May 22, 2023 – Page 2 – RITs International Game Industry Course for 2023

Breaking Ground

While today started as a chill hangout with our entire group together for the first full day, it ended with a LOT of “waku waku” (the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound of your heart beating intensely).

Megan, Jessica, Jasmine, Skylar, Liam and I started the day by heading to a local cafe and bakery for breakfast called City Bakery Shinagawa. I ordered the french toast which was a TOTAL score (the bacon on top was the real king of the meal), and also got a small table roll because I enjoy eating bread by itself.

After breakfast, we had a couple hours to kill before we boarded the train to Kyoto, so we decided to visit the aquarium that was connected to our hotel. Quick aside: I cannot stress enough how insane our hotel was. Connected to it was two pools (one of which was heated), an aquarium, an 80-lane bowling alley, four practice golf range simulations, 11 movie theaters (one of which was an IMAX theater), and more, not including the food court or other restaurants just around its perimeter. I wish that we had been able to stay longer to capitalize on it, because it was kind of incredible how much could be fit into one hotel complex.

I digress, back to the aquarium! I am definitely spoiled by the Georgia Aquarium, but this aquarium had a lot of really cool (albeit much too small) exhibits and some animals that I don’t think I would have seen anywhere else! Namely was the capybaras, which were SUPER cute but gave us some mean glares as we took pictures of them. We also got to watch an otter performance that was very cute!! My favorite part was when he grabbed the mic and yelled into it, because I too would do the same thing if given that power. Thankfully Jessica got a video of it as my phone was on the verge of overheating.

Otter yelling, my favorite kind of yelling.

There was also an assistant robot who could do the Ievan Polkka dance (there were a lot of popular English/TikTok songs too, but who cares about those?) and a tube where the fish could swim over you that housed a massive manta ray. A large portion of our group also went on this giant swinging ship that was right at the entrance to the aquarium, which was fun to watch!

After the aquarium, we hurried back to the hotel to get our luggage and make it to the train station in time for our train to Kyoto. Getting on and off the train in a timely manner was the most stressful part, but I played Tears of the Kingdom for the entire ride and thoroughly enjoyed it (while also stopping periodically to take videos of the scenery passing by). Once we got to Kyoto, though, the real intensity began.

After a short walk to a VERY nice restaurant, we come to realize that we’ve just walked into a very nice, very expensive ten course dinner. For anyone who’s not familiar with me (first of all hi :D), I have always been a super picky eater and the food in Japan was my biggest concern when planning for this trip due to my limited palate. All of that was completely chucked out of the window tonight as I was sitting almost directly next to the director of our entire program who planned this dinner. I think that I tried more completely new food tonight than I have in the last year.

In its entirety, we ate: some weird little beef ball, a piece of red snapper, some mixed vegetables, a whole miniature squid covered in mustard, miso soup which contained a piece of fish and some vegetables that I could have mistaken for bricks of tasteless jelly, some sashimi that consisted of tuna, salmon, and tai (AKA Red sea bream? I think?), some professionally made sushi consisting of tuna, salmon, and rice, wasabi, the weirdest egg/jelly/bean drink that was expectedly disgusting, some bacon slices that we steeped in cooking broth in a process called “shabu shabu”, a set of fried shrimp tempura and fried lotus root, another soup of indistinguishable origins, and two small ice cream scoops that were vanilla and soy milk flavored respectively. Do you see where the “waku waku” was happening? I also treated myself to a peach fruit juice that was a nice palate cleanser from all of the horrors I put my body through during dinner.

Despite my obvious reservations with the menu we were served, I am proud to say that I at least tried every single thing that we were served. While some of them were hard to swallow (literally), I am surprised at how far I was willing to push myself out of my comfort zone; I think it’s the first of a few big milestones that I will reach while being here.

Tomorrow will be another incredibly packed day, as we’ll be on a bus tour of Kyoto for almost the entire morning and afternoon. While I am looking forward to seeing the sights that the city has to offer, I could really use an extra hour of sleep.

A picture of the manta ray from the aquarium. SO CUTE!!

Arriving in Japan

I arrived in Japan midday on Thursday the 18th. I didn’t even have to leave the airport before noticing how different it was. Besides the bidet, I didn’t know the toilets would run water to cover up any sounds and would spray perfume when they sensed you. The toilet almost had its own remote control. I also didn’t know that this would be the last water fountain I would ever see in Japan.

After getting briefly stuck in the airport due to a currency exchange issue, I had to figure out how to navigate the subway system since I hardly use them. To my surprise, all of the subway signs were in Japanese as well as in English. I was also taken back by the heat and humidity there, which was 90° with 75% humidity. I got to the hotel eventually and tried to sleep off my jet lag before sightseeing the next day.

