It's Atoll or nothing

God, another pun?  Well, it has been a bit of a slow week this week and I’ve not much to talk about in terms of my life, so I was stumped about what to write about this week.  I could talk about some items in the news (the Oscar murder trials anyone??  And that was just for bail???) but I’m not sure how that would be received.  So last night, I was thinking that I would have to miss a week, breaking my streak but as I crawled defeated into my bed of shame, it struck me!  Project Atoll!  My saving grace!  No matter what happens to me or how slow a week is, I can always talk about my project like that father who keeps showing you pictures of his kid at every opportunity.  So yay me!

I spoke about it a little last week and when I first introduced it but it was fairly brief and I don’t think it covered a lot of information, so this week, I will try to cover some key topics and motivations as well as introduce the slightly expanded main characters.  Plus I can pretend I’m a little famous…

Project Atoll Part 2

What the hell happened to ‘Where the Wolves Wandered’, you big fat phoney!

As mentioned months and months ago, I have been working on a project called ‘Where the Wolves Wandered’ and all of a sudden, I’m now working on ‘Project Atoll’.  Whilst I am still working on ‘Where the Wolves Wander’, I decided to concentrate on a much smaller project to get my foot in the door.  For WtWW, I plan for it to be a long running shōnen series, in the style of Naruto, Bleach or Sword Art Online.  Should everything go well, I would love for it to become an entire universe with spin-offs, video games and films based on it.  However, to do that before I’m even in the industry would be a herculean task which, in all likelihood, would fail.

It was because of this that I decided to re-evaluate my plan and thus ‘Project Atoll’ was born.  ‘Project Atoll’ will be a significantly shorter manga series or visual novel, similar to ‘PS I Love You’ or ‘Devil Gene R’, perhaps one day expanding into an anime series.  Doing it this way seems to be a more manageable first step to take.

It’s loosely based on my life

When I say that, I mean very loosely.  For example, I do not live in Hong Kong nor am I about to join a band (dear god, imagine me in the outfits that visual kei bands wear).  How it is based loosely on my life is through the idea of becoming an ex-pat and subsequently experiencing isolation and acceptance as a result if this.  Having moved to Nepal, although I have enjoyed 95% of it, I have often felt isolated from my friends and family and felt like an alien during certain situations.  But that’s normal and what has got me through it is the welcoming attitude and kindness of my friends and colleagues here (and the support of my friends/family at home as well), and that is something that I will write about in ‘Project Atoll’ as well.  Also, the main character will be created to look a little like me but that’s more of a power trip than anything else.

Why Hong Kong?

I’m sure that many of you are surprised that Japan was not my immediate go-to for location as most manga/anime are set there and I never shut up about it (I can attest to that - Ed).  I did think about using Japan as the location but I think that Hong Kong offers up a different style of location which appeals to me aesthetically (for the story) and I know that it suits some of the key events I have planned.  For example, there is going to be a scene where Curtis is at his lowest point and is evaluating his life whilst standing in front of the harbour water, against a backdrop of glittering skyscrapers which slowly grow darker (and the water rougher) as he becomes more and more depressed.  For me, Hong Kong Harbour suits this perfectly.

Visual Kei?  Wait, What? 

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Visual Kei is a stylised movement within Japanese music combining over the top hair styles and flamboyant costumes with glam rock and punk. 

So why am I including it?  Well, because I enjoy the music mostly.  It has become a huge part of my musical repertoire and would love to write something that includes it (especially as it could include some humourous, light-hearted moments to the story).  Also, should it ever become a visual novel or an anime series, it would be really fun to be able to include some actual songs within the series.  

Meet the Family

Finally, it’s time to meet the stars of the show who have been fleshed out a little.

Curtis Trate:

Sex: Male
Age: 22
Nationality: British
Favourite Food: Noodles and Tempura
Least Favourite Food: Mussels
Personality:  Friendly but shy
Description: Having moved to Hong Kong to take up a dream internship at the European , Curtis enjoys himself at first but due to his near crippling shyness and previous history of depression/self-harm, he becomes more isolated and depressed as he feels he cannot connect.  Despite this, he is a friendly and outgoing person when with friends.  He loves to cook, watch anime and sing.

