The Book Depository - Best Online Book Store!!

Who buy books nowadays? *raise hand* Well, I still do but as we all know, things in Singapore (or even around the world) are getting more and more pricey and unfortunately, our pay or allowances isn't rising proportionately. Therefore, I guess it's more economical to either not read, borrow from the library or even download pirated copies online (which I would highly not recommend).

This short blog post is here to introduce my favorite online book store - The Book Depository.

Screen grab from http://www. bookdepository.com

As always, when we shop online for anything, in this case, the books, we ask ourselves these simple questions:

1. How much are the books?
2. How much is the shipping?
3. How reliable is the shipping?

Today, I shall answer these questions for you as simply as possible so that you will enjoy whatever I enjoy while shopping at the Book Depository.

First of all, let's answer the first question: How much are the books?

The answer is simple - definitely cheaper than Kinokuniya or the Popular book store. For instance, if I were to shop for the trilogy book set for say, The Hunger Games, it would cost between $40 - $50 in Singapore. However, you can get the same thing from the Book Depository for around $35! Now that's a massive saving, yes? Kiss my puwet, GST!!

Screen grab from one of The Book Depository e-mail

Furthermore, if you register your particulars with the Book Depository, you receive emails on their now-and-then promotions which gives you codes for further discounts. For instance, in May 2012, they gave out codes for a storewide 10% discount! That may not be a lot but it sure makes a difference and it brings down the already cheap prices down even more. So do register with them to get updates like that to maximize your savings!

In terms of their book selection, I must say, for English books, they are well stocked. All you have to do is to run a search on the topic or the title of the book and you'll be brought over to the page - quick and easy. It's unfortunate that they do not carry Asian books or books of other languages (maybe they do but I didn't bother finding out - why not you try?) but if they do, I bet they will be making tons of money from the Asian market. Nevertheless, so far, I've been able to find the books that I want.

And now, for the second question: How much is the shipping?

One of the fears of online shopping is that your product may be cheap but the shipping costs an arm and a leg. I've seen things sold on eBay where the item is a few cents but the shipping is probably 500% more than the item. That's sick, no?

No worries when you shop at the Book Depository because shipping is absolutely free! Yes! There's no minium requirement for shipping! You can buy the smallest book or the thickest encyclopedia and still enjoy free shipping worldwide. Yes~ And that's why I continue to patronize them because with free shipping, you save even more! Heck~ You don't even need to spend the transport fees to drop by a local book store to buy a book when you can do it on the couch. How convenient!! 

And lastly, how reliable is the shipping?

Y'all would have known by now that I'm pretty fussy when it comes to packaging and delivery because everyone expects their purchases to reach them timely and safely, yes? Well, I think the Book Depository did an okay job in terms of the timeliness but a pretty good job when it comes to how well your product is packed.

Let's talk abou the timeliness first. The website promised a delivery to Singapore in around 7 - 10 working days but I received my book exactly on the 10th day and to me, that's a little unacceptable even though it's within their stipulated timeline. That's because my previous order arrived pretty quickly and perhaps, I had higher expectations of them. Nevertheless, they are reliable in terms of their timeliness but is living on the edge because if they delay just by one day, they sure are getting an email of wrath from me. 

When it comes to the packaging, I'm pleased.

Books, unlike the fragile CDs that I often buy, are more sturdy but even so, during the delivery process, things happen and your books may get damaged accidentally. However, when you purchase a single book, your book comes in this sturdy cardboard envelope that's really strong so you can be promised that your purchases are safe. 

Inside the envelope, you get your book (of course) as well as an invoice of your purchase. Sometimes, they throw in things like the bookmark you see above which I think is a great touch in terms of customer service because I always need a bookmark. Most of the time, my bookmarks are either receipts or unwanted pieces of paper. See~ My book arrived perfectly - just like how you would get it in the store if the children didn't damage them while browsing through.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the Book Depository when it comes to their products as well as how they deliver their items. It would be better if their shipping was slightly faster and more consistent but so long as they promise to deliver within the stipulated time frame, legally, I would be okay with it. 

