Mass VocaSpam!
CLAIRE IS BACK. IN ALL FULL GLORY.
SO! How was it? The trip to Malaysia, I mean. (The way you're asking it seems to make this post resemble an interview.) It was good! We didn't really do much, though... Since it was more of an Extremely-Early-CNY-Clothes-Shopping trip than of a sightseeing trip... I mean, it's not bad, 'cuz I got some really good shorts and shoes which were on sale (SHUT UP I'M A SUCKER FOR SHORTS. )< ) but it was kinda... yeah. When my dad told us we were going on a trip to Malacca he kept telling me that we'd get to visit lotsa historical Portugese-ish sites but HISTORICAL SITES, MY ASS. l< I brought my camera for more or less nothing.
... Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining-COMPLAINING, it's just that I expected to do some sightseeing instead of being stuck in shopping malls for 2 days. The trip wasn't all THAT bad, though, because at the expense of sounding like some kinda greedy slob, the food there was pretty good. My dad sure knew where to take us.
First day lunch, we went to this shop selling... Chicken rice balls. Honestly, I don't think too highly of the food there, but... *shrugs* Personal preference. Apparently, it's REALLY popular, so it can't be all that bad, but I guess my entire family, me included, just don't really like it. Anyways! Why I hate it... They put more than plenty of ground garlic with the plate of chicken which we shared, and because it blended in so well (both ARE white, afterall...) I didn't suspect a thing.
... Until I actually got this huge lump of ground garlic powder in my mouth and almost gagged myself to death. I've ALWAYS hated the taste of garlic, okay? And ginger and onions, while I'm at it. I wouldn't take ANY to save my life.
(Claire spent the rest of her lunch refusing to touch the plate of meat. And flushing the taste out of her mouth with 7-UP. Which... kinda didn't work so well, 'cuz 7-UP is practically tasteless. Right.)
Though, my parents and brother were pretty cool with the garlic. I suppose I'm the only one who can't stand the things... As for the rice... it was kinda tasteless as well. I mean, the rice usually has the chicken... fragrance? Is that the word? Yeah, anyways. But in this case, it wasn't there. At all. And it was kinda mushy. My dad said the reason for the above 2 was because they needed the rice to be really, really moist in order to roll it into a ball, and so they had to use less oil.
DAY ONE LUNCH, FAIL.
First day dinner, WAS SUPER COOL. And nice, of course. TOTALLY NEW EXPERIENCE. You definitely won't get this in Singapore. Wait for it... Dramatic moment needed. SATAY STEAMBOAT (kind of!)!! 8DDDDD
Pictures speak a thousand words, or so they say. And so, CUE THE PHOTO SPAM~!
This is the place! Taken while waiting. I'm short, so the angle is kinda uhh... The queue was LONG. There were like, 10 people in front of us. And by the time we finished eating and exited the place, there were like, 30 PEOPLE QUEUEING OUTSIDE. SCARY.
You choose what food, all speared on satay sticks, with the exception of whatever on the blue plates there, from that supermarket freezer-like thing in the background. Ignore my brother and father's less-than-glam-like faces please. Especially my brother. For some reason, he looks like he was struck dumb. I mean, LOOK AT HIS EXPRESSION LOOK AT HIM. (O-OI! Exactly what are you here for to discuss?! *sweatdrop*) (But, I'm telling the truth?!) (Regardless!!)
Presenting.... On the right, the stuff we picked! Dum-da-duuuuuuum. And on the left! The peanut sauce! There's a flame beneath the pot constantly heating the sauce. After a while, the sauce starts to bubble... And you stick your food inside until it's cooked! It's really like steamboat, yes?! :DDDD
See, so cool right?! :D And the food is like, super good~~ 8D Fantastique~~~ (I know French! 8D) (As if?! Ya just picked up several words here and there!) (You do that for a lot of languages, not just French... Well, I suppose it's a good thing...)
Day 2, skipped lunch. Dinner, Peranakan food. It was pretty good, but nothing particularly new and interesting, like the steamboat satay, so that's all I'll say.
Other random stuff!
