Wednesday November 9, 11:37 p.m.

And I thought Monday was a long haul. Still, just like one of the "Law & Order" shows, I got renewed for an 12th season, and a 13th, and a 14th. Yup, I got my visa extension, much to my relief and those of the juku boss and Speedy. And despite the fact that my sponsor only put down that I would be required to work for him for one year, the government gave me 3 years. Nice to keep one's nose clean.

It all started early this morning when I got to Shinagawa Station. I got there at 8, a full hour later than usual when I head out to the vast Immigration Centre in Konan. Boy, what a difference an hour makes. There was literally a river of commuters rushing for the buses at the Konan Exit. I could handle the human rapids quite well since I'm a long resident here but it still took the breath away. What took the other folks' breaths away was the maniacal screaming of one of those usual colourful demented folks who often inhabit the big stations of the JR. I wonder if he's related to the crazy Crow Lady in Shinjuku. I ended up having coffee and a tuna melt in Starbucks for 30 minutes before The Matron's arrival. The melt was good; at 420 yen, it had to have been.

I waited for The Matron right by the huge Central Gate at 8:30. She was only a few minutes late but when she arrived, she profusely apologized. She apparently got lost searching for the Takanawa Exit. I'll definitely have to be better in my explanations. What was interesting to me is that The Matron hadn't been to JR Shinagawa in over 2 decades since she's got a car. Quite a few changes for her to see, I'm sure. I was very grateful for her presence. It made for a good morale boost.

The bus heading for Immigration was one of the herky-jerkiest I'd ever been on. I almost dislocated my wrist and shoulder trying to hang onto the straps of the packed bus. Luckily, it was only a ride of 10 minutes. We got to the Centre by around 8:50. The milling numbers of foreign residents had already taken up their spots in the line some 20 minutes earlier. The two of us just went up to the 2nd floor's A Counter to get my permission stamp sheet.

The Matron looked at the Centre with some interest since this was her very first time at the new place. I told her of the airport lounge analogy. The lineup at A Counter wasn't too bad. I ended up helping a couple of folks about the procedure. One was a French fellow who was doing this extension thing for the first time. Another was, I think, a Southeast Asian woman, who was in the wrong place. She had to go to the Re-Entry Permit counters. Once 9 a.m. rolled around, the counters were up and running, and I was up at my counter within 10 minutes. It was a simple matter of handing in my passport, the postcard and my Alien Registration Card before I got them back along with a form to stick on my revenue stamp for 4000 yen...the cost of my visa extension. I just went down to the in-house convenience store to buy that and then returned to the counter to hand it in along with my passport again. Another 5 minutes, and I got my new visa extension...which incidentally included that square Aztec Art-looking bar code for cellphone sensors. Not quite sure what that was all about but perhaps if I ever do get a cellphone I can find out.

Once again, I was in and out of the place within a half-hour. I felt somewhat badly again that I not only dragged out The Matron (although she did set me straight about some Japanese instructions for the procedure) to Shinagawa but also that she cancelled her own appointments just for me. Then again she did offer her company and I accepted. I did tell her that this would be the last time that I would need her husband's help since I would now be going for Permanent Residency from now. She took my apologies with her usual cheerful grace. On the bus ride back, she realized that she had been in the area, actually on top of the water, just a couple of days ago with her hubby on a ship for a French dinner cruise. She also guilelessly told me that her son (the kid who did my taxes earlier this year) was gonna head out to Hawaii to see that Masters Golf Tournament with Tiger Woods and the other top pros. Different worlds, we live in. It won't be last trip to Immigration this year, incidentally. I still have to buy that Re-entry Permit but I know that I can come out here more leisurely for that.

To make some recompense for having dragged her out, I treated The Matron to a bit of brunch at the expense of my waistline at the NYK Cafe, one of the centerpieces in the newly beautified Shinagawa Station's Konan Gate. She had the soup-in-a-bread plate while I settled for a cheese omelet which left me pretty heavy. Tasty but I don't think I'll be trying that type of omelet all that often. Just a bit too decadent for my palate. After about an hour of noshing and chatting, the two of us hopped back onto the Yamanote Line and went to Shibuya together. We parted ways then and there. I promised to myself that I would get The Matron a nice little gift by the time her next lesson rolls around on Monday.

I decided after some rather heavy eating from Starbucks and NYK Cafe, I would spend the next number of hours just walking through the CD shops to get some of that feeling of heaviness. Well, to be exact, I went to Towers first just to get regular, so to speak. Having 3 coffees over the course of a morning can make one quite willing to run to the facilities. And then, feeling lighter in mood and body after getting that huge 800-kg Immigration gorilla off my back once and for all, I decided to treat myself to some CDs. I netted a nice little bit last month and it's been a few months since I got any music discs. I bought a couple of atypical CDs. One was actually a rap/R&B number by flavour-of-the-year Seamo called "Drive" (no, not a cover of The Cars' hit from the 80s...this song really does drive uptempo), and the other was a recent hit by the former lead singer of Judy & Mary, Yuki, called "Joy". I certainly had muted versions of both after getting my visa. I made another short drop at HMV and picked up the latest issue of "Total Film". I was really treating myself.

Then, it was up to Speedy's. I got there several hours early for 001's and 003's lessons but it was nice to have the school to crash in. After the calorie-boosting menu of this morning, I still bought some stuff for dinner since I figured that I would get hungry again before the lessons. Heck my stomach is growling now. Speedy and his two staff were having a meeting so I just planned my lessons in the lounge and read a bit of "Total Film".

In the mag, I came across a story about this horror flick which could outdo all other flicks in the amount of egregious gore and suffering. When you have Quentin Tarentino, Takashi Miike and Eli Roth all on the same project, how could it not be egregiously gory? The movie is called "Hostel" and the pic I saw was one in which a masked torturer was hoist on his own petard via two severed legs. Well, I was intrigued so I checked "Hostel" out on the Net and saw some further pics. One had some poor Oriental woman with an eye literally dangling out of her socket. The movie was reportedly shown at The Toronto Film Festival's "Midnight Madness" showing to much acclaim from the gorehounds and much fleeing from the not-so-strong of stomach. However, I just kinda wonder if there is a "Lion King/(Osamu Tezuka's) Jungle Taitei" type of unacknowledged homage vibe going on here. From the gruesome scenery, I couldn't help but be reminded of the notorious video series from here called "Guinea Pig" in which dismemberment for kicks was the theme. But then again, Miike could have based his stuff like "Ichi The Killer" on "Guinea Pig".

Both lessons for 001 and 003 went well again. And more importantly, 003 signed up for another 4 lessons. We might get that extra whiteboard for Xmas yet. My old school now seems to be heading further back into memory although I still miss the group classes from which people like Skippy, The Madame, SR and The Ballerina hailed from. I've still yet to hear from 002 since she's supposed to be back from Canada now.

I got home to see that I got that "Revenge of the Sith" DVD from The Anime King. Would like to see the extras but I really need that sleep. I'm not even gonna bother going to the gym. I just wanna crash a bit and plan for that lesson for The New Yorker later on Thursday evening before heading out to meet The Madame for lunch and then that session at Creambath.

Nonetheless, it's time for a shower and bed.

Wednesday November 9, 5:50 a.m.

I see I've passed the 1200 mark in number of entries. Looking forward to another 1200 more. My 1203rd entry is a pretty early one since I have to head over to Immigration today. At least I'm not leaving now like I did last time. Still, I'll be leaving with the early birds to work. According to the Fuji-TV morning show horoscope, Libra is at the top of the good fortune list today. I certainly that is indeed the case when I come up to the counter. Maybe if I'm very lucky, some mandarin in The Ministry of Justice will see my long life here and just give me permanent residence right then and there. Doubt it.

The night at the juku was pretty normal except for The Bohemian. This is one guy who should have just stayed in bed although I'm grateful for his 3000 yen. He was alternately fighting his cold and the effects of the powerful medicine he got from the hospital. As a result, his mind was anywhere but in the classroom. Several times, he couldn't even understand what I was asking him. Finally, I decided to kindly pull the plug and end things ten minutes early. I had to get my needed rest for the early wake-up call and he just needed plain rest.

Well, off I go.

Tuesday November 8, 1:27 p.m.

Glorious day today in comparison to the rain-soaked one of Sunday. The weather guys seem to be still screwing up, though. They've said that the temps would be dropping from today but it still feels like Spring out there.

It was the smaller version of The Beehive today. Just Ms. Perth, Ms. Alp and Ms. Tulip. Still plenty of enough conversation to keep us away from the text. I think Ms. Perth was getting a little too Perth-istent with her questions so that Ms. Tulip showed just a hint of uncharacteristic annoyance. But any tension that did arise quickly dissipated. Looks like I may have a rare day off from The Bees due to a rare appearance by my teaching partner (he lives all the way out in Kamakura now) will be happening next week.

Just went to the kaiten sushi place for lunch and then bought a little something for dinner before taking off for the juku. It'll be a slightly shorter stint there tonight since The Beauty Pair are off in Kyoto on a vacation.

I received a phone call from The Matron this morning offering to accompany me to Immigration tomorrow morning for what will hopefully be a successful visa extension. It's a bit dicey in terms of the timing although we did agree to meet at 8:30 at Shinagawa Station. I couldn't really ask her to come any earlier but at the time we did agree to could mean a much longer wait on the 2nd floor, and she did say that she had to head over to another appointment around 11. I hope those lines at the counter are express ones.

Monday November 7, 11:57 p.m.

A long day (which will get longer if both Speedy and I get our way) is coming to an end. Pretty beat but when one has done two model lessons to get two new students into a school, one will never feel all that energized by the end.

The Class Act had an interesting session. The Lady was simultaneously chewing out and aiding The Matron for an incident just a few days ago in which the latter was almost the victim of a pickpocket in a department store. What got The Lady's ire up was that The Matron let the inept security team show some vital information of The Matron's to the pickpocket among wrongful procedures. But in The Matron's defense, she was in a bit of shock since this was the first time in her life that she even almost got lifted. Her husband had dutifully given her a chewing out as well.

