Feeling like a Jetsons

Driving around Tokyo on the elevated ring roads reminded me of one of my favorite cartoon shows, the Jetsons. At about a twenty story building high, I was cruising at 70 km/h in a very comfortable and confidence 2009 Audi A5. To my right, the view of the urban jungle landscape was whizzing by. When the traffic slowed down enough and I was in the thick of the urban jungle, my eyes wandered to the skyscrapers and caught glimpses of the people living in their penthouses.

The third generation (3G) Multi Media Interface (MMI) warned me about the upcoming traffic jam. The right side of the dual view mode showed my location on the map while the left side view illustrates the traffic ahead. The orange color that bled to red enhanced the visual cue about the traffic condition. I was somewhere above the Shibuya district. My destination was the Audi Forum Japan in Harajuku neighborhood. I decided to get off on the next exit to avoid the traffic jam.

This Audi A5 came equipped with the built in transponder for the Electronic Ticket Collection (ETC) system. After the MMI screen, along with a very friendly female voice, informed me that I just paid 700 Yen, the dual view came back. I was descending rapidly to the ground level from the five story high elevated highway. I felt like a Jetsons descending to the lower ground in a flying car from where ordinary lives take place among the clouds.

This time, the left side of the dual view MMI showed me the computer generated graphics of the real view before me. The details were amazing. It was as if someone took a picture of this exit complete with the buildings on the left side, the complex elevated highway structures in front and to the right, and the trees on the left. All those details were presented in the computer generated graphics. At this time, the Navigation computer had calculated the new path because I took the exit to avoid the traffic jam. The blue arrow, in this computer generated graphic, showed which street I had to take from the three streets fanning before me. I wanted one of this at home!

All navigation data, both for display and for entering addresses, are in Kanji. So entering an address in Kanji was a surmountable task for me. The 3G MMI is equipped with an integrated flushed thumb joystick. This joystick also functions as the original button in the previous generation MMI on the top of the large center dial. This joystick is required to select the variation of a kanji character once you select a character using the dial. It also makes browsing the map a heck lot easier. But this was not the way I entered the address to the Audi Forum. Luckily there is another mechanism to enter the destination, very clever actually. I entered the destination by entering the phone number of Audi Forum! Ingenious!

After going through a maze of Tokyo roads, we arrived at the Audi Forum (http://www.audi.co.jp/audiforum). I had been to several Audi Forums but I had never seen the one like this. The all glass exterior that zigzags upward and the glowing interior reminded me of the Superman’s secret ice palace. Contemporary design is my favorite, so I really enjoyed the view of this building. Inside, the first two stories are occupied by Audi show rooms and café. It showcases the latest car models behind the backdrop of Audi history and heritage. The friendly and courteous Audi Forum representatives gave me a tour of the location. If you are in Harajuku neighborhood in Tokyo and looking for a place to take some pressure of your feet, this will be a nice relaxing place.

Japanese Delicacy

I love sushi but I had never seen the stupendous selections of raw seafood till now. I am adventurous as far as seafood, but I could not get myself to eat a raw Conch. I would rather enjoy its empty shell as an ornament than to eat its flesh even if it were cooked. But according to my dare-devil food aficionado California native friend, this Conch sushi is heavenly. I took his words.

To my surprise, there was a wide variety of pasta dishes here in Japan. Had I never been to Italy, I could easily be led to believe that pasta was from Japan. Vegetable pasta gratin, a bed of fresh vegetable and angle hair pasta topped with melted baked cheese, was one of my many favorite Japanese pasta dishes. Okonomiyaki, seafood and vegetable egg pancake over fried noodle, was another one.

The foods not only tasted heavenly delicious, but they also looked very ornate. Japanese people take pride in quality and presentation. They go through elaborate preparation to ensure that the freshness, the individual taste and aroma, the seductive color, and the unique form blend together to form an ensemble of culinary delight.

