朽木百哉のブォグ

Talking about this game, it has sure been one good year since I had been actively playing after embarking on my shutter journey. I'm still in constant touch with Rian, Songjie, Andy, Philip, just to name a few. Had missed their last gathering as I had a family event over the weekend and the date was confirmed pretty late.

While MMORPG is a good thing to pass time, I had tuned down on it on a big scale since I want to concentrate on my main stream of interest.

The fellowship shall continue, just that we will not be gaming together.

The long awaited dinner has finally arrived after many months as all of us had been busy.

Our usual bunch is there; Andy and Marie, Songjie, Yinmaya, Bryan and his wife and kids, Philip and his wife and kid; a handful.

There had been no success in porting the characters over; seems that my last experience since the game had been taken over by GamersFirst did not have any issues about game hang, so it might be issues that hadn't been fixed by Acclaim.

Marie had asked when dearie and I settle down; tha can only be agreed upon after I had made my move..ahaha..another pressure.

We all had a good time of catchup; a fellowship that had to be done on regular basis.

Took a short walk with Andy, Marie, Songjie, and of course, dearie, to see a huge fish that had been displayed at another restaurant.


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Learnt from Songjie about the reorganisation of the buffet treat by Andy which had been left unattended for the past few months. This time round, I'll be able to see more of the people from our league.

It has been planned to be held this Sunday at Punggol Marina Park. Managed to catch up a little more with Songjie as he told me that YinMa had stopped playing with no apparant reasons, Rian, is actually still playing. There wer some changes to gameplay which will be implimented somewhere in the middle of Dec 2010...let's see how it goes when I have the time to log in to play.

A re gathering of the RFS league.

The game is finally up but characters are not ready to be ported over yet. It took me awhile to be able to log in only realising the above, and playing a new character for the moment. Songjie is already well ahead of me levelwise as he does have more time
to play.

Roll call. Dearie has called me.

The news about the "migration" of 9D is not finalised yet; though there are bits and pieces of news about the game preparation stage to be on the new server.

Let's see how it goes this Friday, according to Songjie, on the availability of the client download.

I've reached FD6 after finishing up the minor percentage of EXP at Cave of the Conquerers, better known as cc to seasoned gamers like us after accompanying my uncle for shopping a nice shirt at the G2000 50% sale in Tampines 1, in preparation for my brother's wedding that is just around the corner.

I have to watch my percentage of time spent on the game and not be obsessed with it.

Today's the 5x EXP event again...just logged into the game and continuing my grind...but damn!  I had been nuked by Snakecoil Lady who happens to be a boss in that area...

Awaiting revival...

Songjie was “ripped” off by 2 noobs who didn’t contribute when partying and they got a piece of his mind when they were chatting away on nonsense instead. Such are not worth spending his time to help.

Rian had agreed to help me get KoG epic tonight when I’m back from Chjimes around midnight; it’s a good chance for me to also do some leveling. I’m still quite far from the bunch of them as I had not been playing as regularly as them but no worries. Since all of us are on it, go for it.

I’ve finally done the last part of the photo editing for my Bali trip.

Some grinding done and made it to FD5 but the next band of mobs, Demon Toads had proved irritating with their silly laughter…LOL…

The fatigue could be caused by the massive uploading or the early hours of grinding as there was a double EXP event which I leveled up 2 grades from 6 – 10am. That had been challenging when I woke up dreamily and moved myself to start the grind.

FD4 and halfway towards the next level!

I had dozed off at dearie’s place after arriving slightly near lunch hour, after completing the laundry and some photo editing; I had a total of 400+ pics and only the best will be published online.

Early rise at 7:30AM after almost a 12 hour slumber the night before. We decided to eat the complimentary breakfast as we don't intend to go far, considering the time left before catching out flight. Antzer had checked out much earlier as he will be doing his photoshoot for the whole morning.

A final shopping of souveniors done at Matahari, a souvenior shop near our hotel as Kevin continued to laze in the room. Finally, the shopping quest has been done! Nothing exquisite enough for me to get for my brother and Wanling, but hope it's something which I hope they'll like.

Took a pic of Oka, our driver for 2 days during our stay here, before we boarded the cab to Denpasar Airport as he was about to make his move for work.

Awaiting the plane and reached our gate before at 1:27PM.


