Distant World - music from Final Fantasy

I didn’t bring my SLR with me and opted out to bring my Canon 860 IS point and shoot camera so pictures are not so good. In addition, I wanted to enjoy the music instead of being busy with taking pictures. Nobuo Uematsu attended the concert and sat with the audience on the front row

Nobue Uematsu-san passed by in front of me. Nice bandana ^^.

When the concert started, everyone was just dead silence and no one talked, not even to their friends who sat beside which was really nice. Arnie knew how to get audience’s excitement pumped out and he started the concert with Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy VIII and To Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X. A nice way to start this awesome evening.

Battle scene from Final Fantasy VIII

After Liberi Fatali and To Zanarkand, it was followed by “Don’t Be Afraid”, battle theme song in Final Fantasy VIII.

Remember this scene from Final Fantasy VII ? feeling nostalgic aren't we ? makes me want to play Final Fantasy VII again

The next song was probably what everyone had been waiting for and everyone’s top favourite; it’s not other than Aerith’s theme song.

From Final Fantasy VII, Arnie brought us to the past with Final Fantasy I – III medley. The first minute of this medley is the soundtrack that we usually hear on start up screen on every Final Fantasy games.

Eagerly waiting for when “Dear Friends” would be played and Arnie seemed to be able to read my mind. The next song would be played is “Dear Friends” from Final Fantasy V. I have not had a chance to play it but just enjoy this song so much ^^

The great black mage, Vivi, made an appearance in Vamo' all Flamenco from Final Fantasy IX

For those who played Final Fantasy IX multiple times like me, next song, Vamo’ alla Flamenco, should be very familiar.

Remember those many hours you spent on Final Fantasy VII ? this upcoming battle song was something you were probably tired listening to; it’s Jenova.

This scene was from Final Fantasy XI official trailer where all nations went to war with Orcs twenty or so years ago

Another one of my favourite songs is next on the list. It is no other than Ronfaure from Final Fantasy XI, the longest game I had ever played in my life.

I was not familiar with the next song that they played which was Clash on Big Bridge from Final Fantasy V.

“Clash on Big Bridge” ended the first half of the concert. There was 10-15 minutes in between before we continued with the second half. The second half started with “Bombing Mission” from Final Fantasy VII.

“Bombing Mission” was followed by “Fisherman’s Horizon” from Final Fantasy VIII and I remembered listening to it and I even purposefully let my PlayStation running just so I could listen to Fisherman’s Horizon over and over. Hell, I even had a saved data specifically for Fisherman’s Horizon.

This image is on the original packaging for Chains of Promathia expansion pack for Final Fantasy XI

The next one is what made the name of “Distant World” and one of the most memorable song for me. It’s Memoro de la Stono – Distant Worlds from Final Fantasy XI and it’s the theme song of Chain of Promathia (One of Final Fantasy XI expansions) ending cutscenes. Good ‘ol time stayed up late doing Chains of Promathia missions.

Scenes from Final Fantasy XIII where Snow and Sarah went for a ride in the sky during fireworks

Arnie really knew how to please the audience as he played the next piece from Final Fantasy XIII, the Promise which is a main theme song for FFXIII.

Scenes from where Lighting beats up all the bad guys in the transport vehicle (first scene after you started the game)

Right after “The Promise” from Final Fantasy XIII, Arnie played another familiar piece from Final Fantasy XIII and it’s “Blinded by Light”, Final Fantasy XIII Battle Theme.

This scene from Final Fantasy XIV where you just arrived at Limsa Lominsa (assuming you choose Limsa Lominsa as your starting city) and of course, it's a great scene to accompany Navigator's Glory which is Limsa Lominsa OST.

Moving on after Final Fantasy XIII, it’s Final Fantasy XIV’s turn. Despite the lack of success as an MMORPG due to various items, the music is still friggin awesome. I was lucky enough to hear Navigator’s Glory, OST from city of Limsa Lominsa (one of starting main cities).

The next piece , I was really unfamiliar with and not really sure what stage of the game that this OST plays. It is Primal Judgement, another Final Fantasy XIV piece.

Remember this cute scene with the little chocobo that's always on Sazh's head ?

What would a Final Fantasy concert be without “Swing de Chocobo” song? I felt nostalgic listening to this ost as it reminded all the mini game of chocobo digging that I did through out all Final Fantasy series that I played.

Another everyone’s favourite song came in next and it’s no other than Maria and Draco from Final Fantasy VI. Not my personal favourite but it’s still great regardless.

The concert was coming to an end at this point and as a closing piece, Arnie played “Terra’s Theme” from Final Fantasy VI.

Do I even need to explain where this scene is coming from ?

You thought it was done but no, one special piece as Nobuo Uematsu joined and sang with the choir “One Winged Angel” from Final Fantasy VII.

