Catherine, Portal 2, Little Big Planet 2

I havent played a lot of games recently but those 3 have been the most fascinating ones I found and loved to play for totally different reasons and here's what captured my attention for each of these classic games.

Catherine (japanese version, ps3):
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yeah i dont understand the Japanese language but i really wanted to try this game out so I ordered it from Japan.

The game is divided in 3 really distinct units that could potentially taken apart and made for different art platform.

• The main story is told through an japanese anime, with a lot of expressions, great colors, interesting developments and is telling the story of the main character through his love interests Katherine (his girlfriend), Catherine (girl he meets in a bar and sleeps with) and interaction with his colleague friends at work talking about love and what to do in certain circumstances. incredibly well done, I could understand most of it with that language barrier.


• The interaction in the bar where you move around, talk to your friends and answer back(not sure what i was answering), talk to people in the bar, drink some alcool, play a rapunzel arcade game, receive and send messages to the 2 C/Katherine, watch pictures they send and listen to television news. Wasnt as interesting since i could understand anything


• The nightmare puzzles during your characters sleep which is really where the game takes place. The goal of each puzzle is to get your character on top of an environment made of small boxes. You can move left and right, push/pull boxes which will create a path to go up like a staircase. By pulling/pushing boxes you create a path but you also change the environment that collapses around you and time also destroys the boxes below you. Many different box types (exploding, spikes, slipery, desintegrating,...) help you on your journey to the top and resolve your nightmares. It might seem boring or repetitive if you havent played but adding element of time, surprises, boss fights, etc... make this game one of the best ive ever played. Its never the same, always fun, and can be played in chunks of 15mins if wanted or hours.

ive never been good at puzzle solving or puzzle games which i always find too hard or the answers ridiculous sometimes but this games makes you feel great when you finish a puzzle you been failing a couple of times. it feels you did a mistake when you fail and not that the game tricked you or cheated which makes it so much more edifying when done. Its great and I felt intelligent playing it and finishing it.

Its a long game, funny, new and interesting to watch. Play it when it comes out this summer in north america.

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Portal 2 (PC)

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(might have some spoilers)

following on the steps of the first one it follows the story of the same character(player) and introduce a friendly english robot who will help you out exit the testing facilities...

I enjoyed the first game for its mechanics, puzzles, the dialogue with sarcasm and jokes and the way it was playing the players mind.

The second iteration has more of everything. The dialogue and voice acting is just excellent and so professional. Always making me laugh while I was playing even when the main enemy was toying with me, my mind and the environment/puzzle to try and keep me prisoner and testing its new tricks. Only few games or movies made me laugh out loud as much as Portal 2 did throughout the couple of hours that it lasts. Sarcasm, congratulations (sometimes just to take it back a couple of minutes/seconds later), references from the previous games where you created a lot of damage to the facility and your nemesis and so much more.

Portal knows its a game and toys with the idea quite a lot. For example, you are asked to talk and respond to questions at the very beginning by pressing the 'Space' key which makes you jump and the response is "at least you can jump, it might be helpful". So the game teaches you different mechanics at the beginning but it doesnt feel like a boring training at all since the interaction makes sense and is part of the game.

Throughout the game you will learn and use new mechanics or gameplay elements that you will use to solve the many different puzzle each really unique from each other. The new gameplay elements are a welcomed addition to a game that could potentially feel repetitive if it wasnt for those.

Bits where the main characters were not interacting with me felt a bit boring to me where the only funny things lie on the walls as posters explaining security procedures which are a funny bunch as well.

Great game, now playing coop which is also a blast.

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Little Big Planet 2

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LBP2 wins for best presentation in a game Ive ever seen. From the details of its cinematics that must have taken a long time to do because they had to create all these creatures and effects and move everything slowly and film it with their engine; the story is funny, has a lot of characters, dialog is simple but entertaining, the sets are just amazingly detailed; the mechanics are plentiful where each world/level has a different mechanic that is never used after, is fun but feels that they should have use more of each mechanics instead of switching to a new one directly; make for a diverse and amazing looking game.