So~ If you're looking for books and is too lazy to go out to get them, you should really give this store a go. Plus, if you're looking for a more reasonable price (I got this book at $29 while Popular is selling it for $35), think no further because online shopping is definitely cheaper with free shipping!

Visit The Book Depository at

http://www.bookdepository.com

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ayupan AR - How to Play?

Hello hello! Well as you all might have already known (or not), I've finally gotten a smartphone! Yes! That means I'll be on Instagram, Whatsapp, whatever-other-random-nonsense that normal people should have but I don't because I used to use a phone that was simply restricted to making calls and sending text messages~

Well, I've download a lot of apps on my Samsung Galaxy Note and I must say that using a smartphone is so much more exciting as using a dumb phone. I know I've been living in a cave for over 2 years but I'm catching up quickly. One of the first few apps I've downloaded is this...

O my god this screen grab is huge but yes, being an ayumi hamasaki fan boy, I downloaded her application from the Google Play store (previously known as the Android Marketplace) called ayupan AR, where AR means augmented reality.

It's basically a game application where you need pieces from her latest studio album "Party Queen" to play. I've been searching around the internet on how to play this game but apparently, no one actually wrote about it in English so I hope this entry will shed some light to those who wants to enjoy this game but yet cannot really understand Japanese.

Note - my Japanese is not that good but good enough to understand the core mechanics of the game so I sincerely hope that this entry would help.

This application is available on the Google Play store, which you can conveniently access from your Android phones. It's free so no worries! If you want the URL to this page, click here.


UPDATE: For some reason, this app does not work on Android 4 - Ice Cream Sandwich. (Unfortunately for me, I've updated mine and the app refuses to work but at least I've managed to enjoy it for a day... :( )

For y'all iPhone users running the iOS, no worries too! ayumi hamasaki is also using the iPhone so this app is also on the iTunes store. Just search "ayupan AR" and you will be able to find it.


Like I've previously mentioned, this game may be free but it does require some additional items in order for you to fully enjoy the application. Heck - without these items, there's no point downloading this app. Remember my unboxing/review of her latest album "Party Queen" and we found this weird looking envelope thing inside as well as the obi promoting this application? Well, the mystery is unveiled here!!

These two items are the essential play pieces of the entire application. The application requires you to use your camera (sorry iPod users) to scan these ayu logos in order to project a 3D model of ayupan inside your phone screen and without these logos, there's no point downloading the application.

To get these items, simply purchase her latest album "Party Queen" and you will get to enjoy the application! Or actually, you can just download the application and scan the logo off your computer screen using the images provided above. It works the same - tested it out while typing this paragraph but do support her album!


Anyway, the purpose of this entry is to guide users who cannot read or understand Japanese on how to go about enjoying this app. The following screen grabs are taken from my Galaxy Note but all copyrighted materials belong to their rightful owners. I'm using these screen grabs to illustrate the methods of using this adorable application.

Here's the main menu that you'll see once you get pass the loading screen (first image on this entry). The interface is relatively simple. You have two buttons on the screen - the hearts. The one on the right reads "Jacket AR" while the one on the left reads "Stage AR". I shall go into them in a little while. The bottom of the screen shows ayu's tweets. There's also a reload button for you to refresh her tweets if you so feel like stalking her.

Let's start with the "Jacket AR". Upon launching the "Jacket AR" from the main menu, you will be brought to this scanning thingie where you see the "A" logo in the middle, asking you to "Rock on the target". Well, I wonder if it's an intended pun or the developers misspelled "lock" as "rock". Considering that this is from a pop star, I guess the pun is acceptable, yes?

So, the instructions at the bottom of the screen basically requires you to align the "A" logo with the logo found on the back of the obi of "Party Queen". This is something like using those QR scanners (those squarish barcodes) and it's really easy to use. Align it and...

...out pops ayupan sporting the POWER of MUSIC T-shirt! When I first tried it, I went like "Oh my God!!" I was totally amazed because this is the first time I'm playing with an augmented reality game/application/whatever-you-call-it. This isn't a totally new technology considering that Nintendo's 3DS already has this feature but using just a smart phone to get this is really cool, no?

