So far, a rather uneventful business trip. The hotel's right across from the office, which is nice. But the breakfast can definitely be much better... in fact, I missed breakfast this morning because I headed out too late (around 9:20am).
My CEO and I went out for lunch today: some sushi near the office. As we chatted, he said that it's safer to eat food in Japan than Taiwan or China (the 3 places he travels to most). This afternoon, he said he ate something bad - and his stomach was in terrible shape. So he went back to the hotel. Fortunately, while we had the same lunch, I didn't feel that. Although now I feel kind of hungry. So I'm going for dinner.
Showing posts with label Shin Yokohama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shin Yokohama. Show all posts
September 13, 2007
September 12, 2007
Buddha Air
Arrived in Japan yesterday, got soaked in Tokyo, had dinner with SFU Engineer and friend BC, and settled in at my hotel at Shin Yokohama. A few observations and stories from the day's travel:
- Why is it that whenever I go to the airport in Taiwan, I see Buddhist monks? You don't see that many monks around Taiwan, but yet they convene in airports.
- I took the Hello Kitty flight. It was SERIOUSLY Hello Kitty. The waiting room was completely decked out in HK (Hello Kitty) - not just a few items, but completely renovated. I'll post a picture on this posting shortly. When we boarded the plane, all the personalized LCDs were showing HK with accompanying song over the loadspeaker. Our meals had Hello Kitty decorations and ice cream.
- Tokyo is the New York of Asia. Everyone dresses sharp and walks fast.
- My hotel room is small. Only a little larger than the double-sized bed. But it comes with a pants press - a large flat electric device that opens like a laptop and you put your pants in. Neato... but really rather useless. I'd rather they gave me an iron and ironing board so I could do my shirts too.
- Travel is almost always a sweaty affair for me. Just lugging around luggage. If it's hot out, I'm bound to sweat. If it's cold out, I'm probably wearing more layers and then I get hot, so I'm bound to sweat.
Anyway, the worst of the travel is over. The hardware I brought to Japan works, and now I can spend time doing the same stuff I would have if I were in Taiwan.
- Why is it that whenever I go to the airport in Taiwan, I see Buddhist monks? You don't see that many monks around Taiwan, but yet they convene in airports.
- I took the Hello Kitty flight. It was SERIOUSLY Hello Kitty. The waiting room was completely decked out in HK (Hello Kitty) - not just a few items, but completely renovated. I'll post a picture on this posting shortly. When we boarded the plane, all the personalized LCDs were showing HK with accompanying song over the loadspeaker. Our meals had Hello Kitty decorations and ice cream.
- Tokyo is the New York of Asia. Everyone dresses sharp and walks fast.
- My hotel room is small. Only a little larger than the double-sized bed. But it comes with a pants press - a large flat electric device that opens like a laptop and you put your pants in. Neato... but really rather useless. I'd rather they gave me an iron and ironing board so I could do my shirts too.
- Travel is almost always a sweaty affair for me. Just lugging around luggage. If it's hot out, I'm bound to sweat. If it's cold out, I'm probably wearing more layers and then I get hot, so I'm bound to sweat.
Anyway, the worst of the travel is over. The hardware I brought to Japan works, and now I can spend time doing the same stuff I would have if I were in Taiwan.
January 24, 2007
"Wassup?" from Japan. Things are going well here. Listening to the NHL All Star Game online right now, waiting for lunch to roll around because I skipped breakfast - woke up late.
--- time passes ---
Ok, let me backtrack to since the last post.
Monday:
Work was fine, and in fact was good all 3 days (today being Wednesday), so I won't bother talking about work too
much. Lunch was sushi -- 12 pieces for 1000yen (~$10cad), which is quite a deal here. Dinner was teppanyaki, which seemed expensive, but I never saw the bill. After dinner, I just walked around a bit, checked out some camera prices and went back to my hotel to rest. Nothing worth writing about.
