Sunday July 27, 2:28 p.m.
Well, Murphy's Law has struck again, I see. In the last few days, I've contacted The UL's friend no less than 3 times by e-mail. No response. I finally called her up on her cellphone only to get a message machine last night. I dutifully left a message. No response last night or this morning. I checked my own messages twice, before and after seeing Tully. Nothing...I did leave my phone number.
Then, when I checked my e-mail, I suddenly get two stinkin' responses from The UL's friend stating that she couldn't get a cellphone signal in her house and that she has been busy all week. Well, so have I! What the hell was she doing that she couldn't send one lousy brief response? And she still didn't address the commuting distance. It was all La-di-da. Obviously, my response to her was more diplomatic...I just said that I sent all those messages to her without any sort of response so I (naturally) assumed that she was no longer interested and that I had decided to come back home.
A couple of minutes ago, I checked my e-mail again. I got the third response from her in less than 12 hours...whoa! Let's break out the champagne glasses! Her answer was "Does that mean you're not coming today?" DUH! If I only had a computer virus to send her...still, I was terse but polite and confirmed her question.
I didn't want to involve The UL but I just had to let her know the situation. It'll probably be somewhat embarrassing for her and may put some strain on our acquaintanceship but just in case her buddy decides to call her out on the carpet, I decided to give her full knowledge of the situation. Frankly speaking, I think I have to take partial responsibility as well...for leaping before looking. Well, they say one learns far more from bad experiences than good...and I think I learned a lot today. Just got a bad feeling that this isn't quite over yet. And the problem is that she has my phone number now.
As it turned out, it was just Tully today. The Coffeemaker got stuck at the office due to some mechanical problems. He'll be heading to Xian, China next month with a friend from that city for some vacation. It should be very interesting.
The first of the two telethons are on TV today. It's the Fuji-TV one which doesn't seem to have anything to do with any fund-raising. Last year, the theme was on all those wacko comedians; this year, it seems to be focused on one comedian....Akashiya Sanma, the obnoxious Osaka veteran with the horrible overbite. Even this year's logo has a smiley face implanted with a huge wall of upper teeth. I won't be seeing too much of him today, that's for sure.
Well, lousy mood. Just gonna go home and get some cleaning done before dinner.
Just a place to deposit my thoughts on life here in the Kanto and about anything else that sticks to my walls.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Saturday July 26, 4:59 p.m.
Got through The Bostonian's lesson without so much as a scratch. The chapter itself wasn't exactly the most thrilling one but out came The Dancing Bear, and everything was all right.
Cozy has another assignment for me to be done by Tuesday. No problems. I've still yet to hear from The Circus about that translation assignment...maybe they found a professional translator to do that one.
Got through The Bostonian's lesson without so much as a scratch. The chapter itself wasn't exactly the most thrilling one but out came The Dancing Bear, and everything was all right.
Cozy has another assignment for me to be done by Tuesday. No problems. I've still yet to hear from The Circus about that translation assignment...maybe they found a professional translator to do that one.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Saturday July 26, 2:55 p.m.
3 down, 1 to go. Just have The Bostonian left on the agenda before finishing up today. The Businesswoman was in fine form; she's learning bossa nova guitar right now along with English. Never thought she would be the type. That new model lesson student is a movie publicist...just up my alley. Our talk was good enough so that she's signed up for 4 lessons. And she was pretty impressed by my meeting with David Cronenberg years and years ago. Right now, her project is "Hellboy 2". Then, there was The Intellectual...man, he's a sweater...I mean, he must be suffering in this heat..he was just sweating litres. Got to see The Manhattanite who's been scheduled with Speedy the last couple of lessons. She managed to eke by on her last test.
I've sent yet another missive to The UL's friend. This time, I'm asking her to call me tonight at home to confirm things up.
3 down, 1 to go. Just have The Bostonian left on the agenda before finishing up today. The Businesswoman was in fine form; she's learning bossa nova guitar right now along with English. Never thought she would be the type. That new model lesson student is a movie publicist...just up my alley. Our talk was good enough so that she's signed up for 4 lessons. And she was pretty impressed by my meeting with David Cronenberg years and years ago. Right now, her project is "Hellboy 2". Then, there was The Intellectual...man, he's a sweater...I mean, he must be suffering in this heat..he was just sweating litres. Got to see The Manhattanite who's been scheduled with Speedy the last couple of lessons. She managed to eke by on her last test.
I've sent yet another missive to The UL's friend. This time, I'm asking her to call me tonight at home to confirm things up.
Saturday July 26, 10:41 a.m.
Apparently, Gunma Prefecture got majorly hailed upon last night (never thought I'd see hail in this country...even on TV), and Saitama Prefecture got the buckets of precip while Chiba Prefecture remained as dry as a bone.
Back here at Speedy's. It's just BC and me for now. Speedy himself should be here during my lesson with The Businesswoman. Feeling pretty lethargic...kinda wish I was just vegging out in my apartment. But I've got four lessons today, including another trial lesson. I'm gonna try to keep my energies and my mood up.
Still nothing from the UL's friend. Hmm...
Apparently, Gunma Prefecture got majorly hailed upon last night (never thought I'd see hail in this country...even on TV), and Saitama Prefecture got the buckets of precip while Chiba Prefecture remained as dry as a bone.
Back here at Speedy's. It's just BC and me for now. Speedy himself should be here during my lesson with The Businesswoman. Feeling pretty lethargic...kinda wish I was just vegging out in my apartment. But I've got four lessons today, including another trial lesson. I'm gonna try to keep my energies and my mood up.
Still nothing from the UL's friend. Hmm...
Friday July 25, 8:08 p.m.
Well, Murphy's Law was back in session just now. Sure enough, just four minutes into the Witching Hour, Jolly called the boss up to say that by the time he got back from work, it would be past 10. Therefore, dotyakan. I'm now off...until tomorrow at 11 when it's back to Speedy's for four lessons.
I'll just hang about for another 20 minutes, then I'll be headed for home. I'll take one more check to see if that UL buddy did respond.
Well, Murphy's Law was back in session just now. Sure enough, just four minutes into the Witching Hour, Jolly called the boss up to say that by the time he got back from work, it would be past 10. Therefore, dotyakan. I'm now off...until tomorrow at 11 when it's back to Speedy's for four lessons.
I'll just hang about for another 20 minutes, then I'll be headed for home. I'll take one more check to see if that UL buddy did respond.
Friday July 25, 7:34 p.m.
Back at the juku. Keeping my fingers crossed about Jolly. The witching hour for him is usually between 8 and 9 in terms of dotyakan. I doubt that he'll forget this time since I'm sure the boss kinda boxed his ears last week for that little error. After my stint at the I-cafe, I ended up having dinner at The Colonel's. With all of the pop I've imbibed over the past few hours (2 Cokes at the I-cafe, a ginger ale at KFC and now the usual iced coffee here), I should be properly diabetic.
Still no word from The UL's friend. I may just give her a direct call tomorrow night when I get back from work.
Weatherwise, I guess Tokyo's heading toward a Meditteranean-type climate. Searing hot during the day but refreshingly cooler (but not cool) in the evening. Still, walking toward the juku, I can work up quite a sweat.
Back at the juku. Keeping my fingers crossed about Jolly. The witching hour for him is usually between 8 and 9 in terms of dotyakan. I doubt that he'll forget this time since I'm sure the boss kinda boxed his ears last week for that little error. After my stint at the I-cafe, I ended up having dinner at The Colonel's. With all of the pop I've imbibed over the past few hours (2 Cokes at the I-cafe, a ginger ale at KFC and now the usual iced coffee here), I should be properly diabetic.
Still no word from The UL's friend. I may just give her a direct call tomorrow night when I get back from work.
Weatherwise, I guess Tokyo's heading toward a Meditteranean-type climate. Searing hot during the day but refreshingly cooler (but not cool) in the evening. Still, walking toward the juku, I can work up quite a sweat.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Friday July 25, 3:48 p.m.
It's probably the hottest I've felt this year so far. Certainly didn't help that a lot of Akihabara consists of concrete. Managed to get up into the coolness of the gigantic Yodobashi Camera near the station. Since it was after 2 p.m., the lunch time crowd had all dissipated from the food floor. I got over to the kaiten sushi there and got an easy stool. Wolfed down 10 plates of sushi...not great in variety but a lot of chu-toro and o-toro for my liking. Even though I had a coupon slashing 777 yen from my bill, it still cost me about 2,000. Still, considering that the news has been proclaiming that Japan is running out of fish, I decided to get my fill before the sushi chefs start filling in the gaps with fake crab and soybeans.
As I sloshed my way from Yodobashi to the main drag of Akiba, the sidewalks were just flinging the heat right up in our faces. My handkerchief (a necessity in this weather) was permanently attached to my right hand. It was lucky then that I did try out three cologne testers at that duty-free shop before getting my new bottle. At least, if I'm fragrant, it'll be on the good side.
Heading back to my neck of the woods, I was wondering whether to just go home, veg out under the AC, and get some household stuff done or come here to the I-cafe. The latter choice obviously won out since the idea of doing the household stuff in this heat wasn't particularly appealing to me.
It's been several hours since I sent out my plea to The UL's friend's cellphone and still no response. Well, time to take the reins...if she doesn't respond by tomorrow morning, I'll just make up an excuse and call the deal off. I think it's been plain rude of her not to respond to any of my queries, and frankly I'm not really all that keen to head over to Yokohama in this heat.
It's probably the hottest I've felt this year so far. Certainly didn't help that a lot of Akihabara consists of concrete. Managed to get up into the coolness of the gigantic Yodobashi Camera near the station. Since it was after 2 p.m., the lunch time crowd had all dissipated from the food floor. I got over to the kaiten sushi there and got an easy stool. Wolfed down 10 plates of sushi...not great in variety but a lot of chu-toro and o-toro for my liking. Even though I had a coupon slashing 777 yen from my bill, it still cost me about 2,000. Still, considering that the news has been proclaiming that Japan is running out of fish, I decided to get my fill before the sushi chefs start filling in the gaps with fake crab and soybeans.
As I sloshed my way from Yodobashi to the main drag of Akiba, the sidewalks were just flinging the heat right up in our faces. My handkerchief (a necessity in this weather) was permanently attached to my right hand. It was lucky then that I did try out three cologne testers at that duty-free shop before getting my new bottle. At least, if I'm fragrant, it'll be on the good side.
Heading back to my neck of the woods, I was wondering whether to just go home, veg out under the AC, and get some household stuff done or come here to the I-cafe. The latter choice obviously won out since the idea of doing the household stuff in this heat wasn't particularly appealing to me.
It's been several hours since I sent out my plea to The UL's friend's cellphone and still no response. Well, time to take the reins...if she doesn't respond by tomorrow morning, I'll just make up an excuse and call the deal off. I think it's been plain rude of her not to respond to any of my queries, and frankly I'm not really all that keen to head over to Yokohama in this heat.
Friday July 25, 10:31 a.m.
Got home at a relatively more decent hour last night...11:30 p.m. My internal alarm clock was more on the ball, too. I woke up on the subway just before I reached my station instead of overshooting.
Well, I had to send over that final letter over to The UL's friend. I was trying to be subtle to get her answer in the past couple of e-mails to her about whether I would need to come over to Yokohama every Sunday to teach her (nay I say). Since I didn't get any hint about her feelings on that matter, I've finally had to ask her the question point-blank. Hopefully, that'll get a response coming over quickly. If not, well, I may have to think about giving her a pass.
Anyways, I've only got The Pessimist at Speedy's. And then, it's just Jolly tonight...maybe...The Ace cancelled his lesson again. I'll probably be heading over to Akiba, but not for anything electronic. There's one store that sells supposed cologne at fairly low prices. And considering the heat out there, I'll definitely need a new bottle since I'm almost out at home.
Got home at a relatively more decent hour last night...11:30 p.m. My internal alarm clock was more on the ball, too. I woke up on the subway just before I reached my station instead of overshooting.
Well, I had to send over that final letter over to The UL's friend. I was trying to be subtle to get her answer in the past couple of e-mails to her about whether I would need to come over to Yokohama every Sunday to teach her (nay I say). Since I didn't get any hint about her feelings on that matter, I've finally had to ask her the question point-blank. Hopefully, that'll get a response coming over quickly. If not, well, I may have to think about giving her a pass.
Anyways, I've only got The Pessimist at Speedy's. And then, it's just Jolly tonight...maybe...The Ace cancelled his lesson again. I'll probably be heading over to Akiba, but not for anything electronic. There's one store that sells supposed cologne at fairly low prices. And considering the heat out there, I'll definitely need a new bottle since I'm almost out at home.
Thursday July 23, 10:03 p.m.
Another day has gone by. Managed to survive the rest of my lessons. Miss Sedona was her smiley self. And that model lesson student was quite good. For a lowbie, she's got a pretty good handle on structure...and oh-so-polite. Not sure if she's gonna take the bait, though. Usually, Speedy comes right on out and asks about availability on my schedule but tonight, she's gonna think about it.
As for BC, not sure about if and how we'll get her farewell party together. Not even sure if she really wants one...knowing her mood.
Another day has gone by. Managed to survive the rest of my lessons. Miss Sedona was her smiley self. And that model lesson student was quite good. For a lowbie, she's got a pretty good handle on structure...and oh-so-polite. Not sure if she's gonna take the bait, though. Usually, Speedy comes right on out and asks about availability on my schedule but tonight, she's gonna think about it.
As for BC, not sure about if and how we'll get her farewell party together. Not even sure if she really wants one...knowing her mood.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Thursday July 24, 3:35 p.m.
Well, so far so good. I've gotten through 3 out of 5. Grandma Dynamite was her usual explosive self while The Yogist seemed to be even more ebullient. The new EIC student is so high that I wondered why she would even want to take the 3 lessons but Speedy just told me that she needed something to do during her summer vacation. There are some vocab holes that needed patching, though. She's now working for City Hall but used to work for the governing body of the JET Programme, CLAIR, a few years back. She was rather surprised to learn that I used to be a JET back in the day....probably couldn't believe that one of us dinosaurs would still be alive in the English teaching industry.
Well, Miss Sedona should be here in about half an hour.
Well, so far so good. I've gotten through 3 out of 5. Grandma Dynamite was her usual explosive self while The Yogist seemed to be even more ebullient. The new EIC student is so high that I wondered why she would even want to take the 3 lessons but Speedy just told me that she needed something to do during her summer vacation. There are some vocab holes that needed patching, though. She's now working for City Hall but used to work for the governing body of the JET Programme, CLAIR, a few years back. She was rather surprised to learn that I used to be a JET back in the day....probably couldn't believe that one of us dinosaurs would still be alive in the English teaching industry.
Well, Miss Sedona should be here in about half an hour.
Thursday July 24, 8:16 a.m.
Looks like I won't have to worry about acting as babysitter for The Patent Attorney this morning. He's apparently cancelled his lesson so I just have to wait for the bossman to show up.
It was one of those pissy nights last night. Since I had the late shift with Medicine Man and then Grandma Dynamite this morning, I had to rush on home to catch a bit of sleep...of course, I did that on the subway and ended up overshooting my station by a stop...which meant that I didn't get home until well past midnight. For a guy who has to be out of the apartment by 6:30 a.m., that's not good.
So, even a M6.8 earthquake off of Miyagi Prefecture in the north which sent some strong tremors through my area didn't break my bad mood. I figured something was up while I was shaving when I heard the silverware shaking like maracas all of a sudden. NHK was on the case within a minute and the other commercial stations followed suit...of course, after the funniest parts of the late-night variety shows were gotten through first.
I got sent a novel by Shard last night...a sci-fi called "Starquake"; should be interesting. The Entrepreneur thoroughly enjoyed "The Dark Knight". And DTE has been having her 15 minutes in the sun as an extra in "Shanghai", a film currently under production with John Cusack and Ken Watanabe. Apparently, she got recruited purely by accident.
That last book I leafed through, "Busting Vegas" was the first pageturner that I've gone through in some time. "Closing Time" and "Warped Passages" were just an ordeal, so it was refreshing that a book on The MIT Blackjack Team could read like a thriller. It just seems so strange that the recent flop, "21" with Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth (the new Tracy-Hepburn?) was based on the author's first book, "Bringing Down The House". I think "Busting Vegas" would've been a better base. I could even envision the actors who could've played the roles: Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst/Gwyneth Paltrow as the romantic leads with Jake Gyllenhall as the team leader. And as the quietly terrifying Jack Galen, I could've seen a younger David Bowie (remember, this is just the Hollywood version of Fantasy Baseball here).
Looks like I won't have to worry about acting as babysitter for The Patent Attorney this morning. He's apparently cancelled his lesson so I just have to wait for the bossman to show up.
It was one of those pissy nights last night. Since I had the late shift with Medicine Man and then Grandma Dynamite this morning, I had to rush on home to catch a bit of sleep...of course, I did that on the subway and ended up overshooting my station by a stop...which meant that I didn't get home until well past midnight. For a guy who has to be out of the apartment by 6:30 a.m., that's not good.
So, even a M6.8 earthquake off of Miyagi Prefecture in the north which sent some strong tremors through my area didn't break my bad mood. I figured something was up while I was shaving when I heard the silverware shaking like maracas all of a sudden. NHK was on the case within a minute and the other commercial stations followed suit...of course, after the funniest parts of the late-night variety shows were gotten through first.
I got sent a novel by Shard last night...a sci-fi called "Starquake"; should be interesting. The Entrepreneur thoroughly enjoyed "The Dark Knight". And DTE has been having her 15 minutes in the sun as an extra in "Shanghai", a film currently under production with John Cusack and Ken Watanabe. Apparently, she got recruited purely by accident.
That last book I leafed through, "Busting Vegas" was the first pageturner that I've gone through in some time. "Closing Time" and "Warped Passages" were just an ordeal, so it was refreshing that a book on The MIT Blackjack Team could read like a thriller. It just seems so strange that the recent flop, "21" with Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth (the new Tracy-Hepburn?) was based on the author's first book, "Bringing Down The House". I think "Busting Vegas" would've been a better base. I could even envision the actors who could've played the roles: Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst/Gwyneth Paltrow as the romantic leads with Jake Gyllenhall as the team leader. And as the quietly terrifying Jack Galen, I could've seen a younger David Bowie (remember, this is just the Hollywood version of Fantasy Baseball here).
