hey all,
So it has been a little rainy this weekend, and I'm "on my own" like in the song, hence the title.
I have turned in my final project, so fingers crossed for that. It came out to a heavily edited 58 pages.
I already beat Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Shorter than I thought, but pretty interesting and fun. The used game that I'm playing through right now is infuriating and amazing: Dragon's Dogma. It came out almost a year ago, but I heard pretty decent things about it (basically the same situation as Deus Ex). The combat is really nice, the story and quests are kinda mundane. Overall the game play is smooth, but the lack of fast travel really sucks. Every time you need to go from one end of the map to the other, you sigh internally. And if you fall to your death or get a sword through you before you get to your goal, you might be facing hours of lost game.
Next week we're having a Thanksgiving party at school, and we have Friday off, which is nice. I am beat.
Cheers,
Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Week Off
hey all,
My week off from work is coming to an end. Tomorrow I'll be heading in to the school to drop off some texts I borrowed in order to catch up on some typing/prep. work, and while there I'll be setting up my new classroom, etc.
I don't have any exciting things to report about my week. I did a lot of typing at first: the scientist pack is mostly finished, I got a good number of essay questions typed for my various classes, and I fleshed out some more on a grammar packet about questions. I caught up on a few anime series, and even played Kingdoms of Amalur. I also finished two teaching books I'd been reading for several months now: Making Thinking Visible, and Teach Like a Champion (the regular book, not the Field Guide). I was looking into reading The Dark Knight Returns on my Android, except the Kindle version is just unreadable. I downloaded a sample, and it was difficult to navigate through the panels, impossible to see the action, and near impossible to read what was written.
Maybe the only interesting thing is that I went swimming once, and an elderly Japanese guy came over and said in perfect English "Your swimming is very powerful!" After chatting for a bit, I had to compliment him on his English, and then we just went right on swimming. It is because of him that I finally got up the nerve to try a little butterfly. You see, he had been swimming a pretty decent, if a little stiff, butterfly for maybe ten minutes before that.
It seems like it was the combination of butterfly, breaststroke, and sheer fatigue that gave me tendinitis a few years ago, so I'd been holding out on trying it again. But it felt really nice to break it out again.
Otherwise, this week has reminded me a lot of my time in Tokyo. Between city taxes, health insurance, and paying off my student loans, money has been a little tight this month. So I really haven't gone anywhere the whole week.
Cheers,
My week off from work is coming to an end. Tomorrow I'll be heading in to the school to drop off some texts I borrowed in order to catch up on some typing/prep. work, and while there I'll be setting up my new classroom, etc.
I don't have any exciting things to report about my week. I did a lot of typing at first: the scientist pack is mostly finished, I got a good number of essay questions typed for my various classes, and I fleshed out some more on a grammar packet about questions. I caught up on a few anime series, and even played Kingdoms of Amalur. I also finished two teaching books I'd been reading for several months now: Making Thinking Visible, and Teach Like a Champion (the regular book, not the Field Guide). I was looking into reading The Dark Knight Returns on my Android, except the Kindle version is just unreadable. I downloaded a sample, and it was difficult to navigate through the panels, impossible to see the action, and near impossible to read what was written.
Maybe the only interesting thing is that I went swimming once, and an elderly Japanese guy came over and said in perfect English "Your swimming is very powerful!" After chatting for a bit, I had to compliment him on his English, and then we just went right on swimming. It is because of him that I finally got up the nerve to try a little butterfly. You see, he had been swimming a pretty decent, if a little stiff, butterfly for maybe ten minutes before that.
It seems like it was the combination of butterfly, breaststroke, and sheer fatigue that gave me tendinitis a few years ago, so I'd been holding out on trying it again. But it felt really nice to break it out again.
Otherwise, this week has reminded me a lot of my time in Tokyo. Between city taxes, health insurance, and paying off my student loans, money has been a little tight this month. So I really haven't gone anywhere the whole week.
Cheers,
Saturday, July 07, 2012
And...We're Back
hey all,
I'm still kicking around here in Japan. Yes,I know it is now July, and no I didn't really do anything special for the 4th.
Michi and I are planning a hiking trip to one of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains. Length-wise, and fitness-wise, it does not seem too bad, but we are going shopping for crampons since they are recommended for this mountain. Oh, and Michi still hasn't gotten her foot x-rayed or spoken to a doctor to see if this is a good idea. It seems like her ankle is doing OK recently, but still. She didn't wear the brace as long as she was supposed to, and she had a resurgence of the pain after our last hiking trip to Aomori, which was somewhat lengthy but only involved walking along a river trail with no serious ups or downs...and for this climb we will need to be walking on snow/ice and using crampons. Sounds like it will do therapeutic wonders for her ankle, doesn't it?
At work, we're still training one of the teachers, and we've started having another one come in to see how he does.
I finished Infinite Jest the other day. I'm a lot less satisfied with the ending this time around, and I find myself wondering about the meaning of the eponymous film in the book and the meaning of the main character's loss of communicative ability. I'm back to reading my teaching books sporadically.
Cheers,
I'm still kicking around here in Japan. Yes,I know it is now July, and no I didn't really do anything special for the 4th.
Michi and I are planning a hiking trip to one of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains. Length-wise, and fitness-wise, it does not seem too bad, but we are going shopping for crampons since they are recommended for this mountain. Oh, and Michi still hasn't gotten her foot x-rayed or spoken to a doctor to see if this is a good idea. It seems like her ankle is doing OK recently, but still. She didn't wear the brace as long as she was supposed to, and she had a resurgence of the pain after our last hiking trip to Aomori, which was somewhat lengthy but only involved walking along a river trail with no serious ups or downs...and for this climb we will need to be walking on snow/ice and using crampons. Sounds like it will do therapeutic wonders for her ankle, doesn't it?
At work, we're still training one of the teachers, and we've started having another one come in to see how he does.
I finished Infinite Jest the other day. I'm a lot less satisfied with the ending this time around, and I find myself wondering about the meaning of the eponymous film in the book and the meaning of the main character's loss of communicative ability. I'm back to reading my teaching books sporadically.
Cheers,
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Short Fuse
hey all,
Last week was E3. We got some interesting games coming out this year, but nothing that really grabbed me like last year.
I barely got any sleep at all last week, but that is my fault. I started a new series called The Kingkiller Chronicles, and the first two books were really good. So good, in fact, that I didn't get to bed until 1AM or 2AM most nights. Not sure when the third book is coming out, but I'm looking forward to it.
I'm still plugging away at the teaching books, though my pace is slow. One of my coworkers complained about books all having the same plot, etc, and I recommended she read Gravity's Rainbow and Infinite Jest. I actually started Infinite Jest for my second read through this weekend, as well.
