Asakusa Saturday

With Justin, Gloria and Hillary still in town, we all slept in this morning after a wacky work week, then ventured NE to Asakusa to see some sights. We enjoyed the 7th century Sensō-ji and had Hillary bathe in incense, cleanse her hands, toss in an offering, and bow & pray before the shrine. We all had our fortunes read -- Justin & I turned out to be the luckiest of the bunch. Sadly, things aren't so awesome just now for Gloria & Hillary. Sorry, ladies!

Nearby, we also shopped Kasra Bashi dori(sp), the area of Tokyo that supplies restaurants with their wares. Flatware, serveware, glasses, condiment containers, appliances, chop sticks, signs, lights, and acrylic foods(!)... you name it, we saw it today. I was on the market for new bowls to replace my IKEA blues, but wasn't able to find just the right ones. Alas.

After much walking, we did what good tourists do and actually followed some guide book advice and worked our way to Ikebukuro and to Gyoza Stadium! It was literally a food theme park within a shopping center (Sunshine City) and theme park (NamjaTown). Avid Reader, I will never see something like NamjaTown again. Unless I go to NamjaTown again, of course. It was NUTSO!

Hillary and I enjoyed the most garlic-laden gyoza a human could -- along with two dozen "normal" gyoza. This is what the counter clerk told me when I asked if they were pork, chicken, shrimp or vegetarian. Sadly, I said this in English, so I'm not going to claim I was a good communicator in any way. I'm sure "normal" was "normal" to her as the other options include shark fin and words that meant nothing to us. That said, gyoza and beer later, we were happy campers only to continue to enjoy the sights and sounds of NamjaTown.

Hillary & Gloria enjoyed massages (NamjaTown is a food, entertainment, AND relaxation mecca afterall), and we also discovered Ice Cream City... an entire world dedicated to various forms of ice creams and toppings. Or, more broadly, a world of ice cream and interesting amusement park arcade games! Crackers anyone? Chewing gum? Hillary tried desperately to score the large bags of chips. Justin tried relentlessly to get his entry card accepted at machines. I snuck away secretly to find PRINT CLUB booths and to force the others to enjoy PRINT CLUB yet again! And if you're dying to find out? Yes, oh yes! More success!

Tokyo Training Week

Greetings from Japan!

I arrived here in Tokyo Monday evening and it's been non-stop since! Lots of adventures already as I was able to bring some colleagues from the US to Japan with me to help with a week of training of the Japan and Korean teams as well as meetings with Finance partners. Since there are concentrated pockets of activity rather than scattered adventure, I'll provide a day-by-day recap vs. a play-by-play one. Enjoy!

Sunday/Monday -- departed/arrived on time, then spent two hours on the Friendly Airport Limosine trying to get through the rain and traffic to our hotel. Enjoyed Beef Bawl (yes, not "Bowl") with Chris Kemp, Justin Bross and Tae Kyu Kim in Shinjuku whereby you order your meal from a vending machine, then get served inside the cafe. Love this concept. Crashed hard.

Tuesday -- excellent day of training followed by an evening of work. Went to the office @ 8AM Tuesday morning, ate lunch in, and was in meetings until 6PM. Made it back to the hotel, collaborated with Justin, Chris and Hillary until midnight, with only a slight break for a traditional Japanese dinner nearby. Crashed hard.

Wednesday -- excellent day of training followed by an evening out with the teams! Enjoyed GONPACHI in Roppongi, the restaurant that inspired the Crazy 8s fight scene in Kill Bill (yes, I've enjoyed it before). Followed dinner with another adventure @ ICEBAR where we again donned our parkas, braved the -5 degree C bar, and enjoyed making a memory. Same as the first time, ICEBAR didn't disappoint and I think everyone had a great time! Oh yeah, crashed hard.



Oh yeah, and afterward on our way back through Shinjuku I also just happened to introduce Justin & Gloria to the best thing on the planet: PRINT CLUB!

