Warning: no poker content in this post.
As you may have guessed from the title, this is a gaming entry. During my EPT MC adventure I finished Lunar: Silver Star Harmony for the PSP. It was a well executed remake and enjoyable the whole way through. I've now moved on to Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey for the DS, which thus far has been exactly what I expected. I guess that's a good thing.
While running errands today I also picked up Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii, and preordered Starcraft 2 (can't wait) for the PC, 3D Dot Game Heroes for the PS3, and Persona 3 Portable for the PSP.
More importantly however, I also grabbed some cabling hardware to go along with the two SNES replica USB controllers I ordered prior to leaving. This all to the end that my best friend and I would finally be able to undo one of the most traumatic events of our childhood - that being Seiken Densetsu 3 not seeing an english translation or release. Thankfully however, several years ago some dedicated fans hacked an english translation into the ROM data and released it online. Thus, through the miracle of emulation and a laptop hooked up to my home theatre system, plus two USB SNES controllers, we will have a completely authentic experience playing through the sequel to Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan). It is going to be a good time.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Trip Report Part 3 of 3: Britain
Following our day in Paris, we took the train to London and stayed for four nights in the suburb of Chertsey, at The Bridge Hotel. I have quite a bit of family on my father's side in England, and he timed his yearly vacation to his birth country such that he was able to act as our tour guide over the course of the trip. It has been sixteen years (note: I'm 25 years old) since I last visited Britain, so spending time with family I haven't seen in ages was a treat.
We spent a great deal of time driving around the English countryside. They may have a mere fraction of the land that we Canadians enjoy, but what they do have is groomed and manicured to an extent that you really have to see to believe. Perfectly trimmed hedges are everywhere. Wild ponies in the New Forest and some ridiculously tame Peacocks provided a lot of cute factor.
We spent one day in inner London, taking a boat tour which gave a good view (along with humorous live narration) of many historic sites, including the London Eye, Big Ben, the Parliament Building, the Tower of London, many of the bridges along the river Thames, and many other significant buildings I'm surely forgetting.
Outside of London, our major destinations were the Bournemouth area and the Canterbury area in Kent. Canterbury cathedral was even more awe inspiring than I remembered, and that's saying something. The castles of Dover and Courfe were both very interesting to view, especially given I have a soft spot for the medieval.
Here are a few photographs from our adventures:
The London Eye, viewed via boat. The picture doesn't quite do the size justice, it is one really, really big Ferris wheel.
A shot of Tower Bridge from the boat. My favorite of the bridges which span the river Thames.
Big Ben, and what I'm 90% sure is the Parliament Building to the left. Again, viewed from a boat tour taking us down the river Thames.
A look at Canterbury Cathedral, the Vatican equivalent for those of the Anglican branch of the Christian faith. The stained glass windows and tombs contained within are breathtaking.
We spent a great deal of time driving around the English countryside. They may have a mere fraction of the land that we Canadians enjoy, but what they do have is groomed and manicured to an extent that you really have to see to believe. Perfectly trimmed hedges are everywhere. Wild ponies in the New Forest and some ridiculously tame Peacocks provided a lot of cute factor.
We spent one day in inner London, taking a boat tour which gave a good view (along with humorous live narration) of many historic sites, including the London Eye, Big Ben, the Parliament Building, the Tower of London, many of the bridges along the river Thames, and many other significant buildings I'm surely forgetting.
Outside of London, our major destinations were the Bournemouth area and the Canterbury area in Kent. Canterbury cathedral was even more awe inspiring than I remembered, and that's saying something. The castles of Dover and Courfe were both very interesting to view, especially given I have a soft spot for the medieval.
Here are a few photographs from our adventures:
The London Eye, viewed via boat. The picture doesn't quite do the size justice, it is one really, really big Ferris wheel.
A shot of Tower Bridge from the boat. My favorite of the bridges which span the river Thames.
Big Ben, and what I'm 90% sure is the Parliament Building to the left. Again, viewed from a boat tour taking us down the river Thames.
A look at Canterbury Cathedral, the Vatican equivalent for those of the Anglican branch of the Christian faith. The stained glass windows and tombs contained within are breathtaking.
