Saturday May 15, 9:14 p.m.

Pretty much a run-of-the-mill day. My three kids were their normal selves although the mother of the first two was on a rampage today, but not with either kid but the family dog.

Quiet evening for me. No calls from anyone and since Chip Guy is no longer around and Movie Buddy seems to have made himself scarce, I don't think I'll be getting many social calls. However, I do have Automan's arrival next week and then the semi-regular movie outing for TROY on the 23rd.

Speaking of Automan, I'm pretty glad that I let Party Hearty in on the act. She's already gotten some sort of wingding for him on the 25th. However, I'll be at work that night.

I just gotta get some ironing done and then I have to get the place cleaned up for that visit tomorrow from the Persian's friend. I'm still wondering about her coming here.

Friday May 14, 11:41 p.m.

Back to my privates today. It was pretty much the same ol' same ol' which suited me just fine after the newness of the new classes at the school. On the way to the Tea Room, I stopped in at Towers and picked up a retrospective on PEANUTS, Charles "Sparky" Schulz's opus. I guess that trip down memory lane with Vince Guaraldi got me looking at some of my old strips with Charlie Brown and the gang.

After our lesson, Arwen, 77 and I headed just up the street instead of heading over to Shinjuku. We had dinner at an Indian place called Ajanta. For a Friday, it wasn't all that busy but then again the area isn't exactly an entertainment hub. Believe me, on a night when one would be lucky to even get a table within an hour, I wasn't complaining. I ended up getting a Thali Platter for a somewhat heftily priced 4200 yen. Once again, I ordered something that was too much for me...an extra piece of garlic naan that I ended up not finishing, even with two helpful ladies at my side.

It looks like the school still wants me to help out, so I've got another couple of classes next week. No problems there.

Well, I've got hit the hay pretty soon since I have to still plan for my kids tomorrow. I really don't have the gumption to do so right now. Plus, I need to take a shower to get that garlic out again.

Thursday May 13, 10:08 p.m.

My class with the so-called lowest class at the school was pretty uneven. I had to dodge a bullet when my exercises were just a little too easy for the kids. However, I managed to bat .500 Of course, though, I was kicking myself all the way to the Curry Master's place.

Well, at least, I've got my regular Friday folks tomorrow. I believe that Arwen, 77 and I will be heading out for dinner after the lesson.

Since I'm a bit low on news today, I guess I'll take this time to talk more about my music. My interest in jazz is getting further cultivated. I've always centered my interest around the pianists. Bill Evans is still my favorite but I also have a soft spot for Vince Gurualdi. Who he, you ask? Well, he's probably most famous for his contributions to the early Charlie Brown specials, notably the classic Christmas special. In fact, I'd say that it wouldn't be a Charlie Brown special without his delicate touch.This probably explains why I've never really gotten into the later, more banal outings by the Peanuts gang. With all due respect to Charles Schulz, the televised history of Charlie Brown will probably be restricted to the ten years in the 60s and 70s for me. I can equate this with the Japanese tendency only to view Audrey Hepburn in her 50s period up to "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

Thursday May 13, 7:34 a.m.

My second class this week at the school was more of a triple than the homer of the first class. There was a hint of slog by the end of the class. I've got one more there today; it's the lowest level one so I'm gonna have to plan it in more detail. Some of my old compadres, such as DJ and DTE, were surprised to see me come in from the cold.

Afterwards, I went to my regular Wednesday night venue at the Starbucks to get a coffee and crossword before The Office Lady came in. I was just falling asleep despite the influx of caffeine. So I had to step out and guzzle down a Coke as an added boost. The lesson came off quite well, but I did hit the hay relatively early.

Automan has given me more detail on his upcoming itinerary and asked me to get in touch with some of the old gang here. I'm not sure if I can see him as much but perhaps some of the others can.

My contact at Japan Tours has gotten everything booked and confirmed for my trip to Hokkaido. Once the written info gets in, I'll let the necessary people know.

Wednesday May 12, 12:29 a.m.

My first real busy day lived up to expectations. It tuckered me out by the end but I think I had a pretty good time with everyone. My first class with my school's in-house program for the first time in almost 3 months went quite well. The new students were spearheading the talking which was quite unusual. I was a bit surprised by the arrival of the Jazz Buddy since she was to have graduated back in February. But she had some makeup classes to finish. She was also quite surprised to see me there.