Honestly, I wouldn't call this a game because other than viewing the 3D model of ayupan, there's nothing else you can do. Well, you can bring her around the place and make her take photos of different things (maybe I shall try that later) but I believe that's all you can do. The application doesn't include a "Take a Photo" function so what I did was to capture screen grabs instead so I guess that's the only fun part about the Jacket AR.

Oh yes. You can move the obi around and ayupan will move along with it. Also, you can shift your camera around to get different views of ayupan. Even though the scanner is sensitive, if you tilt your camera or the obi too much, ayupan disappears. If that happens, simply realign and you'll be able to see her again.

So what if you picked the "Stage AR"? Here's the interface that you'll see if you do so. In Stage AR, you pick a style (スタイルを選んでね) and you get to watch little ayupan perform! However, not all the styles are made available for you in the beginning so you have to play a mini-game to unlock them.

Each of the different style sees ayupan in a different costume from her previous tours. My favorite has to be the ayupan wearing this big, black gothic dress she wore for the opening of her Rock 'n' Roll Circus tour so for the purpose of teaching you how to unlock your favorite ayupan, I shall unlock this one.

On each style, there are 2 buttons. The one on the left says "Stage AR" and will only be touchable when you've unlocked that particular style. The one on the right says "Game" and yes, it means you have to play a game in order to unlock the ayupan of your choice.

Here's the interface you'll see when you touch on the "Game" button by your selected style. The important elements of this interface are the three different bars - the two bars on the top and the bar on the bottom.

The blue bar is your stamina (スタミナ). For every game that you play, you will use up 20 stamina and that basically means you can only play the game 5 times before you run out. The pink bar below the stamina bar is power (パワー) and honestly, I have no idea what it does. Do leave a comment below to educate me and the readers, yes?

UPDATE: After playing the game a few times, I realized what the Power bar is for. The more Power you have, the more EXP you gain (see below paragraph on the Level Bar). Therefore, you want to keep your Power bar as full as possible by playing the roulette game (see below).

The bar on the bottom (seen in this scree grab, the 97/100 bar) is the level (レベル) of the ayupan that you've picked to play. Think of it as an EXP bar - each time you play, you gain experience points that fills up this bar. The more you play, the more you gain. Once you hit 100, you unlock the style!

This game is really simple. It's so simple you don't really have to do much. Just tap the button on the bottom of the screen. In case you want to know, it says "Training" (トレーニングする). Basically, I guess the narrative of this game is about ayupan training to become a better popstar or something like that.

Tapping the "Training" button brings you to this screen. To continue playing, hit the button on the bottom which translates to "Jogging" (ジョギングする). There's nothing much to the game other than tapping the buttons. One thing to note is that by hitting this action button, your stamina will decrease but that also means you gain experience points.

As far as I'm concerned, I believe that it's not possible to unlock an ayupan immediately in your first play through because when your stamina is used up, you see this screen...

Ayupan goes for a break and asks you to come back in the stipulated time. There's no strategy to this game so you have to be patient in order to unlock all the ayupans. For now, there are only 5 so it shouldn't be too difficult to unlock.

Sometimes, when you're playing the game, you will stumble across this screen - the Timing Roulette. This is where there's actually some form of challenge to the game. Basically, you have to wait till the heart (covered by bunny ayupan in the above screen grab) to enter the "Good" region before tapping on the "A" logo to stop it. You will gain something from it but I'm not sure what. :S Leave a comment if you do know! But as all games go, you will definitely be rewarded for good performance so be sure to get the heart in the good region!

UPDATE: By landing on the Good region, you're awarded with 20% of Power. Having more Power means you gain EXP much faster, making your quest to unlocking your favorite ayupan shorter. :)

Once you've cleared the rather uninteresting game (all ayupans feature that same running game) and finally unlocked your ayupan, on the Pick a Style page, hit the "Stage AR" (ステージAR) button to enter the Stage AR scanner. Instead of using the obi, this time, use the envelope thing included in your copy of "Party Queen" and watch the magic happen...