Wednesday July 23, 10:32 p.m.
Well, another full day and night at the school. Managed to keep myself busy on lesson planning and browsing through Wiki. The Diver was pretty spot-on tonight although the giddiness remains and Medicine Man was his usual steady self. But I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning with Grandma Dynamite and the usual cast of characters for Thursday: The Yogist, Miss Sedona and then a new model lesson student.
Looks like my last EIC student is gonna stay on as a regular student. Gonna have to find a new code name for her.
Well, another full day and night at the school. Managed to keep myself busy on lesson planning and browsing through Wiki. The Diver was pretty spot-on tonight although the giddiness remains and Medicine Man was his usual steady self. But I'll be back first thing tomorrow morning with Grandma Dynamite and the usual cast of characters for Thursday: The Yogist, Miss Sedona and then a new model lesson student.
Looks like my last EIC student is gonna stay on as a regular student. Gonna have to find a new code name for her.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Wednesday July 22, 12:51 p.m.
Enjoying my cool cocoon at the school although I know that I'll have to go out sometime to get dinner. As for lunch, though, The Nurse took care of that by giving me a bowl of some rice with aburaage, flaked tuna and mushrooms. Not sure what the occasion was but I'm happy to know that things with her husband are going well...I'd been a bit worried for the last couple of weeks. And The Pessimist, though slow, is doing OK in class.
The new kid on the block, Ray, is a quiet one although I'm wondering if that could be because of BC's influence. She seems to be settling in OK. Not sure how good her English is, though. Now that I'm halfway through, I just have some stuff to prep for the evening classes and perhaps even for Thursday's lessons as well. Once again, since I'll be finishing here late with Medicine Man, it'll just be a quick 5 hours of sleep at home before I'm back at it tomorrow morning.
I got word from The Chipmunk for the first time in several months. She's just changed her cell number and address. She was asking about The Wild Thing.
Enjoying my cool cocoon at the school although I know that I'll have to go out sometime to get dinner. As for lunch, though, The Nurse took care of that by giving me a bowl of some rice with aburaage, flaked tuna and mushrooms. Not sure what the occasion was but I'm happy to know that things with her husband are going well...I'd been a bit worried for the last couple of weeks. And The Pessimist, though slow, is doing OK in class.
The new kid on the block, Ray, is a quiet one although I'm wondering if that could be because of BC's influence. She seems to be settling in OK. Not sure how good her English is, though. Now that I'm halfway through, I just have some stuff to prep for the evening classes and perhaps even for Thursday's lessons as well. Once again, since I'll be finishing here late with Medicine Man, it'll just be a quick 5 hours of sleep at home before I'm back at it tomorrow morning.
I got word from The Chipmunk for the first time in several months. She's just changed her cell number and address. She was asking about The Wild Thing.
Wednesday July 23, 7:57 a.m.
Well, the unusual scheduling at the juku continues. I ended up just teaching one lesson there last night, the one for Suzanne. I don't think I've ever finished that early on a Tuesday since I first started teaching there 4 years ago. It was another one of those half-English lessons, half-counselling sessions for her...a lot of talk on the ever-shrinking circle of friends over time but the deepening of those friendships that are left. Pretty deep talk with a 26-year-old woman who looks like a Shibuya gyaru (but without the lousy attitude). Yep, got home at the unprecedented time of 8 p.m. last night...Mild Jr. and Jolly got bogged down with work, and The Milds are out in Germany right now.
The heat is definitely on now. We've had a full week of temps in the daytime of over 30 C. And so, the weatherman has given the inevitable warning of conserving water but trying to drink in as much liquid as one can. I woke up this morning at the ripe ol' time of 5:30 and had to contend with an even riper towel under my head soaked in my sweat. Glad to have gotten out of there.
I did go off to Shiodome on the holiday Monday to see if I could grab a hot dog at Nathan's...made the mistake the other day of calling it Hansen's...but the place had a huge lineup. In a way, though, it was good to see since I had been worried that the place...now, perhaps the only branch left in Tokyo (I haven't checked the one at JR Shinagawa)...would leave us devoid of any decent franks but it looks like at least that branch was doing fine. Instead, I just bought something at my local supermarket for dinner. However, I did buy the latest CD by that kissing cousin of Genki Rockets, Perfume...that trio of mannequin-like girls who have taken the J-Pop world by storm this year. After that (backhanded) complimentary review of their "Game" album, I ended up buying their latest single, "Love The World". The techno beat is rather catchy, I have to admit, and it's probably closer to club music than the more teenage sound of Lumi. I think the song is almost a throwback to the eclectic sounds of the 80s band, PSY-S since the vocoder gets the girls' voices to resemble that of PSY-S' lead singer Chaka. Well, depending how soon I get my latest batch of cash, I may get that "Game" album pretty soon.
I have sent off that letter to The UL's friend...the one who wants me to come all the way to Yokohama for my dog-and-pony show this Sunday. Well, I just told her...politely...my conditions for teaching her, the main one being that I will teach her in Tokyo and not Yokohama. I sent the letter off when I was here on Monday. I have checked the inbox for the past couple of days but there has been no response....the fact that I sent it to her cellphone address means that she did get it. The fact that I've yet to get any sort of answer may mean that she's now musing very hard about my reluctance to commute to her neck of the woods. I'd be asking for a transportation fee along with the teaching fee in that case.
I've got word from The Lens that he and his wife will be coming back here again in a couple of weeks. Just about the worst time for them to come in terms of weather...if they're not weatherproofed for the hellish conditions, they'll probably be trying to look for every little nook and cranny of relatively cool shade.
Not quite a true Hump Day. I've got four on the floor today....The Nurse and The Pessimist in the morning, and then The Diver and Medicine Man in the evening. In between there will be 8 hours of downtime. I was actually thinking of going out into the city, but considering the heat and humidity, I may just enjoy being behind the monitor today.
Newswise, it's been split between two stories of sordidness. One is about the big scandal involving the prefectural board of education in Oita Prefecture in Kyushu. Apparently, some of the senior members have been involved in some influence-peddling and bribery in terms of getting promotions and padding examinations. And then, there's the case in nearby Saitama Prefecture where a junior high school girl apparently snapped and stabbed her father to death in the middle of the night. When this news broke late last week, the media had reported that the family was just one happy clan but now little bits and pieces of teenage angst and resentment are starting to ooze out of the woodwork.
This week is leading up to Doyo no Hi (The Day of the Ox)...but the food of choice is, of course, eel...preferably grilled in that savory-sweet sauce and placed on a hot bed of rice. Eating eel has that ability (true or not) of restoring stamina during the dog days of summer. And this is gotta be a true Only-In-Japan story...there have been cases of eel rustling...yep, bastards have been stealing some valuable squirmies from the eeleries to re-sell at top prices. Also, there has been the scandal of various eeleries mislabeling Taiwan-raised eels as Japan-raised squirmies. As slimy as that practice is, I think some of the blame has to be placed on the public as well for being so snobbish about how an eel should taste like.
The new kid on the block here at the school started her first day yesterday. Speedy called me up to tell me about a new model lesson in a couple of weeks, and he's kinda worried about how BC is training her. So far, it doesn't look like the newbie will be fleeing from us so that's a good sign.
Well, I guess with all the accolades that "The Dark Knight" has been getting, it just had to be inevitable that some bad luck would befall the movie. Nothing about the movie itself, but the star player...Christian Bale. Apparently, his mother and sister have accused him of assault at a London hotel. The headlines are already coming out with the terrible puns of "A Dark Night for The Dark Knight" and "Bale got Bail".
Well, the unusual scheduling at the juku continues. I ended up just teaching one lesson there last night, the one for Suzanne. I don't think I've ever finished that early on a Tuesday since I first started teaching there 4 years ago. It was another one of those half-English lessons, half-counselling sessions for her...a lot of talk on the ever-shrinking circle of friends over time but the deepening of those friendships that are left. Pretty deep talk with a 26-year-old woman who looks like a Shibuya gyaru (but without the lousy attitude). Yep, got home at the unprecedented time of 8 p.m. last night...Mild Jr. and Jolly got bogged down with work, and The Milds are out in Germany right now.
The heat is definitely on now. We've had a full week of temps in the daytime of over 30 C. And so, the weatherman has given the inevitable warning of conserving water but trying to drink in as much liquid as one can. I woke up this morning at the ripe ol' time of 5:30 and had to contend with an even riper towel under my head soaked in my sweat. Glad to have gotten out of there.
I did go off to Shiodome on the holiday Monday to see if I could grab a hot dog at Nathan's...made the mistake the other day of calling it Hansen's...but the place had a huge lineup. In a way, though, it was good to see since I had been worried that the place...now, perhaps the only branch left in Tokyo (I haven't checked the one at JR Shinagawa)...would leave us devoid of any decent franks but it looks like at least that branch was doing fine. Instead, I just bought something at my local supermarket for dinner. However, I did buy the latest CD by that kissing cousin of Genki Rockets, Perfume...that trio of mannequin-like girls who have taken the J-Pop world by storm this year. After that (backhanded) complimentary review of their "Game" album, I ended up buying their latest single, "Love The World". The techno beat is rather catchy, I have to admit, and it's probably closer to club music than the more teenage sound of Lumi. I think the song is almost a throwback to the eclectic sounds of the 80s band, PSY-S since the vocoder gets the girls' voices to resemble that of PSY-S' lead singer Chaka. Well, depending how soon I get my latest batch of cash, I may get that "Game" album pretty soon.
I have sent off that letter to The UL's friend...the one who wants me to come all the way to Yokohama for my dog-and-pony show this Sunday. Well, I just told her...politely...my conditions for teaching her, the main one being that I will teach her in Tokyo and not Yokohama. I sent the letter off when I was here on Monday. I have checked the inbox for the past couple of days but there has been no response....the fact that I sent it to her cellphone address means that she did get it. The fact that I've yet to get any sort of answer may mean that she's now musing very hard about my reluctance to commute to her neck of the woods. I'd be asking for a transportation fee along with the teaching fee in that case.
I've got word from The Lens that he and his wife will be coming back here again in a couple of weeks. Just about the worst time for them to come in terms of weather...if they're not weatherproofed for the hellish conditions, they'll probably be trying to look for every little nook and cranny of relatively cool shade.
Not quite a true Hump Day. I've got four on the floor today....The Nurse and The Pessimist in the morning, and then The Diver and Medicine Man in the evening. In between there will be 8 hours of downtime. I was actually thinking of going out into the city, but considering the heat and humidity, I may just enjoy being behind the monitor today.
Newswise, it's been split between two stories of sordidness. One is about the big scandal involving the prefectural board of education in Oita Prefecture in Kyushu. Apparently, some of the senior members have been involved in some influence-peddling and bribery in terms of getting promotions and padding examinations. And then, there's the case in nearby Saitama Prefecture where a junior high school girl apparently snapped and stabbed her father to death in the middle of the night. When this news broke late last week, the media had reported that the family was just one happy clan but now little bits and pieces of teenage angst and resentment are starting to ooze out of the woodwork.
This week is leading up to Doyo no Hi (The Day of the Ox)...but the food of choice is, of course, eel...preferably grilled in that savory-sweet sauce and placed on a hot bed of rice. Eating eel has that ability (true or not) of restoring stamina during the dog days of summer. And this is gotta be a true Only-In-Japan story...there have been cases of eel rustling...yep, bastards have been stealing some valuable squirmies from the eeleries to re-sell at top prices. Also, there has been the scandal of various eeleries mislabeling Taiwan-raised eels as Japan-raised squirmies. As slimy as that practice is, I think some of the blame has to be placed on the public as well for being so snobbish about how an eel should taste like.
The new kid on the block here at the school started her first day yesterday. Speedy called me up to tell me about a new model lesson in a couple of weeks, and he's kinda worried about how BC is training her. So far, it doesn't look like the newbie will be fleeing from us so that's a good sign.
Well, I guess with all the accolades that "The Dark Knight" has been getting, it just had to be inevitable that some bad luck would befall the movie. Nothing about the movie itself, but the star player...Christian Bale. Apparently, his mother and sister have accused him of assault at a London hotel. The headlines are already coming out with the terrible puns of "A Dark Night for The Dark Knight" and "Bale got Bail".
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Monday July 21, 1:20 p.m.
Well, it's been a full weekend since my last entry. I'm now doing this at Speedy's. I knew that finally getting de facto access to the school would pay dividends. I needed to get some copies done for 002 tomorrow so I came all the way here for that...and free Internet access. Meanwhile, the bossman and his wife are probably enjoying the hot springs.
Back on Friday, I was witness to something rather new...a double dotakyan. The Ace called in with an hour to spare to give his regrets. And Jolly just plain never showed up. The juku boss was quite apologetic but it was really no problem with me. I would've been far more annoyed if he did show up half an hour late than not at all. Besides, I could get free AC, free Net access, free iced coffee and even some experimental cooking from the boss in the form of bacon-wrapped asparagus spears...that, and I still got 1,600 yen just for showing up. Better than paying the 680 yen at the I-cafe.
I finally gave in to the Dark Side and headed out on Saturday to that Star Wars Convention in Makuhari Messe. As it has been for the past week, the heat and humidity were just crazy. And the fact that the convention complex is all done up in white concrete just raised both factors. It must've been 40 degrees C alone there without taking into effect the humidity. When I got to Makuhari Hongo Station on the Sobu Line, there was a pretty long line waiting for the bus. It turned out though that the vast majority of people there were waiting to catch the bus to Marine Stadium for the baseball game (the Chiba Lotte Marines scored 10 runs that day...and still lost since the other team managed to score 17), so it was a pretty empty bus just to Makuhari Station at the other end of the route.
Yup, it was as hot as Mos Eisley as I got off the bus. I didn't know exactly where the convention was taking place but I decided to have some lunch at the nearby Tony Roma's. Makuhari Messe is definitely a place for Western conventioneers. There were plenty of examples of good ol' American cooking. Tony Romas was there and across the street, there was an Outback Steakhouse and even the McDonalds had quite the few portly Americans. It'd been several months, if not a couple of years, since my last visit to the best known ribhouse in Tokyo. And Tony didn't disappoint. Had myself a Rib Lunch with what turned out to be a half-rack of Baby Backs with cole slaw and fries. Not too bad at all.
I approached the main convention centre and I knew I was coming to the right place when I saw folks going the other way carrying various Star Wars paraphernalia. It was interesting that the people carrying the stuff were the parents and not the children. As I entered the airport terminal-like building, I had still been wavering whether I should part with my 4,000 yen. Well, the conveniently positioned ATM and then the "Star Wars" fanfare playing on the stereo speakers finally crushed my hesitation. For my 4 bills, all I got was an ID collar. Then again, for that special audience with folks like Anthony Daniels and Mark Hamill, I would've needed to at least cough up another few more bills. Sorry, my economic status just wouldn't let me be that footloose and fancy-free.
The convention took up three full halls. As I went down the escalator, I descended into what would've truly been Mos Eisley if it had been transplanted into multiple airplane hangars. All it was missing was those bubbleheaded aliens playing "The Cantina" song from the original movie. There were plenty of the exhibitors and the exhibitionists....the former showing off their wares in the form of drawings and posters while the latter was represented by all sorts of Jedi, Imperial stormtroopers and one Princess Leia-as-the-slave-girl (rather too bad, I only saw one of those). There was even one Japanese fellow who had a very neatly trimmed beard and moustache to go with his Jedi robes...methinks, he's a big young Obi-Wan fan. And even the Gomp droid...that little walking box in that Jawa transport was ambling along, much to the little kiddies' delight. In addition, there were mockups of the Snow Speeder from "The Empire Strikes Back", the Speeder Bike from "Return of the Jedi" and that reptilian animal that the stormtroopers were riding in "A New Hope" set up for the kiddies and photo ops. Of course, the Lego guys were there with their more geometric versions of The Death Star, some other stands selling figures and even Tokyo Disneyland was still hawking Star Tours...the ride that I'd gone on almost 2 decades ago.
Of course, a Star Wars convention wouldn't be a Star Wars convention without the big guest appearances. I went to the autograph area and sure enough, I saw David (Darth Vader) Prowse and Ray (Darth Maul) Park taking pictures with the fans. I even brushed by Prowse as he was limping along on his walking stick so that I finally did get my brush with greatness (although it was with The Dark Side). Still, I kinda felt sorry for some of the other minor guests such as the woman who supposedly played one of the minor Jedi Knights and even Peter (Chewbacca) Mayhew; they were just fiddling their thumbs by their lonesome while Park was getting Krispy Kreme-like lineups. However, a major scrum developed in the centre of the hall, like one of those sudden thunderstorms that had been hitting us the week before when Anthony (C-3PO) Daniels just popped out of his autograph cubicle to meet-and-greet the masses. A sea of cellphone camera-toting fans was just clicking away like crazy. I could actually see the man through the outstretched arms by some miracle. As for the man-of-the-hour...Mark Hamill...a bunch of folks like me who didn't bother paying the huge tribute necessary to see him in the flesh just hovered outside the curtained-off sector as he was being introduced. I could barely recognize his voice through all the microphone reverb.
Not being a huge Star Wars fan anymore, I was a bit struck at how empty the convention was. I think the organizers could've easily fit everything into 2 halls instead of 3. Mind you, it was the first day...maybe yesterday and today have been a bit more crazier. I only went home with that ID tag as the souvenir. There really wasn't anything I wanted to buy from the merchandise. I could only imagine how The Stick would've reacted to all this stuff, though. However, she has probably grown out of her obsession as well.
Sunday was the day that I finally gave in and turned on the AC for the first time...but unlike previous years, I set the temp to 27 C and had it on for just 5 hours. Still, that 27 C felt like a freezer when compared to the 32 C temps that I'd almost gotten used to. GC called me up in what seems to be a return to those old night conversations that we'd done from time to time before an absence of several years. He told me about the "Watchmen" trailer which I caught on YouTube some minutes ago. Looks interesting. I hope it gets the buzz and acclaim next year that "The Dark Knight" has been catching like flypaper.
