Are you a Transformer fan? I’m sure if you are then you would have caught the latest movie on the big screen and I’m sure you would have loved every bit of it. Many of my friends have watched the show at least a couple of times. For me, I’ve only watched it once but have spent many hours on the Wii playing the Transformers Game.
The game closely follows the story line from the movie but you can either play the good Autobots or the bad Decepticons. For me, I have yet to try the Decepticons but I heard its almost a direct opposite than if you were to play the Autobots. The actions are pretty good and the scenes are always time based so you’ve got to be pretty good at aiming at things, bashing things, throwing things like lamp posts at your opponents as well as transforming from a robot to a car to speed away to somewhere & vice-versa.
Needless to say the overall game play is wonderful and immersive. The perfect combination of speeding to a location, then transforming and bashing up your enemies and transforming back again to rush elsewhere just makes you feel as though you are really into the character. You will really need to experience it for yourself to understand what I mean. The graphics are pretty good for the Wii and I would recommend this game to anyone out there who is a Transformer fan. If you’re not a fan then this game could feel repetitive as most of it, albeit the different locations and scenarios, entails you bashing or defending something (in this case… ultimately the ALL SPARK)
October 14th, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
I was told by my friend Lim Fong the other day that she tried leaving a comment on the Wii Party Pool article but was greeted by an error message. Well true enough when I tried it just now, I got the dreaded error. However after downloading the source codes and re-FTPing it over to the server, the problem seems to have been fixed. I seriously wonder what’s wrong with my FTP program. Perhaps its till to change to a less buggy one. The files don’t seem to be transferring properly and sometimes require another upload just to ensure the files are properly uploaded… So wordpress is not busted after all… its my FTP program.
I also wonder if my Wordbook Plugin functions properly now that I have updated it to the latest version. The older version caused errors to be displayed when I posted any articles here but even with that, my postings are showing up properly on my Facebook Account. Cool Plugin
October 12th, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
 Are you a pool or snooker buff? If so then this game would keep you occupied for a good number of hours. Unless you are one of those rich boy or girl who has a private table at home, this is the next best thing to having your own table. Besides, it’s been saving us lots of money playing pool at home rather than at the Pool Parlor which is at least a whooping RM18.00 (approx USD5.30) per hr! Now that’s a rip off!
Back to the game, as with any pool game, you are able to play against a second player or a computer with two Wii Controllers possible without having to pass the controller back and forth. You can either play the game with either the Wii Controller alone or together with the nunchuck. With the nunchuck you have slightly better control of the views and angles (though not mandatory). The action of hitting the ball with the pool stick can simply be achieved with a simple wave of the wii remote. You don’t even need to do a pool action push towards the screen. Overall the controls could be refined for a better playing experience. A few other problems with the game would be the lack of camera angles, sometimes making it hard to anticipate the correct angle to hit the ball. The music sucks but it can be switched off and you could replace it with your own background music through your own CD player if you wish. There are various environments, tables, opponents, ball sets, cue stick, music tracks as well as game modes ranging from 8,9,15, etc balls to play.
Overall a good game for those who wish to play pool at home but could be improved somewhat.
October 7th, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
Is visiting the carnival your cup of tea? Have you always had fun playing with games in the Carnival but later on found out that they get too costly? Well… you can enjoy this fun but brainless game from the comfort of your home, albeit without the smell of popcorns and cotton candy. There are approximately 25 games to choose from: Alley Ball (like bowling), Day The Races (Horse Race), Popping Balloons with darts, Sledge Hammer to test your strength, throwing balls to knock down milk bottles, Dunking a midget, Shooting ducks, Coin Pushing Machine, Prize Picking Machine, shooting water guns to pop balloons, throwing rings onto bottle necks, Wishing Machine & loads more.
As with most Wii games, the throwing, tossing and aiming actions make full use of the Wii remote IR and Motion Sensor capabilities. The game control could have been better programmed as reported by some other players but to me, its supposed to be a fun brainless game… and that it is. This is a good game with cute mini games to occupy your time.
