Sunday June 19, 1:01 a.m.
Another long day's journey into night. I managed to survive the kids on Saturday although I wasn't too satisfied with my performance with the smaller sister. I just felt too pooped out. Luckily, I won't have them next week due to some family matter with them. My class with the the Little Owl went well enough; I even gave her a diary to start writing down some guided English sentences.
My 2 hours with M + M helped a lot. We got onto some juicy topics such as the phenomenon of GO-KON, or organized dating en masse. We even went 10 minutes overtime.
As it turned out, The Ballerina could only be with us until 8 p.m. since she's stationed all the way out in a hotel in Narita due to the demands of her job as a flight attendant. I wish she could've told us earlier; I would've hurried out of the Tea Room to meet up with them. As it were, I managed to catch up with her, Movie Buddy and Skippy at this underground grill in Shinjuku. We were nestled right by the door but at least we did have an electric fan right over us so we had access to some good airflow. The Ballerina looked like she picked up a couple of kilos probably due to her diet in London and also because she doesn't have to stress out anymore over getting her dream job. Skippy looked to be in even more of an uptempo mood than usual...which is saying a lot. MB thought she was her usual self but I thought that the caffeine levels in her were more elevated. How can anyone be that genki in Tokyo?
Anyways, as per schedule, The Ballerina took off at shortly after 8. Skip, MB and I just went next door to the Excelsior Cafe and had some relatively cheap coffee and dessert. We got into some rather risque topics of discussion such as some of the more interesting shops in the red-light district. Skippy was all for that talk. I think she was acting just like Monty Python's Eric Idle in that "Nudge, nudge, wink, wink" sketch. We even got into planning for the next outing which is the Outback Steakhouse in Shinagawa. It seems like some of the alumni are interested in sinking their teeth into a good porterhouse. I'm not sure how that will chime in with the viewing of Spiderman 2 next month.Skippy also asked about inviting Arwen and 77. But I'm still not quite sure how Arwen feels about Skip.
Skippy had to take off so it was just MB and me. MB didn't feel like going home just yet so he asked me if I could stay with him a spell longer for another round. I hadn't seen the lad for a while, so despite the fact that I felt and smelled rather rank, I decided to go with him one more hour longer. Also, I had thought that he wanted to inform me of something.
As it turned out, he really just wanted to hang out a bit longer so we just gabbed at a Starbucks near Times Square. Among the topics was the fact that MB's girl (a notorious non-planner according to him and the Curry Master) is trying to set up something for CM's birthday. CM had already hinted at such a thing on Thursday. It looks like it's gonna be for the 26th which suits me just fine. It'll probably be in CM's neck of the woods which is also just fine since I'm only two stations away. CM isn't too big on going out to the big city.
On the way home on the subway, I got clubbed by accident by a dimwit who must've dozed off and then initially realized she was at her station with only a few seconds to spare before the doors closed. However, it wasn't her station so she just stumbled her way back to her seat. She must've been rather drunk since she looked somewhat zombified. Surprisingly, I didn't have any particular incentive to kick her but I did take my frustrations out on the laundry drying on the line. I just whipped them back in.
Well, I've got that farewell party for DTE later today so I've got that recipe for Sweet N' Sour Chicken all ready to go when I meet up with Arwen and 77.
Just a place to deposit my thoughts on life here in the Kanto and about anything else that sticks to my walls.
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Friday, June 18, 2004
Friday June 18, 7:28 p.m.
Hot and humid today. But we've got Typhoon 6 barreling toward us. It'll slam into Okinawa tomorrow and it may cause some havoc on the mainland in the latter half of the weekend and early next week. The one worry is when the meterologist stated that this hurricance is so powerful that even making landfall won't slow it down. That's one mother of a storm.
My chat with The Teacher was supposed to be on Nostradamus but we ended up talking about the movie "The Lover", one of her favorites. It's the somewhat controversial (at least in prudish North America) one from the early 90s with Jane (where is she now?) March and a Chinese actor.
For lunch, I tried McDonalds' newest taste treat, The Grande, which is really a Big Mac without the middle slice of bread and with some zesty pepper mayo. Not too bad but I have one logistical qualm with it which is that everytime I took a bite, the contents threatened to slip out. Too much mayo, I say. And the price is 200 yen more than the Big Mac Set. I probably won't make a habit of buying the Grande.
In between The Teacher and SR, I went down to the Ginza to see if I could pick up a couple of more magazines for perusal. I managed to do so although I had to scour a lot of the bookstores there. Plus, I picked up the text for Jazz Buddy.
By the time I reached the Tea Room, I was feeling distinctly like a wet rag. SR and I had a pretty good talk as well about one of the people she had met during her quick trip through LA a couple of weeks back. She's a teen who has a thing for manga and anime. I offered to introduce her to my buddy, GD, who's the expert on such things.
Well, I gotta have dinner and then plan for the kids tomorrow.
Hot and humid today. But we've got Typhoon 6 barreling toward us. It'll slam into Okinawa tomorrow and it may cause some havoc on the mainland in the latter half of the weekend and early next week. The one worry is when the meterologist stated that this hurricance is so powerful that even making landfall won't slow it down. That's one mother of a storm.
My chat with The Teacher was supposed to be on Nostradamus but we ended up talking about the movie "The Lover", one of her favorites. It's the somewhat controversial (at least in prudish North America) one from the early 90s with Jane (where is she now?) March and a Chinese actor.
For lunch, I tried McDonalds' newest taste treat, The Grande, which is really a Big Mac without the middle slice of bread and with some zesty pepper mayo. Not too bad but I have one logistical qualm with it which is that everytime I took a bite, the contents threatened to slip out. Too much mayo, I say. And the price is 200 yen more than the Big Mac Set. I probably won't make a habit of buying the Grande.
In between The Teacher and SR, I went down to the Ginza to see if I could pick up a couple of more magazines for perusal. I managed to do so although I had to scour a lot of the bookstores there. Plus, I picked up the text for Jazz Buddy.
By the time I reached the Tea Room, I was feeling distinctly like a wet rag. SR and I had a pretty good talk as well about one of the people she had met during her quick trip through LA a couple of weeks back. She's a teen who has a thing for manga and anime. I offered to introduce her to my buddy, GD, who's the expert on such things.
Well, I gotta have dinner and then plan for the kids tomorrow.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Thursday June 17, 9:53 p.m.
Taught a class at the school today for the first time in a few weeks. No problems there, and then I met up with Arwen and 77 for their regular lesson.
My lesson with the Curry Master had an extra benefit tonight. I not only got paid for the lesson but I also got dinner in the form of taco rice. Taco rice is just all the fixins for a taco except for the shell and dump it on hot rice. We also did our usual gossip updates on people like my juku boss and Movie Buddy.
It looks like it'll be a busy Saturday for me. Not only do I have my regular kids but I have that monthly chitchit with M + M and then I meet The Ballerina and Movie Buddy for dinner. I sent out the call to Skippy but I doubt that she will commit at such short notice.
Taught a class at the school today for the first time in a few weeks. No problems there, and then I met up with Arwen and 77 for their regular lesson.
My lesson with the Curry Master had an extra benefit tonight. I not only got paid for the lesson but I also got dinner in the form of taco rice. Taco rice is just all the fixins for a taco except for the shell and dump it on hot rice. We also did our usual gossip updates on people like my juku boss and Movie Buddy.
It looks like it'll be a busy Saturday for me. Not only do I have my regular kids but I have that monthly chitchit with M + M and then I meet The Ballerina and Movie Buddy for dinner. I sent out the call to Skippy but I doubt that she will commit at such short notice.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Wednesday June 16, 10:20 p.m.
Well, I lost another student in as many days today. First, it was that stingy, moody one from the juku. Today, I ran over to the Stylist's place of work, trying not to be late and failing by a few minutes. Within a minute of my "gomenasai", the Stylist sheepishly gave me my walking papers.
To be honest, I wasn't either that shocked or all that dismayed by it although it's never great to lose a student. In the past four months that we have known each other, we only managed to cover just four pages of her textbook. Another hint was that surreal class last month. I asked her if she didn't enjoy my lesson. She didn't really answer the question but she just said "Yaruki ga nai." (I've lost the desire).The past couple of times with her, she didn't seem to be too eager which supported her reason to say that. She also pointed out that she wasn't too comfortable with a one-on-one lesson since she had to provide half of the conversation; she simply didn't want to work THAT hard during her day off, and she admitted that half her mind was in day-off mode. Plus, she also stated that she had a lot on her mind about her future, and it seems that not all of it was very happy.
In any case, as soon as she said that she had lost the interest, that was all I needed to pack my bag. Once a student says that, it's game over. There was a natually a bit of awkwardess about those ten minutes I was there, but the two of us were cordial enough although I was initially pissed off inside that she didn't bother to pinkslip me by e-mail or phone earlier; it would've saved me the commute time. However, she said that she felt telling me in person was the right thing to do. I can respect that. And she still paid me for a full lesson which was very maganimous of her. I told her that I could understand her decision; I would rather have her cut me loose now, instead of having to slog through some miserable classes with a student who didn't want to be there. And then, I could use that empty time for someone who really wanted to learn. Finally, I think she's the first student who actually had the guts to tell me the truth about letting me go, instead of feeding me the usual white lie like The Hawaiian and those two real-estate agents did last year.
Still, some of my natural self-doubt returned as I made my premature way back to Oimachi Station. But I didn't let it overwhelm me as it would have in previous years. I know that I'm a good teacher...I just wasn't her teacher or she just wasn't my student.
I took the train out to Odaiba. It had been several weeks since I'd been there and with the sunny weather, I thought it would be nice to have a treat especially after the above event. I attended my usual buffet restaurant there, The Sunset Beach Factory. Of course, the Law of Buffets states that the quality and quantity of food share an inverse relationship. However, it was palatable enough for me to spend more than 90 minutes there with the view of the Rainbow Bridge in the background.
