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What happened to you?: [Friday 3rd July 2009]

And so what happened to you?

When we met you were beautiful, mysterious, exotic and lively. The very first year spent with you was probably the best of my life and I cannot forget the time together!

And now?...

Now you have become like an old man, depressed, slow and bitter.

I really cannot understand what happened during these twelve years, I guess that I have seen your decline towards the present state, but I never thought that it could reach such a bad point.

I guess that periods in life bring you up and down, after all it's normal, but to see you like this is quite saddening and there is something I wish I could do to change things... Unfortunately I cannot do anything about it, apart from hoping that you will be able to recover a little sometime soon in the future.

I have to hope that, or that will mean that we might not see each other in the future anymore, and that would be really hard to swallow.

That's it really, I hope that in a way or another you will make it,

Hope to see you soon!

GAMBARE NIPPON!! (try your best JAPAN!!)
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Tales from a lost PDA - Bokki: [Tuesday 30th June 2009]

Japan, I should know something about this place, but apparently also Mr.X have been there and witnessed something that is surely quite.... funny!

--

I was at a meeting today with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, nothing to get excited about, as usually the meetings are boring and do little for the company I work for. But, nevertheless, institutions need to be revered sometimes and here I am.

It was here that I witnessed to a quite funny scene.

An Italian guy next to me got introduced to some important Japanese managers, and more or less the scene was like this:

The two parties face each other and the usual bowing begins, the Japanese senior manager in front of the other "lesser beings" that work at the company.
The personal secretary of the top manager guy stands in between the Italian guy and his boss, slightly on the side not to impair direct contact.

With a swift movement the personal secretary, a 40 year old Japanese man, presents to his god-on-earth boss the mandatory business card that is necessary in any proper Japanese presentation.

The Italian guy must have studied something before and quickly extract his Louis Vitton card holder and draws the key to personal relationships in Japan.

The Japanese guy goes first, bowing slightly, "Buongiorno sono Fumio Tanaka" (good morning I am Fumio Tanaka) in a quite staggering Italian, but showing that he learned two words in the car before arriving to the venue.
The managers behind him look chuffed at the deep knowledge of Italian language that the master-of-our-universe is dishing out to the poor gaijin.

The Italian guy now bows gives the card to Tanaka san and here the act is unveiled...

"Hajimemashite, BOCCHI desu!", all accents wrong, but even the counterpart wasn't all that perfect with the Italian that he tried... Oh and strangely when he was saying that everyone was very silent.

Well here I have to stop for a second to describe the scene and then I will say what "REALLY" happened for the Italian guy and the Japanese one.

The top manager immediately takes the card and turns around to stare at the secretary, almost incinerating him with a stare.

The secretary guy is frozen with the expression of someone that was just bitten in the balls by a rabid dog.

The other managers look at each other as if they are about to be run over by a train, mouth open, going quite pale.

The Italian guy looks around and cannot clearly understand what just happened, everyone is infact frozen with terror. Maybe an earthquake just happened?

Quickly the head of the chamber of commerce steps in and diverts the attention clearing the party, leaving the Japanese delegation to their terror, taking Mr.Bocchi to another place to talk about that project that was so important.

Well here goes the explanation...

In Japanese when you introduce one to the other you can say "XXX desu" (pron. DES), which is a very basic form to say "I am XXX". This form also is used to explain a certain state, for example I can say "Samui desu" which means "I am cold".

Here is the catch... The poor Italian guy has a very normal surname, Bocchi (pron. BOKKI), but that has a meaning in Japanese... BOKKI means HARD-ON.

So he just said "I have an HARD-ON" instead of introducing himself... Or better he introduced himself fine, but he probably didn't know about the hidden meaning of it's surname...

So replay the scene...

Mr.Superpresident of a multinational that makes as much as the GDP of Bangladesh goes "I am Mr.Tanaka" - smile - card is given - "And I am HORNY!" - other card is given with satisfied smile... :D

I couldn't stop laughing...

You've got to love Japan!