My night classes were OK although my first class was a bit of a slog. Also, my juku owner has a memory like a torn sieve. After I've told her more than twice that I could only teach the Thursday guy on the 20th, she was still asking what my schedule was like for him on the other days in May. But my annoyance is tempered by the fact that she has a very kind heart and she rescued me from catching pneumonia on that horrible day 2 weeks ago.

It's past midnight and I still have to write up the reports for the students and prep for the lesson with The Office Lady later tonight. Plus, I've got to take a shower. When I wake up, I have to dub a tape for The Systems Engineer in time for his lesson on Thursday. It doesn't rain but it pours...

It didn't help that my computer once again had trouble connecting me with my e-mail and the blog. I checked it for viruses to no avail. But then I tried out the Ad-Aware program and found that one of the cookies was responsible for screwing me over. Once I deleted that, I was back in business.

Monday May 10, 11:03 p.m.

Woof! New BLOGGER...nice place you got here.

I went off to see Old Sam and his wife at the Day Nice Hotel in Kiba (the hotel so nice they named it "Nice"?). For some reason, there was some sort of delay on the line so my train was packed to rush-hour capacity. And it was just my luck that I got off on the wrong end of the platform. By the time I reached the escalator, the other train came by and it was pretty empty. I was ready to kick the thing in its aluminum.

It was 250 m of walking in rainy, humid weather before I reached Day Nice. It was a small but quaint hotel. There was only one woman sitting in the lobby when I decided to call up Sam's cell phone to let him know that I had arrived. I got his wife, who told me that she was already in the lobby. It turned out to be that woman sitting on the couch. After making our introductions, we conducted a conversation totally in Japanese for about half an hour while we waited for Old Sam. Apparently, he got lost in the mess known as Shinjuku.

I've known Old Sam for years since we were kids in Japanese Language School. He was a bit of a rabblerouser in those days although he has since mellowed considerably, but I was rather interested in what his wife was like. She's very calm and patient...perfect for him. In a way, she reminded me of Chip Guy's wife.

Old Sam finally showed up. It was just as well that he got to the hotel at 1:30 since we were also to wait for one other fellow. Fuji's a bit of my antithesis in terms of geography. Whilst I've been here for a decade, he had been living in Montreal and Toronto for 10 years. Very outgoing sort. When he got there, we took a walk up to the neighbourhood family restaurant, Jonathans, for a bit of lunch. Old Sam updated us on what was what in Toronto. It looks like Motormouth Mel is finally out; T.O. has got some sort of beefcake as the new Mayor.

Fuji had to take off a half-hour before we did because of an impending job interview but we did the exchange of phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Then we headed back to the hotel so that Sam and the missus could pick up their voluminous luggage. It was a bit of a climb down to the Kiba platform. I was worried that we would have to face the idiocy of my trip to the hotel, but the train was somewhat more spacious. Old Sam marveled at how I could stand living here for so many years; I guess I should pat myself on the back for my stamina. Anyways, the pair got off the train at Otemachi to head for Tokyo Station and then I just went straight ahead to my job at the company.

The class tonight went quite well. Even my lowest student was on all thrusters today although his fluency is still not all that high. And we even got into some sidetracking in Japanese about the wonders of Kiefer's opus, 24. The Iconoclast left a big box of stuff for me to take home. I decided to go on the instalment plan and take things home piecemeal. Once again after class, the Prez invited me out for dinner. This time the theme was yakiniku, otherwise known as Korean BBQ.

We took another taxi up to the Shin-Okubo area. This is the second time this year that I've been up there...the second of only two times that I've been up there in my decade in Tokyo. I've come to the conclusion that I was a bit too harsh in my assessment of the area as a den of iniquity. The main street at least comes off more as Dundas St. in downtown Chinatown. The place that the Prez took me to was called KOSHUEN, a very pricy and good BBQ place run by Koreans. According to the menu, the place has had some good exposure through the media. I could understand why...the food and service were excellent. The waitress brought the beer lickety-split and she even helped out cut up and cook the kalbi ribs. The Prez ordered a plate full of different cuts of beef which we proceeded to cook up and then wrap in individual leaves of lettuce with Korean miso and marinated onions. It couldn't be beat. However, I may have overindulged a bit by having him order a bibimbap, that concoction of rice, raw egg and many other ingredients all mixed up. With everything else, I was close to bursting. And since I had a bit of a headache, I was worried that I was going to end up laying some street pizza outside so I quickly reached for the Tylenol. But there wasn't anything to worry about.

