I’m sitting in a Starbucks in Akasaka in Tokyo, and have been for a while, killing time while Tomo guides Chaka Khan’s band members through a flea market, Ometesando, and Harajaku. This wasn’t really part of the weekend plan but I knew it could be a possibility. I have a good book to read, Michael Chabon’s, “Gentlemen of the Road.†It has been a very long time since I’ve had to actually use a dictionary to look up words while reading, but this is one of those books. I find it refreshing actually, to relearn words. For example, one page contains the words ostler, caravansary, mezair, caprioles. All words I don’t know off the top of my head. Good thing for online dictionaries when you are sitting in a Starbucks armed only with a BlackBerry (I still am not happy carrying a “BlechBerry” but it does serve a purpose at times).
It is a little strange to be sitting in this particular Starbucks, because I spent many Sunday mornings here when I’ve been in Tokyo on business trips as this is the location of the preferred hotel of my colleague who was in charge of the trip. I stayed in a business hotel just down the street last night and discovered more areas and developments that I had not seen in all the previous times I had been here.
I definitely feel much more at home in Tokyo compared to Nagoya. I can’t decide though whether I love or hate the multiple mixed-use developments of Tokyo. There’s Roppongi Hills (hate), Tokyo Midtown, Ark Hills, Izumi Garden, and Shiroyama Garden to name a few all in this general area. You can move from one to the other, and they have shops, restaurants, offices, apartments, hotels, everything. Is that good? Is that bad? I really don’t know. But it feels like Tokyo to me.
Well, Tomo called and he’s ditching the band so it is time to meet.