This season I’m watching:
Angel Beats
B Gata H Kei
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
Kaichou wa Maid-sama
K-On2
Kiss x Sis
Mayoi Neko Overrun

The following is based on the first 4 episodes, and may contain spoilers if you haven’t seen these episodes yet.

Angel Beats

The new work from Key, this was hyped up a lot before it aired, to the point where I was expecting another Clannad or Ef. Naturally I watched it the second it was available, and dam what a total disappointment. The first episode was all setup really, fair enough, some parts were funny though, others not so much. The insane violence really put me off, especially by episode 2. It’s clearly supposed to be funny, but sorry its just not. The amount of detail put into the sound effects of the various horrible painful-but-not-actually-dieing deaths are a bit over the top, and the fact they emphasise they still feel the pain, totally kills off the effect of the witty retorts when the said un-dead person wakes up. It’s not as bad as Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, (which I dropped after like 6 episodes), but I personally don’t find that element funny.

Putting that aside, I did like the intro, with Angel on the piano; I thought that was a nice touch. I also really like the school band, there music was cool, the vocals were good too…and then they kill off the lead singer in EP 3, and change the OP in EP 4. Yea, whatever. OK OK, so plot??? that’s GOT to save it right? Hmm well no. You have this sort of secret army in the school of the after life, and they have this awesome place about a million times better underground which is an even bigger secret to make the weapons called Guild. Can you guess where its going? yep by the end of the same episode they destroyed that as well. Episode 4 was all about baseball. It was actually funny.

This series has awesome artwork, it has a few great characters, the main leads are interesting, the girl is hot, the guy is cool, the gang adds some good comedy… and the plot… well that’s where it starts to go wrong. Either these great things which have died/gone were not important to the story, in which case it was pointless filler (which is a shame because they were the better bits) or they are meant to be important later, in which case they have a problem because there appearance was too short. I can’t help but think the writers can’t make up their mind where there going with it. I hope the next 4 episodes improve. I still like the show, but it’s the show I’m most disappointed with. DDL here.

B Gata H Kei

This is about a girl who wants 100 sex buddies, yet she’s a virgin and hasn’t got a clue about kissing or even how to go on a date. Its funny, its quite insane and sometimes its hard to work out which is funnier, the pathetic attempts to get to ‘C’ with her first target, or the resulting misfortune when they fail horribly. If you’re looking for a laugh then it’s all good, but it will start to get old very quickly. The girl is quite simply horrible, and really doesn’t deserve anyone let alone the poor helpless chap she attacked in the bookshop. Unfortunately that’s about all this has, each episode is the pretty much the same, I can’t rip the plot apart like I did to Angel Beats because it hasn’t got one to begin with, but it *is* funny. And its not really ecchi, it is crude, and very direct, but its no wall-o-pantsu (there’s no plot either mind you). Great for something to watch to give you a laugh while your waiting for something better to download, or you can watch it after Angel Beats to “fill-in” for the missing comedy. Also one of my least favourites. DDL here.

K-On 2

Great to see more K-On, I liked the first season and so was keen to see the new one. The OP, sorry, don’t like it. Clearly there trying to make another “Don’t say lazy” and failed miserably. The main plot hasn’t gone too far yet, the main focus is start of the school year and trying to find new members for the club, fairly predictable really, and its been a bit slow, but as this is meant to be 24 episodes that’s to be expected. The lack of music is a little saddening, but in EP3 they write a new song, so it looks like its going to pick up the pace a little. Not really much else to say on it yet (only 3 episodes of this), other than selling that awesome original Gibson for 500,000 yen was just wrong. DDL here.

Kiss x Sis

The ultimate mega-wall-o-pantsu-neo-hentai goes TV. Its just like the OVAs, but its actually funnier. The girls’ battles are better, Riko’s obstacle course in EP 4 was just fantastic, Ako’s “I’ll be your tutor” routine and her methods to help with memorising those difficult English phrases were great. Wish I had a tutor for Japanese like that. Its almost as ecchi as the OVAs – I don’t know if that just because they haven’t got far enough into the story yet or if that’s the limit for TV airing, either way its pretty close, and really funny. Better than B Gata H Kei. DDL here.

