Sunrise in Tokyo

Somehow the thing I love most about visiting places far away from home, is waking up in them for the first time. As most Japanese would say today:"Ii tenki des ne", it was truly beautiful weather today. So after a quick breakfast we set off to exploring the city once again, our main aim: finding an ATM machine that would accept our credit cards, now this might sound like an easy task, but here in Japan it took us quite some time to figure out where to go for this kind of service. After having succeeded, we had our first meal at a small kiosk and later we set off to our second appointment with Prof. Kawase. The setting was the top floor of the hospital, here we were guided to a conference room and asked to attend a Neuroscience meeting. Although mostly held in japanese we did manage to understand most of what was said by means of the english slides that accompanied each of the lectures. And due to a funny coincidence most lectures were on neural development, a topic which happens to be my main topic of research back home. The meeting was very formal and at the end we were treated to one of the most beautiful and delicious buffets we had ever seen: traditional japanese food and a breathtaking view of the Tokyo skyline. So there we were among all these distinguished scientists raising our glass of "Asahi" (sunrise) beer to the impressive tune of: 'KAMPAI!!!'

Saturday night in Tokyo...and what to do, other that what most japanese youngsters are accustomed to, you head out for some Shinjuku Madness! Note that I added the word madness, for nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to experience. Shinjuku is the main commercial and leisure district in Tokyo, imagine Times Square in New York and multiply by ten. Shinjuku's exuberant streets are filled with neon lights, loud melodic sounds, department stores, bars and very flashy youngsters. In after repeatedly dropping our jaws in awe we ended up in a very classy whisky and cigar bar called 'Refrain', here we were treated to the very best liquor Japan and the world have to offer while engaging in a pleasant intercultural exchange of ideas with Kinta san (our barman) and Miyuki san (a very friendly lady).

This concludes the recount of this very busy saturday in Tokyo, stay tuned for more and take care...