Bubblegumlion

The next chapter.

2006-07-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems after the long road, its come to this.
My time in Japan has finally come to a close. Lots of things happened in the final month. Work kept me occupied, and at the same time distracted. Then there's the passing of my grandmother. And that caused quite a ruckus.
But all the smoke has cleared and I am looking at a new chapter in my life. I think I'm still not feeling the full effects yet. Somehow, its like I lack a certain closure.

But here goes; a step forward into the next...

back in the game.

2006-06-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

Its been awhile.
this time around, I survived a badly sprained neck, the wrath of something called a deadline, and putting the doujinshi together.

All in all, it really sapped me. The doujin was especially tough. Drawing it was the least of my problems actually. The co-ordination and administration involved in making this is really quite a handful. Thankfully Misao-san has experience and was of a great help. But its done, and I've sent it to the press. Now all that remains is to wait for the day of the event. its gonna be something to really look forward to... ^_^

Done like dinner!

2006-05-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

So its post E3 and all the reports are in.
Lost Planet did pretty well at E3. Considering that it was prolly one of the most comprehensive playable demos on the show floor. My producer even told be that there were words of praise from the immortal Hideo Kojima!
I'm starting to build some sort of expectation for this game...

But on other ends, contract talked have seemingly come to a stand still. All parties involed are quite at a loss as to how to approach thie current situation. I won't go into details, but I think the current situation is kinda sticky. Just there seems to be little that anybody can do to bring the talks to another level. I'm not going to be a pawn though, cracking my brains thinking of ways to help facilitate the interests of all parties.

Lastly, I announced on the community boards to the doujin members, the deadline
for the artwork going into the publication. With that, I hope to see them giving me an update on their induvidual status. All 5 pieces of my new work is done. Now only thing left is to arrange the artwork and format them. I hope all is well with the other members. Irregardless of their input, I'm still going ahead with the publication.
So here's a quick look at the final piece.

Cloud on Fenrir...

It feels good to finally get it done. Now I can concentrate on the other stuff. I think I kinda let it drag alittle too long. But its done non-the-less. One more item struck off of my 'to do' list. Now, I just wait for the day the book launches.
Gonna go relax abit and do some light sketching.

She's married!

2006-05-14T02:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, Yes, Yes!
In what seemed to be a blink of an eye, my sister is now officially married.
And although it was only for 2 days, I really enjoyed myself, basking in such a joyous event.

Its something about seeing your sister moving on into the next step of her life. My blessing to her life in holy matrimony.

It really blitzed past. I remember touching down in Singapore in the afternoon. My parents picked me up from the airport. I reached my new place with an estatic Happy whining and basically going looney when he realized that I was home. the dear old boy is as energetic as ever.

Then my parents took me around the neigbourhood. I can't help but really feel foreign. Really made me think about what life would be like, had I not left. So later, we went to pick up my 2 sisters and my cousin who were shopping in town.
And as expected, when we met, my hair became the brunt of all jokes.
And they were going on about how my parents have 3 daughters now.

Went back home soon after. Happy wanted to play! So I entertained my favorite dog until he started chewing on my blanket. Then I gave up. I'm just not a fan of using a blanket dripping with saliva. But Happy sleeps near me when I turn in for the night. He does that often when I'm back. Sometimes you can wake up to him slobbering you in the face. But its cute to see him sleeping there quietly next to you.

happy munching on my blanket...

another shot of me and happy.

The next day we woke up to a bang. And the whole house was abuzz with anticipation as everybody prepared to head to the registery of marriage.
After welcoming relatives and well-wishers alike, the proceedings went smoothly and my sister and her beau were pronounced Man and Wife!

Sis getting her hair done!

Sis complained about my messy hair and forced me to go through this!

see how pretty she is!

sis, my mom, and my ever doting aunts.

the happy couple!

a rare candid shot!

the kiss!

the 2 families.

everybody that came!

Then it was lunch with the in laws. Nothing much really happened at lunch. Except my dad launching off about how my sister is a lousy cook and can't do much housework. XD
Also, got to play with my little nephew, darren. He a really joy I tell ya. Got really hyper. My cousin had a kid when I was away in Japan, so I never got to meet his son.

here's darren! cute huh?

Then the day called us back home. And preparations were made for the dinner reception we were holding. As not all our realtives were able to amke it to the registry, my sister held a dinner reception.
In poured all my relatives, bearing well wishes and blessings. Camera flashes and all, it was a night that I got re-aquainted with many of my distant relatives. Odd that it is only after the distant that my job put between us that we began to talk deeper.

My grandma, uncles and my aunts!

family shot!

my cousin Max, who doubled as the cameraman, and his girlfriend.

and what family celbration would it be without my buddies!?

One of the hilights of the evening for me was the fact that I had to win back the favour of my little niece. She said I embarrassed her earlier in the day and refused to talk to me! T_T So I had to make amends! Luckliy its nothing that a little sketch can't fix! Seems she really likes art even at such a young age. So I gave her a few drawing tips and drew her a picture. After that, all was well. ^_^

my darling niece

cute isn't she?

After dinner, I went for a sleepover at my best friend's house for a trip down memory lane. The 3 of us had loads of fun talking about days past. And updating each other with what has been happening with us. Known KK for almost 20 years, and CS for about 10 years. It was definatley a very enjoyable evening. Its times like these, make you think of how valuable friendship is. How many people can say they have friends from waaaaaay back. And times like these really make me feel blessed.

Woke up and Kk's mother prepared an extremely mouth-watering breakfast. Its been awhile but I'm never short of good food when I come over to visit.

I was supposed to head over to my cousin, Max's, place to pick up the wedding photos, but he had already delivered it to my place when I reached home. Thanks man!

Then, It was time to get prepared to fly. Time crept by and next thing I knew, I was back in my apartment in Nishinomiya, writing this. I dunno, I have alot floating through my head right now. But I'll prolly leave it as after thoughts as I'm still hazy as tho what I am thinking of. In all, It really was an incredible event. And Its been awhile since I last felt this kind of celebration.

And as an ending note, Yes, I still don't really remember my brother-in-law's name...>_<

I just may make it!

2006-05-09T05:25:00.000-07:00

Sat myself down and ploughed my way through the model. And I'm glad to say, I will finish the placeholder model by today. Then tomorrow I weight the model and prepare the parts-breakdown diagram. Once I get that out, I can head home to Singapore without worrying too much about the work I'm leaving behind.

Won't be going home tonight though. Actually I thought I had basketball tomorrow, but I met Iwamura-san in the elevator today and he said I got the dates mixed up. So that means I have more time to polish up the model. Actually glad that I got this much done. It was starting to seem like I wasn't going to make it.

On a side note, I was absolutely thrilled to see the lastest reports from E3 this morning! Final Fantasy XIII was announced! Seems Square is going all out to sucker punch its fans by putting out 3 games under the FF XIII banner. But seriously, I'm only really interested in Final Fantasy 'versus' XIII. Its the action adventure game of the 3. The RPG proper kinda feels iffy because of the female lead, And I'm not into mobile gaming.

But Nomura Tetsuya is doing the character designs this time round, so I hope he can continue to surprise me like he did before. With this new piece of news, it really makes the Playstation 3 an alluring item. With the hardware priced at a whopping　￥70,000, its gonna be a big purchase. But, I know Devil May Cry 4 is on it, and now with Final Fantasy XIII, it seems very likely that I'll be giving Sony ￥70,000 for christmas!

3 more days...

2006-05-08T05:45:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am on a monday night, struggling to get the model out in time.
The bloddy rain made me stay home yesterday. And I guess I'm suffering from that decision now. There is absolutely no way I can get the model out in time by wednesday. I can get it out, but, its the presentation that takes time. the exporting of the model to the game engine, the preparation of the model for the programmers, the adminstration that comes after completing the model proper is the real time killer. I don't regret suggesting and taking on this task, its just a chain of events that keeps interfering with the process. Worse of all, I am working off of Nakaoka-san's model. Its frustrating because, he's kinda sloppy when it comes to modeling, vertices and polygons strewn all over the scene. Most of the time is spent cleaning up his model. Giving me a really hard time trying to figure out the construction, and subsequently, build on top of it.

Been helping Kaji-san with his e-mails to Capcom USA. They are speaking to him about Lost Planet, and I'm helping him communicate with the guys over in the states.

Then comes the trip home. I'm thinking of bring a bulk of my stuff home. But then, How much can I bring back, and more importantly, what do I bring back? Almost 50% of my clothes are going to be thrown away, and I still need my books. Prolly bring back all my traditional art equipment. Bring back the bulky winter-wear and the suits, and some of the lesser used books.

3 more days till I fly and I haven't even made much preparations. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up going home empty handed.

Not in my best condition right now. Just have to bite the bullet and pull this rabbit out of the hat. Everything will be fine once I get these 2 models out.

Rain, rain, here to stay.

2006-05-07T08:29:00.000-07:00

Stayed indoors, the whole day today. It started raining in the wee hours of the morning, and its still drizzling now.
Note worthy was my trip to Kentucy Fried Chicken for dinner. I ordered a 4 piece set, and got 5 pieces of chicken in the box! Lucky! Or so I thought. When I finished the 5th piece of chicken, I suddenly felt really bloated. Not the best feeling I tell ya. Especially if its raining outside and you can't go for a stroll.
No matter, I stayed in and finished cleaning up all the other drawings going to the doujin. So effectively, there is only one more painting left to complete. Shouldn't be a problem. One full day's worth of work, and I should have it in the bag.
here's a quick look at what's done.
Dante and Vergil.

Mai Shiranui

But even though I got alot done, it just doesn't seem that the day is complete. Maybe its me avoiding packing for my impending trip home. It just felt alittle uneasy. Somehow, the day doesn't feel like it should end. Quite unsettling in some way. But no matter, What's important is I finished what needed to be done.

So, its a fresh start tomorrow, a new challenge. Got 3 days to ship out another model, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Schedule is packed enough as it is. I just hope everything will be smooth sailing from here on.

Man I just wished I know what is that nagging feeling I have over my shoulder...

Golden Week, pt 3

2006-05-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

Spent over an hour wandering all over Umeda trying to look for the place where the wedding was held. Sweating like crazy inside the suit. In the end due to some intuitive directions from the staff via my cellphone, I found the place. Really didn't help that the map printed on the invitation card was throughly misleading.

End of the day, it was a very enjoyable wedding reception. The wedding video they put together was hilarious, even to a non-Japanese like me. It was weird hearing my voice in the video intro and seeing myself participating in the video.

Got home and after a while, Just chilled and relaxed the rest of the day.

Got another painting done today. Watched "chicken little" too. Not the best stuff from Pixar in my opinion. There's nothing wrong with the movie per se, but It just felt lacking.

So, here's a look at another painting I did for the Doujin. Didn't think this would make it, because it was just an experiment. But I liked the result enough to leave it as it is.

So I guess I have only one day to work on the Cloud picture now. Yosh! Ganbaruzo!

Golden week, pt 2

2006-05-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

Woke up early for a jog. But didn't actually get to jogging until about 9:30am. Went on a steady 30 minuite run. On this new route, I found a "mister dounut"! so I kinda know where to get my doughnut kicks now. ^_^

Got back in and started the day after a shower. The lines on the chun-li picture were too light and I had to thighten up the drawing. Ended up coloring this picture actually. Nothing fancy, just flat colors. Something to give the drawing some kick. But after that, it was time to head out. I needed to get something to wear for my Sis' upcoming wedding. I had previously bought something, but roughly decided to wear that to Kojima-san's wedding instead. Checked in with peiling as she needed to do some shopping as well.

Again off of a tenget we didn't actually end up shopping. Took a train to no-where. Then wandered around to where the train brought us to. But eventually, we ended up in Umeda. I really don't remember the last time I went shopping like this. Usually, I get my stuff from the Gundam store. >_< I have so many cartoon and game related apparel, its not even funny...
Anyway, after Umeda, we headed to Shinsaibashi. Was going thru all these little shops while navigating through the messy net work of the streets in Shinsaibashi. It was late and we both didn't much like the stuff we had seen so far. Then we came to this ornate little "indian" dress shop. I found a really nice relaxed shirt there and she found a tank top she fancied. It was funny cos the changing room had curtains, and the attendant would peg the curtian from the outside once you are in. So us getting out of the changing rooms was quite entertaining. After some consideration we both ended up buying the stuff we tried on.

It was late and so we decided to head back. In a stroke of luck, she found the straw hat that she had been looking for the whole day. And so with shopping done, we headed off to buy dinner. Then we got back to finish the 2 other movies we had rented yesterday.

Left was Infernal Affairs 3 and Harry Potter. But when we loaded in Infernal affairs, we had the shock of our lives...
The movie that was playing wasn't Infernal Affairs 3! It was some early 90's Andy Lau/Tony Leung movie, ironically titled, "Don't Fool Me". And we were like "wha!?"
In the end we decided to watch it anyway. Made me realise that Hong Kong's 90's slapstick can be quite entertaining.
Harry potter: the goblet of fire is on the other hand a very well done movie. Enjoyed the imaginative experience. Kinda dark for a children's book, but the story is very well thought out.

And so comes a close to another day in Golden Week.

Golden week

2006-05-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

So this week marks Golden week. It is the longest public holiday in Japan, this year, its 5 days straight official that you don't have to go work. Unofficially, you can get away with a 9 day holiday!

Anyway, I went to work on monday and tuesday. Went to the wire and got the model out right at the dot! They were shutting down the server for servicing, so I wanted to get it in before they closed it. So after a grueling session at work, I went back and got some well-deserved rest.

Woke up early the next day and prepared for a full day that I had planned ahead. First up was laundry! >_<
On my way to the laundry room, I realised that this was going to be a real quiet holiday. Practically nobody was home in the company apartment. Of the Singaporeans, only peiling and me were left. David and the localize team were around too, but, by and large, everybody went out to do something.
So I went back to my room, started up some anime music to get my body moving, and then went straight to getting the painting of Dante done. Its been nagging at me, and I learnt quite a few things with this picture. Controlling the lighting in this piece was tricky. Even at this stage, I can't say I have it spot on, but the painting needs to go out. I cannot afford to mull over this drawing no more. I can technically continue working on this until kingdom come, but I have to draw the line here with this piece. Its not to say I am settling for second best, but, from a bigger picture, other things need my attention too.
I still have doubts as to make this a 'portrait' or 'landscape' painting though. But that I will decide after talking to the other members of the circle later.

Here's a look at the preliminary final.

So with that in the pocket, I felt good. Nice to get that sense of accomplishment of geting a painting done. So I moved on to the next painting, Cloud. But the funny thing is, I touched it for abit, then suddenly switched to cleaning up the other drawings I had in my sketchbook. I guess maybe I felt like a break from staring at the screen. Irregrdless, as long as Things are progressing, I'm fine with it.

Dinner was Yakkiniku with peiling at a nearby place. Its funny cos in anywhere other than Japan, when you order beef, you say 'beef'. But in Japan, they have these weird names that really don't help. Beef is classified into "ro-su", "carubi" and other weird names. So everytime we had something delicious, it would be like playing a game or russian roulette to get a second order...
In a weird turn of events, ended up at Tsutaya and renting 4 movies for a mini movie marathon. Harry Potter: the Goblet of Fire, Infernal affairs 3, The Duel, and one other Andy lau/Jacky Cheung mob movie. Anyway, got home, and watched The Duel and the Andy lau/Jacky Cheung mob movie. Both really well done. Nothing I would stand up and cheer for, but, it entertained me. Saw come really good use of non-linear story-telling and great use of camera-work.
But after these 2 movies, we were too sleepy and called it a night.

World Hobby Festival!

2006-05-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Alright cookies! (its alright, I dunno what that means either!)
I just got the pictures I took from last Sunday's World Hobby Festival(WHF) uploaded.
Anyway, WHF is a hobby festival here in Japan. And usually they have indepenent scluptors who display and sell their works there (these scluptures are commonly known as 'garage kits'). I've always liked figures and such myself. So it was a real treat when Takahashi-san and Yamazaki-san took me out to this event.

But due to some 90,000 worth of counterfeit money being discovered, theentire line-up to the event was delayed for about an hour plus.

As soon as the poloce settled things and we were allowed in, I started going thru the vendors. This wasn't the biggest event mind you. But there were alot to see. And by the time I got around to browsing, most of the garage kits that i would have wanted were already sold out. Which is a good thing, because I prolly wouldn't have the time to assemble and paint them anyway.
righty then, on with the pictures!

Here is a shot of a kit that I was dying to get my hands on!
Looks bloddy wicked!

close-up.

Sclupting house 'Tandem Twin' showed up and displayed their work.

One of the best Sabers I saw at the show.

Iroha from Samurai Spirits. The floral designs that accentuate the kit was very thoughful.

Original charactersfrom 'Vispo'. Lovely...

Vanessa from KOF

Another Original character.

these next 4 seem to be a series from a popular manga.
But the title eludes me at the moment.

Ifurita from El Hazard!

Last but not least, Ohno, from Genshiken, cosplaying as Tifa Lockheart from FFVII!

So thats a quick round up of what was at the Exhibition.
After that, Yamazaki-san brought me to an American comic-book store! And they sell english comics! So I grabed a copy of Alan Moore's now seminal "V for Vendatta".

The rest of the day was spent reading and just chilling out. ^_^
Golden week has kicked in and I'll talk more about that later tonight, now I gotta boot.

And just cos Mr. Moore has me feeling poetic, I'll sign off my saying good night...

Good night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, I shall say good night till it be morrow!

Bruised and Battered.

2006-04-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ouch! thats all I can say.
Had a wonderful game of basketball on tuesday. 13 people turned up. Had an excellent time. Personally, I wasn't playing too well myself, but on the whole it was a good game. Most memorable moment would have to be when I lost the ball to Fujiwara-san and he had a free shot at the basket. But I came from behind and smacked his shot off.
Down side was that after about 20 minutes into the game, I sprained my ankle. Wasn't that bad, so I played on. Tried to run it off and not let the ankle "lock up" after the sprain. But on wednesday, I felt the ankle give. I could still walk, but its wasn't painless. Plus I found bruises on my right hip and left thigh. Looks like my body really took a beating. But Its ok, not gonna let these things slow me down.

