A Week in Tokyo 21
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110)
Thu 2008/07/31 09:26
Yet another week blazes by in Tokyo. I need to find a shop where they sell time in bottles.
Nothing better than a carton of strawberry milk after lunch - 105 yen.
Sorting out the paper from plastics for recycling. I need to talk to Goodsmile to see if they can introduce some sort of eco packaging. For example, instead of having the normal plastic mold, have some sort of air filled plastic balloon which deflates after pricking it with a pin.
Do you like the packaging that figures currently come with or can you see some improvements to be made?
Do you like the packaging that figures currently come with or can you see some improvements to be made?
Throwing out waitress Mikuru boxes and co.
At the recently opened Shinjuku Piccadilly cinema complex.
Folks waiting to get in and do hanky panky on the back seats.
Are you the type that always grabs popcorn and other foodstuffs when you see a film?
Am I the only one who always ends up sitting with folks nearby who makes loud crunching noises?
Am I the only one who always ends up sitting with folks nearby who makes loud crunching noises?
Currently showing is the new Miyazaki movie Ponyo, Kungfu Panda, Dragon Kingdom, Pokemon, Happening, Indy Jones, Gegege no Kintaro, Hana yori Dango, The Magic Hour and Narnia.
All English movies here are available subbed and dubbed.
Are movies typically dubbed or subbed in your region?
All English movies here are available subbed and dubbed.
Are movies typically dubbed or subbed in your region?
Any Soul Calibur fans here? Its out tomorrow in Japan. I don't know much about the game but sword wielding gothloli Amy looks moesome.
Filling up the tires of me bike for the first time in 6 months ^^;
Folks can use air pumps at bicycle shops for free. As bicycles are a common form of transport here, there are bicycle repair shops just about everywhere.
Folks can use air pumps at bicycle shops for free. As bicycles are a common form of transport here, there are bicycle repair shops just about everywhere.
If you break your dolphin, they will fix it for you here.
Looking in a 100 yen shop for boxes to contain figma and nendoroid parts.
Where do you keep all your figure bits n pieces?
Where do you keep all your figure bits n pieces?
At the pharmacy filling up on pharmacy-type stuff.
Hello Kitty mosquito repellent!
Stick in batteries and then strap it to your forehead.
Stick in batteries and then strap it to your forehead.
But I decided to go for this plain boring one. I somehow couldn't convince myself to wear the hello kitty one in public.
Folks who have been to Japan and follow Japanese culture closely will notice that a large number of Japanese dye their hair.
I was influenced by JPOP culture when I was a teenager too and dyed by hair light brown.
If I was to ever dye my hair again (unlikely) I would dye it white so I can "resemble" Dante from DMC.
Have you dyed your hair to a color different to its natural color?
Is the dying of hair popular in your region too?
When I visit Asian regions, I see some dyed heads but not as much as Japan.
I was influenced by JPOP culture when I was a teenager too and dyed by hair light brown.
If I was to ever dye my hair again (unlikely) I would dye it white so I can "resemble" Dante from DMC.
Have you dyed your hair to a color different to its natural color?
Is the dying of hair popular in your region too?
When I visit Asian regions, I see some dyed heads but not as much as Japan.
Important message here - nappies for babies...
And nappies for the elderly...
Our bodies are built to last for only a certain amount of time. I need to think about this more but I see our bodies as a shell that we are given - our bodies being different from every other human being.
Some of our bodies are given to us with faults (born with asthma or short sightedness like me for example) or worse.
Our physical disabilities are not a disadvantage - only an inconvenience that we learn to live with.
Our shell is our companion until it becomes unusable - and it will happen to all of us. Look after your shell and it will look after you.
Make the most of your life with your shell while it is strong and healthy because the reality is that as time passes, your shell will deteriorate in quality over time - its the way of the universe. Everything has a beginning and end.
Our bodies are built to last for only a certain amount of time. I need to think about this more but I see our bodies as a shell that we are given - our bodies being different from every other human being.
Some of our bodies are given to us with faults (born with asthma or short sightedness like me for example) or worse.
