Random thoughts

Exactly what it says on the lid.



- you'll never know if you can finish a whole stuffed crust pizza by your lonesome until you try
- the yummiest kinds of food are often swimming in grease and sugar
- working from 8 to 5 with no one to talk to can drive you crazy (crazier, actually)
- if a random stranger touches you on the waist as you're alighting from a jeep, you should slap him on the face
- add 100 points if you can sneak in a punch
- if you're fuming mad, there's a 50 % chance that you look your best
- the other 50 % means you look your worst
- there are just some things that aren't meant for you, like a 400- peso keychain

Things that make me go squee

Trivia: A few things that makes me think I have more in common with (some) humans who have X and Y chromosomes instead of those with two X's:

1. My real name sounds like a guy's name
2. Saying things straight to the point to the extent that I come across as blunt (sadly. I'm working on this though ^^)
3. One of the best ways to my heart is through these:





 and  

So while pretty trinkets and great bargains on figures make me go







and





I love the fact that edible treats are just a footbridge away from where I work. :D In this post, I'll try to give a quick review for each. Scores will be given based on the presentation, flavor, and price. Parang pro- reviewer lang. LOL.


(Note: Please don't mind how goofy Kousuke-sama Toriumi Kousuke looks like. He does that on a regular basis.)


Flavored KitKats (featured flavors: Cookies and Cream, Strawberry)

For those who haven't set foot into the world of flavored KitKats, Nestle Japan churns out a dozen new flavors (aside from the usual chocolate/ white chocolate) or so every year. Ever wondered what KitKat with pepper tastes like? Or how about a Banana KitKat? Nestle Japan has got you covered. MoshiMoshi (a Japanese- themed restaurant at Katipunan's Regis Building) sells some of these... exotically- flavored KitKats. The last time I was there (which was yesterday ^^), they still had Yubari Melon and Apple KitKats. Uh, no thanks. I'll stick with Strawberry. XD

Cookies and Cream KitKat  




 
Presentation: The Cookies and Cream KitKat wafers came in a cute box, in a shade of robin- egg blue similar to (or maybe darker than) those pretty little boxes from Tiffany's. Both sides of the box have "Cookies and Cream" written in Katakana, under the KitKat logo. Each box has six individually- packed mini- wafers. Nutritional info and ingredients are printed in Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana.  


Score: 4/5. They could have printed some of the info in English/ other languages, but I guess Nestle Japan doesn't expect these flavored KitKats to be sold overseas (which is a bit sad, since there's quite a lot of people eager for these things).  

Flavor: I expected these to taste similar to white chocolate KitKat. They didn't. They tasted a bit like milk, in the sense that these aren't as cloyingly sweet as white chocolates usually tend to be. However, I wasn't able to taste the cookies at all.  

Score: 4/5. One point was omitted for the lack of the cookie flavor.

Wallet damage Price: P100.00 per box. Makes you go ouch if you want a big box of these (One big box= 10 smaller boxes), but quite reasonable if you just want to try out the new flavors. Sharing a box (and the cost) might be a good idea though. XD Based on a few comments I've seen on the Net, I think MoshiMoshi sells their KitKats for a lower price than those found in other Japanese food stores.  

Score: 3.5/5 (I'm generous with scores, I know). I'm grateful enough that flavored KitKats are available in Katipunan and that I don't have to go all the way to Greenhills just for a small box. However, maybe MoshiMoshi can sell the KitKats at an introductory price first? (Or maybe not. The KitKats are usually sold out in a day or two after arrival at the MoshiMoshi store.)

Total score: 11.5/ 15


Strawberry KitKat




 
Presentation: I prefer the pink box of the Strawberry KitKats over the Cookies and Cream box, if only because it looks girlier (which suits the flavor, I guess). The Kanji for strawberry (ichigo) is written on the front, along with the Hiragana for heart (kokoro) and some other Kanji I can't read/ find in my dictionary. A space at the back is provided for a short message. Based on what I've read, Nestle Japan usually launches new strawberry/ cherry KitKat flavors come high school entrance exam months in Japan. Spaces are provided on each box for parents and other well- wishers to wish students good luck. As with the Cookies and Cream box, nutritional info and ingredients are written in a mix of Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana. Two packs are in each box; each pack contains two wafer fingers.  


