sylcmyk

MMM, MMM, MUJI, MUJI

2012-01-22T14:58:00.003-05:00

On the last day of 2011 I received the greatest thing in the mail, ever. From the deepest depths of concrete Tokyo, my good friend (and awesome vocalist) Chihiro sent me a package.

But this wasn't just any package because it contained the greatest things ever manufactured by mankind today, including illustrations!

These drinks are the greatest and they're only available in one country. Friends at MUJI tell me crap FDA regulations, and for reasons of, the drinks will never be imported here (which I highly doubt).

Chihiro was also nice enough to send me some other delicious treats, including some squid and plums!

Thanks amiga, :D

If only you could of seen my reaction when I received the package from the delivery person and saw the big EMS shipping label from the Japan Post. I think I may have popped the delivery person's eardrum!

2012 is already off on a good start and I hope it stays like this until 2102.

Kern Type, the kerning game

2011-10-12T13:52:00.004-04:00

type.method.ac/

I'm a bit of a nut job when it comes to things with type. So you know this game got my juices flowing!

Literally short of a pixel difference. I deserved 101/100!

Restart!

2011-09-24T18:30:00.002-04:00

Geez, it's really been a while, hasn't it?

For the past couple of months I've been all over the place: going to Canada, doing some shows around the city. And I have a newfound love for the iOS version of nanoloop (well, I use it more frequently on my phone than my tablet). I started roughly around the ending of May and with trial and failure conjured about 20 substantial tracks out of 48 sketches.

The application's song selection menu

Current project I'm hoping to finish, :D

Nanoloop helps me be keep the groove on repeat!

I've been debating on whether I should do a nanoloop release for the past couple of weeks. Actually, I've been debating on when I should start putting the album together but I don't see any need to rush, :D

https://8bc.org/music/sylcmyk/Sunmajor/
As for songs, this is a definite.

Blip Festival 2011

2011-05-25T01:11:00.083-04:00

I finally managed to go to my first Blip last friday and I'm still, five days after, lost for words. It's quite an amazing festival and it was a damn good way to finish a week's worth of unnecessary finals.

Sadly it was my first time hearing about 4mat, who's quite an impressive composer. I mean the guy's been making music around the same time I was born, twenty-two years ago! I didn't find out until later from the words of minusbaby and friends that it was his first live chipappearance. Rock'd the house nevertheless.

Stepped outside to find a bank and happened to missed a large portion of Bit Shifter's performance. And to add insult to injury I was stuck all the way in the back!

You know what I love most about my good buddy exile'? How amazing controlling his music is, which comes as no surprise to extremely successful set. I still remember performing with him back in '09 and still love everything he composes.

Then came cTrix, the god. Some of the sickest and tightest shit I've ever heard in my entire life. Then this happened:

Everyone hauled themselves up on stage in a wild frenzy.

Behold the Gatari 2600, a masterinstrument built by ctrix himself that he used to perform his second (or third song).

Then on Monday was the monthly I/O event that featured music from Datalore, MisfitChris, Dot.AY and Bubblyfish (who I'm missed).

:D MisfitChris was sweet enough to dedicate his track "Rooptop Intoxication" (link) to me during his set. Sweet lovin' music I tell you!

Everything's been quite awesome post-blip; I'm slowly regaining my social life, I'm creating new sounds all the time, and I'm finally getting out more. I was super soaked to meet L-tron and MisfitChris finally and meet some of the coolest mo'fos on the planet.

Washington D.C.

2011-04-26T23:59:00.001-04:00

I took my mom on a small weekend trip to the nation's capital recently and it was absolutely amazing. There is so much things to see and do that it's impossible to get everything done in the weekend, not to mention that we did a lot of sightseeing (and walking) on the Mall.

Future reference - take the Metro everywhere.

