Here’s a nice Tiger and Bunny MAD aka parody of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt OP. Expand this post for video and screenshot compare.

The animator also did one for the ED as well.

When I was in Japan last month, one of the things I got to do regardless what is to go to McDonald’s. Not that we do not have McDonald’s over here but due to religious respect, we do not have the McPork burger above.

Launched in 2007, the McPork burger is basically a slice of pork patty covered with garlic and black pepper sauce sandwiched with 2 buns, sold at 100yen as part of the 100yen burger menu.

With McPork’s debut, it also spelled the end for the McChicken in Japan which was taken down shortly the McPork went on sale. Guess the Japaneses like pork more than chicken?

Other than Japan, Hong Kong also have a pork menu, the sausage McMuffin with egg. Though muffin, it is available around the clock, not only during breakfast. Maybe Hong Kong people like egg?

Happy Lunar New Year 2012 in the year of the Dragon.

Sasara-chan goes to China town. <3

2. This is the train entrance of Singapore’s China Town, the Chinese name is 牛车水 instead of 唐人街 becos Singapore’s population is mainly Chinese so it will be weird to name a street for the Chinese. 牛车水 means Cow(牛) Vehicle(车) and Water(水). Many decades ago, a lot of carts pulled by cows ferrying water can be seen here thus the name.

3. Very crowded as you go deeper. The weather is good when we visited last week. These few days have been raining almost every day.

4. Sasara-chan is wearing a cheongsam 旗袍 which is a traditional dress for Chinese ladies. It is body hugging have cutting at the sides to shows off the thighs. ^^;

5. Red and Gold are prosperous colours for the Chinese so you see of decorations in red and gold on sale during this period.

6. DD size Chinese Lion Dance lion.

7. S$15 only.

8. Some Chinese New Year clothes for the kids. Cheap. Only S$10.

9. The one priced at S$8 is known as a 肚兜 aka ancient Chinese underwear. Very sexy indeed. Bareback and very cooling at the bottom. ^^;

10. Human size cheongsam. As you can see, this one is tailored for ladies with bigger bust. Like Sasara-chan. ^^;

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19. Some Chinese wall scroll 春联 wishing you safety whenever you go, flourishing bossiness, make big money for the new year etc.

20. These are call yuan bao 元宝, a form of currency in ancient China. Made of gold or silver. The ones behind Sasara-chan are not made of pure gold unfortunately.

21. Fake fire crackers. Igniting fire crackers is a big part of Chinese New Year but for safety reason and to prevent fire hazards, it is banned in Singapore. Only for the Chinese New Year countdown party at Chinese Town do we get to see fire crackers been ignited.

22. Some lantern decorations.

23. Some things to hand on the wall other than moe 2D anime girls.

24. Red packets. These are for parents and seniors to put money inside to give to children.

25. S$1 for a pack. Very nice design. Good for collection too.

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27. Not sure are these officially licensed? Probably not.

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29. Wall of Chinese New Year food. Cheap too. 1 for only S$2.50.

30. Gelatin dessert 果冻 and mochi 麻糬 from Taiwan.

31. Chinese New Year snacks of various varieties.

32. 年糕 Nian Gao or Chinese New Year’s cake.

33. More wall scrolls.

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35. Some very amazing paper carft here. Not sure if they cut this by hand? Just look at the details.

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38. Some 1/6 size dolls. 1 for $4.

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41. Wonder does Disney approve this?

42. 招财猫 Maneki Neko, looks fatter than the 招き猫 from Japan. ^^;

43. These are rather cute I must say.

44. Lucky grass doll. Water them and they will start to grow green hair.

45. Some bread key chain. I have one of these. They smell like real bread too! Amazing. @.@!

46. Huge sun flower is huge.

47. No idea what is name of this flower.

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50. Ok that’s all from China Town. ^^;

So what else one do in Akihabara other then shopping for anime stuff? Look for locations featured in Steins;Gate of course. =D

2. The picture above is the MayQueen Nyan Nyan meido cafe

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to cover all the locations featured in the anime as I wasn’t prepared enough. Maybe I will do a better job next time I am there. ^^;

3. Railings in front of the park.

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5. The park itself.

6. Me doing the stardust shake hand. ^^;

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Regrettably I couldn’t find Ruka’s shrine. But I have it on my map now so will be sure to visit it in future. ^^

If you are in Akihabara, you got to try ゴーゴーカレー Go! Go! Curry!.

This is the Go! Go! Curry along the main street, Chuo-Dori. it must be good as people say since there is a line waiting to go in. Note that this line is queuing to pay for a ticket at the vending machine inside the store and there’s another separate queue waiting for vacant seats. @@

This is how the famous Go! Go! Curry! looks like. Btw it doesn’t come with so much shredded cabbage as you can see,  the extra serving of cabbage is from a friend who was with me who doesn’t fancy vegetable so I took his share. ^^;

Anyway for the uninitialized, there are many types of curries in Japan. One of it is known as the Kanazawa curry, named after Kanazawa the capital city in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture, which is the type of curry Go! Go! Curry! serves.

So what is so special about Go! Go! Curry? it’s characteristics includes,

- Thick and gooey dark brown sauce
- Shredded cabbage served on the side
- Served in a stainless steel bowl
- Eaten with just a fork
- Pork cutlet placed on top of curry
- Sauce covers the entirety of the white rice below

Yes you read right. the dish is eaten with only a fork! That’s because the curry is so thick even a fork can scoop it up. ^^;

Here’s a map on where Go! Go! Curry! is located. There are 2 stores in Akihabara as far as I know. The one along the main street beside Yoshinoya s the easiest to find.

For those in Singapore, we have 2 branches in ION Orchard and 313@Somerset and a newly opened one at Parco Marina Bay.