I'm so brilliant. *insert narcissic sparkles around self* On the way back to the hotel from Day One's dinner, my parents wanted to buy some bottles of water for drinking. Ya know, never trust tap water from countries that aren't Singapore! So, we went to this mini-mart nearby the restaurant. Yup.
Me and brother: *grabs 3 bottles*
Malay-Indian shopkeeper: *insert some Malay words*
Me: "Uhm. (O_____O;)" *looks at brother*
Brother: *snatches bottles away from me and walks away* (My mother was outside the shop so it wasn't like we just performed a hit-and-run or anything, okay...)
Shopkeeper: *insert Malay again*
Me: "UUUUUUHHHHH. S-Saya tatahu Bahasa Melayu?????"
Shopkeeper: *translates* "Six dollars."
Me: "Ahokaythanks."
I'm an absolute GENIUS. *extremely proud of self* The line I've been practising for more than an entire YEAR actually came in handy! I actually USED IT YEEEEEAAH MAAAAAAAAN. I. ACTUALLY. GOT TO USE. MY FAVOURITE LINE. LIKE. EVER. Without me, my family would have faced utter confusion! (Probably not true... They would have just asked if the shopkeeper could speak English...)
I HAVE JUST SAVED THE WORLD. CLAIRE CAN NOW DIE HAPPY AND IN BLISS. 8DDDDDDDDD
Oh, and.
I love this car's license plate, 'nuff said.
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Now that that's done with, time for some VocaSpam.
#1: I bought a DVD of this year's live Vocaloid concert! It's bootleg, obviously, but with FANTASTIC QUALITY LIKE THIS, I DON'T CARE. It's as good as 1080p videos on Youtube! AND it has GOOD English translations of all the songs! Chinese translations as well, but who cares about that. I don't. It's so nice to be able to understand what they're singing about. AND ON TOP OF THAT, IT WAS FREAKING CHEAP. 17 RINGGIT. THAT'S APPROXIMATELY 9 BUCKS, SGD. Go and check how much the originals are selling for, with the same quality. TOTALLY WORTH IT.
The concert's complete Miku-spam, but at least 90% of her songs are the songs I quite like. She DOES have some good songs, even though she ranks the lowest on my Vocaloid list, and I prefer the cover versions of most of said songs. XD Luka has a total of 4 songs, one of them being magnet, which is a duet with Miku. Rin has a total of 4 as well, 2 of them being duets, one with Miku and one with Len. Len... is a sad case. (;______;) He only gets ONE SONG. And that's Migikata no Chou. Duet with Rin. Damn, Crypton totally neglects MEIKO, KAITO and Len. And I strongly believe Cryton and Yamaha should hold a joint concert, with LESS Miku. Seriously, she may be the Vocaloid which actually made Vocaloid really, really popular, but she's waaaay overated. Anyways, if such a concert was ever held, then I'd get to hear Gakupo sing. 8DDD
#2: Just for the hell of it, I'm just going to upload some of my favourite songs from the concert. Taken from Youtube.
Just be Friends by Megurine Luka. My favourite Luka song, EVER. She sounds pretty good in this. I mean, you can still hear some robotic-ness in her singing, but it's extremely good as compared to some of her other songs, which makes her sound like, quoteth Fish, "she's crushing metal between her teeth".
I LOVE THE GRAPHICS BY THE WAY. THE WAY HER HAIR MOVES ABOUT. AND LUKA LOOKS SCARILY REAL. Not anything near Square Enix's level, BUT DAMN GOOD. And my parents wonder why the hell I want to be a Game Designer. (To say they're not encouraging it would be an understatement, but since when have I actually been a docile little I-Don't-Know-What around them?) BECAUSE I LOVE GRAPHICS. So what if it's a messed up reason. As long as I'm happy I see no reason to care!
And what really makes me happy? It's how the Vocaloids look like they're having so much fun even though they're just holograms for the concert and that they technically DON'T EXIST.
Promise by Kagamine Rin and Hatsune Miku.
