Youkoso, kono kurai tokoro e...

Hi, have fun reading my posts... it is not too much, and just something that's related to me. Enjoy playing the keyboard, the music, greet me in the shoutbox and lastly, please feed my dearest Bathoven. Yoroshiku (_ _)

Saturday 19 May 2012

Lucid Dream...

Ever heard of this term? Lucid dream... well, I've known this term for quite a while since I watched Shinreigari ~ Ghost Hound. Up till now, I never thought I've been experiencing this so-called 'lucid dream', much to my own surprised, and a bit of excitement which is why, I don't know....

Lucid dream is that, we are aware that we are dreaming and that we can control our dream. Wow, for a second when I read those statements in wikipedia, I was amazed, I think. I've always know that I am dreaming, and that I will somehow 'enjoy' the dream (if it is kinda interesting). I tell ya, it feels so real!!! When I am running in that dream, I really felt like running, and when I wake up from the dream, I find myself sweating, as if I was really running! The 'interest' I find in the dream, might as well extend my sleeping time, because I'm enjoying the dream.

Lucid dream is really fun! I enjoy lucid dreaming. Now that I know that I can somehow control my dream, I will do my best to make it as creative as possible XD Well, I don't have much to talk about this, anyone out there who experienced lucid dream, should have fun with it. But always beware, not to exceed the time limit, or you'll be late for work/school. xD


"Protect the beautiful, crush the ugly."

Asunaro Vocal Cover


Yeah!!! My first vocal cover ever done! I'm really in love with Shionji "Alice" Yuuko, the NEET detective from the anime "Kami-sama no Memochou". She is cute, somewhat tsundere and... too CUTE. I've nothing else to talk about her since she is too cute. Oh yeah, FORGOT ONE THING : She is also smart, being a detective.

As a NEET, she never goes out, a hikikomori that is. Well, Kami-sama no Memochou only have 12 episodes, but the story line is nice and well written. And the ending song, "Asunaro" rocks! I've been really attached to this song, as to why I decided to make the vocal cover, and so I did.

Recorded using cheap mic, and the software Audacity. That's all I used, and downloaded the instrumental from Youtube. Then use Audacity do the mixing and done. Hope you readers enjoy my vocal cover, it is still not very good, from my own judgement. Hehe...


"Protect the beautiful, crush the ugly."

Saturday 5 May 2012

That Grey Cat

So what do you think about this cat? XD Kawaii desho!!! Comel kan!!! Cute right!!! Well, this image was taken from Bamboo Blade. Err... I forgot which episode it was =w=a but the cuteness of this cat caused my eyes to open wide. It make me smile whenever I look at this cat.

Somehow... somewhere... sometime... this cat reminds me of...  yea, you guys know the emoticons of Facebook chat isn't it? Know the icon that made up with this input ' :3 '. THAT ICON IS REALLY... SAME WITH THE FACE OF THIS CAT!!! Don'tcha think? XD

And the cat's voice still lingers in my head. It says 'nyan!' XD Awwww... adorable, charming to the last! Although the Muroe High's dojo do have another similar cat like this, but it is white in color. This one was found at the hall where the National Tournament was held. Some girls found this cat and yes, you can see the girl's hand holding the cat XD Anyway, enough chattering for that now. Gotta go wash myself before I hit the city XD Jaa ne!!!

"Protect the beautiful, crush the ugly."

Thursday 3 May 2012

Shinreigari Ghost Hound - My Fave!

Alright. Maybe only little knows about this anime. Shinreigari Ghost Hound is a science fiction and supernatural anime which revolves around the three boys (plus one half-way of the story) and a girl. As the title said (LOOK AT THE TITLE OF THIS POST!), it is obvious that this anime is my favorite anime of all time. My top anime, in my heart. Naze, why, kenapa and kenak I like this anime? What is so special about it that it climbed to the top of my favorite anime list? I'll explain one by one! I hope I don't forget any points though (damn, this feels like public speaking/oral test!)

First : I like the genre of this anime. A combination of both supernatural and science. As we know, science and supernatural doesn't go well together, they always argue. But, in this anime, it balanced between both science and supernatural. There are ghosts, and there are scientific things as well. Scientific... this anime talks a lot about brains. Neurology and psychology are two major subjects in this anime. I learned about PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), TFT (Thought Field Therapy), homunculus, lucid dream, out of body experience, astral projection, etc. These terms, are enough, to get me into a 'researching' mode as I surf through the internet to understand more about these terms. I learned a lot, and so many new knowledge for me. Supernatural... the appearance of ghosts, strange happening that occurs in that small town. A sight of a ghostly figures, and the heroine, who is a little girl (Komagusu Miyako) herself... can see spirits and ghosts. For this supernatural side, I'm used to it, since I've experienced it myself.