After that, I waddled my way over to the next mall, Aqua City, where I first checked out the movie listings at the Mediage cineplex. As I figured, there wasn't anything there that I really wanted to catch. As I have mentioned before, I wasn't too eager to see "The Day After Tomorrow" and "The Ladykillers" is a Tom Hanks flick but the reviews were rather so-so. So I just went over to HMV and treated myself to a DVD and a Misia CD. The DVD I purchased was that "Bayside Shakedown" movie that I had caught a year ago in Shibuya. It was a good flick, Japanese or Western. The Misia CD is a compilation of her past ballads so I decided to splurge the yen for that although I didn't buy her last original album since I wasn't too impressed. My HMV point card has passed the 50-point mark so when it expires in a month and a half, I'm eligible for a 2000 yen discount. There is no way that I'm gonna reach 100 points for that 4500 yen discount.
When I left the mall, it was still sunny and warm but not humid. I was tempted to take a ride on the free shuttle but it would've just taken me on a loop so I decided to take the bus back to Tokyo Station. At 200 yen, it's cheaper than taking the Yurikamome monorail. I slept a bit in the bus as it wound its way across the bay. I passed through the modernized area of Tsukishima; there was a pretty nice condo setup there. It's always nice to see some new segment of Tokyo.
35 minutes later, I got off at the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station and walked over to the Yaesu Book Centre. It's a somewhat off-kilter bookstore in that the decor was quite old and yet there was a lot of art thrown up on the walls. The first floor had a high ceiling just like the first floors of department stores and there was an open mezzanine/coffee shop to fill some of that altitude up. In another interesting twist, the escalators only went as far up as the 4th floor; then the elevators picked up the relay torch to go up to the 7th floor. I decided to schlep my way up the stairs to 7 where the foreign books were located. There was a section with a sign screaming in blue and white "NUDES". They certainly weren't subtle. However, I didn't see anything English-written which struck my fancy.
After leaving the bookstore, I walked down to the Ginza and over to Yamano Music to fill up my point card there as well. I decided to buy down Memory Lane as I picked up a J-Idol CD from the 80s and even an old Gilbert O'Sullivan single, "Alone Again, Naturally". It's been getting some major airplay as a commercial jingle over here. I tried to find another Level 42 disc to no avail. But I did pick up another Michael Buble CD. The Canadian answer to Harry Connick Jr. has made some inroads into the jazz enclave of Japan and I can't get tired of his cover of "Fever". Jazz Veteran still has the first one I lent her several weeks ago.
I was feeling just too tired to walk over to the Starbucks in Toranomon, so I paid my 160 yen for the 2-station subway ride. I spent the extra hour there drinking down my chai tea latte with sugar donut until The OL came for her regular lesson. She got me out of my slight funk over losing The Stylist. Her enthusiasm in English and the fact that as my very first student in my freelance career she still stuck by me got me back online. Also the fact that she would rather see me instead of having to go to that farewell party for the exec director of her company next Wednesday was a nice touch too. It's ironic, though. The OL was the one who introduced The Stylist to me; I didn't mention what happened this morning to her but I'm sure she'll find out soon enough.
Well, back home after that long day. Just gotta do a little prep work for Arwen and 77 and then I'm off for bed.
Well, I lost another student in as many days today. First, it was that stingy, moody one from the juku. Today, I ran over to the Stylist's place of work, trying not to be late and failing by a few minutes. Within a minute of my "gomenasai", the Stylist sheepishly gave me my walking papers.
To be honest, I wasn't either that shocked or all that dismayed by it although it's never great to lose a student. In the past four months that we have known each other, we only managed to cover just four pages of her textbook. Another hint was that surreal class last month. I asked her if she didn't enjoy my lesson. She didn't really answer the question but she just said "Yaruki ga nai." (I've lost the desire).The past couple of times with her, she didn't seem to be too eager which supported her reason to say that. She also pointed out that she wasn't too comfortable with a one-on-one lesson since she had to provide half of the conversation; she simply didn't want to work THAT hard during her day off, and she admitted that half her mind was in day-off mode. Plus, she also stated that she had a lot on her mind about her future, and it seems that not all of it was very happy.
In any case, as soon as she said that she had lost the interest, that was all I needed to pack my bag. Once a student says that, it's game over. There was a natually a bit of awkwardess about those ten minutes I was there, but the two of us were cordial enough although I was initially pissed off inside that she didn't bother to pinkslip me by e-mail or phone earlier; it would've saved me the commute time. However, she said that she felt telling me in person was the right thing to do. I can respect that. And she still paid me for a full lesson which was very maganimous of her. I told her that I could understand her decision; I would rather have her cut me loose now, instead of having to slog through some miserable classes with a student who didn't want to be there. And then, I could use that empty time for someone who really wanted to learn. Finally, I think she's the first student who actually had the guts to tell me the truth about letting me go, instead of feeding me the usual white lie like The Hawaiian and those two real-estate agents did last year.
Still, some of my natural self-doubt returned as I made my premature way back to Oimachi Station. But I didn't let it overwhelm me as it would have in previous years. I know that I'm a good teacher...I just wasn't her teacher or she just wasn't my student.
I took the train out to Odaiba. It had been several weeks since I'd been there and with the sunny weather, I thought it would be nice to have a treat especially after the above event. I attended my usual buffet restaurant there, The Sunset Beach Factory. Of course, the Law of Buffets states that the quality and quantity of food share an inverse relationship. However, it was palatable enough for me to spend more than 90 minutes there with the view of the Rainbow Bridge in the background.
After that, I waddled my way over to the next mall, Aqua City, where I first checked out the movie listings at the Mediage cineplex. As I figured, there wasn't anything there that I really wanted to catch. As I have mentioned before, I wasn't too eager to see "The Day After Tomorrow" and "The Ladykillers" is a Tom Hanks flick but the reviews were rather so-so. So I just went over to HMV and treated myself to a DVD and a Misia CD. The DVD I purchased was that "Bayside Shakedown" movie that I had caught a year ago in Shibuya. It was a good flick, Japanese or Western. The Misia CD is a compilation of her past ballads so I decided to splurge the yen for that although I didn't buy her last original album since I wasn't too impressed. My HMV point card has passed the 50-point mark so when it expires in a month and a half, I'm eligible for a 2000 yen discount. There is no way that I'm gonna reach 100 points for that 4500 yen discount.
When I left the mall, it was still sunny and warm but not humid. I was tempted to take a ride on the free shuttle but it would've just taken me on a loop so I decided to take the bus back to Tokyo Station. At 200 yen, it's cheaper than taking the Yurikamome monorail. I slept a bit in the bus as it wound its way across the bay. I passed through the modernized area of Tsukishima; there was a pretty nice condo setup there. It's always nice to see some new segment of Tokyo.
35 minutes later, I got off at the Yaesu side of Tokyo Station and walked over to the Yaesu Book Centre. It's a somewhat off-kilter bookstore in that the decor was quite old and yet there was a lot of art thrown up on the walls. The first floor had a high ceiling just like the first floors of department stores and there was an open mezzanine/coffee shop to fill some of that altitude up. In another interesting twist, the escalators only went as far up as the 4th floor; then the elevators picked up the relay torch to go up to the 7th floor. I decided to schlep my way up the stairs to 7 where the foreign books were located. There was a section with a sign screaming in blue and white "NUDES". They certainly weren't subtle. However, I didn't see anything English-written which struck my fancy.
After leaving the bookstore, I walked down to the Ginza and over to Yamano Music to fill up my point card there as well. I decided to buy down Memory Lane as I picked up a J-Idol CD from the 80s and even an old Gilbert O'Sullivan single, "Alone Again, Naturally". It's been getting some major airplay as a commercial jingle over here. I tried to find another Level 42 disc to no avail. But I did pick up another Michael Buble CD. The Canadian answer to Harry Connick Jr. has made some inroads into the jazz enclave of Japan and I can't get tired of his cover of "Fever". Jazz Veteran still has the first one I lent her several weeks ago.
I was feeling just too tired to walk over to the Starbucks in Toranomon, so I paid my 160 yen for the 2-station subway ride. I spent the extra hour there drinking down my chai tea latte with sugar donut until The OL came for her regular lesson. She got me out of my slight funk over losing The Stylist. Her enthusiasm in English and the fact that as my very first student in my freelance career she still stuck by me got me back online. Also the fact that she would rather see me instead of having to go to that farewell party for the exec director of her company next Wednesday was a nice touch too. It's ironic, though. The OL was the one who introduced The Stylist to me; I didn't mention what happened this morning to her but I'm sure she'll find out soon enough.
Well, back home after that long day. Just gotta do a little prep work for Arwen and 77 and then I'm off for bed.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Tuesday June 15, 11:37 p.m.
Feeling pretty exhausted and grumbly after classes tonight. That moody student in my middle class just kept that hangdog look for almost the entire class...a new record. She really kept me on my toes trying to keep things balanced between her and her classmates. Well, the other shoe finally fell. The boss told me after all the classes got wrapped up that she has finally made the decision to quit the school. It isn't as if she tried to help herself out; she wouldn't commit to private classes since that would cost her more money, and she just couldn't be convinced that she still had a lot to learn in this class. Well, she'll be leaving once June is up. The boss and I will not be too sad to see her go. But boy, did she sap my energy tonight.
Curry Master left a message on the machine confirming that she'll have my class although the SE will have to cancel out due to work. That'll be fine with me since I do have to give her the omiyage from Sapporo.
Well, tomorrow, I've got the Stylist for the first time in 3 weeks. I hope her attitude is somewhat better than last time. I had been thinking about catching "The Day After Tomorrow" at the theaters in Odaiba but since I'm not too keen on catching half a movie at full price, I'll probably hit the all-you-can-eat buffet there instead. I'm feeling pretty hungry right now but the days of late-night snacks are over.
Skippy actually approved the idea of heading up to Sapporo next February although she's worried about the numbers. Yes, I am too. This could be a rather major undertaking logistically.
Feeling pretty exhausted and grumbly after classes tonight. That moody student in my middle class just kept that hangdog look for almost the entire class...a new record. She really kept me on my toes trying to keep things balanced between her and her classmates. Well, the other shoe finally fell. The boss told me after all the classes got wrapped up that she has finally made the decision to quit the school. It isn't as if she tried to help herself out; she wouldn't commit to private classes since that would cost her more money, and she just couldn't be convinced that she still had a lot to learn in this class. Well, she'll be leaving once June is up. The boss and I will not be too sad to see her go. But boy, did she sap my energy tonight.
