| My new life, so far... |
|
23 Jan 2011 |
October
2006 Japan, China... Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong... |
FROM TOKYO, JAPAN
A Long Day
TOKYO, Oct 10, 2006 - The first leg of my fourth kind of-'round the world trip of 2006 was from Phoenix to Tokyo via Los Angeles. The long (11-hour) flight to Tokyo was again mercifully uneventful. I managed about 2 hours' of sleep after I got my work done. The Singapore Air crew pulled the blinds down so it felt like night time even though it was a daylight flight. I also read a book and watched three movies, two of them very dumb. Oh well... can't win them all.
Tokyo with Flashbacks to January 2005
TOKYO, Oct 11, 2006 - Unlike the last time I was in Tokyo in late June, when the weather was hot and humid, today was a nearly perfect day, with temps in the lo 70s. Here are some views of Tokyo from the 19th floor of an office building where I had some of my business meetings...
The location is near the Yokohama Harbor, not far from the Shiodome City Center where I stayed the last time.
Additional view of Tokyo from another part of the building.
After returning to my Hotel Okura after work today, I took some pictures of the Terrance Restaurant and its beautiful gardens...
This made me reminisce of the last time I was here at Hotel Okura with my darling Karen (in January 2005)...
...when this picture was taken in the very same garden decorated with pretty Christmas lights at the time.
At the opposite end of the garden there is a little waterfall whose sound makes you forget that you're in the middle of one of the world's greatest metropolis.
Once again, here is the very same waterfall, as it looked back in January 2005.
And now, here are the same scenes repeated the following morning (Oct 12, 2006)...
Hotel Okura gardens in the morning light.
Back to today (Oct 11, 2006), I found these huge ornamental fish sleeping in one corner of the Okura hotel garden. And I mean sleeping! Motionless. I have never seen fish fast asleep before. The one in the middle moved a little after I took this picture, evidently startled by the flash.
And here's the same school of fish frolicking happily the following morning.
The great lobby of Hotel Okura as seen from one side...
...and from another.
Meanwhile, here's another flashback to January 2005, when this picture of Karen, all bundled up, was taken in front of the Hotel Okura.
A great yakitori traditional-style Japanese restaurant in the Roppongi area of Tokyo where we had dinner this evening. The food was outstanding as was the service and the atmosphere.