Mayoi Neko Overrun

This was a total accidental find thanks to my friends at Ryuumaru Fansubs. I’d been hosting this for 4 episodes and not seen any until today, when I ended up watching all 4 in a row. This show is great, its sweet, its funny, it has lots of cute cats…and a full sized mega-cute cat girl who can cook like a master chef. It has a deeper plot to it as well, all the main characters are orphans, and the cats who fill the house were all abandoned and rescued. The protagonist (Takumi) lives in this cat themed pastry shop, and the owner took him in after he ran away from the orphanage. She goes off and rescues cats (and maybe other things, we don’t know yet) like some sort of super-hero, and ends up filling the house with them. Fumino is his childhood friend and the main heroine, she was at the orphanage with Takumi, and part of the reason he ran away so that she could get adopted. She always says the opposite to what she really means, and although a little annoying, is also quite funny at times.

The school where they all go is rather funny, it’s owned by some really wealthy family, the grand daughter is the typical spoilt brat who wants to use it as her personal playground, but she’s not that bad really, and is easily ridiculed by her own stupidity, her staff (2 really lovely and funny maids) or the other students. There’s already a lot of emotion between the characters, and this looks like its going to develop into one of my favourites. Recommended. DDL here.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama

I will watch anything and everything that has a maid in it, all I needed was the title for this one. The first episode almost put me off though; the main lead is the student council president Misaki Ayuzawa. She hates men; she’s trying to turn the school into a place for girls when it was a notorious all boys school before she came along. She’s overly violent, and incredibly unfair to the boys. After watching 15 minutes of that I was starting to get a bit tired of her, I wasn’t really interested in another over the top tsundere, but then it turned around.

Ayuzawa has a secret, she works in a maid cafe out of school. It’s a nice twist, and a funny one. Especially as one of the boys (Usui) finds out and then becomes a regular customer. Some of the other delinquents find out, but he forces them to keep quiet as its his “personal entertainment”. They end up being regular customers as well. She’s always trying to keep on top of everything, and then Usui will show up, being way too relaxed and cool, and will say something that will really get to her. Sometimes she melts and then gets mad and tries to hide it, and some times she’s just violent. But as it goes on the other characters from the cafe and Usui start to change her just a bit, and it balances it out nicely. It may not have the deep plot like Clannad or Ef, its not that kind of show, but its not a wall-o-pantsu either, its a nice heart warming and funny romance type of thing. It has a kind of magic to it, and its one of my current favourites. DDL here.

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

This was another accident, and it was a request from the capper to Ryuumaru, it wasn’t an intended show for this season, but I’m glad it is. This is one of the biggest surprises of this season, and it’s quite possibly the best. The OP and ED are awesome, I can watch it every time and love it, the story is hilariously funny, the characters are just brilliant and the plot is thickening already. The main character, Akuto Sai wants to be a high priest, and change the world. He enrols in the Constant Magic Academy, and on the way to school he happens to meet Junko Hattori, she is from the Suharaist family who are charged with protecting the empire for generations. Initially this sounds like a perfect partnership. Right up until they get to the school and they are told their future careers, where he is pronounced a future demon king who will destroy the world.

He then tries to constantly prove he’s not a bad guy, and tries to make it up to Junko, all of his attempts back fire of course, and the situation escalates. It doesn’t help matters that various misunderstandings all make him look like a pervert. On his first day he blows up the classroom, makes a crater in the school grounds and ends up with half the female population thinking he’s a pervert. He soon ends up with a constant “observer” who follows him everywhere (literally) reporting on his actions and crimes, this alone is incredibly funny, as she keeps messing with him, and many of the other students.

He tries to patch things up with Junko a third time which again goes wrong and this time he accidentally gets accused of trying to take over the school, and ends up with him up against Junko and the entire school all trying to kill him. All of that in only the first 3 episodes make this a definite must watch. This isn’t listed by Animesuki, so you wont find it on Fansub, but you can get it from MATV here.

And some of them I’m actually working on as part of Ryuumaru so its keeping me insanely busy. Next season I might not do so many, unless I can automate things more.

Shows I have on the site:
(* indicates shows I am/were working on)
Angel_Beats
B_Gata_H_Kei
Ichiban_Ushiro_no_Daimaou *
Ikkitousen_Xtreme_Xecutor *
Kaichou_wa_Maid-sama
K-On2
Kiss_x_Sis *
Mayoi_Neko_Overrun *
Working

I have also made a new layout…with pictures! Each episode now has 11 screenshots, 6 are shown on the episode page with the rest in the gallery.
Example 1 – top of the page (Click for larger):

Eample 2 – bottom of the page (Click for larger):

The actual page in the above pictures is located HERE.

Even the licensed section has been partially updated with screenshots, more might be added later but its not for definate, just don’t ask how.

