Saturday March 19, 7:31 p.m.

The hay fever's been hitting me hard today. I had to take a second dose of the medicine. Right now, my eyes feel like they're moving in dried corn husks. And my nose is pretty stuffed. Today doesn't sound any more optimistic. It's gonna be another pollen-soaked day.

Had the elder sister today. Looks like she lost the battle but won the war in English; didn't do too hot on the term test but her term mark was an A. Gave her another text on the house; hopefully, this will finally get her more fluent but I have to think about helping her out on some of that grammar which she screwed up on in her test. Didn't have the younger sister since she was busy with her school stuff but got to talk with dear old Dad. A bit more laid back than his wife but we managed to make small talk for an hour.

I stopped off at Shinjuku to see about lunch. I was wondering about Foo Foo again but decided that once a month should be more my style. Instead, I opted for a cheap meal at Lotteria. Cheaper than the ramen but not as satisfying.

JJ was her usual giddy self. Just needs to boost that self-confidence some more and she should be well on her way to better fluency. She won't be meeting me next week since she's got that final ski trip for the season. In fact, I don't have the kids either next Saturday which means I'm free and clear for anything.

Gonna end up having a late dinner. The rice is cooking as I speak and in another 20 minutes, I'll be frying up some pork kimchi. Well, before I catch M+M tomorrow, I'm hoping to get in a long-awaited rubdown at the clinic and maybe even finally get some of that free clothing with those gift certificates.

Friday March 18, 10:42 p.m.

Looks like I have some time and some news so I might as well put it up. First off, Speedy seems to be rather desperate to get me onto some night classes at his school. One of the students who came to my model lesson there almost a month ago would like to take my lessons regularly but I'm not sure how I can help him out with my current schedule. Actually I'm free after 7 on Mondays but frankly I really don't want to teach another class after The Company. The only hope is if The OL ever decides to shift her lesson to another day.

Secretary of State Rice (what a name for this nation) arrived in Tokyo tonight to try to open the gates again for American beef to fill up the gyudon bowls of Japanese salarymen everywhere. I'm sure a lot of the population would gladly take the risk of getting BSE and have their old favourite again. So I can assume that the government is between a rock and a hard place. The US has apparently threatened sanctions but the Japanese have seen all this before with the Kantor/Hashimoto battles of the 90s.

Looks like Northwest Airlines is having more problems. One of their flights had to return to Narita tonight after it'd encountered some rather major turbulence on its way to Taiwan. About 4 people were slightly injured. Still, I think everyone's wits were pretty frayed.

And on the royal beat, Princess Nori and her hubby-to-be will be doing the Engagement Ceremony tomorrow. Basically, it's just a relay of messages of the suitor's intention to marry a princess with gifts of silk, sake and sea bream. I guess jewelry and a Playstation just won't cut it.

Finally, I read a reply to that NOVA-loving guy from that METROPOLIS commentary a few weeks ago. The letter happened to be from one of his ex-colleagues. Not too long-winded...just a snarky hope that NOVAlover leaves his alma mater.

Friday March 18, 8:01 p.m.

I see my computer is gone on the fritz again; After my usual crash messages, now I've got all sorts of weird icons floating. Well, I guess a virus check would be in order.

In any case, I guess Friday is gonna be my Maruzen Day. I made another run down there to pick up some texts. The texts aren't that bad pricewise, but boy, the tapes do kill one's budget. I guess all that money must be spent on that English voice talent. Anyways, I had to splurge over 10,000 yen to buy the books plus order the tapes. I decided to get the books for the elder sister of the twosome on Saturday and for the New Kid. The text was designed for the Japanese student with an already good grounding in English but with the need for a bit of conversational fluency. Well, the two teens in question are just perfect guinea pigs.

I've been trying to avoid McDonalds for lunch since I decided to eat better. It's been a good move; it's forced to find other alternatives. I found one underneath Maruzen near the entrance to Otemachi Station. It's a Vietnamese place; Vietnamese hasn't been one cuisine that I've eaten a whole lot of in Japan over the decade. In fact, I think the only other time I've had Vietnamese was with the Tea Room Gang years ago in Yurakucho. Well, this place looks a whole lot more modern and smaller. I just went to one of the stand-up tables and ordered something called Bunbi, a bowl of pho covered with veggies and chopped pork. Quite delicious...it was 50% more expensive than a Big Mac set and even more pricier than the equivalent stuff back in Toronto's Little Saigon but no guilt trip.

That pho plus a Subway set for dinner continued to hold off the guilt, both calorically and financially. I certainly broke the bank in the two areas when it came to last night's feast at Tony Roma's.

Well, gotta plan for the kids and then JJ. I gotta hit the hay a little earlier since I've got the early shift with the kids tomorrow.

Thursday March 17

Looks like for some reason my entry for this day got wiped out. Well, I'll give you the highlights. I met up with Jazz Buddy yesterday morning. The lesson was a lot more cheerful than the drudgefest a couple of weeks back. For one thing, JB was quite delighted and surprised to get my belated White Day present of Belgian chocolate. For another, I was happy to get my ticket for Diana Krall. Can't believe that the concert is just a week away.

