Tuesday Jan. 27, 11:34 p.m.

An interesting class this morning in Tsudanuma. One of my more emotional students got into a major crying jag on revealing that her bag had been stolen in broad daylight in front of her house....6 days ago, and even though she froze all of her accounts 20 minutes after the theft. Mind you, I can understand the violation that she felt from personal experience, especially when her phone book was one of the items taken. Most likely, though, the thieves just went for the cash. Why anyone would carry a thousand bucks in her bag, even in this country, in this day and age stuns me. As one of her fellow classmates rightfully pointed out, Japan is no longer a supremely safe country and really hasn't been for some years now. Robberies are a sad sign of the times, and bizarre violent crimes are doing volume business.

On the other hand, by the end of the class, everyone was smiling, and since I had no class in Tokyo this afternoon, the ladies took me to one of those places that only the locals know. I had a great lunch set of raw yellowtail, deep-fried flatfish and broccoli covered in ground beef sauce. It's always nice when I get these opportunities in a life where McD's and Subway are often the norm.

Got home tonight to get that call from the prospective student's mother. Looks like I'm set for Saturdays after my regular gig with the doctor's kids. I'll have to give Movie Buddy the heads-up that I won't be able to catch the afternoon viewing of The Return of the King on the 14th.

I also got e-mail from The Curry Master, the buddy of Movie Buddy's girlfriend. She was the one who got me my current gig on Tuesday nights. She wants to also set up English lessons with me which I'm surprised about since her level is very high. I don't think I can really do anything for her, but I agreed to meet her for coffee next Friday. However, according to MB, she also has a habit of cancelling out at the last minute so I'll be keeping an eye on this one. As my nickname for her would indicate, she did make a mean curry when I first met her.

Well, the nominees came out for the Oscars. No particularly big surprises although CNN is buzzing about the fact that Cold Mountain got snubbed except for Renee Zellweger. For me, I'm waiting for LOTR to get the brass ring.

Busy day tomorrow. I've got three classes to take care of but all of them should be pretty good.

Monday Jan. 26, 9:41 p.m.

Pretty cut-and-dry Monday. I just had that lone company class out in Shinjuku tonight. Earlier, I picked up the package from my friend back home. The class itself just had the lone student but it went well. I told the Iconoclast that I didn't have time for our seemingly regular post-class dinners tonight, but we still had some time for a bit of tea at a tea bar in the HALC Department Store. It looks like I've also got a dinner with the president and the Iconoclast next Monday. The conversation with the Iconoclast once again centered on the seeming ineptitude of that one employee. He even secretly taped the President chewing out the hapless man just an hour before my arrival. I could take a couple of seconds of the secondhand abuse.

Well, it looks like I'm on my way to consolidate a couple of new students. One, a hairdresser, will be meeting me for the first time next Wednesday morning. However, my greeting call to that mother of the propsective kid fell on deaf ears for some reason. I'll have to let the mother of my regular kids about the aborted attempt. After going through my schedule, it looks like these two will be last two students to fill the slots unless someone decides to permanently pull out.

I'm watching CNN and seeing the snow coming down hard on Washington DC, and I'm getting a sense of wistfulness. Wouldn't it be nice to get a whiteout just about now?

Good to see "Lord of the Rings" get the Golden Globe award, although I've always thought that prize to be the poor man's Oscars. One of the three pundits, a cheerfully irascible grump, slagged "Lost In Translation” for demeaning the Japanese. Oooh, boy...I wasn't thrilled with "Kill Bill" for the same reason. I wonder if I should also let Bill Murray's latest go by the wayside...if it ever gets here.

Sunday Jan. 25, 9:53 p.m.

Movie Buddy came by the house today to see The Two Towers for the umpteenth time, but with all of the extra scenes which he proceeded to point out to me. Not that I minded at all. It was good to banter out a commentary.

Then I went out to see another couple of former students for dinner in the Ginza. One actually was the person from Friday's get-together at El Torito. The other was a more recent graduate who got her current position thanks to the efforts of the first woman. We had a Thai hot pot at COCA; the older grad and I had been there a few times before for the regular Chinese fare but this time we decided to go for the hotter stuff to warm up our bones. It definitely did the trick since the two ladies were perspiring up a storm by midway through the meal. They even decided to get the coconut milk shake that I was drinking to cool their tongues off. At the same time, it seemed like fate wanted to have a bit of fun at my expense. I committed a faux pas with my chopsticks by almost tapping them to the older grad's ones in an attempt to help her with some of the ingredients. Over here, the tapping of chopsticks is reminiscent of the Japanese ritual of passing bones after a cremation. And then, I dropped my chopsticks which necessitated the waitress getting me a new pair. Plus, I forgot a few key facts which involved the older grad's meeting with other people. In any case, things calmed down after that.

It ought to be a quiet day tomorrow. I only have my regular Monday night class. On the housekeeping side, I've gotta go to the tax office to prep up for the annual procedure in March, and then pick up a package.

Saturday Jan. 24, 9:36 p.m.

I had the kids as usual this morning. The older girl was off on her noncomittal mode today. She was probably more interested in her afternoon get-together with her volleyball buddy. Luckily, her younger sister was more cooperative. I also got a bit of a surprise when the mother had recommended me to a friend of hers who's looking for a tutor for her daughter. Hmm...I'll have to see if I can accomodate her on my schedule; it may be impossible, though I don't want to disappoint either mother.

My monthly get-together with those former night students was a pretty lively and fun chitchat. I always appreciate those especially after the rigors of teaching kids. But, I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home, and yet I still had to clean up my living room in preparation for Movie Buddy's arrival tomorrow for The Two Towers. I'll probably hit the hay early tonight. I still gotta clean up the bathroom.

Saturday Jan. 24, 7:07 a.m.

Well, another one of my favorite restaurants fell by the wayside apparently. My suspicions were unfortunately proven correct when I went down to BEMI in Hiroo and discovered that they had gone under even earlier than the Farm Grill. Too bad, since I did want to take a couple of the students for dinner tomorrow; and there were a group of current students who also wanted to go there as well. Ah, I guess it'll just be COCA in Yurakucho from now on.

Since I was in the area, I decided to take a look at the much advertised National Azabu Supermarket. I must admit that it is pretty impressive; it has even more of a foreigner's feel than Kinokuniya, probably because it is totally enclosed within the diplomats' enclave. I even saw a car with the familiar diplomat's plates in the parking lot. Quite a number of the foreign population were there, and there were some pretty huge frozen turkeys which made me wonder how big those diplomats' ovens were. There were a lot of cans of real American Campbell Soup types such as Chicken Noodle. In my supermarkets, the Campbells varieties are just restricted to Minestrone, Corn and Onion. I was very tempted to buy a couple of cans.

I met up with my Friday afternoon student for the first time this year at the Tea Room. It wasa good lesson. She informed me that one of her old classmates at the school was heading over to London all of a sudden because of her husband's transfer there. We both agreed that this classmate's temperament was such that she may be a bit overwhelmed and homesick, so I decided to give The Ballerina a heads-up about the situation. Perhaps if she has time, she can give her a call sometime.

Afterwards, it was up to Shinjuku to meet up with the old Tea Room ladies for dinner. It had been a few months since I've seen them...one I haven't seen since September, but she's been busy jetsetting all over the world on business. We went off to El Torito where unlike the last time I was there, we did have to wait quite a while. I was a bit annoyed internally at the friendly maitre 'd when he asked me if we had reservations since I had been told that I couldn't make them on Fridays. However, he was the consummate professional at how he handled the customers. The food was indeed good, and the bottomless basket of salsa and chips was the overall theme. The size of the fajitas was a bit disappointing considering the one-pound version that I used to have back in T.O.

Woke up a bit earlier than usual since I have to teach my kids an hour earlier than usual. Then I have my monthly get-together with the former night students at the Tea Room. Hopefully, my stomach will be pretty empty by that time. I'm still digesting last night's fare.

Tomorrow, Movie Buddy will be coming by in the morning to see The Two Towers. He must have a destiny with that movie; he's seen the thing five times in the theater here and yet he wants to catch the extra scenes on the DVD I borrowed from Chip Guy. Then, I head down to Ginza to meet up with the two students for dinner. As an alternate to BEMI, I've decided to go for COCA. At least, it'll be closer to get to than BEMI was.

I watched a video that my fellow Diana Krall fan from the school had lent me. It was the modernized verison of GREAT EXPECTATIONS with Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert De Niro. I was frankly not all that eager to watch it, but as a favor to my student, I did. And the verdict is that I don't particularly regret having seen it, but I just shrugged my shoulders after all was said and done. I don't think updated Shakesperean movie adaptations have ever really done all that well. My student even gave me the CD for the movie; I think I'll pass on that one.

Well, off to the salt mines.

Thursday Jan. 22, 7:42 p.m.

My student cancelled tonight so I find myself with an early night. So I just indulged myself at the rolling sushi place. Not a whole lot of variety but it was cheap. Pretty darn cold tonight; it's supposed to be hitting the big zero. I may just take my shower just before bed just so that I don't face any frozen water lines in the morning. I can always eat and do the toilette elsewhere but the shower can only be done in one place.

I've been kinda striking out on the restaurants seemingly. I'm supposed to be meeting with the former Tea Room ladies tomorrow for dinner at El Torito but they won't take reservations on Friday nights so there's a bit of a risk factor going there directly. And I tried calling up a Chinese restaurant in Hiroo to make reservations for Sunday night but noone is picking up; that's not a good sign. I'll have to come up with alternatives.

Wednesday Jan. 21, 9:32 p.m.

Met up with my ex for the first time in 6 months. She took me to a hidden tonkatsu place nearby which was really very good if tiny. It looks like she's moved on very comfortably with her life, and she even gave me some good advice about my taxes. I also got some insurance advice from my other student tonight. I may try to cover myself a bit more; however, the earthquake insurance will still have to be a separate issue.

