Farewell Lunch with my colleagues at IDE-JETRO!

Many thanks Atsuko-san for organizing this event and Abu, Kenmei, Kang, Kazushi, Tomohiro, Sulaiman, Keola, Yuya and Manda-san for joining - hope to see you all again soon in the future!

The group

Could not escape the farewell speech - thanks guys for everything!

 

Samba Festival in Tokyo - A slice of Brazil in Japan

Unforgettable Kyoto!

Visited again recently, this city arguably offers the best slice of Japan - from exquisite cuisine, Zen, numerous UNESCO sites to catching a glimpse of Geisha at a tea ceremony! Here are some pictures from Tokyo Imperial Palace and Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was good to see Christie, a good friend and co-researcher, after a long time.

Seminar at the Institute of Economic Research (IER), Hitotsubashi University

Recently gave a seminar at the Hitotsubashi University. Established in 1875, one of the prestigious institutions in Japan to study social sciences. 

The Great Buddha @ Kamakura

The Great Buddha @ Kotoku-in Temple, Kamakura

Monks @ Hasedara Temple, Kamakura   

   

Oishi !!        

An amazing blend of cuteness and efficiency !

Within 2 hours of my arrival at Narita, Tokyo, I

(1) managed to open a bank account with Tintin and Snowy on it

(2) got my train / bus pass (and guess what with a penguin on it)

and (3) went to the local municipal office to register my arrival!

So nice to be in Japan again!

My temporary workstation this summer at the Institute of Development Economies (IDE-JETRO), Tokyo:

 

and the vending machine at IDE-JETRO actually has more choices than starbucks. I got a cappuccino and it took exactly 32 seconds to prepare it; well, the only slight downside... it took me about 10 minutes to find out which one to press for cappuccino :)