SIL and I had a grand old time talking about the news events of the past week: Koizumi's Cabinet shuffle, the NHK arsonist, and the death of Minako Honda. Even her name got into the discussion with SIL and The Class Act. The Lady praised her as one who had gone from the facile world of pop music into the highly demanding one of classical vocalization.

Got to Speedy's in plenty of time for the model lessons so I could actually eat dinner. In fact, Speedy was busy giving a model lesson of his own in which he managed to get his latest student. For me, I am at least batting .500. I did manage to get Student 004, this very vivacious, high-level student. The challenge is on me now to get something that will amuse and yet educate her. My second student was a bit more enigmatic. I was told later by Speedy that she indeed enjoyed the lesson I gave but I found her to be fairly slow in her responses partially since her personality is sanguine. Speedy reassured me that it wasn't a matter of teaching quality but of her financial situation that will determine whether she will be Student 005. We shall see...

Anyways, I really have to get that shower done and hit the hay.

Monday November 7, 7:22 a.m.

Yup, as expected, Fuji-TV devoted its 6:45 segment to the life and death of Minako Honda. There was a bit more talk at J-Pop on her death. On the lighter side of things, I've just watched a family segment on the same show which covered a family's way of getting closer together while building this Rube Goldberg contraption just to take a digital photo. Unfortunately, at the very last step the whole thing failed on live TV. Grandpa certainly didn't look like a happy camper.

As for that NHK arsonist story, apparently there is a connection between it and the story of last year's JR train accident in Osaka. Both were caused by people who apparently snapped after undergoing that usual Japanese corporate custom of getting repeatedly berated by superiors as a toughening-up process. The 24-year-old NHK reporter was often seen crying at his desk. Knowing how some superiors would react, that sight of a grown man weeping probably would have brought on even more grief.

I think I may have mentioned before that berating is a time-honoured custom not only in the military but in just about any institution here in Japan. I was largely spared that sort of treatment by my parents but my mother had a Spartan period during my upbringing which I didn't, and even with the passage of years, still don't appreciate. During my time on the JET Programme, I occasionally had the "privilege" of hearing the ranting and raving of a number of usually jovial teachers at a group of errant students for up to 30 minutes. It was wince-inducing. Even my English-teaching partner, whom I've seen perform some mighty chewouts, had to duck in some fear as the most fearsome teacher (and I suspect a former bully) proceeded to tear sheets and orifices out of one poor student in the teachers' room...also with a few knocks to the head.

As you may suspect, you might now have an inkling about my feelings on the topic. Nope, I don't agree with this custom. Yes, I think from time to time people need to get their cages rattled to get them off of a wrong course of action but I think this martial philosophy is overboard. And yet, the majority of people have undergone the same process when they were the freshmen or rookies in their respective organizations, and they've come out OK. In fact, some of these people end up as middle management types who would use the same process. I have often heard various people such as celebs or regular folks use the expression "shikararete kureta" ("kind enough to get scolded") instead of just plain "shikarareta" ("got scolded") in gratitude to their elders for having the guts to kick them. Well, again I've got nothing against on lowering the boom. I just have something against the length of that boom and the number of times it's used on one occasion. And I frankly think that it's still kinda hit or miss whether it does ultimately work. And in the NHK and JR cases, the consequences have been deadly. But then again, who am I judge a culture?

Monday November 7, 12:04 a.m.

It's been a quiet night. I was surprised to see that home remodeling program, "Before/After", back on TV Asahi. I'd thought that it had been dismantled. Now I can see old folks (tonight's ep dealt with a couple in their 90s!) once again get super-duper modern digs in their remaining years of life. I'm sorry...I am being a bit snarky but well, c'mon...

After that, it was just a couple of hours of taped jazz music (yep, I still haven't caught onto the DVD burning bandwagon...just the Luddite in me, I suppose). I turned on the TV to Fuji-TV and saw the last 15 minutes of this Kinki Kids-hosted program. As I vaguely remember, this Sunday night show has been on for a few years now. This show by the Domoto boys (not a common name but the boys, strangely enough, aren't brothers) came after a previous popular Saturday night music-variety half-hour also hosted by them in the mid to late 90s also on Fuji. I can't remember the title of the show although I was a pretty faithful viewer. What got me so was the pretty funny banter that the Kids had with the weekly guests (anyone from the early Morning Musume to even media-shy [or should I say, media-hating] Kazumasa Oda) and the backup band which consisted of various famed singer-musicians such as singer Keizo Nakanishi, Brother Korn, one of the legendary Alfee band, and even 90s crazed tarento, Tomoe Shinohara. The show even had a Top-10 hit in its theme song.

Well, it looks like this not-so-new show on Sundays seem to have brought back some of that old format. Now, it seems like the Domoto boys have gotten halves of duo acts and various refugees from 90s celebdom: one-half of HALCALI (a gimmick act of two Okinawan girls who seem to follow the famed quote of a long-dead agent who said of Fred Astaire: "Can't sing, can dance a little"), one-half of Puffy, actress-pop tart Kyoko Fukada, Brother Korn, the terrifyingly androgynous Takamizawa of Alfee (as opposed to the more folksy other member who appeared on the old show) and former Tetsuya Komuro paramour, Tomomi Kahala. And at the end of the show, everyone got together on their instruments and mikes to back up the singing guest of the week...in this case, the singer who had a huge hit last year covering a hip-pop version of one of Holst's suites from "The Planets", Jupiter.

However, the real reason I'm writing this at this time when I should be already be washed and ready for futon is that I have to announce the way-too-early passing of Minako Honda. I heard on the Fuji-TV news tonight that the former 80s idol-turned-rock singer-turned-musical actress died of leukemia earlier today after a brave fight lasting almost a year. I checked some of the J-Pop sites. On one site, a list of the Top 10 hits for information on singers had her on the top of its list, and another had the sad update on a months-inactive string which had initially announced the news of her getting cancer. She was only 38.

I remember her distinctly from seeing her faces on some old music magazines that I had collected as a young university student. She was one of those girls with a huge mane of hair surrounding a pretty face...which was pretty much the usual look for an 80s J-Idol. Her music back then was not exactly my cup of tea. She was going for the early Madonna look of bared midriff, leather and chains but her voice didn't exactly match that of the real Material Girl. However, she was successful enough to reach stardom if not the superstardom of Seiko Matsuda or Akina Nakamori. There was that brief dalliance in hard rock which didn't go anywhere and then she did a 180 by doing a bit of enka and then finally settling for the genre that she stuck with until her premature end, musicals. She was now known primarily as the lead in the Japanese version of "Miss Saigon". Quite the stretches in her career and it would have been interesting how she would have further parlayed that if she had beaten her cancer. With this news, I found out a bit of trivia that I have tagged as naruhodo or "I thought as much". She was the cousin of "Snow Falling on Cedars" actress, Yuki Kudo, and in fact, Minako's original last name was Kudo. The resemblance between the two women is there.

Well, I know that Fuji-TV's entertainment news segment in about 6 hours will have a special on her life and career.

Sunday November 6, 6:31 p.m.

Once again, I went under cover of darkness to get my groceries for dinner, now that the sun disappears by 5 p.m. That gloominess translated itself into a good steady rain. With the dark, the rain and the street lights casting long shadows, I should've been dressed in a trench coat and a fedora instead of the sweater, jeans and leaky sneakers. Plus some sad jazz would've been nice.

Having a lot of time on my hands, I ended up watching three hours of "Biography" on The History Channel. The theme was fashion designers so I got to see a little bit of the late Gianni Versace and all of Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. Not that I'm a fashion hound, certainly not on my salary anyways. The only time I ever get close to those names is if I'm walking by one of their stores in the Ginza or Omotesando. But I found their life stories rather enlightening. I certainly didn't know that Klein had already been famous with a line of coats and sportswear for a good decade before his jeans and a 15-year-old Brooke Shields broke through the consumer stratosphere (and with nothing in between them). And I finally got to see the woman behind DKNY...she's the 7th-Avenue version of Barbra Streisand which is then no surprise since the real Streisand and her are best buds. However, I think if I ever made a mint, I would probably go for the understated products of Armani. Certainly, The Teacher likes his style, or to be more accurate, Andy Garcia's style whenever he dresses in one of the designer's suits.

Wait a minute...actually, I've had a couple of items by the designers mentioned. My home back in Canada actually has a bottle of Calvin Klein's "Eternity" cologne, and I bought a small version of it for a small price. And I've got a wallet from the same guy given to me by one of my bigger fans from my days at NOVA (she was an interesting one, that girl was). However, because the logo embossed on the leather was rubbed off years ago, I almost forgot its pedigree.

Well, I've been enjoying this weekend but tomorrow should be a pretty busy day (and week, for that matter). Not only do I have The Class Act and SIL, but I've got my new assignments at Speedy's in the form of two model lessons. I'm gonna be working even later than usual but I do need the money.

Sunday November 6, 12:30 p.m.

I was watching the digest version of the week's "Waratte Ii Tomo", Tamori's flagship program, on Fuji-TV from the comfort of my own futon when I decided to do some channel surfing during the commercial break. I came across NHK and, lo and behold, there was the chairman of the network himself, Mr. Hashimoto, making yet another public apology at around 11 a.m. I thought, "Ach, here we go again...another employee making off with the money" and quickly turned back to Fuji. Later on, when I checked another station's newsbreak, I found out that it wasn't a case of embezzlement after all. One of NHK's reporters, a Mr. Kasamatsu, had been arrested for serial arson; it seems like he wasn't just covering fires. Apparently, Kasamatsu admitted that he had some issues to sort out. But once again, I've seen another example of how the top guy of an organization takes it on the chin for the malfeasances of a lower-ranked cog.

