Castle Week

The past week, I visited three castles along with some friends. It was my first time going to any kind of castle. My favorite was Inuyama Castle which we went to first, followed by Nagoya Castle and Hikone Castle. The weather was crappy when we went to Hikone Jo and I didn't take pictures heh. Rachel from Florida came to visit Marlow and Antonette. So, here are some pictures!

Back in October...

KEChalloween09
Originally uploaded by juanlduarte

It was Halloween. So we had a Halloween Day at work and here is a pic of the kiddos:


And here is a short clip:

Nagoya Festival 09

I'm over a month late posting this video. It's a tad bit long coming in at 10 minutes. But yeah, it was pretty cool. I have pictures to post also, but I haven't even begun to edit them. Not only that, but I also have video and pictures from the Osu Kannon parade/festival that was a week later after the Nagoya Festival.

Chunichi Dragons vs Hanshin Tigers

I went to my first professional sporting event ever. And of all places, in Japan! My friend Jonathan had an extra ticket and invited me. So without thinking twice, I took him up on his offer. I learned some cool things about Japanese baseball: each team has a band that plays while they are at bat. Aaaaand, each player has their own special song the band plays. Another thing is, unlike American baseball, if a ball flys out to the crowd, a staff member comes and gets the ball back. I don't know why. My camera wasn't fully charged so I was only able to get a few seconds of footage.

Osaka Mexican Festival

I went to Osaka to their annual Mexican Festival on Sept 6th. I've been lazy about uploading video and pics but I got one done! We arrived there around 2pm and started to sample the food and beer (mostly beer). I had Texas BBQ, a tamale and some tacos. The food was alright. I was expecting the food to kick my ass in the spicy department but it was tame. At any rate, here is the video.

24 Hour Television

I don't have a TV, but I kinda wish I did. There is some festival thing going on today in Sakae, but it started on Friday. It's some TV station here in Nagoya and they are broadcasting from the TV tower area. They have music talents performing and other booths are set up around the area.










--Post From My iPhone

Photos from the river in Gifu

I finally imported and enhanced the photos I took during our trip from Nagoya, Aichi to the river in Gifu. Rudy and Takako from Desperados make a cameo. Unfortunately, I don't remember the river's or town's name. I didn't take many pics from different spots because I didn't want my camera to fall into the water. That would blow. Here are the pics. Enjoy.

It's been a month since I posted.

I haven't been doing a whole lot. I do have stuff that I photographed/recorded from June to August. I've been slacking in posting videos or pictures. But I am drinking my coffee as I type.

I went to a river about 1.5 hrs away from the city with 2 new friends. A couple weeks ago, I went to a Tex-Mex bar in Nagoya called Desperados. I stepped in and was greeted by Rudy, the owner. Sitting at the bar were 2 other guys, Antonio and Saul. All of them were born in Mexico. We started to talk and after a few beers, we all took some shots of Tequila as Mariachi music played in the background. I've been back a handful of times. Last week, Rudy and his wife Takako invited me to the river. So we went yesterday. The river is between some mountains I don't know the name of. Heck, I don't know the name of the river either. But the water was freakin freezing and I couldn't swim against the current. It was a quite spot, although one family was there. However it wasn't crowded like other areas of the river were. We were there for a couple hours just enjoying it and chatting.

Since meeting new friends, I've been invited to Saul's daughter's bday (which is my younger brother's too), which falls the same day as Mexico's independence day; going to a Mexican Festival in Osaka the first week of September and going to some Lowrider show in October. I've met some other cool dudes at the bar as well which are people that have been here for more than 10 years. I'll post some pics/video soon.

Oh look

Now you can kind of locate me. Marlow let me know about this nifty app. I still need to work out the kinks on displaying it properly.


GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com

Behemoth

I'm sitting across one of the tallest Japanese girls I've ever met, and frankly I'm quite turned on by it. jk

I'm afraid to snap a picture.




-- Post From My iPhone

Some Sundays are lazier than others

Last Sunday, I spent some time in Osu Kannon. They have this arcade shopping area. And it's not like videogame arcades, but just a bunch of shops and restaurants. You could probably spend the whole day. We saw some ice carving and Fatblueman perform at Shooter's.

Long overdue

On June 14th, we (Yukiko, Jenn, Marcel and Nancy...Marlow too) had a surprise birthday party for Antonette (even though her bday was June 13th). Marlow took her out on a day long...date, while I worked my magic getting things set up. Yukiko gave me a hand by buying these slick paper balloons and candles which you'll see in the video. It was amazing. We had chocolate cake and Cold Stone ice cream. Here's the video:

Art in Nishiharu

I teach at a community center at least once a week. They have an art show done by student artists. An artist named Hayato had a whole wall to himself. This is my favorite.




-- Post From My iPhone

Pit stop

We took a 10 min break. I grabbed some lunch...






-- Post From My iPhone

On our way

We are going to an onsen in Nagano. We are on the bus.


-- Post From My iPhone

Common

It's common to see people try to catch some Zs on the train.


