Dec Post 3 - Anime, Anime Piano, YouTube Piano: For The Goals I Want. For The Life I Fight For.

Now this is waht is called CLEARING BACK LOG.

You know how blog posts are supposed to be spaced out? Like for me its supposed to be up when one video is done?

Yea so I haven't been doing that, and here I am cramming 3 blogposts to review the year, and these 3 could have been done LAST WEEK!

Well, at least the first two.。

I've been here on my seat for the whole morning, and looks like its gonna take till dinner until I'm done with some reflections and what not!

It's a long post. Let's go~

To be honest, I really can't remember all the details of events taken place through the past 10 years... all I know is that 10 years is really really long. 10 years ago I just started high school. And honestly didn't know what I wanted to do. All I knew back then was to study hard, and make sure I get my As since I didn't get my all A's during UPSR. Well, turns out fate was rather kind to me as I soared through Form 1 and 3 during PMR, and didn't have to attend tuition at all =)

Well then came Form 4, which I nearly experienced my first F for Sejarah!! OOOPSie! And damn I remember struggling with Add Maths. Haha, that was when I started attending tuition for Chemistry, Physics, and Add Maths~

Well... if i wanna continue on with all these academic stuff, its really gonna get boring even for me... Let's try thinking of NON ACADEMIC achievements. 

I believe it was 10 years ago that I decided to pick up piano again! Along the way I tried picking up guitar, but couldn't feel the passion for it as I had for piano. Then I tried going into the KPop fandom... Hmmm... not exactly sure if its worth talking about it.. OH, but the one item that has been sooo valuable to me till this day, is the day I started watching anime seriously about 4 years ago. 

I feel that anime has played a really huge part in my growing as a person. You know the saying "meet someone who can build you to more than who you are" or something similar? I've learnt more from anime about character building more than I have learnt from other people. My parents taught me well, my friends have been by my side, but friends dont necessarily have to contribute to your growth do they? Some you meet, you become friends because of interest, while some be friends with you because of how you changed because of them, both good and bad ways. 

My time with anime isn't as long as my time with the friends I grew up with. But anime gave me the pinch I needed that nobody else could have given. I was at a stage where I was being clingy, I had no courage, I had no strength to be alone, couldn't stand my ground, and was generally considered a loser. I wasn't a bad student, I wasn't one of the more famous ones, and I sure wasn't the strongest in leadership. In fact I think I sucked at it. I failed to lead a team once. But I was given the honor to lead one alongside a figure I still consider my role model to this day. He led by example, and I followed in his leadership. Together we led a team of scouts, and I dare say we were thriving under his leadership. I grew a bit more courageous through my time with him, and I honor my growth to him as well. But, we didn't stay together after graduation. We had different paths, and went our separate ways. I did my best to keep his teachings and develop my own set of skills that perhaps I could be proud to call them my own. But little did I know, I was not doing it right. I was very passive and I wasn't prepared at all to face the next stage of life. In the end, I fell hard due to my ignorance and my own weaknesses. I was WEAK. 

Anime was the catalyst that started my next character development. Time as well. In my lowest, I shunned all invitation from friends to meet up, probably wanted to stay away from people, went back to my instrument to keep practicing because I didn't want to give myself time to think of the bad things that had happened. I needed a distraction. My exam pieces were there, and so was anime. 

I learnt that anime is so much more than just Japanese animation. Because they're aren't using real faces of people/actors, you get to observe them from a more objective point of view, and you realize what characters you can relate to. I could be wrong here, but that was what I felt. I felt I suddenly saw my weaknesses portrayed in a character, and when the character suddenly "grew up" and started facing the challenges ahead, I felt so deeply moved that I promised myself to change. Simply because staying where I was personality wise was not going to help me at all. And the only thing I could reference to was anime. 

And I kept watching. Everyday. An episode or two a day. And I fell in love with anime music. So much so that I am now fairly disgusted by K-Pop band songs and English Pop songs that are so laden with sexual innuendos and have nothing more to express but heartbreak, love songs and all the goojybooboo. 