Similarly, Audi designers and engineers go through intricate design and manufacturing processes to ensure the best craftsmanship. This was not something that I learned from reading a brochure. This was something that I felt and experienced when I sat in this progressive sporty cockpit of the A5. The sport leather seats cocoon the passengers. The white glow of the instruments gives a soothing ambience. The piano black inserts accentuate the already elegant lines and curves of the spaceship-like cabin.

On the exterior, the LED daytime running lights, the sporty grill, the bold hood lines, the sinuous waist lines, and the sweeping roof create the stunning form that oozes dynamism. Even at stand still, this A5 invokes the feeling of energy, speed, and agility. I would not want to be its prey. My tired spirit from a long day at work was rejuvenated the minute I climbed into this A5.

One more thing, my favorite wake-up drink in this 30 degree Celsius 100% humidity weather was the Starbuck tall lite Frappuccino with grass jelly. After this trip, I would be bringing a can of grass jelly to my neighborhood Starbuck so I could add the grass jelly myself. Delicious!

Needing more space and Zen

My weekday life was filled with meeting with many people in black suits, packed subway trips, and crossing intersections in a sea of people. One of the positives of being in the crowded and electrifying place like Tokyo was the fact that I could sense the buzzing of people’s energy around me. There were so many things to do after work. Different neighborhoods have different characteristics and offer a wide variety of nightlife activities.

World clothing designers come to Shibuya and Harajuku to search for inspirations by watching how the teenagers dress and try to outdo their peers in fashion creativities every night of the week. The thirty something crowd dressed for success congregate in Roppongi Hills high end luxury district. The bright and colorful neon sign lit up the Shinjuku neighborhood where the locals go to their favorite restaurant and karaoke bars.

After many long days of work and long nights of socializing, I started to long for something more subtle, something more Zen, and something more open. Rural Japan was perfect for my longing as the whole country is located on one of the most tectonically active regions in the world. This is where mountains grow daily and the landscapes never stay the same.

So, quickly I made several weekend-gateway plans to explore mountainous and lush rural Japan. After spending a lot of time with Google map and talking to many people in Japan, I selected three regions and they are all within a few hours drive from Tokyo. After all, I needed the rejuvenating work-detox plan.

http://www.audi.co.jp/audiforum). I had been to several Audi Forums but I had never seen the one like this. The all glass exterior that zigzags upward and the glowing interior reminded me of the Superman’s secret ice palace. Contemporary design is my favorite, so I really enjoyed the view of this building. Inside, the first two stories are occupied by Audi show rooms and café. It showcases the latest car models behind the backdrop of Audi history and heritage. The friendly and courteous Audi Forum representatives gave me a tour of the location. If you are in Harajuku neighborhood in Tokyo and looking for a place to take some pressure of your feet, this will be a nice relaxing place.

Japanese Delicacy

I love sushi but I had never seen the stupendous selections of raw seafood till now. I am adventurous as far as seafood, but I could not get myself to eat a raw Conch. I would rather enjoy its empty shell as an ornament than to eat its flesh even if it were cooked. But according to my dare-devil food aficionado California native friend, this Conch sushi is heavenly. I took his words.

To my surprise, there was a wide variety of pasta dishes here in Japan. Had I never been to Italy, I could easily be led to believe that pasta was from Japan. Vegetable pasta gratin, a bed of fresh vegetable and angle hair pasta topped with melted baked cheese, was one of my many favorite Japanese pasta dishes. Okonomiyaki, seafood and vegetable egg pancake over fried noodle, was another one.

The foods not only tasted heavenly delicious, but they also looked very ornate. Japanese people take pride in quality and presentation. They go through elaborate preparation to ensure that the freshness, the individual taste and aroma, the seductive color, and the unique form blend together to form an ensemble of culinary delight.

Similarly, Audi designers and engineers go through intricate design and manufacturing processes to ensure the best craftsmanship. This was not something that I learned from reading a brochure. This was something that I felt and experienced when I sat in this progressive sporty cockpit of the A5. The sport leather seats cocoon the passengers. The white glow of the instruments gives a soothing ambience. The piano black inserts accentuate the already elegant lines and curves of the spaceship-like cabin.

