Fast Typing

Yuki is the fastest typist out of all anime characters.

Just a very random short post today, to brag about my typing speed XD . Yeah, last Wednesday (27th May 2009), i participated in a typing record challenge held by my college. The task is to type around 2900 characters (including spaces and symbols) about Italy. The software used there is MaxLite Type.

The result? I’m not the first, but the SECOND fastest typist in my college, boo yeah! (hey… I’m an IT student and i do typing everyday, especially in coding). The result was measured by 3 parameters: average typing speed (in cpm not wpm), accuracy, and time completion.

I got 370cpm for average typing speed, 90.7% for accuracy, and 7 minutes 57 seconds for time completion. There were too many hard and unusual words, and that’s the reason i can’t reach my maximum speed. Glad i brought my own keyboard XD .

I’ve tried Typer Shark’s typing test lesson and reached 77 wpm at max and 69 wpm average. In a Facebook typing application, I’ve reached 80 wpm at max. So how’s your typing speed? Ever tried to measure yourself in typing? Just share your result here!

May gothic hauls

Early May Play-Asia box.

Back for another not-so-quick haul post, it’s for early May hauls. Bought them from Play-Asia and arrived way back in early May. There were 2 figures inside that box. They are: Asahina Mikuru gekisou version manufactured by Max Factory and Louise Gothic and Punk version manufactured by Alter.

 

Badly damaged boxes.

Talk about damaged boxes. This is the first time i received totally damaged boxes from EMS. And i think this is also the worst damage I’ve ever received in my whole figure collecting history. The top of the boxes were badly damaged and bent. I’m glad the figures are alright in perfect condition.

 

My 2nd Louise, both from Alter. 

So let’s just continue on and look at Louise first. She’s actually my 2nd Louise figure. I like her maid-ish gothic costume. That’s why i bought this figure. Now i have total of 2 Louise figures, and both figures are manufactured by Alter. Thanks Alter for bringing more goodies!

 

Louise’s costume, one of a kind.

Some of you may say that her costume is maid costume. But she actually wears a gothic lolita styled clothes, not a maid costume. The colors, which are black and white, really trick you. A maid costume usually have those black and with tone on the costume, just like Louise’s costume in this figure.

 

Her hair is full of ribbons.

Still regarding her costume. I never see her wears something like this before, not even in any illustration (or i never browse for any Louise’s illustrations). The next noticeable things on the figures are those red ribbons on attached on her hair. Adding some ribbons around her hairband is okay, but she got a LOT of ribbons attached on the back of her hair.

 

She’s totally cute! XD

She’s damn cute with that expression. Totally cute! And her face is the 2nd reason i bought this figure. Louise isn’t all about tsuntsun or deredere expression all over her face. But having those tsundere expressions isn’t bad either.

 

No pantie shot for now, i saved it for the real review.

Whoops! Sorry, no pantie shot for now. Eventhough she did the skirt lifting, i still want to save the pantie shot for the real review. So just wait for it! XD

 

Moving on to next haul: Mikuru Gekisou

Bought Asahina Mikuru gekisou version not for series completion, but for her greatness!

The second part of the Gekisou series: Asahina Mikuru gekisou version. If you think that i bought her for series completion reason then you’re wrong. I bought this figure because i totally LIKE those girls (Haruhi, Mikuru, Yuki) in those gekisou costume. I’m not a crazy fan of Mikuru, but i know that this figure is great!

 

Why don’t you make MOAR beauty like this MaxFact?

Lately, it’s pretty rare for Max Factory to release scaled figures like this. All they did was just focusing on more and more figmas. IMO, they just overdoing figmas and forgetting their usual 1/8 scaled PVC figures. Max Factory IMO has the best figure manufacturing skill in the world (even better than Alter), too bad if that skill used too much on figmas.

 

Watch out for leaning problem.

This version of Mikuru is just too great! And IMO, this figure is the best Mikuru there ever was in this figure world. Oh and anyway, I’ve read some of Mikuru haul or review posts before i posted this, so I’m totally aware of the leaning problem of this figure has. I too kinda afraid of having her leaning towards her left. You see, only 1 leg connected to the base (and it’s not screwed on the base), and that leg isn’t standing straightly. I hope it doesn’t lean that quickly.

