Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Nowhere Near as Nuts, Days 2-3

This post doesn't have any photos and will seem quite bland compared to the previous entry.

I'm copying and pasting identical text from the previous post in green.

If you've been linked here from my Facebook page or some other source, just don't go to the main blog page because you'll end up seeing me doing horrible things with my toys. XD XD XD

If you ignore my warning, then I take no responsibility for you becoming mentally unstable after reading about a number of your all-time favorite characters doing horrible things to each other. ^^;

Now that you've been warned, click below to read about my misadventures in Japan. (You won't see the clickable "Read More" link if you received a direct link from me or someone else.)

Day 2:

I had a slower start for day 2 primarily because I was supposed to accompany my boss to a restaurant in Shibuya for another business lunch. The meeting time was 11:00 A.M., though the actual meeting ended up being closer to noon. After the business lunch, a few of us walked over to company headquarters and I started to work on whatever last minute presentation materials I wanted to polish. I expected I needed to accompany my boss back to his hotel but I was told I didn't have to and I could leave early. Once I wrapped up my own work, I left and headed to Musashi-Kosugi. This was around 4 P.M.

In Musashi-Kosugi is the factory store of Parabox. While it's a small factory + store, the inventory is impressive and the products are reasonably priced. I picked up a few things but I finished shopping much sooner than I had expected. It was only around 6 P.M. so I had a few hours before stores closed and I needed to call it a night. The train I took from Misashi-Kosugi to Shinjuku was an express train so that was a huge bonus in terms of time.

I headed back to my hotel in Shinjuku, dropped off the toys I picked up at Parabox, got out of my business attire and into plain clothes, and then headed out again for dinner. I was unimaginative and got dinner at Yoshinoya in Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku. The beef bowl basically tastes the same as it does in the U.S. but there's a huge difference in quality with the miso soup and salad. I got the Japanese super sized bowl (which is more like a regular for the U.S.) combo set. The miso soup was excellent, as was the salad + deep roasted sesame dressing. After dinner, I shopped for some hobby supplies at both east and west wings of Shinjuku Labi. I headed back to my hotel after I picked up a few supplies. I had a big presentation the following day.


Day 3:

Big presentation at corporate HQ. All day event from morning to night. Didn't have any time for "otaku crap".

Before I could get to corporate HQ, it rained like hell in the morning. I had a normal compact collapsible umbrella and didn't use the one I got from Danny. I don't have anything against wearing my fandom with pride but that's silly when I'm wearing a business suit. The normal umbrella I had was too small so my shoulders were drenching wet before I got to the hotel where my boss was staying. My boss didn't bring an umbrella with him so he borrowed one from his hotel's front desk. We got a taxi and headed to HQ.

It was close to 8 P.M. by the time the event was over and past that when I got out from the corporate building. By the time I was able to head into town, a number of stores already closed. I was able to browse through some stores but the ones I specifically wanted to visit closed at 8. After I did whatever little browsing I could among the stores which were still open, I headed back to Shinjuku.

Once in Shinjuku, I decided to go into a 24-hour ramen restaurant with a coupon vending machine. The idea is, I choose which ramen I want, which toppings and sides I want, drinks, etc., using a ticket machine and my order is then read by the cooks. I spent about 15 minutes trying to decide what I wanted but managed to order something pretty good.

Back in my hotel room, I tried to pack as much as I could and left out things like my toothbrush, floss, and toothpaste. I would put those things away last. I needed to pack because my employer will only pick up the tab for my hotel room only for company working days. I decided I would stay in Japan 2 extra days on my own dime instead of going back home the day after the big presentation. With Memorial Day on Monday, I could have Saturday, Sunday, and the early part of Monday to do my own things instead of going immediately home. My plan was to leave my hotel in Shinjuku, then check in to a hotel in Asakusa-bashi (a district next to Akihabara).

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