On the work front, got things rolling and the design is in the 3D phase now. However, hit a little patch when I got carried away with the design of the weapon attachment arm. So I lost abit of steam.
But, things are cruising.

Was chatting with Sato-san and Hirao-san earlier on. And I casually mentioned how I had desperately wanted the replica sword from "新鬼武者”. I saw it when I went to David's the other day. He told me it was a secret item in the "Onimusha" weapon series. I checked the local stores and found them selling it at ￥8500!
No way I could afford that!
Anyway, to my surprise, Hirao-san suddenly told me that he had it! And whats more, he gave it to me! He said since he didn't work on "新新武者”, he didn't much care for this particular weapon. Seriously, I was elated.

I dunno, golden week is looming near. And there is still much to be done. I have a full schedule ahead planned out. Hope things will be fine. Gonna go into super work mode soon, so gotta psyche myself up for the marathon.

What is creativity?

2006-04-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

Interesting topic that I would like to talk about. Read on my lil' sis' blog that she's been labled as 'not creative enough'! So what IS creativity? Take a moment to think about it
Creativity, its such a broad term. Let us see what dictionary.com states it is shall we?

cre·a·tive
adj.
1.Having the ability or power to create: Human beings are creative animals.
2.Productive; creating.
3.Characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative: creative writing.

How you interpret these explanations though, is another matter altogether.

And there you have it.
I remember I was out with Weiyi and Peiling one time. And Peiling once told me that she took a course that taught people how to be creative. And that she added that she felt that creativity is coming up with something people have never seen before. Of course, she later said that she felt the course was a total waste of time as she still has no idea on how to be creative.
See this has to stop. People always tend to think school teaches you everything. And no more so than in the sunny island of Singapore. Where the never ending chase for a piece of paper called a degree takes precedence over every thing else for a child. So we throw him in a classroom together with other kids, and feed them with information. And learning, in time, slowly equates to going to a classroom and getting fed with a massive flood of information. So what happenes in such a mass produced education system? We get excelllent students who excel in storing information in their heads.
But hold on, Creativity however, doesn't really fall into "academics" . The 'copy and paste' educational system falls flat when it is being mass produced. Why? Because in such a scenario there is lack of the induvidual. And in a scenario where everybody is being taught the same, they end up the same. No surprise to anyone...

The ones that really excel are those that continue to work on their craft even outside of the classroom. And here we stumble upon the keyword, "outside the classroom". see what I'm pointing at?

Growth, be it in the creative sense or not, really takes off outside of the classroom. Thast when an iduvidual starts thinking unfettered by the influences of the classroom. That, is the birth of the indivudual. And in many ways the birth of creativity.

Creativity to me, is really about a person's perspective. If you say its about coming up with something people have never seen before, then to most people would lable this work retarded. Why? Because the human mind is programmed to think a certain way. Its like painting a chicken and then calling it "dog". To tell you the truth, I've never seen a dog with feathers growing out of its head, nor one that has wings and walks on 2 legs. So is this creative? you decide. See what I'm trying to say? Its a line that is really hard to draw.

Another stick I have with this system, is how fearful people have become of self-study. Somehow, the reassurance of going to school far out-weights improvement of self. People become trained to think that if you are not in school, you are not capable of learning. They leave everything to the school.
I don't know if I can call myself a creative person, but I sure did not go to school to learn how to be creative. I went to school to learn the function of the tools in the industry. Creativity grew when I did personal projects, went to the comic book store, watched cartoons and played games and most importantly, went out and looked at other people's work. And it is from these various influences, that enable me to put out my own perspective on issues and subjects. And this presentation of individuality, to me, is the measure of my creativity.

I'm pretty sure there are other train of thoughs concerning this issue, but note that I'm not saying my thinking here is absolute. Nor am I faulting the educational system. How else do you plan to educate 35216843135431 kids in a year?
Also, some people cannot handle learning without structure. Some people need to be mass produced.
Its like Newton's law of gravity and Quantum physics. Each holds up on their own, each works for their respective purposes.
The key lies in the individual. It is a choice sometimes. But if the induvidual is ignorant of the system how does he break free? I guess all it takes is a spark of inspiration sometimes. Where we find that insipration though? I guess thats another journey and another story for another time.

Well, this is all the time I have right now.

The Heart in my Kingdom!

2006-04-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

So I completely didn't sleep and headed out to Den Den town to get my hands on the Kingdom Hearts formation arts. I've had my eyes on the Cloud figure. But when I reached the store, it was sold out! Then, as I made my way to another store, I met Sato-san. Told him about the Cloud figure. And so we agreed that if he came across the figure he would give me a call.
I found the figure at the next shop I went to. But it was priced at 5800yen!!!
Thats extortion! But everywhere else I went it was about the same! inally in Softmap, I found one for 3800yen. Thats when Sato-san called me up. We met up outside of Kotobukiya. And I told him about my situation. See, I only want the Cloud, Goofy and Kairi model. And if i bought the whole box, that would be 6200yen. But I iI bought them separately, Karin was 1000yen, goofy was 700yen and cloud was 3800yen. Still cheaper then buying a whole box.
Thats when it got real interesting! Sato-san insisted that he could tell which figure was housed inside the box just by its weight. And so he bought one and it was totally off the mark. He got Jafar...>_<
But he didn't give up. He ended up trying again; and failing again. He got Goofy. He gave me his Goofy. And since he used his point card to purchase it, it only cost 200-yen.
After that we headed out for lunch. And I made my way home soon after.
So here's a look at my much coveted Cloud figure!

Gonna go put the final touches to the Dante painting now.

And it started out so well...

2006-04-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Had a beautiful start to the day.
Came back on friday night and did the minimal of things, went straight to bed. Woke up today at about 8am feeling just great. Geared up and went for a jog. Met David down at the lobby and had a nice chat with him. And we made arrangemwnts to play games on the 360 later on in the day.
Had a great run, about 40 mins on the road, but my shins were taking a beating from not jogging lately. Anywhow, met Seon on the way back and we decided to head over to David's to check out "Ninety-Nine Nights" on the Xbox 360. But I also played "OKAMI". And was it a good game. I heard the game itself sold 100,000 copies on opening day. So, hopefully its going to do well. And I can see it doing well. Its got such a natural feel to the controls. Plus the gameplay is tops. Although in the game industry these days, its anybody's guess.
After that, it was back to painting for the doujin.
But after some time, I lost concentration and decided to go read a book. Then it happened, I fell asleep and didn't wake up till Hong Sing called to remind me that we had a dinner appointment. Told them to head off first. Peiling had organized this dinner and I agreed to attend. Eric, Yohko, Janet, Seon, and the rest of us went to this Irish pub near the apartments. Not too bad a time. But I was very concerned about the time I lost on the painting when I fell asleep. So when Seon and Eric left early, I also excused myself. Went back and immediately started to pound on the piece.
I need a better work flow when painting on the computer. The serpent in the picture took waaaay too long to complete. Had so much problem with the lighting. But in the end I put my foot down and settled on it. Only thing left is for me to touch up the shadows and the picture is done. But I'll do that when I get a fresh pair of eyes. shouldn't take me more than an hour. Here's a quick look.

anyway, as it stands, its 7:30 am now. I have to head down to Den Den town to pick up some stuff later on. So I'm thinking of not sleeping and just going straight out from here. Probably go play some games.

Arrrgh! red tape!

2006-04-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

All I want is to get back and attend a wedding for 3 days, and I get stuck with the most insane amount of adminstration. And if there's anything I can't stand, its the hassle of administration...

On to the good news! Again, Capcom never fails to treat me well! (*^_^*)
I got handed 2 more big assignments today. I was initially supposed to design a variation to one of the 'Vital Suits' in the game. But after working on it for a day, I decided that instead of just altering certain parts of the current models and calling it a 'new' model, we should go ahead and design a whole new line-up and broaden the selection of Vital Suits that are in the game. So I brought up the issue with my art director. After a few rounds, we decided to go with it. So effectively, I was tasked to design another, whole new, set of 'Vital Suits' for the game. Trust me, If you play the game, you're gonna find it hard to miss them.
Its awesome to know that so much of what I worked on is so apparently visible in the game. Started out with breakables, then I moved on to weapons, then came the game's final boss, and now, this. All in the space of a year. In many ways I'm very satisfied with my progress so far. Really make me feel that I have made good use of my time here.
I'm actually very looking forward to putting my new portfolio together. Makes me wonder what it will look like after this experience.

Gonna take it slow this weekend and let my batteries re-charge so I can get some fresh ideas kickin' when I head back to the office to do the final rounds of design work. Getting really pumped.
life, is good... ^^

Met Takano-san from the DMC4 team on my way to dinner today. And I invited him to join me and my colleagues. Luckily, he did. Cos he had initially wanted to go the the convient store to pick up dinner, but, he forgot to bring his wallet! So I covered for him this time round.

Spring approaches, although it feels a little cold this year. The sakuras have all but gone for this year. and its like a reflection of my time here in Osaka. Soon, it will end. Its a matter of how beautifully I can bloom before I wither...
Dreamwards!

New Haircut!?

2006-04-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

No no no, not me. There is next to nothing that wil really make me snip my crowning head of hair. So don't freak out just yet. I do intend to trim it before my sister's wedding, but, nothing major. But Hair-cuts seems to be the rage nowadays...
last week, kimoto-san cut his hair(more like shaved his hair if you asked me.), Nakamura-san also had a trim, then last night, Kaji-san disappeared during dinner time and returned with a rather funky hair-do, and Peiling was talking about cutting her hair over MSN too. Coincidence? I think its more conspiracy. I believe this is part of a grand ploy by the people around me to slowly influence me, using propaganda, to cut my hair! No way! I will stand firm! I won't succumb to this diabolical plan!

On other news, body clock seems to be wacking out at odd times. I'm incredibly fresh in the mornings these days, but 3pm is still the bane. COme 3 pm, my whole body just switches off. Its not like you are bored tired, that kind of tired, I can deal with. Its the body needs to shut down and rest tired. I can be standing up and still fall asleep...
But, I'm gonna fight it. There's gotta be a cure.

Bright lights.

2006-04-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, seems I have a new schedule dawning upon me.
With work ramping down, I no longer see the need for me to stay over at the office these days. Since Monday, I get home and ususally I'm in bed by midnight, then I wake up at about 5:30am, and prepare to come to work. Get to the office at about 7am. And the day starts. I like it cos the train rides are empty! One thing I really don't enjoy is the crowded train rides here.

Had a meeting with the Doujin members yesterday at a really nice place called "Cherrly". Nice little eatery near the Company. We sat dwon and cleared up what needs to be done. Now I need to come up with the schedule and the targeted page count for the publication. Need to keep the others in check. Without a schedule to put 'pressure' on them, I think they won't draw. >_<
Doesn't really help that nobody had much to show yesterday when I asked for an update. So, I brought out what I did hoping to jolt them in gear. I sure hope it worked.

But I'm forseeing alot of administrative work involved in this, so its a good thing I already have the pictures drawn and I can concentrate on getting the book published.

Then there's the Artwork challenge on the sganimez forums. Promised Keesiao I would participate. So I gotta get that into my schedule too. Hope to give whoever else is participating a good run for their money.

On the job front too there will be changes. I'll be moving on to the scroll section soon. Scroll being Backgrounds or environments in normal english. 9 to 5 I'll stick with the current design team, and after dinner, I'll work on the Backgrounds. Time is gonna be tight.

All that plus the fact I have to make preparations to fly back to Singapore to attend my sister's wedding. The bloddy visa and re-entry permit isn't helping me much. So much paperwork to clear, so much red tape. Thats why I'm still adamant on my stand that we need to invest in teleportation devices! >_<

Feels like everything is slamming in in the space of 2 months...
Only one thing left to do, As "Guilty Gear" fans would say:
"HEAVEN OR HELL..."
"FIGHT!"

Ungggh! Daylight!

2006-04-16T05:44:00.000-07:00

It was supposed to be so simple, get home, and color.
Sounds simple, it is simple, but man I HAD to go complicate things!
See, as I opened up Photoshop to paint, I started entertaining thoughts about changing the 'look' of the painting. I felt there were too much stray and sketchy lines in the Dante picture. So I started to do alittle clean up...and pretty much ended up cleaning up the whole line art! spent like 6-7 hours stuck to the screen fussing over how think the lines should be when it was already perfect to start! And by the time I say daylight creep through the window, I had only managed to finish painting Dante. The background still needed at least another 6 hours of work. And I didn't touch the Cloud picture at all...

Well, its all good. I just have to hang on and push it. Should be fine. I mean I'm not hard pressed for time or nothing, just that I wanted to finish it and have one in the bag. But alas...

Stayed indoors for the whole weekend. I left the building only to get food.
But the perk would be a nice little chat with my best friend. His wife-to-be left for Italy on a training visit. In this little chat, I realised that we've known each other for 18 years now. 18 freakin' years! in 2 years time, we celebrate our 20th anniversary. My goodness! Through everything its a little heart warming to know that after 2 years, even with the help of my toes, I would not be able to count the years we've known each other. Warms you in the heart alittle doesn't it?
I wonder how many people have the luxury of such an exquisite friendship.

Back to my current status quo of the Doujin.
So, here's a look at the Chun-li thats going into the doujinshi.

I'm liking this picture alot. Just need to touch it up for the printers and It should be done.
Righty, gearing up for work tomorrow and as K@!z0 likes to say, "Dreamwards"

Takeuchi Boulangerie

2006-04-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Had a fantastic game last night!
only down side was that even though 10 people showed up for the game, Iwamura-san got hit accidentally on the chin and had to sit out. Alot of the old-school moves I used to pull-off came back suddenly. The windmill layups, alley-oop, and a couple others. Made me a very happy basketball fan.^_^
A couple of new faces showed up too. Looks like the Capcom basketball team is startin' to grow.

On other fronts, with the work load easing out, Kaji-san told me that I would be moved to the scroll team to learn about how they work. This way, I will be able to work in both object, character and background teams. I'll still be working in the design team. just that I'll have 'night classes', which in my opinion, is better. Sure makes it more interesting.

Woke up and heaed out to Takeuchi Boulangerie in the morning today. This is one of the best bakeries I know in Osaka. Luckily it was drizzling slightly today. If not, usually you had to queue to get into the store. Anyway, took the company bike and cycled there to the music of Kotoko! ^_^
Bought breakfast for Tohnoe and Nakaoka-san.
I buy breakfast for Nakaoka-san everytime he stays over at the company. Ususally it just bread or a sandwich when I go to the convienient store at night. I dunno, he's such a kid sometimes. Seriously, I don't think he'll survive long if he lived alone. And I think he knows it. Cos he lives like 2 hours away from work, and refuses to move out of his parents house. I dunno, sometimes I see him like a little brother at work; even though in right he's my senior. >_<

Gearing up for a blast of a weekend. Gonna be the last push to get the drawings for the doujin up. Just have to put in about 5-6 more hours into the Cloud and Dante pictures; and I should be good to go! I managed to throughly finish Chun-li, and Mai only needs to have the lines cleaned up. Link is scheduled for next weekend, and once that is done, Bam! I'm set, and I can switch modes and focus on being the producer of the book. Gotta get the administration stuff fully sorted out.
Alot will also depend on whats waiting for me in the mail back home. Plus I have a meeting with everybody on monday to update them on the progress.

Ready to go? to quote and old friend, "Pollock", "Ooooooooooooooh Yeeeeeeah.........!" (with a over the top hand pumping action) ('_')V

Its close to one...

2006-04-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Sitting at my desk. Done enough for the day.
I had dinner with Seon today at some Italian Cafe. Really nice Ciabatta. Really makes me miss the Ciabatta I used to have at that little pastry shop just up the street from my school. Seon just got a promotion and he'll be moving out of the company hostel at Nishinomiya at the end of this month. Caught up with him a bit. Always nice to speak to him. He always provides me with such a pragmatic view on the video game world. And today, I realized I may have have bitten off more than what I can chew.

Work, Side project A, personal projects B & C, the Doujinshi...All of which need my time and attention. And at times like these, I really wonder if I have the capacity to juggle all of them. I readily gave up a social life to keep these events up and running. That I don't mind. What looms over me is the fact that I may end up not being able to complete anything worth while in the end. That in the end, I fall into the emptiness I tried so hard to fill.

I ask myself one simple question, what did I want to achieve in coming to Japan and more importantly, coming to Capcom?
Answer is simple, I said it during the interview, and I'll say it now. I wanted to be like Tetsuya Nomura. I wanted to make sure that I really had what it takes to stand amongst the ranks of the world's premier game-makers. And more importantly, I wanted the medium to be my voice. That I may reach the audience the same way it had reached to me before.
But here's the catch, how do I decide if I have actually succeded? Isn't my 'success' largely dependent on my own perspective of my achievements? Where do I draw the line? When do I actually say its enough? Everytime I look back, I keep getting the feeling that I can push myself alittle more. Finding my true limits, be it mental or physical, is such a big aspect of my current personality. At times I think I'm ludicriously ambitious, but at the same time, it drives me forward. I hate stagnation. I get very irritated at myself if I don't feel I am improving. Everything I commit to, I put 100% into it. I never hold back. So I never regret. But can I actually pull it off? I don't know myself. But I know that if I do fail, I do not want to add regret to failure. I need to be able to say I have already put everything I've got. I accept my incapabilities, wake up tomorrow, and go at it again. Like they say, "If it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger."
And I wonder if this mentality of mine is driving me to the grave.
Cause if you think about it, the only way I can stop is when I stop breathing, and my heart stops beating, that it actually kills me...

People often talk about striking a balance. In the past 5 years, people say I've been working too hard. Have I? If I look at it from 5 years back, maybe. But, in retrospect, until I went to Canada to follow my dreams, I felt I've lived close to 20 years of nothingness. I've never felt more alive than during these 5 years. 20 vs 5. Where is the balance now?
I fondly recall my ambition growing wildly. From "I want to see my name in the credits!" when I headed off to Canada, to "I'm aiming to be Art Director or Lead Designer by 30!" when I was in school, to "Really aspire to be a Director so I can make my own game!" now. It just doesn't stop does it?
But I realize that, without my drive, I would never be where I am today. The question is, WHERE am I really? Am I at where I want to be? Have I already achieved my goals? I think I need to find out.

