Life is Good : )

I am doing all my favorite things today. I am in my favorite city: Tokyo. I am traveling business class by a very strange twist of IBMness (certainly an accident!). I am drinking free wine in the Admirals Club. They had my favorite Japanese sandwiches: potato salad (which Jeff had me craving before I left the office. How the heck am I going to get a green Melon Pond in Raleigh NC! -- Jeff, if you are reading this, I asked Joe to pick up some yeast along with the pistashios in the way to pick me up. I am hoping someone has posted a recipe on how to make Melon Pond on the i'net!). AND, they have pumpkin soup (my favorite!) here at the Admirals Clug. Wow! How much better could this day get??!! (I am seeing McKenna - THAT's how!) Forgot to mention great SHOPPING and purse purchasing here at the airport with another female IBMer! (And LOTS of great gifts for my fruit bat!!!!) Soon I will be doing another of my favorite activities: drinking cold champagne and eating warm nuts in the quiet comfort of a BIG business class seat....ahhhh, life is SO good! Cannot wait to see that little bears face and Joe's when I get home tonight!!! Yeah! That's all I can think about!

I HEART TOKYO

Although I "heart it," I'm leaving it. And, happy to do so because I miss Joe and McKenna SO much. It was 10 years ago the last time I was here, and I sure hope it will not be 10 years before I am back again. I got to see one of my favorite friends in the world, Hikaru Hie (Lu, who was in my wedding). I can almost cry thinking of what an incredible life she has made for herself in 10 years. Now the CEO of her own company, in improv comedian, a bongo player in a band -- hello, could she be any cooler! She is a ball of engery that inspires everyone she meets. In addition to old friends, I made a new friend in my newly adopted brother, Jeff. Jeff is excited about Tokyo (dare I say more if that is possible!) than I. He showed me some new things, including Melon Pond (a honeydew flavored bread), almond dessert waffles and street-food cheese filled "pancakes." If I hung around him much longer I would surely gain lots of weight (despite his walking our legs off). I was reminded of my excitement around the Tokyo subway system. It is thrilling and scary and reminds me of Alice in Wonderland popping her head up in new crazy locations every time she sticks her head up. We had incredible meals while here:
Night Before Last: Mario I Santi... between Roppongi and Hiro. On the table we were served blanched pointy green cauliflower, green and black olives, sun dried tomatoes in garlic-anchovy olive oil. I thnk I had the best meal of my life there: pistachio gnocchi with shrimp followed by pistachio creme brulee (hey, what can I say? Mario and I have a thing for pistachios!). Last night we went to a crazy little place that has no name. It is just a door. You walk through and it is like a tree house with ply wood walls, a narrow staircase up and Japanese style tables you put your feet into a hole and sit on the floor. It was a 10 course dinner. Let me see if I can name all that was served: radish and raw fish, salad with raw fish and ginger dressing with pine nuts and celephane noodles, huge hunks of sashimi with shredded readish, boiled whole little baby potatoes in a honey sauce with fried shoestring potatoes on top, chicken with wasabi, tuna tail that was about 12 inches high that had been slowly braised, Karin beer. I stopped after the potaoes.

Tired

I am so tired I cannot even finish thinking my thoughts on what we did today....

Food Images

Photos from Today Around Tokyo

Hirojuku is where the cool teenage scene hangs out.

We saw an ad hoc group of singing Elvis's in front at the park that seemed to be a meet up group. One Elvis was female.

Apple store in Shinjuku

Famous Shinjuku: The Time Square of Tokyo

Last Picture from Nice

This is the only photo of the French Riviera I took

Nice to Beautiful IBM LaGaude