Xin-na Shae:

Sex: Female
Age: 24
Nationality: Chinese (Hong Kong)
Favourite Food: Sushi
Least Favourite: Fried Rice
Personality: Loyal and kind but easy to push around
Description: Coming from a hard-working, simple family, Xin-na leaped at the opportunity to work at the embassy and has been a great asset to them.  Hardworking and very kind, she is liked by everyone she meets and instantly catches the eye of Curtis.  Despite being attracted to him, she feels flustered around him, despite not being shy, but eventually is able to open up to him.

Rinoa Ling:

Sex: Female
Age: 20
Nationality: Chinese (Beijing)
Favourite food: Chips
Least favourite: Fish
Description: Despite having a Masters in Biology, Rinoa decided to pursuit her dream of becoming a drummer in a visual kei band and currently lives in the same building as Curtis.  However, she also supports herself as a research assistant in a private university.  She is fairly outspoken and bent on both learning and her music. 

Pick of the Week

GOG - Looking for some damn good value, old school video games that are tuned to work with your computer, so you don't need to work out how to get them started?  Check out GOG.com for your fix!  I'm talking everything from Fallout 1 to Rollercoaster Tycoon to Simcity to Thief!  This is a great website for a cheap video game fix (Just bought The Witcher for £3.50) or if you're feeling nostalgic. 

Music of the Week 

One of my favourite artists just released a new single which has become the first single that I've bought in years, so that is my song of the week:  Miyavi - Ahead of the light.  Enjoy!

Well, that's it from me this week.  Thank you for taking time to read my narcissistic ramblings about my pet project!  I'm really enjoying working on it and if you have any interest in it, let me know!  Also, don't forget to like the facebook page for this blog!

Please, no egg-cruciating puns

This week it's going to be a pretty short post, for two reasons.  The first is that I have had a lot on my mind right now, each idea tugging for that little bit of extra attention and I haven’t had much time to sit down and think about what I was going to write about.  Even if I did have something, I’m not sure that it would be great, as my time is currently being consumed elsewhere. 

The second reason is that I am currently wrestling with some sort of hybrid nose/throat cold thing that is so evil, it should only be spoken about in hushed tones, lest we anger it.  In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s going to have a significant role in Paranormal 12 as the primary antagonist.  OK, I may be exaggerating slightly but it’s not the greatest motivational tool to wake up feeling like I’ve swallowed red hot glass just before snorting quick-drying cement.  So, I’ve decided to take it easy by curling up on my couch with a ridiculous amount of tea and a blanket, just so I can sum up the energy to continue with my Sunday Cooking Challenge.  So, instead of doing a regular blog post, I just figured I would do a quick overview of anything interesting that happened this week.

·         Sunday Cooking Challenge: This is something I started about 5 weeks ago as my cooking was beginning to suffer and I was making the same things over and over again as I work full-time and only ever cook for myself (forever alone – Internet meme ed).  This became pretty depressing, as I enjoy good food and enjoy cooking as well.  So, to force myself out of this spiral, I decided to spend time every Sunday cooking something a bit more complicated or that I haven't done before, to help reignite my passion for cooking.  So now I decide on Friday what I want to make (via recipe books, websites etc), buy the ingredients on Saturday, then cook them on Sunday.  So far it has been a great success; giving me something to look forward to and has even acted as a catalyst for eating better during the week, especially when I have left-overs.  Things I have made so far include

o   Chicken and Cheddar Dumplings

o   Japanese Ramen

o   Sesame Noodles

o   Spaghetti with oil, garlic and chilli

o   Fabada

I invite you all to join me in my weekly challenge!  Next week I’ll be making Asian meatballs and tonight I will be redoing chicken and cheddar dumplings, as I now have the proper ingredients.

