Lost In Tokyo

Tokyo day 1 has not gone without its share of hiccups. To start, I didn’t have time to get a JR Pass, which essentially allows unlimited travel with few restrictions across Japan. You can only buy these internationally. I meant to pick one up yesterday at LAX, but I arrived quite a bit later than I intended due to LA traffic and was told I should go through security ASAP. This also meant I wasn’t able to pick-up a pocket WiFi, which is a small device that allows internet access wherever you are in Japan. So far I’m at 160% of my data cap for the month with 14 days to go. I’ve also been doing Roam Like Home for $5 a day in the US, but that jumps to $10 a day here in Japan. Money hasn’t been a big concern yet with the trip, but with all the money I hemorrhaged in LA trying to lock down an Airbnb, I should start being a bit more mindful of where it’s all going. Long story short, I gotta go dark on the data. I’m supposed to be disconnecting anyway, right?

My Singapore Air flight to Tokyo was pleasant, at least. I flew an Airbus, which I have flown on two occasions before with Etihad Airlines. I love this plane because the exit rows are so prime, allowing me to really stretch out and even stand-up straight in the aisle. I met a lovely couple sitting next to me who were heading to Bali for 8 days because she was 4 months pregnant and they figured this was probably going to be their last chance for a while. We chatted about the work I do and then talked at-length about LA. I mean… how could you not?

i'm sure the locals were impressed

Yavar was waiting for me at the airport, holding up a piece of paper with the word GODZILLA printed out on it haha. It was good to see him and I am glad he ended up waiting for me because getting around Tokyo is literally the most confusing shit I have ever experienced and it would’ve sucked doing it alone – better to suffer in the company of friends, yeah? From Narita airport, it seemed like there were a dozen different ways to get to our Airbnb near Hatsudai station in Shibuya. Again, this is where the JP Rail Pass would’ve really come in handy because figuring out how much Yen to pay and to whom and for what would’ve been one less thing to worry about. Something I’ll keep in mind for next time I come to Japan. So anyway, after about an hour dicking around Narita and trying to make sense of the world, it seemed like maybe we were on the right track. All in all, it took about 3-4 hours to get from airport to Airbnb.

ummmmmm...

So a few fire-from-the-hip notes on Japan so far. Vending machines are everywhere, even on the small side streets of Shibuya. E-money is big here, which is to say that the pre-paid cards you use to pay for transit can also be used to pay for other things, like items from the vending machines and fast food. It’s very clean and people are SUPER polite. I haven’t gotten the long gawks everyone told me I would get, but we’ll see what happens tonight at the bar.

That’s it for now!

I Left My Start In San Francisco

I started this blog with LA, but 'Cisco is actually where Around The World Tour 2 kicked off. I arrived on the Monday for Game Developers Conference, so the tour did not officially begin in earnest until the weekend hit. Still, this was my first time in the city and my first time attending GDC, so I tried to make the most of it, squeezing in some personal time between conference schedule. Fortunately, with only a few eSports panels to attend in the early afternoon, my first day was pretty light. I stayed at the swanky Westin St-Francis, across from historic Union Square. I don't have much to say about the hotel because I was barely there, but their lounge makes a great negroni. 

You know how Vancouver can feel tiny? San Francisco can feel like that. Must be something about those peninsula towns because I ran into a former colleague within minutes of leaving my hotel on the first day. I worked with Scott back in my days as a Lead Tester for VMC's Montreal offices and he has worked his way to a position of prominence for the same company. Anyway, we chatted on the street for a bit and he invited me to a GDC networking party that VMC was throwing later in the week. Sweet! I had been in town for less than an hour and already had my first evening event nailed down. It was a good sign of things to come. We exchanged business cards (I remembered to bring business cards!), parted ways, and I made my way to GDC.

derp face

GDC itself was kind of whatever. There were parts that I really enjoyed, but there were also a lot of talks and workshops that seemed entry-level to me. I've been in the biz for almost 10 years and I guess I've learned a lot more than I even realize. Working with so many talented, ambitious people at arguably the largest, most successful gaming studio can do that to you -- a big fish in a gigantic pond. Everything is relative. The experience gave me a lot of confidence in the sense that, hey, I totally know what I'm doing! I also learned a few neat things, particularly in working with remote teams, an area I only have a lot of experience with on the client side. This was a great workshop for me because we use an external developer out of Argentina and faced, to no fault of their own, a ton of production difficulties with them on UFC2. The challenge with these learnings is deploying them in a massive company like EA. Even on the team level, change can be difficult and when something doesn't work, the reaction is to switch completely to something else rather than try and refine what we already have in place and get it to work.