 

Gothic style? Maybe…

Her pink costume (plus those ribbons) really suits her. I love Mikuru in this style. Talk about her style, is it right if i say that her costume is kinda gothic style? With those ribbons and frills around her skirt and her cleavage. And maybe the previous Haruhi gekisou also has that gothic style costume.

 

Cheerful Mikuru!

And another plus point for this figure is for seeing a very cheerful expression of Mikuru. She’s more than smiling here. She looks very happy while doing her singing, dancing, and clapping for the tambourine. A totally priceless expression here. XD

That’s it right now. Sorry for the late post. This semester almost reached its end, and that means I’m getting nearer and nearer to the deadline of my projects XP. That’s why, once again, i got a less and less time to post something up. Well… that’s it and see you at the next post!

Supermall Surabaya Toy and Hobby Fair 2009

Supermall Surabaya Toy & Hobby Fair 2009 

I’m back for another event coverage: Supermall Surabaya Toy & Hobby Fair 2009, to make it short I’ll just call it SSTHF. FYI, this event was also ran by the same committee as the previous event, Surabaya Toy Expo. This event is pretty big, and has the widest area of event compared to the previous events, too bad there were too many unused space around, and the number of participant isn’t that high either.

Oh, in this chance I’ll try to give a new style of event coverage post. First, I’ll skip and won’t put American toys photos or even rant about it, that way you won’t hear my spam about American toys, which is not in our concern. Next, I’ll group the photos into certain categories and will give some comments around it.

First, I’ll just go directly into PVCs group:

Old Figures.

I don’t know why, but the number of PVCs in this events was dropped greatly, compared to the previous Surabaya Toy Expo and Toy Magz Fair. If you look at the photo above, you’ll only see 3 special Japanese PVC figures: Mizuho bikini, another Mizuho, and Kasumi DOA. All of them are pretty much old PVCs. Oh and BTW, i think this store is the store who sold me Elwing bikini version (MaxFact).

 

Hobby Station’s stand.

Moving on to Hobby Station stand, you’ll see figma Kyon, and some old PVCs: Teletha Testarossa, Ryoumou, Dreamtech Tamaki Kousaka, and some other old PVCs. I don’t know what’s the reason, but in their actual store, they had some great PVCs like GSC Miku, Alter Signum and Hayate, Haruhi Gothic, and some nice PVCs. Maybe they want to prevent buyers getting those great items in discounted price.

 

Saber, my favorite figure store.

And this is Saber, my favorite store. I’ve been checking Saber every 2-3 weeks, so these items were considered old to me. I’ve seen all of them in their actual store. Anyway, Saber got some cool collections, but i forgot to photograph all of them, so let me just mention those unphotographed collection: Complete Shuraki vol 1-5, GSC Miku, Max Ryuna Bikini, Alter Saber Maid and Saber Alter version (dark), Kotobukiya Rin, etc. Price? They got a great deal, especially at the last day, there were so many discount around.

 

Toys ‘n Toys.

Toys ‘n Toys got some very old collections and also very cheap figures. But yeah, most of them were to old to recognize and i didn’t get very interested to get even one of them. Anyway, you still can find Rin and Sakura in their bikinis.

 

Wajuwa, view #1: figures!

And this is Wajuwa, with a lot of special figures lying around and waiting for some otakus to buy them. If you followed some of my coverages, you’ll notice that Vita has been there for almost 1 year (Toy Magz Fair, Surabaya Toy Expo, and Surabaya Anime and Toys Fair) and nobody bought her.

They also had some nice collections here: Teana Lanster (new here), Limit Gun, Kotobukiya Mao, Ryuna, and Blanc Neige. Alter’s Yuki bikini, etc.

 

Wajuwa view #2: nendoroids!

Wajuwa also had some nice set of nendoroids and figmas. You can see here: Nendoroid Tsukasa, Yoko, Saber Lion, Melissa Seraphy, Maritan, Pastel Ink, and Miyuki. And also figma Asakura Ryoko, Kagamine Ren, Shana, Saber, and Fate.

