Wednesday January 27, 5:30 p.m.

Speedy, Ray and La Fille are having their regular meeting right now. I don't think I need even one guess to know what the main topic of discussion is: survival. Tomorrow is the day that the bossman goes hat in hand to the bank to see about that one more loan to tide us over. To be frankly honest, if I were a lender, I'd be very doubtful. So I can only hope that Speedy is very persuasive.

Meanwhile, Ray is suffering mightily from some sort of stomach ailment. Now, it's my turn to ask her "Daijobu desu ka?" after asking me that very question on Saturday when I came down with that post-nasal drip. She's hanging in there which makes her a lot stronger than me. I probably would've at least gone straight for the sofa for a long nap.

Wednesday January 27, 3:21 p.m.

Nope, that wasn't my collective dinner last night. Dinner just consisted of conbini salad and small pasta. Actually, the right side picture is a souvenir Skippy sent me from that trip to Blacow on Sunday. Yep, Skippy can shoot some pretty tasty shots...look at that slab of bacon....look at that flab of fat covering my internal organs.

In any case, the picture of note is on the left. Apparently, Chocolate Beer has been making the trendy rounds recently. It has undergone analysis by those brains at TokyoWalker, and even the bunch on The Burger Tour has imbibed the stuff. And I did see the fusion brew at the neighbourhood supermarket last week, so I decided to give it a go. I can drink beer and love chocolate; perhaps, I thought, this could be a melding of tastes so sublime on the level of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

As you can see in the picture, I bought the Chocolate Brewery Bitter, the brainchild of Sapporo Beer and Royce's Chocolates. After taking the shot, I poured the stuff into a goblet more reserved for brandy. It looked just like a glass of Guinness. As the stuff cascaded down into the glass, I could get a slight whiff of the familiar scent of cacao but when I put the stuff between my lips, I got hit with a rather alien flavor: faintly beerish with carbonated soda pop but very little chocolate aftertaste. In fact, I had to gulp down the whole glass to even register any hint of chocolate. Not altogether the culinary epiphany of a peanut butter cup and I probably won't be having this one again. But there are two other brands of Chocolate Beer to try.

In any case, the beer gave me a late-night buzz which enhanced my watching of the last couple of episodes of Series 4 of "Doctor Who". Yep, the epicness of "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End" got that added boost; even Harriet Jones was starting to look pretty foxy close to midnight. But even without the alcohol-added advantage, those last two shows were probably some of the finest hours in the program's long history. Very sad about Donna Noble, but I'm glad that the Rose and Martha strings have finally been tied up. Bring on Matt Smith!

Found out that those high school sisters have decided to take their chances on me as their teacher. The juku boss and I had a powwow and we both agreed that I should go along the same lines as with The Restauranteur....make the lessons based on homemade copies and ensure that the kids can use the language immediately. I'll have to think up of some code names for them.

The CEO has cancelled her lesson for today (which explains why I can type this right now) but I still have 001 and The Music Man later tonight. The former may be interested in the Chocolate Beer.

I'm also rather happy to say that I've gotten through the preliminary stuff concerning Cozy's translation of his website and The Corporation's second proofreading assignment. Hopefully, this will open up a lot of time tomorrow for me to plan for Mr. TOEFL's final lesson before his test this weekend.

Monday January 25, 7:21 p.m.

Another Burger Tour started for this year with this new place in Ebisu. Blacow's is just a few hundred metres away from the West Exit of JR Ebisu.

It was a pretty big crew this time around. It was Skippy, with MB, The Satyr, Frodo and their significant others, and in Frodo's case, even his kids. However, the restaurant could seat all of us right away...always a good sign.

I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger, my seeming default burger whenever I go on the Burger Tour. And it was the usual price for a burger its size in Tokyo....1400 yen plus tax. The rest of the guys seemed to like their cows as well. The name "Blacow's", as I may have mentioned earlier, comes from "black" and "cow", the rough translation of Kurobe Wagyu, one of the premier examples of beef in this country. The burger was indeed thick and meaty; perhaps it could've been a bit juicier but otherwise it was fine. I think Brozer's will still be the one to beat, though.

Since the bunch of us hadn't met since before The Holidays, the guys and I caught up on what was what. Everyone had seen "Avatar" at the Kawasaki IMAX theatre and were quite blown away by it, which is saying something since 2009 was frankly a year that MB had not enjoyed cinematically. Still, I'm not sure if I'm willing to make my way into Kanagawa Prefecture just to see a movie, even if it is in 3-D and IMAX and has been in the No. 1 slot for the past 5 weeks. I've still yet to watch "Up", but MB told me that the 3-D treatment was just horrible and that I can get away with seeing it in the original 2-D.

Afterwards, all of us went down the street to another homey, folksy place called "Heaven". A lot of wooden benches inside. It was just dessert there so I ended up with chai in a cafe au lait cup and some Gateau Chocolat. Skippy was her usual kid-friendly self with Frodo's children. Since she'll be finishing up her time at her current company in another month, some of us remarked that she would have a promising career as a professional nanny.

The night before I met up with The Bohemian in Shibuya. I was coming down with a small cold, and since I didn't have any meds with me, I was burning through the pocket tissue like a hot knife through butter. My right coat pocket basically became the waste paper basket. The two of us ended up at a Chinese eatery, Songoku, that we'd been to before. It's located in the seedy alley next to a sex toys shop. I thought that the 3,000-yen price tag for the all-you-can-drink was a bit on the costly side since I'm not a huge drinker and we could only get three dishes but I still downed a beer and a couple of plum wines on the rocks. Was a bit worried that I had imbibed too much but managed to survive. The ma bo do fu was indeed good, though. As for The Bohemian himself, he actually started off sounding pretty darn serious, so I thought perhaps he finally has reached peak maturity, but then when he started downing the booze, his old impolitic, repetitive, slightly annoying self came back to the fore. Didn't get to the point where I wanted to just leave him there but I just told him when he started getting a bit much that he was getting a little out of control.

Well, the first shoe has dropped. I'd been expecting the message for some months now, and so it came as no surprise when Speedy informed me that the school was now operating on fumes. The last few months of hearing nothing but woe from the bossman had to have had some influence on the bottom line. However, it looks like we'll be OK for the next little while. I kinda felt bad getting the latest pay packet from him, but remembering my own personal financial crunch a couple of years ago, I cannot afford giving him back the pay.

I've got my last two students in the next little while. Mr. TOEFL and then The Medicine Man.

Saturday January 23, 4:35 p.m.

The PA and I had a good time basically talking shop...her shop of celeb publicity, basically about which Hollywood stars are the nice guys and which ones are the real turds. Nothing particularly mind-blowing but some surprises.

Did some work on the latest translation for Cozy. Almost done there.

However, I'm currently battling a non-stop drippy nose. Perhaps hay fever has come a bit early this year.

The Businesswoman will be here in about 25 minutes.

Saturday January 23, 12:41 p.m.

Looks like those kids for the model lesson at the juku last night weren't too bad. I'd been fearing getting a couple of dyed-blonde furyo...rude little punks....instead, they were pretty normal high school girls. Did my dog-and-pony show for them so it's now up to them whether they want to sign on. As for The Ace, he's just moved into his first apartment from the company dormitory, only to discover that after getting all the furniture and other knickknacks in there, the place feels even smaller than his old digs. Live and learn.

Did my biweekly visit to The Restauranteur's place, and had my usual Chicken Saute. Always nice to have on a Friday night. I gave her the omiyage in the form of that methol-tinged soap from Canada.

My new proofreading clients have already sent me the first article which I coursed through in no time flat. Hopefully, the speed in which I did it will make up for that little logistical glitch with the contracts.

I've only got The PA and then The Businesswoman today before I head on out to Shibuya to meet up with The Bohemian for the first izakaya trip this year. He left his usual impolitic remark on Mixi but I was pretty charitable in my response.

The weather has gone back to cold again after two days of early Spring but not too hard to handle.

