Mike, Rod, and Matt's Bogus Journey

Just like my last year's spring break blog post, this one is going to be a bit long so I will divide it up by days. This blog post kicks off the start of this years SBO qualifier season. The first qualifier would be held in Saitama on Sunday 3/29. Earlier in the week I had contacted various people in my phone who I had teamed up with before or were planning to team up with. Rod and Matt are not really options for me to team with because when SBO finals comes around in August, both of them will already be back in the US, so they wont be able to enter. They both told me that in a last desparate attempt to enter a qual, they will team with me, and that if we actually win, they would try to stay in Japan a bit longer, but it was best for me to team with other people. I had plans to team with Yuki (the orange I-no from Vegas) but needed one more person. Most people either couldnt enter cuz they were busy, already had a team, were only entering BB this year, or didnt reply...

Thursday 3/26

This day was the last day of the school year at work. Japanese public school ends their school year in the spring. As a result, we had an enkai that night in Niiharu, a part of Minakami (the town I live in) but still very far from my house. It was at a nice ryokan (Japanese style inn) and was an overnight party. Pretty much the standard enkai stuff. At the 2-zikai (2nd party) we did karaoke as we often do. I was given the thing to select a song first. I just did Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody cuz everyone knows it and I had to pick something quick cuz people were waiting to select songs. Eventually the thing came back around to me again and I decided I wanted to do some Alice Cooper. They only had 4 songs, and I ended up selecting School's Out. I thought that this song would be sorta funny to sing at the end of the school year party. Most of the people there dont really understand most of the lyrics, but during the part where it says "we got no class, and we got no principals..." about half the people there started booing and giving me the thumbs down! I dont think they were actually upset but I figured people would have a better sense of humor about it. After the song ended I said "nanchatte!" over the mic which basically means "just kidding!". Other than that, nothing else really noteworthy happened. After more drinking I eventually went to sleep.


Friday 3/27

I woke up in our room (6 people share a room and sleep on futons on the tatami) with a bad hangover. Actually its more like I was woken up. I was tired as hell, but they told me it was time to have breakfast. I wasnt really hungry at all but I forced myself to get up and go eat. The food was sorta so-so and I only finished like half of it. Eventually I got ready and left the place. Even though yesterday was the last day of school, today was still a work day. I didnt really have a reason to use a day off so I just went in to work. There was no classes so I just spent the day cleaning out my desk. There was still a ton of crap in there from like YEARS ago from maybe like 3 people ago who had my job previously. When I first got here it was so much stuff I didnt even wanna think about sorting through it and never used any of it. Today I finally tackled it and it took all morning. My desk is much cleaner now and it felt good. One of the other teachers was giving me shit about singing School's Out at the enkai. I really hope no one was actually offended. Its not exactly an offensive song if you have the slightest bit of a sense of humor.

Anyway, after killing the rest of the day at work I went home. I was originally thinking about going to Tokyo tonight as I often do on a Friday night. However, I hadnt seen Ryoko since Tuesday since she was busy with work and if I didnt see her tonight, I wouldnt see her again for like 10 more days. I decided to just take it easy and stay home and spend some time with her before I left. It was a good choice and I ended up being able to sleep a lot and get ready for the long journey ahead.


Saturday 3/28

I drove Ryoko home and got my stuff ready to go to Tokyo. My backpack isnt very huge but I managed to cram like 9 days worth of clothes in there somehow along with basic stuff I needed like deodorant and my DS and mp3 player and shit. I took my usual train ride and arrived in Shinjuku and hit up Vegas for casuals. I dont even really remember any specific details about most of the day honestly. Just played a bunch of casuals and eventually Matt arrived. I had made plans with Yuki (the orange I-no player who is often at Vegas) to team up for the very first SBO qual that would be taking place the next day in Saitama. However, I hadnt contacted him in over a week. I decided to mail him to confirm that we could still team up. He replied after a little while saying he actually cant go this week afterall. I was now stuck with no team. Matt had originally said he was going to team with me and Yuki since no one else seemed to be availiable that weekend, but now that Yuki couldnt do it, he didnt seem so sure about bothering to go. At this point, I had no team pretty much so I just decided to go drinking and show up anyway to see how things played out.

We got food and then went to Current where we met up with Rod. Current was sorta packed and there were a ton of foreigners. I think it was the birthday of someone from the Cirque de Soleil crew so they all came out to drink. There were also some of the regulars there too. In addition, Masami had just graduated from College so a few people were there to celebrate for that as well. I bought me and him a round of tequila shots in honor of his graduation. There was a little bit of DS playing here and there and chatting with various people. Also, Kunko was there and this was her last weekend in Tokyo before she would return to Osaka where she actually lives. Since we were going to be in Osaka in a few days, I asked her about good hotels in Shin-Saibashi. She found a website on her cellphone for a cheap hotel near Rock Rock and mailed the link to me on my phone. She said she would probably be able to meet up with us at some point while we were in Osaka.

Otherwise things werent too different than most typical nights at Current. Afterwords, we went to PSY. I originally wasnt gonna go cuz I wanted to get to the tournament early the next day but without a team, I figured I might as well just have fun. I could still make it in time if I left PSY by 6 am when they usually close. We ended up drinking a lot there. Rod went home early cuz he had to work at the 80s bar in Nakano where he has a part time job the next day. After lots of drinking, it was about 6 am and I finished my beer so I told Matt we should probably leave if were gonna make that tourny. Matt said he still had more beer so I waited for him to finish, but they he just went and ordered another one. He was really drunk and I didnt wanna bother waiting any longer so I just said fuck it and left.

I got some McDonalds breakfast alone and then instead of sleeping at the usual manga kisa in Shinjuku, I decided that if I was gonna make it to this tournament I had best get my ass out there now. I got on the train to Minami Koshigaya in Saitama where the tournament would be held. I was tired and drunk so I set an alarm on my phone to go off right about when the train should be arriving at the station I needed to transfer at. It worked out fine and I got up and eventually made it to Minami Koshigaya. I walked around a bit and found the arcade shortly after. It was now about 7:30 AM. I needed to get some sleep so I searched for a manga kisa, but I couldnt find one anywhere. With no choice left, I went to a Loteria (crappy Japanese burger chain) ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, ate it fast, and passed out sleeping with my head on one of the tables in the back. The place was basically empty and no one really seemed to give a shit. Not normally something I would do, but ive seen a zillion Japanese people passed out at fast food resturaunts before and I honestly had no other option. I spent the rest the early morning sleeping over the table...


Sunday 3/29

I woke up and a few more costumers were in the store but no one seemed to pay much attention to me there. It wasnt very confortable sleep and I probably only slept for about 4 hours or so. From there, I got a redbull from Family Mart and then I headed straight for the arcade, called Play Spot Big One. When I got inside, it was maybe about 1:00 and entry had just started, but not many people were there yet. I played a few games of casuals here and there, doing kinda so-so mostly. As time went on, more and more people arrived. I asked around but it seemed that everyone already had teams. I figured I was screwed.

