This note's going to be short, because there simply isn't too much to report. Work is moving along. The end of this month is going to be hectic as more and more of the subsystems that I'll be working with move farther along. I really haven't done any exploring worth mentioning. I have noticed one thing about the jet lag...For the most part, it doesn't seem to hit me too badly. The problem is that for something like the first week or so I get extremely exhausted around 9:00 PM. I usually give in and just go to bed early if there's nothing special going on. The good news is that since the sun comes up so early (around 5:00, I think I've said already), it's very easy to wake up at 6:00 or so and get ready for work.
Here's irony for you...I got a higher room at the hotel this time: 31st floor instead of 26th. The catch is that it's directly above where my last one was, so the view is essentially the same. Also, I did a little more exploring of the hotel itself. It's very beautiful, with some occasional nooks and crannies tucked away here and there. On the sixth floor are three more restaurants. I think I mentioned our breakfast discount at the restaurant downstairs (buffet for "only" $20.00). It turns out that that's the cheap restaurant. The ones on the sixth floor seem to all have various fixed-price meals (or "sets") available. Their prices run from $125.00 to $380.00! I'm talking for one person! I had to double check to make sure I wasn't off by a decimal place. I guess I've found some of the astronomical prices that you hear so much about back in the states.
Really, that's about it for now. I made a very poor attempt at starting the Japanese language course on tapes that I bought in the states. I haven't even made it through the first lesson yet. In all fairness, though, I think that part of the problem has been the jet lag bit. It's really hard to listen to language tapes when you're really tired.
More pictures are definitely coming. I won an auction for the Nikon Coolpix 990 I've decided to get, and just need to take care of payment and shipping now. Then I'll be much more motivated to get out and about and see more of what's going on. It's just not the same to see something once and then go back later for pictures. That's why I've held off.
Have fun everybody! - Chuck