You know what anime and their songs are about? They are about how you fight for your dreams. How you fight for what you believe in. How you give your heart in everything you do. How in this world nobody is ever right or wrong. How you cherish your loved ones. How you cherish your childhood friends. How you enjoy every single thing in life, big or small, because your life is worth a story to tell. How not to give up no matter how painful it is. How to smile under all situations.... and so much more.... 

I don't think anime was a foreign thing to me. It was just that when I first watched the olden anime like Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, Yu Yu Hakusho, Law of Ueki etc... I didn't realize how flawed I would be in the future. Then in my high school days, I totally forgotten about anime, and somehow got by with playing Pokemon games haha.  I didn't know how to appreciate the lessons in anime at that point in time. It wasn't until I was slightly older that I could understand, and relate to the story, and how everything about anime is just so good. 

I'm no anime connoisseur, but I have my fair share of anime to call myself a "weeb" already. Enough as well to devote my life to playing anime songs, sharing them on YouTube. And wanting to claim back what my courage-less self cost me those years ago: a significant success in YouTube. 

Another worthy mention of this decade is my advancement into YouTube. I was led by my mentor, Ray Mak, and I have been in this for about 4 years now. Well, I'm still far from any significant achievement, and I think its really far still for me to achieve my success in YouTube. 

You see, perhaps I'm not charismatic enough to go up to even my friends and ask for their subscription... not in this industry of anime piano. We already have a God of Anime Piano, and the rest of us are just followers in his footsteps, trying to achieve what little attention is left for us. For me, I honestly wish to improve, yet I also understand that perhaps it is my being as a whole that is just not refined yet... and as such i require a lot of time to make a video. I want to make sure that my pieces are amazing, yet also playable by all. 

I'm no prodigy. Heck i think that's obvious. Everything I do takes time, and if I want to make more amazing pieces, it takes even more time! So its a constant battle of decision to go for simple playable, or amazing playable... And till this day, I wonder what my followers actually categorize me as... 

I honestly don't want to be just a YouTuber... I want to be my own YouTuber. I want people to benefit from my sheets, and I'd definitely wish to be an icon that people will know online... Getting that 100k Subscriber Trophy is my goal in YouTube. Sure, perhaps this sounds very common, everyone on YouTube says it. But I wish to set myself apart from those people. I do not want to join in the crowd that goes onto YouTube and does things to impress others with nothing of value.

So perhaps, a question worthy to ask myself is: What sets me apart from others?

I want to give value, and I take time to make sure my sheets are as accurate as possible. There are still areas for improvement, and I continuously strive to improve that 1% everyday.

It's no secret that I want that trophy.

I want it.  

I want it bad. 

I want it honorably. 

I want it respectably. 

Not through some sub4sub means. I want it through my hardwork, my practice, and my discipline to produce material every month, and to continue to improve my quality of play and videos so that I am the undisputed worthy one to claim that trophy. I want to prove my worth. And anime has imbued in me the sense of appreciation for good music, skillful expression, and unrelenting pursuit for it. And I wish to honor it. 

So friends, if you haven't yet felt the sense of loss and regret (in mandarin its called 很可惜的感觉）, then I wish you wouldn't have to feel it ever. I have tasted it slightly, and let me tell you its very, very bitter. I will continue on this road into the new decade, knowing that things will start being very different. Extremely different. 

And friends, I wish you all a good year ahead. If you haven't yet subscribed to my channel, do let me know how else I can improve. I can only work so much on my own. If you have subscribed to my channel, I also wish to know what sort of music appeals to you, so that I may enjoy it as well. Know that every subscription is a great motivation for me, and it helps build towards my goal. I wish that you, who have subscribed to my channel, to be sincerely supporting my pursuit, if not, please unsubscribe. I need less of people who play false-friends. If you haven't, then I wish to prove my worth, that I'd be worthy of your subscription =)

My pursuit, my character, and my personality, have all gone through amazing changes thanks to anime and YouTube. Without them, I believe my character would be very, very different. If any of my friends read till this end point, thank you for taking your time to understand the changes that I've undergone in the past decade. Thank you anime, and anime music, for transforming my life, and I resolve that in the new year and the new decade, I will work towards my goals, with new plans, and gratefully a new strategy to achieve them all. 