·         The Great Debate: ‘What came first: the chicken or the egg’ is no longer the great egg debate.  Nope it’s been replaced with how to make an omelette.  Thank you to everyone who gave me advice on how to make my first omelette!  I’ll keep you all posted on how much of a train wreck it is, as I suck at frying things such as pancakes.

·         Project Atoll: Despite being distracted, I have actually managed to take this further as planned.  I have fleshed out the general premise and have also started to add more detail to the various characters, as well as added a dog to the character list.  Not only this but I am even in talk with a couple of artists to get some character designs created.  Whilst it may be too early to get this started, I want to get some visuals to help my thought process a little.

Pick of the Week

X-Com Enemy Unknown - Aliens are attacking the earth and it is up to you to save the earth from certain doom.  For those who don't know, X-Com isn't another Spielberg film but a strategy game where you manage a team of elite soldiers who are sent to multiple alien situations, whilst also managing the companies finances and research decisions.  

Where the game excels is forcing you make hard decisions whilst trying to ensure a balance, as you never have enough resources or time to do everything.  In battle, do you send your soldiers rushing in to rescue civilians but at the risk of exposure or do you hang back to maintain defence but at the death of the civilians?  Do you try to capture them alive, meaning you need to get close or do you just attack to survive?  In finance, do you spend money on researching better armour or more powerful weapons?  Which country to you send a new satellite over, to reduce panic?  If you make a wrong decision, your trained soldiers die or countries can withdraw funding from your program.  

This is an enjoyable strategy game with great customisation options, replay value and tense gameplay that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat.  Best of all, it requires you to sit and plan and engages you at every turn.

Music of the Week

Time for this weeks' song and as usual, it has one that I have been listening to recently.  Disbelief - Rewind it all.   This is a band I discovered back when I was in university and this particular song has stuck with me ever since.

Ok, that's it for me this week.  If you need me, I will be burrowed deeply underneath a heavy blanket, so I would recommend that you bring a headtorch to find me.

One-way Ticket Loves You!

Well now, carrying on a tradition of not having a valentine on valentines day, I decided to make a short post instead!  On a plus point, I did get a flower, which took me by surprise.  Having returned home, my maid had left me a flower.  Made my day!

 

However, all I really wanted to say was 'Happy Valentines' to all and for any singles out there, one-way ticket will be your valentine!  Tuxedo Mask also wishes you a happy valentines and trust me, he is much more romantic than I am, so it means that much more! 

Atoll you that it was going to be good

It’s that time of the week already?  Time flies at a rate of roughly 60 second per minute.  It is also worth noting, that despite having already had multiple posts this year, this is the first time in a while that I have had to write something from scratch for this blog.  Pressure!  Now, there are a lot of things that I could talk about e.g. my holiday to Italy, Christmas or Valentine ’s Day (Single again!) but these will come later.  No, this week I am going to talk about two steps forward that I've took this week, aimed at helping me achieve my goals (including the revealing of Project Atoll).

However, to do that, let us think back to the past: back before I donned a shirt and tie; back before I moved to Nepal; even back before I wrote my long list of goals.  I’m talking all the way back to first ever blog post I wrote.  Don’t worry, I’ll give you a second to go back and refresh your memory.

.

..

…

Ok, now if you recall to that first, poorly written post, I mention that this blog was created to cover my four goals in life, the first being to live in Asia.  Now, for those of you who are particularly astute, you will be thinking 

‘Robbie, you’ve already completed your goal!  Congratulations, now where is the champagne?’  

Well, hold that champagne cork!  If you fast forward to another blog entry I wrote much later, I then narrowed that down to ‘visit/live in Japan’.  At which point, you are now thinking:

‘Robbie, you visited Japan!  Let’s break out the party balloons and the nibbles!  You did it!’ 

Well now, you’re quite right.  I did achieve that particular goal but don’t break out the Gouda just yet.  Having visited Japan, it has strengthened my resolved to actually live in Japan sometime in the future (Just in case the last 6 blog entries didn’t give you the clue – Ed) and as such, I should probably make an attempt to learn the language.  So, this is step forward number 1:  I recently purchased a language pack to try and learn spoken Japanese (I may hold off on written Japanese for a while).  Alas, it is via KGB deals, so I have to wait until the deal ends to dowload it but once I receive it, I will say sayonara to my lack of Japanese language (Awful – Ed).    

