Two Lives

Cryptic #2

Cheek — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:07:42 +0000

Total: 3.

Betrayal

Cheek — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:09:03 +0000

This just sums up the Top 2 Performance episode of American Idol.

Ding SCH 60!

Sodalitas — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:31:44 +0000

Scholar AF looks really nice with the mortarboard and omgHARRYPOTTERGLASSES! On a side note, I really should stop playing for a bit and go study for my exams. orz

But Geohelix at 61!

Of Chuk-Chuks and Jellyfish

Cheek — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:52:48 +0000

Last Friday, half the whole Biodiversity lecture group went to Changi Beach to learn about the wildlife in Singapore. Initially I thought it’d be quite a boring trip. I mean, it’s… Changi Beach. What’s going to be so interesting about that?

Apparently, quite a lot. We started off by the coast of the “river” where all the kayaks and small boats usually are, and Uncle Jeffrey (otherwise known as our Teaching Assistant) started explaining about sublittoral, intralittoral and supralittoral zones and what they mean. Boring right? People then started asking about the stuff they were seeing around the place – the crabs, sea stars, etc. One of them came across a chuk-chuk shell, and in trying to describe what a chuk-chuk was, Uncle Jeffrey said that it was a shellfish that people ate at seafood restaurants. Eventually, we moved on to more interesting stuff. Like jellyfish!

Another TA passed us something soft, jiggly, and clear – like jelly (no, DUH). It was a jellyfish with most of its tentacles gone, and it was almost dying. So what did we do with it? Somehow, Uncle Jeffrey mentioned that that clear blob we were holding on to was edible since it was made up of mainly seawater. Then:-

Kah Chun: Why don’t you try eating it?
Uncle Jeffrey: I’ll eat it if you eat it.
Kah Chun: OK.
Uncle Jeffrey: (takes a huge bite out of the jellyfish carcass)
Everyone: ZOMG!!
Kah Chun: (takes a bite out of the jellyfish carcass)
Everyone: ZOMG!! Hmm…
Everyone: (takes small chunks of jellyfish carcass and eats them)

FOR REAL. WE ATE RAW JELLYFISH FROM THE SEA. For the record, yes, it was very salty.

After that, we went trawling the sea for little organisms! That was pretty fun. Basically, we dragged a net across the sea bed, and then checked to see what we caught. We ended up catching a prawn, some pipefish, more jellyfish carcasses (one of them was still alive I think @_@), a couple crabs, and a sea squirt, which apparently isn’t a very common find!

After the field trip, most of our bench members went to Changi Village for dinner! We ordered chuk-chuk, which amused me to no end. It didn’t really have a flavour other than the sauce it was cooked in; I think people eat them just for the fun of sucking out the meaty parts from inside the shell, and making the chuk-chuk sounds! Some parts were green in colour – a bit off-putting. And I don’t think any of us are going to forget the word operculum any time soon! Almost every chuk-chuk still had the operculum intact!

Year 1, Semester 2

Cheek — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:17:48 +0000

Semester 1′s over, and I got a grade of every shade between A and B-, for a CAP of 4.0. It’s not fantastic, but they’re not shabby either. Just need to work harder this semester, and perhaps give that Law and Life Science double degree more thought. It sort of just fell off my academic road map – I don’t really know why I’d want to earn that double degree either, and if it were not for Kaili’s reminder about its existence, I might have completely forgotten about it. Hmmm. While that simmers in the brain, these are the modules that I’m taking this semester…

ST1232 – Statistics for Life Sciences

Aversion to Mathematics is like a reflex to me, but alas, this is a pre-allocated module and I have to take it. Mr Mick Jagger wrote, “You can’t always get what you want”. I suppose it also means I can’t always reject what I don’t want. Just have to plough through this and hope for the best! I did enjoy the Statistics option at A Level Maths though, and that should at least help me get settled into this module.

LSM1103 – Biodiversity

Another pre-allocated module, but one that I fully expect to come to love, despite the intimidating syllabus outline. Parazoa, Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Ecdysozoa and Deuterostomes etc. My memory bank is already complaining! I hear it’s difficult to do well in this module, though having more fun with microbes should be a comfort. Plus, the practical sessions are mostly field trips, including one to the zoo! We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo~ How about you, you, you~?