The ayupan you've picked shows up and this time, you get a whole stage as well! So the envelope thingie is actually a stage for our ayupans! How cool is that? Anyway, when the ayupan appears, it starts to sing and the tracks featured are from "Party Queen" so yes, even though she's in this costume, she didn't perform "Microphone". Each ayupan sings a different snippet of songs from the album so be sure to unlock them all!

Well actually, it's not exactly the ayupan singing if you were expecting a cutie voice - snippets of the original songs are played while the animated ayupan moves on stage. Really amazing nevertheless. Like in "Jacket AR" mode, you can shift your camera around to get different views of the ayupan so be sure to look closely at how good they are~

I hope this entry helped you enjoy the "ayupan AR" app for your iPhone or Android. If you do know any of the questions that I've posted in this entry (like what the Power bar does and what the roulette is for), please leave a comment and share with us, yes? Otherwise, I hope that this helped those who do not read or understand Japanese well to get through the game without feeling lost.

Also, be sure to check out my unbox/review of her latest album "Party Queen", yes? :D

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Satin Zest - Launch Collection!!

About a month ago, I helped Vera and Aik Hin shoot their very first collection for their brand new online fashion store - Satin Zest. The store was launched 2 days ago on May 18, 2012 and being the photographer of these beautiful apparels, I would definitely want to see sales go up, yes? Therefore, I'm blogging this entry to promote the store as well as to share some behing-the-scenes for y'all interested potential shoppers!

As we all know, the blogshop market is extremely competitive nowadays and in my opinion, having the guts to actually venture into that saturated market is quite a huge hurdle but you know, if you never try, you will never find out! The young bosses of this blogshop put in so much effort to get it up and running and so, I would really wish that y'all go down to support them, yes?

So what are they selling? For their first collection, they are selling an array of dresses, bottoms and tops - clothes basically. Unfortunately though, this collection is targeted at the female market and therefore, for y'all male fashionistas out there, I'm afraid that you will have to wait. No worries though because from my understanding, the bosses will be bringing in male clothes if they do good enough (which I really hope they would because I've never ever did a male photo shoot before!)

Want to know what some of my favorite looks of this collection is? Check out the followings~

Sexy Mesh Top/Dress - comes in Black or Pink (SGD$25.00)

This is definitely my favorite look of the entire collection and also my favorite look to photograph that day. It's basically a top that can be worn like a dress, as seen in the above photo. Amanda, our model, wore a pair of black stocking (not included, of course) along with a pair of black heels and she totally look like cat woman in this look. All we're missing are the ears and a tail. Throughout the shoot, we realized that black heels are so important because they somehow fit into every single look. :)

Symmetrical Chiffon Wrapper Chest Dress - comes in Black or Cream (SGD$32.00)

A very "evening" look. Grab a clutch or a small handbag and you'll be on your way to some elegant ball or night party! What I especially like about this look is the skirt - the flaps by the side. It's so elegant and if you happen to catch a wind in your direction, you will look like Bat Woman or something (yes, somehow, I find this collection very superhero-inspired). Also, considering Singapore's hot and humid weather, I think it's a good thing, yes? :D Light and airy~

Flutter V-neck Bodycon Dress - comes in Black, White or Cream (SGD$27.00)

Yes, this also looks very superhero-inspired. Guess I have something for superheroes, yes? Anyway, it's obvious what I like about this dress - the sleeves that reminds me of a kimono. Also suitable for y'all party animals out there because it's a very night look. If I didn't remember wrongly, this dress doesn't really have a distinct front or a back so you're free to wear it anyhow you want~ Saves the trouble of figuring out the front from the back, yes? :P

Other than dresses, Satin Zest also features accessories. This is probably the first time I photographed something in my light box that I've made from scratch using cardboard, white paper and cloth for commercial works and I think I did quite a good job! All the practice I get from shooting CDs and other random things, yes? :) Do check out their first accessories collection because I think some of them are quite nice~

Getting the entire collection shot wasn't an easy feat, considering that none of us actually had any experience - well, other than me who once did a shoot for deGlamour but it wasn't even a studio setting (it was in the living room). This time round, we had slightly more "professional" equipments and we actually looked into the details a little closer.

