the x is for 'sexy'

The latest PlayStation -- known as "PSX" -- just announced in Japan about an hour ago:

It's got a DVD recorder, a 120GB HDD, TV recording functionality (think Tivo), can play PS2 games and movies, has built-in Ethernet and USB 2.0, multiple inputs, Memory Stick support... the list goes on and on. The only thing it doesn't yet have is a price, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out why. My guess? Somewhere in the range of $600. Maybe 79,800 yen or something. Better start saving your pennies.

trainspotting, tokyo-style

Unfortunately the download's a little big (5.30 MB), but if you've ever wondered what it's like to walk through a Tokyo subway train en route to Shibuya at 10:00pm on a Friday evening behind two scary-looking gaijin and a random middle-aged Japanese dude (and really, who hasn't?), now's your chance.

Have a look...

earthquake

At 6:24pm today, a pretty nasty earthquake rattled Japan. I had just finished eating dinner and was checking out CDs at the Virgin Mega Store on the 9th floor of the Marui building in Kawasaki when the whole place started shifting back and forth. The CD racks were shaking, the signs hanging from the ceiling were swaying, and for about 45 seconds, it was as if the Earth stood completely still. Oddly enough, I couldn't help but smile throughout the whole affair. I've gotten pretty used to quakes, so they don't scare me anymore; the more violent they are, the more fascinated I get (and obviously, this one was big). It was pretty surreal to see everyone frozen in place, looking around as if to check if the ceiling was about to cave in or something.

After about a minute, it was all over, and within a few moments everyone went back to their business as if nothing had ever happened. Business as usual in Japan, I guess.

BTW, thanks to those of you who mailed me to make sure I'm still alive. :)

shibuya reloaded

The marquee above the Hachiko entrance at Shibuya Station, home to some of the coolest adverts I've seen, like this one for Matrix Reloaded:

The scary thing is, for every Agent Smith you see there, there's probably about five Japanese people rushing through that area at any given time of the day. The crosswalk just outside the photo is the busiest in all of Japan, with over a million people passing through each day. That would probably explain why the Starbucks across the street is the busiest Starbucks in the entire world. I wonder if Agent Smith drinks coffee?

these boots were made for destroyin'

Check it: last week I finally retired my old Docs (which I've been wearing since 1997) in favor of a brand new pair. Even though I got the exact same ones, the difference between the two is amazing. Seven years of wear and tear, and the results are pretty scary indeed:

I couldn't bring myself to toss the old ones, so I brought 'em back with me from America. I'll keep 'em for a rainy day or whatever.

convenience store crush

It's a sad day indeed when I find myself going into the conbini next to my apartment to buy random stuff I don't need just to make eye contact with the girl working the register. I'm going to have to do something about this, but I'm not sure what that means; making a play on a conbini chick isn't exactly something I ever imagined myself doing, and it's not at all the kind of atmosphere that lends itself to chatting someone up. And I mean, how old are the girls that work at these places? She certainly doesn't look young, but realistically she's probably not older than what... 22? 23?

Maybe I should just find myself a new place to shop and get over it. :)

pardon the mess

As you can see, I'm in the midst of getting Movable Type up and running here, so things are a bit messy at the moment. Everything should be back to normal within a day or two -- I just need to rework some of the old site design and mess around with MT some more before I start putting up all the old content again.

Sit tight! And thanks for reading. :)

testing, testing

this is a test. deal.

outta here

I wanted to update a few times this past week but I was just way too busy. I'm off to Los Angeles for E3 in a few hours, so let me give a brief recap of the past few days:

- 5/7: My birthday. What started out as an innocent dinner with a friend of mine from America turned into a crazy night of partying when some of my Japanese friends came over to join us and decided to take me out for my birthday. We went to a club in Ishikawacho and had a blast. Got home the next day around 11:30am. Names are being withheld to protect the innocent, but H, N, A and Y -- thanks!!!

- 5/8: Went to a friend's birthday party in Harajuku. Afterwards, most of the party moved on to karaoke until around 2:30am. Totally lost my voice, but we had a lot of fun, so it's OK! Crashed at Gregg's place, got home around 12pm the next day.

- 5/9: Met up with a friend in Nakameguro fully intending to actually come home for a change, but I lost track of time and wound up missing my last train by about five minutes. Moved on to Shibuya to meet another friend and stayed there until about 4:30am. Crashed at said friend's place and wound up coming home around 1pm the next day.

-5/10: Finally, my iPod showed up! Isn't it sexy?

And that's that. Next up is E3 in Los Angeles for a week, and then it's back to Tokyo to sleep for a month.

PS - As you might have noticed, the site has a new URL (nokonoko.net). In Japanese, "noko noko" is the sound a turtle makes when it drags its feet. It's also the Japanese name for the little turtle dudes from Super Mario Bros. (you know, "Koopa Troopas" in the West). Neither of these factoids mean too much to me; the main reason I chose it is because I like the way it sounds. :)

preparing for iPod

The new iPods hit Japan this coming Friday, just in time for my trip to Los Angeles for E3. I've been wanting to buy one forever, but I didn't really have the spare change until a few months ago, and by then, the rumors were already flying about the new versions, so I decided to wait. Now they're finally here, and I'm really excited! It's perfect timing too, as I've been starting to get back into music again pretty heavily these past few weeks. At first I was planning to get the 10GB model, but that one doesn't come with the remote or the iPod dock, so I decided to go for the 15GB one instead. Then I realized I have about $60 worth of points on my Yodobashi card... so now I'm toying with the idea of just splurging on the 30GB model. What's an extra $40, right? Right...

Anyway, I've been spending most of my day making mp3s of all my CDs. It's taking forever, but it'll be well worth the effort!