Second : The characters are interesting! First, the boys line up. They are Komori Tarou, Ohgami Makoto, Nakajima Masayuki and Hoshino Michio (this guy wasn't really focused at first, but as the series reach half-way, he become their friend and one of the main cast). Then, the girl, Komagusu Miyako. As I stated earlier, Miyako can see spirits and ghosts. Simply said, she is gifted with a sixth sense. Despite her age (elementary student), she is quite matured in personality, gradually scolding her father for drinking sake in secret. However, she does care about her father. She is also sometimes possessed by a spirit, or worst, the god. Her father is really concerned about this, but she said she is alright, she don't want her father to worried about her. The boys, came from different background, but after they visit the abandoned hospital near the dam, they become friends. Makoto, who is the grandson of a famous occult group in the town saw his father committed suicide when he was little. After that, his mother leave him, making him growing up with his grandmother, whom he don't really like. He once said that he have no qualms to kill someone. Throughout the series, he found the truth behind his father's suicide. He is an avid guitarist, just like his father. Tarou, the main focus of the story was kidnapped with his elder sister when they were little. They were tied to the bed in the abandoned hospital, and because they didn't eat and drink for several days, his elder sister, Komori Mizuka, died. When the police found them, Tarou was in a state of shocked after seeing his sister's death. That instill the PTSD in him, and he seeks to know what his sister told him just before she died. Later he learned that Mizuka is alive, and live in him. He seems to have a crush on Miyako. Masayuki is a student who transferred from Tokyo. He is the son of a famous scientist who works at a Dai Nippon Bio. In his previous school, he and several other students bullied a student so badly that the student committed suicide, jumping off from the school's rooftop. Masayuki develops an altophobia from this incident, fear of heights. But as the series progress, he managed to overcome it. Michio, was a bully victim, and a classmate of Makoto and Masayuki. It was Masayuki's intervention that ends the bullying of him, thus Masayuki and Michio become friends. After hearing about Masayuki, Tarou and Makoto astral projecting, he become interested in it. Later on, he managed to astral project as well. That's what I like, characters of different background and personality blend in together and work as a team. Nice eh...

Third : That abandoned hospital just attracts me! I don't know why but, the deserted, abandoned hospital located near the Kameiwa Dam just seems to catch my attention. It is old, and some of the floors collapsed. When it is raining, the hospital will be flooded with water. But, that's where many spirits (shinrei) gathers and loafing around. It gets more when it is raining. Since 'abandoned' was one of my favorite word, this hospital got me. I can't really explain how the feeling is, but that is how it is. I'm just interested in it. The mysteries, the ghost that Tarou saw while they were exploring the hospital as well as the endless loop. One important fact is, that when the three boys entered the very room where Tarou and his sister were held captive, they got a vision, perhaps an illusion of Mizuka dying on the bed. Then, Masayuki, at the same room sees a huge hole in the floor, as if it had collapse, but the floor, in reality, never collapse! When he point his torchlight down the hole, he sees the student who jumped off the roof! The boy he bullied back in his previous school, smiling at him. Makoto, on the other hand, found himself in his house, standing in front of his father's room. With a bit of nerves, he slide open the door, and there... his father's dead body lies... right after he suicide. At this same time, at home, Miyako seems to be possessed, and she said that the 'three had entered the Kakuriyo'... an unseen world (I think...)

Fourth : The dialect used in this anime! Alright, as for any country, must have many dialects. Or should I say, any languages? Like Malay as well, have many different dialects. Same goes to Japanese. It is normal to hear 'Kansai-ben' (Kansai dialect) in anime, yet, this anime's dialect is not Kansai-ben. I've been searching for the name of this dialect, and lately I just found it out. It is known as 'Hakata-ben'. To me, Hakata-ben sounds more unique than Kansai-ben. Kansai-ben sounds rough and harsh, but Hakata-ben... is different. I can only say it is unique! This is one of the main attraction as to why I love this anime. I watch it, so that I can learn and understand the dialect more. Learning language is really fun guys, you should do it. Learn as many language as we can while we still breathing. I like how they say "batten" for the word 'but' or 'demo' in normal Japanese. Hakata-ben is also famous for using '-to' in place of '-ka' for questions. I like this dialect, and wish to learn this dialect more.

