Ugh I accidentally fell asleep even earlier than the last time. So it's still sort of rough. Yesterday was good. In the morning I checked out the pool. It's two big lanes, but there were barely any people so I don't feel like I will ever have much trouble. The locker room is ultra clean and they make you take off your shoes before you even go in (there are two sets of lockers, one for your shoes, and then inside, one for your clothes). I really want to find a swim cap and new goggles, but I'm not sure where I will be able to find them...
Before work I went to Arc Acadmey to up a pre-test so I can get some lessons at an appropriate level. It was sort of an unplanned visit, but they were really friendly even though the teacher didn't have time to talk to me. Complementary iced tea!
Then...hmm, got together with a Twitter friend and planned an epic shopping trip followed by dinner with her boss and a study abroad student from Singapore, so I'm really looking forward to that this afternoon. Other than that, just work. I did have lunch with Yukari and Reina—ultra Japanese style with grilled fish, salad, miso, and rice. On my way home I grabbed a slice of very bacony quiche at the Keiyakizaka Bakery, where they have "Moose" on the dessert menu, heh.
So yeah I mean to stay up, but I put on the TV and conked out almost immediately. So bad. I've been waking up pretty reliably at 4:20 am, but I managed to lie around until about 5:30. I figured I maybe the Starbucks on the corner would be open, but they aren't until 7!!!!! That's crazy. Shout-outs to Mission and 4th, man. They wake up early and we love them for it. Anyhow, luckily (?) there was this 24hr/365day Chinese cafe nearby. I had kimchi veggies and xiao long bao. They were not as tasty as the ones I ate in San Francisco, but I can't say I was expecting a ton from this place. No matter. It was ok.
Interesting people watching, too. It was pretty hopping for 6 am. Lots of (also jet-lagged? or maybe just party-people) foreigners, some of them discussing how their friends wrecked their attempts at picking up girls. One British guy was talking about how nonchalant the "Chinese style" of ordering food is, and how he tried to emulate it for this meal. It seems like he ordered a ton of stuff. The food started coming and hadn't stopped even when I left (and it took a while to order because I didn't realize I had to go back up to the counter).
Going to try to pop into the Twitter company meeting shortly, and then probably study for a while. I haven't been so I feel all rusty and horrible. And you can tell! My Japanese is awful :X
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Disjointed first JP-side post
Oh noooo, I failed in my mission to be jet lag free. I'm not sure if that's even entirely possible, but I definitely went to bed way too early last night. It was either that or caffeinated. Energy had plummeted straight to zero.
Let's see, though. As for the flight, pretty standard, low-drama. I sat next to a family of four, but the kids were more or less behaved. Didn't watch any movies, but played a lot of video games. Slept extremely minimally. It was annoying that they had the lights off for most of the flight even though it was light out outside. It was daytime in Japan! They were setting us up for jet lag fail from the beginning ;p
The bus ride from Narita is really the most dangerous, though. It is soooo easy to conk out on that ride. I stayed mostly awake and got off at the Grand Hyatt (where I'm not staying) to meet my supervisor, a couple co-workers, and the guy who helped set up my apartment. From there we walked a short way to Roppongi HIlls Residence D where I AM staying.
It's really too fancy. Although the kitchen is small, I'll be able to cook most things that I would want to, and it comes with dishes and stuff. The TV has cable. The balcony has a view of Tokyo Tower (and a Blue Man Group billboard, heh). Breakfast is include and served at the spa (which has a pool and gym, so I won't have to worry about finding a club to join).
The area is basically like an outdoor mall with lots of shops and restaurants and things. There are four residence buildings. Maybe I'll meet some people at the cocktail party they're having in a couple weeks?
The first night we went to one of the restaurants owned by Akira Kurosawa's family for oden and udon. I was pretty tired, but managed to stay up after that till after 11. Contrast this with yesterday when I conked out before 9:30. Ugh! So this morning I am up so early…
Yesterday was my first full day. In the morning I had salad, juice, bread, yogurt (apple kiwi!) and coffee for breakfast, explored the neighborhood a bit (there's so much stuff everywhere!) then met Yukari to head to the Digital Garage offices. It's a really quick trip on the Hibiya line, just two stops to Ebisu.