--

Check out the older Chapters in the Tales from a Lost PDA series:

I - The Lesser Damage
II - Good Times
III - We Need to be a Team
IV - Sledgehammer
V - Tonight?
[1 comment]
SHUT THAT ARSEFUCKEDMOUTH!!: [Sunday 28th June 2009]

Though the unwritten laws of well behaving are prohibiting me from killing this flat faced Chinese individual that is gobbing SHITE like if it was the last meal of his life, the same laws do not prevent me from venting my mounting rage and hatred over the net.

I really do not understand why in Asia there is this problem with eating a LITTLE LESS THAN YOUR MOUTH CAN TAKE, thus avoiding to emit noises and more than everything avoiding to spit bits and pieces of your meal all over the place.

When I am tired and nervous like today (1 hour sleep last night), I really cannot take it, I guess that if I had a gun I could commit something regretful.

So good stuff I do not have a gun :D

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO today must be my day, ANOTHER food slobbering hi-fi gob dickhead just joined the other guy. I need to get away from this lounge...

I MEAN, I AM IN A BUSINESS LOUNGE HOW COMES THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE HERE!?!?! WHERE ARE THE CLASSY PEOPLE?!

Oooohhhh.....
[4 comments]
Michael Jackson: [Saturday 27th June 2009]

Yesterday Michael Jackson passed away.

I guess that I have never been a great fan of his latest songs, but I do recognize that with his first albums (up to Bad) he really changed pop music around the world.

I think that Thriller was the turning point for his career and eventually affected all much of the music that was produced after by other artists too.

I remember that the video costed something like a million dollar, that at that time was quite a great sum for a 5 minutes short movie.

The eyes that he showed at the end of the video were quite a touch and imagine for a 7 year old like me what an effect they must have had.

Surely music lost a great character, though much was said about his private life and the way he lead especially the latter part of his presence on this earth, the great artist remains.

Here in China, from where I am writing, the news of his death have been on all newspapers and tv shows. I guess that the same happened a bit everywhere and you must give credit to a man that gets so much coverage al around the world.

I want to remember a piece of one of his most popular songs, a piece that I especially like:

"If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself And
Then Make A Change"

Farewell Michael, I hope that your afterlife is going to be a bit more easy than the one you've had on earth...
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Tales from a lost PDA - Tonight?: [Tuesday 23rd June 2009]

Though on a business trip in Hong Kong I have decided to revamp the Tales Section a little, with a very short piece that summarizes the spirit and soul of many business trips around the world.

He's in Russia apparently and Mr.Roman, a friend of another company is with him after a quick dinner.

--

Mr.Roman, with a very lively and chirpy woice "Ehi Mr.X so what are the plans for the evening? Some whores perhaps?"

Mr.X "Naaaaaa not tonight, I am tired"

--

Older Chapters in the Tales from a Lost PDA series:

I - The Lesser Damage
II - Good Times
III - We Need to be a Team
IV - Sledgehammer
[4 comments]
Drinking Brunello in Jakarta: [Friday 19th June 2009]

Brunello di Montalcino is one of the wines that we produce in Tuscany, it is considered to be one of the best around Italy, undergoes 5 year ageing in a oak barrel and all in all is the type of drink that normally here in Asia is not well known.

Since when you travel you meet a lot of interesting people, I had to see it coming sooner of later, that I was to find some Asians that actually know and like this type of drink!

Let's take a step back, I am in Indonesia, for the first time in my life, and I decided to spend an extra day here to take a look around, grab the feeling of the city while not working.

My client is taking care of everything, from passport controls at the airport (he has people that know people that get you through passports in 4 minutes flat instead of having to wait hours in a queue), to transportation and of course meals.

The country is what I would describe a typical southern Asian country, there is a very big gap between the rich and the poor, but the degree of progress is stunning if I compare it to other places that I have been. You can find anything you like here, all the major chains, brands, goods are not just represented, are everywhere.

Of course that is the spanky Jakarta that we are talking about, there is also another Jakarta that lives near polluted gutters full of still water (and mosquitoes), that earns 60 dollars a month, that runs on mopeds that I dare say are keeping together with a lot of glue and good helping of faith.
Corruption is widely accepted and practiced at all levels, but that doesn't surprise me as in Pizzaland things used to be like that and now they are a bit less under the sun.

