Reading practice: "If Cats Disappeared from the World"

Say you're dying. But you could extend your life by one day for each precious thing you choose to sacrifice from the world. Would you?

Revisiting "Day of the Tentacle Remastered"

Day of the Tentacle (1993) was the first CD-ROM game I played. It was my older brother's copy, from his collection of LucasArts point-and-click adventures. That collection pretty much dominated my childhood gaming.

But subsequently, I hardly touched the genre. There were scarcely any point-and-clicks to speak of after those golden years. Now, 20+ years on, I'm revisiting DOTT.

Witcher 3 expansion: Blood and Wine review

Verdict: While the "Hearts of Stone" expansion packs more punch with its superior story, "Blood and Wine" is still an excellent entry with triple the content.

A duchess, a vampire, and a witcher walk into a bar... and you get Blood & Wine.

Witcher 3 expansion: Hearts of Stone review

Verdict: The Witcher 3's first expansion is a must-play if you loved the main game.

In Hearts of Stone (HoS), you'll meet men with eternal life and men without hearts.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt review

Witcher 3 was almost my all-time favorite RPG.

But it isn't, and let me tell you why before I talk about how brilliant this game is.

On reviewing video games

I started reviewing Switch games recently for Ladiesgamers, the handheld gaming blog I've written guest posts for previously:

Red's Kingdom (puzzle)
Detective Gallo (point-and-click adventure)

Re-Vita-lized: Vita as a PS4 controller

Wrote another guest post for Ladiesgamers.com:

I’ve unexpectedly found new life for my PS Vita this year – as an extra PS4 controller. One of the Vita’s cool features is its “PS4 Link: Remote Play,” which allows you to stream PS4 games.  You can take further advantage of this feature with certain PS4 games that are compatible with the Vita as a controller...

[Link to the full article at Ladiesgamers.com]

Translation practice: "Kappa no seikatsu zukan" (An Illustrated Guide to Kappa Life)

According to Japanese folklore, kappa are a type of supernatural creature that lures and pulls people into water. However, a library book I picked up gave a rather different depiction of kappa.

An Illustrated Guide to Kappa Life (カッパの生活図鑑), by Kunihiko Hisa, portrays kappa as generally harmless and merely fun-loving creatures.

The water-loving kappa. Literally, “river child” in Japanese.

Reading practice: "Kiki's Delivery Service" (Majo no takkyūbin)

If you've watched a Studio Ghibli movie and liked it -- for instance, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle or My Neighbor Totoro -- you might enjoy Kiki's Delivery Service, another of director Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece animations. It's one of my favorite movies!

But for this post, I'd like to introduce the children's book series it was based on. The author, Eiko Kadono, just won the 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award for writing.

Reading practice: "Shōwa no kodomo seikatsu e zukan" (Illustrated Guide to Daily Life of Showa Children)

My first library book in Japan. I wanted to start with something I could finish in 2 weeks. This picture book about children's daily life in the Shōwa period was perfect.

Here's the cover of 昭和の子ども生活絵図鑑 (Shōwa no kodomo seikatsu e zukan), created by a husband-and-wife team, Harumi Nagata (illustrator) and Tatsu Okunari (writer).

My library adventure begins

The best thing that happened recently: On impulse, I joined a local library.

Build self-discipline with Skritter, the kanji app

I owe it to Skritter for starting me on the habit of studying Japanese. It's the single best thing I ever spent money on for language-learning.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: book review

Making video games: a fun job?

Actually, making games is pretty hard, writes journalist Jason Schreier in Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made.

JLPT N2 test-taking tips

I wouldn't have passed the JLPT without practicing test-taking skills that are specific to this exam.

Familiarity
It makes a world of difference to be familiar with JLPT-type questions.

JLPT N2 study post-mortem

The results are out: I passed the N2 with a respectable score of 161 out of 180. (Vocab/Grammar: 50, Reading: 60, Listening: 50)

Earlier, I wrote about what study materials I used to tackle each JLPT skill. This follow-up post is about lessons I learned from the final weeks of study:

• Plan for setbacks.
• Manage energy and motivation, not just time.
• Go wide instead of deep.
• The JLPT mainly tests test-taking!