This Halloween for work, I decided to dress up as Trevor Linden, campaigning to be Mayor. Trevor Linden has always been my favourite Canucks player. Check my previous post on the Canucks, for a picture of when I met Trevor I have a great “Linden for Mayor” t-shirt that I was holding up all day at work today but unfortunately I forgot to bring it home with me.

I didn’t have a lot of time to put together a costume this year since I just came back from my trip, so I kinda went for the lazy costume. However, it is my own jersey and all my own hockey gear, so I think that counts for something, right? It wasn’t this revealing for work; I was wearing opaque leggings

In past years, I’ve gone as Cortana from the video game Halo (I painted it on myself, and made the Guilty Spark too!), and some other typical ones like the schoolgirl and angel costumes. Fortunately, those cliché Halloween costume times are past and I’m hoping to do more creative and interesting video game costumes in the future.

Tonight, it’ll be off to a house party and I’ll see if I can’t modify my costume to be a little more “party” friendly. I’ll update this post later with pictures.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/djking/64249598/

Now that I’ve got the Halloween stuff out of the way, let’s talk about the tech/video game industry and the Vancouver/world economy. Things aren’t looking so great these days, it seems the high tech industry is a little spooked (har har) this Halloween too. You can read more in my previous post on the Vancouver video game industry. And to clear up all the rumours… no, I don’t work at EA — and I never have.

It looks like Electronic Arts (EA) is going to layoff 400 to 500 employees over the next little while. Ouch. That’s a LOT of people. It’s not looking so great for the folks over at EA’s Burnaby campus, which makes up about a third of the company. In its last quarter, EA reported a loss of $310 Million. And the EA stock tanked today after that news, down almost 5% last time I checked.

And the makers of Just Cause (Avalanche Studios) are going to layoff about half their studio in Sweden after losing a couple contracts.

Retailers everywhere are projecting lower holiday sales and less shoppers/traffic in general, so it’s not looking good for many “boxed” video game sales. I’m sure we will see this affect other Vancouver video game companies and high tech companies soon, even though video game sales do traditionally quite well in economic slowdowns.

Where’s the opportunity though? Microtransactions and free-to-play games. Web and casual games. Companies who take advantage of this market may be better positioned for today’s and tomorrow’s economy.

Silicon Valley isn’t doing great either. It’s also been suspected that Yahoo! is going to layoff a ton of employees, perhaps as many as 3,000. But that’s not concrete and many expect it not to be that drastic. And Sun Microsystems posted a much bigger loss than expected. They are planning layoffs as well.

And the economy is also finally affecting the ridiculous Vancouver condo boom. Many Vancouver condos and housing developments are being stalled, including Concord Pacific’s West Georgia Cosmo, and Onni’s V6A condo development, that still has its sales office open and is selling to unsuspecting buyers. Oh man. Onni is doing some seriously criminal stuff.

That’s it for today!

I’m finally back in Vancouver and am trying to get over the jet lag and get back into the swing of things. More photos and stories from the trip still incoming.

Photo Credit: http://www.skinet.com/warrenmiller/

It’s that time again folks. I’m really excited about this year’s snowboard season.  It’s almost the beginning of November, the snow is starting to fall on the mountains, several mountains are about a month from Opening Day, and Warren Miller Entertainment rolls into town for their annual film tour.

Warren Miller films, in my opinion, can’t really compete with the high budget Burton, Standard, Billabong, Red Bull etc action sports movies that are rolling out these days. Warren Miller films were traditionally ski movies, and as someone who has skied longer than I have snowboarded… I can relate. The films do include a lot more snowboarding in the current and latest iterations, but they are still more family-oriented films. Yet, every year, going to the Warren Miller movie, getting the 2-1 for, checking out the booths and tradeshows, and cheering with other fans excited about winter is still one of my favourite events before the season starts. It’s a great way to get stoked. I’m definitely going to try and be at Whistler and Baker for their opening days. CAN’T. WAIT!

So pick up your tickets if you can — it’s showing at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre this Saturday (7:30 pm) and Sunday (4:00 PM). See you there!

Now, back to the Japan stories.

A few days ago, I finally made it to the Tokyo Burton store like I’ve been hoping to visit ever since I found out about my business trip out to Asia. I was excited to check out the Japan-only/Japan-exclusive Burton gear for the 08/09 season.