 

Wajuwa view #3: more figures! 

And still more from Wajuwa: GSC Unity May, Alter Haruhi, ALter Mina, Alter P3F Mitsuru and Elizabeth (i forgot, CMIIW), Haruhi and Mikuru live a live edition, and whatever… Eventhough they have nice collections, i held still and resisted myself from buying anything, just for economical reason, tried to be more careful in buying figures.

 

Next, we’ll move on to Gundam:

Extionz, the only store that got a Sword Impulse MG.

Extionz got some nice stack of Gunpla. You can see MG kits of Sinanju, Shin Musha Gundam new version, Nu Gundam, and a Sword Impulse Gundam. I think this is the only store that already have Sword Impulse Gundam. That kits got a pretty nice artwork on the box cover.

 

Rack of nice Gunpla kits.

A rack of Gunpla kits. I guess Sinanju is pretty popular nowadays. It’s pretty hard to see but in this rack there were nice kits like: Crossbone ver KA, Infinite Justice, Hyaku Shiki, Sword and Launcher Strike, Crossbone Gundam, and Destiny Gundam. Oh, i also spotted Godkeron here.

 

New and special Gunpla kits around.

Also another interesting Gunpla kits here like: new version of Shin Musha Gundam and Unicorn Gundam Ver Ka with Titanium Finish. I don’t really know about the Unicorn, but about the new Shin Musha, i heard from my bro, the new Musha got a better red armor and also even shinier gold edge.

 

There was a Gundam F91 kit back there.

And here’s another interesting stack of Gunpla. Most of them were pretty much old stocks, like: Strike Noir, Destiny, Zeta Gundam ver 2.0, Unicorn Ver Ka, and Super Gundam. The only thing interesting here is this Gundam F91, large model (1/60 scale). I’ve seen Gundam F91 in Gundam Musou 2, but never really see a real Gundam F91 kit. Anyway, I’ve been searching for Keropla kits around, but i couldn’t find any.

And we’ll move on the last category, miscellaneous :

Some nice car models.

Some nice car models here. Lately, I’ve became a fans of Lancer Evolution X and been searching for a nice model of it, but never found one. It seems Nissan GTR R35 is even more popular than Lancer Evo X, found one of the model here.

 

Random art class.

Another random art class, they really got some pretty nice drawings. But yeah… not really interesting for me. I prefer “drawing” using my camera and lights, not using pencil or some other drawing tools.

 

Komikaze, a cool book selling store.

Komikaze got a pretty interesting stand. They sold some nice rare PS2 games, rare comic and mangas (and even yaoi doujinshi!), rare magazine, and nice arts. Oh, and you can also see that Komikaze’s owner had a BJD (dolfie), but i never bother to ask where they bought / got it.

 

2 random stands selling random stuffs.

And the last are just 2 random stands, one selling weird “doll” things, and the other selling T-shirt with anime or games picture on it.

 

I guess that’s all about the participant and stuff they sold, the rest are just small number of photos i took using my new lens, Canon EF100mm Macro. Enjoy!

Uhh… dunno what’s in the middle, but i think the weapon is GN ARMS (Gundam 00).

 

Kungfu Panda, haha… hey, it can move and even punch!

 

Happy Feet penguin, it can’t dance, but it’s fluffy.

 

Wall-E, i watched the movie, and it’s funny. XD

Yeah… that’s all for this coverage, and i got bad news here: NO LOOT! XD . Yeah, the number of “hidden treasure” dropped, so no more loot for now. I think I’ll wait for new hauls, and the next event: Surabaya Toy Festival 2009 (6-7 June 2009).

Expect more hauls and some photoshoots. So… see you at the next post!

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

Lens box, new equipment.

After a week of absence, at last I’m back for a new upgrade of my photography equipment. This time it’s a macro lens: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM. Yet another upgrade for my photography equipment and also an upgrade for my figure photography world. I can expect even more beautiful and sharp photos of my figures in the figure photo session.

 

New lens at last!!!

