Day 71 - May 1 2010 - Shinjuku then Tokyo Tower

Day 71 - May 1 2010 - Shinjuku then Tokyo Tower

With most of my program members off on holiday, many outside of Japan, I decided to go for a walk around Tokyo. I pulled out the map and looked and said, "Shinjuku looks like a long nice walk that will take me right by the Budokan and Imperial Palace." About 7km away, it was going to take a couple of hours to view the parks along the way and take the required pictures.

Shinjuku (新宿区, Shinjuku-ku?) is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the busiest train station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration center for the government of Tokyo.

As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 312,418 and a density of 17,140 persons per km². The total area is 18.23 km².

Shinjuku has the highest numbers of registered foreign nationals of any community in Tokyo. As of October 1, 2005, 29,353 non-Japanese with 107 different nationalities were registered in Shinjuku.

I stopped off for lunch along the way at MosBurger, a Japanese burger joint. Tasty items on the menu and impeccable service for a fast food joint. I recommend.

I walked around the Shinjuku area for an hour or so taking pics and taking in the crowds. I walked over to Roppongi Hills a few kilos away to see when the next showing of the new Scorcese movie that came out Shutter Island was playing. I got there around 7:30 and the next showing wasn't until 9:45pm, so I passed. I walked over and got a Hard Rock Tokyo t-shirt for Jen, and then walked over to Tokyo Tower for some night shots.

Tokyo Tower (東京タワー, Tōkyō tawā?) is a communications and observation tower located in Shiba Park, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At 332.5 metres (1,091 ft), it is the second tallest artificial structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations.

Built in 1958, the tower's main sources of revenue are tourism and antenna leasing. Over 150 million people have visited the tower since its opening. FootTown, a 4-story building located directly under the tower, houses museums, restaurants and shops. Departing from here, guests can visit two observation decks. The 2-story Main Observatory is located at 150 meters (492 ft), while the smaller Special Observatory reaches a height of 250 meters (820 ft).

The tower acts as a support structure for an antenna. Originally intended for television broadcasting, radio antennas were installed in 1961 and the tower is now used to broadcast both signals for Japanese media outlets such as NHK, TBS and Fuji TV. Japan's planned switch from analog to digital for all television broadcasting by July 2011 is problematic, however. Tokyo Tower's current height is not high enough to adequately support complete terrestrial digital broadcasting to the area. A taller digital broadcasting tower known as Tokyo Sky Tree is currently planned to open in 2011.

While taller than the Eiffel Tower it's not as massive due to 60 year newer technologies and weighs almost half as much as its cousin in Paris. It was a nice experience to visit this tower, as I had visited the Eiffel Tower last July and that experience was still very fresh in my mind. I've been looking outside my office window at it for the last 2 months and it was great to finally visit it, in person. I ate some dinner at one of the many food vendors inside the building underneath the Tower and then proceeded to take the subway home.

Walking and taking pics, observing and listening; you can really learn alot about a place. It allowed for me to relax and get ready for my upcoming tour by motorcycle around Japan.






Smugmug gallery here

Day 70 - Apr 30 2010 - Shopping Friday

Day 70 - Apr 30 2010 - Shopping Friday

Today's quest was to find some new walking shoes of some sort. The trainers (sneakers) that I have are fine for going to the gym (non treadmill activities) but not for walking 7-10km at a time. The problem with this simple task is that even though there are shoe stores, seemingly on every corner, they don't stock sizes above 28. What is 28? 28 is a Japanese shoe size as represented in centimeters. I need a 29 or 30, which is a US size 11-12, depending on the shoe manufacturer, which is about a 46 in Euro sizes.

I have been to a few fancy department stores and a few market vendors with no success. You can get any shoe made in the world here in Tokyo, but not in all the sizes. I guess Japanese feet don't commonly grow to sizes over 28cm, even though I see lots of tall Japanese people.

After walking over to Akihabara for a cable I need for my upcoming motorcycle tour, I stopped by to see the lines over at the Gundam Cafe. What is Gundam?

Gundam (ガンダム, Gandamu?) is a metaseries of Japanese anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots (or "mecha") called "Gundam". The metaseries started in April 7, 1979 as a serial TV show called Mobile Suit Gundam.

One day I will stop in, once the frenzy dies down and check it out.

This July the 1:1 scale Gundam robot will re-appear in Tokyo for our viewing pleasure.

1:1 Life-size Gundam

As part of the 30th Anniversary of the Gundam series, the company officially announced a project on March 11, 2009 called Real-G to build a 1:1 real-size, scaled Gundam statue in Japan. The project was finished in early June 2009 and opened to the public on July 11, 2009. It is located in Shiokaze Park on Odaiba island in Tokyo, Japan, and attracted over 4 million visitors. The statue was then taken down in September. It will be re-erected in the city of Shizuoka in July 2010, this time with a beam saber.