Tuesday:
Lunch was tempura at a franchise restaurant. Fairly simple, but still good. After work, my coworkers and I went to Kawasaki just for kicks. Went to a large shopping complex where they had a massive Bic Camera store. I didn't stay long in Bic Camera, but ran off to Zara next door and bought an undershirt. Then we had dinner at a very nice restaurant within the complex that had a sign "RR". Anyway, my guess is that our meals cost $60 US or more. They had a live xylophone + clarinet duo performance while we ate. A key to better business, go with Sales people if you can. We were a group of 8, and 6 of them were either Sales people or senior people in our company and distributor's company.
Wednesday:
Went to the Shin Yokohama Raumen Museum for lunch. Then we went to Yokohama to the Pacifico Yokohama to set up for our conference/exhibition tomorrow. After setting up, we finished for the day early (5:00pm), and I went of on my own to visit some Yokohama sights. After 2 hours of walking about, I hit up the Yokohama Curry Museum. This was the first meal I paid for since Sunday, which is pretty much as I had planned. I was hoping other people would pay for my meals throughout my work week. Tee. Tired as I was, I fell
asleep on the subway back. But I think it was worth the trouble, because the nap was great.
Ok, time to shower up, watch a short movie, and get to sleep.
Signing off.
Oh, but first, a few more impressions:
- If you like seeing legs, there are lots of them here. Mini-skirts galore even though it's cold. But if you keep looking, you'll feel like a pervert because they're mostly high school students (I think).
- My coworker has rancid breath. Maybe caused by his smoking. It's absolutely unbearable. I haven't smelt anything like it... since the last time he was in Taiwan.
- Yokohama has a pretty cool skyline, headlined by the Landmark Hotel.
--- time passes ---
Ok, let me backtrack to since the last post.
Monday:
Work was fine, and in fact was good all 3 days (today being Wednesday), so I won't bother talking about work toomuch. Lunch was sushi -- 12 pieces for 1000yen (~$10cad), which is quite a deal here. Dinner was teppanyaki, which seemed expensive, but I never saw the bill. After dinner, I just walked around a bit, checked out some camera prices and went back to my hotel to rest. Nothing worth writing about.
Tuesday:
Lunch was tempura at a franchise restaurant. Fairly simple, but still good. After work, my coworkers and I went to Kawasaki just for kicks. Went to a large shopping complex where they had a massive Bic Camera store. I didn't stay long in Bic Camera, but ran off to Zara next door and bought an undershirt. Then we had dinner at a very nice restaurant within the complex that had a sign "RR". Anyway, my guess is that our meals cost $60 US or more. They had a live xylophone + clarinet duo performance while we ate. A key to better business, go with Sales people if you can. We were a group of 8, and 6 of them were either Sales people or senior people in our company and distributor's company.
Wednesday:
Went to the Shin Yokohama Raumen Museum for lunch. Then we went to Yokohama to the Pacifico Yokohama to set up for our conference/exhibition tomorrow. After setting up, we finished for the day early (5:00pm), and I went of on my own to visit some Yokohama sights. After 2 hours of walking about, I hit up the Yokohama Curry Museum. This was the first meal I paid for since Sunday, which is pretty much as I had planned. I was hoping other people would pay for my meals throughout my work week. Tee. Tired as I was, I fell
asleep on the subway back. But I think it was worth the trouble, because the nap was great.Ok, time to shower up, watch a short movie, and get to sleep.
Signing off.
Oh, but first, a few more impressions:
- If you like seeing legs, there are lots of them here. Mini-skirts galore even though it's cold. But if you keep looking, you'll feel like a pervert because they're mostly high school students (I think).
- My coworker has rancid breath. Maybe caused by his smoking. It's absolutely unbearable. I haven't smelt anything like it... since the last time he was in Taiwan.
- Yokohama has a pretty cool skyline, headlined by the Landmark Hotel.
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