A Good Start to 2014

First of all, sorry that it's been a while since I posted any cool pictures in this blog. Fact is I just haven't really taken any pictures as of late, but since I bought a new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone the other week, I promise I will put forth an effort to take some pictures around Tokyo to post in this blog.

I blogged about random facts and about my 2014 goals recently, but I haven't really blogged about any specific things I've been doing, so that's what this blog is dedicated to. What the hell I've been up to. If I summed it up in 1 word 'work' it'd be quite accurate, but it wouldn't make for much of an interesting blog, so I'll expand on that 1 word a bit :)

I have definitely been very busy over the past month. I was actually quite bored for most of November and early December and spent a lot of time networking, meeting people, hanging out with friends etc, but middle-December things picked up big time and I've been extremely busy since. The most notable non-work things I've done were a karaoke party around Christmas, falling ill for nearly a week in between Christmas and new year due to a cold and falling ill for another half a week or so in January with an ear infection.

Language Link

The Language Link application's date of expected launch when development began was yesterday, the 21st of January, and we haven't launched yet. However, development completed a while ago and even most of the bug testing has finished. However some bugs remain surrounding certain Android models, which may take a little longer to fix. After all the bugs have been fixed, I will produce a little video, take screenshots and then submit it to the app store. Launch date will mostly depend on how quick we can fix those last few bugs. I don't think we'll make January, but I really hope we'll be able to launch in early February.

My work on Language Link consists partly of testing the application every time there is a new build and sending back feedback to the developer, but most of my time has been spent on the accompanying website. I've sort of soft-launched it and you can take a look around at:

http://www.languagelink.net/

You may notice that there's one bug left(list the articles based on popularity to see what I mean) that I want to get fixed before I start spreading the word about it. It's taken up quite a lot of time this month, but it's reaaaally close now.

On top of the website I've also been brainstorming a little bit about future Language Link products/services and I have a very good one on which I will get started very soon, as well as improvements for the 2nd versions of the website and application.

Qlear Entertainment

The project that I mentioned in my 2014 goals blog post that has the end goal of putting a building in Odaiba(bay area) has been renamed to Qlear Entertainment Project. I'm working together with 4 talented young individuals(and good friends) to make a name for ourselves in the entertainment industry.

This week we've started organizing a valentine's concert. Valentine is very soon and if there are any unforeseen setbacks we will not make it on time, but if that happens we will simply shift it back a little bit and organize an awesome concert in March. If we are able to pull it off for Valentine's though it will be a MASSIVE accomplishment!

After that first relatively small concert to get our feet wet we plan to organize much bigger events in Tokyo, Japan and Asia and plan to eventually become a big player in the market and leverage our position to build a building in Odaiba before the Olympics.

I've taken on the roll of manager, so I'm making sure we meet deadlines, everything runs smoothly, is well organized and so on, and I jump in whenever my help is needed somewhere. Fortunately enough I can rely on my talented friends to do a lot of work as well.

 

Fitness & Japanese

Except for the minor interruptions during the 2 periods where I was ill I've been crushing the gym pretty well. I'm in great shape and as time goes on I will improve and improve even further. This week is the last week of my breathing squat phase, which is a really fucking tough phase with sets of 20 squats with 80+ KG. Toughest exercise I've ever done. Deadlifts are going well too. I'm up to doing sets of 15 reps @ 138.5KG(300+ lbs ^_^ ), but I expect to top 140KG during my last workout of the week.

However, even though it's supposed to be really tough, my workouts are the most relaxing part of my day. There's nights where I don't sleep so well and I wake up really tired, but after I go to the gym I'm SUPER well rested and HYPER relaxed. During my workout it's no different. It's the only moment of the day my mind isn't racing with thoughts and it honestly feels like meditation. Super relaxing and right now I couldn't live without!

Japanese is going decent too. I'm too busy some days, but most days I watch some TV and I am brushing up on kanji knowledge. I want to do more reading though, so I will try and find more reading material soon. However, the fact that most Japanese books use way different (and tougher) vocabulary and kanji from what I'm used to doesn't help to make reading more interesting.

Other Stuff

Last week I got to eat Fugu for the first time and probably the last. I'm really happy I finally got a chance to try it, but to find out why I probably won't eat it again read my other blog here.

I mentioned I bought a new phone, I also bought a 13" Macbook Air, because my other laptop was too heavy and impossible to take with me around Tokyo. Haven't used it much yet, but compared to Windows it seems to have both disadvantages and advantages. Overall it seems a bit worse, but I may change my mind after using it more.

I think that about sums it up. I promise to do my best and take more pictures for my next blog! Hopefully by that time I'll have launched the application!



P.S. Awesome song:

2013 Funny Facts and a look back at 2013

So far 2014 has gone all right. I started off with 1 and a half weeks of insane productivity, but then caught an ear infection which took me 3-5 days to get over(and it still isn't 100%).