The end result of going to Korean BBQ is that everyone on the train knows where one has been. My entire body was permeated with the smell of garlic, sauce and cooking beef. But I didn't care and neither should they. I got on the train and ended up sleeping off my headache for the 35-minute trip home. When my internal alarm clock alerted me one station before mine, I was feeling pretty refreshed inside with no more headache although I still smelled like dinner. Today was a truly rare day in that I didn't have to put anything down on my Excel expenditures under the Food category. Old Sam treated me at Jonathans and the Prez, of course, paid for my dinner. I did my token attempt at resisting his treat just to be polite, but I knew what the result would be. The bill was fairly hefty, too. 12,000 yen for two. Koshuen was a great place for dinner but if I were to take any of the students there, I would need a fairly sizable group.

I got home and immediately took a hot shower to sweat out that garlic oil. While I was doing my e-mail, I received a call from the Persian's friend. I had thought that she lost interest in contacting me after a few weeks went by. But she called up so she'll be coming over to my neck of the woods to see where the Persian used to live. Another incentive for me to clean up.

Tomorrow will be a busy day, the first truly busy day in several weeks. I've got my regular Tueday morning class, then I've got my class back at the school. It's been 2 months since I've taught a class there. And finally, I've got my juku classes in the evening.

Sunday May 9, 8:49 p.m.

I was doing some of that prep work for the Curry Master. It involved me taking an article from The Daily Yomiuri and then clipping out key words for her as vocabulary to re-insert in the blank spots. The article I chose was on the gentrification of ramen, as it were, which reminded me of something that the Engineer and I saw at Shiodome last Monday.

There was a humoungus lineup at the NTV Plaza. That lineup led to a ramen store apparently manned by Japan's best ramen cook. I say apparently since when it comes to cuisine, I don't believe that the term "best" can be conceptualized in such a highly subjective field. One man's pate is another one's rotten liver. But I digress. Anyways, there was that huge lineup for this shop. Chip Guy once saw a similar situation at a very cheap kaiten sushi place in Shibuya. He just thought it and the people there ludicrous. He felt that noone should have to be that eager for food.

I would agree but the Japanese have that in-built sense of "gaman" or endurance. Also, the cooks of the various types of Japanese cuisine take their craft very seriously. For one thing, a lot of the restaurants serving Japanese cuisine only focus on one particular dish, whether it be tempura, sushi or sashimi. Why be a jack of all trades and a master of none when one could be a master of one? Perhaps back in the West, that joke of the fly in the soup is one of those recognizable foibles of restaurants but a restauranteur here would probably end up cutting his own belly at any hint of that in his place. So when a certain cook is given his due at being the best at something, that perks up a lot of ears and eyes which probably explains the lineups. However, since I don't have nearly that much patience just to wait for food and since I'm not a fussy eater, you'll never catch me doing that.

Now on a totally different topic, with all of my CDs stuffed into my shelving. it's pretty rare now for me to give a lot of repeat listenings to stuff. However, one of the few discs that I would be very willing to hear over and over again is THE NIGHTFLY by Donald Fagen. The DJ lent me his copy of it a few years back and I'd heard the first track, I.G.Y., often enough on radio in my youth. Not having heard it in several years, my ears were reminded of it when I.G.Y. was used as the commercial jingle for the Japanese ad for the IBM Thinkpad. Listening to the entire album was also quite a revelation. I realized that I'd always been more of a mellow sort when it came to music, so AOR was more my style. Well, The Nightfly is definitely an archetype of that genre. Not so gooey like some other AOR entries to make it unpalatable, the album still has that bit of variety swinging from the light reggae and optimism of that first track to jazz to latin to funk. And the album is not too long at 38 minutes, so I can listen to it in my futon before turning off the lights.

Sunday May 9, 5:03 p.m.

Came back after another huge brunch at Fujimamas with The Office Lady and Boop. As I suspected, the biscuits and gravy weren't the hit of the Plate. However, I think the ladies enjoyed the meal and the ambiance enough to warrant a future visit. All of us were pretty stuffed but we stopped by La Maison Du Chocolat on the main Omotesando strip. My Monday morning student introduced me to some delicious macaroons which came from there one lesson, so I decided to splurge the 2000 yen for 8 of them. The ladies liked them, but they only had room in their bellies for one each.