EDIT
For anyone wondering why the above screenshots are slightly different to when you visit the site its because I forgot to logout when I took the screenshot lol. When logged in your avatar appears in the top left next to the advert, and the messge under the menu/navigation tells you if you have any PMs waiting etc.

I have also joined up with Ryuumaru Fansubs to bring Ladies Vs Butlers and Omamori Himari to the site as soon as its released, MATV will be the DDL provider to Ryuumaru for all their releases for both shows. All past releases are already up, and all new episodes will be available as soon as they are released. This now makes us DDL for 2 fansub groups, as MATV also provides the DDL for FTV-Subs.

New items added:
Ladies Vs Butlers – (1-6 on-going) – Ryuumaru MKV and MP4
Omamori Himari – (1-5 on-going) – Ryuumaru MKV
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun – (1-18 Ayako h264 MKV, Mazui 12-15,17 MKV, SubSmith MKV for special 01)
Valkyria Chronicles – MKV h264 – (1-10 AnY-Conclave, 11-26 gleam)
Rosario to Vampire Capu2 – MKV DVD – (1-7 Ayako + m.3.3.w, 8-9 Ayako + eKissSub, 10-13 Seto Otaku)
Da Capo II – AVI (Shinsen-Subs)
Da Capo II SS – Xvid (Chihiro)
Kamen no Maid Guy * – (Yakuza&T-K h264 MKV 1-12, Xvid 2,4-6,8 and Ayako DVD MP4 1-4, SukiPawa OVA MKV)

There were some earlier updates which were not mentioned on the blog, these also added:
Amaenaideyo Katsu DVD – AVI 1-13 Mendoi
Maid Deka (J Drama) episodes 1-11 in Xvid 704×396
Moekan OAV 1-3 Anime-Empire AVI

Various pictures and descriptions were also updated.
* Kamen no Maid Guy still has some files downloading, a version of every episode is now present but it may not be in the desired format. The remaining Y&T-K MKV’s (2,4,5,6v2,8) and Ayako’s MP4 DVDs 2-4 are on their way.

All of the above are available for download on this page (click).

I only started watching this about a week and a half ago, but I’m already totally addicted to it. Its ecchi, so dam funny and Saikyou Tomomi is just awesome, cheaky, maybe a little evil, definatly my favourite character and shes not even in a maid uniform (shock). Theres tons of maids, a couple of butlers and lots of upper class girls all in sort of mixed school where the servant class practice being servants to the upper class students by working in the restaurant at the weekends.

Heres a streaming player for Episode 1 (see the DDL links above for the rest or if this dosnt work) Double click the video for fullscreen. When in fullscreen click once for controls or right click for a menu. You can save the video from the player as well. This uses the latest DivX web player, and can be configured to auto save each video as you watch it, meaning you can watch as it downloads. Enjoy :)

[Sorry, new Wordpress now removes all HTML in a post. Even with visual editor turned off. So no embeded video anymore.]

As this is one of my current favourite shows I’m hosting releases by Ryuumaru and Doki in both MKV 720p and some 480p versions.

There have been some problems over the last couple of months with the site which have now been resolved, and the links and lists are now up to date. I have also been adding more info, descriptions and pictures for many of the existing animes, there are still some missing but more will come soon.

All 6 episodes are available to watch or download here…

As this is currently not listed on FTV, you can download all the episodes as the Fansubs are released in the MATV Video Library here.

For parts of today the site will be off line while it is moved to the new server.

Upgrades are compelte, and the site is fully back up and running.

My video library now supports encryption with https, to use it simply change the http to https and it will work with a nice secure connection, eg:   https://www.maikuando.tv

Why? Well some people have been worried about ISPs seeing what there doing, and in particular about them seeing people downloading anime, ie think Odex etc. Now with https, all the ISP will see is an SSL connection, and wont be able to see what your browser is requesting. All they know is the IP of the website, so they know your accessing the site, but cant see what your doing there or what your downloading.

If your using Stupid Fox 3, it will go crazy and tell you the world will end because theres been a security exception, this is because the people at Mozilla are idiots, and likely being paid by VeriSign et-al to make you think a non-signed, ie non-paid for SSL cert is not secure – this is rubbish, its still encrypted just as good as anyone else’s site, the only difference is there’s no proof who the company is, or who the site is etc. Enough on that before this becomes a rant :) But it will work, you just have to add an exception and install the cert into the browser. IE7 will give you a warning that its not signed and you just have to click continue (and this is how it should be done Mozilla!).

