Sandra and Ralph... easing into the fun with the ligher rides firstToday I went with my best friend Ralph, his girlfriend Sandra and my cousin Uwe to the Heidepark Soltau Themepark. We have a couple of Themeparks in Germany, but the Heidpark Themepark is probably the best Themepark here. Its highligh is most probably the steepest wooden Rollercoaster in the world, but there are a lot more other interesting rides to hop onto.

Uwe in front of the COLOSSOS rollercoasterWe have been extremely lucky with the weather. It was a sunny day, perfect temperature and to our surprise, the park was deserted. A couple of school-classes, that's it. We almost didn't have to line-up for the rides at all, something that would normally take up to 1 to 2 hours under normal circumstances.... COOLIO.

THE INVINCIBLES...First things first... We took a couple of smaller rides to smooth into the fun... till we ended up in the COLOSSOS which indeed was a coloss... HAHA. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to bring in any camera on this ride, I later understood why. I thought I was brave and cool by wanting to snatch a seat in the first car.
...ready to conquer COLOSSOSGeez, how I regret: I am scared of height! DUH! Well, but after the incline, we 'flew' down this steep slope and force of gravity pushed us into our seats. The ride was rough, fast and brutal...!!! HAHA. Oh geez, I felt sick after the ride. I never did feel sick after any rollercoaster ride. But yeah, I have to admit, it was fun...! Ralph and Uwe couldn't wait for another ride and hopped into another round right after.

our view while standing in line... Well, admitted, the COLOSSOS intimidaded me a little and I took it slightly easier from there and skipped a few of the other rides. Overall we had a wonderful time, filled with laughter and fun. It was a very mermorable day for me and I felt grateful being with my friends and family.

We all felt exhausted after this day of hopping from one ride into another and I still remember the muscle and body ache I had the next day.. HAHAH.

The Proof!Everyone going to visit Germany: Make the Heidepark Soltau part of your trip. It's frankly not as charming adn pretty as Disneyland, but its a big portion of fun!!!!

See ya...

Oliver

YEY...! WE DID IT...!

Callista, Olli and Florence... in a Park near the Alster lake.Hooray... Today I met three nice Singaporeans here in my hometown Hamburg in Germany. Florence, Callista and Alex. All of them are undergoing thru some training at a local Game-Company here in Germany for a 360 XBOX Project. They have been here for almost 3 weeks now and haven't even used the train yet!!! They are living and working in one of my least favourite areas in Hamburg, so I decided to show them that Hamburg is actually a really great place. Hehe.

Alex, Callista and Florence...We have met up at the main-station 'Hamburg Hauptbahnhof'. The girls looked thrilled and excited, Alex looked rather unhappy and a little stressed. Hehe, luckily that changed later. I explained them the area around the main-station at first, walked down the Moenkerbergstrasse with them (which is Hamburgs 'Orchard' or 'Champs Elysee'), the Jungfernstieg, the Gaensemarkt and then along the Collonaden and rounded up everything with a walk around my beloved Alter lake. We passed by beautiful houses and mansions and even though the weather kind of sucked, its been still exiting. It's fun knowing two cultures so well and having the chance to explain the differences.

...Chillin'...We ended our little get-together in a traditional German restaurant. Florence and Callista walked on the safe side and ordered turkey-breast with vegetables and potatoes, while Alex went for some really tradtional German dish: Labskaus. His reaction: 'It tastes like Corned Beef, i expected something more exotic'. Well, he is right, Labskaus is made of Potatoes, Corned Beef, Beet Root and pickles, as far as I know. It's mashed together and garnished with a fried egg. Here's the recipe for your own Labskaus Creation: Labskaus Recipe

...being silly...It's been a fun day. The weather could have been better, but I think they enjoyed themselves as well. =)

Oliver

At first I thought she was pinching her nipple... but she is 'just' opening her bra =)
The MAP of SAND-WORLD...For now I am staying with my sister, brother-in-law, my nephew and niece. All together we went up to Travemuende today. Travemuende (http://www.travemuende.de/ ) is a popular sight-seeing and wellness spot for German tourists. Trave is a river that flows into the ‘Ostsee’ (http://www.ostsee.de/ ) which is one of the two seas that surrounds the northern part of Germany. Travemuende is located at the estuary mouth of the Trave and the Ostsee and is near Luebek (http://www.luebeck-tourism.de/ ), a beautiful little town with lots of history and traditions.

This one was even cooler in '3D'...It took us about an hour to get to Travemuende, where we had to take the ferry for the last part of our journey to reach our destination. We planned to have a pick-nick at the beach. Yes, my sister is a true optimist; it has been cloudy and windy most of the day.

For me the highlight of the day was Sand-world. A sort of theme park made of sand-castles…. Well, actually sand-sculptures, just so you get what I am trying to say.

Love this design... Feel like drawing it...The sculptures were professionally carved together by professionals with a mixture of sand and paste (the sort of paste you would use to stick wall-papers onto the walls). Each year is a different theme at Sand-world. This year the theme was ‘Circus’.

Amazing detail...Frankly, at first I was not that excited about the idea going to look at Sand-Castles, but I was surprised. The sculptures were amazing! Not just was I impressed by the fact they were actually carved into sand, but the designs really inspired me a lot. I took lots of photos for reference, I am sure they will be useful some day for some character designs.
...and the sexy back-view of the same creation.

I am posting my favourite designs. If you want to find out more, visit their website at http://www.sandworld.de which is in English as well. They offer workshops too. Truly inspiring…!

