japan
There are 11 entries for the tag
japan
Just got back from our trip to latest Japan yesterday morning. On previous trips, I ate really great Yakitori, ate Blowfish and lived to tell about it, celebrated the new year, , learned about ritual suicide and played around with sharp swords, visited a temple in the midst of old Tokyo, and visited the hotel from Spirited Away. This trip was mostly a relaxing affair consisting of eating good food and lying around doing as much nothing as we could muster. Unfortunately, travelling with a 15 month old child meant that the amount of actual relaxation to be had...
The internet access I had at my mother-in-law's last time I was in Japan turned out to be a fluke. I am at a Japanese Manga and Internet cafe (because those three things go so well together) right now typing this out. I've received a lot of comments and questions via my blog and once I get to Hong Kong, I will do my best to answer.
No promises though as I hear that the pool at the hotel is nice and I do have three talks to prepare. I must admit that not having daily internet access is probably a...
Well I am back home in the good ol’ U.S. of A and strongly feeling the effects of jet lag despite the few coffees I’ve had in a pathetic attempt to stave off the lethargy.
Despite many of the fancy schmancy meals we had (which were all extremely delicious), my favorite meal was when we went out to a gritty smoky Yakitori place in a nook underneath the train tracks in the Ginza district. As you can see in the photo to the right, the place is tucked against the curving wall of the tunnel.
This was my father-in-law’s favorite Yakitori...
In ten minutes we’re getting on the train to go to the Narita airport. I always feel sad when leaving, but excited to get back to work and the exciting opportunities therein. The fact we are flying Singapore airlines is some consolation. They have a fantastic in-flight entertainment system. If only they had wi-fi.
Technorati Tags: japan,tokyo
Yesterday we were given a tour of Asakusa from an old family friend who resides there. He is an “Edoko”, a 3rd generation Tokyo native. Apparently, it takes three generations before you get to carry the Tokyo native membership card. I’m not sure if it gets you into the hottest clubs or not, or even if it at least provides car insurance on rentals, but I am sure it is an honor nonetheless.
Anyways, sources tell me it is the same way for “Parisians”. You’re not a Parisian unless your parents and their parents were born and...
Since I have a free moment (and the internet connection is back up), I thought I’d write a short status update of my trip to Japan. But first, let me point out that I used the term “status update”. What am I? A project manager?
In any case, we’re having a pretty nice time. Below is a little mural of photos I’ve taken thus far. Yes, I have been suppressing my Asian side by not being quite as trigger happy as one would expect.
Meguro Gajoen
One of the highlights so far was our one night stay at the...
For those of you who give a damn, we made it safely to Japan. The trip itself had quite an interesting start in the form of a cab ride to the airport with a, ahem, slightly odd-in-the-head fellow.
It started off innocuously enough as we called a cab to take us to the airport. When the driver called to let us know he was outside, we hurried out looking for the cab, but had difficulty finding it. We then noticed this dark Suburban pull out and the driver gruffly barked that we needed to come over to...
Tomorrow we head off to Tokyo, Japan for a memorial service to celebrate the life of my wife’s father. We’ve both been very busy with our respective work, plowing ahead head down. It finally feels good to lift our heads above the chaos and exclaim...
Holy Shit! We’re leaving for Japan tomorrow and we haven’t packed!
In any case, we are looking forward (as always) to staying with Akumi’s mother and her wonderful cooking. The geek in me enjoys the technological aspect of visiting Tokyo as much as the food. It’s like visiting the Epcot center only cleaner...
Do you remember that episode of the Simpsons (number 24 to be exact) where Homer takes his family to a Japanese restaurant and orders the blowfish? Yeah, me too.
My father-in-law took us out to a very traditional Japanese dinner as a celebration of TY's (Akumi's brother) impending wedding. Here's a picture of our room and Akumi listening attentively as our server tells her the menu (or something like that. I couldn't understand as it sounded like a bunch of jibberish to me. I think they call it "Nihongo" or "Japanese" to you and me).
And for the main...
Yesterday, along with Akumi's uncle Tadashi, we visited her grandmother at a rest home. She's a spunky 90 year old woman and gives me great insight into where Akumi gets her rebellious nature from. We took her for a walk and I jumped onto a thin railing. Her reflex wasn't to wave me down for my safety, it was to reach out as if to push me off and cause me to crack my skull. We made sure to push her wheelchair to the edge of the river as if to push her in. ...
After a wonderful time with my family in Anchorage, we flew back to Los Angeles for a day, dropped Twiggy off at a doggy day care, and flew into Tokyo. Below is a picture of Anchorage from our airplane as we were leaving.
The transition from 2004 to 2005 was quite uneventful this year. I think I was asleep when we crossed the international date line. Unfortunately we didn't have a countdown or bubbly. Well there's always next year. New Years Eve is a special day for my wife and I as that is the day...