In between her and MK, I had my regular stint at Speedy's. I was actually able to get through all of the textbook. Not quite sure what I'll be doing next for the guy.

After MK's lesson, I sped over to Tony Roma's to catch up with the new grads. Yup, I engorged myself on the large ribs, french fries and clam chowder. The kids weren't disappointed. But I don't think I'll be doing that again for a while. Very nice to have chatted with the gang once more. Not sure when the next time will be.

Wednesday March 16, 9:54 p.m.

Feeling rather achy right now after my first gym outing in two weeks. Surprisingly, there was only an increased displacement of 200 g since my last outing there. I must be doing something right.

It was another day in cafes and family restaurants. After gym, I had lunch at the family restaurant a couple of floors down. Had my usual set of hamburger and deep fried oysters, a favourite dish in these parts. Then I hit the supermarket to buy some Belgian chocolate for Jazz Buddy since she got me the chocolate truffles last month on Valentine's. I still haven't even reached the second package of truffles; the things are just too rich to eat in a bunch...more like one or two a night.

Then, I had The Hawaiian and The OL at their respective eateries. I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't even bother spraying on the cologne...just throw a few coffee grounds on my neck. I think I had about 4 cups of coffee today, double my average. So I ended up going for a Strawberry Creme Frappucino at the OL's Starbucks. Made for a rather sweet but nice alternative to the caffeine I'd been ingesting all day.

Before the OL's lesson, I stopped off at the HMV in Yurakucho. I needed a magazine to read since even crosswords were no longer enough to keep me from nodding off on the trains now. There are quite a few CDs that I wanted to get but with the rent due tomorrow and knowing that I'm gonna have to shuck out a lot more yen for income tax, I held my wallet.

Well, after some pleasant if pollen-filled weather this week, we're in for some rain tomorrow. Maybe that will mean all that stuff will get washed out of the air.

Tuesday March 15, 11:02 p.m.

Wooh...pretty drained after another 4 hours at the juku. Teaching may look sedentary but it sure doesn't feel like it. I really have to keep my focus on each student. The New Kid was better today; had more strucutre to the lesson which helped. I got my "revenge" on the Beauty Pair for those chocolates they had given me last month on Valentine's. Mind you, I just picked up some Fujiya chocolates for them...nothing like Godiva or Maison Du Chocolat, but it's the thought that counts. I also have to get some for Jazz Buddy and the two sisters on Saturday.

Well, I'll definitely be hitting the hay in about another hour or so. I feel a bit bad since I haven't done any more lesson plans for Speedy but considering the past few days, I just don't have time or energy to get back onto that project. I think the only opportunity may either be tomorrow night (if I'm still all there) or during my regular gig at the school itself on Thursday afternoon. I'm glad that I'll be finally be getting back to the gym tomorrow morning after not having a single day there all last week. At least tomorrow, I have The Hawaiian and The OL, two of my most dependable students.

I may not have mentioned it but The Bohemian tried to contact me on Sunday about dinner sometime. I did mention Friday night as a possibility since those so-called classes with my ex have turned out to be a bust. He's yet to contact me so I'm kinda wondering if that also means a no-go. M + M have contacted me about getting together for Sunday afternoon. I think the Tea Room ought to be open then but I'll have to check on Friday when I see SR.

Tuesday March 15, 2:39 p.m.

Already feeling a bit piqued after a rare lunch at KFC and before that, handing in my tax return at the Ichikawa Tax Office. I've never been a great fan of heading to government institutions but this trip was fairly painless aside from the 30-minute round trip between the tax office and the train station. There is actually another train station just a few minutes' walk away from the office but to take that would involve one extra transfer so I decided to go for the exercise instead. There was indeed a lineup on the 1st floor but it moved almost to the point of a rather pleasant flow. So I was in and out of there within 10 minutes.

Mind you the day isn't over yet. I've got my 4 hours at the juku starting with The New Kid. Hopefully, things will finally settle down with him now that I've got a better handle on his situation. Plus, White Day was yesterday so I should pick up a couple of boxes of chocolate for The Beauty Pair since they were nice enough to bring me something for Valentine's Day.

Monday March 14, 9:17 p.m.

Rather exhausted. It just took a really sloggy session at the Company to wipe me out. And it was just on adverbs. Man, I'm glad we have the holiday Monday next week.

Had another wonderful lunch thanks to that new chef at the Class Act's house. Made me a great rice omelette with Hayashi Beef. Rice omelettes and Hayashi Beef are examples of the first try at Western/Japanese fusion cuisine, probably as far back as the Meiji period over a hundred years ago. Along with main course, I had a salad which included broiled sea eel and a balsamic vinegar dressing. A guy can get pretty spoiled on the stuff.