Its interesting to debate about stuff like this isn't it? Really makes you wonder about oneself.
Which brings me to one question, what do YOU want in life? Yes, you reading this, whoever you are.
What are your goals in life?
How far are you from it?
And how do you plan on achieving it?

Please take a moment to think about it. It could be a life changing experience. It was for me...

Damned if you do, damned if you don't...

2006-04-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

Its a trap!
There's no way I can return to a normal schedule!
I think it's actually better for me to stick with the sleep at 8pm wake up and work at 2am schedule. I had a horrible time struggling to keep awake at work today.
Will have to see what today brings...

On another note, forgot to mention that Kaji-san paid for my dinner at the nomikai last friday. I must say I am having mixed feelings about this guesture. I know he means well. That more than anything, its like a present from Master to disciple. But at the same time I kinda feel that it still means that he sees me as a foreigner, or rather still as a trainee from Singapore. Maybe I'm thinking too much.

Been watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in the background while I worked. Love that movie. Its definately not Oscar material, and the plot falls through many a times, but, there's something about watching Cloud and seeing his journey that touches me.
Listening to the famous words.
"俺には誰も助けられないと思うだ。。。家族だろうな、なかまだろうな。。。誰も。。。"
(I don' think I can help anybody anymore...family...friends...nobody...)
"俺は許されたいんだと思う..."
(I think I want to be forgiven...)
"私たちは思い出に負けたの？"
(Have we all lost to our memories?)
"あんたは何も解っていない。。。大切じゃないものは何かない！"
(You don't understand a thing at all...There isn't anything that is not precious to me!")
Really pulls at your heart strings.
See, I have this theory: that I think deep down inside, all fan-boys and otakus want to be heroes. Thats why we worship Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Batman and the like. Secretly we want to be like them. Saving the world and making it a better place for human-kind. We just lack the capacity to do it, thats all...XP
Thats why we play so much video games, cos in the video game world, we are the hero, and we get to beat up the meanies and save the people around us. Its an escape, a fantasy. For a fraction of our lives, we are able to be in control of the situation abd actually come up tops, if not, there's always the 'reset' button! XD
Maybe that why I like this movie so much; That and the fact that Tifa is really cute! (*^_^*)

Wanted to go buy Machaa cake today, but the store said that it wasn't available today... :(
Gonna try again. I need my cake fix!

Damn sleeping habits....

2006-04-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

Tried to get back to normal schedule the past 2 days.
Not working....

I slept at about midnight yesterday. Woke up at about 5:30am today. Same story yesterday although I slept later. Worse thinking that at about 3pm, I start loosing alot of momentum at work. I keep dozing off; or loosing conciousness to put it corrrectly. But I know its an adjustment period for my body now. Just have to grind it out. Given my distaste for coffee, it makes it harder to keep these eyelids open...

But non the less the day was relatively productive. Should be on time to finish off one more model today. Justifies me going home yesterday. Saw Peiling and Weiyi at the lobby as I made it home. they were sitting around chatting or should I say gossiping. >_<

Oh! managed to put 2 photos of the nomikai last friday. Man, Fish was just delicious!
but the sea urchin was kinda iffy...
I'm a big fan of the lobster sashimi, and the seafood miso soup. But the best dish had to be Fish and cabbage soup. I know it doesn't sound too fantastic, but man! Its a clear broth with fish and cabbage (duh!). Its light yet oh so tasty! I was so stuffed about half-way through the course, but I just couldn't stop eating...
And here is a rare photo of the whole Design Team of Lost Planet!

Now back to work. Staying over tonight...

悲しみロケット２号

2006-04-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

First things first...
Got hit by my sister. (btw, Sis, the new interface is kinda annoying to read...)

What were you doing ten years ago
Wow...seems so distant...lemme see...
I was studying in Singapore Polytechnic, doing chemical engineering.
Daily lifestyle included scrimping on everything possible so that I can buy comics!
Hahahaa. Now that I think about it, I remember lunch used to be nothing but 3 pieces of "tou-fu" with noodles at the "Yong-tau-fu" store in Canteen 2. Only cost about $1 and fills you up! ;P
I'm such a fan-boy...

Five Songs Which You Know All The Lyrics Right Off Your Head Now
None really! I can list 5 song that I know MOST of the lyrics to though... >_<
- Real Emotion by Koda Kumi, Final Fantasy X-2 opening.
- Forever Love by X-Japan, X-1999 the movie, ending theme.
- Rosier by Luna Sea
- Love Me by Collin Raye
- Mou ichidou Love you by Kasahara Hiroko, Macross II OVA, love theme

Five Things You Would Do If You Were A Millionaire
- Think about how the hell did I actually get this amount of money...
- Contemplate about returning it if it was stolen or if it was "un-clean".
- If I made it myself, think of ways to make another million.
- Start some sort of education grant.
- Make sure the people around me are taken care of.

Five Bad Habits
- I'm a certified workaholic.
- I like being left alone.
- I buy waaaaay too many Artbooks, Figures, Comics and such.
- I'm loud and noisy around people.
- I tend to buy games that I hardly play.

Five Things You Like Doing
- Drawing at home!
- Being left alone to draw!
- Drawing at work
- Reading; Comics and literature, Artbooks and design journals.
- Playing games!

Five Things You Will Never Wear, Buy Or Get New Again
- A thong or anything even close to that!
- Mamoru Nagano's "Knight Flags", to date one of the most expensive Artbooks I bought, but the content doesn't justify the price.
- Any form of clothing in bright red.
- Any game from the "Samurai Spirits" line published by SNK/Playmore
- undersized shoes.

Five Favourite Toys/Things
- My stuffed Lion! (what would i ever do without him!)
- My Slim version, White-coloured, Play-Station 2!
- My Artbook Collection
- An authentic, Autographed sketch of Chun-Li by AKIMAN.
- My ID card that has the words "Capcom Employee" printed on it!

You're IT! (Five People To Do This)
Nah, I wouldn't put people through this...
If you think its intersting do it.
You decide, "Power to the people!"

Goodness! that was long.

Now on to the Blog proper.
Pretty productive week. Finished the cockpit designs just in time as Friday rolled around. We had a small nomikai on friday night. Will put pictures up when they are ready. Work is really rolling on well. So I have no worries.
This week we marked a day for the whole Doujin Circle to meet and update each other with our induvidual progress. As I looked through what I have, I think I've got a pretty good line up for the Doujin.
Here's a list of what will be appearing in my section:
- Devil May Cry 3, Dante and Vergil
- Devil May Cry 3, Dante
- Final Fantasy VII, Cloud on Fenrir
- King of Fighters, Mai Shiranu
- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time, Link
- Street-Fighter II, Chun-Li
- A set of roughs Sketches.

So looks good for now. I may increase if I get more out, but I think This should suffice. Oh here's a quick look at both the Link and Mai pictures I mentioned above.

Now I just need to polish up the lines and fill in the details and It should be good to go. Hopefully Akaboo has recieved and approved my re-application for a spot at the Doujin festival...

Also, I somehow managed to get my hands on this really really old, well not that old, but you get the idea. Its 悲しみロケット２号 and 三日月姫 by a singer called 及川光博(Oikawa Mitsuhiro), otherwise known simply as "Michi". I simply loved it! Been listening to it the whole day! ^_^

Righty, gotta finish those drawings!
peace ya'all

Need to get back to normal time...

2006-04-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

I dunno, all the time I've been spending over here at the office is giving birth to a whole new daily schedule.
My day actually begins at about 1am in the morning. Then I sit down and go through the news, have "breakfast" and all. Then usually I'll sketch a little and keep it easy, then at about 3 to 4-ish, I'll start work. Ocassionally taking what I call sketch breaks. When 8 am rolls around, then its time to get serious. Everybody starts coming in. And I continue till 12pm and lunchtime rolls around. I usually take a nap at my desk. Then press on for the final lap until 6pm, when its time to do the garbage. After that, I usually go to 17th floor to sleep at about 7pm. Then I wake up, take shower and all and head back to my desk at about 1 am.
Not a bad schedule; But, lately, the stretch from 4 to 6 pm has been really hard to be productive. So I think I may need to get back to a more straight up schedule. But doesn't really matter now. I've already got the model UV-mapped, so long as I get all the base textures up by the end of today, I'll be in good time to complete the model.
Did manage a good drawing of 不知火舞 (mai shirainu) when I was sketching today. Will scan and put it up and talk about it when I get home.

旦那様！ご主人様！

2006-04-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

'Eventful' doesn't even begin to describe my trip to Den Den town on sunday.
First off, I continued to work on the cloud picture until it was time to go meet Kimoto-san. Then we headed out to "ビッグ・カメラ" (big camera) to look at the 仮面ライダー・カブト (kamen rider kabuto) belt. I had long wanted it but unfortunately, when I got to see the actual toy, it looked too cheap for me to buy it. Don't get me wrong, its a good toy, but in the end, thats what it is, a toy. Not something to display. But I did get a figure.
Next we headed towards Softmap. On the way there, I ate some sort of curry koroke. It was extrememly delicious! I was fish-cake stuffed with sweet curry, and deep fried to a golden crust. Heavenly!
When we headed out of Big Camera, it was raining, so we tried to best not get caught in the rain. Now, halfway to Softmap, Kimoto-san kinda felt hungry, and we inccidently were standing outside a neat little cafe. The only catch? It was a "maid cafe".
Whats a "maid cafe"? Well, simply put, its a place where food is served and the waitresses wear maid uniforms. Its not really a big deal to me, it just felt like my time working at Tony Roma's with the infamous red apron and the rugby jersey. But somehow Kimoto-san felt a little dis-orientated.
I think it was largely due to the fact that maid cafes were initially catered to the otaku crowd. And like all things manical that is associated with the otaku, people feel just a little put off by it. That and the fact that they address customers as "旦那様" or "ご主人様". Which loosely translates to "my master of the house". (you can now see why its so popular with the fan-boys of Japan huh?)
In the end, it wasn't that big a deal. The food was decent, and I was largely entertained by the crowd that patronized the shop. A very colorful cast indeed it was back in the maid cafe. From the goth wannabe, to the guy that actually thinks he IS the master of the house. They all served to brighten up my day with the wacky stories I thought up for them while I was dining there.
But I must admit, I found the whole maid cafe concept kinda cute. The interior was nicely decorated so that the waitresses fit in nicely. More than anything the ambience was a nice touch, and I'm not afraid to say that I would definately go there again. (>_<)

I wasn't allowed to take photos of the interior, so will have to settle for the outside shots...

So it was off to Softmap where I bought the "Rogue Galaxy" and the "Ar Tonelico" artbook. Kinda felt shafted by Bandai cos I didn't think that they would be putting out an artbook for "Ar Tonelico", That was why I pre-ordered a copy. A smaller version of the artbook came when you pre-ordered it you see. Now the problem is, I just largely wanted to have the pictures for reference. So I forked out about ￥7000 for the pre-order. The artbook I bought today was just ￥2200. (T_T) Coulda saved myself so much money...
Then I started to get really drowsy. I was practically falling asleep while looking at toys at 'Capsule Land'.
But I was jolted awake when suddenly, every shop I entered I started setting off the anti-theft alarm! I got so frustrated that I left my bag at the Mandarake counter and continued shopping until it was time to go. Now comes the kicker. I was about to go back to Mandarake to get my bag, so to play it safe, I removed my coat and all, only thing I had on me was my clothes and my keys. I didn't even have a belt on that day. And when I strolled through the Mandarake entrance, the alarm went off!!!!! I gave up then.
Final stop was Big Camera again where Kimoto-san wanted to buy a watch. And it was there that the staff at Big Camera finally found the cause of the alarm-activation fiasco. I had a piece of foil sticker attached to some plastic garbage I stuffed into my bag a few weeks back. But the funny thing is; Back at Mandarake, I did not have my bag with me!
This really is a crazy country, Japan...

I sleep too much...

2006-04-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

Was out with Peiling, Maya and Jocelyn at Busy Bee cafe last night. And I tell you, that was a rather sapping experience. Not that I dislike them, but I was just not in "conversation mode". I needed to pump out as many drawings as I could before monday, and since I already made an appointment with Kimoto-san to go to Den Den town on Sunday, that leaves me with only friday night and saturday to get the drawings done. But alas, soon after reaching home, I got a call from Peiling, asking if I could pick her up from the train station as there was some stranger following her around yesterday. So I agreed. Sensing all in not too well, I agreed to go to the Busy Bee cafe with her on the way back to be a listening ear.
Listened to her over a glass of strawberry nectar, and my favorite shrimp mayo pizza. Then after a call, Maya and Jocelyn turned up. Listened to Peiling talk about her frustrating trip to Hiroshima and all.
Got back at about midnight. I sat down and began to read and look through some art books. But fatigue got to me. Come a quarter past one, I just had to sleep.

Thats when it all went crazy. I just couldn't get out of bed today. I woke up only to fall back to sleep. Eventually managing to crawl out of bed at about 2:30pm.
2:30pm!!!!! Bloddy Hell! How can I just let time slip me by like this!??!? Especially when there is so much to do!!?? I washed up and got ready to work.
Started chatting and catching up with everybody from time to time. The usual routine.
In the end I managed to finalize the Cloud picture, here's a look.

Picture was taken with my webcam about a few hours ago. I've already inked and its in photoshop now. I've got 2 hours to catch some sleep before I head off to meet Kimoto-san.
Don't know if I should just continue working on the picture and not bother about sleeping today...

Its Doujin time!

2006-03-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

Onwards!
today marked the end of the final boss assingment. Well, for the in-game model anyway. Went through the color checks and all that. So offically it brings me to the end of my "stay in the office from monday to friday" days. I'll still stay over as and when, but I think its safe for me to put it all on cruise control now. In retrospect, although I'm not having that "oomph" feeling, I think I can walk away knowing I did a good job on the model.　Re-designing this baby wasn't the easiest of tasks. Nor was handling all the problems that came up due to the lack of communication in-between the various sections. So all in all I think I'm good to go. Moving on to the next assignment now.

Took the opportunity to spend time with Saitou-san at dinner today. Me and Kimoto-san had been a tad worried as she seems troubled lately. Showing late for work, and generally lacking the spark. We had previously wanted to talk to her about it last week, but our plans were interrupted. So this week rolled around and we both felt she's on the road to recovery so we decided to let her be for now, and not press her about last week's events. So the atmosphere at dinner was kept really light. Also, Actagawa-san(its her pen name) joined us for dinner.
Together with Lee-san and Nakashima-san, we headed out for cakes at a nearby cafe. Actagawa-san just quit Capcom recently and is now freelancing. She's quite familair with the Doujinshi circut, and kimoto-san managed to convince her to contribute to out own little production.^^

Speaking of Doujinshi, I recieved a letter from Akaboo, telling me I made a mistake with my application for a spot in the comicket. So I have to make admendments and send it out afterwords.

But with working easing up, it looks like its the perfect time to concentrate on drawing the Doujinshi. So for a little warm-up, did this piece.

I think I still prefer Tria markers to Copic. Copic seems to smudge the ink and its getting to me just a bit. But Copic markers are handier in size so they fit in my pencil case better.
Dang...you just can't win...

Gotta stop dancing...

2006-03-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

First and foremost...
"I LOVE KOTOKO!!!!"
ahhhh......now that its is off my chest...^^
Well, I recently got my hands on a copy of Kotoko's live concert performance. Loved it! For the poeple reading this who don't know who Kotoko is, and I'm very sure that almost non of you will know.
Kotoko is a relatively unknown Japanese singer that specializes in singing for anime. I first came to know her from my life changing encounter with the anime 'Onegai Teacher'. She did the opening title song entitled "Shooting Star". She's not the easiest on the eyes, mind you. But I like her work. And there's something about the independent musicians that rings a bell with me. They just seem to be more passionate about what they do.
Well, back to the concert. I had just finished the torrent, and so I decided to bring it to work and watch it during my break.
Anyway to cut the long story short; It was late, about 3a.m. to be exact. I had the concert playing in the background as I was working. And then "覚えてでいいよ" came on and I started dancing...XD Now, this phenomenon happens quite often mind you. I cannot control myself. When I am working or drawing, a good song comes up, I dance. Well, mostly I stay rooted to my chair, but the sight of a 30-year old man head-banging and or playing the air guitar to anime songs isn't a pretty sight. But it was late, and nobody was supposed to be around. But half-way through my feeble attempt at dancing, I realized that there was somebody standing next to me! It was my director Ohguro-san! And he had the "what in god's name are you doing look"! He came over tp get some feedback on the trailer they were working on...
So yeah, I have to stop listening to Kotoko at work now...
I'm pretty sure by now, I am the laughing stock of the team.

On the bright side, The in-game model for the final boss is in the bag, took me a whole month to get this baby wrapped up. And though its done, somehow, I'm having mixed feelings. Kinda cause, I feel I didn't work as efficiently as I felt I could. There was quite abit of down time when I was working on this model. Is is because of all the constant interruptions and the need to fix past models that broke my flow? I'm sure on my best form, I would have gotten this out somewhere in the middle of last week. But it kept dragging on, and I didn't finish it till today. And further more, somehow completeing this just didn't have that "oomph!" I was looking for.
Whatever it is, I'll just have to put it behind me. The next job awaits. Guess I'll just have to apologize to Kaji-san and Kawano-san, later on in the week with Machaa cake. XD
Onwards! Dreamwards!

Of mice and men...and everything else in-between.

2006-03-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

Sitting at my desk.
Its almost midnight on Sunday.
I took a break, did some drawings and surfed the web for a bit.
Then I realised that my best friend is now officially married. As I looked through the pictures, I saw the cremony and the dress. The family and the lot. And it really made me think of how long they have been dating. About 6 years I believe. And now he has become husband material.
I now only look forward to attending the wedding dinner when I get back home later this year.
Really, just looking at the pictures and reading what he wrote, makes you fuzzy all over. And its another one of those moments that once it passes you by, you will never recapture that magic anywhere again.
And its times like these, I wish the world had teleportation devices. Would bloddy make my life so much easier.
Singapore, Japan, Canada. Each has its charm, each has a pivitol role in my life; but I can only be at one place at any one time. Flying out would involve me growing wings of some sort and prolly be due to some mutagenic substance I had previously ingested (and I haven't ate McDonalds for a long time now.)
Flying out on an airplane takes tonnes of money which I do not neccessarily have.
Swimming across the ocean would simply be too hazardous. (I hear human meat of the asian kind ranks high on the sharks' "to eat" list.)