Afterwards, I took the subway over to Shibuya and stopped by the Hachiko statue for a pic.

Hachikō (ハチ公?, November 10, 1923–March 8, 1935), known in Japanese as chūken Hachikō (忠犬ハチ公?, "faithful dog Hachikō" ('hachi' meaning 'eight', a number referring to the position within the nest the dog came from, and 'kō' being a Japanese familiar suffix)). Hachikō was an Akita dog born on a farm near the city of Ōdate, Akita Prefecture,[1] remembered for his loyalty to his owner, even many years after his owner's death.

I then headed to do some shoe shopping in this area, where there exists some manufacturers stores like Adidas. The Adidas store in Shibuya has a very friendly staff and they basically went to their stock and brought out everything they had in a size 30cm. 4 pairs of shoes.

They had the TMAC Houston Rocket Shoe in a 30cm


I wouldn't buy this shoe even if it was the most comfortable shoe, since the Rockets no longer have TMac, but it was a narrow, narrow 30cm and was very uncomfortable. They had that same shoe in all black, so that was a no go as well. Plus, basketball shoes are not the best walking option and guys almost 40 years old don't really look right in them walking around a big city, in my honest opinion.



The other two pairs were very high end running shoes, but I figured why not try them on. Same shoe in mostly white color and then a limited edition color. Limited edition is orange and black. Sold! Best shoe ever? Probably. Very comfortable, light, fit perfect... I was very thankful to the staff that helped me and I know where to go again if I need another pair. Having a comfortable walking shoe in this city is crazy important and when you don't have them, you are very happy when you find them.





smugmug gallery here

Day 69 - Apr 29 2010 - Thursday in Ginza

Day 69 - Apr 29 2010 - Thursday in Ginza

Out of cash and no where to go, means walk over to Ginza, where Citibank is and get some cash without fees at the ATM. On the holidays and weekends they shut down the main Ginza boulevard and everyone can walk around and shop without traffic. I needed to stop by Citibank anyways and let them know that I will actually be in Japan for a few months, so quit shutting off my credit card and making me call to open it up after every three transactions.

Ginza area explained:

Ginza (銀座) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.

It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. It is recognized as one of the most luxurious shopping districts in the world. Many upscale fashion clothing flagship stores are located here. Prominent are Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci. A recent addition is the 12-story Abercrombie & Fitch flagship.

There was a flower petal festival with displays on some of the streets. The Nissan boutique had a prototype on display of the new ELECTRIC car, the Leaf, available for viewing and pics. The new micro-boutique dealer for Mini was almost complete and simply adorable. I will have to return once its complete, might take all of 2 min to see it.

I met ChrisKoo and Yann Loizeau for dinner at the end of Ginza at Yurakucho Station for some seafood, including grilled scallops. On the way home, on the train, I walked right past three teens and had to do a double take. One was wearing a Houston Astros Cap and the other a Colorado Rockies Cap. Say what? My two favorite baseball teams? Crazy coincidence. I asked if I could take their pic, tried my best to explain why and we all had a great laugh. Small world. Very.



smugmug gallery here

Day 68 - Apr 28 2010 - Midterm Presentations Part 2

Day 68 - Apr 28 2010 - Midterm Presentations Part 2

The remaining 9 people presented on this Wed, the day before the Japanese holidays begin. April 29 is a national holiday to celebrate the Emperor's birthday. And then through next Wed is Golden Week, where most of the 130 million people are out of work scrambling about the country enjoying springtime weather.

Good way to wrap up the first half of our program before vacation time.








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Day 66 - Apr 26, 2010 - Monday Night we meet Eva

Day 66 - Apr 26, 2010 - Monday Night we meet Eva

On this Monday evening in Kanda, many of us met for dinner at the local Korean BBQ restaurant. Benjamin, brought his lovely girlfriend from Germany, Eva, along for us all to meet. She flew in and is visiting for two weeks from now until end of next week's Golden Week holidays, here in Japan.

I will be able to do the same when my wife, Jennifer, arrives here in mid-June.

A great way to begin the week and check off another Monday survived!



smugmug gallery here

Day 65 - Apr 25 2010 - Kamakura

Day 65 - Apr 25 2010 - Kamakura

I visited Kamakura to see some of its famous shrines and sites on a Sunday as its only one hour outside of Tokyo. Don't forget to check out the pics below.

From Wiki:

Kamakura (鎌倉市, Kamakura-shi?) is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called Renpu (鎌府?) (short for Kamakura Bakufu (鎌倉幕府, or Kamakura Shogunate?)).

Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the Kamakura Period. Recent research has revealed however that this was never the case.[1] If Kamakura ruled the Kantō, not only was the Emperor in fact still the ruler of Kansai, but during this period the city was in many ways politically and administratively still under the ancient capital of Kyoto. Kamakura was simply a rival center of political, economic and cultural power in a country that had Kyoto as its capital.

