Business Trip

view from the office in tokyo



for all of my lovely blog-friends, i'm sure you have been worried sick wondering what on earth happened to mr sekimachihato. yes? no?!
well first things first, i'm alive and kicking!

i was actually away on a business trip to my old home city of tokyo.
i love going back to tokyo, i mean the food in japan is amazing, the service is tops, and it really has to be one of the best places in the world to spend that hard earned cash!
but things are always a bit more daunting when it's a business trip... apart from all the preparation i need to do beforehand, i then have the nerve-racking task of making presentations to some of the high-rollers in my industry.
by the way, half of these presentation are done in japanese...
i'm surprised i don't have a stomach ulcer!

now imagine doing all this with a slight hangover...
japanese salary men are known the world over for there late night drinking habits, and a blond-haired blue-eyed mr sekimachihato is no exception to their playground.
with my first big presentation being held on the tuesday morning i was in no mood to go out with my bosses for corporate drinks on a monday night. but hey, this is japan where you don't say "no" to your boss.

so after a beautiful dinner at a very trendy restaurant it was off to a shochu-bar where we drank back 1200-yen glasses of shochu... ouch. i love shochu but thank god i wasn't paying!
just when i though they were gonna call it a night i was whisked into a door where i was greeted by some handsome guys who sat us down at a booth where we were soon joined by some young japanese ladies dressed to kill (read that as wearing gowns) who basically wiped my... glass, topped me up with overly priced alcohol, whispered sweet talk in my ear and patted my knee every now and then.
yup, a typically japanese hostess club or kyabakura (キャバクラ).
the mama-san (female manager) came over and welcomed us while pouring us all a drink (including our hostesses.... we were paying naturally!) and i couldn't help but spy on the clubs number 1 girl sitting at the bar with some guy. she probably earns in a single night what i earn in a month...
maybe i should shave my legs and slip on a gown?! kidding!!

so yes, the night wore on and... and... no more details from me! but you can image how i felt the next morning having to do a presentation to a large group of people!
and believe me, this didn't only happen on monday night!

i managed to squeeze in some time to catch up with my friends, drink more, shop more and basically make the most of my business trip to tokyo.
やっぱ東京はいいなぁ～