The library site has been very heavily loaded the past couple of months, and we had some serious memory issues – so if you were accessing the site and had the connection dropped, slow speed or couldn’t see the page that was why. I believe it is resolved for the moment after I did some tuning of the Apache config, however the server will still need upgrading soon. For those interested, we transferred over 60GB in January, and generally the traffic transfer has leveled out quite a bit compared to the 400GB a day previously. This is partly due to the memory issues preventing as many connections getting served, hopefully now the memory issue has been addressed you will be able to get a better connection. The server runs on a dedicated 100MB unmetered line, so we no longer have to worry about bandwidth overages and site suspension like back on the servage cluster days. Unfortunately the down side is that we have nowhere near the server power we had on the cluster. There are big plans in the future however, so please bear with it, and feel free to download and stream as much as you want.

Please please help us by clicking on the adverts when you visit, server rental and colocation for this kind of line is expensive and the cost comes from my pocket, I cant afford to upgrade it at the moment so it has to stay with its limited memory. This blog is hosted by Fansub.tv, but the video library is not, and thats where the cost is.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperious 2009!

For those Fruits Basket Fans heres your image…(stolen from animeyume.com).

Have a Very Merry Anime Christmas!

 Maiku Ando

If your interested in writing something, maybe a review of an Anime or a Manga or maybe a special article on something totally different, have a look through the Contribute page to see a brief guide on how much to write and how to do it, what the format is etc.

You dont need to have any prior experience in writing to contribute, and all you need to do is write the text in a word document and then its passed to the proof readers to help check grammer and spelling etc.

For more details see the page here.

The webzine has been in the making for a long time, (way before my joining the team) and has been made by the great mods and Sempais of FTV for everyone here. Theres lot of Anime reviews, previews for upcoming anime, articles on Music and even on Sushi as well as in depth interview with Daft27, our FTV leader and creator!

We’d love you to read our first issue and tell us what you think, things you like, things you don’t like and any suggestions to help us improve. Give us your feedback in the forum here.

Would you like to write something for the magazine? Would you like to join the team and be a part of FTV’s Official J-Zine? Then come and see us in the forum as we have lots of places open and would love to hear from you,  see this thread here.

From my own personal point of view, this has been a really enjoyable and exciting issue, and really hope everyone who reads it will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it!

Today’s bandwidth was a massive 230GB, unfortunately I cant tell you which Anime generated this much interest as the stats don’t go that detailed, which is a huge shame.

For anyone visiting the site and getting a “Bandwidth Limit Exceeded” Message please come back tomorrow, as the bandwidth limit is reset each day.

** UPDATE Thursday 25th September **

As the bandwidth has now hit 159GB in the first few hours following the restoration of the site, I have now had to manually suspend the site as a temporary measure. If you are being redirected here, it is because the bandwidth has been used up already, and at least here I can give you a status update.

** UPDATE #2 Thursday 25th September **

Despite moving the main script and enableing hotlink protection, bandwidth still rose and was eventually halted at 201GB with the site again suspended, a mear 10 hours after it was reinstated.

I have now moved the “New Releases” – into a separate section, which is still on the same account but will allow better monitoring and will make it easier to reduce the load if needed by disabling a section.

If you like my video library and want it to remain accessable, please support it by clicking on the Adverts – Please consider 1 click for every file you download or play directly from the site – I cant put the library on a better server without some way of paying for it :(

** UPDATE Friday 26th September **

Moving the site around and splitting it up didn’t do much to ease the bw problem, although the site stayed up a lot longer, some 18 hours this time, it was not enough. Today I have spent a lot of time setting up a better solution, which will load balance the traffic between several places and it should double the available bandwidth.  There are a few minor issues with the site in its current state, the html and text are not in sync between all the servers at the moment, however the Anime is in sync for the most part, however some of the sym-links are missing which might cause some files to randomly disappear. This will be sorted during the day tomorrow.

Another Anime from 2006, this one however is a much more mature series and really appeals to the older audience, this series is also quite short at 11 episodes. Think of the perfect bar, the romantic ideal of the place to drink spirits and cocktails, where every patron is treated like a master and is served The Glass Of The Gods, that is Eden Hall. The story evolves around the happenings of this genius bartender and Eden Hall, a small unobtrusive bar in Ginza. This tells a romantic story of every drink that is poured, as well the tales of the weary patrons who consume them. The history of the drinks, the tale used to bring them into light and the clever nature of the series and the bartender make this a great watch. As it progresses you also get a glimpse into the history of the bar and the genius bartender and his one great mistake. The detail in the method and ingredients of making the drinks, which is also given at the end should you wish to make one, just adds to seriousness of this anime and makes it quite relaxing. By the end you’ll be longing to go out and find a quite sleepy little bar somewhere.