So that day, we had Amanda changing clothes to a point that I think she will be sick of wearing clothes one day because there were so many looks to go through. Vera was the stylist who did most of the dressing up for Amanda as well as the accessorizing. Note that that was the first time that both the stylist and the model did a photo shoot so it was indeed slightly stressful.

On top of that, we had Aik Hin doing most of the ironing work. Well actually, before the shoot, I did some of the ironing using the steam iron we borrowed from Rena and it was quite fun actually but extremely time consuming. I think we should iron the clothes before do the shoot like perhaps a day earlier so we have more time for shooting. Besides ironing, Aik Hin also set up the white screen he bought online specially for this shoot - talk about commitment, yes? Unfortunately, there were no lights so we had to improvise using table lamps and my hotshoe flash.

Well overall, I think the entire shoot was a success but we definitely learn a lot of lessons from it - from styling to preparation work to actually getting good photos without even using professional lighting (of course, with tons of challenges in between anyway~). Even though the shoot was extremely tiring, we managed to shoot every single article for the shoppers to go through so I hope they appreciate our efforts.

And yes, none of us got paid so if you would like to contribute to a little paycheck for us, do support the store, yes?

To end of this entry, here's a photo of the bosses of Satin Zest! Good luck, Vera and Aik Hin! I will continue supporting y'all as long as y'all don't give up. Keep that passion burning and no matter what comes your way, I'll see y'all get through it strongly! :)

For more (or to shop~~), click on the following links!!

Satin Zest's Official Website

http://www.satin-zest.com

Or you can click on the banner I've created specially 

for them on the right of this humble blog

Satin Zest's Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Satin-Zest-Online/409967739035686

Satin Zest's Twitter

http://twitter.com/satinzest

Oh yes! Before I forget, Satin Zest is having their launch promotion right now! Simply quote "gomay31" before you check out to enjoy a whooping 25% discount off ALL your purchases! That's a great steal, yes? Promotion ends on May 31, 2012 so be sure not to feel sorry for yourself and indulge~ Don't say I never tell you~ :)

P.S.: If you like my works and you need a blogshop photographer at a cheap rate, 

do contact me yes? I would be more than happy to take up the challenge~ :D

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ayumi hamasaki ~POWER of MUSIC~ 2011 A LIMITED EDITION

"Welcome to the POWER of MUSIC!!"

That was how Queen of J-Pop opened her 2011 tour in Japan titled "POWER of MUSIC". Originally, the concert was supposed to be named "HOTEL Love songs" but because of the Japan earthquakes and nuclear disasters, she thought that the concept was not appropriate and therefore, being the influential and responsible artist that she is, she scraped the extravagant concept and settled for probably her simplest tour ever.

There were minimal costume changes and even if there were, the costumes were simple and straightforward. The entire concert features a round stage in the middle of the arena with a massive band and orchestra supporting ayu's vocals. On top of that, the dancers were kept simple as well - they did not have costume changes throughout the entire concert.

Her concept of simplicity was so that she can capitalize on music and her singing to touch the hearts of the Japanese who were still mourning for the loss of the thousands of people which were prematurely snatched off the planet due to the unfortunate disasters. She wants to sing to make everyone happy and stronger and I really commend her on her efforts because despite having the simplest concert I've ever seen, she delivered really well.

Let's look at the packaging now, yes?

Unlike her previous arena tours or major tours which normally comes in a plastic slipcase with two DVD casings, she released her 2011 concert DVD in a single plastic case, continuing with the simplistic concept of the entire concert. Honestly, there's nothing special about the entire packaging because it's just a simple case but nevertheless, the pictures are still awesome.

Here's the close up of the summary stuck to the shrink wrap of the Hong Kong press of this DVD concert. It roughly translates to what I've previous mentioned regarding the unfortunate disaster in Japan. Furthermore, it also mentions that this particular show was filmed at Saitama Super Arena and 25,000 made it for this limited edition of the concert, which basically included new songs into the original track list performed elsewhere in Japan. Songs from her mini-album, "FIVE" was also performed at this limited edition of the concert.