Curry Master left a message on the machine confirming that she'll have my class although the SE will have to cancel out due to work. That'll be fine with me since I do have to give her the omiyage from Sapporo.
Well, tomorrow, I've got the Stylist for the first time in 3 weeks. I hope her attitude is somewhat better than last time. I had been thinking about catching "The Day After Tomorrow" at the theaters in Odaiba but since I'm not too keen on catching half a movie at full price, I'll probably hit the all-you-can-eat buffet there instead. I'm feeling pretty hungry right now but the days of late-night snacks are over.
Skippy actually approved the idea of heading up to Sapporo next February although she's worried about the numbers. Yes, I am too. This could be a rather major undertaking logistically.
Monday, June 14, 2004
Tuesday June 15, 1:32 p.m.
It's another hot one out there. There's something about the high temps that makes the walk home all that much longer. Still, it's nice to have the sun out again after a week of dreariness.
I was checking the books. After all that spending on Hokkaido, I only ended up being a few coins short on balance. Didn't quite miss the bullet but just a nick.
All I really want to do is just to lay back and enjoy my air conditioning, but I still have to plan for tonight's classes and get back onto that translation that the Prez wants me to do for the Iconoclast's project. For a while, I thought that the Prez was just going to write it off as a loss but I'm back on the job. I don't know if I'm going to get paid for it either.
Apparently, today is Chiba Citizens' Day so all of the schools are off. Other than kids and perhaps the civil servants, the holiday doesn't really mean all that much to us since most of the Chiba population end up working in Tokyo. No holiday there.
It's another hot one out there. There's something about the high temps that makes the walk home all that much longer. Still, it's nice to have the sun out again after a week of dreariness.
I was checking the books. After all that spending on Hokkaido, I only ended up being a few coins short on balance. Didn't quite miss the bullet but just a nick.
All I really want to do is just to lay back and enjoy my air conditioning, but I still have to plan for tonight's classes and get back onto that translation that the Prez wants me to do for the Iconoclast's project. For a while, I thought that the Prez was just going to write it off as a loss but I'm back on the job. I don't know if I'm going to get paid for it either.
Apparently, today is Chiba Citizens' Day so all of the schools are off. Other than kids and perhaps the civil servants, the holiday doesn't really mean all that much to us since most of the Chiba population end up working in Tokyo. No holiday there.
Tuesday June 15, 12:17 a.m.
About 15 minutes ago, Larry King came on and when I saw the sepia-tinted montage of Reagan, I started groaning, "C'mon...give it a break! Let the guy (and the rest of us) finally rest in peace." However, I changed my mind when the show actually showed the interview with Reagan himself. Why couldn't he have shown those first thing last week?
What was amazing to watch was when the show cut to its first commercial break, and it showed the media footage when the attempted assassination of the President had taken place back in 1981. I remember watching ABC's Frank Reynolds breaking down and the multiple viewings of the actual shooting taking place. However, it bordered on the hilarious when I saw Sam Donaldson nestled against Reynolds reading through the report. Reynolds at first had read that Reagan hadn't been shot...only to be corrected by his Siamese twin. And then Reynolds pulled a Shatneresque gesture. It was absolutely surreal. I would just love to catch that footage again.
In any case, it is nice to actually see the man himself speaking his mind on the attempted assassination and Gorbachev. However, I also agree with the CNN media guy who had earlier pointed out that there was way too much coverage and way too much love for Reagan. At the same time, though, listening and watching him on TV, he is a darn difficult man to dislike.
In other news, my Monday was the same as it has been for the past few weeks. I had my first class and then my student told me that her sister-in-law couldn't make it for the second class. So I once again had a few hours to kill in Shibuya.
One of the things that I've liked about my bohemian status has been the fact that I can often walk and eat anywhere I please during breaks. So I saw myself having a Doner Kebab while sitting on a stool in front of Tower Records. I had been wondering what I would be eating for lunch since I had already eaten at Volks last week and I really wasn't in the mood for the Golden Arches. The last time the Kebab truck had actually stopped in front of Towers was back in the Fall so I gather I was really lucky today. The Kebab was great..it's just too bad that the truck doesn't provide any drinks,but I couldn't complain about the 500 yen price.
I ended up going to HMV and I bought myself one of those issues of EMPIRE, the UK movie magazine, along with a CD of Gypsy Jazz Guitarists; basically, it's a near-homage to Django. Yup, it is just a day before the 15th, my former full-time payday. I realize that for a freelancer who gets paid at almost every class, the 15th doesn't mean all that much but it's a symbolic date for me just to help me with my discipline. Well, some discipline here.
After my class at the Iconoclast's old company, I saw the old Prez for the first time in a few weeks. So heading out for dinner was pretty much in the cards. At first, he, myself and one other fellow staffer sat at a table in the main office gabbing about my trip to Hokkaido a couple of weeks ago. It just so happened that the other staffer had come from Nemuro, a city in the northernmost prefecture, so he was a fount of information about future trips up there although I very much doubt that I'll ever drive around the province the next time I go. But our talk buoyed my proposal to Skippy a few days about a possible group trip there in February for the Winter Festival. In the intervening days between now and when I had sent out the initial e-mail to her, I'd had some pretty skeptical thoughts about the folly of my proposal. Still, I have yet to hear from her.
I think I ended up waiting there at the office for an hour. The rest of the group was busy figuring some sort of test for one of their projects. I got an up-close-and-personal about how harsh the Prez can be on the "feeb" of the company. He didn't exactly splatter the poor guy all over the wall as the Iconoclast once described. But he was pretty sharp. When the only compliment the feeb can get is that the problems with the project were not his fault after all, then things must be pretty dire for him.
Finally, they wrapped things up as best as they could, and four of us went out to an interesting izakaya in West Shinjuku. Unlike some of the more elegant places that the Prez has taken me to, this place was bargain-basement. In fact, it actually was located in the basement. It was this huge space with tables and counters with mostly Chinese waitresses bringing small plates of various kinds of izakaya food such as fried noodles, fried chicken and sashimi. The izakaya was just a good cheap place to unwind for a few drinks which we all did. In fact, I ended up ordering a good bit more than the others could handle. I made the mistake of being slightly sexist and assuming that with four men, we could handle the culinary load. We left quite a bit on the table but the Prez just paid for everything with aplomb. The trip home was another smelly affair with my clothes filled with every odor in the book.
Luckily, I got the message from the school scheduler that I wouldn't be needed for a class this afternoon although I will be scheduled for a class there on Thursday. At least, I can get another break between classes.
I received a strange message from Movie Buddy. I had answered his request for an outing on this coming Sunday in the negative since I have that goodbye party for DTE then. However, his message hinted that I had answered in the positive so I had to send over another message reiterating my point. I already sent a similar message to the Ballerina.
Well, I should be heading for bed now.
About 15 minutes ago, Larry King came on and when I saw the sepia-tinted montage of Reagan, I started groaning, "C'mon...give it a break! Let the guy (and the rest of us) finally rest in peace." However, I changed my mind when the show actually showed the interview with Reagan himself. Why couldn't he have shown those first thing last week?
What was amazing to watch was when the show cut to its first commercial break, and it showed the media footage when the attempted assassination of the President had taken place back in 1981. I remember watching ABC's Frank Reynolds breaking down and the multiple viewings of the actual shooting taking place. However, it bordered on the hilarious when I saw Sam Donaldson nestled against Reynolds reading through the report. Reynolds at first had read that Reagan hadn't been shot...only to be corrected by his Siamese twin. And then Reynolds pulled a Shatneresque gesture. It was absolutely surreal. I would just love to catch that footage again.
In any case, it is nice to actually see the man himself speaking his mind on the attempted assassination and Gorbachev. However, I also agree with the CNN media guy who had earlier pointed out that there was way too much coverage and way too much love for Reagan. At the same time, though, listening and watching him on TV, he is a darn difficult man to dislike.
In other news, my Monday was the same as it has been for the past few weeks. I had my first class and then my student told me that her sister-in-law couldn't make it for the second class. So I once again had a few hours to kill in Shibuya.
One of the things that I've liked about my bohemian status has been the fact that I can often walk and eat anywhere I please during breaks. So I saw myself having a Doner Kebab while sitting on a stool in front of Tower Records. I had been wondering what I would be eating for lunch since I had already eaten at Volks last week and I really wasn't in the mood for the Golden Arches. The last time the Kebab truck had actually stopped in front of Towers was back in the Fall so I gather I was really lucky today. The Kebab was great..it's just too bad that the truck doesn't provide any drinks,but I couldn't complain about the 500 yen price.
I ended up going to HMV and I bought myself one of those issues of EMPIRE, the UK movie magazine, along with a CD of Gypsy Jazz Guitarists; basically, it's a near-homage to Django. Yup, it is just a day before the 15th, my former full-time payday. I realize that for a freelancer who gets paid at almost every class, the 15th doesn't mean all that much but it's a symbolic date for me just to help me with my discipline. Well, some discipline here.
After my class at the Iconoclast's old company, I saw the old Prez for the first time in a few weeks. So heading out for dinner was pretty much in the cards. At first, he, myself and one other fellow staffer sat at a table in the main office gabbing about my trip to Hokkaido a couple of weeks ago. It just so happened that the other staffer had come from Nemuro, a city in the northernmost prefecture, so he was a fount of information about future trips up there although I very much doubt that I'll ever drive around the province the next time I go. But our talk buoyed my proposal to Skippy a few days about a possible group trip there in February for the Winter Festival. In the intervening days between now and when I had sent out the initial e-mail to her, I'd had some pretty skeptical thoughts about the folly of my proposal. Still, I have yet to hear from her.
I think I ended up waiting there at the office for an hour. The rest of the group was busy figuring some sort of test for one of their projects. I got an up-close-and-personal about how harsh the Prez can be on the "feeb" of the company. He didn't exactly splatter the poor guy all over the wall as the Iconoclast once described. But he was pretty sharp. When the only compliment the feeb can get is that the problems with the project were not his fault after all, then things must be pretty dire for him.