Well, I wish I can hit the hay early tonight but I think I probably won't get to bed until midnight since I gotta fill in the final tax return and then prep for my lessons tomorrow. This could be another taxing day, to say the least

Read Volume 2 of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Another rollicking read...more of the scintillating story and that underlying tongue-in-cheek humour. But I must admit that I was rather surprised that the authors took advantage of the GRAPHIC part of the novel pretty seriously. Let's say that some of the scenes can give hope to the older guys looking to sow their wild oats one last time. Plenty of gruesome violence, too.

Monday March 14, 12:17 a.m.

Rather long day for a Sunday. I'd usually be at home by around the early evening but instead Movie Buddy and I involved ourselves in a gastronomic odyssey interspersed with some major walking.

It all started out with a quick realization that my apartment and home of over 10 years may finally be falling apart. My washing machine now leaks water even during the spin cycle so that I have to turn off the water midway if I'm not to put drenched laundry on the line...rather heavy with all that moisture. Now, my door knob is not only falling off but I had a bit of a problem just getting out of my own home; the lock wouldn't turn. I had to quickly dismantle the indoor knob and reattach it before I could get out. As a result, I was gonna be late. But not to worry, the rest of the group wouldn't show up for a good half-hour beyond our start time in Ginza.

MB, myself, The Sylph and a few of the original school alumni went to Marenma, a pizzeria located on Ginza's 5th Avenue. The place has a weekly all-you-can-eat pizza buffet on Sundays. The Sylph was able to secure a reservation there so we got in rather easily. Since half of our group wouldn't show up for 30 minutes, we decided to start on the stuff that was on the table such as salad and soup. Then, when the other half did show up, The Sylph gave the word to the waiter and we started getting the rash of pizza pies. Apparently, the pies weren't coming fast enough so The Sylph had to ask the harried waiter a number of times in a rather coy but firm voice. The pizzas were quite good; they were of the original Italian thin-crust style. And the variety was quite good...none of this Mega Meat or Chicken Teriyaki that comes from Dominos or Pizza Hut. The pies were more sedate such as Marguerita or plain tomato. The bunch of us managed to engorge ourselves like ticks on a particularly beefy arm, and still had some room left for some dessert (the usual tiramisu and chocolate cake).

Just like a real pizza, the eight of us split apart into 4 pairs with our own plans. The Sylph and the Curry Master (yes, she did show up) went to do some lingerie shopping, while Movie Buddy and I started our major walking excursing throughout downtown Tokyo. We first tried to check out Yurakucho Mullion to see if there were any movies worth catching. Seeing that was none, we continued to hike through Yurakucho to the Tokyo Station area, walk through the outskirts of Kanda, Otemachi and Kudanshita until we eventually arrived in the neighbourhood of our school some 90 minutes later, all the while talking on movies and the like. We had a bathroom stop in the building where our adminstrative offices were located. The school and, for that matter, every other office in the building were closed but flip a few switches and the lights were back on. I was very surprised and delighted that the washrooms, after suffering from years of increasing grodiness, were miraculously transformed into lovely lavatories of hotel calibre. I was just stunned at seeing polished granite and actual Western-style toilets with heated seats instead of the grimy squats in the decayed porcelain of yesteryear. Tis heavenly!

When we both finished our toilette, MB suggested that we actually break our hike for a bit and take the JR down to Shibuya since he was rather keen to find some graphic novels. I'd earlier mentioned during our walk that there was the Manga no Mori in Teen Mecca which carried what is probably the best source of Western comics in the city.

It'd been a while since the two of us were actually in Shibuya on Sunday. I think there was an underlying reason that we had avoided going there. Sundays in Shibuya are like Time Square on New Year's Eve. It's just wall-to-wall masses of people. Mind you, the walk up was interesting enough. Lots of young girls dressed up in either hip-hop fashion or in the currently hot Goth Maid style while the guys looked fashionably scruffy. We made it up to Manga no Mori and there I perused through the latest X-Men comics. I gave up the habit almost a decade ago when the prices were just too steep. I see since then the prices have got even more nosebleed-inducing. Plus the X-Men have gone through so many twists and turns that I just cannot even begin to catch up. Scott Summers and Emma Frost an item?! Jean Grey dead?! What the--?! In any case, we spent a good half-hour in there until MB found what he was looking for. He was very grateful for my tip. In fact, he lent me the novels since he's a bit busy reading something else at the moment.

After a bit more traisping through the bowels of the area, we decided to walk up to Shinjuku via Omotesando, thereby launching Phase 2 of our big trek. Plus, MB had wanted to go a step further in our gastronomic excursion by eating the Foo Foo ramen. I was a bit surprised that he would still want to do that after the pizza buffet but I was game. However, we had to do both phases of the walking to get us even close to becoming hungry again. During our walk this time, we got into somewhat more sobering topics such as our respective futures. I'm still not sure what this year will hold for me in terms of being able to stay in my home for the past decade.

