Exploring Second Life: Coral Homes Atol Resort

This place is a very captivating resort environment. The creators of this location prioritize on the mood, ambience and detailed environment. You can experience jet ski riding, being submerged underwater in a submarine, and if you got the L$ to spend, buy a house here. What can be more satisfyin than to live in an island resort.


If you are bored and looking to relax, just lay down on the mat and sunbathe, and pick whatever positions you like. Palm trees, sandy beaches, and waves reminds me of my last island escape in Kapas Island, which is not a very big island, but is beautiful and lush. And the coral reef in this island is absolutely amazing that you can see various sea creatures swimming around and beautiful coral formation. The designers really did study on ocean life and implemented it in their location. Job well done.

Weekly Entry 9: Universal Studios

What can be more exciting than to be at a theme park. On our Singapore class trip, me and my classmates went to the Universal Studios Singapore or USS. When we arrived, it was raining heavily so me and my few buddies went inside thair souvenir shop to buy ponchos. After the rain stopped, our journey began. After a short briefing from Mr. Harold, I went in the USS for the first time. With a lot of anticipation, I charged into USS with hype and energy.


USS was decorated with tons of fabricated environments. Our first stop was Hollywood. Featuring the best iconic places of Hollywood. The venue was filled with beautiful mascots and entertainers, and my most remembered icon for that place is the Walk of Stars, an exact replica of what's in Hollywood. We had lunch in Mel's Drive-In, a well decorated diner with retro mood.


My next stop was New York, land of the plenty. I went to my first attraction which was Steven Spielberg's Sound Room. Upon entering the attraction, we were briefed about Steven Spielberg and his mind-boggling special effects in movies. The next room however gave me an experience that was not from this world. I witnessed and felt firsthand how it would have been if a big hurricane hits a shipping wharf. The experience was invigorating, tense and panicking. If it hadn't been for the restrains, I would've jumped out of that room. Those special effects are just awesome.



Heading out from New York, I arrived at the Sci Fi City, home of the Human and Cylon coaster. Those coasters are killers. They were so intense I decided to ride them twice. Another piece of experience that I would never forget. Later I arrived at Ancient Egypt, a well designed ancient city of the pharaohs. Upon walking through there, I caught a glimpse of entrance to my right, and there it said 'The Mummy's Revenge'. I was so excited and thrilled to go in there to try the ride for myself. This too, I rode twice.


After riding the mummy's ride, I stayed outside for quite a time to contemplate the environment of the ancient Egypt as I myself am enthusiastic for mummies and ancient Egypt. I bought a mummy statue from there, and it's right here on my desk as I wrote this. If mummies were pets they would have been much better.

Moving on from ancient Egypt, my next stop was Jurassic Park, home of the dinosaurs. The most memorizable item from the venue was the large Jurassic Park arch and the gate. It was very foolish of me to queue for the Jurassic Park water ride. It took almost 1 and a half hour to reach the end of the queue and finally meet the roaring T-rex in the science facility. And I forgot to mention how soaked my shoes and socks were after the ride and I had to walk in them all the way out. Though after that I went to a shop to buy a pair of slippers.

Lastly, I went to the Far Far Away Kingdom and wow, the castle was realistic I felt like I'm in movie. Me and my friends went there for the Far Far Away Express, which is a gentle coaster ride and afterwards, the SHREK 4D, which was very fun and memorable. That was my first time experiencing 4D films and I had a really good time. Though at one point I thought there were really spiders climbing my jeans. Donkey and his sniffing annoyed me a lot though when I think about it again, it's kind of fun actually.

So there goes the story of the most fun and tiring day of my life. I did not get to be at Madagascar because time wasn't at my side. Walking out the front door of USS made me feel sad and happy at the same time because once I got out, I really missed it.

Weekly Entry 8 : The Lion King (Musical)

This was the only musical I've ever seen in my life and it was epic. The Lion King (Musical) was based by the movie 'The Lion King' by Disney and the musical is the representation of the movie in a staged act, which is very wonderful. They have great music, eye popping props and talented stage actors.

