My Love For Life Review

There is just something even more frightening than watching a scary movie. That is watching a scary movie which is based on a true story! The thought that some of the events in the movie actually took place in real life really drive chills down my spine... brrrrr!

The Haunting in Connecticut is a 2009 horror movie that is based on the true story of the Snedeker family's encounter with the paranormal in Southington, Connecticut. The Haunting in Connecticut follows the Campbells as they move in to a rented house which is closer to the hospital which Matt Campbell(Kyle Gallner) has been getting treatment for cancer. Virginia Madsen plays the matriarch role of Sara Campbell who is looking out for Matt as he undergoes the painful trial therapy sessions. As they stay longer in the house the Campbells start to feel a supernatural presence around them.

The Haunting in Connecticut Movie Trailer


The Haunting in Connecticut is a good horror movie as it manages to blend in believable human emotional drama with the spook fest. A family going through financial hardships to fund the treatment of their eldest son's health condition adds an extra layer of realism to the movie.

My Love For Life movie review rating for The Haunting in Connecticut: 3/5

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Received another parcel in the mail today, this time containing my second Hatsune Miku Figma figure. The parcel was shipped with post express service so it took roughly 3 days to reach me. The seller used old newspaper to wrap the outer layer of the parcel: good recycling effort but minimum item protection.


Side view of the parcel.

Upon removing the outermost layer consisting of the newspaper wrapping I was delighted to see that the seller has used a sturdy Nike shoes box to house the actual Hatsune Miku Figma box.

Side view of the Nike shoes box. The seller has applied several strips of brown tape to secure the box from accidentally opening during transit.

After opening the shoes box cover a layer of crumpled newspapers can be seen cushioning the Hatsune Miku Figma box from moving around during transit.

Hatsune Miku Figma box uncovered after removing the layer of crumpled newspapers. There are some crumpled newspapers left at the sides to hinder the Hatsune Miku Figma box from moving around in the Nike shoes box during transit.

Hatsune Miku Figma box unpacked from all the packing material. No evident damage found on the box.

Rear view of the Hatsune Miku Figma box. Still in good condition.

I am glad that the seller has meticulously packed my second Hatsune Miku Figma for delivery. I have previously transacted via COD (cash on delivery) for my first Hatsune Miku Figma as a precaution to avoid item damage during delivery.

All in all this transaction has been a good life experience for me. My Love For Life Experience review rating for Figma Hatsune Miku unboxing: 4/5

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I started watching Knowing with my boo on Thursday evening at 7:30PM but had to stop halfway during the movie because my boo was scared of the "whispers in the head" element especially at night. So we continued the movie where we left off on Saturday afternoon joined by my cousin. I think it is a good strategy to watch scary movies during the day as they seem less frightening.

Knowing is an American sci-fi movie directed by Alex Proyas. It stars Nicholas Cage as Professor Jonathan "John" Koestler who is a widower and teaches astrophysics at MIT. Things start to get eerie and freaky after his only son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) received an envelope from a time capsule buried 50 years ago at his school, the William Dawes Elementary School in Lexington, Massachusetts. In a nutshell, Knowing is about disastrous prophecies coming true.

Knowing Movie Trailer


Knowing is entertaining to watch. It keeps you guessing what is going to happen in the end, hoping for something different than the obvious conclusion. Knowing can be spooky early on with many mysterious and unexplained elements in the story. Even after the ending there are still a few pieces missing from completing the puzzle.

My Love For Life Movie Review rating for Knowing: 3.5/5

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Previously we looked at the bad way of packaging a Figma for delivery. Today we are going to focus on the good way of doing so. I got this package from an ebay seller in Hong Kong. During payment I left him a note telling him to use hard cardboard to protect my Figma from postal damage. Looks like he did what he was told to do.

The packaging box is sturdy and secured with multiple layers of brown tape. Few dents can be seen on the cardboard package most probably incurred during transport.
Upon opening the package, it turns out that this is actually a make shift box out of several pieces of hard cardboard paper. Now this is what i call recycling!
My Figma Kanu Uncho out of the packaging. Still in pristine condition thanks to the protective packing.
Closer inspection of the Figma Kanu Uncho box yielded no noticeable damage. This time I have gladly given the seller a perfect DSR rating and fantastic positive feedback. I just wish that all ebay sellers would package their merchandises as good as this.