So I'm let to rue man's lack of innovation in inventing a teleportation device...goddamit!
Of course I secretly suspect, that subconciously, I conviently 'forget' these events. Largely due to the fact that when ever I attend these events, there is a very high chance of the people around me asking me the dreaded question...."so are you attached?"
My answer would of couse be a rousing "YES! goddamit! can't you see that my arms are perfectly embedded onto my body? And that my legs function as if they were not detached from my pelvis?!" >_<
Of course that will always leave me with my foot perfectly entrenched in my mouth, but hey, it makes 'em laugh.

Don't ask me why I'm still single. Its the most complex riddle in the whole entire bubblegum universe. I remember about a year back, when I met up with an old secondary school-mate, who incidently is also tying the knot soon, and he casually mentioned, in an almost non-chalant way, of how I never had a relationship before. And I just did not know how to respond to that question.
You see, I think most aquaintances think of me as a swinging bachelor. The designer that globe-trots all around the world, to the hippest places, and get the hottest hook-ups. Don't ask me how they got that impression, I am just as puzzled as to how they managed to let their imagination draw such a picture.

The best explaination I have is probably because of the humidity in Singapore. Now we all know that humidity causes profuse reaction from the human sweat glands. So these sweat gland start working and we get a symptom know to many as persperation. Now, based on a totally reliable internet article (and we all know how reliable internet articles are...), the loss of fluids can cause mass hallucination in the brain. And thus result in many of my friends having this mis-conception about my life!
Man, I just full of crap. >_<

Ok, I think I've had enough of my rubbish. Time to get back to work...

I don't need sleep?

2006-03-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, its 6:30 am over her in Japan.
And I'm still awake. I should be sleepy and should have gone to bed; but I didn't.
After my previous entry, I just sat down and stared at the Cloud Strife picture. Touched it alittle, a line here and a line there. Nothing major.

Then I started flipping through my photo collection in my computer. And I saw a picture of my dog, Happy.
here he is!

He's absolutely lovable! Best dog in the world! Why? Cos he absoulutely can't do anything!!! He's just this big dumb four legged creature that will only succumb to doggy treats! And thinking back, I realised I never really saw him grow up.
I headed into national service soon after he came to our household. Then, it was off to Canada, and now, Japan.
Thinking back, its been what, 7 years now?
7 years is a long time to be away from home. I don't think about it often, because I am always on the go, busy with something. But now, you sit down and really think back, its been quite a journey. 7 years.
Granted I was still in Singapore when I was in National Service. As we know, time and tide waits for no man. In the time I was away, Happy grew up, my family moved house 3 times, I got a new cousin, people married, and such.
Why the sudden nostalgia? I dunno, maybe because I know my sea-faring adventuring days are coming to an end. I don't have many more years left. My legs may not be able to carry me for that much longer either.

Ever since I arrived in Canada, its been a non-stop express train ride into my career. Stopping for nothing, with only the goal ahead in mind. At that time, I knew nobody had any faith that I would find success in this. Everybody probably thought that this was just a fad. That after 2 years I would get sick of it and just return home to my parents. I wanted to prove everybody wrong.
I think back to all the things I put myself through. I was self-taught, and never had any art background; I knew I wasn't talented, so the only way I could make it was to be as hardworking as I could. To outlast the talented and catch up at some point.
Thus began the "24-7" schedule. I remember writing it down somewhere. 24-7 stood for the amount of time I would dedicate to my craft, an accelerated schedule of sorts. Everyday, I drew, everyday I created. I filled up a sketchbook every 2-3 months and basically force fed myself into it. Found something in art I had no knowledge of? I would go read up and study it. Saw somebody's work I liked? I would go look him/her up and study his work.
I even snuck into life drawing classes I wasn't supposed to be in. :P
But it was cool. I had great teachers who gave a damn. And in their capacity, never stopped me when I showed up for extra classes. And when I asked them questions they always entertained me and talked to me about it. Even when I showed them work outside of the course-work, they didn't mind giving me critiques. Val, Jerry, Roger, Bob. They were so influential in my journey.

Then came the one event that would change my life. I prolly never talk about it much outside of the people that are involved in it. But this event would be Kaz & Liquidmoon. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, only in a positive sense! ^^...Through this experience, I found an almost zen like approach to my work that would carry me further than I had ever thought possible. And thats when I felt I had found what I had set out to find...
My place in this world.

Once I had that in the pocket, the journey became a quest. And to this day I remember fondly that night when me and Kaz was stting in the classroom in the middle of the night. And I sounded out the 5-year plan. It sounded a little crazy, just a little too radical, but somehow, I think we both belived that it could happen. As of now, I am at the halfway point of that 5-year plan. And it doesn't seem so distant after all.

Then came time for me to leave my beloved Canada. I had landed the fat gig at Capcom!
The impossible had happened!
I was grateful enough that in a time of great unrest, I was able to get a job and a working visa in Canada. Now, I head for Japan? The promised land of gaming? And not only that, at Capcom!? The company that made "Devil May Cry"?
The rest is, well as they say, history. The sweat, the hunger, the tears, the days of self-doubt and depression. I feel that this was a path of trials. That even when the world came crashing down, if you stand firm infront of adversity and confront your fears head on, you come out a stronger person. And I guess more than anything, these years gave me the one thing I never had when I was a young lad, strength. My indomitable love for my craft and fighting spirit became an extension of me and in turn became my strength.

And just alittle more, it will all come full circle. Kaz has made it back to Canada. The clockwork's begun...

Thinking back, it almost seems like a fairy tale of sorts. Like a personal version of Jason and the Argonauts. >_<
But, another question looms, is it time for me to cast the sails abound for home?
I seriously don't know...
Phew...thats was a long entry, think its because I got caught up in a moment...

Recovery day.

2006-03-25T10:18:00.000-08:00

Man, I am totally aching all over.
The thighs have it the worst. Serves me right for not warming up before playing soccer last night. After ploughing at work for the week, I had some down time to go enjoy a game of futsal. Played with people from the company called "K-2". They made the Tenchu Kurenai game. The night was cold, so in a matter of minutes, my muscles started to react and I knew I was gonna be in for a long night. After the 2nd game my legs started cramping. >_<....Oh well....
But did I have fun! Iwamura-san from my usual Basketball club was there too.
Most memorable would be my first goal, took the ball from mid court and beat 2 opponents before scoring, it wasn't exactly very pretty; but, it got the crowd going. ^o^V
Then it was back home for a shower and some rest. Read the news, and did some catching up before sleeping.

I woke up sore all over today. Just didn't want to move at all.
Basically stayed indoors all day. Went through my artbooks and just took it real easy today.

Had a chat with George from Vancouver today. Was nice to see that he is doing well. He's got a gig thats gonna send him over here to Japan. So looks like we will have a good chance of meeting up. Halfway through the conversation, I realised I forget his sister' name. All in all we had a good chat; and it was kinda inspiring. Its not that we have known each other that long, but we somehow just got along. And I must say, he is very dear to me.

Other than that, I just spent the day sketching and drawing.
Decided to do a piece of Cloud Strife, from Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, for my upcoming doujinshi. So effectively I've hit my quota. Now, its just picking one to color...^^
Anyway, here's a brief look at what I've sketched so far.

Back to more drawing then. ^^

仮面ライダー　カブト

2006-03-22T13:17:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to have lunch with Mr. Tan from the Singapore embassy today, but alas, work caught up on me.
I had made some suggestion to change certain aspects of the current assignment. So they needed some image boards up to better visualize the change in concept. So I had to settle for lunch at my desk.
But like all blessings in disguise...
This turned out to be the latest raider craze for me...
After the nostalgic, 仮面ライダーBlack, I found few that had much impact on me.
Hibiki, and Ryuki all fell kinda short.
Then came Kabuto(カブト)!!! Its awesome! Kimoto-san recored 8 episodes of it for me. And he played one for me when I was eating my bento.
To start, the hero, Souji, is someone who wants to be a rider, and not some fella that happened to stumble upon the rider belt. And to top it off, he's ludicriously cocky! >_<
But all that adds to the character. Off the bat, I would say its got a good cast. A bumbling, yet lovable, Kagami compliments the lead really well. The various members of ZECT, Souji's ditzy sister. Then there's the equally egnimatic Hiyori, who happens to be one of the cutest starlets I've seen in a Rider show for a long time. (^3^)
There seems to be alot of mysteries and hidden plot-lines abound in this series, so I hope Bandai doesn't kop out and get too hell bent on just using the show to sell toys...

Any way, taking a break from texturing the model. prolly gonna do some drawing for another half hour or so before getting back to it. Got kind of a good rythmn going today... Yosh! ^^

Sunday night at work...

2006-03-19T07:28:00.000-08:00

Here I am again, sitting at my desk on a sunday night, just about ready to call it a day at work. For the rest of the night, prolly just gonna take it easy and do some sketches.

It gets pretty empty here in the office on sunday nights. oh well.
I do however, have this craving to play Devil May Cry 3 right now...hmmm....

Been quite a packed weekend for me. chatted up with an old friend, Darcy. And I'm glad I got him off his rear-end and back in to drawing. Made a pact. He's gonna go draw and show me what he has done next week, something like a mini assignment.

Then there's the chat with the 4 BL girls. In case anybody is wondering, BL stands for "Boy's Love". Yeah its what you think it is! Its just that these 4 are absoultely crazy for these stuff. And apparently there is a huge market out there for this genre. Oh well, whatever floats their boat! >_<
Was listening in to their plans to get work out. And it amusing to see 4 grown ups run off into a conversation like they do.

But the biggest news will have to be Kaz's return to Vancouver.
After being away for almost 2 years, he's heading back to beautiful British Columbia to work in Radical Games as a game planner, or a game designer as they call it in North America. It seemed the gang's all getting back together.
With only about 4 months left to my current contract, I can't help but entertain thoughts of heading back there myself. Just sitting here thinking about it sends me back to memory lane.
All the long nights and the good times.

Man, I really do miss Vancouver.

More Art!

2006-03-17T23:17:00.000-08:00

Hehehe, seems I'm making up for lost time huh?
Well, one more bit of news. Recently decided to try my hand at alittle bit of independent publishing.
In Japan the indie comic scene is quite a vibrant one. with lots of such events popping up every 3 moths or so. So taking the opportunity, I decided to try participate and give it a shot. Gunning for a 20 page self-published art/poster book to be sold at the summer convention here in Osaka.
So I'm shuffling about some older art that I want to put inside this doujin(its the Japanese word for indie-publication).
Also in preparation for this, I've been practicing alot more these days.
I dedicate abt an hour everyday to doodle something at work. Its a great way to relax and at the same time, practice.
besides, I just found a good sketch-book.
anyway, here's some doodles I whipped up since.

Yes, I know I need to lay off and stop my infatuation with Capcom characters... (>_<)

Will try to update with more sketches when I can.
Stay tuned. ^_^

Gotta get my game fix!

2006-03-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

Previous post was getting long, so I decided to split it up.
On the art front, I've really been inspired by 2 really good games lately.
The past 2 months, I've been really into these two titles.
Unfortunately, they are both Capcom games. (I'm such a Capcom geek).
The one that started the ball rolling was "Shin-Onimusha : Dawn of Dreams" I got this game out of a whim. Wasn't really interested in playing it. But a collegue who had worked on it mentioned of some features that I had wanted to study. So I went out and bought it. And man! did that game jolt me!
I ended up spending the entire weekend stuck to my PS2. Pumped in 30 hours of gameplay and finally beat the game at 2 a.m. on a sunday night! Just in time to get some sleep and make it to work the next day!

Another Game would have to be Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition.
I had my hands on DMC3 for quite some time now. I just couldn't get into the game so to speak. Then after abit, I went back to it and this time it was different. I realised I was button mashing too much the first time round. Man, once you know what you are doing in the game, DMC3 is an insane game to play! Just too Crazy!

For all fans of action games, these 2 are a must play in my opinion.
and like any self-respecting artist, fan art is sure to follow after a healthy dose of intense gaming... and I'm no different! XD
So yeah, here's a little tribute to these 2 games. ^_^

first is Dante!

then comes a rough of Souki

There's something about me playing a game with good characters and art that really makes me wanna draw and create. I can't explain it too well myself either; But it really inspires me to sit down and draw.

Times like these really really makes me thank my luck stars that I'm doing what I am doing...(*^_^*)

Extreme Condition...

2006-03-17T21:14:00.000-08:00

Man, its been ages...
I'ld forgetten about blogging had I not recieved an e-mail from Scott.
Thanks for the heads up dude, its nice to know that you are doing fine over there.

Lots has happened on every aspect of my life since my last entry.
On a more personal front, I think the real big news would be my sister's impending marriage. After about two, maybe three years, I think she's ready to settle down with her boyfriend. I can't say I know him too well since I've only met him about two, maybe three times only. He's a nice guy thats for sure. Only problem is, for the life of me, I can't remember his name...>_<

On to other stuff. Work has been stellar! Capcom just held a game show in Las Vegas not too long ago. That was when we first show-cased the playable version of Lost Planet.
In case, I've never mentioned it before, well, I'm on the team making this title.
here are a few links that you may find interesting, ^^
gamespot report
Ign report

Reaction to the game seemed good. Now we await to the fan's response when E3 rolls around.

Since then, production has been ramping up non-stop. I must say its an amazing experience to see the whole team kick it up a notch and move into the whole production. Like a well oiled machine, day-in-day-out you see these guys plough it out. Really motivates you to put your best foot forward too.
I've been largly given the task of designing and making the weapons in the game, so it was exciting to know that the weapons are done and I will be moving on.
Not that I didn't enjoy making guns and stuff, but, I really wanted to push the envelope a bit more and take on something more.
With a stroke of luck, I landed the dream job of making the mechanical outfits on the game! I've always been a mech geek, with designers like Katoki Hajime, Kawamori Shouji and Shinkawa Yoji ranking high on my favs. So I was just totally rockin' with excitement when I got to see the new updated task-list.
I got handed not one, but two.

After that, the rest is all history. And I tell you, when you are working on something that you like with all your heart, it really is an astonishing experience.
I literally lived over at the office. Just like the good old days when I was in school. ^^
I would pack the week's gear and head out to the office, plunk myself on my desk and churn it out till friday night. Then its off back to do laundry and check in with my mates from around the globe. Saturday usually is spent with me doing my chores and doing sketches and personal drawings. then on Sunday, its off to the office for another week's worth of battle! I'm not kidding when I say this is the dream. ^__^
And the odd thing is, you don't feel pressured to stay over. I'm working the way I am working not because I have to, but because I want to. In no way do I feel ill-treated by the company nor abused by my superiors. On the flip side, Kaji-san keeps asking me to go home. ^_^ But he gave up soon after. (>_<)

But I'ld also be lying if I said there are no problems. You realise that the love for what you do can ruin it all. I kept wanting to add more, and do more, the "aw wouldn't it be cool if we gave it more equipment?" or "Just gimme another 2 weeks to re-design the internal mechanics of this baby."
I kept pushing for more to be done, and that means longer hours and potential delays.
And you realise thats really when your art director and modelling lead comes in with their experience. They come in and set you straight with the real perspective. And you learn its about a balance of all aspects of game making. Not just from a designer's stand point, but from a planner, a programmer, and also from a player.

As it stands now, I'm about 2 weeks from completing the final boss of the game. And I'm giving this assignment every thing I've got. No excuses, no compromises, this is the one shot I've been working so hard for. And when I hand in the final package, I want to knock their socks off!

Lost on this planet...

2006-01-04T06:39:00.000-08:00

HOT DIGGITY! (man its been a while since I last used this word)
After coming back from Hiroshima, I've been on riding on a high!
Straight out I spent the 2nd and 3rd of Jan at the office ploughing away. Then I'm back here today for more! And Chances are, I won't be back home till Saturday morning! I'm just so full of energy now! YAAaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Well, given I have a huge deadline to meet by this friday morning, I'm still pretty relaxed. I think we found some of the 360's processing limits so we have to do some adjustments to the models.
Just got a glimpse of the new schedule for the design team today. I dunno, it looks like we'll be in for a hell of a ride from here on.

On a bit of a side note, Inafune-san addressed the company today on the goals for the upcoming year. Looks like the shuffle in manpower the past year is starting to take a firm shape as you begin to see how he structured the entire company.

Also the team welcomed a new planner to the ranks. He's one of Kimoto-san's friends from the Zelda team. I'm looking forward to working with him. Seems like a very positive person.

On an ending note, Yoshida-san congratulated me on me getting Akiman's autograph today. And we had a good chat. Its always so interesting to hear from the other designers, so much to learn from them. *^_^*

righty then.

peace!

Going 'home'

2006-01-01T03:02:00.000-08:00

Its the new year here in Japan. And Its a time where all the people head back home to see family, very much like Christmas back in Canada.
So anyway, its almost been a year since I arrived in Japan and I took this opportunity to go back to Hiroshima, and more specifically, to head back to the home of the Hashimotos.
Up till the 29th of December, I still wasn't sure if I should head back. Then, It just struck me, that rush to head back to where it all began. I bought the ticket on the way back home from work. Now, with everybody in Osaka heading back I was worried about the availability of tickets for the Shinkansen. But thanks to Kimoto-san and Saitou-san, I managed to get the last ticket out to Hiroshima.

On the 30th, I got on the 8 o'clock train and I was off, heading back to my 'Japanese roots'. On the train, I wondered what it would be like to see them all again. Its been 5 years since I last saw them, and frankly I didn't know how to react.