Finally, they wrapped things up as best as they could, and four of us went out to an interesting izakaya in West Shinjuku. Unlike some of the more elegant places that the Prez has taken me to, this place was bargain-basement. In fact, it actually was located in the basement. It was this huge space with tables and counters with mostly Chinese waitresses bringing small plates of various kinds of izakaya food such as fried noodles, fried chicken and sashimi. The izakaya was just a good cheap place to unwind for a few drinks which we all did. In fact, I ended up ordering a good bit more than the others could handle. I made the mistake of being slightly sexist and assuming that with four men, we could handle the culinary load. We left quite a bit on the table but the Prez just paid for everything with aplomb. The trip home was another smelly affair with my clothes filled with every odor in the book.
Luckily, I got the message from the school scheduler that I wouldn't be needed for a class this afternoon although I will be scheduled for a class there on Thursday. At least, I can get another break between classes.
I received a strange message from Movie Buddy. I had answered his request for an outing on this coming Sunday in the negative since I have that goodbye party for DTE then. However, his message hinted that I had answered in the positive so I had to send over another message reiterating my point. I already sent a similar message to the Ballerina.
Well, I should be heading for bed now.
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Monday June 14, 7:33 a.m.
After 9 days of straight rain, we finally got a week of sunny weather coming up. At least I don't have to time my laundry days.
I have been on an Internet diet of sorts. After seeing my latest NTT bill, I think the digital fasting was in order although I'm still nothing compared to some of these cellphone-packing teens; my bill has been creeping up a bit in the past few months. However, it's not all that easy.
The big news here is that two of the major Japanese ball teams are thinking merger. The Kintetsu Water Buffaloes and the Orix Blue Wave, both Kansai-based teams, are in negotiations to get hitched to each other for financial survival. I know that the Blue Wave has never recovered from the loss of Ichiro to the Bigs. Plus, thanks to the Tokyo Giants, virtually all of the other teams in the Central and Pacific Leagues have been starved of a lot of the TV advertising revenue. It isn't uncommon not to see anything of these other teams outside of them being merely mentioned on the sports scoreboard. Of course, the fans aren't too thrilled but I think it'll have to be done. There's even been talk of just going to a 1-league format.
Breakfast for me was just a bowl of granola and the remaining half of that Hershey bar with coffee. Not exactly the healthiest morning meal, but it suits me fine enough.
Well, I have those three classes today. I'm just wondering if the second student will be pulling another absence. I would rather not lug around the extra texts if I don't have to.
After 9 days of straight rain, we finally got a week of sunny weather coming up. At least I don't have to time my laundry days.
I have been on an Internet diet of sorts. After seeing my latest NTT bill, I think the digital fasting was in order although I'm still nothing compared to some of these cellphone-packing teens; my bill has been creeping up a bit in the past few months. However, it's not all that easy.
The big news here is that two of the major Japanese ball teams are thinking merger. The Kintetsu Water Buffaloes and the Orix Blue Wave, both Kansai-based teams, are in negotiations to get hitched to each other for financial survival. I know that the Blue Wave has never recovered from the loss of Ichiro to the Bigs. Plus, thanks to the Tokyo Giants, virtually all of the other teams in the Central and Pacific Leagues have been starved of a lot of the TV advertising revenue. It isn't uncommon not to see anything of these other teams outside of them being merely mentioned on the sports scoreboard. Of course, the fans aren't too thrilled but I think it'll have to be done. There's even been talk of just going to a 1-league format.
Breakfast for me was just a bowl of granola and the remaining half of that Hershey bar with coffee. Not exactly the healthiest morning meal, but it suits me fine enough.
Well, I have those three classes today. I'm just wondering if the second student will be pulling another absence. I would rather not lug around the extra texts if I don't have to.
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Sunday June 13, 3:23 p.m.
Well, the rain did go away. We're back to warm and sunny. I had that first lesson with Jazz Buddy...or more accurately, a planning session for her future lessons, so I gallantly didn't accept her money. I'm sure the Tea Room staff must be considering charging me rent for the number of times I darken their territory. The session with her took about 3 hours as we gabbed over what we wanted to do and also about that relative snorefest at the DUG jazz bar a couple of months back.
When we finally left the Tea Room, we saw the beginnings of the Ichigaya "chonai matsuri" forming up. "Chonai Matsuri" translates roughly into "block festival". I gather it's a somewhat more decorous version of a block party, but with folks in traditional grab and portable shrines instead of T-shirts, jeans, beer and BBQ.
I got that first batch of photos from Sapporo done up. They didn't come out too badly, although that picture of the jumbo ramen from my first night there turned out a bit blurry. However, it did manage to fill up most of the frame.
Well, since the weather seems to have improved, I guess I'll hang out the mattresses to dry out and get some vacuuming done. I still gotta prep for my Monday classes.
Well, the rain did go away. We're back to warm and sunny. I had that first lesson with Jazz Buddy...or more accurately, a planning session for her future lessons, so I gallantly didn't accept her money. I'm sure the Tea Room staff must be considering charging me rent for the number of times I darken their territory. The session with her took about 3 hours as we gabbed over what we wanted to do and also about that relative snorefest at the DUG jazz bar a couple of months back.
When we finally left the Tea Room, we saw the beginnings of the Ichigaya "chonai matsuri" forming up. "Chonai Matsuri" translates roughly into "block festival". I gather it's a somewhat more decorous version of a block party, but with folks in traditional grab and portable shrines instead of T-shirts, jeans, beer and BBQ.
I got that first batch of photos from Sapporo done up. They didn't come out too badly, although that picture of the jumbo ramen from my first night there turned out a bit blurry. However, it did manage to fill up most of the frame.
Well, since the weather seems to have improved, I guess I'll hang out the mattresses to dry out and get some vacuuming done. I still gotta prep for my Monday classes.
Sunday June 13, 8:15 a.m.
Rain, rain, go away...yup, another major downpour this morning. Actually got up at 7 to have breakfast...on a Sunday, no less. Thank heavens next week, Jazz Buddy is going surfing.
Curry Master has contacted me stating that The Sysop can't make it for his usual lesson this Thursday because of work. So she has coyly asked me if still want to come over for her single lesson. I've left it up to her to make the call. I'm cool either way.
I'll be heading out in a little more than an hour to get some sample copies of potential texts for JB and then leave one of my disposable cameras from Hokkaido to be developed.
Looks like PM Blair has lost big in local elections. Well, when you deal with the Great Satan...
Rain, rain, go away...yup, another major downpour this morning. Actually got up at 7 to have breakfast...on a Sunday, no less. Thank heavens next week, Jazz Buddy is going surfing.
Curry Master has contacted me stating that The Sysop can't make it for his usual lesson this Thursday because of work. So she has coyly asked me if still want to come over for her single lesson. I've left it up to her to make the call. I'm cool either way.
I'll be heading out in a little more than an hour to get some sample copies of potential texts for JB and then leave one of my disposable cameras from Hokkaido to be developed.
Looks like PM Blair has lost big in local elections. Well, when you deal with the Great Satan...
Saturday June 12, 8:46 p.m.
The official week of mourning for Reagan is over. But the funeral was about as Hollywood as one could get for a former movie star-turned-President. You had former colleagues, reformed leaders and one former archenemy in the seats, music on the John Williams/James Horner scale, an ex-President on the verge of tears, and finally a grieving widow who kept a brave front only to finally break down on her husband's coffin at his final resting site in the California sunset.
I had a lesson with SR for the first time in a few weeks. Looks like she had a sudden trip to LA about the same time I was traveling through Sapporo and she met an old friend of ours there. So we both exchanged souvenirs, and I think I got the better end of the deal. I not only got a giant Hershey's bar but I got gravy mix! You just don't know how difficult it is to get even an instant gravy mix in this city. I put it to good use tonight, though. I poured the hot silky mixture on some roast chicken that I'd bought at the supermarket. I even rustled up some mashed potatoes to give my gravy an extra workout. My cholesterol count will probably skyrocket but I am a happy man.
Well, tomorrow I've got that first lesson with Jazz Buddy. Since it's a first one, it'll just be a sounding board to find out what she really wants to do.
The official week of mourning for Reagan is over. But the funeral was about as Hollywood as one could get for a former movie star-turned-President. You had former colleagues, reformed leaders and one former archenemy in the seats, music on the John Williams/James Horner scale, an ex-President on the verge of tears, and finally a grieving widow who kept a brave front only to finally break down on her husband's coffin at his final resting site in the California sunset.
I had a lesson with SR for the first time in a few weeks. Looks like she had a sudden trip to LA about the same time I was traveling through Sapporo and she met an old friend of ours there. So we both exchanged souvenirs, and I think I got the better end of the deal. I not only got a giant Hershey's bar but I got gravy mix! You just don't know how difficult it is to get even an instant gravy mix in this city. I put it to good use tonight, though. I poured the hot silky mixture on some roast chicken that I'd bought at the supermarket. I even rustled up some mashed potatoes to give my gravy an extra workout. My cholesterol count will probably skyrocket but I am a happy man.
Well, tomorrow I've got that first lesson with Jazz Buddy. Since it's a first one, it'll just be a sounding board to find out what she really wants to do.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Friday June 11, 8:51 a.m.
Well, it looks like another legend has also passed on. Ray Charles, the King Of Soul, died yesterday. I wasn't a huge follower of his music but I, along with everyone else, knew his rendition of "Georgia On My Mind". And though, it has become more known as a treacly bit of 80s pop culture now, Ray Charles' contribution to "We Are The World" is still the highlight of the song. I think Anderson Cooper hit the right spot by ending the show with him playing "America The Beautiful" at Reagan's second inaugural.
Went to the salon for that haircut. Looks like the ladies there weren't as successful with their little trip to Guam as I was with my own to Sapporo. It rained on their parade, literally, for their three days.
