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.

Testing Out a New Blogger Template

Found out about a new Blogger Template Designer from Blogger in Draft. Trying it out to see how I might be able to utilize it to personalize my blog a little bit more. So far, I like it but personally I would love it if I could upload my own background image as opposed to using the stock images that Blogger has available to you. I would guess that it is a copyright issue that Blogger doesn't want to get involved in, i.e., if they were to let their users upload whatever they wanted as backgrounds. Hopefully, something can be done to add that functionality. Other than that, there's a new "Pages" gadget that I have the ability to add, so that I could add separate pages to the blog. I could probably use it to separate content, maybe having a page for Travel, Games, Randomness, etc. Still not sure if I'll add it or not, but it is a thought.

If anyone is still reading this blog, I wouldn't mind some comments to see what you think of the new design and if you would be interested in seeing separate pages for things. This is still a work in progress, so advice/comments are appreciated.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 4

This was the day I had been waiting for. This was the event that really spurred me to go back to Japan. I have had the great pleasure of attending the Tokyo International Anime Fair on my previous trip, but I grew up with a gaming controller in my hand (Atari 2600, Commodore 64, NES, SNES, Apple IIGS, Playstation, Playstation 2, Gamecube, Xbox, PSP, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, various PC configurations) and the chance to go to the Tokyo Game Show was too great an opportunity to miss!

I cannot tell you how many people were there, but I know it was a lot. We arrived there around 9:00 am; the doors opened at 10:00 am; and after we split up to see all the show had to offer, we met back up at the end of the day around 4:00 pm. Six wonderful hours surrounded by games! You can see the full set of pictures here, and shown below are just a few of the sights from the show.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 3

I will start off by making a quick comment. In linking to my Flickr page, I've noticed an inconsistency in how I am numbering the days of this trip. That is because when I took pictures and posted them to Flickr, I didn't count any travel days. So I lost 3 days on my 10-day trip traveling between Narita and LA and when riding the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka. So, when I say it's Day 3 on my blog but link to Day 2 on my Flickr, I'm not crazy. On with the tour!

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Ah, Akihabara. Day 3 say us scheduled for a half-day tour of Akihabara, an electronics/gaming/anime/etc. district in Tokyo. This guided tour would be a little different in that we would be lead off the main roads towards the back alleys where some of the older stores are and where people can find the better deals and harder to find items.

The tour started off with us going through a collection of electronics shops and up a stairwell, where a small shrine had been placed. If I remember the explanation our guide gave to us, I think the shrine was a small replica of one that used to exist in this district and was dedicated to Akiba. From there, we briefly went along the main road before turning off towards the back streets.

On the main street, you'll see people trying to hawk their goods or hand out flyers for restaurants, cafes, etc. Most of these cafes are themed, so you'll see people dressed as maids or in some other fantastic outfits.

Of course, once you move off the main streets you see a different side of Akihabara. Our guide showed us a bunch of older stores, from when this area was known as "Electric Town" and sold items such as radios, vacuum tubes, televisions, cameras ... pretty much all your general electronics. As we continued through the alleyways and back streets, we were treated to more and more specialty shops that sold anything and everything you might be interested in, especially if it was technology or electronics.

After we finished being led around the lesser-known areas of Akihabara, we were left to do our own exploring. Pretty much everyone left to shop; I was able lucky enough to find things that friends had asked me to look for, and since it was a few months before Christmas I was able to do some holiday shopping as well.

Overall, it was a full day even though it may not have sounded like it. Since I was more focused on shopping, I don't have many pictures from the area but you can check out what I have here.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Days 1 and 2

(continuing on from my post a while ago regarding my vacation last)

As much fun as it had been visiting Ammy and spending time in Los Angeles, it was time for the real part of my vacation. Once again, I was going off to the Land of the Rising Sun courtesy of the fine folks, and a very good friend and person, who run Intermixi Tours. On this trip, I was scheduled to stay in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, for a total of 10 days. The tour was going to visit many various locales, but the real treat for me was that we would get a day to spend at the Tokyo Game Show. I've been a big gamer, from my early youth through adulthood, and this was something I absolutely had to do.

