That’s right, yours truly is going on vacation! Shaun and I are headed to Penang, Malaysia, to visit his extended family, whom I have never met before. Cue the nervous anxiety! The approximately week and a half we’re going to be there will be jam-packed, so I doubt we’ll have much time to visit such idyllic beaches as the one posted above.

If you’re lucky, I might come back with pictures of me doing this:

source

Yup, that’s a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Basically, it’s an event held the morning before a couple is schedule to married (usually in the afternoon), which acts as a formal “introduction” of the bride and groom to the couples respective parents. Since my parents won’t be able to attend, it’ll just be Shaun introducing me to his family… Well, I’m not very up on Chinese wedding traditions, so check out that source link to learn more if you’re interested. We’ll also be having a banquet while we’re there, but it’s more of an after party rather than an actual wedding ceremony. And thank goodness for that, as this will be the third time Shaun and I have celebrated our union since that fateful day in November 2010.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get off my lazy butt and schedule any posts to go up while I’m gone, so things might get a little quiet around here. Don’t worry, I won’t be gone too long. I expect you all to be here when I get back!

Now, we could talk about Apple love/hate six ways till Sunday, but the truth of the matter is between iTunes, iPods, iPads, iPhones, and, well, “i” everything, they’re seriously making a killing. I, too, had an iPhone once… Well, I still do, but it’s either a first or second gen iPhone and Apple has long since dropped compatibility for it – almost all new iPhone apps require iOS 4.3 or higher, and entries on the online app store come with this depressing little disclaimer:

“Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.” <–– this means I’m out of luck!

I never really felt I needed all of the bells and whistles that come with the iPhone, but one thing always gives me a little pang of regret for not having one of those nifty, sleek devices: all of the apps (game or otherwise) I read about on the internet. Oh, curse you internet, for if you did not exist I would live in a naive bliss where I would not want nearly so many things!

But alas, such is the nature of this hyper-connected world we live in. Luckily, there are so many free apps available, and though I can’t personally play them at this point in time, I can most definitely tell you all about them and why you should go download them immediately.

Flick of the Dead

Remember The Typing of the Dead? Even more ridiculous than the Pokemon typing DS game (well, that came with a bluetooth keyboard for your DS, which is pretty weird…), The Typing of the Dead has you typing as fast as your fingers can to fend of hoards of zombies, and Flick of the Dead, the iOS port, is no different. Why didn’t they name it Text of the Dead is beyond me, though… Regardless, though I feel they probably can’t emulate the satisfaction that comes with typing the words out on an actual keyboard, the app is free and for that alone, I say give it a go.

It’s only available on the Japanese iTunes store, though, so if you’re interested in downloading it use my tutorial and make sure to search for “ゾンビ打FLICK OF THE DEAD” (no quotation marks). It’s also only in Japanese, which means you  might have to flail your way through it, but I personally am of the mind to try everything at least once (especially if it’s free!). As a final incentive, its icon is just too amazing:

Sleepy-Time Boyfriend and Love me, I’m your pet darling

Basically, in this one, you’re that little white bird sitting on the guy’s shoulder. Tapping the screen in various places elicits dialogue from the man…who seems to be pretty, er, enamored with his pet bird. But as I always say, it’s free, so give it a go! This one has English in it too and is available in the US iTunes store, so it should be very easy to download and understand even for those who don’t know any Japanese.

As a final disclaimer, I should mention that all of these do have some paid elements to them. I don’t think there’s any hidden charges, but rather a number of additional voice packs (in the case of the two sound-oriented games) or levels (in the case of Flick of the Dead) that must be purchased to unlock, so don’t be surprised if the game suddenly comes to an abrupt stop and asks you to fork out your hard-earned cash to see more.

Will you give any of these a go? For me? For science? If you do, please share your thoughts in the comments!

Many thanks to Rivi’s Adventures in Otome Gaming for introducing me to Sleepy-Time Boyfriend and Love me, I’m your pet darling! 

All it took was Tree of Tranquility on the Wii, my first real taste of the world of Harvest Moon, and a chance find in the form of a vintage Japanese copy of the Friends of Mineral Town strategy guide to get me completely hooked on the series. Well, I’d say it didn’t take a lot, but given my love of nonviolent video games, cute things, and Animal Crossing, I’d say it was pretty inevitable.

The other day I posted a number of pictures of the aforementioned strategy guide I’m coveting. Now it’s time for the actual game itself! A Twitter friend from Japan was gracious enough to find me a full in-box copy in amazing condition at an extremely reasonable price (under $20).

There’s something really satisfying about having a complete set!

When delving into the Harvest Moon series for the first time, it can be very daunting due to the sheer amount of different titles available. Where does one start? I did some asking around and looked to Harvest Moon forums to see what the general consensus was regarding the best titles in the series… Though you can pretty much every Harvest Moon game is somebody’s favorite, I got the impression that, to many a fan, Friends of Mineral Town remains one of the most definitive, which was definitely a factor in my decision to purchase it.

I honestly couldn’t believe how pristine the box was when I received it in the mail… Gotta love the Japanese for taking good care of their things! But then I wondered… Perhaps the person never even played the game? Maybe it’d been sitting in a box for years before they finally decided to get rid of it? So I popped the game cartridge in my DS (I seriously need a GBA of some sort, but that’s another post) and, lo and behold… The two save files in the game indicate that they only spent a mere couple of hours playing it. My theory was correct!

Have I ever mentioned how awesome Japanese GBA boxes are? The most awesome. I love that every side of the box is completely customized to fit whatever game is inside… There’s even some art on the spine! And it comes complete with a manual, too… Can’t help but feel game packaging has really gone downhill these days, albeit more practical. It’s such a shame!