Kokochi

My favorite pics from Tokyo

Michael with camera

See Michael's view

Action heroes, Chris and Michael!

Edible Hello Kitty

Although, these Hello Kitty inari-zushi were my favorite things...so the picture is pretty valuable too!

SAKK party

How's it going

Goodcrew

Here are snippets from the SAKK party on our last day. First is a video of Good Crew, a duo that won the OtoRebo - Sound Revolution contest that uses Movable Type. They were voted as best and got a record deal!

Second video is a "how's it going" practice session. When a group of us were talking about English, I explained that the "how's it going" question really only means "hello" and does not require an answer. This is one phrase that I still just don't get. So to emphasize the weirdness, I had Yuji say "how's it going" while walking right past : )

Joy, Mieko and Kojo

The last night in Tokyo, we had a company party. I had about an hour after work until the party, so I ran to meet Joy near her office at Aux Bacchanales. Unfortunately, I pretty much had to cut short her updates to get to the party, but it great seeing Joy since we'd missed each other when she was in SF just a week ago. Then after the party, I ran off to meet Mieko, Kojo, and Tatsuo, my old NuBalance music group. I hadn't seen them in years. Plus, Kojo-san (who used to DJ as Spacewalker) recently recovered from a major accident, so just to see him smile was amazing. It means a lot to still have personal connections in Tokyo. And I feel very lucky to have snippets of time with them every so often.

Sharing meals with Gen & Mika, and Mika

One of the best parts of this trip was having time, finally, to meet up with old friends. Having Tesla the last few times made it impossible to see anyone since I zipped home right after work to be with Tesla. This time, however, I got to meet up, share wonderful meals, and really catch up. Gen is from my old Tokyo moblogging days, and he recently married Mika. A different Mika, worked with me shortly at Six Apart, and we remain friends. I only get to see them in Tokyo, and the timing worked perfectly...so yay!!

お雛様 － Ohinasama

From Japan, I brought back this wonderful gift from my parents to Tesla. It was a huge box, so I checked it in as luggage and luckily it came through undamaged. It's Tesla's very own ohinasama for Girl's Day. At first, when my mom told me she wanted to get this for Tesla, I balked because the set is not cheap, and I felt it would be out of place here. But I'm glad my mom convinced me because it does feel special. It's usually set up for around March 3rd, but since we will be away all of March, I decided to put it up immediately so we could enjoy it this year. Obviously Tesla doesn't get it now, but it's so beautiful and I'm happy she will grow up with it. I am proud to be able to show this to friends as part of my culture (although Dav isn't quite sure what to make of it, since the only thing in his mind close to this is as if I were setting up a nativity scene...not at all similar!). My grandmother sent me my set when we were living in Essex, CT. It was the full-blown 7 level one. I remember loving playing with the dolls and all the detailed dishes and boxes that came with it. But over the years and moving back to Japan, it broke. So my mom wanted to get a new one for T. The new trend - since most houses are small and families want to be practical - is to buy a small set with just the emperor and empress. I do prefer the small size and there are still enough details to make it pretty magnificent.

This was a business trip afterall...

Lest you think I came to Tokyo just to eat and hang with friends, here are pics from the work part of this trip. Wed ~ Fri were big work days, and I was too busy to post. It usually takes me time to warm up and get into the groove of what I do here, and when I first saw my schedule for Thu (meeting with partner from 10am to 6:30pm, followed by a business dinner) and Friday (all day seminar with customers and general public attendance), I wondered how I'd pull it off. I do interpretation, and got a bit nervous. In reality, however, I have worked with our partner for 4 years now, and enjoy our relationship. And the content of the Friday seminar was familiar by then so I feel things went well overall. So although it is hard work, these trips leave me energized. I feel I can make a difference and this is one aspect of my job that I love. After 4 years with our partners, we're all in a good spot. Happy partners, great roadmap, and a sense of momentum for 2008. I've got more pics to post, but that will have to wait until I'm back in SF. I've got to pack so I can head home to see Dav and Tesla. I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo looking forward to that.

Catching up with old friends

I used to work with Belinda at the IMF, and instantly took a huge liking to her. I love her attitude about everything and she has become a great friend. As I got to know her husband and 2 grown kids, both Dav and I just about fell in love with the whole family. We want raise Tesla exactly like they raised their kids :) I missed seeing Belinda the last few times here, so before starting my shopping adventure, I went to her house for brunch. I can't believe that from the hours of hanging out in their sunny living room, drinking coffee, eating pancakes, looking at pictures, sharing stories, and updating each other about our lives, I got one single picture ...of the food! Yes, the food was amazing (James is a rockin' chef), but no other pictures? I'm truly embarrassed, but it shows just how relaxed I felt lounging around with them...
My 2nd meal that day was chez Paul and Akiko's. Jet-setter Boris joined too (he's flying to SF now, and we'll have dinner together there). Again, I missed seeing Paul the last few times so wanted to make sure we caught up. He started Tokyo Art Beat. I was particularly delighted to be invited to their newly remodeled flat as I wanted to see their bed enclosed/bookcase. I wasn't disappointed - it's a brilliant design. We had nabe with the most delicious chicken balls ; ) and homemade pear/nut bread. Paul, Boris, and I met at the First International Moblogging Conference. We had all sorta stumbled across it, yet it turned out that many of those who attended now work in similar circles, and our paths keep crossing. It was one of those gatherings that jump-started a lot. Over dinner, we talked about how much has evolved and changed since then...and how for all of us, 2008 seems like it will be an interesting year of new ideas. I am so happy to have had time with them.

