Alafista.com was created back in 2007 and has been embracing the fun and wonderful elements of Japanese otaku and popular culture ever since. The topics that are covered daily include updates on anime/manga series, gravure features of beautiful idols, latest figurine releases, figurine photography and even interesting Japanese commercials (and recently Dollfie Dream).

About Alafista

I’m a self-proclaimed otaku blogger than resides in Singapore, but enjoys sharing about Japanese otaku and pop culture.

I enjoy a wide variety of anime and every week I try to put aside time for 4-10 episodes of anime. Classics like Doraemon, Mazinger Z, Speed Racer and Patlablor were my favorites growing up.

My interest in Japan grew stronger during my undergraduate studies whereby I was exposed to different aspect of Japan culture and history via my Japanese studies modules that I took as electives. Having understood the different aspect of the social institution of Japan allowed me to gain a better appreciation of the nation and convinced me I would love to live there.

Apart from blogging, I also developed strong interest in photography. Then I decided to merge my passion for anime together with photography and managed to co-create (with another blogger) two original figurine photography series – Nendo’s Travelogue [ねんどろいどの旅日記] and A Nendoroid Story ねんどろいど物語. In addition, I started the Today’s Japan Photo series to introduce some of the interesting cultural and tourist attractions that are unique to Japan.

History of Blogging

I’ve been blogging for more than 5 years now and I started mainly because I wanted to keep a record and share all the interesting elements of Japanese otaku and pop culture. The true inspiration for me came when I stumbled upon DannyChoo.com, which then motivated me to move onto more serious blogging.

Blogging has grown from a hobby (some would say an obsession), to probably a part time job (that doesn’t really pay well) but has rewarded me with many new acquaintances and chance to meet many industry folks.

I’ve an avid figurine collector and I’m fortunate to have my site sponsored by three of my favorite online stores – Hobby Search, HobbyLink Japan and Otacute.

After more than 3 year of its launch, Alafista.com now draws more than 150,000 unique visitors and 600,000 pageviews every month. The site has also been two times finalists for the SG Blog Awards (Best Lifestyle Blog category).

In addition to being a long-term affiliate of Animax Asia and AnimeFestival Asia to help promote the local anime/otaku scene, I’ve also recently been invited to AFAX to present a workshop on figurine photography.

Contact me

If you have any suggestions, tips, queries, pls send your emails to alafista[at]gmail[dot]com

I always enjoy reading all the emails sent to me by my readers, regardless of whether they are compliments and suggestions or just hate mails. And even though I might be slow in replying them, I will always make an effort to reply to them. If you dont get an answer, please resend mail again after 2 weeks. I think that the next best alternative way to contact me would be via Facebook or Twitter. Please stay in touch with what alafista.com is up to through our RSS Feed.

Moving Forward From Here

Having a job enables me to pursue my passion without financial worries. My current goal is to reside in Japan before I hit age 30. To secure my goal, I have started taking Japanese classes weekly and will be working towards attaining JLPT 1 within 4-5 years.

At the same time, I’ve realised my passion revolves around writing and doing research. Therefore, I’m aspiring to pursue a long-term career as an academics or a journalist for some geek magazine.