CM1101 – Principles of Modern Chemistry

A Chemistry elective module, just in case I decide to pursue a Chemistry minor or second major, and the module code and name just says it all – this is very likely a foundation module upon which everything will be built upon. Also, Zhong Wei got an A+ for this last semester, so I know I have someone to bug if I have problems with this module

LAJ1201 – Japanese 1

I’m doing this so I can actually communicate a little better with my Japanese friends in FFXI. I know it probably sounds like a very frivolous reason, but hey, this blog is called “Two Lives” for a reason. And you never know when knowing some Japanese could come in useful! (Like that quaint ramen joint tucked away in Central!) Yong Ping’s taking this module too, so I won’t feel all lost around FASS, heh. Jason’s doing Japanese 2, so that means I can go bug him with questions about Japanese too! I’m such a leech.

IT1001 – Introduction to Computing

I’m actually fairly good with computer stuff (go go me calling it computer stuff), and one of the projects is to make a website, which will likely not be tough at all. And the final exam has a (deceptively??) easy open-book MCQ section. Plus learning about computer hardware! What’s not to like? <3 <3 <3

Here’s looking forward to a great semester ahead!

Procrastinate

Cheek — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:05:07 +0000

I accomplished nothing of substance this week. What I could put off, I put off, and it has come back to bite me in the ass. Apparently, my reading skills have deteriorated to such a degree that I misread an assignment deadline extension which led to me missing the deadline altogether. >_< My drafts for the assignment were mostly alright about a week ago, and only needed a bit of tweaking and a few readjustments, something I could’ve done in an hour, tops. But I decided to finish it in the very last few hours before the deadline closed. To my horror, the deadline was 12 noon, not 12 midnight. So I was 10 hours late. Did I mention this assignment accounts for 30% of the final module grade? Here’s to hoping my tutor will accept the late submission. Either way, I’m probably going to incur a penalty. Oh well. /sadpanda.

Merit Blood Pact Tests #2

Sodalitas — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:26:59 +0000

In my last post, I mentioned I pumped another 5 merits into Wind Blade to raise it to level 3. Since I had previously done some merit BP tests for Lv1 and Lv2 and they prompted another question, I went ahead and did a few more tests at Lv 3. The question I wanted an answer to was: Regarding TP bonus per level, is it 40% as per in-game descriptions or 60% as per experimentally derived values?

Target mobs were the same as those in the first test, Aht Urhgan Attercops in Bhaflau Thickets from the Aht Urhgan Whitegate exit at G/H-7. Similarly, I still had 5/5 merits in Avatar Magical Attack. However, I did have slightly more Summoning Skill, but that’s irrelevant to potency, only accuracy, which is already very high considering these are EP mobs. Since all the Lv1 merit BPs have the same base damage, I used Lv1 Heavenly Strike for this test. As the above two tables show, at 60% TP, Lv1 Heavenly Strike did average damage that was very close to 0% TP Lv2 Wind Blade.

Moreover, for any given amount of damage done, the TP required for Lv 1, 2 and 3 merit BP are 60% TP apart, not 40%. For example, for the merit BP to deal 1000 damage, 200% TP is required at Lv1, 140% TP at Lv2, and 80% TP at Lv3, as shown by the black lines in the graph above.

Another Summoner, Enilanerda, had already claimed that Lv3 Wind Blade hit the damage cap at 180% TP. This test only confirms that claim.

Also, during testing, there was one abnormal Lv3 Wind Blade that was past the 300% TP cap that did damage in excess of the 1171-or-1175 damage always dealt once the cap had been passed. A quick check revealed there was windy weather, which could very well likely account for the approximately 10% boost in damage past the damage cap. Testing with an Astral Pot at 300% TP also yielded damage higher than the damage cap, suggesting that both weather effects and Astral Pot can affect merit BPs.

So, to summarize:-
i) A 60% TP bonus is gained per level by levelling a merit BP past level 1, thus a Lv3 merit BP would reach 300% effective TP at 180% TP.
ii) Merit BP damage can go over the normal damage cap when under the influence of weather effects, or when under the effects of Astral Pot.

