Day 35 - Mar 26 2010 - Yakata-bune Party
The HR/Strategy team for our division organized a dinner/drinks party on a Japanese boat in Tokyo Bay with about 40 people. After a long week of work, it was nice to have an evening all organized for us where we only had to show up and enjoy each other's conversation while we cooked our own food. We had a great time and got a chance to talk and interact with the HR/Strategy team, which we don't always have meetings with. I know it sounds like all we do is go out and party, but there's only so much I can talk about our work activities, day in and day out. We definitely don't spend a lot of time just sitting around the tiny place we are living in. Our kitchens are pretty small and there are so many restaurants in Tokyo, its too easy to just pop in and grab a quick delicious meal and then head home. Tokyo is a city that has to be explored and enjoyed in the public places, plain and simple.
smugmug gallery here
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Day 34 - Mar 25 2010 - Commuting To and From Kanda
Day 34 - Mar 25 2010 - Thursday, Commuting To and From Kanda
It's been rainy, damp and in the upper 40s / low 50s F all week and Thursday was no exception. Leona, Benjamin, Yann and I typically commute together. We all like leaving our residence at 8:45am and arrive at our desks by 9:15am which is about 15 min before everyone else gets there. Personally I'm used to arriving at work at 8:45am, but Tokyo leads the world with the beginning of the day so there is no need to rush in early, especially when working late with other parts of the world. Last week, I had a successful online demonstration with some colleagues (Shigetomi san and Akimoto san) in San Jose and I arrived to work at 7:30am and it was a ghost town. So early, many local breakfast spots weren't even open.
Today, I also got to interact casually with our divisional head on two occasions. Maki san, was waiting at the elevator and I think his executive position in the company is so high, that many coworkers feel a bit uneasy about chatting him up casually. I noticed he was just anxiously waiting to grab some lunch at the elevator but you could tell he was interested in interacting with his staff. We headed into the elevator, where normally you can hear a pin drop. He struck up a conversation with me about the cherry blossoms blooming in the next two weeks and I told him I have seen the ones in Washington DC but not the ones in Tokyo. But what was funny is that we carried on like two Americans would in any elevator setting in the US, yet everyone else, about 12 others were silent and probably a bit shocked. We walked and talked to a lunch spot and grabbed some food to go.
Later on in the day, as I was leaving early around 7pm, he was off to recycle his beverage and we talked about his recent trip, last week to America, where he met with our customers. He enjoyed his time there, as he was only scheduled to speak for a quick 10 min intro, but the customers were so happy to have him there he interacted and spoke for 90 minutes, off the cuff. From all other sources I had talked with earlier in the week, I agreed that I heard the meetings went well and was happy that he was able to attend. These are American based customers that my colleagues and I work hard for, and to get support from 'the man in Tokyo' is something not to be taken lightly. I took this opportunity to explain who I was and give him my business card. He laughed when I told them they stuck a Finance guy in Product Development but he understood and was happy to have the help. These upper upper guys are very busy so to just get a chance to chat with them is always a fun time. He's the only guy in the two floors I've been on, that has an actual office, for those keeping count. But its these types of interactions and information exchange moments that makes the program I'm in extra special. When these big bosses visit our offices in the states they have to meet so many people and everyone's running around frantic making sure everyone is happy and all is going well, quiet end of day conversations are always impossible.
I may get a chance to meet with Maki san again and demo some good things our colleagues have spent long hard hours on over the years. Now that I've already met him, we can concentrate on the material and not who I am and should he trust me or where do I come from. Baby steps...
I met Ming for dinner at an Unagi restaurant where we dined on some amazingly bbq fresh water eel. He and I are scheduling all sorts of time draining activities in the next month; Yokohama Japanese Classic Car show, Japanese Motorcycle Gran Prix in Motegi, and visiting a Honda Factory.
smugmug gallery here
It's been rainy, damp and in the upper 40s / low 50s F all week and Thursday was no exception. Leona, Benjamin, Yann and I typically commute together. We all like leaving our residence at 8:45am and arrive at our desks by 9:15am which is about 15 min before everyone else gets there. Personally I'm used to arriving at work at 8:45am, but Tokyo leads the world with the beginning of the day so there is no need to rush in early, especially when working late with other parts of the world. Last week, I had a successful online demonstration with some colleagues (Shigetomi san and Akimoto san) in San Jose and I arrived to work at 7:30am and it was a ghost town. So early, many local breakfast spots weren't even open.
Today, I also got to interact casually with our divisional head on two occasions. Maki san, was waiting at the elevator and I think his executive position in the company is so high, that many coworkers feel a bit uneasy about chatting him up casually. I noticed he was just anxiously waiting to grab some lunch at the elevator but you could tell he was interested in interacting with his staff. We headed into the elevator, where normally you can hear a pin drop. He struck up a conversation with me about the cherry blossoms blooming in the next two weeks and I told him I have seen the ones in Washington DC but not the ones in Tokyo. But what was funny is that we carried on like two Americans would in any elevator setting in the US, yet everyone else, about 12 others were silent and probably a bit shocked. We walked and talked to a lunch spot and grabbed some food to go.
