Here’s a commercial for Street Fighter IV: A New Beginning. This looks really awesome! I decided to post this video because of my friend Nick back in California… it reminded me of the home built arcade style controller we used for tournaments during poker night. It seems so advanced compared to the original. You can read more about this upcoming game here.
Archive for the 'Videos' Category
I eat at McDonald’s every now and then here in Japan. I was really impressed with the quality of service and how the food looks when you eat you it. I was also shocked by the smallest soft drinks in the world. It’s probably an 8oz cup filled to the top with ice. What does that mean? Probably 4-5oz of Coke. Here are some other things I feel about the McDs in Japan vs. America and a commercial I found on Youtube… Yes, the restaurant looks like this. Yes, McDonald’s cheeseburgers look like this (to me). Yes, you are happier when you eat McDonald’s in Japan vs the U.S. and yes, you are hungry 2 hours later just like in the U.S.
Speaking of McDonald’s, their profit grew five-fold according to The Japan Times
McDonald’s Holdings Co. (Japan) Ltd. said Thursday its consolidated net profit in 2007 was five times higher than in the previous year, totaling Â¥7.82 billion on record high sales of Â¥395.06 billion, up 11.1 percent.
I find that pretty interesting.
For those that might have missed the Super Bowl and the commercials here’s a link a friend sent me. It shows each commercial quarter by quarter.
Here’s another video game commercial I found on You Tube. This game looks pretty sweet and now I’m definitely going to have to get a PS3. A friend of mine recently got one and he loves it. At first it’s all cute until the end where you see Leah Dizon (supposedly) kicking some ass playing Ninja Gaiden on a Play Station 3 in-store demo machine. Cool commercial.
Pizza in Japan is usually quite a bit different from the American version. Here they put some crazy things on pizza like shrimp, squid, tuna, mayonnaise, sesame seeds, teriyaki chicken, corn, potatoes, and sometimes mustard. Oh yeah and sausage. Not the sausage you might be thinking, but more like the Super Bowl Sunday little smokies. Also the prices can get insane. A pizza for two people can easily cost around $25 USD. At least you don’t have to tip the delivery person which is a plus. Here’s a menu from Pizza LA. So far I’ve found pizza most like the ones you can get in the U.S. at Costco and Dominos. Costco doesn’t deliver and they are located about 1 million miles from me.
Here’s a Pizza LA Commercial
I haven’t been snowboarding in Japan yet. I’ve almost made it a few times and had to cancel our latest reservation for our trip to Geihoku near Hiroshima. It’s all good because life happens and the mountains will always be there for us to throw ourselves down it at blazing speeds at any time.
I miss snowboarding so I thought I’d share a video from last season. I had my ipod blaring, I was thinking about the next stretch of the mountain, and I was wondering why there was a crowd of Ski Patrol. I didn’t see her until it was too late. By the way I hope to book a secret trip soon for me and my fiancee, so if anybody is in Fukuoka and wants to hit a mountain let me know!
Here’s a recent update about me since my last post:
- One day I was sick. I blame the dust mite demons, but I had flu like symptoms. One morning I work up feeling like I was going to die. I slept for about 48 hours. I woke up at 100% health. Nice!
- I read every post on a few sites that are new to me like The Daily J, Alex’s Japan Blog, Jamaipanese, and Urutora No Hi.
- I have updated my iGoogle homepage.
- I’ve been playing the hell out of my Xbox. New games I want seem only to be available on the Xbox360 or PS3. And this picture is funny.
Speaking of video games, I found this commercial for the PS3 entertaining. Btw, I hope to get an xbox360 (or PS3) for 1 and 1 reason only. NHL 08… oh what? 08! oh what? oh hellz yeah!
Akihabara = Otaku paradise… and now you can take a 4 minute walk from Akihabara for a good night sleep before hitting up the Maid Cafe in the morning. Nice!
For just 4,000 Yen per night you can sleep in a capsule which looks like the size of a coffin. A coffin with a shit load of stuff packed inside so you can feel trapped in a hole. Even though each capsule is small as hell it comes with TV, radio, alarm clock, adjustable lighting. I wonder if I’d fit in there being 190 cm tall. They have a lounge area with internet and have 100 Yen coffee. I’ve been searching for a cheap ass cafe here in Fukuoka with 100 Yen coffee so I’m a little bit jealous of that. So far I’ve found 300+ yen coffee which is ridiculous because I could get 350ml of coffee for 320 Yen or for just 80 Yen more I could enjoy some bomb ass ramen. Seriously, what’s up with that?
The site says “Everybody that travels to Japan should experience this unique accommodation, at least once” but I don’t get it… they have a men’s section and a women’s section. How are you supposed to get it on with your woman with this setup?
Check out their site and make your reservation today! Then email me and tell me what it’s like because I’ll probably never hit one up. CapsuleInn.com
Here are a few videos so you can tour a capsule hotel (but it’s not the one from capsuleinn)
You’ve probably heard that things in Japan are small. Cars, clothes, roads, houses, and apartments. I wouldn’t call Japanese apartments small, but I would say they’re cozy. Do you really need a huge place to live anyway? As long as it has what you need and you spend your free time out on the town or cuddling with a hot chick (or whoever) to watch a movie. Now there’s a lot to renting an apartment but I’ll talk more about that sometime For now I’ll give you a few pros and cons of Japanese apartments as well as some youtube vids so you can tour a few places. Here are some things I’ve discovered in the last two weeks.
The Good:
- Sliding doors are cool
- You usually get a balcony
- Washing machines fit nicely in the bathroom area
- Shower room is huge
- You don’t need a car where I live, so you save money on the car, gas, parking, and you get free exercise.
- If your apartment is capable, you can get hooked up with fiber optic internet.
- Mirrors in the bathroom area have an anti fog button. That is totally kick ass.
- The “tankless water heater” is great for showers. You turn it on when you need it and you never run out of hot water.
The bad:
- If you’re getting no help from your job or friends in Japan you’ll need about $5,000 USD to rent an apartment. You’ll be paying the landlord some stupid fees you won’t get back + first months rent + some other things to furnish your apartment. If you factor the landlord fees into your average monthly rent then it becomes affordable I guess. If your monthly rent is $800 USD you can expect to have a down payment around $4,000 for rent + fees. Then you’ll need to furnish your place and it can cost $1,000+. That part is lame when you compare it to the US.
- You can easily hear your neighbors
- Small closets + small rooms = not enough place for your clothes
- Small bathroom area + washing machine = not enough space for bathroom stuff.
- No hot water unless you turn on the hot water heater and then waste water waiting for it to become warm. This means washing your face in cold water because you’ll get lazy.
- If you have a car, parking space can be expensive depending on where you live. I’ve seen it range from 0 to 20,000 yen per month.
- If you mark the wall or dent a door you’re going to lose your ass when you move out. You’ll be charged 500-1,000 Yen per pin tack hole you put in the wall.
- They don’t come with a refrigerator, washing machine, oven range, or light fixtures (that’s something new to me)
Wal-Mart, CIA, ExxonMobil Changed Wikipedia Entries… I guess you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet 
A new Web site built by an American technology student has uncovered the lengths that companies apparently go to improve their public image by tweaking their entries on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that - famously - “anyone can edit.”
The WikiScanner site, developed by Virgil Griffith, a researcher at the California Institute of Technology, reveals changes to the online encyclopedia by linking edits back to the computers from which they emanate using each computer’s unique IP address.
Griffith, 24, says he created the site “to create minor public relations disasters for companies and organizations I dislike” - a mission he may well have succeeded in.