Well, still haven't even started on breakfast. And it's past lunch time. Still, I plan to have my bacon, eggs and pancakes. Looking decidedly gloomy out there. Happy to say, though, that my apartment is reading a comfy 21 degrees C without any need for a heater. That could change once December rolls around but in the meantime I'm hoping that my electric bill will be lower this month.

Saturday November 5, 6:10 p.m.

Cleaned up the place as best I could. I finally did some good with my bedroom. Amazing the stuff that can collect on a floor after several weeks.

As I was heading out to the supermarket, I checked my mailbox. That Immigration postcard has finally arrived but there was also a letter from my apartment management company. I decided to pick them up later after I got back but it was a pretty tense 15 minutes doing the shopping. It wasn't the postcard that got me tensed up. The envelope from the management company had a distinctly yellow cast and I saw the kanji for "not" which got me worried. I spent those minutes outside wondering if I had paid my rent. Then, thoughts of my apartment being demolished and being thrown out on my ear came to mind.

As it turned out, the company just wanted me to renew my insurance policy for the apartment and I got a little piece of oil paper (it's supposed to suck up the oil from one's face through some sort of secret process). So that was a sigh of relief. However, I have to inform The Matron and her husband about the postcard and see if either one of them can accompany me on either Wednesday or Friday morning to check on my fate. I'll probably send a fax tonight or tomorrow.

Saturday November 5, 1:10 p.m.

I see that just a few hours into my lesson-free weekend, I'm already getting a bit peckish for something to do. Yup, I know...I have to do the cleaning but that never really goes into the category of "Things I Wanna Do". So I'm doing another entry.

I made the reservations for Creambath Ebisu for The Madame and myself. Now, before all of you out there get some rather devious thoughts...Creambath Ebisu is not a love hotel or someplace involving a bath and lots of cream. Actually, I may have mentioned it last year since that was my first visit to the place. That first time was a bit of an initial disconnect for me and perhaps the manager of the place. For one thing, I got there an hour before the place opened since my pamphlet was an old one and the opening time was actually bumped later by an hour. For another, I was dressed like a bloody otaku...not exactly the greatest impression to give to a staff of an establishment designed to lend healing and beauty. Then again, the manager should have taken my case as the ultimate challenge.

Once again, I've gone off on a perpendicular tangent. To get back, Creambath Ebisu is a spa in the somewhat schizophrenic area of Ebisu (tony restaurants and apartments/some grungy elements on street level) which offers scalp massages at a not-so-cheap price. Apparently this particular type of massage comes from Bali (and considering recent political conditions there, perhaps a lot of the Japanese will probably come to this place as a safe substitute) and the representative photo shows some woman with her long hair all creamed up into a statuesque column with some sort of cold stuff infusing good healthy stuff like aloe vera or carrots. Salad for the scalp...who knew?

This time, I made the reservations on the phone instead of SR, who had first recommended the place, doing it. I've never been very comfortable about handling reservations in Japanese but the lady on the other end made it quite simple. I just gave her the time and day plus the course. So it's a done deal as long as The Madame doesn't suddenly do a pullout or I have to head over to Immigration.

I've got the TV onto a regular TBS Saturday talk-variety show called "The King's Brunch". For a brief time some years ago, I was a pretty dedicated viewer of this program which went into the latest fads, restaurants, movies and TV shows but with the kids' classes and the novelty wearing off, I've gone onto other things. Still, the feature ( or "corner", as they put it here) right now is on the most popular foreign, namely American, TV shows in Japan. It's been amazing how popular these shows have become in the DVD rental shops recently. One would have thought that shows like "Friends" or "Sex And The City" would just go directly onto prime time. But I think despite the popularity, the programs themselves would still just claim only a relative fraction of the viewing audience here in Japan. Plus, the TV industry became fully foreign-proof with its own variety shows and trendy dramas decades ago after some very early adoption of shows like "Bewitched" and "Nanny and the Professor". Anyways, right now, the Number One foreign show here is "Sex And The City".

Mind you, some shows have actually gotten themselves inserted into the viewing schedule on the regular channels although of course not during the peak times of 7-10. "The West Wing" and perennial favourite "ER" are on NHK, and TV Tokyo has had regular US programming during the lunch break hour so stuff like "Nash Bridges" and "The Adventures of Lois and Clark" can actually entertain those office ladies and salarymen while they nosh on their bentos. Fuji-TV annually has shown "24" for two hours in the wee hours of the morning every night for a period of 2 weeks. That's great for the night owl set or for those who have the timer setting on their VCRs (Japan has yet to discover the wonders of TiVo).

Well, I think it is time that I get off.

Saturday November 5, 11:49 a.m.

Glorious to have 8 hours of sleep! I got up not because I had to but actually because I wanted to. Not a feeling I've had in quite a while.

I've been relatively lucky with the cold so far. Back on late Sunday and early Monday, I had to struggle with the onset of one but after taking those two doses of Benza Block, I've been doing OK for the week. I'm a bit sniffly right now but that could be just from the usual dust that infests my apartment.

Not much to say on this side of the Pacific. JJ sent me a message about the next lesson. I've slotted her in for the 19th. So, unlike today, the rest of my Saturdays in November will be quite busy with lessons. However, as for today, I'll probably get some cleaning done and then get some groceries for dinner. I plan to have my Canadian breakfast for tomorrow.

Friday November 4, 9:35 p.m.

Managed to get through all four of my stops without too much of a problem. The Teacher once again focused on a Charles Jenkins article which was quite interesting since it showed excerpts from his book describing his first meeting, courtship and eventual marriage with Japanese abductee, Hitomi Soga.

Then it was out to the other side of the city to drop off that book at Speedys. He wasn't in; it was another trade fair that kept him busy. After that I made it out to The Tea Room for SR. Her pregnancy is coming along but things at her company are still pretty rocky. She even showed me what was a very thick envelope carrying the notice from America announcing the official news of the bankruptcy. Since SR's knowledge of legalese is minimal, she wasn't quite sure what to make of it until I took a look. Even my eyes instinctively glazed over after reading a few lines but I got the gist of it to reassure her that the letter was just a formal announcement of news that she had already known for weeks.

Finally, it was down to the Toranomon Starbucks for The OL. Apparently, she had taken a day off today from work. I had no sooner parked my wide carcass into my seat with my Tazo Chai Tea Latte and Lemon Cake when I got that familiar hello. The OL has got a major entrance exam tomorrow for entrance into a big university which could mean that she can escape into academia for a few years from the not-so-happy confines of her current company.

Well, I got a rare full weekend off from tomorrow. The kids aren't available and JJ hasn't come back to me about a lesson. I haven't even heard from the ailing GS about our first official lesson. Perhaps she's changed her mind. Not to worry...I'm just gonna enjoy sleeping in and basking on the sofa.

Friday November 4, 9:00 a.m.

TVNewser seems to be painting Aaron Brown as the runt of the litter who's been kicked out and Anderson Cooper as the bully. Obviously, the website isn't immune to sensationalism either. Look, it's a pity that Brown had to leave. I did like him on "Newsnight" by himself and I think that the 2-hour merger between him and Cooper was more like oil and water than fire and ice. And maybe President Jon Klein is just cleaning house a little too enthusiastically. However, Brown isn't exactly in dire straits in terms of future prospects and Cooper hasn't done anything to deserve the enemy status he seems to be getting. I'm sure that there was a good deal of discussion between Klein and Brown before the end came. But that's the way it goes in this business or any business. Let's move on...

Perhaps what everyone at TV Newser and CNN needs is to thwack a futon. Yep, that's right...thwack a futon. We do that over here on sunny days. In the nation famous for robotic pets and Playstation, much of the local population still dries wet laundry on the clothesline instead of the usual dryer-and-fabric softener sheet treatment. And we hang out our mattresses on the balcony railing. We let the things air out there for a few hours in the sunlight and occasionally thwack it with a...futon thwacker. Got a lot of stress? Just thwack the living daylights out of your futon. You'd be surprised at how much better you feel and your futon gets a lot fluffier and a lot less dustier. I'm surprised...and somewhat dismayed...at how much stuff just flies out into the air after I beat the futon. Up until a few months ago, I was thwacking no less than 3 mattresses, two of which I'd had since I moved in here 11 years ago. That was a little too long for them. Experts say that the average mattress has a lifetime of 8 or 9 years tops. My two guys were looking distinctly flat and ratty. I wouldn't have been surprised if there had been a lost civilization of mites inside those things. Much better just to thwack the lone younger and healthier futon.

As for the rest of my day. It'll be a full-up Friday. I've got The Teacher, then I have to run out to Speedys to return a text before seeing SR and then finally The OL.

Thursday November 3, 8:30 p.m.

Well, I declare tonight's ma bo dofu a success...almost one anyways. I didn't put enough cornstarch so it ended up a bit too liquidy. However, the taste was there and more importantly, I didn't blow out my tastebuds. I was able to hold back on the ton ban jan. Perhaps I can even risk serving it to friends.

Currently watching "Utaban", that musical variety show on TBS with hosts Takaaki Ishibashi (of Major League 2 and 3 "fame") and Nakai-kun (the leader of SMAP). Over here, there are two types of music programming: there are the straight ranking shows showing the Top 10 of the week and then there are these musical variety programs in which the performers have to also be able to banter humourously with the hosts. "Utaban", along with "Hey!Hey!Hey! Music Champ" hosted by Downtown, are probably the two funniest of these shows due to the quick (or half) wits of Nakai and Ishibashi. Along with the J-Pop guests, there are bizarro performers who wouldn't look out of place in an episode of "Jackass" or an early David Letterman show. And there are some visual "Airplane"-esque cues to keep the viewers happy.

