One of those 'occasional' belated updates from Tokyo
[Well almost] I'm currently in the air over Canada en route to New York for the remainder of this week. Have a client dinner tonight, followed by teaching a training course for a group of international Internal Auditors tomorrow, meetings on Wednesday and leaving the US on Thursday afternoon to arrive back in Tokyo just in time for the leaving due of one of my colleagues.
It's been a busy few weeks since I last updated here - what with the impact of the first application of the Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 legislation, and new auditing standards promulgated by the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a visit from the lovely lilitufire and most recently, this weekend a 'look-see' visit from a potential secondee to Japan.
Having been told that Northwestern Airlines was not so good, I have to say either I have struck lucky or my colleagues are misinformed. My seat reclined to make a reasonable bed, albeit at about at 25 degree angle to horizontal (so still not quite up to the standards of BA or Virgin's business class accommodation). Video on demand and a bright 10 inch LCD screen were appreciated, though whether watching Arthur was the best use of my time is another matter! Having a seat upstairs with locker-space beside me is also nice. If I do get around to doing my round the world trip with lilitufire anytime soon, it will definitely be in business class...
It will be interesting to see what my Japanese colleagues make of the potential secondee we had visiting this weekend - some of us fear that there may be some degree of reaction to his background. P is a Malaysian national (of Indian descent) who has been in the US for the last 12 years (including nine years with the firm). He was in Tokyo to get a sense of what the place is like and to try and decide whether it was somewhere he could bring his wife and two-year old son for a couple of years. It was interesting to act as his guide for some of the time that he was in Japan (all three days of it!), and get a sense of the decision-making process again. Following a dinner at Shunju (which surpassed itself with a great seasonal set menu for £30 a head) with Anna and me, P spent Saturday morning being shown accommodation by a real estate agent. 'Tony' the agent was, as expected. concluded to be 'a real character'. Tony's a very Americanized Japanese who makes a living from setting expats up in apartments that cost a large multiple of what he could afford himself - but exceedingly helpful to those of us who had no idea what we want or where we want to live.
[And here I ran out of time and this has been sat on my PC for days! Appalling journaler?]
It's been a busy few weeks since I last updated here - what with the impact of the first application of the Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 legislation, and new auditing standards promulgated by the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a visit from the lovely lilitufire and most recently, this weekend a 'look-see' visit from a potential secondee to Japan.
Having been told that Northwestern Airlines was not so good, I have to say either I have struck lucky or my colleagues are misinformed. My seat reclined to make a reasonable bed, albeit at about at 25 degree angle to horizontal (so still not quite up to the standards of BA or Virgin's business class accommodation). Video on demand and a bright 10 inch LCD screen were appreciated, though whether watching Arthur was the best use of my time is another matter! Having a seat upstairs with locker-space beside me is also nice. If I do get around to doing my round the world trip with lilitufire anytime soon, it will definitely be in business class...
It will be interesting to see what my Japanese colleagues make of the potential secondee we had visiting this weekend - some of us fear that there may be some degree of reaction to his background. P is a Malaysian national (of Indian descent) who has been in the US for the last 12 years (including nine years with the firm). He was in Tokyo to get a sense of what the place is like and to try and decide whether it was somewhere he could bring his wife and two-year old son for a couple of years. It was interesting to act as his guide for some of the time that he was in Japan (all three days of it!), and get a sense of the decision-making process again. Following a dinner at Shunju (which surpassed itself with a great seasonal set menu for £30 a head) with Anna and me, P spent Saturday morning being shown accommodation by a real estate agent. 'Tony' the agent was, as expected. concluded to be 'a real character'. Tony's a very Americanized Japanese who makes a living from setting expats up in apartments that cost a large multiple of what he could afford himself - but exceedingly helpful to those of us who had no idea what we want or where we want to live.
[And here I ran out of time and this has been sat on my PC for days! Appalling journaler?]