Earthbound - also known as Mother 2

I have completed my 3rd SNES RPG kind of game! This one is called EARTHBOUND, and it is such an adorable game. Having more experience with RPG games, the process of playing Earthbound has been the most enjoyable (definitely less stressful than playing Zelda). 

STORYLINE

The protagonist, with the red cap and yellow backpack, is called Ness (which I named Sky since I did not know they had default names.). Ness awakens from his sleep, and his friend Pokey needs his help to find his brother. There was a meteorite which has fallen from the sky at Onett and the policemen are all busy with the investigation. He meets Buzz Buzz, a little bee who came from the future, who tells him about his destiny before he dies. The future is in dire states and legends state that there will be 3 boys and 1 girl who will work together to defeat Giygas. One of them would, of course, be Ness. This sounds like Chrono Trigger here, with a team trying to save the world from future devastation. Buzz Buzz also reveals the location of the 8 sanctuaries, which are places where the team can heal themselves. One of them would be at Giant Steps and Ness sets out to find it after bidding goodbye to his family. The first bigger opponent, Frank, is quite tough to defeat for a starter! When he reaches Giant Step, he has to fight the monster that has already taken over the sanctuary. After that, he can heal there and the sound stone will record the melody found there. Sanctuaries like the Pink Cloud is such a beautiful place.

Setting off from his hometown, he travels towards Twoson to find the girl he was meant to meet. Talking to the people in town would let you know that Paula's (I named her Vanny) family owns Polestar preschool but she was nowhere to be found there as she is kidnapped. Heading to Peaceful Rest Valley, the path is blocked by a pencil statue, which requires Apple Kid's pencil eraser. Here is where Ness meets this Apple Kid who would assist at different points of the game with his intriguing inventions. You definitely should invest in him and lend him some money. If not, you probably cannot continue the game. Ness would reach Happy Happy Village and save Paula. Back at Twoson, they make friends with the musical band called Runaway Five after they redeem them from their manager. On their van, they got to the next town called Threed.

Now Threed is a creepy place, dark and filled with zombies. Eventually, both of them got trapped underground and Paula spoke telepathically to Jeff (his name is CH) for him to save them. Now you will be transported to Winters and play as Jeff only. He will escape his boarding school, travel across the river and find his father, Dr Andonuts. Before Jeff flies away in the sky runner, it might be good to level up Jeff quickly by fighting the cave boys at the Stonehenge. Those cave boys always drop picnic lunch after a defeat so you can keep healing and keep fighting.

Jeff will join the team as he rescues them from the trap. Together they will fight Zombies in Threed, meet cute little pink Saturns and defeat the disgusting big boss, Belch. I found the third sanctuary at Saturn Valley and I was shocked! How did I miss the second one? No worries, the team can always go back. Next, they will brave through the hot desert and endure multiple times of sunstroke. The team will reach Fourside, where you will discover an illusionary world called Moonside. When eventually you get to a place called Summers and have the magic cake, you will be transported to Dalaam, and meet the last character Poo (which I call Botak).

There will be a series of fun adventures and eventually all the sounds of each sanctuary will be collected by the soundstone. With this, Ness ventures into the Magicant, a place created by his mind and memories. It is indeed quite fun there, and Ness has to overcome his nightmare and fears to leave the place. Completing that, he grows stronger. This is so true in our real life as well! Once they reach the cave of the past to defeat the final boss, Giygas, peace will be restored and the world would not be filled with monsters and untamed animals.

GAMEPLAY

The characters travel from town to town, fulfil quest by quest to reach their ultimate goal. It is important to follow the storyline or else you might not know what to do next. Due to evil forces, humans, monsters and animals turned aggressive. As such, when they see your team, they will run towards them and you will enter a battle mode with them. One of the hints you will get in the game is that if the characters are back faced the enemies when they approach you, a red swirl will appear and they will have the first hit. If you were to approach them while they are back faced you, a green swirl will appear and you will have the first surprise attack. In a battle mode, there is a general attack using the weapon that is equipped. As the characters level up, they will learn new skills, gain experience, gain HP and PP. Their new skills are psychic powers which utilises PP. Examples of these cool powers are freeze, brainshock, teleportation and etc.

