Wednesday August 9, 5:04 p.m.

It's been a rough time for my sleep over the past few weeks. For one thing, my midnights are often spent on "The Cartoon Network" catching the episodes of the latest incarnation of The Caped Crusader, "The Batman". Nothing ages one more when one realizes that this is the 4th or 5th version of a superhero one's seen on TV. "The Batman" is a straight takeoff from the latest Batman movie "Batman Begins" with a younger, funkier Bruce Wayne and an Alfred Pennyworth who's a lot more engaged in his employer's exploits. Then, there is the rather eerie theme song by The Edge. I can just see the fanboys on the forums debating this Batman show with the previous, more gothic version spun from the Michael Keaton movie. Discuss.

Then, there's the fact that my mornings start from 7 a.m. on Super Drama TV with the old episodes of "The Untouchables" and "Mission: Impossible". Mind you, it doesn't help that it's just too hot and uncomfortable in my bedroom right now. And the piece de resistance of my TV mania is that "The West Wing" is just flying all over the schedule on a nearly daily basis. Yup, the channel is still showing the 2nd season; each ep of the week is rerun 4 or 5 times a week, just to make sure that none of us miss out on seeing ol' Mrs. Landingham again. To think, we're another 5 years away from seeing Princess Leia's father become the next President...and Hawkeye Pierce become the Secretary of State.

Not sure what I'm gonna do tomorrow. I've got 002 in the morning at her apartment but then that's it. I'll be done by noon. Money is gonna be tight this month but I've never really gone through the Makuhari Messe convention area before. Most likely I'll bite the bullet and head on over....when it comes between money and an infrequent opportunity to see or experience something new, I usually choose the latter.

Wednesday August 9, 3:05 p.m.

Just recovering from the onslaught of Typhoon No. 7 today. Actually, it wasn't too bad. There was plenty of rain but no wind. It was the first deaf-mute typhoon I've ever come across. So, the noise levels were low along with the temps which is always a welcome thing.

Yesterday was probably the busiest day of the week for me. I had The Sisters of State back-to-back before the juku classes. The New Yorker is still struggling mightily along in the mysteries of Simple Past; her sister, The Carolinan, is still doing pretty well, though. My juku classes were down by one. Seven took a day off, presumably to enjoy some quality time with her beau at a fireworks festival. However, I did have The Frenchman, The Milds and The Siberian. The last guy actually got into a good conversational groove with me for the 90 minutes considering last week's teeth-pulling hour.

Today, I just have 001 at Speedy's. Looks like 007 is gonna be a perpetual scratch. That massive influx of admin staff is already showing signs of attrition. That one portly lady has decided to fly the coop after discovering that she's just not getting the hang of computers. A pity, since out of the entire group, she seems to be the closest to a professional secretary in demeanor. However, Speedy tells me that the other three are coming along nicely. I'm gonna try to get out of the school right after 001. Just wanna grab some dinner and go home.

I once again turned down another PH party invitation. She's planning some sort of BBQ on Saturday at her place. But I've got my classes at Speedy's and I think the weather is not gonna be too conducive for grilling outdoors anyways. Not that I would go in any weather in any event. I'm no longer into these huge parties.

Monday August 7, 4:17 p.m.

Well, that anorexic chihuahua I'd mentioned in one of my last entries last week to describe the dog days of summer has now reverted to its gargantuan Great Dane size. Yup, things have reached a certain equilibrium once more between the climates of Toronto and Tokyo. The former was at a more reasonable 28 C after a major heat wave the week before whereas we Tokyoites and expats are sweating profusely again at 35 C.

I guess this week is the start of my pseudo summer vacation. I say, "pseudo", since it isn't really by my choice. A lot of my regulars are on their real summer vacation which means that I don't have much choice in the matter. The Class Act are off in Hawaii once more while SIL is tending to her mother; even The Part-Timer is enjoying her time in Vancouver. I just have a special tonight....a young lady who'll be heading off to The Big Apple in a few days. I met her yesterday briefly while Speedy was waiting nervously for my true student, another EIC recruit, to show up. I'll just be doing a lot of final role-plays with her....not a really high student but there's no place like New York City to kick a tourist up to speed. I told her about some of the places I'd visited, and then I remembered good ol' Lindy's in Broadway...the home of the New York-style cheesecake. I definitely recommended it to the student. I also mentioned Egg Creams although it wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement. I think it's very much an acquired taste. In any case, I hope her visit there doesn't preclude any major tragedy such as mine...I was walking through NYC a couple of weeks before 9/11.

Speedy, his wife, and I caught "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" yesterday after our respective classes. We just hopped onto the Oedo Line and went up as far as Toshima-en...the site of the locally famous amusement park. There was also one of the more modern cineplexes there. As for Johnny Depp's latest, well....I guess it was OK. It was certainly better than the first one. Still, I thought it was lacking a certain something, and the Keith Richards-as-pirate act wore thin. But I was a bit surprised at the sudden act of treachery by one of the main characters but not at all surprised by the scene that was supposed to have been the shock cliffhanger ending. Well, I guess I should have my ticket ready for next year.

Afterwards, the three of us hopped onto the train again and headed to Higashi-Nakano and down Ginza Street (kinda hokey name but at least I can remember it...good for the commercial establishments there). The street was one of those narrow lanes which had a number of restaurants and small shops. Near the end of it was our eventual destination, a Korean restaurant called Insadong, named after the Asakusa-like area in Seoul. We hit paydirt with this place....we had some good bibimpap, kimchi and chijimi among other things, and the best part was that it was absolutely empty when we got there. Usually that would bode a bad tiding but in super-crowded Tokyo, we were very grateful.

Speedy and I talked a little about the return of pumpkin carving into public consciousness after a couple of years of dormancy. Apparently, The Baker had already beat me to the punch, thanks to an e-mail to him. I have to admit that Speedy didn't look too enthusiastic about it since any party would be a bit touchy in what is a residential, and not commercial, building. I reassured him that my thing had never been one of those wild parties. Then there was the concern about the mess...he's not quite ready to sacrifice his carpets to the eventual assault of pumpkin pulp and seeds. So it looks like any creation of Jack O'Lanterns will be strictly in the kitchen. Speedy said that he could make the announcement in the monthly newsletter but I think he needn't bother; with the small kitchen, I very much doubt that we could fit very many people there. A work in progress.

Wednesday August 2, 9:56 p.m.

Well, I'm still here plugging away. 001 was her usual fun self. Like 002 earlier in the day, she was thoroughly satisfied with the party back on Saturday. Looks like everyone is already looking forward to the okonomiyaki party. We've already gotten onto a running gag started on that day about the girls (001, 002 and The Baker) getting dressed as Bud Girls; however, for some bizarre reason, they would like me to put on the tube dress. I'm trying my darndest to dissuade them.

My model lesson student has now become 009...not a huge achievement as of yet since 007 has resolutely stayed away and I won't be seeing Farrah 008 until late this month. He's a pretty humble sort but I think he can do good things. I've got a feeling that he also won't be a firmly regular guy; he's in the accounting department of his company which will probably mean that come tax time or year-end adjustment periods, he'll be scarce.

Kinda strange thing, though. Last night, I got a message from The Hawaiian's older sister out of the blue. Some years ago, she had asked me if I would teach her. So I did one lesson with her at her workplace but nothing came of it. And at the same time, MB had warned me about her flighty nature. Therefore, I'm taking a cautious attitude toward her this time. If she does re-up, great; if not, no harm done.

The Wild Guy is doing OK back in his native Toronto. He's been hitting the pavement looking for a job. He's gotten offers but they're not the type of stuff he wants to be doing permanently. Still, he can still do them for the money until the next big opportunity comes up.

Tomorrow, I've only got B2 and B2B in the evening so I'm free and clear during the day. However, I've got another package heading for The Anime King and I'm the clearinghouse so I've gotta be up just in case.

Wednesday August 2, 6:00 p.m.

I've got about 15 minutes before 001 comes in for her class so I best hurry.

If these are supposed to be the dog days of summer, then August came in with all the fury of an anemic & anorexic chihuahua. It actually felt chilly on Monday night. I don't think I'd ever needed to close my window overnight on any August 1 that I'd been here in this country...a place that brings summer and Hell all that much closer. It even felt pleasant to go to work yesterday. Well, things are getting back to normal today. I've developed my layer of moisture underneath my clothing. Still, it feels downright frosty compared to what I've heard about Toronto. A humidex of 47 C?!

Monday July 31, 8:45 p.m.

It certainly felt rather different for a July day this morning. For one thing, I had to close the balcony window last night as I slept since it was actually chilly! For another, the commute to see The Class Act also felt rather pleasant since it was very bright and, once again, chilly. If it hadn't been for the fact that July had already been pounded into my brain, I would've sworn it was more like late October. It did warm up by the afternoon but though the heat was there, it wasn't too oppressive. I only had to use just one menthol wipe today. I felt rather lightheaded at the thought. I knew that yesterday was the official final day of the rainy season but I never thought it would be taken to such extremes.

I also, alas, felt light-pocketed. This morning, I bit a rather large bullet and paid my advance income taxes and the first premium of this year's National Health Insurance. Ouch! And August is gonna be a lean month since a lot of my students are on vacation. I'm definitely gonna feel it tomorrow since The Beehive and The Teacher, two of my more generous benefactors, won't be around for the next month. Sapporo Ichiban for dinner, anyone?

The Class Act and SIL will also be gone for the next couple of weeks. And even The Part-Timer may be off next week (provided that she is able to get a ticket) to do a week in Vancouver. Basically, the lesson was answering her questions about the city.