Friday was a brutish day. We had a potential new teacher come in and teach a bit, but he had zero experience and would need a lot of training. My class had to finish early so I could head over to the immigration bureau and pick up my new visa. I applied for the three year visa, and I actually got it, so that was nice. But then both of my afternoon classes severely disappointed me. The younger kids never look up any words, and I yelled at them for not making enough efforts at home (such as looking up words they didn't know). Then my high school class. It starts at 6:10PM, and despite telling them to review the vocabulary because there would be a quiz, they hadn't. The class only meets once a week, and is only 50 minutes long, but it is nothing but a waste of time. The students don't study, they don't seem to retain what is taught, etc. I told them to come back next week with a goal for us to reach. Hopefully, if they can come up with a reason to study, it will go much smoother.
Probably because of the stress and lack of sleep, I've come down with a headcold. One of those, "why did my ancestors need to have evolved sinuses?" headcolds that through off your balance, your hearing, and give you a killer headache. I slept through most of Saturday, and I'll be going to bed early tonight as well.
I have got in a few more hours in Kingdoms of Amalur, too. The combat really makes the game.
Next week we have more potential teachers coming in. We'll see if they work out.
Cheers,
Last week was E3. We got some interesting games coming out this year, but nothing that really grabbed me like last year.
I barely got any sleep at all last week, but that is my fault. I started a new series called The Kingkiller Chronicles, and the first two books were really good. So good, in fact, that I didn't get to bed until 1AM or 2AM most nights. Not sure when the third book is coming out, but I'm looking forward to it.
I'm still plugging away at the teaching books, though my pace is slow. One of my coworkers complained about books all having the same plot, etc, and I recommended she read Gravity's Rainbow and Infinite Jest. I actually started Infinite Jest for my second read through this weekend, as well.
Friday was a brutish day. We had a potential new teacher come in and teach a bit, but he had zero experience and would need a lot of training. My class had to finish early so I could head over to the immigration bureau and pick up my new visa. I applied for the three year visa, and I actually got it, so that was nice. But then both of my afternoon classes severely disappointed me. The younger kids never look up any words, and I yelled at them for not making enough efforts at home (such as looking up words they didn't know). Then my high school class. It starts at 6:10PM, and despite telling them to review the vocabulary because there would be a quiz, they hadn't. The class only meets once a week, and is only 50 minutes long, but it is nothing but a waste of time. The students don't study, they don't seem to retain what is taught, etc. I told them to come back next week with a goal for us to reach. Hopefully, if they can come up with a reason to study, it will go much smoother.
Probably because of the stress and lack of sleep, I've come down with a headcold. One of those, "why did my ancestors need to have evolved sinuses?" headcolds that through off your balance, your hearing, and give you a killer headache. I slept through most of Saturday, and I'll be going to bed early tonight as well.
I have got in a few more hours in Kingdoms of Amalur, too. The combat really makes the game.
Next week we have more potential teachers coming in. We'll see if they work out.
Cheers,
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
1-1
hey all,
So I wasn't detained or put into handcuffs at the immigration bureau. I did have to wait 3 hours, but that is just a bit longer than average. I got the application in, and I was only missing one form, which nobody at the school, nor even Michi had heard of or seen before.
School is going OK, but as I mentioned, one of the unstable students has returned so the AM class can be a little touch and go.
Thankfully, I only had my group PM class after that, so I got a new packet printed out, plus I made a new vocab quiz, flashcards, and made two videos for my AM class.
Afterwards, I got to put in a few more hours in Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning. Still fun.
For anyone keeping track, now that I have finished reading Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos for the second time, I am making some progress on those education books, like Teach Like a Champion, Making Thinking Visible, and Visible Learning for Teachers.
I wanted to mention that Michi and I watched this really old Japanese flick (it feels like 1970's but was made in 1987) last weekend called Watashi-o ski-ni tsurettete, which is something like Please Take me Skiing. It is like your classic skiiing movie from the 1980's, but you can tell it is Japanese because the protagonists have a really tough ski course that they need to complete in order to save their company's butt. There is a romantic interest between the main character and an office lady that also happens to work at his company (of course). Pretty funny, worth seeing once, but Michi is obsessed with it now.
Cheers,
So I wasn't detained or put into handcuffs at the immigration bureau. I did have to wait 3 hours, but that is just a bit longer than average. I got the application in, and I was only missing one form, which nobody at the school, nor even Michi had heard of or seen before.
School is going OK, but as I mentioned, one of the unstable students has returned so the AM class can be a little touch and go.
Thankfully, I only had my group PM class after that, so I got a new packet printed out, plus I made a new vocab quiz, flashcards, and made two videos for my AM class.
Afterwards, I got to put in a few more hours in Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning. Still fun.
For anyone keeping track, now that I have finished reading Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos for the second time, I am making some progress on those education books, like Teach Like a Champion, Making Thinking Visible, and Visible Learning for Teachers.
I wanted to mention that Michi and I watched this really old Japanese flick (it feels like 1970's but was made in 1987) last weekend called Watashi-o ski-ni tsurettete, which is something like Please Take me Skiing. It is like your classic skiiing movie from the 1980's, but you can tell it is Japanese because the protagonists have a really tough ski course that they need to complete in order to save their company's butt. There is a romantic interest between the main character and an office lady that also happens to work at his company (of course). Pretty funny, worth seeing once, but Michi is obsessed with it now.
Cheers,
Monday, February 20, 2012
Fatigue
hey all,
The fatigue in the title has several meanings. I was planning a much longer, more in depth blog post about school, some news concerning Michi, and some pictures of a meal.
But then the weekend happened. We had a medium sized earthquake earlier today, not too far from Tokyo. No real damage, but still unnerving. Michi and I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey on Saturday and made homemade Gapao rice, a sweet-spicy ground chicken dish, originally from Thailand (I think).
I did a bunch of typing for work on Saturday morning, but managed to get some Battlefield 3 time in with Brian.
Today, I've been sorting through files on my computer, doing laundry, vacuuming, playing Skyrim and Battlefield 3, and I cooked my lunch for next week: mapo tofu.
That'll have to be all.
Cheers,
The fatigue in the title has several meanings. I was planning a much longer, more in depth blog post about school, some news concerning Michi, and some pictures of a meal.
But then the weekend happened. We had a medium sized earthquake earlier today, not too far from Tokyo. No real damage, but still unnerving. Michi and I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey on Saturday and made homemade Gapao rice, a sweet-spicy ground chicken dish, originally from Thailand (I think).
I did a bunch of typing for work on Saturday morning, but managed to get some Battlefield 3 time in with Brian.
Today, I've been sorting through files on my computer, doing laundry, vacuuming, playing Skyrim and Battlefield 3, and I cooked my lunch for next week: mapo tofu.
That'll have to be all.
