Ramen and Miyamoto Musashi. While the collaboration of ramen and famous samurai might look like a fancy gimmick on the surface, I can assure you that Menya Musashi is indeed, very, very famous. It was a huge hit with the Tokyoties when it first started out during the 1990s and now, more than 10 odd shops are located within Tokyo, with the newest Menya Musashi being an overseas outlet in Singapore.

Even before the Singapore outlet was opened, Menya Musashi has always been heavily recommended, as one of the top ramen places to eat while visiting Tokyo. But alas I had never grasped the chance to try it out, so this time I had to make the extra effort to visit the Singapore outlet.

Menya Musashi Singapore.

With heavy references to the famed samurai, the whole shop is decorated with Musashi art, even right down to the bowls and spoons we were using. The decor of dark walls and dynamic lighting does make for a posh and relaxing place to have a bowl of samurai noodles.

Menya Musashi serves both the usual ramen and tsukemen, which of course features the ever popular pork bone broth which is a hit with Singaporean palettes. But one look at the menu and tsukemen was swiftly decided by the Supermerlion noodle sampling team for the challenge.

The word "FREE" caught our attention.

More than half a kilograms of noodles if you decide to challenge the 5x.

For a fixed price, one can choose the amount of noodles to chomp on. 120g being the regular portion with a max amount of 5x the regular amount. Orders were quickly placed and a few 5x was noted. The manager looks unwavered by our orders, probably a sign that the 5x amount of noodles had been a regular order.

The ramen cook in the open kitchen didn’t look as much as excited as he dumped balls after balls of noodles into the boiling pot.

Looks perfectly normal on the surface, but that bowl hid 360g of noodles.

Woah.

For comparison's sake, that's a 600g bowl vs a 360g bowl.

Staggering amount of noodles aside, every order of tsukemen came with a good amount of pork and menma (bamboo shoots), with an additional noting of the half a half-boiled egg. There’s also 3 options of dip to choose from, the chili-red spicy version, the garlic-black extra fragrant version and the default milky-white soup version.

Frankly, 600g of noodles is too much for most people. It took us 10 minutes to make a dent in the half kilo bowl of noodles. Secondly, if one doesn’t finish their noodles fast enough, both the noodles and the soup turn cold and that will not be the most ideal tsukemen experience.

Good enough for a return trip? Yes. I probably have to make another return trip to try out their ramen.

Just try not to order the 5x noodles of tsukemen if you are not confident of your stomach space.

Samurai vs samurai.

Do take note, queue lines might go crazy during lunch and dinner times with disregard to either weekdays or weekends. I had to make a revisit twice since it’s pretty silly to queue 1.5 hours for noodles. The best way to go around the problem is to visit the shop during non peak afternoon hours as Menya Musashi is open all day from 10am onwards.

After a period of being closed for renovation works, the AKB48 Cafe Singapore re-launched with a new look. With several promotions going on, we visited the cafe to see what changes were made to the design, and how the cafe looks like now. After spending some time in the new cafe, the verdict is in: the results are positive.

Patrons gathering outside the AKB48 Cafe & Shop.

The main objective of the renovation of the cafe was to merge the cafe and shop together into a single entity. As opposed to the previous arrangement of having the shop on the second floor of SCAPE and the cafe on the third, this relocation means that visitors will now be able to enter both the shop and cafe on the same level. This somewhat mirrors the AKB48 Cafe and Shop in Japan, where both are next to one another.

The shop entrance now occupies what used to be the counter area.

Of course, this also meant a re-organization of how the goods are arranged in the shop. The new shop is even smaller than what was previously rather abysmal. However, one does not really notice the smaller size of the shop. Maybe this is due to the window partitioning the shop and cafe entrance, giving an impression of a larger space.

Fans of popular members were available for purchase.

Notable additions to the catalog are items that were available only at the 7&i net-shop in Japan. This means that AKB48 fans who want these items can instead purchase them physically at the shop, instead of having to jump through several hoops to get them on the internet.

Muffler towels of several popular members.

Charms to attach to your cellphone.

One thing that was disappointing during out visit to the revamped AKB48 shop yesterday was that only the popular members had goods on sale; even the members who had come to Singapore did not get space on the shelves for their goods, instead being replaced by the more popular frontgirls. While this is no doubt a wise business move, it was a little disheartening nonetheless. Some who came specifically to take advantage of the local availability of net-only goods left disappointed.

Oshimen mirror keychains.

Of course, key-chains were not the only things on sale at the shop. Also available were fridge magnets styled to look like the portraits of the girls you see when you visit the AKB48 Theater in Akihabara.

A wall of newly added goods.

The re-launch also meant new things for the AKB48 Cafe. Promotions such as free curry rice with a purchase of the AKB48 Official Singapore photosets and a special coaster with every drink purchase meant that many of the fans came down to visit.

The standee was moved to the inside of the cafe.

The cafe was packed full, with queues forming even before the allotted time for the beginning of the promotion at 5 pm. Many were there to visit the shop and to claim their curry rice. The AKB48 Cafe girls also gave a performance, performing hit songs like NMB48′s Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo and Not Yet’s Naminoori Kakigoori. Unfortunately and to the dismay of many, it was rather early into the event, and many missed it, with no repeat performances this night.

The cafe was full-house by the time we got seats.

The serving of curry given free was not very large, but it was to be expected. Many who were asked felt that it was sufficient, especially considering that it came free with a purchase anyway.

Curry rice, decorated by a patron to enhance the eating experience.

Visitors received a coaster with a drink purchase.

The re-opening also saw several people visiting the cafe for the first time outside of events. The changed menu, while not particularly new, drew some comments from patrons, with their comments directed at the improved aesthetics of the menu.

The new-ish menus, with photos of the members and dishes.

We were served by a new staff member, Risa.

We were a little disappointed that the ice-cream didn’t come with free coasters, but were told that the deal was exclusively for drinks, despite the ice-cream costing more than most of the drinks offered and needing coasters anyway.

Vanilla, Ocean, Strawberry and Green Tea flavours were available.

It remains to be seen if this change in merchandise selection will bring in more customers than usual at the shop. The merging of the cafe and shop is a good change that facilitates shopping, as well as letting customers, who would otherwise be too intimidated to step into the restaurant-esque cafe, check it out.

It also solves the overcrowding problem that sometimes plagued the AKB48 Official Shop on event days; the space outside the cafe is more than sufficient to deal with an influx of people. Hopefully, this signifies a greater variety of goods being brought in and the addition of more net-only exclusives.

Photo of coaster courtesy of Lyrapro.

Over this weekend, local toy designer and manufacturer Play Imaginative is holding a launch event for the new series of Disney’s Mini Figure World featuring popular characters from the later studio’s many animations. We donned out best clothes from Disneyland and dropped by Suntec City Mall where the Disney Mini Figure World Launch Event is being held.

We’ve seen Play Imaginative a number of times at popular exhibitions like the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention and have their own permanent store at the youth-centric *SCAPE building in Orchard Road Singapore. This time they’re presenting a new line of figures and other Walt Disney exclusives.

Last Mile Atrium at Suntec City Mall (just outside Carrefour).

Most immediately eye catching is this giant Mickey Mouse x Pinocchio at the front of the event space. Surprisingly, the 70cm tall fiber glass figure is actually available for pre-order here.

70cm Mickey Mouse x Pinocchio statue.

All 25 of the Mini Figure World figures are on display. On close inspection, each is well made and will be loved by collectors. The alternate vintage Mickey in his classic black and white colors is a limited collectors item exclusive to the event only.

Mini Figure World.

Pretty well made.

25 different designs.

On sale here.

All of the other figures were available for sale on the spot. Also for sale were toys from the Mickey Mouse Vinyl Art series that Play Imaginative launched last year.

Also available here.

While not for sale, various custom Vinyl Art Mickeys were displayed here today. We’ve last seen these at STGCC 2011 and were rather intrigued by them. The collection of custom Mickeys have grown quite a bit since then.

Showcase of custom Mickey Mouse Vinyl Art Figures.

One of the many interesting ones.

More than 100 of these custom figures are being showcased. The figures were customized by artists from all around the world. Most were quite nicely done and the show of creativity made for a rather interesting display. As a world renown icon, the custom Mickeys managed to attract the attention of many passersby, who stopped to take a detailed look and snap up some photographs.

Yan's fave.

Personal fave.

