The First Month and a Bit

Ohayooo everyone!

It seems that I gave most people the impression that I would be making blog entries weekly (probably from titling the first entry “The First Week”). I was thinking it would be more of a monthly thing.

Things have been busy over the past month. In mid-October I went on a little business trip with my colleagues Anthony and Bertram to visit some of our operators here.

We went to Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa. On this trip, I:

• was charmed by our small, island-hopping operators who are proud to be flying our planes.


• inadvertently ate whale (INADVERTENTLY! I was told before I ate it that it was “some kind of fish”).


• choked (for real!) on a piece of steak at a Teppanyaki restaurant, obliging Bertram to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre on me (for real!)
  

After that I was very excited to head back to Toronto to see everyone and to retrieve some more of our personal effects. It was a bit of a whirlwind visit but I managed to see ALMOST everybody and to stock up on the few things that are difficult to find in Tokyo (Mitchum deodorant, clothes that fit me, etc.).

I returned to Tokyo to find things in good order. Ross had achieved some significant technological advancements in the apartment, and had become an expert on the offerings of the food hall level of our Mitsukoshi department store (prepared salads and pasta, “Kono Pizza”, which makes pizza in the form of a cone, discount sushi at the end of the day, “Tokyo Soup Stock”, with its many varieties of delicious soups, etc.)

WORK

Work is good. My visit to Toronto helped me to connect with my new “team” and gave me a better sense of direction. It was a bit strange staying at the Holiday Inn at Yorkdale Mall for two weeks, but it proved to be an excellent location for hobnobbing, as all the customers (most of whom were in town for the same event I was) were there.

During my second week in Toronto I was pleased to get in quite a bit of flying, ranging from production testing to flying our corporate shuttle to (and from) Montreal. It will be quite strange to not be flying regularly, as my new position is pretty much a “desk job”. Hopefully I can sneak into the simulator now and then, or maybe I can find a realistic flight simulator in an entertainment arcade somewhere. Ross can play that bongo drum game while I keep my chops up.

HOME

Thanks to Ross’s diligence and ingenuity, our home Internet service has been upgraded to proper Tokyo standards. Now the VOIP phone is working quite well, so you are able to call us at our old Toronto number (but please keep the time difference in mind!). Other than the discovery that occasionally the delivered breakfast buns are pre-injected with a pat of butter, there is not much else new on the home front.

ENTERTAINMENT


We have been THOROUGHLY enjoying the local restaurants. We went to an awesome little Mexican place that makes great (but small and expensive) margaritas and fish tacos etc. It is on the third floor of a small and irregularly shaped building that somehow houses five restaurants/bars. The Mexican restaurant apparently also has “tepee seating” on the roof top terrace. We were able to glimpse the tepee from a nearby building, but it remains a bit mysterious. We’ll check it out next time.

A major discovery is a nice “Californian” restaurant nearby that serves weekend brunch, including Eggs Benedict. The coffee is at the usual Tokyo coffee prices- 5 bucks for a cup! (the same as the wine!) I don’t know why coffee is so expensive here, but I am adjusting my consumption habits accordingly.

On weekends we continue to explore different areas of the city. On one of our recent excursions we went to Asakasa, an area evocative of “Old Tokyo” with a big temple, Senso-ji, and lots of old fashioned shops.

Nearby is Kappabashi, the area with many restaurant supply stores. We resisted buying any plastic display food, opting instead for a proper chef’s knife (not that we are proper chefs, but whatever). Another happy discovery was a Mister Donut, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to be as common in Tokyo as in other parts of Japan. Our favourite is the “pon de ring”, a pleasingly knobby ring of moist, chewy deliciousness.

This past week my Toronto colleagues Ben and Manny were in town. It was exciting to have the number of people we know in Tokyo temporarily increase by 50%! We had a DELICIOUS Teppanyaki meal. I chewed very carefully. This weekend it is a bit rainy, so I think our pursuits will be indoors. There is a vast and architecturally significant entertainment and shopping complex called Roppongi Hills that I have been meaning to get to. I think we'll check it out.

The First Week

Ohayoo Everybody!


So far, so good. Ross and I have been here for a week now and are settling in nicely.


Home:

We are VERY HAPPY with the apato. The closet space is AMAZING. We have two bedrooms, and a "powder room" in addition to the main bath room. There is the usual fancy Japanese toilet that will wash you if you like and it has a HEATED SEAT (the toilet in the powder room is just a regular one).


Included with the apartment is a weekday "breakfast service" where a "continental breakfast" (consisting of two buns- very nice and soft) is left hanging on the door knob along with a pot of coffee! This service arrives after I leave for work, unfortunately, but Ross has been enjoying it.


We really love the area. Within a 3-minute walk are a hip and cosy cafe/bar, a Malaysian/Thai restaurant, a Hawaiian restaurant, and a western-style place that serves brunch.


Within a 5-minute walk is a shopping and entertainment complex called "Ebisu Garden Place" which contains:

Sapporo Beer Musem
Sapporo Beer Station ("beer restaurant")
a department store with a supermarket; it contains a bakery that bakes fresh baguettes FOUR TIMES A DAY
a wine and food store called "Party and Wine"
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
McDonalds
L'Occitane
an office tower with a number of "view restaurants" on the 37th and 38th floors
a movie theatre
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!


Work:

To get to work, I walk 10 minutes to the Ebisu train station (mostly along moving sidewalks- very "Jetsons"), take the Japan Rail Yamanote line (like an above-ground subway) for 16 minutes, then switch to the monorail to Haneda Airport, and take that for around 15 minutes. I get off a few stops before the airport terminal, in an area where there are airline offices and maintenance hangars and simulator training facilities.


There are four of us in the office, ranging in age from 30 to 36. It is a hoot! The office is nice and new and has been decorated very tastefully. The ladies' bathroom down the hall has devices in each stall that play the sound of loud rushing water, for sonic modesty. Today we found the ANA cafeteria in the building next door (we had to get special passes to enter the building). There we can get curry beef and rice for LESS THAN THREE BUCKS!


Friday night we attended a "drinking party" with some people from ANA. It was a bit strange but quite fun- they want to do it every other week!


Entertainment:

Ross and I have been busy shopping for home comforts and necessities (the apartment came with only 8 hangers, despite the multiple giant closets). We have also been busy exploring and eating.

We had the best grocery shopping experience. We went to a supermarket with many foreign products, filled up the cart and then went to the check-out. FOUR (4!) women descended on us and scanned and bagged our groceries. We filled out a form with our address and left the store empty-handed for a leisurely stroll home. A few hours later our groceries were DELIVERED to our apartment door! I think we might get a bit spoiled here.

Today while I was at work Ross went out and bought a folding bicycle. It looks like a pretty cool bike. He is looking forward to his wheeled excursions. There is no reason to worry about traffic- bicycles here just careen along the sidewalks. As a pedestrian, it is a bit alarming.

The food here is amazing. So far we have had: fresh take-out sushi from our department store, Hawaiian food, Korean food, Italian food, Malaysian food, shrimp burgers at McDonald's, a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving dinner (at a restaurant called "Good Honest Grub") and of course many Japanese meals. There are tons of bakeries allover the place with lovely European-style cakes and pastries and breads. You really can get everything (except, as my colleague Bertram pointed out, West Indian food- but you can buy jerk seasoning at the grocery store).

Next week we might go visit some operators (i.e. airlines that are flying our planes here). After that I'll be in Toronto for a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and retrieving some more of my stuff!