However, I've found out that the I-Cafe that I'd been frequenting for the past couple of years is either moving or has gone out of business in my neighbourhood. So I may have to return to the grodier place across the street which I did on Tuesday. At least, the staff are different and nicer than before.

Wednesday January 21, 3:43 p.m.

Well, we did it. Ray and I made our way down to the Golden Arches and got ourselves a mess of Texas Burgers. McDonalds Japan has launched its 3-month campaign of introducing a regional series of burgers. This month, it's Texas. Early February will see the New York Burger, late February will be the California Burger and then finally, it'll be the Hawaii Burger in March. This is probably just a "Made-in-Japan-only" thing since I couldn't see anything like this in America without hearing hoots of derisive laughter.

The Texas Burger has got the three slices of bun but whereas there would be normally be a thin patty above the middle bun, there is a slice of bacon and some fried onions. The lone patty is a larger, slightly thicker piece of meat. And the other distinguishing features are two sauces: mustard and BBQ. The result was that I was OK with it...it wasn't a spectacular new taste sensation but it passed muster. Speedy himself thought that the middle piece of bread was just in the way.

Obviously the picture above isn't the McDonalds variety but just couldn't find anything on Yahoo that showed the Golden Arches version. All I know is that my dinner tonight will merely consist of vegetable matter.

Thursday January 21, 1:25 p.m.

Finished my sole class of the day. Grandma FON said that she was tired but she still has drive verbally...definitely kept the class going. This 78-year-old woman also pulled off an overnight trip to Osaka to see a friend at a hot spring and go to a funeral and then running to her Bullet Train to avoid missing it and then taking the late train back home from Tokyo Station, all the while lugging a suitcase. Yep, she isn't the usual retiree.

Had to take care of a couple of annoyances last night and today. Last night, the juku boss informed me that I would be taking care of a couple of high school girls for a model lesson tomorrow night. I was rather irked about that since she knows that I don't like kids but on the phone, the ol' girl made a strident defense of her decision stating that they're close to adults anyways. Luckily, I have a better handle of my temper now than I did back in the early days but it was impossible to keep the skepticism out of my voice.

Then, I got word from that new proofreading client that the contracts I'd sent back to her wouldn't pass muster since they were the old ones. I have to use the new ones. Paddy did warn me that these corporate giants would be rather anal about these things. Well, at least, I can send over some nicer copies tomorrow.

Still hanging out here at Speedy's since I did say that I would be buying a couple of Texas Burgers from The Golden Arches for La Fille and Ray to try out. Yep, I'm trying to keep my whimsy up.

Wednesday January 20, 10:05 p.m.

Well, got through another night unscathed. 001 was her usual happy-go-lucky self. Over the Holidays, she's managed to thoroughly fall in love with one of the members of Arashi, the Johnny's Jimusho group that's threatening to usurp the throne currently used by SMAP. The lad's name is Aiba, and he's not the guy who had appeared in the Clint Eastwood movie, "Flags of Our Fathers". That fact alone fueled much of the class. And then, Mr. TOEFL kept us well exercised in terms of our brain cells. I think that teaching TOEFL is almost as taxing as taking the test itself.

As far as I know, I only have Grandma FON tomorrow, which isn't too bad a thing since I would like a night off.

Wednesday January 20, 4:13 p.m.

Looks like Spring has come early this year. It's apparently gone up to 18 degrees C...something that Torontonians can only fantasize at this time. So I may not have to worry putting on the heavy coat and longjohns for today and tomorrow, although Mrs. Mild told me that Friday will be going back to the big chill. Speaking of Mrs. Mild, the juku classes last night went well. Mr. White is still happy and The Milds themselves appreciated the Taster's Choice Decaf I got them. Decaf doesn't exist in this part of the world which may explain the reason behind 24-hour-working salarymen here.

I've only got a couple of classes tonight. The return of 001 for her first one this year, and then Mr. TOEFL for another round of question-answering. I'm gonna try hard and get his answers down below 60 seconds. Since I had most of the day off, I was able to purchase a collapsible seat for the living room. This is the one that doesn't exist in the West...it's a legless backed seat which fits in tatami rooms. I needed another level of sitting besides the higher sofa by the coffee table. I used my gift certificates so that I only ended up paying a measly 980 yen. Gave it the test run watching the hilarious "Family Guy" DVDs.

Had lunch at the neighbourhood tonkatsu restaurant for the first time this year. Yup, the bad economy has even hit them. Went in at 1 p.m.....not a soul there. I ordered the mixed grill and found that the dish has shrunk by quite a bit. The bite-sized hire katsu was just two bites and the mounds of cabbage that are de rigueur along with the deep-fried pork were merely a small hill.

Then again, the tonkatsu restaurant doesn't compare to the trials and tribulations of Japan Air Lines. Yup, CNN was reporting that JAL finally bit the bullet and declared bankruptcy. I was surprised to learn that their domestic flights only had 50% occupancy on 80% of their lines. Far cry from my usual experience with Air Canada. Not surprisingly, JAL stock has either been delisted or is selling at the measly price of 7 yen per share. Heck, even I can afford that price, which means that it's absolutely useless for me to buy. Still, I'm not that worried about JAL's fortunes...the Canadian government has almost made it a standing order to annually save Air Canada's bacon from the fire, so I can imagine that Hatoyama and the boys will do the same with one of its corporate jewels.

There's nothing like a long holiday overseas and several days of watching American DVDs to realize how mindless Japanese TV can be. Taken time out from viewing stuff like "Family Guy" (OK, don't touch that series) and "Doctor Who" to see the Tuesday night late-night show "Pussuma" with SMAPster Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and loudmouth Yusuke Santamaria. It was one of their games involving trying dishes from various restaurants with some of the local tarento. And it was the usual sycophantic mewling about how seemingly great the latest round of penne was (good heavens, I am starting to sound like Stewie Griffin).

At the tonkatsu restaurant, the television had some sort of tribute to Audrey Hepburn...Audrey, the young version at least, is pretty much a goddess here in Japan, even more so here than in Hollywood. Apparently, today is the 17th anniversary since her passing due to cancer. I'm sure there will be a run on copies of "Roman Holiday" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in the stores today.

Tuesday January 19, 1:37 p.m.

It was another late night coming home but at least I didn't have to leave the home at 6:30. In fact, as long as my luck holds, I won't have to leave in the dark for the rest of this week, especially since Grandma Dynamite has taken another leave of absence.

Looks like The Burger Tour will be ready to launch this Sunday. Skippy's found yet another emporium of beef near Ebisu. The usual suspects will be showing up. The name of the place has the rather unfortunate vocabulary mash-up of "black" and "cow" to create "Blacow"...sounds like the name of a villain in a sword & sorcery epic. The derivation comes from the fact that the beef involved is known as kurobe wagyu or Kurobe Japanese Beef "kuro" meaning "black". As long as it tastes good...

Well, I've sent off approval to that new client of mine for proofreading. Had the contract read by Paddy himself to make sure everything was on the up-and-up. Should be getting a ton of articles to be read in the next couple of days.

Monday January 18, 6:54 p.m.

Not too suffocating in terms of classes today...having that Mega-Hump Day last Thursday helped in "weatherproofing" me. Saw some folks for the first time since returning from Canada: Cozy, Miss Prissy and SIL. Got the good word from Cozy that the translation passed muster so I'll just send him my bill, and gave Prissy and SIL their omiyage. SIL and I had a good ol' talk since it'd been well over a month since our last meeting.

Just got Mr. TOEFL in about an hour and then Medicine Man. Not the two easiest students to finish up on since both of them have their own challenges...the former requiring a lot of homemade stuff for his TOEFL test, and the latter just being oh so quiet. I should be properly knackered by 10:30.

It looks like along with Cozy's translations, I've got The Croatian and one other client for proofreading now. That other client comes from Paddy's recommendation. She even sent me a contract to look at and sign.

One of the pop cultural ephemera that I hadn't caught wind of until I got back was the fact that J-Pop diva Namie Amuro and the weaselly half of comic duo London Boots, Atsushi, are now an item. Talk about your Beauty and The Beast pairings. I can certainly see how Atsushi can have the hots for slinky Amuro but the other way around...? Perhaps in a way, the guy gives us all non-handsome types hope.

