TOKYO MEET!!! (...WASTED?)

[crispone]

Here was my hotel...





^^^ Not so bad...



The MONORAIL runs RIGHT BEHIND it...






...we had GELATO (???? like ICECREAM, but NOT! ) at the little GELATO shop on the RIGHT...

CHECK OUT THE LITTLE building amidst the BIG buildings!




^^^ Such "juxtapositions" abound throughout Tokyo.


-crisp

[crispone]

^^^ Here's the GM from the one plant. He's a good guy! (Looks like TERMINATOR glasses! HA!)

We are getting ready to hop the CHUO line in to TOKYO CENTRAL in this shot...

NOTE: I picked up a GOOD little digital camera mid way through the trip. My picture quality also improved with the purchase!



^^^ Ready to hop another train... one every 3 to 4 minutes on this particular line... the EFFICIENCY in TOKYO is INCOMPREHENSIBLE to the newcomer....

Notice how SPOTLESS everything is!


(THE TRAIN SHOT! NOT THE ROOM BELOW!!!! )





^^^ Hotel ROOMS are usually SMALL! Even in the NICE hotels. (THIS ROOM is one of the LARGER I stayed in!)

-crisp

[theprodigy79]

^^^ Some things get LOST IN TRANSLATION sometimes...


...by the way, the PICTURED gal is a highschool friend from Tokyo who still lives and works there. She was IN the movie "LOST IN TRANSLATION"... (The "SEXY BUSINESS WOMAN" who chats with BILL MURRAY's character toward the end...)

We "hooked up" for some reminescing... and she SHOWED me the pictured SIGN in her apartment building. Funny thing is, she is the ONLY foreigner who LIVES there! (And apparently doesn't do her GARBAGE correctly....)

...she has decided that until they figure out HOW to TRANSLATE their "wishes" correctly, she's gonna PASS on the JANGLISH instructions...


FUNNY!


-crisp

HAHAHA That's Lisle Wilkerson!! Awesome dude!

For those of you who haven't seen the couple movies she's in (usually more background roles), she more commonly does voice casting in video games, including Nina from Tekken 4&5, misc characters in Crazy Taxi 1&2, Shenmue II and misc other VGs!!

Completely random dude, but awesome none the less!

Glad you all had fun!! The pics are great!

[theprodigy79]

BTW Dude, were you standing on the table in the corner or something for this shot?

[crispone]

^^^ Here's Mr. "M" setting a pickup back within the LINES where it belongs... as the old saying goes in Japan... "For everything a PLACE, and everything IN it's PLACE!"





^^^ Here are the past two AND current president of my company. I have served them all over the years. The gentleman at the far right just became my most recent boss. These are ALL very GOOD and COOL men! TOP CLASS guys!

...so was the "RESTAURANT" we ate at THIS night! UNBELIEVABLY classy place! (Probably several hundred bucks a HEAD!)




^^^ SAKE poored from a bamboo "chalice" by a beautiful woman...


...and the FOOD was JUST as BEAUTIFUL!








^^^ LIGHTLY smoked "fresh" (spelled R-A-W...) trout VERY THINLY sliced, and wrapped around some "weeds" julienne-style... it's a SAVORY mouthful!









^^^ ...what's that? Do I LOOK satisfied to YOU?


...not NEARLY!



DESSERT is STILL on the WAY!!!!


(NOTE: That is the "tokonoma", or, "ALCOVE" behind me... the traditional "place of honor" where an "ikebana" floral arrangement, vase, and/or scroll, etc... are "elevated" on a slight platform and at least ONE framing pillar is comprised of a piece of HIGH DOLLAR natural wood, often KNOTTY and RICH with color, texture, grain, and personality... a "FINGERPRINT" representation of "sigularity" drawing the eye and pleasing the senses with oriental aesthetic steeped in Japanese history...)



-crisp

[crispone]

^^^ Some things get LOST IN TRANSLATION sometimes...


...by the way, the PICTURED gal is a highschool friend from Tokyo who still lives and works there. She was IN the movie "LOST IN TRANSLATION"... (The "SEXY BUSINESS WOMAN" who chats with BILL MURRAY's character toward the end...)