I arrived at Hiroshima JR station at about 9:30am. Then, as I stepped out of the station, a wave of nostalgia hit me. I remember gently smiling as the glass doors slid open as I stepped out to meet the Hiroshima air. Thats also when I realised that I have not idea how to get to their house in Ajina from the station! XD
After bumping around for 20 minutes, I finally found the densha that looked familar enough for me to get on. Thats when I realised that they had earlier e-mailed me instructions on how to get to their place. (>_<)
But it wasn't long before I reached the station in front of their house. I e-mailed them telling them that I would be arriving soon. And as I stepped out of the densha, the familair sight of Miyajima and Ajina's coastline greeted me. Then, I felt that nostalgia that hit me earlier on double up on me. I quickly crossed the bridge, and as I descended the stairs, I saw Yusuke!
I popped down the stairs and greeted him as we headed to the car where Miho was waiting. In a matter of minutes, I was standing infront of the once familar house.
I followed Yusuke up the porch and into the house, then as I set foot in the house, I said "Ta-da-ima" to annouce my presence. And with that, I realised that I was back. Okaasan, Otoosan and Ojiichan greeted me as I stepped into the living room. And suddenly, I felt a sense of calmness. Here, in this house, I realised that it wasn't about creating, drawing or proving myself, I was just literally about being myself; and it felt good to meet that side of me again. Plus there is a new additon to the Hashimoto family, Maron the cat!

maron desu!

We chatted and kept each other updated on what was happening over coffee and tea.
And pretty soon, it was lunchtime. We headed out to a newly built mall near the sea (I forgot the name. :P). Then it was off to lunch at and we were having sushi! Ate quite abit and we went to a shopping complex called 'Diamond City'. Window shopped and then had my favorite miruku-kurepe from a cafe called 'Doutor'. It was funny because initially, I wanted orange juice, Miho wanted grapfruit, and Yusuke, iced latte. Then, for the strangest reasons, when we placed out order, we all ended up ordering tiramisu coffee. XP Otoosan and Okaasan were went to order when we got back to our tables. And they also ended up ordering the EXACT same thing! XD

Then it was off to the Game center nearby to kill time as Otoosan wanted to buy a bag he saw earlier on. We browsed around the UFO Catcher machines and tried our luck at one without success...
Then Miho had her eyes on this particular box of candy and we all took turns to try to get it. But alas, after 4 tries, she gave up. As we headed to another part of the game center, I kept thinking that it was not impossible to get that candy...so I went back to try my hand at it again. And this time I was not to be denied! Then I joked with Miho as I handed her the box of candy saying that this better be the best candy I ever had or else! XP

We reached home at about dinner time. Crab and fried oysters was on the menu. I had hell trying to get the crab meat! But man, that was some good crab! Then came the fried oysters. Now I myself don't like oysters at all. But man, fried oysters are another story man! I couldn't stand the smell of oysters raw. But fried, they taste awesome with rice and salt. Mmmmmm Mmm! But the real surprise was my love for nato!
Now, nato is infamous amongst the Singaporeans here for being disgusting. So I was weary of trying it. But then, when Miho grabed some from the fridge and started preparing it, I couldn't run. I braced myself for the shock of eating it. Bam! Man nato is delicious! In a sense it doesn't really have much taste. I liked it so much I had seconds! The down side to eating nato however, was that somehow I managed to get nato all over my face and hair. XD

Crab is served.

Nato! Yummy!

After dinner I was supposed to head home, back to Osaka. But, I ended up staying over for the night.

Then we headed over to Hitomi's place to say hello. I haven't met Hitomi and her mother since when I first came to Japan, so its been 8 years... But being who we were, jokes just floated around as we stood by the door to exchange greetings. Especially when I used the ever famous Osaka slang "Nandeyanen".

After dinner, everything kinda settled in and we stayed up to chat while playing card games. A couple of hilarious moments were shared. One was when we were playing BaBa Nuki, Okaasan had won, and it was just down to me and Miho. She held 2 cards and I had one, and it was my turn to draw. If I drew the joker then I would probably loose. It was all down to luck...
So I asked her to close her eyes, and she did. Then I picked the card. And I didn't get the joker, which means she lost. Okaasan and Miho were wondering why I asked her to close her eyes and I replied that if she didn't I would be able to see the cards through the reflection in her eyes. They were simply amazed and started trying it out. Okaasan held up cards and Miho was staring sooooo hard, trying to see how it could be done. XD Took them a while before they realized that I was pulling their leg! ;)

Then we headed to bed at about 2.

Yusuke!

Miho!

Okaasan!

Breakfast the next day was Mochi and yogurt. Absoulutely a deadly combo! Mochi with a little soy sauce wraped in seaweed is like perfect breakfast for me. Its light, yet still so delicious. Then, I had a nice long chat with Otoosan. He was busy preparing a presentation to the Singapore Hiroshima association. It was a very well designed document. Hi-lighted alot of issues with the current situation. We proceeded to share our thoughts on the topic of Japan and its policies, and I threw in my 2 cents worth, reflecting on how each society, be it Singapore, Canada or Japan, has its own social infrastructure and its own pros and cons. It was a very enriching conversation indeed.

Chowing down on mochi!

Don't let its plain appearance fool you...Mochi is something else!

Lunch was Ramen. Nothing special. But after lunch me and Yusuke went to take pictures of some old bridges in the Hiroshima City center. Yusuke is a Civil Engineering Student at the University of Nagano and he needed these pictures for a report he is writing. Then we went to buy music CDs. I wanted to grab a copy of Ayaka Hirahara's album. Yusuke said it would be better to ask Miho if she has the ablum so I could get a copy from her. Thats when I realised that Miho had mailed me earlier. She didn't join us for lunch earlier as she had an earlier appointment. But we were supposed to meet up at a later time. The mail wrote tha she fell victim to some bad spagetti! Damn those evil spagetti! It took me forever to find an ATM though. Then I bought Nakashima Mika's latest album before we headed home.

And in yet another turn of events, I ended up agreeing to stay another night! XD
Hahahahaha...

Dinner was Soba and some porridge thingy. Then, the rest of the evening was spent watching Kouhaku or the Japanese Red and White festival as we hung around. A couple of performances stood out. For me it was Yamazaki Masayoshi's "one more time, one more chance". This song is about 8 to 9 years old mind you. His performance was simply breathtaking. Its like you feel his sadness flowing out from the televison screen. Singapore's very own Dick Lee also made an appearance!

Miho and Okaasan making dinner.

Smile! Miho really takes after Okaasan.

Soba for dinner!

Then it was everybody fooling and playing around in front of the televison. Otoosan fell asleep and we tried to use markers to draw his face. XD
Then we hit the showers, and the day came to a close. Had a nice long chat with Yusuke about out dreams before we fell victim to fatigue. Made me realise how long it has been since I ate homemade food. How long it has been since I was able to not think about work. And how long it has been since I saw the warmth that family brings. And more importantly, how long it has been since I felt this calm and relaxed...

marker mischief!
XD

And so its January 1st 2006, and I had the best breakfast ever this year. I packed up and got ready to leave. They all sent me to the JR station at Ajina.
I bade them all good bye as I stepped onto the platform. Then as I borded the train, I turn for one last time to wave my hand at them. And no surprise that they were still standing infront of the station, waving their hands ferociously as ever. And as the the train moved and the distance between us grew to a point I could no longer see them, I couldn't help but smile. For no matter how far life brings me away from them, I realised that you can never ever put distance between us. And that has been what its like for the people that mattered most to me. Be it my best friend in Singapore, my buddies in Canada, and in this case this family of mine in Hiroshima.

As I boarded the Shinkansen bound for Osaka, I felt rested. Like the challenges ahead seemed less intimidating than before, and I will face them again with the gusto I once had. I don't know if I was jaded before, or simply this visit has pushed me to another level, but I do know that I am ready to take on new challenges when they come my way.

Then I found an envelope Okaasan addressed to me in the bag of goodies they gave me. In it was a letter, and something I think is called an "otoshidama". Traditionally, its money that parents give to their kids on new years. And it was heart-warming for me to recieve it from them. The letter write words of encouragement and such.
And as always, I smiled from the heart as I read it...

Hiroshima, somehow, I believe I will still return someday. The visit 8 years ago that would change my life continues to do the same for me even to this very day. The prefecture that symbolizes peace has brought me just that. Where my shoulders are not burdened with expectations. Peace, at the heart that for all the war that wages in my daily life, there is still a place here in Japan I can call 'home'.

My prized possesion...

2005-12-29T04:58:00.000-08:00

Here it is!

Everybody tells me this is the 'strangest' autograph they have seen from Akiman, in the sense that he drew so much! ^_^

Peace!

AKIMAN!

2005-12-28T05:55:00.000-08:00

Well here it comes!
In what would prove to be another milestone in my stay here in Japan, I finally have a picture by the legendary Capcom designer, Akiman!
Apparently, he came back to Capcom yesterday to get some sort of paperwork sorted out. (He left Capcom about 2-3 years ago.)
When news of this reached me, I thought of ways to meet him. But it was really beyond me. I didn't want to intrude, plus there was no way I could get into the design department.
Then with a stroke of luck, Sakai-san from the design department dropped by my floor. And I took the opportunity to ask him if it was possible for Akiman to draw me something. I gave him my sketchbook and asked him to help me out. Being the nice guy that he is, he said he'll try.
A few hours later, Sakai-san came back with my sketchbook. And I was totally blown away with what Akiman had drawn for me. ^_^
It was a dream come true. I thanked Sakai-san for his help,(he will definately be recieving machaa cake from me in the near future...^_^) and proceeded to oogle at the picture.
I'm still stuck at Capcom today, so I can't upload the picture until I get home tomorrow.

But even though I didn't get to meet Akiman in person, this was good enough. I cannot ask for anymore.
I sent him my thanks through his blog and he was even kind enough to mention my name in his next entry. ^_^
you can take a look at his blog;

Makes you wonder doesn't it? Life has been very kind to me indeed.
Given the opportunity to work at Capcom, and hold a job I love. Colleagues and superiors that I enjoy working with. I've had the chance to meet Nishimura Kinu-san and recieve drawing pointers from her; not to mention her autograph. Then came my fated meeting with Sakamoto Maaya-san. And now, this.
Sometimes, I sit back and think about all that has happened, and I wonder; What have I ever done to deserve such good fortune?
I'ld be the first to admit, I'm not the most skilled artist/designer out there. All I can say I did, was to follow what heart. Even though at times it seemed like a fool's errand, I never stopped believing in the dream. I held it dear and grinded it out. And I don't know about anybody else, but, to be living your dream is simply one of the most amazing expriences in life. I guess maybe passion, positivity and hard work does pay off sometimes.

For now I bask in the joy. And come the time, I will remember it fondly.

Happy new year everybody,
Peace!

Maaya Sakamoto!

2005-12-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

Remember this day, December, 20th, 2005.
I had just finished a basketball game and I went back to Capcom to shower and finish up some work.
Then I decided to head out to Uchihira no Shokudou, which is conviently located across the Capcom building, for a bite.
Halfway through my meal, 2 women entered the restaurant. Now, its late, so usually, they don't see many customers here at this hour.
They proceeded to pick out what they wanted to eat and move to the table behind me.
Then, as I was finishing up my tea, one of them got up and went to pick up another item from the food counter. She was waiting to be served when I looked up and saw who she was! Non other than Miss Sakamoto Maaya!
Now, I couldn't be sure, but I just felt she looked too alike to be bogus.
I was ready to leave but, my curiosity got the better of me. I got up and made my way to their table. And in my half-bucket Japanese, asked if the lady in question was indeed Miss Sakamoto. She looked a little surprised as she tilted her head up. But I was right, it was her! She acknowledged and I told her that I am a fan of her work. I was pretty star struck mind you, so I dunno if she thinks I was crazy.
I just couldn't believe it. (she's prettier in real life than in the pictures I tell you.)
Think about it. Just how lucky do you have to be. I mean, you have a foreigner who hardly speaks Japanese and she doesn't even live in Osaka. But fate should have it that I had the chance to meet her.
Found out that she was into for a play. And I told her how I came across her work and what I was doing here in Japan.
She wasn't able to take a photo with me nor give out autographs because of company policies. So, she shook my hand in appreciation, and told me to 'ganbatte'. In turn I apologized for interupting her dinner. I left her my card as a token; and with that we bade farewell.
Makes you think, just how small the world is. Or how lucky a man I am.
Already met Nishimura Kinu, now, Sakamoto Maaya, I'm working in Capcom holding a job people can only dream about. And next week I may have the chance to meek Akiman too!
Just how much better can life get?

I guess I'ld just have to find out! *^_^*

Peace!

Two months!

2005-11-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yup, that how long i've been away from writing this online journal to myself.

Not alot has happened. Work still takes up a chunk of my time. i refrained from writing about work for fear of accidentally disclosing information about the project I am on through the internet.
But all is well, for most part. The game is scheduled to be announced in about 2 weeks. So finally everybody will know what I am working on over here at Capcom.
Its exciting for me as I look through the promotional material, and think about how people will respond to it.

A bit of good news about my personal life. Things took an significant change when I decided to do somethig about my non-exsitent personal life. I took matters into my own hand and put my foot down. I told myself, I've had enough of this!
So, I went out and bought a Playstation 2! *^_^*
mind you, I got the slim version, in white!
I tell you, its the sexiest piece of hardware! and in the space of 2 weeks, I bought a ton of games.

Devil May Cry 3 (How can I not buy this game!)
Street Fighter III, Third Strike
Sengoku Basara
Drag-on Dragoon 2 - love red, ambivalence black
Tekken 5
SSX Tricky
King of Fighters, Maximum Impact
Shinobi
King of Fighters Neowave (I bought this sometime back)
Soul Calibur III

like I said... Life is good.

Other stuff happened included a fellow Singaporean joining my team after her game was cancelled. I haven't had much time to talk with her since Wira joined the team so I decided to go say 'hi' today.
Was kinda nervous as we never really spoke much. But I felt obligated to go. Things went well. Introduced her to the designers and helped her get to know the other programmers. I hope she will not have too much trouble settling in. We don't have much time for her to adjust. things are going to hit a high soon.

I also had a very interesting trip back home today. Very eventful, but, I really need to sleep. So I'll talk abt it tomorrow.

Peace!

Nishimura Kinu!

2005-10-10T07:43:00.000-07:00

In what would definately be one of the most significant turning points on my life, I was granted the opportunity to meet with one of my all time idols last wednesday.
After much labour and begging, I finally met Capcom's superstar artist, Nishimura Kinu!
Kimoto-san had once told me that he knew her. So I asked if it would be too much if I could get her to sign my Capcom artbooks. He said he would try asking on my behalf, and arrange for something next week.
So imagine my surprise when Kimoto-san told me she is coming to my desk to meet me!
when she arrived, I was so shocked I couldn't even talk straight. All my Japanese just seemed to leave me for that one moment in time.
I tried to introduce myself, then she said something and stuck out her hand. So instinctively I grabbed it for a hand-shake. She seemed surprised. And I found out what I was doing wrong! Apparently, she was asking me for the books that were to be signed.XD I felt really silly...:P Not the best first impression if you ask me...

But after all the awkwardness, we chatted abit and I learnt much from her.
she talked about the difficulties in drawing and her approach on some art issues. One of the most enlightening things she taught me was how hard she felt it would be when it came to drawing Ryu. She explained that Ryu symbolises the ideal male for Street Fighter fans. So he has to carry that essence whenever he is being drawn on paper. And that is one of the biggest hurdles in drawing Ryu.

She also took the time out to show me a few painting tricks on the computer.
Then, when she found out that I had problems getting my hands on the "Overman King Gainer" artbook, She offered to give me a copy as a present! I was in heaven! Like, what else could a man ask for!!??
It just was a wonderful day.

With what she taught me still fresh in my head, I spent the rest of the week trying it out.
I must say its the first time I produced an artwork straight onto the computer, without even first sketching on paper.
Anyway, here's a look at what I did.

I'ld admit its not 100% Nishimura kinu style. I've also been looking at Tsuchibayashi Makoto's (Devil may cry, Sengoku Basara, Shinobi) work. So in some ways I was trying to fuse the two styles. But I'll be looking to push in this direction for sure in the future.

TGS

2005-09-19T02:48:00.000-07:00

Ha! So its come to this. The annual game festival in Japan know as the Tokyo Game Show. I woke up early in the morning to meet Peiling at the JR Tokyo Station. She was coming from Osaka, and since both of us were heading to the game show, I figured it would be a good idea to have some company. But man, Tak sure lives Far from Tokyo. Well, I wouldn't say its really far, but when you only slept 3 hours the previous night everything else just seems to move so quickly.

When we reached it was like eye candy from the on-set. Much like any such event, you see all the differnt exhibitors going all out to get your attention. Sony had a very impressive display. So did Microsoft. Also this is the first TGS show for Bandai Namco since the merger. And I must say, they had a very strong showing. The one down side to the event is how its only open from 10 to 5, but theres so much to do and to do it, you need to queue for like forever.

But the biggest irony would have to be me queuing in line for 40 mins to see the Biohazard 5, Dead Rising and Devil May Cray 4 trailers! I mean I work at the company and I had to queue to watch the trailer!!! Even like getting a copy of the Okami demo was such a chore; and clover studios is like just 6 floors above me!

Enough talk, how about some pictures now?

the first thing I saw there.

Microsoft's display

Capcom's booth. ^_^

SNK/Playmore. This is a huge poster drawn by the now legendary internet artist, Falcoon. He's producing the next instalment of the King of Fighters series.

Hideo Kojima, enough said.

Yeah! Me and Kobayashi-san, the producer of DMC and Sengokku Basara. Word is that he is returning to Devil May Cry. Will be producing the 4th episode of the franchise.

Here we have a cosplayer doing Kamiya-san's Viewtiful Joe!

This is definately one of the more daring designs for the game booth girls.

Righty then. Next target, E3! hehehe.

Off to Tokyo!

2005-09-19T02:32:00.000-07:00

Well, after a few routine weeks, it's come to the promised day. I headed out to Ibaraki for a field trip with the whole object team. And after that I would be attending the Tokyo Game Show.

We set out for Ibaraki on Friday morning. Taking the Shinkansen, it would be a two and a half hour journey to Tokyo station, then it would be another hour and a half by local transport. When work was done, the whole team went for drinks at a place called "Yam-chan". It serves eats and drinks from Nagoya. Pretty good. I kinda wished that Osaka had a branch.
After Kaji-san and the rest headed back to Osaka, I waited at Akihabara for my friend Tak. He just moved to Tokyo from Vancouver a month back. Now teaching english. It was really nice to see him again. We caught up with what had been happening since the last time we met over a superb yakinikku dinner.
Also it happened to be the launch of the Gameboy Micro the day before. Over at Osaka, the classic red/gold famicom colored version was sold out. I remembered that a fellow colleague had wanted to get one, but couldn't.