Saturday January 16, 9:44 a.m.

Considering the hell that is going through Haiti after that major quake (as if the country couldn't get any worse), I kinda wonder how Tokyo would fare after The Big One. Tomorrow is gonna be the 15th anniversary of The Great Hanshin Earthquake which notably ripped through Kobe. As I was talking with the juku boss last night, she mentioned about how the Haitians were coping with their disaster and wondered whether the Japanese would develop some sort of "every-man-for-himself" mentality in a similar situation. I just replied that it most likely did manifest itself in some minor ways during the Kobe quake but the media didn't report it for national pride's sake. I've got no doubts that the best of Man will shine if and when a huge temblor strikes Tokyo, but I've also got no doubts about the worst of Man.

Saturday January 16, 9:25 a.m.

For a guy who spent an enviable (by Japanese terms, anyways) eternity on vacation, I'm already starting to get that exhausted feeling. For one thing, I received a somewhat nasty message on Facebook from a fellow back home who's apparently felt rather put out that I never contacted him while I was back in Toronto. This is a fellow whom I knew back in the early 90s at the university but since then lost contact and currently just do the occasional Facebook pokes with. I don't know...he's always had a rather...subtle, shall I say...sense of humour, so maybe he's just pulling my leg, but in any case, I sent a fairly lame response to him. I mean, what could I say to a guy with that sort of message?

And then, from one of the friends that I did meet over the Holidays has now been having a polite exchange with me via e-mail concerning her cousin. She's been oh-so-nudging me about getting me in cahoots with her for some "beneficial" business relationship in which she would basically act as my agent in getting me students while I give her some remuneration...that famous 10%. I have hinted that I'm a solo act when it comes to my freelancing, but it looks like she's not quite getting it. She says that her cousin isn't particularly interested in getting any money out of this so-called deal but my friend said that it would be in good faith if she could get something. Well, I'll just let her wait a bit while I come up with a polite but firm denial.

At least, I'm happy that I had a relatively quiet day yesterday in comparison with that major Hump Day on Thursday. It was just The Bow in Shinjuku and then the juku. And even at the juku, The Restauranteur had to make a rare cancellation due to a death in the family. So it was just the boss and The Ace.

As for the current situation at Speedy's, the bossman once again gave the usual "Woe is us" report. A couple of more declarations like that this Winter and I may find that I won't need to make up that letter of resignation...the company will just pull away from me.

I've gotten that first of the annual financial translations for Cozy done. I'm sure that I'll be seeing a lot more of those in the next several weeks as tax time comes along. But for today, I've got the usual Saturday crew of Mr. TOEIC, The Intellectual and The Publicity Assistant.

Thursday January 14, 3:46 p.m.

Fully into the first Hump Day of the year. I've gotten through Grandma FON and The Nurse, and I should be seeing The New Yorker in the next few minutes. The New Yorker had originally meant to be here an hour ago, but due to some delay on the Joban Line, it'll be a 4 p.m. lesson. Lucky The German doesn't start til 5. Afterwards, it'll be The Carolinan, Mr. TOEFL and finally The Music Man to wrap up. The big planning was, of course, with Mr. TOEFL since it's basically all homemade stuff with him. Not easy. The bossman is again out at his conference.

The picture above is that of the water bus from Asakusa on the Sumida River. Took that for a 45-minute little cruise down to Hinode Pier, just across from Odaiba. Just part of my increase in whimsy. I hope I can try out that double-decker bus tour tomorrow. And perhaps I may just try that Reiji Matsumoto-inspired Himiko ship later on.

Wednesday January 13, 8:42 p.m.

Well, finished my first day at Speedy's in the New Year more or less intact, although I can't guarantee tomorrow night. Grandma Dynamite has cancelled this month's lessons due to a family emergency, but Mr. TOEFL has filled in the gap so it'll still be an enormous Hump Day but at least I can come in at a more leisurely hour tomorow morning.

The CEO had a good first class today...just hope that things continue like this.

The staff's been shivering over the cold today. It's nothing compared to the deep freeze in Toronto but still the cold over here in Tokyo is a wet one which makes things fairly uncomfortable. However, I've finished for the day; haven't even had lunch but strangely enough, I don't feel too hungry. Still, I may end up breaking my own resolution and grab something at Mickey D's.

Wednesday January 13, 2:22 p.m.

Back at Speedy's after almost a month away. Just caught the bossman himself as he was about to scoot out for some conference...basically Hi and Bye. I've already gotten through a couple of classes...two of the Grandmas, pretty easy, but in about an hour, I've got my official first with The CEO...that pretty high-powered, feisty president that I had done the model lesson back in November. Then, since 001 has cancelled, Mr. TOEFL is coming in for a lesson, and the bossman hasn't had time to tell me what he's been doing with him.

Yesterday was a simpler day with the first meeting of The Beehive...gave out the round of omiyage to them. Mrs. Tee celebrated her 60th birthday as well, which is an auspicious thing for the Japanese. Then I got my classes back at the juku. I mention "classes", since Mr. White came back for the first time since his meltdown in November. He's made a 180-degree recovery and was back to his original smiley self. Thankfully, he aced the test and did well. As for the Milds, we had a good ol' time talking about the Holidays. Pretty smooth Tuesday before the relatively busy Wednesday. Tomorrow will be a huge Hump Day...not that I can complain too much (publicly) since I've just come back from a 3-week vacation (unheard of in Japanese society), but I could be properly frazzled by the end of the day.

I've been going through the "Doctor Who" DVDs with Catherine Tate as the garrulous Donna Noble. Considering what I'd heard about her, I hadn't been looking forward to her as the last full-time companion of David Tennant's Doctor, but after watching a number of episodes with the DonnaDoctor, I find that she's probably the best one yet for him. I'd never been a big fan of the concept of companions falling in love with Earth's Most Famous Time Lord, and happily, a much-reformed Donna has been a fine foil for him....which makes it all the more tragic to see her to get reverted back to her unlikeable earlier self at the end of the season.

Sunday January 10, 6:36 p.m.

The above two pictures pretty much summarizes my latest pilgrimage back to the ol' hometown. The above left shot is of that humoungous beef souvlaki dinner I had for my first Greek dinner a couple of weeks ago. Yup, my meals were in foodie paradise. The souvlaki dinner was just one example of how I feasted during my time back in Toronto. But I have to admit that must've been one whole calf that had been slaughtered for my culinary pleasure.

As for the CN Tower, it has now been superseded...way superseded...by that Dubai monstrosity. And it truly is a Godzilla of a tower...over 800 metres in height. I think the architects were truly compensating for something...perhaps ingrown penises. So, our own Canadian National Tower is now only the 3rd-highest free-standing structure on the planet, having its 3-decade record usurped by the Burj in Dubai and that Shanghai structure. But that building in Shanghai will itself be shanghaied by Tokyo's own SkyTree within a couple of years.

The flight back home was not quite nightmarish, but we all had to endure a 5-hour delay at Pearson due to some electrical problems with the original plane. Still, I was entertained during the 12-hour ride by some interesting flicks such as "District 9", "The Informant", and Canada's own "Flashpoint". I even caught the pilot for "The Republic of Doyle" on CBC the night before takeoff. It's kinda like a mix between a teleguide for Newfoundland and "The Rockford Files".

The train back home from Narita gave me the refresher course on what a typical Friday in the Kanto is like. One car on the Tozai Line had its floor splattered in vomit from some overindulgent salaryman, and a young lady collapsed on the JR. The jet lag has been non-existent, as it usually is coming back from Canada, and I'm slowly starting to get back into life in Chiba once more. However, I am grateful that I've come home just on the cusp of the first long weekend of the year since Monday is Adulthood Day. So, most likely the news will be filled with scenes of young male and female 20-year-olds either dressed soberly in suits and kimono respectively, and perhaps a few scenes of future yakuza chinpira driving like idiots in parking lots or throwing stuff at the local politicians. But I will be mercifully saved from that must-not-see TV since I'm going through my DVD sets for the next little while. Regrettably though my first disc from Season 4 of "Doctor Who" seems to have suffered some major damage so I had to rely on YouTube to catch the conclusion from "Voyage of the Damned".