MIKU'S HAIR. RIN'S RIBBON. I LOVE THE WAY THEY MOVE WHILE DANCING. GOD I LOVE GRAPHICS♥♥♥
I love the guitarist as well. The way he's having so much fun playing! By the way, that's the person who created this song. He appears as a guest guitarist for his song. Some other songs have similar guest performers, but they're not all guitarists, I think.
I find it amusing how everyone starts screaming the moment Len comes out from behind Rin. LEN'S DANCING AAAAAAARGGGGHHH. Why did he only get this one song, CURSE IT. I swear, if only Miku didn't have SO MANY songs Len could have had 3 more to even it out with Luka and Rin!! They could have at least thrown in SPICE! ! That's like, Len's most well-known song! THIS IS. BLASPHEMY.
#3: VOCASPAM NOT DONE YET. WILL SOON BE. This is kinda late news, I know, but. RIN AND LEN APPEND IS SET TO BE RELEASED THIS YEAR, DECEMBER 27! JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY! 8DDDDD That's their birthday!
Rin now practically sounds REAL. I mean, real human kind of real. She was already Cryton's smoothest-sounding Vocaloid, and now they upgrade her. I think this just smashed the limits of awesomeness. Len still sounds a little rough when pronouncing certain syllables, but HE'S THERE. I'd compare him to a mediocre-ly-used un-Append Rin. THAT'S ALREADY PRETTY GOOD. And considering the fact that they had to lower his seiyuu's pitch, his seiyuu being a female and all, that kinda messes the quality a lot already. APPEND MAKES HIM EXTREMELY GOOD THEN, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT.
AND. HAS ANYONE SEEN THEIR APPEND DESIGNS. I BET NOT. LO AND BEHOLD.
They are SO PRETTY. It's not like they changed the design a little. THEY CHANGED IT COMPLETELY. AND IT LOOKS SO DARN GOOD I THINK I'LL JUST FANGIRL RIGHT NOW.
Both Rin and Len look so much more mature now while still looking like 14-year-olds (although technically they're older than that now...) and I utterly, UTTERLY, love how their clothes look so much more DIGITAL now. Without looking overkill like Miku Append. SHE'S PRACTICALLY NOT WEARING ANY PANTS/SKIRTS. THERE'S ONLY THIS PIECE OF METAL COVERING HER *sensored* AND EVEN HER SHIRT'S THIS WHITE CLOTH BARELY COVERING ANYTHING MORE THAN HER BOOBS. I was disgusted.
Now, this, I like. Rin's ribbon, and both their arm and leg warmers are semi-see through! Their earphones look so much less plain now! The chokers are epic love! The yellow ribbon-like things hanging! I LOVE THEM. Rin's pumpkin shorts! (I have a thing for pumpkin shorts. XD ) AND I LOVE THEIR SHIRTS. IT MAKES THEM... I DUNNO HOW TO DESCRIBE IT. IT GIVES THEM THIS REALLY GOOD FEEL OF INDIVIDUALITY WHILE LOOKING SMASHINGLY GOOD. I HAVE NO WORDS TO PHRASE MY LOVE FOR RIN AND LEN APPEND, AND I'M PROUD OF THAT, BECAUSE THE DESIGNERS BLEW ALL MY EXPECTATIONS AWAY IN THE GOOD WAY.Even in the non-designing way, I LOVE THE NEW ART STYLE.
Designs like this are what make me LOVE designing characters. I'm happy.
...But one small random thing that makes me a little depressed. Rin and Len now look a little like my two O.C.s, Rei and Rai, respectively. *emos in corner* That makes me feel like I just ripped their designs off to create my own O.C.s, even though I've had those 2 O.C.s for literally 5 years. The chokers (and my O.C.s' chokers are practically their TRADEMARK!)? The shirts (a LITTLE)? Rin's shorts? (I can't say anything for Len's pants, because I admit I DID base Rai's pants directly off Len's...) The way the FRONT ribbons are hanging look like my O.C.s' pouches? The inner gloves (a little)?
On the bright side I can convince myself that my designs were so epic they were thought of and used my PROFESSIONAL designers. 8D
Over and Out!