Like others, we spent quite a lengthy time looking through the various customized models. It even inspired Yan enough to grab a blank Mickey of his own. Hopefully we’ll get to see his attempt soon!

Ridiculously well crafted Walt Disney Micky.

Mention the Singapore Sling and it would be a decent conversation topic with any foreigners you meet. While few Singaporeans would actually order it themselves in the bar, the Singapore Sling is a world famous cocktail and an iconic drink for visiting foreigners. It is little wonder that brilliant local minds have started marketing a pre-mix version of the cocktail to be made available to the rest of the world.

This particular bottle of concentrated pre-mixed Singapore Sling was an impulsive pickup from the airport when I came back from the recent Jakarta trip. The lone bottle of Singapore Sling was hiding quietly among other bottled liqueurs on the shelf, an indication that probably no Singaporeans from a return trip would be willing to carry her off the shelves.

I did.

Singapore Sling on the rocks.

Even if instructions on the manual state that the concentrated Singapore Sling pre-mix can be enjoyed neat on the rocks, I will strongly oppose anyone doing that since without the balance of another souring agent like pineapple juice, the mix is too sweet and bitter to be enjoyed. A friend who tasted it even stated that the taste difference was not too different from cough syrup.

For the best results, it’s still best to mix 1/4 of the concentrated mix with 3/4 pineapple juice as on the instructions, resulting in a slightly orange red foamy concoction that is the iconic Singapore Sling.

To be frank, this Singapore Sling does taste a little different from the ones I tasted from different bars in Singapore, but every of those also serves a slightly different tasting Sling.

There are perhaps a million different recipes for mixing a Singapore Sling that one can find on the internet nowadays. With the relevant spirits and ingredients available it is really not too hard to make a Singapore Sling from scratch either, even though for a lazy man like myself will probably stick to mixing it out from a concentrate. Here’s a recipe I found online to build a Singapore Sling from scratch.

For those who are interested in original recipe, one of the scribbled recipes is still on display at the Raffles Hotel Museum.

Singapore Sling

1.5 ounces Gin
0.5 once Cherry Heering
0.25 once Cointreau
0.25 ounce Benedictine
4 ounces Pineapple Juice
0.25 ounce Lime Juice
0.33 ounce Grenadine
1 dash Angostura Bitter

Garnish: Cherry and slice of pineapple.
Shake with ice. Strain into an ice filled Collins glass.

Sling mixed with pineapple juice.

It is also good to know a little bit about the roots of the Singapore Sling. It is of course invented here in Singapore, by a bartender named Ngiam Tong Boon while working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel Singapore back in 1910s.

Raffles Hotel was the home away from home for Westerners stuck in the East during the colonial era. During that time gin slings were the most popular drinks ordered. It was then that the clever Mr Ngian created a tropical cocktail sling that was not only delectable but also easily recognizable. Since then, the Singapore Sling has made it onto the world stage.

Enjoy Singapore Sling your way.

This past Tuesday, A-Sketch bands Applicat Spectra and WEAVER had a showing at the inaugural J-Live Asia event. Their first time performing outside of Japan, Singapore marks new territory for both of the bands. Supermerlion was there, taking a break from the usual idol music that happens at *SCAPE’s Warehouse for some honest-to-goodness rock fun.

Arriving at *Scape at 6:30 in the evening on a weekday was weird enough, but what was surprising was the queue that had formed to go into the venue. Two lines (corresponding to the two different ticket categories) had been formed, with some sitting down while waiting, obviously having been there for a while. Most in the queue were female; one was even armed with a board for WEAVER.

The queue outside the Warehouse.

Applicat Spectra lined up to open the show. While I had reservations about the vocals, they don’t sound too bad in a live setting. I earlier likened my first impression of their music to be more atmospheric and spacey, but it seems that this was specific to the track I had previewed. What was more apparent was the instrumental wall of sound, obvious in their track Clockwise, which in my opinion was their best song of the night.

The crowd before the start of the show.

A little disappointing however was the lack of interaction between the band and the audience. Only Ishikawa spoke during the MC parts with the rest chiming in with short words. There wasn’t even a proper introduction of the band, and awkward silence was common between songs. One issue of note was that Nakano actually sounded normal when he spoke to the audience, prompting the question of why he has to resort to a falsetto while singing.

After a break for the set up of the instruments to be done, it was time for Weaver to take the stage.

Weaver were the more experienced showmen.

Right from the get-go, you could tell that Weaver was in a different class. Veteran performers compared to their label-mates, bassist Okuno hyped the crowd up, getting them to clap along to the beat and occasionally stepping forward to throw some smiles. What followed the first song was a set list totaling a whopping fourteen songs, with very short breaks in between. Their command of English was also excellent all around, to the point where the banter between the members also happened in English.

Bassist Okuno in action.

Music-wise, WEAVER is decent, but rather mellow. The lack of guitar means that much of its repertoire lacks the punch one would expect. However, with the piano being such a central part of the band’s sound, it’s uncertain how they would be able to escape this. One upside though, is that the lack of guitar makes for easy listening, endearing WEAVER easily to the mainstream audiences that do want their music a little more upbeat without having to resort to the sounds of distorted guitars.

Bidding the bands farewell with a handshaking session.

The end of the concert, hilariously, was not unlike that of an AKB48 concert. As their set ended, WEAVER told all the fans to squeeze to the middle, so they could take a group shot with the fans in the background. Members of both bands were lined up for a handshake session, giving fans an opportunity to meet their idols. At such an affordable price, I’m curious to see what else J-Live has in store.

As detailed earlier, the Singapore Transformers Cybertron Con 2012 is now ongoing at Resorts World Sentosa. With the first in Shanghai, this is only the second time Cybertron Con has been staged. We visited the convention over the weekend to see what it had in store for visitors.

Preparing the toys for exhibition.

After a long (but fast) queue to get the tickets, we got into the event. The first thing one sees are standees of various Transformers. Many were taking 2-shots with their favourite robots, with panels showing information of the two robot clans – the Autobots and Decepticons.

Posing with a standee.

Up next was every toy collector’s dream. Showcasing Transformers over 28 years, it is a literal walk down memory lane, with toys from Generation One to Transformers Prime being featured. Some were also loaned from collectors in Singapore and Malaysia. Many visitors were seen photographing the toys, some recalling the toys of their childhood.

Visitors looking at the toys on display.

Both forms of Megatron.

The displays were also accompanied by information panels, detailing the history behind each of the generations. Given how many visitors were new fans, it was interesting to read the little nuggets of trivia one could glean from these panels.

The Transformers Energon section.

Also shown were videos of the various generations and the live-action movies. Some crowded around these monitors; adults with children in tow were seen watching the early generation videos, reminiscing about the Transformers together with their kids.

A crowd gathering to watch Dark of the Moon.

The new console game, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, had its own booth. Crowds gathered to see players trying out the action shooter. The kids seemed to have fun with the game, no doubt because having the power to transform at will is pretty nifty.

Trying out the game.

At this point the view opens up and one can see the 22-foot tall statue of Optimus Prime in full. Towering over the convention hall, a scaffolding was set up to allow visitors to take photos with the giant statue. At $20 for a 5R photo, some skipped and instead took photos with the statue at ground level. Nevertheless, the sheer size of the statue was captivating to all.

Optimus Prime with our media guide for scale.

At one corner of the convention hall was the KRE-O augmented reality section. A large screen was set up where visitors were able to interact with a moving KRE-O version of Bumblebee. KRE-O was Hasbro’s foray into building blocks. There were assembled KRE-O models of various Transformers characters on display, as well as a section where one could try building one with the help of assistants on hand.

Building KRE-O models.

In what was the highlight of the convention for me, there was also a section dedicated to ‘Transformers Re-imagined’. Showcasing custom Transformers model kits from hobbyists and celebrities. Kits of all forms were posed in varying situations, some elaborate enough to take up a whole exhibit box.

My pick for best custom build.

Toy enthusiasts are not the only ones to benefit however. All throughout the length of the convention, there are talk panels featuring various people involved with the Transformers franchise. Anyone interested in the TV series, movies or the workings of the franchise can grab a seat beforehand, or otherwise stand at the stage as people from Hasbro reveal some insights. At the end are also Q&A sessions where the public can also pose questions to the creators.

Listening to a panel.

Art sessions can be had at The Art Room, where attendees will be given art lessons on how to draw characters from the TV series, free-of-charge. Next door, selected episodes of the TV show as well as other Hasbro programmes are shown in the Hasbro 30-min Theater.