I stayed over at his place and met his room-mates, Reiji and Phil. We all watched a few episodes of the Chappelle show. Man its a funny show! ^_^

No more "Shokudou"

2005-08-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Sigh....
It was discovered by the staff at the canteen that I have been using a fellow colleague's employee number to order dinner. So, I am no longer allowed to have dinner at the canteen...:(
Its not like I'm not a company employee or nothing, its just I was hired under different circumstances, thus I do not have an employee number. So I can no longer enjoy the 400 yen dinners, and I sure will miss the compnay of all the guys... T_T

On monday almost everybody took the day off. It was Obon I think. Anyway, of the newbies, only Itoh-san was present. So, I helped him out with the garbage duties. And later we had dinner at Yoshinoya. We made plans to go to a local comic/doujin convention this coming saturday! ^_^

I think of all the new guys, I probably loose out only to Itoh-san in terms of our "Otaku-ness". Keep in mind I'm a gaijin. So that says alot about my geek-level. And its not a real fair comparision. See Itoh-san has the edge because he knows alot about those Japanese PC games, which is impossible for me because I can't read Japanese well enough. On the flip side, knowing what the games are about, I probably wouldn't want to play those games anyway...XD

On the work front! I got to see the final cut of the trailer we are presenting at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. Everything returned to normal after we got the trailer out. I recieved a new assignment. This time I'm designing weapons! And the best part is its from 2D concept right up to 3D model! I get to draw!!! YAY! ^_^

Life is cruising for now...

Alright Kiddos, time to earn your chops!

2005-08-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

Argh! Its Sunday! Once more the week rolls round to this fateful day.

After my fiasco at the beach, I was just so tired I slept early, only to wake up 2 hrs later fully refreshed. Then I hopped on to the internet and did some reading, looked at some art sites and finished up the pencils for my latest drawing. actually went to bed at about quarter to 5 in the morning.

Woke up and started to paint. Again switching between Photoshop and Painter as I went about finishing up my entry for SGanimez's forum art challenge. This time around, I found myself painting on 3 layers only. Somehow it makes more sense to allow the colours to blend within the layer rather than separating then into a gazzillion layers individually. Got distracted here and there; and then there were the online chats with my friends from all over the world.
In the end, I managed to finish the painting in about 6 plus hours.

I'm pretty happy with what I did. I think I am starting to really push forward with my colour sense. Here's what the picture looks like:

Realised it's been awhile since I posted any drawings in this blog. ^_^
I think its a reminder for me to update my website real soon...

Wanted to go out for dinner, but it rained real hard. so I just munched on some chips. And when I was done, the sky cleared up...!
Don't you just love it when that happens?

March forth to the beach!

2005-08-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

Survived a grueling week which included torrid events like finding women's undergarments in my laundry, hauling my new computer home from Namba, and having to endure 3 days of UV re-mapping among other things...

But there were perks too! Met up with Kennard as he prepared to fly back to Singapore. His stint at Kyoto University ended and so he is back in Singapore to complete the rest of his education. Good thing is, with a little helping hand from fate, his girlfriend, Tomoe, is also going to Singapore! ^_^

As the week wound down, Ishiwata-san made plans to go to the beach before the jellyfishes of Japan starts migrating and invade the beaches of Japan...
And so that was the highlight of the week. I'm going to the beach!!!
*Yaaaaaaaaaaay!...*
It was kinda cloudy today, but its was still a good day to hit the beach. Only down side was us getting lost on the way there. XD
Played volleyball, swam in the sea, ran around like a monkey the whole day.
One thing I love about beaches, is how you can see the horizon. Where the sky meets the sea, it makes the world seems so big. And you think back and realize you are but one speck of a living organisim on this 3rd rock from the sun...
And the world doesn't revolve around you nor do you turn for the world. The both of you move on forward in time together. Life is so beautiful when you think about it...

Righty then, nothing like photos to liven up my blog. ^_^

A shot of the beach.

Weiyi and Peiling setting up the tent.

Peiling, Me and Ishiwata-san.

Ishiwata-san getting buried in sand...

Weiyi and me after we got out from the water.

FUUUUUUUSION!...^^ (Dragonball fans should know what we were doing...:P)

Me and Peiling after a hilarious bout of beach-ball.

Maya and her sand-castle.

Weiyi and Ishiwata-san. Haven't the slightest clue, but something seems to have caught their attention...

Now Weiyi turn into a professional model and endorses the local kakikori

Next thing you know, he's doing it for Asahi beer too!

Weekends are waaaaaay too short...

2005-08-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

Its funny how busy my weekends seem nowadays...
All in all, wrapped up the week last friday with a trip to the beer garden with Hashinaga-san. After that, went to play fireworks with Weiyi, Maya and Peiling.
Summer is definately the time for fireworks.

In fact the whole weekend was pretty much spent with these 3 guys.
Saturday was "Bah Kut Teh" and Sunday, Peiling was adamant about making pancakes...

I had a chance to try my hand at playing the piano on sunday though. Kinda liked it as it reminded me alot of the times I saw Kaz and the guys duke it out on the keyboards at school.

Also, on sunday, I got addicted to this song called "遇見" by Stefanie Sun. I dunno why. I mean I'm not really into chinese songs, but this particular track really struck a chord with me.

Monday was mundane....until dinner time..^_^
We had a farwell dinner for Inoda-san who was transferring to the Tokyo office. Maya and Peiling got so drunk! I was genuinely worried as we were heading back.

Recently started speed sketching with a pen. Where all I am aiming is to translate the raw concept straight onto paper without even considering form. I find it helps thrash out some good concepts. But, there's alot of refining involved when it comes to the latter stages.

Tuesday today was plain too. Kawano-san and I discovered that I have been using the wrong mask maps for the models, thus resulting in some weird reflection when the model was rendered. Spent the rest of the day fixing the maps.

Also, after dinner Street Fighter session has now transformed into after dinner K.O.F session! heheheheh....

Street Fighter III 3rd strike...

2005-07-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Long day at the office today. In fact, the day hasn't ended yet.
Writing this from my desk. Normal day, kept plowing at the models. Nakaoka-san and myself were a little confused about how to adjust the mask maps with the new naming conventions. But it all got solved as we were told to just leave it.
Got the modelling down by 3p.m. and proceeded to work on the textures for the rest of the day.
As of now, I'm almost done the textures to one, so its just a matter of time before the second is ready. Should be able to wrap this up by tomorrow.

Highlight of the day had to be today's 2nd 3rd strike session at 12:30 am. ^_^
Me, Hamajima-san, Itoh-san and Yoshida-san all jumped in and had serious bouts for about 2 solid hours. Learnt some new tricks, but still lost heavily to the guys. Especially Hamajima-san's Chun-Li. I don't know if I really like this game that much, but I really enjoy these little moments I get to spend with my colleagues. And to think Yoshida-san also joins in the fun. He's like an almost 40 years old, head of the programming team, and he still finds time to come join us for a good fight. Times like these really make me thank my lucky stars to be doing what I am doing, and doing it at where I am doing it.

Its no wonder I have no problem pulling these insane hours and still smile everyday at work.
^_^

Matsuri in review...

2005-07-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well, started the day with Kaji-san reviewing my model. Then he gave me directions to get the model out first before going into the textures. So That was what I was occupied with for the rest of the day.
After dinner with guys, and my daily dose of Street Fighter 3rd strike, went back to update the past models. Apparently the programmers came up with a new naming convention, and we had to change all the past models.
I think I may have to pull a tetsuya tomorrow. Kinda busted by 1030p.m. so I decided no to do it today.
Met Maya and Peiling at the subway as they were on their way back from a couple of drinks. ( these 2 drink waaaaay too much in my opinion...) Things got a little cruel as they starting making fun of the blurry photos that hashinaga-san took at the Tenjin Matsuri.

Speaking of which, managed to get my server up and running. So here are some pictures from the Tenjin Matsuri on monday.

Weiyi and me, when we were told that Maya and Peiling are going to be late.

Peiling and me took the opportunity to wear the traditional summer Yukata.

Maya, Weiyi and Peiling in the process of getting drunk...

Maya telling me about her day while Tanaka-san looks for higer-intervention as we went looking for the fireworks.

Group shot. Me, Ishiwata-san, Peiling, Maya and Weiyi.

Maya playing Kingyo Tsukuri.

In the end.....she didn't catch any.

Now, its our turn.

The highlight of the matsuri, the Hanabi

Beautiful huh?

Another group shot as the day wound down. Kikutani-san, Ishiwata-san, Tanaka-san, Me, Peiling, Maya and Hashinaga-san.

FTP problems....

2005-07-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

Well, Got the photos of our time at the Tenjin Matsuri from Hashinaga-san today. Unfortunately, my server seems to me down, so I can't upload the photos...

So its a short entry today. Still reeling in from the good times last night. So I'm pretty high in spirits.

I did get a little irritated when the normal mapping whacked out on me at work today. But, by-and-large, it was a quiet day at work.

So, until I get my server issues ironed out...

the miracle called life...

2005-07-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

Woke up at about 5:30 a.m. Laid in bed for a while before heading out to work early. Got the model revisions approved and closed the assignment. Spent the rest of the day laying out UVs for the model. Eyes were going crazy. But at lunchtime, Hashinaga-san came over and asked me out to the summer festival near our workplace. I was already going with Maya, Weiyi and Peiling, so I asked him to join us.
Later in the day, Got a message from Peiling saying that Weiyi will not be joining us due to work. Then, even later, right at the end of the day, she herself got hit with some last minute work. In the end, everything worked out though, Weiyi came, and Ishiwata-san together with Tanaka-san and Kikutani-san joined us.

The festival was packed. And its not unlike the Pasar Malam we have back home in Singapore. Lots of shops sellings trinkets, snack foods and stuff. The high-light of the day had to be the fireworks. By chance we ended up in a side alley and got a super clear view of the fireworks. Seeing it light up the night sky, it was beautiful.all the lights flickering and bursting in colors of every kind. I felt a sense of serenity even though the streets were packed with people and the crackle of the fireworks filled the air. Like time stood still for that moment.

As usual, Maya and Peiling got half-drunk. Me and Weiyi were laughing at their antics the whole time back. Met Seon, as we reached the apartment. Apparently he was at the festival too.

As I prepared to wind down, I recieved news from a friend in Canada, that he and his wife are expecting a baby! You know, only 3 weeks after loosing Galen, I find joy in knowing 2 people I know are expecting kids. Really proves that life goes on. That in itself is the miracle.

So what am I to do?

2005-07-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

Had a good day. Woke up at about 9a.m. and did some drawing. Then, had lunch with Weiyi and Peiling.(its becoming a weekly routine of sorts now.)
The day was humid, as always, so I wanted to just stay indoors. Did some online critiques for a friend over the internet. Caught up with Jackie, a basketball buddy from Canada too.

Pretty ordinary day. Then, over dinner at the park, Peiling dropped the bomb. Well, she told me one of the most thought-provoking things in my life yet. We were joking about her first date experiences and that led to her telling me a trait she observed in me that I never knew. She told me that one of the reasons I'm still single could be because that I intimidate alot of the women I meet. And I've never thought that this would even be possible. After listening to her explaination, I felt kinda lost. While I understood her, I found myself at a lost as to what to do...
I work hard at a job I love, I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't gamble, I don't play around, I try to treat everybody as well as I can. And in doing so, I am destined to stay single?
I live my life the best I can. Its the only way I know how to. So what am I supposed to do?

But its very refreshing to talk to these 2 fellas. How they can be so frank and honest with me, I really appreciate. Now I guess its time for me to do some self-reflecting and ponder on what I should do next.

Friday rocks and Saturday rolls..

2005-07-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, work was going on smoothly until Kawano-san told me he needed revisions on an old model I did. And the thing is, I look back at it and I feel like re-texturing the bloody thing. Well, it was one of the earlier models, so it wasn't very well made. Then, things got a little crazy cos my brain started frying. Up to a point I just didn't know what I was doing. Good thing it was already 6p.m. when my brain died. So I went to get my daily dose of Street Fighter III 3rd strike. That helped a little and got be back on track abit.

Later went out with Ishiwata-san for dinner. Funny thing was that its a friday night, and he didn't bother making any reservations for dinner. So we walked to 3 different restuarants before finding seats. Had dinner at a place called "Asian Kitchen". Majority of the dishes there were spicy, so Weiyi and Peiling were estatic. Leaving me, Ishiwata and Tanaka-san to struggle with the chilli content.
I left at about 10p.m. because I still had work to do.

Back at the office, I continued to work on the revision. Finally, at about 3, I had to stop. Nothing was making sense and my brain really wasn't doing anything effective. Went to my "sleeping corner" and slept.

Woke up at about 9 a.m. With a fresh mind, I managed to solve the problems in about 90 mins. Then on it was just tweeking to get the results. had a round of SF III with Yoshida-san before heading home.

Meet up with Weiyi, Peiling and Jocelyn for dessert at the Hankyu building. Scenery was beautiful, too bad the same cannot be said of the dessert. Then we did some shopping. Went to a place called "Who's Who". Cheap clothes. Since I had pasta stains on my shirt, I bought a t-shirt for 500yen there. Then we went to Yodobashi Camera where Jocelyn bought speakers.

Wrapped up the day with dinner at the "Busy Bee" with Maya. I was trying to get a hold of Weiyi because he was the one organizing it. As I went over to his room, I heard him singing in the shower... I tell you, you shoulda been there. XD

Was a nice evening and we sat in the terrace of the pub. We met Hirano-san and Mimura-san when they passed by on their way back to the apartment. And you cannot help but wonder if they are an item.

The Killer cross-over!

2005-07-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

Slow day at work. But stuff got done. Enomoto-san had some problems with the model I uploaded, but all was fixed withing the hour. Started on a new model today and hopefull I will get this done by next wednesday.

Had an absolute blast at the gym today!
It was sports day at Capcom. So we had 2 courts booked for volleyball and basketball.
I was kinda late because I was testing out the new title, "Sengoku Basara".

But I arrived in good time. Geared up, and played till my left calf cramped. XD
I may have lost alot of my ball handling skills, but, I still have my 2-step burst.
Had like about 6 blocks in the game. That just felt so great. I love shot-blocking. I mean I like putting the ball into the hoop, but there's something about playing good defence that just gives you that extra rush. Like I said, still a little rusty with the moves, but, it'll come back. 2 hi-lights worth mentioning. One was at the bottom of the 2nd quarter. We announced "last ball" so I took the ball right at the defender and pulled up for a 13 footer in their faces, hit nothing but net. The other was the last play of the day, skipped past 3 defenders and did a wind-mill layup. ^_^ Ah! "I love this game!!!"

On the way home from the gym with Oka-san I got a call from Peiling. Spoke in an unusually soft tone so I got a little worried. She was complaining about a headache and insomnia yesterday so I thought it had gotten worse and needed some sort of help. So I told her to meet me at Tenmabashi Station when I actually meant Umeda. To cut the long story short, it all went in a merry go round and she ended up in Umeda when I arrived at Tenmabashi. But eventually did find her at Umeda. And she was apparently fine. No headache or nothing. Well, dinner followed and that wrapped up the day.

Left my sketchbook at work...so no drawing tonight...

Back in action!

2005-07-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

Back into the heat after a 3-day break!
Kawano-san was really sick the past week so I quickly grabbed him when he came into the office today. Reviewed the model and we decided to make some changes. All in all I think I can finish this assignment by tomorrow.

Matsushima-san came in at about 9 p.m. for the weekly update. Today was one of the more intersting conversations we had. I dunno, feels more comfortable to be talking after office hours. Its got a more relaxed atmosphere I guess.

Met Hongsing as I arrived at the apartment. He cut his hair! So it mean I'm the last man standing! I am determined to keep my hair. Would like to have it long like when I was in Canada, cause, this is probably the last chance I have to do this.

Okay thats it for today.

the humidity!

2005-07-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well, spent the last day of the long weekend indoors.
Just sat around reading, drawing and watching some "King of bandit, Jing".
It was a lazy day to start. I think its partly due to the humidity. Its as bad as Singapore! I hate humidity! Heat I can take, but humidity kills!

Productive day on the sketchbook too. Well, productive as compared to the past few weeks. I realised that its taking me alot more time to get drawings out, not because I am loosing the touch, like I initially thought, but more so its because the bar has now been raised. I realised that I am kind of demanding more of myself, and thus spending more time to get the product out. I can't say if its good or bad, but its the way it is for now.

Lunch was ramen at my favourite ramen place with Weiyi and Peiling. And it was like a re-enactment of last night.

Last night, the 3 of us headed out for dinner. I suggested Denny's but wasn't really sure how to get there. :P I knew it was along my usual jogging route, but the questions was, which part of it? So I was really just leading them blindly. Luckily, we made it there in good time. And it was real fun. We traded stories like war veterans. Chatted till about 2a.m. at the place before we left.

I must say, its really nice to have these 2 fellas with me on this journey. Of the lot, I prolly talk to them the most. And its always fun to spend time with them.

the long weekend

2005-07-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well, Japan is celebrating "Ocean's Day" this time around. So I get a long weekend!
Made arrangements with Ikejiri-san and Itoh-san to go Namba on Saturday. Ikejiri-san has never been to this part of town and I feel as an employee of Capcom, he should really have a look. So on saturday we're off to otaku-land! ^_^

Itoh-san really know the place well. He showed me where the Meido Kissa was. Its essentially a normal cafe, the difference being all the waitresses are in french maid uniforms. I'll have a report on this when I get a chance to go in.

We brought Ikejiri-san to Softmap, Mandarake, Kotobukiya and the Gundam shop. And we stoped by Art Jeuness for the "Trinity Blood" art exhibition. Unfortunately, they didn't have any of THORES' work on display. Only the anime cell works were available.

After that I went to have dinner with the other guys. They went to see the Van Gogh exhibition, which I went last week, in the afternoon and we met up after they were done. They were celebrating Wira's birthday. Got to meet Rink and Sakikabara sensei again. Whats weird is that we paid 3000 yen for a 10-course Toufu meal. I donno man... I mean, how expensive can toufu get? But it was nice to talk to Rink and sensei again. Managed to set up an appointment with him to go to the boxing gym at his school sometime next month.

this is the osaka Museum, when I went to the Van Gogh exhibition last week.