The DVD casing minus the shrink wrap. This is also probably the first time ayu has a stand where she puts her lyrics on so she could refer to it when necessary but honestly, I have not seen her refer to anything on that stand throughout the entire concert though. Maybe it simply serves as a prop.

Also, another difference between this particular concert and her previous arena tours is that this time round, no making of footages were included inside this box. They basically compacted the whole concert into a single DVD and the second DVD is for some of the other songs performed at other locations. Slightly disappointed that they did away with the making of but again, it could be because the process was painful due to the disaster and therefore, they omitted that.

What I really love about the back of the packaging is the design drawn by ayu herself. This design was featured in the merchandizes that went on sale during the tour and it reminds the Japanese to continue having hope. She's not the only artist who did designs like this. Lady Gaga released arm bands to encourage the Japanese as well. These genuine gestures are really touching, no?

When you open the box, you see the lyric and photo insert on the left and the DVDs on the right. Nothing extremely special about these other than the fact that they used back the "HOTEL Love songs" A logo for this concert and they used it again for the COUNTDOWN LIVE 2011-2012 and for this year's 2012 tour - probably the most used tour logo ever. On top of that, the lyric booklet is also smaller than usual.

The cover of the lyric booklet in it's full glory. Normally, the lyric booklet would be as long as the DVD casing itself in terms of its length but this time round, I don't know why they opted for this smaller design. Saving paper or something?

Size does not define what goes inside the booklet, yes? Because in this tiny booklet, we still get to feast our eyes on tons of gorgeous images plus the lyrics of the songs performed in the concert. Here's the first page with the track list.

This is also the first concert where ayu experimented with different arrangement of the same songs. For instance, the famous interlude "Catcher In The Light" was done in the orchestra styled featured in her "My Story Classical" remix album, along with sone other selected songs like "walking proud". Furthermore, other songs like "Born to be..." and "Mirrorcle World" were done in a different but unique and fresh arrangements as well. Really interesting~

Every single song from her mini album "FIVE" were performed in this concert and what I liked was that ayu managed to invite Naota Urata and JUNO to perform the songs that they were featured in along with her, unlike how Namie Amuro sang by herself during her LIVE STYLE 2011, which I think is a little sad. That brings more fans and more surprises to the stage, yes?

I think we've seen her in this pink look a million times but it never gets old. She performed the medley of vogue~Far away~SEASONS in a different arrangement in this look and invited her fans to sing along in SEASONS and gosh did the fans sing! They didn't sing just a single line, they sang an entire verse! Really touching.

To end the concert with a message, she performed "A Song is born", originally written for the tragic 9/11 incident to remind us of how the planet is born and how important peace and love is. If I were her, I would choose this song to perform too. Well, technically this isn't the last song but it does lead to a perfect closing nevertheless.


Even though the packaging this time round is really simple and the entire concept of the concert was not like her usual over-the-top style, I still enjoyed the concert. In fact, this is one of those DVDs that you can pop in and do something else because all you need to do is to listen with your ears and feel it with your heart.

We all see that Japan is recovering strongly and steadily and I hope that they will continue to do so. Japan is definitely blessed to have so many people who cares for them and would go all out to continue bringing hope to it's nation.

Stay strong Japan!! :)

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spinning mist

spinning mist

You sit there – watching, talking
but not as wanting, protective
of what you say you love forever
but it’s now or never

As I fall into the manhole
waiting for him to let me go
But as he grabs on
you don’t even say no

I’m not as strong as I thought to be

It’s coming to get me
Please hold onto me
You said you love me
Don’t let the wrong one get me

The monster’s there – hiding, waiting
ever so cunning and deceiving
With that pitiful looking self
it’s looking to touch me

As that gravity pulls in
I scream at my own sins
Will you come and hold on
and help me defeat him?

You make me stronger than I thought I would be

It’s coming to get me
Will you hold onto me?
You said you love me
Don’t let the wrong one get me

Please please please
Don’t let the wrong one get me

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Inspired by some of the personal things that I'm going through in my life right now. My first original piece since the last two, dated April 6 (LITTLE MONSTER / You Never). Honestly, I feel that this could actually be made into a song... A rock ballad, perhaps?

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