Waiting....

It's a Time-Honored Tradition
There are close to 20 million people living in Tokyo. As you might imagine, it requires some patience to live in a city of 20 million. I've noticed that folks here don't mind waiting for things, which makes sense. There are queues everywhere. These people are waiting to park their bikes in the municipal bike parking lot. They'll eventually park their bikes then board a train.

Learning the Necessities

It Really Doesn't Take Much
As I've learned in Paris, the most important things to learn when you go somewhere new are words related to greeting and eating. I mainly rely on the Pingles here, but I've picked up a few things such as:

Konichiwa - Hello.
Sayonara - Bye.
Watashi wa - I am (insert your name.)
Eigo menu kudasai - English menu, please. (sometimes they have one, sometimes they don't)
Kore wa hitotset - One of these (as you point to something you want to eat.)
Oishi des ne? - Delicious, isn't it? (Usually, this is what Pingles is asking me while we eat.)
Oishi! - Delicious! (Usually my reply.)
Arigato gozaimas - Thank you very much. (What every store keeper says to you on the way out.)
Kawaii - cute.


Cake-oh - cake
Receipt - oh - receipt
Hot-oh - hot

My King....

Your Thrown Awaits You
Some themes that hit you as you spend time in Tokyo are the obsessions with cleanliness and automation. Never are those two clearer than when you use a restroom. I visited this one in a donut shop this morning. As soon as I walked up to the toilet, the seat lid opened automatically. But that was just the beginning...

Hit the Ground Running

Tokyo - Day One
My flight out of Paris was delayed due to snow so I landed a few hours late. Pingle was waiting for me with a hand made sign with my name on it, like she was a taxi driver. We didn't arrive at our hotel until 9pm. But that didn't stop us - we just had to squeeze in a few meals quickly. We jumped on the metro a few stops to Shinjuku to eat some Gyoza, which are a form of Japanese dumplings. After that, we walked to Shibuya for some ramen. Pingles was all smiles, she loves Japan. This is a shot inside the ramen shop. Check out the details here.

The Kid Does it Again....

Somehow......

I've been dreading my Paris to Tokyo flight. Twelve plus hours in a middle seat. I called ANA last week to beg to be moved to an aisle seat. Their advice, get to the airport 3 hrs early and "if you're lucky, something will have opened up." Three hours early? That would be a personal record. This morning, I wake up to find out there is a transit strike on the train that goes to the airport AND it's the year's first snowfall - about an inch. The gods are conspiring against me! I take drastic measures - I leave the office at 2:45pm for a 7:45pm flight via taxi. NOTHING is gonna stop me!

I arrive at the airport around 3:30pm and study the empty, roped-off check-in counter. I study an ANA placard showing exactly where the ropes open up for economy class check in and I plop myself there. After an hr, as they open up, there are already 20-30 people behind me. I approach with a warm smile and ask politely "are there any aisle seat available?" "I will check Monsieur." Her face gives nothing away as she types. Not looking good, I think to myself. She then hands over a business class boarding pass. "Monsieur, I'm afraid I cannot get you an aisle seat but you will be very comfortable in business class, n'est-ce-pas?" I nearly jump in the air and feel the desire to high-five her repeatedly.

- Posted from the Charles de Gaulle airport.

View from.....

....the Bus Stop
Every morning I put on my Eurotrash outfit, leave my apartment and wait for the bus. This is my view down rue Reaumur. Nothing special, I didn't think. But take a close look at the building in the background. Do you see the giant sculpture on it?

Back in the Good Old Days....

The Penalties Were a Bit Tougher...
No need for a history lesson on the guillotine - you know what it is and what it was used for. Here in Paris, once in a while, the powers that be would set one up outside of a prison and "take care" of some prisoners. As with most technology, little adjustments were made over time to improve functionality. Turns out, the guillotine didn't work well if it weren't perfectly level. If one leg were higher or lower than the other, the blade would get stuck on the way down towards a neck. So, someone came up with the idea of planting five large flat, perfectly level stones into the ground. They'd then always set the guillotine onto those stones to guarantee a level "playing field."

A Day of Superlatives

It Ain't What You Might Expect
First up, the narrowest house in Paris - 39 rue du Chateau d'Eau. This place is a 10 minute walk north of my apartment. It's that one door with the single window above it in the middle of the picture. It's just 3.5 feet wide. The history of this "house" is interesting - it was built to block the small alley that used to lead back to the street behind it. Why? The kids who inherited the adjoining property, including the alley, couldn't agree on how to split up their inheritance so the eldest built a house on it and ended the "discussion."

On The Move...

Another Day of Bus-Riding and Exploring
Pingles left for Singapore yesterday. When I woke up today I was kinda confused. No more partner in crime to hang with. I sat around the house moping a bit and decided to go out and explore. First up, a tight, winding, uphill, typically Parisian outdoor market in the 5th. Though I didn't buy anything, I really enjoyed window shopping.

One Week and Counting....

Let the Fun Begin...
This is a photo of my golf bag, which has both my golf clubs and my winter gear packed into it. I got a nice 2-week hot-cold Asian vacation lined up. First up, 5 days in Japan - 2 in Tokyo and 3 in a small town north of Tokyo a few hrs. We'll spend at least one day snowboarding and the other two? Dunno. Pingles? After that, down to Singapore where I'll work on the golf game daily. Woo hoo!! Hope to get over to Malaysia to play a round and I'll try another round of "night golf" in downtown Singapore.

We're also gonna drop over to Jakarta for 2 days where I will be a photo-taking, food-eating tourist. Pingles has a meeting there.

Busing Ourselves to the 7th

At Least, Trying To...
So, in the middle of a strong rainstorm, our bus stopped half-way to our destination and the driver announced "this is the end of the ride." Nothing is easy here. No explanation, no idea why, we simply had to step out into the cover of a bus shelter and wait for the rain to subside.

Prepping for the Next Trip...

Taking Advantage...
Finally my girlfriend is coming through with some free stuff from her job. For such a big-shot, she sure doesn't spread the perqs... Until now, that is. We're going on an all expenses paid trip to Japan with her company from Dec 18th to Dec 23rd. We'll spend a few days in Tokyo and then a few more days near Nagano, one of which will be filled with snowboarding. She has already got her cool-girl snowboarding gear together, as you can see.

From there, we'll go to Singapore for the holidays and also take a side trip to Jakarta for a few days - she has a meeting to attend there.

Thursday Market

Bastille
There is a market that sets up every Thursday near work. That's the Place de La Bastille in the background.

Riding the Doubledecker...

Meet the Airbus A380
When we arrived at JFK to fly back to Paris we were a bit surprised to hear the flight was sold out. It's a Tue night, for goodness sake! Turns out everyone was there to get a ride on one of the new Airbus A380's that Air France has recently started using. It is a ridiculously large aircraft, a double-decker from end to end that seats from 550-800 people, depending upon the mix of business and coach seats. Pingles sat downstairs and I sat upstairs. I hate to be negative, but lame Air France got these beautiful new planes and loaded them with the same crappy 1990's seats from their regular fleet. And, as is usual with Air France, we took off late, landed late and didn't get all our luggage for 1 1/2 hrs after landing.

New planes, same crappy company, same crappy service. Vive la usual. I did learn, however, that you can fly from NY to Paris in 6 hrs, 2 hrs faster than normal. I think they sped up due to our late departure. Pingles tells me they usually fly at a slower clip because that's the optimal fuel-burning speed.