The anime that have transformed me at my lowest are below, not ranked in any particular order:
1. One Punch Man - Taught me discipline

2. Attack on Titan - Taught me to fight for your dreams no matter how scared you are

3. Tokyo Ghoul - Taught me to never give up no matter how painful it is

4. Guilty Crown - Showed me that anime music triumphs everything else

5. Your Lie in April - Taught me the beauty of practicing, and the beauty of anime music.

Those will always be the most influential anime to me. 

As a special mention, the Best Drama that I've watched is Angel's Last Mission Love

Damn that drama legit got me hooked in no time. Like seriously. If you watch K dramas often, you have got to watch that. It's seriously good. Feels all over.... For a non-anime material to be mentioned, it only means that it really left an impression on me. Damn.. I miss watching it...

Thank you anime. Thank you friends. May 2020 be a life-changing year for the better for all of us.

To the new year: I Will Write My Own Destiny. 


The video corresponding to this post is the Synthesia Tutorial for Jay Chou's I Truly Believe 我如此相信。

Subscribe if you haven't ya! I spend a lot of time doing 3 posts today when I should be studying for my papers!!! DXXX ples  help meeeee 

Dec Post 2 - Comic Fiesta 2019 and Jay Chou I Truly Believe 我如此相信

Comic Fiesta.

One of year end events that I look forward to every year.

Ever since I got into the anime fandom, I've been looking forward to Comic Fiesta 2019. That makes it about 4 years now since I got into anime. A tad late, but oh well =P

This year's one felt a bit more special, because it was at the end of a grueling fight with assignments and coursework, and I was very very excited for CF 2019.

Before this, I always chose to attend just one day of any anime related events like Animangaki and CF. However, this year, I decided I'd be going for both days.

Because I can. 8)

I went with a friend, and am quite thankful for him to have attended the event with me. But he and I had different priorities...

You see, there was a reason for me going for both days. From my previous experiences, it always felt like I didn't have enough time to fully enjoy the convention... and I wasn't about to let things be the same. Alongside looking through the art and crafts and some shirts along the way, I wanted to have some time to meet the cosplayers!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Previously, I only had time to look for one or two, then I'd be walking through the halls. This time, I wanted to meet not 2, but had planned for 5 of themmmmmm... But each of them, would normally take up to at least 2 hours to even reach them from their booth queue. If I wanted to meet all of them, there has to be a strategy in place. Which in the end, my strats was rather flawed lol.

DAY 1
Didn't waste much time to get prepared. Got up, had breakfast, and immediately took the train to the venue. My tickets were with my friend, and even though I got there like way earlier like 9am, there were already TONS of people there already. Remember that to even get a chance to meet the cosplayers, one had to buy early bird tickets, and go there AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE AND START LINING UP AT THE ENTRANCE, even if it meant waiting as early as 6am! So yeah. I got there, the queue to the venue was already so long, and my friend was still nowhere to be seen! AUGHHH!

Long story short, he also had to wade through the swarm, and by the time he reached me and we entered the hall, it was already 10am =(. By then, all the queues were already considerably long... And, sigh, sometimes being Malaysian, we have the tendency to be late. Like LATE. So according to my strat, I was supposed to be heading to one of the lines, but what I had missed out in planning was how HOT the merch those cosplayers had were. So one of them had a really beautiful Neir Automata set, and I really wanted it. I was already playing the game and I extremely love it. But I decided not to line for her first... (BIG MISTAKE!!)

So anyway, first on the list was Rikka!

I had been following her for a long while now, but just didn't have the chance to meet her before CF 2019. But now, since I had made a piano cover JUST FOR HER, I thought "Hey, why not try to meet her now =D!" (Just for her you know! I deliberately went out of my way to do a piano cover for her just because I felt like it XD) So yeah... I pre-ordered her photobook, and lined up just to meet and greet her =). And remember I mentioned Malaysians were late? Yep. She was late XD

I can't quite remember by what time the line for her actually started moving, but I vaguely remember it was about 11.50am by the time I got to her, obtained her photobook plus some freebies (some posters and a cute chick badge that was drawn for me and after me!!) , and took a pic with her. I forgot about the Instax polaroid that she had on sale too, and time constrained me totally missed the chance to have a polaroid shot with her. Aww...