By the time we reached Shinjuku some 30 minutes later, it was already dark Still, we were still not hungry at all so we decided to hit the Excelsior Cafe, the Japanese clone of Starbucks owned by Doutor Cafes, just on the brink of Kabukicho. MB had something caffeine while I settled for an iced tea. We spent the next two hours talking about life at the old school going over old faces amongst the students and teachers, and the various scandals and vicious gossip that infiltrated the place over the past 7 years. There was no problem about that stuff filling 2 hours. During that time, though, my eyes started to water like sprinklers so the medicine was starting to wear off. I took another dose and within several minutes, my eyes thankfully dried out.

Finally, we weren't absolutely famished but neither did we feel bloated anymore. So, the long walk did fulfill the mission and we walked over to Foo Foo. We just ordered the bowls of Pai Ko Tan Tan Men, our usual choice. Didn't do much talking at that time...just enjoyed the savory soup. However, I think we could safely call it a night by the time we finished our meals.

The ride home after separating from MB was spent looking at the comics that MB so graciously had lent me. They turned out to be the two volumes for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore. MB and I had seen the movie version with Sean Connery almost 2 years ago; the two of us weren't all that thrilled with the adaptation. After reading through Volume 1, I just found the novel so much more engrossing than the watered-down movie. The original certainly has a different slant on it with Mina Murray as the team leader instead of the movie's Alan Quartermain. I'm sure Sir Sean had a hand in that little difference.

When I got home, I got a message from The Bohemian. Looks like he's back in town. He'd called to see if I were available today but obviously I wasn't. However, I've gotten a missive off to him to see if Friday would be open for him.

Well, off to bed. I certainly hope that my stomach will forgive me my excesses. But I doubt it.

Sunday March 13, 7:46 a.m.

Got through the dry run of the tax return last night without too much of a problem. I just have to fill out the real stuff and then I gotta take the whole package out on Tuesday. Despite the Tax Guy's reassurances, I'm not looking forward to the trip out to the tax office.

Hit the hay a bit early last night. Listened to one of my favourite CDs, The Dude by Quincy Jones. I think I can also say with confidence, it's just one of the best CDs, period. If anyone would like to hear what US R&B sounded like around the late 70s and early 80s, this is THE album. Almost a decade before hip-hop came to the fore in the genre, R&B had a lot of influences of funk and jazz and pop...truly fusion. And The Dude shows that along with a good mix of singers and musicians: Stevie Wonder, Patti Austin, James Ingram, jazz harmonicist Toots Thielsman. Plus, this album seems to have been the warmup for Jones and Company before they really hit it big with Michael Jackson's Thriller.

What got me hooked onto The Dude was the first track, Ai No Corrida. Strangely enough, though, it wasn't Quincy's version that I'd first heard. I actually heard and saw it performed at the 1981 Kohaku Utagassen by the leading pop idols of the time. At that time, the Red-&White Song Festivals usually had a segment in which all of the young singers took part in a mass dance and song number...you might say it was a proto-Morning Musume formation. But in any case, I saw this number and, after having had my second trip to Japan several months earlier, I thought, man, this is a pretty damn uptempo funky song for something that has a Japanese title. You have to realize that the early 80s were the second boom of the idol singers: Seiko Matsuda, Naoko Kawai and the Tanokin Trio. Well all of them were jazz dancing and singing to Ai No Corrida...a title that I wouldn't realize was also the name of the infamous porn movie by Nagisa Oshima.

Well, after having heard this great song, I went through the process of finding this song. Remember this was years before the Internet, so I had to shuffle through the record bins at the neighbourhood Sam's, the leading record store in Toronto at the time. Eventually, I came across the 45 rpm single by Jones and Chaz Jankel and played it repeatedly on the old stereo. Not surprisingly, the original sounded even better. It would be years before I actually bought the whole album in its CD format but I think that was a good thing in terms of listening quality...yep, I think CDs sound better.

As I said, just about every track on The Dude is eminently listenable. The second and title track is a great mid-tempo funk-and-jazz mix devoted to Quincy himself. And the other standouts are the two James Ingram tracks, Just Once and One Hundred Ways, two ballads. Ingram became even more famous on the R & B charts a year or two later with his duet with Michael McDonald, Yah Mo B There, and then some years after that with his other duet with Linda Ronstadt, Somewhere Out There. All in all, The Dude is probably one of the few CDs that I would put on a repeat loop.

Saturday March 12, 6:05 p.m.

Well, that income receipt did come in...over a day late, mind you, but as long as it got in. I can finally finish up the paperwork for the tax return.

JJ was fine today. Just a bit of underconfidence about her ability. I should get there earlier so that I can find a warmer table. It would've been warmer outside if it hadn't been for the stiff gusts and the overcast sky. Got home to see half of my wash on the balcony floor absorbing the dirty water. Well, I guess we'll be doing another load tomorrow. Not too bad with the hay fever, though. I downed some more pills but didn't need to put on the mask.

The Barmaiden finally got to me about the dinner plans on St. Patrick's Day. Kinda wish she would tell me which Tony Roma's she's reserved for the dinner.

Saturday March 12, 9:55 a.m.

