My Trip to Tokyo part 2

In case you missed the first part of my trip to Tokyo, you can catch up here. Now time for part 2!


Cryssy and I woke up on Saturday feeling as refreshed as one can be with a 13 hour time difference. It just so happened that Saturday was my 25th birthday. Best birthday ever? I think so. Of course I didn't get my currency exchanged, so our first line of business was to get myself some yen. Way to plan ahead, I know. I printed out maps, translated them, planned things to do while we were there, even got international calling & data, but didn't get my currency exchanged. We hit up the subway and took it one stop to look for the currency exchange place.

Travelers hint: Figuring out how much money subway tickets are is a pain! Prices vary depending on how far you go, how many transfers you have, etc. You could buy a ticket to get on the subway for 140¥, but end up owing 180¥ when you get to your stop. It just sucks having to find a machine and adjust your fare. I highly suggest you get a Suica card. It's like the metro cards you can find in NYC or the Tap card here in Los Angeles. You load it with increments of 1,000¥ and it automatically deducts the correct fair. You can get them at the machines in most subway stations. As a plus, some convenient stores such as 7-11 and Family Mart will let you use your Suica card as payment.


We made it to the currency exchange place, only to find out that it was closed. Of course we didn't immediately know it was closed until we played charades with one of the neighboring stores. (Charades works great when you don't speak the native language.) We just happened to show up on a holiday weekend. A quick stop to the ATM at 7-11 fixed my money situation, and we were on our way to get our tickets for sumo.


As we were on our way to the subway station to go to Ryogoku, we saw what looked like a giant arcade. How can you go to Japan and not check out their crazy arcades. We walked in and were received a warm greeting. We wandered around and all we saw were slot machines and other gambling machines. Confused, we wandered up to the 4th floor and discovered more and more of the same. This was a giant building dedicated to gambling and for 10AM, there were a fair number of people already in there. MADNESS.

Ryogoku Kokugikan (sumo arena)

Ryogoku was a beautiful area centered around the sumo arena. Sumo is only done 3 times each year and definitely worth seeing. Show up early to buy your tickets as prices will go up and availability goes down the longer you wait. Tickets start at 1500¥ (abour $20.00) and go up from there. We ended up paying 3000¥ per ticket (about $40). The matches earlier in the day are the amateurs and they work their way up from there. After purchasing our tickets, we decided to wander around Ryogoku and discovered some really beautiful areas.


From Ryogoku Kokugikan, we found the Kyo Yasuda Garden. Trees, a little pond, and beautiful animals, this was definitely a nice place to check out. This was less than 5 minutes from the sumo arena and definitely worth a visit. Get out of the sun, find some shade, and soak in the scenery.

You can take a break from reading and enjoy the scenery too ;)

The next spot, Yokoamicho Park, was just as beautiful as the first. It has a beautiful traditional Japanese style building dedicated to earthquake and war victims. We went inside and paid our respects and walked around the outside, enjoying the scenery. Also a great place to see if you find yourself wandering around Ryogoku.

One of the many amazing things about Tokyo, is that there are an abundance of vending machines. You can't walk two blocks without finding a plethora of vending machines carrying a variety of delicious beverages. Soda, milk tea, water, and a number of other anonymous Japanese drinks (what they are, I may never know). There are plenty of variations of beverages which never make it to the states, like the grape Mountain Dew on the left. You can also find vending machines that carry an assortment of snacks as well as cigarettes. That's right, cigarettes in vending machines on the street. I'm not quite sure how they work, but they are there. If you're a smoker, one thing to know is that you can only smoke in designated areas scattered around the city. You aren't supposed to smoke outdoors, which is probably why the city was so clean. There are actually more places to smoke indoors than there are outdoors. Weird, I know. Just some food for thought.

We made a few more stops throughout the day and saw some really neat things, but the highlight of the day and perhaps the entire trip was the actual sumo wrestling. We wandered back to the arena later in the day to see the higher end wrestlers compete. I really didn't know what to expect, but let me tell you that this was intense. It took a few matches to understand what exactly was going on, but both Cryssy and I were really getting into it. There's an ceremony that the wrestlers go through before they actually wrestle. It's almost like a choreographed dance with stomping and clapping and even some salt being thrown around. You can't help but to be amazed with sumo, a tradition that has been around for centuries. Watching these athletes in their traditional garments along with the referees and other officials in beautiful garments. The whole experience is just awe inspiring. Check out more pictures below from our first full day in Tokyo. Look for the next post coming soon!