東京: Day 6: Shinjuku, Odaiba, Pokemon Center, Shibuya, Akihabara

2011-02-06T15:24:00.013-05:00

I've been pretty neglecting to most of Shinjuku (not counting the Ni-chome area), but with more years ahead of me I'll surely acquiring more confidence to roam all over.

As I've mentioned before, the morning streets of eastern Shinjuku are quiet. Making a trip to the western side of the area I found out why. As you can see people are running frantically from the major train station to their working facilities in those skyscrapers.

It's funny too because everybody's on the same side of the sidewalk.

With the day being so clear I decided to make a trip to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.

One city block in western Shinjuku is about equivalent to two or three in Manhattan. There are also various platforms and tunnels you can walk through to make confuse yourself. Never walked around in circles so much in my entire life!

Finally, I arrived in front of the Tokyo Tocho (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building). The architecture is so concrete and plain yet so elegant. Thanks Mr. Kenzo Tange!

I was afraid of leaving Japan without a chance to see the infamous Fujisan. Luckily the day was clear enough to catch a breathtaking view of the beast. I've also uploaded pictures not featured on my blog to my flickr.

The morning was going so smooth until I decided to make a long and tiring trip to the Square Enix store - only to be greeted with this. Apparently new stuff is coming in or they're doing redesigns or whatever. But this, this truly pissed me off. If I knew this would of happened (because I did check in advance) I would of been less cautious on my spending at the Ghibli Museum. Thank you Square Enix.

Next stop, Odaiba! The best way to get there is by the Yurikamome monorail, a driverless computer-driven system. Talk about ultimate technology! The ride is smooth and very beautiful.

Palette Town is so damn huge it's not even funny. I hardly covered the surface but I made sure to cover a substantial part of this complex.

Palette Town houses many things, such as the Daikanransha Ferris Wheel, the Toyota City Showcase (a car-based theme park of Toyota cars) and the VenusFort shopping mall.

It's way bigger than what you think.

The outside of the VenusFort shopping arcade looks like arranged metal scraps but the inside is beyond amazing.

Yes, that's Starbucks. Yes, those are clouds illustrated on the ceiling.

Yes, that's me being a scaredy-cat on the Daikanransha.

Afterwards I travelled to the Hamamatsucho area (for the umpteenth time) in order to get inside the Pokemon Center.

Along the way I saw this - a collection of parked bicycles and motorcycles but without chains and locks. You'll never see something like this in New York City so I apologize if I seem naïve.

POM POM-POM POM! Thankfully I was allowed to take pictures inside too:

Spent cash like a Trump!

Sweet, sweet Shibuya and the crossing. Yes, it's just as how you see it depicted everywhere. The JR Shibuya station entrance and exits link directly 8 or 9 cross walkings. People run, people walk and people get to where they're going but without shoving or pushing. I walked through it multiple times (yeah, I looked insane) and was able to take some beautiful video footage - give me a couple of months and I'll have videos flying out.

A street performer acting as two little puppets.

I love Hachiko!

I went into the Tower Records complex in Shibuya after stopping at Hachiko and it made me really miss the Virgin Megastores in New York City. There aren't many music suppliers in New York City anymore thanks to gentrification and materialization. There are private ones, like in Williamsburg (ruined by hipsters obviously) and lower Manhattan but not any large suppliers that I know of. Shibuya's Tower Records dedicates each floor to a specific genre (about eight floors worth of music). It's overwhelming but if you have a day to spare go very early.

Yes, Akihabara again. After all the arcade playing I went to Yodobashi Camera and had a blast there too. I was going to go to one of those maid-cafes afterwards but I decided to spend mostly everything on IIDX.

6000 yen well spent!

The last picture, in Shinjuku.

Tokyo is a beautiful place. My eyes are wide and open to the rest of the world thanks to this trip. When you're stuck in New York City and comfortable you tend to become stubborn. I didn't want to return home. Wanting to come back to city for all its goods and glories wasn't enough. As a kid I would always get tired by the fifth day of a seven day trip and want to go back home, for the lights and all that jazz. I can't leave this post on a sour note because I had an amazing time - a phenomenal time experiencing a different culture, meeting new people and strangers.