Thursday -- Thursday was a split day for the US gang as I left Justin & Chris to work with the teams on functional training and met the finance teams -- seemlingly across all of Tokyo -- with Hillary. We met Mitsuaki and Reiko at dinner later, however, at Ninja Akasaka -- an excellent ninja-themed restaurant near the office. It was an awesome dinner altogether; I'm not going to lie. We had to trek through a maze, basically, to get in, and sat shoe-free on the floor to enjoy our evening. And did we ever! From creative ways to enjoy numbchuck crackers to our drink package to Magic Ninjas, we had a blast altogether.

Oh, Avid Reader, but that was just the beginning of our evening! After Ninja dinner, we made our way to Shidax in Shibuya to enjoy true Japanese-type, private room KARAOKE! It may have been the most fun evening in Japan I've had yet... and I've had some crazy fun adventures! Toru was in a particularly festive mood and special shout-outs to Justin who stole the show with his rendition of Lionel Richie and to Hillary who demonstrated her mad Kanye West skillz.

And of course, being near the entertainment mecca of Tokyo, I couldn't help but drag everyone into PRINT CLUB to memorialize the evening with more photographic evidence and neon pens! Last night, crashed hard.

So, all in all a great trip altogether. Today (Friday) was a good one as well, having wrapped up the week, spent some time enjoying Harajuku and Shibuya, getting some down time to catch up on email, and having just returned from a great yakisoba dinner with Hillary, Gloria and Justin. It's off to hit the hay now, however, as there's a weekend to enjoy starting tomorrow. So, crashing hard.

Best to you, Avid Reader. I apologize for the long delay since early September posts!

Happy Birthday, Mom

Today is my dear Mother's 60th birthday!

We celebrated her birthday this past weekend in Boise -- Laura led a surprise BBQ party for her on Saturday. I was able to fly down Friday night such that I could participate as well before heading to Tokyo on Sunday. Friends and family -- new and old -- came for the afternoon. It was a great chance to celebrate Mom and to see family again. I even got to meet three new little ones -- Brady (7/07) & Riley Scherer (7/08) and Aubrey Moore (6/08)!

Happy Birthday Mom. Enjoy Girls Weekend with Patti!

Entertaining Australians!

Yes, both a verb and an adjective+noun, we enjoyed a night out with the DRIVE Australia folks this past Sunday evening!

We started with dinner at El Chupacabra in Phinney Ridge, then finished the night at Reading Gaol in North Ballard. Wonderfully, I also introduced 'Screw Your Neighbor' to our friends from Down Under -- and they LOVED IT! Couldn't get enough! Save Stephen Dolan who didn't win a single go!

Final Results:
Sarah Ward: 2 wins
Liam Walsh: 2 wins
Todd Moore: 2 wins
Saskia Galbraith: 1 win
Stephen Dolan: 0 wins

Please note that in both of my wins, I took down Liam by tieing him with Jacks BOTH TIMES. Turns out, I just happened to have two chits to his one when we tied! Brilliant altogether!

And based on country results, the U.S. took home the Gold Medal:

USA: 3 wins - 2 people - 1.5 wins/person
AUS: 4 wins - 3 people - 1.33 wins/person

A thrilling time altogether and fun times had by all! Welcome to the States, Aussie friends!

Life McWeaver Launch Party!

Life McWeaver is live!

Last night, we celebrated a Launch Party as we pushed John & Amy's new blog out to the blogosphere. We BBQ'd, enjoyed adult beverages, ate a lot, laughed even more, and toasted the McWeaver story -- what had already been authored and what is to come.

Laura & Dave were able to come by as well as Jace Paulson, who dragged his sleepy parents to the party. Jace knew it was his opportunity to tip a few back... he sure can pound the breast milk!

Okonomiyaki!

For my last night in Tokyo, several members of the DRIVE Japan team and I visited a local restaurant in the Akasaka area near work to enjoy adult beverages and okonomiyaki.

Courtesy of a recommendation from everyone's favorite Australian, Liam Walsh, I recently asked the team what it was (thinking Liam was being dirty, naturally), and was treated to what might be my favorite Japanese cuisine yet!