Me and Itoh-san when we found out we got the same Ultra-man figure.

Parting shot in front of the restaurant

The week in review

2005-07-17T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, with life back to normal, I'm back to writing this blog.
Going to do a quick recap of the past events that happened. Most notable events the past 2 weeks were the announcement of the project at the Tokyo Game Show and the trip to the Beer Garden.

About 2 weeks ago, my producer announced that the project we are working on will be making its media debut at the Tokyo Game Show. So, the focus was to get the assets for that presentation up in the allocated time. Also recived the schedules for the month. I got another design assignment lined up, so I'm happy. ^_^
On a similair note, I can feel Takeuchi-san getting the whole team pumped up and ready to go. I think this is where his leadership will really come into play.

Outside of the work place, Hashinaga-san invited me and my fellow Singaporeans to a beer garden. Apparently its supposed to be real relaxing to drink at an open air roof top. But, unfortunately, it rained so heavily on that day! We changed plans and had okonomiyaki instead. But it was nice to see the rest of the Rockman EXE team. Familiar faces that I never had the chance to attach a name to. And in Sato-san found a fellow manga fanatic. ^_^
Apparently, Sato-san and Hashinaga-san has know each other for 13 years - ever since university. They were room-mates and they entered Capcom together. And its funny when you hear some of the funny events that they experienced together in school. I love listening to stories like these.

Here are some photos we took.

here's the okonomiyaki!

Hashinaga-san and me. (yes, thats not beer. its just water! :P)

Sato-san, myself, Yasuda-san and Peiling.

This time round Weiyi decided to join the fun!

Parting shot at the front of the restaurant.

Goodbye my friend....

2005-07-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Sat down and collected my thoughts about all that has happened the past week. It hasn't been the best year for many people it seems. But I will hold those who have passed on dear in in heart, and move on.
I would have wanted to attend Galen's funeral service, but I couldn't get out of Japan fast enough.
But it is here at this point in time, that I would like to close this chapter, and look forward to the next.
And I would like to do that by saying this to Galen:

"Goodbye my friend, and thank you for the memories."

And now, I flip the page. Onwards. Towards a new day. A new beginning.

the hardest day...

2005-07-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

2 days after recieving news of Galen's death, I think it finally sunk in. I think I was hit the hardest today. I sat at work and thoughts just drifted in and out. In fact, I look at the whole week, and find that its not really productive.

Really having trouble coming to terms with Galen's death. I can't even make it to his funeral in time next monday. Its just crazy. I feel so lost. I tried to take my mind off of it by going boxing and having dinner with Weiyi, Peiling and Ishiwata-san. But as soon as it ends, I find myself thinking abt it again.

I think I'm gonna need this weekend to sort things out internally and find some sort of closure. I have to move on. If I am to make it back to Vancouver next year, I have to move on...

Galen Slater, you were a good friend...

2005-07-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

Incredible day. I had survived friday's "nomikai" with Hashinaga-san only to be greeted with another nomikai today. Its late so I won't go into detail about the nomikai. I'll talk about it when the photos are ready.

I survived the day with the fever I had on monday still hanging over my head.
I thought that I had gotten rid of it after I got some medicine from peiling. And then there's that awful herbal tea she gave me. But, It kinda made a comeback.

The most incredible news I heard today, was that a fellow colleague of mine, Gatcha-san, actually is friends with my favorite Gundam designer, Katoki Hajime. He also happens to know Mika Akitaka too!

Wait, I have to correct that statement above. I just got off MSN with Grace, and she told me that my friend, Galen, had passed away...
Its weird. I loose yet another person close to me in the space of 5 months! I really don't know what to make of it. I still don't know the full details, but it doesn't really matter. He's gone.
Its crazy.

Galen my boy, I never thanked you for the good times, and it seems I won't have the chance to anymore. I don't know how this is going to reach you, but Galen, "Thank you". For being my friend.

To all my friends in Canada. Be strong. I may be half the world away, but when you mourn, know that I am there with you all...

The road home.

2005-06-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Quite a breeze at work today. Continued to work on the design. After dinner, Kawano-san approved the design and I proceeded to work on the 3D model.

But it was yet another intersting dinner session with the guys. Especially the internal jokes Asato-san had about being an otaku. ^^
I still can't fully undersatnd what they say, but, its getting there. baby steps man, baby steps.

Met a fellow colleague at the connbini on my way back. Its been a while, but it was refreshing to have company on the way home. Had some real good laughs, making jokes about people's farts and stuff. Really wrapped up my day well.

Looking forward to my appointment with Hashinaga-san this Friday. Looks like its gonna be a good week ahead.

where's the miso?

2005-06-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

Spent the whole day on the design end. Drawing the whole day. Was quite the challenge, didn't do much till the end of the day, when the ideas started to kind of flow.

Had a fun time at dinner with the new guys, Ikejiri-san, Asato-san, Hamajiri-san and Itoh-san. We now have a long standing joke of Asato-san forgetting to scoop the miso stock when preparing the soup. Its moments like this that really brighten up my day.

Anyway, hope I get get the design nailed down by the end of tomorrow.

More Gundam!!!

2005-06-26T06:06:00.000-07:00

Bought another Gundam Fix Figuration today! ^^
This time round, its the MSZ-006, Zeta. Got it at a super low price of 2000 yen!
Its not visually as impressive as the EX-S Gundam. But it's got its own charm.

I finally managed to get my hands on the "Making of Onimusha 3". Its funny when you recognize the people who are interviewed in the book.

Spent the rest of the day listening to Russell Peters. He is one funny comedian! I love stand-up comedy. ^^

It seems I'm in for a busy week ahead. So think I'll just take it easy and do some reading to wind down the weekend.

so here's a shot of my latest Gundam! ^^

The week wraps up with me going shopping!

2005-06-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

The week swept by in a flash. Alot happened, so, this is gonna be quite a long log.
on the work front, got the model out. this time round, it has just been a matter of tweeking and then more tweeking of the colors. Then as I wrapped up the assignment on wednesday, Kawano-san gave me a new assignment, with the deadline on friday.
Not a lot of time, so I planned ahead. And on thursday, stayed over at the company to get the model out first thing on friday morning. Was a good thing I got everything finished off. So, by-and-large, it was a good week. Only downer, was that the whole team got kind of a dressing down from our producer on friday's weekly meeting. But, its ok, we'll bounce back for sure. I don't doubt that the team will answer this challenge. And for some reason, Abe-san and Kana-san came over on friday for a visit. Don't know why. It was nice to see Abe-san again.

Also here's something new. started going to the basketball sessions organized by the basketball team. Had a great time. Its been a while since I played. Think I lost a little of the lift from my legs. Even had an airball on an open lay-up, just horrible...XD
but, I'll get it back. Just need some practice.

I finally opened the Chun-li model that David gave me. And as I put it up on my desk, I realized that my work space is really empty. So I decided to go shopping on saturday. So it was off to Namba today! I casually strolled and looked at what they had to offer. And did I get some good deals.
anyway, here's what I bought!

Its Gash-Bell! I just had to get this!

I instantly bought this when I saw it. Its Bome working on an Oh!Great design. How can you not get it!

I finally got my Ex-S Gundam Fix figuration! Been eyeing this for over a year! I finally got around to buying it! ^_^

Also, I finally put down my order for the Thores artbook, "Fabric Theologiae". Awaitng for its arrival in September! ^_^
Feeling inspired, so I think I'll wrap things up by hitting the sketchbook.

Life is good when you have toys and books! XD

The new routine.

2005-06-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Crashed out and caused a whole lotta confusion in the office today when I uploaded the wrong file type to the server..:P
Anyway, things are deinately picking up for me. Got a new assignment today and so got things ramped up again.
Today I started my new excercise routine...
From this week on, its basketball on tuesday and boxing at the gym on thursday. I must say, it really feels good to get up and sweat it out.
Met Brandon, Eric and Ben at the gym today too.
But the hi-light of the day has got to be my visit to the 13th floor of the Capcom R&D building. I asked Peiling to lend me her skipping rope, but, because she had a little too much to drink last night, she forgot to bring it...=_=
But I had the chance to meet her colleagues, and they were an absolute blast! Lots of laughs followed.

Back in the ring...

2005-06-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

Used the weekend to clear my head. On friday, went to dinner with Hashinaga-san, Kijima-san, David and the rest. Mexician food is great! So was the company I was in that day. After that, I joined the fellas for an overnight "survivor game" in Kyoto. We played from 12 to 5 the morning. Reached home at 8 and slep till noon. Then it was just relaxing and sorting my thoughts out. Went out with the trainees together with Nathen to dinner at a place called "Outback grill". THEY HAVE REAL STEAK THERE!!! Then we played some pool after that. And for the rest of the night, I watched alot of stand-up comedy. Chris Rock, Pablo Francisco, Eddie Murphy, George Carlin and Dave Chappelle. Man, I love stand-up comedy. It was really what the doctor ordered.
Sunday, I spent time catching up with my global friends. And to top, I recieved an e-mail from my former art teacher Valerie. To this day, I still cannot thank her enough for teaching me all that she knew, and instilling in me that passion for art that continues to fuel me to this day. Thanks again Val, for everything.
Judging from the past 2 days of work, I'ld say I'm back on track. Had a good chat with alot of people, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn some things I never did about a fellow colleague. And it kinda inspired me alittle. Made me feel like I wasn't alone in my fight to achieve my dreams. That there are also other dreamers out there.
And to all my fellow dreamers, we shall all head dreamwards!

already wednesday...

2005-06-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Still the model is not done. Definately something wrong here...The past 2 days were just as bad as monday. Concentration was just at an all time low.
I managed to clear the model and all the problems I was having with ZBrush and XSI. But the texturing is gonna be a big problem. I just have to take it one step at a time. Buy myself some time. The weekend is just round the corner.
Seriously need to clear my head this weekend.
I know I will get back on the go, just need to make it to the weekend...
Things kinda lifted abit on tuesday, when I met my friend, Mike, from Canada. He was in Kyoto with his girlfriend, Sayaka, and we met up for dinner.
It was nice to see a familiar face among the sea of strangers.

now I just have to survive 2 more days...

Miserable Monday

2005-06-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

Goodness! This has got to be one of the worse days of my time here. I woke up at 4 a.m. in the morning, and decided to go to work early. Reached the office at 7. But the rest of the day was just a waste of my time! I struggled to make any sense of the work I was doing. Like my mind was dead. I just could not string together 2 logical thoughts. like all the programs were not working and I had no idea what or why I am doing sometimes!
I got really, really upset and depressed. And its hard to keep up the smile when that happens. But you still have to force it out.
I dunno. Really feeling down. I felt bad for asking Kaji-san for an extention for the model. The frustration was just too "AAAaaaaarrgggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!"
Really doesn't help my situation right now...
Really doesn't help...
I'm really starting to feel helpless...
*sigh...*

the tapping at my chamber door...

2005-06-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

The days just rolled by, and I find myself here today, on sunday afternoon.
Everything is in order. Kaji-san seems to be handing me more responsibilities at work, so thats a good thing, and I'm happy. Starting to really find my feet at work too. I also think I may have unintentionally offended my director by speaking to him in really crude japanese. I dunno.

On friday, I requested that I be allowed to do garbage duty just like the rest of the new comers. But Matsushima-san said if that were to happen, I would just be messing up their whole schedule. So, it was better if I didn't.

I was on webcam with my friend Stu yesterday. And he showed me his light-saber. Drove me nuts. It looked so cool.

I guess its been about 2 weeks since it started, but, I am still experiencing these weird hallucinations. Its like I have memories of things that happened but I don't know if they happened for real or did I see it in a dream. Its as if the border between the dreamworld and reality no longer exists. And I'm just floating in and out of both worlds. It scares me really. Like you can't be certain if anything is real sometimes. By and large I've got a good grip on reality, just these little moments that pop up that make me doubt what I am doing.
Or could this all be a dream?

Now, if you will excuse me, I think there is something knocking on my reality's door...

~As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
" 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door;
Only this, and nothing more."~
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven"

Woeful Wednesday.

2005-06-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

Had a terrible day at work. Was completely unproductive...
Spent the whole morning exporting the model. I was dumbfounded when only of of the 2 models exported with satisfactory results. And in the end when Kaji-san came over to have a look, all the hoopla was cause by me mis-naming one of the texture files...
I really felt like crawling into a hole to die at that point of time.
For the rest of the afternoon I was stuck with what seems like work that they made up just to keep me busy...oh well, i'll just stick around and see what rolls around next week.

On monday, I helped Nasu-san with some motion capture. I must say the motion capture suit is kinda....well, lets just say lycra is not my number one choice of clothing material.

Also found out that we get cheap dinner at the cafeteria if we order online. Me and the new guys at our floor hit the cafeteria for dinner nowadays. its just 400 yen for a set.

I slept...

2005-05-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

So I slept at the office till about 6:15am and took the six-thirty train out.
Got home and slept some more.
Woke up at about 11am. Got up and got all my chores down by 12pm, and then proceeded to draw. Saturday was frustrating. Spent the whole day trying to get the anatomy of the drawing down right. Think I have been away from life drawing for too long. Need to beef up my anatomy. So, thats what I will work on next week. In the end, got the flats done before hitting the bed.
Sunday was slow too. I wasn't in a rush, but it wasn't until dinner time that I got all the rendering done. But still it was a nice and quiet weekend. Just the way I like it. ^_^
I'm not exactly wild over this piece. But, then again, I need the practice.

looking forward to work tomorrow. ^_^

what time is it?

2005-05-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

Well, its late... and I'm writing this from my work table.
Just recieved the latest schedule from Kawano-san today. Looks like things have changed a little.
I stayed back to finish up the model. Hopefully, when I show it to Kaji-san on monday, it shouldn't take more than half a day if he wants anything changed. But I'm happy I got this model out today. I hate it when you have work left hanging over your shoulder over the weekend. Anyway, Saito-san and Irie-san are here in the office with me; so I'm not the only one staying over. Also, today got to know Ikejiri-san better. We made plans to go for dinner next week.

Yesterday, I went out with the fellas from the team to a local BB-gun shop. Looks really neat. I'm really looking forward to our next "survival game". Especially since I bought a Hi-CAPA 5.1! YAY!
was actually caught betewwn the P226 and the Hi-CAPA, until Takeuchi-san told me about the Hi-CAPA's wide range of custom parts! ^_^ We got a group discount too! In all I spent less than I actually though I would.

but right now, I'm comtemplating between sleep or staying up till the first train out of tenmabashi...

Wha? I missed my station?

2005-05-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Overslept on the train ride back. I dunno, but man, I get the best sleep on the train these days...

At work, continued with the model. Some changes came in as the day ended, so looks like I'll be starting from scratch tomorrow. But today I got a chance to listen to Kaji-san and Takizawa-san discuss about gameplay and game planning. Very interesting. Just wished I could fully understand what they were talking about. Of what I did understand, it really shed alot of light into the game making process. Like how the size of a breakable object affects not only the gameplay flow, but also the entire background set up. Then there is always the little things like how the object actually breaks, and how we can get away with using the "cheapest" method. Like I always say, "I love my job!". ^_^

On the way home, I saw a guy try to pick up a girl. I was walking when I saw this bunch of guys standing by the side of the road. Then I noticed one guy make eye contact with his friend and point in a certain direction. His friend then walked over toward this girl on the other side and muttered somthing to her. She simply ignored him. I know this isn't breaking news, but to this day it still puzzles me as to how you can pick women up on the street like that. I mean, what are the chances of success? Then comes the question of "what happens if she gives you her number, or agrees to a cup of coffee?"
Then what? I mean I frimly believe communication and conversation is key to any relationship. But, how long can you talk to a total stranger about the weather, their pets, or their job? And its not like you have the slightest clue as to whether you guys have anything in common at all.
But then again, we all have to start somewhere don't we?
Crap, I feel as if I just threw out my whole argument...
Oh well, its late, so, I forgive myself for not making sense...

rejection is hard to swallow...

2005-05-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

I gotta get up earlier. The train rides are just too insane for me.
Ok, my director came back from E3 and showed us some of the featured presentations. One that definately caught my attention was "Lost Odyssey" by Hironobu Sakaguchi.
He's assembled an all star staff which includes Takehiko Inoue and Nobuo Uematsu.

On the work front, Kawano-san rejected all of my designs for my latest assignment. So that kinda got to me. But Its part and parcel of work. Just that I'm running a little dry on ideas. But today, I finally managed a conversation with him though. We were joking around with Nakaoka-san. I kinda bore the brunt of the jokes, but it wasn't bad.

Helped Ikejiri-san with his first venture into using a 3D program.Which confuses me cause I always thought he was doing pixel art.

With the design out of the way, I hope I can get this model out by wednesday.

what an exhilarating weekend!

2005-05-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Started the weekend beautifully on saturday by cleaning up my room.XD
Then, when all was in place, I started to draw. Finished up on a half done sketch and brought that into the computer to paint. First time using both photoshop and painter at the same time to paint, switching between programs as I painted. I like painter alot. I would still need photoshop's tools but, I can see myself using painter from now on.
And that was the whole story for my weekend. Sunday was special. It drizzled a little and the mood it set was just beautiful. I had some easy listening anime music playing and I just indulged myself with painting the whole day. I don't know, but there's something magical about listening to rain drops when you are drawing or painting. It just washes me over...
I can't say I have totally mastered the techniques I discovered on friday, but I'm getting a good feel for it. Think it is likely that I will do the same next weekend.

I did go over to Hongsing's place to play winning eleven on saturday night, and I went out for dinner with Weiyi on this evening. Found a nice little resturant near our place too.

Here's one of the 3 pieces I finished over the weekend.

Say "Yes!" to the weekend!

2005-05-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Well, was handed my new assignment on wednesday, and I continued with it till the end of thursday. I was supposed to show them to Kawano-san today for his approval before making the 3D-model. But Kawano-san called in sick. So I spend the whole of today, adding colour to my concept proposals. Which, in retrospect, is one of the best things to happen to me yet. Cos it was the "breakthrough" I have been waiting for ever since I started colouring my work. See, I finally understand what I have been doing "wrong" all this time. My perception of colour has now greatly changed. and I'm seeing it in new light. So, I'm spending this weekend painting with my new found skills!