For most people, this game might seem like a waste of time but for people like my wife, countless hours can be spent playing virtual carnival games to accumulate virtual ticket/coupons to redeem virtual gifts. Well one thing good is that the games on the Wii are free. If we had to pay for every game that she has played like in a real carnival, I think we’d be broke. Yes dear, the sombrero hat and scuba tank with the clown nose looks good on you 
Can we go to sleep yet?
October 3rd, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
Everyone wears croc shoes these days… from young little kids to older grown up adults. Apart from the fashion statement, what drives people to wear these fully rubberised shoes? Is it so that they can walk around without getting electrocuted? Can’t be coz there are holes on top of most of these shoes and water can easily get in through the top… So what else could it be? Perhaps its because its so comfortable and people like like having rubber wrapped around themselves as a sense of “security”.
Whatever it is… these shoes don’t come cheap although there are some cheap imitations out there which is easily available in Malaysia. Even my little nephew has got a croc of his own which my Choy San Yea (God of Fortune) couldn’t even resist trying! Everyone wears croc shoes nowadays! I gotta get myself one but I somehow don’t think it’s my cup of tea.
September 28th, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
Guess what? I just found out that with the latest system update (version 3.0u) for the Wii, you can now use your USB Keyboard to enter text when on the messaging and shop channels. Not all types of USB Keyboards work but some Microsoft, Logitech and Apple Keyboards have been reported to work fine with the Wii. This should save lots of time without having to use the Wiimote to click in your alphabets one by one…. especially true when you need to type a relatively long message to your Wii buddies! This one is a good edition. Try it out on your machine, it might work! Kudos to Nintendo for this useful update.
September 5th, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
Hi all, Adrian and I wanna share our pix with you….He took some time late last night to load them up (*muaks*).
Yes, I finally got to take pix with Mickey and Minnie after I hit 30!!! Hahaha… We also visited Madam Tussaud at The Peak in HK. In Macau, we visited the Senado Square, St Paul’s Ruins and the world’s largest casino, The Venetian which opened on Aug 28!! http://www.venetianmacao.com/en/home.aspx It is really huge has 850 gambling tables, 3000 suites, 350 high-end retail shops, 3 man-made canal, etc etc… Overall, it was a tiring walking-trip, enjoyable but slightly tainted by the utterly rude attitudes of the people from HK, Macau and mainland China mainly…
We have yet to sort out our wedding registration pix (cos Adrian need to create a WEDDING section on his website first)…. This trip was arranged last year, when I managed to get the free tickets from AirAsia, but I say the timing was quite good, as it happened a week after our wedding registration, and hence took Adrian’s mind off the reality – THAT HE IS MARRIED!!! Hehehe….
Enjoy the pix! Love to all!
http://www.ourplaypen.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=23&page=1
September 4th, 2007
Submitted by: May Lee
When I was in HK, I managed to get two pairs of Caterpillar Boots since it was on offer and buying two pairs entitled me to additional “bulk” discounts. The shoes were comfortable and definitely cheaper priced than over here in Malaysia. I was indeed happy with my purchase. However the next day when I was in Macau, my friend mentioned to me that she saw on the news that Caterpillar boots had a recall due to some faulty boots. Apparantly these boots are not resistant to electrical currents as labelled, which means the wearer of these boots are susceptible to electrical shocks. I have checked and the Stock Numbers do not match that of my boots *phew*.  Anyway for those of you who own Cat Boots, you can check if your boots match the following Stock Numbers: P88033 or P88034.
Additional full details are available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07291.html
September 2nd, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
We have all heard about Wii Straps breaking under pressure but which Wii Controller strap do you own? You can refer to the picture below to see which Strap you own. If you own the original strap instead of the newer strap , then you should proceed to the Official Nintendo Wii Site to order your replacement!
If you own the Original Strap, it might break under pressure. Don’t take risks… don’t harm people and objects around you. And remember, even if you have the newer strap, you should try to stay calm and collected when playing Wii Games and not let go of the controller under full swing. Of course that’s hard to do, knowing how addictive and exciting Wii games can get!
September 2nd, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
Kuala Lumpur - Macau - Hong Kong - Macau - Kuala Lumpur in 6 days! That’s the sign of what’s to come and how busy and hectic we’ll be getting!