According to The Institute for Research on World-Systems, Kamakura was the 4th largest city in the world in 1250 AD, with 200,000 people, and Japan's largest, eclipsing Kyoto by 1200 AD.

Kamakura has many historically significant Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, some of them, like Sugimoto-dera, over 1,200 years old. Kōtoku-in, with its monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amida Buddha, is the most famous. A 15th century tsunami destroyed the temple that once housed the Great Buddha, but the statue survived and has remained outdoors ever since. This iconic Daibutsu is arguably amongst the few images which have come to represent Japan in the world's collective imagination. Kamakura also hosts the so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the Kamakura Gozan).

The architectural heritage of Kamakura is almost unmatched, and the city has proposed some of its historic sites for inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list. It must be remembered, however, that much of the city was devastated in the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 and that many temples and shrines, however founded centuries ago, are physically just careful replicas.

smugmug gallery link

Picture Update - Service Change

I decided to finally make the switch to smugmug.com for picture hosting services. It really is the best in class site and for $35/year, you get unlimited photo storage.

Why change from picasa?

1) I was almost out of free storage with google

2) I know the owner of smugmug and have for the last 10 years

3) My Father and friends use smugmug:
http://rocketjoe.smugmug.com/
http://www.optictruth.com/

4) I can store photos in their original size formats and never run out of space

5) Great flexible interface, tools and upload plugins

6) They already have an iPad app ready to go: http://www.smugmug.com/ipad/ (hardsell to Greg)

7) Support for iPhoto, Aperture3, etc. for easy uploads from the laptop...

My space at smugmug is:
http://rocketjohn.smugmug.com/

Check them out, great product delivered by great people...

Day 64 - Apr 24 2010 - Going to the chapel...

Day 64 - Apr 24 2010 - Going to the chapel...

This Saturday, I had a relatively open calendar so I decided to venture across the city by train to see the St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral.

Excerpt from the wiki entry:

St. Mary's Cathedral (東京カテドラル聖マリア大聖堂 Tōkyō Katedoraru Sei Maria Daiseidō) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo. It is located in the Sekiguchi neighborhood of Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.

The original structure of 1899 was a wooden building in the Gothic style. It was burned during World War II. The present church, designed by Tange Kenzo, dates from 1964. Kenzo Tange won the competition for the reconstruction of this church in 1961. It was built with assistance from Wilhelm Schlombs, architect to the Archdiocese of Cologne, the engineer Yoshikatsu Tsuboi, who worked with Tange on many of his projects and the Zurich architect Max Lechner.

The plan of the building is in the form of a cross, from which eight hyperbolic parabolas rise up. These open upwards to form a cross of light which continues vertically the length of the four facades. To this rhomboid volume other secondary constructions are added, including the baptistry and the baptismal font. Their rectangular volumes contrast with the symbolic character of the cathedral. The bell tower is 60 m in height and stands at a little distance from the main building of the cathedral. The exterior surfaces are clad in stainless steel, which gives them a special radiance in keeping with the religious character of the building.

I inadvertently snuck in the back door based on my entry point and viewed the underground chapel first and then came upstairs through an interior side staircase right into a private wedding ceremony. So I stayed quiet and watched while I was able to see the ultra modern Cathedral. The first cathedral was burned during WWII, but this one is built for the ages. Not ornate gothic style but still very peaceful and appropriate for a massive modern city like Tokyo.

Across the street from the Cathedral sits the Four Seasons Tokyo, which looks to have been built in the 80s exactly when the two Four Seasons hotels I worked at during HS and College were built, Downtown Houston and Austin. I worked part time for 5 years at this hotel chain, and I really do believe it helped ingrain a certain level of customer service skills and experience for me that I use to this very day. One of the perks of being an employee is that you can stay a number of nights free, based on availability, in other Four Seasons Hotels. I've stayed at the Pierre in New York City and the Biltmore in Santa Barbara to name a couple. It was still cool to see one so far from the ones I worked in, even though I stopped being an employee there in 1993. This particular property was setup to be a wedding reception mecca. Onsite wedding salons, many many banquet rooms, many outdoor reception areas and of course a ton of amazing picture locales. Look through the pictures to see what I mean. There's actually an ancient, famous pagoda on the adjacent land that the paths and service ways lead to.




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Day 63 - Apr 23 2010 - Midterm Presentations Part 1

Day 63 - Apr 23 2010 - Midterm Presentations Part 1

With 19 of us in this program, one day isn't enough to spend 45min on each person's first half experiences at work in this program. So the first day 10 members presented in a 15-20 minute format with about 10-15 min for Q&A and then a manager review of about 5 min. The best part of this process is to share with the rest of us of all the varied duties, activities and roles we are all a part of, while showing different challenges and solutions we all are faced with. I present in part 2.





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