let's see how long i can hold out...
...against the utter cracktastic temptation that is Granado Espada.
i finished, like, a shitload of quests yesterday and was actually able to switch locations. my family's now calling the second town, Port of Coimbra, home.
all families start from Cite de Reboldoeux - someone tell me how to pronounce that, stat - and you're expected to go back there as you gain higher levels, for more questing fun.
essentially you spend a lot of time staying in each town, leave after reaching a certain level, and come back after you reach something higher. it's a world tour - which is kinda confusing seeing as you're pioneers. sure, you must explore, but don't pioneers also have to set up shop somewhere for a long time? [oh, okay, that's what the colony is for. other than as faction wars venue, i mean.]
***
i'm taking a week's break from Closed Beta to attend to the rest of my sorry life, haha.
***
today i was woken up far too early and snarked into serving at the PC shop - seems both attendants ran out on us. bugger. i hope i get relief at 3:00. i can't get any work done.
not to mention, i was kicked out to the shop WITHOUT breakfast. the horror! the horror! now i can smell lunch cooking and fuck, fuck, fuck.
i'm getting hungry. you wouldn't like me when i'm angry.
*no food forthcoming*
PANDA SMASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***
*adjusts strategically-torn pajamas*
er.
this year i shall be condemned once again to waiting on a friend to finish reading their copy of HP Book 7 before i can get a crack at it, because, yes, i don't live with my parents and sister any more and she always buys the books, in hardcover, when they come out.
...okay, maybe two months after they come out. that family never bothers to reserve, and thus the little one deserves the frustration she feels when her more foresighted friends yammer about the high points and she's, like, 'no spoilers no spoilers!'
if it were me, hell yes i would have reserved. i would have forged a convenient alliance with the friendliest bookstore i could find and asked for an in whenever book-reservation time rolls around.
*looks shiftily, and longingly, at her wishlist*
oh well.
talking about friendliest bookshops: in terms of atmosphere and, yes, food, my current favorite would be PowerBooks Live! at Greenbelt 4 in Ayala Center, Makati. the pasta and the sandwiches and the drinks at their in-house coffeeshop The Java Man are all most excellent, and yes, all those books! most of which are open for browsing except for the ones that, by dint of fragility, aren't - that would be the magazines, and the comics.
you can order a drink and a sandwich there and actually spend a few hours doing, say, homework, or research, or whatever. the staff also pick up your browsing selection after you leave although i always make a point of returning stuff.
yeah, it's a long commute from home, but, the books - the make the traveling time so very worth it.
***
on another Granado Espada-related note, after killing time at the aforementioned PowerBooks yesterday alliver and i noticed that there was a branch of internet cafe B-Connected along the same corridor.
one of that cafe's branches is on the GE list of Philippines beta-tester locations, so we went there and asked about whether they had a kit, and if they had the game installed.
maybe it's because the place was newly opened, but the mostly-clueless attendant told us only ONE unit out of, what, 40[???], had the game installed.
okay, granted, GE was like the WORST download ever in terms of how freaking huge the installer was, but, um, have these people never heard of Norton Ghost? or, hell, even SHARING the installer to all units? just one download needed.
so much for promoting the game. ONE unit out of FORTY. in MAKATI. christ almighty, what clueless idiots. the point is to drum up interest, and they MISSED it.
/capslock-abuse
[our shop has GE on two out of ten, and that's incredible considering how remote we are. and boy, are our punters getting keen with the demos he and i wind up doing when we play.]
***
talking about food, my partner and i have made yet another wonderful gastronomic discovery: Cafe Ten Titas on the fourth floor of Gateway in Araneta Center, Cubao.
i swear. really, really, really bloody good dinuguan [pun most definitely intended] and if you like pork parts stewed in mildly soured and spicy pork blood, RUN, don't walk, to the place and bring either your posse or a very big appetite. everything on the menu is sized for sharing and it's wonderful Filipino food favorites mixed in with fish and chips, fusion food, and wonderfully guyabano-infused iced tea.
and for the health-conscious: the tuyo is not that salty, the kesong puti is also much milder than usual, and it's all so good.
it's a bit on the pricey side but like i said, the dishes are sized for sharing. you can actually make a full meal out of one entree, which often has side dishes included, and some extra rice if you're so inclined.
plus, hey, they listen to bossa nova all day. so soothing.
quick food glossary: dinuguan, literally 'cooked in blood', i described above. kesong puti is plain white goat's cheese. tuyo are usually tiny, dried, salted fish.
