A Week in Tokyo 24
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148)
Mon 2008/09/08 13:38
Been one of the busiest weeks so far and this is how I felt like yesterday night - absolutely knackered!
If you have not seen it yet, check out the Japan Public Sleeping article. Thanks to Hector for taking this pic.
If you have not seen it yet, check out the Japan Public Sleeping article. Thanks to Hector for taking this pic.
After a packed weekend of Chara Hobby, the week started off at the Good Smile offices for filming and pre-launch meetings of the English Good Smile site.
Quick Japanese lesson - the Japanese use the term "MTG" as a short form for "MeeTinG." Only first came across that term when I started to work for Microsoft Japan.
Quick Japanese lesson - the Japanese use the term "MTG" as a short form for "MeeTinG." Only first came across that term when I started to work for Microsoft Japan.
Occasionally got time in the lounge to open the new boxes of figures that appear.
The beverage is hot milk coffee and this is what happens when you leave the milk in the microwave for too long - it bubbles up and goes all over the gaff.
The beverage is hot milk coffee and this is what happens when you leave the milk in the microwave for too long - it bubbles up and goes all over the gaff.
Katsu lunch set - about 680 yen. Mikuru in ripped sailor fuku with big eyes showing - priceless (literally ^^;)
A load of furniture thrown out awaiting pickup.
The Lovely Tsukasa joins me for some Kaisen don with a bowl of Udon on the side. 900 yen.
Nice (small foldable) Bike.
We be eating at home occasionally served by by Mikuru-chan.
I do try to drop everything and go with wifey for a few rounds of badminton. This is the town gym. 200 yen each for a few hours. Are you the sporting type and get to the gym every now and then?
No we didn't use Tsukasa as an extra shuttlecock ^^;
One of the activities that I devote time to is cleaning up - the pack of liquid on the right is table polish refill for the spray container on the left.
Figures need to be dusted down every few days or they not only get dusty, they accumulate some sort of oil (?) not sure whether its from the humid climate or from the paint.
I also find it difficult to work in a mess which is another reason why I like to clean up a lot.
During the process, I would also throw away stuff I don't want so that I can easily find the things that I do want which is another thing that helps me save time.
My parents have a habit of hoarding crap around their house which they will never use. As I get older, I realize that I acquire the "will keep just in case it comes in handy one day" and then end up with a ton of crap ^^;
What I try to do is keep something that I think I may need and if I come across it within the next x months without touching it then it goes in the bin/gets recycled.
Do you or your parents hoard stuff around the house and find it difficult to throw things out?
Figures need to be dusted down every few days or they not only get dusty, they accumulate some sort of oil (?) not sure whether its from the humid climate or from the paint.
I also find it difficult to work in a mess which is another reason why I like to clean up a lot.
During the process, I would also throw away stuff I don't want so that I can easily find the things that I do want which is another thing that helps me save time.
My parents have a habit of hoarding crap around their house which they will never use. As I get older, I realize that I acquire the "will keep just in case it comes in handy one day" and then end up with a ton of crap ^^;
What I try to do is keep something that I think I may need and if I come across it within the next x months without touching it then it goes in the bin/gets recycled.
Do you or your parents hoard stuff around the house and find it difficult to throw things out?
Bistro lunch - 1,000 yen.
On the road to somewhere I cant remember ^^;
The Wonfes Yuki version - she looks great without her cardigan too. Pasta lunch is 990 yen.
Extreme heavy rain in Tokyo. Very humid too. Yuk.
But then the heavens apologize after with crisp sunny mornings.
Mid week table. Hmmmm. Definitely too many figures ^^;
Tsukasa and Tempura don. 680 yen.
Then towards the end of the week was G4TV filming in Shibuya with Kevin and Olivia.
I've opened up the MBP so many times now that I can now replace the drive in less than 10 mins ^^;
Steps on how to open and replace the drive in the Mac Life 3 article.
Do you dabble in opening up your machines or leave it to somebody else?
Steps on how to open and replace the drive in the Mac Life 3 article.
Do you dabble in opening up your machines or leave it to somebody else?
Been a Metal Gear Solid player since the PS1 version over ten years ago. Only just got my hands on MGS4 as I knew it would be just sitting there if I got it earlier.
Not sure what it is but there is something missing from the game. Graphics are nice but nowhere near as smooth as Ninja Gaiden Sigma.
