I feel so much better today. As many people have been blogging about lately, there’s something about November that makes us feel down and maybe on edge. I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and have had to come to terms (again) with who I am and the people I want to surround myself with. I know that good friends are invaluable and hard to come by, and my plan is to surround myself with people who I love, and people who love me. A couple interesting things that have come across my my path…

First off, for you Vancouver Canucks fans, there’s a film showing this Monday, November 10th at some Cineplex and Landmark theatres (not all, so make sure you check before going) called “Forever Faithful“. It profiles Canucks fans and their passion for the team. The trailer looks really good. Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it since I’ll be out of town in Tofino this weekend, but I’m definitely planning on picking up the DVD. You can read the Canucks press release here. Let me know what you think if you go see it!

Also in video game news, THQ is yet the next video game company to have significant layoffs. Their new “strategic” plan is to close down 5 studios, including Paradigm Entertainment (Stuntman, Pilotwings, Spy Hunter), Mass Media (Full Spectrum Warrior), Helixe (De Blob), Locomotive Games (Destroy All Humans!), and Sandblast Games. Wow. Not looking so rosy in both the publishing and development side of games right now. Basically, these cuts are going to eliminate about 250 jobs, which is 17 percent of all studio employees.

I finally managed to go through a few more of my photographs from my work trip to Japan. These ones are from a day trip that my boss and I did out to Kamakura. It’s really beautiful. We saw a number of different Buddhist and Shinto shrines, and climbed many hills and stairs, and walked across a long bridge to an island to climb up even more stairs… but it resulted in an incredible view.

Those aren’t Swastikas, they are religious symbols in Japan. Street signs on the way to Kamakura.

Beautiful pond

There were thousands of these statues everywhere. And the interesting/horrific part… each of these statues means there was an abortion or miscarriage. Japanese women would come here and place one of these statues as an offering or a prayer. The sheer number of statues in the temple made my stomach flip.

Bamboo at Kamakura Temple.

Flowers at the temple.

Praying Statues… very cute. I wonder how old these are. I wonder if “cuteness” is something that existed in Japan long before Hello Kitty and the like

Deep red Japanese umbrella…

Scariest spider ever! These guys were just hanging out everywhere. Made my skin crawl just trying to be close enough to it to take a good photo!

The largest Buddhish statue in Japan.

Flowers on bamboo. It was so neat to see so much bamboo everywhere.

The Bay at Shonan (view from the top). A long hike to get here, but it was worth it. We were also able to see a number of surfers in the bay. I already put up a photo of this in my previous post.

So there are surfers in Japan! My first hint that I wasn’t delusional to go surfing in Japan. These guys were surfing at Shonan, and I was planning on going out to the coast at Ichinomiya, but it was still rad to see all these older guys getting on their motorbikes and heading out to the surf.

And another Japanese surfer! It seems like the motorbikes/motorcycles/scooters are the preferred method of transportation for surfers in this area. I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable hitching my precious board to a bike!

Japanese surfing ad… neato!

Fancy eating octopus? These were being sold on sticks everywhere. The vendors would grill them for you

It’s a different way of life out here, than it is in Tokyo or Vancouver even…

Shinto shrine… so serene.

Each of these are prayers.. they are tied to the fence.

I felt like I was at the end of the world..

That’s it for now folks. I’m off to Tofino for the entire (extra long) weekend for some late season cold surfing, so I’ll be back on Tuesday. See you then.

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.