BookOutlet.ca Haul / Review

I recently stumbled upon BookOutlet.ca and with the holiday sales, I thought I would give it a try. I had everything shipped express because it ended up cheaper than standard! My package arrived 5 days after ordering. I am super impressed with the quality of all the books. They were practically new; only a few had bends or tiny rips on the cover.

My biggest disappointment with my order was one OOS book that I was looking forward to the most. sadface. I'll have to wait for another time if it ever shows up again... Other than that, service and delivery was good. The selection isn't as vast as other bookstores, but I'm not complaining given the prices and the fact that it's mostly used books. 

I took advantage of the manga on sale for this order. Between Here and April and Cheated were two random picks (each $1!) just to reach my discount minimum. I'm excited to have GitS (huge fan) and The Flowers of Evil in my possession even if they are odd volumes. Nichijou is a classic comedy that I just knew I would read over and over whenever I needed a good laugh. My total was $30 (discount and shipping included) which is a huge bargain.  

Less than just a Christmas wishlist.

Christmas is in two weeks and honestly, I could not care for it other than the family time. I come from a household that isn't very festive nor do we celebrate many holidays, so over the years, it's not uncommon that the 'magic' of Christmas has worn off for me. On the flip side, I admit that I do use Christmas as an excuse to indulge in consumerism and materialism. However this year, for the life of me, I couldn't come up with a more generous wishlist which is partially due to my desire to remain minimal and also... I just don't need anything anymore. I think I have finally come to the point in my life where I don't feel the strong need to want anything (material-wise). I'm content with this satiation in life actually because

Cambodia 2016

As part of my trip to Vietnam, I was fortunate enough to fit in a road trip to Cambodia. We traveled for four days and three nights between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh making stops at monumental landmarks like Angkor Wat and Silver Pagoda.

There is actually a pretty significant population of Khmer people living in Vietnam and I met a handful when visiting the countryside. I would say the opposite also exists in Cambodia since our tour guide was Vietnamese living in Cambodia. Both countries are very similar and located right next to one another so it is not a surprise. Although I wasn't expecting anything new or exciting about Cambodia, I found that the people really resonated with me (or maybe because they were aware I was a tourist). Overall, my trip was very insightful. I learned a lot about the history of Cambodia. I had the opportunity to explore a realistic Cambodia (rurals) too.

One month in Vietnam.

Despite having no real plan when arriving in Vietnam, I would say my month long trip was pretty fulfilling and my first 'taste' of the country met above satisfactory needs that will lead me longing for another trip in the future once I save up enough moola. 

When I think of Vietnam, I see a poor country and air pollution, lots of motor traffic and a city that wakes up very early but also sleeps very late. Food and services are very accessible for very cheap; sometimes you get what you pay for or you find hidden gems (many, in fact) that is well worth the low price. Morning life is constantly bustling and everyone seems to always have a place to go. Morning is dedicated to business and purpose. Mid-afternoon is when the scorching heat reaches its peak and it seems a bit quieter (maybe by a half decibel) because people are hiding indoors or taking late naps. By night, the streets fill up with people again and the vibe shifts to something more festive and rowdy; people getting off work, picking up their children from school, or setting up street stalls. The lifestyle is different from what I'm used to and although I would have loved to document daily life in Saigon, the city became a part of me and I went with it. 

Stranger Times.

When I said that I was expecting to 'find myself' through my trip to Vietnam, I did not actually expect for it to happen. Yet, days after settling back home, I feel a lot melancholic because the trip exceeded my expectations. I can't pinpoint how I feel or what I gained, but in retrospect, something intangible was discovered. Perhaps because my preconception of Vietnam was flipped and I find myself saying that I could perhaps live there permanently if it wasn't so hot and the air wasn't so polluted. The culture shock wasn't anything of a shock because our lifestyles are quite traditional already. However, if I had to list one absolute gain from the whole experience, it would be the deep human connections.  The idea of my distant relatives were always a 12-hour difference that I took for granted. On the surface, I couldn't communicate clearly from my lack of ability to speak the language, but for the first time, I grasped the idea of the people and their importance in my life.

Upon upon a film

Old prints from my previous visit to Vietnam. The SLR model is unknown because I left it with a relative. Film is overall inconvenient but looking at these shots make me consider purchasing a point-and-shoot for my trip.

GitS: First Assault Beta

I am a major fan of Ghost in the Shell (GitS) and appreciate everything cyberpunk-neotokyo inspired. I was definitely excited that the beta game was released, but seeing how the live-action movie ended up, I didn't want to be disappointed so I avoided playing the game until now. What changed? 80% sheer boredom and 20% curiosity I guess.

So thoughts based off 1.5 days of ~diving in~

I like the opening theme. I like how the characters look. I like the complexity of gear and upgrades. Everything is pretty straightforward and similar to CS:GO. On the contrary, the game is too simple and the maps are boring (much like CS:GO open spaces and warehouse settings, etc). Nothing really reflects uniqueness to GitS other than the characters and their special abilities. I hope that the maps improve and there's more diversity.

Revised 05.10.2016 //
Since writing this, I've encountered a few glitches:

• Occasional freezes during the countdown of game start. 
• Players can appear frozen in space
• Players can appear in front of you but aren't actually there
• Players can appear running upwards where no staircase is present
• Glitches when running through buildings or 'behind' the setting is possible into a gray dimension followed by death (I'm guessing other players see something different on their screens)

Hello.

Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.

-Earl Nightingale