My Trip to Tokyo part 1

Oh, Japan. The nation of the rising sun. What an amazing adventure, one that I won't ever forget.

My friend Cryssy who is a very amazing and talented illustrator and designer won a contest by designing covers for a magazine called Chopsticks NY. As a prize, she was rewarded with 2 tickets to Tokyo. After sitting on the tickets for some time, she decided to take me to Japan for my 25th birthday. E-e-e-e-e-epic!

Although our flight didn't leave until September 22nd, my trip began the day before. Talk about a lot of traveling. Woke up at 6am, hit the gym, work by 10am, fly from Los Angeles at 9:00PM, arrive in NYC at 5:30AM, 30 min taxi ride to Cryssy's house, hour for her to pack her stuff in my giant suitcase, 30 min train ride into Manhattan, hour bus ride to Newark, NJ, and then a 13 hour plane ride to Tokyo. I had to find time to eat, pack (yeah, I'm a procrastinator), print directions, and buy those annoyingly small travel sized bathroom items because TSA won't let you take any liquid past security over 3oz. I'm definitely not going to try anything with my 5oz tub of hair product. TRUST ME. I'm an upstanding citizen.... or something like that.

First glimpse of Japan

The 13 hour plane ride to Tokyo felt even longer than it actually was. First of all, if you have a choice, do not fly Continental Airlines. They have the most unfriendly flight attendants I've ever seen. I know being stuck in a cramped space for 13 hours, serving people food and drinks can't be fun, but at least put a smile on your face and suck it up! People have choices of which airlines to fly, what brings them back is the service. I don't think one of the flight attendants smiled the entire flight. Anyway, Cryssy and I had the isle and middle seats and there was a gentleman in the window seat. Let's call him Stan. Stan was an incredibly nice guy from Connecticut who was on his way to visit his girlfriend in the Philippines. Talk about a long distance relationship. Stan was also under the impression that if he didn't get up every 20 minutes, he was going going to die from blood clots in his legs. Needless to say, 13 hours of musical chairs was not fun, but alas we made it to Tokyo.

When it comes to traveling, I'm fairly organized. I had translated and written directions on how to get from the airport in Narita to our hotel in Chuo. The directions were very detailed and self explanatory so as to not run into any confusion. When we got to the airport in Narita, on the outskirts of Tokyo, we decided to not take the rapid train into Tokyo running us about 3000¥ (about $40.00) per ticket. We opted for the slower, local train costing us 1200¥ (about $15) and taking us nearly 2 hours. We made it to our first transfer point at Tokyo station where we looked at the subway map and immediately felt lost. 

Holy crap, so many lines going so many different directions. We didn't know where to begin. We were standing there, going over the map and referencing all of the papers I had printed before we left to see if we could figure out where to go. Unsolicited, an older Japanese couple saw our looks of worry and asked us if we needed any help. This was the first taste of the hospitality received while in Tokyo. So many nice people all wanting to help in any way they can. The couple pointed us in the right direction.

Alas, we made it to the hotel, Tokyo Hotel Horidome Villa. I have to say, if you are looking for a cheap, yet nice place to stay in Tokyo, this is great. For less than $70 a night, we were 3 blocks away from the nearest subway station and it was a good hub to get to where we wanted to go. The staff was friendly and helpful. The room was tiny, but if you're flying 6,000 miles to visit another country, you don't spend much time in your hotel room. There are tons of little restaurants within walking distance along with 7-11 and their version of CVS called Family Mart. If you're going to visit and need to withdraw money from an ATM, 7-11 is one of the only places that has ATMs that will accept American debit/bank cards. The minimum withdrawal is 10,000¥ (around $130), but check with your bank before you leave as they will charge you whenever you use your card out of country. Long story short, we loved staying in this hotel and would recommend it to anyone traveling on a budget. Exhausted and hungry, we didn't have to look far for our first meal.

