say hello, wave goodbye

I am in Tokyo! More specifically, I am in a hotel on Tokyo Bay, looking out over the harbor, and attempting to conquer both jetlag and my to-do list. I only met with moderate success in both arenas; when I got to the hotel around six p.m., I promptly slept for two and a half hours, and while I finished the most urgent tasks on my to-do list after waking up, I'll probably not get caught up this week.

However, at least the flight was good and v. uneventful; I made it to the airport with plenty of time to buy the snacks that I meant to pick up yesterday, which staved off hunger induced by the two v. bad light meals that were served on the flight. The flight itself was ten hours, which was long enough for me to read a book and most of another book (which I then finished in the airport while waiting for immigration/the bus to the hotel), take a short nap, watch the second half of "How to Train Your Dragon" (my friends' constant use of "slay your dragon" is wildly inaccurate), and the second half of "The Last Station" (which I should have watched all of; it was about the final days of Tolstoy, and his tumultuous love with his wife of fifty years, played with all the usual skill by Helen Mirren). The first book I read was "The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker", which was, well, strangely beautiful (I was intrigued, not entirely sure if I liked it, but still intrigued enough that I am going to read the next one). The second was "Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake", by debut historical author Sarah MacLean -- it was one of the better historical romances I've read in awhile (even if I'm a bit jaded by my own drama and found a subplot involving a bet with an odious baron to be a little eye-roll-worthy -- the rest of it was lovely). Then again, reading about a twenty-eight-year-old spinster hit a bit too close to home, but I was able to overcome that inconvenient detail and enjoy the story.

And now, I really need to go back to sleep, or at least try to; it's 7:30 in the morning in California, but it's 11:30pm in Tokyo, and I need to go into the Tokyo office tomorrow morning. Ugh. However, I shall take as many pictures as I am able so that I can start the Tokyo photo contest at some point (although based on voter turnout in the last photo contest, this may just be an exercise for me, Tammy, and my mother). Goodnight!