Tonight's show had Hikaru Utada and this pop band which is made up to look like some rather dangerous bikers, Kishidan. However, in their first appearance on the program, they're just a bunch of softies. Usually, I don't get a chance to see the program since I'm out teaching either MK and The Manager or The New Yorker and The Carolinan on Thursdays.

When I do get home before 9 p.m. on Thursdays, the TV lineup for me is usually just "Dotchi ni Ryori Show" (Which Cuisine Shall We Choose Show) on NTV. It involves two hosts, Yuji Miyake and Hiroshi Sekiguchi, each promoting the week's two dishes in battle in front of a panel of tarento. The one mainstay panelist is Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, also of SMAP (these boys are on every channel). Each host has to convince the panel that his dish is the more favourable one via a lot of techniques such as restaurants which serve the dish, on-camera chefs which make it, and footage of where the best ingredients can be gotten. At the end of the show, the panelists decide their choice and the majority vote gets to eat their choice while the losers look on hungrily. Tonight's theme is gyoza vs. siu mai.

Thursday November 3, 6:32 p.m.

Looks like my computer needs to be cleaned out again. After another crash this morning, a lot of the graphics have gone weird once more.

The Manager and MK were quite full of beans which always helps a teacher in a bad mood. It was pretty much a smooth 2 hours.

Some interesting news today. Some nutty Japanese woman who had defected to North Korea after jumping off a tour ship and swimming to the land of Kim Jong Il has decided that Japan wasn't so bad after all. She looked rather shellshocked but life there can do that to you. And then there's yet another case of an attempted matricide...this time by a 16-year-old girl who was trying to off her mother with small doses of thallium. She's denying it but "circumstantial" can only get you so far.

I see that Prince Charles and his new wife, Camilla-The Duchess of Cornwall, are visiting the Bushes in Washington. And strangely enough, actor Kelsey Grammer was invited to the big dinner as well. Let's see....we've got a recovered drug addict, a couple of philanderers and a potential liar around a dining table. Calling Frasier Crane...I can just smell the psychoanalysis.

Well, I'm gonna make another round of ma bo do fu. I have learned my lesson not to throw in so much ton ban jan. Hopefully, it won't be nearly as fiery as last time.

Thursday November 3, 10:51 a.m.

I would've gotten started on this entry almost an hour earlier but I got a call from Mom, and then my computer decided to stab me in the back once more and I had to get onto the lesson plans for MK and The Manager.

Mom and all the rest are doing fine. I'm sure they've been enjoying their time cooking at my brother's place with the new family member in town. She also told me that my cousins were traveling in Tokyo in early September. Although I haven't really talked with my relations in some years (and I suspect one of them would be quite happy if she never spoke with me again, period), I was slightly stung by that revelation. Well, mind you, they didn't ask for my address and number and Mom didn't offer them. I've always considered myself the black sheep of the family; this further cements it. Of course, if any of them ever came across this particular entry, I might get the usual whining "Well, Haru, it goes both ways. Why don't you ever contact us?" For that, I would happily give a very loud raspberry (as you can read, I can be the blackest of sheep...Flashman has been an excellent guide).

Anyways, with that intrafamilial rant out of the way, I can also mention that Mom is hinting about a DVD player. I've given my brother a heads-up once Santa time rolls around.

I'd talk more but I gotta hustle.

Thursday November 3, 12:28 a.m.

Another one of those long Wednesdays yesterday. I had to pay off my heftiest bills next to the rent: National Health Insurance and Citizens Tax. Kinda depressing paying those since I had to also reach into my bank account for some of the money. Then, I took out all my stress at the gym. Once again, I feel rather tight around my shoulders.

Decided to have my monthly Big Mac set at the McDonalds across from the station. The branch had a recent makeover so the interior looks like retro 60s futuristic lounge. The wallpaper in the stairwell, though, looks like 70s suburban basement old sofa. Can't have everything.

Went over to Speedys. The boss man himself wasn't in the office for most of the day due to a trade fair that he attended downtown. So, it was just the two secretaries and myself. Before you get any dirty thoughts, all we did was just share in some cake that one of the newer students had brought. Although I have yet to meet her, I knew then and there it had to have been a much older student since only members of that generation have that charity to bring any sort of sweets to a school. I spent the next few hours just planning for the lessons for 001 and 003, doing some browsing of the Net and crosswords. My dress socks were starting to wear out so I took a brief respite to head back to the convenience store and pick up a new pair. I really have to cut my toenails a lot shorter (sorry if some of you folks were eating when you read this).

During my browsing, I came across some surprising news about yet another death in the Trek family. Scotty, Robert Wise, that woman who lent her vocal cords to the original Star Trek theme..who was next? Well, it was Michael Piller...the co-producer of all of the Trek sequels except for "Enterprise". He wasn't all that old either...just 57. I remember seeing that boyish face of his underneath his baseball cap. Cancer got him. I checked the Trek BBS...a lot of tributes flowing in for him.

The classes were their usual humour-filled banter bashes. I seem to have gotten into a good groove at Speedys. 001 was great although I think I should perhaps lay off the alky jokes when it comes to her. She accused me good-naturedly about my characterization of her as a boozehound. She does love her drink but I think I'll stay quiet about it for a while. As for 003, I had her rocking off her seat in laughter and managed to get some education into her. I think, really, it's been the jokes that have kept her happy more than anything on English conversation. By the way, 002 sent an e-mail to the school stating that things have been going well in Toronto. I believe she's headed back for home this weekend. She said that she would try to head for The Madison Avenue Pub, one of my old haunts near U of T before she comes back.

Speedy did come back just before I started up with 001. Since Thursday is a national holiday, he had his usual class on that night last night at the same time I was having 001. The ladies in that class decided to have part of their time at a nearby izakaya. Looks like the lesson was a great success since even by the time time I finally finished up with 003, Speedy came back to the school to see if the two of us would be interested in joining them. 003 and I agreed and we went to this old style place just behind one of the taller skyscrapers near the station. I was introduced to Speedy's three giggly students, one of whom I had met before at one of the movie nights. I realized there that entering one's forties could entail a difference in impression from new faces. For all of my thirties, I was accustomed and enjoyed the compliments of how much younger I looked. Well, those days seem to be over now. During our animated talk, we got into the topic about my love for karaoke. Immediately, one of the whippersnappers pegged me as an enka singer...people who are solidly associated with the middle-aged. Ouch!

Well, another long day has come to a close. And with my purchase of a tub of butter, I'm now down to my final 1000-yen bill. Rather depressing since my wallet had a lot more of its companions just this morning.

I guess Wednesday was a bit of a death day of sorts. Not only did I find out about Michael Piller's passing but I just found out that a bandleader of "The Tonight Show" went to that bandshell in the sky. At first, I thought it was either Doc Severinsen or Tommy Newsome, two guys from the Johnny Carson era (both aren't exactly spring chickens). But it was actually Skitch Henderson. Also, I got a postcard from a former student that I hadn't heard from in a few years. Actually, the postcard was more of a formal notice of the death of that student's father. Over here, if a family member passes away, the bereaved family members send out cards to everyone notifying them of the passing so that they don't send New Year's cards, a sign of celebration, to the family. The family goes into official mourning for a year.

Today is Culture Day, and as I mentioned, it's a national holiday. I will be doing my own contribution of culture in the form of teaching the English language to The Manager and MK later today. I don't mind since apparently I really do need the money now.

And either today or tomorrow, I will be celebrating (or more likely, merely observing) 11 years in this country. Depending on how my immigration bid goes, I hope to be here for a lot longer.

Wednesday November 2, 9:24 a.m.

The juku was as usual. The New Kid told me that his mother felt that our text was a little too easy for him; he was OK with it, though. But I'll bring over a copy of another text to see if he's OK with that next week. The Beauty Pair was also fine; they'll be away next week in Kyoto, though. McGirl seemed a bit more clued out than usual. And I once again went overtime with The Bohemian discussing the world's alphabets (you had to be there).

My sister-in-law finally sent the first pics of my niece just now. I see that she has my brother's mouth. We'll see over the coming years if she becomes a supermodel.

I'm heading out to the gym in an hour although I do have to pay my Health Insurance premiums and Citizen Tax at the UFJ first. Not looking forward to that. Then, it'll be out for my regular Wednesday nighter at Speedys.

Tuesday November 1, 1:48 p.m.

It was a full house at the Beehive today. We always try to get into the text but end up sidetracking mightily. This time, we veered off into the world of Starbucks and coffee. It's amazing that this ubiquitious chain started just 7 or 8 years ago in the Ginza to become as plentiful as McDonalds. Ms. Tulip then remembered to mention that her friend, who's been in her own coffee distribution business, would like to come by the Hive monthly to sell her wares. Not a problem, said we. Next week, the Hive will be halved with most of the veterans gone on various matters.

Got word from The Ballerina. She appreciated the compliments from The Lady and SIL about their smooth-as-glass flight. Looks like one of her old classmates will visit her soon. The Madame also sent word to me that she'll be OK for our next meeting late next week, provided that things are OK with Immigration.

Would love to take a nap right now but unfortunately I've got to plan for the juku.

Tuesday November 1, 7:45 a.m.

The times...they are a-changin'. It was actually chilly in my room thereby necessitating the bathrobe. Luckily, it's sunny out there.

Apparently, things are also a-changin' at CNN. I was checking the schedule for the network and noticed that "Anderson Cooper 360" was no longer there. The current "It" guy of news no longer had his own show?! What was up with that? Instead, Wolf Blitzer's oft-frenetic "The Situation Room" has been awkwardly put into Anderson's old spot so that Wolf is on before and after Lou Dobbs. Well, I checked TVNewser and found out that it looks like Anderson has gotten a promotion of sorts. It looks like the golden (or silver) boy will be the sole anchor of Aaron Brown's old show, "Newsnight". Meanwhile, Aaron Brown seems to have gone on vacation, perhaps permanently from CNN. I had heard that the smashing together of Brown and Anderson on an expanded form of "Newsnight" wasn't working too well. No kidding there. Brown is much more of the traditional avunculist while Cooper is the cool-n'-hip David Letterman of cable news. So it's not surprising that the latter won the larger half of the wishbone but I'm frankly not sure if putting Anderson's round peg into "Newsnight"'s square hole is the best thing. Perhaps Hurricane Katrina has claimed two more victims.

