V in Japan - Day 2

Day 2 – Narita Airport, K’s House Tokyo and Harajuku

• Date: October 14
• Weather: hot and sunny
• Mood: Trying to keep up appearances, but friggin' tired

Arriving in Narita

Next morning (local time), we landed in Narita.

We went through Immigration (which went quite smoothly considering the enormous line), customs and luggage stuff.

When we walked towards the train area we spotted the JR office and went there to activate our JR passes and book a seat on the Narita Express to Tokyo. We waited in line (less smooth than the previous line), but got our passes activated in the end. We learned how to do this JR-pass thing (Go to the “white-backed ticket” counter at the entry/exit of the station, flash the JR pass and get a friendly “Dôzo” to move along) and went down to the railway.

When arriving on the platform, we immediately went to the first shop we saw to try some local drinks and snacks. Francis tried the Kirin beer, Steven some iced tea (not ice tea, just "iced" tea, as we noticed) and I got some peach drink (not bad). Steven also got some snack that looked like salami but tasted like fish (kind of weird taste).

When the train arrived, we hopped on and took off for Tokyo.

Us checking our first local drinks and snacks. The one on the right is mine.

 

K's House Tokyo

Once we arrived in Tokyo, we checked our printout of directions to go to our hostel (K’s House Tokyo Oasis). We had to puzzle the correct directions together, because it was formulated quite confusingly. But we got there in the end, by train and subway AND without walking or taking a train in the wrong direction! Hooray! (*Achievement Unlocked – Finding your way in the Tokyo Subway*.)

We checked into the hostel and got a map of the environment from the cleric, marked with all sorts of interesting places (places to eat or drink, stores, banks, landmarks, etc). We looked at the map and decided to go to a local chain of restaurants (Sukiya).

After dropping off our luggage, we walked to the Sukiya store and ordered a beef bowl (which is rice with beef slices and onion on top of it). This was the first time I used chop sticks. It took some time getting used to it, but I finished it in the end! (*Achievement unlocked – Eating with chop sticks*).

Notice the environment map behind my plate of food.

Harajuku Failure

After eating, we already felt quite tired from the trip, but we still decided to "spot freaks and fashionista's" in Harajuku (Harajuku is famous for its fashion, both in the positive as the extreme meaning). We went to the district, but ended up walking through the streets with shops and hardly spotted fashionista's or freaks.

Only afterwards we realized our mistake, due to us being deadly tired. What was the problem? We forgot to check the details in our guide. The freaks apparently don’t gather in the shopping area, but in a nearby park (*facepalm, no achievement this time*).

After checking the Harajuku area for a while, we decided to head back.

Once back at K’s House, Francis went straight to bed and started sleeping like a log (he was sick a few days before the trip and felt incredibly tired due to the trip and medication he still had to take). Steven and I didn't really want to go to bed already, so we chatted for a while with the other guests in the lounge room (an Israeli & French Girl and a Japanese elder man nicknamed Miya-chan).

Here's Steven with Miya-chan.

We told the Israeli girl that the Japanese subway costs a lot. We noticed (even with us being tired) that the subway is owned by 2 different private companies (that are not part of JR) and is thus quite expensive if you use it a lot. She explained that the JR railways go to most places all around Tokyo and you should only use the subways to get from your hotel to the nearest JR station to save your expenses. That was a helpful tip, honestly.

Together with the Israeli girl, we checked out the 7/11 across the street (literally, like 20 meters from the hostel; useful that it was this close by). We checked the shop, got us some instant noodles, payed and afterwards laughed with the cashier that bowed ridiculously low (nearly 90°).

Back at the hostel, we ate the noodles, drank a beer with Miya-chan and went to bed ourselves.