Saturday, after my session with JJ, I went off to the wilds of Funabashi since I got the invite from 002 for a BBQ. I did a quick pick-up of a Peach Mousse at a bakery in Funabashi Station and then went straight to her apartment. 001 and 002's hubby were already hard at work on the grill on the huge balcony (let's say this...it's bigger than my apartment). And 001 and 002's mutual friend, The Baker, was also there. It was a nice small party...just the type I prefer. Considering that both 001 and 002 are two of my giggliest students, the laugh levels were getting quite high....along with the folks there due to the imbibing of alcohol. The Baker quickly refreshed my memory on a promise that she'd made to me months ago that her mother, a baker by hobby, would produce some nice little apple pies. Well, the apples she couldn't get but the chestnuts she got instead still made for a luscious filling. 002's husband is a decent sort, as well...quite well versed in English. As the night wore on, I saw even more frenetic sides to 001 and 002. The latter lady, usually a bit of a shrinking violet, was a lot more sharp-tongued. I can only imagine what she must be like in a marital spat. 001 was also bouncing off the walls for most of the party except for the last hour when she looked like she was nursing a hangover.

Sunday was one of my rare total days off. I decided to follow my muse and bought myself a blender. The muse was from a variety show on TV which had tarento making up smoothies and other drinks for a fellow colleague. Well, I just walked about 5 minutes to the nearest Yamada Denki shop and purchased a cheapo blender for only 2,000 yen (compared to the tres cher blenders at the big stores for 20,000 yen). As soon as I got back home, I opened her up, sliced up a banana, put in some yogurt, milk and honey and let the whole mess rip. I came up with a pretty satiny smoothie. The really inexpensive book I got at Maruzen on how to make these concoctions boasted about how excellent a breakfast drink this Honey-Banana Smoothie is; packed with all that calcium, fiber and carbs. I can certainly vouch for the fiber...I felt really regular afterwards. And it was quite a tasty number as well. I had a repeat performance for breakfast this morning in lieu of my cereal.

Speaking of my mornings, it looks like my weekday morning TV habit will be Desilu-influenced for the next little while. The original Star Trek was made in the studio that Desi and Lucy had built for the first 2 seasons. Now that Classic Trek has finished its run on Super Drama TV, two more from Desilu are now playing, the original Untouchables and the original Mission: Impossible.

When I refer to the original Untouchables, though, I don't mean that 90s update with the guy from JAG....or even the movie with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery. Nope, this is the old ABC 1960 show with Robert Stack as rough n' tumble Eliot Ness. The shows have been on for the past few weeks now, and I've been marveling at how violent it was (for a 60s show, that is)....plenty of knifings and strafegunning on a prime time program. I've also noticed at the number of celebs who've come on. I've seen Peter Falk and Louise Fletcher and the late Jack Warden. This morning's ep, "Star Witness", had Jim Backus of Gilligan's Island fame. I've always known Backus as the bombastic millionaire Thurston Howell III, and minorly so as Mr. Magoo from the cartoons, so it was a bit of a revelation to see him as this terrified family man turning evidence against the Mob.

Geez, it's already close to 9:30. I'll probably be heading home in another half-hour or so. I had my bento dinner in the form of a salad and a half-hot, half-cold chuuka don (stir-fry Chinese stuff on rice)....the microwave at Speedy's is a very complex machine.

I almost forgot to mention that I'd bought the latest entry in The Complete Peanuts series. This book is 1959-1960, so Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy and the rest of the gang have finally evolved to pretty much their iconic selves....Charlie Brown is the perennial goat, Linus has become the philosopher and Lucy is the crab.

Wednesday July 26, 9:15 p.m.

Well, I guess my day at Speedy's was basically meant for dinner, chit-chat and e-mail....along with blogging. Not only did 007 once again dotakyan'ed, but my supposed model lesson student did a no-show. This isn't a common occurrence in the English teaching biz, but it does happen from time to time. The potential customer has a change of heart or has found another school more to his/her liking. The way it goes. However, Speedy may have another candidate for me as early as next week.

So, in actual fact, I only had the frustrating lesson with The New Yorker today. Tomorrow, I only have her sister in the evening but I do have two on Friday with the juku boss and The UL.

Back to my ruminations on Ultraman...

My first exposure to the Japanese superhero was back in the early 70s when I had gone on my first trip over here. It was the third Ultraman, Ultraman Ace, which was on the tube in prime time. The preceding Ultraman, New Ultraman, was in reruns during the afternoon. It was easy to fall for the hero as a (not-so-) little boy; all boys love huge dinosaurs and they love Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra in particular. So when a superhero alien comes by to battle the big and uglies, resistance is indeed futile, to quote a line from another successful sci-fi franchise. And just like those other franchises, Ultraman had the toys and goods to market. I remember getting an Ultraman book with the guide to all the monsters and the various weaponry and stances that the Ultramen used to defeat them. Then, there was a record that my mother had gotten me with the theme songs to Ultra Seven and Ultraman Ace. As with Star Trek and Doctor Who, the early Ultraman shows had their own instantly recognizable themes: vaguely military march in nature but geared to be sung by kids (kinda scary, actually, when you think about it). Nowadays, though, it seems that newer themes are being done by Johnny's Jimusho boy groups.

In the decades since, there has been quite a bit of Gorgonzola that has crept into the Ultra-merchandise such as an Ultraman exercise video (uh-huh...I guess the viewing boys and girls can get quite pudgy just watching their heroes) and even an Ultraman scat video based on the song stylings of the late Scatman John.

With the 40th anniversary of Ultraman, the tributes have been coming in on the satellite channels and other forms of media. But that's not apparently not the only Japanese superhero to get some accolades. I'm not sure if these other protagonists are celebrating exactly 4 decades, The Masked Rider (that's Kamen Rider to the locals) and The Power Rangers (at least, the original Japanese version...without the California boys and girls) are trying to keep up with the Ultraman celebrations. Kamen Rider has also had many different incarnations of the insectoid character, and there have also been many types of Rangers-type groups in day-glo uniforms.

And just like some of the actors and actresses on Star Trek, a few of the folks on Kamen Rider and The Power Rangers have even made that transition into regular TV dramas. The actor for the very first Rider has taken on the Shatner mantle and makes a number of appearances in the dramas and variety shows....although I have yet to hear of him actually cutting the ribbon at a new supermarket opening. And a ditsy tarento by the name of Tamao Sato was not too long ago the token Pink Ranger on one of the Ranger shows.

So, don't be surprised if you walk down the main avenue of Akihabara sometime this year and you see a whole bunch of life-sized Ultramen, Power Rangers or Masked Riders standing outside the various otaku stores. Heck, one day earlier this year, I was walking in the old neighbourhood of Asakusa when a little kid suddenly snapped from his mother's hand and raced toward something he'd just passed by. It turned out to be a larger-than-life figure of the original Ultraman, standing in the usual heroic stance of legs apart and hands firmly on hips. I'd say that Superman, Captain Kirk and GI Joe may have found their match in this country.

Wednesday July 26, 7:13 p.m.

On SuperChannel...oops, sorry, that should be Super Drama TV! (talk about changing to a more awkward title)...there have been a series of commercials before and after any of the Star Trek episodes talking about the 40th Anniversary of the sci-fi franchise. Scenes from what was apparently the Japanese version of a Trek convention pop up with a whole bunch of Sulu-types proudly showing off their movie-era and TNG-era uniforms. And the scary thing is that there was even the appearance of the Speaker of the Lower House of the Japanese Parliament, Chikage Ogi...herself a bit of a living symbol of pop culture run amok since she has retained her cosmetics regimen from her days as a member of the Takarazuka Troupe.

For that matter, Mission: Impossible is also celebrating its 40th. Although there is no rabid group of fans known as IMF'ers or Phelpies/Phelpers, I guess the release of M:I III must have taken care of any tribute although the Tom Cruise movie has very little to connect it with the original series.

However, over here, there has also been a 40th anniversary of sorts to celebrate for an icon that is just as recognizable to every Japanese man, woman and child as Mr. Spock would be to their American equivalents. It turns out that grunting giant superhero Ultraman is also getting its due.

For those folks who aren't into Japanese anime, manga or TV, Ultraman was the name of a benevolent silvery, goggle-eyed alien from a faraway planet who often came to the aid of the world...notably surprisingly resilient Tokyo (it was a good thing that the government did decide to take out that Godzilla insurance for all of its buildings)...when under attack by some gigantic alien monster. Taking host within a chosen young telegenic man, Ultraman set the mold for all of the other Japanese superhero shows to follow (including The Masked Rider and The Power Rangers) by popping up only in the last few minutes of the episode when the situation becomes critical; the host brings out some sort of amulet or ring and instantly metamorphoses into Ultraman. Ah, but there is an inconveniently strange reason for the brief last-minute cameo...apparently Ultraman can only battle the bad guys on Earth for 3 minutes before conking out, something that is signified by a beacon attached to his chest called The Colour-Timer (must've been the ancestral idea behind the bus for "Speed" ).