Well, there goes about 1 hour and half (or more!) just waiting for her... And second on the list is Alicia <3

Alicia didn't have a booth this time for CF, but she had some really beautiful merch too (posters that were so awesomely printed) which I also pre-ordered during the period I was drowning in submissions. After I had my stuff collected from Rikka, I was checking my phone for her annoucement where Alicia would be, since she was only arriving at about 12pm. I lost count how many times I checked my phone within those 10 mins, and not to mention that I was having some connectivity issues with my internet data and the hall wifi. Finally she made a post that she would be waiting at the Traders Hotel (The event was held at KLCC). So at that point, it felt like a lot of things were going pretty well: I was in Rikka's line for quite a while until 1150am, then Alicia's post came at about 1158am, and my friend and I were planning to head out to have lunch by then. Things were coming pretty smoothly and I felt positive about getting the Nier set. So since things came along pretty much "along the way", it was a very pleasant opportunity to have met AliciaSama again after first meeting her in Animangaki 2019 ^^. And among all of the merch I got during CF, I think her's is the brightest one. Not because her print is of premium quality, but her smile is the brightest of any cosplayers I've met ^^

POST LUNCH, I headed to the next one: MON!

Ok, so I had already planned out to spend the first day going around waiting in line for the cosplayers I've been wanting to meet. So its no surprise that I'd be willing to go such lengths to wait and wait. But this is where things got really de-railed. remember the Nier Automata set I wanted? Yep she was the one with it... and yup, IT WAS GONE! SOLD OUT!

Noooooo =( I had really wanted that one... So right now, I could decide to continue to stay in line, try maybe to get some other stuff from Mon, and still get a pic with her (she was in her MASHU Cosplay!!!! Too cute!!), and head off to at least One more artist. It was really tough to decide, and I don't think my response to the situation was correct either. In the end, I decided to leave the queue and head to YingTze's line. Sigh... thinking back, I could have stayed in Mon's line and still try to get some postcards that would still warrant me to have a pic with her =( but that would mean I'd probably have to miss out on YingTze's stuffs... It was either one or the other... And I chose to go to YingTze's line. Won't know how things would have worked out if I had chosen to stay on huh...

I missed out on her cute Mashu cosplay =(

So in YingTze's line, things weren't exactly fast too. She's really famous, and people have been said to wait over 4 hours to see her! The length of the queue was really really intense too, and by the time I got to her queue, one of the assistants said to stop the queue after 3 people lined up after me!

Not sure if you can see it, but her booth is P-B-01 and 02... while I'm at P-E booth...

Dayum that's already long. So the rest of Day 1 was just me sitting, standing and reading in the line for the next 4++ hours to get a really really cute calendar of her cat family of 8 =D Oh not to mention polaroids and photos as well!!!

Ah this fanboi is happy~ By then, it was already 6pm ++ and she was clearly tired already, but she was still all smiles.. All the way to the last supporter in line. That takes character, and obviously she's experienced already, so she knows that it was really important to show at least she's happy, even though she might be feeling crappy inside. Well, at least that's what I've observed the cosplayers do... They've got a legion of fans waiting eagerly to meet them, the last thing that one can do to a fan after having to wait for HOURS is to show them displeasure... I hate to imagine what that would feel like for a fan... But at the end of day 1, I was rather pleased with the turnout, and thought maybe tomorrow I could still chance for a picture with Mon...

Day 2
EARLY START AGAIN! This time I was already holding on to my tix, and boy was the line long at 830am. It was still very much ahead from Day 1, but still not good enough to rush to the cosplayer's line. Mind you that Day 2, I had planned to scout for some stuffs for my piano and perhaps some shirts too.