I asked around a bit more and eventually I noticed that this one female HOS player was there who I often see around. This is not the pissed off HOS girl, but the sorta just ordinary one. Her skill level isnt very high but I was very desperate and just wanted to play. They told me I couldnt enter alone. I asked her if she was planning to enter and she said no. I explained my situation to her and she agreed to team up with me to help me out. We now needed one more person. In a last desperate attempt, I looked through my phone again and tried to find people who might be able to team with us last minute. I called Meke Meke who had originally told me he wasnt going to enter any SBO tournaments which is why I didnt bother asking him before. He answered and was very polite about it but said he was actually somewhere near Makuhari which is sorta far and was busy and also said he honestly wasnt gonna enter any tournaments anyway, but he wished me luck in finding a team. I wasnt the least bit surprised about that. Next I tried mailing Hakata Honyo (the Baiken player who I teamed up with a while back at a regular Vegas 2 on 2). Turns out he said he actually really wanted to team up with me but it was simply just too short notice and he already had other plans. It sucks cuz if I had bothered to contact him earlier he probably could have gone, but I just overlooked him when checking my contacts earlier in the week. He said to contact him again in the future about teaming again sometime. I also tried calling Matt a zillion times hoping he could get his ass out there in time but he never answered his phone. The HOS girl (whos name is Otoe) said she might know someone who can come team with us so she also made an attempt to contact whoever it was. After eventually having no luck with that, and with entry ending in a few minutes, I asked the staff if we could just enter as a 2 man team. One of the guys who works at the arcade said he knows how to play Dizzy a little so he said he would be nice and just enter with us. His name was Konya. It wasnt much of a team but at least I could try.

Soon after, the tournament started. There were a bunch of really good teams there and the place ended up getting pretty packed. One of the noteworthy teams there was Osaka B (FA)/ Natsume (DI)/ Mitsurugi (ZA). I dont know who they fought first but Natsume OCVed their whole team! Another beastly team consisting of Shouji (TE) / JT (MI) / Oguma (JA). They also won their first match which I think was against TEN's team. Shouji beat him in a very close game. Then there was the powerhouse team of Nanashi (VE) / En (SL) / Limekey (AN). Their first match was against another familiar team consisting of Takure (ED) / Udei (AX) / Hase (SL). Nanshi ended up going first and took out both Hase and Takure. Udei came back and beat Nanashi only to lose to En. I noticed that Otoe (my team mate) was watching very intently during this match. After it was over, Limekey came over to talk to her. I had also noticed them talking earlier. I asked if they were friends and she held up her finger and showed me a ring on it. I asked if they were married and she said, no but they were in a steady relationship. So yea... I was teamed up with Limekey's girlfriend haha. We had no first round match because we were lucky enough to get a bi.

Eventually some more matches went down and I dont remember details about all of them and it was time for the 2nd round. Osaka B team had to fight Shouji team... epic. Osaka B beat Oguma. Then, Shouji beat Osaka B and then followed it up by taking out Natsume as well. Mitsurugi came back and beasted hard, beating both Shouji and JT for the win! Mitsurugi has always been a monster and today was no exception. Soon it was time for our first match. Our first opponent was a Zappa player who im not sure who he was but he was good. Otoe went first, tried her best, but lost without winning any rounds. Then our Dizzy player went and for being a guy who just works at the arcade and isnt serious about the game, he did better than I was expecting but not good enough to win. I went last, and I put up an OK fight but honestly just didnt play that great and I lost as well. I knew I wasnt going anywhere with this team and I was really still kinda a tired. I wanted to do my best but I guess I just wasnt feeling it. I thanked my team mates and apolagized and then went to watch a bit more of the tournament matches. Osaka B team's next match started off with Osaka B vs Sadu (JO) with Osaka B winning. Next I think was Taku (SL) who ended up defeating Osaka B's entire team! I was pretty shocked but a good Slayer can really beat just about anyone if played well so I guess thats just how it goes. I stayed for a bit longer and watched Limekey's team's next match. Nanashi went first and lost to an unknown Testament. Limekey went next and was about to lose to him as well but got this amazing comeback and took the match. He proceeded to beat Ain (Ky) and Shoo (FA) to take the match. I talked with Takure for a bit who seemed kinda bummed out about their first round loss. He told me he wouldnt be entering any other quals for a while since he was low on money. I asked him who Udei and Hase were gonna team with next time but he said he didnt know. I then went and talked to Udei and asked if they wanted me to join them for the next tournament, but they said they already had someone lined up. At this point, I wasnt sure how much longer the tournament was gonna last, I was tired, and it was getting late. I decided to just head out and go back to Shinjuku instead of watching the end of it. I was fairly certain that Limekey's team was gonna win anyway. I wished him luck and headed out and thanked Otoe and Konya again for her help.

I called up Rod to see what he was up to. Rod was still at the 80's bar working. They had a big party event going on. I wasnt in the mood to play any more games so I told him I would head on over there to do some drinking. I arrived in Nakano after a brief nap on the train. Rod met me at the station and we walked to the bar. It was pretty packed. As soon as I walked in the bar, some stocky pudgy white guy comes up to me and just out of no where says "whats up nigger! And by nigger, I mean nigger!" I was just like "......" and kept walking in. WTF. They had happy hour going on right now since it was like 7:30 or so. Beers were only 300 yen so I pounded a ton of them and also ordered some chicken cuz they had a kitchen at the bar. The place was really small but packed as hell. Rod introduced me to a few people there that he knew. Throughout the night, a few times, that weird stocky white guy kept talking to me. Rod said he was a regular there. I forgot his name, but he was some 40 something year old guy from Texas who was working as a teacher of some sort in Japan. He was like one of those annoying guys who never shuts up and talks about the dumbest crap. Eventually he told me he was gay out of no where and then it made sense cuz I got the vibe he was like hitting on me or something LOL. Ive got nothing against gay people but this guy was just really obnoxious. He also pointed to this one Japanese chick over somewhere in the back and said she was his friend who gives him head but he likes it even though shes a girl. This guy was just random as hell. I was glad when he finally went away. Eventually I got in contact with Matt. He had left his phone at one of the bars or something which was why he couldnt pick up earlier. He made plans to meet us at Juke 80's and eventually arrived. We drank for a few more hours, and the place got more and more packed. Happy hour eventually ended but I got one last minute beer in just before it did. It was approaching the time we had to leave to get on our overnight bus to head for Osaka so we eventually got Rod and managed to get out of there.

