Wednesday, January 26
Happy Republic Day people!
After a mini-adventure getting my visa (somehow visas and passports never come to me without an experience, it's quite scary) and after a pretty comfortable flight....(I managed to get the extra leg room seats on both my incoming routes!), I arrive in the land of the Empire of the Rising Sun. The first thing to amaze me and you have probably heard this before, is the efficiency of this place...I just head over to the bus counter, purchase a ticket...get a bus stop number, go stand there at around 7:00pm. My bus is at 7:30pm...I am asked to return at 7:25pm. Back at 7:25pm and the loaders neatly arrange all our luggage at the platform. At exactly 7:30pm my bus to the hotel arrives. At exactly 7:31pm (I took the front seat so am seeing the clock), the bus departs. In that 1 minute, the loaders load the bags of all the passengers. Luckily for me, my hotel has a bus stop in it's name. If that hadn't been the case, buying a ticket would have been a hassle (the ticket vendor at the airport did not speak a word of English).
I arrive at the hotel and have my iPhone that I had pre-booked on the internet waiting for me. First time ever that I have been able to pre-book a phone while traveling, have the convenience of it delivered to my hotel the day I arrive and the icing on the cake? An affordable, unlimited 3G data connection on the phone. This is the first time I will be using an iPhone and 3G. Japan rocks!
I arrive at my room. Now the room size is normal, but I guess it is definitely large as compared to Japanese standards. Now the good part...while it may not be the biggest room I have ever stayed in, it definitely is the most hi-tech. The room TV has surround sound, plus there is another 13inch tv in the bathroom, double window blinds with automated controls for opening and closing, light dimmers, a locker in which I can plug in my laptop for charging, a very sophisticated and stocked up mini-bar with all the right glasses, a closet with automated lighting, a rain shower, a normal shower, a bath tub, and a lot more nifty gadgets in the bathroom (which I shall refrain from typing in an email). I have been in rooms with one or more above but never in a room with everything in it!
So day 1 is essentially landing in Tokyo and being in awe of the efficiency and technological superiority.
Thursday, January 27
Breakfast is not included in my room package, so I open the menu to be shocked, 2 slices of toast are going to set me back by Rs. 600! No way I am spending that much. I resort to having the thepla I have packed from home. Head on to the Google office for my meeting...lunch time...go hungry. The canteen however has the most unique drinks I have ever seen and ones exclusive to Japan. Strawberry tea anyone? Unfortunately, the Japanese taste does not suit me. The chocolate drinks tastes funny and so I resort to coffee which again I find it hard to intake. I desperately need water at this stage and the closest I see in the vending machine is 'Vitamin Water.' So I take a bottle. Excellent. During the day, I have another. And then a third. My colleague on the right (from India) goes, 'how many are you having?' I go this is my third, what, it's healthy, water with added vitamins. Better than soft drinks.
At that time, my colleague from the Japan office on the left goes...uuuhhh...yes it's healthy but that's not just water with vitamins...essentially heavy exercisers use it. It's got highly stimulating nutrients. I recommend you stop after the 3rd bottle or you are going to start jumping and dancing on the table and through the night! Oops...I then settle for some excellent hot, corn Knorr soup...it's pretty cool. You select it in the vending machine, and the machine prepares it and then dispenses it.
After the day's business comes to a close, we head to a restaurant called Tamakairiki Now this restaurant specialises in 'Sumo dining.' Essentially, it serves the exact food that sumo wrestlers have. The restaurant is very traditional. You sit in a room on the floor with low tables. Now sumo wrestlers have something called Chanko-nabeand this is exactly what is served to us. Chankonabe is a Japanese stew (a type of nabemono or one-pot dish) commonly eaten in vast quantity by sumo wrestlers as part of a weight gain diet. It contains a dashi or chicken broth soup base with sake or mirin to add flavor. The bulk of chankonabe is made up of large quantities of protein sources (usually chicken (quartered, skin left on), fish (fried and made into balls), tofu (or sometimes beef) and vegetables (daikon, bok choy, etc).
It's essentially a big pot with everything above thrown in, heated and stirred. Obviously, I go hungry again...my peers love it. We then head to a karaoke bar. Here is the cool part, we take a taxi and as we reach our destination, the taxi doors automatically open wide when the chauffeur presses a button! Coming back to topic, karaoke has originated from Japan and even today is a strong part of Japanese culture. This is my first ever karaoke experience and though being absolutely naive in English music, manage to sing a song or two...in a group, it's a lot of fun!
Friday, January 28
Another day of theplas for breakfast. Another day of knowledgable meetings. Luckily, my peer from India has now identified an Indian restaurant called 'Moti' and we head there for lunch. Awesome vegetable curry and naan. Head back to office for some of the best team events I have ever attended. There is a 'Ramen TGIF' at office today. Some top chefs arrive who cook the Ramen style of noodles. Now this is not the commercially available Top Ramen noodles which I never knew. Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as sliced pork, dried seaweed, kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn. Almost every locality in Japan has its own variation of ramen, from the tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen of Kyūshū to the miso ramen of Hokkaidō.
Not your average, plain joe 2 minute noodles is it? The cafe is full and the chefs cook the noodles in style (like a bar tender making a drink). I can just watch, can't eat (again!).
Work till late evening and before heading back, stop by a Starbucks. As many of you may know, I never tale coffee. My only exception is when I travel, I make sure to have the Starbucks Caramel Macchiato. By the way, in Japan, when you pay cash, you do not give it to a person in hand. It's considered extremely disrespectful. The cashier will have the cash tray out in front (something like a tipping bowl that you see at a Dunkin Donuts) and you put the cash in there which the cashier then collects. Back to the room. Theplas for dinner.
It's now been 2 days of using the iPhone and an Android is the clear winner (ducks to avoid the shoes from iPhone fans reading this email).
Tomorrow looks to be an exciting day, stay tuned for more!
No comments:
Post a Comment