After engorging myself thoroughly on such stuff like the above souvlaki, one of the resolutions that I plan to keep is trying to lose weight. I actually had a good start yesterday, my first full day backin Japan, by just munching down on some salad. The other resolution is seeing about bringing back a bit more whimsy into my life...making things fun again. Another is making some changes in my life...perhaps that long-needed move may not be far in the offing; the other is something that Speedy may not like very much in that I want to be rid of coming home at midnight which may mean either requesting that I not work nights anymore...at least at the school...or if worse comes to worse, just leaving the school altogether. First, though, I've gotta make sure that safety net is open wide.

Friday December 25, 5:21 p.m.

Once again, I write from my brother's place in The Great White North on this Xmas Day. I've been back for a little over a week now. It's been the usual stuff of meeting up with old friends and stuffing myself silly. Had quite the feast last night with Ol' Sam and his family along with some others, and I'll probably end up doing the same in a few minutes with my own family.

Unlike in recent years, Toronto is having a Green Xmas this year...just some cold rain to bring in the Yuletide. Not that I mind too much...certainly moving around is a lot easier and admittedly, it's more comfortable not having to freeze one's tail feathers off.

I'm looking forward to a few more days ahead of meeting up with old friends for lunch and dinner. Gonna have to be careful with the funds, though. Pretty limited this time around.

Wednesday December 16, 3:59 p.m.

Just one more lesson to go and then I'll be officially on the Holidays. Had Grandma Dynamite for the double and The Nurse earlier today. And then I went down to Times Square to pick the last couple of presents from Tokyu Hands and some reading material for the eventual flight home.

Just another Xmas tree near the main intersection of Ginza. Quite popular with the shutterbugs.

It'll be Mr. TOEFL who'll round out the year with me. Speedy had him yesterday, and yep, as I suspected, the bossman also relayed the message of our newest student not quite beating the clock for his Speaking Test.

Anyways...more later...

Monday December 14, 4:28 p.m.

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

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

Well, gotta get started on Mr. TOEFL.

Monday December 14, 10:21 a.m.

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday December 12, 2:08 p.m.

Anyways, my final instalment of the Ruiko Experience. All in all, as I've reiterated, it was finally good to see the face behind the voice. Not sure if I would be willing to go see her again since any future appearances would have her singing her old hits again and I'm not sure if I can really afford shucking out 4,000 yen a pop. Still, I can say that I had a good time at an Aoyama nightclub.

Well, I'm done here since I finished my three students. The PA informed me that "Public Enemies" is getting hammered here and abroad by critics. Not sure how all of us will be reacting tomorrow when MB, me and Skippy see it at the Picadilly. I recall that our last Johnny Depp movie, "Sweeney Todd" had us racing for the exits in horror.

The PA also talked our mutual like for the series "Criminal Minds" with Mandy Pantinkin. I was rather shocked to learn that Thomas "Hotch" Gibson was once the one and only Greg on "Greg & Dharma". Although the sitcom ran on NHK some years ago, I never became a fan so I didn't even know who had been portraying Greg. On "Criminal Minds", Agent Hotchner is probably only beaten by Sgt. Joe Friday as the stoniest face on TV.

Anyways, I gotta make another run to Akihabara to see if I can actually complete The Anime King's request and find something for this "Dream C Club" game.

Yesterday, I had what I'd thought would be my final Spicy Chicken Sandwich Set at the neighbourhood Wendy's, only to find out that it would be my final Spicy Chicken Sandwich Set ever. Wendy's is pulling out stakes and heading home by the end of the year...victim of the hamburger wars between McDonalds and Burger King, which ironically had its own exile for several years in the 90s before coming back strong a few years ago. To be honest, I was never a big fan of Wendy's burgers due to their overall greasiness but their chicken sandwiches managed to pull me in whenever I finished my stint with The Class Act on Mondays, but I guess that was about it for me.

Saturday December 12, 12:42 p.m.

So at 7:30 last night, Ms. Kurahashi appeared in the flesh as it were, dressed in a tartan jacket and blue jeans, looking very much like a middle-aged Shirogane woman. It was amazing to finally see a face mouthing those lyrics to those songs that I've been listening to for 25 years. My image of her had always been disjointed...hearing her whispery delivery while seeing her cover pictures. She was never much of an aidoru-like smiler; she always seemed rather depressed (such as in this picture here), or perhaps the proper words here would be "...esconced in ennui..."; even in those rare pictures where she did give a smile, she seemed rather melancholy.

Well, the voice and the face were finally made whole some 10 metres in front of me. And Ruiko Kurahashi seemed a much more happier person in person. I could actually see her singing all those hits like "Glass no Yesterday" or her cover of the Neil Diamond "Hello, Again". And not only did she sing, but she also bantered with the audience like any woman running into friends at the supermarket. She did have that Judy Garland moment when she started speaking about the Pixar picture, "Up"; let us say that her life has some parallels with that of Uncle Carl, but basically she happily chatted away and made a few jokes. Not sure what she was like during the 80s, but it was fairly apparent that she was now at peace with herself and with the world.

As for the concert itself, the set went for a solid 2 hours with no intermission. It was mostly a rendition of her old hits; as a first-timer, I was quite happy with it. The audience was very well-heeled like any audience in Japan. There were very few shoutouts...more like speak-out-outs.

Ah, The Publicity Assistant is here...

Saturday December 12, 11:16 a.m.

To continue the odyssey of Seeing Ruiko, the staff of Minami-Aoyama Mandala are to be commended as representatives of the much-vaunted Japanese efficiency. When I had first seen the middle-aged mob at the bottom of the stairs, I thought ruefully "Well, I guess it will be every man and woman for himself/herself." Nothing was further from the truth. Every ticket had a seiri bango, an "organizing number"; I was 32. The staffers of the live house had everyone come in by number, so the first few lucky ones had the choice of where to sit. As the masses entered the underground club, they showed their tickets and the receptionist asked for a drink order from the menu on the table (everyone was allowed to have one free drink); I went for the Cassis Orange...I got a slip of paper with the order written on it. And then we all went down single file into the club itself where we each had our order made up by a trio of bartenders. Once we got our drinks, then we were free to take over a seat.

The club itself wasn't too big...somewhat cozy but still a nice-sized establishment with a small stage in front and a combination of chairs, tables, and sofas. I went right for the back corner since my chivalry dictated that I shouldn't be taking any tables away from groups, and I don't think too many people would come stag...just me. I sipped away at my Cassis while the throngs were getting themselves settled for about the hour before showtime.

Then at 7:30, it was lights down and curtains up. More on that in the 3rd installment.

I just had Mr. TOEIC. He had the best excuse to divert us away from the fate of his make-up test. In a "the-dog-ate-my-homework" alibi, he sheepishly said that he had lost the test possibly amongst the reams of paperwork from his company. In other words, he rendered the entire matter moot. It will now be on Speedy's lap since his next lesson will be when I'm back over in the old country.

Now, within a few minutes, The Intellectual should be arriving.

Saturday December 12, 9:33 a.m.

Wish I didn't have to teach 3 classes today....especially I got Mr. TOEIC first at bat since he flubbed his last test. I hope he succeeded on the make-up.

But I digress....last night, I went to see a performance by a singer who I've long sought to see...probably on the order of a quarter-century since I bought her album in a Toronto Chinatown record shop back in university. Her name is Ruiko Kurahashi, a self-confessed balladeer from the 80s.

In a way, the horrible weather last night kinda fit the mood. Not to say that she's a horrible singer by any means. Not at all. But her mix of AOR ballads, chanson and light jazz has that relaxed air which actually enhances the weather outside. This is the type of music that I would like to hear when I come in from a steady cold rain...the stuff that I could warm up to with a cup of java.

