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A long time out and a long time since my last post the farm's been in the full swing of the early summer routine. We've worked cows, started cutting hay, and somehow along the way wound up cutting down a 50 year old Oak tree that toppled over in a storm. To say the least, not much time for Gundams.

Posted 5 June, 2009 - 07:57 by Gunpla Rob

I am blessed for ever finding Thai-Toku.com-!

I have found official images of the latest mecha from "Samurai Sentai Shinkenger"...

Posted 29 May, 2009 - 00:54 by EVA_Unit_4A

Here's a random YouTube find.

Tokyo. Japan. 1983. The Glen Miller Orchestra. With time to kill, band members Larry O'Brien, Mike Ruth and others Explore the streets of Japan.

Posted 27 May, 2009 - 11:29 by JoshB

Hosts: Betty, Dylan, James, Jeremy

This is about a girl named Spider, a crappy rubber puppet, and trapping the janitor in the closet.

Click [HERE] to go bowling with a severed head.

Posted 25 May, 2009 - 03:37 by Destroy All Pod...

Sunday was my last day in Tokyo, and as such, it was bittersweet. I had a full agenda, my feet were killing me, but I needed to persevere. On deck today was Sightseeing from the Tokyo Metropolitan Govt. Buildings, Yoyogi Park, Meiji Shrine and Harajuku.

Tokyo Metropolitan Govt. Buildings

I wanted to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Govt. Buildings because of their free observation decks on the 45th floor. You really get a great view of Tokyo from up here and it's all free. While I was up there I was playing with the super zoom on the camera, closing in on things that were otherwise unseen.

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Posted 19 May, 2009 - 21:03 by JoshB

Todays excursion brings me out to Omiya, a town maybe 45 minutes outside of Tokyo. The primary purpose is to visit a toy store (of course) but I am far enough out of the city that I might as well find some things to do while I am out there. There's a big park in Tokyo, and it's supposed to be good Sakura blossoms there, so I will do that as well.

45 minutes outside of Tokyo it still looks like Tokyo. Crowded, congested, but its an organized chaos. The train ride is smooth, clean and quiet.

I find my destination with ease, a vintage toy store called Senshutei. You can read all about it here.

From there I grab lunch in a crowded McD's and then i'm back on the train to go up two stops to Omiya Koen.

Omiya Koen is a nice, large rural park, with lots of paths and ponds. As I enter the park I see a gaggle of girls huddled around a fence. Of course, I go see what the fuss is about, all the while trying not to look like a creepy foreigner. Luck would have it that there is a traditional Japanese Archery school here, and they were in the middle of some kind of competition. It was so graceful, and oddly enough, all girls.

Posted 19 May, 2009 - 19:40 by JoshB

Today's agenda is to go out and buy a new camera, so I walk over to Akihabara in the morning and go to the only logical choice - Yodobashi Camera. I mean its THE camera store in THE worlds greatest electronics district in THE most high-tech city in the world.

Yodobashi camera is like 7 floors of store. Just imagine 7 Target stores placed on top of each other, each devoted to one single thing. Its immense.

I get to the camera floor, and there are so many cameras here it boggles the mind. Normally when I go camera shopping I take my time and research whats the best camera for me. But this time I am flying blind, not only in a foreign country, but a whole different language.

I decided to play it safe and went with the just released Olympus SP-590UZ. I've owned two other olympus cameras, and they were awesome, and the 26x optical zoom was killer. So The salesman, who spoke little English hooked me up. Have you ever tried to ask a Japanese salesman that you want a Micro SD card instead of the SD card the camera comes with? I don't recommend it.

Posted 14 May, 2009 - 19:36 by JoshB

After we were done with Takeada's house, we started back to the train station and ended up stopping into Godzilla-Ya, one of the most venerable old toy stores in Tokyo. I didn't grab much, just a few beater chogokin and some Godzilla sofubi for the kids.

We stopped for lunch at a small shop - everyone got ramen but I got two plates of Gyoza. I kind of had buyers remorse here, but the Gyoza was great, so I didn't mind. The Ramen looked good though.

From here, most of the gang had to go to meetings and such, so Jordi and I decided to go do some sightseeing.

First place we hit up was the Bandai Corporate headquarters in Asakusa.

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We thought we were going to get a tour, but actual work needed to be done, so we just hung out in the lobby. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but mostly its just displays of currently released Bandai product. There was one case with nostalgic items, in it was a MIB BLACK DALTANIOUS. Those of you who care know what a big deal this toy is.

Posted 11 May, 2009 - 09:52 by JoshB

Well, here it is- the night before "Star Trek" premiers in the US. Well, that's not entirely true...

Posted 7 May, 2009 - 21:13 by EVA_Unit_4A

Another day, another adventure.

This was Thursday.

At the end of Preview Night at Tamashii Nations, we agreed to meet the next day and take a trip out to the burbs again to visit SIC Sculptor Takeuki Takeya. I set off in the morning along my usual route, it's a beautiful day. I stop and take some shots along the way...

Birds outside of a resturant in Tokyo

The only gas station I saw in metro Tokyo. Notice how the fuel is dispensed from above.

The only gas station I saw INSIDE Tokyo

Lucky Cat (Maneki Neko)

Posted 7 May, 2009 - 08:58 by JoshB
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