Yoshinoya. Many of you, especially SoCal natives, might recognize the restaurant. Well, kinda crappy Japanese rice and chicken fast food bowls is more like it. Not great, but when I saw it right across the street from the hotel, I just had to try it. Let me tell you, that was a religious experience. I mean, neither Cryssy or I knew what we were ordering. We were looking at the pictures on the menu and ordering. The meal was absolutely delicious. Japanese fast food is nothing like American fast food. No greasy burgers or soggy fries. Everything is fresh cooked with fresh ingredients and the content is way healthier than in the states. I want to say you get a lot more for your money with Japanese fast food also. For 500¥ (about $6.50) you can get an entire meal such as the one pictured below. So much food. One interesting thing I noticed is how fast people eat in Japan. Multiple times, people would come in after us, order their food, finish it (while slurping and making the grossest sounds ever), and leave before I had finished a quarter of my food. 

After nearly two days of traveling, I was exhausted and it was time to shower and sleep. Although we left at 11:00AM on Thursday, we arrived 2:00PM on Friday. Saturday was my birthday and we had big plans to go see Sumo and wander around in Ryogoku. Our day of traveling came to an end, and that is where I leave you until the next post. Here are some more pictures from our day of arrival.

On the train to the hotel

From the hotel room

Mother Nature Themed Giveaway

Hey Tribe! The time has come for you to win a SpiritHood as well as a 17×17 inch print of this amazing illustration done by Cryssy Cheung. Peep the rules to enter!

• Visit Cryssy Cheung‘s Facebook fan page
• Find the post with the picture above and the words “Mother Nature is dying. How do you show your respect for Mother Nature? Post your reply for a chance to win a 17x17in print of this piece along with a SpiritHoods of your choosing.”
• Tell us how you show your respect for Mother Nature
• Tag SpiritHoods in your post
• Contest will end Oct 1st 12:00PM PST

Contest is now open to Twitter users too! If you have Twitter and Facebook, enter twice for double the chance to win (once on Facebook and once on Twitter). Here's how to enter on Twitter.

• Follow both @CryssyCheung and @SpiritHoods on Twitter
• Tell us your favorite thing about Mother Nature (eg trees, forest, desert, etc) and a brief description of why
• Mention both @CryssyCheung and @SpiritHoods in your tweet
• Include the hash tag #loveformothernature
• One entry per person! Multiple entries will be disqualified

Be sure to follow her on Twitter for more updates on this contest and check out her website for more artwork. www.cryssycheung.com

Originally posted on SpiritHoods Blog 9/19/11

Great night with a few @SpiritHoods

Wooooow! Last night I ended up going to Boardners which is turned into Club Moscow on Wednesdays.

Before I left the house, I decided to grab a couple of the extra SpiritHoods that were provided to us for just such events. Throughout the night I met tons of awesome people all in awe with how awesome these SpiritHoods are. Some guy from Australia even was trying to negotiate wholesale prices so he could sell them overseas! I gave him the SpiritHood business card and told him to talk to them. I'm just an avid supporter of the brand. Anyway, I was able to snap a few pictures of people in these SpiritHoods. There were some pictures taken by a professional photographer, but you'll have to catch those on my Facebook and / or Twitter. 

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Originally posted on TalkNerdyToMeLover.com 12/16/10

Epic Night of Epicness

So, my Thursday night started just like any other Thursday night. Work work work. I was finishing up at work when I got a text from @TGumb: "Big plans for tonight and your coming" I'm always down for an adventure, so we met up at Backstage Bar and Grill..

So, I get there a tid bit early, but that's okay. I had my awesome adorable Spirithood on. Yeah, I made friends really quickly. I also discovered that they had $3 beers. It would have been fiscally irresponsible for me to not take advantage of said $3 beers, so I had a few. Tucker (@TGumb) showed up with his friends Lance and Mia and we proceeded to do some more drinking. We had a few extra spirithoods with us, so we were letting people try them on and just having a genuinely good time. Awesome. As the bar was wrapping up, the night was just getting started.

Tucker (the responsible DD) drove us downtown for the next part of the night. We had no idea what was in store for us. We end up at this Korean place called the Wi Spa. 