Fifth : The soundtrack! Yes, anime is just like movies and dramas out there. Without proper soundtracks, the anime won't be a 'boom' isn't it? As such, yes... this anime uses jazz, pop and blues style of music. Since it is located in a remote, small rural town, it is obvious. The opening theme, "Poltergeist" is jazz, and it is quite a nice song. Pleasant to the ear. The ending theme is a ballad, titled "Call My Name". This sad song, put alongside the times when Mizuka and Tarou are playing together... is just so sad. I said that Makoto is a guitarist right? He plays his guitar when he is free/bored, and even record his playing. Tarou's father have his own room where he would listen to his favorite tracks. Truly a nice anime soundtrack.

Sixth : Morals of the story... yeah, anime is not only for entertainment. As this anime carries a heavy subject, the morals found are also great. Number one - never abandoned your family, cherish your family. This mostly referring to Masayuki's family. His father is always busy with his Bio-ed project that he almost never spend time with his family. His wife at home, play games all day, and when he returns home, he fights with his wife, putting Masayuki into stress. Number two - everything that happen, must have its own reason. There must be a reason for everything that happened. After all, it is already written by God, which we call it 'fate'. Makoto's father suicide, and Tarou's kidnapping all are tied and related. Makoto's father committed suicide because he exchanged Makoto (who was supposed to be kidnapped) with Tarou and his sister. It was a matter of guilt... that he proceed with his suicide. Masayuki transfers to Suiten because, as he admitted, ran away from Tokyo after the boy jumped off the roof. There are many other morals in this story, but some are just too light as one might think, I'm just joking. :p Watch this anime and judge it yourself. As for me, I will always love this anime. I bought the DVD long ago, and that DVD now had problem, maybe because I played it too many times... so as I found the same DVD at another DVD shop, I bought that new one! Now, you can say I have a total of two Shinreigari Ghost Hound DVD.

You know what I wished? I wished Tarou, Makoto, Masayuki, Michio and Miyako were real and I can befriend them! I want to try astral projection, but that, as I researched, need a lot of practice, and it is risky as well. For lucid dream, I managed to do it. It was fun! The only thing I want to try is astral projection, OBE!

The characters... Left to Right : Komagusu Miyako, Ohgami Makoto, Nakajima Masayuki, Komori Tarou
I think that's it for this favorite anime of me :D I'll review other anime which is 'my favorite' later on. For now, hope you, my readers will watch this anime. Watch it, you'll never regret it.


"Protect the beautiful, crush the ugly."

Ethnic Performance!






As seen in the picture above, it is the so-called ethnic performance. Although, the music that we played are not really ethnic music, the use of ethnic instruments just enough to make it so. We were doing the fusion, or maybe the world music, since we used synthesizer and bass as well. You can see in this photo... me and my friends performing. It was fun!

Adrian playing bass, you can see him in the photo, wearing the headgear, sitting on a chair with his bass. I'm playing the gongs, sitting on the floor, right next to Adrian. Then, the two engkeromong players, Alcila and Emma, sitting in front. Then we have Lya with her sape. Bryan playing the handsonic synthesizer, a unique synthesizer, should I say. Then, we have Jackson who play erhu and drums.

Our theme for this performance was the fusion of Iban and Chinese music. This explains the use of erhu and sape, to get the feel of the theme. Whilst most of the instruments, especially engkeromong and gongs are off Iban, it does give the unique feel to the performance. Added with the synthesizer's effects of rainforest, just make it feel better and better.

One thing I learn from this was, ethnic music actually drives our creativity to its peak. Lecturers were there, but they only give some clues, while the rest we do it ourselves. Although the time was short, but we made it, and it was a good start for our ethnic group. Oh yeah, if you notice the 'gendang' resting on the girls' lap? Its called ketebung. Since it is Iban's instrument, it is played in the Iban's section. From here, I learn many things about ethnic. Not only it was fun, but it also taught me that I should understand the cultures and spirituality. Spiritual matters are not to be taken lightly.

Those ethnic instruments, we can never step, or walk over them. Because of its tie to spiritual ritual, we might get cursed if we treat the instruments with bad manners. Since I can sometimes feel the aura around me, I would sometime feel uneasy when playing the gongs. Surely there is something that I can't see with my plain eyes. Only God knows.