Okonomiyaki is a baked staple in most Japanese homes; I'd equate it to pancakes in my own. Someone like a cross between pancakes and pizza (SEE? Of course, it'd be a favorite!), it's done in two styles: Osaka-style is primarily rice, eggs, cabbage -- baked, then drizzled with BBQ sauce and mayo. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki typically replaces the rice with noodles. Regardless of style, they were both incredible and I'm exicted to have discovered a new favorite!

Of course, spending time with the DRIVE Japan team is always a highlight as well, and I already look forward to spending more time with them in Tokyo in the coming weeks.

And now to check out and head to the airport for home. U.S. Olympic athlete coverage, here I come!

DMZ

Today, I had the chance to do something out of this world: I visted Korea's Demilitarized Zone -- a buffer zone between North and South Korea separating Communist and Democratic ideologies. It's ironic to me that it's called a Demilitarized Zone when it fact, it's lined with armed forces looking in/across/through. You'd think the world on either side of the DMZ would actually be called demilitarized, but who am I to pen political decree?

First stop: Freedom Bridge. Crossing the Imjin River, we were told that this is the bridge on which war captives crossed celebrating their freedom and return to South Korea. It was a somber start to what would have been just another day in the Korean countryside. Interestingly, all around the South Korean side of the bridge were things like the Peace Bell and a collection of stones that "saw action" in 88 major world wars, including the Civil War, for example. All were designed with the hope of peace and reunification.

We then trekked to the DMZ Exhibition Hall and the famous Third Tunnel. Unfortunately, photos were strictly forbidden, but the 358m hike into the earth at an 11 degree angle was something else. I was pleased to have had a construction hard hat as I can't tell you how many times I was whomped up side of the head; for the most part, I had to walk bent over. Interestingly, there's an alleged debate on who actually drilled the incursion tunnels -- each side claiming the other (though the South with irrefutable evidence, in my mind) -- but the South Koreans are smartly capitizing regardless! Let's just say I wasn't the only tourist there today.

Our third stop was at the Observation Deck atop the highest peak in the area. Again, the South built a viewing platform over which to watch the entire valley. It was a hotly contested peak as on a clear day, one can see all the way south to the Seoul Tower 40 miles away. And speaking of clear days, it was rather clear today! Our guide stated that these days happen no more than 12-15 days/year -- we got lucky!

More photos rules were in effect here -- one could only take shots from Photo Line! Afterwards -- not before, of course -- we found out that the reason is to disable photos of the South Korean military equipment down the face of the hill. Take all the photos of the other side that you want, our tour guide, Mia said. Just from BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE!

The other good stories from atop the mountain related to the North and South Korean flags (yes, there are two villages the DMZ). Over the years, I guess, each put up a flag and the other raised theirs higher. This went back and forth until the North erected the world's tallest flag pole at 160m. People are starving; they can't afford electricty to power their country; but they have the world's tallest flag though! So much for our ball of string.

The final stop in the Military Area was Dorasan Station. Interestingly, it was refurbished in the hope that it will someday be the first stop to the north vs. the last of the south. Claim to fames here are a George Bush-signed railroad tie and a placard of donors who raised $1M USD to fun the tracks to North Korea. Needless to say, I only found the armed military police in front of an operatal sign, but empty station photo-worthy.

The day ended with us rushing out of the Military Area -- and passing back through the Unification Bridge and it's maze of blockades so no one can quickly drive here nor there. The tour was sponsored by the Korean government so we had to stop at an Amythest factory to check out Korea's national stone. Purple jewels, pretty.

All in all, an amazing day. One that I'll remember as one of those days when I can't believe the world is how it is sometimes. While somber, I also thought it silly at times (i.e. flag games), and scary at others. I heard the world "propoganda" more times in 6 hours than I will for the rest of my life, I'm convinced.

So, now off to Tokyo for a few days before a return to the States. Farewell from Seoul, Avid Reader!

p.s. is it bad that I've had the theme song from this stuck in my head all day?