I gather that one of the factors behind a long-enduring TV series is the universe that generates around the show. That is certainly true for Star Trek and Doctor Who, and it also explains Ultraman's popularity. For one thing, every episode has a new monster. And the folks at Tsurubaraya (I think I got that right) Studios never limited their imaginations when it came to the nemeses. For every fire-breathing dragon and Barutan-seijin, there has been an evil cactus or meatball to threaten Japan. To Ultraman, silliness never eclipsed evil. At the very least, the monsters provided another action figure in the stores for the little kids to snap up; of course, that was after they'd gotten the Ultraman dolls. Of course, televised universes don't just consist of the enemy. Star Trek has its various starship classes, the United Federation of Planets and the characters. Doctor Who has The Time Lords, the various rooms and gadgets in the TARDIS and Companions. Ultraman, in its various incarnations, has been represented by various space-evil-battling organizations with acronymistic names filled with archetypal characters (wise squad leader, token woman, overeager soldier), and each Ultraman has its own unique abilities. Ultraman has his specium ray (horizontal left arm perpendicular and under a vertical right arm...presto...dead monster) while his replacement, Ultra Seven, had the feared Eye-Slugger, a sharp boomerang lodged nicely in the back of his head.

And as I've just mentioned in the last sentence, it is a band of Ultramen defending the Earth in what seems to be a mandatory tour of duty for the members of the Ultracorps. Just like Doctor Who, the hero changes periodically. The original Ultraman did his year of duty and then he was replaced by the more squinty-eyed Ultra Seven, followed by New Ultraman and then Ultraman Ace, and so on...each with his own distinctive look (FYI, after Ace, there was Taro, Leo and then Ultraman 80 before I lost count and interest). In 40 years, there are now probably more than 20 of these defenders in existence (like Trek, Who and even Bond, there were years in which the show in question didn't pop up for various reasons). And just like a reappearance of a Classic Trek character in a TNG episode or the reunion of Doctors Who, it is a rather big event (at least for kids and otaku) when Ultramen join forces in that extra-special ep to battle a decidedly powerful foe.

More later....

Wednesday July 26, 5:12 p.m.

Well, it looks like we've got a brief respite from the rain today. But the heat is back on full thrust. According to the weatherfolk, the precip will return for the next few days. Yesterday was just a sauna out there. My shirt collar felt and looked like it was marinated.

I had my last Beehive class before the summer holidays. And it was the last time to see Ms. Tulip before she heads out for Toronto. However, it wasn't in class but at her house. She was understandably tied up with some last minute moving stuff; her house certainly looked it. After the lesson, the remaining bunch of us (Ms. Travel is off in Portugal and Ms. Alp was off doing something else) held an informal lunch, thanks to Ms. Tee's thoughtful gesture of making a whole bunch of different sandwiches and rice balls. Tulip was her usual laid-back self although she admitted that it's been hard keeping her cool this week with all of the preps for the big move to Canada. In this heat, I couldn't blame her. The timing was perfect for me since The Teacher is now off for her holidays so I was able to make it out to the house. There was an impromptu free Sayonara Sale of sorts since Tulip was trying to get rid of a lot of stuff. I was able to procure some packets of coffee, a jar of caramel creme, and some huge bags of chocolate chips along with a few other doodads. Unfortunately, all those things added up to some serious weight issues, and in this heat, I really didn't want to marinate my entire shirt so I unloaded some stuff on Student 002 whom I saw right after lunch. Her class was also a breeze; I even got invited to her BBQ this Saturday. I asked 002 to keep my appearance a secret since 001 and their mutual giggly friend will be there. Should make for an interesting scene.

The juku classes were, in contrast, not all that satisfying. Kewpie, that first student who had seemed to be progressing in leaps and bounds, must've gotten pretty lazy in her studying since she was slow as molasses in her test. But I couldn't get on her case so much since she was also practicing for a piano recital on Monday. The Frenchman was OK although there's only so much I can do with him in just half an hour.

The slight tension between The Milds and The Salaryman came to a head. Nope, no fisticuffs were thrown. However, after the somewhat askew lesson last night, Mrs Mild called the boss to say that she would drop out if there wasn't a change in the class...namely, The Salaryman gets booted out. Granted, The Salaryman's ability is somewhat higher than that of The Milds and there doesn't seem to be any personal animosity between them. But I just couldn't help feeling a tiny bit that Mrs Mild was acting a bit selfishly about the situation. She's not the type to come up for a challenge. In any case, after some consultation between the boss and me along with the phone calls to the affected parties, we were able to get some sort of detente in that The Salaryman will now have his own half-hour late on Friday nights. Not particularly thrilled that I have to teach that late just before the weekend but it does mean that I can make that extra money. Another reason that I was slightly miffed at The Milds was that they had admitted to the boss that they preferred to be with McGirl. And the boss informed me that there was a small chance that the teen may be coming back into the fold. I have nothing against the girl but she's frankly an underachiever when it comes to my class. It's no wonder that The Milds appreciate her presence.

Of course, The Siberian was again absent due to his workload at university. The boss has finally broached the topic of perhaps letting the boy go. It's always been a case of just free chat with him whenever he could show up. I think I would rather have someone who actually needs my help.

I almost felt like jettisoning The New Yorker this afternoon. Couldn't form a Simple Past question or sentence to save her life, despite the homework and the classes. Obviously, home study isn't a huge priority. I dished out a bit of punishment (although I didn't refer to it as such when I assigned it) in the form of having her write 5 questions and answers everyday for the next week.

Once again, 007 has pulled off another sudden cancellation. So I've gotten another few hours of nothing before my latest model lesson. I've got a potential student who says that she has nada ability in English. That's what they all say...and end up proving otherwise. I think that Japanese sense of modesty should have some limits.

Monday July 24, 8:59 p.m.

After last week's Marine Day, today was the more conventional day of seeing The Class Act, SIL and The Part-Timer. It looks like The Matron and her family had another great time in Seoul. A lot of the jabber between her and The Lady focused on how many fake Pradas and Hermes they could purchase.

Getting to Speedy's today for The Part-Timer, the bossman and I had a heart-to-heart about my availability. Looks like he's been singing the hiring blues. This last guy he hired for teaching seems to be turning into a clueless bust. I've sent out word to Movie Buddy to see if he knew of anyone who could come and help things out. As usual, it was like getting blood from a rock when it came to squeezing any more hours into my schedule. With my time at the juku and my privates with people like B2 and The Carolinan, I could only sheepishly offer late Friday nights. My problem is that I have a very empty Thursday morning and afternoon to fill up but of course, Speedy needs the nights taught.

I also did my fair share of shopping today as well, but I didn't have the luxury of gift certificates to cover me. I lost the left nosepad on my glasses some time ago and the exposed metal was stabbing that part of my nose something awful. The last straw was that I had to put some aloe vera cream and a bandaid there. The Lady suggested I try the Megane Supaa (Glasses Supermarket) near her home. That I did and was happy to get a new pad attached within 5 minutes for a measly 157 yen. However, I did fork out a lot more than that at Tower Records a half-hour later. Most of my money went to the latest book of the original Peanuts comics but I also picked up a Bonnie Pink CD....I'm not a particular fan of her latest release "A Perfect Sky" but I bought it anyways so that I could get over the 6,000-yen line of purchases and therefore get double points on my card. Still, financially, it wasn't the best move this month since it was a fairly lean period at Speedy's in June and I have those hefty premiums to pay along with the rent.

However, just before I feel sorry for myself, I'm able to stop myself since I know there have been a few bigger losers in the world of sports and entertainment last week. The really big loser was a fat comedian by the name of Yamamoto who was one-half of the veteran duo, Gokuraku Tombo. Apparently, he, all of 37 years of age, and an underage girl had a bit too much to drink in Sapporo and ended up having a little immoral fun in a hotel room. Well, the unchi hit the fan in the media, and he's been summarily fired from the huge comedy conglomerate, Yoshimoto Kogyo, faster than you can say Fatty Arbuckle. He is now persona non grata. His now-former partner, Koji Kato, who has been enjoying some solo gigs, broke down in tears on his morning show. However, the duo still had some current gigs on some pretty big shows, radio and TV, which now have a sizable hole. The one that I know the best is Fuji-TV's Saturday night variety show called "Mecha Mecha Iketeru" hosted by the duo 99. Gokuraku Tombo had quite a large role in that program and there were a number of characters created by them. I could imagine what the Yamamoto scandal must have done to last Saturday's edition. All of Yamamoto's appearances were probably roughly cut out and maybe there could have been a brief written announcement addressing the situation at the beginning of the show, or even 99 themselves could have come out on a dark set and very soberly apologized for their former colleague's actions, finished up with very deep bows.

The scandal doesn't just end with Yamamoto's ouster though. He was also a player on a somewhat gimmicky amateur baseball team called The Golden Golds, managed by a show business legend named Kin'ichi Hagiwara. On the night of the crime, Yamamoto had been drinking with two other players when they came across the wanton women. That guilt-by-association was enough to taint the team so much that last Wednesday, Hagiwara (or Kin-chan, as he is more affectionately known) tearfully announced the disbandment of the Golds. No ouster of Yamamoto, no suspension of the team from regular play for a year, not even the honoured resignation of Kin-chan to take responsibility. He decided to destroy the team in massive penance. Well, how Japanese....only thing is that he reneged on his promise yesterday due to the outcry of many of the fans pleading with him to keep the team together. There are a lot of relieved sponsors out there but I'm feeling just a little cynical and think him greatly hypocritical for going back on his promise.

Even the hallowed halls of sumo weren't immune to scandal last week. A Russian sumo wrestler did the unthinkable by not only attacking a couple of photographers Sean Penn sytle but also smashing a glass shower curtain in frustration while one of the higher-ranked wrestlers was inside. And to further add insult to injury, he dissed ozeki (a 2nd-rank sumotori, just under the level of yokozuna Grand Champion) Chiyotaikai by not bowing to him after a practice match and even glaring at him. This, my friends, even beats the Zidane headbutt...by a country kilometre. The Sumo Association couldn't even find a punishment in the rulebooks since the malfeasance had never been dared done. The Russian could only be suspended for 3 days from the Nagoya Tournament which had just been completed. But his oyakata stablemaster seemed to get the worse of the punishment by having his salary cut by 10%. I'm sure the Russian is getting a lot of unrecorded punishment from his superiors or even his fellow stablemates for bringing shame to the stable, though.