So, onto the main event.  The headliner.  The big reveal.  Other cliché phrases.  Yes, I am talking about the reveal of Project Atoll.  But before I do that, I would like to apologise about the clues from last week.  In hindsight, I do not think that anyone would have got them other than me, which kind of defies the point, though I never said I would play fair.  Anyway, here it is:

Project Atoll

As you may or may not know, one of my life goals is to become a writer/director and also to create an anime series.  In fact, many blogs posts ago, I even revealed a project I am currently working on called ‘Where the Wolves Wander’ but in moment of reflection, I realised I was trying run before I could walk.  You see, my plan for this particular series is for it be a huge universe, not just a short series: the Star Wars of the anime world, if you will.  I aim for it to have multiple spin-offs, a deep and rich back story and for it to be available across multiple mediums, which will be difficult to achieve as my first project.  So, I decided to start a little smaller, with either a visual novel or short manga series which I have started working on, to help get a foot in the door.  The general idea is to examine the isolation that people can feel, especially as an ex-pat, but also to examine the journey that people take trying to achieve their goals.  Here is what I have so far:

Premise

 

The story begins with a young man travelling to Hong Kong from the UK for a new job, and follows him on his new adventure.  Despite enjoying himself to begin with, as time goes on, the new culture begins to affect him and he starts to become more isolated and depressed, withdrawing from the world. 

Whilst this is happening, a young lady and her band are practising as an instrumental band but decide they need a vocalist to move ahead.  Eventually, she overhears the young man singing a fairly depressing song in his apartment and starts trying to convince him to join the band, eventually succeeding.

After he joins, they begin to style him into a visual kei star and they start to promote the band further.  He also starts to pursue a girl that he works with, who had caught his eye when he moved.

Setting

Hong Kong

Special effect  (if visual novel)

As he becomes more withdrawn and depressed, the world around him slowly loses colour until it is grey.  When he first meets the Rinoa Fell, she is shown in a blinding vision of colour and then as it subsides, is the only colour in the room.  As time goes on, colour is slowly added back to the worl.  This only occurs when he is involved, colour is normal for other characters.

Main Characters 

Curtis Trate – Young man, 22, moved to Hong Kong for an internship with the European Embassy.  Shy

Xin na Shae – The young lady whom works with Curtis.  Very shy

Rinoa Fell – Guitarist for a visual kei style band and neighbour of Curtis.

As you can tell, it’s still in a very rough form but I am going to write up a schedule so that I have something a bit more concrete to work towards.  I generally plan for the writing to be done in a couple of months and, to be even more optimistic, the drawing to be nearly finished by New Year.  To this end, I’ve started scoping out artists who might be able to help but I don’t plan to recruit anyone until I’ve got something a little more concrete.  I've also been chatting to someone who has designed visual novels before to try and get a little advice as well.  As a form of incentive, I plan to reveal key pieces of information on my blog as well, so you all can kick me into action if I’m not working fast enough!  Well, there you go!  Feel free to contribute, critique, laugh or ignore!

Pick of the Week

Sun Jar - Ok, this week I am going to recommend the Sun Jar, an innovative and useful tool, especially for people who live in areas with loadshedding.  Now, I was given this for Christmas from a friend (thanks John!) as I currently live in Nepal, a country that currently receives 12 hours of loadshedding a day, recently down from 14.  The premise is simple: you put the jar in direct sunlight, it charges the battery and when you need the light, it switches on.  Simple and effective!  In my case, I use it for when my battery runs out and I'm left in the dark but you can use it however you want!  Want to save a little bit of money on your electricity bill?  Buy a couple and use them when it gets dark.  Want some ambience in your garden?  It's waterproof so you can use it outside, plus it can turn on automatically when it gets dark, so you don't need to go outside!  You store pickle, jam and medical specimins in jars, so why not sunshine???  Buy it now!

