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I started off my first weekend by waking up at 4am (!!) and heading straight to Tsukiji Market. This is the world's largest fish and seafood market and has a massive fruit & veg market on-site too. I watched the famous frozen tuna auction at 5.30 and then wandered around the market before heading for a breakfast of sushi at about 8.30. It was the freshest and tastiest sushi I’ve ever eaten! I then headed back home to shower the fish-smell off and take a nap. Post-nap, I headed up to Asakusa to do some temple-hopping. That whole area is a fantastic combination of gorgeous temples and shrines with stunning gardens and streets filled with shops and stalls that sell local food, clothes and trinkets. There is lots of reasonably priced traditional Japanese yukatas and geta for sale, as well as fans, parasols and lanterns. It was really good to see lots of locals walking around in their yukatas - the women all looked so beautiful. I even walked past two dogs who were dressed in full Japanese gear!

Another day I headed over to Roppingi and took the lift up to the 52^nd floor of the Mori Tower, where there is a huge atrium that allows for 360-degree views of Tokyo. Up at the top is also a massive art installation space that is currently home to the 'Sky Aquarium'. Think modern art meets deep sea world, on psychedelic drugs. All in the dark and surrounded by mirrored walls are individual aquariums designed by various artists; giant tanks filled with jellyfish, which are illuminated by a laser light show; tiered tanks with water cascading into the next tank down, each with a different type of goldfish and huge gemstone shaped tanks filled with tropical fish. It was truly magical.

I spent this week with the 'credit' desk, sitting with the two guys who trade Japanese credit derivative swaps (CDS). Basically, CDSs provide insurance against the company you've invested in going bust and are used for hedging large investments. My week at the CDS desk has been brilliant - it's been a quiet week, giving me time to learn lots. The desk manager spent an hour one day going over the structure of a securities company and other financial institutions, which really helped me to see where the various specialities fit in. It also helped put the work I've been doing for the last two weeks into perspective.

On Wednesday John Swinney (the Scottish Parliament’s Cabinet Secretary for finance and sustainable growth) and his entourage tipped up to RBS just after 12.00. My line manager, the main boss and myself chatted with them all for a bit and posed for numerous photos in front of RBS logos. They were a really nice bunch! I was mainly answering questions like, "How did you end up working in Tokyo?” and, "How are you enjoying it so far?” so it was a good opportunity to big up the SaltireFoundation!

I had been invited to a reception with John Swinney and others at the British Embassy that evening, so headed over after work. After various speeches were made, the networking really kicked-off and I made some brilliant contacts. I also realised just how small the world is. One guy I was talking to sent his daughter to my old school while they were living in Edinburgh for a bit, then, someone dragged over this unsuspecting Japanese man as it turned out that his daughter has just finished her first year of physics at St Andrews - crazy! As a result of chatting to various people, I was invited to the St Andrews Society Summer BBQ and Ceilidh on Saturday. This was so surreal. The mad combination of taiko drummers, an all-Japanese pipe band, ceilidh and a barbeque that was eaten using chopsticks made me felt like I was at home and very far away at the same time. I also got to meet up with my guarantor, Stephen, and one of last year's Saltire Interns, Zach, which was really nice. After the ceilidh, we all went out and I experienced my first ever karaoke! It was such a good laugh; I can't wait to do it again some time soon.