I did not go for breakfast today so i could sleep for another 30 mins more.. My sleep time is becoming so precious now!
Today's agenda was light. Our boss wanted us to define the mission and roles of our team, then we did some updates of Controls, and project initiatives.. Tea break today was not as good. Same as the first day break, just some Japanese cakes and chocolates, plus bananas. The chocolate was delicious though. But don't think it was enough to replace the buffet breakfast that i had skipped.
The last item on the agenda was a farewell for the 3 musketeers who were leaving the team. By the time we started on that, we were like one hour behind schedule. We were supposed to start our sight seeing tour at 145pm, and we were still in the office at 1pm, and that was including the fact that we haven't had lunch. I got a bit worried, so i called the tour guide and shifted the tour by another 30 minutes. When i reached the hotel, we had like only 30 mins for lunch at the hotel. I had to ask the waiter to serve our Chinese set lunches in "fast food" style. So in the end, we had all our dishes served at the same time, from appetizers to dessert... haha.. no choice. I apologised to everyone and explained that we had no time and that the Japanese were very punctual people so it was not nice to delay by too much.
The main reason why we overshot the timing was mainly due to the farewell. Each of the 3 (including me) who were leaving received a gift from everyone else on the team. We also had a mini presentation on some photos and the things we will not miss and be missed about when we leave. It was really nice to see all the comments from my colleagues about me.. I got a nice white wool hat and matching scarf from my boss for my New Zealand winter trip, an Italia soccer cap from my Italian colleague, coffee from Colombia and Guatemala, and cook books from Hong Kong. My Hong Kong colleague had called me during the peak reporting period last year when i was cooking K's birthday dinner. She felt bad and so bought me the cook books so i could fix more dinners for my husband in future.. haha.. so cute!
I also got a nice little pink Coach keychain in the shape of a passport holder for me to put 2 photos in. That was from my US colleague. I like it very much! = )
During the meeting today, my Italian colleague kept asking me to help him with his hotel accomodation.. I actually am a little pissed at him.. The way he do things is so last minute! First of all, on Monday, when we were out looking for lunch and shopping, he had to look for an ATM to withdraw money cause he had no Yen with him at all. That was one. Didn't understand why he couldn't change some currency back home or even at the airport. Two, he had extended his stay for 2 days as he wanted to go to Kyoto and spend one more day in Tokyo as well. But he didn't make reservations for his accomodation. So he was kinda rushing to do that during the meeting today cause he had no place to stay tomorrow.. And I was trying to get the meeting to move faster cause we were behind.. Sigh.. In the end, i asked my Japanese colleague to help. Don't know what i would do without him!
At 210pm, we headed off for our sightseeing tour in our chartered mini-van. My tour guide was a jolly old fellow called Hiro-san who was in his 60s. The tour company contact i had been liasing with all this while also came along, and he is totally dashing!! Canadian guy but lived in Tokyo for 10 years. Here are some photos of him.. I only managed to take 2 photos at Asakusa before my batt run out.. Didn't want to take too many also in case i looked desperate! haha = ) Isn't he charming?! Anyway, i don't think the photo do him any justice.. = P
Our first stop was to see cherry blossoms and attend a japanese tea serving ceremony at Happon-en Gardens.. it was a charming garden, and the blossoms were in full bloom today.. I could have stayed in the gardens for the whole day.. We also saw a few wedding couples taking photos in the garden.. so romantic! = )
The tea ceremony was for suckers.. I regretted choosing this as the activity for the team. We should have gone and watch sumo wrestling instead.. haha..The poor tour guide had a hard time trying to maintain our group intact and getting everyone to move together, cause we just went our own ways, scattered everywhere and stopping to take pictures of everything.. haha.. it was funny.. Needless to say, our tour overshot the timing too.. and we had to push back our dinner reservations by 1 hour.
2nd stop after the gardens was Meiji shrine, the oldest Shinto shrine in Tokyo.. At Meiji, i bought some green tea to drink. Paid for 1 packet but the vending maching gave me 2.. haha.. We took some pictures, walked around, then went off again to our next stop: The Met Tower. e went up to the 40th floor i think, to the observatory deck.. I was all excited to see Mt. Fuji. But went up, cannot see any Mt. at all, much less Fuji. It was too cloudy and foggy cause it was close to sunset by the time we went there. I promised myself i will go again tomorrow just to see Mt. Fuji. While i was there, i saw this Donald Duck soft toy that i totally fell in love with.. I'm still thinking whether i should buy it or not.. Kawaii right?? I seldom feel this much love for a soft toy the first time i see it!!
After the Met Tower viewing, we proceeded for a long ride to Asakusa, where the oldest temple in Japan was.. We drove past the Imperial Palace, which was close to impossible to see.. cause it is surrounded by a huge moat and lots of trees.. Too bad.. By the time we reached there, it was 630pm, but looked like 8pm. I headed straight for the washroom cause i drank too much water. The washroom was shared between men and women, but i was surprised to see that the men's urinal was located right outside the toilet door for one cubicle. Then in between is the wash basin. So when i was washing my hands, there was this guy pissing right beside me.. So awkward!
Asakusa was totally spectacular. I took pictures until my handphone run out of battery. Took pictures of the famous big red lantern.. the cherry blossoms which somehow looked very different against the night sky.. the white contrast with the black sky was amazing.. There were more than 90 souvenir shops there.. but i didn't buy anything cause it was too rushed.. Will go back again tomorrow when i have more time. So i ended up chatting with my handsome tour company guy while the rest did some impulse purchasing..
Last stop was dinner at Ueno.. It was crab sukiyaki.. and during the dinner, i spoke a bit of Japanese to the non-english speaking waitress.. That totally impressed some of my colleagues.. haha.. the advantage of working with an international group! Dinner was overwhelming.. but good.. i think we had like 8 or 9 dishes each.. We also drank hot sake.. and i think by the time dinner ended at 9pm, most of us were totally stoned out.. = )
The ride back was uneventful.. we chatted abit.. one fell asleep and started snoring.. and me.. i just sat and enjoyed the Tokyo night scenery and started to plan for my day tomorrow.. I intend to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market in the morning, Shibuya for my ramen noodles again in the afternoon, and hopefully shop for some winter clothes, shoes, and hats.. Then evening go Ueno park again for my last cherry blossoms, and final stop Asakusa for my souvenirs.. Tomorrow i will be checking out from the fancy Strings hotel and moving to my Ryokan in Ikebukuro.. I hope the Ryokan will be of reasonable standard..
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April 9, 2009 at 5:05 PM
If I ever go Japan, I will get the itinerary from you. Ramen...mmmm...Have you tried Santouka in Central Mall? Is it worth it?
Your colleagues are thoughtful. I like the slide they did with 10 things they will miss about you.
There are some sakura tree in LA but the effect of seeing a whole grove of them must be very different! Hope I get to see them in Japan one day.