Indonesia is a Muslim country, so the minarets are everywhere, but the general feeling that I have had is that it's much more easy going than other places like Morocco where we could feel not welcome in some places. Having said that there are a lot of police checks and in the places where we went to eat, or even at my hotel, you get really tight checks at the car and then before entering.
I guess that these checks are there just to make you feel more secure (they are carried over is a superficial way sometimes), in the end they are quite pointless (why sneak a bomb in from the main gate?!?!).

My client is a very cool guy, and so is his friend that was with us the first two nights. First of all their English is quite great so that helped communication a lot, and they are both young, we all studied abroad, and their mindset (probably because they hold very high positions in their respective companies) is very international.

It was them bringing up the Brunello story, and soon after, I was at a very nice restaurant, talking about life, experiences, ideas and dreams, eating a marvellously soft Aussie beef and sipping Brunello overlooking Jakarta by night.

And for a brief moment, all of a sudden, it felt like home...

Well business trips cannot always be stressful occasions!!! ;)
[2 comments]
Singapore by night: [Tuesday 16th June 2009]

Finally I landed in Singapore, after a couple of days spent in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The business trip continues pretty much as usual, I managed to go to the gym three times so far, which is a world record for me, considering that I have to do it in the early morning.

But the knee now needs more training and some build up, so the fact that I can use weights is actually beneficial, in Florence I cannot do them as that would require a gym that I do not want to join as I think it's utterly boring to be in one of those things.

Jet lag is not as bad as usual but the adrenaline rush of having to move every other day and to meet a lot of people is surely there to keep me awake longer than I would really need.

I met a new client today, a Chinese guy that is Christian. Me an Italian guy that is atheist. Interesting how the world goes, certainly we are a strange couple, the fact that I knew more about the bible than him should make me think about his knowledge of Christian religion, but I guess that if he's happy with it I am in no position to make him think differently.

Certainly travelling is good to meet a lot of people, most of my clients are stinking rich, I get to touch with my hands a world that probably will never be mine at all. Ok, let's say I am working for it! :D

Tomorrow more Sing action and then on Thursday it's time for the second novelty of the trip: INDONESIA!
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Yangoon: [Friday 12th June 2009]

I am in Yangoon for the first time of my life, as usual the fascination for a new place makes me think that I want to come back maybe to stay for longer, though the hard fact is that I haven't even set a foot out of the hotel since I arrived yesterday night.

I made the mistake of going to bed too early, 10,30 PM and woke up at 3 AM. Fortunately Chiara was on Skype and I spoke to her for a while, since all the mobile phones are blocked here and even my Gmail accounts are unreachable (all blocked), I could not even say that I arrived and that I was fine.

Soon after the talk with Chiara I went to the training hall, during this trip I must try my hardest to work in the gym possibly with weights, surely running or cycling. The leg is fine now, but I am still lacking some muscular tone and I am resolute to at least train my right leg as much as I can (I do not hope for some serious muscle building as it requires more programmed and precise training).

Breakfast was grand, I ate a lot, which brings the other light motive of this business trip, I need to try to loose 3 kilograms, I lost already quite a bit of weight thanks to the rehabilitation but usually business trips are terrible because you eat a lot of shitty things especially on the planes. My hope is that by eating a little less and the gym workout I can reach my goal.

Today meeting with clients and then tomorrow some Yangoon action, I hope that I can take a lot of pictures, there is a great material out there as the architecture is strictly Victorian/English but the surroundings are terribly tropical/Asian so the mix is quite interesting!
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Wasted Day: [Monday 1st June 2009]

It's quite possibly the fact that today I decided to take a day off and we organized to go at the seaside with Chiara that made the whole day "different".

A shame that the difference remained pretty much on "paper" and not on the actual life, due to several reasons.

Chiara was due to come back home in the late afternoon so that we could join our friends to drive down to the beach and have a night out at the seaside, nothing special to be honest, but considering that I am not one of those hard core weekend travellers, it was quite a good effort.

Of course the weather had to turn sour and spoil it all, we are experiencing a very hot start of summer and of course today had to rain and go back to autumn standards, effectively spoiling all the day.

