December 12, 2007
Radiohead Discbox...
...Arrived today. It's very, very nice. I haven't held vinyl in years -- makes me wish I still had a record player. :)
December 04, 2007
Seven Years
Today (December 4), marks seven years since I moved to Japan. Seven years. That's a long time! When I moved here I figured I'd stay for a year or two and then move back, but that plan didn't exactly pan out, did it. At this point, I'm not sure I'll ever move back, but if I do, it certainly won't be anytime soon. I like it here quite a bit, if you haven't figured that out already. :)
In the process of confirming this today (I had to check my passport to be sure), I decided to make a record of every trip I've ever taken in the 10 years I've had this passport. Some random facts:
- First trip ever to Japan: Sept. 3, 1997
Flew out here to cover Fall TGS '97 for EGM. Met Hideo Kojima for the first time, met Koji Igarashi for the first time, went drinking in Osaka with the guy who made Contra (forget his name now), and hung out with some of the old #vidgames crew, including the dearly departed Dan Granett (RIP). My next trip was two months later in Nov. 1997 with none other than Ed Semrad, former editor-in-chief of EGM and storied world traveler. I think we spoke like three times the entire trip (bit of a generation gap there), but it was fun.
- # of times to Japan before moving here: 12
Most of these trips were for event coverage. TGS used to take place twice a year, plus every now and then the big pubs would have press events here. A couple of visits were girlfriend-related. Akihabara was raided more times than I can count.
- # of times to the US since moving to Japan: 22
Wow, more than I realized. E3 shows, GDC shows, visits to family and friends, and so on. I also flew home last year to be in NYC for the launches of both the PS3 and Wii. Yes, I was at both the Japanese and US launches for those two. How many psychos can say that? Not many.
- # of other countries visited since moving to Japan: 2
Went to Phuket (Thailand) once and went to Singapore once. Not much, but both trips were cool. Planning to hit a variety of places in 2008, including (hopefully) Europe and Korea.
My passport is beat to hell but it's got a lot of great memories attached to it. Here's to another seven years!