Tuesday, December 15, 2009


Wednesday December 16, 3:59 p.m.
Just one more lesson to go and then I'll be officially on the Holidays. Had Grandma Dynamite for the double and The Nurse earlier today. And then I went down to Times Square to pick the last couple of presents from Tokyu Hands and some reading material for the eventual flight home.
Just another Xmas tree near the main intersection of Ginza. Quite popular with the shutterbugs.
It'll be Mr. TOEFL who'll round out the year with me. Speedy had him yesterday, and yep, as I suspected, the bossman also relayed the message of our newest student not quite beating the clock for his Speaking Test.
Anyways...more later...

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Monday December 14, 4:28 p.m.

Back from some more Xmas shopping. I was able to kill two birds with one stone by being able to get both my niece's present and that book for The Anime King at Yodobashi Akiba. And I could use some points off the card for a nice little discount on the Anpanman game (and that is for the niece). No doner kebab today but instead I decided to get a Whopper at Burger King nearby. Right in front of the shop, some hardcase cop was reaming out a taxi driver for some infraction. It seems to be one way or the other; I'd seen a taxi driver take on 4 cops in Shibuya once.

With that, I believe I've got virtually all of the shopping done, although I feel that I should get something as a housewarming gift for The Entrepreneur and his wife, while something should be in store for Automan and his new bride. We'll see depending on how much stuff I can get into the suitcase and bag.

Well, gotta get started on Mr. TOEFL.
Monday December 14, 10:21 a.m.

Trying to get all the Xmas shopping done yesterday...still not totally successful. I went over to Yodobashi Akiba to try and find some paraphernalia for The Anime King. Did find some books to go along with his game, but the lineups for the cashiers were way too ludicrous so I've decided to hold until after my lesson with Miss Prissy to head back to Akihabara. However, I did find the game soundtrack for him at one of the other main stores, Gamers. As for the toy for my niece, I wasn't too successful there; went over to the Tokyo equivalent of FAO Schwarz, Hakuhinkan. Scoured through all four floors and lots of harried parents and overcaffeinated kids to see absolutely nothing that she would like. The same was true for Takashimaya up in Shinjuku....you'd think the largest stores in the largest city on the planet would have something.

Did pick up another disc for the parentals at HMV, and I bought a J-Pop Xmas CD at Yamano Music for myself. It's a self-cover of the classic Jun'ichi Inagaki tune "Christmas Carol no koro ni wa" as a duet with 90s pop queen Kohmi Hirose. She was well known for a soaring soprano that could melt steel, but I guess the years have brought that down to earth somewhat. In any case, the original is still the one to beat.

Met up with a large crew to catch "Public Enemies" last night. It was MB and his wife, The Satyr and his significant other, Skippy, Frodo and Tiberius. We had our dinner at my ramen shop of Foo Foo. I was feeling quite filled from my usual menu, and from the fact that I'd had an Akiba ithiyar (a bare-bones version of the doner kebab) earlier in the day. I think my Holiday binging has officially begun.

"Public Enemies" was quite good. Glad to see that Johnny Depp could get back into the saddle from the nonsense that was "Sweeney Todd" (although The Sylph and Frodo were bored by it). The performances were fine, and Billy Crudup definitely buried himself as J. Edgar Hoover; made me forget that he was Doctor Manhattan earlier this year. And Marion Cotilliard is hopefully a future star-in-waiting and will not end up like Cuba Gooding, Jr. or even Leelee Sobieeski...who actually was in the movie in a very minor part. Getting nommed last year for her role in "Piaf" doesn't hurt.

Had a good session with Cozy. And the bossman had his hat-in-hand look on his face as he asked me to teach an extra student since he's under the weather. Ugh! And I got Mr. TOEFL to do along with The Medicine Man. But not surprised that Speedy is sick...he's been working hard and burning the midnight oil right down to the bare wick for the past several weeks. Something had to give.