Looks like my cold has finally woken up. Time to get the medicine...

Monday October 31, 11:04 p.m.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know...I'm back early. But I've got some more stuff to get off my brain.

I've got a cold for one thing. My nose was killing me with post-nasal drip for much of the day. It took two doses of Benza Block to plug up the leak so The Class Act had to endure my mug being covered by a raggy tissue. With the big deviations in temperatures over the past couple of weeks, a lot of folks in The Big Sushi have been coming down with colds. Right now, I'm histamine-free although the inside of my nose still feels a bit funny. In fact, The Class Act was wondering what this winter will wreak. Last Xmas, Tokyo got inundated with a snowstorm which is pretty rare for the megalopolis. Temps were pretty cool today and they'll be about the same tomorrow although the sun will come out.

Along with the announcement of Koizumi's 3rd Cabinet appointments, the other big news item today was the possibility of Japan finally letting in US beef after two years of an import ban on the stuff due to BSE fears. The Japanese government panicked when they heard about the case of BSE in the States (actually, the case originated in Canada...ooh, how mortifying) and put up the shields against American heifers. Koizumi and the gang have been fairly leery about US inspection methods and have used that point as the key to keep the barriers up all these months. You can imagine that the Americans haven't been too pleased about this situation and the Bush representative was sure to keep that edge to his voice whenever he pointed out his indignation. And a lot of the Japanese population, notably the folks who love Yoshinoya, haven't been too happy at seeing their favourite beef dishes disappear.

Well, it looks like The Berlin Wall of Beef might be finally coming down by the end of the year...just in time for the joyous New Year's celebrations. As a lot of wags will tell you, when the US tells Japan to jump, Japan often says "How high, my liege?" Still, it took two years of intensive negotiations (yelling and screaming?) to get the Japanese government to even consider restarting importation of US beef, and we're still not sure whether the deal will come off. On the other hand, you have my aforementioned point that the lone case of BSE was actually the fault of a Canadian cow so it's not quite fair at how the Koizumi government had reacted. In addition, the United States isn't exactly a third-world country when it comes to health inspections. In a nation where beef is the meat of choice for a good chunk of the population there, it would be hard to believe that the US would get lax with inspections. Could you imagine what would happen to the beef industry if there were a BSE outbreak Stateside? So far, the locals here are cautious but they are willing to see some of that gorgeous marbled meat come back to this side of the Pacific. Beef bowls need not be a rare delicacy anymore.

Back to my mundane universe...I was happy to find out that I made a nice net profit this month despite the fact that NHK has finally started siphoning off my money for its coffers. But I do have to pay my regular premiums for National Health Insurance and Citizen Tax. I was at HMV during the break between The Class Act and SIL and saw that Diana Krall has her Xmas album out. Unghhh....I was grimacing about whether to get it sometime in December. I don't know what it is with me and Xmas jazz albums. I've already got a few different renditions of "I Wish You A Very Merry Xmas"...why would I need another one? Well, it's Diana Krall, for one thing!

Speedy has gotten back to me about The Poppy. He's still OK with it so I've sent word to the girl herself. Hopefully, I'll get a positive reply.

Ah, and I almost forgot to mention that I had my 3rd sighting of the crazy Crow Lady, that apparently paroled mental patient who rides her bike and hurls abuse at everyone around Shinjuku Park. I passed by her as she was standing by the western wall of The Century Hyatt. She wasn't aiming her garbled rants at anyone in particular this time but it seemed like she was just yelling some stream-of-consciousness stuff at anyone who would listen...which was nobody.

Time for bed...

Monday October 31, 9:54 p.m.

After all of my blather on how much bigger this Halloween seemed to be this year in Tokyo, it's ironic that on the actual day itself, I didn't come across any hint of the pumpkin day...well, aside from the waitress at Dennys showing me a special Halloween flank steak for dinner tonight. Mind you, I wasn't anywhere near Roppongi tonight and Shibuya during the day seemed to be its normally surreal teen Mecca self.

I had my first lesson with The Class Act in about a week and a half. Most of the class was spent on The Lady's and SIL's trip to London last week. Nope they didn't get to see The Ballerina but The Lady asked me to relay their compliments to her for a very good voyage. I was a bit caught off guard when The Lady told me that SIL would be having her lesson today as scheduled (lucky I asked) although I distinctly remembered hearing from SIL herself that she wouldn't be able to see me until November. No particular harm done since SIL didn't want to have anything to do with the texts today. I didn't bother asking about the Xmas party at the house since it was still too early and maybe there's a chance that The Madame would take me up on my offer to accompany me to the grand ball in early December.

It was also my last lesson with The Company. No tears, no breaking of voices, no grand farewells and even no Junior. Very pleasant. Junior was busy on another assignment so I gave him my brief goodbyes at the end of the class. Earlier, the Prez gave me his thanks for 2 years of work and asked about a farewell party sometime. I told him that Fridays look OK for that. Looks like Speedy has lived up to his name by quickly setting up two model lessons next Monday. If everything works out well, my Monday nights will continue to be busy.

As I said at the top, I had my dinner at Dennys tonight, the main reason being that I wasn't sure if The Poppy was gonna be showing up tonight. I didn't think so since her mother, The Matron, told me in class today that The Poppy ended up in hospital for a number of days last week due to some sort of raging skin infection. However, I wasn't going to take any chances and besides, I could take advantage of my single status to eat wherever I want. Sure enough, she didn't show.

But I now have to inform The Poppy or The Matron that with the possibility of two lessons at Speedy's, I'll have to move up her lesson (that is, if she's still interested in seeing me...she's very sporadic).

Sunday October 30, 6:23 p.m.

Movie Buddy finally got to my place a little less than 24 hours ago. Ordered the Domino's Quattros for both him and me and then off we went for our features. However, we had a look at "Biography" on SuperChannel at Alec Baldwin's career as an appetizer. Once the pizzas got in though it was off to the DVDs. It was Denzel Night.

The first of the double feature was "Man On Fire". Denzel Washington was playing this dissipated ex-Special Forces soldier, John Creasey, who found life worth living again after becoming this little girl's bodyguard in wild n' woolly Mexico. In its initial release at the theatres here, it was "My Bodyguard", a fairly cute title for a movie that was pretty darn violent in the latter half; I think Chris Columbus (the guy who did the first two Harry Potter flicks) directed his inaugural project with that same title. Back to the main story, "Man On Fire" was a diverting flick on DVD although I think I would've been somewhat disappointed if I had plunked down my 1800 yen for its big screen release. Denzel did a good job capturing the physicality and personality of this past-his-prime man who had given up on life until Dakota Fanning's Pita brought it all around for him. Basically, the movie has a split personality: the first half has frighteningly precocious Pita gradually counsel Creasey back to mental health while the latter half has Creasey returning the favour (via a lot of guns and torture) after his rescuer is kidnapped. Dakota Fanning is certainly trying to attain Jodie Foster status as this wunderkind of thespianship. As I said, her character in this movie was very mature (I could've easily imagined her doing the promo interviews on a chair cross-legged while smoking Camels)...more mature than her character in "War of the Worlds" where she was a much more normal pre-teen.

"Man On Fire" reminded me a lot of "Payback", that Mel Gibson flick I had caught on Friday on TV. Both protagonists spend much of the movie getting kicked about until they find the way to divine retribution. However, I thought the director, Tony Scott, needs to fall out of love with the MTV style of jump-cutting. I wasn't sure if I were watching a typical R&B video or a cutting-edge public service announcement. I think Scott still hasn't quite learned his lesson...the ads for his latest project, "Domino", show the same herky-jerky effects. The effects were so heavy-handed in "Man On Fire" that I think they extended the film well past the 2-hour mark thereby bloating it. It held my attention sure enough but I wouldn't consider it one of Denzel's finest efforts.

The second feature was another odd one by DW called "Out of Time". This one had Washington playing the more suave and handsome character that we are accustomed to seeing him playing, although his character, an essentially good if somewhat corrupt and bumbling Chief of Police in a tiny Florida hamlet, is again playing against type. This movie couldn't seem to decide what it wanted to be. In the first few minutes, I was wondering if this were going to be a straight drama or mystery. Then hints at other genres poked through like pens through plastic: comedy, thriller, suspense. As a result, the movie ended up being more than a usual made-for-HBO feature but less than a motion picture. Speaking of genres, there were a couple of other performers from the sci-fi arena who appeared as slightly less than good folks. There was Dean Cain, the ex-Superman, as the wife-beating thug and John Billingsley, the ex-Dr. Phlox of "Enterprise", portraying an amoral medical examiner though loyal friend to DW. The problem with Billingsley is that he was basically playing the same character that he plays on "Enterprise".

The next morning, MB and I did our usual leisurely wake-up while watching those huge SCTV DVDs that I had gotten last Xmas. MB really wanted to see John Candy as Orson Welles doing that blow-up scene on Liberace's Xmas special. He got the biggest kick out of seeing Welles shouting one particular line. It was then I realized that MB and I have somewhat different sensibilities when it comes to humour. I mean, that Welles line didn't particularly send me into paroxysms of laughter although the entire sketch was funny in general. On the other hand, I always enjoy watching the classic Eugene Levy sketch in which he played a comatose Perry Como in concert but it didn't kill MB although he knows who the singer is. I continued to show him a selection of other great sketches from the show such as CCCP 1 and The Gill Fisher Show. MB did have some good guffaws at the Ricardo Montalban School of Fine Acting.