I was about to hit bed last night when I caught the events of that Atlanta courtroom shooting on CNN. Over here, noone could imagine anything like that happening in a courtroom. For one thing, about 1% of the population have access to any handguns...most of whom are either the cops/military or the Yakuza. And I'm not sure if a crazed psycho with a knife can achieve as much carnage even in a "naive" environment. And unlike in the US where court proceedings are now almost the 21st-century version of Roman Gladiator games (see Classic Trek episode "Bread and Circuses"), the Japanese version is very sober. The only televised image we are allowed is the scene before the trial starts...three judges staring blankly ahead, in fact, everyone in the courtroom is staring blankly ahead. After that, everything is up to the court sketch artist.

Movie Buddy contacted me about the change in time for that big pizza eat-off tomorrow. I told him that "National Treasure" is in general release on the 19th, not today, so that movie is on hold for at least a week. He took it with his usual aplomb and said that perhaps we could go for another movie or let our stomachs rest a while before tackling the Foo Foo ramen. I remarked that after a double of pizza and ramen, we could be responsible for one of the worst gas leaks in Kanto history.

Friday March 11, 9:35 p.m.

Today's lesson with The Teacher was one of those "very special episodes". Instead of the usual laughfests with the underlying tone of raunchiness, she went into a long monologue about how some of her friends went into the medical profession because of some tragic screw-up or the cold attitudes of the doctors. She got a bit misty at one point. My general impression on doctors over here is that a lot of them have taken the title "sensei" a bit too close to heart and have become all high and mighty with an often cold attitude. But again, it all depends on the individual doctor; I'm sure that there are very decent humanistic healers in this country. The two doctors that I have seen in my 10 years here were fine enough. Once we got through that rather serious chapter, though, The Teacher was back to her smiling ways again.

My meeting with SR was good if tiring. We spent the whole second hour just going through the written exercises of the TOEIC book. She'll be here for next week but she'll be a scratch for the 25th which works out in both our favours since I'm catching Diana Krall with Jazz Buddy that day, and she'd like to see her Korean friend then as well.

Then I had dinner with my ex in Nishi-Kasai. She looked rather exhausted when she first got out of the ticket gates, and so I thought...uh,oh...she's in one of those moods. However, as soon as we sat down at El Torito and dug into the food, she was back to her normal self again. It certainly looks like she's back at the top of her game again. She said that she's happier, stronger and more confident; I half-expected Helen Reddy to show up and sing "IAM WOMAN!" I'm not sure if she were being her usual "tennen boke" self or if she were trying to take a few swipes at me in revenge for the 18 months of hell I may have put her through (I gather that it's the former), but she cheerfully boasted that she's hasn't felt this fine in the past few years, and that she's managed to get on her with her life. Geez, thanks. Well, anyways, she has her life and I have mine. We still enjoyed dinner and dessert.

Well, that Star Wars trailer is up and running now. I tried to download it but it looks like there are about 2 billion other people ahead of me so I'm gonna wait a while.

Thursday March 10, 10:18 p.m.

Met up with my tax consultant today at the Hilton. He'd initially gone to the Keio Plaza by accident and had to run probably a kilometre. With all of the hotels in such a tiny quarter of Nishi-Shinjuku, it's not too much of a surprise to get lost. Plus, he's said that he doesn't really frequent the area.

Well, he took me to a tonkatsu restaurant in the somewhat gaudy sliver of restaurants and electronics shops located between the hotel district and Shinjuku Station. His mother had once told me that it was a very good and popular restaurant, especially with the businessmen. Well, it certainly looked that way...there was a good lineup going up the narrow and steep stairs to the place. But the lineup quickly shrunk and we got in within five minutes. Still plenty packed inside. The atmosphere was typically boisterous and silent amongst the customers and staff in the cramped restaurant. The top guy was taking orders and barking them to his staff; at one point, he chewed out one of his underlings for an error. Groups of salarymen were huddled at tables and on tatami alternately eating their pork cutlets and sucking on cigarettes; it's a wonder that these guys can actually savor the lunch with all that smoking. The lone folks just quietly noshed on their bottomless bowls of rice and pork soup. We were rushed to a small table. No separate tables here...they just threw us to any empty spot which we shared with other folks lunching. And boy, I could understand the popularity of the place. We both ordered the tonkatsu lunch which included a very thick and juicy slab of deep-fried breaded pork, the aforementioned soup and rice and of course, the de rigueur shredded cabbage. Tax Guy informed me that the sweet sauce was the best point so I generously spooned on a heap of the stuff on the pork. He has yet to do me wrong. Great food and at 800 yen a pop, darn reasonable. If I can just remember the name, I'll definitely bring folks with me. However, it's enough for me to remember where it's located.