It was basically a lousy day turning into night as I arrived in Gaienmae. And I spent several minutes looking for the Minami-Aoyama Mandala, the venue for Ruiko's concert. I was once again the typical addled male who had forgotten to write down the address and the map for the place. Finally, after brooding half-drenched over a Big Mac set in the nearest Golden Arches, I decided to give the place a call. Luckily, my Japanese was good enough so that I could find out that the Mandala was located just down the hill going towards swanky Nishi-Azabu away from the main intersection where Aoyama Bell Commons was. Y'know when things are getting swanky when the neighbourhood has that touch of France in its architecture and shops. I couldn't see a Starbucks or a Tully's to save my caffeine addiction along that street. I was still an hour early for the official opening of the doors but I passed by the club and I thought I did see Ms. Kurahashi herself downstairs in the basement where the nightclub was. She had that short haircut she's famous for and was wearing a gigantic fur coat that I couldn't imagine anyone but a celeb wearing...she looked not unlike a giant tribble. After a half-hour in a Starbucks nursing a latte and quietly deflating from the tension of searching for the place, I returned to the club.

Within that half-hour, a good bunch of fellow Ruiko fans had shown up. The average age of the mass seemed to float around the late 40s and early 50s, so I guess I was the baby of the group. I certainly didn't see anything that remotely looked like the typical Shibuya gal or even the well-to-do young couple of Omotesando. Still, a lot of them looked like they came from a higher income tax bracket than me. Glad that I kept my mouth shut.

I'll have to let you know about the concert itself in the next entry but I gotta boil the water for Mr. TOEIC....maybe a lot more if he's flunked the make-up.

Thursday December 10, 10:38 p.m.

And thus we have once again come to the end of our programming day. Managed to last through 7 hours of lessons, including the official first one with Mr. TOEFL. I wasn't too satisfied with it, though the lad seemed to be OK. I need to streamline things down a bit. Just like an Olympic swimming coach, I have to get his times down as much as I can.

Also had the Sisters of State earlier in the evening. The New Yorker was OK, but The Carolinan has been pretty moody of late; not sure what is up with her aside from the fact that she's been brooding about her job. Hopefully, the month-long absence may do me and her some good.

And I finally finished up with The Music Man. Both of us were pretty exhausted but he was in good humor. He admitted that he is quite into the 1st-person shooting games...as therapy for his stress. He just imagines all of the zombies to be his boss and other hated folks.

Tomorrow, I actually have a day off. I've gotta go get my niece's present and any other remaining presents. And then tomorrow night, I'll be catching Ruiko Kurahashi live in concert in Aoyama. 25 years in the making for this. I'll be wearing my Friday best and bringing along a camera and perhaps an old album for her to sign...if she's kind enough.

Thursday December 10, 1:00 p.m.

Well, got one-third of the students out of the way today. With a 2-hour session with Grandma Dynamite, I barely made it through...basically on fumes by the last half-hour. I think one factor was the fact that I hadn't made any tea for myself. It proved to be quite restorative during the hour-long lesson with Grandma FON.

Luckily, I've now got a few hours to prep for the rest of the other lessons. Just race through The Sisters of State and The Music Man while get down to town with Mr. TOEFL. Still feeling pretty woozy from the lack of sleep.

Thursday December 10, 8:35 a.m.

Ugh! Back at Speedy's after just 5 hours of sleep due to another late class-early class. Got a really long day ahead of me. Luckily, the first two are pretty easy to plan for with The Grandmas. But I'm still happy that this will be the last such transition of this year.

Wednesday December 9, 10:34 p.m.

Well, got that sale with Mr. TOEFL...yep, that's his name now. I managed to pull one out of the hat and got him to commit for 12. Although he wasn't aware of it, there was a bit of a fly-by-the-seats-of-one's-pants nature to the model lesson. Had to put my best teacher's face on, but the important thing is I got it done. And it was a lucky thing I did, too. Speedy admitted that if I hadn't gotten the sale, my chances of getting paid before I left for home would've been close to nil.

It'll be a really busy one tomorrow, since I've got Grandma Dynamite for a double followed by Grandma FON and then some hours later I've got The Sisters of State, then Mr. TOEFL followed finally by The Music Man. I'll be ready to be poured into a bottle by that point.

Wednesday December 9, 7:37 p.m.

Just less than half an hour away from a model lesson with a fellow who'd just come in yesterday seeking help in getting his TOEFL Speaking boosted. Speedy assures me that he's pretty much a lock as long as I don't totally screw things up. I've been planning things up for a few hours, so it should be OK.

Above you see the fruits of Hokkaido: on the left is a marvelous kit of ramen which consists of 6 packets of fresh noodles and 3 pairs of representative packets of ramen stock from the northernmost prefecture.: shoyu, shio and miso. Had the second batch yesterday which was the shio. I was smarter today....didn't try to stuff myself into explosion by adding on what is in the right picture...the ikameshi. Basically a long-distance cousin of stuffed bell peppers, the stuffee happens to be made of squid flesh instead of vegetation; the stuffing itself is flavoured rice.

Yesterday morning, when I was at the Tsudanuma cafe where The Beehive and I have been having our sessions for the past couple of years, there was a somewhat unwelcome presence in the form of a boryokudan'in....a gang member, probably a chinpira or a lower-echelon hood, waiting a couple of folks in front of me. He had the Nazi buzzcut, the typically crouched stance, the sunglasses and the swagger. Strange thing, though...he actually seemed like he was trying to be friendly with the staff...in his thuggish way. The woman who was taking care of him had her charm on full blast...which probably meant that she was terrified. I wouldn't have been surprised if there had been a little puddle underneath her skirt (yes, I know, that was rather nasty of me to say). Still, he didn't come on up to the 2nd floor, so I was rather relieved.

Later on at the juku, that lady who had wanted to come in all the way from Shinagawa for a model lesson with our motley place suddenly cancelled a few hours before showtime. She complained of a cold although the boss didn't notice any problem with her voice. So, probably she came to her senses and decided that the trip for just one hour of lesson wasn't worth it. As for The Milds, their trip to Vietnam came off pretty well, aside from the food which they didn't really cotton to, due to the usage of coriander. They also got a firsthand experience of the chaos of navigating through traffic on a typical Ho Chi Minh City street; methinks that it was comparable to The Millenium Falcon going through that asteroid field in "The Empire Strikes Back". Any film that they could've taken would've come with a John Williams soundtrack.

It's been a pretty easygoing day so far. The Milds had given me some Vietnamese coffee as a souvenir, complete with that little aluminum setup. It sure took some time getting all that coffee dripped out into the cup; the condensed milk was a nice addition. However, I'd thought that Vietnamese coffee was a kicker of a brew; but I fell nicely asleep on the subway coming over here.

Just had The Do-Gooder for her 90. She seems to be coming along although she won't be coming next week and 001 has cancelled for the rest of the year so I'm probably looking at a bare Wednesday next week, unless that TOEFL guy passes muster and decides to come everyday. I'm trying to see if I can get out of having to teach in the evening, though.

Monday December 7, 8:09 p.m.

Well, got the bonenkai out of the way last night. Had it in this little out-of-the-way cafe called Ken's Cafe near Shinjuku-Gyoenmae Station. Apparently, it's been mentioned a number of times on the trend-happy commercial stations and has been used for location shoots. This time, it was used as the venue for our little own party with the Speedy crew.

Yup, it was OK. As I've gotten older, I've started to not enjoy these massive get-togethers too much (if you call 23 people getting together too much). I think I've just gotten too used to the work format of one-on-one conversations over the past 5 years to really feel comfortable in a party setting. I've got students all around me, and so my ears have to attune themselves to all of these conversations going on and then try to address them so it probably seemed to some of my conversational partners that I was somewhat distracted. I had The Grandmas beside me, The Intellectual in front of me and our newest member of staff, The Cockney next to him. I'd first met her several days ago but the conversation was purely in Japanese. Last night was the first time I got to hear her in English, and yep, she sounded like someone who just popped out of a London suburban pub.