The store is located in downtown Tokyo, in the Harajuku area, in the back alleys by a bunch of funky other shops.

It’s really cool inside. I particularly liked the lounge, complete with foosball table (FOOSBALL! CHRISTINE!), Burton pillows, antlers, and cool couches.

So. Much. Gear. I think they have a better selection than even the Los Angeles Burton store. Sadly, they are also twice as expensive.

Awesome Burton logo pillow!

Tons of bindings.

Burton Serow boots, 2008-2009 model. The Serow boot was designed for Japanese powder surfers. They are wider than Burton’s boots. I believe that these colours are only sold in Japan. I’m sure you could find them in some online shops, or smaller shops, but this is the first time I’ve seen them in person.

The Burton Custom ICS Japan is pretty much the same as the North American versions, except the flex is a bit softer.

The Burton Aura 2008-2009 (front and back shown here in the middle) is also a Japan exclusive board. It’s a men’s board, designed for powder. It’s basically like the North American Burton Supermodel. It is tapered with soft flex, and has been made to float on powder. Wood core, Vaporskin, and comes in the 156 and 162 cm size. It’s also got The Channel mounting system and is rated a Feel of 2 (Burton rating).

The Burton Avenue 2008-2009 is similar to the Burton Lux, and comes in the 143 and 147 cm size and is also Japan only. It’s a women’s board, but I think it looks pretty cool. I love the design on it… why don’t they sell this in North America? If only I could get a Malolo or a Fish with that design… Unfortunately it doesn’t have The Channel, and it’s got a Feel rating of 1. It was designed for Japanese female riders, with soft flex and for free-riding and park.

Sooo.. uhh.. I purchased the Brown/Red Burton Serow boots for Allan, just because those are his riding colours, and I couldn’t resist getting him something Japan exclusive. They’re really nice, and have got a whole whack of features like the speed zone lacing, Aegis anti-microbial fungus/odor/sweat control, and an exterior shell build for powder and hiking. They’ve also got the independent sections (top and foot sections) for increased flexibility.

The sole is a Vibram sole, that was designed exclusively for Burton. For better grip, control, and of course if you ever need to hike it, it’s got what you need.

The Burton Serow logo is REALLY neat! It’s of a Japanese serow which is basically kind of like a goat-antelope. They put this logo on some of their Japanese only softgoods and boots. I haven’t seen it on any boards yet though.

I did end up buying a bunch of other loot there too, other than the boots. I picked up a bunch of gifts for friends, including a Burton Tokyo hoodie, Burton Tokyo t-shirt, Burton Rubix Cube (AWESOME!), candies, and kleenex. I can’t wait to give these out!

I’m way too tired to write a blog post tonight. WAY too tired.

I’ve visited the Burton Tokyo store and it is awesome. I bought lots of stuff. I wish it was snowboarding season here.

I saw surfers in the water at Shonan when visiting Kamakura at Enoshima. It was ridiculously crowded (see photo).

Tomorrow, I travel to Chiba by myself in search of uncrowded waves on the Pacific Ocean side. It’ll be a long journey but hopefully it will end with me in the ocean in Japan.

Wish me luck.

We’re finally on the last leg of our trip. On Thursday night we flew into Tokyo, Japan. It’s very different from Korea and definitely overwhelming.

The airport was awesome. Duty free electronics! Where do you see that anywhere else? Seriously discounted DSLRs, mini computers, MP3 players, harddrives, everything. And no tax. Gahhh what a deal. I decided not to buy anything since I wanted to save my money for actual Tokyo but now I kinda regret not picking something up after seeing how RIDICULOUSLY expensive everything is in Japan.

On our drive from the airport to our hotel, I was informed by my boss that 7-Eleven convenience stores were owned by this Japanese company. Weird. It’s strange seeing 7-11’s everywhere. Oh yeah, and the steering wheel is on the other side in Japan and cars drive on the left.

In Japan, it seems to be that there are a lot of celebrities doing B-list ads. I suppose they are getting paid a lot and figure that the general North American market won’t ever get to see this stuff. It’s hilarious. Tommy Lee Jones of all people advertising a canned coffee drink on the top of a building. These particular billboard is all over Tokyo. It’s strange.

George Clooney apparently doing an ad for Honda. Saw this one in the train station. WEIRD! They don’t really interact with any of the product, it’s usually just a picture of their face.