I met too many people to remember all their names, but hopefully I'll get the nearby ones down soon. There are a handful of people I know from the phone whose faces I just need to get to stick. Everyone was really friendly. I got to meet the CEO, too! His office has some fish in it :)
Steven took us to this awesome korean restaurant for lunch. Had kimchee, tofu, raw egg, and rice. I love when rice is served in a hot dish so the grains on the bottom crisp up.
Work was mostly uneventful, but I'm a little behind and there are some issues lingering from before I left that I need to take care of. Looking forward to being caught up! Hopefully I'll be less tired today, even though I didn't sleep perfectly and woke up really early…
Last night I went for some food in my neighborhood at a place called Arata. I have no idea if it's supposed to be good or not, but I liked it well enough. Had cabbage salad, tsukune (which is like a meatball), and mushrooms wrapped in pork. The staff there had some of the most energetic "irasshai" I've ever heard. There are plenty of places where you'll get greeted by the whole place as you enter (or leave), but they really nail it here, to the point where it can be startling when a customer walks in, haha.
Ha, I'm distracted from writing this because I found a channel on TV with nothing but Japanese movies. Really I'm just waiting for the pool to open. I have about another half hour.
The rest of today will be checking out Japanese schools and hopefully getting some work done. It's gonna be kind of hard to figure out where I'm going. But I guess if I get lost I will have to learn fast ;) I think there are enough places in Shibuya that once I get there I should be ok. And supposedly I can walk back to Daikanyama (where the office is) from there. Anyways, I'm not sure. It'll be an adventure I guess.
Mostly I'm just really happy to be in Tokyo. And I hope I can learn a lot of Japanese while I'm here in addition to getting a lot done for Twitter. I'm hanging out with a Japanese friend on Saturday, so hopefully that will be good practice? I know she speaks English, though, so I'll have to be diligent.
This blog is gonna be really tedious without pictures. I might try taking some with my iPhone and seeing if I can get them on this computer without accidentally deleting all my iTunes ;)
Let's see, though. As for the flight, pretty standard, low-drama. I sat next to a family of four, but the kids were more or less behaved. Didn't watch any movies, but played a lot of video games. Slept extremely minimally. It was annoying that they had the lights off for most of the flight even though it was light out outside. It was daytime in Japan! They were setting us up for jet lag fail from the beginning ;p
The bus ride from Narita is really the most dangerous, though. It is soooo easy to conk out on that ride. I stayed mostly awake and got off at the Grand Hyatt (where I'm not staying) to meet my supervisor, a couple co-workers, and the guy who helped set up my apartment. From there we walked a short way to Roppongi HIlls Residence D where I AM staying.
It's really too fancy. Although the kitchen is small, I'll be able to cook most things that I would want to, and it comes with dishes and stuff. The TV has cable. The balcony has a view of Tokyo Tower (and a Blue Man Group billboard, heh). Breakfast is include and served at the spa (which has a pool and gym, so I won't have to worry about finding a club to join).
The area is basically like an outdoor mall with lots of shops and restaurants and things. There are four residence buildings. Maybe I'll meet some people at the cocktail party they're having in a couple weeks?
The first night we went to one of the restaurants owned by Akira Kurosawa's family for oden and udon. I was pretty tired, but managed to stay up after that till after 11. Contrast this with yesterday when I conked out before 9:30. Ugh! So this morning I am up so early…
Yesterday was my first full day. In the morning I had salad, juice, bread, yogurt (apple kiwi!) and coffee for breakfast, explored the neighborhood a bit (there's so much stuff everywhere!) then met Yukari to head to the Digital Garage offices. It's a really quick trip on the Hibiya line, just two stops to Ebisu.
I met too many people to remember all their names, but hopefully I'll get the nearby ones down soon. There are a handful of people I know from the phone whose faces I just need to get to stick. Everyone was really friendly. I got to meet the CEO, too! His office has some fish in it :)
Steven took us to this awesome korean restaurant for lunch. Had kimchee, tofu, raw egg, and rice. I love when rice is served in a hot dish so the grains on the bottom crisp up.