The art style that the game uses is his own. It looks great, its fresh, its new, its detailed and impressive, it shows emotions and objectives through cinematics and dialogs. Obviously its not pushing for realism and thats one other thing that is good with this game

Offers the capacity to create so many different types of games. The editor is done to let people create games on their own with more facility than the first one with easy ways to create any type of games that exists out there.

i enjoyed but did not finish it due to some playstation red ring occuring at the time i was playing it.

Wow its been so long ... Now : Kinect

wow its been so long since my last post!!
i guess a lot of time spent at work, shows, trips, playing some games slows me down on my writing time.

anyways lets talk about Kinect a little bit.

So I got a Kinect System for Christmas ... yeah i really wanted one to play games that would come out and it would be so fun to play with this new controller which ive been using my whole life but not in that way anyways. So yes I mean this body of mine.

I had tested this new technology for a couple of months already before wanting it for Christmas and putting it on my list to have. So i knew what could be done with it, its contraints which ive been experimenting for a while at that point and I knew that awesome things could be potentially done with it.

Obviously I got Adventure and Dance Central, the first came with the system and the other one was the best game offered at the time... well it still is ... which is the sad thing about it all.

So Adventure was a day of playing and then shelf time :(
its repetitive, you have to jump (which i believe is not appropriate for everybody for reasons like bad knees for many people, living in an appartment, cant play at night or morning due to noises it makes to land after a jump), its just not really fun unless you are drunk with a lot of people i guess which i havent done yet.

Dance Central is great. Still playing it every other weekend with friends.
Why is it good ? the interface is easy to understand, learning moves for a guy who likes to dance but not so good at it is great fun and testing it in a club setting after gives opportunities for a good laugh, options to slow the motion down and practice with commentary to help out the less fortunate movement wise, good songs, good diversity of moves, learning curve is slow and easy to progress and get a feel for the moves, difficulty modes for each songs provides different moves instead of getting more picky for scores.

of course a couple of things can be better such as the feedback for something you are doing bad colored red but ... and hard to do move and look at whats the next move.

anyways this must be the best game on the Kinect so far.

I was hoping for more games to be released or use the system in diverse ways but so far only mediocre games have come out if any after the original slate of games and those that come out are dancing games which is a shame when companies try to take advantage of whats doing well and trying to make a buck without really going for quality and originality.

I have some hope that some companies will put out proper games and mostly original ones using this tech...waiting to see whats next and also trying the new game from Rez creator Children of Eden.

hope companies put the money out and let the creative people find ways to use the tech to entertain players in new ways.

Best Breakfast place ever

Lola (downtown Seattle)

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Lola is the best place Ive ever had a breakfast at.

It is located in downtown Seattle on 4th street in the hotel complex of a great looking and surely expensive hotel. The whole lobby of the hotel is amazing, moderne with great chairs and sofas to wait for a table.



Anyways the food is the most important thing here.

Every element in the plate is fresh, made for you, is chosen based on its quality and not just to sell and make money from (it feels that way) and is just soooo delicious.



So Ive had the Lola breakfast which included baked potatoes like you have never seen them, 2 eggs from free range chicken perfectly done to your taste, choice of bacon and sausages... i was offered half of both which is what i got!!!



So lets talk about the bacon first... it is the most succulent thing that you will ever eat that is called bacon or has it in its name! 3 really thick slices of the best bacon ive ever had were placed in my plate for me to love. It was juicy, well baked,crispy, none of this fat bacon that is still uncooked.



The sausages (2) were perfectly cooked. They tasted so good, they were big sausages, delicious and they made you want more even though there was no way you could eat anymore.



It was a perfect breakfast which I dream about sometimes :)



i also got an orange juice which for once was a real fresh pressed juice ... unlike other restaurant pretend to have ... just like home! :)



hmmmm enjoy!

Pecha Kucha!

So ive been to the last two of the Pecha Kucha conferences in Vancouver
These events are extremely interesting and everytime I hear those people talk I am impressed with how people are soooo creative and pursue their dreams until they get it done!

So the Pecha Kucha events are organized everywhere in the world once a month and it seems that Vancouver is the most popular or fast growing one. Pecha Kucha was invented in Japan and it consists in some people giving 4-5 minutes presentations of their accomplishments or talking about their companies and what they do to realize their dreams. They are talking over slides that are shown on the screen for 20 seconds each.