Amazing customer service

Part of what made my Monday shopping so good was this following experience: Every time I am in Tokyo, I always try and visit my favorite brand store Kookai because I usually can find at least one thing I want to buy, and there don't seem to be any Kookai stores in the States. There is one store within the Mitsukoshi department store at Ebisu. Last time I was in Tokyo in mid-October, I stopped there between a conference I was at that happened to be next door to Mitsukoshi and dashing home to Tesla. After purchasing a beautiful top for a not so cheap price, I briefly checked out a shoe store, and then left. And when I got home, I didn't have my Kookai purchase. I was sure I left it in a taxi, and gave up hopes of finding it. I was very disappointed. On Monday, I went back to the place as I always do, and found they are closing! (A new store will open somewhere in Shinjuku in Spring though.) They had very few clothes left but heavily discounted so I got 3 things. As I was paying, I let the sales lady know I was sad to see them go, and also that I came from CA to shop there. She remembered me from last time, and said, "oh yes, and you forgot your last purchase, didn't you?" I was astounded because a) she remembered me, and b) she knew I lost my purchase. Apparently, I had left it at the shoe store where I was for just a few minutes. Once discovered, she and the shoe store person ran around Mitsukoshi looking for me, but I had left. They tried getting my address from my credit card, but since it's foreign, they couldn't. So they put my shirt in the Lost & Found. The sales lady kindly called the Lost & Found to see if they still had my shirt which I doubted since it was so long ago. They said they would call my cell phone once retrieved, so I left the store simply happy to know what really happened to my shirt, and that they remembered. That evening I got a call from a Mitsukoshi Customer Service Dept. guy, and he apologized profusely in the way that can be only done in the Japanese language. His tone was as if they had burned down my house. I kept saying it was my fault for forgetting the shirt, but because it had been registered in their Lost & Found yet they couldn't find it, Mitsukoshi wanted to take full responsibility. After explaining how they spent the whole afternoon calling all Kookai stores in Japan in hopes of finding a replacement shirt, it was not possible because it was long out of season. The customer service guy then gently, ever so humbly, wondered if I would be so kind as to accept a reimbursement of the price the shirt. Not only that, he wanted to personally come to my house to apologize and give me the money (this is normal when companies apologize for serious mistakes). In the end, I suggested it would be much easier to simply mail it, and I told him this was the best customer service I'd ever experienced and I absolutely love Mitsukoshi for that. I'm a life-long customer now!

Yay! It's all good...

I've done 2 video iSight sessions with daddy and Tesla, and so far so good, Tesla is doing great. Other than a few "mama" calls that were more habit than needy yearning, she's been totally content with daddy-o and granny Marie. On iSight, she smiled, called out to me, and definitely seemed happy seeing me on the computer screen, but wasn't upset that she couldn't touch me or didn't start crying when we said bye-bye. Overall, she's doing just fine...and I couldn't be happier. iSight is great to have because it allows me to see Tesla giggle and smile. I am now easing into being on my own quite nicely. I had all Monday off to see a few friends and wander around the city to my heart's content. Instead of sprinting to my favorite shops in between work and rushing my parents' to Tesla, I lingered, discovered new stores, and totally enjoyed the city. Plus, it's sale time so I scored with deals. And I fit the clothes! How wonderful to take something from the rack and have it fit perfectly (a very rare experience in the US). I've pretty much stopped wanting to shop in the US unless I really need to, and loathe the experience either because I have Tesla and time is limited with her or it's just too hard to find stuff I like, and malls are utterly boring for me. Combined with not shopping much while I was pregnant and big, my Monday shopping felt like something I hadn't done in years. I am happy to say I accomplished a lot. :) Michelle kindly gave me Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" book to read which I am loving (it was so nice to have 10 uninterrupted hours to read on the plane). And it is perfect for this trip since in addition to being a regular business trip, this is my first time on my own in a while where I can reflect on "me." I am loving it. Just walking around alone, following my desires, and remembering what it's like to be on my own. Gilbert's book is about her experience doing that, albeit on a more profound level. It's great food-for-thought on this trip. I can tell I will be super refreshed and will eat up Tesla AND bunny Dav when I get back.

a week apart

I am about to fly out to Tokyo for work. I will come back next Saturday. I have mixed feelings...it's always refreshing and wonderful to be back "home," but this time I am leaving Tesla with daddy. She has come twice with me on these business trips, but now she's at the age where international travel is not easy. This will be my first time away from Tesla for more than 12 hours. I will miss her dearly. And I know she looks for me after a long day, calling "maaamaaa" at the front door. Not being able to comfort her will break my heart. But she and daddy are super close and maybe she will adjust fine. And it's about time I re-experience walking around a city as "Mie" and not "mommy." I am looking forward to enjoying my own thoughts! But I will really really miss her and this is hard.