Putting that aside, I'm looking forward to a big project that my lecturer told me during the ethnic class. He said that we will be asked to compose and perform our own ethnic piece with every one of us involved, and more instruments to be used. I hope I'll be playing encoyo this time, the bamboo flute which I had bought. I really am looking forward to this project in the upcoming semester. Perhaps, this will be the best experience I ever had.



"Protect the beautiful, crush the ugly."

Monday 3 October 2011

Fall to Fall, Autumnal Fall

Fall to Fall, Autumnal Fall is a stage 4 theme of Touhou Fuujinroku : Mountain of Faith. It is quite a lively piece, composed by ZUN. Though various rearrangements of this theme can be found in Youtube, I like the one arranged by Kotarou of Kota-rocK. Kotarou's version have the feel of melancholy, and a bit of sentimental. But his genre is rock, thus we enjoy and feel the song thoroughly. Kota-rocK's version is titled "The Sound of Fall".

This piece is insignificant to the very season of "Autumn". Alright, this gonna be a bit sentimental post because... when we talk about autumn, the thing that we always heard is 'break up' between a lovely couple. Oh yeah, is it a tradition to choose this specific season? The word 'fall' does not only refer to the 'falling leaves' in autumn, a beautiful scene that I've always wanted to see. Not the ordinary leaves =_= but the maple leaves of course. The word fall also refers to the fall of relationship between love birds. That's what I conclude from my own, and others' experience.

And so it happened to me. On the first day of Aidilfitri, that was when the break up took place. I hid everything from her, sadness, pain and such. It was hard for me to let her go, but since that was what she wanted, I let go with a big smile. Big smile yes, but a plastic one :) But like the quiz result told me, I tend to look at the positive sides of everything. Yes, I found several advantages from this break up.

What I found? I got a drive to further my study oversea once I finish my diploma. Since there are nothing else for me to worry except my own family. I can also now focus on my study much more than before, and most important of all, to get myself ready for my 'missions'. >D

But then, not every couple will 'fall' during 'autumn'. Maple somehow seen as the symbol of love, and autumn is the season of romance. But in my point of view, is just as I said. Autumn = Melancholy & Fall = Break up. I'd enjoy looking at the falling maple leaves during this season, although we don't have it here in Malaysia. But watching in videos aren't bad at all. I learned many things through this short relationship. Thanks for everything ;)

Oh yea, Fall to Fall, Autumnal Fall. I love this theme and to wrap everything up, Touhou Fuujinroku : Mountain of Faith have quite a nice themes. For those who haven't listen to it, here I prepared two videos from Youtube. One is the original version of Fall to Fall, Autumnal Fall by ZUN, and another one is The Sound of Fall, a rearranged version by Kotarou. Hope you all enjoy it.

P/S : Segala yang berlaku, ada hikmahnya. Fate, is unpredictable.



  Original version by ZUN :)



Kotarou's version :)

"Protect the beautiful, crush the ugly."

Friday 5 August 2011

Walking in the Air

Mohd Ali Khalid playing the violin, with Emma Huang as his accompanist on piano.
Alright, you guys surely see the picture above right? That's me playing my violin, with Emma accompanying me with her piano. This is something that happened on 20th July 2011, at IMH Academy Auditorium during Higher Learning Musical Presentation that will be held every once a month.

My major is violin, focusing on the classical era. As such, you can see my attire, formal wear from top to bottom. Classical should be formal, and is strict to this point. Even the speech must be formal. Alright... the piece I presented was 'Walking in the Air', a theme from the popular animation 'The Snowman' which is a story about a boy and a snowman who has come to life as they set out for an adventure. Set in D minor, this piece is sad and have the feel of adventure. This explains the serious and static expression of my face. I can't smile if the song is in minor key, that's my standard.

Emma did well in accompanying me, while I made a mistake at the very last part before playing the harmonic. The point is, if you made a mistake, just continue on, don't stop. Stop and it will be a disgrace. Continue on and finish what you start, ignoring the mistakes. Yea, and that's what I did. I hope I won't do it anymore in the future musical presentation.

Personally, I like this piece. From the accompaniment to the main melody. It is a nice, smooth and a bit of sadness. The feels are what make me love this piece so much. I would never stop playing this piece in my life. I play it anytime I want. I listened to the Nightwish's version of this song, and it was a nice song. I downloaded it for loving it.

Alright, enough with that. I hope you guys will enjoy the presentation. Here's the video of me performing the piece with Emma. Joy-en!

P/S : Video recorded by Jackie Chua. Thanks senpai :)