Monday Jan. 19, 11:13 p.m.

Just about ready for bed here. That powwow between the Iconoclast and the boss turned out unexpectedly well although it lasted a good 2.5 hours. The main reason was that my interpreting skills were primarily needed just to take care of some simple requests that the boss had for my friend. All in all, it was probably my smoothest attempt at interpreting. The only tragedy is all of this smoothing over of ruffled feathers has taken place about a month before the Iconoclast's scheduled departure from the company. If this had taken place three years ago, things would probably have been much better in the office. Well, in any case, I'm just happy that I didn't suffer any major nervous breakdown.

I made my first purchase on Amazon for a Star Trek book thanks to GC's present of a gift certificate. The whole process to get the product was a real pain in the butt, though. I'm just happy that I only needed to do it once.

I guess with all of the exertions today with the meeting and the fact that I couldn't get much sleep last night, I'm feeling pretty exhausted right now. It serves me right for having Starbucks coffee last night. That stuff becomes so much sludge in the coffee urn; I can only imagine how much caffeine it must have.

Got confirmation from my newest student that Wednesday morning starting from February is a go. Some more income in the pot.

I may have averted a close call, relatively speaking. I was in Shibuya this afternoon having lunch. Just on the NHK news, I heard that police cordoned off a certain area there that same time due to a couple of unexploded firebombs in some buildings.

Sun. Jan. 18, 10:14 p.m.

A nice quiet Sunday in advance of my first really busy week this year. It'll be good to have one considering my low take from the school this month. Basically I spent it on watching some more episodes of 24, and helping out my friend with some translation work. Over dinner, I watched my Diana Krall concert DVD. Great music, but I have to admit that one has to be a real patient jazz aficionado to sit through a jazz concert. Since there are minimal pyrotechnics and no choreography, the eyes tend to wander or just glaze over at times; the music is so soothing at times, it can lull me to sleep. It didn't help that dinner was well on its way through digestion.

We may be getting a second chance at precipitation tomorrow, but the choice will be better. We may get snow, rain or just plain sleet.

Sunday Jan. 18, 1:12 a.m.

Well, the horrible storm that was supposed to hit us is so far a bit of a bust. We've been getting steady wisps of flakes coming down all day and night but nothing has accumulated. Methinks that this whole thing will quickly become a meterological memory by the morning. However, the pundits did forecast more white stuff for Monday. Now I'm really hoping that there will be a huge whiteout then so that I can avoid that interpreting session between the Iconoclast and his bosses. Quit, already!

The kids were OK today along with my lesson plans. I managed to keep things relatively fun but I made sure that they got a good grounding in past tense. At this point, I'm willing to sacrifice some fun for some solid work.

For the next 6 hours afterwards, I had free time so I made my semi-regular stop at that great ramen shop in Shinjuku Station that the Iconoclast had introduced me to months ago. It not only has a great ribsticking ramen with roast pork cutlet, but it's non-smoking and it even plays jazz in the background. Perfect! Then I went on a bit of a spree and picked up another movie mag along with the Diane Krall DVD of her concert in Paris and a CD of an old semi-successful 80s band, GO WEST. I popped on the subway and headed down to Omotesando to scope out the restaurant for that New Year's party later in the evening. It was just across from Aoyama Gakuin University. Intriguing name...SYDNEY BLUE. Sounds like a female detective.

I then spent a better part of an hour searching high and low through Omotesando, Harajuku and Shibuya for a cafe. But given that it was a Saturday and it was cold, there was no chance that I would get a seat. I ended up at Towers doing some browsing all over the floors before I made my way to the corner McDonalds. I ended up having a snack there. That particular branch had a bit of a fascinating schizo interior decor. The front half was decked out in an off-white Grecian decor while the back was decked out as a 60s pop art mondo lounge. I think some photographer ought to take a few shots.

Finally, I made my way up the road in the gently blowing snow back to Sydney Blue where I already found a few familiar faces...and some surprises. Within a few minutes, I found out that a couple of the folks sitting there had gotten engaged. One of the two, The Big Guy, was eliciting some shocked looks when he made his announcement. He had known his newly-minted fiancee for a few years but only dated her officially for a week before he decided to pop the question.

Over the next several minutes, more of the gang arrived. As I may have mentioned before, i was never a great fan of mingling in big parties, and things didn't really change to make me change my mind. However, the good thing was that they were willing to let me just listen in on the conversations with a few chances for me to insert some comments. It had been close to a year since I'd seen any of them. I met Spunky for the first time in ages. She was always the mother hen of the gang...making sure everybody was OK and holding annual Thanksgiving parties at her apartment. Although the name and some pamphlets on a table may have pointed to some vague reference to Australia, the food was most definitely Meditteranean. It was good and very plentiful; in fact, I rather gagged after munching on smoked salmon, pasta and stuffed shells to see platters of glazed fried pork come out as a last course.

The strange thing about the entire evening was that Chip Guy, the man who had told me about the party in the first place, was a no-show. Spunky alluded that it's possible that he and the missus may have had a spat. But I think that's unlikely since he was supposed to have brought two Canadian friends in tow. In any case, I sent him a query about his absence.

Well, I'm glad to be home after a long day, and if this snowy weather continues into Sunday, I'll be just as happy to stay here as well.

Friday Jan. 16, 11:05 p.m.

Enjoyed a highly unusual wakeup of 12 noon. Don't know how long it's been since I woke up that late. I think the last time I did that was back around Xmas 1987 after a major hangover. Nothing as painful as that today.

Since I had no classes today, I just focused on getting some ironing done and prepping for my kids' classes. I also started watching the second season of 24 on DVD. Still a visual pageturner. Unfortunately, my sinuses decided to clog up as well, which provided me with several hours of sneezing and other misery until I bought some medicine tonight along with the fixins for dinner.

Well, we may have some snow in the forecast tomorrow. I love snow but I hate the fact that it tends to screw up public transportation so badly in this city. And I have to head out fo r the kids' place tomorrow morning and then I've got a New Year's party in the evening. In a way, I hope that the alert is a false alarm.

Friday Jan. 16, 12:49 a.m.

Sure enough, when I checked my bankbook for my montly stipend from my school, I received just enough to pay for a fairly good dinner in Tokyo. Looks like I may suffer my first loss when I do the books next month. Well, I look at it in perspective. Back 6 years ago, I busted my ankle just a few months after having started my full-time gig, so I wasn't exactly filled with money at that time. In fact, because I was out of it for 3 weeks, I was in such dire need that I had to borrow money from a friend for a short while. Naturally I appreciated the help but still, it was an ego-bruiser. Right now, even with the risk of going minus next month, I will still have considerably more in my account than I did at that time. I guess optimism is still good for something.

However, on the good side, my regular Tuesday night gig got expanded to Thursday from tonight with theaddition of a student. And another old student of mine informed me of a friend of hers who wants to enlist for lessons. Well, this could be another potential boost to the income here.

My lone class at the school wasn't a great one, though a few of the students seemed OK and all of them laughed uproariously at times. I'm always rather tough on myself.

Looks like I've got another head start on the weekend. My lone Friday afternoon student cancelled out due to work. And I haven't heard from Chip Guy concerning a possible dinner date on Friday evening. So I assume that I'll just be catching up on some ironing and then working on the kids' classes for Saturday.

I met up with Movie Buddy this afternoon at the school for the first time since that rather foul row last Saturday. He didn't mention a thing about it but did mention about the fact that we had all disappeared in the huge crowd. I didn't bother telling him the real reason I escaped. I told him about the fact that I'm borrowing The Two Towers. An initial attempt to meet up has been dashed due to plans on both ends.

Then, the Iconoclast left a message on the machine, sniping about yet another little snit with a staff member he hates with a passion. So I'll have to interpret that on Monday afternoon. I'm not going to be looking forward to that, though I am mindful that the Iconoclast has given me some very nice food. All I can say is that I hope he will keep his promise to leave the company in 2 weeks.

Wednesday Jan. 14, 10:50 p.m.

I did my montly budget check. It looks like even with the lack of income and the heavy expenditures, I was able to still save a nice, if not great, amount. However, I am dreading my miniscule payday tomorrow.

My long day was curtailed a bit when my final student of the day called up to cancel due to extra work. I wasn't complaining too much since I am feeling rather rundown. Perhaps it is some lingering effect of last night's Hirohito's Revenge or the cold bug has finally hit me in earnest. It was pretty chilly out today and much of northern Japan got majorly walloped by a huge snowstorm.

Looks like my social calendar could be shaping up some more. Once again, I got the lion's share of good e-mail and a few former students have contacted me about getting together for New Year's parties in the next couple of weeks. And I thought that the Holidays were finally over.

I made a pickup at the Iconoclast's company today between classes to pick up that massive fruitcake he doesn't like. It ought to be good as a prize for tomorrow's class at the school. At the same time, I also got that Chinese fake meat made from tofu, ZAI, a hard block of maple sugar and even a bottle of Bit and Bites. The ZAI is definitely an acquired taste; I could take it though not exactly savor it. It was a matter of not quite approximating real meat in terms of taste and texture, but I was game enough to devour it with some hot rice for dinner.

Wednesday Jan. 14, 8:02 a.m.

Rather busy yesterday with classes spread throughout the day. My first Tsudanuma class of the year went quite well along with my first class at the old school. Some of the students had wondered if I had finally cut all ties. During my 4-hour break between that class and my regular night gig, I got into a nice conversation with a student I hadn't taught since Halloween. We share a common interest in jazz, especially Diana Krall, so we ended up deciding to swap some CDs on Thursda y since I'll be teaching then as well.