I also think that the fact that I just lazed about the new house all day did not help, I have eaten loads of junk food (that I managed to avoid eating after the surgery as I am trying to keep my weight under control), and did not exercise as I planned to...

Work-wise even if I was at home it was like if I was at the office, after all checking work related emails and calling your boss to complain pretty much about everything it's much better than staring at the wall.

I am leaving to Asia in 10 days, it's going to be yet another of those long trips that will take me around the world. I am starting to think that maybe I am not really enjoying this life anymore, travelling so much is spoiling any other travel that I do "off the job", and that it's not nice.

Holidays are also approaching and with them the eternal decision of having to chose where to go and what to do. Chiara would like to go just the two of us, I'd like to go in a group of people, as I think it's much more fun. As you can see the start it's not the easier that we could choose.

Money is also an issue, with increasing rumours that the company is going down the drain I feel a bit hard pressed on what to do : "shall I spend 2000+ euro on a trip, or shall I keep it a bit more on the sensible side?".
[2 comments]
Stasis and Obsolescence: [Somewhere in May 2009]

"Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean"

Once again I have to borrow one of the most famous passages of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, to describe the situation that I feel that I am living at the moment.

We moved, as the previous posts boldly states, and the process of settling in was quite smooth to my great surprise. There are some bits and pieces that still have to be settled, but I guess that it takes time to have all perfect and settled.

Knee-wise the move was quite heavy, but with time and rehabilitation finally I have managed to regain a good use of the leg and I am now running (very slowly) and back almost to normality. The rehab was finished yesterday and the guy that followed me said that he was happy of the response and the work done, so I guess I am on the right way to go back to doing sports in the near future.

I have added a new activity, thanks to the Cuban boyfriend of one of Chiara's friends. He's a teacher of typical Cuban music and dances, so I joined one of his classes for percussions, and apparently I am doing very well (although I suspect that he says that to keep me coming), he even asked me to come and play at a CONCERT that he's going to have soon! It's a nice way of spending a couple of hours, just concentrating on rhythm and sound blocking out all the other worries that I have.

Then there is the pending new trip to Asia. This time I get to see two new countries, Myanmar and Indonesia, I am sure that it's going to be interesting, and hopefully it will be a good trip, I really need some boost at work as things have been a bit slow recently and the company is starting to go downhill again. I guess that this is a very common situation now in Italy, but I do not find any consolation in seeing other factories on the verge of bankruptcy, it just makes things worse.

The Maison is suffering a very bad spell of unpopularity, it seems that the message board is completely dead and that the usual dwellers have left the site for other places. I guess that it has to do with the advent of Twitter and Facebook, probably the first is to blame the most for the lack of messages. It's a big shame in my opinion that something like that is happening, in a way MDS has been one of the first social networks on the internet EVER, it's now almost FIFTEEN years old (not many sites can boast such a long history), and it attracted people like Sheri and Nigel that we never actually met in person.
Ok it might need a revamp on the programming side, it might need html 2.0 for more interactivity with pictures and comments, but still I find this site a sort of electronic safe heaven, something I can always rely on. Seeing it a bit forgotten it's a great shame.

May is almost finished, but still there is a very weird sense of feeling stuck that I cannot banish from my head. I do not know what it is related to, but it doesn't make me happy, even if it seems that my life is quite eventful and I keep me busy most of the time. I do not like feeling like that, it makes me feel trapped.

". as an Idle painted ship on a painted ocean".

[2 comments]
A new House: [Friday 1st May 2009]

Since the surgery was not enough in April, I also had the great idea of moving to a new place at the end of the month.
Let's say that the surgeon told me that I was "going to walk in 3 days", so I thoungh that 2 weeks from the surgery would have been ok, but the reality is that the pain and discomfort are actually lasting (as now) for almost 3 weeks...

This new house story has been a very big source of stress for me. At first Chiara wanted to buy and I wanted to rent (one year ago). Then when the economy collapsed and mortgages become more interesting I changed my mind, but unfortunately also Chiara did not want to persue her former wish.

In the end we had a 6 month notice to give so we looked both at houses to rent and to buy, but although I might be too "soft", and inclined to take the fist thing that I like, Chiara has been a bit too "rigid" and in the end nothing that we saw was good.