Japanese people are kind, interesting and most of all sexy./storage

東京: Day 5, Ginza

2011-02-01T20:49:00.011-05:00

This was the (second) most disappointing part of my trip because I woke up terribly late. There's nothing wrong with Ginza - in fact it reminded me so much of 5th Ave (the New York City shopping district for those who don't know) that I was purposely pinpointing what made 5th Ave better... and the only thing that makes 5th Ave better place is that the streets are bigger, way bigger. But this is Japan - if it doesn't need to be big it shouldn't.

My first stop was the Sony Building. It's a wonderful complex that showcases most of Sony's upcoming technologies, etc. They have an amazing line up of 3DTVs as well as videocameras.

I made my way into the Wako building afterwards and shockingly enough it's like Saxs, but smaller and more cleaner. There's a nice collection of small desktop clocks but everything inside is ridiculously overpriced. Actually, after I saw the prices of their clocks I ran out as quickly as possible.

I wish we had more of these in the city. The Matsuya Ginza is pretty much like Manhattan Mall but much bigger and they also have many fruit and meat shops in the basement (think of an avenue of Farmer's Markets, but in a basement). There are restaurants on the top floor but I can't see myself paying more than $50 for steak (and I was getting pretty hungry too).

You can see the Apple store (it's filled with foreigners - go figure).

The Ricoh building.

This had to be the funniest and most exciting part of the day - going to Uniqlo in Ginza (they were blasting Drake over the speakers). There's something to be said and I think I should stress it but the Uniqlo stores in Tokyo are synonymous to Old Navy stores in New York. Absolutely cheap and everywhere. I complement whoever is in their marketing departments because what they've done in New York is exceptional. New Yorkers compare it quality-wise to the Gap but what they fail to realize is that the Uniqlo in New York trends to the young and (I hate using this word) fashionable unlike Gap's work/family-orient.

Maybe I'm just overlooking things.

東京: Day 4, Akihabara, Ghibli Museum, Dinner

2011-01-25T22:44:00.010-05:00

At first I was going to cruise the entire Yamanote loop (in a clockwise motion), until I came upon this:

It was only 10:01 in the morning. With a little time to spare I decided to drop by the electronic-mecca, Akihabara.

Sadly when I arrived most of the shops and arcades weren't even open, even the Gundam Cafe was closed. For an hour or so I sat inside a resident cafe, snapping a few pictures.

Ten after eleven, Gundam opened!

For anyone planning on visiting this cafe (or any other place in Japan), realize that though the Latin alphabet is plastered everywhere doesn't mean everyone speaks English. When in Japan, speak Japanese. I realized what I was saying to them in English was as foreign to them as foreign could be. Learn the proper pronunciations of foreign things - saying Sylvester is not the same as Shirubesutā - they'll understand the difference.

A Caffè Americano! (I think)

And of course you know I took pictures of the inside display.

With more time to spare I decided to run back towards Akiba's Chuo-dori to see if any arcade houses were open.

Behold the great Taito Station.

I've seen many things in prize-grabbing machines but this, this was too much. Also they're on the first floor.

I haven't played beatmaniaIIDX since DistorteD came out in 2006. With years behind me I was surprised to pass 9s and most 10s with AAs. Because it's 200 yen (per play) for the short amount of time I was there, I spent at least 2000 to 4000 yen!

After some time I finally made my way to Hamamatsucho for the tour's departure to the Ghibli Museum. The museum is really fascinating in every centimeter you come across. It's so unique, so different and so fucking awesome that you'll be a fool to withhold your inner-childlike tendencies.

Here's the the outside.

Mr. Totoro at the ticket counter (きっぷうりば).

Aren't these the little dust thingies?