All 11 episodes are available to download in the Video Library here.

This Anime is from 2006 but something I have only recently watched. I quite enjoyed this series, its only 12 episodes but still a nice story which flows quite well – its not obviously squashed in too much. The story is about a woman and a girl who happen to meet at a road side shrine which is rumored to grant wishes. Unknown to them at the time, is that they are linked by one man who is very important to both of their lives. They both sit at the shrine and you see them make a wish, however we can only see what the girls wish is – to be older so that shes not a burden to her brother anymore.

The next is a bit predictable, the wish is magically granted, the young girl is suddenly transformed into a young woman, however theres an inevitable side effect, the woman is now a little girl. This is where the storey really begins, and now we see the comical events of both of their lives in their almost reversed states. Some parts of this are sad, some are really comical and the supporting characters really add to the story. The relationship between the 3 of them suddenly becomes quite interesting and watching them trying to cover up their identities (at first) and yet still want to be near the ones they care about just adds to the comedy and makes it even more complicated. This is a great anime, although the idea is nothing new, the way its told and how it unfolds to the end makes it an enjoyable and worthy addition to your anime collection.

All 12 episodes are available to download in the Video Library here.

“I think animation is something that needs the pencil, needs man’s drawing hand, and that is why I decided to do this work in this way,”

“Currently computer graphics are of course used a great deal and, as I’ve said before, this use can at times be excessive,”

“I will continue to use my pencil as long as I can.”

This was while speaking about his latest work, “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” during the press conference at the Venice Film festival on Sunday.

You can read the full article on the link below, but for one I am glad he intends to keep to the hand drawn style, for me, the original hand drawn animation gives a much better feel and really shows the hard work and talent which has gone into each character and feature, with CG, characters can appear much colder, and just don’t have the same appeal as the original art work can. Thats not to say CG doesn’t have its benefits, but I believe theres just no substitute for the time and effort put into hand drawn animation.

Quote and story from the News article on Yahoo at http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080901/tot-uk-film-venice-miyazaki-566e283.html

Blue Drop is another one of my favorites, and one which I only recently discovered. The Anime is set as a prequel to the Manga, and focuses around the build up of a interstellar war, the manga is set much later and is set after the war. The story is told from the point of view of a high school girl who was the sole survivor of a terrable disaster in which an entire island was destroyed. A disaster which also claimed both her parent’s lives.

The extact details of what happened of that day are a mystery not just to her but to the authorities on both sides as well. When the main character transfers to a new private school, her life rapidly changes and her first reluctant friend becomes the key not just to her new life but her past as well. Although this is a Yuri series with only a very limited male cast, this helps with the warmth of the show and the pairing is very natural and unforced, leaving you wanting them to make it work.

The characters in this series are very warm and likable, and Hagino has become one of my favorite anime characters, this is also quite a funny series with some good gags, but the main tone is the emotional attachment between the characters, you can really feel the emotion and the energy, and the parallel with the school play and their lives is a nice angle. The ending is quite heart wrenching, but its all for the right reasons, and makes for a good solid ending to the series, which is actually a shame because I for one was left wishing it would go on forever.

All 13 episodes are available to download or watch in the video library.

Today I’d like to bring special attention to this particular Anime (which is based on the Manga by the same title) as it one of my favorites. This is without a doubt quite an ecchi series in places, however the overall story and the warmth of characters certainly out do the ecchiness and make this lovely and very funny series. Originally 18 episodes (including the specials), however it ran into production issues and stopped at episode 15. Observant watchers will notice the ending of episode 15 which gives a comical hint as to the cause of those production issues, and makes it clear that episodes 16,17 and 18 are forever lost.

It was later re-done as Hanaukyō Meido Tai – La Verite (La Verite meaning “The Truth” in French), which is actually 12 episodes. This apparently more closely follows the manga and the story has many differences from the original anime. The La Verite anime was released by Geneon (Pioneer) in the US with subtitles and an English dub. However, due to the recent demise of Geneon, it has became almost impossible to purchase the retail DVD box set of the La Verite version. The original remains unlicensed in the US and UK.

Watch
All 15 Episodes of the original anime now available to stream or download in the Video Library.