After the voluminous lunch, the two of us went to a Renoir cafe around the corner. Renoir is one of the cafes that used to dominate the Tokyo scene before Starbucks and its clones attacked a few years ago. The decor in a Renoir is one of faded glory. The furnishings remind me of a prestige hotel of the 60s (see Tokyo Prince Hotel for a time warp), and the coffee is even more expensive that your usual caffe latte at Starbucks. Well, the two of us got there and got to work on the final touches for my tax return. He scanned through my results, gave me some advice of what and where to write figures down, advised me to get that income statement from my school ASAP and that was it. He predicted that I would probably have to shuck out 200,000 yen this year. Not exactly peanuts but I won't exactly collapse financially because of it. However, I'll have to really think about not spending so much this year. I'm doing OK so far, though. He also advised me that I should bring the entire package in person to the tax office just to make sure everything gets there in one piece. Plus, I have one more document which has to be deposited in person. It's gonna be a bit of a drag on Tuesday, the due date for the returns, but he assured me that the lineup there like the lineup at the restaurant will go quickly. As long as I get it out of the way.

The two of us parted ways and I headed back to the school. At Shinjuku Station, I spotted an officer brusquely reminding a couple of smokers to cease and desist since the new anti-smoking bylaws came into play. Tokyo is definitely turning a corner. I certainly admired the officer's diligence; usually it's the staff that gets abused whenever there is a screwup on the line.

I reached the school ostensibly to pick up the remnants from Pancake Day. I could overhear Bruno, The Head and Movie Buddy teaching the kids...literally, the kids since it's the season to teach those special teens who are planning to go across the Pacific to study at California universities. But there was also the matter of the income receipt. I wasn't looking forward to going hat in hand into the lion's den and ask the Accountant, a person with a crust so thick to put French bread to shame, for a tiny flimsy piece of paper. However, the coordinator was there and for some very cheerful reason, she was more than happy to ask for me. And some minutes later, she contacted me to say that it'll be coming over in the mail by tomorrow. Well, as those last words sound, I'll believe it when I see it.

Since Movie Buddy finished for the day, the two of us went to the local Excelsior's for a coffee and couple of hours of kaffeeklatsch. He had a story to weave about his future with the school involving the high school that he's been teaching at for the past several years. Let's say at this point that he may be hanging around a while longer. In other topics, the two of us, the Sylph, and some of my very first students at the school will be heading out for this pizza place in the Ginza on Sunday afternoon. Apparently, there's a popular all-you-can-eat buffet on Sundays that MB has been telling me about for the past year but that I've yet to visit. We are also thinking about catching the latest Nic Cage flick, National Treasure, but for some strange reason, all of the theatres are only showing it late at night. I never got the impression it was one of those movies. But we'll play it by ear.

Got over to the Tea Room where I had my salad and tea. The sisters, Carolinan and New Yorker, came by for their lessons. The New Yorker is starting to come out of her shell slowly; she was a bit more talkative with me. I'm not sure but the Carolinan seemed a bit touchy tonight.

Dragged home my bag plus two other bags filled with Pancake Day stuff on the train. Managed to survive that despite the rush hour crowds. Checked the e-mail; looks like the dinner with my ex is a go. We'll be doing Mexican a couple of stations away. And I get to see SR for the first time in a few weeks at the Tea Room.

It's been a long day...

Wednesday March 9, 9:25 p.m.

It was a regular March Wednesday in that I had both of my regulars and I had my protection against hay fever. The only extra was the morning shift at Speedy's. The Hawaiian was her usual genki self which certainly helped the lesson go smoothly. And the OL was also quite fine, although she was starting to get a little nervous about her upcoming trip to America for a very brief homestay.

My ex was asking about places to eat on Friday. Good luck without a reservation. Not much else happened but I do have some final stuff on my taxes to do before I see the tax guy tomorrow for lunch. Plus, I gotta get stuff planned for the sisters.

Wednesday March 9, 8:26 a.m.

Jazz Buddy contacted me about cancelling her lesson tomorrow which frankly suits me fine. She didn't give any details for the reason but it could be due to her ailing sister or she might be thinking about letting me down easy. If she cancels again next week, I'll have to start thinking about the future of her time with me. To be honest, last week's embarrassment and today's e-mail has gotten me thinking about whether it might be good to get proactive and drop the deadweight. At this point, JB is the only problem spot. The Beauty Pair is another problem but I can't really get rid of them since they're signed onto the juku and not me.

Still not sure if The Hawaiian will be a no-show or not today. However, I'll dutifully show up at the regular family restaurant.

Skippy contacted me about The Kid's goodbye party just now. So I'm seeing if everyone can make it out on the 3rd.