We walk in to the lobby and they give us all uniforms to put on. What? To put it lightly, I was not sober. At all. Poor Mia had to go to the ladies locker room while us guys went to ours. We changed and somehow in the process I got split up from everyone. I wandered up some stairs to the next floor. What did I find? A big open room with 50 people sleeping on mats everywhere. Like, what? Creepy. I go up another flight of stairs to the roof. Just some tables and a smoking area. I end up downstairs in the big open room and find Lance and Tucker. Now, on the outside of this big open room are all these doors to small saunas. The first one we go in is the ice sauna. ICE SAUNA. Yes, it was 40 degrees in there. We sat around cold as shit until I say enough. We found a couple of mats in the main room and lay down to wait for Mia. Might I add, that the tiles in the main room are all heated. Yep, hot floor. I had no idea what was going on. Oh, also. It was dead quiet. No one was talking or making any sounds. Being drunk makes quiet nearly impossible. Mia finally found us and told us horror stories that was the women's spa. She apparently didn't know where to go, so went and sat in the women's spa where they make you take your clothes off. Yeah, so you can imagine how awkward she felt. Some time during the night, we decided that we were hungry. By sometime, I definitely mean 3am. We called some random 24 hour food joint and had them deliver us sandwiches. Oh. My. God. We ended up staying there and exploring all the other sauna rooms until 8am. Can I just tell you that one of the sauna rooms was 240 degrees? Yeah, too hot if you ask me. This won't be a night that I'll be forgetting anytime soon.

#EPIC

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Originally posted on TalkNerdyToMeLover.com 12/18/10

@SpiritHoods Visits @TeamCoco

It all started off as just another Wednesday in the office. I stumbled in, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, desperately trying to remember the events of the previous evening when Alexander stopped me. “Morgan,” he said as I prepared for a lecture, “We’re going to Conan O’Brien!” This quickly snapped me out of my AM stupor. “YES!” I screamed in his face, forgetting he was a foot away from me. Before Alex could recover from his perforated eardrum, I was off making phone calls and seeing who we could get together to go visit everyone’s favorite ginger. Alas, the super team was assembled. From left to right, myself (Morgan), Olympia, Alexander, and TalkNerdyToMeLover.com‘s Jen Friel.

For those of you that missed the fun last month on Conan, here’s the picture recap.

I was stricken with the gorgeousness that was the guest lineup. Just beautiful people all around. Jon Hamm, Miranda Kerr, and Ke$ha.

Mmmm. Our super group muscled our way onto the screen. We had a very serious talk with Conan’s people. Alexander even threatened to streak. After some yelling, crying, and pleading, we reached an agreement. Here’s the outcome.

That’s right, we were on Conan. After the show, Ke$ha put on a private performance  just for us. We were kind enough to invite 500 of our closest friends. We rocked and rolled and clapped until our hands bled. With a sigh, it was all over. The fun, the glamour, the excitement; all done… for today.

Originally posted on the SpiritHoods Blog 5/20/11

@maniacalmorgan's job hunt... the happy ending

 

A little over a month ago I decided enough was enough. I was working my dead end retail / customer service job and had been for 4 years. I decided it was time to make a drastic change in my life. It was time to find a new job! Now, as of today, I work for SpiritHoods doing Social Media Marketing and PR. How did this come about? Well, let's revisit this last month.

December 14th, Jen and I had the opportunity to go down to Spirithoods' offices in downtown LA. This is where I got my first glimpse of how awesome the company is, and not just the product. We sat down with one of the owners and were able to learn about the company. They are also fans of talknerdytomelover! Go us! They gave us some extra Spirithoods to go out and document life with. I'm sure you guys have seen plenty of posts of all kinds of people in Spirithoods. That is compliments of those amazing folks at the offices.

Through some hard work and a little sweet talking, Jen and I were able to talk them into interviewing me for a position in social media marketing. The first interview went extremely well. I got an inside peek at how creative everyone from Spirithoods is and how amazing of a work environment it is. On Christmas Eve, I took over Spirithoods Twitter. So, if you've @ replied their Twitter account, you were talking to moi! 