Well, almost done here. I've got another long Tuesday ahead of me. I've got The Beehive with Ms. Tulip's last appearance before taking off for Toronto and then there is 002 followed by another stint at the juku.

Monday July 24, 8:38 p.m.

Sunday was just my time with the kids. The Elder was in her sullen "Violet Parr" mode so I was quite happy that I won't be seeing her or her sister for the next several weeks. Then I was off to use some of those gift certificates that their mother had kindly given me as an Ochugen gift. I could only use the certificates at the long-established department stores such as Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi so I had figured that the products there would be a bit pricey. My aim was on a blender. Yes...a blender...I had been strangely entranced by a variety show whose tarento were making up their own frappes. Earlier last week, I visited the neighbourhod Yamada Denki to check out their wares. I could get a blender for the low, low price of 2,000 yen. The Takashimaya wares were starting at around 21,000 yen! Uh....I decided to buy some CDS there instead with the certificates.

I finally got that Yuming single called "Still Crazy For You". Nope, it's not a redux of Madonna's ballad from the mid-80s. Far from it. For some reason, the Queen of J-Pop and New Music decided to put out a swing jazz piece with the help of an old comedy-music group from the 60s called The Crazy Cats. She and the trombonist do this little duet which is just dripping with nostalgia about the old days....more of The Cats' old days than Yuming's since the Queen started out as an early 70s folkie. It isn't a well-sung tune despite the fact that Yuming herself had written the music and the lyrics. Her best vocalizations have long peaked and the trombonist is best as a trombonist. The charm lies in the tune and the chemistry between two oldtimers having the karaoke equivalent of a long-awaited drink in a bar that they haven't visited in decades.

The second disc is on the other side of the musical spectrum. It is Misia's latest called "Luv Parade". If Yuming is the Queen of J-Pop, then Misia is the Princess of Disco J-R&B. And the petite princess had been missing again for another few years. She seemed to have decided that balladry was her permanent niche in her career and coming up with songs for video games was her new sideline. Ugh! So I was glad to hear that she has come back with an upbeat number reminiscent of the happier dance days of the mid-late 70s. A few more like that and she'll back on the boards again.

Back to the blender again. Well, I guess I'll be getting that cheapo one at Yamada Denki sometime this week. Or perhaps I can get a few more features by buying the 2nd-cheapest one instead.

Monday July 24, 8:01 p.m.

I managed to get through the rest of Saturday fairly intact. I had 008 for her biweekly lesson. She's coming along fine but due to re-scheduling difficulties, I won't see her again until the end of August. I found out that she's also an Osakan so she was quite impressed when I threw some of the old neighbourhoods of my relatives. That EIC student was a no-show for her 2nd lesson although she had already paid for all 3 lessons so it isn't a case of escape. And then I had The Ramen Lady for her 2nd visit to the video. Problem is (or not) that she really doesn't like "Friends"; however, she has been quite happy to chat away. She has owned her own ramen restaurant not too far away from here. Her specialty is tsukemen, a more modular form of ramen in that one is given the noodles separately from the soup so that one has to dip them in to eat them.

Then I scooted over to JR Shinjuku to meet The Engineer and his new squeeze. I didn't find that out until they showed up at the East Gate. It was good to see that he was back in the dating game again after his rather brief first long-distance marriage. I had an even briefer phone conversation one time with his first wife; I didn't get a particularly good impression of her even with the short conversation we had so good on him. The three of us ended up going to a shabu-shabu restaurant just across from the station. The Engineer had earlier suggested the dish in his e-mail so I was looking up stuff on the Net during the free time that was supposed to have been for the EIC student.

Shabu-shabu, for those not too familiar with the dish, is thinly sliced marbled beef quickly seared in a pot of boiling water or broth. The shabu-shabu name comes from the supposed sound (perhaps it's a translation of swish-swish) that the meat makes while it's being swished around in the liquid by chopsticks. This place was a little different in that the meat du jour wasn't beef but pork....good pork from a pig known as kurobuta (black pig). I ordered the course set for 2500 yen for each of us. The Engineer's girlfriend struck me as being quite young...she acted as if she had just come out of college. She reminded me in looks of Paddy's fiancee but she was far less outspoken which kinda added to that youthful trepidation. It was hard to read her initially...I wasn't sure if she were jet-lagged but it was hard to determine if she were having a good time with her dinner. I knew she wasn't too thrilled with the nankotsu (deep-fried cartilage) but then again, I wouldn't know too many folks from the hometown who would immediately dive for rubbery pieces of pseudo-bone from a menu. She's definitely not a purveyor of sushi or sashimi. In fact, it was her first time in Japan. I would have thought that the crowds would have absolutely overwhelmed her, and she did give the "nice place to visit" line but she did admit that she was a peoplewatcher, and there is no better place than Tokyo to do that.

Despite wondering if the young lady were gonna be able to get through the meal, I actually was OK with the course. I was quite full by the end of the meal. However, I don't think the restaurant will merit a second visit since I just thought the various dishes were off in taste in one way or another. The huge pork meatballs tasted as if they had gotten a little too much mirin, and the shioyaki pieces of fried pork were a little too fatty. The main course of shabu-shabu was OK but were on the light side. Despite being middle-aged struggling English teacher, I still retained some gallantry and paid for everyone. So The Engineer made the deal that he would treat me to dinner at one of Toronto's finest, Canoe, when I got back home this Xmas. He had my agreement on that.

We did a bit of walking in crowded East Shinjuku. The Engineer's girl may have been a people watcher but she also could fit in with the sapphic half of Tokyo's population since she made a quick beeline for the brand name shops like Coach and Tiffany's which weren't too far away. I hope that The Engineer is making enough money.

The three of us even did that beloved of Saturday night activities in the big city by heading to Karaoke Kan around the corner. Unsurprisingly, the lobby was filled with young'uns reserving their rooms. I felt my age like a beesting when I had to write it down for some reason along with my reservation. My "40" stood out like a sore thumb next to all the "20" littering the rest of the page. We didn't wait too long for our room to come up despite the crowds by the front desk. We would only be there for an hour, which I think for karaoke isn't quite enough. However, when we had asked for an extension, the front desk said that it was way too crowded to allow that. So we had to quickly go through the menus to get as many songs up there as we could. Luckily, The Engineer's girl was far from the exhibitionist type so it was just the two of us mangling our tunes. Now I could understand why my interest in karaoke has waned considerably over the years. I couldn't even stand my own voice during my rendition of "Sledgehammer". I think there should be a rule against lousy singers in a karaoke box like there should be a rule against ugly people prancing about in a nudist camp. So, perhaps my 20-year-long love affair with karaoke may finally have gotten its walking papers.

Wednesday July 19, 10:18 p.m.

Well, my whole day for Speedy is almost at a close. I had my second wind with 001. She always manages to brighten up the room with her sense of humour. And then I had my special student for his intensive to prepare for his trip to Oz. It'll be his first time overseas so he's pretty giddy. He's a lot lower than 001 but he's got the incentive to pick up the language.

Despite the fact that I'm paying the extra premiums, I'm somewhat buoyed by the fact that I may be getting some more students to help balance things out a bit even though we're hitting August...which is traditionally the O-Bon holiday season here. For instance, Speedy has gotten me another model lesson for next week and it looks like my two Saturdays a month will be guaranteed with classes as well. And The OL will be doing a special temporary with me while school's out for her for the summer....along with her sister, The UL.

And with that, I bid you a good night.

Wednesday July 19, 4:09 p.m.

Man, I hope I don't have to do too many of those crosstown round trips like I did today. Mind you, it didn't help that it was raining an entire pet store on the way there. After my session with that EIC student, I had to race out all the way to my neck of the woods to teach 002 for her weekly home lesson. I hadn't realized that the Toei Shinjuku Line could be so filled with stations so the local line was really poky. With the transfer to the Keisei Line, the one-way trip over there took 90 minutes. I took the express back but it basically turned out the same way. So I had a 3-hour trip for a 1-hour lesson. And I still gotta do 001 and a new temporary for his upcoming trip to Oz.

As for "Mission: Impossible 3" the other day after that little unneeded adventure over lunch, enh....it was an OK movie. As MB likes to put it, if you like to turn your brain off for a couple of hours, you should enjoy it. Aside from the title and theme music, the third outing of the intrepid Ethan Hunt was about as far away from the original series as the original series was from a Rambo movie. I don't ever recall Jim Phelps, Rollin Hand or Cinnamon Carter ever ducking missiles and firing automatic weapons. Then again, I certainly didn't expect to see Felicity firing any sort of weapon or having the Mother of All Migraines kill her. I guess I couldn't turn off my brain completely since I didn't seem to enjoy it as much as the others did (that little confrontation between MB and The Madame still bothered me); it was better than the over-Wooed M:I 2 but M:I 3 still suffered from an acute case of 80s Rambo/Terminator Envy...rather glaringly so since the original series depended so much on stealth and style. Still, there was a bit of the old stuff in the middle of the movie when the current team was doing its snatch n' grab of the bad guy in The Vatican. (Why would The Vatican be the place for a fancy tea party? Ah, I'm sorry....my brain was still on.)