We headed out for Omotesando around noon for that brunch at Fujimamas. When we arrived in the area, the annual Halloween parade was just finishing up. Apparently due to the inclement weather yesterday, it was postponed to this morning. As I had thought all month, this year's Halloween has taken full hold in Tokyo. There were a lot of kids and even some parents decked out in costumes.

Fujimamas was a somewhat interesting experience this time around. Our waiter was the same guy who had served me when I had last come here several months ago. And yet, we both noted that he wasn't particularly all that polished as a restaurant employee. MB noticed that he brought a lot of plates of food for the next table without taking the empty plates which made the table a rather crowded surface indeed. Also, he kept forgetting to bring stuff like water and milk for our coffee for us which necessitated asking another server. Luckily, I was dining with MB, a very mild-mannered fellow. However, I did remark that back in the West, he would be getting a far lower tip. Before the table faux pas with the people next to us, there had been another group of Westerners who ended up just sitting at the table for just 5 minutes. I knew things were off to a bad start when one of them told our waiter about a dirty fork and then after that they decided to depart without ordering anything. The hapless waiter tried to get them to stay with his somewhat gormless charm but the woman who had pointed out about the dirty fork just said that they had wanted to smoke but they couldn't do so since they were in a non-smoking zone. Well, I think that was a big lie right there since they could've just said something right at the entrance. Plus, our seating area may have been technically non-smoking but it was certainly not a no-smoke area. There were smokers not too far away from us in the smoking area whose wafts of nicotine were blowing quite well into our zone. In fact, one family near us politely asked to be re-seated since it was just too smoky. I think that is a very valid problem for Fujimamas that should be addressed since it is a gaijin-intensive restaurant and the gaijin are more vocal about their complaints than the native population.

The meal at Fujimamas was good and unsurprisingly a bit pricey. I picked up an ad for their annual Thanskgiving dinner although I knew that I wouldn't be able to go on November 24th since I've got my biweekly class with the Carolinan that night. Well, maybe Xmas then. MB and I turned the corner and into Kiddyland. The toy store was packed to the gills with families trying to get ready for Halloween. MB wanted to get a silly hat for his Halloween classes at his junior high school tomorrow so he bought a witch's hat. While we were inside, I noticed an otaku who brushed past me. He had this look of Billy Bob Thornton's role as that moron in "Sling Blade". He sported a tiny beanie cap, a jacket, a backpack and most notably, two cameras slung around his neck. I then went outside to wait for MB to pay for his purchase. The otaku was outside and he approached two little girls in costumes and then silently extended his hand. The girls didn't quite make out what to do and I thought maybe intervention may have been needed but luckily their parents quickly got them out of the way. The now-creepy otaku sat beside me on the metal bars, just staying quiet and turning his face down. I didn't mind him sitting beside me; as long as he did, I knew he couldn't potentially scare some kids out of their wits. In any case, when MB came out I just left him.

Omotesando was a busy place with the mix of Halloween revelers and the regular well-to-do fashionistas. I had heard that the Japanese economy was officially in turnaround in the good way (although how long it will last I have no idea). The main street was a reflection of that good news. We just walked all the way down to Shibuya where the population was much younger and singler. And the crowds were a lot more oppressive. We stopped off at Tower Records where MB and I did several minutes of browsing before I finally bought an "Entertainment Weekly". Then the two of us decided to call it a day and parted ways on the Hanzomon Line platform. Not quite sure what it'll be like in Shibuya tomorrow with it being the 31st. I'll get a chance to find out though since I'll teach The Class Act again. And I have that last lesson with The Company later on.

Saturday October 29, 6:00 p.m.

I swear that one of the great scourges of society is the cold call: giving or getting. Here I was heading into a well-deserved shower after a day out in the city when my phone rings. I thought it was Movie Buddy signaling his arrival but instead it was some high-pitched guy trying to sell ADSL Broadband. Well, with my prejudice against salespeople in general, I waited a few seconds until he stopped for air and then I just mumbled my sumimasens and the fact that I didn't need it and quickly cut off.

My morning at the kids' house went pretty well. I wasn't quite sure if I would be able to fill up the 2 hours with the pumpkin carving. But actually thanks to the Elder's usual slowness and her younger sister's willingness to follow suit, we had no problems filling the time up. It also helped that I padded the time with those two smaller pumpkins as a warmup. In fact, the small ones were more difficult than the one big baby since the girls had a heck of a time trying to cut through the tough rind, and the fact that the size of the pumpkins demanded more finesse in the cutting out of the face and scooping out of the pulp. I also got a glimpse of some of the possible tension between The Elder and the mother. The mother kept insisting to the two girls that they respond in English (a very laudable goal) but The Elder either ignored her or just kept muttering in Japanese. Well with some more coaxing I was able to get some "Yes" or "No" out of her. However, the entire experience ended up with three Jack O'Lanterns lit up and some fun apple bobbing. Of course, Mom was there to capture the scenes with her digital camera. I also got a nice big Japanese pear and financial reimbursement for my troubles.

Well, in a bit of a celebration of sorts, I decided to have my first pai ko tan tan men of the season at Foo Foo in Shinjuku Station. I might wait a bit longer until the temps get cooler though; I was sweating up a storm after having that spicy dish.

I met up with M+M at The Tea Room. It had been quite a while since my last meeting with them. I think it was early summer. The long absence was good in that we had quite a bit to talk about. M1 had her own little trip outside of the country in late September to New Zealand. She even got me a small packet of chocolates as a souvenir. I feel kinda bad about it since I didn't get them anything from Taiwan. M2 dropped some weight due to the rigours of her studies. She was overly magnanimous by returning the same compliment back to me.

The rains started falling just some 100 m from my home so I made a trot back up to the apartment. After getting that annoying cold call, I did get a call from MB stating that he was about to leave for my area. That was almost an hour ago so I should be expecting the doorbell to ring in about 15 minutes. I've got the Domino's Pizza pamphlet ready to go.

Saturday October 29, 7:01 a.m.

Well, that George Takei-is-gay news has filtered into StarTrek.com...finally. It was over on all the other news sites so initially I thought the main source for all things Trek may have been avoiding the issue. I checked out one Trek BBS...looks like there is quite a heated discussion going on there.

I should know better...I ended up doing Solicrosses in bed for several minutes. I got up pretty darn groggy. The coffee has saved me but I can predict that I may be rather sleepy come M+M time. I can only hope that the kind owner at The Tea Room will suggest something extra caffeinated.

Movie Buddy will be an hour later than stated for DVD night. It'll give me some time to do some last-minute cleaning up. Not sure how we'll handle dinner though. Maybe it'll be takeout pizza although we're planning to head for Fujimamas on Sunday morning for their brunch. MB was able to get a couple of Denzel Washington movies although the titles he mentioned are perhaps the English and Japanese titles of the same movie. I made this point out to MB so I hope he'll check it out. I'm rather surprised that he decided to go for Denzel since he wasn't too impressed with the last one by him we saw here, "The Manchurian Candidate". In any case, it'll be good to catch up with him. I haven't seen him for well over a month.

I guess that the Doctor is finally back in. "Doctor Who" managed to walk off with a whole slew of TV awards in jolly ol' England. Chris Eccleston made his presence well known by his absence. Just about everyone else appeared. I'll be interested over the years to know what he really thought of his short tenure as everyone's favourite Time Lord.

Friday October 28, 10:50 p.m.

Forgot to mention that as a Trekkie, I got a bit of a surprise from The Doctor. He sent me an article which stated that George "Mr. Sulu" Takei finally came out of the closet after 68 years. Man, makes me wonder how much he really liked Captain Kirk.

Friday October 28, 10:20 p.m.

Did my round around Tokyo. Picked up the pumpkins and headed on out to the kids' house. The mother was actually home so I left the stuff there to lighten my load. Then it was off to the Starbucks again to see The OL. Looks like everything is back on schedule with her.

I'm currently watching "Payback", an interesting film noir with Mel Gibson. Good for a Friday night. But gotta get in early since I've got to head to the kids early as well.

Friday October 28, 1:32 p.m.

Called up Immigration since after more than 2 weeks, that damned postcard still hadn't come. The guy who answered wasn't an automatic answering service, not even a Japanese official, but someone who had a distinctly non-Japanese accent....probably a good thing for government public relations. When I told him about my worries, he reassured me that at the very earliest, it would take about 2 to 3 weeks to process the documents. And he said even though my visa expires next week, since I've got the "in process" stamp in my passport, I shouldn't expect any police to come to my door to give me a ride to Narita. I guess the stress has been rather hard on me; after I got off the phone, I let go of a very deep and ragged breath.

The Teacher had an interesting article for discussion today. It was on Charles Jenkins, the US defector to North Korea. She not only had read the article but also saw the special interview on "60 Minutes" with him. She also pointed out that the approaches between the Japanese and US media when it came to Jenkins were different. Here in Japan, Jenkins is seen by association as a sympathetic figure if not folk hero due to his marriage to Hitomi Soga, one of the Japanese abductees. But he is also on the sidelines with his wife taking somewhat centre stage. I say somewhat since the chief abductee still hasn't been returned yet, and in fact may be long dead. Megumi Yokota, a bare teen when she was kidnapped by North Korea in the late 70s, still casts a long shadow in the news when it comes to the abductee issue. Her parents are still lobbying Koizumi very heavily (although the media has gone onto other things for the past several weeks if not months) to throw economic sanctions against the totalitarian regime.

Of course, in the United States, Sergeant Jenkins is seen as the worst kind of scum: a traitor and deserter. I think only a child molester/killer would get more things spat at him. When the news was still fresh over there, the glare of the media was solely on Jenkins with Soga and their two daughters very much off to the side. In fact, I think several of the reports never even mentioned Soga by name.