With each turn, you either select bash, defend, PSI attacks or use items. They may even choose to run away but if the opponent is strong, I doubt they can escape. Unlike Chrono Trigger, you have to select your attacks for each characters in the same sequence and everyone has to have an "action". Which characters will attack first will depend on their status of speed. If they are lucky, they may be more likely to get "Smash", a random powerful hit. There is also an "auto fight" option, but that would destroy all the fun, wouldn't it?

Your characters can regain HP through purchasing food or using those items that drop after a monster's defeat. At the start, I loved buying hamburgers since they heal about 45HP which is quite a lot at the start. Cookies & cup of coffee is quite useless at a higher level. Brainfood lunch and magic truffles are the gems! Magic truffles are used to restore PP used for psychic powers. It also heals about 20 PP for each character as they come into contact with the magic butterfly, making them feel relaxed. Hotel stays can heal both HP and PP to the max potential but I am stingy and I don't want to spend on hotels. Places like Saturn Village, Tenda Village & Lost Underworld have the cutest residents and there is free hot springs and hotel stays to recharge the whole team.

ITEMS

One of those initial features I found really cute about the game is that you have to withdraw money from the ATM! The money is used to buy food, equipment, weapons and special items.  Do you have an unlimited amount of money from the ATM? No, the dollars are earned through fighting monsters! A call to his dad will let Ness know how much money he has, how much experience to the next level and to save the game. Phones and ATM are generally found in hotels & drugstores but they are generally available when you need them in the game. There is also a cap to how much you can withdraw since it only allows 5 digits on the screen, so you may want to stop withdrawing. I was a super rich kid in the game so I had no problems buying anything! (Mainly because I am unlucky with my directions, so I end up fighting the same monsters which re-spawned. There are a few cool mazes in the game and my brain could not remember the route.)

Each character only has a limited number of slots in their bag. Hence, there is an option to call Ness's sister who is working at Escargo Express, to pick up things to store at her place or deliver things back to the bag. It costs $18 each trip and carries 3 items at maximum. But as you know, I was very rich and $18 is nothing. The delivery man will always ask whether you can afford the fees. Do not be misled like me to think that the Escargo Express has unlimited space. It has only 36 slots! So choose wisely as there will be some items that you cannot sell or drop, so you definitely need to send it away to clear up space. I spent some time delivering things back to my bag just to throw away because the Escargo Express space was full!

As the game goes by, it is important to be prepared with weapons and food. This is especially so when you enter mazes or dungeons because you really do not want to walk out and then fight those monsters again! Personally, I find multi-bottle rockets and heavy bazooka having the best damages coming from Jeff. He only has physical attacks since he does not have any PSI. But this guy is so smart and he can repair damage goods into powerful weapons depending on his intelligence level. There are useful items like the exit mouse which can transport the group to the entrance of any maze (like Magic mirror in Zelda!) and cool items like dragonite where your character transforms into a dragon to attack the enemies. Getting teddy bears also helps to shield the team from some damage. You may either purchase useful items or get them from the many presents found along the way in your adventure. Some monsters drop great items as well. You can see the "help" option to know the uses of each individual item.

MONSTERS & CHARACTERS

At first, the enemies are stray animals who turned wild due to evil powers. Killing them gives you a very small amount of experience and those like the crows will drop you cookies. The first boss at the first sanctuary is the Titanic Ant, and it was indeed tough when Ness is fighting alone. Like most games, you have to know the weakness of the bosses. Eventually, when you recruit Jeff in the team, you have the option of "spying" to know what the enemies are susceptible to. It is quite interesting as your enemies or characters may feel "funny", "funky" or "nauseatic" after an attack and this would affect the defence and attack powers.

