long as I've known and even when I was a kid, the neighbourhood sundry store used to have vending machines at the store front to entice kids to spent 20 to 50 cents a capsule.

Japanese capsule toys differ in a sense that the capsule toys are of higher quality and the price per capsule is certainly more expensive, ranging from RM 4 to RM 8 and more often than not, the contents are collectible items in a series. The vending machines can be found not in sundry shops, but in shopping centres, Japanese supermarket chains such as Jusco or toy stores such as Toys 'r' Us.

This little fella came along with my Electroplankton package and basically this is an example of how a gashapon looks like outside its capsule.

The reason for it being added to my package was that I needed to bring my order price to slightly above USD 50 (Electroplankton by itself was USD 48.90) in order to qualify for a USD 5 discount. This little fella cost USD 1.99.

This gashapon is part of a series featuring characters from the game Animal Crossing. All together they are 7 of them to collect.