Well, let's see. The icebreaker game was a bit of a bust since La Fille and The Cockney got two of the 5 prizes, and since The Grandmas kinda shrugged their shoulders at the proceedings, but then again, I shouldn't be too hard...the ages of all three of them put together would total nearly a quarter-millenium. The food came out in short order....kinda on the Italian side with two pasta dishes making up the main stuff. The dessert was in the form of the largest custard pudding I've seen in 15 years and some dense gateau chocolat. Pretty good stuff. Of course, my metabolism had to choose a night in which I couldn't really break down the alcohol so my face grew red as a beet. I'm sure folks were talking.

Had a good chance to talk with Mr. Influence for the first time in several months. He'd tied the knot some weeks earlier and spoke about his new digs in Kanagawa Prefecture....longer commute, but he's got a house and a wife now.

Of course, since Speedy the barfly is the boss, there was a second party for which virtually all of the guests, except for The Grandmas, decided to head over to an izakaya. I was the only one under 50 who demurred since I did have Cozy for his usual early class and since I didn't think I would really enjoy extending my endurance into a nijikai. So I quickly said my goodbyes at the station and sped home.

I got Cozy and SIL out of the way earlier today. SIL was once again in fine fettle conversationally. Went to Akiba between their lessons to search for The Anime King's wish list. Some thingie called Dream C Club...very otaku-ish stuff. The King assured me that it would be located just about everywhere; but I looked through the main stores of Animate and Gamers...bupkiss. At least, I had my regular doner kebab there. Then I ended up getting a calendar and card for Frodo off in England. Tried looking for a toy for my niece at the Matsuzakaya but it looks like I'm gonna have to make that trip over to Colton Plaza to secure it.

I've got The Medicine Man in another hour. Then I gotta read up on a potential model lesson student for Wednesday night. He's itching to improve his TOEFL score by the 20th so it looks like he'll be coming in pretty much every day until then. Oy vey!

Sunday December 6, 3:33 p.m.

Yes, as unusual as it may seem, I'm typing this on a Sunday...and at Speedy's, to boot. The reason being that in about an hour, I'm supposed to be heading for the annual school bonenkai (year-end party). I'm in my dress blues...a bit tight around the waist but I'm rather accustomed to that...as long as the buttons hold for a few hours, I'm OK. Still waiting for the bossman to get in...he should've arrived almost 5 minutes ago, but then again, he's often late for stuff. I have to whip out the icebreaker game.

Got home and whipped up that dinner consisting of the food that The Beehive so kindly had gotten for me from Hokkaido last week. I think I went a bit overboard in cooking up the ikameshi and the miso ramen. I think either by itself would've been just ample, but I just had to get a little overambitious. Managed to survive not exploding by sitting very still for an hour. I'm sure I won't have to worry about that tonight at the party since we're being given a course menu.

Now, where is Speedy?

Saturday December 5, 2:11 p.m.

Got a good chunk of the Xmas shopping done today. Bought that DVD that all of the old folks here are raving about...a comedian by the name of Ayanokoji Kimimaro who apparently does Western-style standup schtick. My mother asked for it special...I have seen him on TV looking a bit like me with a ponytail (not sure if that resemblance had anything to do with her requesting it). In any case, his DVDs were rarer than gold until I found one single disc over at Shinjuku Tower Records yesterday...didn't waste time, I just grabbed it lest a senior citizen tried to wrestle me for it. Then, just before I came over to Speedy's, I hit Kinokuniya to get a ton of calendars for the bunch back home...grabbed 10 of the Japan-themed ones for 10,000 yen; the cashier advised to sign up for the point card but there was already a sizable line for it, so I decided to just scrap that idea.

Had my final Friday night at the juku for the year since I'm heading out next Friday to see Ruiko Kurahashi live. Heard some more from the juku boss about this potential new student I gotta give the model lesson to next Tuesday. Apparently, she's coming all the way over from Shinagawa and, as the boss suspects, she may be some rich, bored housewife. Shinagawa, as last week's party at Miss Honolulu's place would attest to, isn't just any old residential neighbourhood but does have a mix of fancy-schmancy condos, hi-tech company headquarters (including SONY) and the Tokyo Regional Immigration Centre...the only reason I go to that area. The boss and I are hoping that this lady realize that she may be schtupping down a bit on the social ladder by coming to our neck of the woods.

Yesterday also seemed to be "Give-Presents-to-Me Day" for some reason. I got a package of rice crackers and tsukudani from The Bow as omiyage to my parents. I guess her family is kinda old-fashioned that way. Then, The Restauranteur gave me an o-chuugen gift of Britsh tea. Never a bad thing.

Speaking of gifts, my dinner will be mostly consisting of that Hokkaido food package I got from The Beehive a few days ago. So, it'll be ramen topped with veggies and BBQ pork along with ikameshi (squid stuffed with seasoned rice). I did try that Subway seasonal menu of Roast Chicken with Melted Cheese...not bad, the cheese was quite gooey, though.

Since The Publicity Assistant canned her lesson today, I just have The Businesswoman in about 90 minutes.

Between The Bass and The Bow, I dropped off at Colton Plaza near Moto-Yawata Station and checked out the local Toys-R'-Us for a present for my niece. My sister-in-law was kind enough to send me some info via Internet about potential presents. Yup, they were there....luckily I could go during the weekday and avoid having to deal with harried parents and bratty kids on the weekend.

Thursday December 3, 10:46 p.m.

And the day ends like it begins....me alone to wrap things up. Daddy's Girl had the double with me. She needed some help with a meeting that she has to chair tomorrow morning so there was definitely a purpose to her scant arrival tonight. Nice lady but definitely not all that committed to the English cause. She conveniently forgot her textbook and didn't bother with the homework; didn't even buy the CD.

The Music Man came in looking pretty exhausted. Must have been a tough week for him...for whatever he does. He did wax eloquently about a classical concert he'd attended, though.

Well, I'm done here at the school for almost 48 hours since I've only got the privates....The Bass and The Bow before the juku gang tomorrow night.

Still sounds like it's raining pretty steadily out there. Luckily, I've got a bit of lead time before I head on out tomorrow morning.

Thursday December 3, 5:19 p.m.

Nearing the end of the holding pattern. Daddy's Girl should be arriving in little more than an hour from now. It's been miserable out there with all of the rain and cold temps. Apparently, Toronto is having similar weather which means that it's unusually balmy there. I got word from The Anime King for the first time in a while...he wants me to pick up some paraphernalia in Akiba concerning the latest craze called Dream Club. I guess The Idolmaster has finished its run.

I may be on the way to making my first enemy/rival on Mixi. On that SNS within a SNS, the movie community, some fellow wrote shabbily to some newbie when the newbie tried to introduce her own topic; basically the fellow slagged her off for putting up a topic which had already existed. I checked the newbie out...she's still new onto Mixi and could've used a bit more of a break. Then, I got a slightly snide comment from the same guy when I spelled my katakana rendition of "Death Star" wrong. For the past several months that I've been active on Mixi, I've met mostly fine folks on the various communities and some of them have become good Mixi friends, but I'm not totally naive on the fact that inevitably some crabgrass is gonna show up like the stuff that happens over at Channel 2. Well, I guess it's my time. So in my attempts to show that I'm not intimidated, I did leave a positive answer to the newbie's summons right under the crab's own comment.

Thursday December 3, 9:11 a.m.

Back for another early one, but it's not for Grandma Dynamite. Instead, I have Miss Prissy on tap at 10. Then, it's Grandma FON, followed by a long gap before I have Daddy's Girl for a double and then The Music Man to wrap up. I was gonna go down and get some early Xmas shopping done and perhaps get some shots of the LED lights in Omotesando but today's scheduled downpours have pretty much put a damper on those plans.

I got a message from the juku boss. I've got my first model lesson there in several weeks. And she apparently wants to start right from the alphabet...she's apparently that low. I may need to buy some Bufferin.

Wednesday December 2, 8:30 p.m.