Having lessons at The Art Room.

Fans looking to commemorate their visit to the convention would be able to get some from inside the convention itself. With all manner of goods on sale, one can find anything from KRE-O kits, to t-shirts and masks. The merchandise was evidently very popular, with long lines snaking the length of the section.

The merchandise section in full swing.

One of many figures on sale.

All in all, Cybertron Con is enjoyable even as a casual fan who followed the series on and off through the years. It was especially heartening to see such a wide demographic enjoy the convention, and learning how one series of toys and TV shows linked so many people together of all generations. In the opinion of this writer, it is definitely worth the entry price. Cybertron Con will run till the 14th of March.

Singapore will play host to the second ever transformers themed convention starting this weekend with the Resorts World Sentosa Singapore Transformers Cybertron Con 2012. With key creators in attendance and a variety of exclusive collectibles to be found, fans of the series will not want to give the event a miss.

Transformers is of course a Japan creation but was given life and made popular by the people at Hasbro. I remember their toys (both the Japanese and Hasbro versions) being rather popular back in my childhood during the late 80s and early 90s thanks to their novel concept, even though none of them had actually seen the animated series. Thanks to the success of the movies these days though, Transformers is experiencing a resurgence largely among adults who had grew up playing said toys and their own children.

After a successful first run in Shangai in 2010, Hasbro is collaborating with Resorts World Sentosa (which the new Transformers: The Ride calls home) to bring the Cybertron Con to Singapore shores. Advertised features include panel sessions with leader designer Yoke Hideaki, a giant 22-foot tall Optimus Prime statue, drawing classes from Hasbro artists and displays of various Transformers figures.

Event Poster.

The event will stretch from this Sunday 11th March, all the way until Wednesday. Combination tickets with Universal Studios Singapore are offered but a single day entry to just the convention will cost $12. For more information and a preview of what to expect, visit the Transformers Singapore Facebook page.

In the double-bill in Singapore this March, Applicat Spectra stands next to WEAVER as an invitee. The band has yet to prove themselves, with only a sole single and before that a demo release. Yet, Applicat Spectra are on the same label as bands like flumpool, ONE OK ROCK and WEAVER. What then makes this band special? The answer lies in the band’s instrumental versatility.

Officially, this 4-piece band has the standard-fare lineup of two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer. What’s interesting is that each of the members (save for the drummer) has a secondary instrument.

While multi-instrumentalists are not unheard of in bands, Applicat Spectra does not only use these instruments in the studio, where they have the benefit of multi-tracking. The guitarists each play the synthesizer and acoustic guitar respectively, while the bassist does the vocals and plays the sampling pad.

What does this versatility do to their sound? The band itself describes its music as a sparkly fusion of electro and guitar-driven rock. For the most part, I am inclined to agree. Both the sampling pad and synthesizer add electronic elements to Applicat Spectra’s sound. This added to the nuances of the acoustic guitar gives the music an overall feel of dreaminess, one not unlike that of bands like Spangle Call Lilli Line or advantage lucy.

The expansion of the band’s sound from the usual rock music combination definitely aids them, and makes for interesting listening. The only real problem is if the band themselves feel forced to utilize all the instruments at their disposal (especially if they become known for it) and run out of ideas. Given how young Applicat Spectra is however, I doubt that will be the case any time soon.

Applicat Spectra

Applicat Spectra is still very much new to the scene and can only go higher from here. Hopefully they have better singles in store, with some experimentation thrown into the mix. As stated above, they’ll be in Singapore with WEAVER in March. More information on that can be found on Facebook, and Applicat Spectra has their official site here.

Japanese rock bands these days are a dime-a-dozen. Many bands fail to be noticed, with no way to distinguish themselves from being one amongst many. In the quest to be noticed and stand out, WEAVER have set themselves apart in a rather peculiar way: they don’t have a guitarist. In a scene dominated by guitar-driven rock, where do these self-proclaimed piano rockers fit in?

As it turns out, in a pretty comfortable position.

Debuting in 2009 with the digital-release Shiro Asa Yume, WEAVER charted in the top 3 on the Recochoku charts for three consecutive singles. In 2010, debut album Tapestry ranked 19th in the Oricon weekly album charts. Not a bad achievement, given that the band only had 3 digital download singles under their belt then.

The band has since had a regular release schedule, having released a few singles as well as 2 albums since then. They’ve also had a song chosen for an au LISMO commercial, as well as being used as the theme song of a movie.

So how does WEAVER compare to other bands, musically? While certainly many mainstream bands do have keyboards, they mostly stay in the background, providing melody and occasionally coming to the forefront should the track require it to. Most bands also use the keyboard to pave the way for a more experimental sound-scape, given their inherent versatility.

WEAVER rejects this, opting for the more organic sound of the piano instead. This results in the band sounding more mellow than their other guitar-powered counterparts.  That is not to say however, that WEAVER is not worth listening to. While some may deplore the lack of punch brought about by the guitar deficiency, it provides a rather refreshing departure from what most consider ‘rock’.

The band will also be visiting Singapore in the midst of their 33-stop Japanese tour. Joined by label-mates Applicat Spectra, WEAVER will be performing for the inaugural J-live event at *Scape. Seeing as it is their first overseas live performance ever, I’m sure many would be excited to see how they do; I know I am.

WEAVER has an official site and more info on J-live Asia can be found on Facebook.

Today marks the second anniversary of the Supermerlion site. And despite not being updated as much as I’d like it to be we’ve made some amazing progress over the span of the last year. Of course, none of this would be possible without the constant support of our readers. So here’s a big thanks and a report to keep everyone updated on the state of things.

For some reason, the past two years have seemed especially long. Looking back at some of our old articles, I have a hard time believing that it has only been that short a time since then.

After 3 months of coding, design and preparing articles Supermerlion launched publicly on 11th February 2010. The site began at a time when blogs were passe and news aggregators king. Our choice of sticking to editorial articles did not seem like a wise one.

But while we initially started with just 10-50 visitors a day, this focus on original content soon turned out to be a boon when Google rolled out various changes to their search algorithems a few months later, this resulted in being able to attract over 100,000 unique visits in our first 6 months alone.

We've managed to cover our many adventures in Japan since the launch of the site.

We were unable to mark the occasion due to most of us being overseas at the time but in all, 355 articles were posted by the site’s first anniversary. Looking back, this was a rather surprising number of posts since it pretty much managed to match our initial goal to have at least one post a day.

Our first year posts were pretty varied, comprising mostly of travel encounters, introductions to various Japanese and Korean pop artists, as well as food and drama reviews. In total, Supermerlion was able to achieve slightly more than 300,000 unique views by February 2011.

At about this time, pop idol group AKB48 had begun to boom in Japan and word of them had spread to the rest of the world. As a fan of their music for years, they were one of the artists I had covered personally in an article. This became our first year’s “breakthrough” post. To date, it has attracted nearly 50,000 unique views alone.

2011 turned out to be a rather eventful year.

Up until this point, the only available English information about AKB48 on the internet was in the form of fan spasms on Forums. Recognizing the need for information that could be understood by the rest of the public, I decided to dedicate a certain portion of resources to providing AKB48 related articles in this perspective. And while this alienated many of our previous authors (we lost quite a few writers at this time, though they were hardly active) the posts turned out to be a major hit.

Statistically, AKB48 related posts now account for 65% of our viewership, to the point where many associate Supermerlion as being an AKB48 site. This is despite only 20% of our content being AKB48 related. As you can see, covering select AKB48 articles had been good for us, hit wise at least.

The majority of this traffic come from people who were interested in learning about AKB48. This is apparent from the fact that the introductory posts to AKB48 and its members account for nearly 300,000 hits alone.

Of course, it certainly helps that Supermerlion places at the top of almost all AKB48 related search terms. In fact, up until some point last year Supermerlion outranked even the official site.

All these numbers may be nice, but at the end of the day, the greatest joy comes from the fewer people who have contacted us directly telling of how we have helped introduce them into the fandom. And in the process of everything, we’ve also managed to meet many new people.

We've managed to meet many new, crazy people.

Not all the best posts were about AKB48 though. Food posts in general have been our next biggest contributions, due to it resonating with a wider audience. One of our biggest breakthroughs came from the post on Ginza Cozy Corner, which thanks to the power of social sharing, managed to acquire 25,000 views in the shortest period of time.