January 5th, I sat down with two of the other owners, including the CEO, for my final interview. We touched on a number of ideas and I was able to get a feel about the direction of where they want everything to go. I was already in love with the company and the brand, but that just sealed it.

My life has changed for the better. I am part of an amazing company with an amazing product. My first day is going to be the 31st. I am like a little kid on caffeine and chocolate the night before going to Disneyland. I have no idea how I'm going to sleep before then. I'll figure it out. I am so very fortunate for this opportunity. I wouldn't call it luck. As Jen would say, there is no luck. It's opportunity meets preparation. Through the power of social media, anything is possible! Get out there and live your life. Be awesome! On behalf of Jen, here is a permission slip to go out and be awesome.

#NERDSUNITE

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Originally posted on TalkNerdyToMeLover.com 1/20/11

Surprise, You're Adopted (part 2)

Just so you know, I hate using the term "foster." My mom and dad are the ones who put their blood, sweat, and tears into raising me. I might not be theirs biologically, but they are and will forever be my mom and dad.

Oh my goodness. I know there's been a relatively large gap between this post and the last. This last week has been an emotional roller coaster like you can't believe. Let's just say the root of it lies with a girl. Sounds about right, eh? So, let's get to the story at hand. I'm adopted and this is how I found out.

If you haven't read part one of Suprise, You're Adopted, you can check it out here. So, I got the message in my Myspace inbox with my two closest friends sitting there with me. I finished reading the message and was just in awe. I didn't know what to believe. I still thought it was just some crazie messing with me... but, what if it wasn't? My two friends and I went out for dinner. As soon as we got our table, I went outside to call the number enclosed in the message. *ring ring ring* I can tell you, I felt like I was going to have an anxiety attack. I didn't know what to expect. This couldn't be real. She picked up the phone. The second I returned her "hello," she burst into tears. She knew immediately who I was without me even having to say anything. I told her "I'm sorry if I'm skeptical, but I don't know if I believe all of this." She began to tell me what time of day I was born, how much I weighed, she knew I had my appendix taken out when I was 12, and that I recently had laser eye surgery. Holy crap. She told me that my mom had sent her a few letters over the years, filling her in on what had occurred. Holy shit. I ended the phone call, still unsure of what was going on. My head was swimming with all of this. Was it true? What does it mean? I shrugged it off and tried to enjoy the rest of my dinner.

The next day, I had lunch with my uncle. We go out from time to time and already had this planned. We ate, chatted, and had a good time. He's awesome and I love him. He's a total nerd, so we connect :p. Anyway, towards the end of lunch, I told him I needed to ask him a question. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach. Ohmygodohmygod. I almost didn't want to know the answer to the question I was about to ask. "Am I adopted?" Surprised, he just kind of looked at me. "You need to talk to your parents," was his reply. That confirmed it for me. I wasn't angry, sad, or even upset. I can't explain the feelings I was having. At that moment, my life changed. Drastically. 

Working the night shift, I left lunch and went straight to work. I kept busy to try and keep my mind off of recent events for the sake of work, but that was nearly impossible. I took a break to call my dad. "Hey dad, I need to ask you a favor." My parents are the early to bed type. They are in bed at the latest by 9PM. This was a Thursday. My mom had a girlfriend weekend planned and was leaving the next day. My mom has always been the super sensitive type. I didn't want to bother her before she went on her much-needed vacation. "Could you wait up for me? I'll be home by 12:30AM. And don't worry, no one is pregnant." I felt a wave of relief wash over his voice as he agreed to stay up and wait for me.

Alright, so this is another breaking point for me. This is going to be a long story. I'll try and give you the next part sooner. Again, there's so much going on in my personal life, it makes it hard. I just haven't had the motivation to write, as this is an emotional story for me. I can only take so much! Anyway, I'll be continuing soon!

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Originally posted on TalkNerdyToMeLover.com 4/11/11

Surprise, You're Adopted

Social media really has changed my life. It’s a huge part of who I am today. I found my current living situation through Twitter. I’ve reconnected with friends I hadn’t talked to in over 10 years through Facebook. My current job, which I love to death, is because of social media. Shit, I’m the Director of Social Media Marketing. Boom! “That’s great, Morgan. What the eff are you getting at?” It’s story time.

