Meetings

So the list of people I have spoken to and am supposed to meet in Japan is slowly growing. I have a few YouTubers that I'm meeting, some in Tokyo, some in Osaka. Then I have 2 new friends I met through the language site www.themixxer.com. So I'll be meeting those 2 as well. And then another person I met through courchsurfing.org, unless she's off travelling! It's good to know I won't be completely alone :).

2 days now!

So I never quite got there.

I've mentioned many times before that my goal was £4,000 to take away with me. But unfortunately this was easier said than done. In the end, I'll be taking some £3,500 with me. I got pretty close, but not quite what I wanted. I'll just have to go without food a few days, eh?
I can't tell you the exact amount I think I'll have, because it changes every time I look, but £4,000 was around my estimate. So I hope not having that extra £500 won't hurt me too much. Unless, of course, I have a wealthy and very generous reader out there willing to donate... No? Didn't think so.
My Chinese money came through yesterday, so I picked that up from the Post Office. It was £211 for ¥2000CNY. And I have a sneaky suspocion this will be more than enough for my 4.1 days in China (yes, 4.1. I'm not counting day 5 a I'll be flying out at 9am.


Anyway, that was my slightly disappointed update for today, but on the bright side, in less than one week I'll be in Beijing!!

Last day of work

So yesterday was my last day of work until after my trip, so about 3 months. Pretty cool thought, I don't have to do anything I don't want to for the next 3 months, I'll just do what I want and relax! The time until now has gone really quick, up until the last couple of days. It's gone scarily fast actually, so now I feel I'm rushing to get everything done and that I'm not ready. Somehow I feel like this isn't actually true, because I've got almost everything finished already, just have to sort out some money. But still, it's less than a week now, eeek!

So I better crack on and finish off those last few odds and ends. This time in one week I'll be somewhere in Beijing living it up Chinese style!

PS Sorry about the short post, they'll get longer once the trip starts, I promise. And there'll be more, possibly several each week. Ja mata ne

New Laptop!

So I finally got my laptop sorted! Meaning I can keep in contact, keep editing and keep blogging for all you guys while I'm on my trip!! This is my first laptop, I'm a desktop man, but I like this :D. This is just a really really quick post to let you guys know about this important update (which I am obviously posting from my new laptop, despite still being sat at my desktop). I still need to post those promised pictures of the Japanese money, but it's getting late now so I'll do that tomorrow. Ja mata ne
~GA

Money money money

So I just went to the Post Office and bought some money. I got ¥13,000JP for £107.00 and I've ordered £200.00 of CNY, which I can collect after Friday.
I have to say, both currencies have a much nicer look than our crappy Pound Sterling. I'll post some pictures up soon.

Also, I can pick up my laptop tonight, though I may have to wait until tomorrow.
See you soon guys.


~GA

So I woke up this morning with a definite feeling of dread. I can't tell if it was at the fact that I only have one week until I leave, and so only one week to finish organising, or because in one week I'll be thrown in at the deep end.
It's not as if I haven't planned what I'm doing. Maybe just I've never done anything this big before. I don't know, it's the first time I've had that feeling. Maybe I won't have it again.


~GA

My Camera Setup

If you already know it or not, I plan to video and photograph this trip so so much. The videos will be editted and loaded onto YouTube (view my channel by clicking the button over there -->). So I thought I'd share with everyone what cameras I am currently using.

Video Camera
The video camera is a Sony DCR-SX33 HandyCam in blue.60x optical zoom and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. I'll be honest, I have no idea what that is but it sounds fancy. Inside that I have an 8GB memory card.

Camera
It's getting on in age a bit now, but I have a Sony DSC-S930 SteadyShot camera. 10.1 megapixelsand 3x Optical zoom. I need to get it checked out in the shop though, there are a few problems with the lens cover.

Gorilla Grip
I love these things. If you haven't seen one before, it's a tripod made up of linked balls that rotate and bend etc., so that you can stand it up, or wrap it round poles. Great for different angles and setting up shots on uneven surfaces.

Camera Phone
Occassionally I might use my iPhone to take photos, like when I am trying to be discreet. So I use my iPhone 3GS, and I have a few apps to play with on that, such as Instagram.