Journeying across half a world, diving into a daring enterprise that is university life, and being separated from all I know and love — except for one of my stuffies, Squeeee; there were a lot of unexpected changes in my life that made me do a double-take.
And he’s happy to see you!
Some were simple oddities such as finding out my Nokia Lumia 920 isn’t as ocean-water-proof as I hoped, or how “color” and “neighbors” are now apparently incorrectly spelled. Others are somewhat annoying — like how it costs practically double just to separate the whites from the not-whites in the laundry (looks like I’ll be making myself more coloured T-shirts in the coming weeks). What really made me do a double-double take was how many old Asian people there are everywhere (and I was living in Asia before this) and to my terror; how jay-walking is… a thing now.
In fact, with all the time I spend here eating, sleeping, procrastinating, clubbing (the Dance Club-like club activities I mean, like this blog post right here! :D) and actually doing work, I barely have any time to lose myself in the righteous embrace of my first… no wait, second (third?) love of my life: videogames (my first love would be the plane and volleyball porn featurette, Top Gun). It has been almost forever since I last cornered my foes in a 10+ hour Civilization marathon and even longer since I last tea-bagged a noob in a good ol’ Halo brawl (am I too old for that?).
Taste my Jasmines! (Giantbomb.com)
What makes this so much more exasperating to bear? It’s the season for game releases! Just in the past few months, we’ve seen the releases of Saints Row IV (which isn’t really new anymore), Grand Theft Auto V, Assassin’s Creed IV, Call of Duty (the 10th?), Battlefield 4, etc. (forgive me for only mentioning these big hitters rather than plunge into the indie scene and what not, but you get the idea, ‘tis the season!). Why, just a few doors down my dorm hallway I can hear the bustling Tom-foolery of a dorm-mate playing GTA V, but I daren’t risk a peek! I still have to preserve the aura of mystery for when I finally get my chance to sink back into the gaming world, however long that may take. It is odd and painful, but I must persevere, for the good of the game! (No spoilers anyone please. Nobody likes a spoilerface :()
Interestingly even some of my studies have left me with a lusty craving for a slice of videogame pie. Why, I was just reading about how the disciplined armies of the mighty Chinese warlord Koxinga, bested Dutch musketeers by ravaging them with his awesome Iron Man troops. I mean sure, it was horrible like all wars are, but these kinds of readings sure do inspire my patriotic-history boner (I can’t help it). And if the name “Ming Iron Troop” sounds familiar to anyone of you, that’s because those are the very soldiers featured in the Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties expansion!
Eat my flames traditionalist history! (ageofempires3.com)
The game fits the narrative so wonderfully – allowing me to kick Imperial-European butt as the ancients of my people (huehue), but alas, this would take up time that I do not have. I have a lot to look forward to once exams are done, but meanwhile I’ll have to suffice with the endless activities of the Dance Club (#plug!) and my weekly dose of the Legends of Korra… which could be the topic of my next post! Hoorah!
Timothy Tan
– Photographer/Videographer
