July's PSN Freebie, Erica: An Amateur Review

Hello hello.

When I was browsing for another game to get recently, I obviously checked on my PSN free games page just to see if there's anything good to retrieve (and to play) during this pandemic shitshow. There it was, Erica. My husband and I watched the trailer and found that it was one of those 'movie but make it game' kind of game. It looked promising and interesting and more importantly, it was free. So I had nothing to lose by downloading it.

It allowed you to play on your phone as an alternative to your Play Station controller for a better game experience, their words, not mine. So I did. Already, I've never played anything like this before. If I was playing a Play Station game, I would have played through my controller, that was all I knew.

There will be spoilers from this point onwards, so if you don't like that, you may click away!

The game started out pretty strong with all the goriness happening just about 5 minutes into the gameplay and it just kept on coming. Opened up (no pun intended) by Erica's dad being slashed open on the chest by a mysterious woman that us players could only see standing in front of an opened door pointing her gun at our daddy and us both as a silhouette. We'll later find out who she is like we'll actually meet and join her (well, it depends, if you desire a good ending but we'll unpack that later).

Not long after the goriness continues with the now slightly older Erica who apparently lives alone receives an anonymous package on her doorstep that is, drum rolls please, a box of decapitated hands holding what seems to be the same cultist logo that we see on her dad's chest when she's younger.

Okay at this point I'm just gonna talk in bullet points lmao,

1. On goriness, the game seems to love doing it to you. I'm typically staying away of gore scenes, be it in movies, games, or anything and I judge horror games/films/scenes that over indulge on goriness just to brand it horror as tacky and distasteful. The ones found in Erica is a little crazy but it wasn't too overwhelming. It just frankly looks nasties since the game isn't one of those animation ones but instead a movie-like type where some sequence or gameplay reminds you of those vintage flash horror games like The House and Hotel 626 (anyone remember them?). It looks and feels just like that. Some will probably disturb you more than the others, I will say.
2. As someone who enjoys cinematic experience and AAA games the most, Erica is shot in a beautiful beautiful way. I cannot tell you how much I love the Delphi House flower gardens and the dining room or the piano room. Since it's a movie, meaning that everything except for some gameplay sequence that I'm guessing is done in a flash engineering, everything feels real and so when you stop seeing all the vibrant happy colourful scene and wander into an odd set of shelves or walked into another person's murdered body, it just feels terribly creepy. Good camera work overall.
3. The actors and actresses are incredible at doing their roles! Goodness I wish I recognised at least one of them but these people are unfamiliar to me. I love their performance and portrayal of their characters.
4. The duration of the gameplay. So this game is only 2 hours long, uninterrupted. Pretty much a movie but playable/interactive at this point. While it is good for when you want to play something that you can finish in one sitting, it also leaves a lot to be unexplained. It kind of feels like it ends abruptly. A lot of potentially interesting questions and background stories and plot holes left unanswered mainly due to time constraints. More on the next point.
5. The weak and very limiting storyline. I guess this goes hand in hand with the duration issue mentioned above. It's a circle. There are a lot of side details and stories that the game does not explain deeper making it less immersive for us players to play as Erica. I was so intrigued as I explored the places/scenes with a lot of details I discovered and knowing me, I could've been more infested in it had I received a closure for all those little details throughout the game at least. For example, what was the point of the medical treatment the Delphi House doctors did to the girls there? Why did the girls have to die eventually? What was that cult for actually? And our mother, can she be less engaging in the story here?!
6. Eventually, the ending(s). There are said to be 7 different endings and I managed to get all three. Husband got the worst ending the first time around and we got the best on next by burning down the whole building and escaping with our bffs. The endings do not really make sense and remain inconclusive. What did our mother want actually? Did she actually wanna be saved? Is that really what the game implied? Did she want us to save ourselves instead? Did she really die? We don't know!
7. Final verdict. Despite all of its shortcomings, mainly on story plots and duration, Erica is still a compact fun game that offers new exciting experience to me. I don't regret playing it (I mean it's free too) and I like that I can finish it in one sitting. Even played it multiple times to explore different paths and endings in also one go. It's still doable when the game is only 2 hours long. I would recommend this.

Making Another Homemade Brownies Cake: Revisited.

