Tokyo Drift :)

Konnichiha! I am back and I have decided out of the few countries I've been to, I, without a doubt, like Japan the best! Okay I may be exaggerating a bit but I did like it very very much. Anyway here are some pictures who'll do half the talking.

One highlight of the trip - I got a chance to meet our very own ruolngulworld! I also got to meet his lovely family. They took me to church - A bit of sightseeing - (Tokyo Tower)
And his lovely wife helped me shop, and then they took me to this little restaurant where I had the best meal of my life. Ever. I'm not exaggerating. Kobe beef, darlings, is everything it's hyped up to be and more! In fact, I think I'm a little sad because now that I know how utterly amazing Kobe beef is, I will feel its absence from my life that much more strongly, knowing that I have to live my life missing out on the best meat in the world :(

Also another highlight - I got to celebrate my birthday in Tokyo! And it was a birthday I will never ever forget in my life. My friends insisted we had to usher my birthday in properly so I got my ass dragged to Roppongi (famous as home to the rich Roppongi Hills area and an active night club scene, says Wiki) And wonder of wonders! Guess what we found when we got there? It was ladies night! A little unlike our ladies nights here because they give you free Champagne all night long :)

I have an obsession with blue flowers, I can even spend hours Googling pictures of blue flowers. It's great to have friends that know you well, because at midnight I got the bluest, prettiest flower I've ever seen in real life. I wanted to bring it back home with me, but it was merely a corpse by the time we left. And all the bling bling on the hair were also gifts from people who know about my new passion with hair ornaments.

(Also note the tinyness of the corriders of our hotel room. And all these times when people would talk about real estate issues in Japan, I always thought they were kidding!)

Luckily, we got to move in to our much more nicer, company-paid hotel the next day. So on my birthday I checked in to my hotel room, and ta-da! Now this one had plenty and plenty of space as you can see :)

And the view from my room wasn't too bad either :P

To be honest, my room was so amazing I actually wondered if the organisers made a mistake and thought I was some big shot Googler and gave me the best room in the hotel :)

Anyway, after basking in the comfort of our hotel room's linen, we went to this place I'll just call the Samurai village. The entry fee was pretty steep, a little over 2000 Yens. But once you get in, wow! They make you remove all your clothing, then they make you choose a kimono, then they make you choose a sash you want to wear with your kimono. Well they were more like Yukatas than kimonos but it's all the same to me anyhow.

Then you enter the village, where everyone is dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, complete with Japanese folk music and everything. Little stalls, restaurants, hot springs, gardens - it was almost like traveling into the past and being in a real Japanese village. And oh, I have to mention all of these were indoors.

This was out in the gardens where we had our hot foot bath.

We tried everything - hot stone baths, Japanese head spas, Sake...It was the best birthday I've ever had by far! (Until it was time to leave the village and you see your check and it says 16,000 yens :P - and this doesn't include the entry fee!). But where else in the world would I get a chance to loll about all day wearing a kimono. And look, I even tied my belt myself. Pretty good job for a first timer don't you think?
We hunted for a Karaoke bar around the hotel area all dressed up later at night but we were unsuccessful. Instead we found a bunch of friendly locals who took us to a bowling alley and we hung out with them all night instead.Oh I should also mention this park near our hotel where Shirley was stalked by a cat one evening. Pretty as hell, but so quiet and foreboding we'd get all jumpy and nervous and keep turning around to see if there's someone walking behind us (but there's never anyone). And conversations would turn to 'Samara' and other dark characters and we'd all freak out. But the thing is, it's really pretty and we can sit there undisturbed and practise our 'Kawai' poses, like so :) And then we had the company Glo party where everyone glowed the night away...

Everyone headed off to Roppongi once again after the Glo party was over. It was kind of funny running into different colleagues every few metres at 3:00 AM on the streets.

Here's Shirley on our way back to the hotel after the party -
And yes, Japan is truly the land of the rising sun. It was around 4-ish when we were leaving and the sun was already up or something...:P

And I'm going to go on forever so my last picture - just to show off. I finally got all the stuff I wanted after much running around - my very own Yukata, Geisha hair ornaments, and very kawai, pink, frilly, lacey sandals :P And I also saw the real Hachiko's statue!

