Sarah's MySpace Page

A link to Sarah's myspace page is now included at right. On an unrelated note, it snowed here a couple of weeks back. I don't think the temperature ever got below freezing, but we had oodles of great, fat flakes pirouetting lazily down out of a slate grey sky. The populace combatted the onslaught with umbrellas, and I must confess that I did the same -- certainly a first in my short life. An umbrella is definitely at less risk from being suddenly and catastrophically inverted during a winter snowfall, versus a summer typhoon, but it is still a bit odd to see sidewalks full of people contorted under their umbrellas to keep out of the gently falling snow.

There was not much accumulation, at least not here in the city, but it was very picturesque while it lasted. Several members of my team are from India, and this was their first experience watching snow fall in person.

While I'm on the subject of work, development on our project is nearly complete. We deliver in mid-March, and assuming all goes well between now and then, I will be taking on a new and expanded role in our Tokyo office. This will delay our permanent return to the US until the end of 2009, but it was an offer that I couldn't refuse. More details to come.

The weather since our snow has been clear and cold. There were a couple of days spent just below freezing, but for the most part, the thermometer has been stuck in the upper thirties/lower fourties.

As I think I may have mentioned previously, retail/wholesale businesses in Tokyo tend to congregate in "districts". For example Akihabara is the electronics district. Thtere are probably 9 blocks and many alleys full of electronics stores, some large some small, hawking every type of consumer electronic imaginable. Just past Akihabara, at Asaksa-bashi, is the wholesale bead district: here Sarah has spent several days shopping for glass and crystal beads. Imagine several blocks of alleys, crammed with shop after shop, each selling dozens or hundreds of varieties of crystal beads strung together on fishing line, and you will have some idea of the wholesale bead district.

Tomorrow during the day, we are planning to head to a new (to us) area: the wholesale kichenware district. I hear that this is where you can purchase the incredibly lifelike plastic food that is so prevalent in restaurant windows here, as well as Nabe pots, Ramen bowls, and the like. The latter items are what we are after on this trip -- we have had Nabe a couple of times since our arrival, and I can not get enough. I hope that purchasing the equipment to make it at home will provide the necessary incentive to do so.

Tomorrow evening, Sarah and I are taking our leave of Robert to head up to Shibuya, eat sushi, and watch 28 Weeks Later. Don't worry about Robert, our wonderful sitter Katie is going to take care of him.