This is the greatest place on the fucking planet. Pure brilliance.

I had some delicious Raspberry Ice Cream and Japanese tea from their little cafe. Yes, it was 1˚C outside but I didn't care - I want to enjoy myself!

There are no photos allowed inside the museum. I could understand why too. I can't go much into detail about what's inside but everything is about inspiration. From Hayao Miyazaki's past works you'll see sketches and film clips in action - the whole ordeal a team of artists labor into making a film. Visiting the museum was definitely inspirational and lovely. Someday I hope to meet Mr. Hayao and his team.

With no time to spare I quickly made my way back to the hotel for a warm-welcoming dinner in Shinjuku with friends: Sexy-Synthesizer's Mr. Nagai and his wonderful wife, the VJ (Mr. Otani) and the great Ms. Chihiro in Tokyo.

(They're all crazy, like me)

We had a delicious feast and a very interesting discussion of east and west, the similarities and the just plan silly. Ms. Chihiro was wonderful enough to provide concrete English to Japanese (vice versa) translations. And Kubota sake, absolutely delicious. Too bad I had a good episode in my hotel room which paralyzed me for a damn long period.

I'll leave it at that.

東京: Day 3, Ueno, Omotesando-dori, Meiji Jingu

2011-01-24T22:41:00.015-05:00

I planned to do a lot of things while in Ueno: visit the Tokyo National Museum, visit a couple of shrines, visit the Shitamachi Museum and after that Ameyokocho market. Sadly I underestimated the size of Ueno park, getting lost in the process; making me extremely exhausted.

The Tokyo National Museum houses a wonderful collection in their main building, Honkan.

Along browsing I came upon samurai armories and other sorts of warrior gear. It's amazing how fierce, bold and delicate the metal working is.

I was surprised to find all of Hokusai's "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji" in the museum.

The prints are full of color but a lot bluer in tone than what I expected (I think my eyes were playing tricks on me).

The walk around the entire main building's galleries made me more tired than usual. And there were other buildings around the museum's vicinity but I didn't bother going inside any of them.

I wondered around outside the museum's gates to see if I could find the Kanei-ji but being unable to find it and becoming increasingly agitated I made my way outside the park en route to the Shitamachi Museum. Although I did arrive at the museum's entrance I didn't go in. Instead I was fascinated by the amount of brown in the Shinobazu Pond.

I was even shocked to find pigeons, in Tokyo!

つり禁止 means fishing isn't allowed.

Afterwards I decided to make my way on to Omotesando-dori from the Minato-ku (the Aoyama side) to the Shibuya-ku (Harajuku side).

The Prada building is really funky but an masterpiece nevertheless.

Around the corner their's an Originalfake store but it's really small (and really expensive).

One of the main reasons I ventured through Omotesando-dori was to find the Bathing Ape store. It's pretty well hidden and irritating to find. If you've been to the New York store there's nothing new you'll find here (except for the colorful display of sneakers and store design).

After a disappointing hour of trailing I decided to make my way to the Meiji Jingu via Omotesando-dori. The street is a little like New York's Madison Avenue - a mixture of 5th Avenue and Broadway. The most fulfilling place is probably Omotesando Hills, a very interesting shopping center.

Quite dazzling - beats every other shopping centre I've ever been to. I even stopped and caught a bite at a restaurant called Golden Brown. It's smaller than any other restaurant I've ever been in but the food is delicious!

Meiji Jingu was packed. I guess a better time would of been the morning but its still a beautiful place, regardless of how many people are around.

I think Japanese women are the only kind women that can walk on pebbles and not tear a ligament.

東京: Day 2, Dynamic Tokyo Tour

2011-01-23T20:06:00.009-05:00

I had no problems sleeping the night of my arrival. In fact, I had such a profound night's rest that I woke up entirely energized. After a quick breakfast I quickly made my way to the epic station of Shinjuku. In the morning the streets tend to be very quiet and empty with the exception of delivery trucks and cars (there's west Shinjuku and east Shinjuku; my hotel was on the eastern side).