~Ai
P/S: Under the cut is not working D:
SO! How was it? The trip to Malaysia, I mean. (The way you're asking it seems to make this post resemble an interview.) It was good! We didn't really do much, though... Since it was more of an Extremely-Early-CNY-Clothes-Shopping trip than of a sightseeing trip... I mean, it's not bad, 'cuz I got some really good shorts and shoes which were on sale (SHUT UP I'M A SUCKER FOR SHORTS. )< ) but it was kinda... yeah. When my dad told us we were going on a trip to Malacca he kept telling me that we'd get to visit lotsa historical Portugese-ish sites but HISTORICAL SITES, MY ASS. l< I brought my camera for more or less nothing.
... Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining-COMPLAINING, it's just that I expected to do some sightseeing instead of being stuck in shopping malls for 2 days. The trip wasn't all THAT bad, though, because at the expense of sounding like some kinda greedy slob, the food there was pretty good. My dad sure knew where to take us.
First day lunch, we went to this shop selling... Chicken rice balls. Honestly, I don't think too highly of the food there, but... *shrugs* Personal preference. Apparently, it's REALLY popular, so it can't be all that bad, but I guess my entire family, me included, just don't really like it. Anyways! Why I hate it... They put more than plenty of ground garlic with the plate of chicken which we shared, and because it blended in so well (both ARE white, afterall...) I didn't suspect a thing.
... Until I actually got this huge lump of ground garlic powder in my mouth and almost gagged myself to death. I've ALWAYS hated the taste of garlic, okay? And ginger and onions, while I'm at it. I wouldn't take ANY to save my life.
(Claire spent the rest of her lunch refusing to touch the plate of meat. And flushing the taste out of her mouth with 7-UP. Which... kinda didn't work so well, 'cuz 7-UP is practically tasteless. Right.)
Though, my parents and brother were pretty cool with the garlic. I suppose I'm the only one who can't stand the things... As for the rice... it was kinda tasteless as well. I mean, the rice usually has the chicken... fragrance? Is that the word? Yeah, anyways. But in this case, it wasn't there. At all. And it was kinda mushy. My dad said the reason for the above 2 was because they needed the rice to be really, really moist in order to roll it into a ball, and so they had to use less oil.
DAY ONE LUNCH, FAIL.
First day dinner, WAS SUPER COOL. And nice, of course. TOTALLY NEW EXPERIENCE. You definitely won't get this in Singapore. Wait for it... Dramatic moment needed. SATAY STEAMBOAT (kind of!)!! 8DDDDD
Pictures speak a thousand words, or so they say. And so, CUE THE PHOTO SPAM~!
This is the place! Taken while waiting. I'm short, so the angle is kinda uhh... The queue was LONG. There were like, 10 people in front of us. And by the time we finished eating and exited the place, there were like, 30 PEOPLE QUEUEING OUTSIDE. SCARY.
You choose what food, all speared on satay sticks, with the exception of whatever on the blue plates there, from that supermarket freezer-like thing in the background. Ignore my brother and father's less-than-glam-like faces please. Especially my brother. For some reason, he looks like he was struck dumb. I mean, LOOK AT HIS EXPRESSION LOOK AT HIM. (O-OI! Exactly what are you here for to discuss?! *sweatdrop*) (But, I'm telling the truth?!) (Regardless!!)
Presenting.... On the right, the stuff we picked! Dum-da-duuuuuuum. And on the left! The peanut sauce! There's a flame beneath the pot constantly heating the sauce. After a while, the sauce starts to bubble... And you stick your food inside until it's cooked! It's really like steamboat, yes?! :DDDD
See, so cool right?! :D And the food is like, super good~~ 8D Fantastique~~~ (I know French! 8D) (As if?! Ya just picked up several words here and there!) (You do that for a lot of languages, not just French... Well, I suppose it's a good thing...)
Day 2, skipped lunch. Dinner, Peranakan food. It was pretty good, but nothing particularly new and interesting, like the steamboat satay, so that's all I'll say.
Other random stuff!