The night classes went pretty smoothly although my last class was one of those somnabulant affairs, and the past perfect tense is definitely not one of the more exciting lessons to teach. I also learned that there is a reason not to drink orange soda past its expiry date. To wit, I was very thirsty even after the first cup of coffee so I raided the fridge in my teaching room. My boss is not exactly the most conscientious person when it comes to maintaining what's in the fridge. There was a carton of Tropicana which had expired back on December 27th; there was no way that I would touch that, but I did go for the orange soda. Even the expiry date of Jan. 7th, I thought that with soda being soda, there would be no problem. However, I did get a tinge of Montezuma's Revenge later when I got home...or perhaps I should say Hirohito's Revenge.

After several days of very low real e-mail traffic, I rather hit the motherloda last night with a good 20% of my inbox consisting of true messages. One was even from my former girl; apparently, she's moved just a little east of me for some reason. I'm not sure if that means she's gotten her own little place or if she's moved in with her new beau. However, she has invited me for a bit of lunch next week.

I've been going over The Two Towers DVD little by little during my relatively brief periods of free time. It will take some time to get through the extras since there are so many of them. This morning was devoted to the making of Gollum. I think, in a way, it's good to go through the extras very gradually since the self-congratulatory tone can be awfully grating beyond a certain period of time.

Today should be another busy one with three different classes spread out over the day. Plus, I've got another pickup of food from The Iconoclast in between classes. Looks like it'll be another chilly one today.

Monday Jan. 12, 10:35 p.m.

Nice quiet day at home. I managed to get through nearly 4 hours of the special extended DVD of The Two Towers. Much better than the theatrical version. Just kinda wished that Jackson got off that "Longest Closing Credits Sequence in History" kick, though. Now, I've gotta get through the special features which should take just as long.

Well, tomorrow is back to work. Tuesday and Wednesday ought to be my busiest days since I'll have to be out of the apartment most of the time.

Monday Jan. 12, 12:31 p.m.

Well, sure enough, the news this mornng showed a few of those malcontents crashing Adulthood Day ceremonies in Okinawa and Miyagi Prefectures. Although those punks did steam me, I also realized that there are a whole lot more ceremonies going on around the country which were probably a lot more peaceful if boring, and perhaps in a few rare cases, even truly inspirational (oops...I caught a whiff of optimism there...gotta check that).

Forgot to mention that the Ballerina called all the way from London last night and left a greeting. She stated that she tried to reach Movie Buddy on his cell but he wasn't picking up. I recollected that he once said the Ballerina was just a bit too dependent on him (she's had a major crush on him) and that he would refrain from talking to her for a while. And especially with Saturday night's events, I don't think it would help matters having any mention of the Ballerina into their relationship.

I borrowed The Two Towers Special Edition DVDs and the second season of 24 from Chip Guy. Looks like I'll be busy today but I've got some housework to do. Plus, I've got to devour the Iconoclast's BBQ pork that he so kindly brought back from HK for me.

Monday Jan. 12, 12:55 a.m.

Well, another Adulthood Day is here..the time when the new 20-year-olds dress up in their kimonos and suits, drink LEGALLY for once and heckle the mayor during the usually boring speech that he makes to the so-called mature adults. As you might imagine, I take a dim view of any day that celebrates a set border between adolescence and adulthood. Plenty of immature adults well into their 20s and 30s out there.

Luckily, the past evening was a much more serene and pleasant experience than that logistical and emotional fiasco of Saturday night. I made my first pilgrimage to Chip Guy's house this year, and enjoyed his company along with that of his wife and kid. The only source of caterwauling just came from Chip Guy's daughter and THAT I could understand.

Over dessert, I watched one of those "Only In Japan" variety shows. I think this program belonged solidly more in the National Geographic channel than the Food Network. It was about a few celebs who dared to enter unknown lands and find out what some of the natives were eating. Among the "delicacies" were: mosquito patties stewed in cow urine, sauteed termite queens and deep-fried spiders. Chip's wife was marveling at how I could keep on munching chocolates while watching this program. Hmph...I can distinguish between the two things!

Sunday Jan. 11, 1:33 a.m.

Well, it was one for the entertainment books tonight. It certainly made me wonder whether I should have even bothered lingering around Shinjuku for 6 hours before meeting up with Movie Buddy and the bunch. First of all, our trip to Shidax, our first choice for karaoke, was short-circuited by one of those young hucksters hawking half-price karaoke around the corner in Kabukicho. I was pretty suspicious to begin with, but MB got hooked by the promise of all-you-can-drink.

As it turned out, the place we went to was no better than the really cheap karaoke box with the dingy walls and the torn-up seats. The karaoke system was slow in responding and had this weird gimmick of being in random selection mode so that we could never find out when we would be singing. Plus, the drinks and food (miniscule and mediocre) were late in coming and some of the orders were never processed. But the worst part of it was that it looked like MB and his girlfriend had been in the middle of a lovers' spat even before tonight's event, and it boiled over in the middle of the session. While some of us were singing, MB and his girl decided to continue their argument in the room itself until MB suddenly stormed out with his girl following. He came back all pouty for a little bit but it looked like the two had patched things up...initially. Finally, when we were on our way back to the station, I was walking beside them when the girlfriend decided that she would give him the cold shoulder with him trying to catch up and make up. I'd had enough and just left them alone...easy enough to do in the usual tumultuous crowd which always clogged the area around the ticket machines and gates. One thing I hate is getting into the middle of a crossfire, especially between two lovers. Mind you, the whole thing reminded me of some of the dicier moments between me and my ex, albeit it was in more private situations. However, I have blown up in the past in public places, so I can sympathize to a certain extent with MB.

As it is, though, I could've avoided all this and just stayed home with a good meal. Ah well, these things do happen from time to time. I just hope that my meeting with Chip Guy goes a lot better.

And as a further conclusion, witnessing all of this ugliness illustrated to me that I'm happier being single again.

Friday Jan. 9, 11:07 p.m.

Always nice to take a shower after a day of eating very spicy food. I went down to Roppongi as scheduled and went to First Kitchen, one of the local fast food restaurants, to meet that acquaintance of mine. I had a chili dog set which added the first aromas to my clothing. We shifted the venue over to the family restaurant, Janathans, across the street. It seems like there was a reason that he wanted to change places. He's a macrobiotic type of fellow so nothing on the First Kitchen menu would ever be chosen by him. He just uses the place as a study hall, much to the staff's chagrin.

Afterwards, I went up to the Iconoclast's company and met up with his boss' nephew. Unlike in my first report, his nephew turned out to be a pretty decent fellow. He asked me a lot of questions about living in Canada which I was happy to answer, and we continued our conversation over to dinner at a tiny yakitori place in East Shinjuku. Of course, the smells of the dishes there managed to permeate my clothing. I was broiling in my own juices with the extra layers on, but as it turned out, my decision was a good one. It was cold walking back home but the layers kept most of it out.

Well, gotta make the plans for the kids.

Friday Jan. 9, 11:14 a.m.

It may be -20 before the wind chill in Toronto but it was still plenty cold here in Tokyo despite it being 22 degrees warmer. I can thank the lack of central heating for that. Luckily, I've had a 10-year-old ceramic heater that's still working. The wonders of Japanese durability.

The salarymen are crying the blues here. Not because of the economy which is actually showing a rise, but because of the ban on beef imports from the US and probably Canada. We have a very popular restaurant among the salaried types here called Yoshinoya whose fare du guerre is GYUDON or beef on rice in a bowl. In fact, there are other similar chains as well but Yoshinoya is the representative restaurant. Salarymen love to go there during lunch or even dinner since the dish comes out hot, quick and cheap. With the restrictions on beef, Japan will deplete its American beef supplies by March which means that all of the gyudon restaurants will have to drastically change the menu. Substitutes include salmon roe, chicken or other stuff on the rice. Some of those salarymen when interviewed cited a lot of regret if that were to happen.

Well, today, I'll be headed out to meet a couple of folks. One is a guy who I only met once or twice back in Toronto several years ago. For some reason, he's tried to maintain contact with me over the years by e-mail, so we've finally decided to meet in Roppongi for a bit of tea. Then, I head back up to Shinjuku to meet The Iconoclast and his boss' nephew. It seems the nephew wants to head off to Canada to study something. His English is not too hot, and since The Iconoclast's Japanese is minimal, I'm being brought in again as intermediary. Oh, man...I just hope he's not one of these young punks with an attitude.

I may have another get-together in the works. One of the Tea Room girls contacted me for the first time in several weeks since our disbanding to see if we were up for a New Year's party. Then, another one of my school's alumni who actually has her current job thanks to that aforementioned Tea Room lady contacted me for pretty much the same thing. Hmmm...after that Xmas fiasco, I'm wondering if I should let one of them do the planning.

My weekend will be spent with my closest friends. I've got my first class with the kids tomorrow, but then I'll be meeting up with Movie Buddy and his friend from Oz for a goodbye dinner before Oz takes off for home. Then, I'll be meeting up with Chip Guy and the family on Sunday for dinner with him.

Wednesday Jan. 7, 11:17 p.m.

I felt pretty worn out and limp by the time I returned home tonight. I think one factor in that was my fashion overreaction. Again, I judged the weather outside by how cold it felt inside in my pyjamas, so I threw on the scarf, the gloves and the longjohns. Of course, the temperature today was 7 degrees...cold by Tokyo standards, but for a supposedly coldproofed Canadian like myself, I should've just laughed it off. Instead I lugged all of this stuff on my person like a portable sauna. Without getting into too fine detail, I resorted to peeling off my longjohns. My legs will probably be the envy of a lot of young ladies right now.

I ended up getting a 1000 yen pass since I had quite a few stops today which involved paying bills, doing some shopping and then teaching my two classes. The two of them went by fairly smoothly. But they will end up being the only two classes of my work week, aside from my kids on Saturday morning, since my new class on Thursday nights cancelled out and we've got that Adulthood Day on Monday.

That Starbucks card I got from my Wednesday nighter has been a godsend. No reaching for bills and change for my lattes and cinnamon rolls. Just a swipe and the staff person takes care of that aspect of manual labor.

I gave my afternoon student a bit of a scare when I admitted my past as a former otaku. I had to reassure that I no longer go nuts when it comes to purchases of music CDs and any anime purchases are a thing of the past.