Tips for traveling in Japan

• The JR pass is one of the cheaper ways to travel through Japan. You can order it from anywhere in the world and you can activate the ticket in the JR office in the airport. With the pass you can travel through most of Japan (safe a few local lines). The passes come in 7-days, 14-days and 21-days.
• In the railway station, go to the JR office to reserve your place for your desired train (any time, any destination). When going to the train, search for the “white-backed ticket” counter. Sometimes this in a separate office, next to the other check-in counters. When passing, show the JR pass to the person in the office. If all is okay, you'll get a friendly dôzo and you can move on.
• The subways in Tokyo are owned by different companies. Both which are not part of JR. But since the JR railways runs throughout most local areas of Tokyo, you can keep the subway usage to the minimum (from your hotel/hostel to the nearest JR railway station and back) and make use of your JR pass.
• If you don't understand Japanese characters, ensure you have an English variant of the Japanese Subway net. Some smaller stations don't mention the English/Romaji names. Just search a detailed one on the net, there are plenty of them.

V in Japan - Day 0 and Day 1

My journey in Japan is over. I’ve been writing the whole journey in a document and now that the concert of the orchestra I’m part of (also part of the managing team) is over, I finally have the time to put it online.

The trip to Japan has been a journey that we’ve been planning for almost a year now. But finally it was there. October 13 was the moment I put my first steps on a big plane and flew all the way to a completely new destination: Japan.

Day 0 - The night before

• Date: October 12
• weather: cold and cloudy
• Mood: Excited for the trip

The night before we step on the plane for Japan, the three of us (Steven, Francis and me) drove from Ghent to a hotel near the airport (Novotel Zaventem). Our first flight (from Zaventem to Frankfurt) was early in the morning, so we could use all the rest we can get.

We got a room for the night at a cheap price. Steven used to work in Novotel, so he got a employee discount (or something like that). He met up with some of his old colleagues and got us a free drink (as in “only one each” as we noticed when we got the check) at the bar and we went to bed.

Day 1 – Travel and The wasted hours

• Date: October 13
• weather: Cold, but sunny
• Mood: Shifting from tired, to excited for the trip, to being tired again.

We woke up early in the morning (around 4.30 or so) and hopped on the shuttle bus to the airport, where we had to wait (that WAS the key word today) until Lufthansa opened its check-in counter.

Look at us being happy about waking up this early and having to wait...

After dropping off our luggage and going through the necessary safety shizzle, we got on our first plane to Frankfurt. This was my first experience on anything bigger than a sports plane and I was quite nervous for it. But it went quite smoothly and I hardly felt anything. (*Achievement unlocked – Flying on a plane*).

About 45 minutes later we landed in Frankfurt and we had to wait for our connecting flight to Narita... for near 6 hours. We knew this in advance (hence the cheap price for the flight), but it was still kind of annoying to wait this long. We got some breakfast (at a new place that opened up last week. Slow service, undermanned and staff that had trouble understanding English… wow!) and waited in the chairs.

Waiting in Frankfurt.

We noticed an annoyingly crying little kid that cried for hours straight, without stopping. We couldn't really complain about it (since kids can cry for long times, you know...), but we hoped it wouldn’t be on our plane. Well too bad, because it was on our plane and cried almost non-stop during the entire flight, safe a few hours of sleeping.

After near six hours of waiting, we finally got on our plane (Airbus A380) and flew off to the other side of the world.

A380. Damn' good plane!

We each had a screen in the seat in front of us to watch some movies (like Madagascar 3, Brave, MIB3, the latest Spider-Man, etc.) or some random episodes of various tv-shows. It helped to pass the time, because sleeping on a plane is not that easy.

We also got lots of drinks and two meals on the flight, all for free (cool). For meals we could choose between western and Asian. Well, for a flight meal, it wasn't all that bad.

Flight meal... it's something

And so, as we flew on the plane, the day shifted from Saturday to Sunday...

V in japan day 1-4

First update from Japan - tokyo. Text will follow when in home. Bit here are some pictures to get you in the mood.

The Japan Plan - Counting down (2 days left)

Okay, it's now coming REALLY close.

Tomorrow evening we leave for Zaventem and Saturday morning, really early, we're hopping on that plane for Japan

I'll try to post up some pictures in the evening (in the ho(s)tels where I have access to wi-fi).