Our physical disabilities are not a disadvantage - only an inconvenience that we learn to live with.
Our shell is our companion until it becomes unusable - and it will happen to all of us. Look after your shell and it will look after you.
Make the most of your life with your shell while it is strong and healthy because the reality is that as time passes, your shell will deteriorate in quality over time - its the way of the universe. Everything has a beginning and end.
If you cant stand the whiff of other humans excrement (poo) then you may want one of these - its a spray that you carry about your person and use when you get assaulted by that poo smell.
They also market this in a way so that you should spray after taking a dump yourself. Are you in need of poo-smell-killer? Its only 207 yen - maybe you can pick one up as a souvenir for your boss as a hint?
They also market this in a way so that you should spray after taking a dump yourself. Are you in need of poo-smell-killer? Its only 207 yen - maybe you can pick one up as a souvenir for your boss as a hint?
Kitagawa Keiko love. Hmmmm, I need to meet her one day. The other person who I would like to meet is Hirano Aya - interview around the corner ?
So I decided to pick up that portable mosquito repellent.
Comes with batteries and a disc that contains repella-mosquito-and-flies.
You can hang it off your belt, around your neck or stick it in your underpants. Lasts 120 hours until I need a replacement disc. The unit costs about 750 yen and a disc costs about 350 yen. Have not been bitten once since I got this. I'm usually always bitten by mosquitoes while outside.
Is your region ridden with mosquitoes too?
Is your region ridden with mosquitoes too?
"Ochugen" [お中元] is a custom in Japan when in particular, people who do business with each other send gifts of food.
Here are some Ochugen which we have not eaten yet.
Not only do free SAFS arrive but free food too.
Here are some Ochugen which we have not eaten yet.
Not only do free SAFS arrive but free food too.
Melissa is so cute that I want to eat her.
On the move for more meetings.
Its early morning and some old folks are raiding the dustbins for plastic bottles. They take these bottles somewhere where they are paid in cash for them.
Summer time in Japan = festival time and you will see many lanterns hanging here n there.
This is the Matsudo area - home of Good Smile and Max Factory.
If you need space for hanky panky then you can rent some. Some of these spaces come with girls who help you with the hanky panky.
Interesting how they use 2D girl posters.
Interesting how they use 2D girl posters.
I need to get a basket for my bike for when I go and get groceries. Am thinking of one of these foldable ones.
And this is what it looks like unfolded. Does it look bad? Its about 3,900 yen.
Meetings at Good Smile. Many people ask how come I get to go to Good Smile all the time. Answer is simple - we do business with each other.
The SOS dan girls always look cute in the car.
Cheerleader Mikuru?
Getting a bite to eat. At some restaurants, you are given a beeping device which will release 90 volts of electricity to alert you that your food is ready.
Kua'aina does great burgers.
There was also a Kua'aina near the offices at Amazon. You had to look left n right and under the table to check for other Amazon employees before talking about "stuff" ^^;
There was also a Kua'aina near the offices at Amazon. You had to look left n right and under the table to check for other Amazon employees before talking about "stuff" ^^;
This weeks office. Always have terminal windows open to rsync and tail mysql logs.
I would take figures off these shelves when in thinking mode.
DokiDoki Majo Shinpan2 is out and I have my limited edition Puchi Nendoroids of Maho and Koron ^o^
Doki Doki action below. For those who don't know - its an eroge in disguise for the NDS.
Doki Doki action below. For those who don't know - its an eroge in disguise for the NDS.
The ceiling Ikea lights broke - the 3rd time Ikea lights have went poof. Does it happen to you too?
Starting this week with a pic that I took at Kamakura last week. The young and the old.
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Wed 07/23 11:03 comments (139)
This week we take a look at speaking ice cr...(more)
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Student, Spiral Warrior
Another fine week in the life of Danny. Less edibles this time, it seems. So, when's Good Smile going to make that Mirai Figure?
(ID #252404) Posted on 2008/07/31 09:52
Student, Spiral Warrior
Another fine week in the life of Danny. Less edibles this time, it seems. So, when's Good Smile going to make that Mirai Figure?
