Work, Hakone
Haven't posted in a while. That's because not much of anything has been going on. The downside to working while in Japan is that you have to work.
Some notes on that: you can get really good food in a 7-11 here. Really good. MS seems to have the whole building in Akasaka, which surprised me. Especially considering that we have three other offices in Tokyo. The office is across the street from the Akasaka palace, which makes for a really nice view from the break room on the 16th floor while eating your 7-11 cuisine. The Akasaka palace is not the main palace, but is typically used for housing visiting dignitaries. The crown prince and some others also have residences on the premises.
In most MS locations, offices are the norm. On the floor I was working on, there weren't even cubes --just desks. One ginormous room with a sea of desks took up about 3/4 of the square footage. I didn't check out other floors.
High points of the week include going out to Le Soufle, a really nice French restaurant that Carter recommended to us near Roppongi. We walked around from there and saw way more of Roppongi than we saw on my first night here. Also stumbled across the Russian embassy, which had a slew of cop cars lined up outside. Might be related to the Russian coast guard pulling a Cheney on that poor fisherman.
We also went out to dinner with Katrina's company, which was pretty cool. They took us to a Sushi Boat place. W.r.t sushi, my thoughts keep wandering back to Tsukiji, which is, as far as I'm concerned, the Mecca of raw fish.
- -
Yesterday, after work, Katrina and I met up with Endo-san, the head honcho of Fortify Japan, and headed out to Hakone. Endo-san is basically Katrina's boss over there, and he's a nice guy. He is kind of quiet, though, and that unapproachable, stern Japanese businessman exterior. His eyebrows do a really neat archy thing when he's worried about something.
Endo-san's wife and mother-in-law were also there. On the way there, Endo-san explained that the place we are staying at is being rented by his brother-in-law, who is really high up in one of Japan's bigger paper companies. A perk of being at that company is being able to rent the company dacha, which is a three story complex. Each story seems to have one or two bedrooms, a spacious living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. About $50 a night.
And, oh yes. It is next door to a natural hot spring onsen (hot bath,) and has a peek of Mt. Fuji from the third story balcony.
Yes, dear reader, we got hooked the fuck up. As they say over there in the USA.
We arrived kind of late, having already had dinner in town (my legs were not meant for eating at those traditional low tables.) We kind of sort of met our gracious hosts. I have to qualify that because we never really picked up their names, a tragedy I still feel really bad about. I kind of assumed Katrina had caught them, but when I asked, she hadn't, and by then it was wayyy too late to ask. In any event, Endo-san's sister, brother-and-law, and an older lady of unspecified relation were there. They were all very, very nice, even the ones who didn't speak any English, making me feel all the more guilty about not having learned their names.
That evening we all just kind of hung out in the lower-story living room. Endo's brother-in-law broke out the chilled glasses for asahi and, in my case, water. I got to play with a really cool Japanese puzzle thingy. There was some light chatter. And then it was time for bed.
The next day, we to see the peek of Mt. Fuji from the third story, we had a really tasty breakfast (it's not just the food in the restaurants that is good --these people eat well!) and headed out for a tour of Hakone. First we cruised around the mountains a bit, and stopped in a few places for nice views, particularly of Fuji-san, which was mostly occluded by cloud-cover.
Then we went to some hot springs up in the mountains. These ones are too hot for bathing, so they use them for hard-boiling eggs for tourists. Then we took a boat tour around Lake Ashi. I was kind of tired at this point, so I was a bit out of it for the boat tour.
When we got back, I visited the local onsen. Those things are dangerous, I have decided. Before getting in, I was washing off in a corner, and had to jump because my foot was suddenly in searing pain. That was from inadvertently standing in about 1/8th of an inch of runoff from the onsen.
Yet somehow, after having seen people cooking food in these things earlier in the day, I managed to persuade myself to get in. First a toe. Then a hand. Then an arm. Then two arms. Then a foot. Then a lower leg. Then two. Et cetera, until I was in up to my belly, which was as far as I could go, I decided.
Can't say I really liked it, but I was determined to try it. I did better than Katrina --she opted to go to the grocery store instead.
After limping back, I passed out for a couple of hours.
When I woke up, Katrina was back, and the woman who I believe was Endo-san's sister's mother-in-law came up to see us. She doesn't speak a word of English, which makes communication problematic, but she showed us some of her origami, which is really beautiful. After a while, Katrina and I started to suspect she was giving it to us, but we weren't sure. She went away and came back, and suddenly knew the word 'present' which sealed it. We thanked her profusely.
Then there was a 'light' BBQ dinner, which was quite ample. Finally we hung out a bit more, and headed back to Tokyo.
And here we are. Still not sure what we're going to do tomorrow --up until Friday, I thought we were going to be in Hakone all weekend. On Monday I have an airport shuttle to catch at noon, but it's possible that I'll be able to do something else as well.