I looked forward at 2014 and posted about my goals in my last blog post, but I never really looked back at 2013 to see what I accomplished and at what my highlights were, so here goes. Lots of funny facts and a brief look back at 2013:

Travel

Countries visited: 7
UK, The Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore.

Favorite Country(excluding Japan): Hong Kong

Flights: 12
Amsterdam -> Paris
Paris -> Haneda
Kansai -> Seoul
Seoul -> Narita
Narita -> Seoul
Seoul -> Amsterdam
Amsterdam -> Seoul
Seoul -> Narita
Narita -> Seoul
Seoul -> Singapore
Singapore -> Hong Kong
Hong Kong -> Narita

Favorite Airport: Seoul Incheon Airport
Clean, New, Smoothie King!
Worst Airport: Paris
I don't get lost... ever, except for Paris airport and everybody speaks French!
Best Airliner: Korean Air
Seats, Food, Price, Entertainment, Stewardesses, everything!
Worst Airliner: KLM
Food sucks, seats suck, I don't like speaking Dutch with people I don't know!

Food

Favorite Meal: Ukai Tei Yokohama
This meal was siiiiiiiick!
Favorite Meal Honorable Mention: Sushi close to Nagoya station
2nd best sushi ever after Sukiyabashi Jiro. Kind of want to go back to Nagoya in 2014 to eat here again!
Favorite Meal Honorable Mention #2: 37 Steakhouse Roppongi
Best steak of my life. Better than at Ukai Tei Yokohama, but the overall meal was just slightly less. Still epic though.
Worst Meal: In a tower in The Hague(The Netherlands).
The view on the ~40th floor was nice, especially considering it was in Holland, but half the menu being 'unavailable' today and the other half not being very good made this a bad meal I can't forget :(
Favorite Piece of Food: Foie Gras @ Ukai Tei Yokohama
Best piece of food I've EVER eaten. Better than sushi. It made me cry is how good it was... I literally couldn't speak for 1-2 minutes.
Favorite Cuisine: Sushi
No-brainer.
Favorite Cuisine Honorable Mention: Unagi
Always liked it, really got into it in the last 2 months.
Favorite Restaurant: Midori Sushi Ikebukuro Echika Shop
I've been here over 100 times in 2013. I used to go 3-4 times a week when I lived in west Ikebukuro and now that I live a bit farther away in east Ikebukuro I still go 1-2 times a week.

Tokyo

Favorite Area: Ginza
As much as I love Ikebukuro, Ginza has a slight edge. Marunouchi and Yurakucho also woow me every time I go there.
Worst Area: Roppongi
I don't like nightlife, so clearly I don't like Roppongi.
Favorite Cafe: Suzu Cafe #2 Shibuya
I found a better one the other day, but I only found out about it in 2014. This one in Shibuya is pretty awesome.
Favorite Starbucks: Omotesando B-Side Bldg
Good location, cool staff(although best staff is in Ueno station SB), power sockets and the other people who go here!

Other

Best Day: Fireworks in Setagaya!
Out of many awesome days and nights, this one was #1!!
Worst Day(s): The 14th of June, 3rd of October and the 18th of November
Can't pick one. If I had to, maybe the 3rd of October when I was feeling terrible from food poisoning.
Favorite Month: September
May and March were great too and August ranks 4th. But September was #1 with serious gymming, no illnesses, sweet productivity and many fun meetings/events etc.
Funniest moment: My friend sending some pictures to a girl with my cellphone. Unfortunately enough the pictures came from group chats with my Dutch high school friends and were... it's hard to properly describe them, but let's say they are not pictures you want to see when eating. Made for one hell of a laugh though :D
Biggest Pokerhand: The 250k HKD pot in Macau where I ended up splitting AAxx vs AAxx. I flopped a nfd though and the other guy an oesd!
Best Movie I hadn't seen before 2013: Helpless, Strange Circus and A New World.
Although surprisingly enough I didn't see any movies in 2013 that I'd rank in my top 25 all-time, I cannot pick a favorite movie I saw in 2013 out of these 3 absolutely amazing movies.
Best TV: Code Geass 1 & 2
Admittedly this is the only TV I watched in 2013, but this anime is so absolutely freaking fantastic that I rate it higher than all but 1 movie I've ever seen. The deep, complex themes in here are so plentiful it's crazy. It makes you think about the future of the human race, a 3rd world war, weapons of mass destruction, discrimination, friendship, betrayal, various forms of governments and many many more. Best of all, it's all packaged into an amazing series that never slows down, never has dull moments and sometimes multiple plot twists per episode. Even if you don't like anime, I highly recommend this!


Overall 2013 was a pretty good year. I didn't make that much progress in my life as in accomplishing things in poker or business, but I progressed a LOT in Japanese, learned a lot of things about certain social situations/dynamics and learned many other useful life lessons. Looking back at a year ago, it's pretty shocking how much wiser I feel like I am.