Trip Report Part 2 of 3: Paris
We only spent one real day in Paris, as we arrived at around 10pm local time on the 1st, and departed at 1pm on the 3rd. It was an eventful day of doing the cliche touristy things. We climbed the Eiffel tower to the second observatory, which as far as I know is the furthest up as you reach can by stairs. It was right around 700 stairs each way, and the view was worth it. We then explored the outside of the Louvre and the surrounding park, where we were robbed at string point by a pair of Kenyans (inside joke, sorry). We would have attempted to go inside, but the line was so enormously huge (the movie Eurotrip wasn't kidding) that we put that ambition aside.
Our hotel in Paris was located right next to the Gare du Nord train station, and while the staff spoke great English and was helpful, the room made the two star rating seem generous. I found it odd how expensive Paris hotels are compared to those in Britain, where I was able to get a very nice 4 star hotel for close to the same price. We had three good meals, including a Parisian breakfast at a classic French diner, and dinner at a nice Italian spot close to our hotel. Lunch was spent at "The Great Canadian Pub", which we had to check out once we saw the sign. It did feel fairly Canadian, if mostly due to the hockey merchandise everywhere.
Below are a few photos from our day:
Looking up at the Eiffel tower. The number of souvenir peddlers at the base is astounding.
A view from the first deck of the Eiffel.
A view from the second deck of the Eiffel.
The entrance to the Louvre (the pyramid looking thingy) and some of the surrounding building in which the museum itself is located.
Our hotel in Paris was located right next to the Gare du Nord train station, and while the staff spoke great English and was helpful, the room made the two star rating seem generous. I found it odd how expensive Paris hotels are compared to those in Britain, where I was able to get a very nice 4 star hotel for close to the same price. We had three good meals, including a Parisian breakfast at a classic French diner, and dinner at a nice Italian spot close to our hotel. Lunch was spent at "The Great Canadian Pub", which we had to check out once we saw the sign. It did feel fairly Canadian, if mostly due to the hockey merchandise everywhere.
Below are a few photos from our day:
Looking up at the Eiffel tower. The number of souvenir peddlers at the base is astounding.
A view from the first deck of the Eiffel.
A view from the second deck of the Eiffel.
The entrance to the Louvre (the pyramid looking thingy) and some of the surrounding building in which the museum itself is located.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Trip Report Part 1 of 3: Monte Carlo
After flying out of Calgary the evening of April 23rd, we hopped planes at London Heathrow early on the 24th and landed in Nice that afternoon. We split the cab from Nice airport to Monte Carlo with a player who was arriving from Edmonton, reaching the hotel extremely jet lagged around 6pm or so local time. As expected, the resort hotel was extravagant. On the elevator ride up to my room I bumped into Joe Hachem, though I think I may have been too tired at that point to make coherent small talk - it's a bit of a blur.
As I started play on Day 1B, we had a full day to recuperate and look around Monaco. Unfortunately for us it was Sunday, so the vast majority of establishments were closed. Despite this we did enjoy a good walk around the shopping district near our hotel, and explored the beach side promenade which we would visit daily for drinks, slurpees, and other such items over the course of our stay.
I won't talk terribly much about my tournament experiences in either the EPT Final Main event or the SNE freeroll, as they have been documented in earlier blog posts. To sum it all up quickly, I finished 121/848, min cashing for 15,000 Euros in the Main Event. I spent the entire second day seated directly to the left of Chris Moneymaker, who is one of the most personable guys I have ever met and was delightful to play with. In the SNE freeroll I picked up $1000 worth of bounties and final tabled to receive a $530 tournament ticket.
I must mention that while just about everything (food/drink included) was very expensive as expected in Monaco, we were very fortunate to be provided a buffet breakfast every morning thanks to Pokerstars. As you might imagine, this quickly became our biggest meal of the day, and the quality of food was very high. Though the resort hotel was absolutely gorgeous, particularly the garden areas, the attitudes of some of the staff became a bit off putting. You could tell they were not used to the kind of clientele the EPT Final (or any poker event for that matter)brings, and some certainly held some resentment due to it.
On the final few days of our stay, we took a tour bus around Monaco. Being the second smallest country in the world behind the Vatican, this didn't take very long. There were however a ton of sites to see, and the vast majority of the land is aesthetically pleasing, particularly any place with a garden. We spent some time at the Oceanographic Museum, which had an extremely wide array of sea life to gawk at, along with many historical pieces from one of Monaco's princes. We witnessed the changing of the guards at the palace, and attended the EPT Season 6 Awards party, which was entertaining.