In total, 566 posts have been published to date (577 if you count this one). Supermerlion has also managed to attract an additional 700,000 views over the last year. This means that we managed to achieve over 1 million views in the past two years!

This is further celebrated by the fact that these views were made by over 320,000 unique visitors.

To be able to reach this many different people is truly a surprise, but is largely attributed to 70% of visits being one time visitors who have arrived from search engine queries.

But more importantly, we must not forget our loyal readers, who while short of a thousand in number, account for 30% of all views. Thank you. You guys are awesome.

A humbling thing to take note of though is that our best content, was not even on-site. Instead our YouTube channel managed to receive an additional 880,000 views, most of it due to the virality of a single video on DIY Sushi Candy. Of course, all this attention comes at the cost of a whole lot of the typical racism going on there.

Inevitably, hosting the hundreds of posts and many more thousand photographs comes at a cost. Early on, I decided to adopt advertising as a painless alternative to begging for donations. Advertisements are kept as unobtrusive as possible and supporting either of our affiliates come at no cost to the user.

I’m relieved to say that while none of us will be quitting our day jobs anytime soon, financially Supermerlion does not operate at a loss.

Today, most of our financing comes from our two partners Agoda and CDJapan. I personally use both of these services reguarly and can attest to their value. Thus my willingness to support them.

A thing to note is that while AKB48 makes for the majority of visits, the small number looking for travel related content account for the majority of the funds keeping this site alive.

A couple of our care packages from CDJapan.

Moving on, we hope to continue providing the same quality posts and original content. I had once expressed the dream of being able to turn Supermerlion into a portal of sorts where more people would be able to write about the things they love and get compensated for it. Unfortunately, we’ve had a hard time looking for people interested in taking up this offer.

As always, if you’re interested in joining the team. Do drop us a message through the contact form here. Currently, the majority of Supermerlion’s posts are still written by Yan and myself, with Mus being the latest author to join the lot.

Many have contacted us directly to ask if we could continue posting AKB48 information or update the existing member posts. But with the media flooded daily with news about the idol group now, AKB48 related hits have been dwindling in recent times. I take this to mean that an equal number are being turned off by having AKB48 shoved at their faces.

Personally, I’ll be moving on to focusing more on other topics so as to diversify the site’s content. There are also many things to be done on the back end of the site and other related matters, as I prepare for more interesting developments. But I do hope that someone else will be able to pick up to continue the support of AKB48 related posts on Supermerlion, albeit in moderation.

I wish that we’d be able to keep up the same level of progress in 2012. And for that, we hope that everyone continues to support us as Supermerlion moves onto its third year. In return, we will promise to continue providing interesting content that visitors can enjoy reading.

As an added note, today is also SKE48 member Kizaki Yuria’s birthday.

Many locations in Asia are famed for its nightlife, including perennial entertainment favorites such as Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok, and Macau, which offer virtually any experience under the sun depending on your tastes. Whether you’re looking to play casino games, dance into the wee hours at popular clubs, or spend a more refined evening at the ballet or opera, you’ll be able to find something to enjoy among the diverse and sprawling continent that is Asia.

Gamblers in Asia used to be hard pressed to find their favorite casino games but that’s completely changed over the last decade, with Macau long ago passing Las Vegas as the world’s top gambling destination based on revenue and stories the same true as Singapore finds casino success in its own right. Both Macau and Singapore now offer mega resorts and casinos such as Vegas does, with not only some of the largest casinos in the world but also luxurious hotels and entertainment complexes that include top clubs, bars, and concert venues.

Kabukicho sleeps in the day and comes alive at night.

Tokyo may not offer up an casinos but it has one of the most vibrant club scenes in all of Asia, with the city’s entertainment districts such as Ginza, Kabuki-cho, and Roppongi filled to the brim nearly every night. World famous clubs such as ageHa (which plays host to up to 5,000 clubbers on four different dance floors) Womb, and Club Asia draw visitors from around the globe, with some of the top DJs on the planet dropping in from time to time to show off their stuff in Tokyo.

Bangkok has a reputation for a more loud and rowdy nightlife scene, with the sprawling city catering to nearly every taste and delight. Whether you’re after a tour of its famed go-go bars, a ladyboy show, gay clubs, or a more sedate night out on a dinner cruise, Bangkok offers it all, and at a fraction of the price that you’ll find at many other cities. Bangkok is also an excellent jumping off point for visitors who go on to explore the rest of Thailand, which offers a wide range of nightlife and entertainment opportunities.

The next installment of the popular Diablo franchise will be returning soon to wreck havoc on our social lives. We were fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to get a sneak peak of this most anticipated game. Within you’ll find a detailed but spoiler free run through of what Diablo III has to offer.

Again, it’s quite rare of me to be writing about video games on this site but I do recognize that there must be a certain crossover of video game fans with our site’s audience. In truth though, the first two Diablo games stood as testaments to certain points of my own life. So engrossed over them that I spent countless hours each day re-exploring the dungeons and (later on) locales that the games had to offer.

World of Warcraft inspired login screen.

As a rough guideline to my obsession for those familiar with the series, in time I had accumulated two accounts full worth of high level characters on Battle.net servers while introducing various feasible and novelty skill builds to the Diablo community. Note that I am not bragging, for the release of both games coincided accurately with both my grade and high school examinations. Regrettably, as a teen I lacked the foresight not to return home from examinations each day and continue my battles against the minions of hell.

Alas, after a long absence, Diablo III will return again early next year to finally claim its stake on my social life. Somehow I suspect that the technological limitations of the first two games, prevented the lords of hell from fully destroying my life. Regrettably, between the new internet speeds and pre-emptive network principals that were introduced in Warcraft 3 and later refined in World of Warcraft, there is nothing holding Diablo III back now.

All of the basic archtypes are present. The monk will please Naruto fans.

Asiasoft Corporation has teamed up with Blizzard Entertainment to distribute the Diablo III experience throughout Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. With their servers set up here, Asian players will no longer need to endure the 200ms odd pings that plagued the previous title.

Thanks to Asiasoft, the folk at Supermerlion were given access to Diablo III’s beta some time ago and had the opportunity to play through the first parts of the game. The beta boasts most of the full features, but limits the access to just the initial story arc of the first campaign. Character growth is also capped at level 13.

A constant connection is now necessary. But the interface and infrastructure makes joining games pain free.

I can foresee the game being quite the life engulfing force that the first two games were. For despite the limitations, I have witnessed hundreds of other testers playing through the short scenario repeatedly, if only for a taste of some of the character’s later skills, or the driving force of the game, loot.

Players familiar with past games will find many familiar concepts that they will enjoy. While I was initially worried about the sparsity of monsters in gameplay videos, that fear is now gone. At its core, Diablo III is still the same hack and slash adventure game that fans have come to love, and there are indeed ample monsters to fall.

A rich but suitable presentation.

While not something that I took issue to, others complained about the new art direction that threatened the gothic style of the series. I can attest that the graphics in the game, while not groundbreaking, are beautiful.

In this built, dungeons in the game are sufficiently dark, while outdoor areas shine with the impressive amount of polish that fans have come to expect of the company. Perhaps everyone was simply overreacting based on nostalgic false memories, since Diablo 2 boasted its fair share of bright outdoor areas, though I suspect that Blizzard did indeed take into consideration fan feedback.

You can see how the atmosphere varies with each area.

Diablo III draws more than just artistic parallels to recent Blizzard ventures. Many usability breakthroughs that had been tried and proven by World of Warcraft find their way into this new product. You can see the similarities between their user interfaces and players are now eased comfortably into game mechanics. Though veterans shouldn’t have much of a problem jumping in.

Achievements and crafting systems find their way into the new product. Forming a party and jumping into the heat of battle becomes instantaneous, with the ability to “port” over to any other player in the game from town. Players tend to work a lot more cooperatively as a result.

But the single biggest gameplay change comes from the way skills are handled now. Gone are skill trees, as are talent are stat points. Instead, Diablo III opts for a more forgiving means of customizing the characters. Players learn all skills now and at the base, all players hold identical characters. A limited number of skills can be “equipped” at any point, players can change these freely from special pillars located in towns and at the start of prominent dungeons.

ew skills and slots to equip these skills are automatically unlocked as you level.

However, this wouldn’t be Diablo without abundant opportunities to personalize one’s characters. Skills are now customized by players acquiring one of 5 types of Runestones that can be “inserted” into skills. The effects of these runes add special properties to the player’s skills or in many cases, completely alter the skill itself. So while each character learns only 20 odd skills, the actual variety is far more.

