Recently I visited Sigekiya Ramen at Commercenter, Filinvest City, Muntinlupa City and there I tried out their latest ramen called the Tantanmen (full name: Yokohama Tantanmen).
According to the good people of the business, Tantanmen is the newest ramen variant created by their master Mamoru Sugizaki. It comes with a thinner version of Sigekiya’s made-in-store ramen noodles combined with a soup that rich, flavorful and spicy. Also present are some ground meat and a few green vegetables.
A close look at Sigekiya’s Yokohama Tantanmen.
From my first experience tasting of the soup, I felt this delicious flavor in my mouth. To my surprise, there was spice that was more tolerable than I expected. Normally I go only for Level 1 spice at Sigekiya Ramen and their Tantanmen’s default spice was at around Level 5. As the spice was tolerable, I kept consuming more of the dish and the thinner noodles was nice change. By the time I finished it, I was really satisfied and I truly enjoyed it.
So would I recommend this new dish of Sigekiya to you? Yes! In fact, I highly recommend it! If you love your ramen to be spicy (note: at Sigekiya, you get to customize the spice level), filling and tasty while at the same time you crave for ground meat, then the Yokohama Tantanmen is for you!
The Tantanmen from above!
Sigekiya’s 3rd anniversary
This month of April, Sigekiya Ramen celebrated its 3rd anniversary and I am happy for them that they made it this far attracting loyal customers as Commercenter keeps on establishing itself as a good venue for shopping, dining and movies in the highly competitive commercial zone of Alabang.
I remember Sigekiya Ramen opened on April 6, 2016. Back in those days, I was already tired of eating ramen served by many other Japanese restaurants which bought their noodles wholesale and just cooked and served those. With Sigekiya, I was already interested to find out how good, how tasty and how unique their ramen would be. A day or two after their opening in 2016, I went inside, sat down and ordered their default ramen. Right from the first serving, I enjoyed their soup and made-in-store noodles (which have a rich texture, is thicker and more ideal to chew than other ramen noodles).
Since then I return to them whenever I can afford their meals (which by the way are made with imported ingredients which explain the high prices). I also enjoy ramen again only this time it’s Sigekiya that is my first choice.
If you are interested to try Sigekiya Ramen’s offerings, visit them at the ground floor of Commercenter. Inquiries are accepted by phone at 805-0400.
Kudos to Sigekiya Ramen!
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrascoand follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
Have you been passing by Japanese restaurants lately? In my experience, I often see people eating noodles or sushi or maki or tempura or a Japanese rice meal whenever I pass by a Japanese restaurant in the Alabang area or in BF Homes’ food strip.
The one particular food that is not too commonly spotted being served is the Okonomiyaki.
This is the Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki as served by Fukuya Japanese Restaurant in Alabang. Below that fancy looking top are the other ingredients.
In case you are wondering, Okonomiyaki is a pan fried food that is made with batter and a variety of ingredients depending on what its type is. The cabbage is often the main ingredient. Its name is roughly translated as “to one’s liking” or “how you like”. With regards to variety or types of Okonomiyaki, the meal is most popular in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Osaka. The Okonomiyaki’s taste varies depending as to what its type is but for the most part it does not carry the sweetness of pancakes. In fact, the Okonomiyaki has more in common with pizza.
At Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City is Fukuya Japanese Restaurant which serves not one but two types of Okonomiyaki. For this article, I tried their Hiroshima variant of the meal which is pretty flavorful and in their restaurant customers can watch the chef cook it.
The other ingredients of Fukuya’s Hiroshima Okonomiyaki are noodles and vegetables and some pieces of meat in between.
Fukuya’s Okonomiyaki has a nicely decorated top which is edible and below it are the other ingredients mainly cabbage, noodles and some meat pieces in between.
I noticed that it takes some unique skills to cook Okonomiyaki which can be fun to watch at times. While there are some Japanese restaurants that cook the meal in the kitchen for the customers waiting, there are other restaurants that allow customers cook it themselves.
So, have you eaten Okonomiyaki at a Japanese restaurant lately?
Thank you for reading. If you find this article to be engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book TheWorld of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco.