Later on in the day, as I was leaving early around 7pm, he was off to recycle his beverage and we talked about his recent trip, last week to America, where he met with our customers. He enjoyed his time there, as he was only scheduled to speak for a quick 10 min intro, but the customers were so happy to have him there he interacted and spoke for 90 minutes, off the cuff. From all other sources I had talked with earlier in the week, I agreed that I heard the meetings went well and was happy that he was able to attend. These are American based customers that my colleagues and I work hard for, and to get support from 'the man in Tokyo' is something not to be taken lightly. I took this opportunity to explain who I was and give him my business card. He laughed when I told them they stuck a Finance guy in Product Development but he understood and was happy to have the help. These upper upper guys are very busy so to just get a chance to chat with them is always a fun time. He's the only guy in the two floors I've been on, that has an actual office, for those keeping count. But its these types of interactions and information exchange moments that makes the program I'm in extra special. When these big bosses visit our offices in the states they have to meet so many people and everyone's running around frantic making sure everyone is happy and all is going well, quiet end of day conversations are always impossible.
I may get a chance to meet with Maki san again and demo some good things our colleagues have spent long hard hours on over the years. Now that I've already met him, we can concentrate on the material and not who I am and should he trust me or where do I come from. Baby steps...
I met Ming for dinner at an Unagi restaurant where we dined on some amazingly bbq fresh water eel. He and I are scheduling all sorts of time draining activities in the next month; Yokohama Japanese Classic Car show, Japanese Motorcycle Gran Prix in Motegi, and visiting a Honda Factory.
smugmug gallery here
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Day 33 - Mar 24 2010 - Tsukiji Fish Market Breakfast
Day 33 - Mar 24 2010 - Tsukiji Fish Market Breakfast
For those of you unaware of the Tsukiji Fish Market, it is considered a very famous spot in Japan for viewing the fresh fish coming in off the ships before they make their way to your favorite seafood restaurants around the world. It is the largest wholesale and fish market in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukiji_fish_market
We met our friend, Kazuhisa Inaba, and a couple of his colleagues from work at the fish market for the freshest sushi breakfast in the world. He prefers to visit the market for breakfast once a month on Wednesdays as the traffic in the market is very light and he can get in and out quickly and to work on time. Yann and I met him at 8am and we only had to wait 20-25 min to begin our fresh fish feast. The concept of eating such fresh fish that early in the morning was so intriguing to me I was unconcerned with actually having to eat sushi, mostly reserved for dinner and sometimes lunch, as my breakfast meal. Our breakfast was so delicious and so fresh, it seemed very natural to eat such delicacies at that time of the day. I devoured the breakfast so fast, I failed to take many pics of all our food, but I promise to take more next month!
smugmug gallery here
For those of you unaware of the Tsukiji Fish Market, it is considered a very famous spot in Japan for viewing the fresh fish coming in off the ships before they make their way to your favorite seafood restaurants around the world. It is the largest wholesale and fish market in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukiji_fish_market
We met our friend, Kazuhisa Inaba, and a couple of his colleagues from work at the fish market for the freshest sushi breakfast in the world. He prefers to visit the market for breakfast once a month on Wednesdays as the traffic in the market is very light and he can get in and out quickly and to work on time. Yann and I met him at 8am and we only had to wait 20-25 min to begin our fresh fish feast. The concept of eating such fresh fish that early in the morning was so intriguing to me I was unconcerned with actually having to eat sushi, mostly reserved for dinner and sometimes lunch, as my breakfast meal. Our breakfast was so delicious and so fresh, it seemed very natural to eat such delicacies at that time of the day. I devoured the breakfast so fast, I failed to take many pics of all our food, but I promise to take more next month!
smugmug gallery here
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Day 30/31 - Mar 21/22 2010 - Sailing in Yokohama
Sailing in Yokohama
Over the last few years Benjamin has traveled to Tokyo on business and has done a superb job of establishing a strong network of colleagues and friends. One that satisfies both of those descriptions is Captain Kikuji Hayashi from our Customer Service group. He is part owner in a nice 22' sailing boat and needed some help cleaning and painting it for the 2010 season. Last week, we were dillydallying around taking pics and vids coming back from Matsumoto's flat and caused Hayashi san to miss his train, forcing him to sleep in a capsule hotel as the last train left Tokyo station. We did not hesitate to help out down at Yokohama Bay for two days, Sunday and Monday.
Monday we had off, because of the Spring equinox national holiday, but even so, Yann was scheduled to give some French lessons to different friends across Tokyo leaving an extra spot in the sailing boat. Benjamin and I invited Leona from Hong Kong to join us. It about 75 min by two trains to get to Yokohama Bay Marina from central Tokyo. We had a great time with very nice weather and even better company. What a great way to issue in the new season, Spring!
Day 1: Cleaning and Painting
smugmug gallery here
Day 2: Sailing
smugmug gallery here
Fun Sailing Confusion
Sailing:
More Sailing:
Impressive Balance:
Headed home via Yokohama Monorail:
Over the last few years Benjamin has traveled to Tokyo on business and has done a superb job of establishing a strong network of colleagues and friends. One that satisfies both of those descriptions is Captain Kikuji Hayashi from our Customer Service group. He is part owner in a nice 22' sailing boat and needed some help cleaning and painting it for the 2010 season. Last week, we were dillydallying around taking pics and vids coming back from Matsumoto's flat and caused Hayashi san to miss his train, forcing him to sleep in a capsule hotel as the last train left Tokyo station. We did not hesitate to help out down at Yokohama Bay for two days, Sunday and Monday.
Monday we had off, because of the Spring equinox national holiday, but even so, Yann was scheduled to give some French lessons to different friends across Tokyo leaving an extra spot in the sailing boat. Benjamin and I invited Leona from Hong Kong to join us. It about 75 min by two trains to get to Yokohama Bay Marina from central Tokyo. We had a great time with very nice weather and even better company. What a great way to issue in the new season, Spring!