Also interesting to note, is that all skills scale better and much more transparently now. Even for casters, skills are now all based off a percentage of the character’s weapon damage. To counter a glaring problem, almost all classes now get “free” skills that basically replace their normal attacks, with caster skills scaling better with weapon damage.

The much improved stash.

Because individual character classes no longer fit a particular mold, it seems players are having a hard time choosing one to play. My suspicion is that many players will rotate between playing all of the characters. Though this is only is supported by the behavior of the beta players. The low level cap does help this model and as does the inclusion of a global stash that is shared among all characters across a player’s account.

This stash can be upgraded repeatedly through the game to expand to become quite the virtual warehouse. Players can now easily pass that shiny new weapon they found to another classed character and experience the short novelty that it brings, rinse and repeat for maximum addictability.

Diablo is a series that is already heavily dependent on equipment but it’s apparent that the third game places even greater emphasis. It’s no surprise with Blizzard’s decision to provide players an online auction system where they can trade and deal with items that they have found in game.

Players can merchant their findings through the auction house in the main menu.

As you would have no doubt heard by now, players will be able to sell their spoils in all of their randomly generated forms, for not just in-game currency but real money as well thanks to Blizzard’s partnership with internet banking giant PayPal.

While completely skippable, hidden behind the game is still the rich lore of the Diablo universe. Storytelling has generally been improved, with an impressive amount of meta events scattered throughout the short beta experience, which I am told is less than 1/16th of the overall plot. Based on this, it would seem that the overall length of Diablo III will outdo that of the previous game and its expansion combined. Though I suspect we will be seeing more than one add on to the series this time.

Diablo III is currently schedule for a first quarter launch in 2012. Before you take on the end of days though, you’ll want to prepare yourself, hardware-wise that is. So far my attempts to run the game have showed that you will probably need a computer that was made within the past two years in the least.

For now, I’ve never been quite as eager to go to hell.

Along with the staging of Anime Festival Asia, an event named the Cool Japan Forum was held as well. Cited as an event that brings the top minds from various industries under one roof, we visited the Forum to hear them speak.

Ever since ‘Gross National Cool’ was brought into the fray by Douglas McGray, many have looked at Japan’s culture products and how they affect Japan’s standing and influence in the world. Cool Japan Forum, with its presentation format, represented an opportunity to rub shoulders and speak with people who head the businesses and make these products possible.

The first to appear was Danny Choo. He spoke of the various companies he worked with, along with his site Culture Japan. Danny also introduced his mascot Suenaga Mirai, and the upcoming anime, Mirai Millenium. As his presentation came to a close, he called on the festival manager from Dentsu, Haruhiko Miyano.

Haruhiko Miyano introducing the invited speakers

Mr Miyano introduced the theme of this year’s Cool Japan Forum: Examining Japanese content and its creation. While speaking, there was more than one occasion where the noise from the bands rehearsing for the I Love Anisong concerts (held in the hall next door) bled into the hall and no one could hear anything. After a while though, the problems were sorted out and he went on introducing the guests, who would go on to present in order:

Yoshihiko Hasegawa is a Chief Consultant for Dentsu. With a presentation on the application of contents, he spoke of the ways Dentsu shapes its advertising, and the growth of new social advertising platforms. He introduced the visitors to the Freedom project, Dentsu’s animated advertising campaign for Nissin’s famous cup noodles. The Dokusha Model (readers who are also models) was another concept he touched on, referring to indicators that suggested celebrities do not entice people to a product as much as one would think.

Yoshihiko Hasegawa with charts from Dentsu's research team

Dr. Nissim Otmazgin from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was up next. A professor in the Department of East Asian Studies, he has published several papers on Japanese soft power. He has done fieldwork in various parts of Asia (including China, Thailand and Korea), to examine whether soft power (formerly only used in the context of the United States) really does exist in Japanese cultural products.

Dr. Nissim shows photos from his research fieldwork

Tow Ubukata is a light novelist turned anime and manga creator. The man behind the anime Soukyuu no Fafner and Mardock Scramble amongst others, the author offered his views on creating the perfect storyline. Given his background as a novelist, his approach differs from those in the business, with much of the timeline of creation devoted to a script and continually revising its continuity.

A short intermission followed, as Takaaki Kidani, Yoshiyuki Matsunaga, Takanori Aki stepped on stage. The heads of Bushiroad, COSPA and Good Smile respectively, the 3 along with Danny Choo as moderator had a panel discussion on the monetization of anime content. All 3 companies were in attendance in Anime Festival Asia itself, and the men spoke of content expansion to the rest of Asia. One interesting point brought up was that of piracy; while all agreed it was deplorable, Takanori also said it signaled discontentment in consumers and a lack on the part of the company, as well.

Panel with COSPA, Bushiroad and Good Smile Company

This was followed by another discussion, this time with Sony Music’s Ken Isayama and Aniplex’s Masaharu Yamanouchi. With a short history of Japanese music in other countries by Isayama, he examined the trends in Japanese pop music, and noted how anisong (music specifically for anime) has overtaken other Japanese pop music overseas. They also discussed the increasing ties between anime and music in Japan.

Ken Isayama and Masaharu Yamanouchi

Haruhiko Mikimoto and Hideaki Kobayashi then took over the stage for a presentation on manga production and character design. Haruhiko Mikimoto is a name not unfamiliar to many who follow anime. A character designer, he built his name doing designs for a number of anime including Macross and Gunbuster. The pair spoke of the role of a character designer, as well as the many obstacles someone working as a character designer faces. Hideaki, from Kadokawa Publishing, also shed some light on the contributions of a publisher and editor in the manga industry.

Hideaki Kobayashi speaks about his experiences publishing manga in Kadokawa

Keiichiro Hirano, the last speaker of the day, is an Akutagawa Prize winner. He introduced his philosophy of what he terms the ‘dividual’, the many facets of one individual that they show to different people in different situations. He employs this philosophy in all his writing as well, having written 2 novels since his first in 1998.

The event ended with Danny Choo thanking the guests for their attendance and rounding the whole affair up. At that point, some guests were anxious to leave; they were given only 10 minutes intermission over a span of 5 hours. While the start of the event was plagued with problems with the rehearsals going on, it was nevertheless an eye-opening experience.  Those who are put off by the language barrier need not worry, as receivers would be provided for on-the-fly translation as well.

While the entry price of SGD$85 might put some people off, in the opinion of this writer, it is a small price to pay to be able to associate with some of the big names in Japanese popular culture. The event comes highly recommended for anyone who has an academic or business interest in Japan.

Thousands braved the strong rains and made their way down to the Marina Promenade last Saturday for what was perhaps the largest outdoor concert in Singapore this year, Sundown Festival 2011. Despite the rain, approximately 10,000 turned up (3,000 more than expected) with many arriving hours in advance.

The heavy downpour this afternoon came as little surprise, what with the recent weather. Visitors came decked out in ponchos, while others readied their umbrellas as the storm clouds continued to loam above. The impressive queue stretched across the entire F1 track but lines moved surprisingly quickly. Such that we found ourselves inside in just a matter of moments after the gates opened.

Longest queue I've seen in a while.

A security check at the entrance hinted towards what would become perhaps my only qualm this afternoon. There’s an increasingly prevalent trend among such events to confiscate any water bottles upon entry. The security were really nice about it though and apologized for having to follow orders, likely from the sponsors Pepsi and 7-Up.

Again, this wouldn’t be so much of a problem though if they actually sold plain water inside. However, the only drinks available inside were either alcoholic or sugared. Probably not the best options to stay hydrated during high energy concerts. If the Pepsi company had sponsored the event with the intention of promoting their image, they have obviously failed.

Between heavy downpours.

Rain aside, the Marina Promenade made for an excellent concert venue reminiscent of the Odaiba Gashuukoku concerts held each year. Even with the throngs of people gathered here today, moving around was not a problem with the ample space.

Concert goods shop.

A string of tents selling merchandise and snacks were lined up at the back along the coast, while the stage was positioned up front. You could see it from just about any part of the venue though and the stage was high enough that you needn’t worry about getting a clear view.

Autographed posters for $20.