Work was mostly uneventful, but I'm a little behind and there are some issues lingering from before I left that I need to take care of. Looking forward to being caught up! Hopefully I'll be less tired today, even though I didn't sleep perfectly and woke up really early…
Last night I went for some food in my neighborhood at a place called Arata. I have no idea if it's supposed to be good or not, but I liked it well enough. Had cabbage salad, tsukune (which is like a meatball), and mushrooms wrapped in pork. The staff there had some of the most energetic "irasshai" I've ever heard. There are plenty of places where you'll get greeted by the whole place as you enter (or leave), but they really nail it here, to the point where it can be startling when a customer walks in, haha.
Ha, I'm distracted from writing this because I found a channel on TV with nothing but Japanese movies. Really I'm just waiting for the pool to open. I have about another half hour.
The rest of today will be checking out Japanese schools and hopefully getting some work done. It's gonna be kind of hard to figure out where I'm going. But I guess if I get lost I will have to learn fast ;) I think there are enough places in Shibuya that once I get there I should be ok. And supposedly I can walk back to Daikanyama (where the office is) from there. Anyways, I'm not sure. It'll be an adventure I guess.
Mostly I'm just really happy to be in Tokyo. And I hope I can learn a lot of Japanese while I'm here in addition to getting a lot done for Twitter. I'm hanging out with a Japanese friend on Saturday, so hopefully that will be good practice? I know she speaks English, though, so I'll have to be diligent.
This blog is gonna be really tedious without pictures. I might try taking some with my iPhone and seeing if I can get them on this computer without accidentally deleting all my iTunes ;)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Last Night in the Mission
Bid an extremely fond farewell to Heirloom Cafe over espresso and cookies with Nila. Caused no small amount of chaos (my pet exaggeration of the evening—they handled us like heroes, really) at Nombe with the biggest Twitter posse to date. Rocked Beretta with the Foursquare mayor and special guests. These are exactly the places I wanted to be on my last night in San Francisco before this trip, and exactly the places I will miss the most in the Mission.
It also just felt really good to have the support of so many friends as I'm taking off. Nombe was full to bursting in the front window with peeps (mostly tweeps) there to say hey. Lots of them had plenty of reasons to be too busy—including one co-worker who had two of them sitting in her lap :)—but they came anyways, which I appreciated so much.
Sappy sappy sappy, but when I have love I gotta show it <3
Before I leave:
-packing
-breakfast
-coffee
-Walgreens
-bank
There are some things I meant to do and then somehow did not do them. That sort of figures. Thankfully, none of them seem terribly major. The one that seems more major, may in fact be minor, where the one I thought was maybe more minor could be major if other things are also true. You know. Life.
It's not yet five am.
It also just felt really good to have the support of so many friends as I'm taking off. Nombe was full to bursting in the front window with peeps (mostly tweeps) there to say hey. Lots of them had plenty of reasons to be too busy—including one co-worker who had two of them sitting in her lap :)—but they came anyways, which I appreciated so much.
Sappy sappy sappy, but when I have love I gotta show it <3
Before I leave:
-packing
-breakfast
-coffee
-Walgreens
-bank
There are some things I meant to do and then somehow did not do them. That sort of figures. Thankfully, none of them seem terribly major. The one that seems more major, may in fact be minor, where the one I thought was maybe more minor could be major if other things are also true. You know. Life.
It's not yet five am.
Monday, June 14, 2010
TOKYO: so soon
It is once again that time of time when I cross a large body of water which this blog affectionately if diminuitively refers to as a "puddle." The body in question is Pacific in nature, which could indicate a trip to Japan (if you know me) and if you DO know me, you may already know that it's true, and I'll be living in Tokyo for the next six months (minus a San Francisco check-in and a birthday stint in Vegas, of all places; Justin Bieber, the things we do for you).
No further news at this time :O Although I must say I am violently tempted to move this shebang to Tumblr, if for no other reason that to extricate it from The Past.
No further news at this time :O Although I must say I am violently tempted to move this shebang to Tumblr, if for no other reason that to extricate it from The Past.
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