Cheers,
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Days of Skyrim, Hakone Trip, and The Japanese "Jackass"
hey all,
Winter vacation is almost over, I hate to say. The first few days, I played a lot of Skyrim and a little Dark Souls. There is only one boss left in Dark Souls, but he is fast and strong, and his attacks eat up a lot of your health if you get hit b them. Even if you block, they eat up a lot of your stamina, plus they do fire damage.
For Skyrim, there is no end in sight. Yes, I've completed the quest lines for the fighter's guild and the mage's guild, but the system is really well designed to suck you in and get you to explore everywhere. For instance, I'm now pretty famous, so occasionally, I'll get a letter from an admirer saying that they heard about me using one of my special powers in such-and-such a place, and they'd love it if I could discover more special powers. Then the letter lets me know that if I explore some particular cave, ancient ruins, fort, or other location, I'll be able to find another power to use. As far as I can tell, these are randomly generated, but so far they always point me to locations that I haven't explored yet.
Outside of gaming, Michi and I had a great Christmas. We ate a delicious curry dinner (very traditional, I know) and exchanged gifts. For New Years, we went to Hakone (for the second time), in order to see the first sunrise of 2012 from the top of Komatagadake, but we cancelled the hike over to the ropeway because of the cloudy weather. Later in the day, we were afforded some gorgeous views of Mt. Fuji and Lake Ashi from one of the art museums in the area.
On New Year's Eve, for lack of anything else to do, we ended up watching a Japanese program called (roughly translated) 24 hours of no laughing. The theme was that they took 5 comedians, and put them in a bunch of strange situations, and if any of them laughed, that one got hit on the butt with a rubber bat by a masked assailant. In the beginning, it was kinda diverting, but towards the end, they were doing things like having one of them climb into a washing machine with a bowl of steaming hot ramen and try to eat it without spilling it or getting burned once they machine was turned on. This brought to mind Jackass, which thankfully, I haven't had to put up with for the several years I've been in Japan. I guess these comedians do this show every year, but I've somehow managed to avoid it until now.
Right now, Michi is watching Gaku for the second time. We rented it, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to convince her to return it. I'll probably have to replace the rented copy with our own Blu-Ray or DVD in order to get it away from her.
Cheers,
Winter vacation is almost over, I hate to say. The first few days, I played a lot of Skyrim and a little Dark Souls. There is only one boss left in Dark Souls, but he is fast and strong, and his attacks eat up a lot of your health if you get hit b them. Even if you block, they eat up a lot of your stamina, plus they do fire damage.
For Skyrim, there is no end in sight. Yes, I've completed the quest lines for the fighter's guild and the mage's guild, but the system is really well designed to suck you in and get you to explore everywhere. For instance, I'm now pretty famous, so occasionally, I'll get a letter from an admirer saying that they heard about me using one of my special powers in such-and-such a place, and they'd love it if I could discover more special powers. Then the letter lets me know that if I explore some particular cave, ancient ruins, fort, or other location, I'll be able to find another power to use. As far as I can tell, these are randomly generated, but so far they always point me to locations that I haven't explored yet.
Outside of gaming, Michi and I had a great Christmas. We ate a delicious curry dinner (very traditional, I know) and exchanged gifts. For New Years, we went to Hakone (for the second time), in order to see the first sunrise of 2012 from the top of Komatagadake, but we cancelled the hike over to the ropeway because of the cloudy weather. Later in the day, we were afforded some gorgeous views of Mt. Fuji and Lake Ashi from one of the art museums in the area.
On New Year's Eve, for lack of anything else to do, we ended up watching a Japanese program called (roughly translated) 24 hours of no laughing. The theme was that they took 5 comedians, and put them in a bunch of strange situations, and if any of them laughed, that one got hit on the butt with a rubber bat by a masked assailant. In the beginning, it was kinda diverting, but towards the end, they were doing things like having one of them climb into a washing machine with a bowl of steaming hot ramen and try to eat it without spilling it or getting burned once they machine was turned on. This brought to mind Jackass, which thankfully, I haven't had to put up with for the several years I've been in Japan. I guess these comedians do this show every year, but I've somehow managed to avoid it until now.
Right now, Michi is watching Gaku for the second time. We rented it, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to convince her to return it. I'll probably have to replace the rented copy with our own Blu-Ray or DVD in order to get it away from her.
Cheers,
Thursday, December 01, 2011
G4m3r
hey all,
Do any of you use Google's Chrome web browser? Michi has started using it, and I was tempted to give it a try, since I have a gmail account, blog through Blogger.com, and own an Android smartphone. My plan was to log on to this website, and type up this entry. BUT for some reason, Chrome wouldn't bring up the interface. I mean the program just hung there for a whole minute. Since when is a web browser designed by Google incompatible with a website owned by Google? That is like not being able to play a Blu-Ray disc (which was developed and backed mostly by Sony) on a Sony PlayStation 3. Anyway, I logged out and I don't think I'll be going back to Chrome any time soon.
I completed the penultimate assignment for my second curriculum design class last weekend, and got 29/30 on it. One of the questions I made was worded a little non-standardly, and I didn't include an answer key. I've got the last assignment due this weekend, and then I don't have another class until January 18th, which is a relief. The stress of trying to keep up with climbing, class, work, and yes, games, has been wearying. To top it all off, I seem to keep catching one bug or another every few days. Just after a week of taking medicine and when it finally seems to be getting better or even gone, I get hit with another bug which has me hacking, wheezing, and suffering with sinus headaches.
The medicine I'm taking is this orange powder that you place on your tongue and down with big glasses of water. It tastes something like rancid cinnamon: sweet and fiery, and then with a sour and somehow cloying aftertaste.
I've been putting in a few hours each day to one game or another. Skyrim is still incredibly fun, and such a broad experience. The number of characters and their viewpoints, wants, and the quests they give you really draw you into the game and make it difficult to stop: you keep saying "Just after one more quest..." And I've already mentioned the crazy fact that you can mine ore, take it to a smelter and refine it, take the ingots to a blacksmith and forge your own weapons, then take them to a grindwheel and hone them, then take them to an enchanting table, and put a magical ability on them. Apparently for those interested, you can also marry 60 different characters in the game.
Dark Souls continues to be challenging, but I have defeated several other bosses since my last post, and I have leveled up about 10 times and greatly improved my weapons.
I completed Batman, but I started the NG+, which is gamer speak for New Game +. This is basically where you play the game from the beginning again, but all the experience and gadgets, etc stay with your character. The upshot is that the game becomes much more challenging: since you start the game with so much equipment and power, the game designers make the enemies tougher, there are more of them, and some of the aids of normal mode are taken away. For example, in NG+ there are no longer any flashing marks above enemies heads to signal that they are about to attack, you just have to watch them carefully to counterattack or get hit and take the damage. The main motivation for going through the NG+ is to collect the Riddler trophies, which unlock artwork, extra maps to practice fighting and stealthing on, and which also let you rescue hostages who are scattered throughout the city.
