Videos of the Gundam in Odaiba

Here are some videos I took of the Gundam in Odaiba. If you click on them you can watch them in HD.

This first one shows some of the special effects that went on during a short performance. You can see steam coming from its engines and its head move.

Here you can get an idea how big it is compared to those viewing it, as well as to see a little bit of how big the crowd was. It was very crowded.

New Camera, Dragon Quest IX, Tokyo, and Gundam

Last week was a very eventful week for me. Being that I had payday this week, it was time for me to enjoy life and have fun. My first plan was to finally buy a new camera. I actually haven't had a real camera in a very long time. A few months back I chose a digital camera that I liked, the Panasonic Lumix Fx40. Its a nice, small camera, that has a lot of features. One of my favorites is being able to record HD videos. So on Friday I picked one up at the store. At the same time I was finally able to pick up the DS game "Infinite Space," which I had been unable to get a week ago due to it selling out.

The next day however an even bigger game was going on sale, Dragon Quest IX. Dragon Quest is one of the biggest video game series in all of Japan, and whenever one goes on sale its an event. Or at least its supposed to be. This time with so many stores having pre orders, including just about every connivence store in the country, there were no lines. But when I went to buy it at lunch on that Saturday at the local 7/11 run supermarket, there were loads of people buying it. I have been playing it over the weekend and its really a lot of fun, just like all Dragon Quest games.

Then on Sunday me and my girlfriend headed to Tokyo for some more sightseeing and shopping. One of the main reasons for going this time was to head to Odaiba, a island in Tokyo bay famous for being the location of the Fuji TV building. But it also has many shops and a huge convenction center. But now it is also the home, for the next two months, of an unique exhibit. A full scale replica of the original Gundam giant robot. This 1/1 scale momenument has been the talk of everyone in Japan, and has even made the news outside Japan as well. It officially opened to the public on Saturday, so I was seeing it on its 2nd official day. We had to walk quite a far way to get to the exhibit. It was pretty funny as we got closer and could see the head peaking through the top of the parks' trees.

When we reached the exhibit, there were a ton of people there, all of course taking pictures of the giant robot. It really was pretty huge. When we got there a nice show had begun, where the Gundam started to move its head, and steam started to come from its thrusters and engines. Everyone in the crowd went "owwwwww" at the site. What was surprising was that we were allowed to go up to the Gundam, walk under it, and even touch it. It was an awesome sight!

And surrounding it was of course many temporary shops selling so many things. As well as a nice view of Tokyo Bay, and the Rainbow bridge. Both me and my girlfriend had a great time. We then headed to the ferris wheel on the island. This was the first time I had ever ridden a ferris wheel in my life. It was quite nice and gave a nice view of the bay. You could even see the Gundam from the wheel, even at its far distance. We then went shopping for clothes in Odaiba and Shinjuku, and a little shopping in Akihabara, and then came home. Sadly I seem to have caught a cold in Tokyo as I'm not feeling well now. Hopefully it goes away soon.

In the end, it was a great weekend! I bought a lot of things including some Xbox games from America (I can't wait to get through Ghostbusters!), Dragon Quest, the Gundam, lots of great time with my girlfriend, and no stress. And best of all. Lots of pictures. I'll post a lot of them in the coming days!

How are my 2009 goals coming along?

Six months ago I made a list of goals I had for 2009. I decided this week to look back at them and see how I have progressed. Heres an update:

1. Visit Kyoto and Osaka - Not yet. Plans are being thought up for a trip this year still, but timing and other matters have caused me not to go yet. But I will hopefully soon.

2. Go skiing - Failed. I had planned on going skiing in the winter, but couldn't get anyone to come along with me. Plus other life matters got in the way. There's a chance I could go in December, but its looking more like a 2010 goal now.

3. Improve my Japanese and take the JLPT - Some success. My Japanese has improved a little I've been told, thanks to practice. But I missed out on the summer JLPT test. Maybe Ill take the fall test, but I haven't decided yet.

4. Concerts - Success. I saw Hamasaki Ayumi is a fantastic concert, and I plan on seeing a couple of more this year. But the one great concert makes this goal a success.

5. See my old friends from Sophia more - Failure so far. Again life in Kofu has made this sadly not happen. Its especially sad for me lately as I've started to think about my old friends there again a lot more.

6. Climb Mt. Fuji - Failed before it had a chance. With my knee problems and my asthma this summer, there is no way I'll be able to climb Mt. Fuji this year. A pity as I really want to try.

7. Make more friends, especially Japanese friends - Major success. Last year I made many new friends, but unfortunately I've lost touch with many of them. That made me sad, so I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again this year. And thankfully it hasn't. Especially since I have met my true new special friend, my girlfriend. I'm so happy about that, and I know Ill be even more successful with this goal in the next six months.

While there have been some failures, there have been lots of success too. While these are my main goals I do have other ones. For example, be a better teacher, get healthier, save money, catch up on things, and more. Hopefully I can succeed at everything.

Plans for the week

Last week thankfully was a very nice quiet one for me. Work was lacking the amount of stress that had been bugging me the past few weeks. My hope is that it continues that way for me this week but chances are that wont happen since work is going to be getting a little more difficult in the next few weeks. Camp is coming up and while I am looking forward to it, I also can't wait for it to be over.

With pay day coming up this week, I'm thinking of finally picking up a digital camera. I've had one picked out for a few months now but I've had other things that had to be paid for before I could get one. Hopefully I can post some real good pics and videos soon. Also I really want to go to Tokyo soon. The official unveiling of the life size Gundam is this week, so I want to go see it myself.