Score: 4/5.

Flavor: These tasted a little sweeter than the Cookies and Cream ones, and to be fair, the chocolate did taste like strawberries. Smelled yummy too. Then again, I'm biased towards anything flavored with strawberries, so maybe I'm not being as objective as I should be.  

Score: 4.5/5. Make the chocolate thicker and I'll add a .25.  

Price: Just like the Cookies and Cream KitKat, a box costs P100.00... and only four wafers are in each box. However, the wafers are sized "normally" compared to the mini- wafers in the Cookies and Cream variant.  

Score: 3.5/5.

Total score: 12/ 15 (Heh. So much for being fair.)


Verdict: Recommended for other Japanophiles like me or if you want something a little different from your usual KitKat.


Coming soon: A review of some baked goods from Mom & Tina's and moar ToriKou pictures for your viewing horror

I've got a clown hammer and I'm not afraid to use it

Hey, couples, cut it out with all your inappropriate PDA. Hugging/ holding hands is okay but groping, rubbing noses, making out and kissing every 5 seconds or so are not. Seriously, if I had a dollar for every PDA-ing couple I've seen on the morning and evening commute, I could go to Japan and stalk Toriumi Kousuke already. (I'd be able to afford the return ticket home too, if I had a dollar for every time I've given said PDA-ing couples the stink eye, just like a disapproving grandma. All my textbook Virgo shyness just flies out the window.) Please. Think of the children!

Anti- stress therapy: read something smart about something dumb

One of my anti- stress reads: The Sparkledammerung! (The best way I can describe this is that it's basically a summary of the Twilight series... on crack)

http://stoney321.livejournal.com/317176.html - Twilight

http://stoney321.livejournal.com/317857.html - New Moon

http://stoney321.livejournal.com/318658.html - Eclipse

http://stoney321.livejournal.com/319735.html - Breaking Dawn

Side note: I can't believe I used to read that drivel. The fact that I can still recall the titles even if I haven't touched the books in years means the poison is still in my system.

Figure photography

Had one of my rare free days last Sunday, so I decided to take shots of some of my birthday (figure) loot:


Saitou and Miles here are some of my older figures, but they're just as gorgeous as my newer ones:


Forgive the low quality, all of them were shot inside my ghetto lightbox that was hastily put up in ten minutes :P

The weird thing is, the shots I made with just my camera's flash (which is a major no- no for taking most pictures, or based on what I've read, anyway) came out better:



I'd like to think that I can improve with a little practice, though :)

Header up!

Finally got around to uploading a header image. Might make one myself if I have the time. But since I'm exhausted from slaving over a hot stove for a good portion of the morning, the CD cover from the most popular Vocaloid's song "Romeo to Cinderella" will have to do in the meantime.
(And yes, I know. That's one huge apple! Ms. Hatsune Miku up there might as well share it.)

Three firsts... wait, no, four

(Side note: First actual post :D)

A.S. : Let me just get this off my chest.

(Little voice inside A.S' mind, AKA Aibou. Don't ask any questions.):  What chest?

A.S. : Shut it, you.It's a metaphor.


So today marked the first time I tried three new things: it was my first time to go to the Mall of Asia (shocker, I know), it was my first time to attend a decent anime convention, and it was my first time to have my fortune told via tarot.

Going to MoA by myself wasn't that much of a biggie. I already did the prerequisite research to ensure I wouldn't get lost and end up spending my convention money on taxi fare. In a rare moment of foresight, I even bought two MRT tickets at once so that on my way home, I won't have to queue up behind a mile- long line of people, who may or may not have... a reasonable amount of sweat and sweat glands. Whatever.

Aibou: Don't people always buy two MRT and LRT tickets, anyway?

... Moving on.

I wouldn't call myself a veteran con- goer, having attended my first anime/ cosplay convention only in 2008, but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that the SMX Convention Center is a way better venue than, let's say, Megamall. I think the bigwigs there at SM would do well to make another convention center similar to SMX but somewhere more accessible for people coming from the mountains Rizal, Marikina, Pasig, and other nearby areas. The only problem would be where to place it.