In certain events, they have some sort of mechanical system that moved the props around the stage, which was very cool since that was my first time seeing such things live. For me, the most prominent figure in the musical was Mufasa, father of Simba and brother of Scar, his evil brother. His courage and responsibilty was really brought up by his attitude and character.


The way the actors interact with the audience simply astounded me, as they came close to combining the performance with audience. The reception was really good. I had a good laugh and a really great time at the musical.

"MUFASA MUFASA MUFASA!" -Hyenas, The Lion King-

Image Sources: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/The_Lion_King_%28musical%29
http://alohafromandrew.blogspot.com/2011/07/lion-king-musical.html

Weekly Entry 7: Singapore Trip

We rode off to Singapore in the morning by train that day. Truth be told, that was the most comfortable journey I've ever been in and sleeping in a bed while you're moving at probably 80-100km/h is the best one can hope for. When I woke up, we have arrived at the immigration checkpoint at Singapore. To be honest, I was being paranoid while passing through the checkpoint, who knows, things happen.


Day 1:
We went to the ArtScience Museum. The museum was in Marina Bay Sands, the most high standard place in South East Asia. The reputation precedes the standards of Marina Bay Sands. The museum was shaped like a comb of bananas, or a hand upside down begging for money or something. Well, I must say the architect did a very good job in his artpiece. Not far from the entrance, there was a sculpture of a melted clock signed by Salvatore Dali. Dali was a mad artist and his works are full of madness and complexity. He's very unique in portraying himself as the crowned Dali in his signatures.



There are other exhibits in the Museum such as the Lost Treasures of Tang and Van Gogh Alive, which is very calming and inspiring. Seeing how they projected loads of Van Gogh's painting inside a room with creative placements and combining it with a classical music ambience filled me with joy.


We went out for a walk inside the three towered building with a surfboard on top. It was really huge and I wondered how much money will it cost to just pay the air conditioning bills. We had lunch at Rasa Pura, a food court in the mall with variety of food. After that, we went up to the highest point in the building and it was really sizzling up in there. Don't get me started about the sun.


Though hot, it was a really great experience that I will never forget. After a tiring day of walking and learning new stuff, we went to the hotel to get some rest for the upcoming show later that night.

Weekly Entry 6: Return to Innocence by Enigma

Enigma is a musical project based in Germany. It was founded by Michael Cretu. One day I was browsing YouTube and suddenly something caught my attention. It was the music video of Return of Innocence, by Enigma. It felt weird at first but well, this song reminds me of my childhood self sitting in back seat of my dad's car listening to the tune. Seeing the video that is obviously in backwards, it's like a journey through time. If you can think close enough, the name of this song is 'return to innocence', in which the composers at Enigma are trying to get you turn back time to subconciously relive your past and reminiscing. That's what I get from the video. The director's choice of various rewinded footages and his are brilliant. I can really see how lively humans are and I must say that I really like the video and the song, it fits perfectly.

Exploring Second Life: SS Galaxy Cruise Ship

Get yourself immersed in the great retreat on SS Galaxy Cruise Ship. A place where you can relax and partake in wind surfing, kite surfing, and ice skating, on a cruise ship! Well at first I thought this was a ship from Star Trek to be honest.


Feast your ears with Michael Buble's golden voice while you're strolling around the inner deck. And not to mention the luxurious interior of this cruise ship, it is simply stunning and alluring. There's a mall and a few galleries inside the ship, which you must check out. Don't forget to check out a beautiful indoor garden inside the ship and of course, you have to search for it, it's basically in the rear end of the ship.

There are certain restrictions in the area. You can't build or fly in the area, to make it more realistic of course.

You can get your own free tube to swim around the ship.


*Beware of sharks, they lurk in these waters!


Protip: Make sure you can swim if you're going to get yourself wet in there. And don't forget to bring your Universal Studios poncho.