Looks can be deceiving. Recently I visited Sigekiya Ramen at Commercenter in Alabang for lunch initially wanting the Tsukemen which I enjoy. As I looked on their menu, I noticed one particular ramen I have not tried before – the Gojira Ramen. It was listed on the menu that it was available on small size but the waiter assured me that it comes with a lot of content.
So I ordered it and after about ten minutes waiting, it was served to me at my table. To my surprise, Gojira Ramen was plentiful and all the space of its small-sized bowl was really full!
A closer look at Gojira Ramen.
I took a closer look before consuming it. It had two nice servings of meat, lots of fresh vegetables, the soup and the noodles (located underneath). It took me a while to get through it at first alternating between eating the meat, then the noodles, then the vegetables and the soup. As I went on, I enjoyed it more.
More importantly, it filled my stomach. The small-sized bowl was deceiving to the eye but rest assured, the Gojira Ramen is rich with content and flavor. Do I recommend it? Absolutely!
In case you are wondering what Gojira means, read this – Gojira is actually the Japanese name of Godzilla (the cinematic icon from Japanese cinema). The very first Godzilla movie released in Japan in 1954 was titled Gojira.
If you are looking for a monster meal at Sigekiya Ramen, go for their Gojira Ramen. Meat, vegetables and noodles nicely fixed together to satisfy you.
Thank you for reading. If you find this article to be engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco.
As a long-running anime franchise, Macross is well remembered for not only its portrayal of war, action-packed transforming machines (mechas) and engaging storytelling but also for its use of love triangles to emphasize the human element of the saga.
The Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime TV series (1982-1983) would have ended up looking generic with other robot anime series had it not featured the love triangle of Hikaru-Misa-Minmay. That love triangle was clearly the centerpiece of the saga and each member got developed individually throughout the 36 episodes.
Over a decade later, the sequel Macross Plus was released in the form of a 4-episode original video animation (OVA) (and in reimagined form via a theatrical version in 1995) and it featured a brand new love triangle with Myung Fang Lone, Isamu Dyson and Guld Bowman.
Spearheaded by the legendary Shoji Kawamori as co-director and mecha designer, Macross Plus was a more challenging story to sell to fans and anime enthusiasts given the fact that it had no conflict of good-versus-evil nor hero-versus-villain. There was not even a war to focus on. Instead its conflict was more centered on the love triangle.
Guld. Myung and Isamu.
The background is like this. In the year 2033, Myung, Isamu and Guld were close teenage friends until something terrible happened to them which not only destroyed their friendship but led them to taking separate paths carrying pain and unforgiveness deep inside.
In the present day of 2040, military pilot Isamu got re-assigned to his home planet of Eden as a test pilot for the prototype fighter plan the YF-19. This re-assignment happened because Isamu was too reckless and dangerous to be in active duty. Shortly after arriving he encounters Guld who is also a test pilot assigned with the stealthy YF-21. Right from the start their bitterness and rivalry intensifies.
The stakes grow even higher when Myung returns to Eden as a producer of Sharon Apple, a powerful computer designed to project holograms of a digital lady who could not only sing but also express emotions. She’s described by her handlers to be a living artificial intelligence but behind the scenes her programming is incomplete and Myung herself has to provide the emotions and singing.
Enough with the plot. Let’s move on to my analysis of the love triangle.
The love triangle
A close encounter between them.
Let’s start with Isamu. On face value, he’s a handsome young guy who has achieved a lot when it comes to flying and combat but he is too risky to be with due to his impulsive nature, love for danger and recklessness. His cocky personality reminds me somewhat of Maverick (played by Tom Cruise) from Top Gun but the difference is that Isamu is much more dangerous.
Oh yes, Isamu also acts childish. This is evident during the first test flight of the YF-19 and most of the time he was playing around, cheering and expressing himself instinctively. The very ironic thing about his childish act is that he got to push hard the technical and technological capabilities of the YF-19 with regards to how it moves, how fast its speed is and how efficient its functions are.
But is Isamu an ideal man for a lady to spend her life with? Absolutely not. He loves fun too much and his being a loose cannon is a headache for his military superiors. His lack of self-control alone will make any relationship end quickly. At least in the context of Macross Plus, Isamu is not meant for marriage nor love but for dangerous fun. Still there are certain aspects of him that show he can still change for the better such as daring to find answers to be certain and pushing forward with life even though painful times strike along the way.