Sunday, 26 August 2007 - At the sound of our alarm at 2:30am, we jumped out of bed and started to get ready to proceed to KL Sentral to catch our bus ride to LCCT (low cost carrier terminal), Sepang. We drove to KL Sentral from our house in Bangsar and managed to drop the car off close by the office for my dad to pick up later during the day. We managed to catch our 3:30am bus. On the bus we caught some shut eye but soon enough we found we were already reaching LCCT. Upon arrival we met up with Lim Fong and Eric who have also just arrived a few minute before us. Immediately we checked in and proceeded to grab our early breakfast at Mc Donalds. Hmm Big Breakfast… yum.
At approx. 6am we managed to board our flight to Macau. This was an introduction of what’s to come. During our flight, there was a gentleman sitting opposite us who was from China. He was cutting his nails onboard the plane and letting his nail clippings fly & drop all over the floor. If that was not disgusting enough, he proceeded to cut his toe nails by lifting up each leg in return onto the chair. I’m sitting there wondering… is what everyone say true? Are the Chinese really that unrefined? Then again, that’s probably their way of life and they might not know better…. or so I thought…
Our flight arrived Macau International Airport at 10:30am and we quickly caught an airport bus (AP1) to the Ferry Terminal which was about 10-15 mins away. We caught the ferry run by First Ferry company as we wanted to land on Kowloon side instead of Hong Kong Island as our hotel was on Nathan Road close by the pier. Our next encounter with HK Culture is when I asked the cabbie if charging for additional luggage was normal. He responded by pointing to a notice stuck on the side of the door, got out and slammed the door after him. Hmm… that’s surprising! Well… if he wants to slam his door, I figured I could help him do the same to the passenger side as well but I decided against it. Didn’t want to aggitate anyone unnecessary… thought I think I already managed to aggitate him by the simple honest question.
Our rooms in Imperial Hotel was adequate. Again the people in the front desk and reception had terrible attitude but there were one or two of the staff who was very courteous. The rooms was small but not TOO cramp, however Lim Fong and Eric’s room was more of a squeeze but then again when you’re in HK, you should hardly be in the room. And when you’re in the room, you’ll be glad there’s a place for you to rest your tired legs so it doesn’t bother you too much anyway. The bed sheets were a little musty and the pillows, well they were well used and smelt a little funny.
After managing to rest a little, we met up with Wilson, my long time buddy from Middlesex University days who took us around to the shopping places, Lady’s Street & etc. It was good catching up with him and we managed to have some delicious “Mango Loh” desert along with some interesting simple rice dishes like ginger beef rice & etc. The chilli oil and beef noodles are also a must try in HK together with the dim sum which I would say is more or less comparable to those found here in KL. Great to know we’re not missing much in terms of dim sum quality. Oh did I mention that the one ton noodles’ texture is a must try? Anyway Hong Kong is a food haven as everyone knows and there’s always different kind of food for different budgets. Oh yeah we found it a little costly to have HKD30 noodles but we soon got used to it after a couple of meals. On a side note, when we got back from HK and went for breakfast, we found the food in KL ridiculously cheap as compared to HK as we only paid RM10.00 for eggs, toast and drinks for two person. How do you beat that?
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While in Hong Kong, we managed to go up to The Peak where we visited Madame Toussaud as well as took some pictures from the roof of the peak building. Boy was it windy up there and the view was just amazing. Anyone who hasn’t been up there is strongly advised to take a ride up either by Bus or Tram. We took the shorter method which is by Tram which climbs up approximately a 45 degrees incline when going up and a 45 degree recline coming down. The power of the trams are just amazing especially since it’s carrying such a heavy load of people on board.