(ID #252405) Posted on 2008/07/31 09:52
Director/代表取締役
^^;;;;;
(ID #252408) Posted on 2008/07/31 09:53
Student, Spiral Warrior
:o
(ID #252867) Posted on 2008/07/31 23:21
Danny, why throw out the boxes!!!!!! You might need them later on!!!!! Soul Caliber 4 is a sick game. I have the Xbox 360 one. Well, it's a great game and Amy is a rigged character!!!!!!!! Yoda is tricky to use...
(ID #252406) Posted on 2008/07/31 09:53
Videogame Magazine Editor
I've heard Soul Calibur IV is pretty good, though I'm more looking forward to using the special character designed by Oh Great!, mangaka for Tenjo Tenge. And I do agree with the poster above me: why throw away the boxes? What if you have to move later on? How will you transport your figurines safely?
(ID #252415) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:06
Student & Authorized Chicken Slapper
Those burgers look amazingly delicious although that could be because of the Mikuru cheerleader next to them. YUM!!! Btw I like the way your office looks, looks real comfy too. And Ikea lights generally work a good long while for me, unless you are talking about lightbulbs by chance. Heh Ikea, I guess no matter where you live, Ikea is the popular place to shop for furniture and what not.
(ID #252416) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:07
Student, Freelance Artist
SC4's beautiful. I was watching some people play it at Con, although it still took a long while to get used to seeing Darth Vader and Yoda. I've yet to see the Apprentice in action, too. I remember Amy in SC3! She's so adorable ;3;
(ID #252417) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:07
Otaku/Computer tech/Student
Very cool, Danny. I always love to read your "Week in x" articles. Now, to answer some of your questions: I haven't dyed my hair yet, but I might some day, just to see what I look like. The bike basket is cool, xD 3,900 yen seems a bit much though. I would have imagined something like that would cost about 1,500 yen. When it comes to figure packaging; I don't really know. I haven't collected enough yet to form a good opinion on that, though they seem to be packaged just like everything else is. Movies in movie theaters here are almost always dubs. I think I might have seen one or two subbed movies in a movie theater in my entire life, unfortunately. Also, I wish I could find a mosquito repellent thing like that around here! I've never seen that in my life, and if it works that good I could really use one. xD
(ID #252419) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:09
Student
those burgers look really good...*droools* another great week once again
(ID #252425) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:16
宅男 Otaku/ 工程师 Engineer
first off, for packaging i think bandai needs to think of a way to cut down the use of plastic runners. it's such a waste throwing all of them around after cutting out the parts. maybe they can take back the runners and recycle them? as for movies, i don't like eating and drinking in theaters. hate it when the guy in the same row drinks too much water and need to walk across me to get to the loo. :-/ for hair colours, mine is black and loving it. i don't see the need to change it. many girls here do like to colour it light brown. it looks great on girls but funny see guys with dyed hair. just my opinion.
(ID #252427) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:21
marvin (Registered on 2006/12/24 23:42)
about them plastic runners, I think that's where limited 1/144 HGUC ecopla comes from. ^^
(ID #252578) Posted on 2008/07/31 13:35
I had red highlights when I was 13. It looked pretty good actually. ^^ *sigh* I die a little on the inside whenever I see something related to SC4. The Soul Calibur games are some of my favorites but I don't own a PS3 or Xbox360 :[
(ID #252428) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:21
Half Engineer, Half Student, All Robot
Great week. Feels like less food than last week. I'm a bit disappointed. Is that bike collapsible? I'm looking for a small simple bike like that. Any help?
(ID #252430) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:22
Multimedia Technology Student, eLearning software developer
I've dyed my hair on several occasions when I was younger, but now I don't dye my hair anymore, especially since I like to grow my hair longer the re-growth is horrible lol. I'm really looking forward to the new Soul Calibur, the previous ones were great fun to play, so I'll get this one when I have the money ^^. As for buying popcorn and other snacks at the cinemas I tend not too, I like to sit there and take the movie in, rather than eating away ^^. Sometimes I do buy snacks for the cinema, but I buy them from the super market because its a lot cheaper haha.