The Weather Office officially announced the end of the Rainy Season on Friday. Yep, the dog days of summer are here. I even heard a cicada buzzing away. But what is far more ominous is that food prices are going up yet again from August 1.
Well, I'm pretty much done here. May head over to Shiodome and grab myself a Hansens hot dog...that is, if the place still exists. I think the lowly frankfurter has lost the battle against the hamburger in this burg.
Well, it's been a full weekend since my last entry. I'm now doing this at Speedy's. I knew that finally getting de facto access to the school would pay dividends. I needed to get some copies done for 002 tomorrow so I came all the way here for that...and free Internet access. Meanwhile, the bossman and his wife are probably enjoying the hot springs.
Back on Friday, I was witness to something rather new...a double dotakyan. The Ace called in with an hour to spare to give his regrets. And Jolly just plain never showed up. The juku boss was quite apologetic but it was really no problem with me. I would've been far more annoyed if he did show up half an hour late than not at all. Besides, I could get free AC, free Net access, free iced coffee and even some experimental cooking from the boss in the form of bacon-wrapped asparagus spears...that, and I still got 1,600 yen just for showing up. Better than paying the 680 yen at the I-cafe.
I finally gave in to the Dark Side and headed out on Saturday to that Star Wars Convention in Makuhari Messe. As it has been for the past week, the heat and humidity were just crazy. And the fact that the convention complex is all done up in white concrete just raised both factors. It must've been 40 degrees C alone there without taking into effect the humidity. When I got to Makuhari Hongo Station on the Sobu Line, there was a pretty long line waiting for the bus. It turned out though that the vast majority of people there were waiting to catch the bus to Marine Stadium for the baseball game (the Chiba Lotte Marines scored 10 runs that day...and still lost since the other team managed to score 17), so it was a pretty empty bus just to Makuhari Station at the other end of the route.
Yup, it was as hot as Mos Eisley as I got off the bus. I didn't know exactly where the convention was taking place but I decided to have some lunch at the nearby Tony Roma's. Makuhari Messe is definitely a place for Western conventioneers. There were plenty of examples of good ol' American cooking. Tony Romas was there and across the street, there was an Outback Steakhouse and even the McDonalds had quite the few portly Americans. It'd been several months, if not a couple of years, since my last visit to the best known ribhouse in Tokyo. And Tony didn't disappoint. Had myself a Rib Lunch with what turned out to be a half-rack of Baby Backs with cole slaw and fries. Not too bad at all.
I approached the main convention centre and I knew I was coming to the right place when I saw folks going the other way carrying various Star Wars paraphernalia. It was interesting that the people carrying the stuff were the parents and not the children. As I entered the airport terminal-like building, I had still been wavering whether I should part with my 4,000 yen. Well, the conveniently positioned ATM and then the "Star Wars" fanfare playing on the stereo speakers finally crushed my hesitation. For my 4 bills, all I got was an ID collar. Then again, for that special audience with folks like Anthony Daniels and Mark Hamill, I would've needed to at least cough up another few more bills. Sorry, my economic status just wouldn't let me be that footloose and fancy-free.
The convention took up three full halls. As I went down the escalator, I descended into what would've truly been Mos Eisley if it had been transplanted into multiple airplane hangars. All it was missing was those bubbleheaded aliens playing "The Cantina" song from the original movie. There were plenty of the exhibitors and the exhibitionists....the former showing off their wares in the form of drawings and posters while the latter was represented by all sorts of Jedi, Imperial stormtroopers and one Princess Leia-as-the-slave-girl (rather too bad, I only saw one of those). There was even one Japanese fellow who had a very neatly trimmed beard and moustache to go with his Jedi robes...methinks, he's a big young Obi-Wan fan. And even the Gomp droid...that little walking box in that Jawa transport was ambling along, much to the little kiddies' delight. In addition, there were mockups of the Snow Speeder from "The Empire Strikes Back", the Speeder Bike from "Return of the Jedi" and that reptilian animal that the stormtroopers were riding in "A New Hope" set up for the kiddies and photo ops. Of course, the Lego guys were there with their more geometric versions of The Death Star, some other stands selling figures and even Tokyo Disneyland was still hawking Star Tours...the ride that I'd gone on almost 2 decades ago.
Of course, a Star Wars convention wouldn't be a Star Wars convention without the big guest appearances. I went to the autograph area and sure enough, I saw David (Darth Vader) Prowse and Ray (Darth Maul) Park taking pictures with the fans. I even brushed by Prowse as he was limping along on his walking stick so that I finally did get my brush with greatness (although it was with The Dark Side). Still, I kinda felt sorry for some of the other minor guests such as the woman who supposedly played one of the minor Jedi Knights and even Peter (Chewbacca) Mayhew; they were just fiddling their thumbs by their lonesome while Park was getting Krispy Kreme-like lineups. However, a major scrum developed in the centre of the hall, like one of those sudden thunderstorms that had been hitting us the week before when Anthony (C-3PO) Daniels just popped out of his autograph cubicle to meet-and-greet the masses. A sea of cellphone camera-toting fans was just clicking away like crazy. I could actually see the man through the outstretched arms by some miracle. As for the man-of-the-hour...Mark Hamill...a bunch of folks like me who didn't bother paying the huge tribute necessary to see him in the flesh just hovered outside the curtained-off sector as he was being introduced. I could barely recognize his voice through all the microphone reverb.
Not being a huge Star Wars fan anymore, I was a bit struck at how empty the convention was. I think the organizers could've easily fit everything into 2 halls instead of 3. Mind you, it was the first day...maybe yesterday and today have been a bit more crazier. I only went home with that ID tag as the souvenir. There really wasn't anything I wanted to buy from the merchandise. I could only imagine how The Stick would've reacted to all this stuff, though. However, she has probably grown out of her obsession as well.
Sunday was the day that I finally gave in and turned on the AC for the first time...but unlike previous years, I set the temp to 27 C and had it on for just 5 hours. Still, that 27 C felt like a freezer when compared to the 32 C temps that I'd almost gotten used to. GC called me up in what seems to be a return to those old night conversations that we'd done from time to time before an absence of several years. He told me about the "Watchmen" trailer which I caught on YouTube some minutes ago. Looks interesting. I hope it gets the buzz and acclaim next year that "The Dark Knight" has been catching like flypaper.
The Weather Office officially announced the end of the Rainy Season on Friday. Yep, the dog days of summer are here. I even heard a cicada buzzing away. But what is far more ominous is that food prices are going up yet again from August 1.
Well, I'm pretty much done here. May head over to Shiodome and grab myself a Hansens hot dog...that is, if the place still exists. I think the lowly frankfurter has lost the battle against the hamburger in this burg.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Friday July 18, 7:02 p.m.
The Big Lug was sweating a bucket in his blazer...incredible how anyone can wear anything more than a shirt in this mugginess. Unfortunately for him, not only today but the rest of the long weekend will be anything but since he's in the insurance biz. Still, he manages to get to some pretty swanky destinations on his days off. Monaco, anyone? I found out he's quite the beer connoisseur. He ravenously wrote down the other American beer brands I once knew like Schlitz and Pabst when we got onto the topic. Also, we got on to talk about ol' Slowhand himself...Eric Clapton, and the fact that he may have a condo in Aoyama. He wouldn't be the first music star to take up residence in The Big Sushi, though. I think Ray Parker Jr....he of "Ghostbusters" fame...is also a regular here and has been for some time. Strangely enough, we actually did do some of the textbook but we sidetracked once more to talk about "Batman"; we both watched the campy TV series as kids...another old program that made it to these shores like "Bewitched" and "Combat".
Not much happened after that. Speedy interviewed another woman to take over on the night shift. I guess the bossman must've been very impressed (she was wearing the usual dark blazer and skirt that a lot of newly-minted grads wear in March) since once the talk was over an hour later, he introduced her to BC and me as the new Tuesday night admin....which basically means that unless there's a blue moon, she and I will probably never meet since I've got classes here at the juku.
The skies did open up during The Big Lug's lesson but by the time I left the school a couple of hours later, it was wet but not raining. We'll all be doing our own thing over the weekend. Speedy and his wife will be enjoying their 6th anniversary at an onsen while BC may be doing another trek with her walking buddies, and I may just hang out at Makuhari Messe to see what erupts at The Jedi Temple.
I've been enjoying a new book from the Speedy bookshelves. This one's called "Busting Vegas" and the plot sounds notoriously like the one for that Kevin Spacey movie "21". It's likely the movie was based on the novel. It's been a good pageturner; I've always liked flicks which show the internal workings of a world....whether that be the world of the military, the world of espionage or in this case, the world of breaking Vegas.
I had dinner at that family restaurant near Urayasu Station. The last time I passed by the place, it was undergoing renovation. Well, some weeks later, I stopped by again since I felt I was too early to arrive at the juku. The new place reminded me of that after picture of Veronica's Restaurant in one of my World Link textbooks. It was spanking new with some hi-tech drink dispensers. I was glad to see, though, that the menu still had the same stomach-filling hamburg steak plates.
One of the reasons that I like my job as English teacher for the masses is that I can get some great stories from my students. The Temp gave me one story of an inadvertent adventure about her time with some buddies in Los Angeles several years ago. Apparently, their rental car got stolen from a shopping mall parking lot in the evening but a Good Samaritan in the form of the manager of the store they were in assisted in trying to get the car back (of course, they didn't get the whole thing back). The manager surmised (correctly and unfortunately) that the car had probably been dumped in South Central LA...far from a pleasant little neighbourhood at night...and proceeded to drive my student and her buddies on the search. On the drive into, through, and out of the area, the manager's car got thumped by some homeys while the manager reassured everyone that everything would be OK. The Temp must've thought that she was on safari in the wildest jungles of Africa. She said that she felt as if she had been in an MTV hip-hop video. She said it was the longest 10 minutes of her life. She never explained how they got the car out of there, but I think by the time they got out of the area, she was just happy that she and her friends got out with their lives. Just one of those stories that will never get printed in a Fodor's.
The Big Lug was sweating a bucket in his blazer...incredible how anyone can wear anything more than a shirt in this mugginess. Unfortunately for him, not only today but the rest of the long weekend will be anything but since he's in the insurance biz. Still, he manages to get to some pretty swanky destinations on his days off. Monaco, anyone? I found out he's quite the beer connoisseur. He ravenously wrote down the other American beer brands I once knew like Schlitz and Pabst when we got onto the topic. Also, we got on to talk about ol' Slowhand himself...Eric Clapton, and the fact that he may have a condo in Aoyama. He wouldn't be the first music star to take up residence in The Big Sushi, though. I think Ray Parker Jr....he of "Ghostbusters" fame...is also a regular here and has been for some time. Strangely enough, we actually did do some of the textbook but we sidetracked once more to talk about "Batman"; we both watched the campy TV series as kids...another old program that made it to these shores like "Bewitched" and "Combat".
Not much happened after that. Speedy interviewed another woman to take over on the night shift. I guess the bossman must've been very impressed (she was wearing the usual dark blazer and skirt that a lot of newly-minted grads wear in March) since once the talk was over an hour later, he introduced her to BC and me as the new Tuesday night admin....which basically means that unless there's a blue moon, she and I will probably never meet since I've got classes here at the juku.
The skies did open up during The Big Lug's lesson but by the time I left the school a couple of hours later, it was wet but not raining. We'll all be doing our own thing over the weekend. Speedy and his wife will be enjoying their 6th anniversary at an onsen while BC may be doing another trek with her walking buddies, and I may just hang out at Makuhari Messe to see what erupts at The Jedi Temple.
I've been enjoying a new book from the Speedy bookshelves. This one's called "Busting Vegas" and the plot sounds notoriously like the one for that Kevin Spacey movie "21". It's likely the movie was based on the novel. It's been a good pageturner; I've always liked flicks which show the internal workings of a world....whether that be the world of the military, the world of espionage or in this case, the world of breaking Vegas.
I had dinner at that family restaurant near Urayasu Station. The last time I passed by the place, it was undergoing renovation. Well, some weeks later, I stopped by again since I felt I was too early to arrive at the juku. The new place reminded me of that after picture of Veronica's Restaurant in one of my World Link textbooks. It was spanking new with some hi-tech drink dispensers. I was glad to see, though, that the menu still had the same stomach-filling hamburg steak plates.
One of the reasons that I like my job as English teacher for the masses is that I can get some great stories from my students. The Temp gave me one story of an inadvertent adventure about her time with some buddies in Los Angeles several years ago. Apparently, their rental car got stolen from a shopping mall parking lot in the evening but a Good Samaritan in the form of the manager of the store they were in assisted in trying to get the car back (of course, they didn't get the whole thing back). The manager surmised (correctly and unfortunately) that the car had probably been dumped in South Central LA...far from a pleasant little neighbourhood at night...and proceeded to drive my student and her buddies on the search. On the drive into, through, and out of the area, the manager's car got thumped by some homeys while the manager reassured everyone that everything would be OK. The Temp must've thought that she was on safari in the wildest jungles of Africa. She said that she felt as if she had been in an MTV hip-hop video. She said it was the longest 10 minutes of her life. She never explained how they got the car out of there, but I think by the time they got out of the area, she was just happy that she and her friends got out with their lives. Just one of those stories that will never get printed in a Fodor's.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Friday July 18, 12:40 p.m.
Eerily quiet here at Speedy's...not sure if the bossman did something to get BC moody again, but I think she's able to do that all by herself.
Yesterday as expected, I was run a bit ragged by the schedule. There was a bit of a time scrunch as I had to immediately make the transition from Miss Sedona to The Carolinan and then to The Temp over at the cafe. And then the cafe was a lot noisier than usual which made communication a bit on the difficult side. The Carolinan and BC went off to meet their mutual friend for dinner at Mo-Yan, that curry place I've been going to. Kinda surprised that BC would go again since even an 80% of normal size dish would probably have her writhing in pain.
I just have The Big Lug in about an hour and then I'm done here at Speedy's. I do have the Ace and Jolly at the juku tonight, though. After that, I've got nada for the next three days since we're entering the long Marine Day weekend. I'm kinda debating about going to that Star Wars Convention at Makuhari Messe. Automan told me that I shouldn't miss the opportunity but frankly I'm also a bit wary about ordering tickets online; I'm showing more of my analog self when I say that I would prefer just to buy the ticket at the site itself. And frankly, being a long weekend, I'm not sure how many otaku will show up for the three days. Could get kinda scary on the buses and trains heading into the complex...imagine sitting next to Darth Maul. I was surprised to find out that "Star Wars" hadn't come out to the Japanese theatres for over a year (July 24th, 1978) after its debut in the States....which is why the celebration is taking place 31 years later. Still, I'll probably head out Makuhari if only to get out of my sauna of an apartment. Happy to say, though, that my TEPCO bill isn't significantly higher than last month's which means that my air conditioner austerity is working.
It's looking pretty ominously dark out there to the north. The weather forecast did say rain was coming. I'm just worried we may get a repeat of that short but nasty downpour from Saturday.
Eerily quiet here at Speedy's...not sure if the bossman did something to get BC moody again, but I think she's able to do that all by herself.
Yesterday as expected, I was run a bit ragged by the schedule. There was a bit of a time scrunch as I had to immediately make the transition from Miss Sedona to The Carolinan and then to The Temp over at the cafe. And then the cafe was a lot noisier than usual which made communication a bit on the difficult side. The Carolinan and BC went off to meet their mutual friend for dinner at Mo-Yan, that curry place I've been going to. Kinda surprised that BC would go again since even an 80% of normal size dish would probably have her writhing in pain.
I just have The Big Lug in about an hour and then I'm done here at Speedy's. I do have the Ace and Jolly at the juku tonight, though. After that, I've got nada for the next three days since we're entering the long Marine Day weekend. I'm kinda debating about going to that Star Wars Convention at Makuhari Messe. Automan told me that I shouldn't miss the opportunity but frankly I'm also a bit wary about ordering tickets online; I'm showing more of my analog self when I say that I would prefer just to buy the ticket at the site itself. And frankly, being a long weekend, I'm not sure how many otaku will show up for the three days. Could get kinda scary on the buses and trains heading into the complex...imagine sitting next to Darth Maul. I was surprised to find out that "Star Wars" hadn't come out to the Japanese theatres for over a year (July 24th, 1978) after its debut in the States....which is why the celebration is taking place 31 years later. Still, I'll probably head out Makuhari if only to get out of my sauna of an apartment. Happy to say, though, that my TEPCO bill isn't significantly higher than last month's which means that my air conditioner austerity is working.
It's looking pretty ominously dark out there to the north. The weather forecast did say rain was coming. I'm just worried we may get a repeat of that short but nasty downpour from Saturday.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Thursday July 17, 8:50 a.m.
Another morning, another chat with The Patent Attorney, another long day ahead of me. Luckily, I was able to get most of the photocopying done last night. Still from 3 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., it'll be virtually non-stop teaching with just 15-minute breaks in between lessons. Whoa! Memories of NOVA...
Another morning, another chat with The Patent Attorney, another long day ahead of me. Luckily, I was able to get most of the photocopying done last night. Still from 3 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., it'll be virtually non-stop teaching with just 15-minute breaks in between lessons. Whoa! Memories of NOVA...
Wednesday July 16, 10:16 p.m.
Feel pretty baked after a long day. 001 was her usual life-of-the-party self. Next Wednesday will be her day off so she couldn't be bothered to show up here all the way from her neck of the woods in Kanagawa Prefecture. The Diver was fine but was showing a few bits of her old skittish self.
I just got a bunch of copying done for tomorrow's lessons. Things could get kinda hairy since I've got 6 of them: Grandma Dynamite, The Yogist, Miss Sedona in between both Sisters of State and then The Temp to wrap up. Thursday will be the Hump Day of the week for sure.
Looks like Mild Jr has only been at his new post for a week and already he's been meeting some of the weirdos. Apparently, some guy has been coming into The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel holding a silver spoon and asking where Mickey Mouse is. He's become such a regular that Mild Jr. and the others have gotten to calling the local wacko Spoonman. Then, there was the time a few nights ago when my student was doing the night patrol and found a woman sleeping in one of the banquet halls. She nonchalantly asked what time the buffet would be starting up. Mild answered her and then politely asked her to come back when the buffet begins. She complied peacefully and ended up sleeping outside on one of the benches. Life is indeed a parade.