Next is Myung. She is an example of a very talented young singer who failed to become a professional artist. As a teenager she loved to sing and was described to have sung during her sleep. Somehow the violent falling out she experienced with Isamu and Gul impacted her ability to make it big in the world of entertainment. Think about it. While there are many talented wannabees who made it as singers but did not achieve super stardom, there are others who never qualified to be singers.
In the present day, Myung still carries pain and unforgiveness deep inside. She deals with her pain by burying herself with her work as a producer and rides along the tremendous success of Sharon Apple who is not even real. As such it is no wonder why she felt uneasy being reunited with Guld and Isamu. During her time in the forest with an injured Isamu, she got to try a fruit (which she suspected to be sour) after being told by him (who already had a fruit) to do it. Upon tasting the sour thing, she expressed that she always hated how Isamu dared people to try something even though he already knew the answer or what would happen. Before going to the forest, however, Myung was the first person Isamu saw after sleeping for days in the hospital due to a test flight accident. The mere fact she attended to him proves that she has feelings for the hot shot pilot.
Finally we have Guld, the half-human half-Zentradi person with grayish skin. Like Isamu, he has the passion and skill for flying. He does not have the recklessness and impulsiveness of Isamu, but he could be very violent due to the warlike tendencies (example: rage or outburst) he inherited from his Zentradi heritage. Remember in Macross, Zentradi was a race of artificially made giants produced through cloning and because they were bred for war and militarism they were devoid of culture.
As test pilot of the YF-21, he is oriented to control the plan mentally and this allows him to actually feel the machine as if it was his own body. Remember how Guld sped right into a barrage of rockets and got away untouched with the YF-21? That was the result of not only the YF-21’s stealth features and ability to predict the direction of the missiles but also of Guld’s extension with the aircraft.
Still Guld has feelings and he is far from being a living killing machine. Right from the start of his reunion with Myung, he expressed his feelings for her and swore to protect her (even though she did not need such protection). This shows that he was willing to adjust for Myung, forget the past and move forward. Guld does not have the charisma of Isamu but that does not make him less human nor does it make him an undesirable person. He also does his best to be something that Isamu cannot be – an honorable pilot.
When things get way too personal, Isamu (right in YF-19) and Guld (left in YF-21) violated military protocol to fight each other.
Overall the love triangle of Guld, Myung and Isamu is still engaging to follow whether you watch Macross Plus in its OVA format or in its theatrical version (titled: Macross Plus: The Movie, Macross Plus: Movie Edition). At the same time this triangle is geared towards adults and one of the themes behind Macross Plus is growing up or coming-of-age. Other moral lessons worth learning: dealing with the painful past, maintaining discipline while doing your duty and learning how to forgive.
In reality, unforgiveness or the unwillingness to forgive truly causes more harm than good. There really is no escaping the negative effects. Repenting and forgiving each other go together and only then will healing happen. Forgiveness is emphasized in the Holy Bible. Below is a scripture for you all.
bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Colossians 3: 13 (NKJV)
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this article, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenor is still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well.
Author’s Note: This article was originally published at my old Geeks and Villagers blog. What you read on this website was an updated and expanded version. In other words, this newest version you just read is the most definitive version.
My Daily Collagen® Triathlon fires off on February 24
Subic Bay, Philippines – January 29, 2019 – Over 600 triathletes from around the country gear up for the standard-distance My Daily Collagen® Triathlon on February 24 in Subic Bay.
My Daily Collagen® Triathlon presents a swim-bike-run course perfect for triathlon first-timers, age-groupers raring to chalk up a personal best, and returning multisport enthusiasts. Gun start for the 1.5-km swim off Acea Subic Bay Hotel is at 6:10 a.m., followed by a 40-km bike combining flats and climbs. Triathletes return to Acea for the 10-km run, consisting of four loops towards All Hands Beach with a sweeping view of Subic Bay. My Daily Collagen® Triathlon also has a sprint distance course consisting of a 750-m swim, an 18-km bike, and a 5-km run.
At stake in the event presented by My Daily Collagen®, supported by Smart, Saucony, Vitorria, Rudy Project, ACEA Subic Bay, Court Meridian Hotel & Suites, and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority are medals for all finishers, trophies and gift packs for the winners in each age group, relay, and top-performing triathlon teams.