(ID #252439) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:45
resident caffeine junkie
ooh.. always nice to see how things are going about in your neck of the woods. far as my figure's and gunpla's accessories, I put them in little ziplock bags individually for each figure to keep them from getting mixed up, then they're all in a small plastic box. oh, and I agree with the part about how we treat our bodies. :)
(ID #252440) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:49
Now that's a cool movie theatre. All the ones here in Toronto are dark and gloomy.
(ID #252446) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:55
nanu (Registered on 2007/12/28 21:40)
There are hardly any mosquitoes since I moved from suburbia to suburbia near a pond. I hate insects, but dragonflies I love for being a natural mosquito predator. Also, I thought about frog Mikuru just now, and wish we had more frogs to take care of flies. D: For we collectors who still have space (the reason to keep boxes), I think we like the existing blister packaging. It helps for subsequent shipping. Generally, whenever I get clear plastic packaging, I tend to cut and save flat sections: very useful material for crafts. Currently, I save air-pillows from shipped packages (LOUD-pop some of them for fun), cut holes in them, and use them to sort figure accessories; each "bag" isolates and prevents paint ruboff. They come in perforated sheets, so you can tear as much as needed for a certain figure. I then put these in a cloth bag so I don't accidentally trash it :>
(ID #252448) Posted on 2008/07/31 10:57
dying hair is quite common in the states. I've dyed it a few times, my wife does it at least twice a year. we also have plenty of mosquitos, I could use on of those things. I keep my boxes so far and that's where my figma parts are stored. I'm sure once I get enough collected I'll have to find somewhere else though I don't have much space to start with.
(ID #252469) Posted on 2008/07/31 11:30
I did dye once, and found the hard way that dying hair is not for everyone. It does look silly depending on who did it. Anyways, went to the movie theater today... watched Hancock. Very nice. Had luck today, but happened several times to me too... sitting near noisy people, people who keeps moving all the time, and stuff like that.
(ID #252494) Posted on 2008/07/31 11:58
I've seen quite a few people dye their hair, and occasionally people with different color than the normal gold (?)...huh and I had the impression that most of the Burgers in Japan were only fish patties from all the menus shown from McDonalds, boy was I wrong...
(ID #252499) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:02
Ah >< I love these weekly ventures of your Danny. That hamburger your had looks gigantic, or is it just me? Even though my family is very well established here in Australia (40 + blood relatives n count`n, 3rd gen) we still do alot of Asian things like Ochugen when doing business. Particularly the art of going out and eating with the pretext of any et al excuse. If someone comes, over, we go out and eat, if a guest comes, we go and eat, I haven't seen my cousin for a week, we go out and eat. We do business, we eat, meet again, we eat, business guy going back overseas - gotta eat! Sometimes we haven't gone out for a few days and that is also a good excuse for going out to splurge. Truly an awesome cultural phenomenon : )
(ID #252500) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:03
Online Shop
I always wanted to go watch a movie at a theatre in Japan but I found ticket price to be little pricey. But that Shinjuku Piccadilly seems like a good place to go so I might check it out when I visit Japan next month :) Dark Knight opening in Japan anytime soon?