Due to its popularity in my household (or apartment-hold?), which mainly includes only my husband and I, my husband demanded me to make him another brownies cake

A challenge I easily embraced by retorting "yeah, I was actually thinking of making it today actually", the day he begged me to make another batch of ir. And boy did this sister do it.

This time, I was using another premix type. It wasn't the one I typically used since I was feeling adventurous. Oh and before we continue, if any of you thinks that I'm writing this in an overly excited thrilling fashion, please understand that we live in a studio apartment with no baking oven. So, making a homemade "bakery" food item is considered a wowy activity.

Okay, continuing on. I use a different pyrex/glass pan and different premix since I want to test out: 1. How the pan fares to the other glass pie pan that I used on my previous batch (see the previous post for reference) and 2. What the other premix cake would give me, and whether I would like the first or the second one better. Fairly said, we have two objectives for this experiment.

This time, the premix requires 4 battered eggs as opposed to one. I was expecting it to end up as a huge cake but I just kept on following their direction label. It also doesn't require any water????? The previous premix kinda makes me drizzle 4 drips of water there. Interesting. Now let's see how it turns out.

 Nicely and well surprisingly raised and cooked all the way through. Very puffy.

And above is what the brownie looks like inside. I did add some shredded cheddar cheese in the batter.

Final verdict:

I. Love. It. I am happy with how it turns out so beautifully texture-wise and taste-wise. It's good to note that the texture does differ from the last one though where the last one was more gooey (no matter how long you steam it, I've tried) and just thicker inside whereas this one is dryer, fluffier, and more porous all the way through. In the end, you'll have to decide which kind of brownies batter you prefer the most. As for me, I enjoy both, so I don't mind either of them.

Happy baking (steaming)!

Making My First Cinnamon & Chocolate Brownies

Okay, dropping by quickly to post (and brag a little) about my first brownies that I made today. And yes, it's a cake-mix homemade brownies, sorry for the clickbait, but hey, I made it at home afterall.

I'd call this a succes due to how good and tasty she is. And on top of that, this was my first attempt  in making brownies ever. Not too bad for the first timer.

I put some cinnamon powder on the second layer and strawberry jam in between the layers. It's so gooey, fragrant and the jam makes it a little zesty.

10/10, would make again. Don't really care about the exterior look or garnish, or any of those jazz though (it's homemade looking/messy so I can safely say that it happens on purpose lol), but definitely loving the taste and texture of it <3 p="">

Alright, g2g now. Will see you on my next post. Stay well, wear your darn mask, and keep a good personal and/or public hygiene.


Love,

Vin.

Winter Days in Melbourne CBD

Winter days in Melbourne CBD - a series of photograph.

Study (and) Snacks

Today is the last day of Ramadan. So much and (equally) so little had happened. I made some Ramadan desserts that I am very proud of for the very first time and lots (truly lots) of pasta. On the other hand, a brownies never happened. Neither did a consistent Ramadan iftar meal update that I did so diligently much earlier here.

The promise of blog updates consistently sorta went neglected too, I concur. But today I have the time.

Study snacks! Studying and snacks are an inseparable pair based on my experience. I love studying and I love snacks. I retaliate at my own past self when I don't get me any or enough study snacks from the store on my grocery errands.

When it comes to studying, and this is during my master's, I like to take my laptop with me wherever I go so I jot down ideas that I came across for my work. And you do get a lot of school works throughout. I love spending the rest of my day outside (by outside I mean the cbd lmao) when I finish uni, not necessarily for fun or shopping fix or catching up with friends, sometimes I just find somewhere to sit and read -- or ge some work done. State library and parks are among my most favourite spots to do this.

So I thought today's post is gonna be about that. I pulled up some photos to sum up what my work desk, wherever it is, looks like.

It'll be my laptop, books, my water bottle I got from Typo, and whatever snack I have to keep me company. Sometimes it's healthy (strawberry and granola in honey for the dip) or a little filling (literally a human fist sized sushi rolls), and sometimes a cup of coffee is all I need.

Delicious Cakes at The Old Paper Shop Deli in Clarendon Street

Today's theme seems to be bakery goods, or in that category: cakes and breads. I'd like to make a tribute post for this lovely place in Clarendon St, South Melbourne next to a Chemist Warehouse called The Old Paper Shop Deli.