My Love For Life experience review rating for good Figma delivery packaging: 4/5


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I had a very nice movie session with my Boo last Saturday as the movie we were watching turned out a lot better than I thought it would be. Confessions Of A Shopaholic was at the top of my Boo's most wanted to watch movie list. I cannot blame her for that as the movie has all the right elements to attract audiences from the fairer sex: fashion magazines, girlfriends bonding, romance and last but not least, shopping!

Confessions Of A Shopaholic is a 2009 romantic comedy movie based on the Shopaholic novel series by Sophie Kinsella. It stars Isla Fisher as Rebecca Bloomwood, the protagonist who is a shopaholic in denial. Her compulsive shopping has amassed her $9000 in debt which she has accumulated through all 12 of her credit cards. Needless to say, throughout the movie Rebecca's shopaholic behavior has brought her much conflict in her life with friends and family alike. This movie has managed to take a lighter look on the negative effects of overspending and turning it into something interesting to watch.

Confessions Of A Shopaholic movie trailer


When I first saw Isla Fisher appear as Rebecca Bloomwood I could have sworn that she is the same person playing Giselle the Enchanted princess in Enchanted. But after further research on the Internet I have been proven wrong. But I did find out that I am not the only person that thought the same. Isla Fisher and Amy Adams (Giselle the Enchanted princess) do share a striking resemblance to each other. Just check out the photos below:

While you are at it also check out this great guide on The Definitive Differences between Isla Fisher And Amy Adams.

Confessions Of A Shopaholic is a good romantic comedy movie. It is worthy to be added to my personal DVD collection. My Love For Life movie review rating for Confessions Of A Shopaholic: 4/5

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I received a parcel today containing my order of Figma Ryomou Shimei which I got from a fellow collector who was letting go of his collection. It is good that he gave me free express post service to deliver the Figma but I am not keen at all to his way of packaging the Figma. The parcel shown in the picture might look ok but let me assure you that the parcel is actually dented badly in some area, most probably "squash damage" caused by a heavy load placed on top of it.

In actual fact, there was no extra hard layer of protection for the Figma box at all. The outermost layer consist of thin brown paper which can be torn easily. From the photo you can see a torn area at one corner of the box.

Things don't look too bad from this angle but then again, looks can be deceiving. To be honest I have actually pushed the box back into proper shape before taking any picture of it.

With the outermost layer of brown paper removed, you can see the Figma Ryomou Shimei box wrapped in... a grocery bag! Good recycling effort, minimal protection for the Figma box though.

Well at least the seller used high quality duct tape to secure the grocery bag in place.

My Figma Ryomou Shimei finally unpacked from the delivery packing material. Gotta apologize for the blurry photo as my hands were still shaking in shock after seeing the grocery bag. There are noticeable dents and fold marks on the box but they can't be seen from the photo.

Finally calmed my shaking hands down and took a clear shot of the rear of the Figma box. If you look closely you can see dent marks at the side which I had minimized by pushing it back into shape.

I am lucky that the seller didn't use the normal parcel shipping method for delivery as that would be disastrous to my poorly protected Figma box.

My Love For Life Experience review rating for bad Figma delivery packaging: 3/5

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It has been a while since I watched a movie together with my boo. Mostly due to my ill health last weekend. But my boo came by to check up on me Tuesday night and we watched Disaster Movie. There are certain movies that you are better off not watching and IMHO Disaster Movie is one of them. Then again, if you are curious watch it at your own risk.