***
i wanna eat at Cerealicious again, good god.
***
i finished, like, a shitload of quests yesterday and was actually able to switch locations. my family's now calling the second town, Port of Coimbra, home.
all families start from Cite de Reboldoeux - someone tell me how to pronounce that, stat - and you're expected to go back there as you gain higher levels, for more questing fun.
essentially you spend a lot of time staying in each town, leave after reaching a certain level, and come back after you reach something higher. it's a world tour - which is kinda confusing seeing as you're pioneers. sure, you must explore, but don't pioneers also have to set up shop somewhere for a long time? [oh, okay, that's what the colony is for. other than as faction wars venue, i mean.]
***
i'm taking a week's break from Closed Beta to attend to the rest of my sorry life, haha.
***
today i was woken up far too early and snarked into serving at the PC shop - seems both attendants ran out on us. bugger. i hope i get relief at 3:00. i can't get any work done.
not to mention, i was kicked out to the shop WITHOUT breakfast. the horror! the horror! now i can smell lunch cooking and fuck, fuck, fuck.
i'm getting hungry. you wouldn't like me when i'm angry.
*no food forthcoming*
PANDA SMASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***
*adjusts strategically-torn pajamas*
er.
this year i shall be condemned once again to waiting on a friend to finish reading their copy of HP Book 7 before i can get a crack at it, because, yes, i don't live with my parents and sister any more and she always buys the books, in hardcover, when they come out.
...okay, maybe two months after they come out. that family never bothers to reserve, and thus the little one deserves the frustration she feels when her more foresighted friends yammer about the high points and she's, like, 'no spoilers no spoilers!'
if it were me, hell yes i would have reserved. i would have forged a convenient alliance with the friendliest bookstore i could find and asked for an in whenever book-reservation time rolls around.
*looks shiftily, and longingly, at her wishlist*
oh well.
talking about friendliest bookshops: in terms of atmosphere and, yes, food, my current favorite would be PowerBooks Live! at Greenbelt 4 in Ayala Center, Makati. the pasta and the sandwiches and the drinks at their in-house coffeeshop The Java Man are all most excellent, and yes, all those books! most of which are open for browsing except for the ones that, by dint of fragility, aren't - that would be the magazines, and the comics.
you can order a drink and a sandwich there and actually spend a few hours doing, say, homework, or research, or whatever. the staff also pick up your browsing selection after you leave although i always make a point of returning stuff.
yeah, it's a long commute from home, but, the books - the make the traveling time so very worth it.
***
on another Granado Espada-related note, after killing time at the aforementioned PowerBooks yesterday alliver and i noticed that there was a branch of internet cafe B-Connected along the same corridor.
one of that cafe's branches is on the GE list of Philippines beta-tester locations, so we went there and asked about whether they had a kit, and if they had the game installed.
maybe it's because the place was newly opened, but the mostly-clueless attendant told us only ONE unit out of, what, 40[???], had the game installed.
okay, granted, GE was like the WORST download ever in terms of how freaking huge the installer was, but, um, have these people never heard of Norton Ghost? or, hell, even SHARING the installer to all units? just one download needed.
so much for promoting the game. ONE unit out of FORTY. in MAKATI. christ almighty, what clueless idiots. the point is to drum up interest, and they MISSED it.
/capslock-abuse
[our shop has GE on two out of ten, and that's incredible considering how remote we are. and boy, are our punters getting keen with the demos he and i wind up doing when we play.]
***
talking about food, my partner and i have made yet another wonderful gastronomic discovery: Cafe Ten Titas on the fourth floor of Gateway in Araneta Center, Cubao.
i swear. really, really, really bloody good dinuguan [pun most definitely intended] and if you like pork parts stewed in mildly soured and spicy pork blood, RUN, don't walk, to the place and bring either your posse or a very big appetite. everything on the menu is sized for sharing and it's wonderful Filipino food favorites mixed in with fish and chips, fusion food, and wonderfully guyabano-infused iced tea.
and for the health-conscious: the tuyo is not that salty, the kesong puti is also much milder than usual, and it's all so good.
it's a bit on the pricey side but like i said, the dishes are sized for sharing. you can actually make a full meal out of one entree, which often has side dishes included, and some extra rice if you're so inclined.
plus, hey, they listen to bossa nova all day. so soothing.
quick food glossary: dinuguan, literally 'cooked in blood', i described above. kesong puti is plain white goat's cheese. tuyo are usually tiny, dried, salted fish.
***
i wanna eat at Cerealicious again, good god.
***