Pretty quiet day yesterday. I just had that one class with Arwen and 77. It looks like I'll be having their lessons now on Thursdays instead of Fridays which suits me fine in a way. I can take off for home earlier on Friday. I had dinner at that Mao Chinese restaurant near my apartment. The folks have started merchandising themselves. There is now a Mao painting on the side of the outside wall, and the two waitresses were sporting T-shirts with the restaurant name. I don't think they've quite hit the Hello Kitty heights yet. No Anne Murray this time, though...they settled for just the radio. As usual, the place was deserted.
Looks like I may have yet another student. This one is a referral rather than an old student from the school.PH got me this one. I'll be starting with her on the 7th for the summer.
As for today, I've got The Teacher and SR. I don't have to lug that text of articles. She said that she'd bring a special article on Reagan. I haven't seen SR for a few weeks due to her work schedule. I've got her omiyage from Sapporo. I'll be finished at 5:30. Perhaps pasta for dinner will be in order.
Well, it looks like another legend has also passed on. Ray Charles, the King Of Soul, died yesterday. I wasn't a huge follower of his music but I, along with everyone else, knew his rendition of "Georgia On My Mind". And though, it has become more known as a treacly bit of 80s pop culture now, Ray Charles' contribution to "We Are The World" is still the highlight of the song. I think Anderson Cooper hit the right spot by ending the show with him playing "America The Beautiful" at Reagan's second inaugural.
Went to the salon for that haircut. Looks like the ladies there weren't as successful with their little trip to Guam as I was with my own to Sapporo. It rained on their parade, literally, for their three days.
Pretty quiet day yesterday. I just had that one class with Arwen and 77. It looks like I'll be having their lessons now on Thursdays instead of Fridays which suits me fine in a way. I can take off for home earlier on Friday. I had dinner at that Mao Chinese restaurant near my apartment. The folks have started merchandising themselves. There is now a Mao painting on the side of the outside wall, and the two waitresses were sporting T-shirts with the restaurant name. I don't think they've quite hit the Hello Kitty heights yet. No Anne Murray this time, though...they settled for just the radio. As usual, the place was deserted.
Looks like I may have yet another student. This one is a referral rather than an old student from the school.PH got me this one. I'll be starting with her on the 7th for the summer.
As for today, I've got The Teacher and SR. I don't have to lug that text of articles. She said that she'd bring a special article on Reagan. I haven't seen SR for a few weeks due to her work schedule. I've got her omiyage from Sapporo. I'll be finished at 5:30. Perhaps pasta for dinner will be in order.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Thursday June 10, 8:25 a.m.
Currently watching the Reagan funeral on CNN. Appropriately subdued; very little commentary accompanying the visuals which is rather surprising.
A bit of a bittersweet day yesterday on two fronts. I met up with my ex for lunch. She was pretty tired so she wasn't her usually chipper self. In fact, during lunch at one point, we got a bit snippy toward each other although I think I may be exaggerating a bit. It may have been more of a joint chiding more than anything else. She said that her life has come to a certain happy balance which of course I'm happy about. I rather wish I could say the same for my own life.
Later that night, I went down to The Maple Leaf for the second time to meet up with some of the folks from the Sunday BBQ to catch the Japan-India soccer match. The match was more target practice for the Japanese team than an actual game. Japan demolished the Indians 7-0. At one point, we had betting pools on the 2nd and 3rd goals; true to form, I lost both times. Nothing major in the money...just 1,000 yen each.
The bittersweet part at that event, though, was the stark reminder that I'm just not comfortable at social outings with a whole bunch of people I don't know. The Big Guy tried to engage me in conversation with some of his buddies...he even tried to recommend me as an English teacher for them. It was very kind of him, and I did have short bursts of talk with each of them. But simply speaking, I'll never be as comfortable in that situation as I am with students...in other words, a setting in which I have some sort of control or need to help people. Even with my outings with the alumni of my school, we may be friends now but the relationship is still of teacher-student. I guess I'll always be better in that sort of relationship.
Well, at least, the hamburger plate at The Maple Leaf was good.
Currently watching the Reagan funeral on CNN. Appropriately subdued; very little commentary accompanying the visuals which is rather surprising.
A bit of a bittersweet day yesterday on two fronts. I met up with my ex for lunch. She was pretty tired so she wasn't her usually chipper self. In fact, during lunch at one point, we got a bit snippy toward each other although I think I may be exaggerating a bit. It may have been more of a joint chiding more than anything else. She said that her life has come to a certain happy balance which of course I'm happy about. I rather wish I could say the same for my own life.
Later that night, I went down to The Maple Leaf for the second time to meet up with some of the folks from the Sunday BBQ to catch the Japan-India soccer match. The match was more target practice for the Japanese team than an actual game. Japan demolished the Indians 7-0. At one point, we had betting pools on the 2nd and 3rd goals; true to form, I lost both times. Nothing major in the money...just 1,000 yen each.
The bittersweet part at that event, though, was the stark reminder that I'm just not comfortable at social outings with a whole bunch of people I don't know. The Big Guy tried to engage me in conversation with some of his buddies...he even tried to recommend me as an English teacher for them. It was very kind of him, and I did have short bursts of talk with each of them. But simply speaking, I'll never be as comfortable in that situation as I am with students...in other words, a setting in which I have some sort of control or need to help people. Even with my outings with the alumni of my school, we may be friends now but the relationship is still of teacher-student. I guess I'll always be better in that sort of relationship.
Well, at least, the hamburger plate at The Maple Leaf was good.
Monday, June 07, 2004
Tuesday June 8, 12:53 p.m.
Just back for a respite for a few hours between classes. It's the first time in about a month since I've had one of these since getting back to the school classes, so it's rather nice to hang out in air-conditioned comfort. Pretty hot and humid right now and those clouds are threatening to burst.
This morning, one of my students related to me about her daughter who counsels kids in an orphanage. Before I go on, though, I have to give a bit of background infor here. Last week, while I was up in Sapporo, the big news nationwide was about this elementary school kid in Nagasaki who had stabbed a classmate to death with a cardboard cutter in an empty room at school during lunch hour. Apparently, the kid lost it when she found out on the Net that the classmate had made some disparaging remarks in a chat room, and she got her revenge.
Getting back to my student's daughter: the counselor was rather chilled when she asked her young charges about their thoughts on the incident. They all answered that they fully supported the murder as the right thing to do. My student was also very dismayed.
Yes, the murder and the kids' cold reactions to it are sad, to say the least. But I can't say that I'm very surprised by them. For the former, there have been these heinous acts committed by kids for the last several years, the worst of which was the Jun Hase decapitation in 1995 in the Kansai area. Also, several boys kidanpped, murdered, immolated and then dumped a girl into an oil drum a number of years ago. I can't really explain why these acts occurred except bleat out the usual increase in temptations for youth and the decrease in good guidance. As for the latter, well, they are kids. Kids by nature are immature (let's not got into the stereotypical precocious sitcom kids, shall we?) and they will say and do stupid things because of lack of knowledge and wisdom. Not to say that adults are incapable of those things...believe me, there are plenty of those everywhere, and even the smart ones screw up from time to time. In addition, those kids were at an orphanage, and I can't really say for sure if some or any of them have been raised to understand that murder is simply wrong for any reason. Again, my last sentence will have its caveats as well. However, I can only hope that most of them will come to the right realization.
A couple of other students chimed in then with that notorious film, "BATTLE ROYALE" as a possible influence for kids to do such things. I cannot say with perfect confidence that the Kinji Fukusaku production wouldn't cue a kid to go on a murder rampage in a school but I think the film and the original novel are more of a reflection or interpretation of today's youth more than anything else.
In any case, the investigation goes on.
Just back for a respite for a few hours between classes. It's the first time in about a month since I've had one of these since getting back to the school classes, so it's rather nice to hang out in air-conditioned comfort. Pretty hot and humid right now and those clouds are threatening to burst.
This morning, one of my students related to me about her daughter who counsels kids in an orphanage. Before I go on, though, I have to give a bit of background infor here. Last week, while I was up in Sapporo, the big news nationwide was about this elementary school kid in Nagasaki who had stabbed a classmate to death with a cardboard cutter in an empty room at school during lunch hour. Apparently, the kid lost it when she found out on the Net that the classmate had made some disparaging remarks in a chat room, and she got her revenge.
Getting back to my student's daughter: the counselor was rather chilled when she asked her young charges about their thoughts on the incident. They all answered that they fully supported the murder as the right thing to do. My student was also very dismayed.
Yes, the murder and the kids' cold reactions to it are sad, to say the least. But I can't say that I'm very surprised by them. For the former, there have been these heinous acts committed by kids for the last several years, the worst of which was the Jun Hase decapitation in 1995 in the Kansai area. Also, several boys kidanpped, murdered, immolated and then dumped a girl into an oil drum a number of years ago. I can't really explain why these acts occurred except bleat out the usual increase in temptations for youth and the decrease in good guidance. As for the latter, well, they are kids. Kids by nature are immature (let's not got into the stereotypical precocious sitcom kids, shall we?) and they will say and do stupid things because of lack of knowledge and wisdom. Not to say that adults are incapable of those things...believe me, there are plenty of those everywhere, and even the smart ones screw up from time to time. In addition, those kids were at an orphanage, and I can't really say for sure if some or any of them have been raised to understand that murder is simply wrong for any reason. Again, my last sentence will have its caveats as well. However, I can only hope that most of them will come to the right realization.
A couple of other students chimed in then with that notorious film, "BATTLE ROYALE" as a possible influence for kids to do such things. I cannot say with perfect confidence that the Kinji Fukusaku production wouldn't cue a kid to go on a murder rampage in a school but I think the film and the original novel are more of a reflection or interpretation of today's youth more than anything else.
In any case, the investigation goes on.
Monday June 7, 9:12 p.m.
Well, Santa made another delivery today of packages of Shiroi Koibito on the good boy and girl students. Luckily, I was able to stuff all the boxes in one bag since I got burdened with a very inexpensive yogurt maker thanks to one of my students. I thought I was going to get some of that yogurt culture from the other student but it looks she forgot so the maker will have to wait a bit. So I had that yogurt maker, my bag and an umbrella since the rainy season has descended upon us in earnest.