Well, you see the silhouette on the right. Arguably, it's one of the most recognizable ones in all of science-fiction...probably right next to the one of the USS Enterprise. It is indeed the Space Cruiser Yamato...one of the most beloved anime ever made. On the heels of the current rebooting craze that has engulfed "Battlestar Galactica", "Tron" and "Star Trek", it looks like the Yamato is also coming back. But I'm mistaken by calling it a reboot. I went to the website to find out that it is actually a sequel taking place some 17 years after the last adventure done in 1983. I saw the trailer on YouTube and it looks rather thrilling...the animation doesn't look too bad at all and CG is definitely imbued into this production. And there have been quite a few changes made to the style and the characters. It comes out on the 12th, so I'm kinda chewing my fingers right now wondering whether I'll be able to catch it before I head on home.

I'm now done for the night after the lessons with The German and 001. I thought it would be a slower day tomorrow since Mr. TOEIC cancelled, but Daddy's Girl decided to come back for a double tomorrow night. I still have The Music Man so it's not as if an early night was ruined, but my attempts to catch some pics of Omotesando in all its illuminated glory may be curtailed a bit. Ach, it's still money in the bank for me.

Wednesday December 2, 3:58 p.m.

Had the Do-Gooder's very first lesson a few hours ago. Yep, she's a good conversationalist. Found out that she's a veteran Mah Jongg player. Nice to have someone who can hold her end of the bargain. And she's a 90-minute lesson, so she'd be my second of the day along with veteran student 001.

Just before I have 001, I've got The German in about 45...she's also another one who loves to sidetrack, a godsend for any teacher. Then it's the hijinks with 001. Mr. TOEIC has once again cancelled his next lesson which means I've got a huge hole in the schedule tomorrow between Grandma FON and the Music Man. Well, I've got time then to take some shots of the Omotesando Xmas Illumination in the early evening. It's the first time in 11 years since the lights last went on in the tony neighbourhood; they went off for good back in 1998 since the residents pitched a hue and cry about the garbage the crowds left. But apparently there has been a change in heart...or money changing hands. In any case, it'll be a different illumination since it'll just be trees strung up in LEDs instead of the more ornate stuff of the 80s and 90s.

Wednesday December 2, 12:37 p.m.

Probably the final day for this year's Indian Summer...or koharu biyori, as they express it here. From tomorrow, it'll be a gray rainy one. Just finished the monthly chat fest with Grandma Enka. She won't be able to make it for the year-end party on Sunday since her somewhat tyrannical husband demands her presence at one of his year-enders on the same day. As for the current numbers, Ray informed me that we're around 10 folks....halfway toward the numbers needed to ensure that we've got the venue all to ourselves...which will probably mean that Speedy will be padding things with a lot of his buddies.

Tuesday December 1, 1:07 p.m.

And now we enter the final month...a time of Xmas, bonenkai, depleted bonuses (not that I've gotten one in the past 5 years) and exposed bodily fluids on the train platforms. I've only got one more planned event for the coming Sunday...the annual year-ender with Speedy. Speaking of whom, yep, I still regret opening my big fat mouth about hoping that The Medicine Man would not renew his lessons since he has often made classes as fun as pulling teeth due to his reticence. I've always known that the bossman was the type to provide a thousand words when one or even none would've sufficed. Still, as we were both walking to the station late last night, I also found out that he's been getting even more stressed than he usually is...and from an unexpected source...La Fille. Not that we're going through the manic-depressive days of BC again but apparently, she's been screwing up on schedules recently for some reason. She'd been dependable up to that point but perhaps something...or someone...has been occupying her mind. In any case, Speedy stated that he's gonna be interviewing a couple of applicants for staff positions this week...hmmm...I wonder if that's an implied threat against La Fille.

Not surprisingly, the session with The Beehive was almost all on their trip to Hokkaido last week. They did the circuit of Hakodate and Sapporo with more food ingested than in a typical variety show with tarento. Mrs Perth, being a current resident of Sapporo, was of course there to host the ladies, but even Mrs. Pottery came up all the way from subtropical Okinawa to subpolar Hokkaido to join in on the culinary fun. They had the usual delights such as fresh scallops, clams, crabs and hokke. I also received a very nice omiyage package in the form of a ramen kit, ikameshi (squid bodies stuffed with seasoned rice) and other stuff. Gonna have to plow through this stuff before I head on home.

There was a bit of pathos in the Beehive's proceedings when Mrs. Tee admitted that she may no longer be able to attend the sessions starting from January. She's retiring from her job at the end of the year but she may help her tea master full-time on Tuesdays. It isn't such a shock for me since she has been absent for weeks at a time in the last couple of years but I think the ladies will definitely miss her.

I've only got The Milds tonight...they'll have travel plans of their own from tomorrow, since they'll head off to Vietnam for about 5 nights.

Monday November 30, 10:44 p.m.

Well, made the mistake of making my frustrations about the Medicine Man out loud. I got the lecture from the bossman about how important every student is right now to the school and that we need the money....yadda, yadda, yadda. Yes, I know that at this juncture that every student is pretty much vital to the survival of this operation, but that won't stop me making criticisms and making some rather unholy wishes. I guess I'm a bit of an anarchist as well as an atheist.

G'night!

Monday November 30, 8:28 p.m.

It's been a quiet evening leading to the Medicine Man's lesson. Still have another hour to go. I've been Mixi'ing, Facebook'ing and, of course...blogging. That movie community on Mixi is almost its own social networking site with the action going there. I was doing the shiritori topic when one fellow asked who the heck Keye Luke was. I was happy to educate him on the former No. 1 son of Charlie Chan. Another topic asked about cinematic disappointments. Quite a few recent movies out there such as "Burn After Reading" and even Michael Jackson's "This Is It". However, my contribution was the horrid "Sweeney Todd" that MB and I had both pilloried early last year. How a musical whose songs all sound the same got to the Hollywood stage is beyond me.

Monday November 30, 5:03 p.m.

Came back from seeing SIL about an hour ago. Had another grand old time chatting on everything under the sun, from the latest tribulations in government to the boxing match between Kameda and Naito.

Was wondering a bit about that mystery surrounding Tiger Woods' overnight auto excursion into a fire hydrant and tree. He and his wife could've just come clean immediately and the media circus wouldn't have set up shop off his front door. Instead, they've been mysteriously mum, even with the local sheriff's office, so of course, the 4th Estate have started sniffing for blood. And what a target for them....perhaps the most well-paid athlete in the world with a squeaky-clean image.

Well, it's now just Medicine Man in several hours. I rather doubt that he will come. He's not all that forthcoming one-on-one with me, and he's gone on the record that he dislikes parties.

Monday November 30, 12:39 p.m.

It's certainly feeling more like Xmas...cold and wet like a dog's nose out there, although the rain has stopped thankfully.

My weekend of parties has come to an end. Saturday's nabe over at UB's had us gorging on plenty of Chinese cabbage, minced chicken dango and the like, but I guess my old friend wasn't into the ojiya. Met some of the folks there from the last BBQ months back. There was one couple who brought over their rambunctious daughter; nice kid but the mother was reprimanding her like an errant puppy every few minutes which I could've done without.

The other party was over at Miss Honolulu's pad in the Konan neighbourhood south of Shinagawa Station. Her two friends, one of whom did just a model lesson at Speedy's last year (barely recognized her although she remembered me well enough), met me at the main clock tower at the station, and then the three of us took the same bus that I always take to head to Tokyo Immigration. Miss Honolulu lives in one of those high-class, high-rise condo complexes that pretty much infest the shores of Tokyo Bay. We had the party in one of the rental party rooms on the 37th floor that was considerably bigger than her own apartment several stories down. Great view of the bay and Rainbow Bridge. The menu was more DIY with some of Honolulu's ratatouille, various snacks and an ordered package of pizza and stuff from Pizza Salvatore. Once again, I proceeded to engorge myself like a boa constrictor on a rodent. Speedy and his wife dropped by for a couple of hours. When they left, things got a bit more interesting when Honolulu ended up getting thoroughly soused from downing a bunch of plonk. She and one of the friends started boogeying down to some early 90s disco music (C&C Music Factory, Bobby Brown, etc.) and tried to get me to shake my own considerable booty. Fortunately, they calmed down and we ended up watching one of her DVDs of Janet Jackson's "Feedback" before catching the last few rounds of that big fight between bad boy boxer Koki Kameda and Daisuke Naito. Everyone had been rooting for Naito, who had won last year's championship in that nasty exchange with the other Kameda brother, Daiki. However, it was pretty obvious that the elder Kameda was hungrier for the belt and Naito looked like he could bite the inside corner of a house with that smashed-in nose. I'm sure there were a lot of folks who looked at the showboating Kameda Boys with some disgust last night, and I'm certainly no big fan of the Osakan natives, but if there were a chance at redemption for them, last night was at least a beginning.