Day 1: Cleaning and Painting
smugmug gallery here
Day 2: Sailing
smugmug gallery here
Fun Sailing Confusion
Sailing:
More Sailing:
Impressive Balance:
Headed home via Yokohama Monorail:
Day 29 - Mar 20 2010 - Saturday in Ueno
Day 29 - Mar 20 2010 - Saturday in Ueno
After Friday night's activities which lasted till very late into the night/morning, I woke up around 10am and headed out for some body cleansing walking around. I found a dry cleaners nearby, dropped off some pants and then headed to Ueno to look for a bicycling messenger bag that would be useful for walking, riding bicycles, or even on a motorcycle. In Tokyo where you don't have your nice big SUV to cart your things around and hold your personal belongs having some sort of bag is very advisable and quite helpful. I only have a computer specific small bag pack and a big travel bag pack for touring, not shopping. Ueno Station has all sorts of goods at affordable prices and incredible selections so I knew I could find something to meet my needs.
I didn't want to get a bag quite as masculine as Benjamin's Lacoste bag:
I ended up finding a Bianchi bike messenger bag that is just big enough to hold my laptop, but definitely big enough for holding small items and any incidental shopping that I do as I walk around the streets of Tokyo. As it gets warmer, I will lose all my jacket pockets, as Benjamin puts it, so some sort of a bag is essential.
One way to rehydrate fast after a night of drinking is eating lots of fruit and at Ueno you can get fresh tasty fruit on a stick. I had two pineapple sticks and felt great. I walked all around Ueno and back to the motorcycle shops to look at bikes. That never gets old, especially when you find bikes the USA never imported.
Later that night I hooked up with friends and new friends over dinner in Shibuya. With so many people in this city it isn't hard to find great company and interesting conversation for dinner.
smugmug gallery here
After Friday night's activities which lasted till very late into the night/morning, I woke up around 10am and headed out for some body cleansing walking around. I found a dry cleaners nearby, dropped off some pants and then headed to Ueno to look for a bicycling messenger bag that would be useful for walking, riding bicycles, or even on a motorcycle. In Tokyo where you don't have your nice big SUV to cart your things around and hold your personal belongs having some sort of bag is very advisable and quite helpful. I only have a computer specific small bag pack and a big travel bag pack for touring, not shopping. Ueno Station has all sorts of goods at affordable prices and incredible selections so I knew I could find something to meet my needs.
I didn't want to get a bag quite as masculine as Benjamin's Lacoste bag:
I ended up finding a Bianchi bike messenger bag that is just big enough to hold my laptop, but definitely big enough for holding small items and any incidental shopping that I do as I walk around the streets of Tokyo. As it gets warmer, I will lose all my jacket pockets, as Benjamin puts it, so some sort of a bag is essential.
One way to rehydrate fast after a night of drinking is eating lots of fruit and at Ueno you can get fresh tasty fruit on a stick. I had two pineapple sticks and felt great. I walked all around Ueno and back to the motorcycle shops to look at bikes. That never gets old, especially when you find bikes the USA never imported.
Later that night I hooked up with friends and new friends over dinner in Shibuya. With so many people in this city it isn't hard to find great company and interesting conversation for dinner.
smugmug gallery here
Day 28 - Mar 19 2010 - Friday Tour of the GNOC then Dinner
Day 28 - Mar 19 2010 - Friday Tour of the GNOC then Dinner
Well we've been here 4 weeks now and we are all finding our routines and spend less time figuring out where we are going and more time figuring out how to spend our free time, as it presents itself. I am able to speak with Jen by VOIP line in the morning when she is coming home from the day, I'm barely awake and she is full of daily information.
We all took a tour of the GNOC across town at one of the older technical buildings near the HQ building. We listened to lectures, presentations and viewed where our customers are serviced and where our technical engineers monitor the network. These people do a great job making sure all our information, no matter how great or small, gets to its destination.
After work, we all walked about 1km back home to our neighborhood for some dinner and drinks. We had almost everyone in the group present and we have not done that since our Yokohama data center tour. I am always intrigued with talking, learning and conversing with people from other lands. So I always make it a point to sit next to people I don't get a chance to interact with on a daily basis so I can converse and learn new things. Tonight I sat across from Dan and Jo, both from Shanghai, China. After a couple of hours the Europeans made sure to get everyone loud and raucous. At one point we were singing and laughing so loudly the manager had to come tell us to settle down. (the guy at the end of the video is that manager)
Another good week of information, conversation and great food, what more can one ask for?
smugmug gallery here
Well we've been here 4 weeks now and we are all finding our routines and spend less time figuring out where we are going and more time figuring out how to spend our free time, as it presents itself. I am able to speak with Jen by VOIP line in the morning when she is coming home from the day, I'm barely awake and she is full of daily information.
We all took a tour of the GNOC across town at one of the older technical buildings near the HQ building. We listened to lectures, presentations and viewed where our customers are serviced and where our technical engineers monitor the network. These people do a great job making sure all our information, no matter how great or small, gets to its destination.
After work, we all walked about 1km back home to our neighborhood for some dinner and drinks. We had almost everyone in the group present and we have not done that since our Yokohama data center tour. I am always intrigued with talking, learning and conversing with people from other lands. So I always make it a point to sit next to people I don't get a chance to interact with on a daily basis so I can converse and learn new things. Tonight I sat across from Dan and Jo, both from Shanghai, China. After a couple of hours the Europeans made sure to get everyone loud and raucous. At one point we were singing and laughing so loudly the manager had to come tell us to settle down. (the guy at the end of the video is that manager)
Another good week of information, conversation and great food, what more can one ask for?
smugmug gallery here
Day 27 - Mar 18 2010 - Quiet Thursday with Friends
Day 27 - Mar 18 2010 - Quiet Thursday with Friends
Thursday I had a quiet day at work, but I was able to demo our system to Wakai san's team, GIN Network Global Sales. Nick Wakai is now VP of that team but 6 years ago he worked for a few years in the same office as me in Denver, Colorado. We used to work international deals together many years ago and he helped me out tremendously with getting up to speed on how to to treat them. So many years later, I got a chance to work with him and his team and was able to show our automation and efficiency enhancements. He made two comments after the demo. 1) You have done a LOT of work in the last few years 2) You may need to buy a home in Tokyo. Haha. I'm hoping our hard work back in the US will be able to sincerely help their team going forward.