The triathlon’s title sponsor My Daily Collagen® is a mango-flavored drink from Japan that provides the body’s requirement of collagen, a protein that keeps skin and tissues in the body’s joints healthy. A bottle a day of My Daily Collagen® has the right amount of easily-absorbed marine collagen peptide, the purest and safest form, at 1000 mg.
Registration for My Daily Collagen® Triathlon ends January 31, 2019. Registrants can take advantage of a special offer: Buy a box of My Daily Collagen® upon online registration and get a *FREE limited edition trucker cap from Vamos! My Daily Collagen® drink and Vamos cap may be claimed during the #MyDailyCollagenTri2019 race weekend. One box contains 10 (ten) 1,000-mg bottles at P1,490.00. Register online and take advantage of this offer at https://regonline.activeglobal.com/mydailycollagentri2019.
Participants can also place their orders (also at P1,490.00 per box) of My Daily Collagen® via bank deposit. Make the appropriate deposit to Global Wellness Enterprises, BDO S/A 0064 201 03281 before January 31, 2019. Email a copy of your deposit slip and indicate your full name, contact number, and the number of boxes you are purchasing to mydailycollagen@globalwellnessph.com. Orders can be picked up at the race venue on race weekend, February 23-24.
Find out more about My Daily Collagen® on Facebook at My Daily Collagen Drink and Instagram on @mydailycollagen. My Daily Collagen® is available at Mercury Drug and Watsons nationwide, and in all Rose Pharmacy, HB1 Pharmacy, and Alturas Supermarkets in Visayas and Mindanao.
For me this is Lynn Minmay’s prettiest smile in 1984’s Macross: Do You Remember Love?
I’m a long time Macross fan. For those of you who have been wondering who among the many characters of the entire Macross franchise I best remember, it’s Lynn Minmay.
For the newcomers reading this, Lynn Minmay (voiced by Mari Iijima) first appeared in Episode #1 of the Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime TV series that debuted in 1982. She was that sweet and pretty teenage girl who was born in 1993 (note: the TV series story started in the then-future of 2009) in Japan with partial Chinese heritage (which explains her relationship with the folks running the Chinese restaurant on Macross City). As seen in Episode #2, she was among the first people to meet with Hikaru Ichijyo who at the time survived a crash while piloting a Valkyrie (that transformed to Battroid mode).
Is Minmay a fighter? Nope! She’s a talented singer who became an icon among the people in the SDF-1 fortress (which carried the remains of Macross City inside). Given the fact that the Zentradi (the army of giant humanoids that pursued the Macross) are a people devoid of culture due to their artificial nature as clones, Minmay’s singing (apart from the Macross people’s own culture) has tremendous power to manipulate them emotionally.
More importantly, Minmay is a crucial part of the memorable Macross Love Triangle along with Hikaru and his superior officer Misa Hayase.
The Love Triangle of Macross is itself intriguing. Hikaru struggles emotionally whom to spend time and love. Minmay is the sweet young girl who matured into a young woman while dealing with the tremendous pressure of the world of entertainment as well as having the circumstantial responsibility of inspiring people and help maintain peace. Her military counterpart Misa meanwhile is the dedicated officer whose family has a history of military service.
I’m not going to spoil the whole plot of the Macross TV series to explain more about Minmay and the others. But if you want to discover more of the anime icon apart from the Super Dimension Fortress Macross series, watch more of her in the 1984 anime movie Macross: Do You Remember Love? Also don’t forget that there are Macross video games that have Minmay in them.
As for the Western interpretation of Minmay seen in the Robotech franchise, I would not recommend that. The mistranslated Robotech adaptation of the original Macross TV series had a bad voice actress for Minmay not to mention bad singing in English. The ongoing Robotech comic book series published by Titan Comics had an even distorted portrayal of the icon.
If you want to discover the genuine and respected Minmay, stick with Macross!
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this article, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to your fellow Macross and anime fans. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenor is still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your project or business, check out my services.
Do I remember love? Absolutely and love comes in many different forms which I experienced in life. There is love from God and His Son Jesus as referred to in 1 John 4: 9-10 in the Holy Bible (New King James Version or NKJV).
There is also love of the family. Love with friends. Love of doing things or enjoying personal interests. Love on spreading the Good News to others.