Concert goods and merchandise were generally sold at affordable prices. For example, ViViD fans were able to grab autographed posters of the group at just $20 a piece. The only other tent, sold Show Luo goods such as a collaborative Manhattan Portage bags by Stage Hyaline of World. The other artists were unrepresented though, marking a missed profit opportunity.

Taiyaki stand.

In line with the performing artists, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean themed street snacks were represented by different tents here. There was also one selling Doner Kebabs.

Korean snacks.

As advertised, the stores resisted the urge to mark up their prices as typical of other festival, instead opting to sell their snacks at normal affordable prices.

Bubble tea.

The Taiwanese and Korean ones sold meat snacks that were especially well received among the locals, drawing huge crowds. Share Tea were also here serving up some bubble tea and instantly became the drink of choice for most. Unsurprisingly, the Doner Kebab and Japanese stand that sold taiyaki and edame did not fare as well.

More street food.

We arrived early, with ample time to spare and decided to grab some snacks ourselves. I wouldn’t recommend the strawberry tea from Share Tea. It resembled neither tea nor strawberry and instead tasted like the diluted, yet terribly sweet fruit punch that comes with catered food.

Strawberry tea.

Chicken doner kebab.

In a stroke of good luck, the skies cleared up just in time for the concerts later that evening which was great, since many were starting to get tired between the rain and sugar crash. With the change of weather lifting up everyone’s spirits, the concert opened up with ViViD, a visual-kei group from Japan with many anime links. They were dressed surprisingly un-visual-like though, perhaps toned down for today’s audience.

Rained disappeared in time for the concerts.

This was broken up by an appearance by Zhang Yun Jing. Appropriately, it was the Mandopop stars that met the most fanfare from the local visitors this evening. But this didn’t mean that the other two acts weren’t appreciated.

Fans for all artists turned up and many supported the interesting mix of artists too. Those in the VIP pit brandished glowsticks and boards with the performers names decorated on it. It would had been nice if the MCs were in more than just Mandarin though.

Killer lighting.

The evening continued with performances by relatively new K-pop group Teen Top as well as Hebe and Show Luo, who were undeniably the main stars of the show. Their appearances got even the older audiences excited.

Spirits of the fans in the VIP sections were high.

Overall, Sundown Festival 2011 was a tiring but interesting experience that deserves major props for being able to function even with the weather. With each Sundown Festival absorbing new Asian influences, we look forward to seeing what next year’s event brings.

It has always been a struggle to find food that agrees with the rest of the crowd while not breaking the wallet, especially when one is in town over the weekends. I’m happy to announce that with the recent addition of Yomenya Goemon in town, it could really be a good option to dine at. After all, how many people can say no to both Western and Japanese food?

While a relative newcomer to the Singaporean culinary scene, Goemon is a long established restaurant in Japan. Consider them as the Pastamania of Japan. You can find them in just about area in Tokyo and major cities in Japan. With their success, they’ve managed to break into the China market in Shanghai and more recently, Singapore.

Yomeonya Goemon, 313 Somerset branch.

Before you make any wild guesses, Goemon serves up Italian spaghetti, with a Japanese touch. Well you could consider it Japanese-Western fusion food. But if it’s delicious, no one would be complaining anyway. With 34 years of experience under their belt, there should be no way that they would mess up by serving highly experimental pasta dishes that will shock the diners.

Cook on order spaghetti is the way to go.

While still on the variety topic, diners will definitely be overwhelmed by the sheer variety of flavors offered at Goemon. Aside from the usual 3 styles of tomato, cream and olive oil & garlic, there’s also the more experimental Asian and Japanese styles like butter & soy sauce and cod roe flavors. For those opting for even more unusual stuff, there are a few soup and cold pastas offerings.

Spoiled for choice.

It is also good to know that instead of serving par-cooked pastas, Goemon only start cooking individual servings after the order is place. It ensures that el dente pastas are served every time to the diners’ delight.

Another twist that goes on when dining at Goemon is that everyone is given chopsticks instead of the usual fork and spoons to eat their pastas with. A funky Japanese gimmick to remind one that they are eating fusion pasta? Maybe.

Fork and spoons can still be requested from the staff if diners find it a hassle to eat their pasta with chopsticks. But I’d stick with the interesting chopsticks way of eating.

Tomato based seafood pasta. Regular set meal.

Pastas in Goemon come in 2 sizes, regular and “oomori” size which is an extra 250g serving on top of the regular size. Unless you are really very hungry, I would recommend against ordering the larger size since most would have trouble finishing it.

I once had a few friends with me who all ordered an oomori size each, but only one managed to finish his plate. Yomenya’s regular servings are already ample and are served with a plentiful amount of sauce, filling one’s stomach quite easily.

Cream based four cheese smoked chicken pasta. Alar carte.

For those who want to try more varieties of their pasta at one go, Goemon serves up a half-half set meal, which consist of two half portions of different pasta styles of your choice. There’s also the option of a regular set meal and the oomori set meal to choose from if you desire to have your salad, drink, pasta and dessert all in one sitting.

Or plain fried with olive oil and garlic, with a Japanese twist.

Being spoiled for choice is one sin that we humans desire for, and Goemon serves that up in abundance. So if you’re up for either some great made to order pasta or trying out experimental flavors, Goemon will be the place to hit up in town. Either way, Goemon serves up affordability, fullness and variety in one good package. Just try to perfect your chopstick holding skills before visiting.

In the past couple of years, the Sundown Festival have brought an assortment of popular Korean and Japanese artists over to Singapore. Acts primarily consisted of Korean boy and girl bands such as Brown Eyed Girl, Afterschool and FT Island, growing in 2010 to encompass Japanese visual-kei bands SuG and L.M.C..

The Sundown Festival 2011 returns this Saturday at Marina Promenade’s F-1 Pit, with similar performances from fast rising K-pop group Teen Top and visual-kei band ViViD. But the outdoor concert extravaganza also expands to Taiwan’s Mandopop scene with guests Show Luo, Zhang Yun Jing and Hebe Tien (of S.H.E. fame) being featured as this year’s top acts.

Promo Poster.

Details are available at the Sundown Festival 2011 website and tickets are available online through Sistic.

Interestingly, fans who had subscribed to the festival’s Facebook page were actually given the chance to vote for their favorite songs for the performing artists. The top voted song for each artist will be performed at the upcoming concert. It’s a novel and actually nice social campaign that we would love to see implemented elsewhere too.

To complete the festive atmosphere, the Sundown Festival venue will be littered with food stalls serving up street food from Taiwan, Korea and Japan. The organizers mention that the food will be sold at affordable prices. We can already see how this year’s event will likely be a big hit.

Sundown Festival 2011
26 November 2011
Saturday, 5.30 PM

Tickets:
VIP – S$148 (Limited Available)
Super Early Bird – S$78 (Sold Out)
Early Bird – S$118 (Sold Out)
Standard – S$138 (Available)

The Gundam Expo World Tour is here in Singapore. Held in Compass Point for the third year in a row, the expo serves to showcase the wonder of Gundam plastic modelling, or gunpla, as it is known in model enthusiast circles.

The Expo is held at Compass Point Atrium

Exhibits of collections range from Gundam Unicorn and BB Senshi to Gunpla Builders’ Beargguys. Visitors can also see the intricacies that go into making high-level plamos with the PG (Perfect Grade) models that were on display.

A PG Strike Freedom Gundam

Also exhibited were entries from the GBWC (Gunpla Builders World Cup). With entries being split into categories of Junior and Open, as well as a best MG (Master Grade) category, many kits were on display. The competition is judged on the quality of painting, technical building skills as well as creativity in posing and presentation. You can clearly see how much effort the contestants put in, with many contestants using props to properly simulate a battle, or an in-fight pose.

Visitors checking out the GBWC exhibits

An entry in the Open category

G-AGING Battle Base machines were also placed to let visitors try the game out. This arcade game is similar to many card-based games, where it is a modified rock-paper-scissors concept. However, what sets this one apart is you have your own models (of the AG and GB series) which you can scan and use in the game.

A demonstration of G-AGING Battle Base

Inquisitive minds will also be sated with exhibits that showcase the process of making gunpla. The molds that are used to make the different body parts of Gundam are shown, as are the different colored plastics in their raw form, before they are turned into the pre-shaped parts that you see in gunpla boxes. Those interested in taking up building as a hobby can also join the Gundam Workshop, where one will be given a kit for assembly under the guidance of instructors. Visitors will also be able to meet and have a session with the ‘Gunpla Man’ Kawaguchi Katsumi himself.

