Tsukiji Fish Market

I made my way over to the fish market as planned this morning and what an experience it was! It was a hustling and bustling place that was actually a bit nerve wracking to maneuver.




























I made my way to the tuna auction which was closed to the public but I was able look through a window to see the auction taking place. I guess I was not supposed to do that because the police came along and at first I thought they were talking me to a better viewing spot but I quickly realized I was being escorted out! Such an adventure!

I also took in the produce market while there.













Not as many tourists as I would have expected. It was 5am - so I guess that could explain it!

Later - Jim

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Pictures from Day One

It's currently 3:15 in the morning and of course I can't sleep. Yesterday was was an exhausting day. Just when I get adjusted to he time change it will be time to head home.

The hotel is very nice - I am glad we are here on Business for Kent so the company is picking up the tab for the room. The daily rate is $465 a night! There are a lot of people here on business so to walk abound the hotel in flip flops, shorts and tee shirts you kind of stand out. I learned the hard way not to have a drink in the hotel bar.



This is a picture of my $16.54 Japanese beer! No more visits to the hotel bar!

The Hama-rikyu Gardens across the street from the hotel made for a nice afternoon adventure. I had afternoon tea at Nakajima-no-ochya teahouse. Very traditional remove your shoes, sit on the floor kind of places.






These are pictures from inside the teahouse - it was very relaxing!



The picture above is the teahouse pictured with our hotel in the background.


This is outside the teahouse.

The following are a few other pictures taken in the gardens.






Once Kent was done with work we jumped on the subway and went to dinner at a Chinese Restaurant of all places which was pretty good. Then we went to the Tokyo tower which was all lite up fir the evening. It was very beautiful.










Nice views!



This morning I'm headed to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Should be crowded and busy!

More later -

Jim

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Arrived in Tokyo

Well after a very long flight and three planes later I arrived in Tokyo as planned and on time. Leaving LA at 1am turned out to be a pretty good idea in terms if getting some sleep. Basically you are already tired and then you travel entirely in the dark until you arrive in Tokyo some 12 hours later. The cabin in the plane is dark and there is not a lot of activity going on. I slept a good 8 hours. I arrived at 5am on Thursday so I lost a full day in there someplace. I'll pretty much have the day to myself and will try to stay awake all day and hopefully quickly get adjusted to the time change.

I am such a lucky guy to have such a great husband. Although Kent has to work today since my flight arrived so early he got up early and met me at the airport to help me maneuver the train system to the hotel! He had also written them out in great detail in the event that I he was unable to met me.

It's a good thing he met me - it seemed very complicated! Here are a few pictures I've taken so far.






This is a picture of our room at the Conrad Hotel. It's very nice!






This is a view of Hama Rikyu Garden from the hotel lobby which is on the 28th floor of the building.







This is the Nijubashi Bridge on the grounds of the Imperial Palace. Beautiful grounds.






East Gardens of the Imperial Palace.





Tokyo International Forum.







Flower Market.

More later-

Jim

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Tokyo Bound

There is an ongoing debate between Kent and I if you can count having been someplace if you have been to the airport. If you go by my definition I am returning to Tokyo. If you go by Kent's definition - I'm going for the first time. Truth be told I can see his point - I was only in the Tokyo airport a few years ago in route and returning from Hong Kong several years ago. So I am really looking forward to an actual visit of 5 days!

Leaving from Seattle on a Tuesday afternoon to arrive in Tokyo on Thursday morning and then leaving on a Tuesday morning from Tokyo only to return to Seattle on the previous Monday night messes with the mind! I am pretty much prepared to be messed up by the time I return to Seattle. To make matters worse I return to Seattle late Monday night and have to fly out the next day to Spokane for an overnight business trip.

Kent is in Tokyo now for business - he left on Sunday and will be there for nearly two weeks before heading home. He has two separate meeting to attend to while in Tokyo and most often when he travels there his meeting are back to back but this time he has a nice break of 4 days between meetings so I am going to join him for the weekend.

I am not sure what we will end up doing but I have an entire list of activities that I hope we can fit in including:

Mt. Fuji, Lake Ashi by Bullet Train

Kamakura tour

Tokyo Morning walking tour

Tokyo Fish Market

Not sure want we will actually fit in but looking forward to whatever we do.