After a bit of walking around the Omotesando area for a few minutes and showing them some other potential future venues for food such as the Ku'Aina hamburger joint and the Comma Ca Cafe, we decided to take a respite at the Canadian version of Starbucks, BLENZ, just down from Kinokuniya Supermarket. Well, what was once the supermarket is now a huge hole in the ground since it's undergoing some major renovations. We gabbed there for well over 90 minutes about, among other things, the dishonesty of the school staff (what else is new?). Finally, we just walked down Omotesando again where we made our farewells at the crowded Harajuku Station. Sundays are usually packed there with all of the costumed teens milling about on Takeshita Avenue.

After getting back to my station, I decided I needed more walking to fully digest the meal so I went to the local Yamada electronics shop where I picked up a tape head cleaner. Yes, I gather that I'm probably the only one left in the country who would need such a thing in these days of DVDs, MDs and even the increasingly prehistoric CDs. But I'm still very much dealing with audio tapes. I was kinda thinking of investing in a cheap tape recorder but I figured that since I'll be heading for the school this week, I'll probably borrow one of the master tapes for the text over there and dub it onto another tape.

I got back home to find out that the Movie Buddy seems to have recovered fully from his cold to invite me out for something somewhere but since I am indeed home, I don't think I'll be taking him up on his offer. I've still not emptied out my stomach since the events of over 6 hours ago but I did buy a bit of dinner for later tonight. I'll probably be prepping for tomorrow's class and think about doing some work for the Curry Master's lesson on Thursday.

Saturday May 8, 5:09 p.m.

Got back home about a half-hour ago. I had been expecting to head off to the Curry Master for that BBQ later tonight when I realized that there was a possibility that Movie Buddy would have suddenly asked me up for accomodations since I live so close to the Curry Master. And I'm not too crazy about taking last-minute reservations so I had been thinking about doing some quick cleanup at home before taking off at 6. I also thought that the odds of MB being so thoughtless as to do such a thing were pretty small but I couldn't take any chances.

However, I needn't have bothered. I had left a message with the Master asking if she needed anything from the convenience store. A few minutes later, she called me back saying that MB didn't make it due to a cold. And the BBQ was already well under way so I just begged off. If I'd really wanted to have gone, I would have been somewhat upset by the rather cavalier attitude, but as it were, I don't mind at all. I wasn't particularly up for it. So I just picked up some convenience food for tonight.

At the AM/PM, I heard the typically loud voices of two teenage girls just splatting down on the floor at the back just as if they were at home. I just ignored them and sadly wrote them off as the more extreme examples of emotionally unstable teens. I reminded myself that I have met my share of pretty well-behaved teens and even now, the delinquents aren't all that plentiful, knock on wood. Besides, delinquents have been around since time immemorial, and some of them actually end up becoming pretty decent if hard-bitten folks. Still, that middle-aged lady manning the register looked none too happy. I couldn't blame her.

I'm now reminding myself that I should get Arwen my US copy of SPIDERMAN since she wants to see the English subtitles that her version lacks. She called up late last night to profusely apologize about forgetting to pay me once again. I reassured her that I would be able to survive another week without her money and then I sugeested that she could give me the money when the lesson began like some other forgetful souls have done. I also should remind myself to get some Murphy books for SR.

Old Sam got in contact with me by e-mail this morning. He and his wife will be arriving in Tokyo Sunday night and wanted to ask me if I knew any cheap hotels in and around Tokyo Station. As it turned out, there was one but otherwise, it's a pretty tall order so far but I haven't quite given up yet. I'll give him a call tonight.

Also, Automan, another old friend, contacted me to say that he'll be making another pilgrimage to Tokyo later this month. Not sure if it'll be for R & R or for business. However, I'll try and see him.

I called up Mom. Looks like Dad hasn't been too hot of late. I'm a bit worried although I can't be that surprised since he's not exactly even middle-aged anymore. I really hope that passport gets done soon.

Friday May 7, 10:53 p.m.

Well, I made it through my first day back at work in about a week OK. But there were some variations to the theme. I found out from The Teacher that the resentment and dislike she got from her classmates was very much mutual. She kinda went on her usual soft soapbox rant and stated that she couldn't stand the younger folks' immaturity and lack of core values. However, she did have a few allies in the group, one of whom was someone I remember as being a cultured sort...admittedly a rarity in today's young group.