So, anyway, I could go on about GDC, but this blog is supposed to be about ME, ME, ME. Let's move on. After wrapping up my eSports panels, I didn't have anything else going on, so I picked a direction and walked. As I neared the Ferry Building near the end of Market street, I ran into colleague number two, TJ, who I used to work with at EA. I'm telling you, there's something about these peninsula towns! We chatted momentarily, and I continued on towards the dock, eventually coming to Pier 14, which has views of Bay Bridge. The funny thing is, I didn't realize it was the Bay Bridge. My first thought when I saw it was, "I thought Golden Gate was red?!". Not my brightest moment, but I knew I had to be wrong and that I just didn't know what I was looking at. After a quick check of my map, I learned it was the Bay Bridge. It was starting to get a bit chilly with the late afternoon sun, so I walked back to my hotel.

Back at the hotel, I made a reservation for Morton's steakhouse and linked up with RBD, Geoff, and Jeremy. It wasn't my first choice, but you take what you can get with last minute reservations. Still, it was a great dinner and the conversation quite often turned towards work. I don't really socialize with guys outside of our production team, so being able to get their perspectives as the booze loosens us up can be very valuable. You exist in this bubble and it's easy to get stuck in a certain way of thinking. I guess this is a good analog for life as well, which I suppose is why they say travel broadens the mind. I definitely feel like that dinner was one of the best parts of the GDC week as I learned a lot about these three dudes that I wouldn't have known otherwise. Perhaps the second-best part was that we did it all over again the next night at Ruth's Chris.

2 nights, 2 steakhouses, 4 guys, 4 tomahawk ribeyes

One thing I love about SF is the pure scale of it. Sure, it's a peninsula town just like Vancouver and I suppose technically it's much smaller, but it's so dense that it feels massive and vibrant in a way that would be very difficult for Vancouver to duplicate. There is no shortage of bistros, cafes, restaurants, lounges, and bars to choose from. For example, where Vancouver has, like, four or five dive bars to choose from, there seems like a never-ending supply of them in San Francisco. This probably explains why I end up at the Biltmore back home every damn weekend -- it's not like there's many options.

I'm rambling on, I'm sorry. I'll try and wrap this up.

pretty sure i spent a summer in a similar conditions

Alright, I also visited Alcatraz, which was actually a lot cooler than I thought it would be. If you did not know, Alcatraz is actually operated by the National Park Service and, let me tell you, they are proud of this particular slammer. Easily one of my favourite parts was also its most innocuous -- as you get off the ferry and arrive at the island, you are greeted by a Park Ranger that is almost gleeful for your visit and eager to tell you all about its notorious history. It's just a funny contrast, fresh-faced teenagers enthusiastically explaining how people have very definitely been brutally murdered just 200 feet away. 

real talk... this guy gets a gun at some point

As I said earlier, I was invited to the VMC networking party where I only knew Scott and another former co-worker, Keith. Keith and I caught up and he managed to score me an invite to the Nvidia GDC party later that night where Young MC and Sir Mix-A-Lot were going to be playing. Things to a hilarious turn when we arrived at the club as I wasn't standing at the bar for more than a minute before two young ladies approached me with the usual kick-off, "omg how tall are you?". Introductions were made (Samantha and Vanessa, if you were wondering) and we were off to christian the dance floor for all the introverts in attendance (remember, this is a gaming industry party). Every now and then I would catch a glimpse of Keith and his three co-workers staring at me, jaws on floor. I can't imagine what they thought at that point, but I danced with Samantha and Vanessa for most of the evening before deciding I had had enough and was ready for bed.

On my way to my hotel, I realized I hadn't eaten dinner and was getting hangry, so I asked my Uber to bring me to the nearest diner. I had to wait 45 minutes for food, but I met two guys from LA and we started to chat about American politics, something I know literally next to nothing about. These two guys, Tory and I-don't-remember-his-name, had been friends for years and basically argued with each other for an hour about who had the tougher upbringing -- one was born here to illegally-landed Hispanic parents that eventually transitioned to some semblance affluence through a started business while Tory was born to African-American parents and raised in the inner city. I could be getting some of those details wrong, but that's what I remember. I didn't have much to say and, looking back, I couldn't possibly tell you why they waited for me to wrap up my 3am meal or why they stuck with me as we roamed aimlessly around some sketchy areas of SoMo, looking for our hotels. I had fun, though, and really just acted as a mediator every now to bring the conversation back into focus. Since they were from LA, I exchanged numbers with Tory and we agreed to try and link up when I was in LA the following week. Sick, I was making friends!

As the week was beginning to close out, the GDC party circuit was ramping up. On the Thursday, I scored invites to Ubisoft, Blizzard, and Microsoft parties. The first two were nothing of note and I unfortunately never made it to the third. RBD had been busy throughout the week making friends of his own and was invited for a drink to bar in upper SoMo. Wingman duties were needed and I was tapped for the role. We made an agreement that I would only stick around for a drink and, at some point, I would give the signal for him to inquire as to if I was going to the Microsoft party. At that point, my duty done, I would make a polite exit and he would take it from there. But even the best-laid plans and all that. It turned out that I got a long quite fabulously with the wingwoman across from me, Jessica. She and I chatted all night about travel, work, the highs and lows of being tall (she is 6'0") and generally pretty much forgot about the reason we were both there in the first place. Numbers exchanged, we made plans to get together later in the week so that she could play tour guide.