On the way back, there was a band playing outside the train station. And I was truely entertained. So much so that i bought their demo CD. "SG-honeoka" I believe was their band's name. Also, got to know Sumi through this little chance meeting. I was waiting in line to pay for the CD when I heard english! And so the conversation strolled on from there. Nice to see a friendly Canadian face in the neighbourhood.

On the way back I realized that my colleague, jocelyn, may have went to Tokyo for work. And that kinda reminds me of my trip to Tokyo a few months back. Had lots of fun that time.

Fond memories of me and my friends in Tokyo during my last visit.

Hey! Watch where you are putting your hand!

2005-05-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Yet another nightmare on the densha today. Somebody had their hand on my butt after the train left Tsukaguchi. It was a terrible experience...thank goodness I was born a male. At least that person wasn't groping. I would like to believe that we were both victims of circumstance....

On a lighter note, handed in my assignment today. Everything was green for the go and its in the bucket. Which also means that I get a new assignment. YAY!
this time, I also got to take a concept, and take it from design right up to finished in-game model. Looks like I'm getting more chances to draw!

But today, I also had the chance to see what Kaji-san is capable of. he showed me his model for the game and I was really blown away. Makes me feel that I still have a long way to go...

One more in the bucket!

2005-05-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Yet another model down...
Today I finished both the high and low poly version of the model. Got all its design documents in order and will be ready to submit first thing in the morning tomorrow. Would have done it today, but Kawano-san wanted some color adjustments.

Went for a stroll in the park after work. Good way to dry my hair. XD
Sat down at the park bench and started doodling in my sketchbook. Finally back to anatomy and guestural stuff. Feels good to be in the groove. I dunno, really starting to like the evening walks at the park.

Just got some photos from my trip down to Amanohashidate during golden week.
Its supposed to be some sort of geographical wonder - a beach strip connecting 2 separate islands. But the journey to the place was long....

The beach strip as seen from above..

finally got to see the sea!

waiting for the train....

Me, after eating my "Dango".

Its just another day...

2005-05-16T03:30:00.000-07:00

Nothing really happened today. Woke up, took the train, worked...
But, I did have a relatively good time chatting with Kaji-san. After he looked at my day's work, we talked about our weekends and my trip to play the gas-powered guns.
And I guess he was happy to see me putting effort to socialize with my colleagues.
And that kinda made my day; nothing big, just knowing that my "shisho" is happy with my work. I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but, in may ways, I do respect him alot. He may not come across as a very dynamic fella, nor is he super charismatic, but, day in day out, he gets things done. And I think I have much to learn from him.
And its funny when I saw his picture in one of the magazines when they interviewed him. XD

And, I am getting to not like low poly modeling....

"Hey! I'm in the can!"

2005-05-15T00:36:00.000-07:00

Today, I confirmed my theory that people will come knocking at my door once I decide to step into the can to answer nature's call. And they won't come just as you step in or when you are about done. Nope, they come smack in the middle! When you are at your most vulnerable and potentially embarassing moment...
I mean, its the 4th time it has happened to me in 2 weeks. Definately something to look into....XD

Nothing much happened today. We had a mini pot luck party with Maya before she left for Tokyo. Other than that I pretty much just stayed at home and drew. Found an older, unfinished painting and decided to continue with it.

I am thinking of going out to look for the Mandarake at Umeda....but I'm kinda feeling "indoors" today...

Looking at the world......through the eyes of a child.

2005-05-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Well, after a mean week of coming to grips with the monster of a holiday, known as "golden week", I'm back to blogging.

Started the day early. Went to a place called "dusk shot" to have fun with gas-powered guns with my colleagues from work. We played a "survivor game" of sorts. Its really addictive. And along the way, got to mingle with my colleagues. And I was really glad to be able to chat with my producer in between the games. It was crazy when one of the guys pulled out replica of the assault rifle that was used in "Ghost in the shell: stand alone complex". crazy....

Then later in the day, I found out that one of my colleagues is being posted to the Tokyo office on a permanent basis. So, we quickly made arrangement to have dinner. Went to this Vietnamese resturant in Shinsaibashi and later starbucks...

After all the day's activites, I just felt that I needed a breather. So I took a little stroll down to my favourite park. As I sat there, just enjoying the night breeze, recollecting my thoughts, it dawned upon me that really alot of people in this day and age, grow up way too fast.
I think I am able to do what I do, simply because I never grew up. Not in the sense where I am this immature kid. But more so that I never lost my sense of wonder. To this day, be it a single drop of rain on my cheek or the crashing of the thunderous rainstorms, I still gaze upon it with the eyes of a child. And it is this magic that continues to inspire me day in day out.
Sometimes I think people are out to complicate things. Children, I think at some point, represent fredom at its purest form of existence in man. Something which men have long sought after; And yet, we grow up only to loose what we were meant to look for... Ironic huh?

Dizzy...

2005-05-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Been a crazy golden week.
hardly have time to breathe....
In short, I went to Amanohashidate,
Got a mild case of food poisioning,
Finally got a haircut,
Is having an insane amount of ideas exploding inside my head,
And is enjoying work at the same time...

Crazy huh?

Determination?

2005-04-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

Well, after my previous post, I just couldn't take it lying down. So I decided to give it another shot. I still think its boring to watch, but at least I got a decent painting up. ^_^

Kinda made me feel better. Don't really like wasting a day and get nothing done.
So, here's what I did.

Watercolour is boring to watch....

2005-04-30T04:43:00.000-07:00

Started the morning early. Woke up early and got ready to paint. I borrowed a video camera from Hongsing with the intention of filming the whole painting process. But seriously, trying to film watercolour is really boring...
See, its fine for the first 15 minutes or so, when I am sketching and inking the piece. But once it came time to paint, man... I mean, the waiting time alone was enough to kill. I would stop and think about what I want to do next, which is fine except, whoever is watching it would be bored to tears staring at a piece of half-completed painting for 30 mins! So I feel pressured to do something on screen.
I kept rushing my decisions, and in the end, just made a mess of the paintings.

Now I feel as though I wasted my whole day...

Where to eat?

2005-04-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Well, today, it was a big event. I was finally able to participate in the weekly meetings! And for the first time, meet the director and the producer.

Also finally submitted my name to Wakasono-san for the survival game. Gonna go play with air guns in 2 weeks time!

Managed to get the 1st version of the model up before I left. Kaji-san had a look and gave me some real good pointers on reducing the polygon-count. Afterwhich, I had a nice chat with Kawanabe-san, Yoshida-san, and Watanabe-san. Asked abt their plans for the upcoming holidays.

As the day wound down, I met up with Peiling for dinner. Well, not really dinner I must say. She already ate at the italian restaurant when I arrived. But, I didn't feel like italian. So I went to another resturant, only to find out that it was full. So, I thought Macdonald's, but it was closed. So I tried Kentucky fried chicken; only to find out that it too had closed. I had no choice but to buy from the convienient stores, but they were sold out! That was the breaking point....
I walked alittle more, and ended up buying bread.
Well, admist the walking, I did hear an intersting story from Peiling about her sister's love life. I am not kidding when I say its like straight out of an anime script. Must say it was nice to hear about it.

but the day took a big turn when Inoda-san and subsequently, Maya-san showed up at the lobby. We chatted till about 1:30am. I was interesting to hear stories that they had about other colleagues like "hige-san" and "kakoi-hito".

Kinda late. Gonna go to dreamland. Got a full day tomorrow...

I'll say it again..."I love my job!!!"

2005-04-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

No, really. It just gets better everyday. Today, I finally felt like a part of the team. I was actually involved in a group meeting, where Kawano-san explained to us the production schedule. Now, mind you, I only fully understood about 60% of what he said. But still, I loved every moment of it. And I saw my name on the production timeline. It really felt wonderful. My design proposal was approved today and so I spent the rest of the day getting the colour palette up. Kaji-san came in for a quick check and gave me a few design pointers. I am really starting to really feel the work flow here now.

A lingering question though...As I was chatting with Irie-san, it seems that there are only going to be 5 designers in this team. How are 5 of us going to be able to handle all the art assets? I look forward to finding out. ^_^

Damn...feeling hungry now....think I'll hit "Lawson" for a quick bite.

Did I forget to mention that I love my job?

2005-04-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yes! More happiness at work!
Apparently, Kawano-san really likes my work. Kaji-san mirrored his sentiments, and I was on cloud 9...But It really felt good to be drawing again. Its not that I hate 3D, its just the response you get from touching paper with pencil.
As the day wound down, I took a summarised look at the design work I did thus far for this assignment. I noticed that I have changed my design approach alittle. I did sense that, for better or worse, I am attacking the ideas more generally before going into the details now. Focusing on the overall silhouette first, then the components. Its subtle, but I do sense it. Also I feel a sense of maturity in my designs now. Maybe its my inflated ego talking now....hmmm....I dunno...

A piece of downer; I heard that one of my colleagues' mother is critically ill. He is now trying to find a ticket back home. And it doesn't help that its golden week over here. So its proving very difficult. My best wishes to him. And I do hope everything works out for him.

I love my Job!

2005-04-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

Yes! Kawano-san approved the model! But it took the whole morning. kinda hard when you are making changes to the color saturation and he's not around to check. And you are sitting there trying hard to look busy...I hate doing that.

Anyway, Kaji-san and Kawano-san decided to let me have a try at taking a design from concept to final model. Which also means that I get to draw! YAY!
Well, its a pretty prominient object in the game, so I was really happy to be handed this task. Kaji-san liked the preliminary sketches I had done up so far, but we still have to see if Kawano-san gives it the nod. Also, had a good chat with Kaji-san. Seems we have broken that ice. Especially after work, we do chat more often now.

Ooh! forgot to mention in my saturday entry, that I went over to Weiyi's place for a little gathering. Had "laksa". They cooked and I helped out with the eggs. While i'm not a big fan of laksa, it was nice to take the opportunity to get together with everybody.

Food!

Here comes the sauce!

The crew.

Quiet little Sunday.

2005-04-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

Ah! Had a lovely day today. ^_^
Stayed home and relaxed. Painted and read some of my artbooks. Real relaxing. No deadlines, no distractions. Just me and my paintbrush.
Its been almost 4 months since I did any painting, so it was real fun.

In-between waiting for the paint to dry, Had the time to actually catch up with alot of my friends in Canada. Especially George and Pierre. Was nice to talk with them again. I can't explain it, but it just washes you over with that nostalgia. And I was lucky enough that George had a webcam too. So it was great.

Back to painting. I dunno, So much of my work is so line intensive and detailed, that I felt like letting go. To experiment with minimal and really loose lines. I felt for me to improve, I had to let go of the line. Which reminds me alot of the conversations me and another friend, Kaz ,used to have. Kaz introduced me to this concept called "the art of dying". Trippy huh? Well, in a nutshell, it just means to take a step back before you can take the next step forward.
Ah those were the days... It seemed just yesterday that we met...
Anyway, here's the painting.

Whats that drumming in my head?

2005-04-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

Damn...Blogger really heates me...
its like the 4th or 5th time where I had to re-write my entry...

Anyway, the week went by fast. I was struggling with a touch of fever till about thursday. Then on friday, I managed to get the final model finished. Now all that is left is for Kawano-san to approve it on monday. I must admit, it felt good to get this out of the way. Kaji-san was asking me what I would like to do next. As much as I wanted to do characters and the cooler stuff, I knew I probably still have a long way to go before I reach that level. I consulted him on this and suggested that they keep me on object modelling for a little while more.

We roll on to saturday. Since I did not have lessons, I went out with the guys to shop for a router. Amazing thing is that I was at Den-Den town, and I was able to walk out without buying an artbook!

We then went to Shinsaibashi where Weiyi was shopping for a guitar. Amongst all the instruments, I felt the urge to pick up drumming again...
Gosh, its been over 3 years since I drummed seriously. Really miss it now that I think back. And so ,I rekindled my affair with drumming. Picked up a pair of sticks and went in search of a studio. And we found one real close to where we live. Well, looks like it is destiny...But yeah, suddenly felt the beat and rythmn in my head, so I felt I had to answer the call.

Here's a shot of my sticks. I use many different sticks, but, Vic Firth's "Terry Bozzio phase 1" is by far my favourite. So, that was the first pair I picked up when I thought of drumming again.

Where are my white blood cells?

2005-04-19T06:02:00.000-07:00

Felt a hint of fever creeping up today. Tried real hard to ignore it during work. Thank goodness it was not distracting me from work.
Well, I'm at about 90% done with the model. Just a little more and I'll be done! Kawano-san has already approved one of the models, so just alittle more...

In retrospect, I realized that I really learnt alot with this assignment. Well, I wonder what my next assignment will be after this.....I hope it has something to do with drawing on paper. XP

Gonna go rest now...Hope my body does a good job of handling the fever.

Another day fades, and another friend made...

2005-04-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

Had a good day at work. Sat down and time just flew past. Hashinaga-san gave me access to his archive of Capcom party pictures! Its hilarous! Really makes me happy that I am working where I am working now.

I think after last week's Hanami, everybody is more relaxed around me. Looks like the wall is starting to crumble bit by bit, and I am finally getting through to my Japanese colleagues. ^_^
There is also less tension when I speak to Kaji-san. So, I'm a happy man. Its funny Cause he came up to me and asked about the progress of the model(He had already sat down and went through it once with me earlier in the day). And I told him I have some problems with the Bump mapping. And as I procceded to show him the problem, we both realized that it was really my eyes playing tricks on me! We had a good laugh about it and it really broke the tension.

Met Seon on my way back from work. Had a very enriching conversation with him. Had a chance to hear about the marketing department and his analysis of the game market. Very thought provoking. My brains churning in ideas as I write. Based on what he told me, I started thinking from another angle.

Also made a new friend in Obata-san. He's the hairdresser who owns a hair salon called "Gold" near my apartment. Very nice guy. I definately will go to him for my haircut which is due in about 2 weeks time. (yes, I'm actually thinking of cutting it....)

Fantasia...

2005-04-17T04:56:00.000-07:00

I gotta say, I really love my life here in Japan!
Why? Today, for the first time in my life, I attended an art exhibition by Yoshitaka Amano. By no means is it a large scale exhibiton, but it was enough to provide me with inspiration. And athough most of them were prints, there were a few originals on display. And to see the full sized originals was an incredible sight. His largest painting on diaplay was about 7 feet wide, and 4 feet tall. I just stood there and stared...simply breath-taking.

On the down side, I got to stop buying artbooks! Spent another 4000 yen on books again....XD

Well, gonna hit the sketchbook before I sleep.

Here's a shot I got as a souvenir.

Everything just blitzed past.

2005-04-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

Crazy week. Since my last entry, I was kept on my toes till today. Juggling work and my personal work is really taxing, and to top it off, I have to finish the card for my Japanese teacher. Today, we had our last lesson with her. It was kinda bitter-sweet. I do find classroom Japanese boring, but, at the same time, my techer is a real nice person to be with. I just feel that beyond the basics of hiraganan and the language's structure, you cannot really learn the language in a classroom. You need to use and conciously be exposed to it. After which, you hit the books to review all that you have been exposed to. This makes for a much deeper impression when compared to reading off a textbook. But, different people have different ways of learning effectively.

Worked on the model throughout the week. Learnt so much from Kaji-san. Seems that everyday after he checks through my work, I get to do the model all over again, because there always seems to be new techniques popping up.

On friday we had yet another Hanami. This time round it was with the people from the 7th and 6th floor of the R&D building. It was also to welcome the new people who just joined the company. Was real nice. the night breeze, together with the constant petal showers from the sakuras make it such a memorable event. Best of all, really met alot of the people. Somehow, the workplace isn't that foriegn anymore. And finally met some people with the same interest! And the Maniac in me was set free!

One big perk was getting to know the director of the "Rockman EXE" series, Yasuma-san. we both know my Japanese isn't that great, but still we made good conversation. Also got to meet Inafune-san's assistants. Who is Inafune-san? Well, he's the creator of Rockman and Onimusha! Was a very intersting Hanami I must say.

With it all said and done, it seems that the season of the cherry blossoms have come to a close for this year....

here's a shot of me and Yasuma-san.

Inafune-san's lovely assistants...while Bob and Nasu-san make funny faces behind!

New kid on the block.

2005-04-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

2 days whipped by just like that. Well, it was back to the same model I was working on last week. Still got stuff to mend. I made arrangements with Kaji-san to look at my work once everyday, just to keep him informed of my progress.
Now on to the last stage of texturing. so there should be no problem finishing the model by Friday. Learnt a whole lot of stuff from Kaji-san today. Stuff like separating materials, using "cube mapping" to create a glass effect, and tricks involving alpha mapping.

On the personal side, my brain has just been pouring out ideas after idea. Got a lot of thumbnails and notes to sort out this weekend. Looks like i'm gonna be real busy for a while. Really excited to see how far I can push these new ideas.

Lastly, there is a new colleague sitting next to me today. He just joined Capcom last friday. But, I didn't have the chance to talk to him yet. Neither have either of my colleagues. Its hard when you start work and you know nobody. And its not as if I am fluent enough in Japanese to help the fella out. Seems real lonely to have nobody to talk to...I think I'll try something tomorrow to break the ice.

Who is looking at the flowers?

2005-04-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

Well, 2 days in a row went out for "Hanami". The sakura trees are in full bloom now and typically, the Japanese people go to something called "Hanami", which literally translates into "flower looking".

So I was invited to 2 of these events. One on saturday evening after class, and the other on sunday afternoon. The saturday event was with with some of my colleagues from the other departments while the one on sunday is with my language class teacher.

The saturday event was rowdier. Especially when Sando-san got drunk....XD
I got a chance to interact with all these people from all the other departments. And I think of all the people that attended, There are only a few designers, most were programmers and sound engineers. Was really a re-freshing experience.

On sunday, it was with Sakihabara-sensei, and her friends, link, taylor, yukiko and sensei's neice, mi-chan. Was a more mellow event, but by no means boring. Had lots of fun monkeying around with mi-chan. But the sakuras at this garden was just magnificent. The most beautiful aspect is when the breeze blows and all the sakura petals fall and flutter into the air. It is something that you really have to experience in person.

And as an end note, I realized that nobody really bothers to look at the flowers, even though it is called "flower looking"! :P

A shot from Saturday.

Guess who is drunk?

Beautiful huh?

Having fun with Mi-chan.