The End (for now ...)

I have not been updating my blog as I would like, and that's got me to thinking about it's future. I have been weighing some ideas in starting over, possibly to a new blogging platform; refocusing the blog to one or a few subjects; adding new contributors, to keep the content fresh and allow for differing viewpoints; or maybe some combination.

I have not made any decisions yet, but one thing I do know is that I will not be deleting anything that I have posted here. It may not mean much, but I've enjoyed posting to this little site over the years and so I don't necessarily want it to go away if I do happen to leave.

California love!

This past weekend (Note: I actually wrote this back on July 26th), I traveled back to California to attend the wedding of two friends of mine. I'll have more on that later. This post will deal with more of what I did with my extra time in the area.

When I planned this trip out, I gave myself about 4 good days where I would have some manner of free time to “be a tourist”. Even though I had lived in San Jose, CA, for roughly 2 years, I didn't really take the time to go exploring the areas around where I lived to see what was out there. For example, living in San Jose I am a short distance away from San Francisco (about an hour, varying wildly depending on traffic). Yet, I had never really been to Golden Gate Park which houses all kinds of things for one to see. So I decided on this trip that I would try to (1) meet up with some friends and maybe my old boss, and (2) do the more touristy thing and go see places I didn't bother to go to when I lived in the area.

I flew out from Tampa this past Thursday, and landed in San Jose (via Houston) at about 11:15am PDT. I picked up my rental car and headed out to Santa Cruz, where I had worked while living in NorCal. It only took about 45 minutes to drive over the mountain on CA-17 to get to Santa Cruz, and after finding some parking I walked around the area that I had frequented for some many months. I tried to meet with my old boss, but unfortunately he was out of town and we could not get together for lunch like I had hoped. I still managed to have lunch at one of my favorite haunts, Jack's, and then I started the drive to my hotel in Monterey (the wedding was in Carmel, and Monterey is just north on CA-1 about 10 minutes). I took the Pacific Coast Highway, CA-1, the entire way there and it wasn't as adventurous as my trek back a while ago but I was happy to find my hotel and crash for the rest of the night.

Friday, my plan was to head to San Francisco and hit up a couple of places in Golden Gate Park, take some pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge itself, and meet up with my friend and old roommate Alex. It was about a 2-hour drive, so I got up early, found my local Starbucks and powered up, then drove off. I hit the Golden Gate Bridge first, and took shots from both the North and South sides. From there, I found my way to the Golden Gate Park so I could see the Japanese Tea Gardens and the California Academy of Sciences.

The Japanese Tea Garden was … well, actually it was kind of how I expected it to be and that is a good thing. It was very serene and picturesque. Of course, after a short walk-through I made my way to where the tea and snacks could be ordered. I had a mini-bento, and a pot of green tea with mochi cakes. The food was good, not too filling but just the right kind of snack, and the tea was flavorful and warm. Which was really nice, since it was probably in the mid-60s that day in San Francisco.

The California Academy of Sciences is a fairly new facility if I remember correctly. I believe it was being built during most of my time living in California, so this was my first chance to actually visit it. I wish that some of my friends from Florida had been with me, as they are bigger science buffs than I am. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Academy and I didn't even take in some of the demonstrations or ticketed attractions like the “Extreme Mammals” exhibit or the Planetarium (no laser Zeppelin, though). Unfortunately, although I tried to get a hold of my friend who lives in the area I was never able to contact him, and after finding a few other things to do I finally decided to head back to Monterey.

Saturday left me with only the morning for free time. The wedding was scheduled for 5:00pm, and I wanted to have extra time to get ready and find the location where the wedding and reception were being held. So, since I was in the area I decided I would visit Pebble Beach and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Pebble Beach is actually a part of a huge expanse of land that encompasses a bunch of housing, three golf courses and various other bits and pieces. Upon arriving into the area, you have the option of following “17-Mile Drive”, a self-guided tour of the entire area that also has you driving by famous landmarks before arriving at the Lodge at Pebble Beach. Since I have taken up being a golf hack, and I also watch the major PGA tournaments, it was cool to see places in real life that I had only seen on TV before. From Pebble Beach, I made an attempt to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but I ended up going the wrong way in the downtown area and ended up at the pier instead. I walked around there and found a nice place for lunch, but then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. I figured I would make another attempt to get to the aquarium the next day.

Sunday I was transferring hotels, from Monterey back over to San Jose, so I figured I would make one last attempt at seeing the aquarium. I had been to there before years ago, but since I was in the area I decided I would go back and see what was new. I didn't screw up this time, and made it to the aquarium pretty easily. The exhibits were about how I remembered them, with a few new items here and there. I would definitely recommend it if you happen to be in the area.

I'll give my thoughts on the wedding next time, but for those who are interested you can see all of my pictures from these days here.

New Venture Brothers Incoming!

More Marvel vs Capcom 3 Goodness!

The Expendables: Call To Arms Trailer

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 9

Our final, full day in Japan was dampened a little by persistent rain. We started our day heading out to Kobe to see the gigantic Tetsujin 28-go statue that had been built in Wakamatsu Park. We had not arrived to Japan in time to see the life-size version of the Gundam statue that had been erected in Odaiba (and since then the Gundam has moved to Shizuoka), so seeing Tetsujin 28 was an equal treat.

