To The Himalayans!

I will never claimed myself as an adventurous type but one thing for sure is that I love the outdoor and strangely enough, love to go hiking despite my size and weight. So on the 9th of November 2011, me along with another 7 hikers took a flight to India for one of the toughest trekking trip of our life to-date.

The environment were harsh on us all. The pollution in the southern suburb area or to be more precise, the city of Kolkata was bad. Makes me wonder what is the exact air pollution index when we are there. The noise pollution was as bad too. A few of my friends and colleagues were wondering what was I thinking when I told them I was going to India. To them, India was one of the less favorable country so i guess they have their point.

Not planning to go on detail because it was a long trip and not to mention that I forgot most of it. We used most of our time traveling by road and did our share of walking for hours on a daily basis. Altogether, we walked for around 80 kilometer during the whole trip. It was exhausting but at the end it was all worth it.

Do not want to sound too long-winded so here are some hand-picked photos on the final stretch of our trip.

You should check this and this out if you are interested to know a little more about the trip. That is all for now. We are going to return to our usual hobby related post after this. Do stay tune. =D

Revoltech Hokuto no Ken #021- Kenshiro Musou

When I finally thought that I have completed my Hokuto no Ken collection, Kaiyodo decided to give us a surprise by releasing Kenshiro in his Hokuto Musou or Ken's Rage incarnation. Ken's Rage, originally released in Japan as Hokuto Musou is a 3D beat 'em up for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Out-of-box content. An extra yelling head, 2 pairs of extra hand, a stand, a token, a accessory box and 3 effect part.

Kenshiro in his Musou outfit. Love the extra detail and pattern.

Front close up. The head sculpt is similar to the previous release.

Back view. The flame patterns makes the whole figure stand out from the previous release. Not to mention about the extra accessories dangling around the figure and the silver decoratives.

Enough talk! Time for some action.

Articulation on this figure is superb.

The extra effect part is fun to pose with. Here is a burning fist!

Shoryuken!!!

There is even an effect part for kicks.

Hiei Ken!

The selling point for this figure is the effect part for "Hyakurestu Ken". Atatatatatata!!!

Although it is just another Kenshiro but the extra effect part and updated attire makes it a worthwhile purchase.

Enter The Dragon

Twenty third of January 2012 mark the beginning of a New Lunar Year for Chinese all around the world. I saw this very comical ads a few days ago illustrating a dragon, booting the rabbit out which signaled the end of the year of the rabbit and the beginning of the year of the dragon. Here were some quick facts I found on the net regarding the dragon:

1. The dragon is usually illustrated as a four legged serpent with a long snout and a mane. There are multiple explanation on the origin of the dragon. Look up wiki if you are interested with it.

2. The dragon is the fifth animal in the 12-year cycle and the only mythical creature in the lunar calendar.

3. As of 2013, we are in the Water Phase of "Wu Xing" (Five Movements/Phases/Steps/Stages, commonly known as the Five Element) so this is the year of the Water Dragon. It will take approximately 60 years for us to revisit the Year of the Water Dragon which is in year 2073.

4. Chinese believed that it is good to have a baby born in the year of the dragon. Hence the increase in birth rate in the year of the dragon.

With that, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year.

Credit goes to Zid for this great illustration of Amatsu from the Monster Hunter series.

Revoltech Sci-Fi #020 Skeleton Army

Jason and The Argonauts was a movie about the titular hero, Jason on his quest to acquire the Golden Fleece.

Out-of-box content. Two pairs of extra hand, 2 shields, sword, pole, an extra limb, base and the compulsory token and accessory box.

Like most Greek heroes back in those days. Jason has to deal with all kind of monstrosity including a skeleton army. I am impressive by this figure.

Back view of the figure. The detail and tones managed to bring this figure to life. Not sure if its anatomically accurate though.

There is nothing threatening about a skeleton unless it is equipped with a sword and a shield.

Or a pole.

This figure has one of the best articulation among all the Revoltech figures I owned to-date. The Revol joints used were smaller but offered the same articulation to this figure.

My attempt to pose this figure in a fetal position.

On top of that. This figure comes with a sweet base. It depicts 2 skeleton crawling out of their grave to do battle with the hero.

The figure along with the base. Pretty wicked huh? I need to build myself a real skeleton army!

One of the best figure in the Revoltech line. I would not mind buying a few of this just to fill up my display shelf or to build up an epic scene for an undead army.

Saint Seiya Myth Cloth - Wyvern Rhadamanthys

Celestial Fierce Star, Wyvern Rhadamanthys is one of the infamous "3 Judges of Hell". Wyvern Rhadamanthys is, undoubtedly, one of the most respected warriors of Hades army. His skills and talents easily overcome those of Athena's Gold Saints and his reputation as a powerhouse is famous among the Specters of the Underworld. Along with Judges Garuda Aiacos and Gryphon Minos, Rhadamanthys has command over different sections of Hades' army.

Rhadamanthys with his Wyvern surplice. The picture shows the original head sculpt which looks awful.

The best way to deal with this issue is to get the appendix for this figure. Once you have this, you would not want to use the original head again.

Rhadamanthys with the head from the appendix. This, my friend IS Rhadamanthys, the cruel and relentless judge of the underworld.

Rhadamanthys commands a threatening aura. His lackey fears him while his opponent respects his tenacity in battle.

The appendix without the head piece.

I prefer to pose Rhadamanthys without the head piece. His blond hair is a good contrast to his surplice.

The Wyvern has but one known technique which he utilizes to destroy his opponent — the "Greatest Caution". Rhadamanthys charges his Cosmo to the highest point of power and unleashed it via his two opened palms. The blast produce by this technique is similar to a shock wave.

The Wyvern surplice is depicted as a 2-legged wyvern with bat-like wings. This surplice is an eye candy among the other cloth from the Myth Cloth line.

Rhadamanthys was the main antagonist in the first Hades arc. It actually took the life of a gold saint to finally defeat the wyvern.