I see that another hoary old sci-fi franchise is getting the dusting off. Battlestar Galactica has made a triumphant comeback...which is saying a lot considering that the first incarnation was a rather hackneyed ripoff of Star Wars with repetitive SFX. Star Trek is finally going fallow...not a bad thing but the timing could have been better. But the next big franchise to come back is Doctor Who. I used to be a big fan of the series when I was smaller and less discriminating about the quality of SFX (imagine...using a golden spray-painted styrofoam ball to represent a spinning planet...genius!). It was more about the stories of manipulating time and the different characterizations...oop, sorry, I should regenerations...of the good Doctor that got me hooked to the extent that I even bought a ton of the novelizations for a good long while. Now there is a new guy...so far, the reviews have been unsurprisingly mixed. One guy says that he's willing to give it a shot after previewing the first episode; not a ringing endorsement by any means but hopeful. However, the Sci-Fi Channel in the States has treated the new series like a mysteriously powdered envelope. I took a look at the official website. The new Doc looks just like a bloke going off to see a soccer match at Wembley...during the pre-season. No, he doesn't look particularly flashy like the foppish Third Doctor or the Bohemian Fourth Doctor but then again, after 40 years, how much more creative can one get in a Doctor Who characterization nowadays? In any case, I doubt that I'll be able to see the series here. The only thing BBC in Japan is the news or the odd spate of Monty Python and Mr. Bean that pops up now and then on late night NHK.

Well, on with the mask and off to work....

Tuesday March 8, 11:39 p.m.

Well, managed to get through the gauntlet of 4 lessons at the juku. Actually, it was really just 3.5 hours. My first "lesson" with The New Kid was not much of one since I was still trying to get the feel about what he needs so it was basically half-chat. He was pretty good about it for the most part, although I kinda wonder if he did throw me some cheek by asking me the question in Japanese, "Atama ga ii desu ka". I'm not sure if he meant "Are you intelligent?" or "Is your head all right?" although either one doesn't bode well. But I can't say that I could blame him, though...I'm sure he was thinking about what I was trying to do at times. Well, the sacrifice of my pride and respect is a good one if it gets me to find out some more about him. I now have a plan.

My final lesson with the Siberian had a pretty interesting ending. I found out that he's quite the Kanji otaku. That is to say, he has had a passion for writing, and therefore having a great knowledge of, Kanji characters. He certainly impressed me with his ability to write some of the most intricate characters that I have never seen. But he floored me completely when he wrote a character that is probably not even known by 90% of the population. Basically, it's a family name, Taito, and the character looks like a colony of characters...it is THAT filled with strokes.

Luckily, the medicine for my hay fever decided to wear off way after my lessons concluded tonight. On the way back to the station, my eyes started tearing up someting awful although my nose was largely left alone. By the time I got inside, my eyes felt like they were on stalks. I hosed down the clothing on the line and my own person with the special Febreeze so hopefully, the pollen has been deactivated.

Got further word from Speedy. He tried to get me for another model lesson but I had to turn him down since I already have JJ on Saturday afternoon. In a way, I'm happy since it seems that he's been trying to push corporate lessons onto me. My history with corporate lessons at the old school was one of the reasons that I decided to leave. I posed him a question about the nature of the corporate lessons that would be taught by his school as well as tell him about the problems we teachers faced with our corporate clients at the old school. He never replied to that. I'm not alarmed yet, though.

I got word from The OL. She'll be back tomorrow but I have yet to hear from The Hawaiian. I hope she'll get back to me before I leave in the morning. And it looks like The Barmaiden has set up the time for this big reunion at Tony Roma's. Luckily, it'll be starting just when I finish with MK, so I should still make it good time.

Tuesday March 8, 7:53 a.m.

Apparently, the pollen is FLYING today in the Kanto. So, it'll be even worse than yesterday! Yippee! Well, the temps certainly reflect it...it's going to be a warm 17 and sunny. Can't gripe about that aspect. Still gonna be putting on the mask. I've already taken the medicine and the air cleaner has been on since this morning.

Fairly busy on the e-mail. Shard's been catching up on our correspondence, and I've been involved as the middleman in trying to set up a contact between Speedy and The Doll. Looks like Speedy's support staff has been conked out with the flu. Could be a long day today. Considering that I've got The New Kid at 6, I may just go straight from The Beehive to the gym today and have a longer prep period at the juku. I'll also let the boss know that four consecutive classes are my limit. She'll probably be disappointed since she can handle 8 straight but I simply don't have her energy.

Monday March 7, 9:27 p.m.

Well, the mask and the medicine worked like a charm. However, those first few minutes of the mask are pretty darn irritating...kinda like getting accustomed to crutches, but once the initial sensations of itchiness wear off, my mouth and nose have that warm moist womb feeling (as faintly disgusting as that may sound).

I was rather surprised that both of the Class Act showed up this morning after hearing that the father of one of them had passed away yesterday. But the lady took it all in stride; not to say that she was callous, though. I also missed a rather large bullet when the other lady asked me about SIL. For the past few weeks, I'd thought that she and I were kaput but thanks to not hearing a few vital words, there was a rather gross misunderstanding and nearly an embarrasing incident. Luckily, the lady had the presence of mind to call her up. Indeed, SIL was coming back. Well, I should more accurately say that she never left. To qualify my statement, it would seem that SIL in her so-called finale mentioned that she wouldn't be able to come FOR THE REST OF FEBRUARY. She's back in March. Ooops, my bad. I didn't have any materials for her but she's a talker so there was no harm done there.