We ended up having to rent a place that it's smaller than the one that we left, in a nicer area, more or less for the same amount of money of the previous place.

Moving was done in one day, of course we had to call some people to help us out because my conditions are not good for lifting weights up and down the stairs.

Now we have almost settled everything there will be a couple of thing that we need to buy because the deal that we were given was really shite, and the landlord left a lot of useless pieces of furniture that are just taking up that little space that we have there.

It's not going to be easy to live in a smaller place, I already do not like it very much, but the idea is that this house is a temporary solution until we buy a place. My resolution is to look for houses to buy anyways, I am sure that I can find some decent place!

I expect the new place to be "finished" in a month's time, after that should be more comfortable to use and to live in!
[2 comments]
Nervous: [Saturday 25th April 2009]

I am goddamn nervous, yet another sleepless night spent trying to figure out what new pain I am feeling in this bloody knee that I have got after the operation.

Things seem to get better VERY SLOWLY and that is really a pain in the arse because we have planned to MOVE HOUSE next week and of course I am not going to be able to do it properly.

The moving is also a major source of stress it seems that Chiara and I have got completely different ideas on everything, and this doesn't make the move a smooth process.

Ok gotta stand up now because my leg is calling for more pain, I wish I could see an end to this but so far... :(
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Knee Surgery: [Wednesday 15th April 2009]

Today I got my meniscus surgery at the right knee, the one previously injured where I already got the cruciate ligament reconstruction... Although everything went well, what did not go well is the return at home, where I could not sleep from the pain that I had. Yesterday (Friday 17th) I went to see the surgeon, the knee was really big due to blood and sinovial liquid that poured from the tissues... Well he drained 70cl (almost a wine bottle) of blood from the knee, and on Friday night I managed to sleep at least...

Unfortunately the knee is hurting again this morning (Saturday), it is expected because more liquids will flow into the knee, I am starting to worry that I will have to get it drained again very soon, I cannot afford not to sleep at night, it's really not helping recovery...

With the ligament I had similar problems, so I came to the conclusions that it's my tissues that are not that great at holding after a surgery. This will make recovery longer and more painful, I just hope that it will be over soon..,

The funny thing is that after he took all that blood out I could stand on my legs no problems, which means that once this issue is dealt with rehabilitation should be ok and I should be able to go back to normal...

Oh well, we'll see what happens...
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Easter Holidays: [Saturday 11th - Monday 13th April 2009]

Easter is the kind of holiday that I never manage to pinpoint on the calendar, for two main reasons.

The first is that I do not believe in God and therefore I have never had any interest whatsoever in understanding why it changed every year.

The second is that I actually quite like to dwell in my ignorance as I only realize that I am going to have a free Monday when it's almost Easter and it feels a bit like a "bonus day".

Following the "last minute" feeling to this festivity, on Friday afternoon I decided to go and watch Fiorentina's match at the stadium the following day together with a colleague of mine. The match was quite good, we won (and that makes it good of course!) and the weather was lovely, sunny but not too hot.

In the evening a spot of cinema (this time we went for Punyo the new movie from Myazaki).

Easter Sunday was spent at my dad's house for a traditional lunch, the whole meal was quite great and we also met some relatives of my father's wife that were quite nice people, so all in all the afternoon went pretty nicely and we were back home in time for dinner and some TV.

I have also started my pre-surgery training, to my surprise the whole thing is bloody hard as it's almost 6 months now that I am not doing physical activity. I guess that it's quite normal, but still I cannot hide the uneasy feeling of having to go again to the hospital to be cut up by a surgeon... Oh well, I guess that in 1 month's time I will not think about it anymore and I will enjoy the possibility of doing sport again...

Nothing more to report, on Sunday morning we watched the traditional explosion of the chart in Piazza Duomo in Florence which was quite good and reminded me of how good is this city with all its traditions and history... :P
[3 comments]
Birthday Party!: [Saturday 4th April 2009]

I am not fond of birthday parties, I have never been since I was a kid. I never liked all the attention and all the fuss about getting older, probably because in my family I got a lot of attention just to "be" there, as I am the first-born...