I came by this place by accident. It was right on the side of the road and super easy to find. My partner and I were in South Melbourne to get our Indonesian food craving fix from Sambel Ijo just a stone throw away from this place. We always had to have desserts in any form after our main meals and that's also the time where we explore the local cafes or dessert places around. The Old Paper Shop Deli was just in the same strip and block as Sambel Ijo, so we just had to walk a few meters to find this.

They had a big variety of delicious cakes on display where it was just so alluring and impossible for us to pass. So of course we had to give this a go. Below are some photos that I managed to pull up in no particular order manner.

As you see here, the portions are generous. And the cakes are delicious. Delicious delicious delicious! They have so many options for you to choose that you'd just want to try everything at once.

Their coffee is great as well and the staffs are lovely.

For some reasons we only went here during winter times. But a nice cuppa and cake feel best during the colder season really so I'm not mad about that at all.

I hope this place stays open for a long long time in the future. I miss their cakes. I miss taking minutes to make up my mind on what I want to order since everything they have makes my mouth water and eyes tingle. Surely would love to be back once this is all over to try more of their cakes.

I Went to Lune Croissants and Coffee in Fitzroy

Melbourne is full of delicious eateries in all its hearts and corners. One bakery that people couldn't stop talking about to me back then was Lune. It's a coffee and croissant place and people seem to swear by its tastiness.

Lune itself is located in the suburb of Fitzroy. And this girl has a little weird thing with Fitzroy where I'm just not very fond of it. It's just not the subub for me (Melburnians will understand that each suburbs all across melbourne has their own characteristics and stereotypes). So mainly because it being there itself, I had to have an aries friend to make me go there.

It was in an easy to find location, very reachable by tram and a little walk. Building itself is huge, for melbourne cafe standard. I immediately saw an array of crowds lining up for their goodies.

This... is their cashier. Don't freak out about pastries just sitting openly on a counter top like this. This is how you order your stuff, the same system like most coffee shops. Soooo, menu book? What's a menu book if you can just choose your own pastry pretty much right at the cashier (counter).

As pictured, I got myself two croissants, one with almond and the other one is chocolate.

 I couldn't finish both obvi, so I asked for a takeaway bag and bagged the almond one for my then partner in Melbourne Uni.

The pastries are delicious, without a doubt. Crisp and not bland. Very well made, you can tell. But it's also one that I think I can live without, lmfao. I mean, nothing against Lune I love what they put out but I think I just don't understand the hype at the time. Proven, I haven't gone back to Lune ever since this first visit. I don't know why either.

But it was a good experience. I had a good experience here. I love the large industrial-finished building, very posh and comfortable. I love the interior too (they have their types of croissants laid out on the cashier table where you order so you can see your options, posh!). I love their open kitchen so visitors can look at their croissants' in the making. I mainly like a lot of things about this place. I think if it was available also in CBD, I would've been grabbing it more frequently.

My Adventure as A Blood Donor with Australian Red Cross

I rounded up some photos I've gathered to record my adventure in blood donation with Australian Red Cross. The first few ones, the first bunch, is from my first visit.

The first donation took ages from me and took countless times of the pumping machine to beep crazy since my blood wasn't flowing. The staffs (or volunteers?) Were so so kind and attentive enough they gave a box of juice so I would relax a little. I was determined. Didn't want to end my sesh before I reached my donation target.

That was the mementos that reflect the first time I went to donate my blood. I was consistent ever since, I kept showing up, never missed my schedule, and it only got better from there. My donation got quicker and shorter cz I discovered that being super hydrated woul keep a better blood circulation, so I always made sure to eat well and drink so much.

I started knowing the regular volunteers since I visited often too. Everyone was a bunch of happy friendly smiley people.

Just like the first time, the view from that pantry will always be beautiful though.

House of Dior Exhibition at National Gallery of Victoria

As my birthday present (well, one of them. So, plural), my then partner and now husband took me to a Dior Exhibition in National Gallery of Victoria. Knowing that his girlfriend came from a fashion background with mum as a fashion designer and business owner, being he knew that being enslaved to my studies didn't get me much fashion exposure. So he reckoned, "why not take her to a fashion exhibition, and she loves Dior!".

And there we went.

It was a fashion house. NGV that day was a fashion house of beautiful beautiful gowns and dresses that I couldn't stop admiring over. Classic Dior was unbeatable, timeless.