Work Trips - 1998

Travel Dates - Memories - Itinerary Details

Travel Dates

In 1998, we relocated to Tokyo on the 24th of June, so there were business trips for both of us due to our upcoming move.
 
America Europe Asia
1998 London September 19 - 26 Tokyo April 11 - 26 
Tokyo & Tokyo May 18 - June 17 
Tokyo Nov 13 - 16 
Singapore Nov 20 - 29
Memories

Tokyo & Tokyo May 18 - June 17
FIVE weeks in Tokyo. We stayed in the Imperial Hotel & received a fax from Gary, plus a CUTE Birthday card from my Japanese teacher in London (Saori Ford). We worked ALOT. We celebrated Tara's Birthday at Disneyland - but we forget cash the first time we went, so we couldn't buy annual passes :-(. We discovered that one neat restaurant along the tracks downstairs where we ate around big square tables indoores & also the one under the tracks outside with lots of smoke where overturned crates made the tables and they were moved if a truck had to come through. Tara's skirt was busting at the seams by the end of five weeks. Her only exercise was at night walking home at about 10pm or so along the Imperial Palace moat. Remember the frog walks together in the Hibiya park. Those were some BIG frogs. Remember the weekends of work when food was delivered to us. Tara remembers Rob not switching the listener back from dev and TONS of bonds going into dev when they should have went into prod after the weekly reboot. That was a work until 8am the next day night - YUK.  Jerry brought me donuts. Remember the outdoor noodle guy and his brother who had a little ramen & gyoza restaurant truck that pulled up at 8pm. Remember going to the convenient store for lunch (and breakfast and dinner even sometimes). Remember looking at apartments. Remember going up to swim in the Imperial Hotel Pool and seeing the Shinkansen trains pulling into and out of Tokyo station (yen 2,100 to go to the pool). Seth remembers the earthquake the night Tara flew back to London (on the 14th - Seth stayed until the 17th).

London September 19 - 26

Tokyo Nov 13 - 16
We were settled and living in Tokyo, but we spent a few nights in our "old home", the Imperial Hotel, since Seth had to be close to the office for the weekend. This was the weekend when many employees in Tokyo moved from the Urbanet Otemachi Building to the Otemachi First Square Building. Therefore, many people from customer services were put up in nearby hotel rooms.

Singapore Nov 20 - 29
Tara attended the PPC1 (Project Planning & Control) week long course in Singapore. The course started on Sunday afternoon, but she had to fly out early on Friday to participate in a Euro-converstion rehearsal weekend.The rehearsal weekend was a joke since there was nothing to do. Thus, she went to the Reptile Park for part of the day. Her course timing was great since the annual Singapore office Dinner & Dance was being held at the Ritz Carlton the weekend after her course. Therefore, she flew home on Sunday instead of right after the course on Saturday. The D&D was ALOT of fun! She dressed up with the OBS Financial Control users who had decided on a Devils and Angels theme. When she went to a costume shop, the devil costumes were much more fun than the angel costums, so she was a devil. She didn't sit with the Devils and angeles group though since they arrived at the dinner late. Instead, some of Seth's work colleagues invited her over and she had fun sitting with them and even dancing!

Itinerary Details

Tokyo April 11 - 26
Saturday, 11 April 1998
9:30am - Virgin Limo to pick Seth up at home
12 noon - Massage scheduled in Virgin Atlantic Lounge in Heathrow
Virgin Atlantic Flight 900 departing London at 1pm and arriving Tokyo at 9am the next day, seat 2A Upper Class!
ANA Hotel Tokyo for 14 nights at JPY 24,946 per night. Laundry + food brought the two weekly hotel bills to JPY 197,796 and JPY 189,019
Sunday, 26 April 1998
British Airways Flight 6 departing Tokyo at 11:00am and arriving London at 3:30pm, seat 62J
The flights cost the company GBP 2,164
Seth also was reimbursed a total of GBP 2,756.49

Tokyo & Tokyo May 18 - June 17
We expensed a total of:
Seth = Yen 203,647 (GBP 951) & Tara = Yen 206,248 (GBP 962) in Cash expenses
19,000 Yen (88.70 GBP)together in Subway, JR and Telephone cards
Our room in the Imperial Hotel was 33,000 Yen per night + tax to equal 39,204 per night.
Out toal hotel bill was Yen 1,585,009 Yen (GBP 6,995.18)
Our grand total to be reimbursed to us was GBP 8,240.76 (over 12,000 USD)
 
London September 19 - 26
19 Sep - Virgin Atlantic 901
26 September 1998
Virgin Atlantic flight 900 departing London at 1pm arriving Tokyo at ?? next day. seat 7K Upper Class
Perot Systems paid JPY 724,220 for Seth's ticket.

Tokyo Nov 13 - 16
Arrived November 13, Departed November 16th. Imperial Hotel Room 2615. Room Charge = 26,000 per night + tax = 30,030 total. We got room service twice and the total bill came to 97,523 Japanese Yen. This translated to 486.05 British Pounds.

Singapore Nov 20 - 29
November 20, 1998
Singapore Airlines flight 997 departing Tokyo at 12 noon & arriving Singapore at 6:20pm. economy seat 41K.
November 29, 1998
Singapore Airlines flight 12 deparing Singapore at 9:45am & arriving Tokyo at 5:05pm. economy seat 40B.
The company paid JPY 222,830 in airfare to send me to Sing for the Project Planning & Control course.
I stayed at the Ritz Carlton from Friday, Nov 20 - Sunday, Nov. 22 in a really kool upgraded corner suite room for the normal price of SGD 195 + tax per night.
After seeing how depressing the other hotel was, I came back to the Ritz, but my kool room had been re-assigned. No problem. The Ritz was MUCH nicer than where I would have stayed.