The article we looked at described some of the harrowing and horrific conditons that Jenkins had endured: getting beaten within an inch of his life for sassing at his North Korean minder, getting an American tattoo sliced off his body without any anaesthetic, and having to flush his toilet by hand. I know that there are many miltiary vets who would be more than happy to throw him back into the stockade for the rest of his life for what he did, and certainly I do not condone his desertion since when he decided to cross the border, he left his squad by the DMZ. However, if what I read in the article is just a fraction of what he went through for forty years, then I think Jenkins paid more than his pound of flesh. 40 years! The man was going through totalitarian hell for the same amount of time I've been on this earth. It's amazing that he's been alive this long.

Another interesting point is that Jenkins has had to catch up with much of history. He hadn't been aware that computers are now in almost every US home (he probably was still accustomed to the room-sized behemoth versions with vacuum tubes), he didn't know what a Big Mac was, he was floored to know that African-Americans could hold positions in the police force and women more or less freely could serve in the military, and I'm sure he was rather chagrined to find out that smokers are becoming a pariah species. The man is truly a Rip Van Winkle; in fact, I'd say that he even looks like him without the long white beard. He's a tragic figure although he now has a decent life with a family in Japan.

Well, it's obvious that I haven't gone anywhere to kill time before buying the pumpkins. But I needed to find out about my status with Immigration. It's just as well...I bought some breaded chicken fillets, instant rice and a salad. Only cost me a little over 650 yen...more than a Big Mac set but much cheaper than what the lunch sets go for in this burg. And I can get some laundry done since it's a nice day out. I'll probably take off in another 90 minutes or so.

Friday October 28, 10:01 a.m.

Well, just cleaned up as much as I could around the apartment in preparation for Movie Buddy's semi-annual reservation. I can say it's tidy if still cluttered.

I've got The Teacher for her usual lesson in about an hour. And then I pick up the pumpkins later in the afternoon to take over to the kids' house. Except for the transport of the gourds themselves, this ought to be the easiest prep work I've had to do for Halloween in the past number of years. The mother said that she has everything that I would need to get a proper carving done. The only thing is that I'll have quite a few hours to kill between the lesson and the transport. And then it ought to be a relatively easy ride from the kids' house for The OL tonight.

Thursday October 27, 9:00 p.m.

Looks like the weather took a turn for the better. The afternoon had the sun blazing into the windows before I went out. The two sisters were their usual diligent selves. I ended up having dinner at the neighbourhood Lotteria's (a homegrown hamburger shop) although I broke the daily budget and probably my calorie intake but I knew that my stomach would have been yelling bloody murder at me for the time up to tomorrow morning if I hadn't eaten something. I was thinking about ramen but I decided not to go that far.

Thursday October 27, 11:46 a.m.

Raining on and off. It was enough though to soak through my sneakers so I'm gonna have to change socks and shoes for the lessons today. I'll probably have to Lysol the running shoes as well. I had the same button-down guy for my massage that I had the last time. Again, he was very considerate and polite in his sporadic running commentary on my back along with his asking if he were being a little too pushy.

Currently watching the 7th inning of Game 4 of The World Series on NHK-1. One of the perks of having the schedule I do is that I can sometimes catch things like these instead of having to wonder about them at work. Looks like it's a nailbiter right now with a scoreless tie. This series between The Houston Astros and The Chicago White Sox could emulate how The Japan Series went. Of course, the main reason that the World Series is showing live is because of Iguchi of the Sox. However, even his presence cannot stop the need to show the weather and news since that is what is showing now. In fact, it won't get back to the game until 12:20...we could already be into the 9th inning by that time!

As for the aftermath of The Japan Series, one nice thing about it is that even if there is a loser and a winner on the field, the shopping public all win. There's of course the victory sales at the department stores which have some sort of affiliation with The Lotte Marines but a lot of the establishments in Osaka are now having consolation sales. One doesn't need to cry into their beer anymore; the non-alcoholics can cry into their wallets.

Thursday October 27, 8:04 a.m.

Back up again. The media is still buzzing around The Marines' win last night. Well, that's good considering it's pretty miserable outside. I heard a major downpour sometime overnight. However, it seems that Fuji-TV is now gnashing at another bone. And its name is Queen. The geriatric band arrived in Tokyo last night and ironically moved the clock back, according to some satisfied customers, some 30 years. The "new" lead singer looked like he coughed up a few lungs getting through the songs but there really is only one Freddie Mercury.

Gonna get some cleaning up done here before I take a shower and then head on out to the clinic to get my back loosened up.

Thursday October 27, 12:27 a.m.

Well, Chiba is probably the happiest prefecture in Japan right now. A couple of entries ago, I mentioned that perhaps The Lotte Marines lost Game 3. Well, so much for my pathetic fortune telling abilities. They not only creamed The Hanshin Tigers 10-1 in that game, but they won an actual close game last night thereby clinching The Japan Series in one big sweep. Bobby Valentine has now become the very first foreign-born manager to capture a Japan Series ring, and his team has won all the marbles for the first time in 31 years. Not surprisingly, NHK showed a whole bunch of scenes of very happy and drunk Chibans carousing in a bar. And Fuji-TV was just showing the inevitable champagne showers and baths on the players. Gonna be interesting what the next few days locally will be like.

Had my two lessons at Speedy's tonight. 001 was a bit more tired tonight but still great work by her. And 003 was more settled after her turbulent first lesson due to the impromptu tremor. Speedy is hoping for good results concerning my immigration. He was quite quick in getting a potential student for Mondays from November now that I'll be having my final lesson with The Company next week. I'm certainly hoping that I'll get that postcard from Immigration soon.

Looks like I've been getting more messages from out of the woodwork today. Yesterday it was that e-mail from The Den Mother. Now I got a letter from a teacher from the old school that I hadn't heard nor seen in several months inviting me to his birthday party. I'm not sure how he got my address although I suspect someone like The Coffeemaker. Hmm...I'll have to think about that one.

I read on The Stick's blog that her birthday was coming up (and here I thought it was on September 1st). She said her family has never celebrated birthdays aside from saying "Happy Birthday!". Well, if that's the way it has been for her, then she probably wouldn't care very much about them now. However, I still think it's a pity that she hasn't had anything done about it. Well, this is a job for Haruhiko. I may be clinically depressed about a number of things right now but I haven't completely forgotten about people.

Later today, I have to not only get the lesson plans done for the sisters, New Yorker and Carolinan, but I also have to clean up my pigsty since Movie Buddy will probably be crashing here on Saturday night. I won't have anytime to do it on Friday or Saturday morning since I'll be out at work.

Gotta get some sleep...

Wednesday October 26, 9:06 a.m.

It's gonna be a rather cool day in The Big Sushi. Only up to 18 C. But I'd think The Barmaiden and 002 would greet 18 C as gloriously warm considering where they are right now. I've been having some problems with my allergies...or is it a cold?...lately. It's certainly an indicator that the seasons are changing. The cold has been tearing through the population including a few of my students.

The kids' mother contacted me to say that I can bring the pumpkins up to their house on the eve of the carving. Although I relayed to her my concerns that the carving wouldn't need 2 hours, she reassured me that I can just go on with that and not worry about any particular need to actually teach something. I'm sure the sullen Elder wouldn't mind that at all. But just in case, I will pick up a few more smaller gourds to keep the kids busy.

I've also heard from The Den Mother for the first time in a couple of months. She has made that proposal for another dinner with some of her old classmates from the ol' school for sometime in late November.

I don't know how Game 3 of The Japan Series went although the ambient buzz seems to be that The Hanshin Tigers probably won that game. If The Lotte Marines had won, there would have been some sort of coverage on the game. But I shall check.

Last night, when I was on my way to the juku, I saw this rather odd cloud formation off in the west. It looked suspiciously like one of those earthquake clouds. Considering that we've had a sizable tremor a week for the past couple of weeks, I will be taking care.

Tuesday October 25, 1:11 p.m.

I guess the season of gassho konkuuru is back with us. Exqueeze me? Bakin' your powder? The term means song contest, and apparently all of the junior and senior high schools are getting their kids together in choruses and having them practice folk and classical songs like the Polish "Moldau", and Japanese favourites such as "Tsubasa Wo Kudasai" (Give Me Your Wings) and "American Feeling" (a song made famous by the Japanese version of the Manhattan Transfer, Circus). The choruses then compete against each other in regional and prefectural interschool contests. On the JET Programme millions of years ago, I was privy to the eternal practice sessions while I was in the teachers' room and I even got to attend one of the contests one day. Well, it got me out of the school.

It's a rather interesting observation about the schools here being so interested in having the students rev up their singing ability. It can explain their innate interest in karaoke although it still doesn't explain why a good bunch of these J-Pop singers are so mediocre. Then again, the J-Pop singers start their careers pretty early...I guess they missed out on the music teacher cussing them out. In any case, I saw one large group of students singing outside of Tsudanuma Station on my way to The Beehive and then on my way home, I heard the choruses from the schools near my apartment.

The Beehive was just the oldtimers this morning. Both Tulip and Perth were away. In fact, I ran into the latter on the walk over to the class. She's off to some exhibit at Roppongi Hills. Kinda wonder if she'l run into some celebs there since The Tokyo International Film Festival is on. At class, I was happy that noone asked me about my visa situation. I'm getting a little edgy. It's been over 10 days now since I went down to Shinagawa. I mean, there shouldn't be anything to worry about since I have that processing stamp in my passport. One year, I actually was in the country past the expiry date of a previous visa but since I had the stamp I was OK. Still, waiting for that postcard is a bit nervewracking.

I had lunch at the kaiten sushi place under my station since it'd been a while since my last visit. The chef and the waitress recognized me since they thanked me for always patronizing their establishment but the waitress still went into painstaking detail to explain how I use the point card.

Tonight's Game 3 of The Japan Series between The Chiba Lotte Marines and The Hanshin Tigers. This time, they're over in Koshien Stadium in the Kansai. I'd say that The Tigers had better win tonight or it's all over. This can-do team, though, has a knack of coming back in the clutch or at least making things interesting. But even if The Tigers pull off a minor miracle and win the Series, downtown Osaka still loses. If they win or lose , the emotionally charged Osakan young toughs will probably lay waste to the city centre.

