I ended the last week of 2010 with a couple of bon enkais and a friend's birthday dinner. They were all fun. I enjoyed great drinks, hung out with friends, ate good food and of course... did karaoke. The only thing bad about these parties was that they were all on work nights. Everyone except me were on holidays so I couldn't go all out and had to make sure I was somewhat functional so I could work the next day. I took it easy for New Years Eve and just stayed home and watched the plethora of countdown programs on TV.
I didn't make it to a shrine during the new years weekend but did venture out to the department stores to take advantage of the new years sales. I ended up not buying anything for me but it was because I couldn't get to all the sale items even though I was just steps away. The crowds and the chaos was just unbearable. Like I said the same time last year, I do not want to experience this kind craziness again, but clearly my talk is cheap and I'll see how it goes next year hehe.
Well, as with the end of the year parties, there are also parties to welcome in the new year or shin enkai. I'll have those to look forward to and my birthday coming up next week.. yay!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
What are the chances ..
that I would run into one of my old students from Tottori ken in Tokyo. Well it happened yesterday when I had a get together with a few of my friends in Gotanda. We went to a typical izakaya (Japanese pub) and when the waitress came out, I couldn't help but noticed that I have seen her before. I then realized she could be one of my old Minatoyama Junior high school students that I taught in Yonago-shi 7 years ago. After a while, our table spoke to her and atlas she confirmed that she was one of my students and also recognized me immediately. She was pretty busy so I couldn't talk to her more, but I thought it was pretty crazy to meet a student in this type of situation. I have been back to Yonago a handful times in the past few years and have never ran into my old students, so to meet at one of thousands of izakayas in Tokyo is pretty amazing.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sydney Pics
It took a while but after literally a month after being in Sydney, here are some pics!
Night picture of Darling Harbour. This is where I spent all of my nights eating out with my coworkers. Food was good, but expensive. It reminded me of my days hanging out in Georgetown back home.
Australia is really scenic. When I first arrived in Sydney, only thing I couldn't get over was how blue the waters were.
View from one of the ferries I took.
The famous Sydney bridge. I never went on it, and I think this was the closest I got to it.
The even more famous Sydney Opera house.
One of the views from the office.
At Manly Beach.
Well that is all the pics for now on Sydney. I didn't really get a chance to go sightseeing as I spent most of my time inside the office and in my hotel room working some more. Hopefully in my next business trip, I'll be able to take some time off to explore and enjoy a new city/country properly.
Night picture of Darling Harbour. This is where I spent all of my nights eating out with my coworkers. Food was good, but expensive. It reminded me of my days hanging out in Georgetown back home.
Australia is really scenic. When I first arrived in Sydney, only thing I couldn't get over was how blue the waters were.
View from one of the ferries I took.
The famous Sydney bridge. I never went on it, and I think this was the closest I got to it.
The even more famous Sydney Opera house.
One of the views from the office.
At Manly Beach.
Well that is all the pics for now on Sydney. I didn't really get a chance to go sightseeing as I spent most of my time inside the office and in my hotel room working some more. Hopefully in my next business trip, I'll be able to take some time off to explore and enjoy a new city/country properly.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sydney
I just came back from a very sudden business trip to Sydney. I made all my arrangements literally a few days before my departure date. it was quite hectic but at the end it worked out, as with all things in life.
The flight to Sydney was long, and both my flights to and from had plenty of turbulence. I hate turbulence and was unable to sleep comfortably at all. When I arrived o Sydney, I was excited that I would be entering their summer season. I packed all my summer clothes and the heat I experienced when I entered outside of Sydney International Airport excited me especially since it was really cold back in Tokyo.
I arrived in Sydney on Sunday afternoon, so I was able to look around for a bit before I actually had to start working on Monday. I hit up Manly beach and walked around downtown Sydney. It was a lively afternoon and I got instantly tanned from the strong Australian Sun. Little did I know that this was the last time I would really be able to enjoy the summer-like feeling as the rest of the week would be rainy and cold.
Working and living in Sydney for that week was fun. The office environment was enjoyable. Everyone took frequent coffee breaks (the coffee was great in Sydney) and hearing people speak consistently with Australian accents were cool. Actually it took me a few days to fully understand people and likewise with them understanding my "American" English. By the end of the week some of the Australian lingo and accents had stuck with me. Some of the "big wigs" of the company came to the Sydney office while I was there and we all went out a couple of times for drinks and luxurious dinners. I ate mightily well that week that I could feel my stomach getting more and more pregnant. It was worth it though.
Well, I need to get back to work. I took pictures during this business trip, so I will try to post some of those pictures here when I get a chance. During the trip, my manager informed me that my workload will increase. So my personal time will get even smaller. Well.. back to sweeping chimneys!