Aibou: Well, you could always just raze down another mountain or two.

Me: One more quip and I'm going to read you Twilight for bedtime.

Okay, more on the SMX thing. The Best of Anime 2011 convention was held there from yesterday until today (wait, did I use the correct tense? Meh.) and like all anime conventions, it had your usual cosplay events, displays/ exhibits, games, shops, stuff like that. What made this one different from the others I've went to was that the crowd actually fit in the convention area, and that you could actually walk around without bumping into little kids who have no business running around unsupervised or, God have mercy on your soul, a cosplayer with a fragile prop/ costume. The shops were decent, and I was actually persuaded to part with my hard- earned money for a few loot items (something I've never done in other cons). The game booths were also interesting, with a few new games thrown into the mix of your usual marriage booths and art commission booths. The wide space made quite a difference in how I enjoyed the event, since you'd be hard-pressed to find me attending a game booth if the convention was held in your usual anime con venue, Megamall. (I'm sorry Mega, I love you but you're just not suited for anime cons.)

Any gripes I have about the event? Well, I guess I could complain about how the food was overpriced but I understand that since exhibitors/ participants have to pay for the space they're renting, I won't call a P15.00 Zesto or a P40.00 Pine-Orange Fit-and-Right as a gripe. Not that much, anyway.

Oh, and one more thing. I think the wide space actually backfired for this event since it ended up having too few booths. Seriously. You could go planking next to the Maid Cafe and no one would mind.Until the cosplayer crowd arrives in the afternoon, that is, so all that extra space isn't really wasted, I guess.

Okay, first new thing #3: the tarot fortune- telling. To be honest, I never really intended on having my fortune read, but since I had an extra ticket for the game booths and stuff, I decided to give the tarots a shot. I'm not sure if fortune- tellers have a handbook of sorts on what to tell people who want their fortune read (like, "You'll end up with a lot of money", "You'll get over your heartache/ breakup/ failing grade", etc. etc.), but the girl who read my fortune just might be on to something when she spread the cards for me. Here's how it went:

(side note: sorry to the two guys who were waiting for their turn. A girl has to know her horoscope, y'know?)

Girl: So, do you have a question in mind?

Me: Um...

Girl: You don't have to tell me. The cards will answer that for you.

Me: Oh, okay!

Girl: I'll shuffle the deck and you tell me when to stop.

Me: (nods)

Girl: (shuffles deck twice)

Me: Stop.

Girl: Okay, now are you left- handed or right- handed?

Me: Right- handed.

Girl: Okay. With your left hand...

Me: *half- deaf from wearing a Chikara hat* (puts right hand on table)

Girl: ... with your left hand...

Me: Oh, sorry. (adjusts hat)

Girl: Cut the cards once.

Me: (not really sure what "cut" meant when it comes to cards- hey, the only times I use playing cards are during brownouts, and we don't have a lot of that here) Cut...?

Girl: Yes, cut.

Me: (tentatively takes the upper half of the card stack with my left hand)

Girl: Okay. (takes cards and gets about... nine, I'm not sure, and spreads them out on the table)

I wish I recorded the whole thing on video, because the tarot girl's expression (becoming more... confused? Annoyed? Lost?) while she looked at all of my cards proves, without a doubt, that I am a walking jinx. A menace to myself and society. Philippines, beware! Hey, maybe the government can send me over to Mindanao and the MILF would be defeated the moment I set foot there! Wait, that's not such a great idea...

The nine cards were arranged this way. I'm showing it now so that I don't have to make unnecessary explanations later:

                                         4

                                7       5       2

                      9        8       6       3      1
 

~ Since I don't have a photographic memory, some of the exchanges here aren't verbatim, but this is where things get really interesting, and sort of creepy~

Girl: ( looks at card 1) There's something you want very much. So bad, in fact, that it's bordering on greed.

Me: (thinks OMG, she's/ the tarot spirits are on to me on the first ********** card!)

Girl: You've been chasing after this for a very long time.