As for me, I still have my juku to teach at.

Tuesday October 25, 7:34 a.m.

We're due for another nice day today although things may be going downhill from tomorrow, so another load of laundry to get out of the way before then.

I had mentioned to one of the students last week about The Tokyo International Film Festival and its arrival in November. Well, oh, goofy me. TIFF started this past weekend. Who knew? There was the footage of all these Japanese stars walking up the red carpet in Roppongi Hills. It was an interesting observation of cultural differences as the media tried to get a few words from the approaching celebs. Over in Hollywood on Oscar night, the celebs there are more than happy to strut their fashion stuff. Over here, most of the local stars just said one word: Hazukashii desu. (I'm embarrassed). I guess Western-style glitz and glamour are still developing.

I mentioned that The Company was celebrating 10 years in the business. Well, a cultural icon is celebrating its 60th year. That would be the venerable anime, Sazae-san. Starting all the way back in wartime Japan as a simple 4-frame newspaper comic strip, Sazae-san is the lighter, secular version of "Davey and Goliath" (remember that old Sunday claymation series?). It's about this devoted housewife and mother, Sazae-san, and the little foibles of life that involve her day to day. Like her, the rest of her family is named after varieties of fish. Even her hairstyle is reminiscent of the fins of one. For decades, the comic strip has turned into a successful cartoon which shows every Sunday night at 6:30 on Fuji-TV. Admittedly, it's a rose-coloured picture of an inner-city neighbourhood that probably never was: the most controversial I had ever seen an episode get was when the usually loving Sazae-san and her loving hubby, Masuo, end the show in the middle of a marital spat. No Shibuya drugs, no teenage prostitution, no psychotic attacks on kids. And yet, the show is still a very welcome attraction on the TV scene if the weekly ratings are to believed. It's kinda nice to know that people can still use a show to have dinner with or use as a wistful benchmark to realize that the weekend is almost over.

Monday October 24, 9:21 p.m.

Last week, I almost regretted having to quit The Company but I was vindicated after tonight's lesson. Not that it was a bust or anything but I just got the feeling that it was a good time to go. Strangely enough, The Company apparently celebrated its 10th anniversary; I saw some flowers with labels stating that fact. I congratulated The Prez. He invited me before the lesson just to go over some final things. I got the impression he wouldn't be there next week for the final lesson. He gave the usual 3rd-degree but he wasn't being mean; it's just his usual way of one-to-one communication.

If it's a Monday in October, then Anderson Cooper is in the middle of another hurricane. Yup, I turned on CNN tonight when I got home and there he was with another hurricane veteran, John Zarrella, trying to hold on and show their intrepidness in over-120 km winds. Sorry, but it just seemed so surreal hearing "severe weather expert" Chad Myers talking while four different screens were showing Cooper and Zarrella, two other views of Wilma and then Miles O'Brien also facing his own tempest. Chad was reassuring us that those guys weren't trying to be cowboys, but I saw the look on Anderson's face...he had a pretty vicious grin. Then again, I would if I knew I were gonna be making a mint from my memoirs. All that's missing is one of the red-parka crew yelling the hurricane's name and then "The Flintstones" theme coming on.

I got another message from The Barmaiden from Toronto. She and 002 went to see a Raptors game at Air Canada Centre. The game was pretty boring, apparently, until the 3rd quarter when things got a bit livelier. Barmaiden was remarking on how hydrogen-cold it's been getting in The Big Smoke. And it's only October there. I guess it's just as well that she's returning in early December.

Monday October 24, 12:25 p.m.

Interesting thing that it's now just 2 months before Xmas Eve, and I'm posting this statement at this time (look carefully).

It's been another good day so far. I just made the lesson plans for the penultimate class at The Company. Shouldn't be too bad today since the last chapter deals with how to describe Japanese dishes in English to a foreign guest. I sent off the latest package to The Anime King. I was happy that the postal worker sent it as a small packet thereby saving me a good deal of money.

I actually got a letter from GC for the first time in a long time. Looks like he's been busy getting ready for his annual Halloween party with his kids. Thanks to his graphic design background, he's been able to pull off some impressive costumes. Aside from my own pumpkin carving with the kids on Saturday, I won't be doing anything for Halloween with anyone else this year, the first time in several years that I'll be holding back on this holiday. I was looking back at my entries for this time last year and two years ago. It brought back some memories reading about all the trips to Omotesando's Kiddyland and Kinokuniya for all sorts of Halloween goodies and costumes. Well, I'll still head over to Omotesando to pick up the pumpkins at least. I have to coordinate with the mother to see if I can actually bring the pumpkins straight from the store to her house a day before the festivities. I don't think the carving will actually take the two hours so I still want to prepare something...still on the Halloween theme, though.

Sunday October 23, 8:40 p.m.

It was a good foodie day today. I was waiting at the Yurakucho Mullion when Skippy and then OA showed up. When The Madame joined us a few minutes later, the four of us went to our first destination, Tenryu, this Chinese restaurant that Skippy has been raving about due to its scrumptious gyoza. It took us a few minutes to track down but we found it on the eastern end of Ginza.

Tenryu didn't look like any of these really gaudily ornamented Chinese emporiums with gold dragons that would be at home in one of the world's most expensive neighbourhoods. It was on a side street off the main drag and it appeared no different from the thousands of modest two-floor Chinese establishments that are scattered everywhere in areas from Ikebukuro to Asakusa.

However, Skippy wasn't exaggerating when she told me about the gyoza. These were pretty humoungous affairs as gyoza go. An average dumpling is the length of an index finger and almost twice as thick. Tenryu's gyoza was easily twice the length and just as thick. Good golly...and they were juicy! I could also compare them to the sho ron po dumplings, which are supposed to be juicy, that The Madame and I had had in Taiwan. My first bite into one dumped a lot of juice into the small plate of soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil. I wouldn't make the same error twice. Great choice of restaurant, Skippy. Not surprisingly, the restaurant is represented at The Gyoza Museum in Ikebukuro.

And we didn't just order the gyoza. We also had moist scrambled eggs with shrimp, sweet n' sour pork and fried rice. Dem's good eatin'. The Kid came by some minutes later but just before the dishes came out en masse. He was sporting a full suit which he didn't quite fit; he rather reminded me of David Byrne of The Talking Heads in that oversized white suit. He had just finished his stint in his own juku. I ended up having the lion's share of the gyoza since The Madame of course couldn't finish her share and even The Kid called uncle. I think that was about 10 dumplings which ended up going down my craw. I was quite stuffed. And yet, we still ordered some almond pudding for dessert. This is definitely one place that I'll have to come to again.

After paying the refreshingly low price, the five of us strolled down Chuo Dori since it was Sunday which meant the street was closed off to vehicular traffic. We noticed a large number of the canine population was out with their masters. We ended up searching for a cafe which took us up the Shiodome Carreta Building all the way to the 47th floor. This was a bit of an adrenaline rush since the elevator sped up almost as quickly as that lift in the Taipei 101 and it was glass-encased so we could see ourselves being lifted up into the heavens. Not good for my latent fear of heights. Couldn't find a cafe up there although we did enjoy the great view of the Tokyo Bay area. So we went back down. As we were leaving the builidng, there was a mini-concert of some songstress singing some 70s ballads on a synth outside. Not bad...I'd probably buy her CD.

I was quite happy to find out that three of my favourite eateries were located all together beside the new NTV complex just a few hundred metres away. Branches of The Doughnut Plant, Hansens and Tullys were all there calling my name. Another piece of information to store away. The tables were almost all occupied but we managed to get one by The Doughnut Plant so we opted for some of the copcakes there. I bought a Valrhona Chocolate and two Cinnamon Lattes for The Madame and I to share (she seems to have gotten into the habit of munching off some of my purchases). The next few hours would be spent talking about the old days back at the school, and about The Kid's adventures in California.

Once the sun went down, we decided to call it an early night so we saw Skippy off. But the four of us remaining made a half-hour stop at Sony Plaza. Sony Plaza is one of these chains that seems to be part-cosmetics shop and part-doodads store. We saw plenty of stuff for the women but also there were plenty of Peanuts and Barbapapa goods. And of course with Halloween just around the corner, those goods were also well represented. It ended up bieng basically a browsing operation with only The Madame picking up a nail file.

Then, The Kid and OA took off for another store while The Madame and I went off for home on the Yamanote Line. On the loop, The Madame asked me whether I thought The Kid and OA were going out. I think they were just friends but it was a rather ironic question since I'm sure they must have been thinking the same thing when it came to us. Well, good heavens...what were they to think of us sharing food? I posed this counter-question to The Madame for which I got a no comment look. Hm...I see I'm gonna have to remain patient. It was a good day though.

Got home and checked the e-mail. The OL is good for December 3 for that next outing with Betty Boop for Vietnamese. M+M have also confirmed their next session.

The Chiba Lotte Marines have taken a pretty hefty lead in The Japan Series. At back-to-back games at Chiba Marine Stadium, Bobby Valentine's boys have won the first two games over The Hanshin Tigers, including a 10-0 shellacking tonight. If The Tigers are trying to show their reputation as underdogs, they have done a great job so far. I kinda wonder what kind of reception they'll get once they return to Osaka for the next few games. Knowing Osakans, the fans will give them a verbal lashing for screwing up. On the other side of the Paciifc, The White Sox have taken a 1-0 lead in The World Series. This is notable for the Japanese here since one of their own, Tadahiro (?) Iguchi is in the lineup. If The White Sox actually win the championship, Iguchi will have accomplished something that Hideki Matsui and the great Ichiro are still waiitng for.

How appropriate after the culinary delights of today that the show I'm watching is TV Tokyo's eating contest. Oy vey!