China!

(Note: I am in China right now, without access to a memory card reader. I will update this post later with pictures.)

It's been an eventful eight days since my last blog post. I started work at the Tokyo office on Monday, December 15. Big chunks of my first two days were spent being escorted around by someone from the relocation agency who helped me apply for an "alien registration card" and a "multiple re-entry permit", open a couple of bank accounts (one for reimbursements, the other to get paid!), and get a fabulous new Japanese cell phone. Pretty much every other waking hour was spent at work. Yeah. More on that in a future post.

Then, on Wednesday afternoon, I headed to Shanghai, China to attend the WINE 2008 conference. I spent Thursday through Saturday in Shanghai doing conference-related stuff (e.g., giving a talk on my research and attending a keynote by Eric Maskin), and on Saturday night I caught an overnight train to Beijing. The basic plan is to travel around China until January 2 (I had this trip OK'ed by work before I joined). I visited the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square this afternoon. It's also been bitterly cold in Beijing (-10 C with wind chill), which I think adds to the city's 1950's Cultural Revolution feel.

My laptop has suddenly started blue screen-ing since I left London. I think I have to do a re-install of Windows once I get back to Tokyo. Damn it.

Oh, and some Russians supposedly stole a big list of Citibank ATM card numbers, of which mine was one. So, my ATM card has been frozen until I get a replacement sent to Asia. Very annoying.

Jan 19 edit: And now, some photos!

Nerd-ing it up at WINE 2008.

For some reason, when I checked into the Crowne Plaza Fudan (the conference was being hosted by Fudan University), I was given Eric Maskin's room. He was a keynote speaker at the conference. The room came with this gift basket and a personalized greeting card. I wonder if Dr. Maskin was given a crummy room that was actually intended for me.

Bikes and moped parked outside a dorm on the campus of Fudan University.

Hordes of shoppers on a Saturday afternoon, East Nanjing road, Shanghai.


Paying my respects to Chairman Mao outside the Forbidden City, Beijing. (I'm a warm, toasty cinnamon bun.)

Tokyo!

I started writing this blog post in London, wrote a bit more on-board my flight to Tokyo, and finished it -- and am about to post it -- in my hotel room in Tokyo.

(In my hotel room in London)
My flight to Tokyo leaves in 2 hours. I'm flying Virgin Airlines again (sweet!). See my earlier post on the awesome-ness of VA. Just finished packing. Made a quick trip to H&M this morning to return a sweater that was missing a button. Feeling very nervous about Tokyo, mainly about surviving as a non-Japanese speaking vegetarian. I've also been warned that the working hours in Tokyo are even longer than London (actually, I know this for a fact, judging by e-mails I've gotten in London from the Tokyo office well past midnight).

Wandered around London a bit with Sarah last night. We walked by Leicester square, Trafalgar square and Big Ben.


(On board my flight)
I'm on board my flight right now, 30 minutes into my eleven-and-a-half hour flight. VA is so great. So many movies to pick from. I think I'll watch Tropic Thunder.

(In Tokyo)
Wow. I'm in Tokyo. "Intensity!" I only slept a couple of hours on my the flight. Stayed up watching Tropic Thunder and Indiana Jones instead. Took a limo ride from Narita (free when you fly VA business class) to my hotel in Roppongi.

It's now 5 AM, and I've been wide awake for the past two hours. Since writing the last paragraph, I've slept for about 10 hours. So very jet-lagged. Took a wander around the streets earlier, and bought some basics at the supermarket. Not sure what to think yet. Have to be at work in 3 hours.

My hotel room in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo.

The view from my balcony. Very nice (except for the very London-like weather).

Still in London

I picked up my Japanese work visa at the embassy on Thursday morning (Dec 4), but my manager asked me to stick around in the London office for one more week, to do some more training. I've got no problems with that. In spite of the miserable weather, it's been good to see some friends in London, and I've been loving the curry. Mmmm.