I usually play for just over an hour while peeking at the clock from time to time - I would only play for as long as I feel that I earned it. An extremely hard day at work would mean I give myself more time. If I feel that I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted then play time would be shorter ^^;
Whats the longest you have played a game for in one session?
Not sure what it is but there is something missing from the game. Graphics are nice but nowhere near as smooth as Ninja Gaiden Sigma.
I usually play for just over an hour while peeking at the clock from time to time - I would only play for as long as I feel that I earned it. An extremely hard day at work would mean I give myself more time. If I feel that I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted then play time would be shorter ^^;
Whats the longest you have played a game for in one session?
Tsukasa n Sushi.
Discovered that I had one too many Maxtor drives - quickly went and ordered a few TB worth of drives to replace them before the Maxtor's decide to suddenly die - one of them did die just after I replaced it ^^; I chose 5400 RPM Western Digital for backups and 7200 RPM Hitachi for my main drives.
The most popular drives over here are Toshiba, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Samsung and Western Digital.
The most popular drives over here are Toshiba, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Samsung and Western Digital.
Now got a 320 SATA 7200RPM Drive in the MBP which is cloned by SuperDuper to an external 2.5" drive daily. Cant afford down time with my work so the external clone will get me up n running immediately if I boot from it.
Also take backups with TimeMachine but restoration will take a few hours - a few hours that I wont have in the event of a disk crash an hour before a presentation.
Also take backups with TimeMachine but restoration will take a few hours - a few hours that I wont have in the event of a disk crash an hour before a presentation.
Setting up more external drives for backups. I keep two copies of everything and irrecoverable data is encrypted and stored on Amazon S3.
Am also stuck with a few IDE cases - need to look for IDE to SATA adapters.
Am also stuck with a few IDE cases - need to look for IDE to SATA adapters.
A few Maxtor drives - currently functional but don't want to risk wasting time when they suddenly go doo dah. Will destroy and dispose.
Just a few bottles of Circus Water left ^^;
Near the end of the week is a party held by Good Smile and Max Factory. Attendees are game manufacturers, anime and other figure folks. Will cover this in another article.
The office this morning. The ceiling Ikea lights died. When I took them back, they said that a few Ikea items are not compatible with the Japanese climate. Due to the humidity, certain lights fail within a short time and shelves drop as the wood expands. Have you had bad experiences with Ikea stuff?
Made a tough decision to store some of the figures away. I felt that having too many made it difficult to appreciate the beauty of them as they were bunched in a corner.
I'm sure this will change after the next batch appear though ^^;
Speaking of figures, Danny's Corner over at the Good Smile site will soon have stuff before its released so keep em peeled.
I'm sure this will change after the next batch appear though ^^;
Speaking of figures, Danny's Corner over at the Good Smile site will soon have stuff before its released so keep em peeled.
The figure shelves next to me get a reshuffle too.
Those Queens Blade bases are so darn big. Need to think about how to make my own figure bases.
Those Queens Blade bases are so darn big. Need to think about how to make my own figure bases.
The figures finally take over the Shelf O Gundams. Kept my fave 3 on display.
The GFF Gundams are currently in a box and will take em out when we buy another house.
The GFF Gundams are currently in a box and will take em out when we buy another house.
All article photos get uploaded automatically to my Flickr account but photos in my news items don't because of the way the system is built. From now on I will stash some of the previous photos from my news items at the end of my Week in Tokyo articles.
Below are some photos previously posted in my News Items.
Below are some photos previously posted in my News Items.
Particularly busy in Tokyo this week. Major milestone completions, Portal redesign launc...(more)
Sun 08/24 15:17 comments (175)
Missed a week so this week contains stuff going back to the Wonfes at Tokyo Big Sight.
...(more)
Thu 08/14 19:18 comments (105)
That sleeping stormtrooper pic is awesome. Comination Japan quirky pop culture, Star Wars, and Otakuism all in one. Very artistic and thought provoking in my opinion.
(ID #294504) Posted on 2008/09/08 13:56
MI Manager, Blogger and Newswriter
Yes, incredible pic, well done ^^
(ID #295098) Posted on 2008/09/09 04:30
Executor (Registered on 2008/04/24 07:53)
love it! my new wallpaper for some days!!!