The Iconoclast has returned from his vacation in HK with a nice slab of BBQ pork for me. Now all I have to do is try to secure it sometime this weekend.

Well, now that I have nothing tomorrow, I can just sleep in and just get a few errands done.

Tuesday Jan. 6, 11:55 p.m.

Another smooth night in front of the students, although that one student is once again making some groans about having to work with a less-advanced book. Well, I did offer that she could start a private class with me since I will be teaching 2 Thursdays a month from this week. However, my boss told me that the student had related to her that she is loathe to do that since it would be too expensive. Well, if she wants to paint herself into a corner with her own brush, that's her business.

I still received a few more New Year's cards today, one from a surprise source, The Joker. After a silence of several years, he, or his wife actually, sent over a card. Well, I tried to find some remaining New Year's cards at the convenience store but it looks like the season is now officially over; I couldn't find a single one. I think it's a bit chintzy, but I decided to send The Joker and the two other parties e-mail cards instead. The other ones came from that family whose kids I teach on Saturdays and a couple of former students who had become a married item a couple of years ago. They just opened up a flower shop of their own; it should look very nice since the husband is a former set designer. I must admit that the address of the place is intriguing. Although it was written in the katakana syllabary, I swear it reads as "Phil Collins Musashino". I wonder if the building itself is called "Genesis".

I also received a phone message from the Ballerina. It sounded rather final so I gather that I won't be meeting her at the school after all. I am a bit disappointed by that but at least it saves me an extra leg on my journey and I can get at least one more hour of sleep. Speaking of the school, I guess the staff is pretty desperate in trying to find teachers. I have told the folks there repeatedly that I cannot work on Fridays, and yet they sent me a fax asking if I would be willing to teach at the Funabashi City Hall on Thursdays and Fridays for the next several weeks. For one thing, I said that I would only teach the in-house classes at the school, and for the second thing, when I taught there last year, the organization and the materials for the class were so lame. Nice students, though, so I was rather ashamed about teaching that crap to them.

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 11:48 a.m.

Got a good 10 hours of sleep today. One thing about these holidays, I'm very happy for the down time. I also heard the garbage guys come by for the first time in over a week. Looking at the pile that was there last night, it looks like they are going to be needing the Ben-Gay tonight.

Well, that was indeed a computer worm which attacked me yesterday. But damage was minimal. It tried to make another attack today but luckily I was able to filter it out now that I knew what I was looking for.

I received a bit more traffic of real e-mail as well. Chip Guy is back in town so I'm looking forward to dinner with him this weekend. GC and another old friend got back in touch as well, so I was able to have somewhat mroe meaningful exchanges other than the usual one-line responses.

Well, I've gotta get prepped for my three classes tonight.

Mon. Jan. 5, 9:36 p.m.

Well, I know that the Holidays are truly over when regular civic services are back online. I had a couple of bags of burnable garbage just hanging around my kitchen for a week until I finally could dump them outside. No problems with smell, though, thanks to the fact that I have no central heating.

Heading out to Tokyo wasn't too bad. I made a stopover in Akihabara today to pick up one last calendar for the Anime King. I must admit that it felt rather weird being in the anime emporium, GAMERS, surrounded by folks who could become my surrogate children. But I was able to find a calendar which should keep the King happy. A lot of people milling through the electronics district.

The class tonight went by pretty smoothly. I got the impression on the way back to Shinjuku Station, though, that there was still a period of transition going on between the Holidays and the regular work week. Not too many people walking outside of the huge hotels in the West Shinjuku district.

The weather has gotten noticeably colder again after a balmy New Year's week. I wonder if there will be a repeat of that fateful Adulthood Day several years back when the kimonoed and suited 20-year-olds got socked by a major snowstorm in Tokyo.

Looks like the BBS traffic has been burning up a streak on the J-Pop forums about the Morning Musume graduations and the Kohaku Utagassen. If I were ten years younger, I probably would jump in instead of being a harmless lurker but considering that a lot of messages have the words "Mom" and "Dad" in them, I would feel somewhat sleazy doing so. I am impressed, though, at the origins of some of those messages: New York, Louisiana, Texas.

Monday Jan. 5, 9:14 a.m.

Well, the first work day of the new year is getting off to an unsurprisingly rocky start. For some reason, my eyes flicked open at 4:30 a.m. so that I only netted four hours of sleep. Plus, my coffee urn decided to vomit its hot contents all over me when I pushed down the plunger, and then some goof decided to send me a potential computer virus under the administration of my server. And now I find out that my application to get a birth certificate to get a new passport will take about 14 weeks MINIMUM. Good grief!

Looks like there have been idol bombshells on both sides of the Pacific. Britney gets married under alcohol, but she will get that annulled. Over here, the fans of the Morning Musume supergroup are reeling on hearing that two of the more popular members, Ai and Nozomi, will be "graduating" from the group in the summer. The otakus are probably crying in their Hello Kitty mugs of beer.

Well, when a day like today starts like it has, I'm just gonna get me a rubdown at my massage clinic, and then enjoy a nice lunch before prepping for my lesson tonight. Luckily, I already set the groundwork last night.

Sunday Jan. 4, 9:49 p.m.

The official New Year's holidays will be finishing as of tonight, although I'm sure that there will probably be New Year's parties all throughout the month. I think this country is the only one in the G-8 that has 2 different sets of major parties with just one week in between. I did my weekly budgetary calculations, and they illustrated how quiet my week was. My total weekly expenditures were a fair bit smaller than the previous week's expenditures on food alone. That certainly is a big relief for me considering that I didn't make any income over the past 2 weeks.

My e-mail traffic, the real stuff anyways, has been paltry. Basically, all I've been doing is sweeping out the spam aside from one or two letters.

But I'll be back at work from Monday. However, I just have that one night class so I guess my holidays will still be extended for a little bit longer. No complaints from this end.

The Ballerina contacted me by phone today asking me if I am available on Wednesday. A couple of old alumni are popping by the school just before she takes off for jolly ol' England later that day.

I actually caught a good portion of that French movie "Amelie" that was all the rage a couple of years ago on TV this morning. I decided to watch it in its original French; I was never a huge dubbing fan although I was able to endure it as a child when I watched those Godzilla movies back in Canada. What can I say? It's perky and typically off-kilter for a French comedy. Mind you, "Amelie" is the first French comedy I've ever seen.

Well, time to prepare for the lessons.

Saturday Jan. 3, 12:51 a.m.

I made my way down to Shibuya to meet up with my friend from Sendai. Even on the 2nd of January, Shibuya was still fully packed with people...it was more like a regular Sunday than a New Year's holiday. It was even more strange considering that a good number of stores were still closed. After a short visit to Towers we first checked out our first choice of Uoza no Itcho but it looks like they had decided to stay closed. So after a short respite at a Doutor coffee shop for 30 minutes, we were able to get into our second choice of En. We just spent the next five hours gabbing and eating fine food. As usual, we got into a couple of debates involving East Asian politics and the like but all in all, it went quite well

Well, I'm going to return to my cocooning for the weekend until I'm back on duty as of Monday.

Thurs. January 1, 2004, 11:14 p.m.

A Happy New Year! Although I think for me, it'll be an uncertain one.
The past 48 hours have been spent in my apartment. I only stepped out just to go down to the first floor to pick up my New Year's Cards today. Quite a difference from the nightly outings last week.

New Year's Eve was just spent at home watching the countdown to midnight and, of course, being in Japan, catching the Red and White Song Festival on NHK. I think it's the first time in a few years since I've seen the festival from beginning to end. As it was, it wasn't too bad although it was still a little grating listening to some of the contrived dialogue, especially since many of the younger acts talk very frankly usually. Then, just before the stroke of midnight, GC gave me a surprise phone call while I was making the toshikoshi noodles to commemorate the passing of the year. I should be getting a phone call from the parentals sometime tomorrow morning.

For today, it was another first for me. It was the first time in several years I didn't even bother to set one metre outside of my apartment building. I would have even stayed within the confines of my apartment itself if I hadn't decided to step out to pick up the cards. I just fed myself on the remaining noodles and leftovers from last night's dinner. Most families on New Year's Day feast on OSECHI which consists of lacquered platters filled with special New Year's foods. It's OK to eat but I don't particularly miss not having it. Basically, my day was spent just taping specials for the parents.

However, the streak of cocooning will be broken tomorrow since I'll be meeting up with a friend of mine for dinner. Well, at least, I did save money over these past three days.

The past year wasn't exactly an Annus Horribilis as certain members of royalty are prone to have but I can't really say that it's been a banner one for me either. I can say that it was one of transition and sobriety. I went from being a full-time teacher for a management that I couldn't really trust to a freer part-time teacher. I can't believe it's almost a year since I made the decision to cut most of my ties with my school. The new situation for me has had its ups and downs but generally it's been a good move for me since I've had to be more diligent on the finances. The big test will come in a couple of weeks when I go into City Hall to declare my income taxes. Also, I lost my girlfriend of 18 months; now that probably won't mean too much to the lot of you but for a guy my age who had never had a girlfriend before, it has a bit more significance for me. I've also seen my circle of friends grow smaller. Someone said that as one ages one's circle shrinks but gets tighter. That may be so, but I am going to lose a very good friend, Chip Man, and his family back to Canada. Plus, I'm rather wondering about how close I should be with my current and future students; frankly, from the events of this past year, I have pondered about the merits of showing too much of myself to clients. I might become more solitary this year but perhaps that might be more my style anyways.

I haven't made any New Year's Resolutions this year and I think I will stop that rather useless habit of navel-gazing since I really don't have faith in much of anything anymore. I'm just going to take things one day at a time. Perhaps this will reveal me as somewhat of a grumpy cynic but, hey, as I commemorate my 10th year in this country, I gotta be me.

Tuesday Dec. 30, 11:19 p.m.

