Jots from Japan

This is surprising. There are more English-language television stations available in the Crowne Plaza Beijing than there are in the Narita Hilton, 3 or 4 in Beijing compared to one here. In Beijing, I was able to listen to CNN, BBC, and one or two other English-language stations. Here at the Tokyo airport, I can listen to idiot programs on FOX...nothing more. [UPDATE: I was wrong...just didn't know which buttons to push...I can get CNN, etc. on the TV here in Narita.]

On the other hand, in Beijing I could not view this blog...apparently everything at blogspot.com is blocked by the Communist censors in China. I had no trouble posting, but was not permitted to read...so I had to go in through the back door, using GoToMyPC to log in to my office, then open a browser to view the blog. Pain in the ass, but I was willing to do it to circumvent the Communist censors. I do not like censors of any stripe...Republicans, Communists, Democrats...if they withhold information from me or prevent me from hearing what others have to say, they earn my wrath.

My computer, which I thought had died, has not...yet. It occasionally acts like the hard drive is cooked, but then later I can log in and use it just fine. But it's getting closer to being 'done,' so I need a replacement ASAP. I'm able to continue reading and blogging...and crossing my fingers and toes.

For breakfast this morning, I had baked salmon, grated radish, baked tiny tomatoes, an odd little sausage, a potato 'cake,' and a little omelet. It sounds like more than it was. I wanted to try some other stuff, including rice with a variety of pickled veggies, but I didn't want to overdo it. I do not know what is a typical Japanese breakfast, but I wanted to come as close as I could...so I watched what others got from the buffet and followed suit. Lots of people got salads...lettuce, bean sprouts, etc...but I do not digest such things well, thanks to surgery many years ago that snatched about 5 feet of intestines. That's off-topic. Back to breakfast. It's interesting to see breakfast that is utterly, completely, and totally different from the typical fare in the U.S. I'd like to see (or open?) a restaurant called "Breakfast Around the World." It would serve just what it says...and with breakfast you would get a little book that gives a brief summary of breakfast practices the world over. Note to self: research and write that book if it hasn't been done.

I'd like to have some nice sake since I'm so close to the source, but it's early in the day here (about 9:00 am), so it would be a bit odd to order it now. Maybe I'll get some on the plane. Or, I could wait until I get to Dallas and go to one of our favorite sushi places that sells a variety of the stuff.