After work, Benjamin and Judy met Yuri, who was a trainee for one year in the USA that ended last summer. She's been very instrumental in spreading the good word of our hard work and getting people at HQ excited about learning about it. We shared our exchange program experiences so far with her and listened about her experience in the US. I told her now that I have been here almost a month and in an overseas training program, we could have done a better job in the USA to take that extra time to train, exchange information and make guests feel more comfortable. Learn from your mistakes, make a difference, one person at a time. Hopefully I will be able to be assigned a trainee in the future, I will be much more prepared having gone through this program myself.
smugmug gallery here
Thursday I had a quiet day at work, but I was able to demo our system to Wakai san's team, GIN Network Global Sales. Nick Wakai is now VP of that team but 6 years ago he worked for a few years in the same office as me in Denver, Colorado. We used to work international deals together many years ago and he helped me out tremendously with getting up to speed on how to to treat them. So many years later, I got a chance to work with him and his team and was able to show our automation and efficiency enhancements. He made two comments after the demo. 1) You have done a LOT of work in the last few years 2) You may need to buy a home in Tokyo. Haha. I'm hoping our hard work back in the US will be able to sincerely help their team going forward.
After work, Benjamin and Judy met Yuri, who was a trainee for one year in the USA that ended last summer. She's been very instrumental in spreading the good word of our hard work and getting people at HQ excited about learning about it. We shared our exchange program experiences so far with her and listened about her experience in the US. I told her now that I have been here almost a month and in an overseas training program, we could have done a better job in the USA to take that extra time to train, exchange information and make guests feel more comfortable. Learn from your mistakes, make a difference, one person at a time. Hopefully I will be able to be assigned a trainee in the future, I will be much more prepared having gone through this program myself.
smugmug gallery here
Day 26 - Mar 17 2010 - A Non-St. Patrick's Day in Tokyo
Day 26 - Mar 17 2010 - A Non-St. Patrick's Day in Tokyo:
Today was St. Patrick's day in the US and Europe, but I didn't notice anything different in Tokyo, Japan. We did organize a bigger dinner with many of the 18 members of our international program. Many of us work at the building I work at, but almost half of us is spread across Tokyo in different work locations. We didn't do a great job of seeing everyone over the first 3 weeks so we are conscientiously planning dinners/events to ensure we do get together and share our experiences as they happen.
At one point during the day I needed an energy drink and had my change out splayed onto a piece of paper. I just wrote in the Yen amounts and comparable US dollar.
Week halfway over!
smugmug gallery here
Today was St. Patrick's day in the US and Europe, but I didn't notice anything different in Tokyo, Japan. We did organize a bigger dinner with many of the 18 members of our international program. Many of us work at the building I work at, but almost half of us is spread across Tokyo in different work locations. We didn't do a great job of seeing everyone over the first 3 weeks so we are conscientiously planning dinners/events to ensure we do get together and share our experiences as they happen.
At one point during the day I needed an energy drink and had my change out splayed onto a piece of paper. I just wrote in the Yen amounts and comparable US dollar.
Week halfway over!
smugmug gallery here
Day 23 - Mar 14 2010 - Odaiba / Toyota City Showcase
Day 23 - Mar 14 2010 - Odaiba / Toyota City Showcase:
Chris, Ming and I decided to spend Sunday at the Odaiba Island in Tokyo Bay to visit the Toyota City Showcase. The entire isle is built on reclaimed land. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaiba There are many places to shop, eat and have fun on this manmade island. We had fun looking through the big Toyota showroom and design showcase. Afterwards we visited a historic car garage loosely associated with the Toyota group. Then, we decided to take a ride on the 2nd largest ferris wheel in the world (London Eye is #1). It was a long day of leisurely exploring with new friends as the weather was clear, sunny and not cold.
smugmug gallery here
Chris, Ming and I decided to spend Sunday at the Odaiba Island in Tokyo Bay to visit the Toyota City Showcase. The entire isle is built on reclaimed land. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaiba There are many places to shop, eat and have fun on this manmade island. We had fun looking through the big Toyota showroom and design showcase. Afterwards we visited a historic car garage loosely associated with the Toyota group. Then, we decided to take a ride on the 2nd largest ferris wheel in the world (London Eye is #1). It was a long day of leisurely exploring with new friends as the weather was clear, sunny and not cold.
smugmug gallery here
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Day 22 - Mar 13 2010 - Hiking across Tokyo on a Sat
Day 22 - Mar 13 2010 - Hiking across Tokyo on a Sat
I woke up relatively early on a Saturday, 9am, and headed over to Pronto (3 blocks) for a cafe au lait and some pancakes... I then took two subway lines over to Minato cho ward in SW Tokyo to check out a motorcycle rental place that actually has BMWs. The shop is run by some west coast Americans that are incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. Looks like they will be getting a F800R, brand new this week that should be available for Golden Week in very early May. This shop specializes in loading up a custom GPS route into their rental bikes specially tailored to your trip specifics routing you to the best roads in the country. They even will book your hotels along the way and build the GPS to end each day perfectly at your nightly stay, talk about service! Jen, please box up my black helmet with the gloves inside, the boots next to the helmet and the jacket/pants on the furthest most left of the hanging motorcycle clothes... I'm gonna need em'... :)
After chatting with those guys for about 20 min, I headed back across Tokyo on foot... I walked and explored for about 3 hours and then hopped on the Yamanote back to Kanda to meet back up with Yann and Benjamin as we were headed to meet some coworkers/friends at their flat by the harbor for dinner...