After lunch at the Golden Arches, I went out to Nihombashi to Maruzen to see if there were any hope of finding a tape to go with that textbook I'm using with The SE. Once again, I was out of luck so frankly I'm not sure what to do now. Then, I went up to Asakusa to see if there were any hope of finding one of those carp kites for a good friend back in Canada. No luck there, either. But I did see some Japanese versions of The Rockettes traipsing through the main shopping avenue of the area for some reason. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of men taking pics of the ladies.

I got back to the Tea Room to see SR. No particular changes there although I will have to think about getting some new material for her somehow. At the end of the session I was surprised to get a phone from the Tea Room owner. On the other end was Arwen who told me that due to a jumper at Ichigaya Station, her main route to get to the Tea Room was blocked so we ended up meeting at the south gate of Shinjuku Station. It sure was a Friday back from the Golden Week; there was a literal flood of commuters ebbing and flowing around the ticket gates.

Arwen reached me and then we walked over to the Maynds Building's Starbucks. It was an intriguing lesson to say the least since at one point, she started wondering aloud about what the system behind a typical Japanese FUZOKU club was. I wasn't about to give her major details in a public place but I said that I would be willing to give her some info over e-mail according to reports from various salarymen I've spoken with over the years. She also asked about the reputation behind YOUNG ADAM, that rather risque Ewan McGregor movie. I kinda wonder about what Arwen thinks about at times. Plus, she forgot to pay me again.

As it happened, our streak of going out for dinner after the lesson ended tonight since we started a full hour late and she had things to do at home. Luckily, I did have a rather forlorn meat pie at Starbucks...not a regular item at the North American branches, I'm sure. Believe me, the English have nothing to worry about when it comes to meat pies from Japan.

I got home to find out from the school coordinator that I've actually been offered classes next week. In fact, I may have a bushel of them through the middle of the week. I guess some of the teachers may be on Intensives. Well, it'll be my first crack at this new crew since the year began for them. It has suddenly become quite busy. However, I may have sacrificed some time with another old friend of mine from Canada.

I still have to get some work done in terms of student reports and then get something planned for the little girl tomorrow afternoon. Plus, I do want to catch some of that grueling testimony that ol' Rummy will have to give to Congress in half an hour.

I found out that one of the most familiar faces on the local political scene has resigned because of that silly pension scandal. Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda was the No. 3 or No. 4 guy in the government (which would place him in the same ranking as the US Speaker of the House or the Senate President), but for most of us folks, he fulfilled the same role as the Press Secretary. He was a pretty avunculuar sort which made him the perfect sort to talk with the press but he is also the son of a former Prime Minister. I would have said that his father is probably turning in his grave but then again, most politicians in modern Japanese history have had their fingers in so many pies that PM Fukuda is sleeping soundly in his grave.

Shower time!

Thursday May 6, 4:03 p.m.

Just came back from the National Science Museum in Ueno Park where that Star Wars exhibit was located. It's not exactly Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas but it was OK, especially if one appreciates the models that the movies used. After I paid my 1400 yen, I made a rather circuituous route through the original building to the new wing and managed to take one shot just before finding out that I couldn't take any pics inside the hall. Great...I just bought the disposable camera for that purpose.

Anyways, I was greeted by the John Williams fanfare and a 1.5-metre model of an Imperial Star Destroyer. The exhibit was arranged so that the tour goes through the cinematic history of the series from the original 1977 movie to Attack of the Clones. There were exhibits of the various costumes like Obi-Wan's Jedi robes and the different types of Imperial Stormtrooper uniforms. Different excerpts from all of the films played on small flatscreens throughout the exhibit and there were computer screens which allowed people to find out more about the science behind the fantasy of Star Wars. Unfortunately, since I don't read Japanese easily I let that part go. The tour was a pretty quick walkabout...I think I got through it within 15 minutes but I didn't expect all that much.

Back home again and have my first piece of mail in about a week. It's from The Anime King with his two DVDs of his homemade video of Galaxy Angel. It looks like the Cutsoms people were a bit more ham-fisted than usual. Part of the CD case was shattered so there was tape holding it together. I've got some empty cases so I can take care of that problem.

Still overcast. So much for that sunny forecast.

Thursday May 6, 10:39 a.m.

