Tokyo Anime Fair 2006

I have learned about it today at about 2pm from Danny's Website. Ofcourse today was the last day, but I thought what the hell I should go. So I went to Odaiba, which is actually quite far from my house... But I thought that would be a good opportunity to take some nice images with my new camera. On my way there, I took some interesting ones







And after about 2 hours I was at Odaiba's Tokyo Big Sight which is this futuristic Star-Wars-Empire-Side building, with MANY people carrying anime-drawn bags full of merchantise



The inside was sparsely decorated



and even though the exhibition was until 6pm and I was there at 4.30pm, they stopped selling tickets... Very very disappointed I returned back to Shibuya, while taking some images of the interesting buildings around Odaiba











I also took some images of Shibuya on a Sunday evening. Have a look how it's like...



I am very very disappointed... You can at least see Danny's images here.

Day of Independence

Today, is the Day of Independece for Greece. To "celebrate", I've made a cup (yep, a large one) of greek traditional coffee.

Γεια μας.

Office 2007 screenshots

You can have a sneak-peek here. These DO look interesting indeed!

New CD from Thanasis Papakonstantinou!!!

One of my personal favourites, Thanasis has given us a new cd. Read his statement here (in greek) with his hilarious comments at the end. Also, note the title of track no. 6. Too bad I cannot get my hands on it soon...

ps. thanks Dimitris for pointing this out to me ;)

Finaly... the new camera.

I managed to get it! After the disappointing stroll in Akihabara, I went to Shibuya and saw the camera for Y4000 less. Still, that price was high compared to Amazon.co.jp's. So, I thought, I should get it by the net. BUT, when I came home, the camera was out of stock. It's ok, I said. I will take it from Shibuya. So I woke up yesterday and travelled to Shibuya. I got to the store and asked for the camera.

OUT OF STOCK!

More than irritated, I went to the closest to my house department store and got the camera for even more. Still better than greek prices, relatively same with english. In any case I GOT IT! And I am so far happy with it, if you exclude the fact that there is no battery level indicator...

Some samples. The view from my house on a day



and on a night



More interesting photos soon...

Kobe beef night and the first cherry blossoms!

I had a great night yesterday. we went with Yoko-san to a Kobe-beef place. for those who don't know, it's a specially treated kind of beef. it is rumoured that the cows are being massaged and fed beer to have a better taste.



and believe me, they do... by far the best beef I have ever had.



ofcourse, at a Y12000 (60 pounds/85 euros) price for the set menu with 200grams of beef it's not an everyday treat. Still, TOTALY worth it!

after the fantastic meal, I also witnessed my first cherry-blossoms (sakura)! the "national" flower of Japan, captures the spirit of life's frailty for the japanese people, since the cherry blossoms stay for only a little while every year. a beautiful but very short sight, it is usually accompanied by the hanami, picnics in parks and general feel-good mood. the media crazily follows the cherry-blossoms evolution from the north to the south of Japan. truly sugoi.

Final Fantasy XII: Finally Here

for all you 10 people that don't know yet, Final Fantasy XII is out. FF are, I think, the most best selling game franchise ever. and for a reason. the graphics are always on a different level than anything else, the storylines are amazingly complex and interesting and the enjoyment huge. so, to make you understand the popularity of the game in Japan, I will just show you what I have found on my nearest combini (convenience store) on the release day of FFXII. enter the FFXII potion



a RedBull-style drink. I haven't tried it (yet).

UPDATE: It was not that great...

Akiba

so I went to Akihabara once more on the search of a new camera. I was disappointed. the price for the camera was too high compared to an internet price I have found. maybe I don't know where to search, but still I was disappointed. of course Akiba was as always very lively with maids, idols and otakus running around in search of everything possible. there were also the legions of Final Fantasy followers trying to get a glimpse of the new amazing game.

I'm not happy to say so but I will buy the camera from Amazon.co.jp!!!!! who would have thought...

Play too much World of Warcraft...

and you might become like this...



... when you get to level 60...

Great Otaku Blog

For the unsuspecting residents of Tokyo... there are stormtroopers among us!

Finally back in Japan...

I'm back! Japan is fantastic as always but the trip has taken its toll on my sleeping pattern... for three days in a row, I am sleeping at least 5am and waking up on the afternoon...

anyways, yesterday I went to a live concert by a band called "Mice Parade". their sound is fairly different but they were tiring with some points being very very long... still, it was a great night.

I now have to concentrate on my work. new posts accordingly...