Just getting ready to land in Salt Lake City and from there to LA and then finally on to Henada Airport in Tokyo. There is a 14 hour time difference between Seattle and Tokyo. Just lost an hour between Seattle and Salt Lake that I will gain back between here and LA only to lose again in route to Tokyo. I'm all messed up!

Here are a few pictures on the flight down and of the Great Salt Lake as we landed. Passing over the weather front heading south.



Pictures of the great Salt Lake.





I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Later - Jim


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Boise ID Weekend

I continue to be behind in everything I do both at work and at home!  Problem is it's only going to get worse as summer shifts into high gear!  This weekend we are staying home this weekend since last weekend we took a quick whirlwind trip to Boise, Idaho. 

We have been to Boise a couple of times and always enjoyed ourselves and since it was the 4th of July weekend we wanted to get out of town for a few days.  Boise was a great choice because it pt us in a position to drive back across highway 20 in central Oregon which we have never done before.  We left Seattle on Friday afternoon at 4pm and with the time change (lost an hour) we pulled into Boise at 1am.

We got up and went for a short run and then headed directly to the local Farmers Market downtown.  It's one of the best in the west as far as I am concerned.  Portland ans Olympia are still two of my favorites!

We hung out all day in Boise and took a scenic drive before heading home.  The drive through central Oregon was very pretty.  We had lunch in Bend, Oregon and then drove through the Columbia River Gorge stopping at Multnomah Falls for a quick hike.

Timing was perfect for fireworks on the evening of the third in Lacey, WA on the way home.  Perfect weekend.  One other interesting thing happened.  We finally connect with another gay couple in the neighborhood!  It's a big deal in our neighborhood.  We have seen them around ans suspected they were family and I finally ran into them at Safeway and introduced myself.  We went over and visited and they introduced us to another gay couple that lives near.  Nice to have "family" so close!  Our friend Bill can down for dinner so he go to meet them as well.

We are getting ready for a trip to Tokyo here next week.  Kent has to go over for business and I will join for a few days.  Then we have the big Alaska cruise with the family in the first week of August!  Looking forward to it all!  

One last thing - we say a great movie last night  - Horrible Bosses.  Check it out if you want a good laugh.  The cast was terrific!

Have a great weekend!

Jim

     

SIFF

It’s difficult to keep up with blogging in summer months so I’ve missed mentioning the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) this year.

Kent and I love going to movies and are at a pace to see more movies this year than ever before. We just saw Midnight in Paris our 41st movie of 2011.


SIFF was in town May 19th – June 12 this year and although there were tons more movies that I would have liked to have attended we made it to 8 movies this year.

Beginners - A



Four More Years - B



Boy Shorts – B-

Gun Hill Road - B



Do You See Colors When You Close Your Eyes -B+



Wasted On The Young – B+



Absent - B



Toast - A



I’ve listed then in the order in which we saw them. If I were to reorder them from my favorite to least favorite I’d definitely put Toast closely followed by Beginners (poor sound quality – see comment below) and all but the Boy Shorts tied for third place by plus or minus here and there. We really hit some great films. It’s always such a gamble. We typically try to hit as many gay films as possible and this year’s festival offered an abundance. Boy Shorts is hard to classify there were 5 shorts and they were all distinctly different and enjoyable for different reasons. There was one short that was included that was basically porn – for the most part I’d just soon leave my porn in the bedroom where it belongs – not to be confused with not enjoying it! 

We saw a couple of movies up in the University District at the Neptune and I’d have to say that unless there is major improvement to the sound system we would be hard pressed to return there for a movie. I think they tried to improve the environment and sound because the first movie we saw there even the setting was bad but they moved in better seats but the sound was never up to standards. It’s really too bad because it reflects poorly on the movie in addition to being frustrating for the audience. Beginners is a perfect example – although I gave it an A I know I would have enjoyed it even more had the sound quality not been so poor.

Kent and I have been talking about becoming SIFF members for a number of years and have never done it - until now. We joined as benefactor members since we enjoy the festival so much and they do a great job of bringing a good mix of GLBT films to Seattle. The membership thing so far however has not been very smooth – I suppose it’s because they are moving and there are a lot of volunteers but we have been given inaccurate information and still have not received membership information. We are working on it – I’m not overly concerned, I’m sure it will all work out.

So all in all it was a great festival this year – looking forward to getting the membership thing all worked out and already looking forward to next year.

Later - Jim