Time was running low and we had to stop to get Matt's luggage out of a locker that he had stored it in in Shinjuku station. After we got all the luggage and stuff we only had a few minutes left before the bus was going to leave, so we literally started running for the bus station. Rod was lugging around this huge suitcase with wheels and one of them broke off as we dashed for the bus. I ran ahead and eventually made it just in time. The driver said we had like only a few minutes before they were gonna leave. Short of breath, we boarded the bus. I soon passed the fuck out.

The bus periodically would stop from time to time at rest stops where you could buy food. I slept through most of them but one time I got off with Rod to get something to drink. They had these drinks there that were flavored like weird stuff that you normally wouldnt want a beverage to taste like; things like curry, takoyaki, soy sauce, kimchi, and other weird flavors. Rod bought one but I was cool with just getting a sports drink. After getting on the bus, I slept the rest of the way there.


Monday 3/30

Given that I was already tired and drunk when I got on the bus, I was able to sleep pretty well, which is rare on an 8 hour bus ride. We got off the bus and it was something like 6 am. Very early. We were at Osaka station. There wasnt really much to do around there at the time, so we just decided to go hit up Kyoto right away and do some sight seeing. We took the rapid train out there and arrived in no time. We found found the place where they sell all day unlimited ride bus tickets for 500 yen and picked those up along with maps of the bus routes. After a bit of debating, we decided to go hit up the area around Teramachi shopping district to get some breakfast. When we went to get off the bus, the driver told us we couldnt use our passes. He pointed to a sign that said it starts at 10 am. He let us slide so we didnt have to pay again, but now we knew we were stuck around that area until 10 am unless we wanted to pay more. Not much was opened this early, so we just ended up going into a McDonalds to get some breakfast. This McDonalds was actually one of the nicest and classiest ones I had ever been in. Very clean and well kept and just generally looked nice, and they were playing this awsome jazz. The one bad thing about it was that there was this flat screen TV right by the front entrance that had this same 30 second McDonalds commercial on endless loop... over and over again... and it played like this annoying music box song. We sat down near there cuz they had outlets where we could charge our phones and DSes(all our batteries were getting low). I didnt notice the commercial at first, but then I realized the same damn 30 second sound clip looping over and over and it was just annoying the shit out of me. I tried to drown it out as best I could. We ate and pretty much just sat around playing DS for a good while since we had to wait for the buses to start again or for stores to start opening. I also used the bathroom their to change my clothes which felt nice. I took a picture of us and send it to Ryoko on my phone cuz she missed me already. It amused her.

Eventually it was about time to head out, so we walked around a bit and I showed the guys where a-cho was. We went inside and it was pretty much dead given that it just opened. We didnt stay long but we played a few games of casuals against eachother. Matt was mostly just messing around in arcade mode while I played against Rod a bunch of times but I used Ky. I dont know how, but I ended up getting a small win streak against him with Ky against his Slayer, Johnny, and maybe Eddie or something. I think he eventually picked I-no and beat me. After that we then ended up going back to Kyoto station because Rod and Matt decided they wanted to store their luggage there for when we go sight seeing. We found a regular locker for Matt's stuff but Rod's wouldnt fit into one. Eventually after some asking around, we found a place that would watch luggage until 8 pm for 400 yen a bag, so Rod brought his stuff there. I also decided that since im on vacation, feel extremely refreshed, and just walking around sight seeing that I wanted to sip on some hard liquor, so I bought a bottle of Johnny Walker black label at the conbini from which I would descreately take shots from throughout the day when no one was around.

We ended up deciding on going to Nijojo castle since I had never been there last time and it sounded like a good place to start. We walked around there and took some pictures and saw some cool stuff. The architecture was amazing and they had all sorts of elaborate paintings throughout the inside of the castle on the walls and ceiling. After touring the whole castle, on our way out, we passed the area where they sell food, drinks, and souvineers. In this area, its ok to drink, so I busted out my small bottle of booze, and Rod and Matt had a beer. We just chilled there for a while and talked and enjoyed the nice weather. I ended up drinking almost the whole bottle right then and there and was officially drunk. The only unfortante thing was the sakura had hardly bloomed yet.

After that, we were starting to get hungry again. Matt knew this one Japanese girl named Eriko that he was friends with who he used to have (and probably still does have) a big crush on. We met up with her at Kyoto station and decided on getting some okonomiyaki. We went to a few places near the station, but for whatever reason, they were all closed. I suggested we just go back to Teramachi and eat at Mr. Young Men (the place near a-cho that I ate at last year). Everyone agreed so we headed back there again. On the way, Eriko ended up telling the bus driver she wanted to get off at the next stop or something but then realized it was the wrong one and the guy just totally started going off on her. He started like bitching her out saying how like his time schedule is important and that he cant be troubled to be asked to stop when people dont actually want to get off and stuff and basically he was speaking in keigo (very polite Japanese) but somehow still managed to sound like a huge asshole. It wasnt like he just told her once, he just kept going on and on for literally like 3 minutes straight. Everyone was just looking at eachother like.... wtf is up this guys ass?

We eventually arrived at the resturaunt. We all got some good food and it rocked pretty hard. Eriko didnt eat though because she had plans to leave soon to go to some sorta enkai or something. I forgot. In any case, after eating, she left and the rest of us went back to a-cho for a bit. There were some people there now. I dont remember many details about this since it was mostly me just playing a bunch of drunk casuals but I do remember that I beat more people than I probably should have LOL. We then realized that it was getting close to 8 pm and Rod had to get his luggage before the place at the station closed. We made it back there late but he was lucky that someone was still back there even after they closed up, so he was able to get his bag. From there, we boarded the train back to Osaka.

We first headed over to Shin-Saibashi to try to find the hotel that Kunko linked me to. It turned out it was literally like a block away from Rock Rock which was very convenient. When we got there, it was just past 10 pm and the doors were locked to get in. Fortunately some dude was leaving so he let us in and he talked to one of the staff members and convinced him to let us get a room even though it was passed check in time. Unfortunately it ended up being more expensive than we originally thought it would be but at this point we didnt have many other options so we just rolled with it. Their computers were down for the day and they wouldnt be able to check cheaper rates or if we could keep the room longer until the next morning. We got to take showers and change clothes which felt good.

The plan from this point was to meet up with Rob (HeartNana). I know Rob from back in the day from the Chicago fighting game scene, and Matt used to hang out with him back when they were both students in Osaka. We took the train out to the Nanba area and met up with Rob in front of Sega Avion and then from there he lead us to a game center called Athena. There wasnt really anyone playing in GG or BB so we just played some BB casuals among eachother. Rob plays a little bit of everything but his main game is BB and has been playing it pretty hardcore since it came out. I played him in a few games and I didnt win any against him, but I wasnt really expecting to, he has a really good Noel. I think I also played like one game against Matt and won while Rod fought Rob and then we pretty much just left cuz it was already very late and about time for them to close. We decided to get some food so we just went to the Matsuya nearby. After that, it was off to Shin-Saibashi again to go drinking at Rock Rock!

