Wednesday 31 July 2013

First ever drink review: Dissidia Final Fantasy Potion.

HP: low due to repeated transportation of gaming goods from house to game room.

MP: None because I am human.

Status: Thirsty and craving for a mild refreshment.

I saved this potion for this occasion to evaluate first of all its ability to satisfy my thirst in a non abrasive way (such as drinking generic coke or energy drink like V) and secondly to give me a perception (lets not kid ourselves, its a soda) of revitalising my HP quickly as often the case in a boss battle and cbf waiting for the white mage to heal you.

 First off the bat I try to interpret the ingredients and get an idea of what to expect. Not the sort of thing you would do in the heat of a boss fight, but I only have one to try so I will do my best. 2 ingredients just out which is Royal Jelly "ekisu" so maybe a honey like element to the flavour which made me believe Suntory (the makers) are going for the Vikings' Meade recipe (Alright!) BUT Vitamin B2, crap, as Bs are one of the hardest vitamins to mask the flavour and colour of. I am anticipating a diabetic piss soda.

Here are some can art:



Shot of his relieved face and his crotch most definitely in line with my expectations. I am worried.



Potion being a potion should be guzzled down quickly, I am surprised they haven't gone for the large opening design as seen in Mountain Dew.


At first glance, the date may indicate this soda to be of considerable vintage, but fear not, it actually follows the Japanese Dating system: I read 2 paragraphs of it and left it there.


The colouring or lack of is a pleasant surprise! It is also quite bubbly, a trait not desirable in a consumable during a boss fight, but nonetheless it will be the only second thing that makes this drink bearable.

The first taste of it reminds me of old clothes. The immediate comparison was to Chi, a fizzy herbal drink readily available in supermarkets, but this was worst. This destroyed the concept of "instant" revitalisation as guzzling this down will probably decrease your HP and put you into a Poison status. The sweetness was comparable to Sprite but not as hardcore as Pepsi, nothing to write home about. My wife gave a second opinion on the taste and that is it tastes off.

So in conclusion, I think Suntory tried to replicate an old world tonic taste, like that of meade, but the final product was lacklustre and tried to "lift" the product with impressive colouring and effervescence. I had to wash it all down with plain tap water which actually improved the after taste. Good luck tracking one down just don't pay too much for it. I got mine off trademe for $2.40 and I consider $1.70 to be the norm for premium/imported soda in a can.

Moving in day

31st July:

Got the go ahead from the contractors to move it, there are still some touch up to do but the man to do it is on vacation until September! So I moved all my gaming gear from the house to the new game room.





There is still more to come from the garage as well as the shop so I need to start planning storage solutions.

Monday 29 July 2013

And the power is mine!

29th July:

The electrician has finally piped through juice in the room. Can not be happier today...except for some maintenance of my first hardware in the room.


This is where a line of my arcade cabinets will go. The fixed window will act as a mirror at night, giving the feeling of space while playing.


 In the middle of the room will have 2 suspended power points to allow machines to be backed to backed or accommodate the versus cities in the middle of the room without tripping over cords. Or just power tools while moving around in the room.



We have a florescent tube to give the room day light quality light, which is projected upwards as well as downwards. Perfect for ambient lighting for those long sessions.


 There are 12 adjustable spots I can use to highlight different areas of the room, for example a poster on a wall or a particular game on a cabinet. The possibility is endless.


Here I am doing a bit of maintenance, to make sure its clean in the inside before it cleans my inside.


Just a shot of the floor and how much mess is there to clean. Luckily the worst has passed and no more rubbish in sight.


I will give the floor a nice clean to make it shine soon.


Here is my "master control" wall for the Ethernet connection, telephone jack and also my left and right speaker inputs. The amplifier will simply be hooked up to the terminals through banana plugs and get some sound pumping through the ceiling speakers. They can handle up to 75W so should be beefy enough for some ambient music.