Relaxing day of exploring and scouting about Tokyo, superb dinner with friends... can't ask for more while abroad on work assignment...
smugmug album here
I woke up relatively early on a Saturday, 9am, and headed over to Pronto (3 blocks) for a cafe au lait and some pancakes... I then took two subway lines over to Minato cho ward in SW Tokyo to check out a motorcycle rental place that actually has BMWs. The shop is run by some west coast Americans that are incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. Looks like they will be getting a F800R, brand new this week that should be available for Golden Week in very early May. This shop specializes in loading up a custom GPS route into their rental bikes specially tailored to your trip specifics routing you to the best roads in the country. They even will book your hotels along the way and build the GPS to end each day perfectly at your nightly stay, talk about service! Jen, please box up my black helmet with the gloves inside, the boots next to the helmet and the jacket/pants on the furthest most left of the hanging motorcycle clothes... I'm gonna need em'... :)
After chatting with those guys for about 20 min, I headed back across Tokyo on foot... I walked and explored for about 3 hours and then hopped on the Yamanote back to Kanda to meet back up with Yann and Benjamin as we were headed to meet some coworkers/friends at their flat by the harbor for dinner...
Relaxing day of exploring and scouting about Tokyo, superb dinner with friends... can't ask for more while abroad on work assignment...
smugmug album here
Day 21 - Mar 12 2010 - 3 Weeks, Flyin' By...
Day 21 - Mar 12 2010 - 3 Weeks, Flyin' By...
Today I got to present a demo of a product config/pricing system the USA team built over the last few years. We spent many hours designing, implementing and evolving this idea/system and its a fresh innovative look at how we build and configure quotations for our customers. One of my goals, in my professional life has been to get in front of the headquarters management team and show this type of innovation to them. This goal was realized today. It went well enough we ran out of time and will be scheduling more time next week to continue.
After work, which flew by, we met some friends across town at Shimbashi station at a local dive that has great seafood and beer... They serve it up in 1 liter mugs, I had 3 and remember how we got home, some of us had 4 and don't... haha... This group of friends will end up meeting once a month with some others at the World Famous Tsuji Fish market for the worlds best and freshest sushi... more on this as plans firm up...
Today wasn't just a good day, it was a great day!
smugmug pics here
Today I got to present a demo of a product config/pricing system the USA team built over the last few years. We spent many hours designing, implementing and evolving this idea/system and its a fresh innovative look at how we build and configure quotations for our customers. One of my goals, in my professional life has been to get in front of the headquarters management team and show this type of innovation to them. This goal was realized today. It went well enough we ran out of time and will be scheduling more time next week to continue.
After work, which flew by, we met some friends across town at Shimbashi station at a local dive that has great seafood and beer... They serve it up in 1 liter mugs, I had 3 and remember how we got home, some of us had 4 and don't... haha... This group of friends will end up meeting once a month with some others at the World Famous Tsuji Fish market for the worlds best and freshest sushi... more on this as plans firm up...
Today wasn't just a good day, it was a great day!
smugmug pics here
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Day 20 - Mar 11 2010 - A Day at Tamachi
Day 20 - Mar 11 2010 - A Day at Tamachi
Today I decided to ride the Keihin Tohoku line (Blue Train) from Kanda to Tamachi instead of the tried and true Yamanote line (Green Train). The cars are slightly different and still very clean. I walked up to the driver car and took some pics and video of the driver doing his job and what he sees navigating the tracks of Tokyo. I've been on many of the commuter trains around the world and I have yet to encounter anything better. On time, clean, smooth, multilingual signage, ease of pay, etc.
An old friend and colleague that worked at NTT America two times over the course of 5 years, beginning in 2001, sits in the same building and floor as I, Yana, and he took me to one of his favorite lunch spots. It was great to catch up with him as we used to do lots of business on a daily basis together. I have past work colleagues scattered all over Tokyo that I will connect with and share a meal at some point during my stay. It makes it very convenient when you see them everyday in the hallways or across the way.
I was able to spend time discussing some of my ideas with the team I'm assigned to and they really enjoyed the challenge I presented to the organization. They also gave me some additional issues to think about and incorporate from a headquarters perspective. I'm currently working these issues with my contacts back in the US to give us additional options and solutions.
After work, we met Ming at a Korean BBQ restaurant outside Kanda station. He's been stationed at the Yokohama data center all week and we haven't seen him in a while. He's a gear head and a tech geek so the conversation is never ending between us. Excellent food, but pricey due to the amount of beef consumed. Definitely a nice place to return to, the staff was very friendly and really enjoyed fresh faces in their establishment.
smugmug pics here
Today I decided to ride the Keihin Tohoku line (Blue Train) from Kanda to Tamachi instead of the tried and true Yamanote line (Green Train). The cars are slightly different and still very clean. I walked up to the driver car and took some pics and video of the driver doing his job and what he sees navigating the tracks of Tokyo. I've been on many of the commuter trains around the world and I have yet to encounter anything better. On time, clean, smooth, multilingual signage, ease of pay, etc.