(ID #252506) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:09
Student of Computer Science
To your question in the post, in my country (Mexico) american movies are subbed and dubbed. Also you appeared on todays edition of Attack of the Show in the G4 network, here is a link to what they showed: http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/whatsupwithjapan/64870/Tokyo-Trooper-Staring-Fetish-Mail-Cat.html
(ID #252516) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:27
Danny's room is so nice and clean!! he he dying hair.. never done it myself.. don't have the need yet.. though i have grey hairs... (no i'm not that old) wife does it every so often.. The people i see that "need" to do it is older women.. when they start to grey al ot turn to dye, and itsn ot just for looks, my aunt said she dye's to keep her job, or get other ones, cuz they look down at older women so they have to keep the aperance of being young for just a bit longer.. a bit sad, they shouldn't have to, but the world is a cruel place...:(
(ID #252517) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:29
Where's the option for "Yes, and will never do it again"? I ended up dying my dark blonde hair a dark burgendy color. It was supposed to be temporary. It looked good for about three days, but then my roots started showing. I didn't know my hair grew that fast until then! But my hair has a lot of ashy tone in it, so against the red it looked olive green. So, I tried to wash the dye out with dishsoap. No dice. I went to the hairdresser for help, and she boggled at me like I was stupid. "Temporary dye? On virgin blonde hair?" she said. "That sticks even better than permanent to virgin blonde hair! And especially red!" So, to avoid bleaching my hair to a complete crisp, I had to get highlights put in to break the red up, so the contrast with my roots wouldn't be as noticeable. Two hours and $80 later, I made my vow to never dye my hair again. As for the packaging, there's all these insane theories about how package design can affect sales. Unless they create something really unique, the odds of them switching to something more eco-friendly are sadly pretty low. :(
(ID #252520) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:36
Hi everyone. I'm currently in a packaging design class and I wonder if you guys will support me trying to come up with a more appealing yet eco-friendly packaging design. These two weeks, we are given free topic over the kind of packaging we want to make, where the limit on eco-friendliness also had been lifted. However I want to try to make a solution to Danny and some of your problems, even in spite of the "plastic balloon" design that looks unappealing. What do you guys say?
(ID #252523) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:44
In Russia each fifth guy in the age of 16-20 years has the changed color of hair. :)
(ID #252527) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:49
だいがくせい
what bike is that? looks wicked cool and yea dyed hair (all of it) bright red and since it was long, had it in like mini-pigtails and ppl called me wendy's >.>
(ID #252532) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:53
Student & Authorized Chicken Slapper
Heh wendys seems interesting. I dunno much about dying hair but I have seen a lot of people with dyed hair. I have seen people dying hair like in decent colors like brown and what not, but then I see people with bright green hair thats quite obnoxious. Sometimes that just makes me wonder.
(ID #252564) Posted on 2008/07/31 13:25
Deathseeker
SC4 coming out in Japan slightly later than the West haha. Maybe they were hoping to allow the West to find out anything and then patch the JP version before releasing it, so they can cater to home consumers. Basket looks good. And I want to dye my hair dark blue heh.
(ID #252539) Posted on 2008/07/31 12:59
.NET/Web Developer
I got SC4 but it still hasn't arrived yet though. I'm gonna have to wait for quite a while since I didn't opt for express shipping. The foldable basket looks cool. First time I've ever seen one of those being foldable. And I'd agree with the posters above. Why throw the boxes, you might need it later on. Oh and not too many food pics this week huh? ^^ I hope Good Smile and the other figure makers would use the same material as the box for the packaging of the figure inside the box instead of plastic. One improvement I could suggest would be to probably make the box slimmer. they are too bulky IMO.
(ID #252569) Posted on 2008/07/31 13:28
MI Manager, Blogger and Newswriter
Thx Danny, nice pics and clean room indeed ^^
(ID #252571) Posted on 2008/07/31 13:31
marvin (Registered on 2006/12/24 23:42)
omg Narnia?!? didn't think that Japan would be that delayed with hollywood movies. ^^; the burger photo is making me hungry. ^^ about hair color, I tried to use light blue coloured hair spray once. but never actually used dye before. ^^ although these days I have a few strands of white I wouldn't mind to dye black. wonder if I can just use my gundam markers on them. LOL ^^;
(ID #252576) Posted on 2008/07/31 13:33
I have dyed my hair many times. My natural color is light brown with blonde highlights, but I get bored and change it, sometimes to blonde, sometimes darker. When I dyed my hair black, after a few months red highlights appeared. I've never dyed my hair red and don't want to.
(ID #252597) Posted on 2008/07/31 13:46
Ikea is NOT...I repeat, NOT...a high quality furniture store. Sure, their stuff looks nice and modern, but it's not durable. Why do you think they're so cheap?