After the gunfest, the five of us stepped out and met Skippy outside the theatre. She hadn't joined us since she'd already seen the flick for free with another friend. She was there to escort us to yet another destination on the Great Burger Tour. This time, our motley crew journeyed on the Chuo Line to Nakano. The burger place was not too far away from the station although it felt longer since the heat and humidity was oppressive. It was called Zatsu Burger, another one of those small places tucked in a side street. I did go again for the biggest burger on the list but this time I had an assist from both Skippy and The Madame. So, basically I actually just had a smaller burger this time around. It was good, though, with the avocado salad and home fries.

After dinner, we took a little run into Nakano Sun Plaza on the other side of the station. Nakano Sun Plaza is one of the landmark arcade malls which populate certain sectors of Tokyo. They strike me as being a little quaint since nowadays, we've become accustomed to the megamalls of Odaiba or Makuhari Messe. NSP is also famous since it's the home of Mandarake, the otaku haven for all things anime, manga and figurine. Skippy being our resident otaku was more than happy to take us along for a bit of a tour although The Madame was more bemused than amused. I would've been happier to take a further look but instead, we only looked at the one floor and then just headed to a nearby cafe for some coffee and dessert before finally splitting up at the station. Lucky it was Nakano Station since I only had to hop on the Tozai for home.

The week has had its ups and downs. Monday was a national holiday: Marine Day...no particularly significant thing....just another reason for the government to plunk a day off in an empty month. Tuesday was another busy one because of The Beehive, The Teacher and then the juku classes. Luckily they were all quite pleasant. However, from next week I'll be making that slow transition into summer holiday mode since The Beehive and The Teacher will be going off on vacation from August. Could be therefore tight financially next month, especially since I have to pay all that money for NHI premiums, Citizens Tax and the advance tax payment.

Wednesday July 19, 9:39 a.m.

It's been an interesting few days; "interesting", as in that "May you live in interesting times" curse. For one thing, the days finishing off last week have been sweltering to say the least. I think several places around the country broke some temperature records. And now, this week, Tokyo, at least, has been getting dumped with the last of the precip before Rainy Season is officially over. It's cooler but no less humid.

On Sunday, after my lesson with JJ, I rushed out to Shinjuku and met up The Madame, MB and The Sylph and The Satyr to catch "Mission: Impossible 3". We had a rather interesting lunch before the movie when The Madame, all of a sudden, started going off on a spacebound tangent with all of her mystical and spiritual beliefs, some of which involved E.T. She never raised that point with me in any of our private conversations but she decides to blurt everything out in front of a disbelieving and nonbelieving lot. MB wasn't going to have any of that and started poking some rather skeptical views across...a little more aggressively than I usually do, which got The Madame reacting a little more aggressively than she usually does. Basically it all ended up in a couple of minutes of tense awkward silence until The Satyr tried to alleviate things by gently changing the subject. I apologized to MB afterwards but he actually said that he enjoyed the exchange; I later found out from The Madame that MB had apologized to her and said that he was just joking. The Madame also apologized to me for her overreaction. I just sighed some frustration and relief and hoped that she now realizes that her weird beliefs won't impress a lot of people. Just a lot of unnecessary stupidity.

Wednesday July 12, 4:41 p.m.

True to form, 007 pulled off another dotakyan (sudden cancellation, to you non-Japanese types) just 10 minutes before he was due to come. Ah, well....when one's president of a small company. So, it'll be just 001 and her trip to South Africa. At least, I still got my full pay for today since I also had that surprise class with that little ol' lady.

Wednesday July 12, 2:22 p.m.

Feeling my age as I groggily start writing this entry almost a couple of hours after lunch near Speedy's. There's a branch of a restaurant called China Quick which has been making inroads into Tokyo for the past couple of years. I can't gripe about the price..880 yen for a lunch of stir-fry meats and veggies in a heavily-cornstarched sauce over rice plus a half-bowl of ramen.

Perhaps part of the reason for my sleepyheadedness is because I got up at 5 a.m. so that I could avoid the worst of the rush hour (the Tozai Line is probably the worst or second-worst subway line for that) and get to Speedy's without having to sacrifice my sanity. I had to teach an EIC to a student who had no need for the kid gloves approach. She was rarin' to go and just spewed forth a lot of questions and stuff on cooking. In fact, it took a good yank of the reins just to keep her penned in. I even got a free class with that sweet ol' lady that I'd taught about a couple of months ago during Speedy's business trip. Later on today, I've got 007 for only the 2nd time in his time with us since he's been pulling off dotakyan for the past month; can't blame him too much since he is the president of his own company. Then, I get to meet 001 since she got back from South Africa. She should have lots of stories to tell me.

Yesterday was quite a busy day or almost was. I had my usual stint with The Beehive and then I met The Teacher at Beckers. She was in full gripe mode about some of her fellow mothers in the local PTA. She seems to get loaded down with most of the work since she's the only one, according to her, that can jockey a computer and speak English. Mind you, I managed to keep my eyes open.

I had my first home lesson with 002. She and her hubby live in a surprisingly remote suburb near my neck of the woods. I say, surprisingly, since her station is only a couple of stations away in any direction from fairly large transportation hubs. And yet, the only thing I saw around the station that yelled of commercialism was the neighbourhood Lawson's convenience store. It was nothing but houses and apartments. 002 picked me up and led me to her apartment just a minute's walk away. The lesson went quite well since she and I were just picking up where we had last left off a better part of a year ago.

My stint at the juku was a lot shorter than I had first thought or dreaded. Seven and The Inspector did show up for their respective lessons but The Siberian once again canned, and even The Milds had to cancel. The Salaryman didn't even bother to show up; no telephone call or nothing...which kinda gives me the hint that he may be pulling out. I'm not that surprised since his 3 weeks with me probably didn't go too well with him. His ability was just a little too high for The Milds, and Mrs Mild was a bit intimidated by him. If he had come, he would have been alone and I would've addressed the mismatch issue and offered him a Friday night solo. But I gather that it's too late now.

Meanwhile, in Roppongi Hills, the equivalent of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood when it comes to movie world premieres, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom held court in front of 5,500 rabid fans to commemorate the special showing of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2". Again, he may have outstripped even The Cruiser in terms of fan following. Speaking of whom, the Internet (or at least Yahoo and CNN) is running rampant with the rumours about where TomKat's baby Suri is. I would probably say to the media to mind their own business.

Still, the Japanese journalists are still scratching their heads about what could've possessed Zidane to headbutt the Italian player in the World Cup final. Well, it's starting to sound like a case of "He says, he says" between the Italians and the French. Even that sweet ol' lady in today's class mentioned the incident. She said that she could never imagine anyone on the Japanese team pulling off a stunt like that due to that streak of good sportsmanship that seems to be genetic within all Japanese athletes. However, she also admitted that same lack of vindictiveness could also explain Japan's lack of aggresiveness on the pitch. A bit of chippiness couldn't hurt once in a while. The occasional rush to the pitcher's mound by a wronged batter, an extra slap to the head of a sumotori or an overly strong spike aimed at an opposing player could bring a bit of well-needed oomph in Japanese sportsdom.

Monday July 10, 8:28 p.m.

I finished off The Part-Timer's lesson an hour ago but here I still am. I would've gone home lickety-split but then I got an e-mail from The Engineer who will be making his occasional trips to The Big Sushi and who also asked me if I knew a cheap hotel nearby. So I dutifully did a bit of research and found the hotel where Ol' Sam and his missus had stayed a few years ago. It's out in Kiba where I teach JJ, about 10 minutes' walk from the station. It has the "only-in-Japan" name of Day Nice Hotel (I'll have to strike them for word order infraction) but when I visited Ol' Sam there, the place was pretty nicely apportioned and reasonably priced. I'll probably be seeing The Engineer himself next weekend probably just for the Sunday since I'm gonna have a full slate of classes on the 22nd.

In any case, I'll probably be lingering around the office for about another 45 minutes since I want to avoid the worst of the nighttime rush on the Tozai.

Looks like we've recruited another Canadian for the cause at Speedy. He was even on the JET Programme during my tenure there. Seems like a good sort but I doubt I'll be seeing him all that much since he's just here on Thursdays.

I had my lesson with SIL. As usual, there was a lot of talk on days gone by. We got onto the topic of old favourite J-Pop acts such as Anzen Chitai. This was one of the big bands in the 80s in this part of the Pacific. I don't just mean Japan either....this Hokkaido-based group was not just big in Japan but also in Hong Kong. They used to be a back-up band for another Japanese pop legend named Yosui Inoue until they hit it big in 1983 with a moody little piece called "Wine Red no Kokoro" (Wine-Red Heart). For several years after that and until the turn of the decade, Anzen Chitai, led by the charismatic Koji Tamaki, dominated the charts along with other bands such as the poppier Checkers and C-C-B with a more urban contemporary sound. Nowadays, the band has long become a part of the cobwebs of J-Pop history although it still releases the occasional album; it's been buried under the heap of the current R&B-influenced stuff-and-fluff by Orange Range and Soul'd Out. It's a pity (and forgive me for sounding like a grouchy old man) since Koji Tamaki still has one of the best voices in the biz, but his music has gotten increasingly more elegiac and mournful. It's not that I've completely abandoned current J-Pop as a listening hobby; there have been acts in the 90s and 00s that I've cottoned onto but generally speaking, I'm just not all into this current trend to emulate the hottest US musicians.

Monday July 10, 5:41 p.m.