It is really impressive to listen to these people talk from their respective fields, so people come from different background and do different things, the only common factor between those presentations is that they have accomplished something for themselves or others.
Helping others or the planet are main themes in a lot of presentations.

So yesterday, I took some notes about some of the cool stuff going on...

• check out Miss604 blog which is talking about a lot of different events in town and some ways to help different organisations.
• Here is now : this guy organises different art galleries in town and next in Portland for one day only. So he goes to an abandonned building and put arts from local artists and shows them to the world.
• In the house festival : this is really great and strange but every months or more often that women organises different events in people's houses who have donated their house for a day where people will present their own shows such as dance, painting, food, music, ... seems awesome anyways
• Ethicaldeal.com : check it out
• Bloodied but unbowed: check out this movie about the Punk scene in Vancouver and how it all started here. that presenter was really interesting and she really follows the music scene around here.

So many interesting people creating different designs to live better for them and others. Some students are building crazy good looking houses for people in need and come up with awesome architecture designs.

Im impressed by all those people who pursue their dreams!

Next Pecha Kucha is Nove 14 in Vancouver i believe

Restaurant

Stepho's Greek Taverna (1124 Davie st)

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Stepho's has been recommended to me by a friend who used to live in Vancouver and it was said to be the one restaurant that I needed to go to and experience the food and service.

Since February Ive seen lineups at this restaurant everyday until 9pm which is crazy(!) ... so I thought! How come this restaurant has lineups all the time (and pretty much the only restaurant in town that attracts so many people)? With a fast service and low cost that might be a reason why but I had to try for myself ...

So on a rainy night in Vancouver, I decided to go with a friend and thought that surely people wouldnt lineup outside in such a weather... but I was wrong! After a 45 min wait outside, we finally got in only to sit and wait another couple of minutes and smell the food ... it was painful ;)

Then we got a table and looked at the menu. Everything looked so good how could we decide on something when we were so hungry at this point... so many choices we couldnt get to try all we wanted which means i need to go back at some point!

Anyways, I got the premium red house wine ... not sure about that premium description though... housewine is housewine i would say.

As appetizers we got a plate of hummus with pita bread from the oven and a plate of olives and Greek Cheese. The hummus was delicious and oily hmmm so I ate a lot of it but needed to leave some space for the rest of the meal.

The olive plate and Greek cheese was good as well even though i dont really like Greek cheese normally I ate some and it was good mixed with the different types of olives coming with this plate it was a great combination.

For the main plate I got lamb on the bone and my friend got the half chicken plate.

The portions were really big and full of colors thanks to the vegetables. I think the vegetables were really impressive in their own homemade sauce it was actually really good and helped the plate to live up to my standards ;) It is really rare that I care so much about the vegetables but this time it was perfect. Big potatoes and rice(meh) accompanied the lamb as well. The lamb itself was so tender and juicy and easy to get from the bone. It was melting in my mouth as I was eating it. Hmmm yummy :)

The chicken plate I heard was really good as well but I cant describe it so well as I didnt taste it.

The service was really friendly, fast and good in general.

This restaurant received so many awards in the last years which can be seen on the walls of the place. The interior of the restaurant is really charming with his columns everywhere it feels you are in Greece somewhere. Lighting is low so you feel alone in this beautiful place.

i recommend it even if you have to wait in line for a while it is worth it :)

Restaurants (continued)

As every other Saturday I am trying new restaurants around town.

Yesterday I wanted to go to Lucy May Brown but ... its dead now so I walked to La Gavroche which is a french restaurant (again) where you will need to reserve if you want a table and not be seated at the bar between books and wine bottles.

La Gavroche (1616 Alberni street)
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Setting: This is a really small restaurant which feels friendly and familiar. Unless you are at the bar like me and sitting next to a computer and an employee purse Lollll

Service: Lucky for me the service was perfect. Every employee working there came to talk to me during my dinner so it seemed like i wasnt assigned a waiter but everyone pitched in to deliver a good experience for me. And that was great :)

Menu: The menu has a lot of options and I was at a lost for a couple of minutes since I didnt know where to start and so many options to choose from. You have special prices for 4 services or 5 services with or without wine pairing. Choose from anything in the menu for that. Or you have many already selected and arranged dinner options that fit each other with or without wine pairing and all wines are listed with their items so easy to select a wine that fits your meal.