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Jumped awoken after a series of weird dreams, of which one of them showed me riding a 150Z type of motorbike used by the locals here in Bali up into a minor road like Jalan Bukit Merah. Switchscene showed I have received a letter from a lawyer to settle an accident that occured along Havelock Road, to pay a compensation of SGD1,200 which I had never been involved in.

Sunerise at Sanur, which was about 30mins drive from Kuta area; a small hiccup as I was at thw wrong place to see sunrise at Kuta Beach. Fortunately Antzer found me at the beach just when he was calling out his name, just infront of him. We made it to Sanur and it was indeed a beautiful sight to see the sunrise!

Breakfast done at nearby MacDonalds and they still serve McJuicy, which was called MacD in local context. And oh, they have a kiwi sundae with nata de coco (coconut cubes). All for 33,000RP.

Next stop at Ubud where it's a traditonal village with minimum modern development which comprises of local handicrafts and shops are built closely to each other side by side. A couple of silverware shops could be seen too but prices are way too high.

As the stall selling roasted pork isn't open yet, we decided to walk around more. Spotted a signboard that indicated 1 hour full body massage for 60,000RP, which is relatively a good deal. After Antzer enquired with a man standing nearby, he told us wait and ran to nowhere. Antzer sensed it's not right and we decided to move off quickly.

Later we learnt over lunch, that the locals will offer the pigs for sacrification before selling, or would be after their daily prayers. The rice was served with pig intestines, fried pig skin, slices of pork and roasted pork skin; yummier than local roast pork rice.

There was a monkey forest which we didn't visit in view of our schedule.

We went on to a silverware shop which was huge, with a wide array of silverware. Managed to get a good bargain of earrings for dearie, considering it's 925 grade silver. Hope she likes it!

Over dinner at the nearby food centre where we had supper on the first evening, we learnt how much the locals detest the Malaysians as the culprit responsible for the Bali bombing in 2002 was a Malaysian who was caught and eventually sentenced to death. Many years were spent rebuilding and that's explained the reason, why the worker at the stall where we ordered dinner greeted some Malaysian tourists 'hello, long time no see, see you also not happy' in Bahasa Indonesia.

A momument was erected at the bomb site and that was what I snapped when I was waiting for Songjie shopping at Quicksilver.

We spent the later part of the evening discussing on 9D. As they were all higher levelled and experienced in the game, most of thw time was spent listening before I lay on the bed to rest before 9PM.

Seems like all of us are tired and decided to scrap the idea of visiting one of the clubs.

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Early rise at 6AM; this time we missed the sunrise which was planned at 4AM; yesterday's activities must have tire us all out and a deep sleep after a couple of beers at Hard Rock.

Managed to get a morning sight of Kuta Beach; it's long, wide and simply beautiful without obstructions to get a perfect shot. Surfers are already in the waters to catch the waves in the early hours, where sky is already all bright.

Breakfast done at KFC; they only serve a standard menu all throughout the day. Got a 2-piece chicken with a mocca float. Spiciness of the chicken is still stronger and saltier than Singapore's.

Slumber was done to catch up on what was left unfinished from last night till 1:30PM where we had lunch at a nearby cafe; nasi goreng special that came with beef satay, egg omelette and a small portion of salad.

The watersport plan was scrapped in view of the fatigue from last night but Antzer had asked around for pricing and activity from a stall where he was attended to by Komaca.

Spent the afternoon with Songjie and Kevin to shop
around Surfing Girl where he got a bikini set for an old friend, while I captured a few shots of local street life.

Dinner was done nearby and had a taste of the local ayam soto, that came with rice and their main dish had vermincelli beneath the topping. Iced sweet tea came along and Antzer ordered a beef satay that wad garnished with a special sauce making the dish very fragrant. Both yummy! I had asked Antzer that he seemed very familiar with the place and he also mentioned that getting around was actually through asking the locals. A very important advantage would be knowing the local language well.

We had made plans to visit Sanur tomorrow afternoon where there are handmade silvercrafts where I can get something for dearie, that would be, to make her prettier, and something unique to Bali.

Night activity was done in our own sub-groups. Songjie, Kevin and I decided to go to Apache KTV, nearby Surfer Girl which is open at 9pm. A VIP room size equivalent room at 300,000RP that the host mentioned 2 girls would be given. No no no, give us a break as we only want to sing and don't want any problems. We had 4 bottles of Bintan beer which 1 bottle slipped Songjie's hands from the wet label, that was





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Good morning Bali.