A little bit about me. I’m 24 years old. I was born September 24th in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but raised in Los Angeles. I grew up in as an only child in an amazing family and love my mom and dad to death. I spent some time in public school in my early years, but was privileged to spend the majority of my schooling in private schools. I did spend the last 2 years of high school at an all boys military boarding school called The Marine Military Academy. I wasn’t a problem child, my parents just wanted me to get into a good college seeing as I was slacking in the academic department my first two years of high school. I was far more interested in sports and girls. After dropping out of Texas A&M: Galveston, things with my parents got rather rough. I fought all the time with my mom, as she had high expectations of me. Both of my parents are smart and successful, so seeing me drop out of school was a disappointment. I get it now, but that time period was rough. Although I could write a book about all of my life experiences, I’m here to tell you the story of one specific event.

So, I touched on the fact I was born in Missouri. My parents both lived in Los Angeles at the time, so when I found this out, I figured I just popped out early- while they were on vacation or something. I’m a guy, we’re not known for asking those kinds of questions. Or maybe, it’s just me. Either way, that’s what I thought. So, let’s rewind to the late 2007, early 2008. Myspace still hadn’t been completely dominated by Facebook. I had Cape Girardeau listed as my hometown because I found it cool that I’m not entirely an LA native. Anyway, I got a friend request from this older lady (37 years old if I remember correctly) who was from the same hometown. My thought process was that she was probably new to Myspace and was just adding people who had things in common with her. Alright, I accepted her. We were friends for a few months and she would send me the occasional nice message. I would reply back and just be friendly. Cool. One day (February 22nd, 2008 to be exact) I was chilling with two of my friends. Oddly enough, these are the two friends I’ve known the longest in life. My friend Matt who I’ve known for nearly 15 years and my friend Andrew who I’ve known for 10. Matt had informed me that this girl we went to grade school with had become a porn star. Immediately, we ran to the computer to find her on Myspace to see if it was true. I got to the computer first, so I logged into my Myspace. I had a message waiting for me in my inbox. It was from the nice older lady. Interested, I opened it with my friends hovering over my shoulder and this is what it said:

Im really not sure how to say this or even if I should. Ive tried so many times to tell you and every time I would get scared because Im not out to try to change ur life. I hope that I dont overstep any bounderies that I shouldnt overstep because thats not why Im here.
Did you ever wonder why I found you on myspace and that I was from the same hometown as you? well, the reason is because I'm ur biological mother. All your life (21 yrs)I have waited for you to be old enough to contact me or to contact you and without sussess on my end, it took me this long to find you. I want you to know that Ive never stopped loving, caring or wondering about you. Ive always wondered what u looked like, what ur personality was like, was you happy..ect..when I found u online, I couldnt believe it, after all this time, I finally found you. I sat and cried my eyes out and then wasnt for sure what to do from there. So, here I am.
Please know that it is TOTALLY your choice if you would like to persue this any further and the decision that you make, I will respect. I love you son, always have and always will no matter what! I just want you to be happy in life and for you to know that you are very specially loved.
I have pics up on my profile of my side of the family if you are interested, please feel free to take a look at them. I want you to know that you also have a little brother (full blood) thats 9 yrs old. Atleast you will know what some of your background is. You are amazingly beautiful, which I always knew you would be. 

At this point in the message, I started laughing. There’s no way I was adopted. I would have known something. I mean, I have blonde hair and blue eyes just like my mom. No way! I closed the message and proceeded to look up my old classmate. Sure enough, she had become a porn star. Hilarious! I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach in regards to the message. I couldn’t shake it. I went back to the message and finished reading it with my friends still sitting beside me.

Your parents, **** and ***, have been wonderful over the years, writting to me here and there, letting me know a little about your life. They are wounderful people and I love them with my heart and sole. Im not sure how much your parents have told you and I dont want to upset them and Im not here to start a fued between you and your family, please believe me when I say that.
Im not here to make you feel obligated to talk to me, I just want you to know that the option is there. (with open arms and an open heart)Im sure your curious, I know I am and I would be honored in answering any questions that you have. If you ever want to contact me, you can reach me by email, here, phone, or write to my home..heres all the info..
1) email.: *******************
2) address: *****************
3) Cell phone: ***************
I hope that our lives will one day unite but until then, please take care of yourself and be happy Morgan, and know that my heart is always open for you. Feel free to contact me anytime...
Ive always loved you
love,
*********

I hate to do this to you amazing people, but I will have to continue this story later. This is a very emotional story and a pivotal part of my life. I’ve never actually shared the message with anyone and reading it brings tears to my eyes. I am surrounded by love in my life, and I’m very lucky to have discovered even more people that love me. Stay tuned for the next portion of this tale.