My middle student canned out again so I could have a leisurely lunch at the Shibuya branch of VOLKS, the most famous Tokyo steakhouse chain until the OUTBACK invaded the Big Sushi.I just had the hamburg steak and steak cubes lunch with the multiple visits to the soup and salad bar.
I did my usual Monday visit to Tower Records, ostensibly to head up to the 7th floor to check out if TIME had sent a special commemorative issue on Reagan. But it was too soon so I just picked up the D-Day issue of the magazine. I haven't really picked up any CDs in the last month or so but I may pick up a few once we pass the middle of the month. Then, I headed up to Shinjuku and just had some coffee at bakery cafe near the company. My class there went pretty smoothly. I thought the Prez would be there since I hadn't seen him in about a couple of weeks. In a way, it was good that he was off at the factory again since I really wasn't much in the mood for having dinner out. I just wanted to get home and try to recover from the humidity.
I got some more packages to deliver tomorrow: to the morning Tsudanuma ladies and then the juku classes. Luckily, I won't be having a school class so I can have some down time during the afternoon.
The Big Guy sent out the invitation to catch Japan vs. India soccer on Wednesday night at the Maple Leaf Bar in Shibuya. I'll probably head out after my class with the Office Lady since I've only got my haircut on Thursday morning. Plus, since I'll be in the neighbourhood anyways.
Also, I'll be having my usual occasional lunch with the ex earlier in the day.
Well, Santa made another delivery today of packages of Shiroi Koibito on the good boy and girl students. Luckily, I was able to stuff all the boxes in one bag since I got burdened with a very inexpensive yogurt maker thanks to one of my students. I thought I was going to get some of that yogurt culture from the other student but it looks she forgot so the maker will have to wait a bit. So I had that yogurt maker, my bag and an umbrella since the rainy season has descended upon us in earnest.
My middle student canned out again so I could have a leisurely lunch at the Shibuya branch of VOLKS, the most famous Tokyo steakhouse chain until the OUTBACK invaded the Big Sushi.I just had the hamburg steak and steak cubes lunch with the multiple visits to the soup and salad bar.
I did my usual Monday visit to Tower Records, ostensibly to head up to the 7th floor to check out if TIME had sent a special commemorative issue on Reagan. But it was too soon so I just picked up the D-Day issue of the magazine. I haven't really picked up any CDs in the last month or so but I may pick up a few once we pass the middle of the month. Then, I headed up to Shinjuku and just had some coffee at bakery cafe near the company. My class there went pretty smoothly. I thought the Prez would be there since I hadn't seen him in about a couple of weeks. In a way, it was good that he was off at the factory again since I really wasn't much in the mood for having dinner out. I just wanted to get home and try to recover from the humidity.
I got some more packages to deliver tomorrow: to the morning Tsudanuma ladies and then the juku classes. Luckily, I won't be having a school class so I can have some down time during the afternoon.
The Big Guy sent out the invitation to catch Japan vs. India soccer on Wednesday night at the Maple Leaf Bar in Shibuya. I'll probably head out after my class with the Office Lady since I've only got my haircut on Thursday morning. Plus, since I'll be in the neighbourhood anyways.
Also, I'll be having my usual occasional lunch with the ex earlier in the day.
Sunday, June 06, 2004
Monday June 7, 7:36 a.m.
The Reagan love-in continues. My memories of the man are the first ones that I ever had of a sitting president. I had been alive for four previous presidents but my memories of them when they were in office were all through their impressions by Rich Little or Dan Ackroyd or Chevy Chase. My first memory of Reagan came when he first took office and then proudly announced and welcomed the return of the American hostages from Iran. Then, there was the attempted assassination in 1981. I just remember seeing, in an age where 24-hour news was non-existent, wall-to-wall coverage of that moment when Reagan was waving at the folks before the camera suddenly shifted to a quickly developing scrum a few metres away. Then, I caught ABC's obviously agitated Frank Reynolds barely holding it together as he tried to keep the news going. Of course, after that famous scene, I remember him delivering the eulogy for the doomed Challenger crew and then of course, his famous "Tear Down This Wall" speech.
A former colleague of mine once told me that the only things needed to become a decent English conversation teacher in Japan were a sense of humour and charm. As a professional teacher, I wasn't particularly offended by that statement at all since I do believe it to some degree. Students won't remember me for my razor-sharp structure in presenting a grammar tense but they will remember the joke that was attached to that tense. I think Reagan used the same tactics to, whether the label is well-deserved or not, become one of the most popular presidents in the 20th century. Here was a guy who had to deal with Iran-Contra, tripled the national debt and wasn't loathe to kill a union. And yet, with his death, he's become this historical icon not only because of his fight against Communism but because he struck the average American as the ideal American: down-home, folksy, and humourous. Anyone who can crack two jokes immediately after an attempted assassination will probably merit everyone's admiration.
I received a response from Jazz Buddy about her first lesson. Looks like it'll be a go for this Sunday. She also mentioned that she didn't care about the rest of the other guys such as Skippy. Ouch! I'm not sure if it were a misphrasing of sorts but then again, I know that Skippy wasn't universally loved and that JB herself has been cited as having a pretty dark side. In any case, I now see myself working at least once every day. Now, usually I would be pretty depressed about that fact but it seems like JB has things she wants to do along with me on her Sundays, so I figure that we won't be getting together constantly every Sunday. I'll think I'll make that point clear to her when we meet on the 13th.
Well, it's rainy and in fact, a half-hour earlier, I heard some thunder rolling off in the distance. But I'll have to be carrying two bags today. One with my usual books and the other with my omiyage.
The Reagan love-in continues. My memories of the man are the first ones that I ever had of a sitting president. I had been alive for four previous presidents but my memories of them when they were in office were all through their impressions by Rich Little or Dan Ackroyd or Chevy Chase. My first memory of Reagan came when he first took office and then proudly announced and welcomed the return of the American hostages from Iran. Then, there was the attempted assassination in 1981. I just remember seeing, in an age where 24-hour news was non-existent, wall-to-wall coverage of that moment when Reagan was waving at the folks before the camera suddenly shifted to a quickly developing scrum a few metres away. Then, I caught ABC's obviously agitated Frank Reynolds barely holding it together as he tried to keep the news going. Of course, after that famous scene, I remember him delivering the eulogy for the doomed Challenger crew and then of course, his famous "Tear Down This Wall" speech.
A former colleague of mine once told me that the only things needed to become a decent English conversation teacher in Japan were a sense of humour and charm. As a professional teacher, I wasn't particularly offended by that statement at all since I do believe it to some degree. Students won't remember me for my razor-sharp structure in presenting a grammar tense but they will remember the joke that was attached to that tense. I think Reagan used the same tactics to, whether the label is well-deserved or not, become one of the most popular presidents in the 20th century. Here was a guy who had to deal with Iran-Contra, tripled the national debt and wasn't loathe to kill a union. And yet, with his death, he's become this historical icon not only because of his fight against Communism but because he struck the average American as the ideal American: down-home, folksy, and humourous. Anyone who can crack two jokes immediately after an attempted assassination will probably merit everyone's admiration.
I received a response from Jazz Buddy about her first lesson. Looks like it'll be a go for this Sunday. She also mentioned that she didn't care about the rest of the other guys such as Skippy. Ouch! I'm not sure if it were a misphrasing of sorts but then again, I know that Skippy wasn't universally loved and that JB herself has been cited as having a pretty dark side. In any case, I now see myself working at least once every day. Now, usually I would be pretty depressed about that fact but it seems like JB has things she wants to do along with me on her Sundays, so I figure that we won't be getting together constantly every Sunday. I'll think I'll make that point clear to her when we meet on the 13th.
Well, it's rainy and in fact, a half-hour earlier, I heard some thunder rolling off in the distance. But I'll have to be carrying two bags today. One with my usual books and the other with my omiyage.
Sunday June 6, 11:30 p.m.
Currently watching the D-Day commemmorations in Arromanches, France. It's nice to see those oldtimers finally get their due from the President of France.
Well, the rains did come as I picked up my friend at Ebisu Station. But the BBQ was still on. The two of us arrived there as the Big Guy and his fiancee got the fire started on the grill. Luckily, the balcony of the upstairs apartment was large enough so that the grill was spared from the rain although the grillmaster and I got a bit wet.
My new friend managed to get quite comfortable with her acquaintances much to my satisfaction. Party Hearty once again put out quite a spread of BBQ meat, jerk pork, salad, marinated shishkebabed veggies among other things and then finally dessert. My new friend had to leave a bit early since she lives all the way up in Tokorozawa, Saitama. but she and the others exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses. There is a possibility that there may be another outing on Wednesday night at the Maple Leaf Pub in Shibuya. I may partake in it if I don't feel too tired. Mind you, the way it's looking right now, I'll just have one class that night...with the OL, and that's at 6:45.
Currently watching the D-Day commemmorations in Arromanches, France. It's nice to see those oldtimers finally get their due from the President of France.
Well, the rains did come as I picked up my friend at Ebisu Station. But the BBQ was still on. The two of us arrived there as the Big Guy and his fiancee got the fire started on the grill. Luckily, the balcony of the upstairs apartment was large enough so that the grill was spared from the rain although the grillmaster and I got a bit wet.
My new friend managed to get quite comfortable with her acquaintances much to my satisfaction. Party Hearty once again put out quite a spread of BBQ meat, jerk pork, salad, marinated shishkebabed veggies among other things and then finally dessert. My new friend had to leave a bit early since she lives all the way up in Tokorozawa, Saitama. but she and the others exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses. There is a possibility that there may be another outing on Wednesday night at the Maple Leaf Pub in Shibuya. I may partake in it if I don't feel too tired. Mind you, the way it's looking right now, I'll just have one class that night...with the OL, and that's at 6:45.
Saturday, June 05, 2004
Sunday June 6, 10:56 a.m.
On the 60th anniversary of D-Day, it seems rather timely that one of America's more colourful presidents passed away. I caught news of Ronald Reagan's death on NHK this morning at 7, just a couple of hours after he'd left this mortal coil. Once again, CNN has brought out the sweeping orchestral music, the sepia-toned graphics of Reagan in various scenes and the somber mellifluous tones from Larry, Aaron and Paula.