We "hooked up" for some reminescing... and she SHOWED me the pictured SIGN in her apartment building. Funny thing is, she is the ONLY foreigner who LIVES there! (And apparently doesn't do her GARBAGE correctly....)

...she has decided that until they figure out HOW to TRANSLATE their "wishes" correctly, she's gonna PASS on the JANGLISH instructions...


FUNNY!


-crisp

HAHAHA That's Lisle Wilkerson!! Awesome dude!

For those of you who haven't seen the couple movies she's in (usually more background roles), she more commonly does voice casting in video games, including Nina from Tekken 4&5, misc characters in Crazy Taxi 1&2, Shenmue II and misc other VGs!!

Completely random dude, but awesome none the less!

Glad you all had fun!! The pics are great!

I'M IMPRESSED! Can't BELIEVE that you KNEW who it WAS! I hung out with Lisle and another very good friend I graduated with from the academy in Tokyo MANY years ago... Lisle looks GREAT, as she trains regularly as a BOXER, rides her BICYCLE everywhere in Tokyo, and maintains a daily ROUTINE that would DESTROY most peoples bodies by the end of the week! I'll dig around for a BUFF shot, although I should ASK her if I can POST it first! She's been in a dozen flicks, recently STARRING in an international film produced by a "French"? director, and filmed in Japan. (Yamataki) I'm STILL trying to get a copy.

Consequently, her apartment was REALLY cool, on the sixth floor in the Roppongi district, looking STRAIGHT out at the TOKYO TOWER off the terrace! We hung out there and did a random meal of Japanese delicacies and foreign wines on Saturday evening... VERY COOL!

...Oh, yeah.... here TV COMMERCIAL for DODGE was running on international CNN while I was at the Hotel! It must have run a DOZEN TIMES in the brief moments I actually had time to catch up on the news!

-crisp

[crispone]

BTW Dude, were you standing on the table in the corner or something for this shot?

Actually, I shot that shot with my NEW Ricoh GX100, using a 19mm ultra-wide attachement and held up in near the corner of the room...

-crisp

[crispone]

^^^ AAAAAAHHHHHhhhhhhhh... DESSERT!!!








"Black-Blueberry" shaved-ice-like sorbet and green-leaf rice-cake with sweetbean paste rolled in a mild-semisweet powder of mysterious origin... can't recall the name at the moment... but it was DELICIOUS!

...as always in Japan... the meal was capped-off with a cup of green tea.


As you can see... in Japan, the "presentation" of the food is every bit as important as the taste itself!


-crisp

[Vi3tT3kNiqz]

may i ask what company u guys work for? was this a business trip?

[crispone]

may i ask what company u guys work for? was this a business trip?

STRICTLY BUSINESS for me...

Went over on Tuesday, the 17th, and came back on the 25th. (Amazingly, although our business over there has NO affiliation, Phreak and I were on the SAME flight coming home!)

My company supplies Japanese Automotive Manufacturers here in the United States, with both JOINT VENTURE operations, (of which I am currently involved...), and INDEPENDENTLY HELD operations...

-crisp

[unbalancedwood]

I'm lovin the pictures!

[MCOjerry]

Chris, was that Kobe beef?

[crispone]

Chris, was that Kobe beef?

heh heh heh....



It came with natural wasabi to smear on it... which caused the meats flavor to EXPLODE on your palate!

Among the BEST I've had!


-crisp

[MCOjerry]

Chris, was that Kobe beef?

heh heh heh....



It came with natural wasabi to smear on it... which caused the meats flavor to EXPLODE on your palate!

Among the BEST I've had!


-crisp

Keep meaning to try it here, but never know if I'm getting the real thing. Now I know what it looks like. I can ask to see it before it's cooked

I like the taste of meat, plain old meat. Just add salt. Not sure I'd like wasabi on it...I don't even like wasabi...I pass on it with sushi...tastes better w/o it

[MCOjerry]

Oh...next time you go to Japan, take me with you! I even have my own place to stay in Tokyo

I would make a great personal assistant!