The pick-nick was only so so… The weather was terrible, but well… we had fun nevertheless… =)

...for my Asian friends =)Oliver

my things packed in boxes... ready to be shipped.The time has come to move on. Five (!)  intersting years in Singapore. I can't believe it's been that long. I had a great time in Singapore, especially the first two years were fantastic. Singapore became my second home and I hope I will have the chance to return. At least once in a while.... =) 

...but first the boxes have been stored. Jan helped a lot.The last days have been incredibly tiring and busy. I did not have the chance and time to say good-bye to everyone, so I apologize here and now to the people that feel neglected or not being appreciated because i haven't met up with them one more time. I wanted to meet so many more people, but packing has been a &@#^ in the butt. It took me three weeks almost every day just to throw things away, to sell stuff and to pack everyting into boxes. Moving is no fun.

Bye Bye Ginger... (and Fungichan ;)I quit my job with Lucasfilm about a month ago. It's been an interesting experience. Not exaclty what I hoped it will be but overall i can say I have learnt a lot (good and bad). It's time to be creative again, so I took a job with Polygon Pictures in Japan as a 3D animator. Finally I can go to Japan. I always wanted to live and to work there, so I am very excited.

Bye House No 22... Raine, thanks so much for everything...!Before moving over to Japan in August I will be heading home to Germany to spend time with my family, to meet my friends there and to enjoy my hometown which I miss very much.  It seems like things are going to be great. =)

Haha... how am I going to miss being silly with you guys.Singapore, it has been a pleasure. I truly enjoyed spending my past five years with your people and culture and I am looking forward to be back... =)

I"ll be back... =)Oliver

Kaneko, myself and Abe...FINALLY! For almost ten years now i go to Japan at least once a year and only now it's the first time I am here in Spring, the best time of the year to be in Japan.

The weather is wonderful and I am so happy. I never thought I would ever say it, but 365 days of summer can be really annoying! I miss the four seasons very much...

The entrance to the apartment i stayed inI have been doing great so far. I am staying in a really cool place! My friend Keiki let me live in his second apartment in Yoyogi-uehara... A really neat area to stay in. The apartment is like a Signaporean mini-condo. No pool though, but the rest feels pretty 'condo-ish'. Haha. It's very convenient to travel from here. No doubt. Just a few stops from Shibuya.

Keiki organized a little 'NABE FILMMAKER PARTY'  at his apartment. He invited local film makers for drinks and talk while we were looking at their latest production reels. It was a great little get-together and I really enjoyed myself. =)

This was the first time I met Koichi, Animator Director, in person. He is such a great guy and it seems like we will spend quite a bit of time together in future, later more about that.

Cleaning-Up after the FilmMakers Sit-InThings are going well so far, had some great conversations with my friend John who came down for a visit from L.A. as well to discuss our projects together. I am full of hope that this visit will bring us closer to our dream, even if we won't be able to start producing this year, this get-together is certainly very important for the next steps.

John had to head off to meet some friends outside of Tokyo and went on to Taiwan a little later, so I was on my own again. But I won't be bored. So many things to do!

I met up with my friend Kento from namco and he brought two of his co-workers  Abe and Kaneko, both 3D animators. Really great chaps! We got along very well right from the start. We have met up for some Yakiniku and then later went together to town for a few beers with Yosikazu, Production Manager of Engine Film, a true orignal!

Yoda in Japan...We went to this little bar somewhere close to EBISU in the middle of nowhere, and even there I am not safe from Star Wars merchandise. Haha. Yoda was standing there, big, bronze and totally keeping an eye on me. Such a meanie. We had a good time over couple of drinks. After then I followed Kento to his house. I am his guest for this night.

It's been very nice. Kento and his wife Yukiyo hosted me with their lovely daughter. They have this really nice apartment a little further out from the center of Tokyo, close to Yokohama.

The KOJIMA family =) Yukiyo, Kento's wife, is a game artist as well and she works for Capcom. It's a small industry indeed.

The next morning we took a nice walk at the River, where people were playing Baseball in the beautiful spring weather and we were on our way to Omote-sandou for some window shopping with Abe and Kaneko.

Crazy Animators bunch in Harajuku...We had some really neat Ramen there. Frankly, I had a bit trouble with the strong smell! It was some Pork Ramen and I had no idea where the strong smell came from, but the Ramen tasted great!

We went on to have a look at some gothic cosplay in Harajuku, checking out the 'left over girls' and sat down for a coffee and talk. I love that about Japan so much, there are cafe's everywhere. Just like in Europe! A coffee in a nice open-air coffeehouse during a beautiful spring day, what can you ask more for? Hehe.

Ready for the Internation Animation FestivalLater we went to TOKYO BIG SIGHT for the international animation festival. It took us really a while to get there and I wonder where the heck we were (I still don't really know). The Animation festival was so so. I am sure Otaku's get a big deal out of this, but well, nothing really impressed me much other than a production from GONZO (Brave Something) and the latest Miyazaki flick. 

Cute Bunny GirlThe show-ladies of course were super cute. There outfit was a little too anime for me, too cute, but some of the girls were reallly hot, no kidding. I tried to get a photo of one of them, unfortunately it didnt turn out well because someone distracted the lady in the moment I took the picture. Bummer.

A little later we had a look at students work from Japanese animation students. Lots of great images and itneresting compositing, but nothing breath taking. As usual the pacing was very slow and the content very dark and depressing, even Kento fell asleep. Keke.

Kento, enjoying watching student projects... ...or rather dreaming of 'em?It's been a great day and I can't wait for my next trip to Japan, which will be pretty soon in fact, just another 1.5 months from now. ;) Later more...

Stay tuned...

More photos of my stay in Japan: HERE!

Oliver