Kevin Kwak’s Blog

It is just one of those things, whether I am 15 years old or 30 years old today, I wouldn’t pass up on the Final Fantasy (FF) series.

I still remember the time I watched my buddies playing FF in SNES — it was junior high when I visited Robin’s house. Robin and Sam were playing FF III (VI in Japanese). I didn’t understand why there were hooked on what appeared to be a cycle of repetitive fights with silly monsters. And a few weeks later, another school mate was playing the same darn game. Just by staring at others playing the game, it was difficult to grasp the concept and to enjoy the gameplay, you just had to get into the game and experience it yourself which I did.

This week, I dropped by the local Circuit City to pick up the recently released FFXII which is being sold for $37.99 instead of the $49.99 price tag other retailers were selling for Good deal.

After finishing watching the opening and playing through the first hour into the story, the storyline is impressive and well thought out. RPGers alike respect and become loyal Square-Enix fan because the FF producers really do their best to create a top-notch role-playing game, always striving to innovate the overall gameplay to exceed fan’s expectation of the FF series.

Final Fantasy XII Storyline
It was an age when magic was commonplace and airships plied the skies, crowding out the heavens. Our tale begins in Dalmasca, one small kingdom in the world of Ivalice.
A young orphan named Vaan dreams of escaping his life on the streets, piloting an airship of his own, free to go where he will. Against the backdrop of the war engulfing Dalmasca, Vaan meets Princess Ashe, the sole surviving heir to the Dalmascan throne who had been given up for missing. They are joined by Vaan’s friend Penelo, the sky pirate Balthier, and his partner Fran. And with them is Basch, a captain in the Dalmascan army who turned traitor and slew his king. Grand adventure and unforeseen encounters set the stage of Ivalice for the telling of this epic tale.

I completed the game and to my surprise, was able to sell the game on eBay for $38  excluding shipping and handling. Got my money’s worth.

I was pondering last night on what to do with this one website I no longer have interest in. The website had potential to produce a heavy traffic and revenue but no thanks. So I was at godaddy.com trying different terms to come up with a new domain name. The following date was 10/31 (today) and two things came to my mind right away: IRC Section 1031 and Final Fantasy XII (following entry).

What a coincidence–I got two e-mails, one from 1031 Exeter Company and one from Bayview Financials today. 1031 newsletters on 10/31/06. Clever are they. Both companies specializes in 1031 exchanges and are Qualified Intermediaries (QI) with many years of experience. Their websites contain a ton of resources ranging from podcasts to a short video clip. I constantly refer to their website to learn new things on the subject. Both companies are located in Southern California and well represented in trade shows and conferences.

Has it already been over a month since my last blog entry? Well, many things happened over the weeks but I don’t want to bore you by writing about the past.

I decided to update Kwak.org from the ground up this coming November. The blog and the gallery page will remain the same but everything else will get a whole new look. Come back at around mid-November for the surprise.
update: It seems like the update will be postponed until January 5, 2007. The layout plan is complete and so is the new logo. The new changes are not only a design revision, the purpose of the website will be changed.