Takako and I walked from Sangubashi to Harajaku and on to Omotensando Hills and Roppongi. Ate Italian. Back to Hikarus. Back to Motown in Roppongi. That place is crazy. Ate Udon.

Met with Takako and her friends/former colleagues - Yuka, Take chan, and A-Boy. Too nice. Ate at an Izakaya and went to Karaoke, where I had (several) interesting encounters in the bathroom. Remember, even the Ambassador gets bero bero.

Believe it, baby! This isnt your Brooklyn joints I used to make. Met with Yuko at Hachiko. Went to Aoyama and Omotesando Hills. Shibuya cafe where the crime ocurred. Talked travel, life, bagels, juice, J. calligraphy, and business. Hope she makes the fliers. Met with Takako in Ikebukuro for Ramen and walked around Sunshine city, where I was surprised to see so much PDA.

Ate at Ootoya. Went to Hikarus and ate at the same Chinese restaurant that we went to exactly one year ago, when I first visited Japan, met him {tear drop}.

Breakfast in hotel (Piccolo Mondo) with a garden view. Crushed the food. Akihabara. Kamera Kaita. Maids. Internet cafe. Tsukijitama zushi in Takashimaya Times Square. Not sure about Japanese culture, but I think it would have been rude to leave that last piece sitting there, especially with the Sushi Chef in front of me. That was the toughest taco (octopus) I ever ate.

3 hours sleep. Train to Shinjuku to surprise. Sweet Suite. Nobuko surprises me. Shibuyaaaaaaaaa. Shibuyaaaaaaaaa. Doma Doma. Bar 300. Home before I turned into a pumpkin.

Wheels down 1417 J time. Ryo, baby! Scenic and deep drive. Google earth with the family. Nap, bath, killer meal. Kenji picked us up. Off to Roppongi. Power drink.　DJs galore. Nabe with Shin. Got deep. Home at 0630.

Wheels up at 12:06PM EST. Met Yoshi on the plane.

Dear Friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I bid you all farewell.

As you may know, I have decided to change the course of my life and will be pursuing new opportunities around the world.

It has been a distinct pleasure to be associated with each of you, first as individuals, then as a cohesive units, and finally as a firm. All respect due to past, present, and future employees of the firm that have created and will build PwC, not just as a brand, but as a family of professionals who provide exceptional client service and serve an integral role in the
functioning of the world’s capital markets.

I eagerly anticipate the future where a confluence of personal, political, and business relationships await us.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives, even if for a brief moment. I wish each of you only the best in your personal and professional endeavors, knowing that you will achieve success and happiness in all that you pursue.

Adieu,

Jesse A. Sestito

Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the by way
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!

~Rudyard Kipling  

And a (hu)man is what I am… 

By definition, an Ambassador is one who serves as the official representative of his or her own country. However, one should not confine his thinking of an Ambassador to an authorized individual.

In fact, we are all “official”. Not via birthright or passport, but through mere existence. Each of us is charged with the responsibility to act as an Ambassador. First for himself and his family, and then for his Country, his people. To be effective, investigation and study of conditions of others is a requisite. It is through these that one is able to link theory with practice.

This process should not be aberrant, nor should it be undertaken with a tone of arrogance.

Don’t be fuddled. I’m no Patriot missile, but I am launching myself and the American archetype overseas, and you’re going to have full access to all my journal entries. Don’t worry, they’ll balance. I differ from “Flat” Friedman or Fareed Zakaria, because I’m not so much a cultural opportunist as I am a creator and synthesizer of it. From daily observations to international politics; DEEP in Tokyo to the Peaks of the Himalayas, The Ambassador’s Lounge will provide timely and provocative analyses of conditions of those around the world.

So, if your feeling froggy, leap over to my log for a view of the world beyond the dark side of the moon.

E pluribus unum,

~JAS