Shingeki no Kyojin Parodies

The anime of Shingeki no Kyojin, also known as Attack on Titan, started airing this April. The powerful opening, together with its dark theme and graphics, make it a popular hit of the season. At the same time, parodies are spawning here and there as the anime series' popularity grows.


There is a phone app where you can superimpose extracts from the Shingeki no Kyojin manga onto pictures or photos. This one for example makes the fun of the giant duck that is currently floating in Hong Kong. (Source: https://freeweibo.com/weibo/3574379025920275)

The app is only available for iPhone and iPad. Too bad I can't get to try it on my Galaxy Nexus...


Titans having fun on dancing arcade machines.


Doughnuts!!!

You can see more the app's photos here.


People imitating the hunting of the titans... (Source from twitter)


... As well as being the hunted. (Source from twitter)


This guy sure is having quite a dream!


The curiosity (and sneeze) of Chitanda Eru from Hyouka will bring mankind to the brink of destruction.


Shingeki no Mikudayo


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2UciNlbzCA

Mikudayo will definitely bring fear to humanity... ^^;

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Ice Cup Noodle Light

It's late in May. Temperature is soaring towards the 30-degree mark, and humidity these days are averaging around 80%. What's worse is that I have no air conditioner installed at home due to due to renovation.

Let's imagine you're hungry at night, and you want some instant noodles for a snack. The problem is that instant noodles are usually served hot, and under having hot food in hot weather is not always so appetising. In Japan, there is an official solution to this problem - Ice Cup Noodle Light. Essentially Cup Noodle Light but with less boiling water and more ice.


Ice Cup Noodle Light was released last year in Japan, where one is supposed to add boiling water up to the noodles, stir for 30 seconds, and leave it soaked for another 2 and a half minutes, before adding ice cubes to chill it right down. So far, 4 flavours are available: Plain, Seafood, Curry, and Tomato.

According to Reuters, the introduction of Ice Cup Noodle Light is a popular move, mostly due to the power situation in Japan as a result of the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the subsequent nuclear plant disaster in 2011; the use of air conditioners are encouraged to be cut down as much as possible. This causes people to look for new ways to beat the heat, and Ice Cup Noodle Light happens to be one of them.

Why use Cup Noodle Light instead of the normal Cup Noodle? The Light version uses less oil and is lower in calories, which may seem more appealing to the ladies. It is apparently chewier this way, while having the salty edge of the soup softened down a bit at the same time.


Recently, Nissin (makers of the Cup Noodle) also recommends having iced milk cubes substituting normal water ice cubes for curry and seafood flavoured noodles. While I haven't tired either of these flavours, I think adding milk gives more of a creamy feel to the soup as well as the flavours. But seriously I never imagined making iced milk cubes before!

According to its official website, there is also "new content" to be announced in the near future. What will it be? Guess we will have to wait to find out. :o

Iced cup noodles... While I don't think this particular line is available in Hong Kong, I guess it won't hurt to give it a try with ordinary Cup Noodle Light. I wonder whether it's that good though. But looking that Nissin made a campaign for it last year, it can't be disasterous. Well, we shall see once I have the chance to make some myself ^^;

Images are from Ice Cup Noodle Light website
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Giant Rubber Duck in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has various visitors coming over by sea this year: a sailing ship, a warship, and now... A giant rubber duck?

This larger-than-life rubber duck is currently the latest hype rocking the city of Hong Kong. Having been floating here near the Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui since early 2nd May, it brought a lot of hype and joy to locals and tourists. Again, as it's not something one will get to see every day, I decided to pay the duck a visit as well.


Instead of taking the MTR train, I took the ferry across the harbour, which is in fact a shorter trip.


By the time I arrived on the other side of the harbour, the crowd is already just outside taking pictures of the duck!


And here's the duck itself in full view. This Rubber Duck is an ongoing project from Dutch artist Florentijin Hofman, where the duck has made appearance in various cities across the world, spreading joy to those who get to see it in person. Hong Kong is currently the latest stop for the duck to visit as part of its world tour. Standing at 16.5m tall, it is currently the largest duck to make appearance in Asia, 2nd largest in the world tour next to that in St Nazaire (26m).


Hi there!






Going up to the carpark, which was the same location as where I took picture of the USS Peleliu last month, the


Looking down on the curious crowd.


A view of the Rubber Duck by the Star Ferry Pier with Central district of Hong Kong in the background across the harbour.


A view of Central from Tsim Sha Tsui. The great number of glassy skyscrapers mark the pinnacle of the commercial district in Hong Kong.


A look at the crowd taking pictures of the duck. There sure are a lot of people!



There are smaller rubber duck statues on display for people to take pictures with. Don't really think one is allowed to sit on them, but that got ignored quite often, especially the children.


The floor underneath the ducks has a nice illusion of waterfalls when looked from a correct angle. I was lucky to take this picture as the crowd got dispersed as a result of a sudden rain.


I do find the way people take pictures of the duck amusing, along with the variety of equipments used.


