Category: Travel
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Japan: Take 2
The best laid plans of mice… -Slartibartfast When I left Canada nearly six weeks ago it was with the promise that I would be blogging nearly every day. I said that I was going to be traveling around the country on the week-ends, I would be taking a ton of pictures, and I would be […]
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A (Mostly) Boring Trip
I really did have images of going out and having fun every night. I really planned to travel outside of Tokyo and see the country every weekend. That is not what happened. Don’t get me wrong… I have gone out for dinners, if mostly close to home. I have also been spending a lot of […]
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Kyoto is to Tokyo…
I got off the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) at Kyoto Station, which was a hustling and bustling place, just like Tokyo Marunouchi Station where I had embarked. In fact while the layout was different and so were the shops, there wasn’t all that much to differentiate this building from all of the other major ports I […]
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Kyoto: The Ancient Capital
The last time I was in Japan I did not leave Tokyo. This time I vowed would be different. Before I left Canada I bought several Japan Rail passes, and I was ready to explore. After consulting with my peeps over here, and with Simon’s help tracking down a room (it seems autumn is a […]
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Sushi & Cigars: Welcome to Japan Mitch!
No matter how you fly, getting from Toronto to Tokyo is a long flight. Sitting in the window seat of Row 62 probably makes it that much longer… especially when you are my height and size. Since Friday was going to be a regular working day for me, my real first relaxing evening would be […]
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Going Away…
When I leave town for two or three days my preparation depends on two factors: How am I going (by car versus by air or train), and what will I be doing (business versus pleasure). My usual MO is to pack two bags: Clothes and sundries in one, electronics (photography and computers) in another. Depending […]
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Goodbye Vegas: A Friday Post :)
Thanks, I needed that. As I write this I am sitting on a plane outbound from Las Vegas. Aside from spending five marvelous days with great friends, I really needed the vacation. This was, far and away, my most enjoyable trip to that city; part of that is because it is my first visit that […]
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Mitch… Disconnected
So you are one of the world’s most hyper-connected individuals, known for having the Internet at your disposal 24/7. You are scheduled to work with a customer overseas on their connected system via live link, and you have dozens of other things that you usually do / plan to do / want to do during […]
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The New Hat: Not copying anyone…
A dozen years ago my parents went to Australia, and asked if I wanted them to bring me back anything. I asked for a koala. Nothing doing. Okay, then how about a hat? They asked me to measure my head, and sure enough a few weeks later I was introduced to the Akubra brand, and […]
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Driving on the wrong side of the road…
When coming to Sydney I knew I was going to face a new challenge. It isn’t that I had never visited a country that drives on the left side of the road, but I had always taken public transport in those places. In Hong Kong, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Grand […]
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Tie me Kangaroo Down, Sport!
When I found out I was coming to Sydney, Australia I made a mental list of things I wanted to do and to see. So far I have checked off seeing the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach and Manly Beach. While walking around Circular Quay I heard an Aboriginal busker playing […]
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Gone for Walkabout…
One of my very good friends, Erdal Ozkaya, picked me up Sunday morning for an incredible day in and around Sydney. He and his family took me to two very famous beaches – Manly Beach (where Erdal’s son and I practiced our Taekwondo) and Bondi Beach. They took me to a place called Woolloomooroo (which […]
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AC03: Flying with Phaedra!
As I walked down the gangplank toward my ‘home in the air’ for the next eleven hours I heard even before I could see her the head Flight Attendant on Air Canada flight 003 from Vancouver to Tokyo. She was on the PA system almost cheerleading her staff, and as I appeared she put on […]
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SQ11: The Flight of a lifetime!
If I have been delinquent in my blogging over the past few weeks I apologize – I have been preoccupied with work. Overloaded may be a more accurate term, but that is no reason to neglect you, and I apologize for it. In my defense, I have a great article that was ‘in the can’ […]
The World According to Mitch 