There was a good sized crowd there for a Monday night. Yoko and the rest of the Rock Rock staff remembered me from last year and were once again very hospitable. There was this really tall white dude there with long hair. Yoko told me he was the bassist of the band Amorphis. I didnt talk to him but Amorphis is a pretty good band so I guess it was kinda cool that he was there. Rob ordered a regular size beer and pretty much just drank that most of the night cuz hes not much of a drinker, which is fine. I think he still had a pretty good time talking with various people about stuff. Rod drank a little but was low on cash so he didnt get too drunk. Matt and I were slamming the large size beers all night and both got pretty drunk. Matt started picking arguments with Yoko for no reason just cuz he was drunk. It was kinda amusing to watch cuz he was making a big deal about nothing LOL. Nothing too serious though. As the night came to a close, there wasnt really anyone else left in there except us, so we headed out and returned to our hotel.

The room only had 3 beds but Rob said he was cool with just crashing in our room on the floor. I fell asleep pretty quick.

Tuesday 3/31

We woke up just before 10 am which was check out time. Rob said he hardly slept at all cuz he was really cold and didnt have a blanket or pillow. I felt bad cuz I didnt realize it before passing out. We all only got less than 5 hours of sleep and everyone was still really tired. Rod and I went down to the desk and checked what the deal was with the room. They wanted to charge us a high price again and had no cheaper rooms so we decided to just check out and find another hotel right now so that we could check in and sleep more. Yoko had recommended a place called The Lion's Rock. We searched for a little bit and found it not too far away. This place offered a slightly better rate. Still a little expensive but we were all fucking tired so we just took it anyway. After checking in, Matt and I slept more while Rod was practicing GG combos in training mode with I-no and showing Rob some stuff. I guess those guys never ended up going back to sleep. Sometime around 1:30 everyone was up and after taking showers, we all headed out.

Everyone was pretty fucking hungry and Matt and Rob had this resturaunt they used to go to all the time back when they were students in Osaka called Sandoru. The place was pretty far and it took a little while to get there but after some DS train action and a bit of walking we arrived. This place had HUGE meals for super cheap. Like a giant meal for 650 yen. We all got the donburi set except for Rob who got the yakiniku set. I said to everyone that whoever cant finish their food has to pay for everyones meal hah. I dont think it was ever actually agreed upon but it didnt matter cuz everyone finished it all anyway. Good shit.

After that, we headed back on the train and went to Umeda to play at an arcade called Monte50. This place was pretty nice. They had 2 GG cabs and like 5 BB cabs or something and various other fighters. Rob pretty much went right for the BB while the rest of us played some GG. There was this Jam player there who wasnt like super exceptional but he always landed his combos and made them hurt very badly. I lost to him my first game but they I rematched him and won. It was a pretty long wait to play since there were a lot of people waiting and only 2 cabs. I dont really remember most of the matches but I won a few and lost a few. Most of the players there were pretty decent. Rob got a small win streak in BB and then went to go play some Marvel against some random guy, but the dude quit like shortly after the match started and just left LOL. Not long after that, Rob had to leave cuz he had to take care of some business with moving to a new apartment back home so we said goodbye and he headed out. The rest of us stayed and played GG for a while. There was this one Sol player there who was so-so. Decent player but a little overly risky agressive. I was handling his Sol with no problem. Then he switched to HOS. I guess HOS was this guys main cuz his HOS was like 50 times better. Extremely safe and smart with HOS. I actually beat him a couple of times but after a while he ended up getting a big win streak against various people. I tried to beat him a few times again and couldnt. Everyone was about ready to go drinking soon but we all made an agreement that we couldnt leave until someone took this guy down. After that, I beat him. We went around to the other side to stop him from putting another credit it and told him we were gonna go. He thanked us for the games and we both told eachother we were strong and stuff. After that, we headed out to go drinking once again.

I decided to show the guys the small rock bar called Plant that I went to last time. A few people were there. The place was a bit of a mess. We ordered one beer each and just stayed for a little bit but it wasnt anything really special. We also found another small bar that said it was a progressive rock bar which I never saw before. We went up to check it out but he door was locked. I was really disapointed because they had all kinds of great band posters and even a Masterplan sticker on the door so I know they were gonna be playing some great shit. I dont know why it was closed but I really would have liked to have checked it out. After that, we just went back to Rock Rock.

This time at Rock Rock, there were a few people here and there but it wasnt very busy. People came and went throughout the night but it was semi dead. Also that bassist of Amorphis was there again but didnt stay very long. We made the most of it though. Rock Rock has a dart board, and when theres a dart board and lots of booze, theres nothing like playing darts for shots! First, Matt challenged me. We played the game where you start with like 300 points or something like that and every time you hit a number it subtracts that from your total and the object is to get to 0 points exaclty. If you go over, you start where you left off that turn. Our first game, I had like 87 points and somehow hit a triple and then an other number and got exactly what I needed to beat Matt and it wasnt even intentional LOL! So Matt did a shot, and then I ended up beating him 2 more times so he had to do 2 more. I convinced him to play me one more game and this time he finally beat me so I had to do a shot. Then Rod and I played and Rod was behind the whole game and was like totally missing the board all together at first but somehow he came back for the win. So I did another shot. I think we played one more game after that and I won or something. I forgot why we stopped but I think thats about all, and eventually the bar closed and we left. We then went to our hotel and passed out for the night.


Wednesday 4/1

We woke up again at around 10 and Matt was really really tired. He was just like... fuck it! He offered to pay whatever it would cost for us to stay another 2 hours before we had to check out. It was something like 2000 yen but Matt didnt give a shit. I enjoyed the extra sleep too. After we actually woke up, we showered quickly and then headed out. In the elevator on the way out, we ended up being in the same elevator as the bassist of Amorphis. Appearently he had been staying at this hotel the whole time as well. I pretty much was just like "You're Yoko's friend right?" and hes like "yea" and I was like "cool" and that was about it lol!

We pretty much just started walking and found ourselves walking in the direction of Den Den town. However, pretty soon, Matt had to leave. You see... basically Matt bought his bus tickets with us a few weeks ago and everything, but at that time, he didnt realize that his visa was going to expire very very soon. So soon infact, that he had to return to the US WHILE he was on the Kansai trip with us. This would be the very day in which he would leave. So we walked Matt to the train station where he could take a train to Kansai airport so that he could return to Oregan. He will be coming back to Japan in a few weeks though. So basically we saw Matt off at the station and he was on his way back to the US. From this point on, it was just me and Rod.


