I have finally arrived in Los Angeles for E3 2012 and am preparing for all the interviews, presentations, booth babes, games and more. I thought I would take this time to talk about The Journey I have had so far.
One of the biggest tips I can give anyone making the long flight from Australia to the U.S.A is have a good nights sleep. Unfortunately for some reason not only did I NOT follow my own advice but I did not sleep at all before my flight. I decided to finish editing the next episode of OzBoxLive Radio which surprisingly took a lot longer to edit than I had originally anticipated. By the time I had finished editing, uploading and publishing the podcast it was 6am and time to get ready for my taxi to the airport.
During my TAXI to Melbourne airport and being so exhausted before I even started my trip, I was talking to the driver… whilst I was sleeping! I am positive we were discussing E3 and possible announcements from Microsoft that I would like to see. This started freaking me out in case I would talk to the passengers sitting next to me without knowing it. As such I thought the first thing I should do is sleep once in my seat.
Los Angeles Convention Center
My first flight of Melbourne to Sydney was easy enough to manage. This is a short flight of one and a half hours and good preparation for the next one. The best thing that I realized was that I was much better organised this year in terms of clothing to wear. Normally I would have a nice shirt, jeans and jacket for this type of trip. But it took me a few years to realise that I can dress much more casually and comfortably. This year I had brand new tracky pants, large t-Shirt and my classic Halo Hoodie.
Upon arriving in Sydney I was told that I will now be taking a Bus to the International Departures? I honestly found this very odd as this is my fourth trip to E3 and I do not remember ever taking a Bus for any part of the trip. Thank goodness it was not a long trip as the bus turbulence was insane.
At first I thought that not sleeping at all would be great as it meant I would sleep on the long flight to LA for most of the way. Unfortunately I did not predict that I would be distracted by all the entertainment I would have in front of me. The Virgin Australia plane had an updated version of their touch screen and entertainment system featuring Movies, Music, Games and more. I was particularly impressed when I saw Zuma, Pacman, Centipede and many more classic titles and the fact that you could listen to any music simultaneously. It was the closest thing to having an Xbox 360 with me.
ZUMA, PacMan, Centipede and more Games
Nearly 15 hours later I arrived in the United States and unfortunately did not have the best experience entering the country. Very simply I was forced to wait over 2 hours before passing customs. This 2 hour period was far more stressful and exhausting than anything else I have ever experienced in my entire life. There was no air conditioning and it was extremely stuffy and claustrophobic. On top of all this we were consistently reminded not to use our telephones at all during this process. Otherwise you would go to JAIL!!! Well maybe not but the announcement was scary enough to obey. So I could not even read an e-book, listen to music or play some Angry Birds to help pass the time. Next time I will make sure I land in San Francisco first.
At the end of the day I made it to LA and am looking forward to this years E3. I have everything ready to interview all the Booth Babes and take photos with all the Developers. For the latest updates and info check out FaceBook and Twitter to see what I am getting up to and who with.
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