I also heard the news from the lady of the house that she'd hired a part-time cook...a pretty darn distinguished one too, She was able to get him after he had quit a rather swanky Italian restaurant. Well, after the first lesson, I was graciously invited up to the kitchen and sample some of his wares. Man, did I hit the jackpot! He made us some deliciously arranged and just plain delicious squid-ink pasta and penne with porcini mushrooms. Good golly! Talk about eating the high life. And this was considering that I wasn't overly impressed with my first experience with squid-ink pasta years ago and that the cook told me that the squid ink had been combined with the guts of the squid to add richness. If he'd told me that before lunch was served, I would've been shaking in my boots. Instead, I've become one of the converted. The man himself struck me as rather soft-spoken but I could detect an underlayer of no-nonsense...not surprising when one has been in the oft-volatile restaurant business. Generally, it was a feast all day at the house. For the Class Act, we usually get served two orders: the first one is sweets and the second is one of fruits. Well that custom continued, and then came the wonderful lunch. Plus, the Lady of the House served me some scrumptious cake for dessert with coffee. And finally, when SIL bounded over, I got another plate of sweets with coffee. I practically rolled out of the gates. One other thing about The Class Act's lesson; the weirdness factor was still in session. After one week talking about homosexuality, then last week's chatfest on the daughter's underbust size, today we ended up talking about that same daughter's obsession with tweaking side flab. I told the ladies that I would probably the Motherlode.

The Company class was rather mild in comparison with just the one guy but everything worked out pretty well. Got back to the station and decided to hit the tonkatsu restaurant for the first time this year. All of the station restaurants were crowded with salaried types but I could get a seat at the local Tonki. Not the healthiest dinner by any means but the breaded chicken cutlet, ham cutlet and fried chicken with rice, soup, pickles and shredded cabbage certainly filled me up at the very low cost of 880 yen. Now, that's a starving student price if I ever heard one.

Checked the e-mail to get a rather long note from Speedy asking me about my availability. Once again, I had to tell him that my schedule was pretty fluid again since the mistake concerning SIL was corrected. I feel bad about doing that to him but he says he understands. He also asked me if I could get in touch with The Doll for a possible job. I tried contacting her at her Docomo address but, as I figured it, my provider seems to hate Docomo. The message keeps bouncing back like a boomerang.

Gonna have to contact the tax guy again. Tried a few minutes ago but noone answered.

Monday March 7, 7:38 a.m.

Pollen is a most insidious substance. I had the windows closed since last night but it apparently has managed to either seep in through the cracks or it activated in my blankets after taking them off the balcony yesterday afternoon once the temps started rising. In any case, my eyes started watering up along with my nose at the crack of dawn. In contrast to the snow on Friday, it's gonna be hitting a balmy 12 degrees today which means that Tokyo is on hay fever alert. I've already downed the medicine and I'll be putting on the mask.

Called up the tax guy last night. Found out that his timing might be a bit iffy this week; apparently his grandfather just passed away yesterday....I'm a bit surprised that the Class Act didn't call to cancel since I'd think that the guy's Mom would be rather busy with funeral arrangements. In any case, if she does come today, I'll give my condolences. Basically, all I really need is just one question answered and then I can probably do the rest of the return myself and hand it in this weekend.

Had my breakfast watching an old beloved anime: Gattchaman, or as it was called back in the West, Battle of the Planets. As far as I know, this was the very first of the anime that went over to the Americas although I heard that old B&W anime like Speed Racer and Astroboy had come out a bit earlier in a much smaller market. As a young lad, I remember watching the manga version in those cheap thick comic books that my parents would buy me occasionally. So it was quite the surprise while I was watching WKBW Buffalo one night and the commercial came on showing G-Force in the Phoenix. As I watch it now, the anime comes off a lot rougher than the stuff that comes out nowadays ( I actually caught Gundam Seed Destiny Saturday night), but Gattchaman had a lot of heart. Of course since the times of Battle of the Planets, anime has slowly crept (and some folks probably mean that in the most negative way) into the Western pop culture ethos until its current status as a legit genre.

Speaking of Japanese pop cultural phenomena, that living anime of girls, Morning Musume, has had a bit of a reset. Their weekly show (their only show, outside of a few late night programs, now that the MM boom passed a few years ago; at one time, the group had two or three other prime-time programs) started off in its regular time slot but with a new set and new segments (or "corners" as they are said in Japanese, something I'm sure that comparative geometrists would love to discuss). The newly-retired tall stringbean Kaori Iida emerged with her long hair shorn off and formerly disgraced Natsumi Abe was back in the fold with a quick, and hopefully, final apology for her crime of plagiarism. Took a look at the relevant bulletin board at JPop; sure enough, a few hours after the airing of the episode, the fans feverishly passed info, reviews and even uploads to each other. Frankly, I'd given up on the music side of things years ago after the group's peak in 2000 with their hit, Love Machine, the most-played song of the year at the year-end parties. Now it seems like MM is aiming their stuff at the under-5's; a pity.