Booked my flight to Tokyo for this Saturday afternoon, December 13. Finished up the accounting project, at last (I definitely owe Xiaowei and Ramon dinner). Oh, and I got to watch Billy Elliot (the musical) last Thursday. Second-row seats for just 25 pounds. Sweet.

Dinner with Sheena, Lakshmi and her niece Lahari last Monday night, during Lakshmi's 24-hour stopover in London on her way to India.

St. Paul's Cathedral, which is less than 50m away from my hotel. Lots of tourists milling about during the day, but deserted at night (it's the financial district, go figure).

Anne and I taking a walk near the Tower of London on Saturday afternoon.

Best sign I've seen all week.

Dinner on Saturday night with Sarah and Neil's London crew.

Hangin' out in London

Scary stuff happening in Mumbai this week. The weird part is that, according to my original plan (as of early September), I would have been in Mumbai right now to attend my cousin's wedding. I even had a plane ticket booked. The only reason I'm not there right now is because I had to start my new job before December, which forced me to cancel my trip.

I'm slowly getting used to the working life. The hours at are pretty long, which is a definite change from grad school. Each night after work, I can choose to do only one thing -- go out for dinner, do some homework, watch a movie, whatever. Just one of the above. The long hours were a little objectionable for the first couple of days (maybe because I was jet lagged and cranky), but I guess I don't really mind them now. There's a lot of stuff to learn right now, and most of it is pretty interesting (in a math nerd sort of way), so the hours go by pretty quickly.

Went to pub with (British) co-workers on Friday night to celebrate fiscal year-end. Pain.

Also got to see some old friends (Sarah and Neil) this weekend:

At "the bar" on Saturday night, somewhere south of London (in Surrey? Sutton?). Clockwise, it's me, Alison, Neil, Sarah and Adrian. Meant to recreate a picture taken two years ago, on my last (and only other) trip to England.

My first ever Sunday roast. Possibly the best culinary idea to come out of England, ever. Exactly what I needed after a big Saturday night.

My last night in San Francisco

Q: Why am I starting a blog, and why now?
A: My mom has been telling me for years to keep some sort of journal, but I've always been too busy (read: lazy) to bother. But as of tomorrow, I'll be starting a shiny new job in a shiny new country, so if I don't start journal-ing now, I probably never will. So, here goes.

(I imagine I'll end up posting photos here more often than I write. We shall see.)

My flight from San Francisco to London landed just a few hours ago. Tomorrow, I start working from the London office of my new employer (a big bank that shall remain nameless), while I wait for my Japanese work visa to be processed. And in a week or two after that, I'm off to Tokyo.

I flew business class on Virgin Airlines from SFO to Heathrow. Awesome. Virgin has mood lighting! Brand new aircraft, fancy new entertainment system, great food. No wonder the US carriers are getting trounced.

I got pretty emotional as the plane took off from SFO. It occurred to me then that I might not be back in Cali again for quite some time. Oddly, the last person I spoke on the phone before taking off was Kelly Woo. Nice. Even now, it still hasn't fully sunk in that I won't be partying with my friends in the Mission next weekend. Sigh. The night before I left, we had a solid Friday night out. Phoenix, Osha, 500 Club and after-party at Anand's. I just wanted to visit all my favourite spots one last time before heading out. Felt good to see everybody out. At some point during Friday night, in the midst of all the chaos, I remember feeling really sad that I was leaving. Flying into London, I couldn't help but listen to Pink Floyd. I played Wish You Were Here several times on my iPod, on repeat.

The other thing I keep thinking right now is that I had better not forget to write up my thesis. I have a fuzzy memory of James beating that into me on Friday night (thanks James!). I'm also a little worried about my Japanese language final exam, which I really hope I passed because I need the units to graduate... and then there's this stupid accounting project I need to worry about... damn it.

A few pictures from Friday night:

Goodbye dinner at Osha in the Mission, after pints at Phoenix.

After-party at Anand's apartment, around the corner from the 500 Club. (Thanks Anand!)

Me in my hotel room after arriving in London on Sunday afternoon, still wearing the same clothes as Friday night... classy!