Rise and shine at 7:30AM and ate the complimentary breakfast. Pretty limited choice, but since it's already complimentary, just fill the stomach for now.

Today's agenda: Taman Ayu temple visit by the sea, followed by lunch stopover at a Baturi where Antzer mentioned to us yesterday evening. The climate was much cooler than the place where we stayed. We walked on the small bamboo-structured jetty but was stopped by local boatmen as the edge could noy withstand the weight of more than 2 people, so we took turns to have pictures taken.

Lunch was buffet and costs about $12/head. A quick passing shower came as it was on a highland which clouds could be seen. Air pressure was lowered so the breathing difficulty could be felt when ascending and descending from the mountain.

A short slumber from the airpressure change made the next stop more refreshing. As we were passing the farms, I could hear a snort and was awoken soon after a full charge - Antzer had dozed off with his mouth wide open.

We had also learnt from Antzer that the better-off locals build their own temples in their homes, and have statues placed at their doorway. They worship gods of Wealth, Protection and Destruction and must be dome equally. Houses can be build wide and maximum height is at 4 storeys.

Next stop, visit to Berdugul to catch the sunset where tide was low and we could walk all the way to the rocks and watch the huge waves that can't be seen in Singapore. Magnificent view!

The final stop was at Berturi a shopping area which ride was about an hour. Undercarriage scan was done and learnt from Antzer that Kuta was the place where terrorists bombed in Bali sometime back. Lots of soveniour stalls greeted us and we could get a bargain from our purchases. Got a sling bag for myself, Sihui and dearie, all at just 80,000RP which was offered at 40,000RP a piece initially. Hope dearie likes it!

The technique that was taught to us initially by Antzer was to walk away if negotiations are not successful after a few attempts. That worked for Kevin when he wanted to buy a wall deco handicraft which was offered at 50,000RP and the stallowner agreed at 30,000RP after we walked away at some distance.

Most of these places of interests are at an entrance fee of 10,000RP.

Oops, we had exceeded the 8hrs of transport service by Oka, our driver for the past 2 days; had just learnt of his name from one of the larger departmental stores when heading to get dinner, a famous Nasi Pedas and packed back as that place was jammed packed with people, and we had to order from behind the counter. Dinner for Oka was on Antzer to make up for exceeding on the agreed hours.

A kid was begging from us and Songjie told me to ignore her as such are operating from a syndicate where an overseer will deploy them around - most likely for profit purpose. His navy colleague made the wrong move by giving to one, and a group of them swamped around him after he did that. On top of that, she's wearing a set of gold earrings.

Had learnt from Antzer yesterday that locals are more flavour inclined in their diet, thus food are saltier. The chilli they eat are much spicier compared to ours. For once, I had met my match at the tongue.

The final activity for the evening was some drinks at Hard Rock pub where a live band performed. Argh, such a pity that I didn't bring A500 along. Kevin had shared with us that one of the old timers in 9D is a Pinoi musican by profession who has his own band in The Phillippines just like tonight's band. Antzer could not join us as he wanted to keep his fiancé company.

A downpour greeted us after our drink of an unusually big jug of Heinikken. Called for a cab which charges by the meter. The walk back to our hotel wasn't far, but all of us were tired from a 10-hour outing, and the rain that was impossible to get back to hotel without minimum contact with the rain. Health is more important...it was a massive jam when we had to take a detour as the street around Yulia Inn was one-way, as there was a row of clubs and discotheques behind Quicksilver's 2-storey boutique further behind Hard Rock. Cab fare was at 115,000RP and travelling time was delayed by that massive jam - optimistically, a chance to see what we haven't explored on the vicinity
where we stayed.

Earlier slumber tonight as we planned to watch sunrise tomorrow morning. A pretty good collection of pics I have. I have to bring dearie next time where we plan to have our schedule being able to match, for long waited trip via jet.


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We arrived at Denpasar airport at GMT+800, after a 2.5 hour hour flight. Airpressure change makes the flight sleepier while we stayed awale chatting in the budget airline we took; pretty mentally challenging.