Well this was really long but this was just a summary. I want to post pictures of food, and write about a couple of 'Ladies changing room' and 'Ladies shower' incidents. And yes yes, of course I'll dedicate the latter part to you Kim Kim :P

This fantasticacity that is my life :P

(I know fantasticacity is not a word, but I couldn't care less right now. In any case, I think it should be.)

In other news.......woohoo! Check out my sweet new Nexus One!

That's right! Yours truly has been gifted one last Christmas by her employer. Doesn't matter if it came 5 months late. My LG phone sucks and I've been hating it forever and it is falling apart and I will be glad to be able to finally dump it. Off with the old, on with the new and many cheers to the shiny new Nexus!

And I'll also finally be flying tonight to Tokyo with my free tickets with my new Android buddy that I got for free. I will think of you all when I hit it up in Tokyo. I will try to remember what about my life makes me unhappy when I check in to my free swanky hotel room. I will try to miss everyone while sipping Champagne on the luxurious poolside. Heck, maybe I'll even say out loud 'I miss Hyderabad..' while watching the sun rise sitting on top of Mt. Fuji. And while I'm soaking in the volcanic hot springs on the island of Shikinejima, I may even sigh sadly and wipe a pretend tear from my face.

Har har har! :D

Who are we kidding? We all know I will not think of India or any of you at all for the one week that I'm there. No offence. But you know, when you think about the fantasticness that is my life, you'll see I can be forgiven for it all.

Now don't go envy me too much though. My life isn't as awesome as I make it sound like. I'm photosensitive and it's true sometimes I get bad headaches. See? Not perfect at all :P

Anyway, jokes aside, I am really happy to be getting this phone, and super excited about Japan. I've got a packed schedule waiting for me, and I can't wait to come back and tell you all about it! (And I'm only teeny weeny slightly uneasy about the dream). Keep me in your prayers and wish me luck!

And to share with you the prayer I'll be keeping in mind (knowing my crazy ups and downs and the unpredictability of life) -

When I think I'm going under, part the waters Lord

When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea

When I cry for help, O hear me Lord and hold out your hand

Touch my life, still the raging storm in me

Sayonara!

This confusion that is my life

Sometimes I read an email, or hear someone talking to me from the other end of a phone line, and ALL I hear are things like 'clicks and impressions,' 'core value propositions,' pitches and clients and proposals and market analyses, I suddenly realise that I AM very much and well and truly in sales!

How did it happen and when, I wonder frantically. But alas, everything about the last 5 years of my life is just a big blur, and I can't recall how I got to where I am now no matter how much I prod these tired grey cells. They remain impassively unresponsive.

Come to think of it, these old guys never seem to fire off those amazing synaptic energy the way they once did anymore. I'll let you in on a little secret - one of my biggest fear now is having to take an IQ test. I know I am incapable of any sentient functions, and therefore, the thought of it horrifies me. And I know my result will mercilessly tell me that I am below average. But hush! I'm still trying to fool people into thinking that I have amazing intellectual prowess. A losing battle but still...Admitting that I fear an IQ test just won't do me any good. No good at all.

You know, I believe it may have been a case of simple mind-control. What did they use? Mind-altering gas, fungus, or arthropods? What? But whatever the technique used was, it left me in a drugged state during which time I was taken and had my entire systemd re-wired and voila! the salesperson was born. But now maybe because the drugs is slowly wearing off, I occasionally wake up and dazedly look for the 'me' I know but she's nowhere in sight.

She was going to be a great Scientist. She was going to study African Mountain Gorillas in the mountains of Rwanda, take up their cause, protect them, fight for them, love them and be loved by them. She was going to be just like Dian Fossey! To put it simply, she was going to live a great and giving life! Whatever happened to her?!

Well, there's no point in looking for fossils in a place where modern technology resides. In any case, there is a blip on my calendar that says I have a meeting to go to. Yes, even though it is 8:30 pm. I'm going to go listen to great sales people talk about global media sales. Wowza! I am bubbling over with excitement. Hurrah for me! Hurrah for all this exhilaration!