Okay, SHIT. This post is really dragging on! I promise to do these more regularly. Time for a lightning round.

like... rly rly beeg

I cannot begin to convey how imposing the Golden Gate Bridge is. It's weird because even when I was biking towards it, I wasn't all that impressed. Okay, yeah, it's a bridge. A big bridge. We have a big bridge, though, right? No we fucking do not. Lions Gate is a joke compared to this thing. I've never been on a bridge and said to myself, "okay, yeah, I can see how jumping off this would kill you". No matter what bridge, ever, I am always skeptical of the insurvivability of a jump from the top. With Golden Gate, though? The drop is probably big enough that you'd die of a heart attack long before you hit the frigid water below. It is terrifying to cross and every time I took my phone out for a selfie, I was sure the wind would claim it. I managed to make it across in about 15 minutes and biked up to the beautiful Marin Headlands, which gives views of the entire SF peninsula, Golden Gate, and the bay leading out to the Pacific. Probably one of the most beautiful, humbling places I've ever stood in.

Oh, Jessica took me to In-N-Out. I don't see what the big deal is.

Please, Baby, No More Parties in LA.

LA was actually the very first trip I booked for Around The World Tour 2. I was that excited about it. I've been here twice before on work trips and it's always been a whirlwind tornado of fun packed into big, crazy work events -- such as E3 2014 and that crazy press conference for UFC178 -- and usually just one night of personal time. And one night of personal time is probably the key here. Within the first 24 hours of being in LA, I was already asking myself some deep questions... just what the hell am I doing drinking in LA?

I guess it all started with my Uber driver from LAX. When you get a driver in a city like San Francisco, you're getting a new model Prius or Camry. It is in pristine condition and probably has that new car smell. The GPS will be expertly installed and positioned to provide the driver with a safe way of accessing it. The driver is likely a recovering taxi employee or might just be moonlighting. They will shy away from initiating conversation, but are happy to oblige chatty passengers. It's all very... professional. Not so in LA. In LA, you get picked up an early 2000s Civic by a dude wearing a wife beater and clogs. When you go to put your shit in the trunk, he'll probably say something like, "oh, don't worry about my stuff, just ignore it", while you try and tetris your 70L backpack between empty water bottles, a phone book from 2008, and the other forgotten crap people usually keep in their trunks when they don't want to deal with it in the moment. This is just some guy and his shitty Honda.

I'm not complaining, honest. Despite his illogical views on distracted driving (and his distracted driving), the guy was nice enough and got me where I needed to be. My point is that LA is just a lot more grimy than I realized. I mean, I've always known that I have this warped sense of what life here could be like. Staying at the Westin and spending company money can do that to you. But the reality check hit me full force shortly after I landed on Monday.

and a decent airbnb

Again, it all started with my Uber driver, "are you sure this is it?". Oh, ffs, those are not words you ever want to here while getting dropped off in LA. Basically, this area of Echo Park that my airbnb was in was only in Echo Park by technicality. Kind of like how you can make one wrong turn in Gastown and end up in non-gentrified parts of East Hastings. I was to be staying in the guesthouse of an old Victorian that I am sure was considered beautiful at some point in history, but negligence and a complete bankruptcy of fucks to give by the tenants/owners have turned it into an East Van crackshack.

I know what you're thinking, "Jazz, you can kind of be a diva sometimes", and I am the first to admit it, it's true. But I feel like it's usually by choice rather than a natural, default setting. I won't pretend like I grew up in the ghetto (I didn't) or that I'm hard as-fuck (I'm not), but it's also not like I've never slept in some questionable places I'd prefer my mother not know about (hi, Mom!). Maybe it was the familiarity of my surroundings in those situations or having friends present in the same boat as me, but I've always felt safe or that I could handle myself. This felt different. This felt like a bad choice I wasn't comfortable with. So I left.

I'll skip over the ensuing drama with my airbnb host, but I cancelled the reservation, got most of my money back and I've filed a refund request for the remainder, so we'll see what happens. In the wake of that drama, though, I met up with Sam for some food and drinks. After a few hours of day drinking, we ended back at her place with some of her friends for some pre-drinks before we headed out to I-don't-even-know. Or, wait... is that post-drinks drinks? I don't know, but there was whiskey involved, which is deeeeeeeeefinitely where a night usually takes a left turn. At some point we ended up at a trendy spot with a pool table where I was apparently more interested in providing color commentary on the billiards than I was interacting with Sam's friends (Anissa, I'm the worst, I'm sorry!). What can I say? I'm really into geometry.

still some good decisions being made here

I spent Tuesday morning and the better part of the afternoon hunting for a new airbnb after being at an afterhours until 5 in the morning, so that should give you some idea of how I was feeling. Despite being partially homeless and having far too much fun for my own good -- on a MONDAY, no less -- I'm staying positive and laughing at myself. That's all you can do in a situation like this, just roll with it and keep going because what alternative is there? Still, though: please, baby, no more parties in LA.