Since we were near Den Den town we decided to just keep walking until we found it. We stopped off at a Tsutaya and looked through their used CDs for a bit cuz Rod is like the master of finding cheap ass good CDs. He ended up buying a few but I didnt get anything. While we were searching for Den Den town, we accidently stumbled upon the Sammy building. Yes, the same Sammy that publishes many video games, as well as some of the Guilty Gear series. We walked into the lobby and they had a few things on display but nothing extremely interesting. We took some free gum that they were giving out on a table that had silly names like "kyun kyun" which basically means squeeze but is the Japanese way of expressing when someones heart has got like butterflies or whatever and the gum had silly anime girl pictures on them. Kinda random.

After that we continued to walk and look for some food. We found a nice ramen place. Osaka ramen has a slightly more chewy texture to it than Kanto raman. It was pretty good stuff. I got a beer with mine as well.

After a little more walking we were in Den Den town. That nice frosty beer sorta wet my appetite for some booze so I decided to stop in at the 7-11 and pick up another small bottle of hard liquer. This time I got some Jack Daniels. I really wanted some rum or tequila but they didnt have any so I just settled with that. I took a few swigs here and there nice and discrete like so that no one would notice. Even though its legal, its kinda rude so I try not to be obnoxious to people around me. We walked around and just checked out various stores here and there. Pretty much some of the same places I went last year I was in Den Den town. Super Potato had some pretty awsome games and Rod and I got to see a ton of nastolgic and rare shit. We also went to Super Position (game and anime models store), and a few other electronics and game stores. I bought some little One Piece sound drop from a gatchapon machine for Ryoko cuz she likes One Piece manga. Eventually we arived at the game center, Amusement SCOT. This was the placed I played some casuals at in Osaka last year. Last year, they had about 5 GG cabs and the comp was really good with lots of players. Much to our disapointment, the place sucks balls now pretty much. They only had one GG cab all the way in the corner near the window and the screen was all faded and hard to see. We played one match on it against eachother but it was just so hard to see we said fuck it and left after one game. We then went to search for another place to play.

Eventually we found ourselves back in the area where we first met up with Rob before. We ended up finding Sega Avion. Since we didnt actually go inside it last time, we figured it was worth checking out. Pretty nice arcade, but this place unfortunately also only had one GG cab. However, this one was in good condition so we played some casuals on it for a while. I started off with my Ky and won a few again but then Rod eventually beat my Ky and from there it was all Faust for a while. I ended up getting a pretty big win streak vs Rod but I dont remember how many exactly. At some point in there, he ran out of money and I loaned him a fresh 10,000 yen bill. Rod was pretty much broke but still wanted to go on this trip so I offered to just loan him whatever he needed since he would be getting a lot of money about a week after we got back from Osaka. He put his 10,000 in the change machine and the machine ate it, but he called a staff member over and they helped him and got it back for him and it was ok. We played a little more and there was one match where after I beat him, he came over to my side of the cab and was talking to me for about 30 seconds. We agreed that this would be the last game and then we would go find somewhere else to play. I pointed to the select screen cuz the timer was about to run out and it just picked I-no for him. He then went over, we played one more game, and he managed to beat me. I said lets go, but he was all eager to play one more time so I said fuck it and put another credit in the machine. I played Ky again cuz it was 2 credits for 100 yen. He beat my Ky and then I picked Faust and beat him. NOW it was time to go for real.... or so we thought....

Rod suddenly started to panic. He patted down his pockets and frantically searched his luggage. He could not find his wallet. We looked under the machine and stuff and asked the staff if someone turned a wallet in but there was nothing. It turns out that for whatever reason, Rod leaves his wallet sitting by the stick on the cab when he plays instead of putting it back in his pocket. We came to the conclusion that during the 30 second interval where Rod came to talk to me, his wallet was sitting there and some random guy just passed by, saw his wallet, and jacked that shit. Today was April fools day, but this shit was no joke. That fucking wallet was gone! We looked around inside all the garbage cans and everything and asked the staff if they had a camera they could review but they said from the angle that area is at, that nothing would be seen by the camera. We had to face the reality that Rod's wallet was stolen. Its an extra kick in the nuts that out of the 10,000 yen I just loaned him, he only used 100 yen of it...

From this point we just figured the best thing to do would be to file a police report. We found a koban near by and went inside and filed the report. The process took quite a while. Rod had his cash card and gaijin card in there but in addition to that, was his bus ticket to get back to Tokyo. After filing the report, we headed over to Nanba station to see exactly what we had to go about doing in order for Rod to get back home on the bus on Friday night. It took a while to find it and on the way there we made a few stops. I already had laid into that Jack Daniels a bit. We ran into a good size super market and decided to go inside to buy tequila. So thats exactly what I did and now I was walking around with a bottle of Jack and a bottle of El Jimador. After that, we saw this really awsome Takoyaki place that had fantastic deals but these 2 dudes in front of us ordered like enough takoyaki to feed a large party so we just said fuck it and left.

We arrived at Nanba station and went to the JR bus booth and explained what happened. To make a long story short, the woman working the desk made us wait around a lot and ended up being kind of a bitch about it with like a too fucking bad kinda attitude. They basically said the bus was full and he couldnt re buy a ticket that was already sold since the person who stole his wallet could have sold the ticket to someone else. They said we might be able to figure something out if we talk to the people at Osaka station the day of our bus trip. We just decided theres nothing else we could do for now, so we put our worries behind us and just headed back to Shin-Saibashi to go get drunk again. By this point Rod was completely sober and I just had a good buzz going.

After ariving at Rock Rock, it ended up being a good size crowd this time. Amorphis bassist was there again for a bit too. It was like some sorta event but I forgot what it was for. They charged us 1000 yen to get in but gave us a drink ticket. I decided to order a Redbull Whisky since it costs 1000 yen anyway and its also good as hell. Not only did they make it, but they fucking hooked me up big time and put it in a beer stien and made it really strong! They also asked about how our day was and we told them what happened with the whole wallet thing, and they just busted out a bunch of shots of jagermiester and we all drank a round on the house. Rock Rock rocks. I also realized that at this point, Kunko was probably back in Osaka so I mailed her and not long after, she showed up and drank with us too. It was pretty good times. We drank again till closing and then it was time to go find a place to sleep.

We were recomended by various people that spa world is a nice place to sleep. They only charge 1000 yen and you can sleep there and stay as long as you want and even can use the spas and showers and shit! We had to take a train out there which was somewhat far but we eventually found it and got off at Dobutsuenmae station. This area was fucking slummy and ghetto looking as hell but whatever... we eventually found spa world and checked in with pretty much no problems. They even checked in Rod's giant luggage free of charge. They have this one room where its just a bunch of reclining chairs and big screen TV and you can just go in there and sleep. A bunch of dudes were just passed out on the chairs. Rod and I found 2 empty chairs and passed out as well.


