Look what I got :3

I’ve had had enough of boring lunches inside the office, so today, I set out to walk around the 3 bookshops near my workplace in search of these 2 books:

But alas, to my dismay, none of the bookshops carried this line of books!! (do you see how the covers can link up? I’m collecting the series of that!)

Instead, I found an English books. Specifically, this one!:

What a surprise, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters! Now I really really need to read the original Sense and Sensibility before reading this one (procrastinated long enough)

アメーバピグの１

今夜・・・いい夜ですね！

The Ameba Pigg

What do you know… my newest plaything is the Ameba Pigg.

I’ve yet to make an actual friend, but… I’ll try!

3G Wireless Internet

Lately, my laptop has been having some difficulty picking up the wireless router signals. I think my laptop is slowly saying goodbye to me? I have to start making back-ups of everything then…!!!

Since my phone (a Nokia 5800 Xpress Music) acts pretty much like an iPhone (ok, far from it… but it tries) and I heard somewhere that an acquaintance was using his iPhone as a 3G modem for wireless internet, I started to investigate.

What do you know, the Nokia 5800 does work as a modem! And I tried out the plan… the provider says the 3G wireless service has a download speed of between 1~2MB. On my laptop, the indicator there says that the speed’s at 490.6kbps… well… I thought it was slow, but as the websites started loading, the flash sites loaded up really quickly… I have yet to try how fast Youtube and other streams load and actual downloading times, but, I’ve got time to test all that.

For now I’m pretty happy with how I could check my emails anywhere, anytime (while I’m within Macau. Roaming charges can kill me anytime)

アイスサンドとは？

昨日はMIFに行きました。あそこで、これを見ました！

アイスサンドを見るときは、びっくりしました！お久しぶりでした！子供のときに、爺ちゃんがいつもこれを買いました。

懐かしい！

では、アイスサンドが知らない人は・・・「アイスサンドとは？」って・・・

とても簡単ですね。アイスサンドは・・・２枚クッキーの間に、アイスがあります。見て見て～

スレイヤーズ：リナとキメラの魔法戦士

やっとこの本を読む終わりました！

とても、とても、とても可愛いでした！！！

もしこの本は角川つばさ文庫（子供向けの本）だから、ストーリーはこんな可愛くになりましょうか？

あのサカナ男、イヌ男、剣士爺ちゃんとミイラ魔導士は死なれないです・・・オリジナルのスレイヤーズは彼らは『赤眼の魔王』-ルビー・アイ- と戦うとき、全部死にますね。

今はオリジナルのスレイヤーズ小説を読みたいです～～でも中国語の小説を買い始まりましたから、日本語の買いたくないよ～～ カバー・アートはリンクできますから！

とにかく！

次は、英語の本を読みます！英語の本を読んだ後は、赤川次郎の「夢から醒めた夢」です！

がんばります！！！

XXIIIMIMF – Vienna Boys Choir

Finally… finally… FINALLY!!!!! This year I managed to get tickets for the Vienna Boys Choir. In the past years, the Vienna Boys Choir were always free church shows, so I was never able to get my hands on those tickets. This year, they’ve put the Vienna Boys Choir show on paid ticketing, so… this is how I managed!!

Program

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) Vergnugungszug Polka, op.281
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) Tritsch Tratsch Polka, op.214
Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) Tenebrae factae sunt, responsory for four voices
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Gloria from Nicolai Mass, Hob. XXII:6
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Nachthelle, op. posth.134, D.892
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Die Forelle, op.32, D.550
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) La passeggiata “Finche sereno e il cielo”, from Peches de vieillesse, Vol.1 Album Italiano
Andy Icochea Icochea (b.1973) Psalm
Carl Orff (1895-1982) O Fortuna (Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi), from Carmina Burana
Queen – Barcelona, We are the Champions
ABBA – Mamma Mia, Chiquitia, Thank you for the music
Finnish folksong – Ievan Polkka
Uzbek folksong – Schoch Va Gado
Indian folksong – Jog.wa, bhajan from Kolhapur
Chinese folksongs – Alamuhan, Gau Shan Ching
Li Haiying (b.1954) - Wan wan de yue liang
Austrian folksongs – Singa is ins’re Freud!, Wann Du durchgehst durchs Tal, Und wanns amal schen aper wird, Waldhansl
Johan Strauss II – Leichtes Blut, fast Polka, op.319
Johan Strauss II – Kaiser-Walzer, Waltz, op.437
Encore
We are the World
Chinese folksong

I am, however, slightly disappointed by the choir. Well, the boys were able to sing well, I don’t doubt that… but the wow factor simply wasn’t there. Perhaps it was my long-anticipation that led me to have really high expectations? I just think I’ve heard better choirs in little old Macau.

