Wednesday, July 22, 2009

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~

5 comments:

Luuworld said...

you're finally back- i have been worried sick!! all those sleepless nights...you're killing me! lol

nice post- what an exciting life you live. business trip to tokyo! cool. and i do agree. the food and the service in japan is pretty much top notch! haven't been there for a couple of years now...i miss it. ikitai!

...and it seems i'm not the only one who's been up to mischief! a hostess bar?! you naughty boy! hope you didn't do anything you regret once you sobered up! :-D

world of sekimachihato said...

* Luuworld
oh to think that you have been awake worried sick about me!
by the sounds of it you were awake doing other things!!

i never regret what i do (or did...) but put it all down to experience!
although a hostess bar is not really my scene, it was definately an eye-opener and i'm glad i experienced it (more than once....)

pascale said...

hey- you got back home safe!
It was nice to see you, but you told me nothing about this 'kyabakura'!! were you afraid I'd shake my fingers at you? haha

I watched Harry Potter after our good-byes and it was just a blast, I am so glad I decided to watch in Ginza... did you pick up anything good at Seibu?

world of sekimachihato said...

* pascale
yup, safe and sound... but i now have a cold... i think i burnt my candle at both ends!
yes, glad we could catch up over some yummy japanese pasta! thanks for making the trip out to ginza to see me. next time you have to bring Leigh too!

seibu... ouch.
i bought some nice stuff at one of my favorite shops (tomorrowland)... but they were not on sale!

pascale said...

I will bring Leigh next time :)

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