The next day, I wanted to get acquainted with the city a bit more so I decided to go to Tokyo tower to get an almost birds eye view of the city. In order to get an achievement card from the tower, I made my way up 600 steps to the top. The next day I visited the park next to my hotel, which seemed to have some sort of festival going on. In the park there were also some shrines and a pond that I walked around before getting dinner at a food truck and heading back to the room.

To Kyoto! (5/22)

After a nice and refreshing morning (finally getting up some time past 4AM), a few exchange friends and I went to The City Bakery in Shinagawa Station. Absolutely wonderful in terms of food! I ended up getting temped by a few too many things, and had two trays full, but TOTALLY worth.

The Aquarium

Attached to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel stood the Maxell Aqua Park, a small yet very impressive aquarium! With amazing light displays, projections, technology and the like, we were eased into a really creative and immersive experience.

Moving forward, we were met with a big tank with an overhead section, but what managed to catch my eye was the unexpectedly articulate robot right to the side! (Yes, that’s Hatsune Miku singing Ievan Polkka)

We saw some awesome specimens, and some of our group favorites such as seals and capybaras.

Luckily, we had time to catch the otter show. Lining up on the astroturf and pulling out the water bottles, we gathered around to watch a live otter show featuring a charming otter named Taiyou! He did some tricks, talked to the audience, and even managed to sort some trash for the crowd. Made me feel like a kid again 🙂

Unfortunately, at this point we were out of time. But as every aquarium does, there was a gift shop! Heading out, I managed to nab the softest seal plush you’d ever seen!

The Shinkansen

And off we are, to Kyoto via the Shinkansen to meet our colleagues at KGC and experience traditional sights and culture!

It was unreal how smooth and fast the ride was. For a lot of it, it felt like we weren’t even moving at all. Seeing all of Japan whiz by at 200 mph was unreal, and is something I’m absolutely pumped I get to do again.

(If the above footage looks slow, that’s mainly because we had just departed ;P)

Arriving in Kyoto

As the Shinkansen slowed and we got off the train, we found ourselves in the lovely city of Kyoto! Rich with history yet brimming with modern charm. Everything from a rustic Japanese-looking Starbucks to sleek stone streets present at the station grounds, doing wonders to set the stage.

Following some kind folks from KCG, we made our way to Ganko, a popular restaurant with a heavy theme of traditional Japan!

There, we were met with an absolutely MASSIVE 10-course meal, spread out over a few hours. Most of the food was quite new to me, but luckily I was up to the challenge and made sure I tried everything given. Some of it was definitely of an acquired taste, but I found out that I absolutely LOVE tuna on my sushi.

Plus, it was absolutely great having some conversation with the other classmates. Socializing while watching a sushi chef make some top-tier nigiri was absolutely amazing! (Even if I couldn’t finish one of the dishes, haha)

All in all, I was so happy that the people at KCG were so willing to provide this sort of experience for us. It’s up to us to make sure that the Game Jam is worth it for them!

A short bus ride later, and we’re in the hotel where we’ll be for the next week. Rustic, but stylish!

Journey begins: Japan Arrival Day 1

https://youtu.be/shui-qXgseE

I am excited to share my journey traveling to Japan over the next two weeks.

I will be documenting my experiences here for both this page and personal reflection. Joining me on this adventure is my good friend Fabian Sanchez.

Our trip began in North Jersey at around 9:30 am, and we arrived at the airport at approximately 11:30 am.

After obtaining our boarding passes, we eagerly waited for our departure. As someone who enjoys flying, I found the trip quite comfortable.

The in-flight meals were excellent, and I managed to get a few hours of decent sleep.

At around 5 pm JST, we landed at Haneda airport, where we were greeted by a breathtaking view of Mount Fuji. Our first task was to acquire our rail passes. However, we underestimated the time it would take, and it ended up taking us two hours.

Eventually, we made it to the monorail that took us to our desired station. Unfortunately, we initially boarded the JS train in the wrong direction but quickly corrected ourselves and eventually arrived at Shinagawa.

It was around 9 pm when we reached our hotel, where we enjoyed a lovely view and rested for the night.

The following morning, we woke up at around 5 am and set out in search of our first meal in Japan. As many places were still closed, we opted for a visit to 7/11. After having our breakfast, we took the opportunity to explore the Shinagawa area, which had numerous picturesque locations worth capturing.

Later in the day, after a brief break at our hotel, Fabian and I met up with Meagan and Belle, who were also traveling with us. Together, we visited the Pokemon cafe in Nihonbashi, which turned out to be a delightful and delicious experience. And am honored and thankful to be invited, a childhood dream being lived out.

Our next stop was Asakusa, where the Sanja Matsuri festival was taking place. The atmosphere was bustling with people, enticing food stalls, and a wide array of items to purchase. We made our way to the temple and eventually headed back to the hotel.

