History And Insanity

It's been a pretty crazy last few weeks, and only now have I been able to sit back, unwind, and try to work out what the hell just happened. Apart from work, this is my first weekend in Nagano for about three weeks.



Firstly, I went to the Tokyo Game Show with Phil, an event I thought I'd only ever be able to attend in my dreams. All those years I wanted to be a game designer came back to me for the day, which was full to the brink of roaring new games, excited crowds, and (my favourite) "booth babes". So okay, it was a bit of a geeky day, but it was a new experience, and I'm sure that one geeky day per year is well within a reasonable quota.

We left the game show at about 4pm and decided to spend the rest of the day in Tokyo, before we caught the last Shinkansen back to Nagano. (After all, it's damn expensive.) So we landed in Shibuya, one of the craziest towns in Tokyo. Click here to see the photos.

The following weekend, Phil and I had dinner with some of our students.



It was a shame that was the day we decided, because the next morning Phil and I woke up early for a two-day quest that took us to Nikko (one of Japan's most significant (and historic) towns), Shinjuku (the busiest town in Tokyo), and Fuji-Q Highlands (what I'm willing and confident to say is the world's best rides themepark). I remember seeing Fuji-Q when Michael, Michie and I went past to climb Mt. Fuji, but I had no idea how incredible this themepark was until recently. And all the while, Mt. Fuji stares down at you and blots the western horizon.



Fuji-Q Highlands has not one but THREE Guiness World Record rollercoasters, including:
* Fastest Accelleration - Dodonpa (reaches 172km/hr)
* Highest Rollercoaster - Fuji-yama (79m high... you feel like you can touch Mt. Fuji)
* Most Inversions - Eejanaika (flips you upside-down 14 times over a 1,153m track)

Needless to say, Phil and I rode each one of them. The evil-looking red track in the video below is Eejanaika. It's not a normal rollercoaster; it's an upside-down set-up, like Lethal Weapon at the Gold Coast, where your legs are dangling. Except that not only are you roaring along the track at intense speeds, like any rollercoaster, your seats are also constantly spinning upside-down. Check out my Nikko, Shinjuku and Fuji-Q photos here.