Tokyo Monogatari

Well, we're running a little behind on our blogging here at Miles Central. Daddy's been back in Seattle for a week and a half, but he still hasn't finished writing about his trip to Japan.

My daily Skype videoconferences with Miles were a real treat. I could keep up with all of his bargling over the week, while giving him a chance to see a bit of the world (or, at least, my hotel room).

This is what a call looked like for me:



And this is what it looked like from Miles' point of view:


Of course, everywhere there were reminders of Mommy:



I paid a visit to the "Grand Spot" -- my old apartment building where I lived from 1994-97:


And just a ten-minute walk away from the old neighborhood, I saw the new home of our friends Aaron and Tiffany (and their kids Mia and Rhett), who just moved to Tokyo:



You can read about their exciting adventures at their blog Yoko No-No.

Tokyo has changed a bit in the ten years since I lived there full-time. For one thing, a Starbucks run no longer requires a half-day trip to Ginza and back. Now there's one on every block--just like home. Meanwhile, new buildings are going up everywhere, obscuring familiar landmarks and leaving me a bit disoriented in some parts of town. Even the old Defense Agency in Roppongi has been leveled to make way for the sprawling new "Tokyo Midtown" complex:


Talk about swords into plowshares! Although, in truth, the Defense Agency simply moved elsewhere and plowed the real estate profits into new weapons systems. Still, it's something they should keep in mind at the Pentagon when the cash runs short.

-Dean