I haven't neglected my reading, though. I finished T.H. White's Once and Future King, which I bought by accident while trying to buy it for my sister's B-Day. I also gave The Forever War a shot and greatly enjoyed that one. I'm currently reading Neal Stephenson's Reamde (that's how it's spelled, no typo there), and as usual I can't seem to put his books down.
Michi and I and my coworker went to a gym a little bit farther away than usual, and it was just a huge place. Not very long routes, but the sheer number and variety was impressive. But it takes over an hour to get there, and the train fare is pretty high, and INSERT ADDITIONAL EXCUSES HERE. Basically, it isn't very convenient and the quality of the routes seems to be a little higher at our usual place.
Cheers,
Do any of you use Google's Chrome web browser? Michi has started using it, and I was tempted to give it a try, since I have a gmail account, blog through Blogger.com, and own an Android smartphone. My plan was to log on to this website, and type up this entry. BUT for some reason, Chrome wouldn't bring up the interface. I mean the program just hung there for a whole minute. Since when is a web browser designed by Google incompatible with a website owned by Google? That is like not being able to play a Blu-Ray disc (which was developed and backed mostly by Sony) on a Sony PlayStation 3. Anyway, I logged out and I don't think I'll be going back to Chrome any time soon.
I completed the penultimate assignment for my second curriculum design class last weekend, and got 29/30 on it. One of the questions I made was worded a little non-standardly, and I didn't include an answer key. I've got the last assignment due this weekend, and then I don't have another class until January 18th, which is a relief. The stress of trying to keep up with climbing, class, work, and yes, games, has been wearying. To top it all off, I seem to keep catching one bug or another every few days. Just after a week of taking medicine and when it finally seems to be getting better or even gone, I get hit with another bug which has me hacking, wheezing, and suffering with sinus headaches.
The medicine I'm taking is this orange powder that you place on your tongue and down with big glasses of water. It tastes something like rancid cinnamon: sweet and fiery, and then with a sour and somehow cloying aftertaste.
I've been putting in a few hours each day to one game or another. Skyrim is still incredibly fun, and such a broad experience. The number of characters and their viewpoints, wants, and the quests they give you really draw you into the game and make it difficult to stop: you keep saying "Just after one more quest..." And I've already mentioned the crazy fact that you can mine ore, take it to a smelter and refine it, take the ingots to a blacksmith and forge your own weapons, then take them to a grindwheel and hone them, then take them to an enchanting table, and put a magical ability on them. Apparently for those interested, you can also marry 60 different characters in the game.
Dark Souls continues to be challenging, but I have defeated several other bosses since my last post, and I have leveled up about 10 times and greatly improved my weapons.
I completed Batman, but I started the NG+, which is gamer speak for New Game +. This is basically where you play the game from the beginning again, but all the experience and gadgets, etc stay with your character. The upshot is that the game becomes much more challenging: since you start the game with so much equipment and power, the game designers make the enemies tougher, there are more of them, and some of the aids of normal mode are taken away. For example, in NG+ there are no longer any flashing marks above enemies heads to signal that they are about to attack, you just have to watch them carefully to counterattack or get hit and take the damage. The main motivation for going through the NG+ is to collect the Riddler trophies, which unlock artwork, extra maps to practice fighting and stealthing on, and which also let you rescue hostages who are scattered throughout the city.
I haven't neglected my reading, though. I finished T.H. White's Once and Future King, which I bought by accident while trying to buy it for my sister's B-Day. I also gave The Forever War a shot and greatly enjoyed that one. I'm currently reading Neal Stephenson's Reamde (that's how it's spelled, no typo there), and as usual I can't seem to put his books down.
Michi and I and my coworker went to a gym a little bit farther away than usual, and it was just a huge place. Not very long routes, but the sheer number and variety was impressive. But it takes over an hour to get there, and the train fare is pretty high, and INSERT ADDITIONAL EXCUSES HERE. Basically, it isn't very convenient and the quality of the routes seems to be a little higher at our usual place.
Cheers,
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Games and Climbing
hey all,
I put in a little more time on Dark Souls, but the current area I'm trying to clear out is pretty vile. It is called Sen's Fortress. The guards are these big snake-headed dudes with giant scimitars and shields, and then there are these cobra-headed multi-armed guys that shoot lightning at you, and then there are the traps and narrow walkways with swinging axes. I've easily lost 10,000-20,000 xp trying to clear this place out, so I think I'm going to grind my character in the Darkroot Garden for a little bit. I was finally able to kill those troublesome black cats, so with them gone I can prey on some of the easier enemies and level up my stats and weapons and maybe my armor.
My B-day present from my mom arrived: Skyrim. And my does it look big! For the previous game in the series (Oblivion), I happily put in over 120 hours and still didn't manage to finish it. There were just so many quests to do, so many areas to explore, etc. Reports are that Skyrim is easily over 300 hours long. And so far it plays really well. The graphics are a huge upgrade over Oblivion, the level up system is really awesome, the quests are well-written and the voice acting is good so far. The geography and level design is also a lot more interesting than either Oblivion or Fallout 3 (both games designed by the same company which made Skyrim.). The combat is a lot more fun than in Oblivion, but it is no match for Dark Souls in that department. But then, there is a lot more to do in Skyrim: you can mine metals, smith your weapons and armor, enchant your weapons and armor, gather ingredients and make potions, cook meals, pick locks, steal, buy and decorate houses, join different groups and complete quests for them, fight huge dragons and many other activities.
I also just watched a video about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and boy does that look fun too! Unfortunately, that game is also an RPG, which means that 40-100 hours of game play would not be out of the question. As I still haven't finished Batman, Battlefield 3, Dark Souls, and I've just started the gigantic Skyrim, I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to pick up the game when it comes out in February. I'll just have to see.
Michi and I went climbing with one of my teachers from work, and that was pretty fun too. Overall, its been a great weekend. I'm still climbing somewhere in the 5.10a-b range, so maybe a little more practice and I'll be able to pull off a few 5.10c's or d's.
I realized yesterday that what I was posting about earlier with Pascal's triangle and the binomial theorem was actually a power set: the set of sets you can make from a set, not strictly speaking a combinations problem. Anyway...
Cheers,
I put in a little more time on Dark Souls, but the current area I'm trying to clear out is pretty vile. It is called Sen's Fortress. The guards are these big snake-headed dudes with giant scimitars and shields, and then there are these cobra-headed multi-armed guys that shoot lightning at you, and then there are the traps and narrow walkways with swinging axes. I've easily lost 10,000-20,000 xp trying to clear this place out, so I think I'm going to grind my character in the Darkroot Garden for a little bit. I was finally able to kill those troublesome black cats, so with them gone I can prey on some of the easier enemies and level up my stats and weapons and maybe my armor.
