Report: Indonesia will be ASEAN's leading automotive market

2005 Toyota Kijang Innova

Reports from Paultan.org said that a country like Indonesia is set to become ASEAN's number one automotive market, overtaking Thailand because of the recent Thai Flood disaster since October.

New vehicle sales in Indonesia for the first 11 months of 2011 has been peaked to 17%, about over 800,000 units sold. Some say that Indonesia will be the safe haven for Japanese car factories and serve as an alternative to the flood-stricken Thailand.

The Philippines often sourced Japanese cars from Thailand but could we consider a country like Indonesia to source some Japanese vehicles? Not sure but be patient...

Scoop: http://paultan.org/2011/12/27/indonesia-set-to-be-no-1-automotive-market-in-asean/

New CR-V sales exceed the target!

2012 Honda CR-V interior

And now, the news. The all new 4th generation Honda CR-V marked a milestone when it went on sale since early December. The target was 1500 units per month but sales reached double of the target. That's 3000 units sold in Japan. 52% of the customers choose the 20G variant while 48% choose the 24G 4WD variant.

What we're hoping that this new model will come to the Philippines soon...

Scoop: http://www.carview.co.jp/green/news/0/4518/

Welcome Back: 2010 Renault Megane RS 250

This is the RenaultSport Megane
Tiff Needell drove it at Rockingham

The Renaultsport Megane returned at Forza Motorsport 4 with no major changes whatsoever on the tuning. Despite that, the Megane Renaultsport is one of my favorite European hyper hatches built for the enthusiasts in mind. The handling is just great. It behaves just like any other hot hatches such as the Ford Focus RS and the Volkswagen Scirocco. It was one impressive hatchback indeed. Guess I could give it a spin at the Top Gear Test Track to see how good (or bad) it is while listening to...well you know what? I bet you can't guess...

THE IDOLM@STER ANIM@TION MASTER 06

THE IDOLM@STER ANIM@TION MASTER 06

THE IDOLM@STER anime might be over but THE IDOLM@STER ANIM@TION MASTER 06 is proven to be "second to the last" for THE IDOLM@STER ANIM@TION MASTER range.

It features another set of in-anime BGMs, plus songs heard from episodes 16 to 20 such as TRIAL DANCE, Brand New Day!, and more, giving a grand total of 18 tracks on this CD. I'm sure that this is what you need it because it was already out now. Be sure to buy one now if you want to listen to the songs heard from episodes 16 to 20, plus the BGMs heard from that. They'll be waiting for your response and getting ready for ANIM@TION MASTER 07, which is the last of the range, next year.

TRACK LIST:

01 過去の出来事
02 CHANGE!!!! (TV SIZE) (オープニング・テーマ)
03 一生懸命
04 TRIAL DANCE (♯16劇中歌)
05 Brand New Day! (♯16エンディング・テーマ)
06 Jupiterのテーマ (その1)
07 自転車 (♯17劇中歌)
08 チアリングレター (♯17エンディング・テーマ)
09 Jupiterのテーマ (その2)
10 いっぱいいっぱい (♯18劇中歌)
11 魔法をかけて! (M@STER VERSION) (♯18エンディング・テーマ)
12 ゆったりのんびりI
13 フラワーガール (♯19劇中歌)
14 風花 (♯19エンディング・テーマ)
15 みんなとの…
16 約束 (TV VERSION) (♯20劇中歌→エンディング・テーマ)
17 音無小鳥の765プロ秘密レポート〜中2病全開編〜 (ボーナス・トラック)
18 約束 (ボーナス・トラック2)

Forza 4 reunites with Jalopnik for January DLC!

For the January DLC Pack, Forza Motorsport 4 reunites with Jalopnik for a set of 10 new cars such as;

1970 Alfa Romeo Montreal

2011 Audi RS5

1996 Chevrolet Impala SS

1986 Dodge Shelby Omni GLHS

2000 Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo

1973 Ford Pinto

2011 Honda #33 Level 5 Motorsports Lola

2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe

2011 Lamborghini #08 West Yokohama Gallardo LP560-4

2012 Pagani Huayra

It will be available this January 3, 2012 and what a good way to start the year 2012 with a bang on FM4. With the Fiat Coupe included in Forza Motorsport 4, No One Can Hear You Scream, just like Jeremy Clarkson's Fiat Coupe Police Car at a certain Top Gear episode. The 2012 Civic Si was included and it feels like "I'm a ninja" like in the advertisement. What's the biggest star of the DLC Pack is none other than the Pagani Huayra, the Zonda replacement that Top Gear presenters find it hard to pronounce!

Scoop: http://jalopnik.com/5871273/forza-4-january-jalopnik-car-pack-photos/gallery/5

Leopaul's Heaven and Hell: How to spot a Manaka...

Manaka Takane

As I'm sure you know, this is Manaka Takane. She's from Love Plus, Japan's most popular dating sim game on the Nintendo DS. Yes, she'll be back on the 3DS game, New Love Plus, coming this Valentine's Day. Once you're with Manaka, you will be forever smitten for her. Those Japanese otakus know that once they play Love Plus, forever smitten.

If most otakus are taking a break at playing this game and flickering their remotes to watch some anime, they're starting to get delusional as they will see characters which sound like Manaka's voice. Wanna guess who are those anime characters remind you of Manaka because of her voice?

Let me give you a list of examples;

1) Ikaros from Sora no Otoshimono (Heaven's Lost Property) series

Ikaros

2) Haqua from The World God Only Knows II

Haqua

3) Arashiko from MM!

Arashiko

4) Ayase Aragaki from Oreimo

Ayase Aragaki

... there are other characters that remind you of Manaka. Perhaps your obsession over Manaka carried over to those characters I've mentioned. So, if you're a "Manaka Afficionado" who got addicted over the characters who sounded like Manaka Takane, well you've got obsessed over Manaka's CV named Saori Hayami.

Yep. I know who's behind the voice but really I don't get it. I'm not a big fan of Love Plus but soon I'm obsessed over that Manaka character. 

Abel founder died

EVE burst Error

Time for the news. And this is a sad one because the founder of video game developer Abel, whose name was Hiroyuki Kanno, died on December 19 due to cerebral infraction and brain hemorrhage. Now, we really don't know what's Abel but some say that they were behind video games you haven't heard of such as YU-NO and EVE burst error.

Yep, those are the eroge came from the 1990's, back when the Sega Saturn was still alive, and Mr. Hiroyuki Kanno was behind these. Sad to see one of the geniuses pass away...

Scoop: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-12-25/yu-no/eve-game-creator-hiroyuki-kanno-passes-away