An old friend and colleague that worked at NTT America two times over the course of 5 years, beginning in 2001, sits in the same building and floor as I, Yana, and he took me to one of his favorite lunch spots. It was great to catch up with him as we used to do lots of business on a daily basis together. I have past work colleagues scattered all over Tokyo that I will connect with and share a meal at some point during my stay. It makes it very convenient when you see them everyday in the hallways or across the way.
I was able to spend time discussing some of my ideas with the team I'm assigned to and they really enjoyed the challenge I presented to the organization. They also gave me some additional issues to think about and incorporate from a headquarters perspective. I'm currently working these issues with my contacts back in the US to give us additional options and solutions.
After work, we met Ming at a Korean BBQ restaurant outside Kanda station. He's been stationed at the Yokohama data center all week and we haven't seen him in a while. He's a gear head and a tech geek so the conversation is never ending between us. Excellent food, but pricey due to the amount of beef consumed. Definitely a nice place to return to, the staff was very friendly and really enjoyed fresh faces in their establishment.
smugmug pics here
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Day 18 - Mar 9 2010 - Global Sales Awards
Day 18 - Mar 9 2010 - Global Sales Awards
I was very fortunate to be stationed in Tokyo in my program during the Global Sales Awards, which celebrates the achievements of the best/most productive sales people for 2009. Kimberly Wright, Marc Stein and Dave Hansen won from the different segments within our American subsidiary. The team I am on, directly supports Kimberly on a daily basis, so it was great to see the ultimate benefits we can help realize by working hard throughout the year. It was a great day spent in meetings learning, sharing and reflecting on the last year and the years to come.
The day started by Benjamin and myself stopping off at Shimbashi station to pick up Kimberly at her hotel and helping her navigate the train system across town to our building at Tamachi station. Later that night we attended the awards ceremony with a world class offering of food and drink coupled with important networking with fellow employees from around the world. Once that shut down around 9pm, we braved the slushy snow/rain and wind and enjoyed the rest of the evening drinking and singing in a karaoke club. I was fortunate to be invited to all the activities even though I was not a recipient of the GSA. My fellow program member that you've seen in multiple pics and videos, Yann Loizeau, was a winner of the Global Sales Award, representing NTT Europe - Paris office.
I took lots of pics and videos, please enjoy and comment!
smugmug pics here
Yann Loizeau uploaded this of me:
I was very fortunate to be stationed in Tokyo in my program during the Global Sales Awards, which celebrates the achievements of the best/most productive sales people for 2009. Kimberly Wright, Marc Stein and Dave Hansen won from the different segments within our American subsidiary. The team I am on, directly supports Kimberly on a daily basis, so it was great to see the ultimate benefits we can help realize by working hard throughout the year. It was a great day spent in meetings learning, sharing and reflecting on the last year and the years to come.
The day started by Benjamin and myself stopping off at Shimbashi station to pick up Kimberly at her hotel and helping her navigate the train system across town to our building at Tamachi station. Later that night we attended the awards ceremony with a world class offering of food and drink coupled with important networking with fellow employees from around the world. Once that shut down around 9pm, we braved the slushy snow/rain and wind and enjoyed the rest of the evening drinking and singing in a karaoke club. I was fortunate to be invited to all the activities even though I was not a recipient of the GSA. My fellow program member that you've seen in multiple pics and videos, Yann Loizeau, was a winner of the Global Sales Award, representing NTT Europe - Paris office.
I took lots of pics and videos, please enjoy and comment!
smugmug pics here
Yann Loizeau uploaded this of me:
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Day 16 - Mar 7 2010 - Lazy Sunday at a Ginza Toy Store
Day 16 - Mar 7 2010 - Lazy Sunday at the Toy Store
Today was 40F, Rainy and a Sunday... I didn't get out to grab some food until noon... Benjamin and Yann joined me as we walked around the neighborhood and found a new grocery store we hadn't been in... We ended up in Ginza, spent some quality time playing with toys in a really cool Toy store... and then headed for some hot soup for lunch. We headed back home, it was just not a good day to be out... I'm updating this as I do laundry, its 9:30pm on a Sunday night. USA hasn't even got out of bed on Sunday yet...
smugmug pics here
Today was 40F, Rainy and a Sunday... I didn't get out to grab some food until noon... Benjamin and Yann joined me as we walked around the neighborhood and found a new grocery store we hadn't been in... We ended up in Ginza, spent some quality time playing with toys in a really cool Toy store... and then headed for some hot soup for lunch. We headed back home, it was just not a good day to be out... I'm updating this as I do laundry, its 9:30pm on a Sunday night. USA hasn't even got out of bed on Sunday yet...
smugmug pics here
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Day 15 - Mar 6 2010 - Saturday in Ueno
Day 15 - Mar 6 2010 - Saturday in Ueno, Tokyo, Japan
Ueno is only two trainstops away from where we are living by Kanda Station. Not only are the famous Art Museums and Zoo located in Ueno park, the local motorcycle shops are up there... I slept in until around 10am and then got cleaned up and grabbed some local breakfast before taking the train up to Ueno... I got up there around noon and walked around for 6 hours exploring the area... it was raining just hard enough it was wise to use an umbrella... eventually around 4pm it stopped... Days like this I'm glad I have a tiny tiny apartment... If I was put up in large comfortable crib, I would have probably just stayed around the house all day watching movies. lounging around and not doing anything productive... Tokyo is a city that must be explored. It's a very public city and as witnessed by my pics and video, extremely clean. You are never further than a few steps from a convenient beverage either from a convenient vending machine or a convenient store. I have yet to find one city block without a convenient store in the central tokyo district, some having two or three. I will need to go back to Ueno Park and spend some quality time in the museums. I'm not a huge zoo guy so I doubt I'll make it there... I mean, I don't visit the prisoners in our penitentiary system back home, why should I visit the criminal animals? Should we really spend so much money keeping the criminal animals alive when we obviously have a very efficient way to dispose of them? :P
So look for more pics of this area in the future... When Jen comes to visit this summer I'll send her back up here to enjoy this area when I'm working.