It was pretty stupid for me to think that the station would of been empty just as outside.

Just as packed as how I found it, if not more crowded than before. With only thirty minutes to reach Hamamatsucho station on the Yamanote I made no single hesitation to get on train (well, I waited for the second or third train to pull in because I had to step back and take in the plethora of people squirming through the platforms, running out of the train as well as other forms of unmentionable chaos). I reached with five minutes to go. Somehow I managed to go out the wrong exit but end up right were I needed to be except on the other side of the glass. With a couple of bangs and shouts I got on the bus on time.

Our first stop was at Tokyo Tower.

It resembles the Eiffel Tower with its shape and lattice work.

Inside the observation decks you get a good idea just how vast central Tokyo is. Buildings, everywhere. If the day were clearer I would of been able to see Fujisan off in the distance.

Northern and eastern Tokyo (Central Tokyo, Roppongi, Ueno (behind the Mori building), Shiodome and Tsukiji areas)

I was pretty excited to see the Odaiba area too.

And the Daikanransha ferris wheel, just barely visible in the distance.

Afterwards the tour traveled to the Happo-en gardens for a demonstration of a tea ceremony. Japanese people do love their teas, almost religiously. The lady on the right was the one who conducted the entire demonstration (the girl on the left is a pretty Korean Australian who was also on tour). Every move she made was delicate and organize, controlling and un-like-human (in a good way). And best of all the green tea was the bitterest. Yum!

There was also a lot of activity happening outside of the teahouse. People were getting married by the dozens (which also means there were more photographers per square foot than normal).

A handsome fellow striking a pose!

Is it me or does the bride look forty times stronger than her husband?

There was a row of bonsai trees. Can't remember why I only took a photo of this one though.

The tour also stopped at the famous Chinzan-so restaurant where we enjoyed a wonderful teppanyaki lunch. Absolutely delicious - never realized how delicious foods taste with the perfect amount of soy sauce. I was way too busy stuffing my face with food to stop and snap a photo.

Then the bus went made its way from Bunkyo-ku to the Imperial Palace Gardens in Chiyoda-ku. Shame the gates are rarely open.

The famous Kusunoki Masashige statue.

The Nijubashi Bridge and iconic Fushimi Yagura Tower.

The guards of the main gate (serious faces).

After that came the Sumida River cruise. I've heard from somewhere that the Sumida isn't very beautiful but its prominent to the rise to Japanese commerce. They were right, it really is ugly but there were about twenty or so bridges (I lost count after eleven), each with its own personality.

Tokyo gets packed but this was unbelievable!

Nakamise-dori was filled with people. People were shopping. People were eating. People were screaming "irrashaimase." People were screaming for the hell of it. Now that I think of it, it wasn't so bad - I've experienced more packed places during my stay.

The entrance to the main hall of Senso-ji (also referred to as Kannon).

Inside people were throwing coins around, walking around and looking around.

This is the pagoda adjacent to the main hall. I like to think of it as the ancient version of modern-day skyscrapers.

The tour was quite exhausting but well worth the time. With so much to see and so many places to visit it hardly covered the surface of Tokyo but was a nice introduction to what the city has to offer. At Nakamise-dori I purchased a ton of ehagaki (art postcards), a fancy pair of chopsticks and a beautiful bookmark with Fujisan on it. I also met an awesome group of flight attendants (all of whom speak German) as well as two beautiful Australian women (not the one pictured above). It's funny how just a few hours with them was enough to open my eyes and ears to the world. Hopefully I run into them in the future!

東京: Day 1, Arrival

2011-01-22T06:11:00.006-05:00

Day before my departure in New York there was a snowstorm (one neither heavy or serious) that caused cancellations across the board within JFK. After some calls I was able to make extend my reservations and excursions to an extra day to compensate for cancellations. Thinking there would be millions of people in the airport I left my house four hours earlier than I planned. Big mistake.

