Tokyo - Day 1

It was a beautiful sunny first day in Tokyo and I can see the beginning of the fall colors in the trees around the Imperial Palace grounds. I had my breakfast on the 17th floor of the Imperial Hotel at the Imperial Viking Sal restaurant where they have a great buffet and view of the city.

After breakfast I made my way on the train over to the exhibit hall at the New Pier Takeshiba to set up my computers. It was a pretty easy day with only a couple of minor technical issues. This is a nice complex over by Tokyo Harbor near the Intercontinental Hotel

Around 4:30pm I wandered through the Ginza District over to the Sony Showroom. This is a must see if you are into electronics. All of the latest Sony electronics are on display for you to touch and try. I had the opportunity to see the new Sony XEL-1 OLED TV. This is awesome at only 3mm thick! It sits on a pedestal with a flexible arm because the display is so thin, the connectors and power have to be in the base. I will definitely be back here before my trip is over.

After Sony, I headed over to Bic Camera which is 8 floors of every electronic item you can think of. The nice thing about Bic is that all of the samples are powered on so you can try them out. For instance, this was the first time I could actually touch and feel the interface of the iTouch iPod. It is very nice and now, of course, I want one. I was also shopping for a Nintendo Wii but I understand now that the Japanese version will only play Japanese games.

The jet lag is really catching up to me now and I need to get some sushi before I turn in for the night. One of my favorite places for sushi, near the Imperial, is Sushizanmai. This is a 24 hour sushi restaurant that is about a block from my hotel right under the tracks. There is usually a line out front of people waiting to get in, but tonight I was seated immediately. I had one of their set meals tonight because I am too tired to think, but it was a nice selection of different tuna sushi.

Now I need to sleep...