London Filming Locations: Love Actually (2004)

Posted on December 11, 2015 by tokyofox

When December rolls round each year I tend to watch ‘Love Actually‘ (2004), especially if I’m going back to the UK and want to get in the mood for Christmas. During many of these trips to the nations capital over the last few years I have been seeking out the movie locations of this Richard Curtis-directed film and finally Tokyo Fox has managed to cobble together a fair few of them.  Continue reading →

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Return To Batam Island (Indonesia)

Posted on December 8, 2015 by tokyofox

The main reason for flying to Singapore was not actually to see the Star Wars starfighters or to dine out in the hawker centres but to take the boat to Batam in Indonesia to visit my sister and her family. Prior to their trip to Tokyo in April, they stayed with my in-laws in Hiroshima and from that moment my mother-in-law wanted to one day visit them on their industrial island. As it was, I intended to visit again at the end of November with my wife in tow (it was just me last October) and so a plan was hatched for the three of us to go over there for a short break combined with some time in Singapore.

Following a day in Singapore we headed out early to Vivo City in Harbourfront hoping to get the 9:30am BatamFast boat. That was already full though and the next one soon sold out too so we were left with the 11:35am one which certainly gave us time to get some food and go to Starbucks. On arrival at Batam Centre one hour later (but at the same time as we left due to the time difference!) we then had to endure a long, long wait in line at immigration.

We all stopped briefly for a group photo under the Hollywood-style ‘Welcome to Batam’ sign and then went for lunch at Montego Resort in Nongsa where a golf buggy cart transported us from the car park/reception area to a lovely restaurant overlooking the bay. Nasi loreng of course for me and though I tried to resist I finally decided to have some Pepsi Blue which was my first soda for well over 100 days. I managed to resist alcohol during the trip though as I was determined to break my previous record of 113 days off the stuff!

Batam3  Batam2   Continue reading →

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Singapore 2015 Pt II: A Day In Singapore

Posted on December 6, 2015 by tokyofox

As I concluded the third and final part of my Singapore 2014 saga I said that I would be returning one day with my wife in tow. Just over a year later and that came true as we arrived in Singapore following a night flight. It wasn’t just us two though as my mother-in-law was also with us for a little family trip as she returned for the first time since her honeymoon 40 years ago!

After the bonus inclusion of the Star Wars starfighters at Changi Airport, I was already more than satisfied with my Singapore experience but there would be a few more highlights on top of that. The taxi driver was a talkative one on our drive from the airport to Holiday Inn Atrium where we were staying. He was amazed that my mother-in-law had visited four decades ago and thought he needed to update us on all details of what had happened in the intervening period. Thankfully we were able to check in early and have a short rest before we headed out though not before photographing the breathtaking wellhole-style interior of the place.

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Singapore 2015 Pt I: The Force Is Strong At Changi Airport

Posted on December 3, 2015 by tokyofox

The journey towards ‘The Force Awakens‘ began with #ForceFriday on September 4th and ever since then ‘Star Wars‘ commercial and marketing tie-ins with all kinds of products and places have been popping up around the world. One such example included the news a couple of weeks ago about two iconic starfighters docking at Singapore’s main airport. As a big Star Wars fan I really couldn’t believe my luck with our trip to the south-east Asian country on the horizon.

There is a Rebel Alliance X-wing fighter and an Empire TIE fighter currently exhibiting in a couple of the departure hall’s at Changi Airport which is located in the south-east corner of Singapore island. Thankfully, both are in public area’s so having landed at 6:30am last Friday morning we went upstairs to the departures area in terminal 2 where I looked for the TIE Fighter exhibit. It took me quite a while to find it but had I properly done my research, then I’d have known to just head over to check-in row 1.

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Moving In 2015

Posted on December 1, 2015 by tokyofox

Itabashi-ku has been the home of the all-new Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre since the start of October and so far it’s all been mostly good and our old place in Shinjuku-ku already seems such a long, long time ago! Of course it’s still early days but so far we are enjoying sunshine coming into the apartment each morning as well as a bit of wind going through it when we open the windows and doors. Neither really happened in our old place and sadly the walls became a bit mouldy but the new place is located in the corner of an apartment block facing the all-important south-west direction with two sizeable balconies.