The flight to Sydney was long, and both my flights to and from had plenty of turbulence. I hate turbulence and was unable to sleep comfortably at all. When I arrived o Sydney, I was excited that I would be entering their summer season. I packed all my summer clothes and the heat I experienced when I entered outside of Sydney International Airport excited me especially since it was really cold back in Tokyo.
I arrived in Sydney on Sunday afternoon, so I was able to look around for a bit before I actually had to start working on Monday. I hit up Manly beach and walked around downtown Sydney. It was a lively afternoon and I got instantly tanned from the strong Australian Sun. Little did I know that this was the last time I would really be able to enjoy the summer-like feeling as the rest of the week would be rainy and cold.
Working and living in Sydney for that week was fun. The office environment was enjoyable. Everyone took frequent coffee breaks (the coffee was great in Sydney) and hearing people speak consistently with Australian accents were cool. Actually it took me a few days to fully understand people and likewise with them understanding my "American" English. By the end of the week some of the Australian lingo and accents had stuck with me. Some of the "big wigs" of the company came to the Sydney office while I was there and we all went out a couple of times for drinks and luxurious dinners. I ate mightily well that week that I could feel my stomach getting more and more pregnant. It was worth it though.
Well, I need to get back to work. I took pictures during this business trip, so I will try to post some of those pictures here when I get a chance. During the trip, my manager informed me that my workload will increase. So my personal time will get even smaller. Well.. back to sweeping chimneys!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Winter Hooters
Geez.. it got really cold. Yesterday felt like it was like mid December. What happened to Autumn?? I have yet to bring out my winter clothes. I was hoping I could procrastinate for at least another week, but it looks like I will need to do my transition this weekend.
On other news, I was able to check out the new Hooters in Akasaka this past Wednesday. This is the first Hooters in Japan and this was its opening week. The line to get in was pretty ridiculous. Fortunate for us, we got in rather quickly and only waited 30 minutes!!! The atmosphere and decor was nice bringing U.S. Hooters with a touch of Neo-Japan. The food though was a bit disappointing.. actually very disappointing. The price for 20 piece wings was around 25 US dollars if not more. The wings were pretty cold and the world famous sauce was watered down. 3 mile island sauce had as much heat as a thousand island dressing. My friends and I also ordered other items like curly fries and chicken quesadillas. At best they tasted as good as their frozen counterparts you can get at the supermarket. The service was OK. We only got served the wrong orders twice and it took a handful of attempts to get our waitress' attention. Final verdict, not sure if I would go back to be honest. Oh well it was a nice experience and if I ever have the craving for over-priced American food again, I have another choice to add to my list!
On other news, I was able to check out the new Hooters in Akasaka this past Wednesday. This is the first Hooters in Japan and this was its opening week. The line to get in was pretty ridiculous. Fortunate for us, we got in rather quickly and only waited 30 minutes!!! The atmosphere and decor was nice bringing U.S. Hooters with a touch of Neo-Japan. The food though was a bit disappointing.. actually very disappointing. The price for 20 piece wings was around 25 US dollars if not more. The wings were pretty cold and the world famous sauce was watered down. 3 mile island sauce had as much heat as a thousand island dressing. My friends and I also ordered other items like curly fries and chicken quesadillas. At best they tasted as good as their frozen counterparts you can get at the supermarket. The service was OK. We only got served the wrong orders twice and it took a handful of attempts to get our waitress' attention. Final verdict, not sure if I would go back to be honest. Oh well it was a nice experience and if I ever have the craving for over-priced American food again, I have another choice to add to my list!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Still busy ...
Man.. this month has been crazy. The new project has been kicking my butt and my personal time has been reduced dramatically. The project is still in the beginning phase and will only get busier as the other phases get approved by the higher ups. I really need to take a small vacation as the weekend is too short for me to recover. What I really want to do is take a road trip back to Karuizawa or another resort city like Hakone. I am thinking that taking like a Friday off should be sufficient enough for me to accomplish this. In non-related news, I have been able to keep up somewhat with my American sports. NBA will start next week which I am excited about. I am hoping Orlando will keep their focus all season long and keep Miami in check. On the football front, the Cowboys have been struggling. Thank god I am not working with a bunch of Redskins fans. I know if I was back in the U.S., I would not be able to hear the end of it from all my friends and co-workers. Well I got to head back to work... it going to be another long week....
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Busy busy busy
For the past couple of weeks, I have been bombarded at work. I got assigned an additional project that has a ridiculously tight deadline. The project is supposed to be up and running in a couple of weeks but to be honest, I'm not sure if the team will make it. All I can do is my best, but I am really curious on how everything will turn out. Other than work, nothing much else has been going on. The weather is getting cooler, but this past weekend, it was a bit warm and felt August-like. I can't wait until the temperature stays consistently cool so I stop arriving at the office drenched in my own sweat. :)
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