Visiting Family

Here's a picture of my Uncle Tok.  He won't say it, but he's a bona fide war hero.  He earned a Silver Star in World War II.  One of only 3 Japanese-Americans to do so in the Pacific Theater.  Every time I visit Japan, I love to reconnect with him and hear his stories from World War II.  He makes me proud of our family's contribution to America's victory in World War II, and our success in Japan after the war.  Plus, he's just a fun guy to hang out with.  He totally looks like my dad too!  Just 20 years older.  :-)  Sis, that's him looking at your website for the baby!

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Shinjuku train station

I thought I had everything mastered until I got back to the Shinjuku station on the JR train and tried to find the Odakyu train.  Yep, 20 minutes later, I finally found it.  It did force me to go outside, though, and I saw a scene on the scale of Times Square in New York.  I was able to take one pic. Also here is a picture of the signs on the trian platform.  Thank goodness they switch back and forth between English and Japanese!

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CEATEC Japan

Japan's largest consumer electronics show just happened to be going on across the street at the convention center in Makuhari, so I went with my colleague, Ehara-san to the show.  It was really cool!  All kinds of new gadgets and electronics.  A few things I noticed...everyone there was in suits.  I felt underdressed in khaki's and a black, long-sleeve-button-down shirt.  Also, it was all guys...except for the women who were in front of the booths trying to get you to visit their display.  Finally, there was a strong presence from Taiwan, China, and South Korea there.  Duh, makes sense, I'm in Asia!  I found a lot of new display technologies there that I had not seen at conferences in the US, so it turned out to be a useful work visit too!

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BMW Japan

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After 3 hours of commuting, I finally made it!  Here are some pictures of me at the BMW building.  I had a great time meeting all of the engineers that perform approximately the same function that our office does in Palo Alto.  All the guys were really nice and generous with their time, and I was able to make some great contacts if I ever need help with Japanese suppliers in the future.

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The commute to BMW Japan

From Todd's house, I needed to get to the Shinjuku station then get on a JR train (that means exiting the Odakyu station and finding the JR station) to try and get to the Kaihin-Makutari station where BMW is.  I had thought that there was a train that went from Shinjuku to Kaihin-Makutari, but it turned out it was two separate trians.  After hunting around for about 30 minutes, I found that I needed to get to the Tokyo station via the Chuo line then transfer to the Keiyo line to get to Kaihin-Makutari.  All this during commute time.  It took me 3 hours.  I left at 8:30am and arrived at 11:30am.  Here are some pictures from the trip.  Yes, it was CROWDED!  I got the full-on Japanese commuter experience by getting squished in to one train.  We were pressed up against each other like sardines for one stop.  Luckily, I'm still taller than most folks, so my head was above most others, and I could breathe in the air conditioned air.  If I had been shorter, I probably would have gone nuts.  In America, this definitey would not work, but somehow the Japanese are used to it. 

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Shin's

Shin's Sushi bar is one of the favorites of Todd and his buddies.  There are only two tables like the one above and a small bar that can fit about 6 people.  Tiny place.  The sushi, however, was incredible!  My favorite was the maguro sushi chopped finely with scallions.  Yummy!

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Odakyu Ox and apples

Here are some pictures of the grocery store near Todd's house and of the apples which are individually wrapped in styrofoam.  They're about $1.25 each, but every one I ate were better than any I have had in the United States.  In this case, you get what you pay for!

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The park

Here are some pics of the park near Todd's place.  It's about a 5 minute walk to it up a relatively steep hill.  We hit it near sundown, so we didn't get to see it in bright sunlight, but hopefully, it'll clear up so I can go jogging in it!  There was a small demonstration rice farm in it as well.

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On the way to the park

After returning from the Ginza, the weather was still clear, so Todd and I walked over to the park which he had not been in either.  Here are some pics of the walk along the way.  One is of a front door to a new house.  The housing here have western-style facades now.  They still are tiny, though.

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Limited Express Train

To get from Shinjuku to Zama, you can take a Limited Express train that allows you to reserve a seat for 400 yen.  I think I may have posted that earlier, but here it is again.  Here's a pic of the inside and my ticket.  I just got tired of standing up on normal trains for 45 minutes.  I'd rather sit for 30 minutes and enjoy a bento box!

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Getting to the Ginza

I decided to go shopping at the Ginza on Tuesday, but that required a transfer to the Tokyo subway system at the Shinjuku station.  I had not ridden the subway system yet, but I figured I'd eventually find it at the Shinjuku station.  30 minutes later after arriving at Shinjuku, I found it.  Whew!  I roamed around all over until I just thought...it's a subway, I'm going to go down escalators until I get to a level where I can't go any lower...and there it was.  Unfortunately, I was then faced with trying to figure out which line to take to the Ginza.  But...all of the signs were in Japanese except one (above).  I found that I needed to take the Marunouchi line that went to the Ginza at station 16.  I was at station 8.  On the English version of the map, I found M8 and M16 and at the station below they direction of the trains was based on what number station you needed to get to.  At least that made sense!  The one thing I knew how to do now was to purchase a ticket...I don't even need to hit the English button anymore.  I can just hit the right buttons in the Japanese mode. 

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Mitsukoshi Food Area

Oh yeah, more food!  I made 3 laps through these two floors of amazing candies, snacks, and food.  Unfortunately, most were perishable, so I couldn't buy much to take home.  I was able to get a bento box to eat on the train ride home, though!  I also bought some egg with ume (plum) inside.  Yummy!  They actually had a stand with only "tamago" (egg) dishes!

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The Ginza!

Here are some pics from my cameraphone. I'll try to post some better pics from my digital camera later.  I went to the Sony Showroom that had all of Sony's new and announced products that wern't on sale yet.  I also went to the Apple store on the Ginza which was really cool.  4 stores, and everything you'd expect from a classy Apple store.

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