Week end post

It's Saturday and I came at work, but not for working :P
In fact, I came because I was too bored at home and because 3D Realms finally released the demo of Prey, a game I wanted to try.
So I left for work like everyday, except when I got here, there were nearly no one (or there was surprisingly someone, as you wish).

As for the game, the gameplay is quite original in itself. It has good ideas and I expect more (as what is said on the demo preview) from the full game.
This is also caused by the fact that I haven't played one good occidental game for a while, and I needed that, here are only you-know-what kind of games (I generalize of course, but occidental -> action/violence/gore/fps and stuff while in Japan you only get to see RPGs, fighting games, mechas and hentai).
Go for it, it's worth trying.

For those who are waiting for more posts about life in Japan, well...the thing is, I get to see tons of facts everyday, facts that may probably scare all of you gaijins (-> foreigners). But those are common here, too common, that I would be ending up taking a picture and remembering everything that goes by. This is just impossible.
Like the other day I saw someone from the back, thin and tall, white skin, hair stuffed with some gel product AND a girl's handbag.
I ASSURE YOU that at first glance, it was a girl. No doubt about it. But looking at his face, it turned out to be a guy (not that I started a conversation, I'm not crazy, I know where I am and know that things like that happen everyday). Hell I was scared :|

Another custom here, besides "taking off your shoes", is politeness at work (and elsewhere too but I'll only cover a small part of politeness at work).
When you meet a co-worker, like when you go to the toilet, pass by him in a corridor or simply meet him in the morning, it is common sense to say ”おつかれさまです” (pronounce "otsukaresama desu"). You can even use it when writing e-mails or starting a conversation, instant messaging or not.
What does it mean ? For us foreigners, nothing. But what is it for then ? It's just plain politeness. And this only applies to co-workers during working hours.
Honestly, it took me quite some time to get used to it. Managing to trigger your own mind to pull that sentence out at the right situation, definitely not easy.

As a last anecdote, I'll tell you about this Thursday.
What was so special on that day ? It was the release of Valkyrie Profile : Silmeria on PS2. Yes. It's special because video games have a really important place in Japan. So important that a colleague, knowing me and my tastes for games, asked me to go with him get a copy of the game. That was perfect since I had to try and get the Artifact Box for a friend in France. So we purposely left earlier (it was 9PM) and headed for Akiba, in the probably only store still opened at that time : Yodobashi Camera.
It's a huge mall disguised in a building (I'll get pictures the next time I go there, promise). They sell everything from TVs, cameras, computer stuff, watches, DVD, video games...well everything you need in our electronic world, and video games are on the 6th floor.
Upon arriving, it's surprising to see so many people around. And Valkyrie Profile Silmeria is there as well.
Unfortunately for me (well, for my friend in fact), the Artifact Box was already sold out. My colleague got his copy and we were prepared to leave when....he headed over to the Gachapon area :D
For those who don't know, gachapons are small toys you get in a machine, by inserting coins and turning a crank.
The area was filled with those machines, that was pretty impressive. There already were people (adult and rather "old" people, like 40+ years, meaning those are not only for kids) around, examining the machines and trying to get an interesting gachapon (there, you are used to this word now).
My colleague didn't see anything interesting and we left soon after.

Well, that's all for today (sorry no pictures this time).
See you later.

Where's my breakpoints window ???

Microsoft' decisions can be really strange sometimes.
I'm using the Express version of VC# 2005 and noticed that the breakpoints window is.....gone.
There are none.
This wonderful window allowing you to keep track of all your breakpoints in the code, allowing to enable/disable them without removing them in a single click, saving you all the hassle to search through your hundreds (or thousands) lines of code just looking for a breakpoint, is no more.
But what's more surprising is that this window seems to be present in VC++ Express 2005.
So, what does it mean ? That debugging is too hard to handle under C++ language that you need a specific window for it ? That C++ is for impaired people who need assistance ?

Give me back my breakpoints window !!!

Mind at ease !

Money problems are no more (at least, for now...) so -> \o/
Anyway, I've been quite busy recently, plus the fact that I may try too hard at work, I built up too much exhaustion but I'm fine right now, thanks to a good week end rest.
It's already been a month that I am here and work is going on quite well I guess (or so I hope...)
I guess I should post more often since I don't know what to say right now :P

Anyway, pictures time.

In front of the SEGA Game Center at Akiba.



For all the Bleach geeks, this is what I got for 200 yens in one of the many thousands UFO Catcher.



What the hell is such a picture doing here you say ?
I'll tell you : this picture was taken from my window, when it was like, 4 am.
Yes, 4 am and it's already dawn. The sunset is at around 6 pm. Pretty scary I tell you...




A huge Valkyrie Profile : Silmeria ad at Akiba.
The game store is a Sofmap, a very famous chain store selling all kinds of electronic entertainment.