From Kobe, we traveled back to Osaka and went to see Osaka Castle. A very beautiful castle, however, we didn't too much as the rain was coming down heavier during this part of the day.

After Osaka Castle, we traveled back to our hotel in Osaka and prepared for our night out ... no, our last night out in Japan. Aka-san had planned for all of us to go to Club Pure. I will admit this right here. I wussed out when the party really started to get going. I knew that we all had to get up real early to make our trains to get to Narita Airport to make our flights. So, I left before the trains stopped running so that I could get back to the hotel. I suck, I know.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 8, Part 3

The final stop was to Kiyomizu-dera. The walk up to the main temple complex is filled with all kinds of small shops and food vendors selling their various wares. The temple complex is filled with various shrines and areas dedicated to different things, if I remember correctly.

Like, here, where a waterfall flows down beneath the main hall. It is said that drinking the water has therapeutic properties.

I cannot remember if I drank from any of the streams myself. I guess that's why I have not received the gifts of either health, wisdom or longevity. Regardless, Kiyomizu-dera is a wonderful experience and I would recommend anyone who visits Kyoto to make a trip to this area to see it for yourself.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 8, Part 2

From the Kyoto Imperial Palace we traveled to the Fushimi Inari-Taisha, the head Shinto shrine of Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. This was my first time to this particular place. It was serene and beautiful. The walkway lined by torii gates is amazing to see, as I'll try to illustrate with the pictures below.

Again, we spent an hour or two here before moving on to our last stop for the day. I always enjoy seeing historical, cultural sites such as these and I wish I could do them more justice with the pictures I was taking.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 8, Part 1

Day 8 was our cultural tour of Kyoto, the old capital of Japan before it moved to Edo (Tokyo). We took a short trip from Osaka to Kyoto by train, and in the Kyoto JR station we took some shots of people bustling about. Even got some students to do a quick pose!

Our first stop was at the Kyoto Imperial Palace. A very beautiful and serene place to visit. One interesting note: no pictures are allowed to be taken inside of the palace itself. In fact, you cannot even sketch a drawing of the inside!

Outside, however, there is plenty to enjoy. From the craftsmanship that went in to constructing the palace and the various items surrounding the structure ...

... to the surrounding gardens.

It was amazing, and I haven't even talked about the sights we saw inside the palace itself. But unfortunately, after spending a couple of hours there we had to move on to our next location.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 7

Today was a travel day. Two of our party, Greg and X, were leaving to go back to the States so we saw them off at the hotel lobby. The rest of us had packed up and were set to take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka where we would stay for the end of the tour.

The ride from Tokyo to Osaka took a couple of hours. Once we arrived, we made our way to our hotel and then Aka-san took us around the immediate area pointing out places of interest. We also took a trip through some of the more famous districts in Osaka like Dotonbori and Namba.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 6, Part 3

Wow, Day 6 seemed to go on forever didn't it?! After finishing up with Dan and Haruna, X and I had to grab the JR rail and head over to Ikebukuro to meet the rest of our tour group. Aka-san had arranged a night of karaoke for us and some representatives of Girl Gamer.

We found the whole group at Big Echo, one of the various karaoke establishments found in Japan. There isn't too much to say; we drank a lot ...

... enjoyed the company of some beautiful women ...

... danced and sang (some of us, horribly so ;-p) ...

... and then one of us kind of passed out. The night was a blast and for the most part everyone had a great time.

The great thing about these karaoke bars is that you rent a room for your group so that you can enjoy privacy while you make fools of yourselves (as opposed to karaoke in front of a bunch of strangers at a bar like we have here). It's usually a flat rate per person, and you have the room for set amount of time but during that time you can order as much food and drink as you want.

It was a great way to end a night, and for two of our crew it was the perfect ending to their trip to Japan. Tomorrow, most of us would be taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka while X and Greg would travel back home.

Official Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Announcement Trailer

Two words. Fuck! Yes!

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 6, Part 2

We had a great time in Odaiba, but that was only about half of our free day. We still had two other things to do to finish out our day. And actually to finish out X's trip to Japan. He and another from our tour, Greg, were set to leave the very next day. Our first evening adventure was to meet a very good friend and his girlfriend (now fiancée!) for dinner at Tora Fugu, とらふぐ亭.

Now, X and I met our friend, Dan, and his girlfriend, Haruna, in Tamachi for dinner. X's only other goal for this trip was to try fugu, or pufferfish, and Aka-san really came through for us by finding a restaurant that specialized in serving this fish.

Aren't they just awesome?!

I have to commend Haruna for her patience with me that night. I pretty much had no information regarding the restaurant we were going to, since I couldn't print out the e-mail Aka-san sent me regarding the reservation and I couldn't print out the map on their website. I think I only had the name of the place, and I'm not even sure I copied that down correctly. So poor Haruna had to be the one to go to the koban, or police station, to get proper directions to the restaurant. I am sad to say I think Haruna was a least slightly perturbed at me, seeing as I was essentially useless and I was kind of the one that arranged everything. Regardless, we made it fine and were seated right away. All of us looked over the menu and Haruna and Dan suggested a meal that prepared the fugu in different ways.