After a year and more of waiting, i got this lens in hand. I’ve been wanting to get this lens for so long, and at last i bought this in NIX ‘09, the same place i bought my new Samsung 633NW monitor. Well anyway, this lens got a metal body, unlike the standard lens. It also got full manual focus and internal focus features.

Full manual focus : you can still adjust the focus even after you half-pressed the shutter button and got the object focus-locked. You can’t adjust lens focus after you focus-locked with non full manual focus lens.

Internal focus : the external part of the lens won’t rotate or move while focusing. External focus lens will have some part of it move while focusing, and it could be annoying if you use a lens filter like Circular Polarizer.

 

So this is my main photography equipment.

So, including this macro lens, i already have 4 lenses in my equipment. Of course with the same body: Canon 400D, and one flash: Canon SpeedLite 580EXII.

Anyway, using macro lens isn’t as easy as i thought, especially if you play with small objects and small DOF area (using small aperture value). Even a small movement can cause you losing focus on certain object. Well, need some time to get use to it. I guess that’s all the rant, and let’s move on to some sample photos i took using this lens:

 

Haruhi Gekisou’s face, looks so sharp, including the mic and the necklace.

 

Louise’s face, even the plastic texture on her hair is visible using this lens.

 

Guess whose pantie?

 

I took this sample photos while opening May haul, just expect the preview at later post.

 

Alter Hayate’s Reinforce, it’s so small, yet this macro lens can cover it all.

 

Can you see the writing “Lock” (caps lock) and “Shift” below Yuki?

That’s it for the sample photos. It’s a pretty amazing lens! If you’re a DSLR user, and you’re into figure photography, then you should get a macro lens. I’ve been using this lens for a week, so you can consider this post is late. But oh well… better late than never.

That’s it for now! Expect more random things and also, an event coverage. See you at the next post!

Louise Alter haul

Late HLJ box.

Yet another haul, which is kinda late for both the arrival and the post. This box was shipped before Haruhi gekisou and Yuki Alter, but because i used SAL for this order, it came later than SHnY haul. Anyway, let’s open up and see what’s inside.

 

 Louise uniform version, manufactured by Alter.

It’s Louise uniform version from Zero no Tsukaima, manufactured by Alter. Some people also called this figure as Louise levitating version. Well… you can call it that because she’s floating. Anyway, it’s another great work from Alter, bringing Louise with her uniform into life. I like it!

 

Alter banzai!

As i said before, lately Alter has been releasing cool posed figure with their normal clothes on, like Haruhi, Yuki, and now Louise. I don’t know where did they get those ideas from, but that what’s makes them special. And that’s why i put Alter as my favorite manufacturer and keep buying their products.

 

Yah… her wand is removable, that’s all.

Just as predicted, this figure doesn’t have any alternate parts. And the base itself wasn’t separated with the figure in the packaging. Alter has already screwed the base to the figure support and also attached the support to Louise’s cape permanently. The only thing removable is her wand.

 

Reason why you should by dynamic pose figure = visible pantie. XD

She got nice pose, especially because she’s showing off her pantie XD . Before this Louise, Alter also made Chua Churam’s pink pantie visible via her dynamic pose, and now they also did it to Louise.

 

Louise with her beautiful pink hair.

It’s been a long since i watched Zero no Tsukaima so i kinda forgot, but is Louise’s hair that long? I never see Louise with so beautiful hair like this before. I was too focused on watching story and ended up missing some character details. Figures do help you realize character details you missed in while watching the anime.

 

She’s cute with that blushes.

Louise in the anime has soooo many expressions, and i think one of them is this cheerful face. This expression only occurs when she’s totally happy with Saito. Anyway, nice job from Alter, they added cute blushes on Louise’s cheeks. The blushes made Louise cuter than her usual appearance.

 

My favorite character from the anime.

Whoops, pantsu showing… That’s what’s this figure about. Louise is my favorite character in my anime, and I’m glad i got this figure as my first Louise figure. I’ve been looking for a good looking Louise figure with her uniform on, and never found one. Thank you Alter for bringing my favorite character into life via this figure.

Well, that’s all the haul from April. Expect more figure photos and May haul in the next post. So… see you at the next post!