For certain sickness, Ness and Poo can help heal the team. If left untreated, each character will lose some health with each turn of attack. Sunstroke, for example, will slowly deplete a member's health as he continues to walk about. Other funny cases include a tiny ghost following the character and taking amount small of HP with each attack and being mushroomised with a mushroom on the head in which can be healed by the magic healer. One of the most irritating and yet amazing sickness that happened to Ness during my path to the bigger boss was that he became homesick! Because of that, he will miss quite a number of attacks with statements like he misses his mum or he wants to eat his favourite food. Only nearing the next half of the game did I realized why he had the option to call his mum.

MUSIC

The list of soundtracks for Earthbound is also super cute and makes the whole game more fun! They are short and sweet kinds. My personal favourite is the one that plays at the hotels. There is also a playlist for Earthbound on Spotify!

Overall, I was really engrossed with this game. It might not sound special to others but there are a lot of elements that fascinated me. Features like the withdrawing from the ATM, taking the bus, playing the jackpot are examples of what enhances the game. There will also be one photographer who will go around taking photos of the team as they hit a milestone. *Fuzzy Pickles*! The storyline, however, is not that impactful. I still don't quite understand who Giygas really is. 😆 Nonetheless, the whole process of the game was entertaining and enjoyable. <3

Pictures: Screenshots from the game

Seoul Garden Hotpot - for your korean food cravings

I am sure Seoul Garden is not foreign to many of us. I remember patronizing them since poly days as it's a good halal buffet dining option for long meals and never-ending chit chats. A Seoul Garden Hotpot outlet recently opened in Bedok Mall and I finally got to try it. They serve a myraid options of Korean food from japchae to army stew to desserts! 

They have quite a number of set meal options which makes it more worthwhile. But on that day I craved for specific dishes and decided on beef bibimbap, army stew with beef slices, japchae and yuzu chiller drink. I am not sure why I become so "beefy" nowadays. With most Korean style restaurant, free flow marinated sides and kimchi are available. This one requires you to self-service and take them from the corner. I tried the spicy and sour cabbage, which is nicely appetising. The kimchi taste okay, but also a little weird at the same time. The sides-corner is not really well kept and gave off a slightly messy feeling.
 

The japchae arrived first in a nicely designed ceramic plate. This small portion costs about $8 but it is the most delicious among the 3 dishes ordered. The noodles is tasty, QQ and not too oily. I like that it comes with a good amount of seafood. I would definitely have the bigger portion one next time (at about $13) for a fuller meal.
 

The army stew came in a hotpot, accompanied by a small bowl of pre-cooked ramen noodles (possibly only half of a packet). The soup base was too thick to start with, as compared to other army stews that are lighter tasting at the beginning. As a result, the flavour of the soup is too rich, which is not ideal. The noodles that came with it was also way too soft before we even put it inside the hotpot. Most places allow us to put the raw noodles in ourself for cooking so that we can "customise" the firmness of the noodles. But the small size of the hotpot might be the reason why it cannot really accomodate cooking food.

My main dish; the piping hot beef bibimbap. One big mistake we made again is to order bibimbap with beef. We have come to the conclusion that beef doesn't go well in bibimbap. The taste of beef is too strong and overwhelms the taste of the other ingredients. The choice of chicken would have been better! My word of advise for bibimbap; always choose stonebowl so that the rice maintains its hotness throughout.

Well, this restaurant is not a place I will patronise often. For the japchae though, I will. :P

Zelda - A Link to the Past

Zelda Zelda Zelda


This is another one of my bf's recommended games that is created for SNES. He thinks I will like it because it is really quite a cute game. This is like an adventure role playing game with a save-the-world storyline. Similarly, I didn't know much about the gameplay and narrative. I am super proud of myself for the completion of this game because my bf have not played this before! Hence, he was not able to give me any hints or advice.

I must say that this game was really stress causing and I relied quite a bit on walkthroughs :x. 

STORYLINE

In the kingdom of Hyrule, legend was told that there is a powerful golden power somewhere in a hidden land. They call it the Golden Land and whoever has the power could possibly rule the world. People sought to enter the Golden Land but nobody returned. The king summoned the 7 wise men to seal the entrance when evil power was spreading. Despite years of peace, a mysterious wizard, Agahnim, released the seal and captured the king. The 7 wise men and 7 princesses started disappearing one by one.