After rushing down from The Peak, we took the ferry back over to Kowloon and rushed over to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre to see the Symphony of Lights show. It was pretty amazing and they have it every night (I think) at approximately 8pm or so. Certain days you have the announcements in English and certain days are in Cantonese or Mandarin. Unfortunately we got there on a Mandarin day but that’s fine because the music and the lights were enough to awe anyone. When looking across the causeway, you could see 18 of the tallest buildings on Hong Kong Island lighting up in perfect synchronisation with the music. The show is only for approx 15-20 mins so its not too long to be standing on our tired feet
The next day, we left for Hong Kong Disneyland early in the morning. We got to take pictures with some of the Disney characters. Most of them were pleasant except for the person inside Winnie the Pooh. He was such a prick. Not going to complain much about him here but as playful as he was, he gave me the impression that he was just a flirtatious idiot behind the costume. Anyway enough said… I guess you can’t be pleased everytime even when you’re at Disneyland. As we were getting pretty tired as the day went on due to the intense heat & later rain, we managed to watch only 1 show which was the Lilo & Stitch Interactive show. It was pretty ok except it was a little kiddy. We also managed to catch the Space Mountain Ride which was pretty good. Just as we were ready to leave, after walking along the shopping street back out towards the main entrance, it started to rain. We covered outselves with the bags that came with our merchandise and ran for the Trains that were to take us to our next destination, The Discovery Park Shopping Arcade, which was right next to the Tseun Wan MTR station. I managed to pick up two pairs of Caterpillar Shoes while I was there and they averaged only about RM250.00 per pair. What a bargain coz they cost a bomb back here in Malaysia!
The Following day, we moved out of our Hotel after having a quick last breakfast and headed to the Ferry Terminal which were to take us back to Macau. Instead of taking the First Ferry, this time round we took the Turbojet Ferry which departed from Hong Kong Island instead of Kowloon side. The ride was slighlty shorter and definitely better as I didn’t feel sea sick like how it was when we went from Macau to HK. Upon arrival at the Immigration however, we were greeted by a long queue going into Macau. The reason why there were so many people was because the VENETIAN just opened in Macau only about 2 days back! Here we are stuck with all over tourists as well as people from Hong Kong coming over to check the new Venetian out. Anyway we managed to clear the immigration after about 30 mins and we were also lucky enough to find our shuttle bus outside the Ferry Terminal (after a brief search and panic) that took us back to our Grandview Hotel located at Taipa Island.
Grandview Hotel in Macau was such a far cry from Imperial Hotel in Hong Kong. Apart from being cheaper and coming with breakfast for two, it was also larger, cleaner and such a pleasure to be in. I guess that’s the difference between being in Macau and being in HK. Such a big difference and such a big pleasure for us to come back to something better as our holiday neared its end.
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We did some walking around Macau, compliments from May Lee reading the Map wrongly. I swear we almost covered the entire island on foot! Well it felt like it anyway but in the end, all the walking was worth it as we managed to find the restaurant (near the Kwan Yin Statue) she aimed at finding in the first place. We had our wonderful seafood platter dish. Can’t remember what its called as she did the research and ordering but I can still imagine the taste in my mouth! The service was first class and the owner looked like a friendly chap. In the restaurant, there was a table at the end with 4 women seated down, playing Mah Jhong and sipping red wine! No wonder they call Macau a Gambling Heaven.
Next came The Venetian. This is definitely a place to visit! Apart from playing a few rounds there and enjoying their free drinks! you can walk around for some shopping as the casinos on the bottom ground floor is easily accessible and viewable from the upper shopping levels. The Venetian also has the usual Gondolas which I thought was a silly idea. I believe there are 4 different canals and they all seem pretty short. The rides are charageable and I don’t understand why people would pay just to ride in one of those for such a short distance. Now, if the canal actually went around the entire mall in one long loop! Now then that would be a different story. People who are too lazy to walk could just hop onto one of those (if they have a pass of course) and take a ride to another section of the shopping complex. If the Venetian takes up this idea of mine, please do remember to pay me a little commission for my ideas (ya right as if I will get anything).
Anyway, that’s about it for this particular trip. I think we did loads! and the walking sure managed to kill my poor leg. Again travelling back on Air Asia was another experience, this time round having a couple cut infront of our queue and we actually thought they were from China but what do you know…. they were sadly Malaysians. Such a disgrace to our country fellowmen. I actually have a picture of them taken to be put up here but I decided against that in the end. I’ll just give them the benefit of the doubt even though the lady was just being a bitch for voicing out. Sad to say, either her partner didn’t understand what we were bickering about or he just didn’t think she right to start off with to be defending her. Anyway just needed to let off some steam after being around rude and inconsiderate people and perhaps she was just there at the wrong place and at the wrong time. Poor thing…
For more photos, please proceed to the photo gallery http://www.ourplaypen.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=23&page=1
September 1st, 2007
Submitted by: Adrian
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