And among those personal interests is anime and the main reason I love anime is because of my love for the Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series of the early 1980s. Called Macross for short, that anime TV series engaged me a lot not only as a geek but also as a person. I also learned about the challenges that come with dealing with war, dealing with an enemy because they’re only different and survival.
So yes, I do remember love!
More on Macross, I am here to share to you all my revisit of what is my all-time favorite anime movie ever – Macross: Do You Remember Love?
Macross: Do You Remember Love? (full title – Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?) was released in Japan on July 1984 where it was greeted by very long lines of fans. The movie was made with the fans in mind and many of the same creators and talents behind the famous Macross TV series (1982-1983) returned to bring back to life all the characters, all the robots and mechs, all music and many other elements that made the series lovable in the first place.
Running less than two hours, Macross: DYRL is a big budget retelling of the first twenty-seven episodes of the TV series albeit with some new concepts and adjustments made to add depth to the movie. As it is impossible to condense everything from the said 27 episodes into a single movie, the film took key story elements from the series and came up with a plot that not only featured fresh ideas but also honored the series in creative ways. The good news about this approach is that it worked nicely.
The story begins in space where the Macross SDF-1 was already moving with tens of thousands of people living in a city inside its metallic structure. During a big attack by the Zentradi (giant alien humanoids), some Zentradi soldiers infiltrated the city inside SDF-1 and among people affected is the star singer Lynn Minmay. Coming from nowhere, pilot Hikaru Ichijyo used his Valkyrie to rescue Minmay from a Zentradi soldier as well as from certain death of the free fall that followed. Because he saved Minmay’s life, Hikaru was spared from military punishment for disobeying Lieutenant Misa Hayase during battle.
Because a relationship between Hikaru and Minmay developed, the two dated and even managed to sneak out of the space fortress with a training aircraft to explore the ring of planet Saturn. The two got caught by Lieutenant Hayase (accompanied by Minmay’s relative and manager Lynn Kaifun) but before they could return to the Macross, they got attacked by Zentradi forces nearby. The plot deepens further as soon as they got captured.
As it involved Shoji Kawamori (whom I met during the 2017 AsiaPOP Comicon Manila), Haruhiko Mikimoto, Narumi Kakinouchi, Kentaro Haneda, Sukehiro Tomita, Arihirio Hase, Mika Doi ad Mari Iijima, Macross: DYRL carries so many elements from the TV series that strongly resonated with fans.
Mari Iijima is fantastic in her dramatic portrayal of Minmay and she also proved excellent in her singing of classic Macross songs Sunset Beach, Zero-G Love and Shao Bai Lon. The standout song of all, however, is Do You Remember Love composed by Kazuhiko Kato and Iijima’s performance of it was also excellent.
When it comes to spectacle, Macross: DYRL is a stunner even by today’s standards. The visuals are great to look at. The triple-transformation of fighter planes into robots (Valkyrie, Gerwalk and Battroid) are always delightful to watch. The action is plentiful and at the same time very fast-paced for the eyes to enjoy. Heck, even the character redesigns of the Zentradi alone made this movie have an edgy and somewhat dark feel.
The beauty of it all is the fact that the all the animation is hand-drawn the old-fashioned way! No computer-generated polygons shaded with cels here. Every frame of animation was labored by the animators and the colors used remain lively to look at.
With regards to storytelling, the movie has a solid narrative even though it lacked some background explanations. Of course, there were questions raised like why are the Zentradi and Meltrandi gender-isolated and each have an army? (note: in the TV series the Zentradi is composed of males and females). Why is the origin of the Macross SDF-1 in the movie different from what was portrayed in the anime series? Why is the Supervision Army non-existent?
The good thing about the narrative is the shorter yet engaging portrayal of the Hikaru-Minmay-Misa love triangle. As this is a movie, the triangle’s conflict is minimal and free of the excess baggage of what was portrayed in the TV series. Without spoiling too much, I can say that the development of relationships between Hikaru with Minmay and with Misa is believable. There is no way any viewer can complain that Hikaru is boyish (his trait in the TV series) when deciding whom to love.