Music of the Week

Another easy choice this week, as the song has been stuck in my head all week.  Imagine Dragons - Radioactive, enjoy!

So, that's it from me this week.  Again, any comments or advice on Project Atoll is more than welcome!  I might even have a little more substance for you next week!  Finally, if you're interested in helping or can draw (or know somebody who can), let me know! 

The end is here...and it was delicious!

Well now, it is almost time for the final part of my Japan blog but before we get to that, there are a couple of things I feel the need to mention.  The first is that I have learned a crucial rule when buying/eating food, one that probably applies to most things in life.  If it is so big that it collapses under its own weight, then it is probably too damn big and it ruins the meal.  Please see the picture below for reference.  Secondly, in the spirit of the upcoming valentines day, I am making a slight amendment to my previous life goal, in that I am actually trying to get a date with someone else, not Ellen Page.  Should I be successful, it will have to be in the future sadly (due to the whole being in Nepal thing).  However, more on that another time. 

 

Ok, now it is time for the last Japan entry…you see, I could have finished writing about Japan last week but I really wanted to focus on a particular meal I had so I decided to combine the meal and the epilogue together.  So, the finale:

Part 4.5 – The Last Supper        

As mentioned several weeks ago (actually months – Ed), I mentioned about a meal I bought for my mum as her birthday present as I thought it would be a really unique and interesting experience for both of us.  I was not wrong.  In Japan, there is a very traditional meal, the Kaiseki meal, which is a multi-course dinner designed to balance the flavor, texture, appearance and colour of fresh seasonal items.  By doing so, the flavour of the food is enhanced and the meal becomes an actual experience.  After a lot of deliberation, I decided upon Kikunoi, a highly recommended, 3 Michelin star traditional restaurant I found through extensive online searching.  I’m really glad I did, as the experience was fantastic.

Having decided to get a taxi to the restaurant (thankfully, as I had planned to walk there but it appeared to be much more complicated than I thought), we were greeted by a suited greeter who opened our doors and took our jackets and umbrellas.  As we entered the restaurant lobby, we were met by our hostess (the person who would serve us for the entire meal), who was dressed in a Kimono, and escorted to our private dining room which was beautifully decorated.  The room itself was done in the traditional way, with tatami mats, a small centre table and a relaxing view from the window.

  

Once we had settled on the floor, we were brought a small cup of roasted green tea (so good, I ended up having to buy some for my friends and I) and asked if we wanted a drink.  Once our beer came, we then experienced the most extravagant meal that I have ever had. Please note, sitting on the floor for so long can be uncomfortable, so take this into account if you decide to try it.

As part of the ceremony, our hostess, who would bring in each course individually, would bow as she entered and exited the room, whilst making sure our drinks were topped up and that we were enjoying ourselves.  She would also explain to us the different dishes and how to eat the more confusing ones.  Moving onto the individual dishes (see below for the menu), each was beautifully laid out, on individual trays and in ways that accentuated the colours and the ingredients.  In many cases, I actually felt guilty for eating the food and ruining the design.  Here is what we were served:

·         Appetizers: Poached angler fish liver; mibuna and shimeji mushrooms; Karasumi (dried mullet roe); Kuwai chips; duck liver pate with white poppy seeds; maple leaf-shaped cuttlefish and sea urchin; pine needle-shapped tea noodles; sake-glazed gingko nuts; and an edible kombu basket

  

·         Sashimi of tai (red sea bream) and Koshibi (young Bluefin tuna), wasabi, vinegared chrysanthemum petals, mixed sprouts, udo stalks and carrots

·         Red wakasa tilefish steamed with chestnut and millet, baby daikon radish tied with kintoku carrot, yuzu peel and chrysanthemum sauce

·         Salad of persimmon, daikon radish, carrot, chrysanthemum petals, mitsuba herbs, yuzu and sesame dressing

  

·         Simmered densuke anago eel, poached turnip, ebi taro, kintoki carrot, gingers and greens