The rubber duck will be on display until 9th June. If you do happen to be nearby up til that date, do try and give it a visit; it isn't very often you see a big duck floating in a city. :P
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Dragon Can.Do 1/144 Panzerbeobachtungswagen V

Together with the Bergetiger I talked about earlier this year, this Panzerbeobachtungswagen V was bought in my Tokyo trip last year in November/December. By the way, this thing's official name sure is a mouthful to pronounce or to type! ^^;


Panzerbeobachtungswagen V (Armoured Observation Vehicle, PzBeobWg V in short) is an artillery observation variant of the Panther tank. A small number of battle damaged Panther tanks were converted into such specialised vehicles. This one seems to be based on the late war Ausf G variant. They do not engage in combat, but spot targets for artillery, while having sufficient armour to survive enemies attacks in case of ambush.

This particular miniature is a special item for Dragon Can.Do's shokugan series, namely under the Jagdpanther, which is a turretless tank destroyer variant of the Panther tank.


What makes Panzerbeobachtungswagen Panther special is the different gun mantlet as well as a shorter gun. The gun is actually for show though, as it's only a wooden dummy gun; the observation tank needs every space inside for radio and observation equipments. At least that may fool the enemies to think it is not completely defenseless.


The tank also comes with a figure of the same scale, and here is a comparison with a Japanese 100 Yen coin.


Like with other tanks I have talked about previously, here is a simple diorama, which I captioned "Stand strong, and look ahead!". Hope you like it!
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MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 3.0 Preview

Since 1995, Bandai's 1/100 scale Master Grade (MG) Gundam model line has produced various versions of RX-78-2 Gundam. Just prior to the Shizuoka Hobby Show, news leaked that Version 3.0 is to be announced. Let us have a look what it offers.


MG 1/100 Gundam Ver. 3.0 in a glance is an upscaled version of the RG 1/144 Gundam, which was based on the 1/1 scale Gundam now standing in Odaiba.



Computer generated graphics of MG 1/100 Gundam Ver. 3.0. Similar to the RG 1/144 counterpart, different shades of red and white will be used in the plastic parts.


Sliding armour parts incoperated at arm and leg joints, as well as on backpack.



Sliding armour parts as seen on the leg. I remember that this is implemented on MGs as early as on Aile Strike Gundam back in 2003.


LED unit, decal sheet, and weapons such as hyper bazooka, Gundam hammer, and beam javelin will be sold separately in an expansion set. This expansion set has to be pre-ordered from Bandai Hobby Online Shop or via proxy services. Price and release date TBA.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojtotzVnb9E

Here is a feature video for the MG Gundam 3.0 from Bandai Hobby's website to sum things up.


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MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0 will be released in August. According to AmiAmi online hobby store, the price will be around 4500 Yen or 4725 Yen with 5% sales tax.

With the latest iteration of Gundam announced, how many people are looking forward to buy and to build it? From my observation, while some are excited to it, others seem to get tired of seeing RX-78-2. For me, while I am not particular big on the original Gundam itself, I am a little surprised that the additional weapons are to be sold separately as a web shop item, which is quite a major departure from the usual patterns for past Gundam iterations. Nevertheless, the mechanical details do look quite immaculate, and fans should be pleased that a 1/100 scale version of the 1/1 Gundam in Odaiba to be avaialable soon (I hope).


Sources:
AmiAmi blog
AmiAmi online shop
http://bandai-hobby.net/site/mg_evolution/index.html
http://ameblo.jp/digitamin/entry-11530836715.html
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New Gunpla in 52th Shizuoka Hobby Show

Image from @sake_online via twitpic

It's that time of the year - the annual Shizuoka Hobby Show is back, where a lot of companies showcase their latest models. Let us see what Bandai has to offer for the Gunpla this year. :o


Every year there is always a spotlight among all the Gunpla shown in Bandai's booth. This year's spotlight is the MG 1/100 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver 3.0, whose information happened to have been "leaked" out yesterday.


MG 1/100 Aile Strike Gundam RM Version, already released, 4410 Yen


MG 1/100 Geara Doga, Jult release, 5040 Yen


RG 1/144 Gundam GP01 Zephyranthes


RG 1/144 Gundam GP01/Fb Zephyranthes Full Vernier


HGUC 1/144 Gerbera Tetra, July release, 1890 Yen


HGUC 1/144 Base Jabber Type 89 (support flight unit), June release, 1260 Yen


HGUC 1/144 Doven Wolf (Unicorn Version), August release, 2310 Yen


HGUC 1/144 Zogock (Unicorn Version), September release, 1780 Yen


HGUC 1/144 Messala, June release, 3150 Yen


HG 1/144 Astray Red Frame with Flight Unit equipment, August release, 1785 Yen


HG 1/144 Astray Gold Frame Amatsu, September release, 1890 Yen


Caledfwlch (an alternate name for Excalibur) for HG 1/144 Astray Red Frame w/ Flight Unit, to be released in October issue of Hobby Japan on 25th August for 1200 Yen


With the newly redesigned MG RX-78-2 Gundam, how many people will be looking forward to it? The other new ones seem to be mostly 1/144 models from the Universal Century series as well as those from SEED Astray side story. I may have my eyes on the Doven Wolf, but otherwise not much else at the moment.

Pictures are from AmiAmi's facebook album and Degitamin blog
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