Well, the so-called sun is more of a gauzy brightness. I just hope that the rain hasn't decided to make another appearance. I did my wash; I was rather surprised and relieved that the washing machine didn't do what it somestimes does when it's fully packed. It sometimes conks out or keeps repeating the rinse cycle so taking out the clothes turns out to be a very wet affair.

I've got another free day since my Thursday night juku student has pulled another cancellation. But I won't stay at home; I'll be heading out to the National Science Museum to check out the Star Wars exhibition there. I figure I need to get a bit of exercise. Going to Ueno Park, where the museum is located, may provide a good enough venue for a walk although I'll probably have to skip over some of the homeless folks.

Looks like tomorrow will be back to a full day again. I've got my regular three classes. And then, I think I'll have the afternoon kids. The morning girls are out in at their cottage so I can get some more sleep in. Then, the Curry Master has her BBQ later that night.

Wednesday May 5, 11:58 a.m.

Overcast day and we had some drizzly stuff this morning, although it hasn't come close to the forecast downpours quite yet. I managed to those several hours of sleep I wanted.

Well, it's the final day of Golden Week. I'm sure that the news will be filled with the U-Turn rush and its scenes of jammed highways all throughout Tokyo.

I gave a call to Fujimamas to see if I could make that reservation for Sunday brunch. Sure enough, the guy on the other end told me that they couldn't take any reservations for parties under 5 people, so it looks like the three of us will have to take our chances in the morning. Maybe if we get there by around 10:30, we should get a table. Next, I sent a response to one of my Tsudanuma students concerning her fax about idioms. The way it was structured, I thought she was trying to test MY knowledge about them.

Probably for the next couple of hours, I'll be trying to translate some of this stuff that the Iconoclast threw me for this long-delayed project. I did promise the Prez that I would do something about it as well, although he didn't seem too hopeful. Maybe doing this while listening to some jazz music will get me through it.

Looks like dinner tonight will be relatively inexpensive. All I need to make is some stir-fry; the Engineer was kind enough to give me a present of Nagoya Kishimen. Kishimen is flat noodles, similar to the Pho of Vietnam.

Tuesday May 4, 9:07 p.m.

Well, my last session of "A Dinner with Haruhiko" took place today. I met up with my friend from Shizuoka at the Mullion. She wanted to thank me for helping her with a bit of translation I did for her several weeks ago so we went to COCA just behind the twin department towers at Mullion. Always a good meal. My friend was suitably impressed with the fare as well. Afterwards we walked through the same path that The Engineer and I had gone through yesterday in reverse over to the Tokyo Station underground mall.

The three dinners have been interesting in terms of what each of them and I talked about. The Bohemian went in depth about our uncertain futures, The Engineer and I gabbed about the present and then today, my other friend and I talked about our pasts. She had also been part of our little group back in university in the early 90s, so we spoke of our old friends and what they were up to. I'm sure a few of them were probably sneezing overseas at some of our talk.

Well, the official final day of Golden Week will be a largely empty one. It will be a rainy one, unfortunately. Otherwise, I would have done some laundry and aired out my mattresses. The blusteriness of the winds certainly don't bode well. But at least I'll get to wake up a bit later.

Super Channel has been on a major marathon kick. First, it was the 70 hours of Star Trek, then several hours of Columbo, a number of Frasier episodes, and now we've had 12 hours of the updated Perry Mason movies from the mid-80s. All of the trappings have been held over from the original 50s series: the plot structure of the innocent client framed by the real killer after the murder of a deserving jerk. It was pretty obvious that the new series was filmed in Toronto. I still prefer the original black-and-white show over these new ones but at least with the new ones, we don't get that final scream of admission by the guilty party on the witness stand.

Tuesday May 4, 10:37 a.m.

I met up with The Engineer yesterday at Tokyo Station. I took him over to the trendy spot of the Marunouchi Building. He wanted to have ramen; however, the Tokyo Station area isn't exactly known as a ramen zone like Shinjuku or Ogikubo. So I decided to take a chance and checked to see if there were a chance of such a place in the Maru Biru. Sure enough, there was a place on the 6th floor called Akai Noren (The Red Awning) which served Hakata Ramen, my favourite style of ramen.

Hakata Ramen is notable for the broth which is made from pork bones. The broth is off-white and very rich (no snickering, please). However, both the Engineer, who has traveled through Fukuoka (the modern name for Hakata) and I thought the soup was a bit too watery. However, I couldn't complain about the taste. And the set was pretty generous for a thousand yen: the ramen, kimchi rice, four dumplings and a bit of dessert.