We are flat out of cash, and Katrina thinks the ATM near her apt might not be open tomorrow. Hilarity shall ensue.
Some notes on that: you can get really good food in a 7-11 here. Really good. MS seems to have the whole building in Akasaka, which surprised me. Especially considering that we have three other offices in Tokyo. The office is across the street from the Akasaka palace, which makes for a really nice view from the break room on the 16th floor while eating your 7-11 cuisine. The Akasaka palace is not the main palace, but is typically used for housing visiting dignitaries. The crown prince and some others also have residences on the premises.
In most MS locations, offices are the norm. On the floor I was working on, there weren't even cubes --just desks. One ginormous room with a sea of desks took up about 3/4 of the square footage. I didn't check out other floors.
High points of the week include going out to Le Soufle, a really nice French restaurant that Carter recommended to us near Roppongi. We walked around from there and saw way more of Roppongi than we saw on my first night here. Also stumbled across the Russian embassy, which had a slew of cop cars lined up outside. Might be related to the Russian coast guard pulling a Cheney on that poor fisherman.
We also went out to dinner with Katrina's company, which was pretty cool. They took us to a Sushi Boat place. W.r.t sushi, my thoughts keep wandering back to Tsukiji, which is, as far as I'm concerned, the Mecca of raw fish.
- -
Yesterday, after work, Katrina and I met up with Endo-san, the head honcho of Fortify Japan, and headed out to Hakone. Endo-san is basically Katrina's boss over there, and he's a nice guy. He is kind of quiet, though, and that unapproachable, stern Japanese businessman exterior. His eyebrows do a really neat archy thing when he's worried about something.
Endo-san's wife and mother-in-law were also there. On the way there, Endo-san explained that the place we are staying at is being rented by his brother-in-law, who is really high up in one of Japan's bigger paper companies. A perk of being at that company is being able to rent the company dacha, which is a three story complex. Each story seems to have one or two bedrooms, a spacious living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. About $50 a night.
And, oh yes. It is next door to a natural hot spring onsen (hot bath,) and has a peek of Mt. Fuji from the third story balcony.
Yes, dear reader, we got hooked the fuck up. As they say over there in the USA.
We arrived kind of late, having already had dinner in town (my legs were not meant for eating at those traditional low tables.) We kind of sort of met our gracious hosts. I have to qualify that because we never really picked up their names, a tragedy I still feel really bad about. I kind of assumed Katrina had caught them, but when I asked, she hadn't, and by then it was wayyy too late to ask. In any event, Endo-san's sister, brother-and-law, and an older lady of unspecified relation were there. They were all very, very nice, even the ones who didn't speak any English, making me feel all the more guilty about not having learned their names.
That evening we all just kind of hung out in the lower-story living room. Endo's brother-in-law broke out the chilled glasses for asahi and, in my case, water. I got to play with a really cool Japanese puzzle thingy. There was some light chatter. And then it was time for bed.
The next day, we to see the peek of Mt. Fuji from the third story, we had a really tasty breakfast (it's not just the food in the restaurants that is good --these people eat well!) and headed out for a tour of Hakone. First we cruised around the mountains a bit, and stopped in a few places for nice views, particularly of Fuji-san, which was mostly occluded by cloud-cover.
Then we went to some hot springs up in the mountains. These ones are too hot for bathing, so they use them for hard-boiling eggs for tourists. Then we took a boat tour around Lake Ashi. I was kind of tired at this point, so I was a bit out of it for the boat tour.
When we got back, I visited the local onsen. Those things are dangerous, I have decided. Before getting in, I was washing off in a corner, and had to jump because my foot was suddenly in searing pain. That was from inadvertently standing in about 1/8th of an inch of runoff from the onsen.
Yet somehow, after having seen people cooking food in these things earlier in the day, I managed to persuade myself to get in. First a toe. Then a hand. Then an arm. Then two arms. Then a foot. Then a lower leg. Then two. Et cetera, until I was in up to my belly, which was as far as I could go, I decided.
Can't say I really liked it, but I was determined to try it. I did better than Katrina --she opted to go to the grocery store instead.
After limping back, I passed out for a couple of hours.
When I woke up, Katrina was back, and the woman who I believe was Endo-san's sister's mother-in-law came up to see us. She doesn't speak a word of English, which makes communication problematic, but she showed us some of her origami, which is really beautiful. After a while, Katrina and I started to suspect she was giving it to us, but we weren't sure. She went away and came back, and suddenly knew the word 'present' which sealed it. We thanked her profusely.
Then there was a 'light' BBQ dinner, which was quite ample. Finally we hung out a bit more, and headed back to Tokyo.
And here we are. Still not sure what we're going to do tomorrow --up until Friday, I thought we were going to be in Hakone all weekend. On Monday I have an airport shuttle to catch at noon, but it's possible that I'll be able to do something else as well.
We are flat out of cash, and Katrina thinks the ATM near her apt might not be open tomorrow. Hilarity shall ensue.