Saturday November 28, 1:38 p.m.

The Intellectual seemed a bit less talkative today but that was still way more lucid than some folks such as The Medicine Man. Since the chapter was on animals today, and specifically on cruelty towards them, the topic of the dolphin massacre in Taiji was brought up. No real tension but I let my opinion be known that I hope that particular "custom" dies a quick death after the release of the movie.

Now, I've got a few hours to kill before I head on out for the nabe party. I've been checking in on Mixi. Looks like I hit the motherlode of active communities when I signed up on the overall Movies Community. Topic responses seem to pour in by the half-hour. However, Roger Ebert need not lose any sleep; a lot of the chatter have revolved around fave flicks and a couple of shiritori games involving movies and actors. The number of folks enlisted in it is over 100,000, the population of one of Toronto's suburbs. Meanwhile, my Ruiko Kurahashi community barely rates hamlet status.

Earlier this morning, I caught the first half-hour of a 10-year-old movie called "The Bone Collector" with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. It's hard to believe that those are now a decade older...they seemed not to have aged. Denzel has gained some heft although that was more because of his role on "The Taking of Pelham 123". In any case, for this flick, I'm just catching it in bits and pieces. I caught the last 10 minutes of it one night, the middle portion another night and now the beginning. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get the entire movie fit together like a jigsaw eventually.

Saturday November 28, 11:06 a.m.

Just got the one today here at Speedy's...The Intellectual. After that, I've got my ol' university buddy's nabe party beyond Ikebukuro. It'll be the first one for the season...hot pot is always good when the temps drop. Got my favourites in yosenabe and mizutaki. The latter is the one that my family usually goes for....just some boiling water, Chinese cabbage, tofu, and chicken; simple yet so satisfying. Yosenabe is the de rigueur hot pot over here...kinda like the Hot Pot 101 for beginners. It has a bit more stuff in it like salmon or firm white fish, and green onions boiling away in some fish broth. However, the piece de resistance is at the very end of the meal when the chef mixes in some beaten eggs with some extra broth and then adds either udon or rice to create a great porridge...tastes even better the next day for breakfast.

Last night, I had my usual dinner at The Restauranteur's place...it was the Beef Stroganoff this time. And I had my 2.5 hours of work since I was pulling double classes with The Restauranteur and The Ace. I'll be doing the same next week to make up for the time I'm away in December.

Today's "Japan Times" had a 1-page article on what could be the slow fall from grace of Scientology; I wouldn't bet money on its demise just yet...the media just love to prematurely pounce on anything or anyone who dares dis the Fourth Estate. Still being a cheerful atheist, I was eating up the fact that there have been some fairly high-level defections from Hubbard's House of Horrors of late....although Tom and John are still quite esconced.

Friday November 27, 1:14 p.m.

Well, I'm 2 for 2 in the model lessons. Scored my newest student earlier this morning. The Do-Gooder is a middle-aged lady who would be just at home with The Beehive. She's fluent although not perfect and likes to absorb vocabulary. Went through the whole gamut with her and got the good word from Ray who was handling the deal.

So I treated myself to one of those calorie-laden bento for the almost obscene price of 400 yen and am enjoying a bit of Internet before I head on out to Nakano Broadway.

Looks like that Speedy bonenkai is a bit low on attendance so far. So far, we've got just some of the Grandmas and a handful; at this point, the staff outnumber the students.

Friday November 27, 9:19 a.m.

Back at the office to take care of a lone model lesson in about an hour. The bossman reminded me that I needn't have to go to the regular text for the model, so I've set food as my theme and will have the student go through the hoops with count/non-count, imperatives and tastes & textures as the tools.

Looks like my weekend will be entering Holiday mode even before December arrives. On Saturday, I'm going to the house of my old university friend, Seiko-chan, for a nabe party. I had gone there much earlier in the year in a driving rain so I'm hoping that the weather will be a whole lot more cooperative.

Then, I'm supposed to be going to the apartment of my former student, Miss Honolulu, on Sunday in Shinagawa for some sort of party. Not sure if she had invited any other former student from Speedy's, but at this point, I'm assuming that I'll be going in without knowing anyone there...never a favorite time for me. Speedy and his missus will be coming but some hours later. I kinda feel like I'm going in as the entertainment.

I've got double lessons with the juku students, The Ace & The Restauranteur, tonight since I have to make up lessons in December due to my vacation back home. Still, I'll have a lot of free time between the end of the model lesson and their lessons, so I may just drop into Nakano Broadway one last time for the year and see if there are any bargain-basement CDs to be had.

Thursday November 26, 8:25 p.m.

End to a rather steady day. Finished up with the Sisters of State. Neither met the other in passing...since there were 20 minutes between the departure of the New Yorker and the arrival of the Carolinan. The bossman remarked that my scribblings on the whiteboards for both sisters were markedly different in terms of vocabulary level. That's a bit of an understatement.

Just about ready to head on home but I don't particularly want to hit smack dab into the second major rush hour so I may decide to stay another hour or so as nuts as that may sound. Even more nuts is that I may have to have another dinner at the Golden Arches since I'm not that all that enthused about the other choices out there.

I've got that model lesson student tomorrow morning. She's an older woman and perhaps somewhat less challenging than The Toughie yesterday afternoon. Still, such thinking can lull me into a false sense of security. I'll have to brush up on that.

Thursday November 26, 3:26 p.m.

I've still got The Sisters of State to teach in about 90 minutes but I'm already feeling rather knackered after having both Grandma FON and then Grandma Dynamite. Both of them are back in form...just prattling away at warp speed. Even Ray and La Fille have also tasted the mighty speed of their tongues on the phone when the grannies have made their appointments. Most of the Grandmas are coming to the party on the 6th...FON is still an uncertain, but Grandma Enka is a definite out since her husband is of the old school which means that she must accompany him to his own bonenkai.

Yup, that is indeed the display case at a Krispy Kreme branch...the one in Shibuya right inside the theater complex...a stroke of genius. MB, Skippy, The Bride and I went there after "Inglorious Basterds" to grab some donuts, especially since MB had never had one of those cholesterol bombs before. The place was crowded but only because it had collected the group coming from the movie. Actually, those days of 2-hour-long lineups are now largely gone, even at the No. 1 branch in Shinjuku. People still have to line up but these are much more reasonable now. It's hard to believe that we're approaching the 3rd anniversary since this dying franchise limped into Japan and basically regenerated like Doctor Who to become this wildly successful behemoth.

I've been faithfully listening to Xmas music, both Western and Japanese. The one that I've been putting on heavy rotation is "Christmas Carol no koro ni wa" (Around The Time of the Christmas Carols) by AOR crooner Jun'ichi Inagaki. He shares a point with another J-Pop legend, Tatsuro Yamashita, in that both singers are probably more on the summery side of AOR and yet their most famous tunes are Xmas-y in nature. Unlike a lot of the J-Pop Xmas tunes, it isn't a ballad at all; instead it is this rather driving tune which seems incongruous with its original purpose of being the main theme for a trendy drama of nearly 2 decades back called "Homework" which has been shown on reruns recently on the cable version of TBS. I saw the opening credits of the drama and it has the tune playing while the main characters are cavorting as either university students or shinjinrui in distinctly non-Xmas weather. I think the tune is far more suited for some sort of action series taking place during the Yuletide....a Japanese "Die Hard" perhaps.