 So day 2 began, the crowd went in, I waded through the entire length of the halls to reach Mon's counter again to see if I could somehow still get her Nier set. Arrived at about 930am, and queue didn't really start to move until 1015 (I think... It's been a week since the event...) or 1100am. Not sure which, but yes, TLDR, I managed to inquire about the set availability, and said that the online pre-order was still available. So i got a few simple Nier postcards, and a Violet Evergarden poster, and picture with a casual Pink Bunny Mon! <3

So I had plans to head for Angie, but given that she's also another highly in demand cosplayer, I decided not to, and decided to join with my friend to scout for some figurines!

So post lunch again, this time we wanted to head to the session for Kana Ueda, the voice of Rin Tohsaka from Fate series, and a fucking volunteer had to screw almost 100+ early fans by messing up the start of the queue into the hall. The management seemed to know about this, but didn't seem to bother.... well safe to say a lot of us were pissed because of him, and were really really disappointed about it. We were turned away... Sigh...

So as we pondered where to head next, my group of 3 (we met with another friend during lunch) decided to split for awhile, as I wanted to get some Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts shirt, and also to browse some other figurines too. So off we went. I got some waifu shirts (02 from Darling in the FranXX, and 2B from Nier Automata), a Final Fantasy shirt, Kingdom Hearts shirt, and after a much heated internal debate, got myself a Rem figurine for my piano!! YAY!! You'll start seeing it in my future videos!

By the time we regrouped, my 2 other friends had gotten an Ishtar plushie each, and it was really cute. By then it was already evening, and 2 of us (myself and the first friend) decided to stay on for the evening band performances.

So along the way to lunch and dinner, I took a pic with some amateur cosplayers outside the hall, and was not disappointed at all =)

POST Dinner, we made our way to the band stage area, and dayum, it turned out to be a night of awesomeness! Needless to say, it was rather important that I made time for this, because of what I've been doing, on and off YouTube, that it was really really a good experience to see what made a particular band stand out from the others, and how important a set of repertoire is. So in the end, it was truly truly a blessed opportunity to be able to enjoy Comic Fiesta 2019 as a student. Because the next time I return, it'd be as a member of society already...

Ah a bit of the last pic. That was when everyone was leaving the hall already, and what more to end the night by singing the Padoru song XD Everyone was just high and happy and off we went shouting HASHIRE SORI YO ..... annnndd PADORU PADORUUUUUUU!!!

All in all, it was really really enjoyable, and that a few sour factors didn't make the experience perfect, but I didn't let that affect me too much to enjoy the rest of the event. It was really and enjoyable experience, and somewhere deep inside me, I really wish for 2 things: To be able to perform in Comic Fiesta, and to be part of Alicia's rising success... well, at least that's what I'd be wishing very loosely XD I mean, cmon, who in the right mind would take in strangers to be part of their cosplay team assistants? XD But if I do end up being granted one of those wishes, it'd be a step closer to realizing my own dreams and goals as well.

SO TAKE NOTE: TO IMPROVE THE EXPERIENCE BEING AT CF: BE EARLY, and please, to you volunteers, you gotta step up your game!

Hope you enjoyed the reading!

The corresponding video for this post would be Jay Chou's I Truly Believe =)

Dec Post 1

Hi.

It's truly has been a long gap already. I can't even remember when the last time I posted a video. Ya i know that my last post HERE was about 说好不哭, but I don't think that was the last post on YouTube was that...

Needless to say, there's been some interesting things that have taken place during the month of December 2019, and I'd like to put them down for the record~

I really don't know why or how my posts about Jay Chou keeps getting the views, and my other non-Jay Chou materials just don't get any attention at all XD

SO!

I'm on my sem break already, but am actually preparing for some papers in 2020 January. Even so, I'd figure I might as well make a post about the year, and since its really the end of a decade, I have even more reason to take some time to properly do a post or 2.

They're gonna be long, so breathe well, and do feel free to click off if you feel its too much of a burden to read them~~

Prior to the sem-break, I was just insanely occupied by activities that weren't related to YouTube. Courseworks and a Chinese Orchestra concert took a huge LOAD of time away from my daily practices. The coursework was a pain to deal with, and orchestra practices were in the evening that made things even more unbearable to the coursework.