Disaster Movie is a 2008 parody movie written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer which was intended as a sequel to their previous movie Meet the Spartans. The cast of characters include B list actors such as Carmen Electra, Kim Kardashian, Matt Lanter, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan and Vanessa Minnillo. Among the numerous spoofs found in Disaster Movie are on Armageddon, American Gladiator, Amy Winehouse (this one is just plain weird and uncomfortable), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Indy is portrayed as a African American midget played by Tony Cox), Juno, Superbad, Dr. Phil (he can be found in most movie stereotypes nowadays), Wanted (Fox is played by Carmen Electra), High School Musical, Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, Hancock (one of the more interesting ones, too bad they didn't develop it better), Sex and the City (Carrie Bradshaw portrayed as a drag queen by Jason Boegh, uncanny resemblance between him and Sarah Jessica Parker!), Jumper, Prince Caspian, Enchanted (was kinda nice at first but it dragged on too long), Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Batman, Alvin and the chipmunks (gonna tarnish the cutesy mischievous image of the original), Speed Racer, Michael Jackson (could have been interesting if given more screen time), Kung Fu Panda and Beowulf (huge gay references abound!). There are a few spoofs missing here but I couldn't care less to find out what I can't recall from memory.

Disaster Movie trailer


Disaster Movie is full of vulgar language. The ending song sequence alone uses the "F" word as its chorus. Depend on how you see it, Disaster Movie might be interesting or it might be a Disaster Movie literary. I am sticking to the latter. Watch it if you are curious. My Love For Life movie review rating for Disaster Movie: 1.5/5

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This time I will be reviewing the 1/100 scale NG (Normal Grade) Gundam Exia by Bandai. Lets start off the review with the photo of the box art. Gundam Exia can be seen occupying most of the background with a picture insert of Setsuna F. Seiei, the pilot in the foreground. I hope that Bandai will start using the actual picture of the model on the box art instead of an illustration. Though it may look inferior, hobbyists like myself can have a clear picture of how the completed model will look like easily.


The left side box art shows the actual completed model with some inserts of stills taken from the original anime. There is also a short description of Setsuna in Japanese.

The right side box art highlights some of the gimmicks and action poses of Gundam Exia using the actual completed model. Several prominent accessories of the Gundam Exia model kit like its shield and swords are also shown here.

Top box art showing Gundam Exia in the background and a young (child like appearance) Setsuna in the foreground.

Bottom box art depicting Gundam Exia in the background with an older Setsuna in the foreground.

Front cover for the assembly manual. I actually like the illustration done here showing Gundam Exia swinging its GN Blade in the background with an insert of the actual model in the foreground. Bandai could have used this arrangement for the box art instead of just using the artist illustration without the actual model.

First page of the assembly manual showing all the runners of the Gundam Exia model kit in color.

Page 2 of the assembly manual showing some general tips on how to snip out the plastic parts from the runners.

Page 3 of the assembly manual showing the actual assembly steps.

Page 4 of the assembly manual.

Page 5 of the assembly manual showing the character designs of Setsuna F. Seiei. It is a shame that Bandai didn't use color for this page.

Page 6 of the assembly manual illustrating the mechanical designs of Gundam Exia with its weaponry. Again, shame on Bandai for not using color on this page.

Page 7 of the assembly manual.

Page 8 of the assembly manual.

Page 9 of the assembly manual.

Page 10 of the assembly manual.

Page 11 of the assembly manual.

Page 12 of the assembly manual highlighting the color scheme of the Gundam Exia model for those who wish to spray their model for better appearance.

Page 13 of the assembly manual showing the various gimmicks and poses of the completed Gundam Exia model.

Alright now that we are done with the box art and assembly manual(took quite a while), onwards to the actual completed model of Gundam Exia! Here is a special shout out to Herman Turnip of Terrible Analogies: the reappearance of my clear soda can! A side by side size comparison of the 1/100 NG Gundam Exia with my 12cm high clear soda can.

Frontal view of NG Gundam Exia.

Rear view of NG Gundam Exia.

Top down frontal view of NG Gundam Exia.

Top down rear view of NG Gundam Exia. I like the design of the GN drive protruding at Gundam Exia's back.

Closeup on the upper body of NG Gundam Exia. I really like the design of Gundam Exia especially the GN condenser (dark green circular chest part) which uses clear plastic parts.

Diagonal side view on the upper body of NG Gundam Exia. Light reflection can clearly be been from the clear plastic part of the chest GN condenser.

Side view on the upper body of NG Gundam Exia.

Closeup on NG Gundam Exia's head. I did not use the sticker for the eyes but painted them instead.

Side view of the head. Painted the GN condenser of the head in light green instead of using the dark green sticker.

Rear closeup on the upper body of NG Gundam Exia. If you look closely I have painted the GN blade with metallic grey.