Gunpla moulds

The various colored plastics that go into gunpla

Of course, the event is not complete without the opportunity to obtain model kits for yourself. Kits of all grades are on sale at the event itself, with queues forming at the start of the event for the more sought-after models. These included the Limited Edition Pink Beargguy and the 1/144 Gundam AGE-01, which is being sold outside of Japan for the first time.

Many model kits at the store in the Expo

Of course, don't forget the girls

The Gundam Expo will run from 15th to 27th November at Compass Point in Singapore.

Over the weekend, I had the chance to visit AFA11, the Anime Festival Asia 2011 held at the Suntec Convention Center. This is the fourth year running for Singapore and South East Asia’s largest anime related convention. Once again it attracted quite a crowd over the two days, some of whom had come down from neighboring countries specifically for the event. Impressions inside.

Met up with Geraldine over the Suntec on Sunday. She was initially supposed to come as Black Gold Saw but it fell through at the last moment. Instead, she was here as Shikibu Seiju from the manga Dolls so I was shown around the place by this cute Nazi boy. It’s supposed to be a police uniform but only a rare few managed to identify the obscure character (much to her delight).

It definitely helped to have someone knowledgeable about anime stuff when exploring the festival.

Geri as Shikibu Seiju from DOLLS.

Last year was my first time visiting the event in Singapore and admittedly walked away with a rather unfavorable experience, especially with regard to the unruly crowds. And judging from the vocal feedback, I wasn’t the only one.

Thankfully, the organizers have been keen to react to public feedback and have taken direct steps to remedy the situation, along with a number of improvements to this year’s Anime Festival Asia.

Anime Festival Asia 2011.

We took issue to the poor distribution of tickets last year and the ridiculous crowds that resulted. Thankfully, tickets were made available online directly from the Anime Festival Asia website this year, finally addressing the need to queue up physically on the day for entry.

One of the other main gripes among other visitors last year were the ticket prices (that started at $15/day). This is a fair price to pay as far as overseas conventions go but locally, most are spoiled by the free entry offered by the other fairs here. It doesn’t help that most of Anime Festival Asia’s young audience tend to survive off a allowance. But in response, ticket prices have been reduced to $8.

Booths were spaced further apart this year.

As if taking a nod out from the Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention (STGCC), booths and experience zones at AFA11 have been spread more efficiently around the hall too. I found that there now should had been ample room to move around the hall.

Yet moving around wasn’t pain free. Because with all that extra space, it reached a point where people were just standing in the middle of the halls chatting and obstructing traffic. The organizers have done their part, but it is now ultimately left up to the visitors to learn some navigational skills.

This is probably a cultural issue. But back in Japan, visitors tend to gravitate towards the corners of halls where they can squat or sit out of sight when not actively scouring conventions. It could be that the Japanese just don’t like people very much. But it does have the side effect of easing the congestion.

Saturday crowd.

Instead, any sitting on the attendees part were done in the most disruptive way possible. This year’s I Love Ani-Song Concerts were held at the adjacent hall in  the late afternoon on both days. Despite most tickets being numbered, many concert-goers felt the compulsion to start queuing hours in advance. The only free standing areas were at the extreme back of the hall where it wouldn’t matter anyway.

Thankfully, the queue took up most of the area outside of the exit of the main hall, rather than the entrance. But it still resulted in most being unable to navigate the fourth level of Suntec Convention Center.

Queue to enter the adjacent concert hall.

The other problem were of course the numerous cosplayers directly outside of the entrance and the many more sitting around the rest of Suntec City. Many more seem to pop up each year and aren’t a problem alone. But when combined with the camera wielding mobs, lead to a rather unsightly situation.

I can’t really blame the management for not providing them a place to flaunt their craft this year, as I was told that many of the cosplayers here weren’t even Anime Festival Asia patrons. Judging from the lack of ticketing bands, this ended up being most most of the cosplayers we would come across today.

On a side note, the standard of cosplay does seem to be improving, with many sporting impressive or intriguing costumes. But I highly doubt that the $8 makes much of a difference to their costumes.

One of the interesting cosplays.

One might argue that the cosplayers would be more inclined to pay if if there were proper amenities to facilitate their cosplay. But this is arguable. The dim halls here don’t exactly make the best places for photography to begin with.

Between the concert queue and the cosplayers, moving around outside the was actually more difficult a task. Comparatively, once you got into the convention hall moving around was a breeze.

Strength from Black Rock Shooter

Squeezing through the crowds, we found Strength, the only surviving character from Geraldine’s cosplay group. The adorably tiny character became an instant fave with the cameras. The impressive costume was assembled with the help of her brother. Amazingly the fingers on the arms actually move.

Hopefully we’ll be able to drop in for a proper shoot when the rest of the team assemble their costumes next month.

Free to vandalize. Provided you stick to post-its and copy paper.

Inside, similar booths were organized in a more understandable manner this year.

On the right, there was the Artist Alley where local talents and aspiring fan artists could display their works. Beside, Canon had set up a promotional Cosplay Zone which provided printed backdrops for visitors to use for free, granted you didn’t mind enduring the hard selling that came with it.

Artist showcase.

One of the Canon Experience Zone booths.

On the opposite side of the hall were large play areas dedicated to Bushiroad’s anime card games. They’d probably make a good place to rest too, but most were contempt with standing in the middle of the hall.

Large area for TCG players.

Hasbro made an appearance this year, in the form of a introduction area for their card game Magic: The Gathering as well. Though small, there’s a surprisingly long-lived community of players over here. Their presence compliments Bushiroad’s nicely.

And the Western equivalent.

Toy companies and retailers took up the center area of the hall. Many were returning stores from last year, most of whom also own retail outlets down in Chinatown. There were fewer overall retailers this year but more directly represented companies.

Both Western and anime toys for sale.

Bandai had set up a booth at the entrance displaying collectible figures from their anime licenses made by the Banpresto subsidiary and Gundam models. Most of the figures on display were from the One Piece anime/manga, some of which are yet to be sold in Singapore. Definitely a popular spot among camera enthusiasts, or just people with cameras in general (everyone).

Visitors can enjoy snapping away.

The girl with pink hair popped up in numerous occasions before. I was told that it was the main character from an anime Madoka and is currently the most popular anime here. Based on her lovely pink dress, I guessed it was a magical girl anime. I was right.

This year's most popular character.

Sure enough, we’d come across many cosplayers dressed up in this pink outfit. There was a surprising lack of Hatsune Mikus that used to plague previous conventions but at least a dozen Madokas today.

BJD display.

The shops from Shanghai were back too, their goods a hit among the visitors each year. They sold plastic swords to increase your posing stats as well as quick and easy fixes to cosp-ise your outfit, such as cat ears and paws. Kind of like the anime equivalent of Mickey Mouse ears in Disneyland. I found Eri playing around with one of the cat paws, seems she had bought a couple as gifts for the AKB48 guests too.

Plastic swords for sale.

Trade and business booths were sparse this year. But those that remained tended to tie in better with the whole anime fair theme. Long time partners like Animax and Good Smile were back of course. But the more unique came from the Cool Japan Showcase.

Really ripped cosplayer at the Animax booth.

The Nico Nico Douga booth by Dwango attracted the most attention from passersby.

More than just being located at the center of the hall, a live streaming feed was set up and the staff went around the hall actively pulling visitors on camera.

Viewers from Japan offered their real-time comments, overlaid over the video in typical Nico Nico fashion. It’s a good thing the comments were in Japanese. Many were less than flattering.

Nico Nico Douga was one of this year's new additions.

Plushies of the mascot were available for sale albeit at a cut-throat price. The largest ones went for $100 a piece. There were some autographed by notable AFA11 guests but those weren’t for sale.

Plushies for sale.

Not For Sale also happened to be the name of a fortune telling talent agency straight from Shibuya that had set up booth nearby. The group is made up of four Japanese studs specializing in different types of predictions.

I’m quite surprised that there wasn’t an extensive queue, since the opportunity to have your had caressed by one of the Japanese ikemen for an entire session would seem more appealing than a butler cafe.

Fortune tellers from different disciplines.

But the butler and maid cafes did draw a remarkable crowd. Like last year, the makeshift Moe Moe Kyun and Atelier Royale Butler Cafes made their appearance at the Anime Festival Asia. Many took this once a year chance to stop by the cafes.