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Originally posted on TalkNerdyToMeLover.com 4/3/11

My #E3 Experience

For those of you that don’t know what E3 is, it’s the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Once a year the biggest video game companies get together and showcase all of the big projects on the horizon. Now, I’ve been a jock, I’ve been a musician, but one thing I have and always will be is a nerd. I remember walking up to the TV screen for better aim (yeah, some would call this cheating) with that horrible orange-plastic gun for Duck Hunt. So yeah, I’ve been playing video games for a while.

Wednesday, the 2nd day of E3 started just like any other day. Wake up, run 25 miles, do 1,000 push-ups and sit-ups, and then take my private helicopter to work (I wish that any of this actually happened). I did work-ey stuff as soon as I got there. I might have danced a little bit, but that’s a normal occurrence around the Den. After a couple hours of slaving away, Ashley and his assistant Jenny saved me. “Let’s go over to E3. We have passes waiting.” Little did Ash know, but I was already in his car by the time he finished the sentence. I can move pretty quick when I need to. Fast forward through $25 parking and trying to figure out where to get our passes and you have us walking into E3, me for the first time. I was like a little kid in a candy shop. I didn’t even know where to begin. It was like Vegas, but you don’t have to worry about strippers stealing your wallet. Here was what I saw when I walked in.

Ashley, the seasoned E3 vetran in our group, was cutting his way through the crowd while Jenny and I were stunned at the lights, the crowd, and all the awesome video games waiting to be played. We fought our way to the Nexon booth to meet with some of our business contacts. We made custom hoods for Nexon’s game Vindictus. Last year Nexon just tossed hoods out into their audience and as you can imagine, people went crazy. A little bit too crazy in fact. Punches were thrown, names were called, and I think someone’s finger got bitten off. Madness. They had their own stage where they held raffles twice a day. Here’s Jenny and I hanging out with one of the booth babes modeling the custom Polar Bear we made. 

Day 2 (my first day) of E3 was a lot of fun. We met all kinds of cool people as well as some of my Twitter friends. As day 2 came to an end, my energy was at its end. It was time to go home and get rested up for another day filled with adventures.

I didn’t want to miss any E3 action on day 3, so I showed up bright and early before the actual expo opened with a few extra of the Vindictus hoods, hoping to figure out how to make good use for them. After meeting with the peeps at Nexon, we decided I would run around and hand them out to deserving people wearing Nexon t-shirts. Oh boy, what pressure! I met up with my friend Adam (@violent_gamer) as I needed a partner in crime. We frolicked, skipped, and even did some walking throughout the day. We got some hands on time with a lot of the games. We played with confused pets, blew up helicopters, manipulated the force, and destroyed Alien hordes. 

It was a pretty busy day considering it was Thursday. Nexon ended up announcing that someone from SpiritHoods was at E3 and that they were going to be handing out hoods to people wearing their t-shirts. Holy crap, they are talking about me! I felt like I was famous! Not because people asked for my autograph or anything. It was more because I had people stalking me the rest of the day. I have to give a shout-out to the final guy I gave a hood to. The announcement that I was at E3 was made at 1:00PM. Immediately after, I had people asking if I was the person from SpiritHoods. One gentleman in particular came up to me wearing an inappropriately tight t-shirt. He explained that he was wearing his girlfriend’s t-shirt because he wanted the hood so badly. 4:30PM rolls around, and I run into this gentleman still wearing his girlfriend’s t-shirt. He suffered a day of asphyxiation just so he could win a SpiritHood. I was so impressed I couldn’t say no. E3, I am going to miss you. Until next year, adieu.

Originally posted on the SpiritHoods Blog 6/13/11