[Anyway, my main character's name is actually called Vanny because the game let me name him and I don't remember it having a default name. I only realised later on that his name is Link and that the title of the game actually refers to his name and the linkage to the past 😆. ]

It starts off with Link being awakened by Princess Zelda who was speaking to him telephatically, asking him to save her. Such a cool superpower huh. Link's uncle was actually going to save Zelda and told him to stay home. Link, however, must go to Hyrule castle for the game to progress. He finds his uncle who  gave him his sword to fight his way through. Saving Princess Zelda and fighting all the soldiers along the way, Link reaches a sanctuary where the loyal sage will ensure Zelda's safety. Link is told to find one of the 7 wise men's descendents, who is the village elder in Kakariko Village. Speaking to the village people, Link will head to the Eastern Palace to find the elder hiding.

He was told of the evil powers of Agahnim and the only way to stop him is to get the Master sword. Before he is able to wield the sword, he must first achieve the 3 pendants from each location after fighting the bosses. He got the moon pearl at the Tower of Hera, which can help him to keep his original shape if he ends up in the Dark World. Just as he managed to get the Master sword, Zelda talks to him telephatically as she is captured away. Afterwhich, although Link defeats Agahnim, the evil wizard uses the last of his power to warp Link into the Dark World. The Dark World is actually the Golden Land, but because it is swarmed with evil powers, it was transformed. How shall the hero put things back right?

The magic mirror that Link has received would be able to temporary warp him back to the Light World. He has to return to the same spot to go back or find a portal that links the two worlds. Once you reach this stage, you will know that some thinking is required to travel between the worlds since some paths are blocked. After saving the 6 princesses from each dungeon,  Princess Zelda's dungeon will be the combination of all the battles and it will be the hardest. After the very last battle at the pyramid, the Dark World is destroyed, giving way to the Golden Land. The people are safe now!

GAMEPLAY

The game allows you to explore freely. You can go anywhere unless you need a certain item which you will eventually get if you finish your quests.  This adventure rpg's soldiers and monsters will respawn as you leave the gamescreen and come back again. They will run towards your character as you go near and you can take damage if you didn't defend well. It was so stressful for me because I kept taking damage and with only 3 hearts at the beginning, the game is difficult. There will be a irritating warning sound that will keep playing when your life is too low! One of the kind of puzzle that helped train my control skills is the one where the door will only open when all torches are lighted up. You only have a certain time period before the light goes off. There are also those where the ground keeps moving and you have to fight monsters and avoid sharp edges. Again and again I tried,  and my skills got better!

Enemies

The enemies outside the main map are generally soldiers who are influenced by evil forces, wild crows and creatures. In a dungeon/palace/boss building, there will be all sorts of different monsters, before you get to the boss' location. It is interesting to figure them out. One of such is the Goriya monster in which it will move in a an opposite direction as your character. It will shoot an arrow once it faces Link. There are many cool puzzles to figure out in all the major battles. The last battle with Ganon will combine all the things you have learnt in the game. The big bosses are all special and you need to know how to kill them. For example, in the place where the Link manages to find the hookshot item, it is utilized to take away all the metal pieces from the boss before it can take any damage. The game will probably not be able to continue until you manage to get that certain item to move on.

Life & Items

I was initially wondering how do I get the life. Thankfully, Link's house has permanent hearts which you can get because it will respawn once you leave the game screen and come back again. Don't worry, you can also increase your overall health as you go around finding heart pieces. One of them is quite random, by paying to dig in the soil with a shovel obtained. Another one is by running towards the destination within 15 seconds. This game really trains my patience, speed and reflex. Just keep practising! As you explore, you will get new items that come useful later on. Boomarang and firerod are necessary and used often. You would also need the magic hammer, before you can whack down those round barriers. You will find or buy glass bottles which you can use to store health potion or magic potion. This is important nearing the end when the monster is tough and you would not want to be stuck with no life or magic left! 