On the exterior, the LED daytime running lights, the sporty grill, the bold hood lines, the sinuous waist lines, and the sweeping roof create the stunning form that oozes dynamism. Even at stand still, this A5 invokes the feeling of energy, speed, and agility. I would not want to be its prey. My tired spirit from a long day at work was rejuvenated the minute I climbed into this A5.

One more thing, my favorite wake-up drink in this 30 degree Celsius 100% humidity weather was the Starbuck tall lite Frappuccino with grass jelly. After this trip, I would be bringing a can of grass jelly to my neighborhood Starbuck so I could add the grass jelly myself. Delicious!

Needing more space and Zen

My weekday life was filled with meeting with many people in black suits, packed subway trips, and crossing intersections in a sea of people. One of the positives of being in the crowded and electrifying place like Tokyo was the fact that I could sense the buzzing of people’s energy around me. There were so many things to do after work. Different neighborhoods have different characteristics and offer a wide variety of nightlife activities.

World clothing designers come to Shibuya and Harajuku to search for inspirations by watching how the teenagers dress and try to outdo their peers in fashion creativities every night of the week. The thirty something crowd dressed for success congregate in Roppongi Hills high end luxury district. The bright and colorful neon sign lit up the Shinjuku neighborhood where the locals go to their favorite restaurant and karaoke bars.

After many long days of work and long nights of socializing, I started to long for something more subtle, something more Zen, and something more open. Rural Japan was perfect for my longing as the whole country is located on one of the most tectonically active regions in the world. This is where mountains grow daily and the landscapes never stay the same.

So, quickly I made several weekend-gateway plans to explore mountainous and lush rural Japan. After spending a lot of time with Google map and talking to many people in Japan, I selected three regions and they are all within a few hours drive from Tokyo. After all, I needed the rejuvenating work-detox plan.

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Feeling like a Jetsons

Driving around Tokyo on the elevated ring roads reminded me of one of my favorite cartoon shows, the Jetsons. At about a twenty story building high, I was cruising at 70 km/h in a very comfortable and confidence 2009 Audi A5. To my right, the view of the urban jungle landscape was whizzing by. When the traffic slowed down enough and I was in the thick of the urban jungle, my eyes wandered to the skyscrapers and caught glimpses of the people living in their penthouses.

The third generation (3G) Multi Media Interface (MMI) warned me about the upcoming traffic jam. The right side of the dual view mode showed my location on the map while the left side view illustrates the traffic ahead. The orange color that bled to red enhanced the visual cue about the traffic condition. I was somewhere above the Shibuya district. My destination was the Audi Forum Japan in Harajuku neighborhood. I decided to get off on the next exit to avoid the traffic jam.

This Audi A5 came equipped with the built in transponder for the Electronic Ticket Collection (ETC) system. After the MMI screen, along with a very friendly female voice, informed me that I just paid 700 Yen, the dual view came back. I was descending rapidly to the ground level from the five story high elevated highway. I felt like a Jetsons descending to the lower ground in a flying car from where ordinary lives take place among the clouds.

This time, the left side of the dual view MMI showed me the computer generated graphics of the real view before me. The details were amazing. It was as if someone took a picture of this exit complete with the buildings on the left side, the complex elevated highway structures in front and to the right, and the trees on the left. All those details were presented in the computer generated graphics. At this time, the Navigation computer had calculated the new path because I took the exit to avoid the traffic jam. The blue arrow, in this computer generated graphic, showed which street I had to take from the three streets fanning before me. I wanted one of this at home!

All navigation data, both for display and for entering addresses, are in Kanji. So entering an address in Kanji was a surmountable task for me. The 3G MMI is equipped with an integrated flushed thumb joystick. This joystick also functions as the original button in the previous generation MMI on the top of the large center dial. This joystick is required to select the variation of a kanji character once you select a character using the dial. It also makes browsing the map a heck lot easier. But this was not the way I entered the address to the Audi Forum. Luckily there is another mechanism to enter the destination, very clever actually. I entered the destination by entering the phone number of Audi Forum! Ingenious!