Well, BC was pretty normal today thankfully. If she can hold onto this persona, then the rest of the month will go smoothly. TM had her latest stint here with no problems. Speedy has hired another night person for Tuesdays, and a new Saturday person will be starting up from next week. That full-time person to finally fill The Admin's shoes is still out there, though.
One of those jaded Western critics in one of the free English-language magazines (nope, it's not METROPOLIS) gave a decidedly not-negative review of the first album by Perfume, that trio of vocoder-assisted girls. He even gave some compliments on the album version of the group's very first hit, "Polyrhythm". Well, I guess "Game" may be worth a look-see. It'll certainly be my second vocoder-influenced album this year after getting Genki Rockets.
Got word from The Stick that she won't be able to go to that Star Wars Convention this weekend. Not that I'd been asking her to go out with me, although that was what she had thought.
Feel pretty baked after a long day. 001 was her usual life-of-the-party self. Next Wednesday will be her day off so she couldn't be bothered to show up here all the way from her neck of the woods in Kanagawa Prefecture. The Diver was fine but was showing a few bits of her old skittish self.
I just got a bunch of copying done for tomorrow's lessons. Things could get kinda hairy since I've got 6 of them: Grandma Dynamite, The Yogist, Miss Sedona in between both Sisters of State and then The Temp to wrap up. Thursday will be the Hump Day of the week for sure.
Looks like Mild Jr has only been at his new post for a week and already he's been meeting some of the weirdos. Apparently, some guy has been coming into The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel holding a silver spoon and asking where Mickey Mouse is. He's become such a regular that Mild Jr. and the others have gotten to calling the local wacko Spoonman. Then, there was the time a few nights ago when my student was doing the night patrol and found a woman sleeping in one of the banquet halls. She nonchalantly asked what time the buffet would be starting up. Mild answered her and then politely asked her to come back when the buffet begins. She complied peacefully and ended up sleeping outside on one of the benches. Life is indeed a parade.
Well, BC was pretty normal today thankfully. If she can hold onto this persona, then the rest of the month will go smoothly. TM had her latest stint here with no problems. Speedy has hired another night person for Tuesdays, and a new Saturday person will be starting up from next week. That full-time person to finally fill The Admin's shoes is still out there, though.
One of those jaded Western critics in one of the free English-language magazines (nope, it's not METROPOLIS) gave a decidedly not-negative review of the first album by Perfume, that trio of vocoder-assisted girls. He even gave some compliments on the album version of the group's very first hit, "Polyrhythm". Well, I guess "Game" may be worth a look-see. It'll certainly be my second vocoder-influenced album this year after getting Genki Rockets.
Got word from The Stick that she won't be able to go to that Star Wars Convention this weekend. Not that I'd been asking her to go out with me, although that was what she had thought.
Wednesday July 16, 5:34 p.m.
Now that I've passed the big 2,400, I like to send a belated birthday wish to singer Akina Nakamori who turned 43 on Sunday. The "Shojo A" girl hasn't really been seen all that much lately aside from releases of compilation albums of her hits from the 80s. After that suicide attempt of hers almost 20 years ago, she hasn't been the same since.
It's been a quiet interval since The Pessimist's lesson several hours ago. BC has been holding steady; she hasn't given any "Woe is me!" remarks, which is OK although I would've preferred saying that she was finally gonna do something about her depression. Speedy had that interview with that woman who'll become the new Tuesday night desk jockey. We still gotta find that full-timer during the day, though.
That revamped restaurant owned by that TV announcer has been collecting the flower displays and signboards with well-wishes from the celebs. Whenever a new business establishment is started up, whether it be a new company or a new pachinko parlour, people send over flowers and signboards with the donor's name or his company's name etched onto them. As I was passsing by the place, I recognized the names of tarento Hiroko Moriguchi and actress Keiko Takeshita. Actually, Speedy and his wife had gone into the place late last night for dinner. He said it was like an upper-class izakaya...not particularly cheap but good for a special occasion. He even saw that announcer come down from one of the upper floors and wish everyone a good appetite. As for me, I just went to the convenience store next door and picked up some fried rice and cheese-filled chicken nuggets with a mango juice. Yup, you guessed it...I did hit the washroom some minutes later...the stuff works better than Ex-Lax.
Now that I've passed the big 2,400, I like to send a belated birthday wish to singer Akina Nakamori who turned 43 on Sunday. The "Shojo A" girl hasn't really been seen all that much lately aside from releases of compilation albums of her hits from the 80s. After that suicide attempt of hers almost 20 years ago, she hasn't been the same since.
It's been a quiet interval since The Pessimist's lesson several hours ago. BC has been holding steady; she hasn't given any "Woe is me!" remarks, which is OK although I would've preferred saying that she was finally gonna do something about her depression. Speedy had that interview with that woman who'll become the new Tuesday night desk jockey. We still gotta find that full-timer during the day, though.
That revamped restaurant owned by that TV announcer has been collecting the flower displays and signboards with well-wishes from the celebs. Whenever a new business establishment is started up, whether it be a new company or a new pachinko parlour, people send over flowers and signboards with the donor's name or his company's name etched onto them. As I was passsing by the place, I recognized the names of tarento Hiroko Moriguchi and actress Keiko Takeshita. Actually, Speedy and his wife had gone into the place late last night for dinner. He said it was like an upper-class izakaya...not particularly cheap but good for a special occasion. He even saw that announcer come down from one of the upper floors and wish everyone a good appetite. As for me, I just went to the convenience store next door and picked up some fried rice and cheese-filled chicken nuggets with a mango juice. Yup, you guessed it...I did hit the washroom some minutes later...the stuff works better than Ex-Lax.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Wednesday July 16, 12:51 p.m.
Well, so far so good. BC hasn't broken down into a puddle of lacrymal fluid. As long as she stays that way, we'll all be very happy.
The Pessimist came in and had his best class so far. He still wasn't the fastest kid on the block, but I tried to keep the questions straight and simple. He's cancelled his Friday class...we're entering a long weekend so he probably wanted to extend things even more for his family, so I don't have to come in til early afternoon when I teach The Big Lug. I wouldn't be surprised if The Lug even decided to can his lesson.
I'm wondering about attending that Star Wars Convention which will be taking place over the Marine Day long weekend. It's taking place relatively close to my neighbourhood in Makuhari Messe (what a perfectly Star Wars-y name for a convention complex), but I'm not exactly sure what I'll find. I did find out that Mark Hamill is due to show up for the first couple of days for autographs. But he'll be charging about 20,000 yen per signing. A little too rich for my blood. I guess for me it'll just be another round of looking around at all the costumed folks walking with their lightsabers. I've yet to hear from The Stick about her opinion. Kinda wonder if the local restaurants in the area such as The Outback will be serving special dishes with cheesy names such as Dagobah Donuts, Cheese Han-burgers or Force Fries. If any noodle shop comes out with Jar Jar (Binks) Mein, I'll seriously consider renting the Death Star.
Anyways, time for lunch...
Well, so far so good. BC hasn't broken down into a puddle of lacrymal fluid. As long as she stays that way, we'll all be very happy.
The Pessimist came in and had his best class so far. He still wasn't the fastest kid on the block, but I tried to keep the questions straight and simple. He's cancelled his Friday class...we're entering a long weekend so he probably wanted to extend things even more for his family, so I don't have to come in til early afternoon when I teach The Big Lug. I wouldn't be surprised if The Lug even decided to can his lesson.
I'm wondering about attending that Star Wars Convention which will be taking place over the Marine Day long weekend. It's taking place relatively close to my neighbourhood in Makuhari Messe (what a perfectly Star Wars-y name for a convention complex), but I'm not exactly sure what I'll find. I did find out that Mark Hamill is due to show up for the first couple of days for autographs. But he'll be charging about 20,000 yen per signing. A little too rich for my blood. I guess for me it'll just be another round of looking around at all the costumed folks walking with their lightsabers. I've yet to hear from The Stick about her opinion. Kinda wonder if the local restaurants in the area such as The Outback will be serving special dishes with cheesy names such as Dagobah Donuts, Cheese Han-burgers or Force Fries. If any noodle shop comes out with Jar Jar (Binks) Mein, I'll seriously consider renting the Death Star.
Anyways, time for lunch...
Wednesday July 16, 10:25 a.m.
This could be a long day...at least, in terms of administration here at Speedy's. I came into work about 20 minutes ago. The bossman was just about to enter his class with Grandma Tango when he let me know that BC was in major sob mode all day yesterday. The two of us were wondering about fast-tracking that hiring process for the new day-to-day person.
Still, it'll be a relatively easy day in terms of lessons. Just 3 of them today with The Pessimist followed by 6 hours of downtime before 001 and The Diver arrive here. Mind you, that first student almost tapped me out of energy with his molasses-like responses.
Jolly did arrive last night, and although he was the last guy of the night, he was in pretty high spirits. We actually did gab about what our futures could be like in about a couple of decades. He's fallen in love with Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu recently, so he said he'd like to open up his own little pharmacy there someday. I'm sure The Ace would probably like to start his own coffee shop as well. I did use some of his gift of strong coffee grounds (he ground them himself) from his Starbucks seminar the other day to produce some iced coffee over the weekend. Well, I guess I'll be well covered in 2028 to get some medicine and coffee.
Man, that Heath Ledger...what he has apparently achieved in death....the critics are swooning about his take on The Joker for "The Dark Knight" which will be hitting Japan in a couple of weeks.
This could be a long day...at least, in terms of administration here at Speedy's. I came into work about 20 minutes ago. The bossman was just about to enter his class with Grandma Tango when he let me know that BC was in major sob mode all day yesterday. The two of us were wondering about fast-tracking that hiring process for the new day-to-day person.
Still, it'll be a relatively easy day in terms of lessons. Just 3 of them today with The Pessimist followed by 6 hours of downtime before 001 and The Diver arrive here. Mind you, that first student almost tapped me out of energy with his molasses-like responses.
Jolly did arrive last night, and although he was the last guy of the night, he was in pretty high spirits. We actually did gab about what our futures could be like in about a couple of decades. He's fallen in love with Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu recently, so he said he'd like to open up his own little pharmacy there someday. I'm sure The Ace would probably like to start his own coffee shop as well. I did use some of his gift of strong coffee grounds (he ground them himself) from his Starbucks seminar the other day to produce some iced coffee over the weekend. Well, I guess I'll be well covered in 2028 to get some medicine and coffee.
Man, that Heath Ledger...what he has apparently achieved in death....the critics are swooning about his take on The Joker for "The Dark Knight" which will be hitting Japan in a couple of weeks.
Tuesday July 15, 9:15 p.m.
Well, barring an unannounced dotakyan (which he has done a few times in the past), Jolly ought to be showing up tonight after 2 weeks away. Suzanne still had some drama to divulge considering her boyfriend situation. At this point, she's apparently given him the heave-ho although it seems to be more of a request for some distance than an outright break-up. She still wants to do a bit more traveling before settling down. I also found out that she's part of the yoga group.
Mild Jr. has been experiencing the growing pains of The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel which is par for the course, especially for a place that seems to rival Rhode Island in sheer size. Junior told me that the hotel can hold close to 3,000 guests in its 700 rooms, and that she's all booked up until well into January. Well, I guess asking for a reservation would seem to be out.
The Milds are just getting prepped for their own little excursion to Germany from this weekend. Ironically, Slim has taken off for Deutschland on business today. I don't think they'll be meeting by coincidence. The Milds will be visiting the former East Germany while Slim is firmly entrenched in Munich.
As for BC, I haven't heard anything from Speedy in the form of an SOS or anything, so at least things seem to be stable for right now. Not quite sure how tomorrow morning will be in terms of things between me and her, since the last time I spoke to her on Saturday was when I lightly chastised her for feeling so sorry for herself. Not sure if she'll be continuing her sullen posturing and cold shoulder treatment. Well, there's nothing more that I can do...she has to come out of it by herself. Otherwise, it'll be a long 3 weeks before she finally leaves the coop.
Well, barring an unannounced dotakyan (which he has done a few times in the past), Jolly ought to be showing up tonight after 2 weeks away. Suzanne still had some drama to divulge considering her boyfriend situation. At this point, she's apparently given him the heave-ho although it seems to be more of a request for some distance than an outright break-up. She still wants to do a bit more traveling before settling down. I also found out that she's part of the yoga group.
Mild Jr. has been experiencing the growing pains of The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel which is par for the course, especially for a place that seems to rival Rhode Island in sheer size. Junior told me that the hotel can hold close to 3,000 guests in its 700 rooms, and that she's all booked up until well into January. Well, I guess asking for a reservation would seem to be out.
The Milds are just getting prepped for their own little excursion to Germany from this weekend. Ironically, Slim has taken off for Deutschland on business today. I don't think they'll be meeting by coincidence. The Milds will be visiting the former East Germany while Slim is firmly entrenched in Munich.
As for BC, I haven't heard anything from Speedy in the form of an SOS or anything, so at least things seem to be stable for right now. Not quite sure how tomorrow morning will be in terms of things between me and her, since the last time I spoke to her on Saturday was when I lightly chastised her for feeling so sorry for herself. Not sure if she'll be continuing her sullen posturing and cold shoulder treatment. Well, there's nothing more that I can do...she has to come out of it by herself. Otherwise, it'll be a long 3 weeks before she finally leaves the coop.
Tuesday July 15, 4:15 p.m.
The dog days of summer are definitely here to stay in The Big Sushi. Another scorcher. Had the morning off so I could get some ironing done and even catch "Anderson Cooper 360" on CNN. Anderson was basically acting as referee between conservative Bill Bennett and that Ragin' Cajun guy who looks like an alien/human hybrid. Just saw 002 for the regular house call, and enjoyed some tea and watermelon slices.
Got the usual juku folks. Along with Suzanne and The Milds, Mild Jr. should be here tonight. He was away last week since he was pulling security during the grand opening of The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel in Urayasu. If the poster is any indication, the hotel should merit its own postal code....it looks like it could be bigger than Monaco. And I think Jolly should be here tonight although one well-placed phone call after 8 p.m. could determine things once again.
Got a call from Speedy this morning. I thought it could've been that dreaded call that BC has finally flipped and the ambulance took her away. However, he just told me that Medicine Man had to cancel his lesson for tomorrow night. So I may be able to hit home a bit earlier. Definitely not a Hump Day tomorrow. I've got The Pessimist at 11 followed by 6 hours of Internet time before 001 is in the house and then The Diver.
There have been a number of strikes across the planet by various segments of labourers complaining about rising fuel prices. Well, it was Japan's turn today when a whole bunch of fishermen held their own strike decrying the high price of gas for their boats. Not sure what this will accomplish since PM Fukuda can do little than shrug. Speaking of whom, the media apparently gives him another couple of months before he leaves his post.
This weekend could be a huge one for Star Wars fans. Apparently, Makuhari Messe in Chiba City will be hosting a Star Wars convention for the long weekend. I think the complex will be a perfect fit since it does seem to have some Coruscanti influences in layout. The Stick, my old student, is the biggest native Star Wars fan (she even like Jar Jar Binks, go fig); I kinda wonder if she'll shuck out some yen (actually for a 1-day pass, it is quite cheap to take part in some of the general activities...about 3,000 yen and change) to head over there in her Jedi robes and lightsaber. I can just see a whole bunch of Padawans, Knights, Masters and Darths strutting about in Tatooine-level heat...I can also see a whole bunch of emergency workers attending to this bunch as they collapse from heatstroke. They will also swoon when they see people like Mark Hamill and Peter Mayhew show up. Carrie Fisher was supposed to come as well but cancelled at the last minute...maybe the sight of otaku begging her to come out in her slave girl outfit from "Return of the Jedi" was too much for her to bear. But then again, seeing her now in her slave girl outfit may be too much for me to bear. Still, I think this love-in for the Lucas crew could outstrip the hoopla surrounding the premiere of "The Phantom Menace" almost 9 years ago. I have absolutely no plans this weekend, so you never know, I may just take a look-see.
I was surprised to find out from Speedy last night about this restaurant across from the school. It had undergone a renovation of sorts recently, and the grand re-opening was last night. The bossman told me that it was owned by one of the big announcers on local TV...not quite on the Tamori or Mino Monta level, but still a very well-known face. He was wondering if the place were open to anyone or if it were in kashikiri (private party) lockdown with celeb buddies. In any case, I just passed by the place and opted to go for a late Big Mac set.
The dog days of summer are definitely here to stay in The Big Sushi. Another scorcher. Had the morning off so I could get some ironing done and even catch "Anderson Cooper 360" on CNN. Anderson was basically acting as referee between conservative Bill Bennett and that Ragin' Cajun guy who looks like an alien/human hybrid. Just saw 002 for the regular house call, and enjoyed some tea and watermelon slices.
Got the usual juku folks. Along with Suzanne and The Milds, Mild Jr. should be here tonight. He was away last week since he was pulling security during the grand opening of The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel in Urayasu. If the poster is any indication, the hotel should merit its own postal code....it looks like it could be bigger than Monaco. And I think Jolly should be here tonight although one well-placed phone call after 8 p.m. could determine things once again.
Got a call from Speedy this morning. I thought it could've been that dreaded call that BC has finally flipped and the ambulance took her away. However, he just told me that Medicine Man had to cancel his lesson for tomorrow night. So I may be able to hit home a bit earlier. Definitely not a Hump Day tomorrow. I've got The Pessimist at 11 followed by 6 hours of Internet time before 001 is in the house and then The Diver.
There have been a number of strikes across the planet by various segments of labourers complaining about rising fuel prices. Well, it was Japan's turn today when a whole bunch of fishermen held their own strike decrying the high price of gas for their boats. Not sure what this will accomplish since PM Fukuda can do little than shrug. Speaking of whom, the media apparently gives him another couple of months before he leaves his post.