Our hotel is the Tokyo Bay Intercontinental. I actually liked our hotel in Korea a lot better, especially since this one doesn’t have as many amenities. And the buffet isn’t nearly as good. But it’s a pretty nice hotel, especially for Japan since rooms and hotels are normally pretty small (and expensive) here.

It’s nice to have a high tech toilet that has a heated seats and powers up (vroooooooom) whenever you sit on it, but it’s also weird. Also — don’t press the buttons. EVER.

The subway and train system in Tokyo is ridiculous. It’s huge. There’s so many different lines, some above ground, some below, and some high speed (bullet trains). It’s hard to know where to go, especially since it is almost always fully in Japanese. Good thing I have my boss with me, and he’s lived in Tokyo before so he knows where he is going.

Pretty much everyone takes the train in Tokyo, and people walk everywhere. I always can’t believe the women that are wearing 5 inch high heels and are walking everywhere, climbing stairs, and don’t look tired at all.

We went to Shibuya, where there is a huge intersection. I think it is the largest intersection in the world? (Supposedly). Anyway, it’s huge and overwhelming and definitely a good place to start in Tokyo!

We wandered around. There’s a strange mix of Japanese and North American in downtown Tokyo. There’s also so many people. That combination makes it very surreal.

We went into Tokyo Hands, a big department store in downtown Tokyo. They have just about everything and anything you could possibly want. They carry both Japanese and foreign products. How about a Star Wars R2D2 USB hub, or a humping dog USB hub?

I came across this section in Tokyo Hands and couldn’t resist snapping a picture. Boot stands! Why haven’t I seen this anywhere in Vancouver? (I’m sure it exists, but not as cool as these!) I’m going to pick up one of these to baby my Michael Kors boots. The only question is, which one to get? So many to choose from.

The title says it all.

We did a brief visit to Akihabara, the technology/computer/geeky/roleplaying district. There’s all sorts of gadgets everywhere that you’ll never find anywhere else. You can also find bins of computer parts, and video games everywhere.

There’s a ton of manga and comic book stores, some “safe” and some very pornographic! (Hentai)

Need an extension cord?

We only spent a little bit of time there, so I’m absolutely going to be coming back to this area. I still need to win this maid doll from the arcade, that I failed in grabbing with the “crane machine style game”. I don’t know why I want this so bad. I feel like it is a good representation of Akihabara and therefore a good souvenir. The advertisement tells me that she has “realistic feeling” breasts. LOL. Creepy.

This will be the last of my posts on Korea, since I’m now in Tokyo

Okay, so it’s not really like the food market at Granville Island in Vancouver, but there are definitely similarities. The outdoor markets in Korea are really stunning. They’re full of life, the smell of delicious food, and all sorts of different snacks and wares.

People shout at you in Korean trying to get you to visit their stall. Everywhere you look there is colour and motion, and it was probably one of my most memorable experiences in Seoul so far.

A plant sitting on a table of the patio of a restaurant.

Asian pears! Delicious. The outdoor fruit stalls were really something else.

Anybody need any shoes? That’s a huge stack of shoes right there.

Persimmons were often sold still growing on the branch.

Mmmm… termites? I wouldn’t eat this myself, but that little fruit fly was sure interested.

Rice by the cup or bag was very popular.

Fruit trays were everywhere, and people were sampling and picking through them passionately. People are very intense about getting the best fruit possible to the point of destroying all the other fruit by digging through.

Make your own Kimono! Well, in Korea they call it “Han Bok”. Beautiful traditional dresses that are in a baby doll shape. Colour is very important in Korean culture, and everything from the temples to the traditional garb is very colourful. Han Bok dresses are often worn by the bride for Korean weddings or ceremonies/parties. These shops are everywhere, and they’ll make a girl a made to order Han Bok of any thread, fabric, and ribbon of your choosing.

These stalls are very common and popular, with batter poured into some oil. They smell and taste like donuts, and are really delicious. Sometimes they are sweet, and sometimes they more lunch snacks, with onions and meat inside.

In Korea, barber shop poles are the sign for a brothel, so you definitely don’t want to be tricked and think you’re going to get a hair cut. They are everywhere, which is actually really scary. People seem used to them, though.

Garbage is left on the street everywhere, so the city has a bit of a funny smell when it is hot outside. There are no huge garbage containers like in Vancouver or North America. It’s normal here though, and people don’t seem to mind.

This store is not a fan store. It just happens to have a lot of fans. LOL!