Tokyo:
Just thought I would drop you all a note on the trip so far. Hawaii was nice but too short, but hey, so is life. The weather there was perfect 80 degrees and beach at Waikiki was nice and toasty-at least until that little cloud managed to sneak away from the mountains and drop some sprinkles on you that is. It was relaxing and the plane rides have gone very well on each leg so far of the journey.

Japan has been another world, although at times in Waikiki I was getting confused as if I were already in Japan with all the Japanese tourists there.   Which reminded me to visit the other islands next time I visit the islands.   Most of the stuff in Waikiki is listed in both English and Japanese. Having been here in Tokyo for a week now, I can appreciate the effort of having things in both languages. Although most Japanese speak far more English than
I'll probably ever know Japanese. We've managed to experience a wide range of foods trying to sample a little of the orient and balance it with some western meals to keep the digestive track from getting too out of whack. One of the hardest things to get used to here is the lack of non-smoking areas anywhere. I yearn to have a meal without having someone next to me smoking while I eat. But it's very prevalent and I cannot see it changing anytime soon. With all the pollution in Japan and the large number of people with respiratory problems and having to wear masks, you would think it would be an issue for concern. Of well.

I still can't believe how big the city is both tall and wide. People everywhere. No wonder they miniaturize everything. It seems like everyone here has a tiny little cell phone and is required to talk on it at all times. Air time must be ultra cheap or someone is making a fortune off cell phone access. All of them are tiny little cigarette lighter sized and available everywhere you go. I'm staying at the Imperial Hotel (nothing but the best for IMF staff). Service is fantastic (glad I'm not paying though). And most of the people seem genuinely pleased to serve. I think it will be a while until I get out of the habit of bowing to people. The hotel is located right across from the Imperial palace in the heart of Tokyo and adjacent to the Ginza district which is essentially NY Times square 10x over, and loaded with shopping and stores on every level of the building above and below ground.

We spent today traveling outside the city to one of the old Capitals of Japan: Kamakura, about an hour train ride south of the city. (Today was a National holiday here. We swapped it for Presidents day in the States). Unfortunately, the weather decided not to cooperate today. Up until now it was relatively pleasant in the 40-50F range with clear skies. Today it decided to start raining as we were already on the train headed south. So is life. We managed to see a few temples and the second biggest Buddha in Japan before giving up on the cold and rain. The temple we visited was very serene. It's very far removed from Tokyo, which reminds me of Blade Runner if you've ever seen the flick. Especially with the rain everything was very tranquil at the temple site. For 20yen (less than 20 cents) I got to go inside the Buddha. This Buddha is about 37 feet high and managed to survive a tidal wave (tsunami) that washed the building away that originally was built around the Buddha to house it. I think without the building is an improvement because it sits in the middle of some hills and has a nicer backdrop.

By the time we returned to Tokyo it was snowing like a Banshee here. Big ole flakes were coming down and had already covered the cars and streets. Thank goodness it was a holiday. Eventually the bad weather abated and the evening was actually back to being quite pleasant.

The office here is very nice and we are winding down our mission. Hope everyone else is doing well and hope to see you soon back in the states. Next stop is Moscow on Tuesday. I haven't seen a weather forecast that hasn't listed it as snowing in some fashion nor greater than 0 degrees C over the last two weeks. Oh well. Glad I packed the long johns. Till then.