It's interesting to note that for the next month (since President Bush has announced a 30-day period of mourning), there will be tons of accolades from the regular Joe and Jane on the street to the upper echelons of government. Not an ill word be said about him...at least not on camera. It's important to note that he wasn't a perfect President (noone is) and that it's important for his naysayers to keep their side of the bargain up. I get very jaded when all I hear is what a wonderful man or a powerful leader a head of state was. For example, I was slightly surprised about all the attention and lavish praise heaped on the late Richard Nixon, a man whom we've longed associated with paranoia and the highest government corruption. It was almost a relief when the media actually did allow a few of his critics to throw their barbs and remind everyone how flawed Nixon was.
For some reason, whenever things of this import occur, something unusual has usually happened to me at around the same time...certainly the same day. On 9/11, my flight back to Narita had been a nightmare thanks to a typhoon which had us try two aborted landings before we were finally successful. As I mentioned, I'm not a good flyer so I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the wheels finally touched down on the tarmac. Ironically, a few hours later, three planes Stateside couldn't share the same happy ending.Even more chilling was that my flight originated from the same New Jersey airport where one of the flying bombs was launched 24 hours later.
I woke up at an ungodly hour this morning to head to the washroom, something that I hardly ever do. President Reagan died at about the same time. Now, I'm not saying that I'm psychic or anything, but I just find it rather odd.
In other news, Shard gave me a rare call from Toronto. I hadn't heard from him in several weeks, even through e-mail, so the call was even more of a surprise. (In another parallel to the previous paragraph, Shard was the one who first called me hours after my nightmare flight to tell me to turn on the TV about an attack in New York). He needed help in tracking a business associate down; he lives somewhere in Kobe so I took 30 minutes to check out my sources on the Net, to no avail. Luckily in my second call with him, he told me that the guy had managed to contact him.
I was able to get some more housekeeping stuff done. I made my bimonthly appointment for my haircut this week since it looks like the upcoming days will be fairly quiet..the coordinator sent me a message stating that the school's students will be doing tests all week. Then, that huge package of omiyage got in. Plus, I tried to make my monthly call for home but it sounds like the parentals are not there.
Well, the weather isn't exactly great for BBQ but PH's party is still on apparently. I'll be heading out in little over a couple of hours from now.
On the 60th anniversary of D-Day, it seems rather timely that one of America's more colourful presidents passed away. I caught news of Ronald Reagan's death on NHK this morning at 7, just a couple of hours after he'd left this mortal coil. Once again, CNN has brought out the sweeping orchestral music, the sepia-toned graphics of Reagan in various scenes and the somber mellifluous tones from Larry, Aaron and Paula.
It's interesting to note that for the next month (since President Bush has announced a 30-day period of mourning), there will be tons of accolades from the regular Joe and Jane on the street to the upper echelons of government. Not an ill word be said about him...at least not on camera. It's important to note that he wasn't a perfect President (noone is) and that it's important for his naysayers to keep their side of the bargain up. I get very jaded when all I hear is what a wonderful man or a powerful leader a head of state was. For example, I was slightly surprised about all the attention and lavish praise heaped on the late Richard Nixon, a man whom we've longed associated with paranoia and the highest government corruption. It was almost a relief when the media actually did allow a few of his critics to throw their barbs and remind everyone how flawed Nixon was.
For some reason, whenever things of this import occur, something unusual has usually happened to me at around the same time...certainly the same day. On 9/11, my flight back to Narita had been a nightmare thanks to a typhoon which had us try two aborted landings before we were finally successful. As I mentioned, I'm not a good flyer so I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the wheels finally touched down on the tarmac. Ironically, a few hours later, three planes Stateside couldn't share the same happy ending.Even more chilling was that my flight originated from the same New Jersey airport where one of the flying bombs was launched 24 hours later.
I woke up at an ungodly hour this morning to head to the washroom, something that I hardly ever do. President Reagan died at about the same time. Now, I'm not saying that I'm psychic or anything, but I just find it rather odd.
In other news, Shard gave me a rare call from Toronto. I hadn't heard from him in several weeks, even through e-mail, so the call was even more of a surprise. (In another parallel to the previous paragraph, Shard was the one who first called me hours after my nightmare flight to tell me to turn on the TV about an attack in New York). He needed help in tracking a business associate down; he lives somewhere in Kobe so I took 30 minutes to check out my sources on the Net, to no avail. Luckily in my second call with him, he told me that the guy had managed to contact him.
I was able to get some more housekeeping stuff done. I made my bimonthly appointment for my haircut this week since it looks like the upcoming days will be fairly quiet..the coordinator sent me a message stating that the school's students will be doing tests all week. Then, that huge package of omiyage got in. Plus, I tried to make my monthly call for home but it sounds like the parentals are not there.
Well, the weather isn't exactly great for BBQ but PH's party is still on apparently. I'll be heading out in little over a couple of hours from now.
Saturday June 5, 4:54 p.m.
Now that the Sapporo trip is now a fond memory, I can get back to the usual business at hand. Yesterday, I was back in action as a teacher once more. However, I was also a bit of the Santa as I was handing out the boxes of raisin butter cookies to all the good girls. I gave a box to the Teacher and then I met up with Ms. 77 and Arwen and gave them their packages.
Once our class was done, we went down to Shinagawa where 77 and I introduced Arwen to the wonders of the Outback. It was Arwen's first experience at the chain and she wasn't disappointed. We ordered the Bloomin' Onion as usual, and as usual, the three of us couldn't finish the entire dish. I think the fact that it is so heavily deep-fried and it comes with this goopy sauce fills us up quickly. We then got our steaks; I, for one, took it easy on myself and just ordered a 225-gram Outback Special. For that reason, we all had some room left to get dessert although we couldn't totally finish that either.
During dinner, the three of us once again spoke of the rumour mill at the school and then we got into more discussion about DTE's farewell party. I would be contributing my Sweet and Sour Chicken for the meal on the 20th.
I got home and checked my e-mail to find out that the Persian's buddy's sister replied to my invitation for that BBQ tomorrow at Party Hearty's place. So I'll probably be picking her up at Ebisu Station. I hope she can be comfortable at the party.
Today was another hot one as I taught my kids. I made my final deliveries of the butter cookies to them. The elder sister at the first house was even more dour than usual but I've gotten used to her attitude. Even my best kid in the afternoon was feeling pretty lazy in the heat so I took it easy with her.
The heat was affecting more than the kids as I surveyed the riders on the subway sleeping away. I really wasn't in the mood for cooking so I just bought a salad and shrimp tempura on rice.
Now that the Sapporo trip is now a fond memory, I can get back to the usual business at hand. Yesterday, I was back in action as a teacher once more. However, I was also a bit of the Santa as I was handing out the boxes of raisin butter cookies to all the good girls. I gave a box to the Teacher and then I met up with Ms. 77 and Arwen and gave them their packages.
Once our class was done, we went down to Shinagawa where 77 and I introduced Arwen to the wonders of the Outback. It was Arwen's first experience at the chain and she wasn't disappointed. We ordered the Bloomin' Onion as usual, and as usual, the three of us couldn't finish the entire dish. I think the fact that it is so heavily deep-fried and it comes with this goopy sauce fills us up quickly. We then got our steaks; I, for one, took it easy on myself and just ordered a 225-gram Outback Special. For that reason, we all had some room left to get dessert although we couldn't totally finish that either.
During dinner, the three of us once again spoke of the rumour mill at the school and then we got into more discussion about DTE's farewell party. I would be contributing my Sweet and Sour Chicken for the meal on the 20th.
I got home and checked my e-mail to find out that the Persian's buddy's sister replied to my invitation for that BBQ tomorrow at Party Hearty's place. So I'll probably be picking her up at Ebisu Station. I hope she can be comfortable at the party.
Today was another hot one as I taught my kids. I made my final deliveries of the butter cookies to them. The elder sister at the first house was even more dour than usual but I've gotten used to her attitude. Even my best kid in the afternoon was feeling pretty lazy in the heat so I took it easy with her.
The heat was affecting more than the kids as I surveyed the riders on the subway sleeping away. I really wasn't in the mood for cooking so I just bought a salad and shrimp tempura on rice.
Friday, June 04, 2004
Saturday June 5, 7:18 a.m.
Day 3
My final day in Sapporo started with another brazen misrepresentation of conjunctions when it came to the breakfast buffet. Then, I still bought a couple of more souvenirs before I brought down the whole kit and kaboodle for shipping by Yamato Delivery. I'm having it delivered here on Sunday morning. It didn't cost too much considering how much stuff I had and Yamato is as dependable as taxes in April. Great service.
I spent most of the morning watching the latest adventures of Big Matsui and company on NHK-BS and packing things up before I checked out at 11.
So with my black bag and the one bag of raisin butter cookies in tow, I decided to walk up the main street for Sapporo Station instead of taking the subway. Within 20 minutes, I reached the 8th floor of Daimaru and tried out that buffet restaurant. It was a pretty massive place inside; it resembled the Movenpick Marche in Toronto except that I only had to pay one price for everything. To be honest, I wasn't exactly ravenous when I entered the place since I did have that breakfast a few hours previously but I guess I was still mourning the loss of the Farm Grill and I wanted to relive past glories. As it were, the food there wasn't too bad. The fried chicken was worth a second visit. I was also quite impressed with the wait staff all hooked up with earpieces like a presidential guard. The gabby couple sitting across from me dropped a bowl of chow mein on the floor. Immediately, two women with fresh cloths dove in and cleaned up the mess within 10 seconds. Al Unser's pit crew would have been hard pressed to do better.
My final stop in Sapporo was the Sapporo Beer Factory northeast of the station. I first stored the butter cookies in a locker since I didn't want to risk the whole thing going rancid in the warm air and then I headed out. As I waited at the bus stop just outside of the north exit, two buses with the Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team logo emblazoned on the sides arrived. Sure enough, it was the team itself. A lot of the junior high school kids waiting along with me started getting excited. I took a couple of shots but I didn't catch former New York Met, Tsuyoshi Shinjo.
