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July 28, 2007
Training in Tokyo
Travel in and around Tokyo is by train. Occasionally one takes a cab, but it's expensive (about $6 for a 3 minute ride, and the cost goes up from there). And it's confusing. There are several different train companies, each operating different "lines". One of the largest, JR East, has a rail map that is difficult to read.
To board one of the trains, you need a ticket. To (try to) figure out the fare, you look at the train map above the ticket machines. If you're lucky, you find a map that has the names in Roman Type, but you can't count on it. Finally you fish up some coins to drop into the machine. Remember, there are multiple train companies that service each terminal, so you need to remember not only the fare but the company name and punch that in before you buy the ticket.
Finally arriving at your destination, you find out if you guess right on the ticket fare. The exit gates have this very convenient pair of doors that swing shut if your ticket isn't expensive enough. It's pretty obvious what the problem is, despite the voice speaking in Japanese.
All in all, it's quite an adventure. A couple of weeks of this kind of thing and you start to get the hang of it.
Now all I have to do is try to understand what the advertisements in the trains are talking about...
Posted by pgutwin at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2007
Making Impressions
I had the good fortune to take some clients to dinner last night. One of our wonderful administrative assistants here in Tokyo picked a really nice place:Tsuki
.
I didn't have any expectations about dinner itself - I was pretty focused on our business objective. But when we arrived, I was really surprised. The place was off-beat but very comfortable and private. We had a little room all to ourselves.
My colleague snapped some pictures of dinner - and our clients were very impressed both with dinner, the progress we made on our business plans and the pictures.
Posted by pgutwin at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2007
The Nose Knows
What a strange thing: I was walking through Chicago's O'Hare airport, and suddenly smelled something familiar but undefined. I sniffed again, and thought "That smells like Quizno's, but that' can't be , because there are no Quizno's here...". A moment later I turned a corner and there was a Quizno's sub shop. Seems that they recently acquired a franchise in the airport - a change for the better to my mind.
You may be aware that I'm a modest fan of Quizno's. The food is good and quick - far better quality than Subway to me. But there are those in the family who take a dim view of Quizno's. I guess there's no accounting for taste.
Posted by pgutwin at 7:35 PM | Comments (0)
July 13, 2007
View From My Window
With apologies to Andrew Sullivan, here's the view from MY window today:
Posted by pgutwin at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
Let's Eat
I often miss the point of food in nourishing myself. But occasionally I connect with the whole - sensing the parts of my meal for what they are in taste and texture, and where they come from, people and place.
I think it's easy to miss the point of food because we get distracted by the way food is presented. In the store, price and availability crowd out reality. I can buy almost anything I want virtually the whole year 'round. Technology and transportation makes this possible, but it disconnects me from the real world.
Such cheap abundance makes food anonymous as well. An apple from Washington state is the same as one from Addison county, right? Well, sort of. But not really.
I'm really encouraged by the Eat Local movement. It recognizes the value of caring for how our actions effects those around us. I have to admit that I've been disappointed in local produce and products. But that's part of it too - nothing is or should be perfect.
Help me out - ask me where my next meal is going to come from.
Posted by pgutwin at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)