This weekend could be a huge one for Star Wars fans. Apparently, Makuhari Messe in Chiba City will be hosting a Star Wars convention for the long weekend. I think the complex will be a perfect fit since it does seem to have some Coruscanti influences in layout. The Stick, my old student, is the biggest native Star Wars fan (she even like Jar Jar Binks, go fig); I kinda wonder if she'll shuck out some yen (actually for a 1-day pass, it is quite cheap to take part in some of the general activities...about 3,000 yen and change) to head over there in her Jedi robes and lightsaber. I can just see a whole bunch of Padawans, Knights, Masters and Darths strutting about in Tatooine-level heat...I can also see a whole bunch of emergency workers attending to this bunch as they collapse from heatstroke. They will also swoon when they see people like Mark Hamill and Peter Mayhew show up. Carrie Fisher was supposed to come as well but cancelled at the last minute...maybe the sight of otaku begging her to come out in her slave girl outfit from "Return of the Jedi" was too much for her to bear. But then again, seeing her now in her slave girl outfit may be too much for me to bear. Still, I think this love-in for the Lucas crew could outstrip the hoopla surrounding the premiere of "The Phantom Menace" almost 9 years ago. I have absolutely no plans this weekend, so you never know, I may just take a look-see.
I was surprised to find out from Speedy last night about this restaurant across from the school. It had undergone a renovation of sorts recently, and the grand re-opening was last night. The bossman told me that it was owned by one of the big announcers on local TV...not quite on the Tamori or Mino Monta level, but still a very well-known face. He was wondering if the place were open to anyone or if it were in kashikiri (private party) lockdown with celeb buddies. In any case, I just passed by the place and opted to go for a late Big Mac set.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Monday July 14, 8:07 p.m.
And no, Slim, ain't here yet. Looks like he screwed up the time again. He's a really nice guy but I could've appreciated getting out of here a bit earlier than usual. I know that he'll be greatly apologetic, though.
As for the continuance of yesterday's odyssey in the shimmering heat, after Ginza I took the subway down to Omotesando via the Ginza Line. Getting off there, I checked out Echika, the underground food court that's connected to the station. I was a bit surprised to see that there were still quite a few tables empty although I could hardly call the area devoid of life. Getting topside, I walked down the famous avenue to the main intersection which divides swanky Omotesando from funky Harajuku. There have been a few changes around that area. For one thing, there is no more HMV next to LaForet. Looks like it's been replaced by some sort of non-descript CD/magazine shop which still had some sort of event; there was quite a lineup going up the stairs for at least a few floors. There were the usual Harajuku fashionistas in their various rags waiting. Of course, the old regional HQ for NOVA is long gone, and the hot dog place has been replaced by a B1 taco stand. I did the crazy thing and walked the gauntlet through Takeshita Dori, the busiest street in Harajuku. I think it's alternately called Killer Dori, and in consideration of yesterday's heat, it was aptly named. The temperature was probably a good 3-5 degrees hotter than the rest of the area due to the crowds milling about in there. There were the usual Harajuku Girl shops and crepe stores. But I did see an incongruous site at the other end. For some reason, Wolfgang Puck has built one of his Express cafes there. I also noticed that the Peanuts shop has been replaced by some other shop.
Took the Fukutoshin Line for the 2nd time up to Nishi-Waseda, but it was not to explore the area once more but just as a connection to get to Takadanobaba Station on The Tozai Line. Again, it wasn't too arduous a walk but I did appreciate getting into cooler surroundings on the subway, although it was a short hop to Nakano Station. It was time for a Sunday visit to Sun Plaza Nakano. In the past few years, I've only visited the HQ of Mandarake during the relatively empty weekdays, so it was nice to visit with all of the otaku there. There were quite a few Goth-Lolis walking about, and there was even some sort of Maid Cafe action on the 3rd floor. Judging from the conversation, it sounded like one of those cafes in which the Maids first verbally abused their customers before putting on the nice act. In any case, no thank you. A lot of the CD shops were selling old stuff for 100 yen/disc. Too bad, there wasn't anything worth even getting the coins out. I was a bit tempted by an Orquesta De La Luz album but decided to hold off.
Well, I held off for as long as I could but I had to head off for home. My place was registering a good 32 degrees when I got home. Still, I didn't turn on the AC...that could all change.
And no, Slim, ain't here yet. Looks like he screwed up the time again. He's a really nice guy but I could've appreciated getting out of here a bit earlier than usual. I know that he'll be greatly apologetic, though.
As for the continuance of yesterday's odyssey in the shimmering heat, after Ginza I took the subway down to Omotesando via the Ginza Line. Getting off there, I checked out Echika, the underground food court that's connected to the station. I was a bit surprised to see that there were still quite a few tables empty although I could hardly call the area devoid of life. Getting topside, I walked down the famous avenue to the main intersection which divides swanky Omotesando from funky Harajuku. There have been a few changes around that area. For one thing, there is no more HMV next to LaForet. Looks like it's been replaced by some sort of non-descript CD/magazine shop which still had some sort of event; there was quite a lineup going up the stairs for at least a few floors. There were the usual Harajuku fashionistas in their various rags waiting. Of course, the old regional HQ for NOVA is long gone, and the hot dog place has been replaced by a B1 taco stand. I did the crazy thing and walked the gauntlet through Takeshita Dori, the busiest street in Harajuku. I think it's alternately called Killer Dori, and in consideration of yesterday's heat, it was aptly named. The temperature was probably a good 3-5 degrees hotter than the rest of the area due to the crowds milling about in there. There were the usual Harajuku Girl shops and crepe stores. But I did see an incongruous site at the other end. For some reason, Wolfgang Puck has built one of his Express cafes there. I also noticed that the Peanuts shop has been replaced by some other shop.
Took the Fukutoshin Line for the 2nd time up to Nishi-Waseda, but it was not to explore the area once more but just as a connection to get to Takadanobaba Station on The Tozai Line. Again, it wasn't too arduous a walk but I did appreciate getting into cooler surroundings on the subway, although it was a short hop to Nakano Station. It was time for a Sunday visit to Sun Plaza Nakano. In the past few years, I've only visited the HQ of Mandarake during the relatively empty weekdays, so it was nice to visit with all of the otaku there. There were quite a few Goth-Lolis walking about, and there was even some sort of Maid Cafe action on the 3rd floor. Judging from the conversation, it sounded like one of those cafes in which the Maids first verbally abused their customers before putting on the nice act. In any case, no thank you. A lot of the CD shops were selling old stuff for 100 yen/disc. Too bad, there wasn't anything worth even getting the coins out. I was a bit tempted by an Orquesta De La Luz album but decided to hold off.
Well, I held off for as long as I could but I had to head off for home. My place was registering a good 32 degrees when I got home. Still, I didn't turn on the AC...that could all change.
Monday July 14, 7:16 p.m.
Back at the school after teaching The Full-Timer. She's refreshed from her trip to Singapore; yup, she had been able to get the ticket. She had a good time there...she got treated to Shark's-Fin something or other, and took part in a night safari. I got a nice little bookmark from her as an omiyage.
As for Lulu's first official lesson, she was pretty good. Had some rust on her since she was struggling for words, but otherwise pretty solid on the basics.
Just now waiting for my final lesson of the day...Slim's final lesson before he takes off for Germany tomorrow...the raison d'etre for all of the lessons here for the past several weeks. It should be an interesting one. Hopefully, he doesn't get too hopped up on the beer and sausages.
As for the weekend...well, I was rather surprised to find out that while Speedy and I were unfortunate witnesses to BC's emotional storm, there had been a very localized but super intense natural storm of Biblical proportions in Ginza, Shibuya and Ebisu. The skies had darkened here in Shinjuku but no precip...however, those other areas got majorly poured upon, bringing down a crane at one construction site (just one injury, thankfully) and a tree in Ebisu.
I taught Tully & The Coffeemaker yesterday morning. Actually, the lesson went pretty well. Just stuck on one topic and managed to sidetrack nicely. Despite the fact that temps had gone up into the mid-30s (and of course, that would be Celsius degrees), I decided to make a bit of a recce into various parts of Tokyo instead of hitting home and sweltering there for countless hours. Yup, it was hot walking but at least I could get respites in the various department stores and other shops. I first hit Yurakucho; just ended up at The Colonel's for lunch and had their newest menu item in the form of Boneless Chicken. Not surprisingly, they look a lot like the shaka-shaka chicken of McDonalds.
Then, took a side trip into both HMVs in Yurakucho and then into Itocia. Quite a lot of lineups at the various restaurants, as would be expected on a Sunday afternoon. Krispy Kreme #2 also had one but only one requiring 25 minutes max. I walked down to that other major music store, Yamano Music. It was pushing their jazz discs once again. Unlike Akihabara, Ginza still maintained their hokoten despite the heat. A news crew was there interviewing various pedestrians about how they were coping with the sweating.
Anyways, more later...Slim should be here any second now.
Back at the school after teaching The Full-Timer. She's refreshed from her trip to Singapore; yup, she had been able to get the ticket. She had a good time there...she got treated to Shark's-Fin something or other, and took part in a night safari. I got a nice little bookmark from her as an omiyage.
As for Lulu's first official lesson, she was pretty good. Had some rust on her since she was struggling for words, but otherwise pretty solid on the basics.
Just now waiting for my final lesson of the day...Slim's final lesson before he takes off for Germany tomorrow...the raison d'etre for all of the lessons here for the past several weeks. It should be an interesting one. Hopefully, he doesn't get too hopped up on the beer and sausages.
As for the weekend...well, I was rather surprised to find out that while Speedy and I were unfortunate witnesses to BC's emotional storm, there had been a very localized but super intense natural storm of Biblical proportions in Ginza, Shibuya and Ebisu. The skies had darkened here in Shinjuku but no precip...however, those other areas got majorly poured upon, bringing down a crane at one construction site (just one injury, thankfully) and a tree in Ebisu.
I taught Tully & The Coffeemaker yesterday morning. Actually, the lesson went pretty well. Just stuck on one topic and managed to sidetrack nicely. Despite the fact that temps had gone up into the mid-30s (and of course, that would be Celsius degrees), I decided to make a bit of a recce into various parts of Tokyo instead of hitting home and sweltering there for countless hours. Yup, it was hot walking but at least I could get respites in the various department stores and other shops. I first hit Yurakucho; just ended up at The Colonel's for lunch and had their newest menu item in the form of Boneless Chicken. Not surprisingly, they look a lot like the shaka-shaka chicken of McDonalds.
Then, took a side trip into both HMVs in Yurakucho and then into Itocia. Quite a lot of lineups at the various restaurants, as would be expected on a Sunday afternoon. Krispy Kreme #2 also had one but only one requiring 25 minutes max. I walked down to that other major music store, Yamano Music. It was pushing their jazz discs once again. Unlike Akihabara, Ginza still maintained their hokoten despite the heat. A news crew was there interviewing various pedestrians about how they were coping with the sweating.
Anyways, more later...Slim should be here any second now.
Monday July 14, 4:26 p.m.
Another scorcher out there. I've been going through the canned drinks and the menthol wipes as if there were no tomorrow. Should be around 32 C although it's probably higher in the city. Saw The Class Act for the 2nd last time before the summer hiatus. The Lady was regaling us about her latest culinary find at a place called Quintessence in the tony area of Tokyo called Shiroganedai...any of the ladies there are shiroganeze, doncha know? Apparently, the chef there is a young genius at the way he can whip up French dishes out of local ingredients. No chance I'll ever get there but perhaps I can let some of The Beehive know. I also saw SIL for her 90 today. I really appreciated the frosty air conditioning there since I'm not using any of mine yet til it's absolutely necessary...the way it's going, I'll probably be accessing it first thing tonight.
The Nurse just called up. Speedy is out of the office and AK is out in Thailand, so I had to handle the phones. She's cancelled the class for this Thursday, so my Hump Day won't be quite as Humpy as expected. I'm currently waiting for one of my new students....Lulu. Yeah, I know, a rather weird name, but since I've already got someone named The Hawaiian (although she's no longer on the radar), I've just named her after the capital city of the state that she used to live in some years back.
Another scorcher out there. I've been going through the canned drinks and the menthol wipes as if there were no tomorrow. Should be around 32 C although it's probably higher in the city. Saw The Class Act for the 2nd last time before the summer hiatus. The Lady was regaling us about her latest culinary find at a place called Quintessence in the tony area of Tokyo called Shiroganedai...any of the ladies there are shiroganeze, doncha know? Apparently, the chef there is a young genius at the way he can whip up French dishes out of local ingredients. No chance I'll ever get there but perhaps I can let some of The Beehive know. I also saw SIL for her 90 today. I really appreciated the frosty air conditioning there since I'm not using any of mine yet til it's absolutely necessary...the way it's going, I'll probably be accessing it first thing tonight.
The Nurse just called up. Speedy is out of the office and AK is out in Thailand, so I had to handle the phones. She's cancelled the class for this Thursday, so my Hump Day won't be quite as Humpy as expected. I'm currently waiting for one of my new students....Lulu. Yeah, I know, a rather weird name, but since I've already got someone named The Hawaiian (although she's no longer on the radar), I've just named her after the capital city of the state that she used to live in some years back.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Saturday July 12, 5:44 p.m.
Just myself in the school while Speedy is interviewing a potential new student. BC was no longer sniffling and spoke in her usual quiet voice but her last few minutes here were a bit stormier. Maybe my ears were cleaner than usual, but I think she was clinking and slamming glasses a bit loudly. Well, if she's ticked off at me, I'll actually take that as a good sign...she may actually get fired up enough to get back into life. Well, hopefully, she'll get her act together before she leaves us in 3 weeks.
I'll be taking off in about 15 minutes or so. I'm not in that much of a hurry to return to a sauna of an apartment. Not sure what I'll do for dinner quite yet. I may end up going to McDs...not a healthy alternative, though.
Going back to Japanese pop culture, it's been my observation that the tarento management agencies seem to be fastracking their rising stars. Unlike previous flavours-of-the-year such as Razor Ramon HG and seemingly fading Yoshio Kojima, he of the bikini pants and his arm-pumping ways on YouTube, the new stars like Edd Harumi, Sekai no Nabeatsu, and Sumiko Nishioka are getting put into the variety shows in roles that don't primarily use their raison d'etres some months ahead of schedule. Edd is in a drama, which makes sense since that's what her original bread-and-butter was. Sumiko appears on shows now without her famed S&M gear which had gotten her finally noticed on "The God of Entertainment" on NTV after years of toiling in obscurity. And I saw Sekai no Nabeatsu, the bouffant-headed comedian who does the count to 40 while going nuts when saying any number with a "3" or a multiple of it, is apparently a co-host of a quiz show devoted to identifying sounds (!). He's still doing his schtick but he alternates with the usual emcee banter.
Speedy has finally finished up his appointment with his client. We just spent a few minutes commiserating over the perils of BC. Apparently, she was doing a slow burn when I (intentionally) ignored her during her morning bout of depression according to the bossman. I'm sorry if I seem to be acting like a total jerk but we've all had to deal with her for several months getting all verklempt without doing anything about it, and I think both Speedy and I agree that enough's enough. It's time for the tough love.
Just myself in the school while Speedy is interviewing a potential new student. BC was no longer sniffling and spoke in her usual quiet voice but her last few minutes here were a bit stormier. Maybe my ears were cleaner than usual, but I think she was clinking and slamming glasses a bit loudly. Well, if she's ticked off at me, I'll actually take that as a good sign...she may actually get fired up enough to get back into life. Well, hopefully, she'll get her act together before she leaves us in 3 weeks.
I'll be taking off in about 15 minutes or so. I'm not in that much of a hurry to return to a sauna of an apartment. Not sure what I'll do for dinner quite yet. I may end up going to McDs...not a healthy alternative, though.
Going back to Japanese pop culture, it's been my observation that the tarento management agencies seem to be fastracking their rising stars. Unlike previous flavours-of-the-year such as Razor Ramon HG and seemingly fading Yoshio Kojima, he of the bikini pants and his arm-pumping ways on YouTube, the new stars like Edd Harumi, Sekai no Nabeatsu, and Sumiko Nishioka are getting put into the variety shows in roles that don't primarily use their raison d'etres some months ahead of schedule. Edd is in a drama, which makes sense since that's what her original bread-and-butter was. Sumiko appears on shows now without her famed S&M gear which had gotten her finally noticed on "The God of Entertainment" on NTV after years of toiling in obscurity. And I saw Sekai no Nabeatsu, the bouffant-headed comedian who does the count to 40 while going nuts when saying any number with a "3" or a multiple of it, is apparently a co-host of a quiz show devoted to identifying sounds (!). He's still doing his schtick but he alternates with the usual emcee banter.
Speedy has finally finished up his appointment with his client. We just spent a few minutes commiserating over the perils of BC. Apparently, she was doing a slow burn when I (intentionally) ignored her during her morning bout of depression according to the bossman. I'm sorry if I seem to be acting like a total jerk but we've all had to deal with her for several months getting all verklempt without doing anything about it, and I think both Speedy and I agree that enough's enough. It's time for the tough love.
Saturday July 12, 4:42 p.m.
Made it through the gauntlet of the 4 lessons. The Businesswoman was very competent and cooperative. It's hard to believe that she and Suzanne from the juku are the same age; Suzanne is very much a girly-girl while The Businesswoman is very professional though also very friendly.
Then, The Bostonian...she's somewhere between the two other ladies...had me look over another example of some catchcopy she's gotta show at her company. I had The Intellectual for his first lesson...no problems there. And finally, I had Slim as usual. Looks like I also picked up another couple of model lessons for later this month.
BC is in one of her depressed moods again. Speedy warned me that she was in another state. She's currently sniffling away behind the keyboard. I didn't read her the riot act, but I did make it clear to her that she's not doing anyone any favours by continuing to whine about her lot in life while not doing anything to cure. I asked her if she's gone to see a specialist; she just gave me those sad brown-cow eyes. Just told her that she won't earn any more sympathy from me if she keeps moping. Her friend had admonished her for continuing to feel sorry for herself...which is also another reason behind the moodiness today. Gahhhh...and she's supposed to be heading to Canada in a month to study.
Tried to find something useful for Tully & The Coffeemaker for tomorrow's lesson. I may have something but it's getting more and more difficult.
