Thanks for setting this up, Charlie... I'll do my best to be there!

Are you already working on the sequel of Atlas Shrugged in collaboration with Doctorow? http://www.locusmag.com/2010/April1st_AtlasSequel.html

btw, I know some bits of French, so I loved the in-joke about Hachette, as in viande achee, and Avril Poisson..

Marino

Excellent choice of bars BTW, probably one of the best beer bars in Tokyo. You can count me in :-D

You should head to Hong Kong on your way back! There are awesome beer bars here too.

Don't count me in, but could you do something similar next time you are in Amsterdam?

Any chance that this will be repeated when you are in Australia later in the year ? Thanks.

Hachette actually happens to be Charlie's publisher, too, or at least, they're the media conglomerate who own the divisions that publish some of his books.

At least one airline uses HK as the stopover point on flights between the UK and Melbourne. And Melbourne is where this year's Worldcon is.

(We personally will be getting off a Cathay Pacific plane for a few days on the way back westward, so wouldn't mind knowing about decent bars that Belongers know of.)

Thorben@5: Charlie won't be with me, but I'm paying a flying visit to Amsterdam for a gig on the 26th. Plan to spend the earlier part of the day in 't Loosje on Nieuwmarkt (because it opens at 9am). Not sure about the rest but need to find a decent (non-smoking or outdoor terrace) bar near Paradiso - De Spuyt looks promising.

Alan,

drifting swiftly off-topic from Tokyo - Frites in central Hong Kong is good - plentiful supplies of Dutch and Belgian beers, plus buckets of mussels

You wouldn't be planning a similar event in Kansai while you're here, by any chance? Tokyo's a bit far to pop out for a drink :-(

Actually, Popeye's has about 70 beers on tap. Not 42. And they are all local microbrews. Damn good. So please, drink away...

Everyone aviods me like a cyclone ranger... wish I could show up!

They have some awesome "ji-biiru" microbrews. Count me in. I wonder if, as a group, we can sample all 42 beers on tap?

Great idea, Charlie. I will most certainly be there.

I think I can make it along to that, count me in!

I am not much of a tourist person and I only moved to Amsterdam half a year ago to study computer science there. (I might well show up at 't Loosje in an xkcd T-Shirt though.) So no tips on good bars from me, sorry. Do you have any on bars in Edinburgh? I happen to be spending the next weekend there, primarily for enjoying myself at a céilidh with friends.

(Feòrag@9 see @17, forgot the reference)

Off-topic! I spent a weekend in Edinburgh two weeks ago at Conpulsion 10, and that was in about the best drinking venue I've been to (the company I was keeping might have helped), but I'm afraid it's a Student Union building, so not exactly public. The building is GORGEOUS, outside and in. It's I don't even know how many floors (it's not easy to count; there's a non-trivial amount of floors and mezzanines and cellars and whatnot), and practically every room seems to be a different kind of bar/lounge/cafeteria/pub/club/whatever. If you have any interest in roleplaying games at all, you should definitely consider coming there next year. Which doesn't help you at ALL for your trip next weekend! That's me, being unhelpful!

I'm already signed up, but please add another one to the count. My better half has decreed that there's no way she's going to miss a chance to visit Popeye.

Thorben@17: If it's an interesting bar with good beers, including several Scottish real ales, draught Erdinger, and some Belgian and German bottles, plus a stunning selection of whisky, then Dagda in Buccleuch Street is a good choice. For good real ale and loud rock music, with filling food there's the Auld Hoose on St. Leonard's Street. I also like the Halfway House on Fleshmarket Close - a tiny pub with good beer and lots of railway memorabilia. The beer in the Guildford Arms, just on the other side of the station from the Halfway House, is always good, and the interior is stunning. A wee bit out of town, on Montrose Terrace, Abbeyhill, is the Regent, which is a gay pub like no other - it has really good beer for a start! It's a friendly place, and non-lgbt people won't feel uncomfortable in there.

Nearly all the pubs in the Good Beer Guide are excellent places in which to have a drink. The only really good place not in there is the Brauhaus, which specialises in bottled beer from all over the world and has a good number of obscurities on their A4 book of a beer list.

Well, better late than never: I'll be there as well and am looking forward to it.

I will probably be there.

Hi there, Charles. You don't know me, but I was a friend of Gil's years ago - we were at Roundhay & the Sinai together.I remember you as a 6 year old! Can't believe you are in Tokyo at same time as me and the missus - we are visiting our son who's studying @ Waseda Uni for a year. Saw the article in the Daily Yomiuri. Two of us will definitely be there, and maybe three, as long as we can find the bar! (which sounds great, btw - we are both CAMRA members!) I am more of a comics fan than an out & out Sci Fi geek but I have actually read one of your (Merchant Prince) books which I enjoyed.Looking forward to meeting you(again!)

Steve Thompson

sure ...coming soon

Feòrag@21 Awesome, thanks! I just hope that the prices in any of these are not too intimidating. I am still a student after all :)

Thorben@26: Edinburgh is generally quite expensive, usually around £3 to £3.30 a pint (568ml), but the Hoose is well populated with students so presumably not unaffordable to them.

Hi, This is Trevor from HAL-CON. I can probably make it to the bar on Tuesday. Looking forward to seeing you again and trying out a few new beers!