O'hanami

Its my second spring in Tokyo and I am still so excited, like its my first. I went flowers viewing (hanami) this weekend-but turns out to be more of a Sakura viewing :)

Some dark and light pink Sakura at Tokyo Institute of Technology.















Festival and the nearby pond.















At the Imperial Palace Tokyo.














Close up on a full-blossom tree.















Me and Aishah can't help but take one with the pretty flowers.















The scene at Shinjuku Gyoen.

Austin Convention Center-APEC 2008

Posing at the entrance to the exhibition hall on the first day.















Hallway..















Giving my presentation














Room size- Huge














Dialogue/Poster Sessions















Far different from most conferences I have been to (only two before this), the only free meal given at the conference-Smoked Turkey Sandwich Lunch Box :D

Austin, Texas

Getting to the US is a lot of work. Different from 10-15 years ago-according to my dad going to the States was really easy. Preparation to go to Austin, Texas for the APEC 2008 conference, started with the visa application-required lots of documents, application fee of USD 100 and an interview at the US Embassy in Tokyo. The interview only lasted less than 1 minute. Going there, I had to undergo secondary security check when boarding the plane to Austin at Narita Airport and to Tokyo from Bergstrom Austin International Airport.

At Narita, had a Boiled-egg Shoyu Ramen. The alarm of rings to let you know your food is ready.






























Walked from my hotel to the Austin city center on the arrival day. Needed to stay awake until the actual sleeping time-to get rid of jet lag soonest possible.
















Texas State Capitol
















'Dillos'- Takes you around the city for free.






























Bob Bullock Museum














Austin by day-The tallest building is Frost Bank.


































Demonstration for no bank fees.















Flying back to Tokyo with UA.