Along the way, there are ways to upgrade your items. You have to explore and be attentive to whatever other characters say. One fairygod mother will keep helping you if you keep trying! Keep more money when you find the mysterious pond. At first, you cannot swim, but once you get the Zora's flippers, you can! Skills like running or lifting heavy are also available once you equip clothings you obtained along the way. So while the game has a lot of freedom to roam about, certain places cannot be explored until you have a certain skill or item. 

I was very confused with this game and really had to rely on Youtube! Unlike Chrono Trigger, the names of the places are not displayed on the map itself. So you need to look at the signboards as you explore along to know where you are. Therefore, I usually look at Youtube to figure out how I am supposed to go somewhere. There are also guides online with pictures that can guide you along if you are stuck. This game was a challenge for me but it is really fun. Some puzzles are so cleverly created but some things make me feel stupid after I realised how it is supposed to be. 

Completion of Zelda - A link to the past has definitely up my gaming skill level! 

Pictures: Screenshots from the game

Wonder - The boy named August

Wonder - R. J. Palacio

I got to know about this book because of the Movie trailer which looks like a touching tear jerker. You know, the boy with the astronaut helmet. I did not watch the movie but the book is enjoyable!

The story is about this boy who went to school for the very first time of his life. He was protected by his family and homeschooled since young due to a craniofacial disorder at birth, causing his facial features to be deformed. His life changed as he started to enter school. He found reality, courage and true friendship in the process.

The book is really engaging because it is written from a young adult's/ child's point of view. In fact, it includes the point of view from other characters like his sister and his friends. August is just 10 years old when he first started school. His family and him were very apprehensive from the start. The middle school director, Mr Tushman, gathered 3 "known to be good" students to befriend him and guide him at the start. True enough, other students were shooting mean remarks and were afraid of touching August. Only Jack, one of 3 kids assigned, hung out with him. On the other hand, Julian was making things difficult for him. He met his one true friend, Summer, who truly wanted to befriend him because he was a nice guy to be around with. Of course, when you read her part, you will realised that it all started out of sympathy. There was a hurtful misunderstanding between Jack and August, and it is interesting to read from each of their chapters to understand what really goes on in their mind. When August thought his friend, Jack was befriending him just because he was told by the middle school director, we get to read from Jack's point of view that it was not exactly the case. At the end of school term, one outdoor camp changed everything. Through challenges from external parties, the friends all stood by August.

The language used is simple and easy to read. This is with exception of Justin's chapter in which the paragraphs have no proper capitalization and structure. I do believe this is intentional, but it was rather difficult to read there! The whole book brings you through the story of each different characters and you have to work to piece them up altogether. This is quite stimulating to the brain 😏. What might seem to be in a certain way to someone might not be what the truth really is. It is not what you say that matters, it is how the other person interprets it.

This is really quite a fun and warmth hearted book.💓

If you want a higher level challenge for the mind, try the thriller novel "The girl on the train" by Paula Hawkins. That is captivating and makes you want to find out more, although the plot is a bit sick. It is written in a similar style from the point of view of 3 different characters. Reading Fifty shades of grey from both Christian's and Ana's view is also quite fun. 

Southern Ridges Trail - A walk to remember

I always recommend my friends to try this walking trail because we get to sweat it out in a manageable trail. I have probably walked this trail about 10 times and it is usually a very nice process with no mosquitoes, except the times when you start the walk after a heavy rain. While I think the Southern Ridges is actually of a longer distance, I always start from Pasir Panjang Mrt station. Cheers to Circle line! 

I went to Southern Ridges with my bf just this June but the photos are from a combination of different occasions.  My photos this time turned out quite dark due to the weather.
Let's start my step by step guide to Southern Ridges!

After you cross the bridge, and take the steps down, turn left and until the part where you have to cross another road. Here, turn right into the straight route.

You will come to the first bend, but do not turn right yet. Walk straight until you see the next turn.

The right turn should look like this. Walk in from here and at the end, turn left to a dead end. There would be a flight of stairs.