I decided to get the 4 services (which was a 5 services in the end since you get a trou normand sorbet)

Before the meal : With bread comes the butter (obviously) and some pate :)

I chose a red Ch La Targue (or something like that ...it was a Bordeaux anyways) wine which i finally had two glasses of in the end. it was a good wine.

First I chose the Steak Tartare with fries and pickels and crackers. It was my first time eating a steak tartare so i wasnt too sure what to expect. The good thing about this meal is that the owner comes at your table and prepares it in front of you and the way you want it !! Spicy?, he asked ? I dont know never done that before, I said. He said yeah it should be ;)
It was a good experience to eat it and it was big enough that i ran out of crackers and i was getting full so i didnt eat it all.

After that I got the cesar salad, which is also made at your table in front of you with ingredients of your choice (well you have some options anyways) This was also a really big portion which i couldnt eat all of it. It was only the second service and was really getting full at this point.

Then I had a surprised sorbet (trou normand) for appetite to come back ;)

It took a bit for the 5 Spices duck magret to arrive which was good since i needed a breather.
The duck came with some vegetable i couldnt really name, a tomato and a carrot. Also, it had duck breast obviously and the carcasse with some meat in it plus it had big pieces of stuffing (which i didnt like). This meal was good but not the best sauce ever. I would get it again though if I wanted duck next time. I recommend it.

After all of this I was full...really full, but dessert was going to arrive at some point.
I got the Creme Brulee which was really good (not as good as the Faux Bourgeois though). The top was definitly well done which a really tick sugary element lol. It also came with a really good kind of cookie or sugary cracker.

It took me 2 hours to eat there and thats incredibly long for me since i usually eat really fast.
The music was great there which made the atmosphere really relaxed and made me enjoy it a lot even though I didnt have a great spot to sit at.

I recommend to go if you like french food and good service.

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Restaurants

I enjoy discovering new restaurants and this tradition continues in Vancouver ;)

Here's a list of restaurants i went to so far and how much I liked them ...
(will be updated as i try new ones)


Les Faux Bourgeois Bistro (663 15th avenue east)
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I was told this French restaurant had the best creme brulee ever so I had to go there and taste it and I love this kind of food anyways so...

The restaurant is located in an easy to access and park your car area.
The staff was french, but I still got a good service from them ;)

Ordered a really good red wine glass of Chateau Rouselle Bordeaux 05 which was the best wine I got so far in Vancouver where good one is rare i find.

I started with the French Onion Soup which was really good with plenty of cheese and good bread. Salty just the right way too.

Then I went on with some Escargots (snails) which was served with garlic oil and some hard baked bread. it was good but would not really get them next time.

I tried the Canard Confit (Duck) has my main meal which was served with potatoes and green beans but the sauce didnt do anything for me. I wouldnt get that one next time.

Dessert was next : I obviously tasted the Creme Brulee and it was soooooo delicious. I dont know exactly what made it so tasty and smooth and vanilla flavored but hmmmmm i would go back just for that.

Enjoyed the overall experience.
Reservations needed if you want a table and not sit at the bar like i did.
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Glowbal grill & satay bar (1079 Mainland st)
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This restaurant has a good selection of satays and some options to select them by the piece or selection of the chef ...

I enjoyed 2 pieces of satay : - Salmon
- Something else that i didnt really order tasted like pork

these were delicious and i would have gotten more if I only new before.
The ribs satay looked delicious too hmmm

I also got the Onion Soup which was a great selection too. Lots of cheese, good bread. (not as good as the one at FauxBourgeois)

Good wine by the glass.

As my main meal I had a big piece of steak. When I got it, I thought it was an amazingly big piece of steak which was great. It was served on a wooden cutting board which I found strange and was sitting over a couple of green beans. The steak was tender, but it wasnt as good as a plate at a Hard Rock Cafe for example.