 The speakers are actually stereo speakers! Notice the 2 drivers under the grill.


and she is all cleaned and sparkly ready for service.


All system a go!


  The room does look busy even though nothing is happening at the moment.


And again the place where "most" of the cabinets will go.


And I bid you farewell...for now.

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Canned Final Fantasy potion drink.

Got this in the mail today for the price of the A&W from the dairy (plus postage) and will be doing a quick drink review. From the ingredient seems like its an energy drink with a touch of table salt and royal jelly essence.

Dont think my HP will be replenish after drinking it though...maybe the opposite, we'll see.

Wednesday 17 July 2013

Best drink Ever!!

Always have one on standby. Was so happy the local dairy started stocking them and save 20% if you get more than one at a time...so I got two.

Perfect with deep fried chicken and fabulous with the hot and spicy kind of fried chicken.

Monday 15 July 2013

Gameroom Saga Continues...

16th July:

Luckily the storm did not damage the project and the painters manage to get a couple of coats on. Now it is a matter of time for the paint to dry/cure.






Gaming hardware relocation and game room preparation.

Looking forward to relocating some gaming items to a temporary storage location while the builders start to work on the games room. I think this is a good chance to catalogue some of the stuff I have been stashing in preparation for the game room. Probably a good opportunity to drum up some interest in stuff I dont use or play anymore so they can go to a better home.

The weather is overcasted as expected so I wont need any sunscreen. Luckily the new location is only a 2 minutes drive away and not much steps. Better than the alternative which is at the house but 80+ steps up.

First things to go into storage shall be some garden tools and kids toy bikes as they are quite desirable when the garage is left open. I dont think people here knows what an arcade cabinet looks like let alone to cart it off while the builders at work so they can stay with a sheet over them.

Day-1(18th March 2013): Place looks decent, but the weather didnt help. Luckily the bed wetting sheet is doing a good job diverting water from the cabinet control panel and the the top plastic bag is doing a good job as well. The dirt is there for the filling up of hole after the support beam is erected. Hoepfully the weather fine up soon.

Day-3 (20th March): The weather fined up a lot and the hole in the garage is getting prepped for the stabilising beam (for assurance). Turns out the dirt was disposed of and concerete will be used instead to anchor the beam. LOTS of dust everywhere from the concrete cutting so a total clean for the cabinets will be a must.

Day-9 (26th March): The engineer checked the support work and everything is great. The builders erected the support beam yesterday and it looks like a dance pole.

And the current (sad) state of affairs:



6th April:

The builders have started outlining the game room. Its smaller than I thought.




But definitely feeling it coming together. Have a few things to juggle at the moment on the arcade collection front as well...more on that later.

11th April:

Timber is laid and progress hampered by cold and wet weather.




The forecast for the next few days is pretty discouraging, but still powering on.

Enough babbling from me, I will just date each series of pictures to give overall progress:

13th April:

 16th April:

18th April:


25th April:





27th April:



1st May:



17th May:







Got some speakers wired in the ceiling as well as additional light fittings and ethernet cables.


29th May:






30th May:

Windows in and preping for cladding.









31st May:

Butanol platform done to divert surface water away from the concrete roof of the garage.



The sticker on my fixed window and the other one is top hung:



2nd June:


This is the back wall with the top hung toilet window installed.


The front door from a previous project installed.


The platform was dry enough for the front doors butanol to be laid to divert water away.


Incomplete spacers for the west wall, the timber joins are sealed with thermo tape to increase insulation.


The butanol channel for the surface water to be diverted away from the concrete surface.


Top hung front window in action~ Luckily I closed it because it rained today.


East wall ready for external cladding.


Front corner shot of the building.


Front ready for external cladding.


Shot of the building and the existing garage.


This corner of the garage will be quite busy, with gas and waste water pipes mashed together.



The down pipe entry to the messy driveway. Also the garage floor has been lined for the impending sewage pipe work.

23rd June:

Outdoor cladding work and some indoor tiles and dry wall work