I'm so brilliant. *insert narcissic sparkles around self* On the way back to the hotel from Day One's dinner, my parents wanted to buy some bottles of water for drinking. Ya know, never trust tap water from countries that aren't Singapore! So, we went to this mini-mart nearby the restaurant. Yup.
Me and brother: *grabs 3 bottles*
Malay-Indian shopkeeper: *insert some Malay words*
Me: "Uhm. (O_____O;)" *looks at brother*
Brother: *snatches bottles away from me and walks away* (My mother was outside the shop so it wasn't like we just performed a hit-and-run or anything, okay...)
Shopkeeper: *insert Malay again*
Me: "UUUUUUHHHHH. S-Saya tatahu Bahasa Melayu?????"
Shopkeeper: *translates* "Six dollars."
Me: "Ahokaythanks."
I'm an absolute GENIUS. *extremely proud of self* The line I've been practising for more than an entire YEAR actually came in handy! I actually USED IT YEEEEEAAH MAAAAAAAAN. I. ACTUALLY. GOT TO USE. MY FAVOURITE LINE. LIKE. EVER. Without me, my family would have faced utter confusion! (Probably not true... They would have just asked if the shopkeeper could speak English...)
I HAVE JUST SAVED THE WORLD. CLAIRE CAN NOW DIE HAPPY AND IN BLISS. 8DDDDDDDDD
Oh, and.
I love this car's license plate, 'nuff said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that that's done with, time for some VocaSpam.
#1: I bought a DVD of this year's live Vocaloid concert! It's bootleg, obviously, but with FANTASTIC QUALITY LIKE THIS, I DON'T CARE. It's as good as 1080p videos on Youtube! AND it has GOOD English translations of all the songs! Chinese translations as well, but who cares about that. I don't. It's so nice to be able to understand what they're singing about. AND ON TOP OF THAT, IT WAS FREAKING CHEAP. 17 RINGGIT. THAT'S APPROXIMATELY 9 BUCKS, SGD. Go and check how much the originals are selling for, with the same quality. TOTALLY WORTH IT.
The concert's complete Miku-spam, but at least 90% of her songs are the songs I quite like. She DOES have some good songs, even though she ranks the lowest on my Vocaloid list, and I prefer the cover versions of most of said songs. XD Luka has a total of 4 songs, one of them being magnet, which is a duet with Miku. Rin has a total of 4 as well, 2 of them being duets, one with Miku and one with Len. Len... is a sad case. (;______;) He only gets ONE SONG. And that's Migikata no Chou. Duet with Rin. Damn, Crypton totally neglects MEIKO, KAITO and Len. And I strongly believe Cryton and Yamaha should hold a joint concert, with LESS Miku. Seriously, she may be the Vocaloid which actually made Vocaloid really, really popular, but she's waaaay overated. Anyways, if such a concert was ever held, then I'd get to hear Gakupo sing. 8DDD
#2: Just for the hell of it, I'm just going to upload some of my favourite songs from the concert. Taken from Youtube.
Click to viewJust be Friends by Megurine Luka. My favourite Luka song, EVER. She sounds pretty good in this. I mean, you can still hear some robotic-ness in her singing, but it's extremely good as compared to some of her other songs, which makes her sound like, quoteth Fish, "she's crushing metal between her teeth".
I LOVE THE GRAPHICS BY THE WAY. THE WAY HER HAIR MOVES ABOUT. AND LUKA LOOKS SCARILY REAL. Not anything near Square Enix's level, BUT DAMN GOOD. And my parents wonder why the hell I want to be a Game Designer. (To say they're not encouraging it would be an understatement, but since when have I actually been a docile little I-Don't-Know-What around them?) BECAUSE I LOVE GRAPHICS. So what if it's a messed up reason. As long as I'm happy I see no reason to care!
And what really makes me happy? It's how the Vocaloids look like they're having so much fun even though they're just holograms for the concert and that they technically DON'T EXIST.
Promise by Kagamine Rin and Hatsune Miku.