So, until the first updates on the trip, V out.

Them Locals: Legendary Collection Edition

Last weekend we had another local tourney. This time around, the price was 2 Legendary Collection 3 boxes for first place, 1 box for second place and lots of boosters (ROTD & TU7) for the rest. Yes, this store gives enough price support to keep its people happy.

Before the tournament, I try testing my ninja deck in real life. I play Vs Ruben’s new deck (Agents) and lose horribly, because he opens broken first game and he blocks my moves second game. Okay, enough testing, let’s take that Photon lightray deck and get on with it.

Round 1: Vs Tim (Twilight)

Both games are kind of similar. He tries to mill his light and dark monsters. But in both cases he ends up milling or discarding boss monsters, so he can’t defend himself enough for my boss monsters.

Result: OO

Round 2: Vs Maarten (Inzektors)

• Game 1: I notice that with only 1 Dragonfly & Hornet, it’s harder to get the deck working. I get my field going and negate his monsters at the right moment. That’s game.
• Game 2: I open badly and after a while I feel like just attacking his Sangan so he can search dragonfly and kill me off (yes, I gave up on that one).
• Game 3: Back-and-forth game. At a certain point he has a Centipede with Gigamantis & a Brilliant with 1 material detached. I’m able to summon a light monster and just revived Honest to get it back to my hand. Due to me doubting rulings, I attack Brilliant (I thought Mantis’ effect would go off when I destroy Centipede, I was wrong) and I end up losing a game I could’ve won.
• Result: OXX

Round 3: Vs Davy (Monarchs)

Newbie or someone returning to the game after a while, I’m not clear on that one.

• Game 1: I underestimate him and he gets LADD on the field early (I admit, I did not expect Soul Exchange). I only have spells in my hand, so f**k this game.
• Game 2: For a while, it looks good for him again, but then he attacks into a surprise Gorz and has no monster big enough to get over it. When I activate Gozen Match, he’s in trouble and can’t get his Caius out anymore.
• Game 3: Gozen match in my opening hand. He’s pissed when I activate it (he’s been facing the damn’ card every round, due to the Wind-up Hate (lol). As expected, he can’t overcome the card. He’s stuck with a Caius in his hand he can’t use. And when I mind Control his set Spirit Reaper, I can attack for game.
• Result: XOO

Round 4: Vs Ruben (Agents):

• Game 1: He apparently opens with 2 or 3 Shiny Balls, Kristya and Herald of Orange Light. He’s being beaten easily and is forced to negate the effect of my Crusher (when it goes to defense), because he has to do something. Logically, he loses. He showed his opening hand, it was horrible.
• Game 2: He's able to fend better than first game, but he still a bad opening hand (again, 2 balls in hand, together with 2 D.D. Crows). And trust me, a bad opening hand is not something you want when facing my deck. Yeah, that’s another win for me. I explain to him that D.D. Crow is useless against my deck. It just fuels cards like Lightray Sorcerer & Madoor.
• Result: OO

After that, I end up 4th place and there’s a top-4 cutoff.

Top 4 match: Vs Carl (Machina Geargia):

• Game 1: He starts off with Gearframe to search for Fortress. I mind control his Gearframe to overlay into Maestroke. But he has a second Gearframe, gets 2 Fortress on the field, turns them into Big Eye and steals my monster. With my field open, I can't come back from that.
• Game 2: I try my Cyber Valley + Mind Control trick on his Gear Gigant X, but he has Dark Bribe on the field (curses, foiled again). I fail to draw any of my side-deck and my draws are not enough for his barrage of machine monsters.
• Result: XX

End Result: 4th place

So no Legendary Collection for me, but I get a few boosters, with more yank holo’s (another Hierophant & Gawayn, hurray![/sarcasm]).

It was a nice tourney in a new location (the old place, where we had the barbeque-tournament was not the best location) and it was a nice place. Still needs a bit more decoration, but it’s already better than the other place.