To end off, at a recent Kirin, I also tested Lv3 Wind Blade. I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy (309 Summoning Magic Skill at the moment) and also the damage dealt. The following picture logs all the Wind Blades I pulled off during the battle, and only 1 was resisted. The damage was also higher than Nether Blast (which deals 546 damage unresisted). However, Nether Blast is still more accurate, and is also way more MP efficient (~5.01 dmg/MP) compared to Wind Blade (~3.58 dmg/MP).

{Notorious Monster}{Do you need it?}{Yes, please.}

Sodalitas — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:34:43 +0000

Shikigami Weapon #3 didn’t go well. The kill was executed cleanly, don’t get me wrong. It was the drops that were off. Ryskar on BRD, Draykaden on NIN, Stabmegently on THF and I on SMN. Another Wind Crystal to show for our efforts at Shikigami Weapon. ~~/sigh~~

Ryskar and I then accompanied Stabmegently to the Labyrinth of Onzozo to camp Mysticmaker Profblix for his Moldavite Earring (claimed by RMT BLMs…), and chanced upon an unclaimed Ose. A few minutes later, congratulations were in order for Stabmegently as Assault Jerkin dropped.

Since we were at Onzozo, we burned some time trying to get Soulstealer Skullnix to pop for his Kard dagger that my BRD could one day use. The bad luck continues as he decides not to drop a Kard.

Crappy luck with drops, I know.. But all of this is made up for by the fact that on the next day, Stabmegently managed to claim Mysticmaker and got his Moldavite Earring, and also this happened…

Shikigami Weapon was uncontested though, so the claim wasn’t too stressful. This time, with Stabmegently on NIN, Ryskar still on BRD, and Kifimbo on RDM/RNG (i.e. no Treasure Hunter at all), Shikigami Weapon finally dropped my Yinyang Robe! Seriously, TH3 is like negative TH! >_< Going 1/4, I can finally scratch acquiring Yinyang Robe off my list of things to do! Thanks to everyone who’s ever helped me out with Shikigami Weapon. Even though we might not have claimed, your help was still greatly appreciated!

Also, finally attained 8 more merits to pump into more Summoning Skill and max out Wind Blade. I’m wondering if maxed Summoning merits will give me enough magic accuracy to consistently use Wind Blade on Kirin instead of Nether Blast all the time…

Shikigami Weapon #2

Sodalitas — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:47:29 +0000

Now with a flying Carbuncle! Went camping Shikigami Weapon again with Coejus (PLD/NIN), Ryskar (BRD/WHM) and Stabmegently (THF/RNG). Pictures say it all, really.

0/2. Yay.

Shikigami Weapon #1

Sodalitas — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 12:44:52 +0000

Shikigami Weapon is a mob that drops Yinyang Robe, quite possibly the most well-rounded body piece a Summoner can wear. The robe is good for soloing, the best for -BP timers, and an Auto-Refresh effect that’s good for standing around in. The mob itself pops on a 21 hour window with a 15 min window, but pops Invisible and is only targettable after it aggros someone through magic. Naturally, it is camped pretty heavily by Summoners and their friends, especially after server maintenance.

Today, I dragged Coejus (PLD/NIN) and Myoha (THF/NIN) out to Ro’Maeve to camp him with me. Coejus got a friend, Mikkolindstrom (WHM/RNG), to come along, going /RNG for Wide Scan to identify the time of Shikigami’s actual popping. When the window opened, I started running up and down a corridor while channeling Reraise with Carbuncle out. This would aggro Shikigami Weapon if he popped, and Carbuncle would attack Shikigami Weapon as soon as he aggro’ed, which would claim him. This happened today against 20-odd other campers, and we managed to take Shikigami Weapon down!

Oh yeah, for a mob with such annoying claim conditions, it also does not drop the robe 100% of the time. I kinda feel responsible for this because I landed the kill-shot with Titan . Should’ve let Myoha land the last hit! >_< Oh well, that makes me officially 0/1 on Yinyang Robe. It’s a start!