(ID #295155) Posted on 2008/09/09 06:16
Full-time student へへ
sounds like you had a prevent eventful week. i tend to accumulate crap. but i keep it in a box. if i don't look in the box for a while, i throw the whole box out ^^
(ID #294507) Posted on 2008/09/08 13:58
rofl that sounds criminally wasteful. ^^;
(ID #295019) Posted on 2008/09/09 02:36
Full-time student へへ
oh yeah.. been a while since i played badminton. you good at it?
(ID #294508) Posted on 2008/09/08 13:59
Full-time student へへ
oh yeah.. been a while since i played badminton. you good at it?
(ID #294509) Posted on 2008/09/08 13:59
Director/代表取締役
Not really but we have fun when playing.
(ID #295224) Posted on 2008/09/09 08:16
i finished MGS4 within the first day of getting it, the videos are very long and take up a lot of up, but totally worth it, we played for a total of...32 hours or something, very fun gaming day, then i died for like 14 hours
(ID #294510) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:01
it seems that you had a fun but busy week. my longest gaming section is about 16 hours straight of me playing final fantasy 12.
(ID #294511) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:01
Honestly, I can't fathom why they made it so difficult to change a hard drive. It shouldn't take 10 minutes to change one. Ironically, Hitachi makes one of the worst drives(travelstar) but they are the most popular.
(ID #294515) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:04
You mean for the Mac Book Pro? Maybe cuz they are Apple products and there will be more seams or lines if it was accessible from the bottom ^^. I know notebooks where the HDDs are accessible from the bottom (ie. not having to take the keyboard apart)
(ID #294919) Posted on 2008/09/09 00:19
Perhaps they're popular for the reason that chevy crapaliers and now chevy cobalts are so popular here, they're cheap? I mean both of those models of car are planned-for-recycling-before-being-built POS' but a lot of people still drive them.
(ID #295022) Posted on 2008/09/09 02:37
Student & Authorized Chicken Slapper
Wow Danny, you sure do eat out a lot. And that picture of the GSC party looks interesting, looks like you guys rented out a karaoke bar private room or something. Anymore photos of the party??
(ID #294521) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:11
Director/代表取締役
More pics soon.
(ID #295223) Posted on 2008/09/09 08:16
I think he eats just as much as we do, only he takes pictures of them some times. If you think about it, (this is however, considering you eat three meals a day) at the end of the week you would of had 21 meals. I think its just that he has good food very often... I'm hungry now...
(ID #295584) Posted on 2008/09/09 14:20
student
I thought Stormtroopers were supposed to be relentless xD. I can definitely imagine all those activities and events can wear your stamina out ^^;. Danny, how many hours of sleep do you get during such busy times?
(ID #294538) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:28
Director/代表取締役
Usually get at least 6 no matter the schedule.
(ID #295222) Posted on 2008/09/09 08:15
Mechanical Engineering student
LOL that sleeping Stormtrooper picture is priceless! I'm really amaze with the Japanese. They just throw their old appliances when they get a new one. Most Filipinos though keep it, sell it or repair it O_o BTW that udon on the 6th picture looks EXTREMELY delicious! Also, badminton is the only sport I'm good at. I have also experienced that oil build-up in my figures and wonder what they are and where they come from. I bet it's the humidity. I do the same with the stuff I have. If I feel that they would be of use someday then I keep it. If I encounter it some months later and haven't used it during those times then I throw it away. My brother on the other hand keeps almost everything he gets his hands on like used ballpens, plastics, empty cans, etc -_-
(ID #294539) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:31
JR. College Student
"7200 RPM Hitachi for my main drives." I think this is your problem Danny. If I recall correctly Hitachi started making drives when they bought IBM's hard drive plant. IBM's sucked, and coincidentally so do Hitachi's. Western digital Maxtor, and Fujitsu are o-k, but the best by far are Seagate drives. Also, IMO for reliability try to get lower storage drives with less platters. 1TB drives might be nice but I don't think they'll be as reliable as 2 well established 500GB drives.
(ID #294543) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:39
Maxtor is horrible when it comes to hard drives, and there is nothing wrong with a 1TB drive. The only thing you run into is a slower seek time. Two drives increases the chance for failures which is more then I would want to deal with.
(ID #294581) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:30
Funny enough I've heard from some computer stores that Seagate can have a high tendency to break down. They've even nicknamed it as "死極" (dying to extremity?). Maxtor (which generates a lot of heat) too was reported to have similar problems, but I suppose it depends on the luck, as some people have no problems with them for many years. For cheap ones some consider Excelstor (but I doubt you'll go for that - no high speed). WD is not a bad choice though.