Audio Clips

I managed to record the whole concert on my iphone but the quality is not so great. Regardless, I would love to share them with some of my readers who wanted to go but couldn’t make it due to various reasons. I hope you guys enjoy these clips. (Click on ‘Play’ icon to play each song)

Final Fantasy VIII – Liberi Fatali

Final Fantasy X – To Zanarkand

Final Fantasy VIII – Don’t Be Afraid

Final Fantasy VII – Aerith’s Theme

Final Fantasy I, II and III – Medley

Final Fantasy V – Dear Friends

Final Fantasy IX – Vamo’ alla Flamenco

Final Fantasy VII – Jenova

Final Fantasy XI – Ronfaure

Final Fantasy V – Clash on Big Bridge

Final Fantasy VII – Bombing Mission

Final Fantasy VIII – Fisherman’s Horizon

Final Fantasy XI – Memoro de la Stono – Distant Worlds

Final Fantasy XIII – The Promise

Final Fantasy XIII – Blinded by Light

Final Fantasy XIV – Navigator’s Glory

Final Fantasy XIV – Primal Judgement

Final Fantasy – Swing de Chocobo

Final Fantasy VI – Maria and Draco

Final Fantasy VI – Terra’s Theme

Final Fantasy VII – One Winged Angel

Thoughts

It was truly an amazing experience to be in this concert and money well spent in my opinion. I paid $120 something for my seat since I was waiting for my friend’s confirmation so I couldn’t get a cheaper seat, however, considering the experience, I would have paid $200 if I need to ^^;;. For me ,it’s truly more than worth it (as I probably said so many times already on twitter, facebook). In addition to gameplay and storyline, I believe music is what made Final Fantasy into what it is today and cannot really separate music/OST from Final Fantasy brand.

More pictures from the concert below

It was the first cosplay photoshoot event that I have ever attended and certainly it won’t be the last. It looks like there will be another similar event on December called Toronto Cosplay Skating. Check out this original thread on cosplay.com and facebook event.

Larger version of each photo is available on my flickr account.

When I arrived at High Park, it was not as busy as I thought it would be. Maybe the cloudy weather does have its affect so I had the freedom to take pictures from any different angles. I hope you guys enjoy the pictures .

Another post of my “All about Toronto, eh?” series after my first post 2-3 months ago. I am glad that I did not enforce myself to make this series into a weekly thing since my 2nd post of this series happened after 2 months ^^;;. This time, it features my recent adventure  in Toronto area such as Erindale Park near University of Toronto Mississauga , my new place, Chinatown downtown Toronto and Summerlicious event.

Aoi Sora (青い空 )

A small river running across Erindale Park. The river is clean and clear so you can swim there if you would like to.

Found this little fella when I was walking by the river. I think this species of spider is the one that can walk/move freely on water surface. A quick google search did the trick in finding the species name for this spider. They are commonly known as fishing spiders, dock spiders, wharf spiders or raft spiders. Its genus name is called Dolomedes and most of dolomedes species is semi-aquatic with some exceptions (source: wiki). Thankfully, my girlfriend didn’t see this spider, otherwise, this little fella would have been dead. I can safely assume that most common spider predator is my girlfriend’s feet ^^;;.

I was trying to get a close up picture but that’s as far as I can go without scaring it away. Curse my 18-55mm stock lens ^^;;. Nikon 105mm micro lens is beyond my budget (price is around $900); I can only dream, I guess.

Not sure what this caterpillar was doing by the river but doesn’t it live on trees usually and eat leaves ? ^^

On the way back to my car as we were about to leave the park and couldn’t resist to take another pictures.

Blue sky is blue. A nice sunny weather that’s proven to be scarce in this year summer in Toronto. We have a lot of rainy days this summer and not to mention that they usually accompany by lightning and thunderstorm.

I love this view. A combination of blue sky and green grass and a lot of families are enjoying themselves.

My friends’ back got taken in the picture. If they are the only people there, the picture will look even better ^^

This is a scenery from my condo. I just got back home from work and decided to take some pictures from my balcony.

I can see the Nestle building from outside.

Sunset

I was not sure what this is. I assume it’s some kind of aircraft but who knows ^^;;. It may be a UFO ? ;p

At Sheppard-Yonge subway on a Sunday morning. I was going to downtown for lunch with bunch of friends.

Everyone is a drug abuser including myself apparently ^^;;

Interior of Toronto Transit Commision (TTC) subway. They could use a better seat than the one it uses right now

Dundas Square

Yonge – Dundas intersection. It’s arguably the busiest intersection in Toronto area.

Yonge street facing the north side.

The one and only “scramble” intersection in Toronto. A type of intersection that allows pedestrian to across diagonally in addition to the usual horizontal and vertical one. This “scramble” intersection is often seen in Japan.

For example, Shibuya crossing in Tokyo below.

Riding a TTC street car to go to Chinatown at Dundas / Spadina intersection.

Arrived at the centre of downtown Chinatown – Spadina and Dundas intersection.