Didnt get any dessert since the bartender didnt really offer me anything or the card ... oh well!

like the satays would go back for that but not so much for the steaks.

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Cactus Club Cafe ( 357 Davie Street)
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There are a couple of locations in Vancouver but I went at the Davie location.

Atmosphere: I enjoyed the atmosphere here, half lounge/bar, half restaurant. It had a darker lighting, romantic, really like the photos on the walls and the structure of the restaurant also.

Service: Best service Ive had in Vancouver so far. The waitress was awesome, super friendly, always there to offer something, fast with refill from the other employees. Im really critical for service and it was a perfect one.

Menu: the menu as a great selection of every kind of meal and it is the restaurant chain of Chef Rob Feenie, so I had to take one of his creations of course :)

Started with a good red wine glass (cant remember which one)

Starter was a really generous portion of cesar salad which was delicious
Main menu: I took the Rob Feenie's Hunter Chicken which was served in a mushroom sauce. This was the most delicious and original chicken recipe Ive ever tasted. hmmmmm great :)

My dessert was a lava chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream. I can say that it didnt ruin my dinner ... great chocolate :)

favorite service, great food.
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Subeez Cafe (891 Homer street)
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i was disapointed overall for this place which i was told was good.
Maybe the sandwiches are good I might have to try them at some point, but ...


The red wine I got was okay.
I started with the Mushroom soup which was good.
Then I chose the Maple soy Salmon which was not great but was alright

I was sitting at the bar and the service was not so great.

not a lot to say when i dont quite enjoy ;)
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Templeton (1087 Granville)
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Great brunch restaurant :)

This restaurant looks like an authentic 1950's style dinner. It is a really small place so you will have to either eat at the bar or wait a little bit in line for people to leave. There is a line up usually on Sundays so arrive early or be patient cuz it is good and youll want to wait.

They might have the best milkshake ever which is a generous portion of fabulous drink. There are a couple of different flavors but i always get strawberry ( or cherry lol i cant remember) but you can get root beer flavored milkshake. It is so big that it could potentially be a meal for some.

The breakfast are delicious and gigantic ... 3 eggs, sausages, really good bacon, good bread and potatoes! hmmmmm

The staff is also super friendly and i enjoyed them a lot.
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Brix restaurant and wine bar (1138 Homer street)
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This is the first restaurant I tried since it was right by my place.
Also I decided to go there because it offered some duck from Quebec ;)

You enter the place through an alley which gets you in the garden area of the restaurant where you might be lost like i was bc you have to go through it then enter the restaurant to be seated.

I got a seat outside in the garden under a roof . This place was a great place for a romantic dinner because the atmosphere was really appropriate for such meals. The place is heated if its cold outside so no problem there, being in an alley is kinda strange but you get accustomed to it also.

The service was great. The guy who would fill my water glass was so fast and im sure he was spying on ever sip i had since he was always around. lol

I got a really good red Syrah wine glass.
I ordered a soup as the starter but it was a bean soup which wasnt liquid enough ... was rough in my throat and did not like it at all.

Fortunately the Duck breast from Lake Brome which was served in a blueberry sauce with tomato ragout, wild mushroom and spinash was a great meal.

For dessert, I didnt get anything because i was full even though now I regret not having this good looking Chocolate Pot de Creme (chocolate mousse) hmmmm oh well

i had a great time at this restaurant
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Earls Restaurants (they are everywhere)
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Everytime I go there I like it. Ive been there 3 times until now and always get a good meal.

The combo soup,salad or sandwich is the best deal and most people take that.

The earls own wine is not good i hopefully will never get that one again.

I tried the clam chowder soup and different home soups and they are always tasty and good.

For meals:
I tried the chicken caesar salad which is really big and good.
The Cajun Chicken Cheddar sandwich is good.
The salmon was alright i found with a high price i wouldnt consider it for future choices.

Never tried the dessert since i usually go at lunch
good eat at low price
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The list is long for japanese restaurants where i eat but cant remember the names, but the sushi is always good and really not expensive here in vancouver.

For a good poutine (30 flavors): La Belle Patate (1215 Davie)


Oh man I shouldnt have written this before i eat ... im so hungry now !!!