The bus ride out to the Beer Factory took just 7 minutes. When I got off, I just crossed the street where an old guard just quietly waved me in and then I saw this old brick brewery building with a tall smokestack made of the same red brick thrust up into the atmosphere. When I got inside the building, there were two uniformed women in beer-gold. One of them had me registered, taking down my name and prefecture of origin. I also informed her that I was actually a stealth gaijin from Canada so she calmly asked if I'd wanted an English tour. I accepted, noting with some surprise that the young lady didn't appear to be able to speak English. And sure enough, what I got was a well-used Walkman with earpiece and a tape inside. She then stored my bag and escorted me upstairs to the second floor where a small group had congregated. There were a few junior high school boys there with notebooks at the ready. Nice to get them started early on the wonders of alcohol.
Our guide, the same one who led me up, had that somewhat glazed look of a Stepford Wife but she was very efficient. She did a roll call of everyone who signed in. I upped for the 30-minute tour along with a couple of others. The rest went for the full tour which included a 20-minute beer tasting session. Since beer was never one of my favourite examples of booze, I went for the shorter tour.
The tour itself was quite informative. While I kept clicking the tape on and off as I tried to match the English recording with the guide's explanation in Japanese, I learned not only about the history of Sapporo Beer but also of the production process of beer in general. I even got to take a whiff of some hops which explained that pungent smell emananting from those drunken Friday drinkers on the train. When the tour wrapped up, the guide once again read out the names for the folks on the shorter tour and gave us bags of iced green tea and beer crackers which tasted remarkably like Ritz. I took a look at the souvenir shop before succumbing and buying a small barrel of white chocolate-covered freeze-dried strawberries, another one of those Hokkaido delicacies. When I got back into the main foyer, I was waiting to get my bag when the guide ran up toward me carrying my bag as if it weighed a ton. Geezus, get some weight training, girl! However, she was kind enough to take a picture of me in front of a map of Hokkaido made entirely of beer cans. It would be the only picture from the trip with my mug in there; too bad, I had been aiming to get a record.
Now that I got to see everything that I had wanted to see, I took the Factory Line Bus back to Sapporo Station. The ride was a bit more longer since the driver took us through a more circuitous route which included a ride along Odori Park. I then spent the last few hours of my time in the city looking through some more bookstores and CD shops before I spent an hour in a coffee shop in Daimaru. Then I picked up my express ticket for the JR train taking me over to Shin-Chitose Airport after getting my cookies from the locker.
The ride back to the airport was uneventful and comfortable since I got a reserved seat. The sun was appropriately setting at that time and the landscape reverted to that flat green with the odd grouping of houses popping up.
I got my boarding pass at the tour counter. I would be taking JAL back home. I had one last meal at a restaurant up on the 3rd-level restaurant row. I went for the minced tuna on rice, the savory egg custard and zaru soba set. Pretty good for the price.
I noticed that the security was a bit more stringent. Along with the usual scan for metal, I also had to take off my shoes for examination. All I can say is that the guards who were pulling shoe duty must have had the short stick. Also, I noticed that I was the youngest fellow waiting in line. Everyone else was old and gabby. However, I did see a few whippersnappers on board.
Like the ANA flight which had taken me to Hokkaido, the JAL flight was smooth and efficient. Mind you, it seemed as if they backloaded most of the old folk. My area was pretty sparsely populated and in fact my entire row was empty. Having said that, I will never be a fan of air travel. Just the takeoff and the landing would get me on edge. Some bright bulb also decided to attach cameras on the outside fuselage so that we could actually get a view of us taking off and landing. That would be enough for the white-knuckle flyers to head screaming for the exits.
I finally got to Tokyo at about 10:30 p.m. Our flight was one of the last ones in so Haneda was fairly empty. However,the so-called express train back to Shinagawa was full. The trip back home, I looked outside the windows and saw the tall skyscrapers and the masses of people ebbing and flowing on the streets, quite a different scene from what I had witnessed back in Sapporo. In a way, I was happy to get back to a place where at least the veneer of economic success was apparent.
I finally entered my door at 15 minutes past midnight. Needing a shower desperately, I spared a half-hour starting this report. It would be nice to have some sort of record along with the usual photos for posterity.
Day 3
My final day in Sapporo started with another brazen misrepresentation of conjunctions when it came to the breakfast buffet. Then, I still bought a couple of more souvenirs before I brought down the whole kit and kaboodle for shipping by Yamato Delivery. I'm having it delivered here on Sunday morning. It didn't cost too much considering how much stuff I had and Yamato is as dependable as taxes in April. Great service.
I spent most of the morning watching the latest adventures of Big Matsui and company on NHK-BS and packing things up before I checked out at 11.
So with my black bag and the one bag of raisin butter cookies in tow, I decided to walk up the main street for Sapporo Station instead of taking the subway. Within 20 minutes, I reached the 8th floor of Daimaru and tried out that buffet restaurant. It was a pretty massive place inside; it resembled the Movenpick Marche in Toronto except that I only had to pay one price for everything. To be honest, I wasn't exactly ravenous when I entered the place since I did have that breakfast a few hours previously but I guess I was still mourning the loss of the Farm Grill and I wanted to relive past glories. As it were, the food there wasn't too bad. The fried chicken was worth a second visit. I was also quite impressed with the wait staff all hooked up with earpieces like a presidential guard. The gabby couple sitting across from me dropped a bowl of chow mein on the floor. Immediately, two women with fresh cloths dove in and cleaned up the mess within 10 seconds. Al Unser's pit crew would have been hard pressed to do better.
My final stop in Sapporo was the Sapporo Beer Factory northeast of the station. I first stored the butter cookies in a locker since I didn't want to risk the whole thing going rancid in the warm air and then I headed out. As I waited at the bus stop just outside of the north exit, two buses with the Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team logo emblazoned on the sides arrived. Sure enough, it was the team itself. A lot of the junior high school kids waiting along with me started getting excited. I took a couple of shots but I didn't catch former New York Met, Tsuyoshi Shinjo.
The bus ride out to the Beer Factory took just 7 minutes. When I got off, I just crossed the street where an old guard just quietly waved me in and then I saw this old brick brewery building with a tall smokestack made of the same red brick thrust up into the atmosphere. When I got inside the building, there were two uniformed women in beer-gold. One of them had me registered, taking down my name and prefecture of origin. I also informed her that I was actually a stealth gaijin from Canada so she calmly asked if I'd wanted an English tour. I accepted, noting with some surprise that the young lady didn't appear to be able to speak English. And sure enough, what I got was a well-used Walkman with earpiece and a tape inside. She then stored my bag and escorted me upstairs to the second floor where a small group had congregated. There were a few junior high school boys there with notebooks at the ready. Nice to get them started early on the wonders of alcohol.
Our guide, the same one who led me up, had that somewhat glazed look of a Stepford Wife but she was very efficient. She did a roll call of everyone who signed in. I upped for the 30-minute tour along with a couple of others. The rest went for the full tour which included a 20-minute beer tasting session. Since beer was never one of my favourite examples of booze, I went for the shorter tour.
The tour itself was quite informative. While I kept clicking the tape on and off as I tried to match the English recording with the guide's explanation in Japanese, I learned not only about the history of Sapporo Beer but also of the production process of beer in general. I even got to take a whiff of some hops which explained that pungent smell emananting from those drunken Friday drinkers on the train. When the tour wrapped up, the guide once again read out the names for the folks on the shorter tour and gave us bags of iced green tea and beer crackers which tasted remarkably like Ritz. I took a look at the souvenir shop before succumbing and buying a small barrel of white chocolate-covered freeze-dried strawberries, another one of those Hokkaido delicacies. When I got back into the main foyer, I was waiting to get my bag when the guide ran up toward me carrying my bag as if it weighed a ton. Geezus, get some weight training, girl! However, she was kind enough to take a picture of me in front of a map of Hokkaido made entirely of beer cans. It would be the only picture from the trip with my mug in there; too bad, I had been aiming to get a record.
Now that I got to see everything that I had wanted to see, I took the Factory Line Bus back to Sapporo Station. The ride was a bit more longer since the driver took us through a more circuitous route which included a ride along Odori Park. I then spent the last few hours of my time in the city looking through some more bookstores and CD shops before I spent an hour in a coffee shop in Daimaru. Then I picked up my express ticket for the JR train taking me over to Shin-Chitose Airport after getting my cookies from the locker.
The ride back to the airport was uneventful and comfortable since I got a reserved seat. The sun was appropriately setting at that time and the landscape reverted to that flat green with the odd grouping of houses popping up.
I got my boarding pass at the tour counter. I would be taking JAL back home. I had one last meal at a restaurant up on the 3rd-level restaurant row. I went for the minced tuna on rice, the savory egg custard and zaru soba set. Pretty good for the price.
I noticed that the security was a bit more stringent. Along with the usual scan for metal, I also had to take off my shoes for examination. All I can say is that the guards who were pulling shoe duty must have had the short stick. Also, I noticed that I was the youngest fellow waiting in line. Everyone else was old and gabby. However, I did see a few whippersnappers on board.
Like the ANA flight which had taken me to Hokkaido, the JAL flight was smooth and efficient. Mind you, it seemed as if they backloaded most of the old folk. My area was pretty sparsely populated and in fact my entire row was empty. Having said that, I will never be a fan of air travel. Just the takeoff and the landing would get me on edge. Some bright bulb also decided to attach cameras on the outside fuselage so that we could actually get a view of us taking off and landing. That would be enough for the white-knuckle flyers to head screaming for the exits.
I finally got to Tokyo at about 10:30 p.m. Our flight was one of the last ones in so Haneda was fairly empty. However,the so-called express train back to Shinagawa was full. The trip back home, I looked outside the windows and saw the tall skyscrapers and the masses of people ebbing and flowing on the streets, quite a different scene from what I had witnessed back in Sapporo. In a way, I was happy to get back to a place where at least the veneer of economic success was apparent.
I finally entered my door at 15 minutes past midnight. Needing a shower desperately, I spared a half-hour starting this report. It would be nice to have some sort of record along with the usual photos for posterity.