Made it through the gauntlet of the 4 lessons. The Businesswoman was very competent and cooperative. It's hard to believe that she and Suzanne from the juku are the same age; Suzanne is very much a girly-girl while The Businesswoman is very professional though also very friendly.
Then, The Bostonian...she's somewhere between the two other ladies...had me look over another example of some catchcopy she's gotta show at her company. I had The Intellectual for his first lesson...no problems there. And finally, I had Slim as usual. Looks like I also picked up another couple of model lessons for later this month.
BC is in one of her depressed moods again. Speedy warned me that she was in another state. She's currently sniffling away behind the keyboard. I didn't read her the riot act, but I did make it clear to her that she's not doing anyone any favours by continuing to whine about her lot in life while not doing anything to cure. I asked her if she's gone to see a specialist; she just gave me those sad brown-cow eyes. Just told her that she won't earn any more sympathy from me if she keeps moping. Her friend had admonished her for continuing to feel sorry for herself...which is also another reason behind the moodiness today. Gahhhh...and she's supposed to be heading to Canada in a month to study.
Tried to find something useful for Tully & The Coffeemaker for tomorrow's lesson. I may have something but it's getting more and more difficult.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Saturday July 12, 10:29 a.m.
Back at the grindstone again. Just ate a croque-monsieur (a fried sandwich with ham and cheese) plus half a cheese dog from La Vie Du France before coming to Speedy's. I got the message from Speedy that I'll be using the hot classroom instead of the cool lounge for 3 of the 4 classes today. Not the greatest news in the world.
That friend of the UL's has gotten back to me about the 27th. She acknowledged and appreciated that I would be coming in from Chiba for the prelim meet-and-greet but didn't say anything about the future. I thought I was pretty clear...at least in the diplomatic way about not wanting to come to Yokohama every week.
Today, it'll be The Businesswoman, The Bostonian, the new Intellectual, and then Slim to wrap up things once more.
Back at the grindstone again. Just ate a croque-monsieur (a fried sandwich with ham and cheese) plus half a cheese dog from La Vie Du France before coming to Speedy's. I got the message from Speedy that I'll be using the hot classroom instead of the cool lounge for 3 of the 4 classes today. Not the greatest news in the world.
That friend of the UL's has gotten back to me about the 27th. She acknowledged and appreciated that I would be coming in from Chiba for the prelim meet-and-greet but didn't say anything about the future. I thought I was pretty clear...at least in the diplomatic way about not wanting to come to Yokohama every week.
Today, it'll be The Businesswoman, The Bostonian, the new Intellectual, and then Slim to wrap up things once more.
Friday July 11, 6:48 p.m.
Found out where that rendezvous with The UL's friend is supposed to take place...it's all the way out in Yokohama. I said I wanted to go there this summer but for a day or a weekend, not every week. I immediately let her know that I would go there for the 27th but used the tried-and-true Japanese phrase of "....it would be difficult..." to let her know of the possibility of me going all the way out there regularly. I had a few months early in my freelance career in which I had to go all the way out to Jiyugaoka every Monday at 10 p.m. for a 90-minute lesson to teach me that that won't take for long. I sent it to her cellphone address and haven't gotten a reply...which may mean the deal is off. I wouldn't mind too much.
After that exercise in teeth-pulling with The Pessimist this morning, I made my way out to Takashimaya Times Square yet again for the 2nd Friday in a row. Again, it was a walk straight from Speedy's down to Shinjuku...which took about 30 minutes. I varied the route from last week. I turned right onto a street from Ome-Kaido, just a block behind from where I turned last week. It was a main road but much quieter with a lot of inner-city type apartments above various restaurants, including the 2nd branch of Mo-Yan Curry. I walked down for about 5 minutes before turning left and finding myself across from Shinjuku Central Park. I passed by the restaurant where Speedy had last year's Xmas party. They had a pretty nice lunch deal for 1,000 yen. Not sure if the staff had ever forgiven the bossman for letting the party exceed its bounds...it hadn't been kashikiri...other customers were allowed to come in. Then I hung another right onto Shinjuku Park Avenue before I entered the park itself to get onto one of the overpasses which led into the heart of Tocho (Tokyo City Hall). From there, I walked to the end of the street which bisected City Hall and which ended at The Shinjuku Washington Hotel, a white slab with tiny windows...looks a bit like a warped cheese grater. Then, I turned left onto that street and made one more right before finding myself on the major avenue which led to JR Shinjuku's South Exit. Once again, a 30-minute lineup waited for those Krispy Kreme donuts.
After looking for an interesting book for Tully & The Coffeemaker (no luck) in Kinokuniya, I went back up to HMV. The big campaign of the week was for the latest vocoder-influenced girl group, Perfume. I'm afraid that J-Pop music may never let us hear singers' real voices, but then again, that might be a good thing.
I ended up having lunch at Stacker's, which is a sandwich place across from HMV. I had their Burger Sandwich Plate for 1,050 yen. Not too, too bad. The fries were spicy affairs...never a bad thing. The Plate itself looked like a combo between a hamburger and a BLT plate. The burger meat itself was an interesting mix of a regular real-burger (i.e. not any of the fast food varieties) and the Japanese menchi katsu. It was a bit softer and crumblier.
As I was eating, I was going through the latest edition of METROPOLIS. The cover article was about the supposedly "gayest man in Japan" by the name of Charles Ayres, a very flamboyant (I guess in this case, you could pronounce the word in the French way to heighten the effect), and his very haunts in and away from Shinjuku's 2-chome area, Tokyo's equivalent of San Francisco's Castro St or Toronto's Wellesley and Church.
However, the page that got my attention was the final page for freelancers to give their two yen. This week's contribution was about a phenomenon that I've mentioned over the years....foreign celebs coming onto Japanese variety shows and being interviewed by airheads in NOVA Level-7 English (et tu, "Eigo de shaberanaito"?) The biggest recent example was Harrison Ford coming on Bistro SMAP for some robatayaki cooked by the boys. With his SMAP-cooked dinner, he also got some impromptu entertainment in the form of Indiana Katori cracking his whip, much to Ford's bemusement. I've always wondered what these Hollywood stars must be thinking whenever they're "feted"...or just plain fed...by the local tarento. The author was spot-on when he hinted that a big sense of humour and a large suspension of disbelief are needed....for which Will Smith and Robin Williams should be hailed as heroes for not only enduring the weirdness but happily taking part in it. Apparently Madonna looked like she was gonna be firing major swathes of her staff after her guest appearance on Bistro SMAP. And Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones had to be gently coaxed to get with the purogurammu...but that's OK; a lot of the non-tarento Japanese (read: serious) actors and actresses are similarly unimpressed-looking on these variety shows, too. Another revelation in the article was that celebs are contractually obliged to show up in Japan to promote their movies...yikes! Hours and hours of being interviewed by broken-English-speaking tarento? Yup, I can see where tempers can grow short. Apparently, actress Yumiko Shaku, a former regular on NHK's "Eigo de shaberanaito", told of being refused further questions by one movie star who'd just had enough of the silliness. Yup, I wouldn't have wanted to be watching that cringe-inducing moment. But I would've paid money to have seen Sylvester Stallone's little punching game with a group of Japanese actresses recently. Robert Downey, Jr and Christian Bale....you have been duly warned.
Found out where that rendezvous with The UL's friend is supposed to take place...it's all the way out in Yokohama. I said I wanted to go there this summer but for a day or a weekend, not every week. I immediately let her know that I would go there for the 27th but used the tried-and-true Japanese phrase of "....it would be difficult..." to let her know of the possibility of me going all the way out there regularly. I had a few months early in my freelance career in which I had to go all the way out to Jiyugaoka every Monday at 10 p.m. for a 90-minute lesson to teach me that that won't take for long. I sent it to her cellphone address and haven't gotten a reply...which may mean the deal is off. I wouldn't mind too much.
After that exercise in teeth-pulling with The Pessimist this morning, I made my way out to Takashimaya Times Square yet again for the 2nd Friday in a row. Again, it was a walk straight from Speedy's down to Shinjuku...which took about 30 minutes. I varied the route from last week. I turned right onto a street from Ome-Kaido, just a block behind from where I turned last week. It was a main road but much quieter with a lot of inner-city type apartments above various restaurants, including the 2nd branch of Mo-Yan Curry. I walked down for about 5 minutes before turning left and finding myself across from Shinjuku Central Park. I passed by the restaurant where Speedy had last year's Xmas party. They had a pretty nice lunch deal for 1,000 yen. Not sure if the staff had ever forgiven the bossman for letting the party exceed its bounds...it hadn't been kashikiri...other customers were allowed to come in. Then I hung another right onto Shinjuku Park Avenue before I entered the park itself to get onto one of the overpasses which led into the heart of Tocho (Tokyo City Hall). From there, I walked to the end of the street which bisected City Hall and which ended at The Shinjuku Washington Hotel, a white slab with tiny windows...looks a bit like a warped cheese grater. Then, I turned left onto that street and made one more right before finding myself on the major avenue which led to JR Shinjuku's South Exit. Once again, a 30-minute lineup waited for those Krispy Kreme donuts.
After looking for an interesting book for Tully & The Coffeemaker (no luck) in Kinokuniya, I went back up to HMV. The big campaign of the week was for the latest vocoder-influenced girl group, Perfume. I'm afraid that J-Pop music may never let us hear singers' real voices, but then again, that might be a good thing.
I ended up having lunch at Stacker's, which is a sandwich place across from HMV. I had their Burger Sandwich Plate for 1,050 yen. Not too, too bad. The fries were spicy affairs...never a bad thing. The Plate itself looked like a combo between a hamburger and a BLT plate. The burger meat itself was an interesting mix of a regular real-burger (i.e. not any of the fast food varieties) and the Japanese menchi katsu. It was a bit softer and crumblier.
As I was eating, I was going through the latest edition of METROPOLIS. The cover article was about the supposedly "gayest man in Japan" by the name of Charles Ayres, a very flamboyant (I guess in this case, you could pronounce the word in the French way to heighten the effect), and his very haunts in and away from Shinjuku's 2-chome area, Tokyo's equivalent of San Francisco's Castro St or Toronto's Wellesley and Church.
However, the page that got my attention was the final page for freelancers to give their two yen. This week's contribution was about a phenomenon that I've mentioned over the years....foreign celebs coming onto Japanese variety shows and being interviewed by airheads in NOVA Level-7 English (et tu, "Eigo de shaberanaito"?) The biggest recent example was Harrison Ford coming on Bistro SMAP for some robatayaki cooked by the boys. With his SMAP-cooked dinner, he also got some impromptu entertainment in the form of Indiana Katori cracking his whip, much to Ford's bemusement. I've always wondered what these Hollywood stars must be thinking whenever they're "feted"...or just plain fed...by the local tarento. The author was spot-on when he hinted that a big sense of humour and a large suspension of disbelief are needed....for which Will Smith and Robin Williams should be hailed as heroes for not only enduring the weirdness but happily taking part in it. Apparently Madonna looked like she was gonna be firing major swathes of her staff after her guest appearance on Bistro SMAP. And Richard Gere and Catherine Zeta-Jones had to be gently coaxed to get with the purogurammu...but that's OK; a lot of the non-tarento Japanese (read: serious) actors and actresses are similarly unimpressed-looking on these variety shows, too. Another revelation in the article was that celebs are contractually obliged to show up in Japan to promote their movies...yikes! Hours and hours of being interviewed by broken-English-speaking tarento? Yup, I can see where tempers can grow short. Apparently, actress Yumiko Shaku, a former regular on NHK's "Eigo de shaberanaito", told of being refused further questions by one movie star who'd just had enough of the silliness. Yup, I wouldn't have wanted to be watching that cringe-inducing moment. But I would've paid money to have seen Sylvester Stallone's little punching game with a group of Japanese actresses recently. Robert Downey, Jr and Christian Bale....you have been duly warned.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Friday July 11, 12:59 p.m.
Yow! Just after noon and I'm already bushed! The Pessimist can actually change any teacher into one himself. It was like pulling teeth from this guy. And just about every question I asked him seemed like I was asking him the most efficient way to fuse two helium atoms. Nice guy and all, but still...
As for The Nurse, she revealed that the reason for her crying jag last week was due to a spat with her husband just as she was about to come here for her lesson. Yep, I kinda figured...
I found out from BC that that model lesson student from a few days ago who'd gone to Halifax is an amateur psychic. She apparently sent a letter of compliment to me on my teaching abilities, but then again, she would've already known that, wouldn't she?
Now, I'm wondering whether I really should take that trip to Yokohama. Any more bruisers like that with The Pessmist, and I'll be ready for the rubber room.
I got the details from that friend of The UL's for the 27th. She wants me to meet her...and her friend...at a station called Okurayama on the Tokyu-Toyoko Line...hmm...sounds a bit far for me. Not sure about this one.
Must...eat....lunch...
Yow! Just after noon and I'm already bushed! The Pessimist can actually change any teacher into one himself. It was like pulling teeth from this guy. And just about every question I asked him seemed like I was asking him the most efficient way to fuse two helium atoms. Nice guy and all, but still...
As for The Nurse, she revealed that the reason for her crying jag last week was due to a spat with her husband just as she was about to come here for her lesson. Yep, I kinda figured...
I found out from BC that that model lesson student from a few days ago who'd gone to Halifax is an amateur psychic. She apparently sent a letter of compliment to me on my teaching abilities, but then again, she would've already known that, wouldn't she?
Now, I'm wondering whether I really should take that trip to Yokohama. Any more bruisers like that with The Pessmist, and I'll be ready for the rubber room.
I got the details from that friend of The UL's for the 27th. She wants me to meet her...and her friend...at a station called Okurayama on the Tokyu-Toyoko Line...hmm...sounds a bit far for me. Not sure about this one.
Must...eat....lunch...
Friday July 11, 9:49 a.m.
Ah, I did forget to mention that the crazy season has arrived once more in Akihabara. No, there hasn't been another maniac stabbing folks in a mentally-deranged spree. People have been lining up for as many as 3 days to get their dibs on the I-Phone. I haven't seen anything like this since Windows 2000 came out. The Sisters of State had each wondered aloud about getting one of those as well. As the cellphone-less oddity in a country where cellphones nearly have voting rights, I turn a rather glazed brown-cow eye. I guess the new Softbank commercial with Cameron Diaz hoofing with a dozen dancers to Sheena Easton's "Morning Train" didn't do much to stem the tide. I'm sure you can now catch it on YouTube.
Speaking of the diversion, I have to applaud Weezer's fun little video of "Pork and Beans". The band took the piss out of American pop culture by placing themselves into a scene from "Happy Days". Now, they've collaborated with a number of YouTube celebs such as the hermaphrodite berating everyone to leave Britney alone, and those guys who discovered the explosively entertaining way to combine Mentos and cola.
Ah, I did forget to mention that the crazy season has arrived once more in Akihabara. No, there hasn't been another maniac stabbing folks in a mentally-deranged spree. People have been lining up for as many as 3 days to get their dibs on the I-Phone. I haven't seen anything like this since Windows 2000 came out. The Sisters of State had each wondered aloud about getting one of those as well. As the cellphone-less oddity in a country where cellphones nearly have voting rights, I turn a rather glazed brown-cow eye. I guess the new Softbank commercial with Cameron Diaz hoofing with a dozen dancers to Sheena Easton's "Morning Train" didn't do much to stem the tide. I'm sure you can now catch it on YouTube.
Speaking of the diversion, I have to applaud Weezer's fun little video of "Pork and Beans". The band took the piss out of American pop culture by placing themselves into a scene from "Happy Days". Now, they've collaborated with a number of YouTube celebs such as the hermaphrodite berating everyone to leave Britney alone, and those guys who discovered the explosively entertaining way to combine Mentos and cola.
Friday July 11, 9:30 a.m.
Speedy's first student of the day (and just about everyday), The PA, just left. Since I now have de facto access to the school first thing in the morning, I'm usually letting him in since Speedy has been rushing in late recently due to very late nights. The PA is a patent attorney of some standing, and a very pleasant man to boot. Along with his day job, he's got teaching positions at some pretty prestigious universities. He set me right about the eccentric Dr. NakaMatsu, the so-called inventor of the floppy disk. I'd always believed the rumours about him, but The PA told me that though Japan's most flamboyant inventor had a hand in some of the components making up the disk, he could hardly be considered to be the father of the disk itself. Basically, it's like Al Gore's hootin' and hollerin' about the Internet.
Speedy is in one of his moods again. Not that Speedy is breathing flame or devouring unsuspecting staffers; he's not that way. He just rambles away at warp speed with periodic stops for giggling. Apparently, the pleasant problem of him being able to pick n' choose some new administrative staffers for the schools has emerged into the cold, hard light of reality. The two people he'd selected as the newbies sent in their rejections late last night. The bossman had forgotten that these people were also doing their own pickin' n' choosin' from the various companies they were interviewing at. When it comes to salary, our school will not be particularly competitive. So, Speedy has to start from scratch again. I do sympathize with him but when he gets that way, I usually nod and ignore him and do something else...such as write blogs.
I'd been thinking about taking a little R&R in Yokohama later this summer. Y'know...head into Chinatown, grab some good Sino-grub and maybe even stay overnight. I've checked out some of the cheap hotels over there...and they are indeed very reasonable. 5,000-6,000 yen is a godsend for this city. But then again, my cold, hard light of reality bursts into my head like an aneurysm and reminds me that earlier this year I had a rather nasty financial crisis, and the rationalization bubbles up about why I would even need to get accomodations in a city that is perhaps a couple of hours away from my home by train and whose nightlife doesn't really interest me....I haven't been a clubber in a couple of decades and I'm a teetotaler when I'm by myself which pretty much erases 95% of my options right there. I would just be lying in the hotel bed watching TV...which is what I would be doing at home for free.
Speedy's first student of the day (and just about everyday), The PA, just left. Since I now have de facto access to the school first thing in the morning, I'm usually letting him in since Speedy has been rushing in late recently due to very late nights. The PA is a patent attorney of some standing, and a very pleasant man to boot. Along with his day job, he's got teaching positions at some pretty prestigious universities. He set me right about the eccentric Dr. NakaMatsu, the so-called inventor of the floppy disk. I'd always believed the rumours about him, but The PA told me that though Japan's most flamboyant inventor had a hand in some of the components making up the disk, he could hardly be considered to be the father of the disk itself. Basically, it's like Al Gore's hootin' and hollerin' about the Internet.