Thursday 4/2

I woke up to the sound of the TV going in there. Each chair has individual controls for volume and mine was noisy. I shut it off and slept a bit more but then just woke up again. I nudged Rod and told him we should get going soon and that I was gonna go shower. He remained sleeping. I went to go look for the showers and found them, but I was expecting them to at least have soap. There was none. I ended up just going into one of the sauna rooms and showering in there with just water. At least rinsing myself off for a while in hot water somewhat cleaned me so whatever. Better than nothing. Eventually just as I finished getting dressed in the locker room, I ran into Rod who just got up. I told him there was no soap and he gave up on showering so we just headed out.

Todays plan was to go back to Kyoto for more sight seeing since we only did it once so far. We headed back and opted to go just check out Kyomizu. Out of all the temples I visited last year, this was my favorite and Rod never saw it so I didnt mind going again. As we were walking through the town area leading up to the temple there were lots of awsome shops. We stopped at this one place for a sec cuz Rod needed some ice cream. Suddenly some random white chick comes up to us and asks if we speak English. She wanted to know how to get back to the buses and also how to get to this one train station which the name escapes me right now but its more or less irrelevent. We helped her out as best we could and showed her on the map where to go even though neither of us know Kyoto all that well. Then we asked her if she went to the temple yet and she said no, so she asked if we wanted to just walk together, so we agreed. Her name was Anestasia and shes from Canada. She was here by herself for a vacation cuz she just quite her job and would be going back to school soon. Not a bad looking girl, maybe in her late 20s or early 30s. We chatted a bit about varoius stuff on the way. In front of the place, we ran into some maikos and I got some great pictures of them. We took more random pictures and journied further on and eventually were at the place where you can buy those good luck charms that temples often sell. I got Ryoko the safe driving one last year cuz she has already been in 3 car accidents. This year I got her the one that blesses your love life and your relationship cuz quite frankly, I love that girl. Anestasia was gonna pick one up for a good household and family or something but opted not to for whatever reason. She has a boyfriend in Canada but I guess she just didnt wanna get it for him or something.

Anyway, after we walked the rest of the way to the temple, we decided to head out and get back on the bus. She wanted to get back to her hotel and Rod and I wanted to go hit up a-cho for more games. We helped her out as best we could to try to find out what station to get off at to transfer to the train line where her hotel was near. We pretty much figured it out we think. Anyway, eventually Rod and I arrived at our stop so we wished the girl luck and got off the bus.

We went inside a-cho and there was a good amount of comp playing GG. I ended up getting something like a 15 win streak until I eventually lost to a Chipp player cuz I hate Chipp and hes a piece of shit. During my streak, I fought his one reckless overly agressive Sol player a few times and kept owning him. Those kinds of Sol players are really easy for me to beat so it wasnt a problem. However, after that, Rod kept losing to him a bunch of times in a row and seemed like he was getting pretty pissed. I think he eventually beat him though. However, it was almost 8 pm and just like last time we were in Kyoto on Monday, Rod had checked his big luggage in, so we had to gtfo of there asap.

As we were heading for the bus to go back to the station, suddenly some random foreigner chick sees Rod and is like "hey arnt you Nick's friend?" Rod was like "yea" and she said "Nick is in Kyoto now!". Rod told her we didnt have time to talk cuz we had to get going. Rod then told me that the Nick she was refering to was the same very metal head Nick that we sometimes would drink with at Current. Rod's phone was dead but I had Nick's email in my phone so I sent him a message. As we were riding the bus back to Kyoto station, I set up plans to meet up with Nick who was also with this one other girl he and Rod knows. After getting Rod's bags, Nick said they might be a while so we went to look for food. Then he messaged us again saying they were already nearby so Rod and I just got some bentos at this one place for the road.

Eventually we arrived at Osaka station where we met up with Nick and the girl he was with whos name escapes me. From there, we all took the train again and headed to Rock Rock! Before going inside, I had a little bit of that Jack and El Jimador left. I drank a bit of it earlier in the day but there was enough for a few more swigs so I shared it with Nick. After that, we headed in. Once again they had another event going on with the same 1000 yen entry charge with a drink ticket. We did the same thing as last time and got the whiskey red bulls but this time there was some chick working the bar who didnt know us and it turns out that there was a 700 yen limit on the tickets that we didnt know about before. However, one of the staff members that knows us was like right there and just told her to make it for us anyway cuz were cool with the Rock Rock staff. Fuck yea! I made sure to return the kindness by buying way more beer throughout the night than I remember. This night was pretty packed with lots of people for some sorta punk event and a few members of the band NOFX were there too. Also once again... Amorphis bassist. We all sat around and talked for a while and drank and I just kept pouding the beers. Afterall, this was my last night of drinking in Osaka since we would be returning to Tokyo on the overnight bus the following night. At some point, Nick and his friend left. I emailed Kunko but she never showed up. I guess later on things started to get foggy in my memory....


Friday 4/3

I woke up the next morning in a reclining chair in small booth. My entire body felt hungover as fuck. I pretty much knew right away that I was at the manga kisa I had often stayed at last year when I came, but I had absoloutly no memory of getting there. I checked the time and it was already like passed 1 pm so I figured it might be a good idea to get up. I went to the desk and checked in to use the shower. It felt nice to take a full shower with soap and everything. After getting all washed up, I asked the people at the front desk if there was another guy that checked in with me and they told me what booth number Rod was in. I knocked on the door and he was already awake using the internets. He said he needed a few more mins, so I rested my eyes for a little longer and then eventually he said he was ready to leave. I had to use the bathroom and then I grabbed a quick free coffee and we headed out.

I asked Rod how the fuck we got there and what happened last night. Basically he just said I got super drunk. At some point I passed out at Rock Rock for just maybe like 20 minutes near the end of the night, but then I woke up again and started dancing with a bunch of white chicks lol! After he said that, I sorta remembered dancing with the white chicks. I had no memory of actually leaving the bar though. He said I said goodbye to the staff and thanked everyone though so that was my only major concern. Plus he also said I didnt throw up but I was like standing by the toilet for a few mins but when he came in to check on me that I was ok and managed to get past it. Basically when we left the bar, in a drunken stumble I told him I would lead the way to the manga kisa and somehow being as drunk as I was, I managed to remember how to get there. He was reluctant to trust me at the time but was surprised I actually knew what the fuck I was talking about haha. I guess when we arived at the manga kisa I kinda drunkenly stumbled in and knocked into a magazine stand but didnt knock anything over so it was all good. My bad though. I usually dont get that wasted but at least I didnt cause any damage to anyone or do anything extremely dumb. I guess im just lucky Rod was there. I probably would have found the place myself either way but its good to know someone was watching my back.

From here, we pretty much just looked for a place to eat. We found this awsome okonomiyaki and takoyaki resturaunt somewhere in Shin-Saibashi so we ate there and it was good as hell. We also stopped by our old hotel cuz Rod lost his phone charger but it wasnt there.