One of the big disadvantages of living in this part of the world if one is a sports fan is that most of the live coverage of big sports events takes place in the middle of the morning. And thus it was that the final game of The World Cup, supposedly seen by a billion people (the Japanese contingent being very bleary-eyed) worldwide, was broadcast at the ungodly 3 a.m. this morning, J.S.T. I was rather surprised to have even caught it but since it is summer now and since that means it's becoming stifling in my room, I couldn't help but turn on the telly at 4 a.m. and see that France and Italy were going at it in the second half. It was 1-1 and I then turned it off to catch some more shuteye...or try to anyways in spite of the heat. I woke up 90 minutes later and turned on the TV to see that, surprise surprise, the game was still going on at the very end of Extra Time and into the dreaded penalty shootouts, the soccer equivalent of baseball batting and pitching in the bottom of the 9th inning of the 7th game of the World Series with the count at 3 balls and 2 strikes with bases loaded. I gotta admit that even I, not a huge soccer fan, was somewhat more alert watching this final phase of the tourney. Of course, Italy won, Rome roared in celebration, and I assume Little Italy back in the ol' hometown was pumping out cars with fans waving the Italian flag.

I had missed the big highlight of the game, though, which was France's Captain Zidane doing a very boneheaded thing by using his bonehead to head butt one of the Italian players in frustration. This was a guy who was basically treated like the Second Coming of God in his country and he pulls this stunt. From God to goat in one second. And this was supposedly his very last game before retirement. As one analyst put it, this thing won't tarnish his legacy too badly but Zidane could've used a better way to exit the game.

Since Japan got cut out early in the World Cup, it's doubtful that many folks here got up that early to watch the game...aside from fans of either Italy or France or folks who are really into the beautiful game. HMV tried to rally the troops by stating that Japan rooted for both its team and England (thanks to Japan's adopted son, David Beckham) but then England got knocked out as well. And now with the soccer out of the way for the next 4 years, that is pretty much it for huge global sports spectacles for the rest of this year. The Winter Olympics, The World Baseball Classic, The World Cup...and even Wimbledon (the Japanese hold a very affectionate spot for that Russian beauty) are now gone so there's really nothing left except for the rest of the baseball season and sumo.

Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom arrived in Narita, and there were hundreds of ladies there to be the welcome wagon. I think they got a bigger reception than even Tom Cruise did a few weeks ago. Just a sea of cellphones in photographic salute mode as the two sheepishly passed by. As usual, the women were all hearts a-flutter. It was truly like watching that opening sequence in ABC's "Wide World of Sports": the thrill of victory (the girls got the shot), the agony of defeat (the girls didn't). In both cases, there were women just weeping like American bobbysoxers for Elvis. All this for "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" which comes out here on the 22nd. Strangely enough, the critics haven't been kind to the sequel with one guy saying that it was just as meaninglessly thrilling as a ride at Disney. Well....duh. Breaking the record for best weekend box office should salve any wounds that the pundits have thrown at it. I kinda wonder if Depp and Bloom will be hanging out here for a couple of days.

I just had The Lady this morning for her regular. The Matron and her family have gone off to Korea for a longer round of vacationing. The Lady talked about the hysteria at Narita concerning Johnny and Orly. The Lady could only marvel and sigh wistfully about experiencing that sugar rush of meeting one's idol. I have to admit that I haven't felt that much joy about anything in several years. I think the last time was when the Blue Jays had won their 2nd World Series in Toronto back in 1993.

Speaking of movies, it looks like we're a lock for Tom Cruise's (remember him, Japan?) latest flick for this Sunday in Shinjuku. I've got JJ first thing in the morning but then I can race over to the theatre with Movie Buddy and The Satyr. I'll have to talk with JJ as well about Depp since she's a huge fan of his.

It's gonna be a heck of a Tuesday. I've now got 002 for home teaching. She's being slotted between The Teacher and my juku classes. I'll be raking in a nice amount tomorrow but I'm also gonna be rather smoked by the end...and then I've gotta take off early Wednesday morning to teach an EIC at Speedy's.

Saturday July 8, 7:02 p.m.

Just minding the store while Speedy gets his haircut...so I get a good hour of Internet time at least.

I gather that for Prime Minister Koizumi, this past week has been a microcosm of his roller-coaster 4 years in office. His dream of visiting Graceland came true a week ago. Then his old colleague of former PM Hashimoto passed away. And finally, the North Koreans decided to put their own homage in by flipping 6 or 7 missiles into the Sea of Japan. Ahhh....there's nothing like a salute from L'il Kim.

My past week has also resembled that of Koizumi's to a lesser degree. I did get another full Wednesday off, my class with B2 and B2B was actually quite pleasant, and I got an early Friday. But I just finished a threesome of classes today to varying degrees of success. My first class with Farrah was OK but I wouldn't say it was especially noteworthy. Then my second class in the form of an EIC with a new cooking student did work out pretty well. Finally, though, my longest class with this friendly ramen shop owner was a complete bust although I think the two of us did enjoy our conversation. It was a failure in that it was the video class with the pilot episode of "Friends", a show that neither of us were pretty keen on and when we did...briefly...devote some of our time to the actual DVD, the enjoyment factor was pretty much nil. However I did uncover that she would probably like to take some real classes. That, I can do very happily.

However, Speedy gave me the heads-up that The Part-Timer and I may have to vacate our happy classroom on Mondays since there is the possibility that the school may be getting a couple of new students. The Part-Timer is my private student and not a paying student of Speedy's and so I did give her the warning in our first class way back in January. Hm....I can only think of the Doutor Cafe near the station. However, any changes won't be happening for a couple of weeks at least.

I gave a listen to my new Yumi Matsutoya CD which I'd bought on Monday. It actually sounded pretty good which is a pleasant switch. I had once been collecting any CD by hers that came out since she had this way of crafting some good hooks into AOR tunes for years. However, in the 90s, the well seemingly went dry...at least for me. However, with this newest one, she seems to have gone back into the time machine and fished out some of those groovy hooks again.

I'm glad that JJ decided to see me earlier this morning. I've got the entire Sunday off tomorrow. Good enough to clean my apartment and just veg out.

Tuesday July 4, 10:15 p.m.

Typing this from the juku thanks to the generosity of the boss. I don't have much time, though, so I should get started pretty quickly.

It's been one of those nights again at the juku. Seven and Dr. J (my newest acquistion) were fine but it's been another one of those wobbly juggling acts between The Salaryman and The Milds. In fact, The Milds informed the boss that they were getting a bit nervous about The Salaryman's somewhat higher ability. Well, they may not have too much longer to worry since at this rate, I'm not sure how long he will stay. The Siberian came by for his hour of chat...or at least, a semi-lucid version of one. Obviously, sleep has been a somewhat fleeting concept for him of late due to the demands of his studies. He was giving me a larger than average amount of blank stares when I tried to keep up my end of the conversation.

Well, I've got another free Wednesday tomorrow since my lone student at Speedy's, 007, has pulled another sudden cancellation. I'm not that suspicious of him since he is the president of his own company and therefore cancellations will be a frequent part of his pattern. At least, I can relax somewhat although Speedy hinted that he would like me to get started on another one of his projects. I'll let it go until tomorrow night.

The Satyr and MB got back to me about "Mission: Impossible 3". Looks like the 16th will be good for both of them. Skippy and The Madame have turned me down, the former due to the fact that a pal of hers managed to get some free tickets (lucky bastard....and I mean that in the most affectionate way).

Earlier in the day, I was able to meet up with The Beehive and my teaching partner for the official goodbye party for Mrs. Tulip. All of us piled into two cars and headed for the Makuhari Messe New Otani Hotel in the convention city complex just east of Funabashi City in Chiba. We had one of those nice little lunches in one of those nicely lit restaurants. That old fellow from the early days of the group whom I'd met at a previous party also showed up. My teaching partner let him know how good he looked but I had to internally disagree. He's looking pretty sallow. He told me point blank that his doctor had to fit him with a catheter to provide some assistance with his failing kidneys or that he would die. Kinda makes me think about what my old age may be like. I can't rely on the government to help me out when I'm his age.

Anyways, I'm reaching the half-hour mark and I'm sure the boss is wondering how much longer I have to handle my e-mail so I'll cut off here.

Monday July 3, 8:36 p.m.

I'm in that lull between Canada Day and Independence Day. Not that it would mean too much here in Japan. However, there is...or was...an anniversary of sorts to be celebrated yesterday. 40 years ago on July 2nd, The Beatles arrived in Japan for their only concert here on these shores, and basically one of their last concerts, period. To commemorate the invasion of the British, there was a contest held amongst all of the Japanese Beatles tribute bands in the same room of the same Capitol Tokyu Hotel where The Fab Four had held their press conference (considering how glib Paul and the boys were during media scrums in the States, I can't even imagine how bemused the Japanese press were). NHK News even showed some of the musical (?) highlights. The winning band will now get to spend a night in the same suite that The Beatles had stayed in. The rep from that band said that they would breathe in the same air that their idols had taken in from 4 decades back. Considering that those same molecules are probably now scattered throughout the entire globe...I will snicker lightly.

It was good then that SIL made her comeback today. I got the call from The Lady that she would return to the fold after several weeks away to care for her ailing mother. SIL, being one of the big teenage fans here for both The Beatles and Elvis, had some good stories to regale me with about her near-miss with musical legendry at The Budokan. Apparently, she did have tickets to see Paul, John, George and Ringo at The Budokan but her school disallowed any opportunity on threat of expulsion for her or her classmates to step anywhere near hedonistic debauchery. So, the kids were forced to scream gleefully as the police armada escorting the boys passed by their school on their way to the arena. Their teacher wasn't amused....must've been a Pat Boone fan. As for her thoughts on PM Koizumi's brush with greatness at Graceland, she was half-envious and half-scornful about the antics of Japan's No. 1 Elvis fan. I did get some interesting trivia in that the Prime Minister's brother happens to be the President of Japan's leading Elvis fan club.

