For goodness sake

I had my first keynote talk in Tokyo - which meant weaning and leaving the zachary for the longest time yet. The lead up was a bit rough, but the actual trip went very well - both for dad and the kids, and for me. Despite only being in Japan from Sunday morning till Tuesday afternoon, I managed to fit a lot of "culture" in - helped by the fact I was utterly spoilt by my hosts.

Barrels of sake are donated every year by the brewers in Tokyo to this Palace shrine - also a very popular place for weddings, and wedding photos. I got to watch 5 different couples come through - each in the incredibly beautiful kimonos.

My wonderful host, Ai.

The best place to try sake for the first time surely must be at a restaurant on the top floor overlooking Tokyo while being served divine Japanese food. Surely.

As an honoured guest ("cough") they took me to a 300 year old Japanese tea house on the campus for a formal lunch. Everything was stunningly beautiful. Not always delicious, but always beautiful.