Konnichiwa

It's been a great trip for me so far. Started off with my trip from Frankfurt airport. Flying from Frankfurt to HongKong was such a pain in the ass - 'literally'. What can you expect when sitting continously for 11 hours. Found HK to be a great place. Airport surrounded by the sea on one side and mountains on the other. The flight to Japan from HK was pretty comfortable, but the customs check took very long. They are especially worried about drugs being smuggled into the country.

Spent the first two days at Tokyo. Found the city to be pretty interesting. The first thing that you notice are electric cables hanging over you (It's actually worse than India). I guess underground power distribution is unheard of in this part of the world. The roads are mostly narrow and cars drive on the left side of the road (unlike Germany or US). The hotel room was very comfortable. Climate in Japan during summers is pretty hot so you have to keep the AC running all the time (including nights). One remarkable aspect about the room is the commode. You also have a system to do the cleaning up after the 'job'. You press a few buttons and you have a robotic arm spraying warm water. I got startled the first time when I was pushing those buttons, but later got to learn how to use it.

Got to eat lots of Japanese food. Tried octopus, squid and all that with chopsticks (called 'Hashi' in Japanese). Did a trip of Tokyo last Sunday. Got to see many places like the Tokyo tower, Diet building, Asakusa Temple, Ginza shopping district, Emperor's palace and also took a cruise on the Hamida river. Got acquainted to some people from Mexico and Venezuela. Had lots of fun.

It's been almost two weeks of work and going to manufacturing plants. Now, I'm eagerly waiting for my trip back home to Chennai on 14th. Though its gonna be a short trip for about a week I hope to enjoy my time at home, after all, it's been almost 3 years since I've been away.