25th October 2010

After breakfast, we went to Ikebukuro for site visits. The biggest electronic stores where there.

I drank some green drink... terrible :S it tastes like the worst tasting vegetables all rolled into one.

Then we basically walked around Tokyo... From Ikebukuro to Shinjuko to Akihabara back to Rippongi then to Shibuya.

I bought some Japanese children's books, i think it would be good practice for me to read. (when i say children, i mean Grade 1 and Grade 2)

Tomorrow is my meeting, wish me luck :/

:s
Gundam Cafe, the robot in Best store. Has a cafe. Neat.



a nice statue at rippongi hills and behind is Tokyo Tower


Dinner at rippongi hills
Shibuya... there, the starbucks is supposedly is busiest starbucks in the world with the fastest service.

24th October 2010

Woke up early, and we went to the Lupicia Expo.

We stopped before that at a starbucks and had our fill of morning waker-upper.

The expo was veeeeeery nice. We were met by the our contact and her boss, the Vice President of the company! I didn't expect that at all. We got the tour around the expo. I got lots of ideas as well...

also, what was especially interesting about the expo, my favorite nugget, is that Lupicia has over 50 stores nation wide and USA (SF and Hawaii), each store or area has a unique type of tea that they sell ONLY at that place. You wouldn't be able to buy it at any other place even if it was lupicia store. So... at the expo they had all of those flavors available for sale. :)

After that we went back to the hotel. I bought another football jersey. I have already many Japan football team jerseys. This time i got GAMBA OSAKA :) which also is sponsored by Panasonic... so its a double wammie for me... Osaka and Panasonic.

Oh by the way, i forgot to mention that i bought a wallet yesterday. i am very happy about it... i was sad in Ramadan when i lost my wallet, i really liked that one but i'm also happy with this new one :)

Since we're talking purchases... the shoes... Berluti... unbelievable! They are sooooo beautiful and comfortable and expenses!!! hehehe so i am very hesitant to buy them. Also, the main reason i wanted to buy a new formal shoes is to wear with Dishdasha and Suits (even though i have a black suit now, i want to wear brown shoes with it). The one i liked most was a bit on the funky side with its coloring, its reddish brownish greenish kinda :/ It looked great with the jeans and i'm sure with the dishdasha but maybe not a formal black suit. Hmmm i always thought my next suit purchase would be light gray, but maybe with a brown shoes, i'd better think dark blue... anyway, i postponed this decision, since its a decision that would remove lots of money's from my new wallet :/

* * *

anyway... to TOKYO!

first, we were welcomed by COLD RAIN...

In Tokyo, K. San introduced me to her friend, he is very nice and a very light hearted man. I really enjoyed my time with them.

Now i need to sleep, tomorrow we have to do market survey.




neat huh?


Of course, what's a trip on the shinkansen without umeboshi onigiri


I have found my next car, the Nissan LEAF. 0% Emission. Of course, i hope the day i'll give out 0% emission doesn't come soon :P

Nothing beats a sweet soft Chestnut filled Daifuku.

This was dinner... lol i put the blackberry just for size comparison... And i ordered the kids portion (there was no kids portion, this isn't mcdonalds) But even the wooden spoon was humongous!

You know that story? Jack and the beanstalk? When jack goes up into the skies and into the giant's home, and he sees all the giants furniture and utensils? Well i felt like that... i felt any minute now a giant will walk in screaming "FE FI FO FUM!"

* * *

I felt that the subway trains were crowded here in Tokyo, but after seeing this video clip, i thanked God a gazillion times I wasn't in that place :/

23rd October 2010

Remember the park that i went to last time but was closed? the one with the sun statue? well i finally managed to go there :)

but before going there... i had to stop at mister donuts :D

the chocolate one was better





this is not a fish eye photo, the road is actually bent like that

i like this photo.. nice huh?

and of course, how can i end the day without bagel & bagel? :D

we went and saw AVATAR special edition 3D... the graphics are still breathtaking. I cannot wait for Avatar sequels.

22nd October 2010

I slept at 1... but then i woke up at 4.

i had a weird dream.. well dreams... but this particular one...

I was with Obama and the Queen of England... i wasn't anyone fancy or anything, i was the driver loool

anyway... i sat next to the queen and asked her if i can take a picture with her... she said yes... so then i told her... "one day i'll do something great for the world" and she replied "yeah? like what? what are you able to do that is so special?" and i froze, i crunched my brain but seriously nothing came out, i was thinking... what can a single man do for the world to deem it special? then i rambled on something about banning guns or some other thing... but its true... what makes someone GREAT in this day and age?

i went and saw my friends at school... which was nice...

until tomorrow then...

oh by the way... 1 am till 4 pm loooool

21st October 2010

All the shops now are carrying the winter season clothes. Which is strange, because its not yet cold here! Its around 24'c in the daytime. But you see many people wearing coats and sweaters :/

The world's flagship UNIQLO store. Its new, i think it opened last week.

This is also new, it wasn't there when i was here... like in Tokyo, they put these to prevent people from committing suicide in subways :/

Its amazing, how one plant can produce both Purple and Yellow flowers... its a wonderful world



Anyway, i went to do some errands for work. Walked around shops and department store but nothing interested me.

Remember the shoes i liked from before? Berlutti, i think. I think i might buy a pair this trip.

I went again to Bagel & Bagel lol and ate nothing but bagel till night time.

Chocolate


Caramel and pumpkin

and this one was in the hotel. Also, i ate one in the shop, though was a salmon with cream cheese bagel... still delicious :)


Old habits die hard, i went to the supermarket as well and enjoyed my old routine.