My B-day present from my mom arrived: Skyrim. And my does it look big! For the previous game in the series (Oblivion), I happily put in over 120 hours and still didn't manage to finish it. There were just so many quests to do, so many areas to explore, etc. Reports are that Skyrim is easily over 300 hours long. And so far it plays really well. The graphics are a huge upgrade over Oblivion, the level up system is really awesome, the quests are well-written and the voice acting is good so far. The geography and level design is also a lot more interesting than either Oblivion or Fallout 3 (both games designed by the same company which made Skyrim.). The combat is a lot more fun than in Oblivion, but it is no match for Dark Souls in that department. But then, there is a lot more to do in Skyrim: you can mine metals, smith your weapons and armor, enchant your weapons and armor, gather ingredients and make potions, cook meals, pick locks, steal, buy and decorate houses, join different groups and complete quests for them, fight huge dragons and many other activities.
I also just watched a video about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and boy does that look fun too! Unfortunately, that game is also an RPG, which means that 40-100 hours of game play would not be out of the question. As I still haven't finished Batman, Battlefield 3, Dark Souls, and I've just started the gigantic Skyrim, I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to pick up the game when it comes out in February. I'll just have to see.
Michi and I went climbing with one of my teachers from work, and that was pretty fun too. Overall, its been a great weekend. I'm still climbing somewhere in the 5.10a-b range, so maybe a little more practice and I'll be able to pull off a few 5.10c's or d's.
I realized yesterday that what I was posting about earlier with Pascal's triangle and the binomial theorem was actually a power set: the set of sets you can make from a set, not strictly speaking a combinations problem. Anyway...
Cheers,
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Vacation Day 2: Tequila and Oatmeal
hey all,
Today, I went over to the city hall and consulted about my health insurance and citizen's taxes. They were very helpful, and they actually were able to have my insurance terminate on the day I'll be moving, and take the old payment forms and give me a new one, plus an envelop to send my expired health insurance card back in.
I couldn't believe it. I went there without any of the new address information, so I couldn't even give them the complete new address. I honestly didn't think they be able to do so much for me, which is why I didn't have any of the info.
After that, I made a batch of mabo tofu, which turned out really tasty. I also raided the guesthouse for cardboard boxes and got another load of packing down, mostly my books, CDs, some drink bottles, and souvenirs. I'm also trying to get rid of left over food stuffs: hence the tequila and oatmeal.
I even got to spend several hours playing Dragon Age 2.
Cheers,
Today, I went over to the city hall and consulted about my health insurance and citizen's taxes. They were very helpful, and they actually were able to have my insurance terminate on the day I'll be moving, and take the old payment forms and give me a new one, plus an envelop to send my expired health insurance card back in.
I couldn't believe it. I went there without any of the new address information, so I couldn't even give them the complete new address. I honestly didn't think they be able to do so much for me, which is why I didn't have any of the info.
After that, I made a batch of mabo tofu, which turned out really tasty. I also raided the guesthouse for cardboard boxes and got another load of packing down, mostly my books, CDs, some drink bottles, and souvenirs. I'm also trying to get rid of left over food stuffs: hence the tequila and oatmeal.
I even got to spend several hours playing Dragon Age 2.
Cheers,
Monday, May 23, 2011
RPG
hey all,
This weekend went pretty well, but was even more uneventful than I thought. I picked up a copy of Dragon Age 2 for the PS3, and also re-installed The Witcher on my laptop. Dragon Age 2 is pretty fun so far, as most of the changes seem to be for the better. I find it a little more difficult to get involved in the story compared to the previous game for some reason. And The Witcher is just The Witcher. I've been trying to register it, but it seems like the Polish company that made it's servers are down, so I can't even install any updates or patches for the thing.
Aside from that, you get some really crazy choices: like, who should you side with, the persecuted witch who takes care of small children but who also uses a voodoo doll to torment villagers she doesn't like and gives poison to some people instead of medicine, OR the small-minded religion-crazy villagers who are greedy, and sometimes murderers themselves, but most of the time just trying to get by with their lot in life? That's just the first few hours of 40 to 60, by the by.
The Witcher 2 just came out, and if I thought my system would run it, I'd buy it for the PC, but supposedly it is coming out for XBox360 and PS3 eventually, so I'll wait. There are a ton of RPGs coming out this year, from Elder Scrolls 5, Dark Souls, to Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning. Not sure if I'll be able to play all of these, but I'd like to try.
Today and tomorrow are pretty light, schedule-wise at work, so I'm going to try to plan out the curriculum as far as I can, and also to see if I can develop one of the systems I've been working on. I really need to get it to the point of minimizing the amount of record keeping and paperwork that I personally or the other teachers will need to do, because there are days when even just filling out the time sheet seems like the straw that broke the camel's back.
I've still been watching Game of Thrones (yes, not quite legally) online. Episode 6 of 10 was just released. They are cutting so much out, but I still really like the show. I can't wait to see how people react to some of the events in season 1. If they keep going for a third, fourth, etc (remember, they've already decided to produce a second season), I wonder what people will think of the crazy stuff that happens in the books those seasons will be based on. One of the main character's pets is killed just a couple episodes into season 1, and GRRM was saying that some people were shocked about that. I wonder what they'll think when the main characters themselves start dropping like flies...
Anyway, I didn't end up visiting with any friends, because they were either out of touch or sick, and I basically spent Saturday and Sunday playing games. I didn't go to Kofu like I'd panned, because in looking up what else I'd like to see there, I couldn't find anything else besides the "castle," and it would cost me either $80 roundtrip for 2 hours, or $40 roundtrip for 6 hours, and the pictures I'd found of the castle just weren't that intriguing. I did research some extra things to do in Matsumoto when we go to see the castle there, and found some pretty interesting ones, but we're still trying to find a mountain that we can hike for the second day.
Lastly, a British guy just moved into my guesthouse and it seems like he's into rock climbing, too. We might end up going rock climbing indoors somewhere, but that's if I can spare the time.
Cheers,
This weekend went pretty well, but was even more uneventful than I thought. I picked up a copy of Dragon Age 2 for the PS3, and also re-installed The Witcher on my laptop. Dragon Age 2 is pretty fun so far, as most of the changes seem to be for the better. I find it a little more difficult to get involved in the story compared to the previous game for some reason. And The Witcher is just The Witcher. I've been trying to register it, but it seems like the Polish company that made it's servers are down, so I can't even install any updates or patches for the thing.
