Long time no post

Might be a record for longest time between blog posts! Apologies to my loyal readers. It has really been a busy month of traveling. It's so nice to be back in Tokyo.

There's so much going on. First off is getting back into the swing of things in Japan. Tokyo is really a great place to live and I realize that more now that I've been to more places. Kenn and I had an awesome time at the Fuji Rock Festival last weekend. I've got to get pics up of everything sometime. We saw Muse, The Cure, Beastie Boys, DJ Kentaro, Chemical Brothers, Peter Bjorn and John, among many others. We splurged for a 3 day pass but stayed at a hotel instead of camping on site. It was all quite an experience. There were crowds and lines and lots of walking between stages because it's on a ski mountain, and waiting for shuttle busses. But it was all so worth it with great views, fun people, good bands, food, and fun. My favorite was Beastie Boys, I've been to their concert before and they are just awesome. They are old now but still great. Their newer stuff is more rock than rap but I love em. Although I wouldn't quite call them clean, the portable bathrooms in Japan are way cleaner than in the US. They have squatting ones instead of toilet seats and you can flush them (pump water) so they remain kinda clean. Not bad. Anyway, it was great fun and we may never get the opportunity to go to a festival like that again so glad we went.

Back at work I am trying to dig out of my emails and follow-ups and trying to keep the momentum from my meetings going. I can't remember what I wrote in past posts now so forgive me if I repeat. China's online advertising market is not quite mature so we may have limited traction there. HK might be good over the next year. Back in Japan, with the merger here, I am not sure what the future holds. Things are a bit messy here after the merger and now with my colleague leaving, the one who's been working with me on projects since I arrived, things might be hard. Guess I'll do what I can and see.

The big news is that I spoke to the bosses this morning and looks like it's confirmed I'll be staying here until December. Because of all that's happening it was even suggested that I move to Hong Kong and stay in Asia longer but I turned that down. I think Kenn and I are ready to move on with our lives in NY. We have enjoyed the ride and we're ready to return to the US.

I've had some annoying visa renewal things to take care of. A bit annoyed because I've been asking for months about it and now that it's come down to the wire I find out the application process takes 5-6 weeks and I have to stay in the country. This means my plan to visit NY has to change. I'm still trying to see if I can visit mid-September. It terms of exact return date for good, I'm trying to figure that one out also. My brother gets married first week in December so trying to figure out we should return end of November or go back and forth for 1 month which seems like a waste.

More details to come..