However, speaking of Japanese Prime Ministers, I was surprised to find out this morning that former PM Ryutaro Hashimoto had passed away a couple of days ago (shows you how much local TV I was watching over the weekend). He was well known as one of the ministers who had gone mano-a-mano with one of the States' toughest Cabinet secretaries over trade policy. Hashimoto left this mortal coil fairly young. He was only about 68 years old. So, unlike the joyful effervescence of last week, the current PM got back and got sober to prepare for the funeral of one of his predecessors. Most of the morning news shows were dedicating a good part of their time to the passing of one of the big lights for the LDP. As usual, sentimentalism came to the fore in the form of tinkly piano music while past footage of the man with the slicked-back hair was shown.

This past weekend was basically two days with SB, late of Speedy's. Saturday, after my class with JJ (an even noisier affair than usual thanks to the attendance of apparently most of the child population of eastern Tokyo), I headed out for the school and after a few hours, Speedy and I made our way to Shin-Okubo, and therefore Koreatown, where we met one other staffer and went to this restaurant called Matsuya. After 40 minutes of waiting in the sweltering heat, SB and Speedy's wife joined us and the five of us went to our table in a thankfully cooler part of the restaurant. Despite the name, Matsuya is solidly Korean in fare so we tucked ourselves into the old favourites such as kimchi, chijimi and namuuru. The main dish basically consisted of pork bones with some bits of meat and jellied collagen. We were gnawing at them like cavemen. As you might detect, I wasn't too impressed with that dish so luckily we finished it all off with some bibimbap.

Then the five of us walked down a block into the seedy neighbourhood of Kabukicho for some darts. Yep, even dart clubs have started up now in pop culture-happy Tokyo. The place we went to is part of a chain known for some pretty sophisticated decor. In fact, the establishment is half-darts bar and half-English pub. We had our drinks at the bar for about 20 minutes before we got our place in front of those computerized dart boards with an underlying sensor board to automatically score our hits. The darts were made from plastic as opposed to the classic metal points. To be honest, if it hadn't been for Speedy's wife's very beginner level at darts, I probably would've been a candidate for the booby prize.

Sunday was another morning with the kids before racing down to Sangenjaya Station, west of Shibuya, for my second trip to Baker Bounce, that burger place. The lineup was different and unexpectedly shorter. That petite lady who could outeat me and the entire New York Giants lineup (I guess I can call her Cygnus...after the galactic black hole) showed up of course, along with SB and Y, one of our students. Y's buddy showed up but decided to bug out due to a stomach problem. A pity since it was she who had started the ball rolling for this plan at Mr. Influence's party a few weeks ago. And Skippy never showed up which was very unusual for her; I later found out that she was also conked out of action with a cold. So it was just the four of us but that would make it easier for us to get a table at the small restaurant. We got squalled once during our 40-minute wait outside Baker Bounce but we were armed with our umbrellas so we were spared much misery. Once we got in, the same waiter seated at the same table just inside the front door. This time, instead of risking my health on The Double Burger, I went for the relatively smaller Bacon Cheeseburger. And my choice was a good one; I appreciated the flavour much more. And the others also enjoyed their selections. We stayed there for a few hours but luckily the hordes didn't show up so the waiter didn't have to throw us out. Cygnus actually didn't go for the menu's largest item but her Roast Beef and Mashed Potatoes Sandwich was no slouch in the size department either. I could see why Speedy was so impressed with her eating abilities. She polished everything off like a real pro. And 75% of us even went for the dessert and coffee. Looks like we've got a good team for future outings.

I did cause one of my usual foot-in-mouth incidents. The ladies talked about their current boom, which is this website community called MIXI. Apparently all three women have set up their own pages there to illustrate and gab with each other. Speedy had also told me about this site and encouraged me to join up as well since there were so many communities including one for the school. Cygnus even admitted that she belonged to a sister community in which she and her fellow villagers shared pics of feline mouths....uhhh, yeah. In any case, I kinda told everyone that I had no intention to join the conversation, perhaps a bit too forcefully which rippled the ladies into brief silence. Oops...I didn't mean to say that I disdained the site (although it seems to share qualities with the notorious Channel 2) but considering that I've kept this blog largely secret for the past three years and I'm using code identities for everyone concerned, I think MIXI would be the least likeliest place for me to hang out. Still, I would be interested in checking it out as a lurker. I did send a bit of an apology to Y afterwards, though.

It was back to work again. I saw The Class Act. It'll be the last time that I see the pair intact for perhaps a few weeks since The Matron and her family will be heading to Seoul this weekend; apparently, the hubby was so impressed with the trip that resistance would be futile. This time, though, the family will be taking a bit more time with Korea than the three of us did a couple of months ago. However, The Lady and SIL will be here next week.

With SB gone to bigger and better (?) things, Speedy's got four new assistants (SB should be impressed that it took four people to take her place) of whom I met half today. One is a motherly type who is point of fact, just a few years older than Speedy and therefore younger than me. The other is a young and quiet university type who would probably get some of those pervert teachers at my ol' school slavering like wolves by the sheep enclosure. I found out from Speedy that my schedule is gonna be filling up this Saturday. I've got my new biweekly student and another EIC student and even the second video student. Then I may also be picking up a Wednesday morning EIC gal; it'll be a bit of a pain commuting here, though, but money is money, and with the government trying to get my taxes in advance, I need every yen I can earn.

Well, tomorrow, I've got that farewell party for Mrs. Tulip at that hotel in Makuhari Messe before heading off to the juku classes. I've shifted The Teacher to this Thursday afternoon. I just hope that The Salaryman can settle in better now that McGirl is history from the class with The Milds. I still don't know whether he's gonna last that long.

Saturday July 1, 5:35 p.m.

Happy Canada Day! 139 years old. The Quarterback had sent one of his mass e-mails inviting everyone to a Canada Day picnic somewhere but since he sent it during one of the periods that I don't have access to a computer, I only got it some three hours after the picnic had already started. Ah, well. In any case, I did have JJ for her regular before coming here to the school. Speaking of JJ, it seems that every family with children under the age of 5 had come to the Starbucks where I teach her. Therefore, the noise level was almost mindnumbingly loud, and a lot of our conversation was liberally peppered with "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

The week leading up to Canada's birthday has been appropriately steamy here in Japan. It looks like all that doom and gloom about summer being cancelled has now been swept aside. I've got the air con on regularly now so that should bring up my TEPCO bills for the next few months. It's been a pretty light week for me. Tuesday was the usual busiest day of the week. The Beehive had its last regular appearance of Ms. Tulip before she heads off to Canada, and that was just for a few minutes since she's been running off her feet getting preparations done. However, we will all be meeting on the 4th for a farewell party for the lass. I met The Teacher for her regular afterwards. I was able to stay up a bit better this time around; I guess the conversational topics were a bit more stimulating.

The session at the juku was a bit of hello/goodbye. The hello belonged to my newest student, HJ. He actually had come to the juku for a model lesson some months before but never got back to us, but he either had a change of heart or he must've been really busy. In any case, I've got him for a mere 30 minutes each week between Seven and The Milds. Speaking of Seven, she's been coming along very nicely. She initially left the impression of being one of those typical airheaded Shibuya gals but she's actually become my fastest-progressing student. Go fig. The goodbye student was McGirl. She was here for about a year. Nice gal but she was a bit of a disappointment in progress. But she was nice enough to bring The Milds and myself a little goodbye gift. As for the newest addition, The Salaryman, I'm getting the feeling that he's not going to stay too long...at least in a group setting. But now that McGirl is gone, perhaps things will go a bit faster.

From Wednesday onwards, it felt almost like a holiday. In fact, Hump Day was indeed a day off for me. I made sure that I didn't touch anything remotely connected to English teaching. So I put myself into relatively hard labour by cleaning up the apartment. I don't think I lost too much in the way of calories but things look a bit sleeker now. The gas man also did his triannual check of my gas meter and the stove. Just 5 minutes...of which over half was spent outside and then a minute more just to turn on the gas cock. I do look forward to his next visit in 2009...or maybe not, since I don't plan to be in the same apartment after this lease is up.

Thursday only consisted of The New Yorker. Man, the unpredictability of students. Just when I thought she was finally breaking through the barrier, she comes up with one of her old molasses-slow attempts to speak. Too bad, too, since she came out all the way from her house in the boonies to see me. Then again, I came out all the way from Chiba to teach her. Friday was the time for the UL. Here was another slightly sloggy class although the effort was there. The UL has been seeing some pretty busy days so she was exhausted with a slight throbbing headache. It was timely then that our lesson just happened to be on ailments and remedies.

Before the UL, I met up with The Madame for the first time in a couple of weeks. We went to Wolfgang Puck Express above Shinjuku Station. We were seated at the same table and just about ordered the same lunch. Since The UL had a later appointment time, the two of us managed to just nosh and chat for a few hours. Looks like she was able to get that money passed onto her "mentor" for her education in spiritualism. Man, I hope it's worth it.

Looks like I'm still at 007 at Speedy's. That prospective student for writing probably dumped us. From the way Speedy mumbled the explanation to the usual "suddenly got busy" excuse, I think the lady decided I wasn't the teacher for her. Just as well...I didn't particularly want to spend a long night on Mondays anyways.