After that, there was this one video game related store we found. They sold all this super rare stuff like T-shirts and toys and models and just random crap that is like old or impossible to find. They had some of the most awsome game shirts, like a Metroid shirt, and old school famicom shirts and Sega logo shirts. There were several shirts I wanted to buy but I asked the price and they were all at least 5000 yen or more, which is a little pricey for a T-shirt. I ended up buying a pretty cool Donkey Kong towel for Ryoko just as a little bonus gift for the hell of it.
After that, it was already getting fairly late in the day. We figured it would be best to just go head over to Osaka station and get that shit taken care of with his bus ticket ASAP.

We made it over there, waited in line for a bit, and basically it went like this. Rod talked to this one chick for a while and explained the situation and at first she was saying theres basically nothing she could do. We then had her check my ticket and confirm that the 3 of us did infact buy all our tickets at the same time. We explained to her the situation with Matt about how he had his ticket but absoloutly wouldnt be using it since he was in the US. She agreed to let Rod buy Matt's seat. In addition, she wrote up a little form and if Rod brings Matt's original ticket back to the Shinjuku location where we originally purchased the tickets and shows them at a later time, he can get his money back. So in the end, things basically worked out as far as the bus goes. With that, we had a little time to kill so we walked around the Umeda area looking for Monte50 so we could kill the time playing some more gear.

We didnt really remember how to get back there since last time Rob lead the way and we didnt pay very close attention, but in the end we found it. There was a good crowd there playing considring it was a Friday evening. There was this one really solid Ky player. I played him and beat him. Suddenly, he faced me again. I beat him once more. Rod told me that he overheard them speaking to him and they were giving him shit for losing to me cuz they thought I was some gaijin scrub, and the Ky player was saying like "no SERIOUSLY! this guy is actually really really good!" So then some Slayer played me and I lost in a close match but its all good. I was actually still feeling completely shitty and hungover the entire day and didnt feel any different now. I was crabby and tired and my reaction time was shit, but I still managed to almost beat the guy. I beat him the next attempt and then this Eddie got on and got like 3 wins in a row on me. Once again, every match was super close and I was just not in the best state to be playing games. We had to leave after that cuz it was getting close to when our bus would be leaving.

We managed to get to the station with a few minutes to spare so I picked up some food and a drink for the ride. In addition, they were selling this okonomiyaki senbei that would work great as omiyage (its customary in Japan to bring souvineers to co-workers when going on a far away trip and everyone knew I was going to Kansai) so I picked up 3 boxes of those which ran me about 2000 yen... not so bad.

On the bus ride back when we first got on, I began to email some poeple to try to get a team ready for the SBO qual that would take place the next day in Saitama. I was gonna do it earlier but all the stuff we were busy doing kinda made it slip my mind. After mailing a few people, basically the Baiken player told me he was gonna be busy with something in the morning on Saturday but that it might end on time so he was gonna do his best to make it there. I mailed Shiratori for the first time in like a year and he was happy to hear from me but said he also was busy but will team with me in the future if he finds a qual thats convenient for him. Also, I mailed Kunihiro, the good Anji that I met at Vegas. He said he was down to team up for Sunday, so I had one team mate for the Sunday qual, but still needed people for the Saturday one. Yuki once again didnt reply. I mailed Gin too, but no reply. I did about all I could and then eventually just went to sleep.


Saturday 4/4

I woke up as the bus pulled into Shinjuku station. It felt kinda nice to be back in my Japanese home away from home. It was like 6:00 am. Rod and I got off the bus but I realized I forgot my senbei bag so I went back on and got it. After that, we got some McDonalds breakfast. I asked Rod what his plans were and he was gonna stop home to get some rest, so I just went back with him to his host familys place to get like 3 more hours of sleep. I got a mail from Gin near the time I woke up saying he already decided on a team. Rod agreed to go to the qualifier with me to team up with me as a backup if I couldnt find another team.

We headed over the the place where the qual was at and looked around a bit. The place was called Livebeat on their website, but we ended up not being able to find it. We ran into a game center called Cream Soda, and thought the name was funny so we went in to check it out. Turns out, it was the same place. I have no idea why it has 2 names but whatever. There were a few players there when we arived. I asked around and it turns out that Limekey's team did infact wih the tournament from the last weekend as I had suspected. We played a little bit of casuals and eventually a ton of people piled in. Gin was there as well. Shortly after, I got a mail from the Baiken player who was gonna team with me, saying it turns out his business wasnt gonna end in time and he wouldnt make it till an hour after the tournament started, so he apolagized and I was left with just Rod as a team. I asked around and it seemed hopeless, but then all of a sudden, the Potemkin player ASA came up to me and told me he needed a team mate. He said he had a 2 man team and needed one more. Rod told me to just team up with him and not worry about it so I did. Turns out that the 3rd guy on our team was none other than Gin LOL! I dunno what his deal is but it always happens this way. Last year there were so many times I asked him to team with me, he would say he has a team or wasnt going, I would show up, he would be there too, and in the end we would just team anyway cuz he didnt actually have a team. I bet he just likes to keep his options open but whatever, would be nice if he just told me like it is instead of going through all that bullshit just to team up with me anyway haha!

So now we had a team. Tournament started not long after. Our very first match of the tournament was against Osaka B / Natsume / Mitsurugi. I went first for our team and Osaka B went first for theirs. An epic Faust mirror match ensued. Osaka B took the first round. I took the 2nd round. It was kinda close but Osaka B also took the 3rd round with a sneaky tub/kitchen sink whatever item that I didnt notice when I was in the air in the corner. It was a good match though and people were getting hype. Gin went next with his Slayer. Gin lost the first round. Osaka B was raping him the 2nd round and dizzied him with a scalpel pull. Instead of swating him back down, he just swated him into the air, let him fall, landed, and then stood there and taunted him until he recovered!!! It was like the most hilarious shit! To do that at an SBO qual is kinda rediculous, even if Gin's Slayer isnt exactly tops. Gin somehow came back and won the round, but then Osaka B just beat him again in round 3. Finally ASA went with his Potemkin and Osaka B just pretty much beat him by using pogo stance and getting lots of great items. With that, we were OCVed first match by Osaka B... I did the best out of the 3 of us but it doesnt matter.

After we lost, I asked ASA if he wanted to team with me again for tomorrow. He said he actually wouldnt mind teaming with me again but the tournament going on tomorrow has a very strict situation. They start registration at 9 am and the tournament doesnt start until 5 pm. They would cap the entrants to 16 teams only, so basically if you wanted to play, you had to get your ass there at 9 am. I volanteered to do it, so he agreed to team with me cuz he wouldnt be able to go that early. So I now had a full team for the next day and was happy enough with that. I didnt bother asking Gin cuz hes kinda evasive with the way he handles tournament stuff and ASA is better anyway hah.