(ID #294656) Posted on 2008/09/08 16:50
JR. College Student
Oh I've opened up a can of worms here haven't I? I think the confusion comes from the fact that Maxtor and Seagate merged. So I'm guessing you have to pay attention to where what drives come from where -that's always the case with electronics really. Either it's(it being maxtor/seagate) going to come from a maxtor plant(sucky) or seagate plant(good). I don't know the specifics but I'm with time I'm sure it'll reveal itself - just got to take the risk. WD is pretty solid for a midrange product, but Hitachi? Hitachi, from what I hear, is mostly crap. :/
(ID #294710) Posted on 2008/09/08 18:26
website designer (currently assist. graphic designer)
The advantage Seagate has though is their warranty, last time I checked it was at least 1 year more than any other drive on the market. Seagate purchasing Maxtor definitely confused things, though I'd still stay away from Maxtor lol. My brother and I both use Seagate for our computers, we haven't had any problems in the last 2 years, mine still feels almost brand new. For my second choice, I'd go with WD or Samsung.
(ID #294789) Posted on 2008/09/08 21:31
I wouldn't want to swap something like data integrity for warranty. IMO, warranties offered by HDD companies are just gimmicks to attract customers. I mean hey, your HDD breaks down. Yeah, they will replace it for you but is your data or the HDD itself worth more? Just my 2 cents. I prefer to go with Western Digital drives. They have served me well so far.
(ID #294923) Posted on 2008/09/09 00:26
imho warranty not that worthed... the reason is, first you wont get ur data back when your harddisk corrupt as warranty just cover the hardware. second all replacement harddisk is refurbish one, do you want take risk and using refurbish product? well somepeople might dun mind as long they working, but for me is no no... so warranty means nothing for me regarding harddisk size... i prefer 500gb at best for daily usage... passive backup harddisk (backup all data every months) best with big storage... since you don't use hdd often, i think its reliability enough for active backup harddisk, again i prefer 500gb size....or bigsize harddisk in RAID1 but for me since 1backup enough... then i use passive backup and RAID1 setting for workstation actually hdd platter didn't effect hdd reliability whatsoever.. but you should think that u will lost more data with bigger size rather than smaller size as for reliability 1st WD and Seagate just ok... no winner between them... but somehow i like WDRE series. 2nd Fujitsu... i dunno but fujitsu storage technology 1step behind WD and Seagate and fujitsu hdd price abit pricey compared to WD and Seagate... but indeed fujitsu product have good reliability 3rd Samsung HDD that often get bad comment... infamous maxtor (i also experience same things... around 4 hdd get badsector after 1-2year of daily use) hitachi... while i havent try hitachi myself, but hearing bad experience from other people enough for me to choose other hdd that have better review
(ID #294944) Posted on 2008/09/09 01:04
student
I totally agree with Quentin. My Maxtors and Seagates both died, but my WD are still going strong. Wouldn't buy anything else now even though they are slightly pricer? Anyone know how to dispose of harddrives properly? Recently found a full sized 4GB hard drive lying around which of course is absolutely useless at this point in time and I'm thinking of chucking it out.
(ID #295727) Posted on 2008/09/09 16:53
Director/代表取締役
The Hitachi's do break down but after a few years usage which I expect. Not sure why the TB drives are unreliable.
(ID #295221) Posted on 2008/09/09 08:15
radical anime fan in Singapore; starting to freeze up. Mmm, end-of-year weather. (Registered on 2007/01/25 22:08)
Polytechnic Freshman. Mmm... fresh.
I've done all-nighter Halo sessions before... and the price was getting knocked out until the day after. XD
(ID #294545) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:54
Another awesome week eh? Longest gaming session? errr 4-5hrs? I love how by the time I finish reading the entire article, nobody had commented it yet ::refresh:: and bam gajillion comments...xD
(ID #294546) Posted on 2008/09/08 14:55
I bought MGS4 and beat it on a friends borrowed PS3 in one week (though I really wanted to play it longer) ^_^; As for parents having to much stuff, my mom keeps to many boxes up stairs that we can't even turn it into an office/bedroom like my dad wants. Seriously some really old boxes ^_^;
(ID #294548) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:00
Man, now it's getting driven home that I *really* need to get an external harddrive. I can't backup squat on CD's anymore. I'll probably get the drives separate from the casing, though, so I can mod the case and make it all art nouveau prettyful. And then I'll probably still have a Figma hang out on it. =P At any rate, a couple times I've played about 3 hours worth of a video game--once was finishing up Kingdom Hearts; that's got to be the longest span of no-save-point I've ever encountered. And then I might have played WoW that long with my mom, but I always feel kind of guilty after playing that long.