My lovely girlfriend is always in charge of the photography on our trips, and from the two weeks we spent away (including France/Britain, those TRs will come soon) we have 527 photos. I normally don't post much in the way of pictures, but since I promised the great vinivici I would, I'm going to take my favorite handful from Monaco and put them below along with a short explanation.
The view from our hotel room. My SNE status managed to get us into the baller hotel rather than the cheaper alternatives most qualifiers were put up at. Unfortunately they had a very small number of Sea View Rooms available, and I was left without one. The mountainside view was still very nice however.
Me standing with a water sphere monument in the background. This was just outside Le Sporting club where the tournament itself was played. I know this picture isn't terribly interesting, but I'm including because I spent almost every break during the tournament play staring at the sphere enjoying the light mist it provides.
The port in Monte Carlo, taken from just outside the royal palace. So many massive yachts. We thought the ones docked at the Atlantis during the PCA were nice, but Monaco put things in perspective a little.
The changing of the guard outside the palace. They were twenty minutes late from their scheduled time, though it worked out for us because we got off our bus just as the event was starting.
Paris TR and then Britain TR to follow. Stay tuned.
As I started play on Day 1B, we had a full day to recuperate and look around Monaco. Unfortunately for us it was Sunday, so the vast majority of establishments were closed. Despite this we did enjoy a good walk around the shopping district near our hotel, and explored the beach side promenade which we would visit daily for drinks, slurpees, and other such items over the course of our stay.
I won't talk terribly much about my tournament experiences in either the EPT Final Main event or the SNE freeroll, as they have been documented in earlier blog posts. To sum it all up quickly, I finished 121/848, min cashing for 15,000 Euros in the Main Event. I spent the entire second day seated directly to the left of Chris Moneymaker, who is one of the most personable guys I have ever met and was delightful to play with. In the SNE freeroll I picked up $1000 worth of bounties and final tabled to receive a $530 tournament ticket.
I must mention that while just about everything (food/drink included) was very expensive as expected in Monaco, we were very fortunate to be provided a buffet breakfast every morning thanks to Pokerstars. As you might imagine, this quickly became our biggest meal of the day, and the quality of food was very high. Though the resort hotel was absolutely gorgeous, particularly the garden areas, the attitudes of some of the staff became a bit off putting. You could tell they were not used to the kind of clientele the EPT Final (or any poker event for that matter)brings, and some certainly held some resentment due to it.
On the final few days of our stay, we took a tour bus around Monaco. Being the second smallest country in the world behind the Vatican, this didn't take very long. There were however a ton of sites to see, and the vast majority of the land is aesthetically pleasing, particularly any place with a garden. We spent some time at the Oceanographic Museum, which had an extremely wide array of sea life to gawk at, along with many historical pieces from one of Monaco's princes. We witnessed the changing of the guards at the palace, and attended the EPT Season 6 Awards party, which was entertaining.
My lovely girlfriend is always in charge of the photography on our trips, and from the two weeks we spent away (including France/Britain, those TRs will come soon) we have 527 photos. I normally don't post much in the way of pictures, but since I promised the great vinivici I would, I'm going to take my favorite handful from Monaco and put them below along with a short explanation.
The view from our hotel room. My SNE status managed to get us into the baller hotel rather than the cheaper alternatives most qualifiers were put up at. Unfortunately they had a very small number of Sea View Rooms available, and I was left without one. The mountainside view was still very nice however.
Me standing with a water sphere monument in the background. This was just outside Le Sporting club where the tournament itself was played. I know this picture isn't terribly interesting, but I'm including because I spent almost every break during the tournament play staring at the sphere enjoying the light mist it provides.
The port in Monte Carlo, taken from just outside the royal palace. So many massive yachts. We thought the ones docked at the Atlantis during the PCA were nice, but Monaco put things in perspective a little.
The changing of the guard outside the palace. They were twenty minutes late from their scheduled time, though it worked out for us because we got off our bus just as the event was starting.
Paris TR and then Britain TR to follow. Stay tuned.
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