Also, my friend Greg and my wife Jennifer were born on this day and will celebrate their birthdays after I goto sleep as they are 15-17 hours behind my timezone... March 6th was rainy but fun... I hope everyone gets to enjoy it!
smugmug pics here
Ueno is only two trainstops away from where we are living by Kanda Station. Not only are the famous Art Museums and Zoo located in Ueno park, the local motorcycle shops are up there... I slept in until around 10am and then got cleaned up and grabbed some local breakfast before taking the train up to Ueno... I got up there around noon and walked around for 6 hours exploring the area... it was raining just hard enough it was wise to use an umbrella... eventually around 4pm it stopped... Days like this I'm glad I have a tiny tiny apartment... If I was put up in large comfortable crib, I would have probably just stayed around the house all day watching movies. lounging around and not doing anything productive... Tokyo is a city that must be explored. It's a very public city and as witnessed by my pics and video, extremely clean. You are never further than a few steps from a convenient beverage either from a convenient vending machine or a convenient store. I have yet to find one city block without a convenient store in the central tokyo district, some having two or three. I will need to go back to Ueno Park and spend some quality time in the museums. I'm not a huge zoo guy so I doubt I'll make it there... I mean, I don't visit the prisoners in our penitentiary system back home, why should I visit the criminal animals? Should we really spend so much money keeping the criminal animals alive when we obviously have a very efficient way to dispose of them? :P
So look for more pics of this area in the future... When Jen comes to visit this summer I'll send her back up here to enjoy this area when I'm working.
Also, my friend Greg and my wife Jennifer were born on this day and will celebrate their birthdays after I goto sleep as they are 15-17 hours behind my timezone... March 6th was rainy but fun... I hope everyone gets to enjoy it!
smugmug pics here
Day 14 - Mar 5 2010 - I've been here two weeks...
Day 14 - Mar 5 2010 - I've been here two weeks...
The first week felt like a month... so much to see, so much to learn, everything foreign, everything new, so many unknowns.
The second week flew by... I knew where I was working, I knew where the train station was, I knew where to get breakfast, lunch and dinner... Settling into a routine is very comforting in a foreign land. When that happens you can focus on relaxing and enjoying your time and when you do that, time ends up flying...
Day 14 was a Friday and it started off by heading back to the Chiyoda ward office to get my alien resident card, which I must keep on me at all times. It's an ID Card, letting them know that you aren't a short term tourist, who you work for, where you live and is a requirement for foreigners residing in Japan longer than 3 months. It's good for 5 years. After that, we walked over and finalized our Japanese bank accounts that our headquarters can use to auto deposit any travel and business expenses we rack up over here locally... The bank was across the street from NTT Communications Headquarters. My fellow Japanese employees are quick to comment that the Hibiya building is old and not nearly as fancy as the new ones... but this floors me, because I think its looks perfect for a modern 60s style building that is sitting across the street from one of the oldest parks in Tokyo, Hibiya Park and just down the street from the Imperial Palace... Sometimes new isn't better... Shame they can't actually use those cool balconies that line the building.
I got back to the Tamachi building after a fantastic sushi lunch and finished the first draft of my global pricing methodology presentation. I've been thinking about how to redesign the way our internal wholesale global pricing methodology works for quite some time, but have never had the time, nor the position to do so... Not being in my office in Denver, no one walks up to me to ask questions, my phone doesn't ring and I rarely get urgent emails because all of you reading this are at home sleeping... It's amazing the work you can do over two weeks when you aren't interrupted and you haven't fully engaged yourself into a new business because half your new department is in London at a conference.
When redesigning something that has never been designed properly and you are expected to actually make a difference, I find it's best to shoot for the moon. Aim high... Aim really high... I won't go into boring details, but I was very pleased with my first draft that I will get to present next week and begin working the next layer of details. After that, I was invited to go out to dinner with some of our partners out of the Philippines who were in town for the Arcstar carrier forum this week. Lots of excellent food was consumed, even some more raw horse, which is fantastic and lots of Japanese beer.
The weekend is here... time to rest and tour...
smugmug pics here
During Dinner, we realized Benjamin's birthday in July, is on Bastille day, this was very exciting for Yann
The first week felt like a month... so much to see, so much to learn, everything foreign, everything new, so many unknowns.
The second week flew by... I knew where I was working, I knew where the train station was, I knew where to get breakfast, lunch and dinner... Settling into a routine is very comforting in a foreign land. When that happens you can focus on relaxing and enjoying your time and when you do that, time ends up flying...
Day 14 was a Friday and it started off by heading back to the Chiyoda ward office to get my alien resident card, which I must keep on me at all times. It's an ID Card, letting them know that you aren't a short term tourist, who you work for, where you live and is a requirement for foreigners residing in Japan longer than 3 months. It's good for 5 years. After that, we walked over and finalized our Japanese bank accounts that our headquarters can use to auto deposit any travel and business expenses we rack up over here locally... The bank was across the street from NTT Communications Headquarters. My fellow Japanese employees are quick to comment that the Hibiya building is old and not nearly as fancy as the new ones... but this floors me, because I think its looks perfect for a modern 60s style building that is sitting across the street from one of the oldest parks in Tokyo, Hibiya Park and just down the street from the Imperial Palace... Sometimes new isn't better... Shame they can't actually use those cool balconies that line the building.
