19 hours door to door but I'm here, in Tokyo, where Akhil's been since Friday. We're at the Westin Hotel at the Ebisu stop in the southwestern part of the city and it's perfectly gorgeous - high 50s, clear and sunny. I can see Mt. Fuji from the room.

So far the uneventful 12-hour flight, 2-hour train odyssey and 30-minute walk to find the hotel from the subway station are about all I've had time to experience. I took an hour walk around the 'hood this morning and found it quiet and pleasant, the people who've helped me find my way around so far kind and generous. I just took out a map in the subway station and two people stopped to point me in the right direction, didn't even ask. Akhil and the Wall-E team should be back from their TV spot tours in a half hour and then we're off to sightsee. It's late fall and true to what the guidebooks promised, the fall colors are everywhere.