Just got back from Tokyo 2.0 at super-deluxe in Roppongi. It was a great crowd of people: international, fun, and working in cool industries. My friend Dominic had said that the uniform tended to be a t-shirt and a beer in hand, so I wore my Six Apart hoodie, but for some reason everyone there was in a suit. Nonetheless, the conversations were good, and I'm on my way home with a fat stack of meishi to work through. Yay for new twitter and flickr buddies!
Waiting for the Tobu Isesaki. It looked rainy to me in the morning, but I've discovered that if you don't trust the talking TV weather-heads, you feel like an idiot. If the box says "umbrella," bring your umbrella. If it doesn't, don't.
Super-deluxe is a great space (I've been discovering a lot of these recently). Couches, good food (delicious fried cauliflower), and happening events in the heart of Roppongi. Nice for a break from the dirty club scene in this neighborhood.
Andrew Shuttleworth introducing the first presenter, a hosting company called tsukaeru.net. They had a great product- cheap, Parallels-based scalable hosting- but unfortunately, could have used a little googling when it came to their powerpoint. Still, if you're looking to cut in-house server costs, Parallels makes it stupid-simple to get remote servers running and scale them in minutes, and these guys put together a pretty good package.
Out for (!non-alcoholic!) drinks after the party. In accordance with Alia's sterotype of me as otoko-charai (flirtatious / gets along well with men), they wouldn't let me pay. I swear it's not something I make an effort at, but I can't seem to go a day without a new friend or something nice done for me. The secret to getting along with Japanese guys is to just start talking with them; their stereotypical reticence is more from shyness than anything else. Once you get a conversation going, it's all smooth sailing from there.
Going home on the Oedo. The Oedo line feels different from the rest of the metro: the announcements are in a different voice, the trains look odd, and it just feels somehow separate. Random note: since my childhood in San Francisco, I have seen a universal asian tendancy to squat. I don't get it; it tires me out way more than standing.
I asked my mom to leave dinner out for me, expecting the usual oden, grilled fish, or chicken. Instead, I find a note that says "Food's in the fridge. Good night!" I opened up the fridge to find....
Sashimi over rice! Shrimp, salmon, maguro, hamachi, ikura, and some ginger thrown in for good measure. A good, if slightly late for a school night, end to a great day.
For the sake of exams, I need to not go out the rest of this week, but tonight was definitely worth it. I might drop off the radar for a few days- here's my week:
-Finish Kafka on the Shore and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
-Studying for kanji, econ, and lit exams
-Follow up with all the random business cards I've gotten in the last few days
-Get my FAFSA and scholarship essays and recommendations sorted out. It sucks to ask for recommendations when you haven't seen your professors for six months.
-Print out the sweet english tutor poster Miyuki made me and start putting it up.