First, it was the standing arrangement. Back when I was in the choir, we were not allowed to move, swing, tilt, nothing, nada. We had to stand there and not move best we could. The boys here however, were standing at differing distances between each other, one placed his weight back and forth to the left and right leg many, many times throughout the show, the other was swaying and swinging his hands…

I immediately fell in love with the Tenebrae piece, the vocals were beautiful there! Then O Fortuna, and more specifically, the ending of O Fortuna was simply breathtaking! This is the kind of choir/church music I like!

After the interval, they sang the more modern stuff and the folk stuff. The Indian folksong was really interesting! It had a very nice beat to it, so I liked it very much. And then with the Austrian folksongs, it was so cute! Four boys left half way and when they sang Und wanns amal schen aper wird, they came back out in Lederhosen and started dancing those yodeling song-dance… so CUTE!!! I wonder if it’s hard to dance those moves…?

I think they could have been better. Or, perhaps, they should have brought a larger group? The choice of pieces was very well-thought, so no complaints on that.

The two girls sitting next to me though, were really annoying. They kept talking and asking/making stupid questions/comments. Hey, cut them some slack, they don’t speak Mandarin, so when singing those Chinese/Mandarin songs, of course they sound a little funny! And no, the reason they wave at us at the end is not because of it being any Austrian custom to wave. They’re waving because they’re saying bye-bye-no-more-encore-please-go-home, just like when you Chinese wave, just like when other Americans wave, just like the Portuguese, Germans, Japanese, whatever, whoever else. When you’re in a show, just shut your trap, please! Honestly!

Anyway… yeah yeah! This was a dream come true, to see the Vienna Boys Choir!!! Now I have only one show left…

行きたい！！！！

奥井雅美 okui masami Live Tour 2010 ~i-magination~ [information]

行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい行きたい

行きたい!!!

懐かしいアニメ・ソング・カラオケの夜

昨夜／今朝（？）はアニメソングカラオケの夜でした。小学・高校時代の友達とカラオケに行った。彼女たちも今回８０・９０年代のアニメ歌を選んだ。

マカオのカラオケ・ボックスは普通広東語と北京語の歌だけがありますね。でも今度は新しくて開けたカラオケ・ボックスで、日本語の歌がたくさんあります。全部もあまり古くても・・・ドン・マインだ！今度のテーマは、懐かしいアニメ・ソング・カラオケの夜だから～！(￣▽+￣*)

えっと・・・何を歌ったの？

幽遊白書 オーペニング、エンディング
Slam Dunk オーペニング、エンディング
林原めぐみ Give a reason, Successful Mission, Reflection, raging waves, Going History など・・・
奥井雅美 -輪舞-revolution, Get Along
DEEN Memories, 夢であるように
Macross 愛・おぼえていますか
Field of View 突然
相川七瀬
X Japan
hide
ゆず
Suede Lazy, Everything will flow
忍たま乱太郎
山口百恵
NANA
倖田來未
Etc, etc…

歌リストを見るときは、何回のびっくりすることがあったの！へえ・・・以前は誰もアーティストたちが絶対知らなかったも、今はカラオケソングリストであるの？

この夜はとても嬉しかった。たくさん爆笑ったときもあった。子供のとき何日本語の歌を聴いても歌詞は読まなかった・・・テレビから聴いたから。今はもう歌詞を見ると・・・爆笑
「へえ・・・英語があるの？」
「ヘエエエエエ！！！Just Tonightっと英語ですか！！！！？？」
「今だけが知っているね・・・ここは全部英語だ？」
「音が超高くて、私は歌えない～～～～」
「誰かがこの歌を選んだの？いつの年代ですか？私たちはもう生まれましたか？」

楽しかった・・・でも・・・朝４時ごろ家に帰った・・・とても疲れましたね！私は今もう寝たい！

また明日！

XXIIIMIMF – German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

I just came back from the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. Like the Sydney Symphony one, this was brilliant!!!! I loved it so much!

In the beginning, I wasn’t enjoying myself too much when I saw that Mr. Conductor wasn’t as amusing as the Sydney Symphony one (heh) but, again, this is about the music! They played beautifully, and their choice of pieces were great!

Program:

W. A. Mozart (1756-1791): Symphony No. 35 in D major, “Haffner”
B. Britten (1913-1976): Senerade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, op. 31
Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827): Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1804-1808)

Did you see that? Did you see that!?? Beethoven’s Symphony No.5!!!!!!!!!!! woohoo!!! I’ve never heard this piece after the Allegro, really! The Andante and the Scherzo weren’t too impressive… but the Finale made up for everything else. Still, the opening Allegro was still the most impressive, in my opinion.

And then the encores… great choices as well! Since this year’s Opera is Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), they gave as an “appetizer” from a piece in there. I think that was a good idea. Although in the actual Opera it will be the Macau Orchestra that will perform… I’m not trying to belittle the Macau Orchestra, but fact is… I don’t think you could compare a volunteer-based orchestra to a professional, paid orchestra… The second encore was another famous piece that I just couldn’t remember the name of… *I will update this when I remember*. And finally, the last encore was a Chinese piece. Nice of them to put a Chinese piece in the lineup!