Not on duty again. I'm a sushi roll.
So somebody asked me why I don't get things from America, it's not that I don't want to, it's the conversion rates. To put it bluntly, 5 USD = RM 20.53. It's not the product that kills me, it's the shipping. 13 USD Shipping = RM53.38. I can buy tons of stuff with that 53 ringgit, you know. It's a shame because I would like supporting the indie artists over there, but shipping kills my pocket. And I'll be honest, most stuff I get online are books and craft stuff. I get my books mainly from Book Depository, because I pay just for the books, not the shipping (Free!). If they have charged for shipping, I would've hightailed it out of here. I like going there to get my books, because they have a lot of rare books over there, and they usually have discounts running. The only downside is...It takes roughly a month to get the books, and because it is normal air courier, I can't track my package. (So far I got all my books safely, thank you Book Depository)
Due to the pandemic, most bookshops have gone online, which is a shame because I have often stressed that you can't get that feeling - Ask any bibliophile, that magical feeling of stepping into a physical bookshop - anywhere. One thing I noticed a year into the pandemic, sometimes it is not the product that is expensive, it is the shipping. Books are usually the killer because they tend to count by weight and distance. So if you are ordering a thick book, calculate the weight and distance... Yikes. Not just international, local as well. This is why if I'm ordering books, I have to order several so that I'm able to get free shipping or at least a reduced rate, usually I go for books that have already been released for years and I can't find them easily anymore (Uncle Steve, I'm looking at you). (For my favourite authors, I tend to go to the shop and get them on the release date, think back to Harry Potter books release flashback.) I was hunting for a book that I so badly wanted, but it is in the US, for a second-handed copy I can get it around 4 USD (Cheapest I can find), but when it comes to the shipping (20 - 30 USD) Ugh, I can buy a brand new book for that price, sorry, I'm going to have to give a pass.
I got a lot of messages that said jewelry making is expensive. Not exactly. Remember I said I tend to get most of my wires and beads online? Jewelry wires aren't expensive, I got my supplies from a local craft shop based in Negeri Sembilan for about RM 2 - RM 4, beads and charms usually cost around RM 3 - RM 7 (Depending on what you get - I can get a large variety of beads for around RM 10 from China - Do not buy valuable gemstones for goodness sake.), I get my pliers and tools (a basic set would have around 6 items) from China for less than RM 20 (if you are super lucky), including shipping it should not exceed RM 25 - 30. Don't spend overboard, go for the ones that are reasonably priced. As someone who does this as a hobby, I don't need fancy tools, just tools that can get the job done. For wire and beads, I tend to get them in bulk to save shipping cost. (My cords came today, and I finally fixed my broken necklace. The bad news, I seemed to have accidently injured my finger, cause the tip hurts.)
I missed comic conventions, because it gives me an excuse to wear my yukata, but I don't blame the community for postponing it several times over because as someone who has been to the con few times, and has friends who enjoys going to these kind of events, they told me the crowd size is crazy (No exaggeration there). As an otaku, comic cons are a huge event that happens once a year, usually in December, where you will see passionate otaku, anime/ manga lovers, cosplayers gather in that one place. It is so crowded to the point where if you going to go in elaborate costumes, you are going to have to be careful because most of the time, you will be squeezing your way through, not to mention how many people would step on your foot. I go mainly because I like to play guess the characters from which game/ anime. The last comic con I gone to was on 16th December 2017 to see Uematsu-ojiisan playing with his band. Till this day I'm sad that I couldn't get tickets for the meet and greet, because it was sold out (I would've gotten Uematsu-ojiisan to sign my Final Fantasy artbooks, hehe. I know Nomura Tetsuya is the main character designer, but Final Fantasy in whole is made up of many several great people, like Sakaguchi Hironobu, Amano Yoshitaka and many others, yes, I know I'm such a geek). It didn't help that my sister was cussing me out the whole time despite that I got the tickets (at great personal risk because I got it from an online website which I'm not sure would've scammed me off my money) mainly as her birthday present because she likes Final Fantasy as well.
Maybe it's just me, but we otaku are a nearly extinct bunch. I recall the time where I was attending a patient who had to go for skin biopsy and they were carrying a large Gundam purchase and wearing an anime shirt (I can't remember, was it Dragon Ball or Gundam?) and I made casual talk with them, when I ask them if are they an otaku. Well, you can imagine the conversation, we were soon talking about our favourite anime and manga. It's nice to break the ice. They were really surprised that I watch anime and read manga, um, just because I don't say it out loud doesn't mean I don't. If you compare last time and now, I watch anime less, because I can't seem to find good anime and manga. I mainly watch tokusatsu because if you read my year end post, I can't stop gushing about the special effects (and tokusatsu is one of the ways I brush up on my Japanese - Erm, not much improvement there as I rarely speak Japanese). If you are going to adapt an anime into real life, I would say give it to our Japanese friends, because at least they know what are doing (I'm looking at you, Western Death Note) My parting words with them was if they are going to comic on, to take care and be safe.
As I'm writing this, the government had just announced yesterday late evening that the lockdown got extended. Dammit, Janet! (It's a Rocky Horror show reference) I'm sure you have realized this by now, but I have been challenged to post everyday during the lockdown (Doesn't matter if I'm off duty, I have to write whatever is in my thoughts - That's the beauty of the challenge), so now that the lockdown has been extended, it means my challenge got extended as well. Time to pick my brains.
*Today's case: 5,793 (Ah, I see what you did there)