October 20th 2010

So, back in Japan... it only makes sense to start writing again.

But before that... let me share with you what happened with Emirates Airlines 2 days ago.

After arriving at terminal 3 in Dubai. I went to collect my bag. My bag was very heavy due to the amount of gifts i brought with me to share with my friends in Japan.

As i carried my bag from the bags belt, i noticed it was damp and it dampened my pants. I quickly set it down and began to inspect it. It was HALF SOAKED in some STINKING MOISTURE! It wasn't water, perhaps it was sewage water or something!


i was furious. Anyway it took my a good part of an hour to navigate from one place to the next in the stupid emirates terminal 3 until i reached the business class baggage claims office. It was 1 am by the way. So here is what they told me.

"Normally we will take the bag and clean it for you. But since you're only staying in Dubai for 2 days and then continuing to Japan, we ask you to clean it and we'll pay the amount"

Now for those people who know me, it is not a secret that i hate Dubai and everything Dubai! And this is why. The emirates people think by building the latest and biggest terminals people will love them. 2 words for you people! CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I replied to the lady, "So i have nothing else but to visit dry cleaners here? I am here on business, and i am a guest in Dubai, i dont know where laundries are!"

To cut the story short, they came the next morning quickly and took the bag, cleaned it and returned it the following day.

Ok, so they fixed their problem, but i'm still not happy. I mean, they should compensate me for my troubles, right or wrong?

In this day an age of competitive business, and flying Emirates on Business class! someone should expect at least the minimum not the best in customer service. And correct me if i'm wrong but fixing the problem is not enough, since they brought this problem on me, then should have at least went an extra step to satisfy me.

i'm deeply disappointed in Emirates. :s

and i was kind of pleased that Dubai was empty! the malls are empty, gitex wasn't as good as i remembered. Streets are empty!

so maybe now they will start investing in customer service rather than just big, fake buildings

-----------

Japan! Osaka! YES! :)

I am not kidding when i say, after arriving in Namba and walking in the street with my bag, going to the hotel. I actually noticed a few familiar faces. I mean, Ok, to some of you, Japanese people all look a like, but i think i can tell them apart. I think :P So, Walking on Midosuji street, i DID recognize some faces. I think, or i guess, most of the people are going by there daily routines, walking by the same places everyday, going from point A to B, repeatedly without thinking about it. And it dawned on me. For a few months in my life, i too was part of those people! I too was calling this area MY area. I too was a familiar face on those streets. And that filled my with nostalgia like you wouldn't believe.

So after settling in the hotel, i met some of my school friends and went directly to my favorite place for food in Osaka :D BAGEL & BAGEL!

I'm going tomorrow for breakfast, and probably lunch, and dinner :D

B & B!!! BAGEL AND BAGEL!!! or as the Japanese would pronounce it, BAGERU AN BAGERU :D


Oh, on a down note, as gifts i brought from Kuwait Rahash and Darabeel. I wrapped the Rahash in plastic bags and taped them shut. But i think the plastic box of the rahash broke and some of the oil spilled out of the box. It is still contained inside the plastic bag. But i was planning to take it out and put it in a nicer paper bag when presenting it to friends. But i guess i will have to give them as is and warn them that it might be oily and they should bring tissue with them.

anyway... i'm in OSAKA :)

July 18th 2010 or when Dogs sniff

i've been having back aches on and off for years now... some days i barely feel it while others i'm in constant reminder of it.

for years now i sleep on a mattress, no bed, just a mattress. Today i decided i'll try without the mattress, just a lonely blanket to serve a sheet between me and the carpet...

Of course, all the while, i dream of futon and tatami. I am not sure if i reminisce the futon and tatami because of their comfort, or is it the engulfing feeling i had during the times i experienced them. The cold nights, the warm covers, the lingering sound of the sliding Japanese doors, the radiating smoothness of my skin from the onsen bath minerals...

* * *

Last week, i saw a guy who is younger than me, i recently knew he got divorced, so i asked him why he separated and then, matter of factly, proceeded to give him shallow advice, on marriage (of all things)

I don't know why i said what i said... i mean, was there a need for that brief dialogue? None that i can think of.

The same day an older man gave me a call, and the first thing he asked me, "when will we see your wedding? Yallah"

I spent much time recalling those two dialogues and wondering why do people say what they say, especially at the beginning of their encounters.

So i was thinking... were our opening dialogues subconscious statements of authority? to set the proper order of status? Setting the pecking order? Who's who on the hierarchy?

By the same manner of "concerned big brother", i have asked the younger man, and the older man has asked me... perhaps the former has someone where he shows his "concerned big brother" behavior to?

Honest to goodness... i didn't mean anything negative by my question... It was coming from the purist of my intentions... but i'm not talking about my intentions, rather, my un-intentions... what made ME say what I said? How much of it was free will? And how much was it genetic predisposition?

Maybe its not about hierarchy or status positioning... perhaps its just a form of connecting with each other, a by-product of Society and Social Networking... which without it Humans arguably wouldn't have survived up to this day.

Possibly, its the verbal equivalent of a nod in the street to a stranger, implying, "i see you".

"Free Will" is what i choose to do or say by my own volition? Right? But perhaps "What i choose to do or say" is the by-product of a "brain" that is genetically (by evolution) made to "choose to do or say" in that certain way?

Too many "perhap's" and "maybe's" but for now... i see no difference in what we say as "open liners" and when dog's sniff each others' behinds when they first meet.