Closeup on the GN drive of NG Gundam Exia.

Frontal closeup on the legs of NG Gundam Exia.

Rear closeup on the legs of NG Gundam Exia.

The shoulder V fins (yellow parts at either sides of the neck) can be moved up and down.

There are GN condensers on both arms which I have colored light green.

NG Gundam Exia with all of its included accessories. In total it comes with 7 swords and a shield.

This is the clear pink runner for the beam components of the beam sabers and beam daggers. I have not remove them from the runner because I plan to pose my NG Gundam Exia with all the beam sabers and beam daggers sheathed.

Closeup of the accessories. From the left: GN blade (signature weapon for Gundam Exia), GN Long Sword, GN Short Sword, 4 beam sword hilts and GN shield.

Diagonal frontal view of unarmed NG Gundam Exia.

Diagonal rear view of unarmed NG Gundam Exia. Notice the 2 beam sword hilts sheathed on the lower rear side of both shoulder armor and the 2 beam dagger hilts sheathed at the rear hip.

Bottom top diagonal frontal side view of unarmed NG Gundam Exia.

Bottom top diagonal rear side view of unarmed NG Gundam Exia.

Closeup on GN blade mode front view.

Closeup on GN blade mode back view.

The GN blade can be sheathed and the handle stowed to change to GN rifle mode.

Closeup on GN rifle mode.

Closeup on GN blade mode.

The beam dagger hilts on the rear hip can be moved up and down and also bend sideways.

This is to position them for easier access whenever Gundam Exia requires their usage.

Gundam Exia reaching for the beam saber mounted at the rear side of the shoulder armor.

Closeup on GN shield front view.

Closeup on GN shield back view.

The GN Long sword and GN short sword can be mounted on right and left sides of the upper legs respectively.

Rear view closeup on both GN swords mounted.

Bottom top diagonal frontal view of armed NG Gundam Exia.

Bottom top diagonal rear view of armed NG Gundam Exia.

Top down diagonal frontal view of armed NG Gundam Exia.

Top down diagonal rear view of armed NG Gundam Exia.

Articulation range of the arm and leg of NG Gundam Exia.Even though the elbow is double jointed, the arm cannot bend all the way for the hand to touch the shoulder due to obstruction from an arm component.

NG Gundam Exia balancing on one leg.

The legs cannot bend up much further due to the obstruction from the skirt armor.

The legs of the NG Gundam Exia are on ball joints hence they can be rotated to the sides to perform poses such as this one.

Closeup of the leg.

I also like the design of the leg which IMHO is semi phase shift armor. Meaning that the armor plating on the leg will move when the leg is bent. Compare the left and right legs in the picture and see how the different degree of bends will expose the inner shin part in dark grey.

The legs can also perform the full kneeling position where there are minimal gaps between the legs and the ground.

Diagonal frontal view of NG Gundam Exia in kneeling position.

Top down view of NG Gundam Exia. There is some freedom of movement for the shoulders to the front and back due to the connector joints design.

NG Gundam Exia determined pose and ready for action. I always prefer the open hand than the close hand part due the dynamic poses which the former can perform.

Closeup view of GN blade unsheathed.

Frontal view of GN blade unsheathed stance.

Top down frontal view of GN rifle mode pose.

Top down closeup diagonal view of GN rifle mode pose.

Front side view of GN rifle mode pose.

Back side view of GN rifle mode pose.

Frontal shot of NG Gundam Exia kneeling and taking cover behind the GN shield and aiming using the GN rifle.

Diagonal rear shot of NG Gundam Exia kneeling and taking cover behind the GN shield and aiming using the GN rifle.

Frontal view of NG Gundam Exia crouching and readying the GN blade over the shoulders to attack.

Rear view of NG Gundam Exia crouching and readying the GN blade over the shoulders to attack.

I like the overall design of Gundam Exia. The color scheme is considered generic for the leading mobile suit Gundam through the various series which consist of blue, white, dark grey, yellow and red. The articulation range is acceptable for a NG model but Bandai could have designed the arms and legs so they can bend further without being obstructed.

My Love For Life Gundam Review rating for Bandai NG 1/100 Gundam Exia: 3.5/5


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