I got back to the Tamachi building after a fantastic sushi lunch and finished the first draft of my global pricing methodology presentation. I've been thinking about how to redesign the way our internal wholesale global pricing methodology works for quite some time, but have never had the time, nor the position to do so... Not being in my office in Denver, no one walks up to me to ask questions, my phone doesn't ring and I rarely get urgent emails because all of you reading this are at home sleeping... It's amazing the work you can do over two weeks when you aren't interrupted and you haven't fully engaged yourself into a new business because half your new department is in London at a conference.
When redesigning something that has never been designed properly and you are expected to actually make a difference, I find it's best to shoot for the moon. Aim high... Aim really high... I won't go into boring details, but I was very pleased with my first draft that I will get to present next week and begin working the next layer of details. After that, I was invited to go out to dinner with some of our partners out of the Philippines who were in town for the Arcstar carrier forum this week. Lots of excellent food was consumed, even some more raw horse, which is fantastic and lots of Japanese beer.
The weekend is here... time to rest and tour...
smugmug pics here
During Dinner, we realized Benjamin's birthday in July, is on Bastille day, this was very exciting for Yann
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Day 13 - Mar 4 2010 - A Thursday in Tokyo
Day 13 - Mar 4 2010 - A Thursday in Tokyo
A typical Thursday at work, lunch, more work and dinner in Tokyo. I had a very productive week as I think I may have solved our global pricing issue, but my concern is that my elegant solution is over the top in mathematical complexity. Complex problems are rarely solved with simple solutions. I'll present it next week and we'll see how it's received. If it is thought of highly, it could help the entire global business product set. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Benjamin, from Frankfurt, met another guy, Sebastian, from Frankfurt at the Japanese consulate in Germany that is stationed short term in Tokyo so we met him for dinner. We headed up to Shibuya for some Yakiniku and liter size beers. We did the best we could with all Japanese electronic menu. We ate bacon, pork, chicken, beef, lung, liver, intestines, etc... the list goes on... My body awakened me abruptly at 2am and reminded me why a lean meat, mostly fish diet is preferable for my digestive system. It's very difficult to rarely eat meat and then at a moment's notice call on your body to process an entire farm.
smugmug pics here
A typical Thursday at work, lunch, more work and dinner in Tokyo. I had a very productive week as I think I may have solved our global pricing issue, but my concern is that my elegant solution is over the top in mathematical complexity. Complex problems are rarely solved with simple solutions. I'll present it next week and we'll see how it's received. If it is thought of highly, it could help the entire global business product set. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Benjamin, from Frankfurt, met another guy, Sebastian, from Frankfurt at the Japanese consulate in Germany that is stationed short term in Tokyo so we met him for dinner. We headed up to Shibuya for some Yakiniku and liter size beers. We did the best we could with all Japanese electronic menu. We ate bacon, pork, chicken, beef, lung, liver, intestines, etc... the list goes on... My body awakened me abruptly at 2am and reminded me why a lean meat, mostly fish diet is preferable for my digestive system. It's very difficult to rarely eat meat and then at a moment's notice call on your body to process an entire farm.
smugmug pics here
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Day 12 - Mar 3 2010 - Arcstar Carrier Forum
Day 12 - Mar 3 2010,
We worked a long rewarding day by ending it at the Arcstar Carrier Forum. Most of my colleagues were invited, some of us snuck in for some great food, drinks and networking. It was a great way to end the evening.
Please enjoy...
smugmug pics here
We worked a long rewarding day by ending it at the Arcstar Carrier Forum. Most of my colleagues were invited, some of us snuck in for some great food, drinks and networking. It was a great way to end the evening.
Please enjoy...
smugmug pics here
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Day 11 - Mar 2 2010 - Trip To Yokohama
We began our Tuesday by taking a series of three trains (subways included) to Yokohama to visit a very impressive Tier 3.5 data center that our company operates. World class data center, world class tour, world class people. Because of the tight security and procedures, I was unable to take pictures within the secure areas, but the tour for us actually included crawling around underneath the data center and seeing the earthquake designed dampers, cross linear bearings and laminated rubber bushings that entire building rests upon. The Data center can continue operation without disruption during a 7.0 earthquake.
I won't go into too much operational details, but 56 megawatts of redundant conditioned power can flow into this facility and keep our customers happy. That's staggering!
Yann and I bugged out early from lunch and headed back to Tokyo via three trains and 1 hour of travel time to attend meetings back at our main office. Shigetomi san (now in America) commented that he had this commute and it made me realize how easy yet thankful we are to have our 20 min in town commute. After work until 8pm, headed to our new favorite pub, Tengu sakaba for some beer and food... best oysters after a long hard day...
As you can tell from my pics, I'm still playing with the tilt shift effect, as I play and learn different functions of the camera while I'm here... I'll switch to some other modes I promise...
smugmug pics here
I won't go into too much operational details, but 56 megawatts of redundant conditioned power can flow into this facility and keep our customers happy. That's staggering!
Yann and I bugged out early from lunch and headed back to Tokyo via three trains and 1 hour of travel time to attend meetings back at our main office. Shigetomi san (now in America) commented that he had this commute and it made me realize how easy yet thankful we are to have our 20 min in town commute. After work until 8pm, headed to our new favorite pub, Tengu sakaba for some beer and food... best oysters after a long hard day...
As you can tell from my pics, I'm still playing with the tilt shift effect, as I play and learn different functions of the camera while I'm here... I'll switch to some other modes I promise...
smugmug pics here
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