-- Post From My iPhone

Test test. One two


-- Post From My iPhone

Mobile post

Mic check one two


-- Post From My iPhone

Kid's Kabuki

Two weeks ago, we (Marlow, Ant and I) went to Tarui in Gifu Prefecture. Our friend Yukiko invited us to her hometown during early April. We got there a bit before 11am. They had a Kid's Kabuki show. I'm not familiar with Kabuki theatre but according to Yukiko, they use an older Japanese language and she didn't understand many of the words. I told my Japanese coworkers about the show and they even admitted that they didn't understand most of the dialogue when they had seen Kabuki before. There were three shows but we only stayed for one.

Afterwards, we met Yuki-chan's obachan (grandmother). Marlow, Ant and I got Yuki-chan's grandmother and parents fruit baskets. After the short visit, we then headed to Yukiko's house. They prepared for us a delicious lunch.



We had some American food (hah) like chicken wings and mini pizzas and other Japanese cuisine. It was all very good. We then headed for the mountain close by. We visited two shrines. The air smelled so funky fresh. I hope to go back and go hiking. We walked a bit up the base of the mountain and it seemed like a nice climb. Anyways, after we did some exploring we came back for dinner. It was magically delicious.



So, on to the Kabuki show. And here it is:

pics

Here are some pictures from the previous week and Yukiko's Birthday. I really didn't edit them. Ok, I didn't do any editing. I'm looking to get a point and shoot camera in a couple weeks so I can do my thing with its. Anyways...here is the slidecho. Enchoy.

Takeshima

When I arrived here back in March, we (Marlow, Antonette, Yukiko and Mike) went to Takeshima near Gamagori. At the island, there is the Yaotomi Shrine, which is known for good luck in giving birth and marriage. A path was created around the island so people would walk around it. On this particular day, for some odd reason, it happened to be really windy.

Out in Nagoya City

When I came here, I knew nothing. Now that I've been here for over a month, I still know nothing. But I'm trying to know something. And one of those things is video editing. I've been weaksauce lately with getting things going. Anyways, the first week I was here Marlow, Antonette and I went out somewheres. Low-Low handed me his camera so I could record. So I did. Here is a little piece of the glory, so you can just taste a little bit of it eh.

Oh Snap!

It was our friend Yukiko's birthday April 30th. Her friend Nanako set up a special dinner at her friend's cafe. This is my first time using iMovie so I just messed with it seeing what it had to offer. So, we got her stuff and things like that.

Guess who got a j-o-b?

This guy!


I've been here for almost 2 weeks and I already got a job. It's nuts. I'm very fortunate, thankful, and lucky to have such amazing friends like Marlow and Antonette. It's because of them that I'm here and have a job. I owe them a lot.

In the meantime of getting interviews for jobs, I've done the following: I've eaten Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese and of course Japanese food, had 2 mugs of Japanese beer with an Englishman last night, went to Karaoke, visited Takeshima (Take Island), learned how to use the subway and train system (I still need work on the train though), tried canned coffee, canned jello juice, other weird Japanese snacks, been to Central Park (underground shopping center), been asked by a prostitute if I want to sex her up (which I said yes to, jk), learned new Japanese words (ku=ward, shi=city, koen=park, dori=street, yatta!=i did it!, beeru=beer, toiletu=toilet, sakura=cherry blossom) and made new friends. All of that in two weeks. Quite a change from Ruskin. I do miss home, family and friends, but as the days go by, it gets easier and easier.

I might get an iPhone. I'm still not sure.

First Trip In Japan!

Hi everyone. I'm in Japan right nows! Here is a slide show of a trip we had yesterday at a place called "Small Small Island." I didn't edit them because I don't know how to get them from iPhoto. Maybe next time.

Edit: We took the train from Nagoya Station to Gamagori to visit Takeshima. We made a new friend on the train and talked about videogames. It was reaaaaaaaaally windy once we got to Gamagori. The winds on the bridge to Takeshima were strong. Here are more pics from Marlow's blog: click heres.

New News

Nothing new on the ZBrush front. In other news, I am going to Japan. I leave Monday March 16th and arrive Tuesday, in Nagoya. What? Nagoya you say? Isn't that where Marlow & Ant live? Absolutely they do. They've been gracious enough to put me up until I get a job and place. Risky move to go there with no job in hand. But like Dwight Schrute in that episode of The Office when he got fired, I am optimistic that I can find something. This is the liberty I've won for myself, Outer Eikawa.

I am f**king excited. It won't set in till I arrive at the airport.

Z Brush

As I was doing my usual reading of videogame news, I came upon a Kotaku article about a small competition doing 3D Street Fighter busts. I tried 3D modeling once. A friend from Tennessee had written a small tutorial for GMax. I kind of what to try it again. I think I can make some sweet 3D renderings and beat Brody Condon over in the head with it. I hope I can find some nice programs for Mac.

Nothing New

Nothing new, except for this:





Maybe something new soon.

Toronto Trip Video

Here is a lil video I made of my trip to Toronto.


Toronto, Ontario, Canada from juan duarte on Vimeo.