By the time I was done with practice, I wouldn't even last 30 minutes into the coursework... I was just so DEAD TIRED by then that the only stimulant that would keep me awake would be reading manga or trying out Dota Heroes. Take that away and I'd be fishing at my table already...

A bit on the orchestra. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you'd have seen an album (on Facebook) that had pictures from the concert. We had prepared for about 2-3 months for it, and you can imagine how much the preparations actually took out of us. Personally I was very very concerned about my coursework at that point in time. I really was panicking already and was frantically trying to scout for answers online and from friends, to which my lovely friends were so kind and helpful to offer some assistance.

So I was on the percussions and needless to say, despite the concerns I had in mind, I threw myself totally to giving my best to join the practices, and did my best to not complain about it. After all, it is already my last year in Uni, I might as well give my best to enjoy the moment. Oh not to mention too that the percussion team was a lovely place to be in. To be honest, the only factor that really encouraged me to stay on was for the percussion team.

We bonded really well, and since we had a few new players in, and I and my team leader were the only experienced ones, it felt like a "big brother" responsibility to make the new guys feel at home. And it was that that made me want to give my all to the orchestra, and more specifically to the percussions group. I wanted to make them at ease with what they were doing, and so I stayed on.

If that still doesn't sound quite legit or sounds one bit cliche, well then I guess I'm abit too distracted as I am now thinking already of the next posting LUL. Anyway, maybe deep inside there was a part of me that wanted to sincerely lookout for others, and be the reliable one in situations, that motivated me to stay on, even knowing that I had my coursework and assignments on the line for this concert. I mean, I'm not comfortable giving excuses, so since I've already come this far in the preparations, I might as well give it my all to enjoy the performance day.

And here's some of the stuff I had the privileged to go bongo on~

Snares... My nightmare.

So it finally came! This time was in fact more exciting than last year's cuz we actually had costumes ordered for the concert! Now it's definitely not my first time donning on some proper attire for a show, but it was definitely my first having to put on some Chinese cultural attire for a Chinese Orchestra concert. Needless to say, it felt really good putting it on.

The concert itself was held for 2 sessions: one in the afternoon (matinee) and an evening slot. A list of 14 pieces (including encore) was presented. Mom and Dad came for the afternoon session, and to my utmost satisfaction, they truly enjoyed it. Especially my Dad. Our opening piece was Matsuri from Kitaro, and my Dad is a hardcore Kitaro fan. Back then during the preparations, I didn't know it was called Matsuri, but I knew what piece from Kitaro my father liked the most. So when we practiced for the first time, I kinda knew that he would like this piece. Other than that, my parents enjoyed one of the encore pieces Tequila, and I guess they were really really happy to have come for the concert this time, and I'm really really happy that they left very very satisfied.

So that's for the concert, and now for the Darn Coursework =)

I don't think its worth to mention how much strain I had just getting it done. It was about designing a motor control with a flexible shaft, and damn was it tough. It took away my days of self practice, and took away everything I knew about myself LEL. Initially I had thought of pursuing a career in systems control, but not anymore~

And Finally when 16th of Dec came, it was submission day and I sent it away through the submission portal. OH THERE WAS ANOTHER ASSIGNMENT DUE ON THE SAME DATE TOO!!

But that was already half done, so it was not too much of a bother to me. Well imagine the bliss I felt after handing in those reports. I blacked out later that evening at about 9pm all the way to 4am on my bed the following day, and I enjoyed the next 2 days binge watching anime hahahahahahah

In total, i finished Fate/Grand Order, Promised Neverland, and caught up with My Hero Academia to the latest episode. And Azur Lane as well!

It was enjoyment to the max~

Ah, it's hard to believe that it was only 2 weeks ago from the point of writing this, and it feels really long. From then on, I started packing to head home for awhile, and of course, go on the annual pilgrimage to an event I look forward to every year: Comic Fiesta.

So in case you're wondering which post this corresponds to, if I'm not mistaken, its for Eric Chou's Something About LA video, which you can find it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIHPOVcDHtE&list=PLxbT1Z-s0rolU2Fh32rnMQ-miyNqVeKrl&index=2&t=0s

Next post is about Comic Fiesta 2019!