Speedy is in one of his moods again. Not that Speedy is breathing flame or devouring unsuspecting staffers; he's not that way. He just rambles away at warp speed with periodic stops for giggling. Apparently, the pleasant problem of him being able to pick n' choose some new administrative staffers for the schools has emerged into the cold, hard light of reality. The two people he'd selected as the newbies sent in their rejections late last night. The bossman had forgotten that these people were also doing their own pickin' n' choosin' from the various companies they were interviewing at. When it comes to salary, our school will not be particularly competitive. So, Speedy has to start from scratch again. I do sympathize with him but when he gets that way, I usually nod and ignore him and do something else...such as write blogs.
I'd been thinking about taking a little R&R in Yokohama later this summer. Y'know...head into Chinatown, grab some good Sino-grub and maybe even stay overnight. I've checked out some of the cheap hotels over there...and they are indeed very reasonable. 5,000-6,000 yen is a godsend for this city. But then again, my cold, hard light of reality bursts into my head like an aneurysm and reminds me that earlier this year I had a rather nasty financial crisis, and the rationalization bubbles up about why I would even need to get accomodations in a city that is perhaps a couple of hours away from my home by train and whose nightlife doesn't really interest me....I haven't been a clubber in a couple of decades and I'm a teetotaler when I'm by myself which pretty much erases 95% of my options right there. I would just be lying in the hotel bed watching TV...which is what I would be doing at home for free.
Friday July 11, 8:53 a.m.
I was thinking that perhaps we had a chance to last through this month without really needing to access the air conditioner, but I saw the forecast for this weekend. It'll be another scorching one. However, it hasn't been too bad this week.
Another 5-hour sleep before heading back here for another round at Speedy's. But this time, I just have two classes with The Nurse and The Pessimist. Hopefully, The Nurse won't be having another emotional breakdown like last time. I seem to get that from time to time from various students.
Not sure what I'll do afterwards. I may just head over to Kinokuniya again and see if there might be something interesting for Tully and The Coffeemaker on Sunday. The two didn't seem all that enthused last time.
The Bohemian left a message on my machine while I was in the shower last night. Of course, he called late so I was grateful that I didn't pick up (I would've thought initially it was Speedy telling me of an addition or cancellation to the schedule); he's definitely true to his name when it comes to calling folks up at inconvenient times. And he's either got a tough skin or a dense brain...I'd thought that our last meeting together frankly cooled down our friendship. I've become less patient about his opinions than I used to be.
I was thinking that perhaps we had a chance to last through this month without really needing to access the air conditioner, but I saw the forecast for this weekend. It'll be another scorching one. However, it hasn't been too bad this week.
Another 5-hour sleep before heading back here for another round at Speedy's. But this time, I just have two classes with The Nurse and The Pessimist. Hopefully, The Nurse won't be having another emotional breakdown like last time. I seem to get that from time to time from various students.
Not sure what I'll do afterwards. I may just head over to Kinokuniya again and see if there might be something interesting for Tully and The Coffeemaker on Sunday. The two didn't seem all that enthused last time.
The Bohemian left a message on my machine while I was in the shower last night. Of course, he called late so I was grateful that I didn't pick up (I would've thought initially it was Speedy telling me of an addition or cancellation to the schedule); he's definitely true to his name when it comes to calling folks up at inconvenient times. And he's either got a tough skin or a dense brain...I'd thought that our last meeting together frankly cooled down our friendship. I've become less patient about his opinions than I used to be.
Thursday July 10, 9:54 p.m.
Incredibly enough, I'm still standing after teaching 7 lessons today...one being a 90. Actually, I had the best combination that I could get in a marathon session. Grandma Dynamite was probably the only tiring point since she's pretty much all over the place as befits her name. The Yogist, and that EIC student were just fine and dandy. Then came Miss Sedona's first lesson; she became only my second student here as a 90-minute. But that's only for the next four lessons before she takes off for the States on that voyage of self-discovery; if and when she returns for more, it'll be as a regular 60. Then, it was my private students in the form of The Carolinan and BC. BC was about as regular as she could be in the lesson. I'm not sure if that will be the very last time I have her as a student before she takes off for Canada.
Then, it was Slim to wrap up. He looked pretty exhausted but we managed to carry on a good conversation...on jet lag, of all things. The countdown has begun for him before his fateful flight to Germany next week. He's gotten a bit of envy and perhaps even some resentment from some of his compadres since he got a business-class seat to Munich...he's only an assistant manager; only the top execs get that much-dreamed-of full-flat. I'm thinking the powers-that-be may be sending a message about his future prospects.
Anyways, that friend of The UL's has taken a bite. We'll be meeting on the 27th for a preliminary meeting to see if we are compatible (sounds almost like an omiai).
Just about time to go...only to come back here again first thing in the morning for The Nurse and then The Pessimist....followed late by The Ace. Still, it'll be a lighter day than the past 2 days.
Incredibly enough, I'm still standing after teaching 7 lessons today...one being a 90. Actually, I had the best combination that I could get in a marathon session. Grandma Dynamite was probably the only tiring point since she's pretty much all over the place as befits her name. The Yogist, and that EIC student were just fine and dandy. Then came Miss Sedona's first lesson; she became only my second student here as a 90-minute. But that's only for the next four lessons before she takes off for the States on that voyage of self-discovery; if and when she returns for more, it'll be as a regular 60. Then, it was my private students in the form of The Carolinan and BC. BC was about as regular as she could be in the lesson. I'm not sure if that will be the very last time I have her as a student before she takes off for Canada.
Then, it was Slim to wrap up. He looked pretty exhausted but we managed to carry on a good conversation...on jet lag, of all things. The countdown has begun for him before his fateful flight to Germany next week. He's gotten a bit of envy and perhaps even some resentment from some of his compadres since he got a business-class seat to Munich...he's only an assistant manager; only the top execs get that much-dreamed-of full-flat. I'm thinking the powers-that-be may be sending a message about his future prospects.
Anyways, that friend of The UL's has taken a bite. We'll be meeting on the 27th for a preliminary meeting to see if we are compatible (sounds almost like an omiai).
Just about time to go...only to come back here again first thing in the morning for The Nurse and then The Pessimist....followed late by The Ace. Still, it'll be a lighter day than the past 2 days.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Thursday July 10, 9:34 a.m.
Grandma Dynamite has entered the building. The Carolinan is coming here thankfully for her lesson tonight, although I was pretty confident that she would. Makes all our lives easier. Got most of the paperwork done in preparation for today's mountain of lessons. I just have to wonder whether I'll have time to grab any sort of lunch today. I think the only sizable window is between Grandma Dynamite and The Yogist...which'll mean I'll be on water and rice crackers and any remnants of chocolate left in the kitchen between 1 and 9:30.
It's ironic that the new night staffer, TM, and I were talking about her old haunt in Christie Pits in Toronto. I just read on the Sympatico.ca site that some poor fellow got mugged there....by a million volts of lightning.
Grandma Dynamite has entered the building. The Carolinan is coming here thankfully for her lesson tonight, although I was pretty confident that she would. Makes all our lives easier. Got most of the paperwork done in preparation for today's mountain of lessons. I just have to wonder whether I'll have time to grab any sort of lunch today. I think the only sizable window is between Grandma Dynamite and The Yogist...which'll mean I'll be on water and rice crackers and any remnants of chocolate left in the kitchen between 1 and 9:30.
It's ironic that the new night staffer, TM, and I were talking about her old haunt in Christie Pits in Toronto. I just read on the Sympatico.ca site that some poor fellow got mugged there....by a million volts of lightning.
Thursday July 10, 8:37 a.m.
Same ol' same ol' Hump Day...the 2nd one in a row this week. Grab brekkie at McDonalds and then open up the school. The new tradition of gabbing with Speedy's student, The Patent Attorney, before the bossman rushes in is taking root.
The last couple of days have been reasonably warm though still kinda humid. But I have been able to sleep rather comfortably. Let us hope that things continue that way for a while longer.
That friend of The UL's contacted me last night about the lessons. I gave her the only bone I could which is Sunday afternoons.
The "Doctor Who" forum is still buzzing away about "Journey's End". This must truly be the best of times for the world's longest-running sci-fi drama. Ratings have gone through the roof, the cliffhanger managed to get onto the front pages of UK papers, and the fans have been debating and diatribing about everything and everyone from Donna to the entire episode. And perhaps this little piece of news hasn't quite arrived at the forum yet...I just saw on a major website that the ol' Brig is coming back...albeit not to the TARDIS, but to "The Sarah Jane Adventures".
It'll be a majorly busy day today. I think for the first time in recent memory, certainly the first time at this school, I'll be teaching 7 lessons over the day. I may have to apologize to Slim if I actually have that cardiac arrest mid-lesson.
Same ol' same ol' Hump Day...the 2nd one in a row this week. Grab brekkie at McDonalds and then open up the school. The new tradition of gabbing with Speedy's student, The Patent Attorney, before the bossman rushes in is taking root.
The last couple of days have been reasonably warm though still kinda humid. But I have been able to sleep rather comfortably. Let us hope that things continue that way for a while longer.
That friend of The UL's contacted me last night about the lessons. I gave her the only bone I could which is Sunday afternoons.
The "Doctor Who" forum is still buzzing away about "Journey's End". This must truly be the best of times for the world's longest-running sci-fi drama. Ratings have gone through the roof, the cliffhanger managed to get onto the front pages of UK papers, and the fans have been debating and diatribing about everything and everyone from Donna to the entire episode. And perhaps this little piece of news hasn't quite arrived at the forum yet...I just saw on a major website that the ol' Brig is coming back...albeit not to the TARDIS, but to "The Sarah Jane Adventures".
It'll be a majorly busy day today. I think for the first time in recent memory, certainly the first time at this school, I'll be teaching 7 lessons over the day. I may have to apologize to Slim if I actually have that cardiac arrest mid-lesson.
Wednesday July 9, 5:32 p.m.
Well, got through the first half of Hump Day 1. It wasn't too painful. The Pessimist, true to his nature, was a bit dour since he had a bit of a row with the missus but we managed to get through the lesson. The EIC student was a pleasant revelation...pretty high-intermediate. As for the model lesson, I'm kinda wondering if I'm in some sort of slump...just not really grabbing these folks. Today's student was a nurse who had spent a week in Halifax; her comprehension and delivery are pretty good but has very little syntax or grammatical foundation. Really not sure if she's a keeper.
Got the 2nd half starting in about 25 minutes with 001. Hump Day 2 is gonna be even more busy with 7 lessons on the slate...including The Carolinan and...surprise, surprise...BC.
Well, got through the first half of Hump Day 1. It wasn't too painful. The Pessimist, true to his nature, was a bit dour since he had a bit of a row with the missus but we managed to get through the lesson. The EIC student was a pleasant revelation...pretty high-intermediate. As for the model lesson, I'm kinda wondering if I'm in some sort of slump...just not really grabbing these folks. Today's student was a nurse who had spent a week in Halifax; her comprehension and delivery are pretty good but has very little syntax or grammatical foundation. Really not sure if she's a keeper.
Got the 2nd half starting in about 25 minutes with 001. Hump Day 2 is gonna be even more busy with 7 lessons on the slate...including The Carolinan and...surprise, surprise...BC.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Wednesday July 9, 10:29 a.m.
Nice to be here at a more leisurely time than the usual early-morning rush into Tokyo. I should try to schedule more lessons from 11 a.m. I see that I don't see The Pessimist's textbook on my desk...I'll have to have a word with Speedy, although I know that won't get the text here any faster.
Looks like that logistical kerfuffle about the G-8 leaders having a supremely gourmet meal while talking about how the rest of the world seems to be running out of food has been gaining some very thick, hairy legs...even hairier than the Hairy Crab Bisque (it doesn't sound too appetizing, but Hairy Crab is a direct translation from the Japanese ke-gani, and is a known delicacy in these parts) that was on the menu. I think it was indeed a boner of planning; the organizers could've been a bit more sensitive about the dinner but the Japanese really do care about how they're seen in the eyes of the world in all areas...including on how to put on a spread for visitors, and perhaps the chef got a bit overzealous in trying to impress his guests.
The UL contacted me suddenly last night about referring her friend to me for lessons. Regrettably, I had to decline her offer since I'm pretty much plugged up most weeknights between the juku and Speedy's. I did offer Sunday afternoons, although I hope that she doesn't pick me up on that offer.
Well, I've got The Pessimist in 25 minutes, followed by a new EIC student, then yet another model lesson student. A 3-hour break follows and then I have the regular nighttime crowd of 001, The Diver and Medicine Man. It'll be a busy one.
Nice to be here at a more leisurely time than the usual early-morning rush into Tokyo. I should try to schedule more lessons from 11 a.m. I see that I don't see The Pessimist's textbook on my desk...I'll have to have a word with Speedy, although I know that won't get the text here any faster.
Looks like that logistical kerfuffle about the G-8 leaders having a supremely gourmet meal while talking about how the rest of the world seems to be running out of food has been gaining some very thick, hairy legs...even hairier than the Hairy Crab Bisque (it doesn't sound too appetizing, but Hairy Crab is a direct translation from the Japanese ke-gani, and is a known delicacy in these parts) that was on the menu. I think it was indeed a boner of planning; the organizers could've been a bit more sensitive about the dinner but the Japanese really do care about how they're seen in the eyes of the world in all areas...including on how to put on a spread for visitors, and perhaps the chef got a bit overzealous in trying to impress his guests.
The UL contacted me suddenly last night about referring her friend to me for lessons. Regrettably, I had to decline her offer since I'm pretty much plugged up most weeknights between the juku and Speedy's. I did offer Sunday afternoons, although I hope that she doesn't pick me up on that offer.
Well, I've got The Pessimist in 25 minutes, followed by a new EIC student, then yet another model lesson student. A 3-hour break follows and then I have the regular nighttime crowd of 001, The Diver and Medicine Man. It'll be a busy one.
Tuesday July 8, 9:11 p.m.
Well another night at the juku, another dotakyan by Jolly. Seems like the lad has been pretty busy of late. This time, the boss will be giving me half the rate since she's given up on having him make up lessons. Suzanne is currently living out her melodrama in terms of her potentially soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend and her perhaps long-distance romance with an Aussie. I could've just imagined putting a TV frame around her and calling it "The Perils of Suzanne".
Mild Jr. was off taking care of the opening night at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. But The Milds came by for their hour. Apparently, the Gyotoku Chuo Clinic, the place where I will probably go for my checkup next month, was one of Mr. Mild's clients when he was still working as a medical supplies sales rep. He didn't sound too negative about the place; apparently, it's a medium-sized facility. Strangely enough, Mrs. Mild had her physical last weekend at some facility in The New Otani in Akasaka, my old haunt with The Class Act all those years ago. She went through the battery of tests, including X-rays and ECGs, along with the mandatory gulp of barium. She said that she could get some strawberry-flavoured barium to ingest, although I would hardly call that an endorsement. The Milds are also heading for Germany in a couple of weeks for a bit of vacation, so that'll make it 3 students who'll be in Deutschland at the same time, Slim, of course, being the 3rd person.
Well, I'll be heading home early and get some shuteye for what will be the first of 2 Hump Days tomorrow. At least, I was able to schedule The Pessimist for 11 a.m., and therefore not need to take an early train into town.
I wonder how that G-22 is doing up in Hokkaido. I hear that they're talking about food shortages....over an 8-course meal supplied by the Japanese taxpayers.
Well another night at the juku, another dotakyan by Jolly. Seems like the lad has been pretty busy of late. This time, the boss will be giving me half the rate since she's given up on having him make up lessons. Suzanne is currently living out her melodrama in terms of her potentially soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend and her perhaps long-distance romance with an Aussie. I could've just imagined putting a TV frame around her and calling it "The Perils of Suzanne".
Mild Jr. was off taking care of the opening night at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. But The Milds came by for their hour. Apparently, the Gyotoku Chuo Clinic, the place where I will probably go for my checkup next month, was one of Mr. Mild's clients when he was still working as a medical supplies sales rep. He didn't sound too negative about the place; apparently, it's a medium-sized facility. Strangely enough, Mrs. Mild had her physical last weekend at some facility in The New Otani in Akasaka, my old haunt with The Class Act all those years ago. She went through the battery of tests, including X-rays and ECGs, along with the mandatory gulp of barium. She said that she could get some strawberry-flavoured barium to ingest, although I would hardly call that an endorsement. The Milds are also heading for Germany in a couple of weeks for a bit of vacation, so that'll make it 3 students who'll be in Deutschland at the same time, Slim, of course, being the 3rd person.
Well, I'll be heading home early and get some shuteye for what will be the first of 2 Hump Days tomorrow. At least, I was able to schedule The Pessimist for 11 a.m., and therefore not need to take an early train into town.
I wonder how that G-22 is doing up in Hokkaido. I hear that they're talking about food shortages....over an 8-course meal supplied by the Japanese taxpayers.
Tuesday July 8, 4:20 p.m.
Rather incredible how fate works for one. About an hour ago after having my 3 hours at the I-cafe, I checked my messages. And I got this rather loud cheerful voice talking about some situation or somesuch thing...in any case, after listening to it twice, I still couldn't figure who it was and who she was representing. Then, all sorts of options came into my head: maybe it was my rental agency harassing me again or a new staffer at Speedys not having developed good phone skills or perhaps the Idolmaster company calling me up to say that I'd sent in the envelope too late or Air Canada contacting me about my ticket. In any case, I suddenly got this itch in my stomach that I don't like.
I went to the Urayasu branch of my bank to update my bankbook so that I could check that I did have a record of sending my rent. Then, I came across this item in which for some reason, Suruga Bank apparently had taken 64,000 yen out of my account for some reason at the end of last month. I didn't recall any business with that bank. That itch got a bit more fiery, and so that was another possibility added onto the Whodunit. I walked briskly over to the juku and tried to remember what business I ever had with Suruga Bank but couldn't come up with a thing. Finally, I had to ask the boss for some help. We tracked down the phone number for their call centre and tried to get down to the bottom of the matter. As it turned out, the 64,000 yen was the money that I'd withdrawn at a convenience store last week to pay off my bills; the ATM in the convenience store belonged to Suruga which then made its presence known in my bankbook.
