Overheard

“Oh boy! Another great opportunity for personal growth!”

“I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so. ... She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain—it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”

After over a decade of user testing, it is clear that the way we search the web is similar to the way we would search our home for valuables as it was burning to the ground. Frantically.

“We must shift the focus of companies back to the customer and away from shareholder value ... The shift necessitates a fundamental change in our prevailing theory of the firm… The current theory holds that the singular goal of the corporation should be shareholder value maximization. Instead, companies should place customers at the center of the firm and focus on delighting them, while earning an acceptable return for shareholders.”

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”

Comments

Hey, Travis, I'm actually reading this while in Kyoto (one week into a two week trip to Japan)...funny coincidence.

We're visiting Nara tomorrow; however, I have a bit of advice for Kyoto. Get a bus map from the tourist agency and figure out which temples/shrines/sights you want to see. Then get a day pass for the bus (500 Yen...slightly more than 2 trips cost) and go to town! Routes 100, 101 and 102 are especially routed to hit a lot of temples and sights, plus they have a bit of overlap so transferring from one bus to the next (or getting to a different area of town) shouldn't be too hard. You can supplement the buses with occasional trips on the metro or local rail lines (unfortunately, even if you have a JR Rail Pass, you probably won't get to use it in Kyoto except to get to Nara...just about everything in Kyoto that's useful isn't JR).

I'll have to look up the list of sights we've seen to give you some recommendations; however, I can recommend Nijo Castle as I just saw it today. Beautiful building inside and out and the grounds are spectacular. I should also mention that a number of the temples have special evening openings (most normally close around 5:30-6:00) where they have everything lit up. Some end before you arrive but others go into early December, so ask around and see if you're interested.

If you have a JR Rail Pass, you might want to make a half-day trip down to Himeji (60 mins or so by Shinkansen) to see the famous castle. It's quite beautifully designed and the view from the top is excellent.

Anyway, feel free to e-mail me if you have any specific questions...I'll send you an e-mail with some helpful links and anything else I can think of!

Posted by filmgoerjuan
  at 6:11 am on Nov. 21, 2008

Oh man, there's so much. It sounds like you'll have hosts that will be a huge help. A few things...

The big, popular districts (Shinjuku, Ginza, Shibuya, etc.) are better at night. The same is true with Akihabara. Tokyo is not a pretty city and during the day seems drab. But at night, it's a different place. Do the cultural things during the day and head to the districts at night.

Do karaoke. They are everywhere and a great place to have too much to drink.

It's a pain to get up so early, but the Tsukiji Fish market is an amazing site.

Again, painful, but interesting - ride the subway at rush hour. It's a uniquely Japanese experience.

We've had a lot of sushi in Tokyo, but the most memorable was at a place filled with business men - always the best. Sakae Zushi (pretty sure was the name) close to the Shinjuku station. Real life - no gaigin.

If you're there on a Sunday, go hang out at Harajuku and see the Cosplay kids. The whole scene around there is interesting.

I'm sure you'll take the Shinkansen down to Kyoto. One of my favorite parts of Japan. Notice how they arrive and depart almost down to the second. Amazing.

Crap, I could go on and on.

There aren't public trashcans. You'll be carrying around trash a lot. The 7-11 c-stores have trash cans.

It's generally bad form to eat and walk at the same time - and no food or drink consumed on the subway.

It's easy to rent a cell phone in the airport, if you're interested.

Lot's more here: http://www.theworldisnotflat.com/tags/japan

I'm jealous! Let me know if you want to chat before you leave.

Posted by Lee LeFever
  at 10:05 am on Nov. 21, 2008

Not having ever been to Japan, I don't have much to say other than have a great trip! But my friend Graham's been living there for many years now, and you might want to skim through his blog if you have time, there's posts from trips he's taken and just lots of Japan randomness on there that you might be interested in. http://misosepitaph.blogspot.com

Posted by Ariane
  at 8:32 pm on Nov. 21, 2008

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