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I flew to Japan from San Francisco, where I
had spent one night near the airport prior to presenting a seminar
on Thursday morning. The training seminar in San Francisco went quite well, with a crowd of
around 30 engineers, most of whom had our product loaded on their laptops for
hands-on demonstrations. I had to finish up a bit early to dash to the airport.
(After three hours we'd covered enough ground anyway, and my partner Brian was
there to wrap things up.) As it turned out the check-in and security were fast, there was no reason to leave early. It was a ten hour flight to Narita, with four in-flight movies, the only decent one of which was "Lost in Translation". The flight was followed by three hours (including customs, train rides, etc.) to get to Yokohama. I hadn't slept at all on the plane so I was dog-tired when I finally got to the hotel at 9:00 PM (which would be 5:00 AM in Seattle). The cheap business hotel I had hoped to stay in for the six nights of my visit was full for the weekend, so on a lark I had decided to stay at the Park Royal hotel for two nights. With an internet special rate it wasn't too terribly expensive. The hotel is the tallest in Japan, as it perches on the upper floors of the 72 story Landmark Tower:
Landmark Tower (with hotel at the top)
My room was on one of the highest floors, with a uninteresting view toward the Yokohama Station area. From the window I could see the top of Mount Fuji, but the haze made that a less-than-satisfying sight. (Do I sound disappointed in the hotel? I was... the Pan Pacific next door is nicer, is a bit cheaper when they have web discounts, and has free high-speed internet. And I'm typing this right now from my fine little room at the nearly-new Roynet--gotta love that name--business hotel, which at $80 per night with tax and high-speed internet included is a bargain.)
Lost in Translation
It was a sunny and warm Saturday but I missed most of it due to being in Katsumi's office for six hours. After working most of the day, Katsumi and I went for dinner and music at a terrific little jazz club called "Bar Bar Bar". We were there early, before the music started and got a table right up front, wedged between the piano (close enough that I could have reached over the plonked middle C without stretching) and the microphone stand where a highly talented singer named Maya sang a few jazz standards and some samba tunes (in Spanish or Portugese). The band was great, just tearing the place up:
Jazz group "Take Ten" at Bar Bar Bar, Yokohama
If you were a fork on the table, this would be your view
Singer "Maya"
Nightlife in Kannai, Yokohama (Karaoke Bar)
In the morning on Sunday I took a walk around Yokohama in the rain and snapped some random pictures, mostly in the old Noge district. Noge is a place that at night is like the city scene from Blade Runner. In the light of morning it is exposed as the shabby place it really is. I liked the light this morning with the mist, though, which gave the old buildings and the garish signs a softness they don't have on a sunny day. Judge for yourself:
Noge entertainment district on a rainy morning
Fugu restaurant and postbox
Cafe Bar Carrot
Yakitori place
Stand Bar
Black cat on a "Special Magic" vending machine
Soapland "Mermaid" (for $150 per hour the customers must get extra clean, hmm?)
Sakuragicho station book shop
Brick warehouse shopping area, Minato Mirai in the distance
Waiting for a commuter train
Stationmaster
On Monday Katsumi and I took trip by train to Hakone to visit a prospective customer (FujiFilm). It was a long way to go for one meeting (about two hours each way, with multiple train changes) but seemed worthwhile.
Hakone, after leaving FujiFilm (can you find me in the picture?)
Looking for a decent place to eat
After getting back to the office with Katsumi I looked out the window and saw a pretty sunset behind Yokohama Stadium (across the street from the office), which was itself all lit up for a baseball game.
Yokohama Stadium on a game night
I asked Katsumi who was playing and he said it was the Yomiuri Giants (historically the number one ranked team in Japan) versus the home team, the Yokohama Bay Stars. "You want to go?" he asked me. Hey, why not? We were lucky to get tickets in a cheap section. The weather had been rainy during the day, and in fact it was raining shortly before the game started so half the seats in the Stadium were empty. But apart of a slightly cold breeze the weather during the game was perfect. And the underdog Bay Stars creamed the Giants (9 to 5). We ate pork with rice, nibbled on fish snacks and drank beer under the lights.
Yomiuri Giants versus the Yokohama Bay Stars
Ramen stand at the stadium
Baseball trinkets
Beer vendor
Kazoo vendor
A rainy night in Yokohama
I took my time time getting up in the morning, caught up on emails and other ongoing projects, then checked out of the Roynet Hotel. It was raining sporadically and I had no umbrella, so rather than start walking to Katsumi's office right away I ducked into a nearby convenience store and bought a small carton of orange juice and a rice ball for breakfast. |