I partially finished Stage 2 of the big cleanup today. This time, it was my bedroom. Nothing as strenuous as yesterday's mopdown of the living room. Basically, all it entailed was some vacuuming and dusting. However, I've got some finishing touches and then I can finish everything off by taking care of the bathroom and kitchen.

Well, I had actually flirted with the thought of heading onemore time to the Farm Grill for its penultimate night for dinner, but considering the work at hand here, I decided to let the idea go. I won't be going anywhere for New Year's Eve so that will be it for my relationship with the Grill. To make up for it, I bought a small roast chicken for dinner with some minestrone as a side dish.

I took a bit of a walk down memory lane tonight watching a special version of an old music program that has been off the air for over a decade. The Best 10 was my very first valued source for J-Pop, and it was interesting seeing these old singers come out one more time. It reflected a somewhat more innocent and perhaps even more quintessentially Japanese time in terms of pop music. The songs back then were cottony-soft puffy examples of formulaic pap but they certainly couldn't be said to resemble anything America had at the time. Nowadays, J-Pop is basically metamorphosing into clones of hip-hop, rap and soul.

Well, tomorrow, I finish off my apartment cleaning and then I will get some food. I should be giving my VCR a good workout since I'll be taping stuff for the parentals. At least, I don't have to tape the annual NHK Red and White Program since they now have a satellite link to the channel from Toronto. I've already started the taping tonight.

Monday Dec. 29, 10:00 p.m.

I started Stage One of the big year-end cleanup today...part of the Japanese ritual to get the home all spic and span so that one can start the New Year on a fresh note. I just worked on wiping down the living room: sweeping away all of the accumulated dust, mopping the tatami and washing the curtains. And I also got rid of a large majority of video tapes: two bags full. My place will never be considered spacious but it currently looks a little less scruffier now. I also managed to find my YOU DON'T KNOW JACK discs after a number of years; they were lingering in a nest of dust under the video tape shelving. Tomorrow, I start on the bathroom and kitchen, and then hopefully everything will end with the bedroom on New Year's Eve.

This is the first day in over a week that I've been able to stay at home all day. It is nice to save a bit of money although I did splurge a bit on making the first minestrone of the season. I'm hoping it will last me a couple of days.

Last night, I visited my friend, Mayflower, who is currently staying with at his sister's house. He seemed to have been in a slightly chippy mood last night. He gave me a slight chastising for slurping my spaghetti; I hadn't even noticed that I did so. Perhaps he was a bit ticked off at me for not bringing a second course (despite the fact that I'd brought a bottle of wine and a box of cake). All we had was spaghetti and meat sauce. Luckily, instinct had told me to grab a hamburger set from McDonalds across from the station. It's also possible...natch, probable...that his mood may have stemmed from his meeting with a couple of former friends of mind earlier that afternoon. Several years earlier, I had decided to break off my friendship with the Joker and his wife and all those around him because I just felt I didn't belong to that group. I had always felt like the odd wheel out in a parking lot of cars, so one day I decided to not accept any more invitations from them. Mayflower showed me some digital pics of the Joker and his now enlarged family. He certainly has expanded a bit in the seven years since I had last seen him; he used to be one cool toothpick in black, but I guess domestication has mellowed him out. The picture I saw had him look several kilos heavier and wearing soft gray, but his Cheshire grin was still as brilliant as ever. I could imagine what the Joker must have told Mayflower about me, but at this point in my life, I don't really care anymore. I mean, pangs of regret hit me from time to time but I figure I'm much more of a loner now.

Sunday Dec. 28, 12:22 a.m.

Well, I've got another party under my belt. The Ballerina's farewell went off without a hitch, although there were still some switches in the cast of characters. Two pulled out so another couple of students came in their place, The Nurse and The Maid. Basically, it was them plus The Ballerina, Movie Buddy and myself plus another former student. I was happy to see that the Ballerina went out of her way to teetotal despite a bit of ribbing from Movie Buddy. The first party took place at a chicken-themed restaurant in the heart of East Shinjuku. We had a hot pot to cook up veggies and chicken, just the perfect dish for a cold day like today.

Then, sure enough, we all headed out afterwards for karaoke a few blocks up north to the SHIDAX chain. MB was quite impressed at how the karaoke discs there used the actual backing tracks from the original songs; he'll definitely be coming back to that place. It was interesting noticing the interpersonal dynamics during our two hours there. There was a bit of chit-chat amongst the students but otherwise it was basically a listening session for everyone. The Nurse, who's just about as genki as Ms. Genki, was oddly subdued for a majority of the session for some reason. At first, I thought it a bit of a problem when I realized that because I am a teacher, I should maintaining some sort of distance in any case.

Aside from the occasional purchases of milk or breakfast juice, I probably won't need to buy any other things for breakfast for the next several days since I've received packages of confectionaries. That ought to help some with the finances, but I think this week will be a total write-off in terms of saving.

Sat. Dec. 27, 1:11 p.m.

Tokyo finally got the frosting on the wacky weather cake for this year. I woke up to see all of the roofs in my neighbourhood...and some of my formerly dry laundry..covered in snow. Not that it's gonna stay there long...it's pretty sunny today. Kinda nice to stay indoors, though I will be taking off for my umpteenth get-together this week in a few hours.

I've just spent the last few hours perusing the new Pet Shop Boys' DVD of videos, and one of them was "Heart". I took a look at the vampire in that video and I thought that guy looked awfully familiar. Well, I made my guess and then had it confirmed on the official website of the boys. It was none other than Magneto himself...Sir Ian McKellen.

Saturday Dec. 27, 12:38 a.m.

Boxing Day was another day out, this time with Movie Buddy and his buddy from Oz. We went to the Farm Grill for...possibly...the last time. I say possibly since I may still try for one more last supper since the lunch is so inferior. Because of the meal from Xmas night, I wasn't too hungry for a second round which surprised MB.

Then, we three went back to my place. Luckily, I was able to clean the place down earlier this morning. There we caught a couple of DVDs, both of which didn't make much of a splash at the box office, but they were at opposite ends of the scale in terms of quality.

The bad one was EQUILIBRIUM (or as it's known here, REBELLION), starring the hard luck actor, Christian Bale. Man, this guy's career is just like his very first role in Spielberg's EMPIRE OF TH E SUN as the WWII POW kid....it manages to survive but it's gone through a lot of hell. The movie is about this future society in which all emotion is banned and Bale plays the best of this SS-like elite corps of "clerics" which eradicates all those guilty of sense crime. However, he misses out on one injection of this mandatory drug which suppresses his emotions and discovers the error of his ways, thus plowing the way for him to become the head of this underground organization devoted to overthrow the totalitarian government. As you can imagine, the movie draws from 1984, Gattaca and, because of this future martial art called GUN-KATA, the Matrix as well. The three of us could see why this movie got quickly shoved to the video shelves; there are tons of plot holes, most notably that Christian Bale and his rival, Taye Diggs, certainly show quite a bit of emotion for a couple of fascists dedicated on maintenance of non-emotion. And the GUN-KATA quickly becomes a laughfest. As MB's buddy put it, there was a kernel of a good idea in the story, but it got overlayered with dross. The real surprise was seeing Sean Bean in yet another cameo as cannon fodder. It would actually be kinda nice to see him live to the end of a picture. The other odd thing is how similar Bale sounds to Keanu Reeves.

Well, after that unintentional laugher, we caught a little spy movie called COMPANY MAN. True to the twists and turns in the plot, the stars refer to the movie as such, but the opening credits say "CYPHER". However, that cute little bit of pretension aside, the movie does play like a quality piece of espionage moviemaking. The usual conventions of cross and double cross, femme fatale, and "nothing is as it seems" apply here but the performances and the overall execution make this a winner. Jeremy Northam is great as the initial nebbish who evolves over the course of the flick, while Lucy Liu, as his mysterious confidante, is refreshing by not playing the usual Dragon Lady from Ally McBeal or Kill Bill or even the kick-butt Angel. However, some of her scenes in COMPANY MAN will make comparisons to the latter character inevitable. An interesting movie worthy of attention.

After our double feature, we spent a half-hour looking at my DVD of Pet Shop Boys videos from the past. Interesting and so 80s.

We went back into town again to meet up with Ms. Genki in Roppongi Hills, really just to look at the illuminated trees. As I was walking up the grand avenue, I was thinking why there was any need for me to come down here since Ms. Genki had already eaten a bit of dinner beforehand and the rest of us were still full from the Grill. However, we did manage to salvage some worth from the trip by doing some extensive browsing through the Aoyama Book Centre and giving MB's buddy a quick tour of the original, seedier Roppongi before the trendy and shiny Roppongi Hills burst onto the scene back in May. Tons of people were lining the streets. Foreign touts were flashing pics of women trying to entice men to come into establishments, and a lot of groups of salarymen were traipsing around finding their venue for drinking. Plus, there were also quite a few ladies in their finery; they could've been gussied-up OLs or "professionals".

In any case, we ended up drinking up at the local Excelsior Cafe. I was getting a bit hungry, so I tucked into a heated pastrami and cheese sandwich with a maple latte. And then, we all went our separate ways.

Looks like my wish will not come true fo r Sunday. My Canadian friend, whom I met on Monday, has invited me to his brother-in-law's house near Shinjuku for spaghetti dinner. Well, at least it's at someone's home and not at another pricey restaurant. I will definitely have to make sure that I stay completely free for the last few days of the year to save on money and just to relax a bit. However, I think that may not quite be possible since yet another old friend contacted me a couple of days ago saying that he'd like to meet up with me when he gets back into Tokyo.

Thurs. Dec. 25, 11:15 p.m.

It's been a rather ho-hum Xmas for me. Xmas may be well entrenched in this country via all the lights, glitter and parties, but the real atmosphere is still missing. It just doesn't compare to home with all the silence and the smells of roasting turkey. It also didn't help that I was still suffering from those cold sores in my mouth and the head & neck aches.