Aside from that, you get some really crazy choices: like, who should you side with, the persecuted witch who takes care of small children but who also uses a voodoo doll to torment villagers she doesn't like and gives poison to some people instead of medicine, OR the small-minded religion-crazy villagers who are greedy, and sometimes murderers themselves, but most of the time just trying to get by with their lot in life? That's just the first few hours of 40 to 60, by the by.
The Witcher 2 just came out, and if I thought my system would run it, I'd buy it for the PC, but supposedly it is coming out for XBox360 and PS3 eventually, so I'll wait. There are a ton of RPGs coming out this year, from Elder Scrolls 5, Dark Souls, to Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning. Not sure if I'll be able to play all of these, but I'd like to try.
Today and tomorrow are pretty light, schedule-wise at work, so I'm going to try to plan out the curriculum as far as I can, and also to see if I can develop one of the systems I've been working on. I really need to get it to the point of minimizing the amount of record keeping and paperwork that I personally or the other teachers will need to do, because there are days when even just filling out the time sheet seems like the straw that broke the camel's back.
I've still been watching Game of Thrones (yes, not quite legally) online. Episode 6 of 10 was just released. They are cutting so much out, but I still really like the show. I can't wait to see how people react to some of the events in season 1. If they keep going for a third, fourth, etc (remember, they've already decided to produce a second season), I wonder what people will think of the crazy stuff that happens in the books those seasons will be based on. One of the main character's pets is killed just a couple episodes into season 1, and GRRM was saying that some people were shocked about that. I wonder what they'll think when the main characters themselves start dropping like flies...
Anyway, I didn't end up visiting with any friends, because they were either out of touch or sick, and I basically spent Saturday and Sunday playing games. I didn't go to Kofu like I'd panned, because in looking up what else I'd like to see there, I couldn't find anything else besides the "castle," and it would cost me either $80 roundtrip for 2 hours, or $40 roundtrip for 6 hours, and the pictures I'd found of the castle just weren't that intriguing. I did research some extra things to do in Matsumoto when we go to see the castle there, and found some pretty interesting ones, but we're still trying to find a mountain that we can hike for the second day.
Lastly, a British guy just moved into my guesthouse and it seems like he's into rock climbing, too. We might end up going rock climbing indoors somewhere, but that's if I can spare the time.
Cheers,
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Big Plate
hey all,
I'm just realizing that there is a ridiculous number of items on my plate at the moment: a probable trip to Hakone sometime this month, a rock climbing trip to Yugawara next weekend, a probable camping/rock climbing trip to Ogawayama in May, the trip home for my brother's wedding in May, a trip at some point to Enoshima, one to Ojima and Shikineshima, and lately Michi's family has been talking about taking a big trip to Oze, with me and Michi serving as guides. There's Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the castle in Himeji, the shrines and parks in Nara, Hokkaido, and hundreds of other places in Japan and around the world. I would love to live long enough to visit the moon and maybe Mars, as well.
If you can't tell, I've been listening to this poem over and over again this weekend.
I think I might have to try to revive Odysseus or Ulysses as a boy's name...But what do you use as a nickname? Oddy? Uly? Dessy? Dezi?
Anyway, there are a couple of games coming out soon, such as Dragon's Age II, that look really amazing. I've played through the demo 3 times now, and the combat is much more visceral and satisfying than the first game. I'm hoping that the story, quests, and other aspects of the game have been punched up a notch as well. It seems like they have been, but you can only tell by playing through it.
There was a lot more that I had typed up, but an error made me lose a big chunk of it.
Cheers,
I'm just realizing that there is a ridiculous number of items on my plate at the moment: a probable trip to Hakone sometime this month, a rock climbing trip to Yugawara next weekend, a probable camping/rock climbing trip to Ogawayama in May, the trip home for my brother's wedding in May, a trip at some point to Enoshima, one to Ojima and Shikineshima, and lately Michi's family has been talking about taking a big trip to Oze, with me and Michi serving as guides. There's Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the castle in Himeji, the shrines and parks in Nara, Hokkaido, and hundreds of other places in Japan and around the world. I would love to live long enough to visit the moon and maybe Mars, as well.
If you can't tell, I've been listening to this poem over and over again this weekend.
I think I might have to try to revive Odysseus or Ulysses as a boy's name...But what do you use as a nickname? Oddy? Uly? Dessy? Dezi?
Anyway, there are a couple of games coming out soon, such as Dragon's Age II, that look really amazing. I've played through the demo 3 times now, and the combat is much more visceral and satisfying than the first game. I'm hoping that the story, quests, and other aspects of the game have been punched up a notch as well. It seems like they have been, but you can only tell by playing through it.
There was a lot more that I had typed up, but an error made me lose a big chunk of it.
Cheers,
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Most Dangerous Thing
hey all,
So this weekend has been really interesting. Maybe a little too much so, in fact. On Saturday Michi and I went rock climbing in Yugawara again: we had wanted to go to Joyama, which we've never been to, but we couldn't find cheap available lodging. So, it turned into just a day trip to Yugawara. Now, recently it has been pretty windy, but Michi and I didn't take that into consideration when we went. In fact, while we were climbing, the trains were running in a stop-and-go fashion because of the strong winds.
So imagine clinging to a rock face with all your strength while a wind strong enough to flip a train comes blowing at you, trying to rip you off the rock. That's what our rock climbing was like on Saturday. I can honestly say that I've probably never done anything so dangerous or scary. It was pretty fun, some of the time, but still: really scary.
We only climbed a few routes, maybe two or three times each on each route, before we decided that it would be safer to quit while we could still make that decision.
Sunday was almost entirely taken up with playing Bad Company 2 with Bri. He had made a promise not to play online until we could play together, and my copy of the game arrived 2 weeks later than his, so he'd been wanting to play that game together for a while. I have to say that it is slightly more fun than the first game, and they've made lots of upgrades and improvements to the gameplay, graphics, and in other areas. I've played the single player campaign a little, but yesterday was my first time playing online as well.
Monday (today) was a holiday in Japan, so Michi and I went to Mt. Nokogiri, in Chiba prefecture. In the past, there was a quarry there, but now it is famous for a temple and for one rock formation in particular, which has a name that means something like "Looking into Hell." I wanted to look down from the top of that rock face, but you have to ride a ski-lift style car to get up there, and Michi and I had already spent a good amount of time wandering around the old quarry and other places.
I'll have some pictures coming up in a day or two.
Cheers,
So this weekend has been really interesting. Maybe a little too much so, in fact. On Saturday Michi and I went rock climbing in Yugawara again: we had wanted to go to Joyama, which we've never been to, but we couldn't find cheap available lodging. So, it turned into just a day trip to Yugawara. Now, recently it has been pretty windy, but Michi and I didn't take that into consideration when we went. In fact, while we were climbing, the trains were running in a stop-and-go fashion because of the strong winds.