Anyways, in recent years due to my travels many birthdays have actually been in Japan or China, and I never actually had the chance to organize anything in Florence. Usually we throw a dinner for the closest friends, a present is brought to life for the occasion and we spend a night together, nothing special mind you, but I quite like that system.

This time, since I am in Florence I decided to call in a birthday dinner, Simone, Gianfranco, Stefano and Federico all joined (the others were away from Florence unfortunately) and we decided to make one of those Thai curries that I bought back from the recent trip at Simone's place.

Since Chiara had already another appointment it turned out that the dinner was a male only thing, which I did not mind at all actually! I love to be with my friends just without girls or the like... :D

So the dinner was all ok, the Thai curry worked out marvellously and we stayed over chatting about different things until 1,30 AM.

I was given a beautiful T-Shirt, that I will hopefully wear pretty soon when the hot season decides to arrive.

As for the rest a great birthday party, just like I like it! :D
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Asia in March: [Tuesday 3rd March - Friday 27th March 2009]

[Saturday 3rd - Sunday 4th January 2009]

Just a post for the pictures that I did not have enough time to post before... Enjoy! :D
[4 comments]
One year older: [Thursday 2nd April 2009]

And this is it, my birthday came exactly 365 days after the last one :D

Now I am 34, as usual nothing changes, or at least nothing feels different, I am still the same idiot that I was before...

There is something new to this birthday, this April looks as if't going to be one of the busiest in my life...

First of all we are moving to a different house. After a very long search and a lot of vetoes from Chiara on all the possible houses that we have seen, we have settled for a rented place again, though I was very keen into buying a place.

The main motives are to be found in the fact that it's a really good time to buy now, loans are pretty cheap, we have enough collateral to grant the bank to give us even good sums. But apparently Chiara was not very happy with that solution in the end, so we are renting again.

The second big point in April is going to be my surgery to the right knee (again), this time it's not going to be a ligament but a more simple meniscus, still is still surgery and it makes me feel quite uneasy about the whole thing. I wil do my blood test on the 7th, let's hope that everything can go smooth...

Lastly a work related problem... Basically for the first time in my life I am forced to do some "mobility", for two days, which is not a lot, but still it's a bad sign about the general health of the company. In Italy we have this thing called "Cassa Integrazione", basically the company can force the workers to take some "days off" with a reduced pay. Normally these periods are much longer and affect pay a lot more than merely two days.
Still, since I have never been in the position before it's a bit of a turn-down, especially as it came right before my birthday.

All the rest is pretty boring, I am finally getting used to being in Italy again, the trip was long and surely took its toll on my health...

Oh well, that's it! Happy birthday to me then! :D
[5 comments]
How Long?: [Thursday 26th March 2009]

How long has it been? How long ago did I first look at the skyline of Tokyo at night? How many things happened to me on this side of the world?

It's the last night before stepping on the plan that will bring me back to Italy, after almost one month around Asia around Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Korea and Japan.

Still Japan has a special place in my heart, too many memories, too many feelings are linked to this place.

Every time I have to leave is like the first time, in 1998, when I packed my suitcase after the best year of my life so far, wondering what it will happen next, where life would send me to... That time I didn't even knew if I was going to go back to Japan ever again, and now I think back and I have been here at LEAST 30 to 40 times in the past 10 years.

From my room I can see the Park Hyatt, where we had a great night with John when he was living here, to the left there is Shinjuku, a place that I now know better than many other Japanese that live here.

going back it's never easy, you never know what changed, you never know what it's there to wait for you, you only know what you are leaving.

To be fair I do not know if I could live here again, having to work in a society that it's quite crazy under certain points of view, but still I'd give it a chance if the offer was good.

My mum sent me a mail, telling me that since I left Italy to go to England I am always on the move, running from a place to another, just like when I was a kid but on a larger scale. She also added that sometimes is better to stop and think about one's life, to be close to the people that really care about you.

As only mothers can be, she is spot on. The problem is that the life of the jet set traveller (to use an expression that Rob used to describe me) is one way only. You can certainly stop, but that means no more trips to Asia and quite probably a lower responsibility (money)... To be honest I am not thinking about it YET, although my life in Florence if I have to continue like this, has very little future...