·         Mochi rice with chicken and chestnuts, nappa cabbage soups, pickled nappa cabbage and pickled thistle roots

  

·         Daishiro persimmon splashed with brandy

·         Ceremonial green tea and Japanese sweets     

This, as you may have guessed, was an epic meal in every sense of the word and was genuinely delicious (HUGE praise coming from somebody who isn’t the biggest fan of fish - Ed).  Plus, I learned not to put a large dollop of wasabi on sashimi.  It will make you gag!  Other than that, this was one of the highlights of the trip and really gave a great view of Japanese cooking and traditions.  Finally, at the end of the meal, we were given our embroidered napkins and they even called us a taxi and waved us off.  

Part 5 – The Curtain Call

I would like to make a belated apology for the passengers on my flight, in case they heard the sound of a baby howling.  That was not a baby, it was me horribly distressed at having to leave.  So, er, sorry about that (Joking, of course but still very sad to leave).  So, what can I say about Japan?  The first thing is that I loved it (They probably guessed that already - Ed).  Not only did it meet my expectations but went well beyond it, in that it felt like I could one day call it home.  One of the biggest things that amazed me was how polite and friendly everybody was.  People would always say thank you or greet you if you came into their shop or home; they would bow in a variety of situations; they won't push through you; and most of all, they will actively help you.  I've visited a variety of countries and it's not often a local will approach you to try and help you but it happened a multitude of times in my time in Japan.  As I was traveling with my mum, I saw a complete stranger take a handle (or the entire case) and help my mum carry the case (I would be carrying the other cases or be on my way to help I should point out).  This actually happened several times.  It was just refreshing.

Not only this but I found it a good balance between tradition and cutting edge. You can easily visit a still used and beautifully ornate temple before returning to your heated toilet seats and high-speed bullet trains.  You can get traditional Japanese food next to a Subway or a French restaurant.  It's very clean and surprisingly quiet: not once did I hear a single phone going off on a train or bus as you a required to have them on silent plus people don’t tend to shout or scream in the streets.  However, don’t get me wrong: this does not mean it is dull and lacking in character.  There is a quiet and friendly buzz in the major streets that made them feel alive and welcoming.   

I'm not going to rant on about it (seemingly 6 weeks of posts do not count as ranting - ed) but I will just sum it up: I well and truly loved visiting Japan and it has knocked Hong Kong off the number one spot.  From my point of view, Japan managed to score top points in all areas: great food; amazing sightseeing; rich culture; modern cities; and a friendly atmosphere and for me, it was a wonderful place to visit and I will be back one day: either to live or just to visit. 

Pick of the week

Far Cry 3 - It's been a while since I recommended a video game but the game is brilliant.  The story is simple: you, along with your friends and family are kidnapped by crazy pirates whilst on a tropical island.  Fairly cliche, yes but it is the game itself that is brilliant.  You are let loose on an absolutely huge and insane island.  Following the quests are possible or you can do side quests or you can merely run around the island causing chaos, starting fires and hunting animals.  Personally, I enjoy liberating island outposts from the pirates using a bow and arrows...yes, I get to live out being Green Arrow.  IT IS AWESOME.    However, you can play it your way.  Do you want to go in steathily or drive into a camp and jump out of the car with a shotgun?  Do you want to snipe from afar or lay explosive traps everywhere?  It is up to you.  What's more, it is random...I was playing this afternoon and spent ages staking out an outpost and what happens?  A tiger runs into the camp and kills all the pirates, liberating it without me moving.   This game is a huge amount of fun with a great setting, strong combat and customisation and it is done incredibly well.  Buy it.

Music of the week

Recently, I interviews Random, as he created the Black Materia album and I was recently informed of a remix album that he did.  This resulted on a remix of Random with Linkin Park: Pts. of Sepiroth and it is brilliant.  Check it out.

Ok that is Japan finally done, so next week I will be introducing my new project: Project Atoll.  So, what is this project you ask?  Well, better read next week to find out but I will leave you with three picture clues to get you thinking.