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Pain, Agony And Torture – My Week Of Hell

Posted on November 28, 2015 by tokyofox

You’d think that a week where Leicester City went top of the Premier League would be a good one but that wonderful achievement could only slightly mask what personally was a nightmare six days for me.

My tale began last Thursday (Oct 19th) when I was feeling tired so I sat back and closed my eyes  with my smartphone playing a podcast while it sat in my shirt pocket. I soon fell asleep and when my power nap ended 15-20 minutes later I had a terrible pain in my chest where the phone had been. I still have no idea what exactly the problem was but the phone must have overheated (with apps running and all that) and fried my body. Continue reading →

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Review: Films Inspired By Japan – Star Wars (1977)

Posted on November 25, 2015 by tokyofox

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For the average Star Wars fan this may come as a bit of a surprise but many Star Wars fanboys (and girls) and Japanophiles are aware of how much Star Wars was influenced by Japanese cinema and particularly the works of legendary director Akira Kurosawa.

Though some of the other Star Wars films and animated TV series’ include scenes, costumes and names inspired by Japan, the one that has been mostly influenced by Kurosawa’s samurai movies is the film that later went on to be retitled as ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope‘ but when originally released was simply called ‘Star Wars‘. Continue reading →

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On Screen #7 – Cambodia

Posted on November 22, 2015 by tokyofox

This south-east Asian country is one with such a troubled past so it is with a hint of embarrassment that my gateway to all things Cambodian came from a movie based on a popular video game. Yes, it was indeed ‘Lara Croft: Tomb Raider‘ (2001) which sparked my interest in Cambodia rather than any of the more serious pieces made about the Khmer Rouge.

When Cambodia first appears, Lara (Angelina Jolie) is parachuted down (in her Land Rover no less!) into Siem Reap on a mission to retrieve half of the triangular MacGuffin. Phnom Bakheng is where Lara begins her journey as she looks through her binoculars before driving off from outside Bayon temple in Angkor Thom. 

Screen Shot 2015-07-24 at 13.52.20  Screen Shot 2015-07-24 at 13.56.41  Continue reading →

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The Central Tokyo Temple Resembling A Spaceship!

Posted on November 19, 2015 by tokyofox

One of the most popular Tokyo Fox posts ever is ‘Music Video’s Filmed In Japan‘ and ever since it appeared in June 2014 people have been commenting on it to let me know of other promotional videos which were filmed in part in Japan. Recently, one kind lady sent me a long list of videos including the locations used and the time that they appear. Such detail that I was very happy to see included as it makes my job a lot easier! She mentioned that Reiyukai Shakaden was included in a couple of videos (below) by will.i.am and The Weeknd which bemused me as I’d never even heard of the place. I like to think that I know the sights of Tokyo reasonably well so how could such a place have been amiss from my radar?!

Screen Shot 2015-11-05 at 12.27.52  Screen Shot 2015-11-06 at 11.46.38  Continue reading →

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TF Top 10……Star Wars Filming Locations

Posted on November 16, 2015 by tokyofox

When ‘The Force Awakens‘ hits cinema’s worldwide mid-December it will bring a 22 year wait to an end as the story of Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, R2D2, C3P0 and so on continues. Of course there’s a brand new supporting cast alongside them who will no doubt take the story on from the legacy characters.

New filming locations include Skelling Michael in County Derry (Ireland), Abu Dhabi (UAE), New Mexico (USA), Greenham Common (UK), Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire (UK), Scotland and Iceland. I’ll hopefully visit them some day but for now it’s time to look back at the current pilgrimage sites which are essential for serious Star Wars fans to visit and truly feel the force.

Here then, in no particular order, are the Tokyo Fox top 10………Star Wars filming locations…

1. The Lars Homestead @ Sidi Driss Hotel (interior), Matmata and Chott el Djerid (exterior) (Tunisia) – ‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope‘ (1977) & ‘Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones‘ (2002)

Screen Shot 2012-04-20 at 15.00.28  Tunisia Aug '09 230  Continue reading →

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