We will see, I still remember the first time I got on a plane by myself. I was 8 and I was going to Sardinia to see my grandmother (God bless her soul now that she's not more with us).

That time I thought that in my life I would never travel by myself anymore, either with my family or my friends....

I was wrong.
[9 comments]
Quiet Sunday at "home": [Sunday 22nd March 2009]

As I enter into the last week of this long business trip, I got to use a weekend for the sole purpose of resting.

Saturday spent around Tokyo in a very good sunny day, a bit windy perhaps, going to the places where I usually like to hang around, Meji Jingu for a spot of praying, Harajuku for a spot of shopping, then Shibuya to see the latest things that I might have missed in the other two places, and this time I also decided to add Shinjuku Gyoen, a park in Shinjuku where I went with John some time ago.

I had it planned to go to Nikko for the day, but the real problem there is that one day is just not enough to explain 4 hours on the train to go and back, so I will probably have to do other arrangements in the future, like staying there for one night...

On Sunday the weather turned sour and extremely windy, so I was off to buy a couple of things and grab some food in the morning but now that is afternoon, I am back at the hotel doing nothing.

Yesterday as I was walking through Shinjuku Gyoen, I was struck by the fact that I am always by myself.
In a typical "manga-esque" setting I could be one of the "bad guys" that walks around the park, full of people eating, laughing, running, playing and with my aura of destruction and solitude, as I pass by, change that into sadness and sorrow.

Fortunately it did not happen, which means that my superpowers are not that strong yet! :D

The funny thing is that when I go back home, most of the time I want to be my myself, just resting and not caring about anything else !!! It's a bit of a contradiction I guess, but that's how it is, after all these long trips are really vexing on the spirit and on the body.

Now sauna time! Tonight I am going out with Kutsunugi san to have dinner and talk about the latest developments in the business field, which needs to be said, it's in a tragic state...
[No comments]
Only in Asia: [Friday 20th March 2009]

Yesterday I was in Kyoto with a potential client that we managed to convince to take on our products. The rule of business in Asia wants that you have to go out for dinner, where you actually talk about the important parts of the relationship that you are about to establish, and we ended up in one of the best Italian restaurant that I have ever been abroad.

The dinner took immediately a "good" tone, when the president of the company that we work with ordered TWO bottles of wine (one red and one white) for the three people that we were...

Then grappa was served at the end of the dinner together with a bottle of beer, just to be on the safe side.

Here begins the typical night out with the clients in Asia, it's quite common to all the countries where I have been, apart from China.

We moved to a bar, to drink whisky this time, where there are nice young ladies that sit next to you and talk. That's it, they are just there to entertain you and your hosts, no sex, no touching, no nothing. Just chit chat, a lot of "oooooooo" said in awe when something gives a concept deeper than "I am drunk", and then after two hours you go away, considerably poorer (this kind of entertainment is quite expensive).

We then moved to another location in Kyoto, now the name escapes me, but it's only for local people. A series of bars, very small, with private rooms. The owner of the company that was taking me and the agent out of course is a well known person here, he "re-opened" his favourite place (that was about to close), got the private room and we started drinking more, this time sake.

In this kind of place there are no women included, it's just a chill out room where you sit, drink and chat. Eventually my client got asleep, and it took 20 minutes to wake him up and put him in the taxi completely drunk to go home...
The ladies at the bar did not ask for any money (that shows that he's a regular) and even helped him to go to the taxi as if they were his sisters...

I have had similar experiences in Thailand, Taiwan and Korea, some places were a bit more explicit (see here, this must be one of the best pieces that I have ever written so far), others like yesterday were more subtle. Still I wonder... WHY?!?

I guess we have similar places in Europe, but at least the ladies get NAKED, there is actually a point for them to be there rather than look impressed at the bullshit that we say... I guess that probably I must have missed some points along the way, maybe if you call the numbers on the business cards that they give you there is a "after club session" thing (well it's pretty common in Kyabakura in Japan to choose the lady first and then call her later, you know privacy...), but still I only saw these things in Asia.

Oh well, that's the nice part of travelling for sure, you DO see a lot of different things!
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