First, for our drink we were given hot sake that contained fins of the fish.

Then, we were all treated to fugu sashimi. Next, we received an appetizer of fried fugu which for some reason I don't have any pictures of. Actually, I think you can see some of the fried fugu in the background of the next picture.

A basket of broth was brought out to the middle of the table and the burners were turned on. As we were finishing our appetizer, a tray of freshly cut fugu was brought out with various vegetables. When the broth was brought to the correct temperature, we were instructed to cook the fish and vegetables similar to the way one would do so at shabu-shabu or Chinese hot pot.

Are we jigglin'?

X kissing fugu lips

Once most of the meal had been cooked, the staff brought in rice that we then dropped into the seasoned broth.

The entire meal was exquisite and we left full and happy. I cannot speak highly enough about the experience, and more than that I cannot speak highly enough regarding the company I had during dinner. Seeing Dan and Haruna again was a real treat and I can only hope they enjoyed the night as much as X and I did. Oh, there's some short video from dinner as well which you can see here.

Can there be any other ending picture?

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 6, Part 1

Day 6 was our free day. An entire day for all the tour participants to do whatever they wanted. Myself and X had a big day planned, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Aka-san to set everything up for us. We started out our day going to Odaiba with the intent to experience an onsen and to see the Sasuke-themed events in Muscle Park.

There are a lot of things to do and see in Odaiba. I've been a couple of times, but I have still not seen everything and I never get tired of going.

Our first stop was at the Ooedo-Onsen-Monogatari. This was one of two goals that X had for the vacation in Japan, both of which we were going to achieve this day. Going to the onsen was an interesting, and fulfilling experience. This particular one in Odaiba is set up like its own theme park. Of course the main reason to go is to enjoy the hot springs baths, but the establishment is also advertised to have "a wide variety of restaurants, traditional amusements such as fortune-telling, quoits, blowgun darts, etc., and Japanese-style full-body and foot massages".

Inside the onsen, we first took off our shoes and stored them in small lockers right by the entrance way (this would be the first of three separate lockers we would use). Next to that area was the cashier, where we paid prior to using the onsen. Once we had paid, we were given a key for use with the lockers for your clothes and we were directed to the people who would hand us our robes (I actually think they provided us with yukatas) and then we entered the changing rooms. Here, we reached the second set of lockers that stored our clothing except for your undergarments. From that area, we walked through to the Hirokoji, or "main street", where most of the shops, restaurants and games are located. You walk through here to get to the hot springs.

Now, before y'all ask the onsen are not co-ed. There are separate springs for men and women. As you approach the onsen, you enter one last changing area with another set of lockers for your undergarments. After disrobing, you are able to enter. Before entering any of the springs you first go to an area filled with personal spaces where you can wash yourself clean. Only after cleaning yourself should you then go in to any of the hot springs. From what I can remember, there were at least six different baths I could get in to. One outdoor bath and the rest indoor. There was also a sauna and a massage room.

We stayed at the onsen for at least two hours, but since we had a busy day planned we eventually left (although I'm sure we would have rather spent more time there). Our next stop was Muscle Park so that we could try out the challenges themed from Ninja Warrior (or Sasuke as it is originally called).

There were four challenges that they had for people to try out. The Arm Bike, New Cliff Hanger, Salmon Ladder and the Arm Rings.

Out of all four events, I could only successfully complete one: the Arm Bike. I got close to finishing the Arm Rings, but my left hand betrayed me and slipped out when I was trying to make a long reach. Overall, the events were much more challenging than I expected but I would love to try them again. I'd also love to see how well some of my friends would do in these events. Oh well, next time ...

We did a few more things in Odaiba before heading back to our hotel. We had to change and get ready to meet some friends for dinner.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 5

Our plans for Day 5 in Tokyo were relatively light. Since, well, all of us on the trip were gamers and Square-Enix fans, our intrepid leader Aka-san decided to take us through Shinjuku to the Square-Enix Show Case store.

Since it had been a while since Aka-san had last been to the store, we took our time wandering through Shinjuku as Aka-san got his bearings. This worked out well, as we could take in the sights of this particular district as we walked.

We made it to the Square-Enix Show Case store and we were let loose inside. There were lots of items, paraphernalia, character goods, etc. from all the different games and products that Square-Enix has worked on.

Once we were done at the store, and had taken our mandatory group photo (pictured above with bonus attendee), we all broke off to do our own things for the rest of the day and night. Myself, Travis and X went off first to the Nakano Broadway. The Nakano Broadway is a huge, multi-level shopping center that has stores of all kinds and persuasions. We spent our time there getting gifts and souvenirs for people back home and then we returned back to our hotel.

That evening, the three of us took a stroll around the city and walked our way from the Shinagawa Prince Hotel towards the Tokyo Tower. We did not make it all the way to the tower, but instead opted to photograph the tower from various points along our walk. All of the pictures from this day can be seen here.