After going through a maze of Tokyo roads, we arrived at the Audi Forum (http://www.audi.co.jp/audiforum). I had been to several Audi Forums but I had never seen the one like this. The all glass exterior that zigzags upward and the glowing interior reminded me of the Superman’s secret ice palace. Contemporary design is my favorite, so I really enjoyed the view of this building. Inside, the first two stories are occupied by Audi show rooms and café. It showcases the latest car models behind the backdrop of Audi history and heritage. The friendly and courteous Audi Forum representatives gave me a tour of the location. If you are in Harajuku neighborhood in Tokyo and looking for a place to take some pressure of your feet, this will be a nice relaxing place.

Japanese Delicacy

I love sushi but I had never seen the stupendous selections of raw seafood till now. I am adventurous as far as seafood, but I could not get myself to eat a raw Conch. I would rather enjoy its empty shell as an ornament than to eat its flesh even if it were cooked. But according to my dare-devil food aficionado California native friend, this Conch sushi is heavenly. I took his words.

To my surprise, there was a wide variety of pasta dishes here in Japan. Had I never been to Italy, I could easily be led to believe that pasta was from Japan. Vegetable pasta gratin, a bed of fresh vegetable and angle hair pasta topped with melted baked cheese, was one of my many favorite Japanese pasta dishes. Okonomiyaki, seafood and vegetable egg pancake over fried noodle, was another one.

The foods not only tasted heavenly delicious, but they also looked very ornate. Japanese people take pride in quality and presentation. They go through elaborate preparation to ensure that the freshness, the individual taste and aroma, the seductive color, and the unique form blend together to form an ensemble of culinary delight.

Similarly, Audi designers and engineers go through intricate design and manufacturing processes to ensure the best craftsmanship. This was not something that I learned from reading a brochure. This was something that I felt and experienced when I sat in this progressive sporty cockpit of the A5. The sport leather seats cocoon the passengers. The white glow of the instruments gives a soothing ambience. The piano black inserts accentuate the already elegant lines and curves of the spaceship-like cabin.

On the exterior, the LED daytime running lights, the sporty grill, the bold hood lines, the sinuous waist lines, and the sweeping roof create the stunning form that oozes dynamism. Even at stand still, this A5 invokes the feeling of energy, speed, and agility. I would not want to be its prey. My tired spirit from a long day at work was rejuvenated the minute I climbed into this A5.

One more thing, my favorite wake-up drink in this 30 degree Celsius 100% humidity weather was the Starbuck tall lite Frappuccino with grass jelly. After this trip, I would be bringing a can of grass jelly to my neighborhood Starbuck so I could add the grass jelly myself. Delicious!

Needing more space and Zen

My weekday life was filled with meeting with many people in black suits, packed subway trips, and crossing intersections in a sea of people. One of the positives of being in the crowded and electrifying place like Tokyo was the fact that I could sense the buzzing of people’s energy around me. There were so many things to do after work. Different neighborhoods have different characteristics and offer a wide variety of nightlife activities.

World clothing designers come to Shibuya and Harajuku to search for inspirations by watching how the teenagers dress and try to outdo their peers in fashion creativities every night of the week. The thirty something crowd dressed for success congregate in Roppongi Hills high end luxury district. The bright and colorful neon sign lit up the Shinjuku neighborhood where the locals go to their favorite restaurant and karaoke bars.

After many long days of work and long nights of socializing, I started to long for something more subtle, something more Zen, and something more open. Rural Japan was perfect for my longing as the whole country is located on one of the most tectonically active regions in the world. This is where mountains grow daily and the landscapes never stay the same.

So, quickly I made several weekend-gateway plans to explore mountainous and lush rural Japan. After spending a lot of time with Google map and talking to many people in Japan, I selected three regions and they are all within a few hours drive from Tokyo. After all, I needed the rejuvenating work-detox plan.