I couldn't have asked for a smoother flight. Twelve hours, an aisle to myself and a bathroom behind my seat? Heaven.

I wished they served more than two meals per flight! It was really damn delicious. The flight attendants did fill me up with delicious warm o-cha (I never liked green tea but All Nippon Airways changed my tastes).

Watching Tom & Jerry had me laughing and screaming in tears! Good thing there wasn't a lot of people on the flight because I can't imagine what I sounded like outside my headphones.

The most exciting part was getting on the Narita Express (成田エクスプレス). Coming from New York City, it's hard to imagine a smooth train ride - not to mention one that's fast and efficient. A good bottle of soda and a window seat was enough to enjoy the night lights of Tokyo.

It was about 10:00PM when I finally reached into Shinjuku station. I got the point when I read guide books, watched videos, viewed photos and everything else that more or less explained that it's a busy station. I still don't get how on earth was it's possible to be four-times as packed as Grand Central terminal during rush hour at nighttime. I guessed because it was a Friday night a large percent of the population would be out enjoying their money-day.

I had yet to experience hush hour.

This was my room at the Best Western ASTINA Shinjuku Hotel. It was my first pick when I started planning during 2010's summer but I wasn't sure if I would of been able to afford it (until I discovered religious budgeting techinques). Absolutely warm and cozy. Of course I give my utmost recommendations for anyone looking to stay here. This photo does no justice of how beautiful and roomy the room actually is. And for those wondering it takes no more than five minutes to walk from the hotel to Shinjuku station.

東京から帰りました。

2011-01-21T21:13:00.012-05:00

A couple of nights in a metropolis made of multiple metropolises surely seemed like enough at first but after witnessing the immensity and robustness of the Japanese capital I realized a few more trips might just be necessary.

Honor, respect, humility and direction is the forefront of Japanese culture. Of course I wasn't there for a long period of time so I could only get so much from the people but everything I encountered was beyond positive. Contradictions are aplenty, hilarious and nevertheless interesting but somehow it fixates so naturally in the society that it seems stylish, or for lack of better words: expected.

For anyone planning on visiting a metropolis like Tokyo has to realize that no guide book will tell you everything. No map will tell you everything you'll need to know or see. No documentary will tell the entire story or prepare you for what you will experience. Being a native New Yorker, I've experienced as much of gotham as depicted from movies to tales and (chauvinistically) I thought Tokyo would be just another city.

See, that's a problem. It's a city of cities.

It's like combining all the enormous state capitals in America, like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas and somehow managing to fit it all into one area on map but tiny enough so that it only represents the American facade. It's beyond me how Tokyo works but hasn't collapsed on itself.

I wish I was talking out of my ass but I've witnessed an influx of culture, work, people and things that I'll never see come out of my homeland. Visiting Tokyo for the small time I could afford showed me how green, lush and voluptuous the grass is on the other side. The hundreds and hundreds of photos and hours of videos I've recorded can't even tell the entire story. And I could rant on for hours on every little aspect of Tokyo but it wouldn't matter.

I know there's more to Japan but this, this is more than a forefront. ~~Consider this a new chapter.~~ Fuck that.

Consider this a new book.

25th Anniversary at the Nintendo World Store

2010-11-07T23:10:00.004-05:00

Nokturnz

2010-07-09T22:32:00.010-04:00

Nokturnz by sylcmyk

1. Numbers 2. Photographs 3. Clocks 4. Tables 5. Windows 6. Streets 7. Lakes

1993 - EP

2010-03-29T00:16:00.010-04:00

1993 by sylcmyk

1. 1993 2. 1996 3. 1998

1989 - EP

2010-02-05T22:57:00.014-05:00

1989 by sylcmyk

1. 1991 2. 1997 3. 1989