Exploring Second Life: Kowloon

Welcome to Kowloon, your little Chinatown in the middle of a virtual madness and crazy gizmos. Once you're here, you'll be astounded by the great detail put into this ghetto environment such as tight alleyways, scattered posters and rusty metal grills. It provides a great mood for city dwellers and it certainly gave me a kind of a Hong Kong gangster vibe. Walk past warehouses, small rooms and dirty surroundings. You are going to be amazed.


Don't get me started on the light signs, it looks so natural and brilliant. Shops are everywhere, and if you're looking for a place to spend some L$, this is the perfect place to do so.


While you're in Kowloon, don't forget to:

• FLY ABOVE THE CITY!
• Charge up your DSLR and take photos.
• Waddle yourself into the diverse building interiors and rooms.
• Check out the iconic shophouses and flying machines.
• Wash your hands in one of the shop houses.

It's time to chew bubblegum and enjoy your night out in Kowloon.

Exploring Second Life: Tropical Island Surfing

Tropical island wave surfing is what I have in mind but I see nothing like that when I got here.There was nothing tropical about this island and there's no surfing at all, just a random vampire castle in it.


I was very confused with the purpose of this location, as it bears no clear message. The castle was poorly made and when I got inside, it was all empty. All I found was a knight that I can click to do stuff I don't even know about. The information counter at the entrance of the castle was somewhat intimadating and scary. It was an urn, and it was intimidating.


I have to give this location 4 out of 10 for content. The world is too bland, no tropical palm trees around and I was expecting a better design out of this. If the location was named Vampire Castle instead of Tropical Island Surfing, I would have given a better reception towards it. I have to say that I left this place with disappointment. Where are the tropical trees and the 'mood'??!

Exploring Second Life: International Space Museum

When I arrived at ISM or the International Spaceflight Museum, I basically started off at a space station. I was barely impressed when I thought this was the only thing they have in this location.


While I was contemplating the environment, I slipped my fingers and somehow I fell down to Earth, revealing a much bigger exhibition area. I kept pressing the 'F' to start flying and not drop to Earth but that proved too less to fight the Earth gravity. I fell down until suddenly all of it came to a stop.


So there I was, on Earth. That journey was very inspiring and yet confusing cause I nearly thought there was a bug in their location. But you can't compare this view to any real space museum, I mean like, if this were real, it would definitely blow out my mind. What I love about this space museum is that you're free to fly and explore the rockets in at any angle you please, and trust me, there's a lot of them in here. It took me nearly an hour to see all the rockets.

There was also a solar system simulation in the middle of those rockets, right in the center which makes it a lot more interesting. I do adore all the work put into this virtual space museum and I hope that the developers and builders of this location mantains it for future visits. I had a wonderful experience and this location was definitely not something you should miss.

Weekly Entry 5: Post-modern Light Painting by David Gilliver

It was a few days ago when I went to Shaheir's house then he showed me some of his light paintings. I was near clueless about light painting. What is it? Well gentlemen, this is light painting.





I was amazed by his so called "light-paintings" and started to look up the web. What I found was a website by David Gilliver, a professional photographer who dwells in the realm of light painting. Camera is his hammer, lights are his burning coal, and landscape is his anvil. He is a master crafter of light paintings. How did he do this? He stocked up on a lot of light sources such as LEDs and such. Then find a landscape or anything, to shoot to, set a very slow shutter speed to his camera and starts 'filming'. He usually do this for about 15- to 20 minutes for a single photo, and to 'hide' himself from the camera, he wears black.

To my opinion, this talented artist has a great sense of depth and imagination in his mind, making it a lot easier for him to calculate and estimate the flow of each light and how they look in the camera 10 minutes later. Would you like to see the rest of his work? Click here.

Images from: davidgilliverphotography.com

Weekly Entry 4: Transformer: Dark of the Moon in 3D (personal review)

Last 2 weeks I went to the cinema to watch the Transformers: Dark of the Moon movie in 3D. The cinema was in Midvalley Megamall. Though I was expecting a bigger screen, the overall comfort is decent and adequate to not be distracted by it. I was really anxious about the movie because the last Michael Bay film I watched was quite disappointing. The storyline was too shallow and I can’t really enjoy it. Now for the third instalment of his Transformers franchise, he decided to make something out of the lunar landing during the 60’s and put biological machines in it. Well, who could’ve guessed that?