Afterwards, we walked over to another trendy area, Shiodome. Being in Golden Week, there were a lot of people at the NTV Plaza. However, we did manage to get a table at the local Tully's coffee shop for a while before heading over to Shimbashi Station so that E could get his ticket to Kyoto today. Then, we went off to Akihabara to look for some stuff. We did our usual double sessions with the massage chairs in the Yamagiwa store. The sun was starting to set when we walked up to Ueno to look for a place to have dinner. But again, because of the holiday, everything was packed so we just ended up heading home and eating at the neighbourhood kaiten. That sushi chef with the slightly bad ear was there again but this time he was on the ball taking orders.

Finally, we made it back home where we just caught some TV before we retired for the night. Then, earlier this morning, I took him to the station to see him off. My allergies are acting up again so I'm considering downing some medicine before heading out to meet another friend for dinner.

Sunday May 2, 10:50 p.m.

I met up with The Office Lady for her lesson today at Nihombashi Station. We went out of an exit that I usually didn't use from the station, and I was rather surpsised by the new Merrill-Lynch building that towered everything else in the area. We couldn't use the neighbourhood Starbucks since it was packed; however, we only had to walk down a few dozen metres to find a relatively empty Excelsiors.

Afterwards I met The Bohemian at Hachiko. We went up to one of our usual haunts, En, that upscale izakaya on the 11th floor of an electronics store building. It actually opened up at 4 p.m. now so we were happy to find out that we were the first customers in the place. In fact, we got a good window table. We spoke much about our own little foibles in our lives including our love lives. In fact, it kinda felt like my talks with Arwen alone. We managed to go at it for about 5 hours.

I got a call from The Engineer. He gave me the arrival time of his Bullet Train so I can go and pick him up at Tokyo Station tomorrow. But I'm gonna have to wake up a little earlier than I had hoped to get the place spic and span, just in case he decides to stay over. UGH!

Sunday May 2, 9:49 a.m.

Well, it was another bipolar day yesterday in terms of weather. Nice and warm up to mid-afternoon and then the temps fell out the bottom in the evening. If it hadn't been for my Canadian constitution, I would've frozen in my short sleeves. I'm sure that I got a lot of looks myway. Mind you, it also probably helped that I'm not exactly the thinnest guy around.

Caught KILL BILL Vol. 2 with Movie Buddy and his buddy, Sam, in Shinjuku last night after my classes. It's definitely quite different in tone from the first one, and I liked it better. In retrospect, Quentin was right to split his latest into two parts. It war more talky, had more of that famous QT dialogue and certainly demanded more of both Uma and her character. MB wonders if the Oscar guys will do the same thing with it that they did with The Lord of the Rings, just wait until all the parts are out to consider giving it the gold. I just wonder if the movie is just a bit too violent or iconoclastic to get anything.

Afterwards, we went out to SAMRAT, a local Indian restaurant. We were quite surprised and delighted to see that it was actually open until 5 in the morning. The food is great so I could imagine some of the late-nighters headed there. We spent a little over an hour there chatting over tandoori and naan before I had to take off to catch my last train. And I did do that...I was lucky to catch the last train for my area.

I received a couple of messages last night. One was from The Engineer, who had come over on a little vacation with the missus from Canada. He's currently in Nagoya but he'll be coming over to the Big Sushi tomorrow for a visit. He also asked whether it's possible for him to stay over a night at my place. Looks like I'm gonna have to do another whirlwind cleanup.

The other message was from The Bohemian. He's back from studying during Golden Week, so he was asking about getting together for dinner. I initially thought I could meet him tonight after my class with The Office Lady but now I'm gonna check to see if he'll be hanging around unti Wednesday. I would rather have some time to salvage my apartment.

Anyways, I gotta have some breakfast and then do some quick planning for my lesson.

Sunday May 2, 1:19 a.m.

Another long Saturday, another meterologically bipolar day. It was warm up to mid-afternoon and then the bottom fell out of the temps. It was just 11 C when I got home at midnight, and I was just in my short sleeves with a sleeveless undershirt. Thank heavens for my Canadian constitution of surviving winter. I didn't feel too badly considering the chill, but I'm sure I did get my fair share of looks from people.