Another area that lacked a little bit was fitness. I only gave it my all towards the end of the year once I settled in Japan, but I got interrupted by having to leave Japan for a month and by a few injuries/illnesses, hopefully this will go better in 2014. On top of that I was traveling a lot more than I like to and busy moving to Japan which also explains the lack of progress with regards to poker/business etc. Now that I'm all settled in though that should be different in 2014.


Hopefully next time I update, I will have a launch date or very close estimation of the Language Link mobile application I'm developing! I'm hoping it will be this month, but it may end up being February.

2014 Goals and Motivation

First of all...

Happy new year!!!

I hope you all had very happy holidays and started off your 2014 in awesome ways today! If you need to get motivated to crush 2014, I suggest you watch either this Youtube video:

Or if you have 4 hours to spare, watch my new all-time favorite movie(I've seen well over 1000 movies), Ai no Mukidashi aka Love Exposure:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1128075/

Language Link

Somebody asked me to explain exactly what I'm trying to do with Language Link. On the about page of the website I'm about to launch I'm explaining it as follows:

If you're learning a new language, there are a lot of things you will need on your journey towards fluency. A lot of these needs are fulfilled by great websites, applications, courses and such, but they are scattered across the internet. Some needs however, are not fufilled at all or in a way that can be improved upon.

Our aim at Language Link is to create a central hub for language leaners, fulfill their unfufilled needs and improve existing language learning resources wherever possible. To accomplish this, we will leverage the knowledge of veteran language learners and teachers over the coming years to create innovations that will make learning easier and more fun for students and teaching simpler and more efficient for teachers.

Basically I'm trying to create more clarity in the language learning market. One place where everything is crystal clear and language learners can go to find everything they need. Be it links to great products by other companies or my own products.

For now I'm focussing on creating a community around my company first through the website and through the language exchange application. The language exchange application I believe will fill the need that every language learner has to practice. I'm making that available for free. After I gain traction and get a big user base of language learners, I plan to offer them other products that will help them achieve their language learning goals.

The website should hopefully be done for a soft-launch in about a week or maybe 2. The application is officially scheduled for launch on the 21st, but it could possibly take until early-February.

Odaiba Project

I believe I've mentioned this project before, but never said much about it. Well here goes:

Before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics I and a few others plan to build a building in the Tokyo bay area.

For now, I'll just say that we have a plan involving a number of milestone steps along the way to build a building in Odaiba, the Tokyo bay area, before the 2020 olympics. The building will focus on entertainment. It's a massive project and I'm sure there'll be many challenges along the way, but nothing is impossible and I think we can do it! The first milestone is a valentine's concert planned for February. Exciting stuff!

 2014 Goals

So next up it's time to set some goals for 2014, well actually the time for that was yesterday and so I did, but since I'm updating my blog today, I'm sharing them with the world today. Here's a few of the biggest goals I have for 2014. Some harder than others, but I'm determined to achieve every one of them:

A net worth of 1.000.000$

This will presumably come from Language Link for the most part. So I better work my ass off to build the company as fast as I can over the next year. Application launch in January, market it like crazy, add some extra features and also before mid-2014 have something else ready to start generating revenue for the company. Then in the 2nd half, build upon the momentum I gained in the 1st half and build it big enough to boost my net worth into 7 figures for the first time in my life.

Understand Japanese TV

I live in Japan, but nonetheless I don't use all that much Japanese. I need to make a conscious effort to start using Japanese as much as I can, because I can't improve that much anymore from studying with textbooks. My work is effectively entirely in English, so I will have to get it from non-work activities. I may like Korean movies better, but I'll just have to man up and watch Japanese entertainment and TV instead. By the end of 2014, I want to be able to turn on a Japanese TV and understand 90% of what is going on.

Look like a fitness model

Even if it made me look butt-ugly I may still be going to the gym. I just freaking love it and would be significantly less happy without it. While I'm at it, I may aswell set a goal to motivate myself. This is it. At the end of 2014, I want to look like a fitness model, albeit be it one of the healthy ones and not the unhealthily thin steroid guys.

Complete Sea to Summit in under 15 hours (including the climb down)

I have still not decided 100% I'll do this, but I will decide sometime in the next 3 months. I've always wanted to compete in some insane physical challenge and this seems like a crazy, awesome, over-the-top one that will allow me to try and prove every sane person who will say it can't be done wrong. If I do it, it'll also include running a sub 3:15 marathon as part of training!

Sea to Summit by the way is an event where you go from the sea of Japan to the summit of Mount Fuji in about 24 hours(48km uphill hike and then climbing Fuji). Most people struggle to complete it in 24 hours, I want to complete it in under 13ish hours, so that I have enough time to get back down and get to bed before I start getting too sleepy ;)

Basically... I will simply crush 2014 and make it my best year ever!!

If at any point anyone feels like I'm slacking off even in the slightest, please tell me I'm a lazy bastard and that I need to get back to work!!!

Do you have any goals for 2014? If so, please post them in a comment. I'd love to hear about them and see if you can complete yours before the end of the year!