Took my time when crossing the street by taking a picture ^^;

A typical grocery store / marketplace in Chinatown

A Pho restaurant where I was having lunch.

The menu.

Apparently this place has won few awards and recognitions and not to mention, it’s featured in local newspapers.

Cheap chinese bakery store at Chinatown. Most items are 2/3 for $1.00

I was grabbing some of these Deep Fried Curry Beef bun.

And of course, I couldn’t forget to get some of these custard pineapple bun ^^

These butter rolls also caught my attention ^^;;

Lastly, my favourite among others is egg tart.

Waiting in the line to pay for my breads

Tea Shop 168 in Chinatown.

I stopped by at nearby foot mart looking for some snacks ^^

Green-powered taxi/cab. It’s good for getting around Chinatown I guess but no idea how much it costs.

The well-known Art Gallery of Ontario is located near Dundas-University intersection. Even if you are not into art, it’s a must place to visit when you are in Toronto.

Toronto Police Department building at Dundas

Walking along Dundas as I was on my way back to Dundas subway station.

My gf and I went to a Japanese restaurant called EDO since they had a Summer special menu which is called Summerlicious. A lot of restaurants join this annual event in Toronto to promote their menu in order to attract customers. I think it’s really a good deal considering how much fine dining usually costs. Below is Seared Salmon Carpaccio, Ponzu Aspic and I think I finished it within 1 minute lol.

Sushi and Sashimi.

Shrimp and vegetable tempura

Tempura banana deluxe.

One thing about this type of restaurant is that the food is always in a small quantity = not filling enough for me ^^;;, however, the taste was really good though ^^

Inspired by Danny Choo and his Tokyo Photo Walk series , I have decided to start my own series. There is no specific day/week/month to post unfortunately because I don’t want to burden myself and make blogging in to a work. As for title, I chose Toronto since it is the city where I currently live in and as for the ‘Eh’ part, it’s a trademark for Canadians to end their sentence with ‘Eh’ (not everyone speaks like though). More info can be found on Wikipedia. For first post in this series, it includes photos from recent visit to High Park and some bits and pieces about myself.

For those who live in countries with 4 seasons, summer is one of the season that we all really look forward to ( If you look forward to winter, please do tell us why ^^). It is the case for me as someone who has been living in Canada for almost 9 years and it will be 9 years exactly on July 28th. Time sure does fly, doesn’t it ?. Whenever I have a chance, I always try to go outside and enjoy as many outdoor activities as I can. At the same time, I try avoid just sitting at home in front of my computer all day (it happened a lot when I was playing FFXI hardcore). It is not that I don’t like, in fact, I love it. I mean who does not like sitting in front of their computer watching anime while enjoying cold/warm beverages depending on the season.

Many events/festivals are being held in Toronto during summer and it is a way for us to enjoy the sunshine and meeting other people. In case, you have not noticed I have a new category called Toronto as my way to show about the city I live in. Most of my readers/lurkers probably expect something more japan-related but unfortunately, I don’t live there ^^;; nor I am planning to live there. I think my heart is set to live in Canada since I stepped my foot at Vancouver International Airport 9 years ago.

Paid another visit to High Park for the second time after my first one. Clearly one visit is not enough to explore the whole park. It makes me wonder which one is bigger? Stanley Park in Vancouver or High Park ?. In High Park, there is a designate area where you can let your dogs off-leash and the area is marked with yellow colour in the above picture.

I found this unique car on my way to the picnic area. The sun flower matches with the summer season. For those who drive, do you decorate the body of your car with anime characters ? I have been wanting to do it after seeing Danny’s post about itasha but at the same time, I worry that someone will vandalize my car ^^;;;. It’s going to cost around $200 depending on the details.

Plenty of parking spaces are available in High Park if you drive, although, I would not recommend because you will be missing out the view. If you have a bicycle, you can take your bicycle with you riding the subway and get off on High Park subway station.

Further deep inside the park, there is a small zoo where you can find various animals (probably around 10-15 animals).

A male peacock shows off its feathers trying to attract the female one.

It is quite amazing that that I found new things in this park. We have a kangaroo in Canada ^^.

“What are you looking at?”. The mountain goat and I were having a starring contest. I wish I have a better lens than 18-55mm for zooming in.

The smell is awesome near the bison btw ^^. It was a sarcasm in case anyone missed it. Does anyone ever try a bison meat ? heard that they are pretty good and healthier than beef.

This is my first time seeing a Llama. They don’t look like an intelligent animal.

I couldn’t recall what this animal is called. It looks like a mix between beaver and mouse. Do you have any animals or plants that represent or becomes a symbol of your country?

If you are tired after walking around the park, you can take a train for $2/person ^^;;

Seeing a view like above makes me feel that I am not in the middle of a city.

Inside the park, there are many small paths here and there so if you feel little bit more adventurous , small paths will give you better view in my opinion.

Check out my other High Park photos