Me: (nods quietly)

Girl: (looks at cards 2, 3) Getting this will make you suffer, but at the same time, it will have its benefits.

Me: O...kay?

Girl: Like what I said before, you want something so bad that you're almost greedy about it.

Me: ...

Girl: In your chase after this... thing, you're finding it hard to keep balance. There are things into which you give too much, and to others, you give too little.

Me: (waits for the Twilight Zone music to start playing)

Girl: But I also said that there will be benefits if you achieve or get this. Recognition, for instance. (looks at cards 4, 5, and 6) Now, what can you do about this? First, you can verify if your suspicions are true.

(side note: This is where things went a little awry, I think. Suspicions? The only suspicion I have at the moment- well, related to the fortune-telling- is that my favorite seiyuu is gay. Not that I mind very much- I've pretty much accepted him as one even if he hasn't come out of the closet, if he's in one. I'm not sure if the tarot spirits didn't see that clearly anymore, or maybe I'm not thinking through this hard enough and that I didn't get the message. I might think this over a cup of Milo.)

Girl: I guess you haven't done enough research? (asks in a tentative tone)

Me: (gives a tentative smile)

Girl: Okay. (scrunches her brows some more and looks at her lap, which probably had a tarot guidebook on it) Let's see. (looks at cards 7 and 8) For this thing that you want, there are two things you'll have to remember: One, you'll end up sacrificing a lot, probably everything. Two, you'll end up very happy.

Me: (waiting if Joey de Leon is lurking behind a table with a hidden camera)

Girl: So in the end, you'll give up everything, but will be completely satisfied. (looks at card 9) And all of this is achievable.

Me: ... (DING- DONG!)

Girl: That's it. (rearranges the cards)

Me: ... Thank you. You've been very helpful. (And spot- on.) You looked like you were having a hard time reading the cards, I'm sorry about my ****biscuit luck.

Girl: No, it's okay. I'm happy to help people with the use of the tarot.

While this was going on, a few members from the local figure-collecting forums I'm a member of were ogling(?) the whole thing. (Probably because my face while listening to the tarot girl was all "DIZ IS SRS BSNS". I'm so glad I wasn't on figure- watching duty.)

Nothing particularly memorable happened after that (which I consider to be the "highlight" of my day, be it trivial to you or not), except for winning 2nd place at the DIWA word game event at the Manila Book Fair. Went back to BoA 2011 after that, bought some stuff related to cats and a girly parasol... I think it'd be better if I just showed you:







So up there we have: a couple of shawls, the chocolate bar I won from the DIWA game, a red parasol (I'm planning to use it the next time I don my Gothic Lolita attire), the Chikara hat I've been blabbering about, an overpriced folder, the drawing I commissioned someone to make with me ending up buying the overpriced folder so it won't get crumpled, and two pairs of cat ears. What are the ears for, you ask?





                                 Introducing Innocent Malice's mascot, Hachi! His full name is Saitou Hajime
                                     but since it's such a mouthful, I call him Hachi. (like Hachiko, the dog.)


Don't tell me that's not cute or ridiculous. And if you can, you're lying.



There's something funny I simply have to mention before I end this long- winded output. This blog wouldn't have existed if I didn't hear two particular songs on my way home. Songs related to my fortune- telling, of course.(facepalm.jpg)

So yeah. Innocent Malice owes its birth to Stephen Bishop's It Might Be You and Depeche Mode's Somebody. You can't say that about a lot of blogs, can you?


Huh. Maybe I should change the post title... There, it's done.

Hello, world

I'll admit, my blog title isn't the most original thing out there. Swiped it from a spin- off of the Mahou Shoujo Madoka series, since the words "Innocent Malice" sort of just lingered in my mind. Plus, I'd like to think that everyone and everything has a little devil in them, whether they look demure or not >: ) And if you think you don't have a wild side, I invite you to unleash it every now and then. You'll thank me for it.

(If you'd ask my mom, though, she'll tell you that "Innocent Malice" is a no- brainer title for me.)

I can't promise what exactly I'll cover in my posts here, or if my ramblings will make any sense, or if I'm just going to waste my time and yours, so... someone save us all :P