There was also this scare where Rod couldnt find one of his bags for a while and was panicking a bit but eventually he did find it so it was all good. Rod had to work later tonight (or so he thought, his boss said come in on Saturday the 5th but today was Saturday the 4th and he had no way to reach his work) so basically we just headed back to Rods. I also realized that I was no longer in posession of the senbei that I purchsed in Osaka. It was in a seperate bag and wouldnt fit into my backpack. I thought maybe I left it at Rods host family place so I said I would stop by with him real fast.

We went back there and my senbei was no where to be found. I realized I must had left it on the train when we went out to the tournament today. Shit! So Rod ate some food and then we headed back to the station and I asked the staff if they had anything in the lost and found, but there was nothing. Oh well. Rod got in touch with his boss and it turned out he had to work tomorrow night and not tonight, so the 2 of us just went to Vegas and played casuals.

Baim was at Vegas and I asked her if her boyfriend (Natsume)'s team won. She calls him her "pet" and basically said her pet didnt win. I found out later on that she must have just meant that Natsume himself didnt win but it turns out that his team did win the whole thing, so after OCVing us 1st round, Osaka B and his crew wrecked house.

Eventually I got some food with Rod and sukiya and then I figured if I was gonna be in Omiya to register for this tournament by 9 am that I had best get my ass out there now and skip going to Current tonight. I parted ways with Rod and headed for Omiya. When I got there I pretty much just walked around for a bit and looked for a manga kisa. I found one after a while but it was kinda expensive so I looked around a bit more on the other side of the station. I couldnt find another one so eventually I just gave up cuz I was walking around for a long time and my feet were getting fucking tired. When I went to check in, they said it was full. I asked if there was another one and it turns out there was a smaller one in the red light district that I walked through earlier. I found it, they had room, so I checked in a went to sleep for about 5 hours until I had to wake up.


Sunday 4/5

I woke up still kinda tired but figured if I just pump redbulls into my body all day I would be ok. I headed to Big Apple game center where the tournament would be held at about 8:50 and there were already like 10 people lined up to register! It was ok though and I got my team signed up! After that, I got some food and then decided I should probably find some new omiyage to give since I lost the other ones. I picked up some generic chocolate cake omiyage at Omiya station figuring its better than giving them nothing at all. After that I headed back to the arcade.
I ended up playing gear pretty much all fucking day. From like 10:00 am to 5 pm right when the tournament started. The games were a bit few and far between when I lost though cuz they only had 3 cabs and eventually shit got really packed. At some point in there, this one guy told me that the signup date online was 9 am but that they posted 10 am on a sign in the actual arcade, and some people complained about it, so as a result, they ended up letting 24 teams enter instead! I felt kinda fucked cuz I wasted my time going to bed all early and stuff and waiting around all day but I guess the extra practice was nice anyway. I was really tired though but the redbull did help. At around 1:30, Kunihiro (my Anji player) showed up and at around 3:00 ASA arrived. We played casuals and basically Mitsurigi dominated most of the day with like a 35 win streak and also worth noting was the Faust player Shoo (he was the guy who was on the Tokyo 23 on 23 G3 team) got 22 wins too. He eventually also was the one to stop Mitsurugi. I played Shoo later on and beat him 2-1 in mirror matches. I also managed to beat Mitsurigi one time but it was super close. For a while, Seta was also beasting with Slayer and had a win streak (and he entered with Slayer instead of Faust today too).

Eventually the tournament started... almost one whole hour late. Our first match ended up being against Ririko's team. I dont know who her team mates were but one was a MI and the other was a KY. Kunihiro went first against the MI and won. Then he lost to Riroko's BR and I went next and beat Ririko. Felt good cuz last time at G3 she beat Kishiya (whos Faust is better than mine) in a tournament match. I then played the Ky. First match I was dominating and then I hit him with a pogo in the corner and went to follow up the combo but I choked and just had a brain fart and missed the combo and he came back and killed me. He dominated me in the corner the next match and I lost. ASA went next and just raped the guy though. So we won our first match. Felt nice. After a little waiting, it was about time for our next match. It was against a team of BA/ED/DI. Once again we had Kunihiro go first and his opponent was Baiken. He fought well but lost. ASA went next cuz both DI and ED are bad matchups for PO. ASA also lost. I went last. This Baiken was crazy good, cought me on a super late counter hit where he like just knicked the edge of my hands hit box as I threw an item, hit me with some giant combo in the corner and just kept me there the whole time. Next round I just couldnt do much to him and choked and lost. We all apologized to eachtother for losing. Soon after, I found out it was Maruken so I guess I wasnt too surprised since hes arguably the best Baiken in the world.

Soon after that, ASA left. Kunihiro stayed a little and told me he wanted to team up again next Sunday so I agreed. I watched the rest of the tournamnet and the finals of the regular qual were JT/Shouji/Satoshi vs Haken/Kishitaka/Ko1. The final match went down to a Satoshi vs Haken mirror match and Satoshi was talking tons of shit while they were playing but in the end Haken came through and won. Satoshi gave him props in a sorta like ill get you next time sorta way.

This was the block final of this Saitama series so the finals had 3 teams. The first match was Limekey team vs Osaka B team. Limekey beat Osaka B. Next, Mitsurugi beat Limkey and perfected him in round 3. After that he straight up raped Nanashi. He also went on to beat En. En seemed rather dissapointed.

Next match was Limekey team vs Haken team. En beat Kishitaka. Then Haken went ahead and just beat En, Nanashi, and Limekey by himself.

Finally was Haken team vs Osaka B team. Kishitaka fought Osaka B and Ko1 was yelling a TON of shit at Osaka B and taunting the shit out of him while they were playing. He was getting really roudy. Osaka B crumbled under the pressure and lost. I wasnt expecting that. Next, Kishitaka also beat Mitsurugi! I was also extremely shocked by this. Natsume came back hard and beat both Kishitaka AND Koichi's I-no. The final match was Natsume vs Haken. It went down to the last round, and for a while, Natsume was down by a lot of health but he hung in there for a very long time. Unfortunately it wasnt good enough and Haken took the win and the SBO spot for his team. Haken was easily the hero if this tourmant. Some excellent play on his part. Once the final match ended, I had about 8 minutes to get on the last train so I just straight up booked the fuck out of there, ran to the station, and got on the train with like 2 mins to spare. On way way home, I mailed ASA and asked if he wanted to team again and he said maybe but he wasnt sure yet. Not sure what that means but we will see. In any case I will set up more teams for next week throughout this week.

This has been one hell of a long blog entry and one hell of a long week. Some bad shit happened and some fun times were had. Overal it wasnt all that bogus of a journey, and its certainly a week and a half I wont be forgetting anytime soon.