Tokyo, Japan - こんにちは

I tricked the company into letting me go to Asia... there was no way I wasn't going to take the opportunity to experience some it while I was out there.  Since Jolene and I have a beach trip coming up soon this year it didn't seem right to go to Boracay.  I ended up choosing Tokyo for a long weekend in the middle of my business trip.














While out there I went to the Tokyo Tower, attended a tea ceremony, cruised the Sumida river, toured the Asakusa Kannon Temple, and walked the Tsukiji Fish Market.  Most of this was with the help of a local tour group but I did get out on the town by myself as well.

I wandered through the Shinjuku area where I was staying, walked the outside grounds of the Imperial Palace, and even accidentally had lunch at a sushi restaurant on the 51st floor of Sumotomi Tower.

While it was fun to find a bus to take me downtown through a brief but quick snowstorm it was definitely not nearly as intense as figuring out the Tokyo subway system.  It turns out that I do not speak Japanese at all.  Taking it back and forth to tour the city really consisted of me hitting a bunch of random buttons on a ticket machine, feeding it money, and then running from train to train until I heard a stop that sounded familiar.  The good news is I always eventually found my final destination.

I definitely enjoyed Tokyo.  All the activities I did called out the fascinating history and culture of the Japanese people that I won't soon forget.

 

さようなら - Mike

Manila, Philippines (Business Trip)

A long overdue business trip to Manila has finally happened.  It was great to not only meet my current team but also get to meet up and personally thank others that have helped me in the past as well.

It was definitely like the world flipped upside down to be sitting next to all the people who are usually just voices on the phone and all of a sudden the day to day people at my desk were only voices I caught briefly at the beginning and ending of their days.  It also turns out that I still tried to cover as much of the US business hours as possible leading to not nearly enough sleep over the two weeks.










The team, hotel staff, and taxi drivers were also very helpful in letting me practice the few local phrases I was learning (Magandang umaga, Salamat, Paalam).

Karaoke Outing

Colorful Jeepney!

The team took any possible chance to take me out for a meal as well.  There is a courtyard close to work that is setup to be like a Venetian plaza with a lot of good options.  Of course the team was always making sure I was getting the full experience so most meals included Filipino favorites (Balut, Pancit Guisado, Kare-Kare, Adobo, Lechon, Sisig, Crispy Pata).  Sometimes things were ordered where I was expected to try some but then most of the team would skip it! 

I didn't get a ton of time to tour around but did see plenty of cool jeepney's while sitting in traffic or being cut off on the journey from Makati to McKinley Hill's on a daily basis.

 

I did of course make sure to study up on the history of the Philippines before heading out there and made sure to go to the old city center, "Intramuros" during my free time which has some remnants of Spanish colonization.  I walked around the old city walls and even sat in for part of mass at San Agustin in Tagalog.  I also toured the National History Museum, walked through Rizal Park, and got a chance to walk down the coast of Manila Bay.  It wasn't until days later that my team let me know they had assumed I was going to tour with a group of people and would have suggested I NOT go by myself.  Other than the hot hot sun I never felt in danger.