However, there was a bit of Xmas cheer via the annual Charlie Brown Xmas show on the Cartoon Network. From the first plunkings of Vince Guaraldi's wonderful score to the entire cast singing "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!", the show is one of my cherished memories of Xmas past, and probably has more Xmas in it than a whole bunch of department store displays in the Ginza.

I did go to ROTI as scheduled, in my dress blues, no less. I was seated by the bar where I tucked into the various courses of food. Everything was very good, especially the appetizer of Lobster Risotto. However, I had a tough time getting through the salad since the balsamic dressing was searing the cold sores on my tongue. The main course of turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes was fine but I thought there had been more salad than there was of the main stuff. Dessert was fine. Financially, it did send me back quite a bit...let's say that from a 10,000 yen bill, I only got some jingles back as change. But it was Xmas, and I'm aiming to get back to Canada next year for Xmas. There's nothing like Mom's cooking after all. Plus, the fact that I was alone also detracted from the dining experience; it sure would have been nice if I'd had some company.

I checked out Roppongi Hills nearby. The place was swarming with people tonight with cameras and lots of money, I'm sure, for the restaruants inside. Then, taking the long way home so that I was ensured of a seat, the other thing that told me that this wasn't really a Xmas Day here was the fact that people were still commuting home from a long day at the office as if it were a regular day. Back home, I'd be surprised if I actually ran into someone after walking a kilometre; heck, I'd be surprised if I actually ventured outside my home on Xmas Day.

Well, I did get a nice bit of rest on the trains, and strangely enough, my pains seem to have gone although I still feel a bit of electricity from my tongue. I still have to get some cleaning done in the apartment since I'll be entertaining Movie Buddy and his friend tomorrow here for a few hours. We'll be heading to the Farm Grill for the final time for lunch beforehand, and then we'll be heading back to Roppongi to join Ms. Genki to check out the illumination at Roppongi Hills. It'll probably be the first time that I have gone to the area on consecutive nights.

And then on Saturday, I'll be officially taking over for the Madam in the Ballerina's farewell party. Certainly, the guest list will be easier to handle since along with the Madam, three people have dropped out. However, a couple of other students have called in to ask if they can join in after the first party. Methinks that we'll be going to karaoke again. I'll have to keep an eye out on the Ballerina so she doesn't imbibe too much again.

Thurs. Dec. 25, 1:41 a.m.

Well, Xmas has arrived for us on this side of the Pacific. Last night, we had the various cake shops putting out staff in their Santa Claus outfits hawking their version of Xmas cake. As for me, I did a bit more shopping before heading out to Nakano to partake in the Xmas Eve party partly planned by Movie Buddy and our mutual friend, Ms. Genki. There were about 10 people in the group which included MB's buddy from Oz, and both MB's current and former girlfriends. Everyone had a lot of fun at the party and the food was great. From the gift exchange, I managed to get some Starbucks coffee grounds and some chocolate biscuits which may come in handy when MB and his buddy come over here to watch a DVD on Boxing Day. My dinner companion to the left was certainly very lively after several beers, and then she had the energy to order a whole lot of alcohol just before last call. Fortunately, some of us decided to leave at that point.

Later today, I will have to some major cleanup here for my Boxing Day guests before heading out to my now-solo Xmas dinner in Roppongi. Speaking of which, the Madam contacted me again saying that she will not be able to handle the farewell party for the Ballerina on Saturday because of her grandmother's illness. She's left the onus on me.

Wed. Dec. 24, 1:06 a.m.

Well, it's Xmas Eve and I'm still a bit sad about the e-mail events of the night before but the heat is gone. But I have come to some conclusions about my future. In the meantime, though, I've made the adjustments again to the restaurant reservations, and I'll be seated at the bar for dinner. The ROTI owner was the one who called me up to confirm and he says that the bar will be more comfortable for a party of one. I think what he means is that it would be more convenient for larger parties.

It would seem that I've got the medical version of the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse. I've got that lingering cold, a stiff neck, a sore left foot and two cold sores inside my right cheek and on my tongue which made my dinner with the Iconoclast an unnecessary adventure, especially when the bill of fare was Mexican. Being a national holiday, the current Emperor's birthday meant that the crowds were out in force for shopping or eating. The Iconoclast and I lined up for dinner but the line shrank surprisingly fast so we got our table in rather short order. The ingesting of the food was, as I had mentioned, a bit of an ordeal, but the conversation was stimulating. He even lent me a book, THE DARWIN AWARDS, about some poor idiotic saps making the headlines due to some unquestionably stupid stunts. All of the award winners are given their distinction posthumously.

I've got another package on the way...this time from one of my Monday regulars. I really appreciate that Yamato Delivery toll-free re-delivery setup service.

Well, today, I've got another party to go to out in Nakano which will be handled by Movie Buddy. It won't be a huge thing which will suit me just fine since I hate large affairs. I still have to get the exchange gift.

Tuesday Dec. 23, 1:21 a.m.

Well, I thought I was going to start this entry with the statement that I had a very pleasant day and evening today. And for the most part, it was. My two classes went smoothly, my reunion with my Canadian friend was very good, and introducing the Iconoclast to him was a remarkable success since both are in the engineering field. Plus, I got to meet a few more nice people that my friend knew.

Yes, I thought that this would result in a happy entry into my blog. But true to my luck and true to the luck of Nero and Pastriche from The Dog of Flanders, two separate but connected e-letters blew all that into confetti. I had planned a Xmas dinner with the Madam on the 25th which would've been very stylish. It was to take place at a nice American brasserie in the heart of trendy Roppongi and would've featured good wine along with the usual turkey and all the trimmings. Then, the Madam kinda surprised me by inviting another former student about whom I had doubts whether she really liked me or not. Well, that was fine I thought. I did mention to the Madam that if she wanted to invite someone, she would be free to do so...I just didn't expect THAT student. In any case, I confirmed the reservations for 3 people.

Then, just a few minutes ago, I got broadsided twice. First, the Madam sends me a message stating that she has to pull out because of an illness in her family. And then in the same incoming batch, her buddy sends me an e-mail for the first time telling me that she has to pull out because she has to work until 9 on the 25th (in Japan, Xmas Day is just like Halloween, it's a festival but not a statutory holiday). I'm sorry...I'm fairly sure that the Madam is on the level, but I smell a female rat with her buddy. But what could I do? I just sent some polite responses of understanding to them. I'm still going to the restaurant regardless since I do want my turkey, but boy, life royally sucks! I know that this will probably be an isolated incident, but right now I just feel like such a patsy. I sometimes wonder if I get too close to these students...

Mon. Dec. 22, 7:55 a.m.

The final day of work for me before I go into the Holidays. I checked out on my Excel about my expenditures for the past week. Not so bad on the food, but I comparatively broke the bank in my miscellaneous stuff. And I have to get a couple of more presents by today. I hope I can somehow ensure some discipline in my spendings this week, although having dinners virtually every night this week will pretty much make that impossible.

I have my first outing of the week tonight with a friend of mine from Toronto who's here on holidays. Why he would come HERE for Xmas is beyond me but I figure it's more for the girlfriend than anything else. Actually, he just called right now. I'll also be meeting him for lunch after my first class, which consists of the two students whose party I had to ditch back on Friday night. I hope the hostess isn't too sore.

I also spoke with GD, an old friend of mine who's living close to Osaka. He used to make a yearly Xmas pilgrimage to Tokyo, but in the last couple of years he's made himself scarce from this neck of the woods. The timing is interesting; he came until just before I hooked with my former girlfriend. He did crash at my place for New Year's last year but I was back in Toronto at the time, and we only managed to cross paths for a grand total of 5 minutes before he had to head back home. However, he'll be keeping it close to his town this year. I can't say that I'm all that disappointed, though. I could use the time to really clean up the apartment. After watching a program last night about how negligent we really are in cleaning, I'm pretty much convinced that my apartment is a haven for mites and ticks.

Speaking of tiny critters, Shelob, my resident Daddy Long Legs is still alive and crawling on the ceiling of my shower. It is the perfect pet; I don't have to feed him or do anything with him, and he only moves when I take a shower. If only more animals were that independent, although cats come close.

Sunday Dec. 21, 12:50 a.m.

Christmas is in the air mostly because there is a good measure of ice in that air. That combined with a good stiff wind made things quite Brrrrr-worthy tonight. I guess it was timely that the Winter Solstice is indeed upon us. And in a weird meterological development, most of Japan has been sprinkled or dumped with snow, except for Tokyo thanks to some well-placed mountains. I never would imagine that a hardened Canadian like myself would actually shiver today here, but I did.

My long day started with one of my last classes before going on Holiday break. It was the one kid (her sister was off doing a Xmas concert). She was OK but her delivery was still as slow as molasses. I had better luck with her mother who took over for her younger daughter. We did a Japan Times article about English and Japanese proverbs which greatly struck her fancy. It really helps when you hit the target once in a while.

Then, it was off to Shinjuku to meet Movie Buddy and his houseguest from his native Australia. We were planning to catch that leather/werewolves/vampires flick, UNDERWORLD, but all of us needed lunch so we first went to a ramen joint in the side streets, called Kumamoto Ramen. We clambered up the tiny stairs just 2 cm away from the customers sitting at the 1st floor counter and then, at Movie Buddy's suggestion, we ordered the TA-RO ramen. It certainly satisfied our hunger...as MB stated, it's a bowl of some tougher-than-usual noodles with some fatty beef and lots of cabbage in what is basically melted pork fat. I think it explained why we really never got hungry for the rest of the day.

Afterwards, we went to the ticket discount shop to get the tickets for Underworld, only to discover that the last performance was last night. Now having two extra hours of nothing, we just hit a coffee shop for an hour before we did another hour of browsing at the nearby Kinokuniya bookstore and then several minutes of going through an adjoining DVD/manga shop. The highlight there was the playing of a hilarious parody CG version of a ski jump competition. The Russian pair did Cossack kicks, the African pair threw their skis into their mouths and waved them around...you get the idea.