In the evening, we reunited with the rest of our travel group for a group dinner, during which we shared our experiences and discussed the events of the day. Afterwards, we returned to our respective rooms, where I am currently staying.

More updates on our journey through Japan are to come!

Half-a-Day in Shinagawa

I woke up around 9:00, hopped in the shower, and got ready for my first lunch in Japan. After using the hotel’s very convenient express check-out, I checked in my bags and went to the food court to look at the many options of Japanese cuisine. I ordered a pork and leek udon and a salty pork ramen, both dishes costing a lot less than they would in the US.

After grabbing some lunch, I decided to make my way towards the Aqua Park, where there was a diverse range of animals, from basic fish, to jellyfish, reptiles, and, even, capybaras. I also watched the mini-otter performance, which was extremely adorable.

By this time it was around 12:45, so I decided to make one last stop at a 7/11 to prepare some snacks for the road, and grab a popsicle to deal with the humid weather.Our time in Shinagawa was short, but very enjoyable. Can’t wait for Kyoto!

Shinagawa Prince Hotel

As soon as I got used to walking around Asakusa it was time to move to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. To get there we had to navigate the subways and thank god I wasn’t alone because I had no clue what was going on. Finally we excited the subway right in front of our new hotel for the night.

It is the largest hotel I’ve ever seen it’s the size of an entire college campus and more. We rushed to get food. I got pizza although it’s one of the least Japanese foods I could’ve gotten.

In the morning we stopped at a small cafe in the train station. I ate a lot of Family Mart snacks the night before so I stuck with an amazing カフェオレ. Not too expensive and super delicious. Now it’s time for the aquarium!!!

The aquarium was a bit pricey and not too big but it was part of the hotel. There were a lot of cool attractions and layouts however it seemed like they treated a lot of the fish more like art than animals which was sad.

Otter performance! He is so talented.

CT to Tokyo

The first 36 hours in Japan

I left at 8 with a driver and arrived at the airport at around 11. Getting through security was super super easy and then I just listened to an audio book while I waited for the flight.

I’m all the way in the back of the plane. There is only one more seat behind me. The first half of the ride I fell asleep pretty quick so that burned a couple hours. I got woken up when they were giving out drinks. I couldn’t fall back asleep so I watched a super cute anime movie called the Gold Country and the Water Country. I almost started crying but I’m surrounded by people so I held it in as much as I could. I was definitely visibly tearing up.

The following 10 hours were filled with Fire Emblem and more movies and snacks. It honestly wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be until the last three hours I was getting pretty antsy.

FINALLY I landed and took a taxi (too afraid to take the train alone after pulling an all nighter) and settled into the Vessel Inn Hotel. It was pretty nice but a little cramped. I fell asleep very quickly that night.

The next morning I met with Belle and Megan and explored the Sky Tree. There are an endless supply of shops to explore. We ended up spending two whole days at the Sky Tree as there was too much to do.

Very tired but even more excited to be here!

The Busiest of First Days

Brody and I boarded our plane at around 12:15pm in Los Angeles and prepared for our long flight, which happened to be an hour shorter than planned, giving us a landing time of 3:30pm in Japan instead of 4:30. After a comfortable flight with some of the best airplane food I’ve ever had, we finally landed at Narita Airport.

We planned on getting to dinner on time, but our fatigue from the plane combined with our extreme lack of knowledge for the Japanese rail system would prove to be a great enemy. We got onto Narita Rail 38 towards Ofuna, as Google Maps told us to, and we were already a little panicked because our cards were not working with the rail system, so we had to pay on the train. We then learned that, unlike what Google Maps had told us, our train would not be going to Shinagawa Station, meaning we had to find another way from Tokyo Station to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. After getting off at Tokyo Station, we decided to take a cab, but ran into many issues in payment for trying to leave the metro – our enemy of the rail system striking back once again. Finally, we mare it out onto the street and waved down a cab, only to run into a little bit of traffic, turning our 15 minute drive into a 22 minute drive.

After all the trials and tribulations of Tokyo traffic, we finally arrived at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel and met with Professor Jacobs. Because the JRPass closed at 7, and it was close to 6:30, we didn’t have a chance to set down our bags, so Brody and I lugged our heavy bags over to Shinagawa Station to meet with everyone else. Exhausted and encumbered, Brody and I made our way back to the hotel by ourselves to check in while everyone else went to eat, and after a long line, we missed the final call for food at 7:30. Instead, we went to 7/11 to get some food and ice cream, which we would then eat while walking around Tokyo.

After a long day of travel, Brody and I went back to our room, showered, and passed out like no other. However, our first day of travel did not de-motivate us in any way, but was a good primer for the adventures to come!