With only a few days notice from work, I was headed to SIGGRAPH ASIA 2009 in JAPAN and boy am I glad I went, Japan is awesome!
Siggraph is a technical conference and it's the first one I've ever been to, according to repeat attendees this was a small one but still cool. 3-D Technology seems to be all the rage and Motion Capture has taken a large leap forwards since my Mainframe days (remember kids, I was the mocap actor for Kingpin!) but a lot of the lectures were in Japanese without translation so that was a bust. On the plus side, I had coffee with THE creator of Pokemon, had a studio tour of Bandai-Nameco and hung out in the Audio Department with the Soul Calibur team. We attended one "event party" thrown by Polygon Pictures which made Bobby and I laugh. Why? Well as the two Canadians there, there was a point where we both had cans of beer, standing next to a river in the freezing cold and we thought, man, it's like partying back home. All in all, I wish the translation possibilities were better so I could have ingested more information but Siggraph was still a cool experience.
Japan on the other hand was even cooler. It was my first time in the land of the Rising Sun and despite the cold weather (0 degrees most days - a big change from 33 in Singapore), we tried to see as much of Tokyo and Yokohama (where Siggraph was) as possible. The subway system is a ridiculous maze of anarchy that somehow makes sense once you eventually figure it out, the streets are always busy, every restaurant seems packed all the time, the food good, the sights amazing and I can sum it all up in one word: EXPENSIVE!
Man is Japan expensive. just to step into a taxi is $8CDN, a subway ride costs between $2 & $6CDN and you have to subway everywhere. Most meals start at about $20CDN and that's without booze, which by the way, also start at about the same price. Unless you go local and that's what we tried to do most of the time. We tried to eat at little Yakitori stalls which serve Chicken, Pork, Veggies and organ meat on sticks grilled over a little BBQ. Very tasty and cheap (full meal of 6 sticks plus a beer for $17CDN). I guess you could eat at McDonalds if you wanted but you don't come to Japan for McDonalds BUT if you feel like a fast food burger, try a MOS Burger. Think of it as a Japanese McDonalds with uniquely Japanese fast food!
Despite the prices, it is still an awesome place to see with so much to do. All the sections of Tokyo are cool and different with crazy big stores, small underground bars, quaint little restaurants and blinking lights everywhere. From the busy intersections of Shibuya, to the quint hang-outs in Shimo-kitazawa, to the technical monstrosity of Akihabara, to the kooky shops of Harajuku. Tokyo truly is the basis for Los Angeles in Blade Runner. Sometimes I would get weird looks from the older Japanese people as to why I was in certain areas or whatnot but the younger generation of people were quite warm and welcoming. All in all an awesome experience and one I can't wait to have again but with Michelle along for the ride.
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