In the "Perfect for Anderson Cooper" department, it looks like CNN has been having a lot of fun televising footage of PM Koizumi's dream-like trip to Graceland. Here's Junichiro playing air guitar...here's Jun wearing his Elvis glasses...here's Jun breaking into song every few minutes before a bemused George Bush, Priscilla Presley and her daughter. This could rival even "Seamanship". Well, what can I say? The soon-to-be-ex Prime Minister has been a huge fan of the King for decades, so why shouldn't he act like a schoolkid in the palace of his hero? I'm just glad that he didn't do the choreography for "Heartbreak Hotel".

Monday June 26, 8:39 p.m.

During my long digestive process, I received a call from Mom. Looks like Grandpa is hanging in there well enough so that she won't have to make an emergency flight to the home country in July. But she's still planning on coming over in late October. Dad is rather ambivalent about the whole thing...but what else is new? But he did ask me...via Mom of course...to get a bottle of Seirogan. Say wha-? Seirogan is this noxious stomach medicine with the subtle hint of brimstone which pretty much manhandles any gastrointestinal problems to heel...along with pretty much every other system. It's noticeable for an orange-and-red box with the logo of a bugle...probably because once you take the stuff, you run for the toilet where you...continue to run...in another way. It's kinda like post time at the racetracks. After many decades of literally scouring out your insides, the producer of Seirogan decided to pull a New Coke and put out a version of the stuff which was coated in a white candy shell; it didn't even smell. And the new form was put into a creamy-white box...ahhh, how soothing. Well, Dad won't have any of that stuff. He wants the killer treatment. So I'll be searching for the stuff.

Bringing my bloated self back to work, I had The Class Act for their usual. The Lady made that repeat trip to Seoul...this time, with her demanding hubby. They didn't go to that wonderful yakiniku place but they did hit the reimen restaurant at the top of the Hyundai Department Store that the three of us had visited after checking into the hotel. In a couple of weeks, The Matron will do the same with her family, since her husband is so rarin' to try out The Park Hyatt. During the lesson, she got a call from her daughter. She could be heard loudly bleating like someone far younger than her 18 years of age that she had a fever and wanted permission to hit bed. And this is the same kid who's got the soul of a cranky 60-year-old and who often sasses back without fear of retribution from her indulgent parents. I'd like to introduce her to my Dad in a bad mood.

SIL was again away taking care of her mother so it was off to Wendy's for lunch (I am literally a glutton for punishment after last night's feast), and then a little search through HMV. I took a nap on the Marunouchi Line, which I seem to be doing regularly after a meal, before hitting Speedy's. Speedy told me that I'd missed another great cooking performance by Mr. Influence with his cheeseburgers basted in herb butter. I would have liked to have tried them but that and The Perths' shabu-shabu meal would have made me into the first victim from "Seven". Speedy is no longer worried about income flow since we've had quite a good month. Now his problem is trying to find that teacher and that new administrative assistant to replace SB. I was on greeting and catering duties as well as teaching ones with The Part-Timer.

My week will be pretty light. I haven't heard anything about that model lesson from last Wednesday so I assume that I'm gonna have the entire day off then with 001 and 007 off on trips. On Thursday, I may just have The New Yorker. I'll be seeing The Madame on Friday for our occasional lunch together. Once again, she resisted my kind offer to try out one of our Burger Tour destinations....a repeat trip to Baker Bounce. And this is after the official sendoff to SB the night before. My weekends are just defeating my attempts to trim my waistline during the week.

Monday June 26, 5:21 p.m.

I just saw a headline on Yahoo stating that Japan will consider exporting "octopus dumplings". I gather that it's referring to takoyaki. Hmmm....I'm not sure if "octopus dumplings" will have quite that zingy attraction in the Americas. But then again, the name is better than "octopus balls" (I can just imagine Beavis & Butthead snickering at that). I'm also wondering if this export is a "let bygones be bygones" gesture for that US kerfuffle with its beef or a revenge.

My Sunday was one of huge caloric proportions. I had my usual lesson with JJ. And then I headed on out to Omotesando where I met up with MB and The Sylph, The Satyr and Samwise with his little clan on the main intersection...the one with the Condomania store on the southwest corner. Odd...I thought I noticed some distinctly underage folk entering the place. I guess they do start early nowadays.

Our first stop was at a new place on a side street called Zip Zap. It's in the mold of a Fujimamas or Roti (the former being just a block away). It was the 3rd in the Great Burger Tour created by Movie Buddy. The restaurant was one of those trendy little places which opened out in the front. MB was grumbling a bit about how the waitress wasn't too cooperative about seating the seven of us (or I should say 6.5, considering the baby). But I was a bit more understanding of her side of things since they were in the midst of closing up shop due to a party of sorts a couple of hours later. And since she was a waitress, she probably wouldn't have had much of a say in the matter. However, by some miracle, the bunch of us managed to get a couple of tables. Strangely, I didn't order the burger plate since it was rather hefty in both price and mass. 2100 yen for 225 grams. I got my 300 g at Baker Bounce for a lot smaller 1500 yen. However, I did go for the brunch plate of sausage, scrambled eggs, sliced turkey and mashed potatoes. I gotta say that I wasn't too impressed with the results. The eggs were basically lumpy soup, the sausage was something that I could have gotten at any supermarket, and the mashed potatoes were hidden under the two slices of turkey. However, there was a bit of compensation in that afterwards, the remaining five of us just turned the corner and went to Fujimamas for dessert. Much better there and the waitress was refreshingly American and saucy.

It was just as well that I didn't have the burger plate at Zip Zap since I rushed out to Tsudanuma to meet with Ms. Perth's family. I did get my nap on the various trains headed back to Chiba. I got there just a minute after 5 and the car was there to pick me up. In the car, I met Mr. Perth and their son. The son is a budding stage actor. He was suitably self-effacing as I think a lot of actors over here are. He's also at the starving actor stage. He just started working as an izakaya waiter until that big break comes.

The reason I mention that it was just as well that I didn't have the burger plate is that the Perth family and I ended up having shabu-shabu. Shabu-shabu for the uninitiated is thin slices of marbled beef seared in boiling water very quickly. Mrs. Perth mentioned that the restaurant had only been open for just a few months but was already gaining a good reputation. I could see why...for a suburban eatery, it had a touch of class with its waitresses all dolled up in kimono. Initially, we were seated at one of the regular tables but Mrs Perth did a bit of quick negotiating with the head waitress which got us transferred to a private room. Good on her! I don't have shabu-shabu all that often...I think Clinton was still in office the last time I had it (I'm not sure if it was before or after the cigar got stuck in...ahem). My experiences with the heavy meal though involved being with a lot of students and teachers gouging through literal mountains of semi-frozen beef in ever-greasifying water. This restaurant was a few levels above that. For one thing, we got a couple of courses before the plates of red meat arrived. One was chawanmushi, a personal favourite. The best I could describe it is savory egg custard. That came in a small cup but then came in this huge platter of sashimi for which I wondered if we had ordered the wrong course. With that Omotesando meal, I was already heading for gastric overload but for the sake of retaining good relationships with my benefactors, I kept silent and enjoyed it. And to add further to my cholesterol levels, there was even a small basket of tempura.

The one thing that vaulted this shabu-shabu restaurant way above all of the other similar places I'd visited in the past was that when the plates of red meat arrived, the polite and pretty waitress in the kimono proceeded to cook the first round. I did learn a bit of shabu-shabu etiquette. For one thing, the marbled beef didn't come in huge semi-frozen mountains; more like a flat pressed flower of beef with the fat quickly starting to melt. With shabu-shabu, one is given two bowls of dipping sauce: a thick sesame sauce and ponzu which is soy sauce flavoured with mirin (sweet rice wine) and yuzu (a citrus fruit native only to Japan). I'd been led to believe that I could dip the seared beef in both sauces. Uh-uh-uh. Nope, only the sesame gets that privilege. The ponzu gets the boiled vegetables that accompany the shimofuri (the name of the beef). In any case, I thought that the service here was attentive to the point of anal-retentiveness. But the food was good.

Conversation was also very cordial. Talk went to the very reason that I was there with them in the first place. I'd lent Mr. Perth my crutches when his Achilles' Tendon made a rather dramatic snap during a tennis game. Hmmm...lend crutches...get a free expensive tasty meal....I'm gonna have to save this into long-term memory. In a way, Mr. Perth reminded me of a more cordial version of my father. His son reminded me of a far more handsome, thinner and more talented version of myself. He was also more of a listener than a talker...which is actually what is needed in the Meissner technique....which is definitely more my way as well. In fact, I had to consciously draw him into the conversation myself unlike his more vocal parents. I almost felt like the male half of an omiai meeting. At least he was impressed that I knew quite a lot about the art of acting...well, from what little I could glean from all those Biography specials.

On my way to the ultra-modern washrooms, I saw one of the head waitresses admonishing her young charge on protocol. It wasn't the usual berating that happens between teacher and student or between a section chief and a hapless staffer. It was one of those tut-tut type of criticisms. Cute. After she got out of work, the younger of the two probably wanted to shiv her. A woman can probably hide quite a lot of small sharp objects in the folds of a kimono.

The dinner was fine and Mrs. Perth kindly drove me back to Tsudanuma Station. I did the usual thing of holding a 5,000 yen bill so that at least I could give the impression that I wanted to pitch in my share. But of course, the entire family insisted that it was their pleasure so I quickly stashed it back into the wallet. It is the usual custom to offer payment twice before finally "reluctantly" accepting their generosity. I think I fulfilled my part of the bargain. In any case, I went back home feeling much more enormous than I did 24 hours previously.