Tokyo Calling

22 Sep 2006

So...

Made the foolish mistake of venturing out into Roppongi last night, Tokyo's trashy / touristy nightlife area. It's full of marines and other undesirables...

Silly me, I stayed out until the early hours with a journalist and a couple of other guys from work who simply wouldn't go to the hotel too early. I didn't feel like I drunk that much, but the evening was a late one and I felt like rubbish today - the night before the show started, too. Tsk, tsk.

I woke up at 7am, extremely dishevelled and needing water. Decided to message my girlfriend and ended up being late for the meeting point at Starbucks, just near the hotel in Shinigawa Station.

The show was an extremely long train ride away - around an hour an a half. It's in a place called Makuhari, near Tokyo Bay (I think).

When we got to the show, I was really surprised at how small it was. It's like a mini-E3, spread out across 3 (?) medium sized halls, each of which with a reasonable amount of space.
It got busier as the day went on, and most of my time was spent walking to and fro our meeting rooms a few minutes away.

A couple of the meetings didn't turn up, which I wasn't happy about, but sulking will do me no good. It seems common courtesy goes out the window other companies dangle a carrot.
So then we went to a local mall to eat something to tide us over to dinner. I had a chicken burger with chips, which was average, but I'm not very hungry anymore and don't know what to do tonight. I'm very, very tired.

Trouble is, last time I went to bed early, I woke up in the middle of the night, wide awake...

2.46, Thursday 21st September 2006

Back in the room after a trip to the company offices. It's about an hour away by train in a small industrial area.

We had a sit down lunch at a small tradional place near the offices. I'm getting quite attached to the Katsu, although I think it's got more to do with the fact I'm struggling to pluck up the courage to try the more traditional "Japanese lunch box" that everyone else tried. Looks like I'll be on the Katsu until I go - being 2 stone heavier :(

I'm still fascinated by the whole place. It seems really ominous as the city just seems to go on for ever and it's hard pinning down the best places to go in such a short space of time. I've tried looking online but I'll find anyone else to go see more temples with.

I'm sitting here debating whether to go to a concert tonight to see Madonna or to go out and see some sights with some of the UK journalists who have just arrived. The other alternative is Sumo, but just not sure. Might not be such a bad idea to get some sleep!

So, I've decided, I'm going to Akihabara to look at some electronics shops with the French and Spanish PRs and maybe some journos. I'll update later on.

9.06, Thursday 21st September 2006
Not got long, but I thought I'd jot down a couple of lines. It's 6 minutes past 9 and I'm up and (almost) ready to go downstairs and get some breakfast. There's an entrance to the hotel via the train station itself, so that will probably come in the form of a coffee and a pastry at a Starbucks jammed to the brink of collapse with the blank faces of hungry commuters.

We've got to go to the offices, which are about an hour away by train, for a briefing on the show tomorrow. I didn't get much sleep, but I did manage to grab some unawares - I think about 5/6 in total, which is ok, but a shame considering how early I went to bed.