My class and then my monthly chat fest at the Tea Room went well enough. And then I met up with Movie Buddy and his good friend, Frodo. Frodo had first come over on a visit during the New Years holidays. Apparently, he enjoyed his time here so much that he has returned for a much longer stay. But with his talents in the computer field, he would be way overqualified for a typical teaching position at some English language school.

Anyways, the three of us went to see KILL BILL VOL. 2. Much was made about the splitting of this movie into 2 parts, some saying that it was a moneygrubbing move on the part of Tarentino and the producers. After having seen it, though, I can now understand the move. The second movie has the same characters and story arc but the feel is quite different. There aren't the gobs of over-the-top violence or The Bride's nearly mute rampage of revenge. The second part has much more dialogue and more feeling coming from The Bride, now known as Beatrix, and even Bill. I noted when I reviewed the first part last year that I was quite uncomfortable about Vol. 1 because of the somewhat inaccurate portrayals of Japanese language and the audience's scornful reaction. I like the second part better and I think this audience was a bit more accepting. However, that enka song came back during the end credits, but at least it didn't come on during the film itself.

After the movie, the three of us went to SAMRAT, an Indian restaurant just across from Shinjuku Station. We were surprised that the place was open until 5 a.m. That's a godsend for those late-nighters who need some good hearty fare. I spent about an hour or so with them mostly listening to MB and Frodo talk about their mutual friends from years past over tandoori chicken, freshly-baked naan and curries.

I had to take off a bit early to catch the train for home. It was the usual scrum at Shinjuku Station for the trip home. I was lucky...I caught the last train passing through my station. When I got back home, I received two messages from a couple of old friends. The Engineer has come over from Toronto for a short stint. And The Bohemian called me up for dinner later on Sunday. He's back from studying up north. I may be able to kill two birds with one stone. But before that, I do have the OL's class in Nihombashi.

Time to sleep.

Friday April 30, 7:03 p.m.

Well, looks like my detachment from my hobby was a temporary one. I got the correct user name from my provider. For some reason, they mentioned that the password was wrong but it still worked for me. In any case, I'm back online.

Some interesting news over the past couple of days that I've been offline. One was the fact that several ministers and other top politicians had not been making their regular pension payments. Some very red-faced mandarins considering that a lot of them were pooh-poohing an actress who had also been caught not paying her premiums despite her appearance in a commercial telling people to pay up.

Then, there was a bizarro incident involving some clearly deranged nut who crashed through a flimsy barrier at Haneda Airport with his car, commandeered a few more vehicles and drove around the runways for 40 minutes while the local police and airport security acted like Keystone Kops. As the coup de grace, he then crashed his final car and jumped off into the ocean before dying at hospital.

Two of the three former hostages in Iraq held their first news conference sincecoming back to a hostile reception last week. They looked rather relaxed although the tale that they had to tell was harrowing, to say the least. The one woman who had been part of the group decided to stay away since she's suffering from depression and nightmares. My feeling is that they've been made scapegoats of sensationalistic rags and right-wing cranks.

Japanese Trekkies with satellite TV are probably rejoicing in their armchairs. Super Channel is currently holding its 70-hour Star Trek marathon. I caught The Wrath of Khan this morning as the first entry, and First Contact is currently playing but since it was already more than halfway through, I've decided to skip it and wait for the episodes of Enterprise to come on. As far as I'm concerned, The Wrath of Khan is still the best of the entire movie series. Too bad that it's been 22 years since anything that good has come up in the Trek canon, although First Contact comes close.

The rush out of the city has begun with the onset of Golden Week. It's amazing how people will put up with crowded highways, airports and train stations just for a few days of rest and relaxation. As for me, I'm very happy to stay within the borders of the city.

Friday April 30, 4:53 p.m.

Well, my e-mail system went out of whack a couple of days ago so I'm doing this from a KINKOS in the Microsoft Bldg across from Shinjuku Station. Losing my access at home is a drag but at least I can find out how it feels doing e-mail from an outside source.

Had 2 classes today. One was with The Teacher. No problems there. And the class with Arwen and 77 went swimmingly as usual. I was on a holding pattern concerning Movie Buddy to catch Kill Bill Vol. 2 but it looks like he has to teach tonight so we're holding off it until tomorrow at 6:30.

Just gotta do some prep work before meeting up with the kids on Saturday. Hopefully, my e-mail woes will be sorted out by then.