Well, that’s the last locals I play until I come back from Japan (5 days until I leave). Then the first one is going to be the sneak peek of Abyss Rising on November 3rd.

Until next time, V out.

The Japan Plan - Counting down (9 days left)

For those not knowing it yet, I'm taking a trip to Japan for 2 weeks. Now the day I'm leaving is getting closer (leaving in 9 days), so I'm getting quite excited about it.

All hotels/hostels are booked, Shinkansen tickets have been ordered, traveling passport is here, etc. I think (almost) everything I need is here.

I've also bought a new phone (HTC One V), so I'm able to download the right Maps, use Instagram, use WiFi in the evening and update my facebook/blog when necessary.

To see where I'm going: More info over here, btw.

Other than that, Yugi-news has slowed down again. Last week Leviair was revealed in the tins (everyone expected it) and the Legendary Collection came out. Next week on Thursday, we'll get the new Structure Deck with Atlanteans. And in December (or end of November), we'll get the new Astral Pack.

With Tewart out of the office (he's on holiday, if I'm not mistaken), Pojo is spoiler-free for a few weeks.

So while we all eagerly await the product page of Abyss Rising, the last revelations of the tins & the first French or German pics of the back of the new Structure Deck, there's not really anything to report.

There also haven't been any local tourney's past week (some free play, but that's it), there's a big chance I won't be able to attend the locals upcoming weekend (busy with last preparations & attending the local fair) and I don't really have time to playtest at the moment. I've been suckered into watching Mushishi. I got the DVD box and I have to give it back before I leave for Japan, so I'm filling my evenings watching anime instead of testing Yu-Gi-Oh! (not that I mind, lol).

So, until there's anything to report, V out.

Edit: Hardly wrote about it and Tour Guide is announced as the last card for the Hanzo Tin!

Card Rulings: FLIP effect monsters Vs Trigger effect monsters

After the many positive comments I got on the Monster Reborn post, I’m going to post more posts about rulings, useful to show to your opponent on Duelingnetwork when discussing rulings. This post is about the word “flip”.

FLIP Vs When flipped face-up Vs When Flip Summoned.

There are three kinds of flip effects known to us.

1. FLIP: When the card text starts with the word “FLIP” (capitalized), you have a flip effect monster in your hands, which has a flip effect. When these cards are flipped face-up (either by attacking them, by card effect, of by its controller flip summoning the card) the flip effect will activate.
2. “when this card is flipped face-up”: When the card text does NOT start with FLIP, but has the text “when this card is Flipped Face-up”, then you have a trigger effect monster whose effect triggers when flipped face-up (by any means). These effects activate on the same occasions as FLIP effect monsters, but they’re trigger effects instead of flip effects (yes, there IS a difference).
3. “when this card is Flip Summoned”: When the card text does NOT start with FLIP, but has the text “when flip summoned”, then that is a trigger effect that only works when the card is flip summoned. The difference with this card is when the card is flipped face-up by other means (card effect, attacking it), its effect will NOT activate.

Ryko: group A, Geargiarmor: group B, Hanzo: group C

Flip Effects Vs Trigger effects (when flipped/flip summoned)

Why making such a fuss about the difference in effects? Well, certain cards have an effect that flips the opponent’s monster with the text “Flip effects are not activated at this time”.

Realize that in this case, the card text only refers to FLIP effect monsters and does not refer to trigger effect monsters whose effect triggers when flipped (group B).

"I negate card effects like Ryko & Hanzo,
but I cannot negate card effects like Geargiarmor."

Also, if you use Nobleman of Crossout on cards of all three categories (when they’re face-down), all three cards will be banished. But the secondary effect (the part of both players banishing all cards with the same name from the deck) will only occur when the banished monster is a FLIP effect monster (group A). It will not occur when the banished monster is a trigger effect monster. (groups B and C).

"When I strike, you're OUT!"

Afterword

Same as on the Monster Reborn article, feedback comments or corrections are always welcome.

Feel free to use this post as a reference to settle disputes on DuelingNetwork or even real-life.

Until next time, V out.