Thursday January 28, 11:27 a.m.


To the right, sumo yokozuna Asashoryu. As incongruous as it may look and sound, he does share something with folks like Dennis Rodman in the NBA and Tie Domi in the NHL, or even the late great Miles Davis in jazz. They're all bad boys. Yup, Asashoryu has become a grand champion in the 2-millenium-old tradition of sumo but he has also pulled some rather rascally scandals such as playing with Japanese soccer great Hidetoshi Nakata in his native Mongolia, while he was supposed to be nursing an injury in Japan. And then there was his resentful shoving and glaring at fellow yokozuna and countryman Hakuho in one match which also got the Japan Sumo Association's tongues as well as those of the media wagging. And finally, there was a few days ago when, after his latest triumph in the New Year's tournament, he went on a drunken spree at his victory party. The next day, he just apologized without much emotion...or perhaps remorse. He'll be as bad as he wants to be, I suppose. I've never been a huge (no pun intended) supporter of sumo, but it would be nice if the JSA would do something more than a tongue-lashing against Asashoryu. But I guess their hands are rather tied since a yokozuna can never be demoted. Asashoryu can be retired but only if he starts getting a string of losses...but he hasn't done that and sumo needs all the star power and money it can get.

Ironically enough, Asashoryu's nemesis on the Japan Sumo Association, a writer by the name of Uchidate, has stepped down after fulfilling her role as one of the members. She has been one of the few people who has openly dissed the Mongolian wrestler as a ne'er-do-well who hasn't lived up to the image of a yokozuna. Asashoryu hasn't said much about that or her, but I'm sure he isn't too sad to see her go.

Then, there is the other story of retired yokozuna Takanohana trying to muscle in on the JSA to give a major Spring Cleaning to the hidebound association (can't really blame him). The association is resisting with all of its might. Not a boring day in this world.

Thursday January 28, 9:00 a.m.

Another one of those late night-early morning transitions. I'm actually pretty good at it, although the question begs about why I should continue doing it. However, if things don't improve at Speedy's within the next few months, I may not have to worry about such things any longer.

I've just about finished the DVD set of Series 4 of "Doctor Who". I've gone through all of the episodes and the commentaries, and now I'm just wrapping up with the en masse viewing of "Doctor Who Confidential". This show has definitely come a long way since those years of the Classic Series. I don't think anyone could've envisioned weekly making-of broadcasts of this program back then. And certainly this season will probably go down as the most dramatic one in the show's 47-year history (yes, I am cognizant of the fact that there was no regular series between 1988 and 2005).

When I first saw Catherine Tate as Donna Noble in "The Runaway Bride", I just thought that she was the absolute worst companion to appear in a TARDIS. Rude, mouthy, selfish....I'd heard of Tate's comedy show in which she specialized in playing a lot of unlikeable characters. Well, frankly, my opinion of her was "Not in my TARDIS!"

Then, the Martha year came and gone, and then I no longer got video tapes of the show from The Entrepreneur since my VCR up and died and since he got up and married. I did cheat, though, and saw that last tragic scene of Donna "dying" in the TARDIS via YouTube soon after "Journey's End" had aired but never saw any of her season...at least until I bought the DVD set during the Holidays. So, I was running almost 2 years behind. I did get a glimpse of how nice Donna became, though.

As soon as I started watching Series 4 with "Partners in Crime", I knew Donna, even before she had her reunion with The Doctor, had become an improved version within the first few minutes of the episode. And the reunion itself, a 2-minute skit in comedic mime, was probably one of the more humourous scenes I'd seen of the show. Try to imagine any of the other companions...even Rose...pull this off. Over the episodes, this Donna not only became a better person for her travels but became a truly good...platonic...companion for the Time Lord. She became a buddy....something very rare that The Doctor needed. Going over all of my knowledge of the various companions since 1963, I could only come up with two other people who could have possibly achieved that status: Jamie McCrimmon during the 2nd Doctor's years and Romana 2 during the 4th's time. And even the latter might be a bit suspect, since there was a hint of flirtation between the Time Lord and the Time Lady...on and off screen. All of the other companions were, more or less, acting as his acolytes or his lovesick admirers (et tu, Sarah Jane?)

Donna may not have been The Doctor's equal in all things Time Lord-y, at least not until her very last regular episode, but she more than made up for that in the human things. And she was very willing to stand up and tell him he was wrong. And there was never a hint of anything romantic...which was something I was getting a bit antsy about with the previous two companions. So, without the emotion of love fogging things up in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Donna made a good team with the two of them improving over their brief time....which made things all the more tragic when the even briefer appearance of the DoctorDonna had to be excised. Obviously, Donna didn't die physically but the soul of the new improved version did, to be returned to her original Lucy Van Pelt self. There have been a lot of bricks thrown at Russell T. Davies along with the flowers, but I don't think anyone could've been so brave to write that arc in. There had been three other deaths of companions over the 47 years but character was never a huge priority in the Classic Series so their physical deaths didn't have nearly as much resonance as Donna's psychic one. It was somewhat painful to see Donna revert to her unpleasant persona, but the very last episode of David Tennant's reign, "The End of Time, Part 2", provided a small coda and a bit of hope. Another year passed and although Donna was perhaps not as near to her elevated self in her TARDIS year but she seemed to have become somewhat better as a human being, thanks to a bit of attudinal improvement in her harrdian-like mother and the true love of a man.

Still, I'd like to think that Donna's song is not quite finished yet (to adopt an Ood-ism). Her memories are suppressed not erased, and so I think there is still a story yet to be related about her currently hidden Time Lady. In a way, though, I think the arc of Donna Noble is similar to that of Icarus...someone who had gone for a goal far too lofty and was destined to crash. The new boss behind "Doctor Who", Stephen Moffatt, has made some great stories for the show, but he'll have some big shoes to fill when it comes to the new Doctor-companion dynamic between Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.

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.