As it was made for the fans, newcomers will unsurprisingly have some trouble understanding Macross: DYRL, its concepts and characters. They can enjoy the visuals and spectacle if those are what they are looking for. Still Macross: Do You Remember Love? can serve as an inspiration for newcomers to start digging the past of Macross by watching the 1980s anime TV series (especially the first 27 episodes).
Conclusion
There is no doubt that Macross: Do You Remember Love? remains a truly great anime movie to watch and it is truly a classic in every sense of the word. Being a big budget retelling of the first 27 episodes of the Macross TV series, this movie serves as the fans’ bridge to the past and yet it also moves the entire franchise forward in terms of artistry, expression and quality. There is so much to love in this movie – the characters, the robots, the transformations, the action, the sci-fi concepts and more.
With its undeniable greatness, Macross: Do You Remember Love? is ultimately why I remember my love for anime.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this article, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to your fellow Macross and anime fans.
Author’s Note: This article was originally published at my old Geeks and Villagers blog. What you read on this website was an updated and expanded version. In other words, this newest version you just read is the most definitive version.
Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com
I recently played the 6-gigabyte demo of the Resident Evil 2 remake on my Xbox One downloaded via Xbox LIVE. It was a one-shot demo limited to only thirty minutes of play time.
So how was my experience? I focused mainly on exploration of the Raccoon City Police Station and orienting myself with the game’s controls (and the 3rd-person view on exploration and shooting).
Having played RE2 on PlayStation way back in 1998, I found it stunning that the in-game environment rendered in full 3D polygons the look of the police station from the old game. Of course, not everything is 100% replicated. There are noticeable changes like re-arrangements of the certain furniture, items and even parts of the layout of the interiors. Clear to say, if you are a very avid RE2 gamer who pretty much memorized the placings of items in the 1998 video game, do not expect to find them the same in the 2019 remake.
Regarding controls, in my view RE2 feels very similar to that of Resident Evil 6 which was the last RE game I played. The 3rd-person view approach on movement and shooting are there. That being said, I find RE2’s shooting-and-moving mechanism inferior to that of Gears of War games with regards to response and precision. Not necessarily a bad thing and I do understand that the lack of response and precision is meant to enhance the claustrophobic feel for gamers. Resident Evil 2, after all, is Capcom’s attempt to revive survival horror seriously.
More on shooting, there is a balance between precision, impact and movement. There I was as Leon aiming at an approaching zombie while slowly walking backwards (to keep a distance). I took a shot at the zombie’s head while moving, the shot did not affect him. When I stopped moving, aiming became more precise (I noticed the on-screen target mark adjusting) and my shots hit the zombie better on the head and body.
Speaking of zombies, they are slow moving but are noticeably faster compared to their 1998 counterparts. Once near you, a zombie can take a sudden move forward to grab and bite you.
What I found intriguing is that when I was caught between two zombies, they both grabbed me and attacked me at the same time causing further damage to Leon’s health. I wonder what would happen if, let’s say, Leon got caught between two Lickers in a similar situation.
On exploration, the move into the dark portions of the police station using only a flashlight to see ahead is a nice touch. I ended up moving cautiously as I explored the rooms and other things to search for useful items like a key, first aid spray, etc.
And then there is the discovery about what happened to the police station. One police officer I tried to save died losing half his body as zombies from the other room grabbed him. Then there is another police officer who helped Leon survive from suffering the same death.
Because I focused more on exploration and getting used to the controls, my 30 minutes ran out without reaching the end.
So how do I feel after playing the one-shot demo? Personally I am not keen on buying Resident Evil 2’s release on January 25. I will observe first how the game will perform critically with the game review writers, the bloggers and of course the feedback of the many gamers who play it.
I do remember the overall feel of Resident Evil 2 on PlayStation in 1998. The first part was all about orientation, exploring the police station and finding out how Raccoon City got overwhelmed with zombies caused by the deadly, artificially made virus. Then as the game progressed, locations changed and more characters entered the plot, the pace quickened, the action became more intense and there was that sense of adventure as well. It remains to be seen if such things will happen in the overall narrative of the RE2 remake.
Thank you for reading. Please share this article to your fellow gamers and Resident Evil fans. Feel free to comment below and if you enjoyed this article, please press the like button below. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenoris available for ordering in paperback and e-book format.
Very recently I got to play the first twelve hours of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition on my Xbox One console. As the subtitle showed, this is an enhanced re-release of the game which first came out on Xbox 360 in the year 2008.