The airport at Denpasar isn't as impressive compared to Singapore's; older interior with almost no improvements except for electronic devices by the local Immigration.

Antzer had arrived pretty earlier with his fiancé, and we were taken by a hired driver to our lodging place at Yulia Inn. A rather quiet place which has the resort feeling which resides in the heart of the shopping zone. Local Chinese also speak Hokkien so somewhat will be able to communicate with his fiancé where we all need to.

Finally, the first League outing!

It was already past 10PM at Bali, thus we settled for supper while chatting over recent happenings and our gameplay in 9D. The worker at the food centre could speak pretty fluent Mandarin despite being a native Indonesian. Learnt from Antzer, the locals are mostly not Muslims, thus they don't have stringent rules on the food they eat. Songjie shared about his navy colleague who dashed into Kuta beach, just opposite the food centre. Apparently, the beach has a closing timing and he was chased back by the patrols...that was certainly embarrassing for him.

Roads are narrower and less organised compared to Singapore's.

Had finally been able to sms dearie on my safe arrival after my phone could be juiced up in our Room 825 with Songjie's portable iPhone charger that was lent to him by Meg.

No free wifi? Hmm...SMS was the only way to keep in touch with dearie.

As the night was late, we decided to turn in before a full day activity the next day: as briefed by our League Guide, Antzer. A temple tour.

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I've finally levelled up after a 30min grind with the help of _Hide_ who was a CS7 Diamond Monk, to give me the HP and VE support while I did the last 20% towards FD2.

It was an achievement to keep moving ahead on the game.  Songjie said hi to me in the band chat but I couldn't reply till I finished levelling.

Another friend to keep while the game goes a long way :)

Did an update for the Facebook group of our hero league - this time, all players name are listed so as to capture those who are in the game.

Played a pretty weeny fair bit just before commencing my workout around 7pm.

I've finally got more people added and are inviting them into the newly created group which included Bryan, Marie (Andy's wife, aka Reith) and awaiting for their confirmation.   The purpose of this group was to create a closer fellowship among enthusiastic virtual pulgistist like us to get together on the long run.

Oops, I made a mistake; the event was only till Mon so the rest of the week will be a regular-levelling rate unless I put in additional effort or go for boss hunting.
Yesterday’s event was really unforgettable – the band members were all very helpful to help me revived when I was knocked out by an enemy due tot lack of VE thus unable to do a self-healing buff.

I’m almost to the next level so I’ll just have to persevere to catch up with Songjie and the rest; all of them are far ahead of me by at least 100 levels. That’s really a big leap for me. Should I do those quest or just continue to do the leveling rush?

Finally found a self-built list of the level as follow:

Losing Self (Level 1-12)
Gathering Chi (Level 13-24)
Opening Chi (Level 25-36)
Revolving Chakra (Level 37-48)
Raising Light (Level 49-60)
Five Dragons (Level 61-72)
Sun and Moon (Level 73-84)
Golden Blossoms (Level 85-96)
Elemental Crown (Level 97-108)
Floral Crown (Level 109-120) <---- Highest Level Player in US Version right now
Crimson Snake (Level 121-132) <---- Xeom hit this level before getting banned
Golden Lotus (Level 133-144)
Humble Master (Level 145-156) <---- Vietnamese Players are somewhere here
Little Master (Level 157-168) <---- Korean Players are somewhere here
Hermit (Level 169-180)
Projected Soul (Level 181-192)
Dissolved Body (Level 193-204)
Immortal (Level 205-216)
Heaven's Gate (Level 217-228)
Heavenly Immortal (Level 229-240) <---- GMs are somewhere here

Looking at my current level, I'm still very far away from Songjie who is already at Hermit level...let alone the rest; guess all of them have been playing regularly for the past years...I can keep this game going but not to invest a single cent for virtual items...ignore those notes beside as this entry was done on 18/06/2007....committed players would have gone far ahead in their levels.

Not too bad an evening as I managed to massively level up with the help of Maz, and getting revival from the help of those in our league...very nice people including Onimusha, Ting, just to name a few.

Slept about 5hours in all; had woke up at 5:30 am in view of the continuation of the game event that will be especially beneficial to my leveling; however, took a short snoozer and ended up waking up at 7am…

Well, better than none. Drifted to my PC and grinded for about 10% increase in experience points and made preparations to go to work.