After that, we took a little tour of the notorious Kabukicho, the area that has often frightened a lot of Tokyoites with its red-light shops and underworld activity. Well, we did a quick jaunt, nothing too deep, mind you, and certainly the red light shops were there. I also saw one large black car with tinted windows which I'm sure was the property of a yakuza, but we all came to the conclusion that Kabukicho, at least at 6 p.m., is nothing compared to Sydney's Kings Crossing or even the Jane-Finch intersection in Toronto, let alone some of the dangerous neighbourhoods in New York or LA.

Then, after a short pit stop playing target shooting games in a game centre on the edge of Kabukicho, we decided it was time to start the drinking portion of our odyssey through Shinjuku. It was dark, and the neon lights were out. The cold also made it rather imperative that we find a bar. We went first to the Hub, a generic pub chain. It had the decor and the ambience of CHEERS but also with the Shinjuku Station traffic jam crowds. We asked if we could get a table but the young lad told us that we would have to go to the counter and hope that we could get a seat. Well, after one round of drinks, it was pretty evident that we weren't going to get our wish, so we left.

We then proceeded to the CLUBHOUSE, southeast of the HUB. It is an Aussie pub and sure enough, the final game of the Rugby World Cup was playing on multiple screens. We faced the same dilemma that we did at the Hub...that there were no seats available. However, the waitress was more apologetic and promised us that when a table opened up, we would get priority. I felt a bit badly for the waitress since I kinda gave her a resigned look after the treatment we got at the Hub, especially since she eventually fulfilledher promise an hour and a half later. During that time, we just sipped our drinks and chatted while catching some of the England/Australia game.

Finally, we got our table after the large party of young folks left. And after 6 hours of not eating due to the ramen, we were still not all that hungry but we felt that it was time to put something into our bellies. So we went for fish n' chips, buffalo wings, squid rings and popcorn shrimp. Yes, I do realize that this was a lot but we were not going to waste an opportunity to try some of the excellent fare. Certainly, though, we were risking the Ring of Fire with the spiciness of the food. However, what affected us more was the actual heat of the dishes themselves. My two Aussie companions were doing some major huffing and puffing after throwing a few fries in their mouths, but since mymouth seems to be lined with asbestos, I was fine.

During our conversation at the table, one topic came up which could define my time here thus far and my time for the rest of my life. Movie Buddy pointed out that being an English teacher in this country was a dead-end job: no hopes for promotion or big money. And once the teacher returned to the home country, he would be starting from ground zero. As reluctant as I was to hear this news, he did have a point and I now wonder if I have sealed my fate here after nearly a decade in Tokyo. I think I could certainly eke out a living back in Toronto as a teacher but I'm not sure if I would ever have the same level of satisfaction.

Well, at 10:30, it was time to head home. My clothes had an olfactory record of everything we did today. But I was glad that I had the extra sweater on as it was very cold. I had to do the usual wading through the Shinjuku Station masses to get my ticket. But I did manage to get onto the packed Yamanote Line to head for Takadanobaba Station and the Tozai Line for home. I also had a stiff neck. It was ironic that I was reading a massage book at Kinokuniya so I can try to knead out the kinks.

Sure enough, the Yamanote Line was announcing several delays on the JR lines due to various accidents and snow. And on the Tozai line, there were the usual exhausted travelers and two young punks with a drunk female companion. First, they sidled her up next to my seat by the door which worried me a bit since the female companion could potentially spew at any minute. Then, to add insult to injury, they were able to get seats right beside me. Luckily, everything went peacefully. In fact, I was able to get a well-needed nap before I got off.

Well, now my entire week is filled with events, since Movie Buddy will be coming over on Boxing Day to watch some DVDs with me at my home. We may even have the first nabe of the season. As for tomorrow, or later today, I've got some oranges coming in from my friend in Shizuoka, perfect for my cold. And finally, I'm gonna take a shower to get rid of the smells of the city.

Thurs. Dec. 18, 11:19 p.m.

I got my New Year's cards done today. Over here, I have to write both Xmas cards for the folks back at home and the New Year's cards for the folks here, including relatives I now never see. It's always a bit more difficult writing the latter since my kanji ability is so limited, and I can't seem to write straight up and down. My script always seems to take a diagonal direction which annoys me and probably my relatives. Also I have to write down some pithy statement of good wishes for the new year. Luckily, I've got a book which gives some sample statements that I can readily u se.

I had my buffet with The Iconoclast at the Hilton today. For some reason, the cake buffet didn't hit me as well as it had the first two times I went. The cakes seemed a bit too sweet, which is really saying something from a guy who has a sweet tooth.

It looks like I'll be pulling out of the party tomorrow at my student's place. I'm not feeling all that well, and besides, I'd just end up looking goofy by myself. I cannot schmooze to save my life, and since I don't have anyone to come as my date, there really is no one to talk to. One other student and her daughter will be coming, but I remember the first time I went there. One former student and her daughter were there, and although I could talk with them for a little bit, both they and I kinda just sat there for 2 hours feeling uncomfortable. As much as I don't want to disappoint the hostess, to just be a cigar store Indian in the middle of a house for a few hours is something I want even less.

Thurs. Dec. 18, 8:28 a.m.

I'd thought about hitting the hay a bit early last night since I was feeling somewhat under the weather. However, I ended up going to bed a couple of hours later than scheduled since an old friend of mine had an emergency request for some proofreading. As it is, I'm not doing so bad right now, and I managed to get some Xmas wrapping done as well.

Looks like the "Be Kind to English Teachers Week" is continuing. I received a Starbucks card from my Wednesday night. I seem to be spending my days in Starbucks.

Today, I have to head on out to get a number of things done, notably add to my wardrobe. I need a pair of black shoes and a trenc hcoat, possibly for the big Xmas party tomorrow, most definitely for the Xmas dinner next week. Then, I'll be meeting my friend for a bit of that cake buffet at the Hilton. Now, that the Farm Grill will soon be a fond memory, the Hilton may have to become my default place for tons of food.

Tues. Dec. 16, 11:49 p.m.

The days leading up to the Holidays can be very rewarding ones for an English teacher like myself. Today, I got treated to a nice lunch at a fairly swanky Japanese restaurant in the Makuhari Messe convention area, thanks to my Tuesday morning regulars. I had myself some of that great Hakkaisan sake. My ears were glowing but the sake is so smooth but that was about the extent of my inebriation.

After a few hours of respite, I went off for my final round of classes at the juku before the Holidays. They all went pretty well, and I got surprised when my first two students presented me with a bottle of...Hakkaisan. It isn't as big as the huge magnum of the stuff that I got from the president of a major printing company over a year ago, but I'm still not complaining.

Mind you, I felt rather out of it physically tonight. I may be coming down with a cold. Unfortunately, the very chilly air outside didn't help matters. Well, I have to catch up on those New Year's cards as well as get back on track with sending out the calendars to the folks back at home.

Mon. Dec. 15, 11:24 p.m.

The world's most famous imprisoned dictator is playing true to form and being a "wiseass" in front of his captors. And CNN will be there!

It was a good enough day for me. My rich students spoke a bit about the big Xmas party on Friday. I'm still not sure whether I'll go or not though one of the students told me that her daughter was looking forward to meeting me. If I do go, I'll have to pick up a new pair of shoes and a good trench coat.

I met up with the friend who had stood me up at Shibuya Station on Friday after my class. He apologized and admitted it was a boneheaded move to keep me hanging there. That was good enough for me. I took him out to VOLKS, Tokyo's premier steakhouse chain in Shibuya, at least until the OUTBACK arrived here a couple of years ago. After lunch, I just showed him the RAMEN YOKOCHO in Dogenzaka since he may try to go there with his girlfriend and other friend later on this week. When we parted at Shibuya Station, I offered in a further move to show that the events of Friday night were forgotten to show them around, but I got the impression that that would be the last time I would see him in Japan. Fine with me.

Being payday, I was still surprised that I made a s much as I did. That certainly prompted me to splurge a bit more on a Pet Shop Boys CD and even the Dummies Guide to Jazz. Now that I've been interested in the genre for the past few years, I decided to delve further into the written history. Certainly the title is rather befitting for me.

I had my regular class with the folks at my friend's company. Looks like things are starting to gel a bit more, though the president wasn't there due to other matters, and it looks like he won't be attending class for the rest of the year. Afterwards, my friend and I went to another decent Chinese restaurant nearby the company. My friend seems to have the greatest knowledge of Chinese eateries in the Shinjuku area of anyone that I've ever met. We also had a good talk on philosophy, something I rarely do.

Checking my e-mail, I actually received a rare message from my former full-time bosses asking me if I would be willing to teach a JICA class on Fridays. Hearing about the curriculum for the students and the fact that the students have had a reputation of being somewhat holier-than-thou made the decision quite eary for me.

I also received a message from Dory, one of my students. I had invited her to the Xmas dinner on the 25th. She politely declined due to lack of funds, but that got me thinking about something. I had initially invited The Madam for dinner in a gesture of perhaps a semi-date. Now it was my fault that I left the caveat with her that she could invite anyone she would like to bring. It was also my fault to make the reservations for two before finding out that she had invited one other friend of hers, another former student whom I'm not sure about. I think that perhaps we don't get along, and the paranoid part of me wonders if The Madam had invited her because of some mistrust of me. If that is indeed the case, I will feel hurt..no matter how much the rational side of me understands her reasons for doing so.

Well, tomorrow I have another Xmas party, this time with my Tuesday morning folks. We're going in a bit of style by going to a hotel for a nice lunch. Then, it'll be my last class with the juku folks for 2003.

I

Sunday Dec. 14, 11:09 p.m.

