Today marked day number 3 for Jeff and I in Tokyo.  We started out the day on our search for coffee.  We found us a Starbucks, but I was disappointed to find out that they have no decaf espresso!  Apparently decaf coffee is an "American thing".  I had to settle for drip which was actually pretty good.  

Jeff and I then took a train to the Omote-Sando shopping area to do some gift shopping for our families.  We ended up in Kiddyland and the Oriental Market and found some good goodies for our little ones.

We went back to the office and worked through lunch in preparation of the evenings event.  

We were half joking with one of our colleagues that it would be fun to go to a Sumo match and as it turns out, there was one going on in Tokyo and we were able to get tickets!  This is a lucky chance as matches last 2 weeks and there are only three matches in Tokyo the entire year.  Of course we did it in DevCentral style - with some side wagering between Jeff and I.   We bet 10 yen a match with a 200 yen bet for the final match between Champion Asashoryu (9-1) and undefeated Kotooshu (10-0).  Jeff went with the Asashoryu and lost the rest of his remaining yen to me - Thanks for playing Jeff, let me know next time you are interested in losing more money B-).  One thing about Sumo I found interesting was the way advertisers would walk banners around the ring before matches to signify how much prize money the winner would receive.  I was thinking that it would be awesome to have DevCentral sponsor a Sumo match!  We'll get working on that one.

After the Sumo matches were completed, we went for a walk to a Buddhist temple (see top picture) and then went to a local restaurant for some Japanese Pizza - and of course some Kirin to wash it down with.  The one major thing I can say about Tokyo is that the food is awesome!

After dinner we went for a few more drinks at a building with the oddest roof decoration I've ever seen.  We closed the place down and hit the train for a ride back to the hotel.  Once at the hotel, I spent some time reviewing the presentation for the Japan User Group meeting that is coming up on Thursday at the American Embassy and was off to sleep for another day.

-Joe