So imagine clinging to a rock face with all your strength while a wind strong enough to flip a train comes blowing at you, trying to rip you off the rock. That's what our rock climbing was like on Saturday. I can honestly say that I've probably never done anything so dangerous or scary. It was pretty fun, some of the time, but still: really scary.
We only climbed a few routes, maybe two or three times each on each route, before we decided that it would be safer to quit while we could still make that decision.
Sunday was almost entirely taken up with playing Bad Company 2 with Bri. He had made a promise not to play online until we could play together, and my copy of the game arrived 2 weeks later than his, so he'd been wanting to play that game together for a while. I have to say that it is slightly more fun than the first game, and they've made lots of upgrades and improvements to the gameplay, graphics, and in other areas. I've played the single player campaign a little, but yesterday was my first time playing online as well.
Monday (today) was a holiday in Japan, so Michi and I went to Mt. Nokogiri, in Chiba prefecture. In the past, there was a quarry there, but now it is famous for a temple and for one rock formation in particular, which has a name that means something like "Looking into Hell." I wanted to look down from the top of that rock face, but you have to ride a ski-lift style car to get up there, and Michi and I had already spent a good amount of time wandering around the old quarry and other places.
I'll have some pictures coming up in a day or two.
Cheers,
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Family Matters
hey all,
So last weekend, Michi and I skyped with my family, which went well. This weekend, just earlier today in fact, I ate dinner with her younger brother's family. But let me start from my last post.
Still no word from the company about positions, visas, or anything. I'm sure if I asked them how to spell their own names they won't be able to answer that either. Work has been slowing down a little: my 3rd year students are basically finished with school, and my 1st and 2nd year students are taking their final exams at the beginning of next week, so there hasn't been an incredible amount of class work lately, although my fellow teachers are all running around really busy because they have to do the tests and everything.
I took another yoga lesson with Michi on Saturday, and then after that we had lunch and talked with one of her friends for several hours in Japanese. So I guess we're both slowly introducing members of our inner circles to each other, and gauging their reactions to our significant other. So far, the reactions on both sides have been positive.
Today was another busy day. I renewed my housing contract for another month (only one month because I have no clue where I'll be next school year), and then I bought the God of War collection for PS3 in Akihabara. God of War III is coming out for PS3 next month, and I remember playing number 1, but not number 2. The first two games in the series are widely regarded as two of the best video games ever made, and I'd have to say that from the couple hours I've spent replaying number 1 today, the comparison still holds up after all this time (the first game was released in 2005).
After going shopping, I met up with Michi to head over to her younger brother's apartment. He married a Korean woman, and they have a baby girl. I think he is a chef, at least from what I gathered. Today's conversation, like yesterday, was almost entirely in Japanese. I see why maybe sometimes Michi doesn't feel up to meeting: speaking and listening to a foreign language that you aren't very proficient in really takes patience and energy to sort out who is talking to who, what are they saying. did I just get asked a question?, etc. Especially tough is the fact that Michi and her family are native Tokyo-ites: they probably speak the fastest out of any Japanese dialect, making it especially difficult to follow for a non-native speaker.
Her brother cooked us a really tasty dinner/lunch, and we all chatted a bit and played with the baby. That was pretty much it. Her brother seems really nice, and Michi said they think the same about me. So for now, no worries, at least from that department.
Cheers,
So last weekend, Michi and I skyped with my family, which went well. This weekend, just earlier today in fact, I ate dinner with her younger brother's family. But let me start from my last post.
Still no word from the company about positions, visas, or anything. I'm sure if I asked them how to spell their own names they won't be able to answer that either. Work has been slowing down a little: my 3rd year students are basically finished with school, and my 1st and 2nd year students are taking their final exams at the beginning of next week, so there hasn't been an incredible amount of class work lately, although my fellow teachers are all running around really busy because they have to do the tests and everything.
I took another yoga lesson with Michi on Saturday, and then after that we had lunch and talked with one of her friends for several hours in Japanese. So I guess we're both slowly introducing members of our inner circles to each other, and gauging their reactions to our significant other. So far, the reactions on both sides have been positive.
Today was another busy day. I renewed my housing contract for another month (only one month because I have no clue where I'll be next school year), and then I bought the God of War collection for PS3 in Akihabara. God of War III is coming out for PS3 next month, and I remember playing number 1, but not number 2. The first two games in the series are widely regarded as two of the best video games ever made, and I'd have to say that from the couple hours I've spent replaying number 1 today, the comparison still holds up after all this time (the first game was released in 2005).
After going shopping, I met up with Michi to head over to her younger brother's apartment. He married a Korean woman, and they have a baby girl. I think he is a chef, at least from what I gathered. Today's conversation, like yesterday, was almost entirely in Japanese. I see why maybe sometimes Michi doesn't feel up to meeting: speaking and listening to a foreign language that you aren't very proficient in really takes patience and energy to sort out who is talking to who, what are they saying. did I just get asked a question?, etc. Especially tough is the fact that Michi and her family are native Tokyo-ites: they probably speak the fastest out of any Japanese dialect, making it especially difficult to follow for a non-native speaker.
Her brother cooked us a really tasty dinner/lunch, and we all chatted a bit and played with the baby. That was pretty much it. Her brother seems really nice, and Michi said they think the same about me. So for now, no worries, at least from that department.
Cheers,
Friday, January 01, 2010
Game Design, First Day
hey all,
So for Christmas, I received Assassin's Creed 2 and Borderlands, among other things, and I'd like to write briefly about why Assassin's Creed 2 is a much better game than Assassin's Creed (Borderlands is fun too, but it is the first, so I can't compare it to a predecessor).
I think the biggest thing is motivation. For instance, in the first game, there were lots of types of flags placed all over each city, and you could kill time in the game just exploring the city looking for them. But what is the point of that? Sure, exploring is fun, in and of itself, especially as the game features highly explorable environments: you can climb almost any surface, jump from wall to wall, building to building, etc. But you don't really get anything from collecting all the flags, other than the fact that you can say "I collected all the flags in Assassin's Creed," at which point everyone will look at you like the loser you are.
Now in the second game, there are statues, feathers, treasure boxes, codex pages, mysterious marks, and seals for you to find and collect. However, you get money from finding treasure boxes (obviously), more money for finding statues, and pieces of story are revealed for finding the pages, feathers, and marks. In short, you have a reason for wandering around looking for this stuff.
In terms of gameplay, this is huge. The first game gave players no rewards for collecting, while the second game rewards it well. Aside from that, the second game features a lead character with more personality, more back story, and who is ultimately more fun to play as.
OK, I'm getting out of my Arm-Chair game designer chair.
Today, I woke up around 3AM. Michi and I made plans to see the first sunrise of 2010 on a boat in Tokyo Bay, so I got up, made some tea, and hopped on a train headed towards Tokyo. We met up and she actually had to wait for me this time. Not because I was late, but because she was incredibly early. We got to the boat launch, and got to see the first sunrise. Out on the water, we could also see Mt. Fuji, which surprised me.