Well, it looks like the US just got an early Xmas present and a huge boost to the forces since President Bush pulled off his surprise Thanksgiving visit. Hussein has finally been nabbed. I'm sure there is much rejoicing in the streets of Iraq and America, but this will probably won't stem the flow of attacks. In fact, I think there will be an increase in retaliation. But it's a big surprise that the big guy got caught alive if bedraggled.

My weekend was a fairly eventful one. I met up with my brother at the hotel for some breakfast on Saturday morning. I was OK with it, but he was far less impressed with it considering the price and the variety. I can't say that I blame him since the Canadian variety is probably a lot huger.

Then, it was off back to my neck of the woods to attend my juku's Xmas party which was basically for the kids. I met the one other veteran teacher who was responsible for all of the kids, and at one point, she was asking (pleading?) if I would take a few of them off her hands. I of course, mentioned that I was busy with other classes. There is NO way that I'll take any more kids. Just wearing the Santa suit and playing Bingo and cards with them were enough to wear me out.

I headed back to Shinagawa and met up with my brother once more at the hotel for a short while to rest up before we took off for the Ginza area. He asked a few questions about the area and took some snaps with his digital camera. Our timing was good since things went dark and the lights of the Ginza were on full power. We also searched for puff pastries in a forlorn hope for him to take some back to the home country. But one woman at the hotel bakery informed us that they wouldn't last the plane ride back.

For dinner, we ended up at the Farm Grill where I was given a huge bombshell. The buffet place that I had been haunting for the past 8 years, the place where I had to get my roast chicken and waffles, the place where I would get my students to attend for welcome parties, is closing its doors for the last time on New Year's Eve. To be honest, I couldn't be that surprised to see it go. In this city, where 90% of restaurants just struggle to make it through the first half-decade, the Farm Grill was a minor miracle. With the stuff they offered, it was a miracle that they could stay afloat for a s long as they have. And to be blunt, their best stuff started faltering over the past couple of years. However, it will be a shame to see it go. I enjoyed the privilege of being able to lounge around the Grill sipping coffee with friends, and perhaps I may get one more shot at it before the end of the year. Long live the Farm Grill!

After the dinner, the two of us just took a look around the Shiodome complex before we headed back to the hotel. I crashed there for the night and then had one more breakfast with him at Anna Miller's (notorious for their short-skirted waitresses, but Hooter's it ain't) in the morning before I took off for Shinjuku. I hope he was able to carry all those presents for the family.

I met up with The Madam and the Ballerina at the movie theater. Our numbers were unexpectedly smaller due to a cold which knocked out three other of our movie buddies. The movie of choice today was FINDING NEMO which had just started on the 6th. I must admit that I found NEMO a bit overrated. I didn't think the writing was all that sharp except ina few parts, and as one critic put it, the neurotic Marlin schtick wore out its welcome pretty quickly. Once again, the usual Japanese viewing experience of muteness was at hand which possibly influenced my opinion of the film. However, the visual effects were truly amazing in that I didn't even notice them; they were that advanced.

Afterwards, the three of us went to a nice little izakaya for a couple of hours of chat and eat. Then, the Ballerina had to take off for home, but since The Madam always likes a post-dinner coffee, the two of us searched for a cafe. Starbucks was not surprisingly packed to the gills, but we did find a smoke-infused little hole-in-the-wall on the 2nd floor of the MY CITY complex in Shinjuku Station. Among the stuff we talked about was the Ballerina's behaviour at last week's Xmas party. Her second farewell party is slated for the 27th, and the Madam is the organizer for that one. I decided to let her know about being careful with the Ballerina in terms of her love of drink since I just want to make sure that things go smoothly at the party and that perhaps some sort of backup will be in place if things don't.

Well, back to work tomorrow. However, I am meeting that friend who stood me up for 2.5 hours on Friday to give him his tickets. I'm willing to forget about what happened since he is sorry about it, but geez, I'm gonna hate those first few minutes of discomfort.

Friday Dec. 12, 11:28 p.m.

Well, I guess I'm supposed to deserve one annoyance a week. Last week, it was that drunken student. Now this week, it was a friend of mine who came over from Canada tonight. He basically stood me up at Shibuya Station for 2.5 hours thus ruining my evening which would have consisted of meeting Chip Guy for a nice steak dinner at the Outback. Instead, after my long wait at the ticket gates, I just stomped on home and had a half-can of Pringles Sour Cream & Onion...perfect for my mood. I realize that his plane was probably delayed or that he got stuck going through Immigration and Customs because of the heightened security at the airports this week, but checking my phone messages, he just asked me to stay there, and that he would get to the gates by 9 p.m. at the latest. Well, I ended up staying until 9:35...no sign of him. I got home and found out that there was an additional message from him stating that he felt that it was too late to come down and that I should call him for a re-meet. All I will do is let him sweat. I have his concert tickets for which he owes me 22,500 yen. If he really wants them, he'll have to be on his hands and knees.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I have to hit the hay within the next thirty minutes because I'll be heading out the door in 8 hours to meet my brother for breakfast in Shinagawa, and then I have to head over to a Xmas party in Urayasu which I really don't want to attend, and then I'm back with my brother fo r dinner. I'll get a chance to crash in his suite before I head on out on Sunday for another round of Movie Buddy-ism.

Thursday Dec. 11, 11:29 a.m.

I received a call from Movie Buddy. We haven't talked in a few weeks due to various things: he was off in Okinawa for a week, I've hardly been at the school, etc. So we had a good talk while I was lounging in my futon. Up until a few weeks ago, I had been out of the house at the crack of dawn to take care of the oil company class but since it's all over, I can actually sleep until whenever I want to get up. We just did the usual chat on movies and analyzed MATRIX REVOLUTIONS to death. We both agreed that there won't or shouldn't be a 4th one.

We also had a talk on the upcoming Xmas party he's holding on the 24th. It looks like things are further gelling on the social calendar. In that week, I've got three outings, the Xmas Eve do, the Xmas date with The Madam and then a farewell part y for the Ballerina planned by The Madam on the 27th. Considering that I've put myself on holidays for the last two weeks, it'll be a good drain on my account, but I figure if I'm going to spend my hard-easrned yen on something, it might as well be with good friends.

Not that week is going to be a social desert either. I'll be meeting with Chip Guy and another friend from Canada tomorrow night for dinner. In fact, Friday will be a very full day. I've got to get my hair cut in the morning, then meet Movie Buddy for lunch and have my regular Friday lesson before I head out for dinner. Then, the next day will be busy with my brother for breakfast and dinner. Plus, I've got a wedge of time in which I have to attend my juku's Xmas party with me as Kris Kringle once again. And then Sunday will be the final Movie Buddy outing of the year with me catching NEMO with The Madam and a few others.

However, one thing did get knocked off my schedule. I was supposed to have met The Iconoclast for a cake buffet today at the Hilton but it looks like there will be a party at the Marble Lounge, so we've agreed to put it off until the 18th. Which means that I'm here at the homestead today. Not a bad thing considering tomorrow's full schedule. However, there's a slight chance that my brother may call up with the opportunity for dinner. Most likely, his minders will be taking him out for dinner. Might as well just enjoy the day and catch up on some crosswords and DS9 DVDs.

Wed. Dec. 10, 12:06 a.m.

Sure feels like a Toronto winter night out there. Threw on the full scarf, sweater and jacket fos the walk to the juku.

Looks like my services for restaurants have come into play once more. The Madam is having some trouble looking for a venue for a farewell party for one of her old classmates. Could be a bit tough finding a place during peak party time on the 27th. We may have to use all of our resources: the Net, friends and magazines.

My brother called to say that he probably won't be available for the weeknights since some of the local brass here wants to take him out for dinner. Ah, well. It is a business trip after all. However, Saturday is still open. And in any case, I still plan to meet up with Chip Guy and one other on Friday.

Looks like Koizumi has pulled the trigger and decided to send the troops to Iraq. Although the mission is a humanitarian one, there are the twin points that Iraq is a maelstrom of violence and the Constitution's Article 7. There was a full court press with all of the major TV stations giving live coverage of the press conference. There will be a maelstrom of debate in the coming days. And that isn't all. As soon as the announcement was made, the government went on high terrorist alert by throwing a huge security blanket over Narita and Haneda airports. I can only hope that nothing comes out of this. Bin Laden has already pinpointed Japan as an enemy state.

Monday Dec. 8, 11:48 p.m.

Whew! Just got through an unusually high amount of useful mail. Instead of the usual paltry 10% of the good stuff, my ratio was up to 25% tonight.

Much of the mail dealt with filling up the month's social calendar. I have another dinner tacked on for the 27th, my Xmas dinner with the Madam has been confirmed, and it looks like I'll be meeting my brother at least once later this week. He arrived in Japan for the first time in 21 years on a business trip. So after work, I raced down to the rejuvenated hotel district of Shinagawa and picked him up from the Pacific Meridian and took him out for some tonkatsu. He looked appropriately bleary-eyed since like me, he can never sleep on planes. And he had a 13-hour flight. We did the usual talk about home, family and friends. It's ironic that he's staying in Shinagawa since on his last trip as a kid a couple of decades previously, he just stayed at the Takanawa Prince Hotel, just up the street. If everything goes well, I'll meet up with him again later in the week with Chip Guy for dinner and perhaps a little tour of the town. I've also got another friend coming in on Friday so we could all be linking up on the weekend.

The day consisted of two lessons. My rich students were fine as usual. I was even introduced to the newest member of the family for one of them...a large Golden Retriever puppy. In between lessons, I did some more shopping...calendars of course. Then, I went to my friend's company for their class. Unfortunately, I got snogged into another tense interpretation session between my friend and his president. This was absolutely not what I wanted before a class. Basically, my friend has decided to chuck his life and job in Japan since he's basically had enough of the system here. Hey, if one is miserable, why continue the misery? His boss was still trying to convince him otherwise til the bitter end, but it looks like it's a done deal.

Thankfully, tomorrow will be a virtually free day outside of the regular Tuesday night stint at the juku, so at least I can relax a bit after an all-day session today.