There’s something about being in a convention that makes visiting such a cafe more of a social norm, something the organizers understand and use to their advantage.

Attracted a large crowd.

Inside the Moe Moe Kyun Maid Cafe.

Visitors got the chance to meet some of their old favorites, as well as new butlers and maids. Some of the others, of the maids at least, have moved on to join the AKB48 Singapore Cafe and Shop.

AKB48 Singapore made a presence at AFA11. A booth was set up where merchandise, some of which exclusive to the festival was sold. The girls from the AKB48 Cafe also appeared at the AFA11 mini-stage to perform a couple of songs each day. Some fans turned up to support the local performers.

Performance by the Singaporean girls.

The local wota (idol otaku) cheering.

Girls from the AKB48 Singapore Cafe.

Two members from AKB48 also visited Anime Festival Asia on Sunday, Team A’s Nakaya Sayaka and Team B’s Miku Tanabe, both of whom are self-confessed anime otaku. They appeared on stage in the afternoon for a short talk session after the performances by the cafe staff.

Short question and answer sessions with fans.

Fans of AKB48 also had the chance to interact with the members in a more personal manner later on at the AKB48 Official Singapore Shop booth. The two members held a number of greet and meet sessions here over the course of the day. Visitors were entitled to a handshake ticket to meet the girls with a minimum purchase of $20 at the shop booth.

AKB48's Nakaya Sayaka and Tanabe Miku visit the shop booth.

Greeting fans at the AKB48 booth.

Overall, Anime Festival Asia 2011 was a stark improvement, particularly logistically over last year’s festival. As mentioned before, SOZO Pte Ltd, the company running the show have announced plans to hold similar events around the rest of South East Asia soon.

Hopefully with the experience from these additional runs, the organizers continue to learn and iron out the problems faced. And in time the Anime Festival Asia will be able to grow to a world class level more fitting of this self-proclaimed global hub.

Supermerlion attended the launch event for Pop Rock Love. In an event attended by friends and family (with a performance by a local band), we caught up with author Raine Koh. She spoke of her background as a writer, the book and future aspirations.

A number of people were in attendance.

One More Stop with Glamorous Sky

While this may the first time many have encountered Raine Koh, she is no stranger to publishing. Pop Rock Love is actually her third title; she is also a writer for Teen’s Magazine. Raine also has a number of screenplays under her belt, having gotten into writing 5 years ago.

She counts authors like Murakami, Coelho and Wilde amongst her favorites, drawing her inspiration from them. While some aspects of her book might be similar, she feels that authors should seek their own style and go ahead with that, giving each writer his own individuality.

Raine with her book.

Signing books for fans.

Pop Rock Love blends the worlds of Japanese rock and pop together, its narrative involving two people of wildly different backgrounds. When asked about the setting, Raine expounded on her belief that J-rock was not just a fad and (given the longevity of the local scene) was here to stay.

The book was written in a year, from 2009 and Raine confessed a desire for it to be turned into an idol drama. Given the target audience of female 15 to 22 year olds, this does not seem to be all that far-fetched. Raine also has plans to get her name out overseas, with a translation into Mandarin on the cards, to take advantage of the burgeoning Chinese market.

The A5-sized book.

Raine is looking into collaboration with local schools, where she would be able to hit a majority of her target audience. The book, which is of a relatively short length and small-sized, is perfect for reading on the commute. It will available in all major bookstores in mid-December, and Select Books will also sell it online.

If you’ve been with us for a while, you would know about the discount offers available when traveling around Japan. I always wondered why there weren’t any similar free and easy plans for when Singapore. But there is now. With the new See Singapore Pass by iVenture, you’ll an immediate discount of over 40%. Best of all, it’s not limited to tourists.

The See Singapore Pass covers many of the country’s main tourist attractions such as entry to the Night Safari, Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Underwater World and Singapore Flyer. As well as guided programs such as the Singapore River Cruise, Tekka Market Breakfast Tour or Singapore Walks.

Some of the Attractions covered by the Passes
Night Safari
Singapore Zoo
Jurong Bird Park
Underwater World & Dolphin Lagoon
Singapore Flyer
Singapore River Cruise
Snow City
The Original Singapore Walks

Ordinarily, these would cost quite a bit (anywhere from $20-$40 each, with most leaning toward the higher end). To counter this, iVenture provides two different types of passes. The See Singapore Unlimited Pass and the See Singapore Flexi Pack.

The See Singapore Unlimited Pass operates almost identically to the Osaka Unlimited Pass at least in the attractions aspect. It doesn’t cover transport, but it does allow you free access to any of the valid attractions for the respective number of days.

Unlimited 1-day – Adult: S$79 – Child: S$49
Unlimited 2-day – Adult: S$99 – Child: S$59
Unlimited 3-day – Adult: S$139 – Child: S$89
Unlimited 5-day – Adult: S$179 – Child: S$119

For the Unlimited Pass, the two day pass looks like a good option. If you were to say, hit up the Singapore Zoo/Night Safari on the first day. Then visit the Jurong Bird Park on the second. You’d still have enough time for a leisurely evening at the Singapore Riverside and Singapore Flyer. This would amount to savings of almost $30. Of course, you could end up saving more if you did a tour style excursion to more areas in each day.

iVenture's See Singapore Pass.

The new Flexi Pack is also particularly attractive. It comes in two versions, a 3 ticket or 5 ticket type. With this pass, you will be able to gain entry to the respective number of attractions over the stretch of a month.

Flexi Pack (3 tickets) – Adult: S$69 – Child: S$49
Flexi Pack (5 tickets) – Adult: S$109 – Child: S$69

This is a low commitment package, that lets you save a bit less in exchange for greater flexibility and the freedom to visit the attractions at a leisurely pace. It’s a great option for those who are spending more than a couple of days in Singapore. This will be the pass of choice for locals too.

For more details and to purchase your pass online, visit the official See Singapore Pass website. You can collect your pass at the Singapore Flyer and at 313@Somerset Orchard.

SEA☆A (pronounced Sea A) is a four girl idol group that debut in Japan earlier this year. It is notable for consisting mostly of members from Singapore. The group was born out of maids from the Moe Moe Kyun Maid Cafe, an annual makeshift cafe that operates out of the Anime Festival Asia.

Sea A consists of (from left to right) Beryl, Valerie, Wynnie and Estelle. The members are touted as four anime-loving girls from South-East Asia. I am told that Wynnie, the only member hailing from Malaysia used to be a fervent cosplayer under the alias Sakana Sashimi.

It is apparent the direction Sea A is taking and it is no surprise, especially with their affiliation to the Maid Cafe. Their official website writes about all the girls’ love of Ramen, Anime, Sushi and everything else “Japanese”. We’re also told how much they want to visit Akihabara, Tokyo’s geek paradise. Honestly, I can’t help but find it cliched and the extent somewhat insulting. How the local populace will take to it remains unknown.

Unsurprisingly, Sea A’s first forway into the music industry is a theme for an anime. They are being produced by Lantis, which manages a generous number of successful ani-artists as well as the Nagoya based AKB48 spin-off SKE48.

What is surprising though is that their first single, Dream Shooter is actually pretty good (at least by idol standards).

Sure, the girls being new to their entertainment scene still tend to over compensate with over exaggerated expressions and it definitely unnerves me to hear Singaporean English being spoken in their video. But these are nuances that might possibly attract a niche audience.

Ignore the visuals of the blatantly poppy music video though and you’d realize that Dream Shooter sounds more than decent for a first attempt. The sound is a clean, no-frills pop song that follows a pretty standard structure.

It’s not revolutionary by any means, but it definitely holds its ground with other idol pop songs being released in Japan. In fact, I might even go so far as to say Dream Shooter sounds better than songs released by some of the other Lantis artists.

Sea A will release their second single next month on the 23rd of November. Unfortunately, while their new single will be featured as the ending theme for the popular Torigo anime, Deli-Deli Delicious is a significant downgrade from their debut single when it comes to listenability.

Deli Deli Delicious is everything wrong with idol and ani-songs compressed into one sickly sweet package. The already disorienting tune is merged with heavily synthesized versions of the members voices. It doesn’t help that it is presented in a tacky blue screen music video reminiscent of the 90s.

While Sea A as a group does show great promise. Their niche market that provides them a purpose will ultimately be their greatest limitation. Unless they manage to break out of this mold, this will be about as much as we can expect from Singapore’s first foray into the idol market. Let’s hope that isn’t the case.