Michi says that the Japanese believe that how you spend your first day of the year is how the rest of the year will be like for you. I'm not sure if I like the idea of getting up at 3AM for the next year, but spending the time with Michi sounds good. Tomorrow, the plan is to check out a couple temples and shrines. Michi's getting dressed up in a kimono, but I'll be going as a plain clothes gaijin.
As usual, pictures coming soon.
Cheers,
So for Christmas, I received Assassin's Creed 2 and Borderlands, among other things, and I'd like to write briefly about why Assassin's Creed 2 is a much better game than Assassin's Creed (Borderlands is fun too, but it is the first, so I can't compare it to a predecessor).
I think the biggest thing is motivation. For instance, in the first game, there were lots of types of flags placed all over each city, and you could kill time in the game just exploring the city looking for them. But what is the point of that? Sure, exploring is fun, in and of itself, especially as the game features highly explorable environments: you can climb almost any surface, jump from wall to wall, building to building, etc. But you don't really get anything from collecting all the flags, other than the fact that you can say "I collected all the flags in Assassin's Creed," at which point everyone will look at you like the loser you are.
Now in the second game, there are statues, feathers, treasure boxes, codex pages, mysterious marks, and seals for you to find and collect. However, you get money from finding treasure boxes (obviously), more money for finding statues, and pieces of story are revealed for finding the pages, feathers, and marks. In short, you have a reason for wandering around looking for this stuff.
In terms of gameplay, this is huge. The first game gave players no rewards for collecting, while the second game rewards it well. Aside from that, the second game features a lead character with more personality, more back story, and who is ultimately more fun to play as.
OK, I'm getting out of my Arm-Chair game designer chair.
Today, I woke up around 3AM. Michi and I made plans to see the first sunrise of 2010 on a boat in Tokyo Bay, so I got up, made some tea, and hopped on a train headed towards Tokyo. We met up and she actually had to wait for me this time. Not because I was late, but because she was incredibly early. We got to the boat launch, and got to see the first sunrise. Out on the water, we could also see Mt. Fuji, which surprised me.
Michi says that the Japanese believe that how you spend your first day of the year is how the rest of the year will be like for you. I'm not sure if I like the idea of getting up at 3AM for the next year, but spending the time with Michi sounds good. Tomorrow, the plan is to check out a couple temples and shrines. Michi's getting dressed up in a kimono, but I'll be going as a plain clothes gaijin.
As usual, pictures coming soon.
Cheers,
Monday, December 14, 2009
I am Batman!
hey all,
I had a really great weekend, and actually a really great Monday too.
Saturday my best ALT friend and I went to Akihabara and shopped for more games and movies. I wanted to sell one of my PS3 games, but they offered me the equivalent of one dollar for it, so I didn't sell it. I did pick up an English copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is by far one of the best games I've played in a while. They have the voice actors from Batman: The Animated Series doing Batman and Joker (the latter voiced by none other than Mark "You're not my father!" Hamil himself), so it is very nostalgic to play the game. Aside from the voice acting, the game looks beautiful and plays amazingly. There are excellent puzzles, interesting stealth challenges, fluid and balletic combat: what more could you want from a Batman game?
After shopping, John (my ALT friend), his girlfriend, Michi and I all met up at Asakusabashi and had some coffee while chatting. After that, Michi and I made some spicy tofu spaghetti (whatever you might think of tofu spaghetti, it was tasty) at her place, and I went back to Omiya. Sunday, Michi and I met up again, this time at Musashi-Urawa and went climbing at an indoor gym there. Lots of fun, since I had gone there before by myself, but this time I actually got to climb some top-rope routes. Michi liked the place too, since we've always gone climbing at two gyms owned by the same company, so the Musashi-Urawa gym was a nice change of pace.
We've settled some more details of our trip to Nikko, but we're still searching for good deals for our trip to Kyoto. I learned that the First Sunrise of 2010 trip is set for somewhere in Chiba prefecture along the coast, but we haven't really set that trip in stone yet.
Today was also a surprisingly good day. I taught 5 classes (out of 6 class periods), and the rest of the time I corrected some worksheets. The classes went pretty well, and (contrary to most lessons), I actually got to be involved a bit more. I made my usual curry for dinner, and spent a few hours playing Demon's Souls and the new Bathman game. I've reached a point in Demon's Souls where I've defeated lots of bosses, but the next areas for three different levels are all too hard for my current character, so I'm going through old levels and beating up the peons to try and get my character to level up. I'm also hunting for some special chunks of rock to upgrade my weapons.
More News As It Happens.
Cheers,
I had a really great weekend, and actually a really great Monday too.
Saturday my best ALT friend and I went to Akihabara and shopped for more games and movies. I wanted to sell one of my PS3 games, but they offered me the equivalent of one dollar for it, so I didn't sell it. I did pick up an English copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is by far one of the best games I've played in a while. They have the voice actors from Batman: The Animated Series doing Batman and Joker (the latter voiced by none other than Mark "You're not my father!" Hamil himself), so it is very nostalgic to play the game. Aside from the voice acting, the game looks beautiful and plays amazingly. There are excellent puzzles, interesting stealth challenges, fluid and balletic combat: what more could you want from a Batman game?
After shopping, John (my ALT friend), his girlfriend, Michi and I all met up at Asakusabashi and had some coffee while chatting. After that, Michi and I made some spicy tofu spaghetti (whatever you might think of tofu spaghetti, it was tasty) at her place, and I went back to Omiya. Sunday, Michi and I met up again, this time at Musashi-Urawa and went climbing at an indoor gym there. Lots of fun, since I had gone there before by myself, but this time I actually got to climb some top-rope routes. Michi liked the place too, since we've always gone climbing at two gyms owned by the same company, so the Musashi-Urawa gym was a nice change of pace.
We've settled some more details of our trip to Nikko, but we're still searching for good deals for our trip to Kyoto. I learned that the First Sunrise of 2010 trip is set for somewhere in Chiba prefecture along the coast, but we haven't really set that trip in stone yet.
Today was also a surprisingly good day. I taught 5 classes (out of 6 class periods), and the rest of the time I corrected some worksheets. The classes went pretty well, and (contrary to most lessons), I actually got to be involved a bit more. I made my usual curry for dinner, and spent a few hours playing Demon's Souls and the new Bathman game. I've reached a point in Demon's Souls where I've defeated lots of bosses, but the next areas for three different levels are all too hard for my current character, so I'm going through old levels and beating up the peons to try and get my character to level up. I'm also hunting for some special chunks of rock to upgrade my weapons.
More News As It Happens.
Cheers,
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