Since I watched the movie in 3D, there are certain things that I would like to point out.

• There was too much machinery and electrical sparks/flashes going on in the Transformers universe for you to focus on movements of the characters and such.

• The sound effects was mind blowing and beautiful. You can really listen to the connection of organic life form and metal elements embedded in the sound.

• The F-22 Raptor (Starscream) that came flying out of the screen startled me on my seat for a moment. It was fast, pointy and swift, and I suppose that’s what the director wants the audience to feel. Astounded.

I gave the movie 6 out of 10. Why?

I can’t really focus on what’s going on when there’s too much too see. And in 3D, the burden of focusing multiplied. As for the use of screen space in the movie, I think the director did a great job in not cutting most of the 3d object displayed in the footage, such as the American satellite and rocket. That was a great shot. The depth in the film was standard and realistic, not too much and not too less. It was just right.

As far as I can remember, the last 3D movie I watched was Piranhas and it was in red/cyan anaglyph. The 3D was inferior compared to Transformers and, I honestly don’t favour that movie because it was stupid and too casual. For me, everything in Transformers: Dark of the Moon was better than Piranhas. Be computer generated graphics or recorded footages.

Image from moviescut.com

Weekly Entry 3: Frostbite 2

Destruction, scale, rendering and audio. Those are the 4 words that pop out of the short clip when I stumbled upon it in YouTube. The upcoming release of Battlefield 3, the first-person-shooter game franchise will be utilizing the extensive powers of the Frostbite 2 engine. I was so amazed by the technology put into this particular game that watched the video several times.

The immensity was so deep and the real-time rendering was like a real life camera footage like I saw in TVs. Destruction was in every corner. And not to mention the audio atmosphere which captivated me in their previous game, Battlefield Bad Company 2. A set of headphones will get you ringing for more. I don't mean to be viral or anything, but this thing just gave me chills. Don't get me started on the AI's in the game, they're lifelike and so believable. Games nowadays are a multi-million dollar business and it is serious business. If there's anybody that can pull this off its going to be DICE and their new engine, Frostbite 2.

Weekly Entry 2: 4D films and cinema.

At first glance, I thought that 4D is an upgrade to 3D which allows multi-projection of footages around the cinema hall, truly I was wrong. 4D is a marketing term that combines 3D-films with physical experience that allows us to immerse ourselves in the portrayed environment. It works by stimulating our physical senses to create the presence of the viewer actually being in the story, which in other words, a great portrayal of virtual reality. Rain, wind blow, sun shafts, strobe lights and camera/character motion can be implemented in physical form. Motions are generated by the audience theatre seating, whilst synchronizing with the camera action in the film. The basic 3D-glasses is still needed however.

This photo here is an example of how 4D cinemas are.

I myself had never been in a 4D theatre, though I hope one day I'll be experiencing one. In years to come, I'm pretty sure 4D will be a thing of hype amongst us. Even better, they may come with holograms.

*Image source

Weekly Entry 1: 'The mind's eye'

Cyberspace, virtual reality, and imagination are simply inexhaustible. While being fluid and evergrowing, the mental image and our spatial recognition of the surrounding space is being interpreted by one's brain. The eyes are merely seeing monochromaticly upside down, and in this case then the brain interprets and thus giving it color, form and space.

Cyberspace can be occupied by projecting our our presence into it, said Ludvigsen. It contains a form of environment and unseen interconnection to make up the space.

Space can also be perceived by the brain while the eyes are just seeing 2D images. Each eye has it's 2D corresponding view from a tilted angle which then the brain merges it together to form depth. As a matter of fact, there is this stereoscopic double image which can make the brain sees depth in still photography.

This particular picture is a stereoscopic image. Each eye has to see the opposite image. Right to left, left to right. This can be accomplished either by practicing your eyesight or using a stereoscope(a viewing device with mirrors in it). Instructions to view the following image in 3D. Good luck.
Image taken from: http://gallery.neochroma.com/