The start of the trail, Canopy Walk, is always the most difficult. It is a long flight of stairs! I got breathless once I reached the top! Walk the rounded path and you would see a pavilion. Featuring my $3.90 backpack there, from Decathlon :p.

Continue via the bridge entrance to an awesome view above the grounds. At the end of the bridge path, you have a choice of visiting the Reflections at Bukit Chandu. The last I went, it was free for all Singaporeans. Just show your IC as proof. Check out the operation hours if you are interested to avoid disappointment!

Turning to the right of the bridge exit (facing the museum), you can walk back into the trail down the steps. You will reach this map to guide you through the next part of the adventure.

You will go through a twirly wirly route before you reach a straight shady path covered by trees. Hortpark is nearing now. Just keep walking straight and there would be a square area to take a break, have a drink and use the toilet. It is well ventilated with a ceiling fan. Hortpark has many fun things to explore and take nice photos of. Kids can play at the playground. The friendly scarecrow has been there since forever!

As you move on, you would reach the Vineyard. Coincidentally, a couple was holding their solemnization that evening. Since it was raining at the time we reached, we explored the lifestyle room. I have seen this room multiple times but have never been inside. There are many nice plant artifacts there for photos. There were a group of people utilizing the room for cosplay photoshoot that day as well. It was a good cooling place to chill while we waited until the rain subsided.

Walk out from the Hortpark towards the left, and you will see the Alexandra Arch. It will actually be more beautiful at night when it is lighted up. I have not seen the night view so far because I always go around the same time period from 3pm to 6pm. 

You would reach the start of the Forest Walk in no time. I was super terrified the first time I was there, above the ground. The height and the see through holes of the metal bridge! My legs went soft. It got better with each time of visit and eventually, I got used to it. That day, our shoes were squeaking away as it rubs off the wet metal bridge after the rain.  

 

At the end of the route, you can actually take any direction because you would reach the same destination. We took the right direction, and then left, up a steep slope to a beautiful view (Hilltop Walk/ Terrace Garden). The slope here is steeper than it looks I assure you. Burn calories burn!

After a short break, continue down the stairs to the exit. Continue your way straight and you will arrive in front of Alkaff Mansion (oops I forgot to take a picture here). I have always wanted to have brunch here but it is kind of inconvenient without a car. There was once my bf and I were passing by and there was this banner advertising their brunch menu. A few metres down the road, I suddenly stopped walking and turned serious with thoughts. My bf was sightly worried and then I was like "I did not see whether the brunch is available during weekdays." Haha.

Walk along the straight line, and you will pass by a playground, and then see a zebra crossing. Turn left when you see a carpark in front and cross the zebra crossing and go up the slope. By this time, I am usually rather tired so this slope can be a mini challenge. There would be a turn, just keep going up. You will be at Henderson Wave now! The famous Henderson Wave. It is mostly packed with people so it might be hard to get a nice photo without including others. This one time, there was a monkey at the bridge eating some leftover fries.

You can peep through the tiny spaces of the wooden bridge and the height can be scary for some. At least, that was what happened to me the first time. Walk past the bridge and the sign of Henderson Wave is there.

After the sign, there are two ways that I tried. If you walk towards your right then up the steps (in front of zebra crossing) into the "forest" it will bring you to the top of Mount Faber where the view is really nice. If not, you can turn left and walk upwards all the way, until you see a sign "Mt Faber Loop" and a mini carpark. Take a left turn towards the pavilions. Walk straight, pass by a busstop (there seems to be no bus service though), and you will reach Jewel box. I guess it is called Faber Walk here.

 If you walked the other way, you will enter forest mode.

Continuing from Jewel box, just keep walking forward and you would come to what looks like the end. The last part of Southern Ridges will be the Marang Trail. Honestly, it is hard to walk down because the stone steps are rather steep. It is very short trail and you will find the exit in no time.

See the hole there! There you are, you have completed the Southern Ridges and that is about 6km of fun! The below is the view from outside looking at the exit. It is now time for an awesome meal at Vivocity!