Website here for more info.

And don’t worry, in Singapore Go! Go! Curry! all the dishes comes with spoons. ^^;

My birthday is next Monday, January 16. If you really love me and want to give me a birthday present, to make things easy for you, this are the 2 things I want and best of all, they don’t cause a bomb, not that I know how much a bomb cost in the first place.

Anyway first item above is the awesome Lego Darth Vader LED Touch! This one comes with a light saber which can light up, the bottom of the feet is the touch. Very cool. $38.90

The second item is much cheaper, Lego Darth Vader LED Key Light. It is a mini touch key chain. This one have no light saber. No biggie, still cool. S$15.90. Excellent for those who cannot afford the first item or don’t love me enough to justify spending S$38.90 on me. Totally understandable.

Both item are available at Bricks World in Ngee Ann City, level 5. Below is the address and other details.

391, Orchard Road, #05-15A,
Ngee Ann City Podium Block,
Singapore 238872

Operation Hour
Monday-Sunday,
10:30am – 9:30pm

Contact No
Tel: 6734 5512

You need not buy all the 2 above, just 1 will do. But if you want to buy 2 for me, I will accept it of course and put you in my “Awesome Friends” list.  So to conclude, I hope this helps you with what to buy for me for my birthday, so you don’t end up buying stuffs that I don’t like and your name end up on my “Lousy Friends” list.

The 1/1 scale RX-78-2 Gundam is back in Odaiba and I am happy to say when these pictures were taken, last week of Decemeber 2011, the giant mecha is already up and standing. =D

It’s still not fully operational yet. The ground around the Gundam is still under renovation. And there is not lights shining onto it at night so will suggest going in the day or it will be hard to find in the dark.

So it is in Odaiba but where is it exactly located? I wasn’t there in 2009 when it was first up on display but judging from pics around the web taken years ago, I would say it’s at a different location. Maybe somewhere near the original spot I don’t know. But anyway as of right now, it is located as you can see from the first 2 photos, Diver City Plaza. The building looks to be a mall but is still under construction. The nearest train station is the Fune-no-kagakukan station (船の科学館駅) on the Yurikamome line. The easier way to get on the train is to transfer at JR Shimbashi station.

Below is a map of the area. Click for higher res. Once you alight at Fune-no-kagakukan station, you will see a huge car park at one side. It’s hard to miss. Walk in that direction and after getting out of the carpark you should be able to see the Gundam already.

Not sure where these photos of vegetation covered in ice are taken but they sure are a sight to behold. The beauty of nature (as long as it don’t destroy us). More after the jump.

You won’t die. I will protect you.

1st January New Year Day (正月, shōgatsu) is a big thing in Japan. Most businesses are closed and families gather together to spend the day at a temple or shrine.

2. Here we are at the Kanda Shrine (神田明神) near Akihabara. Very crowded desu with lots of people coming for Hatsumōde (初詣), the first shrine visit of the New Year. There are often long lines at major shrines throughout Japan, stretching all the way down the streets. Shrine going crowd during this period can last for 2, 3 days.

3. Once inside, wishes for the new year are made, new omamori 御守 (charms or amulets) are bought, and the old ones are returned to be burned as it have protected you for the past 1 year, so goes the tradition.

4. This is the Nakamise-dōri (仲見世通) going into the Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺) in Asakusa. Also very crowded. Police are usually around to maintain order.

5. The big red lantern and the one at the entrance, Kaminarimon (雷門) “Thunder Gate” are famous trademark of the temple.

6. This picture is actually taken last year 2011 during the year of the rabbit.

7. The Sensō-ji temple itself.

8. A stall selling decoration stuff.

9. Lots of food stalls are set up as well. Typical sight at a shrine/temple on New Year Day.

10. A stall selling Daruma doll. Folks buy and use the doll as a reminder of the goal they have set for themselves. There are no eyes on the doll so one will colour one eye of the doll upon setting the goal, then the other upon fulfilling it. So every time one sees the one eyed doll, one is reminded to work on achieving the goal so as to be able to give the doll full sight.

11. This is Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), a Japanese-style pancake. Okonomi” means “as you like”., referring to the ingredients.

12. 500yen for a package and it can be quite fulling, even on an empty stomach.

13. This is Ayu or Sweet Fish, grilled on a stick.

14. Ringo-ame (林檎飴) meaning Apple candy. It is apple coated in hard sugar candy coating.

15. Choco banana (チョコバナナ). Not necessary coated with chocolate. Mine is strawberry.

16. Outside, the street is closed off for the New Year crowd.

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18. Lots of shop display New Year banner at the front of the store.

19. A stall selling Ningyo Yaki (人形烧), a kind of pastry filled with sweet azuki bean paste. It is a specialty of Asakusa Shrine. The name came from an area in central Tokyo call 人形町.

20. This is call a Fukubukuro (福袋） meaning lucky bag. As the name implies, if u are lucky u get a good prize, like in this picture, a digital camera and a PS VITA! for only 2000yen. Pricing is different among stores but generally not too expensive. if u are unlucky, u get junk but even though junk it will be worth the money u paid for. This tradition is a way for store to clear their old or unwanted stock.

21. Sending handwritten New Year card call Nengajo (年賀状) is also another tradition in Japan. Over here is a mails collection box, you will see a slot on the left specially for New Year cards. Drop the card latest by 27th December and it is guaranteed to reach the recipient on 1st Jan anywhere in Japan.

22. This is call kadomatsu (門松), a traditional Japanese decoration of the New Year placed in pairs in front of homes after Christmas till end of first week of Jan. The designs vary depending on region but are typically made of pine, bamboo, and sometimes ume tree sprigs which represent longevity, prosperity and steadfastness, respectively.

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