Tim’s Ramblings

I’m basically doing this to keep myself awake. Got up at 6am this morning. Dead tired. Gonna get up at 6 again tomorrow too.

It was a long long day. I didn’t get back to the hotel until 7:30ish. I mean, it’s not the longest day I’ve had by a long shot but it was still a pretty long day to start off the business trip.

This morning, after getting up at the butt crack of dawn (well..ok…6am isn’t the butt crack but it’s still damn early) I did some e-mail and got the demo for Microsoft ready. There were some “oh crap” moments but I managed to fix it all and headed out to Shinjuku. It was a beautiful day so that helped though it was also a tad chilly. I was actually nervous about this presentation and I think it was mainly because I had no idea who or what I was up against. No real agenda so I’ll have to totally just do it cold when I got there based on their input. I think that was the part that was getting me nervous.

However, I got there a bit early, relaxed a bit, and in the end, I think it went very well. Unfortunately, as it happens at all product demos, the ONE THING that I MADE SURE this morning that it WORKED…well…as you might have guessed already…didn’t. In front of them. While projected on the big screen. GODDAMMIT!!!

But they understood and was sympathetic and I explained verbally what they were SUPPOSED to see and I think I managed to get my point across good enough.

Afterwards, I got some lunch and then it was off to meeting #2. This was more technical and more up my alley. It was more of a “what to do tomorrow” meeting as I’m off with them tomorrow morning to give a product demo at a potential customer. It’s a big bank too. Kinda nervous but at the same time, this is more of what I’m comfy with. At least as a potential customer (Microsoft is just a potential partner) I know how to show our software.

Then since that meeting ran late, it was a bit of a rush to get to meeting #3. It’s kinda hard to write a mail message on the cel phone while walking briskly and avoiding people…

Afterwards I had dinner at a kaitenzushi. You know…the sushi place where the sushi comes on a conveyor belt? It’s the same place I always go to. It’s great. It’s fresh. AND cheap! I had a glass of beer (Kirin! Yum!) and 10 plates. That’s 20 pieces. All of that for less than $18!!! You can’t beat that! And I got a $2 off coupon for next time too..which will be next week, if not sooner.

Stopped by a bakery on the way back to the hotel for dessert. I mean, any bread is delicious freshly baked at a bakery but, I don’t know what they do special here in Japan but I swear, the bread here is just out of this world. So…good….

And now here I sit, typing this while occasionally responding to e-mails from work. I don’t think I’ll be up much longer though. I’m going to try to get to bed by 10. I need my sleep for another long day tomorrow.

Oh, so pictures!!!

You may remember last month when I posted a small blurry picture of the crowd in front of the first ever (and so far the only) Krispy Kreme. Well, it’s been a month now so it’s been open for 4 months now and I swear the crowd is bigger than ever.

Here is the crowd at 9:45am.

Pretty crowded eh? It’s snaked back and forth about 4 times before going into the store. People are coming out with gigantic boxes of deep fried donut goodness and there was even a guy walking through the line giving free samples to the people waiting outside.

This itself is just insane. But after I finished with Microsoft and came out, it was around 11:40 and THIS was the crowd then.

It’s a bit hard to see but it’s gotten bigger. Too big for the queue outside! You can see the people walking from right to left there. They are all from a separate line off to the side of the bulding that was at least 30 people strong. As the queue moves forward, a worker would direct about 10 people at a time to ine up at the “official” line so they can eventually get into the store. I hope for their sake that they are not in line for like 1 donut… (^_^)

Here’s a closer view of the queue outside. I think it’s wound back and forth at least 6 times.

Crazy eh? The Japanese just looooooooooooooooooooove those donuts!

Meanwhile, changing gears a bit, Japan is also cracking down on smoking. But here, it’s not the same thing as like the anti-smoking zealots in the US. People smoke. It’s the way it is. But they also want to keep the streets clean and safe. So they have started to place these large smoking areas near the stations and such with big metal bins for ash and cigarettes.

Walking with a lit cigarette is illegal and they even had guys wearing orange vests that were patroling the area making sure everyone obeys these laws. I think it’s a good thing. If you want to smoke, there’s a designated area all over the place and you don’t get butts on the ground all over the place. In fact, the ground is practially devoid of all garbage. Something hard to believe in a city!

But the most interesting of all are the courtesy signs. They’re not anti-smoking signs. But signs to remind you to be conscious of others. A very Japanese thing.

I took a pic of one before and here are two new ones. It’s just quirky and unique. I almost think it’ll make good t-shirts :) Will try to find more as there are some pretty funny ones and just bizzare ones as well.

Oh, and an observation… I’ve noticed this before but…no one in Japan wears sunglasses. I mean, it was BRIGHT outside today so I was walkng around in my black suit with sunglasses on and I realized that I was the only one. The only one out of hundreds of other businessmen and women. I think if it wasn’t for my laptop bag, they would think that I was a yakuza or something. Weird. I wonder why?

(^_^)