Chronicles of Japan - Arrival Day (29 Jan 2009)

Arrived in Tokyo after a 7+ hour flight with NO entertainment systems... well, no matter to me as I slept right through.
It was an interesting flight though as we took the new gigantic plane and we had seats on the upper deck. Essentially, it looks the same as any other economy class area BUT... it felt more exclusive *smirk*
TRAVEL
Anyway, arrived at Narita Airport and here's one of the cheapest ways to get to b akasaka hotel:
1. Take the normal train which stops at about 10-15 stations before Tokyo station. Price = Y1200.
2. Exit from the train station first (i.e. through the barriers) then buy Metro ticket. The train and metro stations are actually all in the same place, just segregated by barriers. Easy to get a little lost here! But after this one time, it would be easy-peasy to find your way around the maze.
3. Get onto the Chiyoda line (green colour line) and exit at Akasaka station.
4. There are several exits at Akasaka. I think exit 3A or 3B are the closest to b akasaka. Here's a link to goolemap: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=102776104529524971204.000463cd445f030c67f95&t=h&z=17

Ticket types
From Narita airport, you can take the Narita Express (which is the fastest way to get to Tokyo station - non-stop) or the normal train (as above). There was a promotion for Narita Express where it costs just Y1500 (one way) but you have to also get a stored value card (called Suica) of another Y1500.
I thought it was better to just get the normal train ticket to Tokyo station and buy a booklet of metro tickets.

Metro Tickets
http://www.tokyometro.jp/global/en/index.html
This is where you really need to plan your holiday/journey to make the best out of the various discounted fares.
I thought the best deal for my group were the "coupon" tickets:
1. Weekday travel (any time): Buy 10 Metro tickets, get 1 free
2. Weekday travel - off-peak (10am to 4pm): Buy 10 Metro tickets, get 2 free
3. Weekend (and holiday) travel (any time): Buy 10 Metro tickets, get 4 free

The price of a single Metro ticket depends on distance travelled. Don't worry about this at all. Just buy the Y160 tickets - put your ticket through the exit and if the value is insufficient, you won't be able to go through. Just go to a "top-up" kiosk and pay the difference. No penalty at all.

ACCOMMODATION
Extremely pleased with b akasaka! They have a few branches in tokyo but this feels brand new! I have to post up a photo of the room. Sure, it's small but not that small that you can't put a boot on the floor. I'm not fussed that there isn't a wardrobe - I just lived out of my backpack. Go here to get the cheapest prices:
http://www.wotif.com/search/Advanced?country=JP&region=7764&viewType=all&startDay_displayed_=Wed+04+Mar+2009&startDay=&accommodationTypeMatch=&roomTypeCategoryMatch=&starRatingMatch=&maximumPrice=&isoCurrencyCode=JPY&propertyNameMatch=&assumedCountry=JP&selectedSuggestionId=&searchTerms=

The best bits about this hotel:
1. Lovely, friendly staff
2. Free internet access in lobby
3. Free coffee from the machine in lobby

BACK TO CHRONICLES OF DAY 1
The only time we had left was to take a mini adventure to look for an Udon restaurant, recommended by a friend who is a chef. Took us an hour to find this place! Frustrating as we couldn't ask people on the streets (really, hardly anybody speaks/reads English) and we didn't understand how to decipher the address. We finally found a small police beat and he gave us the exact directions to the place.

I now know, roughly, how to read the address. There are usually 3 digits in the address. So this restaurant we were looking for (Chotaro 张太浪) is at 6-6-2 Akasaka, Minato-ku. [See the same google map above for directions to Chotaro]
1. Make sure you are in the right "ku"
2. The first digit represents the area (or chome 丁目) in this "ku". Best you go to the big info map located at the exits of most major Metro stations. You should then see Akasaka 1, Akasaka 2, etc.
3. Within Akasaka 6, you should be able to see numbers in brackets. That refers to the 2nd digit in the address. This 2nd digit tells you the block within Akasaka 6
4. The 3rd digit refers to the unit within this block. From my experience, I just went around the block (clockwise) to find the unit.
5. When you've arrived in the general vicinity of the block, try your darndest to read the numbers on the wall! Most of the time, it's not there! GOOD LUCK! I mean it.

Anyway, Chutaro is a lovely, quaint little noodle shop, set in the basement, below a much bigger korean restaurant. As I peeked down the stairs into the basement, it looked deserted and I had doubts whether we had really, finally!, found the place. I proceeded down the stairs anyway and slid back the door and, like sunshine shining out from God's head, beheld a sight most commonly seen in Japanese tv serials. We have arrived!

Obviously the menu was all in Japansese script. So we just pointed to each item and held 1 finger up. The food was certainly soul-warming food, especially after the wintry walk we had looking for the place. I would recommend this place for its quaintness and atmosphere. Taste-wise, I like it, but have no comparison to make against. Price range: about Y900 per bowl of Udon.

And that was practically the end of my first day. Felt a cold coming and was extremely tired from flight so headed back to b akasaka and ... zzz...

quoi d'autre est nouveau?

Au boulot, aujourd'hui, nous avons reçu des nouveaux, qui n’a me choqué pas du tout: le UAT ne continue pas le demain. Woo-hoo. Quelle surprise. Mais, soudainement, je me sens des stresses, comme l’énergie est tout disparu de ma corps. Peut-être le sens de responsabilité de tous les mois passes sont devenus trop grands pour moi. Et l’énergie qui m’a conduit au boulot tous le jours a été fini.
Et pour ça, j’ai demandé un jour de vacances, ne pas pour faire les choses personelles, mais pour faire de rien. C’est bien, n’est tu pas d’accord, de rester au lit et penser de rien ?
La vie devienne très stressé pour moi…

How green are the new pastures?

So I've been with Company No. 2 for close to 10 months now. Things were really rough the first few months, since I've got World's Most Psychotic boss as the project partner. But since that one explosive encounter, I've been blessed not to have to talk to him again. He's mental and he wages psychological warfare on everybody around him.

But the partying here is amazing! Would say there's plenty of work-life balance here: 20 hours of work per day and 2 nights of hedonistic fun at the annual financial year kick-off events! :D