I have more pictures but hosting is rather limited here. I'll find a way to put up an album somewhere, so you can all enjoy them.

See you later.

LCL : La banque qui sait prendre soin de ses clients

I apologize in advance for this post in French but since this mainly concerns a problem with my French bank, it'd be better to write it in French. I don't want to make a whole post in English just for them either.

Ce week-end je suis parti a Sakura-House pour payer mon loyer. Pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, Sakura-House est une entreprise qui loue des appartements ainsi que des chambres a coucher, voire meme des lits, aux etrangers venus sejourner au Japon.
J'ai pris un appartement chez eux et ca m'en coute dans les 550 euros par mois.

Petit contexte. Etant donne que je ne suis arrive qu'il y a 3 semaines (fin du mois de mai) et que le compte de mes heures effectuees se fait a partir du 20 du mois precedent jusqu'au 20 du mois suivant, ma premiere paye n'arrivera en fait qu'a la fin du mois de juin.
N'ayant bien evidemment pas pris autant de liquide sur moi je comptais donc aller payer avec ma carte bleue (car j'ai, comme quasiment tout le monde, une carte bleue qui est bien pratique.....quand elle marche).

Et bien, il se trouve que ma carte est expiree. Normal, vous me direz, etant donne que les cartes bleues expirent au bout de 2 ans.
Cependant, j'avais prevu le coup avant de partir. Ma carte etait censee expirer en avril 2006.
C'est pourquoi en mars (il y a 2 mois) je suis parti expliquer mon probleme a la banque, ils m'ont donc refait la carte. Elle est toute neuve, elle expire en mars 2008. C'est ecrit brillant sur bleu sur la carte. On peut pas faire plus explicite, d'autant plus que j'ai aussi les recus et autre paperasse chez moi (en France). J'ai aussi rencontre la conseillere par la meme occasion, en lui expliquant ma situation (qui a au passage a essaye de me refourguer un service avec une carte bleue plus chere, plus d'avantages !! Elle expire pas des qu'elle est emise a tous les coups...) donc elle etait parfaitement au courant que je partais a l'etranger pour une longue periode. Personne ne m'a prevenu de quoi que ce soit.

Seulement, la carte est expiree. Oui. Je me retrouve donc coince au Japon, avec le porte feuille qui se vide de jour en jour, un loyer qui arrive bientot a son echeance (mercredi prochain, le 14 juin), tout ca a cause de quoi ? Une carte soit disant expiree alors qu'elle a ete renouvelee il y a deux mois.

J'ai passe plusieurs coups de fil en France, sur leur serveur vocal surtaxe qui m'a coute une fortune, sans avoir pu joindre qui que ce soit.
Heureusement que ma famille est la. Mon frere a donc fait les demarches pour moi. Vous savez ce qu'on lui a repondu ? Au choix, c'est selon les gouts :
- "C'est normal, votre carte est expiree." (elle est neuve, elle est expiree, c'est normal !)
- "La carte est bloquee a l'etranger, c'est une securite anti fraude." (2 ans auparavant, je suis venu au Japon avec une carte bleue du meme type de la meme banque sur le meme compte, aucun blocage anti fraude ou quoi que ce soit, la meme chose au mois de fevrier en Chine)
- "Allez directement a votre banque, ils pourront vous debloquer votre carte, ca ira plus vite." (heureusement qu'ils ont dit ca a mon frere qui est en France...)
- (Une fois a la banque) "Desoles, on ne peut rien faire sans avoir la carte entre les mains." (super, la carte est au Japon, aucune procedure pour arranger le probleme en vitesse, faut que je rentre pour la leur filer peut etre ?)
- (En leur expliquant que c'est urgent) "Demandez au central LCL de nous dire quoi faire." (....)

C'est vraiment super de voir qu'en France, l'organisation est vraiment au top de sa forme. Pour tout vous dire, meme ici au Japon ils sont au courant.
LCL a un client dans la grosse merde a cause d'une de leur connerie et ils sont pas foutus de regler ca. Le pire, c'est qu'ils laissent couler. Aucune remontee d'info. Aucune recherche. Aucune demarche pour essayer de resoudre le probleme. Rien.

Un conseil donc : n'allez JAMAIS chez LCL.

Et pour ceux qui veulent savoir comment je vais m'en sortir, ma famille va m'envoyer de l'argent.
Voila.

Feels nice working naked.

That's what my feet say everyday.
At the company, we have to take off our shoes. That's typically Japanese, meaning everyone are used to take off their shoes when entering the company or at home.
But, there's a little difference from what I once heard.
While I thought we would use sandals, we actually don't. We just walk in socks. And for those who (I don't aim at anyone, no offense there) "can't" take off their shoes for obvious reasons....I haven't met anyone like that here yet so I can't really tell but I guess they would have to comply with it anyway.