Review
Read my full reviews Only in FTV’s Official J-Zine!
Hanaukyo Medio Tai (Original) – Issue 2
Hanaukyo Maids La Verita – Issue 3

Image Gallery
View some more images in the mini-gallery.

Manga Art
Take a look at some of the Manga Art from Volume 1  in my Travel & Photo blog.

All 12 Episodes Now Available to Stream or download in the Video Library.

A 14-year-old millionaire received a huge inheritance as a result of his parents’ death in an accident. Later after firing the original maids, he needed to be looked after so he decided to hire new live-in maids. While originally expecting an elderly woman to take the job, two runaway girls, Izumi, 14, and Mitsuki, 13, end up accepting the job as means for a home and income. Another girl, Anna, later becomes a maid as well, and all three live in the mansion with Yoshitaka. The perverted Yoshitaka pulls some clichés throughout the story.

All 24 Episodes Now Available to Stream or download in the Video Library.

The story centers around a Christmas wish made by Haruma Kawagoe after his mother had suffered a miscarriage, followed by an operation which prevented her from having any more children. Several years later, when Haruma is a college student, a woman on a flying motorbike claiming to be Santa Claus delivers his wish, a younger sister. When he remarks that he made his wish a long time ago, “Santa” replies that making a little sister takes a lot more time than just making an android, takes his signature for delivery, and departs. Haruma now has a little sister, who comes with her own instruction manual—a manual for how to be a little sister, that is. When she asks him to name her, he calls her Choco, which refers to the Japanese word for “manual”.

It is still in testing and very new with only a limited amount of space at the moment, however if it is popular then I will expand it to a bigger drive. The main intention is to focus on the Anime which is not available for http download from FTV, there are and will sometimes be episodes which are available on both sites however this is mainly for testing or because its a particular favorite Anime, as theres little point in hosting it all twice!

Any problems with the videos or downloads on there should be reported to me via this blog, and NOT directed at the FTV forum! – its not FTV’s fault if my site/server goes wrong.

http://www.maikuando.tv

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Dec 14th 2007 – Day 1 – London
Writing this a little late due to not having the blog up at the time, but here it is anyhow.

After what seemed like an never ending day at the office, which by my own fault had decided to do prior to flying, I was very greatful for my good friend Dimitris giving me the all important lift to the airport. I arrived at London Heathrow nice and early for my 21:45 departure on BA 015. Having done the usual insane security precautions despite flying in the opposite direction to the USA, I embarked on a 13 hour flight to Singapore. As it turned out, due to some re-shuffling of passengers, I was lucky enough to get a free upgrade to the slightly-better cabin. Even so, its 13 hours, grr. To be fair, the flight was pretty good, although as per usual I got about 2 hours sleep, never mind, just keep remembering its all worth it once you get there.

Day 2 – Singapore
Dec 15th, and I finally get out of the plane to sunny Singapore, already from walking into the airport (Changi if you know it well) I get that “I am home feeling”, not really a surprise as this is my third visit to Singapore in less than 2 years. It has become a dream location for me, and so “home from home” almost. Either way, I’m glad to be here. Unfortunately my friend couldn’t meet me this time due to work, but it didn’t really matter, I’ve taken the taxi ride so many times is almost part of the process anyway, and is actually quite nice ride. Took the usual route into the city and ended up at the Amara as per usual, it may not be the best in Singapore, but it has that familiarity from staying there so many time before that its worth the effort.

After a very brief unpacking, I decided to pay a visit to a cafe which I frequented on my last visit, the famous Cosafe Maid Cafe at Chijmes on Victoria St. For me this was an important part of the visit, and also means I get to see some old friends from my last visit. Also I was really curious to see if it was the same, as it turns out they had just completed a re-fit, and the new Cosafe (pronounced cos-afe – like cosplay Cafe) Maid Bar & Restaurant was quite an improvement, and I highly recommend a visit, the food is even better then before, and really is exceptional, in addition the service is as always excellent. Please do stop by, and make sure you say “hello” to Floyd and Desmond” for me.

After closing at around 2am, I was still not tired, most likely due to jet lag totally making a mess of things, I headed out to St James’ Power Station. Again, not disappointed with Movida, pumping tunes and a great night out night till the early hours…

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Continue reading the full account of my trip with pictures on my Travel & Photography Blog.

Welcome to my blog @ FTV!

Here I will be putting some random Anime and other (hopefully) interesting things as I happen to find them.

Anyone is welcome to comment and any suggestions/ideas etc are welcome too!

Hope you enjoy your visit,

Maiku Ando.