(ID #252599) Posted on 2008/07/31 13:50
I had to clear out my room the other day, and I had a good twenty or twenty-five figure boxes in my wardrobe. I managed to flatten out the cardboard for recycling, but as for the plastic moulded inserts, there was little I could do with those to reduce the size. I'd be all for a more eco-friendly way to do it. Although I always manage to send spare hands and accessories flying when I open the boxes up anyway, when I come to open up the 2 moulded bits. Is there a magical technique after you remove the tape to actually get the things out without them jumping at you?
(ID #252604) Posted on 2008/07/31 13:53
oh...terrible codeing. great!
(ID #252624) Posted on 2008/07/31 14:16
Strangely, the tachikoma's suicide song手のひらを太陽に ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6PtbI50t_A ) keep repeating itself in my head... Anyway, another interesting week in Tokyo. From the top, i'm actually one of those that keep the boxes of the figures and model kit I bought for as long as i can find space to keep them. They look so cool, why throw them away? When i was there in Japan, Tokyo for the first time in my life last year, i hardly noticed any cinema at all, unlike in Singapore, which seems like the only form of entertainment here, cineplex are everywhere. In every big shopping center. I usually watch my movies after dinner so no popcorn, even though i just love those sweet butter poped corn. As for noisy people around me in the movie, I would always voice my displeasure to the guilty party and then feel bad about it through the rest of the show... Soul Calibur! that was the first and only original game i bought for my Xbox ages ago. After i got it(xbox) modded, it's Priatecity all the way. I've so much of them, some even only played once. Now I'm back on my PSP with Gundam Battle Universe! Wish they would make a PS3 version. the Gundam Crossfire is just sooo sad a game even with it's great graphics. Mosquito repellent???portable??? I can see why you chose the black one. very ZAKU looking...but Portable mosquito repellent? Is it really as bad as it is here in Singapore where they keep advertising against mosquito breeding. Last thing, dying of the hair. Did it once and will never do it again. Was going for the platinium blonde look, but end up with just a scary psycho killer blonde look instead. Made my hair so rough and dry. Never again.
(ID #252625) Posted on 2008/07/31 14:21
Oh... definitely agree with you on packaging but not just on figures. They need to be improved to something that protects well and convenient to open. I hate (hate hate hate) blister packs. I don't like to eat while in a movie theater, it's kinda distracting. People that eat at movies usually leave a mess of popcorn and sticky stuff behind... ewww. That tachikoma figure you have in one of your photos looks nice. I must have soon....
(ID #252631) Posted on 2008/07/31 14:34
Great post Danny, liking the pictures a lot. There's always something to learn from your posts!
(ID #252671) Posted on 2008/07/31 15:46
part time illustrationist, doll clothing seamstress
yes I dyed my hair before, there was one time I tried to bleach my hair... lets just say it did not work out (think patches of bright orange/browns, fried blond tips) LOL and for some reason my family decided to go OUT for dinner and I had to wear a hat all day LOL. I do use some DIY hair dye from japan tho ^^ I actually have grey hairs (inherited from mom's side) so does my husband, but he only dyes it once in a while :P free food is kawaii, and that burger with avocadooooooooooo omgg MUST do that sometime ^^
(ID #252673) Posted on 2008/07/31 15:54
Chun, if I remember correctly, you're in Vancouver. If that is true, then you should head to a "Red Robin" restaurant (I checked, looks like there's 5 or 6 of them!). They have great hamburger and I think avocado is on like two or three of their options. So, go have a burger. Grin.
(ID #253066) Posted on 2008/08/01 03:16
part time illustrationist, doll clothing seamstress
Ooooohhhh thanks for the tip off! I gotta tell my hubs :P I went to red robin probably at most once but never tried their burger! lol!
(ID #253366) Posted on 2008/08/01 11:34
I didnt expect there to be such hearty burgers in Japan. I guess that was one thing I was afraid of missing about the U.S. but the burgers in that picture look great. As for the bike basket Danny. Go for it. Better to have the convenience than worry about how it looks. I think those folding ones are actually pretty nifty.
(ID #252674) Posted on 2008/07/31 15:54