So, Ammy dropped me off at LA International Airport and I met some of the others from the group. There was our venerable leader, Aka-san. My friend and coworker, Travis (whose pictures can be found here). Then two others, Kristian and Henry. We all piled on to a Singapore Airlines flight bound from LA to Narita and after about 11 hours of flying we landed safely in Japan. At the airport we met the rest of the people on the tour: Greg, Matt, Randy, and one of my best friends and roommate, X. At this point, a lot of us were tired from the travel (we had left in the afternoon from LA; it was already evening the next day in Japan) so we all boarded a bus that took us to our hotel in Tokyo, the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. Day 1 pretty much encompassed all of our traveling, so I wanted a good night's rest for all that we would do on Day 2 and through the rest of the trip.

The agenda for Day 2 (our first real day in Japan) consisted of a kind-of cultural tour, as we traveled to the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺), the observation deck of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, then we wandered through Kabukichō and encountered a takoyaki restaurant, and finally we finished our day in Harajuku.

Below are some more pictures from all of these places, and you can find the entire set here. I didn't take any pictures in Harajuku this time, mainly because it's how I remember it from last time.

No love for Intermixi.

I would also like to point out a little adventure some of us had after-hours (i.e., not exactly scheduled by the tour). See, a small group of us (myself, Travis, X, Greg and Matt) went with our leader, Aka-san, out on the town looking for a club that Aka-san wanted to show us. Along the way, our leader received a call from some friends of his; people he used to live with when he lived in Yokohama, I think. Anyway, we meet up with one of them, Jack, and we get lead to a building that houses a bunch of private, little recording studios. It seems that Aka-san used to live with some members of a band, named MAry Ann, and we had just been invited to a private jam/practice session they were having. It was an amazing experience to listen to these very talented musicians play some songs for us, and my only regret was that I stupidly left all of my recording devices (both cameras and my iPhone) in the hotel room so I couldn't take pictures or anything! Luckily, I found some pictures that are up on Intermixi's official Flickr page for the tour.

Wow, it's been 3 months already?!

Oops! There went my personal goal of keeping this blog updated more often. I have some things I still need to talk about from last year, and I will try to complete all of that by the end of this coming weekend. Because next week, if you try to get a hold of me it will be similar to this ...

End 2009; Start 2010

Another year come and gone. I cannot even believe how quickly the end of the year came upon me. I have a lot of personal goals for 2010, and it starts with getting back to writing on this blog. You know, a few months ago I took a nice vacation that placed me in Los Angeles and then Japan. I should really talk about that time.

I started my vacation in Los Angeles, California. The main goal of my time away was to travel around Japan for 10 days, so before heading out to the Far East I decided to visit a friend of mine, Ammy, who lives in LA. Ammy, being the awesome woman that she is, already had some activities lined up for us starting with a visit to The Comedy & Magic Club. The headliner for that evening? Jay Leno! All the comedians were great, but seeing Jay Leno in person was an experience I won't forget!

I had a total of 3 days to spend in LA, and my first day had already been full of plenty of fun right from when I stepped off the plane. This second day was going to be a bit more low-key, as Ammy had to work. I ended up just chillin' at her place while she worked, keeping an eye on her dog, Jack, and making a jaunt out to Starbucks for some caffeine. Once she got back from work, she asked if I would mind if we visited a friend of hers who was down in San Diego for work. So, after about a 2-hour drive we met her friend and went out for dinner. We didn't know where exactly to go, but it was suggested that we could hit this sports bar/sushi place by Qualcomm Stadium. Intrigued by this mention of a "sports bar/sushi" restaurant, we went for it and look what we found.

Seau's The Restaurant! I can't complain about the place. I enjoyed the food, especially the "hot crab dip with herb pizza bread" appetizer we got. And how can I argue with something like 60 TVs strung up all around the place?

My final, full day in Los Angeles included a trip around the city visiting the Page Museum, aka the La Brea Tar Pits and then The Getty Museum. I generally enjoy going to museums, parks, etc. and this was no exception. At the tar pits, there were exhibits showing all the different animals that had been found in the pits throughout history. The Getty had multiple exhibits running, and it would be difficult for me to run through them all. The best thing would be to go through my pictures from those 3 days and see for yourself.

Another post upcoming, but now for your enjoyment ...

This has been going 'round the Internets as of late, but I still felt the need to post it.



Also, if it is not apparent I did make it to Japan and back. I will have some detailed posts regarding the trip coming up real soon, as well as links to pictures and (hopefully) video.