(ID #294550) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:00
Daigakusei [Consular and Diplomatic Affairs]
Woah! I guess Stormtroopers need a little rest too^^ I think my my longest gaming session is when playing FFX about 12-16hrs, the whole day i was locked up in a room~
(ID #294560) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:09
I remember playing Shining Force for 8 hours straight. Also three friends and I did a 7 hour FFCC game sometime last year. Good times.
(ID #294565) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:13
Hope you get a good night's rest, Danny. Oh, and if you have issues with humidity, you might want to shy away from furniture not made from real wood. Unfortunately, a good deal of IKEA's furniture seems to be laminate over particleboard or cardboard.
(ID #294568) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:15
The picture of the sleeping stormtrooper is kick-ass. Definitely saving this:)
(ID #294574) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:26
Danny, you need to take more pride in your Pack Rat side of yourself, I'm the same way. Every once in a while I do throw something out -- although very rare -- and when I find the need for it again, I just hate myself for getting rid of it. You should really check out Uncharted: Drake's fortune on PS3 if you haven't, it's the best game this generation I've played yet. It's still at top for best console graphics this generation, even after MGS4 came out they said it was close but just not there yet. It has an awesome "indiana jones" style story, and amazing gameplay.
(ID #294576) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:27
I have a terrible habit of hoarding everything. If something been around for a long time, I can't bring my self to throw it away. x_x Longest gaming session for me is 5 hours of Super Smash Bros. with friends before my eyes and head couldn't take any more. How do you guys keep going for 12+ hours!?
(ID #294578) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:28
You don't use any Seagate HDD's Danny? I've always found western digital and maxtor drives didn't have the best reliability. Wish the food choice here was as good! So many yummy looking dishes. Btw, the Japanese version needs more text (´～`)
(ID #294588) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:41
Director/代表取締役
Seagate not popular here for some reason.
(ID #295216) Posted on 2008/09/09 08:12
Because it is more reliable and they won't have as much business selling more drive to paroniod server operators? I would choose Seagate over any other brands, but i do have failure on just a few days after installing it. That is probably some kind of consipracy theory...but what do i know...
(ID #295410) Posted on 2008/09/09 12:09
Wannabe Jack-of-all-trades
Yep, as I predicted, Miku-kanu is now a permanent part of your collection (see 4th pic).
(ID #294594) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:49
part time illustrationist, doll clothing seamstress
Danny that first image can be a postcard! too cute :P my parents hoard *looks around me* I think I do that too ^^; it drives my husband crazy :P I can see why tho ^^;;;
(ID #294595) Posted on 2008/09/08 15:50
suneo (Registered on 2007/12/17 20:30)
that GSC party looks like it was fun! Always love peeking into your place also. Looks so modern and neat lol. The glass tables/shelves and the lighting look great. I should get back into the rhythm of running to keep myself healthy again. Haven't ran for 3 or 4 years now... the last serious bit of exercise I've had was preparing for and climbing Mt Fuji two years ago. I also took bowling and ping pong at uni, but those were nowhere near as tiring lol
(ID #294610) Posted on 2008/09/08 16:00
university film student
Ikea products work without problems in moderate Canadian climate. ^^; I'm also very envious of your massive backup operations. I'd like to have more copies of my files, but I simply can't afford the hardware. : As it is, my most important files sit on my laptop, a desktop hard drive that's about to die, and a portable hard drive that's about to die. Some files are on just one of the three. ><
(ID #294621) Posted on 2008/09/08 16:12
i wonder how much do you pay for ur electricity bills with so many computers, macs, lights, hdd running about.. And not to forget your TV, ps3, and whatnots.
(ID #294669) Posted on 2008/09/08 17:05
Solar energy from solar panels? ^^
(ID #294924) Posted on 2008/09/09 00:28
with his current income, i dun think electricity bills matters him so much ^^ anyway it should around 20000yen to 30000yen i guess...