As for the strange phone call, I accessed it again from the juku phone which seems to have a better handle on the tone and volume of the message. It turned out it was the cleaners; the lady there just wanted to inform me that she'd overcharged me for taking in the blankets. Man, amazing what life can throw at you to get something resolved.
Mild Jr. has his hands full today. He won't be coming to a lesson tonight for the very reason that his base du guerre, The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is having its grand opening. I saw the poster in the subway and it's a huge behemoth of a structure. I'm sure just patrolling inside the hotel would be a major expedition.
And then I came across another picture...this time of that Gherkin Building clone in West Shinjuku. It's actually known as the Cocoon Building because of its wrapped look outside. It's due to open in October. There is a smaller globular building being built next to it. The picture in the subway had the complex on it side. Frankly, from that view, the complex kinda looks like a twig and berries...if you know (cough, cough) what I mean.
Rather incredible how fate works for one. About an hour ago after having my 3 hours at the I-cafe, I checked my messages. And I got this rather loud cheerful voice talking about some situation or somesuch thing...in any case, after listening to it twice, I still couldn't figure who it was and who she was representing. Then, all sorts of options came into my head: maybe it was my rental agency harassing me again or a new staffer at Speedys not having developed good phone skills or perhaps the Idolmaster company calling me up to say that I'd sent in the envelope too late or Air Canada contacting me about my ticket. In any case, I suddenly got this itch in my stomach that I don't like.
I went to the Urayasu branch of my bank to update my bankbook so that I could check that I did have a record of sending my rent. Then, I came across this item in which for some reason, Suruga Bank apparently had taken 64,000 yen out of my account for some reason at the end of last month. I didn't recall any business with that bank. That itch got a bit more fiery, and so that was another possibility added onto the Whodunit. I walked briskly over to the juku and tried to remember what business I ever had with Suruga Bank but couldn't come up with a thing. Finally, I had to ask the boss for some help. We tracked down the phone number for their call centre and tried to get down to the bottom of the matter. As it turned out, the 64,000 yen was the money that I'd withdrawn at a convenience store last week to pay off my bills; the ATM in the convenience store belonged to Suruga which then made its presence known in my bankbook.
As for the strange phone call, I accessed it again from the juku phone which seems to have a better handle on the tone and volume of the message. It turned out it was the cleaners; the lady there just wanted to inform me that she'd overcharged me for taking in the blankets. Man, amazing what life can throw at you to get something resolved.
Mild Jr. has his hands full today. He won't be coming to a lesson tonight for the very reason that his base du guerre, The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is having its grand opening. I saw the poster in the subway and it's a huge behemoth of a structure. I'm sure just patrolling inside the hotel would be a major expedition.
And then I came across another picture...this time of that Gherkin Building clone in West Shinjuku. It's actually known as the Cocoon Building because of its wrapped look outside. It's due to open in October. There is a smaller globular building being built next to it. The picture in the subway had the complex on it side. Frankly, from that view, the complex kinda looks like a twig and berries...if you know (cough, cough) what I mean.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Tuesday July 8, 1:43 p.m.
With most of the day off, I have been able to get some of the domestic stuff out of the way such as sending two of the winter blankets finally off to the cleaners. They were piled on top of the others to form a rather formidable obstacle into my bedroom. Well, the pile is now less formidable....and so is my wallet...goodbye 2800 yen.
My trip to Ichikawa City Hall was not in vain. There were two people at the Foreign Residents' Help Desk who looked for a decent clinic to have that checkup. Apparently, there is a place straight down from Gyotoku Station that will have me looked at. Now, all that needs to be done is go over and bend over.
Afterwards, I had an early lunch at the nearby KFC. They've been campaigning their newest concoction, their super hot chicken sandwich. Well, it didn't exactly have been begging for water, but it did have a bit of a sting to it.
I did succumb to my impulses and catch the last part of the finale from Season 4 of "Doctor Who" on YouTube. Again, I see that the good Doctor doesn't seem to get along with the mothers of companions. But it was tragic to see how Donna became a better person, only to revert back to her self-absorbed mensch. Still, I'll have about a year before I actually do get to see Season 4 on tape. Although I think that some of the previous companions will probably show up again now and then, I think the show has reached a crossroads and should take off in a new direction without needing to lean on Rose or Captain Jack anymore. The changing of the guard between Russell Davies and Stephen Moffatt, plus the fact that 2009 will only have 3 specials should make the transition easier.
With most of the day off, I have been able to get some of the domestic stuff out of the way such as sending two of the winter blankets finally off to the cleaners. They were piled on top of the others to form a rather formidable obstacle into my bedroom. Well, the pile is now less formidable....and so is my wallet...goodbye 2800 yen.
My trip to Ichikawa City Hall was not in vain. There were two people at the Foreign Residents' Help Desk who looked for a decent clinic to have that checkup. Apparently, there is a place straight down from Gyotoku Station that will have me looked at. Now, all that needs to be done is go over and bend over.
Afterwards, I had an early lunch at the nearby KFC. They've been campaigning their newest concoction, their super hot chicken sandwich. Well, it didn't exactly have been begging for water, but it did have a bit of a sting to it.
I did succumb to my impulses and catch the last part of the finale from Season 4 of "Doctor Who" on YouTube. Again, I see that the good Doctor doesn't seem to get along with the mothers of companions. But it was tragic to see how Donna became a better person, only to revert back to her self-absorbed mensch. Still, I'll have about a year before I actually do get to see Season 4 on tape. Although I think that some of the previous companions will probably show up again now and then, I think the show has reached a crossroads and should take off in a new direction without needing to lean on Rose or Captain Jack anymore. The changing of the guard between Russell Davies and Stephen Moffatt, plus the fact that 2009 will only have 3 specials should make the transition easier.
Monday July 7, 9:09 p.m.
Slim ended up having an easier time of it at that party with the Germans on Friday. I'm sure that must've boosted his confidence no end. He's gonna be bringing in some conversations that he'll have to use when he takes off to the land of sauerkraut and Steffi Graf next week. He's already booked another couple of lessons before he does take off. Still waiting to see what Miss Sedona wants to accomplish in the time before she takes for her namesake place.
Had a pleasant conversation with the new staffer, TM. She's done her time in Canada, which seems to be a pattern with our previous staffers with the exception of The Admin. She used to live on Christie for a couple of months, so probably had access to a lot of that fine Korean cooking.
Well, tomorrow I just have those juku classes but I'll probably be taking off a bit earlier to: 1) escape the heat in my home, and 2) talk with someone at City Hall concerning the physical checkup I'm due for; it'll probably be a pipe dream but perhaps there may be some clinic which has an English-speaking doc in Ichikawa. I did get my NHI premiums, by the way. Not too harmful to my health although I would prefer not paying them.
Slim ended up having an easier time of it at that party with the Germans on Friday. I'm sure that must've boosted his confidence no end. He's gonna be bringing in some conversations that he'll have to use when he takes off to the land of sauerkraut and Steffi Graf next week. He's already booked another couple of lessons before he does take off. Still waiting to see what Miss Sedona wants to accomplish in the time before she takes for her namesake place.
Had a pleasant conversation with the new staffer, TM. She's done her time in Canada, which seems to be a pattern with our previous staffers with the exception of The Admin. She used to live on Christie for a couple of months, so probably had access to a lot of that fine Korean cooking.
Well, tomorrow I just have those juku classes but I'll probably be taking off a bit earlier to: 1) escape the heat in my home, and 2) talk with someone at City Hall concerning the physical checkup I'm due for; it'll probably be a pipe dream but perhaps there may be some clinic which has an English-speaking doc in Ichikawa. I did get my NHI premiums, by the way. Not too harmful to my health although I would prefer not paying them.
Monday July 7, 7:08 p.m.
I guess my Genki Rockets obsession continues. I checked out the conversation on one of the Japanese pop music forums. The string has been on since the 2007 Live Earth Concert Tokyo exactly a year ago. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thought that Genki Rockets opening the Tokyo leg at Makuhari Messe (the clip is on the DVD of the new album) wasn't the best strategic move...especially that cheesy speech by Lumi. Man, I had to take off the headphones to avoid getting diabetic. Not impressive. I think a speech given by Goofy at Tokyo Disneyland had more gravitas. For a concert that had Linkin Park and Rihanna as headliners, starting Genki Rockets that way must've been a bit of a laugher for the folks who did show up early. It may not be surprising that the songs in the clip had a sudden fade out before they were to end. Faint applause is as bad as faint praise.
Still, it must be wonderful to be so youthful...from what I gather from the conversation string, all of the folks are under 20; they are just gushing about "Heavenly Star". I'm gonna have to take a second listen to some of those new tracks. None of the new ones hit me like a brick but they have the kernels to grow on me.
Looks like we've got a new staffer; she's being given the basics by current staffer AK who usually works the Monday day shift. TM is who she'll be.
I guess my Genki Rockets obsession continues. I checked out the conversation on one of the Japanese pop music forums. The string has been on since the 2007 Live Earth Concert Tokyo exactly a year ago. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thought that Genki Rockets opening the Tokyo leg at Makuhari Messe (the clip is on the DVD of the new album) wasn't the best strategic move...especially that cheesy speech by Lumi. Man, I had to take off the headphones to avoid getting diabetic. Not impressive. I think a speech given by Goofy at Tokyo Disneyland had more gravitas. For a concert that had Linkin Park and Rihanna as headliners, starting Genki Rockets that way must've been a bit of a laugher for the folks who did show up early. It may not be surprising that the songs in the clip had a sudden fade out before they were to end. Faint applause is as bad as faint praise.
Still, it must be wonderful to be so youthful...from what I gather from the conversation string, all of the folks are under 20; they are just gushing about "Heavenly Star". I'm gonna have to take a second listen to some of those new tracks. None of the new ones hit me like a brick but they have the kernels to grow on me.
Looks like we've got a new staffer; she's being given the basics by current staffer AK who usually works the Monday day shift. TM is who she'll be.
Monday July 7, 5:15 p.m.
Today's forecast: cloudy and warm with scattered policemen in the Tokyo area. It is the start of the G-8 (more accurate to say G-22) Summit up in Lake Toya, Hokkaido (or if I can be permitted to be a bit Jacksonian, LaToya). Although the meeting of the world leaders is taking place at a fortress-like hotel hundreds of kilometres away from the capital, The Big Sushi itself is on high alert. There are cops crawling everywhere in the stations and in the major sections. The officers are sporting those red vests that seem to have become part of their regular blue uniforms; I've seen solitary men in blue sporting a huge baton, standing on large blocks at strategic points in the stations and at intersections just looking like landlocked lifeguards. As I was walking through Shibuya towards The Lady's house, I saw a scrum of about 10 cops conferring; The Lady sardonically remarked that they were probably thinking about what to order for lunch.
That was one of the topics we covered during the chat with The Lady and The Matron. Another topic was on something that I'd never would've believed could happen to either woman...a form of snobbery. One time, The Matron and her hubby, a fine lawyer, went to a pretty exclusive French restaurant in Tokyo. Her husband doesn't really drink and normally that wouldn't have posed a problem, but apparently no less than the manager came out and "suggested for future places" other restaurants that would be "more accomodating to" teetotalers. In other words, they were being dissed for not opting for alcohol...always the product in fine restaurants which tend to inflate the bill...and therefore incomes. Well, hubby had a bit of a temper tantrum; not sure if the pair did stay for the dessert but they made sure they wouldn't go back again. And frankly, I couldn't blame them. Such a place dips into the level set aside for ramen shops whose tyrannical owners forbid speaking from the customers during ingestion of their noodles.
SIL was also another student I haven't seen in a couple of weeks. She was doing as fine as usual; we just gabbed on the latest news of the week. Apparently, the 2008 rankings for the first half of the year for "Fresh Faces" have been released. Pop cultural phenomena such as the cute techno unit Perfume, and late Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita's grandson, tarento DAIGO were up in the Top 10. However, topping off the men's side was Sekai no Nabe Atsu, the comedian who has given everyone a fun way to count to 40, and for the women was Edd Harumi with her "Goooooood" schtick. Will either of them be still popular this time next year? Maybe Edd can hang on since she's a trained stage actress (she's already slated as one of the main characters in a hospital drama this quarter) but I have a feeling that Nabe Atsu will end up on the pile of has-beens which include Razor Ramon HG, The Guitar Samurai and, I suspect, Yoshio Kojima.
It'll be a quiet Monday since I only have one more student at Speedy's. It'll be Slim at 7:30 since there are no other students slotted here and The Full-Timer has gone off to Singapore for some R&R. And for tomorrow, it'll be just the juku crew since the stars have conspired to have both The Beehive and 002 off this Tuesday. Not too bad for me since things get really nuts for me on Wednesday and Thursday.
Yesterday capped off the first truly hot weekend in the Kanto this year. I was literally sweating to the oldies in my oast of an apartment. It went to 31 degrees C in my humble abode but did I turn on my AC? Nope, I gaman'ed by just putting on my tiny electric fan and then taping on some of that load of dry ice packs that I've collected over the years from culinary presents needing refrigeration. Why the insanity? Well, I simply don't wanna pay the just-as-insane prices to TEPCO. I'll hold off as long as I can...I am lucky that I'm not home a lot of the time but I think I'll have to succumb in August.
Well, the cliffhanger that had all Whovians on the edge of their seats for a week was finally resolved on Saturday night. With all of the imaginative plot possibilities that had been bandied about amongst the "Doctor Who" fandom all week, the final episode finally had some of the fans (including that fellow in Sudbury, Ontario) saying "I told you so"....to a certain extent. There was still one little happening which probably did catch everyone off-guard. So, all of that talk on who'll be replacing David Tennant can be held off for at least another year.
I'm gonna have to be checking out some of those reviews for my recently acquired Genki Rockets disc. The Tower Records catalog classified it as an example of House music while HMV called it a Club album. I may be missing something but I just thought it was something descended from "The Archies"....as much as I did like it.
Today's forecast: cloudy and warm with scattered policemen in the Tokyo area. It is the start of the G-8 (more accurate to say G-22) Summit up in Lake Toya, Hokkaido (or if I can be permitted to be a bit Jacksonian, LaToya). Although the meeting of the world leaders is taking place at a fortress-like hotel hundreds of kilometres away from the capital, The Big Sushi itself is on high alert. There are cops crawling everywhere in the stations and in the major sections. The officers are sporting those red vests that seem to have become part of their regular blue uniforms; I've seen solitary men in blue sporting a huge baton, standing on large blocks at strategic points in the stations and at intersections just looking like landlocked lifeguards. As I was walking through Shibuya towards The Lady's house, I saw a scrum of about 10 cops conferring; The Lady sardonically remarked that they were probably thinking about what to order for lunch.
That was one of the topics we covered during the chat with The Lady and The Matron. Another topic was on something that I'd never would've believed could happen to either woman...a form of snobbery. One time, The Matron and her hubby, a fine lawyer, went to a pretty exclusive French restaurant in Tokyo. Her husband doesn't really drink and normally that wouldn't have posed a problem, but apparently no less than the manager came out and "suggested for future places" other restaurants that would be "more accomodating to" teetotalers. In other words, they were being dissed for not opting for alcohol...always the product in fine restaurants which tend to inflate the bill...and therefore incomes. Well, hubby had a bit of a temper tantrum; not sure if the pair did stay for the dessert but they made sure they wouldn't go back again. And frankly, I couldn't blame them. Such a place dips into the level set aside for ramen shops whose tyrannical owners forbid speaking from the customers during ingestion of their noodles.
SIL was also another student I haven't seen in a couple of weeks. She was doing as fine as usual; we just gabbed on the latest news of the week. Apparently, the 2008 rankings for the first half of the year for "Fresh Faces" have been released. Pop cultural phenomena such as the cute techno unit Perfume, and late Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita's grandson, tarento DAIGO were up in the Top 10. However, topping off the men's side was Sekai no Nabe Atsu, the comedian who has given everyone a fun way to count to 40, and for the women was Edd Harumi with her "Goooooood" schtick. Will either of them be still popular this time next year? Maybe Edd can hang on since she's a trained stage actress (she's already slated as one of the main characters in a hospital drama this quarter) but I have a feeling that Nabe Atsu will end up on the pile of has-beens which include Razor Ramon HG, The Guitar Samurai and, I suspect, Yoshio Kojima.
It'll be a quiet Monday since I only have one more student at Speedy's. It'll be Slim at 7:30 since there are no other students slotted here and The Full-Timer has gone off to Singapore for some R&R. And for tomorrow, it'll be just the juku crew since the stars have conspired to have both The Beehive and 002 off this Tuesday. Not too bad for me since things get really nuts for me on Wednesday and Thursday.
Yesterday capped off the first truly hot weekend in the Kanto this year. I was literally sweating to the oldies in my oast of an apartment. It went to 31 degrees C in my humble abode but did I turn on my AC? Nope, I gaman'ed by just putting on my tiny electric fan and then taping on some of that load of dry ice packs that I've collected over the years from culinary presents needing refrigeration. Why the insanity? Well, I simply don't wanna pay the just-as-insane prices to TEPCO. I'll hold off as long as I can...I am lucky that I'm not home a lot of the time but I think I'll have to succumb in August.
Well, the cliffhanger that had all Whovians on the edge of their seats for a week was finally resolved on Saturday night. With all of the imaginative plot possibilities that had been bandied about amongst the "Doctor Who" fandom all week, the final episode finally had some of the fans (including that fellow in Sudbury, Ontario) saying "I told you so"....to a certain extent. There was still one little happening which probably did catch everyone off-guard. So, all of that talk on who'll be replacing David Tennant can be held off for at least another year.
I'm gonna have to be checking out some of those reviews for my recently acquired Genki Rockets disc. The Tower Records catalog classified it as an example of House music while HMV called it a Club album. I may be missing something but I just thought it was something descended from "The Archies"....as much as I did like it.