This early I can confirm that Bandai Namco delivered its promise on Tales of Veperia: DE as the game’s visuals have been upscaled which means that the anime cut scenes and the in-game cut scenes (cel-shaded polygons and colorful 3D surroundings) look really crisp. More importantly this new version has two additional playable characters with Patty (the little pirate) and Flynn (rival of Yuri).
With Patty and Flynn added, so were the cut scenes and this also meant additional voice-overs, more in-game art and more sound effects altogether. Oh yes, their respective abilities and gameplay features added even more variety to the game’s big mix of features.
Patty the pirate!
When it comes to the gameplay experience, I should say that this one has proven to be a lot of fun so far. For the first twelve hours the story moved at a moderate to quick pace while still allowing me to get to know Yuri and the main characters, the situations of the fantasy world and how the game plays.
When it comes to battles, they are pretty much low in stress. Unlike most JRPGs, there are no random battles to annoy me as I am given the freedom to decide if I want to fight a group of enemies (portrayed as individuals on the world map) or not. When I need to level up my characters, I engaged in many battles and the good news is that grinding (engaging in back-to-back battles to gain experience points to level up) in this game is not very stressful. Certainly not annoying.
This is because the battles are performed in real-time. Physical combat is done by button mashing which is quick and easy. Using magic uses the menu (which means pausing the game) to select a spell and which character to use. Switching between characters (up to four) is also quick and easy.
I already had my team engage in lots of battles to level-up, help them gain new skills or special abilities and of course raise money (called Gald). The good thing is that I never felt stressed out.
Battles in the game are fast and relatively convenient to manage. (image from Bandai Namco)
When it comes to storytelling, the game has a wholesome tone comparable with past Tales Of games.
While I still have a long way to go in the game, I can confirm to you gamers and JRPG fans that Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is so far a fun game to play on your modern console. Once I finish the game, I will post a review. When? I don’t really know yet.
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When it comes to dining at a Japanese restaurant, sushi and maki often interest me. On April of 2016, out of curiosity I tried the ramen of Sigekiya Ramen restaurant located inside Commercenter, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The ramen was very good with its rich soup, pork servings and most notably freshly made, in-store noodles.
A few months later that same year, I returned to the restaurant and daringly tried something really new to me. Something I never tried before. That was Tsukemen. It was served to me with cold freshly made noodles (with a patch of seaweed and vegetable bits) and a bowl of hot broth that was pretty thick.
So there I was struggling a bit to drip the noodles into the soup and then consume it while using chopsticks (and sometimes the soup spoon provided). The struggle was worth it because the dish really tasted very delicious! The soup was so tasty, I never bothered to add some condiments. The noodles were so fresh and clearly thicker than most noodles, they were very satisfying to eat (pretty chewy) once they got wet with the hot soup. Since then, Tsukemen became my favorite dish to order at Sigekiya Ramen and for some time I’ve been searching for the dish in other Japanese restaurants in Alabang and BF Homes. So far I only saw two other restaurants serving Tsukemen.
What is Tsukemen?
Historically Tsukemen was invented by a Taishoken restaurant owner in Japan identified as Kazuo Yamagishi. At the age of seventeen, he came up with the concept of Tsukemen as a result of seeing a colleague consuming down the noodles after dipping them in a cup that contained soup. At his restaurant, in the year 1961, Yamagishi added Tsukemen to the menus identified as “special morisoba”. The experiment became a commercial success and the rest was history. Yamagishi died in 2015 and so far his contribution to Japanese and global cuisine won’t be fading away anytime soon. Slowly but surely, Tsukemen is making its way to more Japanese restaurants outside of Asia.
How to eat Tsukemen? Use the chopsticks to grab a manageable amount of noodles, slowly dip it into the soup, move them into your mouth then slurp it carefully. If this is too hard, you can use the soup spoon to help you support the noodles.
What you should NOT do when having Tsukemen is mixing the noodles into the soup to make it more like ramen. That’s wrong and improper. There is a good reason why the noodles and soup were served to you separately. Tsukemen is all about dipping the fresh cold noodles into the soup and then consuming it with a unique approach. Do not treat Tsukemen like ramen or like some other noodle soup dish.
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Author Carlo Carrasco 