MIKU'S HAIR. RIN'S RIBBON. I LOVE THE WAY THEY MOVE WHILE DANCING. GOD I LOVE GRAPHICS♥♥♥
I love the guitarist as well. The way he's having so much fun playing! By the way, that's the person who created this song. He appears as a guest guitarist for his song. Some other songs have similar guest performers, but they're not all guitarists, I think.
I find it amusing how everyone starts screaming the moment Len comes out from behind Rin. LEN'S DANCING AAAAAAARGGGGHHH. Why did he only get this one song, CURSE IT. I swear, if only Miku didn't have SO MANY songs Len could have had 3 more to even it out with Luka and Rin!! They could have at least thrown in SPICE! ! That's like, Len's most well-known song! THIS IS. BLASPHEMY.
#3: VOCASPAM NOT DONE YET. WILL SOON BE. This is kinda late news, I know, but. RIN AND LEN APPEND IS SET TO BE RELEASED THIS YEAR, DECEMBER 27! JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY! 8DDDDD That's their birthday!
Rin now practically sounds REAL. I mean, real human kind of real. She was already Cryton's smoothest-sounding Vocaloid, and now they upgrade her. I think this just smashed the limits of awesomeness. Len still sounds a little rough when pronouncing certain syllables, but HE'S THERE. I'd compare him to a mediocre-ly-used un-Append Rin. THAT'S ALREADY PRETTY GOOD. And considering the fact that they had to lower his seiyuu's pitch, his seiyuu being a female and all, that kinda messes the quality a lot already. APPEND MAKES HIM EXTREMELY GOOD THEN, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT.
AND. HAS ANYONE SEEN THEIR APPEND DESIGNS. I BET NOT. LO AND BEHOLD.
They are SO PRETTY. It's not like they changed the design a little. THEY CHANGED IT COMPLETELY. AND IT LOOKS SO DARN GOOD I THINK I'LL JUST FANGIRL RIGHT NOW.
Both Rin and Len look so much more mature now while still looking like 14-year-olds (although technically they're older than that now...) and I utterly, UTTERLY, love how their clothes look so much more DIGITAL now. Without looking overkill like Miku Append. SHE'S PRACTICALLY NOT WEARING ANY PANTS/SKIRTS. THERE'S ONLY THIS PIECE OF METAL COVERING HER *sensored* AND EVEN HER SHIRT'S THIS WHITE CLOTH BARELY COVERING ANYTHING MORE THAN HER BOOBS. I was disgusted.
Now, this, I like. Rin's ribbon, and both their arm and leg warmers are semi-see through! Their earphones look so much less plain now! The chokers are epic love! The yellow ribbon-like things hanging! I LOVE THEM. Rin's pumpkin shorts! (I have a thing for pumpkin shorts. XD ) AND I LOVE THEIR SHIRTS. IT MAKES THEM... I DUNNO HOW TO DESCRIBE IT. IT GIVES THEM THIS REALLY GOOD FEEL OF INDIVIDUALITY WHILE LOOKING SMASHINGLY GOOD. I HAVE NO WORDS TO PHRASE MY LOVE FOR RIN AND LEN APPEND, AND I'M PROUD OF THAT, BECAUSE THE DESIGNERS BLEW ALL MY EXPECTATIONS AWAY IN THE GOOD WAY.Even in the non-designing way, I LOVE THE NEW ART STYLE.
Designs like this are what make me LOVE designing characters. I'm happy.
...But one small random thing that makes me a little depressed. Rin and Len now look a little like my two O.C.s, Rei and Rai, respectively. *emos in corner* That makes me feel like I just ripped their designs off to create my own O.C.s, even though I've had those 2 O.C.s for literally 5 years. The chokers (and my O.C.s' chokers are practically their TRADEMARK!)? The shirts (a LITTLE)? Rin's shorts? (I can't say anything for Len's pants, because I admit I DID base Rai's pants directly off Len's...) The way the FRONT ribbons are hanging look like my O.C.s' pouches? The inner gloves (a little)?
On the bright side I can convince myself that my designs were so epic they were thought of and used my PROFESSIONAL designers. 8D
Over and Out!
~Ai
P/S: Under the cut is not working D: