Saturday September 30, 3:43 p.m.
Already the end of the month. Oy vey! Had the kids this morning. The Elder was her usual lackadaiscal self...had her usual sullen argument with Mother before meeting me. It was the first time seeing the Younger in 2 months. She has sprouted a couple of more centimetres and may have put on a kilo or two of muscle onto her shoulders, thanks to her new physical regimen of volleyball.
Spent the last couple of hours in the smoky Doutors cafe near Speedy's. And in less than half an hour, I've got The Ramen Lady for another 90 minutes of aimless chit-chat. I am gonna lend her my X-Men DVD as promised from last time. I don't know if she's gonna like it much; she doesn't strike me as being the sci-fi blockbuster type.
Speaking of X-Men...a relative neophyte can't come up with a complete review of a movie in one sitting. So, I'm back to this movie. After gurning through the memories of yesterday's viewing of "The Last Stand", I have to admit that though X3 was entertaining enough, I think a lot of it was due to some sleight-of-hand editing. After going through the various scenes in my head, I've come to the conclusion that the entire movie was made up of quick appearances of characters without really any deep scenes. I mean, The Phoenix was referred to as such only once, and Famke Janssen was basically the mutant version of the secret weapon...came out when finally needed and not until then. In fact, if I had the opportunity to make up the credit list of cast, I would've done it this way:
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Sir Ian McKellen (the only performers to get anything to chew on)
Guest Starring: Kelsey Grammer, and the kids who played Kitty Pryde, Iceman and Pyro
Featuring: tons of other mutants
Special Appearances by (ie cameos): James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin and Rebecca Romijn (as Ozzy Osbourne's daughter...er, I mean, Mystique)
And: Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier
Quite a different lineup and focus compared to the first movie, eh? Mind you, I did enjoy Grammer's slight invocation of Frasier during a fight scene. All that was missing was a nice retort from Wolvie.
Despite the fact that the X-Men should probably end here, I've got the sneaking suspicion and millions of dollars of box office money backing me up that there will be an X4 in the not too distant future.
Kinda strange that after catching X3 yesterday for the first time, the DVD will be released Stateside next week...
Just a place to deposit my thoughts on life here in the Kanto and about anything else that sticks to my walls.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Friday September 29, 2:54 p.m.
It hasn't been the greatest of weeks for me, professionally. That little misunderstanding at the end of the juku day is still unresolved. I did send that explanation and apology to the boss but I haven't heard a thing from her. And I'm starting to wonder about my current status working at Speedy's. Speedy has been a good and patient boss with me but I'm having my doubts whether I'll be there beyond the next couple of years.
The Carolinan was in good spirits, though, last night. Apparently, on Wednesday night, she and a friend had attended a megalong SMAP concert at the Tokyo Dome. Why anyone would subject herself to....ah, I'm being nasty. The Carolinan actually enjoyed herself...and she did get her money's worth. She paid 7,000 yen for what turned out to be a 3.5-hour concert spread over 6 hours. That's certainly better value than Madonna's tiny performance of 90 minutes for 10,000 yen. Arguably, though, Madge is the better dancer and singer...
I actually was grateful that I didn't have any work for most of Thursday. I found out on the morning news that due to a circuit switchboard fire in the bowels of Tokyo Station in the wee hours which shut down all of the commuter Keiyo Line, all those commuters (80,000 of them) decided to dogpile on my Tozai Line. I was surprised to see a bird's-eye view of Urayasu Station, a station that I know intimately, look like the SMAP concert audience. Luckily, I left home at around 4:30 so the problem was pretty much contained by then. All in all, a whopping 160,000 people got majorly screwed.
And for the first time in 12 years in my apartment building, I actually experienced myself and the residents of the other two units on my floor going into our respective homes at the same time. I think I could count on one hand the number of times that I've seen even one neighbour go in or out when I've done the same. And I've never seen two. Well, the one neighbour farthest from me happened to have just moved in. It looked like a family with the numbers. And then there is my latest next-door neighbour who appears a bit scruffy. He also has a penchant for slamming his door...a number of times. Well, I figured that I would, sooner or later, get a psycho as a neighbour
It hasn't been the greatest of weeks for me, professionally. That little misunderstanding at the end of the juku day is still unresolved. I did send that explanation and apology to the boss but I haven't heard a thing from her. And I'm starting to wonder about my current status working at Speedy's. Speedy has been a good and patient boss with me but I'm having my doubts whether I'll be there beyond the next couple of years.
The Carolinan was in good spirits, though, last night. Apparently, on Wednesday night, she and a friend had attended a megalong SMAP concert at the Tokyo Dome. Why anyone would subject herself to....ah, I'm being nasty. The Carolinan actually enjoyed herself...and she did get her money's worth. She paid 7,000 yen for what turned out to be a 3.5-hour concert spread over 6 hours. That's certainly better value than Madonna's tiny performance of 90 minutes for 10,000 yen. Arguably, though, Madge is the better dancer and singer...
I actually was grateful that I didn't have any work for most of Thursday. I found out on the morning news that due to a circuit switchboard fire in the bowels of Tokyo Station in the wee hours which shut down all of the commuter Keiyo Line, all those commuters (80,000 of them) decided to dogpile on my Tozai Line. I was surprised to see a bird's-eye view of Urayasu Station, a station that I know intimately, look like the SMAP concert audience. Luckily, I left home at around 4:30 so the problem was pretty much contained by then. All in all, a whopping 160,000 people got majorly screwed.
And for the first time in 12 years in my apartment building, I actually experienced myself and the residents of the other two units on my floor going into our respective homes at the same time. I think I could count on one hand the number of times that I've seen even one neighbour go in or out when I've done the same. And I've never seen two. Well, the one neighbour farthest from me happened to have just moved in. It looked like a family with the numbers. And then there is my latest next-door neighbour who appears a bit scruffy. He also has a penchant for slamming his door...a number of times. Well, I figured that I would, sooner or later, get a psycho as a neighbour
Friday September 29, 2:35 p.m.
Caught "X-Men 3: The Last Stand" this morning at the nearby Warner Mycal Theatres. Once again, I find myself being a little kinder to a superhero movie than some of the American critics or Egg have been to it. Certainly, I'm more inclined to be on MB's side. There was a lot more of the action in this supposedly final installment than there were in the previous two movies combined. I'm sure Halle Berry must be happy that she finally got to kick butt verbally and physically. Once again, as in X-Men 2, the more prominent stars got the bigger sections of the script pie, although with the necessarily huge cast, there were never going to be any major soliloquies. Still, it was too bad that Anna Paquin as Rogue, who was a key plot thread in the inaugural movie, gradually ends up as a cameo...and a depowered one at that. On the other hand, I thought it was just as well that the Cyclops/Marvel Girl relationship died an early and very concrete death. And really, even Marvel Girl & Wolverine never stood that much of a chance. It may be titled X-Men, but the trilogy has pretty much centered on Hugh Jackman with Patrick Stewart as the prerequisite Obi-Wan character.
Of course, "The Last Stand" is an ending and a non-ending of sorts. Those little teasers bracketing the end credits aside, I think the X-Men are done. But Hugh Jackman can now look forward to joining folks like Tom (well not anymore perhaps), Harrison and Tobey as a franchise man with a Wolverine series. And maybe Magneto would be worth a prequel. As for what I saw today, nope, I don't think the X-Men will hit the huge heights of a Star Wars in franchise rankings but it's stayed consistently good. I'd be happy to grab the DVD when it does come out.
Caught "X-Men 3: The Last Stand" this morning at the nearby Warner Mycal Theatres. Once again, I find myself being a little kinder to a superhero movie than some of the American critics or Egg have been to it. Certainly, I'm more inclined to be on MB's side. There was a lot more of the action in this supposedly final installment than there were in the previous two movies combined. I'm sure Halle Berry must be happy that she finally got to kick butt verbally and physically. Once again, as in X-Men 2, the more prominent stars got the bigger sections of the script pie, although with the necessarily huge cast, there were never going to be any major soliloquies. Still, it was too bad that Anna Paquin as Rogue, who was a key plot thread in the inaugural movie, gradually ends up as a cameo...and a depowered one at that. On the other hand, I thought it was just as well that the Cyclops/Marvel Girl relationship died an early and very concrete death. And really, even Marvel Girl & Wolverine never stood that much of a chance. It may be titled X-Men, but the trilogy has pretty much centered on Hugh Jackman with Patrick Stewart as the prerequisite Obi-Wan character.
Of course, "The Last Stand" is an ending and a non-ending of sorts. Those little teasers bracketing the end credits aside, I think the X-Men are done. But Hugh Jackman can now look forward to joining folks like Tom (well not anymore perhaps), Harrison and Tobey as a franchise man with a Wolverine series. And maybe Magneto would be worth a prequel. As for what I saw today, nope, I don't think the X-Men will hit the huge heights of a Star Wars in franchise rankings but it's stayed consistently good. I'd be happy to grab the DVD when it does come out.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Wednesday September 27, 10:18 p.m.
A bit of a rough...nah, more disjointed...night tonight. 001 did her test and actually passed again with flying colours but before the good news was realized, I had neglected to tell her about some of the additional things she could've done to boost her chances. Speedy had to inform her. I sent my apologies; I wouldn't have known what to do if 001 had actually failed. And as for 007, he was OK but the class didn't seem to flow too well for some reason.
I've got a feeling that Farrah, that Saturday afternoon student has flown the coop for good. She hasn't gotten back to us about signing up for more lessons. The sporadic nature of her attendance is a good factor in that. Ah, well...
My Wednesday morning was more of a Monday morning schedule with The Class Act and SIL on the block. Whilst The Lady and The Matron were back, SIL has made a permanent venue shift to Ueno-Okachimachi, my old haunt, so that she could be closer to her mother. Our new classroom was an empty office once used by her late father in an old building. It had all the trimmings of a presidential office: big, plush armchairs and sofas, stuffed birds and even a daruma waiting to have its eyes painted in. We did an article on the outgoing PM, Junichiro Koizumi. A lot of political vocab to wade through. In any case, the new venue doesn't have the serene ambience of the The Lady's tatami room but it'll do. Besides, the place is more convenient in that I have a straight beeline via the Oedo Line to Speedy's.
The rains have finally ended. I hope that my shoes have dried to a certain degree. I was thinking of catching "X-Men 3" with the subtitle of "Final Solution" here in Japan, instead of "The Last Stand". I kinda wonder if Fox Japan had been thinking of adding that extra allusion to Nazism. However, I think that I'll hold off on seeing it tomorrow. After some of my rather lousy luck workwise over the past 24 hours, I'll probably work extra hard for The Carolinan. Maybe, it'll be a Friday thing since I've only got The UL then.
A bit of a rough...nah, more disjointed...night tonight. 001 did her test and actually passed again with flying colours but before the good news was realized, I had neglected to tell her about some of the additional things she could've done to boost her chances. Speedy had to inform her. I sent my apologies; I wouldn't have known what to do if 001 had actually failed. And as for 007, he was OK but the class didn't seem to flow too well for some reason.
I've got a feeling that Farrah, that Saturday afternoon student has flown the coop for good. She hasn't gotten back to us about signing up for more lessons. The sporadic nature of her attendance is a good factor in that. Ah, well...
My Wednesday morning was more of a Monday morning schedule with The Class Act and SIL on the block. Whilst The Lady and The Matron were back, SIL has made a permanent venue shift to Ueno-Okachimachi, my old haunt, so that she could be closer to her mother. Our new classroom was an empty office once used by her late father in an old building. It had all the trimmings of a presidential office: big, plush armchairs and sofas, stuffed birds and even a daruma waiting to have its eyes painted in. We did an article on the outgoing PM, Junichiro Koizumi. A lot of political vocab to wade through. In any case, the new venue doesn't have the serene ambience of the The Lady's tatami room but it'll do. Besides, the place is more convenient in that I have a straight beeline via the Oedo Line to Speedy's.
The rains have finally ended. I hope that my shoes have dried to a certain degree. I was thinking of catching "X-Men 3" with the subtitle of "Final Solution" here in Japan, instead of "The Last Stand". I kinda wonder if Fox Japan had been thinking of adding that extra allusion to Nazism. However, I think that I'll hold off on seeing it tomorrow. After some of my rather lousy luck workwise over the past 24 hours, I'll probably work extra hard for The Carolinan. Maybe, it'll be a Friday thing since I've only got The UL then.
Wednesday September 27, 5:49 p.m.
It was a dark and stormy night last night...yup, one of the worst openings to a book in history, but pretty appropriate opening to this entry since it was a lousy ending to a day yesterday, both literally and figuratively for me.
As for the meterological meaning, well, the rains finally stopped this afternoon but not before both my dress shoes and sneakers got waterlogged. So I face another sloshy commute home. Had to buy a couple of pairs of socks to be dry at least for part of my day.
As for the figurative meaning, I had another one of those linguistic misunderstandings with the juku boss last night which ended up with me sullenly making a quick getaway from her house. It all started when I finished my last class with Mrs. Mild. The Siberian was still away in Korea. Since the weather was just flailing away out there, I decided that I would stay until about 9:30 in the hopes that the rains would give me a bit of a reprieve. Of course, they didn't. However, at about 9:15, the boss came in with that somewhat shocked look and asked if she'd missed a beat and wondered if The Siberian would be coming after all since I was still in my room. I assured her that he was still in Seoul. She stepped out to take care of her regular student but then shortly returned and gave some sort of bilingual gibberish explanation which I basically took to mean..."Get out!" Of course, she said all this in her happy-go-lucky way. I didn't understand her for the most part but I thought she gave this rather cockamamie excuse about me cramping her and her student's style by remaining in the room. Well, it is her house...so I got ready to go. I didn't much relish going out in a driving rainstorm and just that lame reason got my Irish up. And since I'm the type to react first, think later...I started stomping my way out of the room. She asked me if I understood the situation. I told her point blank that I didn't but that we would have words next week and just gave a curt goodbye.
She got the "message" and then proceeded to leave three messages on my machine asking me to call her and apologizing for what had happened. I'm now in a better frame of mind so I decided to send over my own apology by e-mail since my very brief snap occurred in front of her student...admittedly, not a very professional thing to do. But I also tried to explain to her why I felt a little put out. I'll be awaiting the reply.
It was a dark and stormy night last night...yup, one of the worst openings to a book in history, but pretty appropriate opening to this entry since it was a lousy ending to a day yesterday, both literally and figuratively for me.
As for the meterological meaning, well, the rains finally stopped this afternoon but not before both my dress shoes and sneakers got waterlogged. So I face another sloshy commute home. Had to buy a couple of pairs of socks to be dry at least for part of my day.
As for the figurative meaning, I had another one of those linguistic misunderstandings with the juku boss last night which ended up with me sullenly making a quick getaway from her house. It all started when I finished my last class with Mrs. Mild. The Siberian was still away in Korea. Since the weather was just flailing away out there, I decided that I would stay until about 9:30 in the hopes that the rains would give me a bit of a reprieve. Of course, they didn't. However, at about 9:15, the boss came in with that somewhat shocked look and asked if she'd missed a beat and wondered if The Siberian would be coming after all since I was still in my room. I assured her that he was still in Seoul. She stepped out to take care of her regular student but then shortly returned and gave some sort of bilingual gibberish explanation which I basically took to mean..."Get out!" Of course, she said all this in her happy-go-lucky way. I didn't understand her for the most part but I thought she gave this rather cockamamie excuse about me cramping her and her student's style by remaining in the room. Well, it is her house...so I got ready to go. I didn't much relish going out in a driving rainstorm and just that lame reason got my Irish up. And since I'm the type to react first, think later...I started stomping my way out of the room. She asked me if I understood the situation. I told her point blank that I didn't but that we would have words next week and just gave a curt goodbye.
She got the "message" and then proceeded to leave three messages on my machine asking me to call her and apologizing for what had happened. I'm now in a better frame of mind so I decided to send over my own apology by e-mail since my very brief snap occurred in front of her student...admittedly, not a very professional thing to do. But I also tried to explain to her why I felt a little put out. I'll be awaiting the reply.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Monday September 25, 9:40 p.m.
Well, tomorrow will be the big turnover in administrations. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will hand over the reins to current LDP President Shinzo Abe...who will become the youngest head of state in the postwar era, all of 52 years of age (Japan more resembles Russia in its love of gerontocracy). I saw a picture of him and his wife, Akie, in today's edition of The Japan Times, and I just got an image of Tony and Cherie Blair. And to be honest, this could be the way of the new administration. But I also read that Abe is interested in applying an American-style presidential appointment system. Perhaps Akie will try to insert herself into things a la Cherie or Hillary Clinton....although I think there will be many more limitations in this society for a First Lady. In any case, it'll be the first time to see a PM's wife in several years, since Koizumi did his job as a veteran divorce. Speaking of him, what will he do from tomorrow? Maybe he'll just play his Elvis records for an entire week before hitting the road on a journey for a sighting.
Speaking of Elvis, it seems to me French Intelligence may have come up with the anti-Elvis thing by leaking that Bin Laden may already be dead. In America, it's the live Elvis sighting. Now there could be the dead Bin Laden sighting.
Well....I've finished my two tonight. The Part-Timer was her usual diligent self. She told me that SR is back temporarily helping out at her old company. The Part-Timer also mentioned that she's gone through The Creambath Ebisu Scalp Massage Challenge...and she's another convert. As for 008, she's turning out to be an ideal tonic as well as a student. She's just absorbing grammar and vocabulary like a sponge.
Gotta get going home. I've got another busy Tuesday.
Well, tomorrow will be the big turnover in administrations. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will hand over the reins to current LDP President Shinzo Abe...who will become the youngest head of state in the postwar era, all of 52 years of age (Japan more resembles Russia in its love of gerontocracy). I saw a picture of him and his wife, Akie, in today's edition of The Japan Times, and I just got an image of Tony and Cherie Blair. And to be honest, this could be the way of the new administration. But I also read that Abe is interested in applying an American-style presidential appointment system. Perhaps Akie will try to insert herself into things a la Cherie or Hillary Clinton....although I think there will be many more limitations in this society for a First Lady. In any case, it'll be the first time to see a PM's wife in several years, since Koizumi did his job as a veteran divorce. Speaking of him, what will he do from tomorrow? Maybe he'll just play his Elvis records for an entire week before hitting the road on a journey for a sighting.
Speaking of Elvis, it seems to me French Intelligence may have come up with the anti-Elvis thing by leaking that Bin Laden may already be dead. In America, it's the live Elvis sighting. Now there could be the dead Bin Laden sighting.
Well....I've finished my two tonight. The Part-Timer was her usual diligent self. She told me that SR is back temporarily helping out at her old company. The Part-Timer also mentioned that she's gone through The Creambath Ebisu Scalp Massage Challenge...and she's another convert. As for 008, she's turning out to be an ideal tonic as well as a student. She's just absorbing grammar and vocabulary like a sponge.
Gotta get going home. I've got another busy Tuesday.
Monday September 25, 5:37 p.m.
Well, The Eggs left for home yesterday. And so I'm left with a bit of Empty Nest Syndrome...to continue with the ornithological analogy. It was nice having the couple over for about 10 days, and the side benefit of their presence was a tidier and slightly roomier apartment. There's nothing like the impending threat of house guests to force me to get my act together domestically. So now I'm left with better access into my bedroom and a fuller, more compact closet.
There's also nothing like guests from abroad to bring a fresh perspective or a reminder about life in this zany burg. During our tour of Akihabara early in The Egg's trip, he was marveling at the wares in places like Sato Musen or Bic Camera or Yodobashi. He remarked that the variety of electronic goods and appliances makes any of The Future Shops or Radio Shacks back in Canada look like a Moscow GUM Store during a recession. He (and I) were especially impressed by the fridges of all things. Not only do they come in many, many colours but one brand in particular even has a special compartment which not only keeps things especially frosty (such as that birthday cake), but in a "Wow! Why didn't I think of that?!" moment, also keeps things such as tempura or beef stew warm or hot for late-coming-home Daddy.
During our time watching television back home at night (at our age, we've started becoming part of the sedentary generation), we came across the ubiquitious music video channels that liberally populate my SkyPerfect. As we watched folks like J-Pop princess Aiko (her songs all sound the same) and the current crop of J-R&B singers ( pale copycat pretenders of the American variety), I realized that Japanese music is in an identity crisis. Strangely enough, the so-called inferior aidoru factory of the 70s and 80s differentiated itself much better from what was hot in America and England. Now, there is a form of parity between J-Pop and American pop. It's fine that the Japanese artists are trying to emulate American song forms but the talent has been such that they'll never stand out internationally. Not to say that the producers have been trying to do that on a widespread scale (aside from Toshinobu Kubota, Dreams Come True and Hikaru Utada); they are basically just making the local population happy. In a way, despite the fact that Japanese artists have seemingly become more "serious" about their craft, their progress has come at the expense of uniqueness. I'm hoping that someday a form of Japanese music does come out that makes a big splash overseas and sets itself apart from Britpop and American hip-hop.
Another thing that got the culture clash going happened when the three of us happened to come across the tail-end of a "Densha Otoko" special on TV. The phenomenon of film and telly of last year which was born from a Channel 2 urban legend came back as this special. And it all seemed like last year's news. The otaku program earned wails of laughter from my two house guests as they witnessed the acting and dramatic arcs with all the subtlety of a William Shatner monologue. That's how the Japanese like their dramas...over-the-top. It's probably why I've stopped watching them.
Well, The Eggs left for home yesterday. And so I'm left with a bit of Empty Nest Syndrome...to continue with the ornithological analogy. It was nice having the couple over for about 10 days, and the side benefit of their presence was a tidier and slightly roomier apartment. There's nothing like the impending threat of house guests to force me to get my act together domestically. So now I'm left with better access into my bedroom and a fuller, more compact closet.
There's also nothing like guests from abroad to bring a fresh perspective or a reminder about life in this zany burg. During our tour of Akihabara early in The Egg's trip, he was marveling at the wares in places like Sato Musen or Bic Camera or Yodobashi. He remarked that the variety of electronic goods and appliances makes any of The Future Shops or Radio Shacks back in Canada look like a Moscow GUM Store during a recession. He (and I) were especially impressed by the fridges of all things. Not only do they come in many, many colours but one brand in particular even has a special compartment which not only keeps things especially frosty (such as that birthday cake), but in a "Wow! Why didn't I think of that?!" moment, also keeps things such as tempura or beef stew warm or hot for late-coming-home Daddy.
During our time watching television back home at night (at our age, we've started becoming part of the sedentary generation), we came across the ubiquitious music video channels that liberally populate my SkyPerfect. As we watched folks like J-Pop princess Aiko (her songs all sound the same) and the current crop of J-R&B singers ( pale copycat pretenders of the American variety), I realized that Japanese music is in an identity crisis. Strangely enough, the so-called inferior aidoru factory of the 70s and 80s differentiated itself much better from what was hot in America and England. Now, there is a form of parity between J-Pop and American pop. It's fine that the Japanese artists are trying to emulate American song forms but the talent has been such that they'll never stand out internationally. Not to say that the producers have been trying to do that on a widespread scale (aside from Toshinobu Kubota, Dreams Come True and Hikaru Utada); they are basically just making the local population happy. In a way, despite the fact that Japanese artists have seemingly become more "serious" about their craft, their progress has come at the expense of uniqueness. I'm hoping that someday a form of Japanese music does come out that makes a big splash overseas and sets itself apart from Britpop and American hip-hop.
Another thing that got the culture clash going happened when the three of us happened to come across the tail-end of a "Densha Otoko" special on TV. The phenomenon of film and telly of last year which was born from a Channel 2 urban legend came back as this special. And it all seemed like last year's news. The otaku program earned wails of laughter from my two house guests as they witnessed the acting and dramatic arcs with all the subtlety of a William Shatner monologue. That's how the Japanese like their dramas...over-the-top. It's probably why I've stopped watching them.
Monday September 25, 5:23 p.m.
Just 3 months before Xmas...it'll be kinda weird being back in The Great White North.
Had a different schedule from my usual Monday. The Class Act and SIL have shifted to Wednesday for this week, so I started with The New Yorker at The Tea Room. NY is still having problems getting her syntax together...makes me wonder if she's wondering about giving up the goat after over a year with me. Some folks are just not language-friendly. The Teacher contacted me to say that she's basically pulling out due to her affliction; again, I'm not sure if she's really on the level or if she's just using the disease as an excuse...basically all of our lessons have been just talkfests and those always have a limited shelf life. I've got The Part-Timer and 008 ready to go, though. And on a further good note, a student that I'd had a limited engagement with, The Opera Singer, is going for another tour with us for another 12 lessons.
Just 3 months before Xmas...it'll be kinda weird being back in The Great White North.
Had a different schedule from my usual Monday. The Class Act and SIL have shifted to Wednesday for this week, so I started with The New Yorker at The Tea Room. NY is still having problems getting her syntax together...makes me wonder if she's wondering about giving up the goat after over a year with me. Some folks are just not language-friendly. The Teacher contacted me to say that she's basically pulling out due to her affliction; again, I'm not sure if she's really on the level or if she's just using the disease as an excuse...basically all of our lessons have been just talkfests and those always have a limited shelf life. I've got The Part-Timer and 008 ready to go, though. And on a further good note, a student that I'd had a limited engagement with, The Opera Singer, is going for another tour with us for another 12 lessons.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Thursday September 21, 3:50 p.m.
Another stint at the Ai-Cafe in Akiba. It's been a quiet day so far since the Eggs are off in Sendai for another day. I used the time to clean up the place a bit and plan for B2's lesson tonight. Treated myself to lunch at the station tonkatsu joint. Not surprisingly, I ended up taking a nap on the subway over here. Speaking of deep-fried pork cutlet, I've been wondering if I'll be able to take the Eggs for one last dinner to that smash hit of a tonkatsu restaurant, Kimukatsu, in Ginza on Saturday. The place is pretty popular and they don't seem to take reservations. And unfortunately, we can't pull off Skippy's technique of having the staff call us on a cellphone since none of us have one. In any case, the pair will be back sometime during my daylong odyssey of teaching tomorrow so perhaps they can just try the place out by themselves.
Yup, my Friday starts and ends at the juku. I've got the juku boss for two hours first thing, followed by 002, and then The OL/UL combo in Ichigaya before I finally finish up with The Salaryman. I'll make the money but I won't be in any shape to use it. And I've got The Younger and her mother on Saturday morning. Luckily, The Younger is still (barely now) the more willing of the two sisters to ingest my lesson, and the mother is always good to go with an article.
Whoever said that the Japanese live in rabbit hutches certainly hasn't been here recently. I was looking through some apartment/condo guide yesterday that I'd picked up in Otemachi. There are some pretty swanky....pretty huge...units up for grabs all over The Big Sushi. I'd say the folks who live in these palaces could fit whole units of rabbit hutches. I'm talking about apartments starting from 75 square metres: tons of rooms, huge living/dining and system kitchen. Mind you, the costs are also rather dear. I don't think I would ever see an English teacher living there.
Looks like Dubya and his country were getting blasted out of the UN verbally by the current Two Bad Boys from Iran and Venezuela. The latter president was especially blistering; talking more like Al Capone. However, these guys' predecessors, Castro and Khaddafy, have pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur...the latter guy getting cut to size in no uncertain terms by Ronald Reagan via some bombing raids.
Another stint at the Ai-Cafe in Akiba. It's been a quiet day so far since the Eggs are off in Sendai for another day. I used the time to clean up the place a bit and plan for B2's lesson tonight. Treated myself to lunch at the station tonkatsu joint. Not surprisingly, I ended up taking a nap on the subway over here. Speaking of deep-fried pork cutlet, I've been wondering if I'll be able to take the Eggs for one last dinner to that smash hit of a tonkatsu restaurant, Kimukatsu, in Ginza on Saturday. The place is pretty popular and they don't seem to take reservations. And unfortunately, we can't pull off Skippy's technique of having the staff call us on a cellphone since none of us have one. In any case, the pair will be back sometime during my daylong odyssey of teaching tomorrow so perhaps they can just try the place out by themselves.
Yup, my Friday starts and ends at the juku. I've got the juku boss for two hours first thing, followed by 002, and then The OL/UL combo in Ichigaya before I finally finish up with The Salaryman. I'll make the money but I won't be in any shape to use it. And I've got The Younger and her mother on Saturday morning. Luckily, The Younger is still (barely now) the more willing of the two sisters to ingest my lesson, and the mother is always good to go with an article.
Whoever said that the Japanese live in rabbit hutches certainly hasn't been here recently. I was looking through some apartment/condo guide yesterday that I'd picked up in Otemachi. There are some pretty swanky....pretty huge...units up for grabs all over The Big Sushi. I'd say the folks who live in these palaces could fit whole units of rabbit hutches. I'm talking about apartments starting from 75 square metres: tons of rooms, huge living/dining and system kitchen. Mind you, the costs are also rather dear. I don't think I would ever see an English teacher living there.
Looks like Dubya and his country were getting blasted out of the UN verbally by the current Two Bad Boys from Iran and Venezuela. The latter president was especially blistering; talking more like Al Capone. However, these guys' predecessors, Castro and Khaddafy, have pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur...the latter guy getting cut to size in no uncertain terms by Ronald Reagan via some bombing raids.
Wednesday September 20, 9:42 p.m.
Well, got through the two classes. Naturally, 001 was the more jovial of the two. As I said, she and her two cronies had a rollicking time at an onsen in Yamagata Prefecture. Paid 30,000 each for the privilege of sipping from a barrel of sake right by the tub and get some of that Yamagata Beef. It also included the Bullet Train fare so I guess it is rather reasonable but Speedy and I agreed that it would be a while before either of us would try anything that ambitious. As for 007, he was very studious and button-down but it'll be a long process.
Speedy informed me that it looks like I've got a customer for this comatose video thingie that I had the unfortunate opportunity to come up with months ago. For the last few of those classes, it's just been a chance for The Ramen Lady to come over and chit-chat with me. Now, at least for this session, I'll actually have to show an episode of "Friends"...something that neither The Ramen Lady nor I have been great fans of. Well, at least, it'll probably be a one-off.
It was a week late in coming but last weekend was Super Drama TV's chance to pay homage to the 40th anniversary of "Star Trek". Saturday was the day to show the 15 most favourite episodes of Trek Classic ("City on the Edge of Forever" was the top ep, to no one's surprise) followed by Sunday's showing of half of the 4th season of "Enterprise" along with some documentaries on William Shatner and a rather bizarre dialogue between an aging Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. It was all so very pleasant...of course, the 75-minute lovefest was produced by Shatner himself. Then the holiday Monday had the 2nd half of said 4th season. I caught a bit of the new remastered Trek Classic episodes with the improved visual effects at Star Trek.com Hm...sounds promising.
I hear that Brad Pitt might take over the "Mission: Impossible" franchise since the Cruise ouster. Yeah, well....if you belive that now, I've got some Everglades property to sell you. Mind you, at least with Brad Pitt coming aboard, you know who he's gonna choose to be his Cinnamon Carter. Angelina Jolie sounds like a perfect character name for the IMF.
I almost forgot to mention that US beef is back in Tokyo again after that kerfuffle with BSE and inspections. But the Tsukiji branch of beef bowl franchise, Yoshinoya, is the only one to serve US beef full time. The other stores have just been given occasional status. So, all of the salarymen and starving students can now rush back to have their favourite mix of incredibly fatty gyu on rice. In related news, the incidence of death by cholesterol has gone up...
Time to go home...
Well, got through the two classes. Naturally, 001 was the more jovial of the two. As I said, she and her two cronies had a rollicking time at an onsen in Yamagata Prefecture. Paid 30,000 each for the privilege of sipping from a barrel of sake right by the tub and get some of that Yamagata Beef. It also included the Bullet Train fare so I guess it is rather reasonable but Speedy and I agreed that it would be a while before either of us would try anything that ambitious. As for 007, he was very studious and button-down but it'll be a long process.
Speedy informed me that it looks like I've got a customer for this comatose video thingie that I had the unfortunate opportunity to come up with months ago. For the last few of those classes, it's just been a chance for The Ramen Lady to come over and chit-chat with me. Now, at least for this session, I'll actually have to show an episode of "Friends"...something that neither The Ramen Lady nor I have been great fans of. Well, at least, it'll probably be a one-off.
It was a week late in coming but last weekend was Super Drama TV's chance to pay homage to the 40th anniversary of "Star Trek". Saturday was the day to show the 15 most favourite episodes of Trek Classic ("City on the Edge of Forever" was the top ep, to no one's surprise) followed by Sunday's showing of half of the 4th season of "Enterprise" along with some documentaries on William Shatner and a rather bizarre dialogue between an aging Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. It was all so very pleasant...of course, the 75-minute lovefest was produced by Shatner himself. Then the holiday Monday had the 2nd half of said 4th season. I caught a bit of the new remastered Trek Classic episodes with the improved visual effects at Star Trek.com Hm...sounds promising.
I hear that Brad Pitt might take over the "Mission: Impossible" franchise since the Cruise ouster. Yeah, well....if you belive that now, I've got some Everglades property to sell you. Mind you, at least with Brad Pitt coming aboard, you know who he's gonna choose to be his Cinnamon Carter. Angelina Jolie sounds like a perfect character name for the IMF.
I almost forgot to mention that US beef is back in Tokyo again after that kerfuffle with BSE and inspections. But the Tsukiji branch of beef bowl franchise, Yoshinoya, is the only one to serve US beef full time. The other stores have just been given occasional status. So, all of the salarymen and starving students can now rush back to have their favourite mix of incredibly fatty gyu on rice. In related news, the incidence of death by cholesterol has gone up...
Time to go home...
Wednesday September 20, 5:20 p.m.
Well, it's been a while...about a week, I dare reckon. Like any other week, it's had its share of ups and downs. First, the downs...both of them professionally. Last week's model lessons were a split. Ironically, it was the one for which I'd planned over a few days that was the big failure. For that one, I kinda felt like the USAF plane after it had accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy during the Serb War...I had faulty intelligence. I had been told that the student in question had a better speaking ability when it turned out to be quite the opposite. In other words, that one hour was a test in pain and flop sweat. Not surprisingly, she canned the second model lesson. I wasn't too happy about that. Speedy tried to allay my frustration but unfortunately he has a bit of a tendency to make anything sound backhanded at times. However, the first ML was a homer out of the park; I just pulled out one of my own readymade lessons. The second downer was having to teach a couple of kids last night at the juku in place of the usual kids' teacher. The juku boss neglected to tell me a couple of key facts...one being that the mother always sat in on the class. Another kilogram lost unnecessarily. I held my gorge in although I did tell her that I wasn't too happy about how things developed; she felt suitably bad about it. Sometimes, she can be a real scatterbrain. Let's say this...I wouldn't be too kindly inclined if today were "Be Kind to Your Boss Day".
Between those two exercises in futility, The Egg and his wife came into town. Last Thursday, I went all the way to Narita's Terminal 1. Not surprisingly, AC001 was delayed by about an hour so I had time to check out the new mall sandwiched between the two wings. Yes, it looked like any one of those shiny shopping emporiums that have now liberally sprinkled themselves all over the Kanto. I saw a Thai restaurant, a ramen eatery and a conveyor belt sushi place along with the usual McD's and a Tsutaya bookstore. Not a bad thing to have while waiting for that flight.
When the Egg and Mrs. Egg finally came through the Customs barrier, it looked like the former gained some more yolk. Such is the passing of age. To rationalize it, there's more of us to love. For the past few days, it's been alternately getting on with my regular life and getting used to having two roomies. Strangely enough, it hasn't been too bad bunking on my sofa. I haven't had the usual backaches.
Right now, both Eggs are out of town. Off in Sendai to meet the in-laws. So I have my own place again for at least a couple of days. Then, my friends come back for two more nights at the Hotel H before taking off for The Great White North on Sunday. But in the meantime, I've got 001 and 007 tonight. 001 should be another funfest since she, 002 and the Baker had gone off on an onsen outing last weekend.
In the news, today is indeed Koizumi's last day as President...of the Liberal Democratic Party, that is. It should be a cakewalk for Shinzo Abe; even the media hasn't been too hyped up about the passing of the torch. Abe's accession to Prime Minister will be happening officially at the end of the month. I was reading in The Japan Times yesterday about Japan's No. 1 Elvis fan's legacy according to the international media. The best he could get was that he gave off a rock n' roll image. Otherwise, he was really just sizzle, no steak. And even Koizumi couldn't make it through his time as PM without an ewwwww moment...the one in which he was playing air guitar at Graceland in front of a bemused George Bush (Dubya must've secretly whooped it up at seeing someone else being called goofy for that week) and Presley clan. And here I thought that Koizumi's predecessor, Yoshiro Mori, took the cake when he had that cringeworthy conversation in English with Bill Clinton at the 2000 G8 Summit. Well, at least Koizumi had that rebel image (if only superficially); Abe just strikes me as being a cigar store Indian.
And of course, last Wednesday, the Imperial Household Agency proudly crowed the new name bestowed on the future heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. The kid gets to be called Hisahito, which apparently means gentle. There was a bit of a hue and cry in the media since one of the hit singing duo, Yuzu, happens to have the exact same kanji as the little prince (though his name is pronounced differently). Also, the name can be said as "Yu-jin" which is analogous to the English "Eugene". So, when the prince eventually seeks higher education in an English-speaking country, he can invite his classmates to call him that. And his classmates can just paste the "Kick Me" sign on him as well.
Well, it's been a while...about a week, I dare reckon. Like any other week, it's had its share of ups and downs. First, the downs...both of them professionally. Last week's model lessons were a split. Ironically, it was the one for which I'd planned over a few days that was the big failure. For that one, I kinda felt like the USAF plane after it had accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy during the Serb War...I had faulty intelligence. I had been told that the student in question had a better speaking ability when it turned out to be quite the opposite. In other words, that one hour was a test in pain and flop sweat. Not surprisingly, she canned the second model lesson. I wasn't too happy about that. Speedy tried to allay my frustration but unfortunately he has a bit of a tendency to make anything sound backhanded at times. However, the first ML was a homer out of the park; I just pulled out one of my own readymade lessons. The second downer was having to teach a couple of kids last night at the juku in place of the usual kids' teacher. The juku boss neglected to tell me a couple of key facts...one being that the mother always sat in on the class. Another kilogram lost unnecessarily. I held my gorge in although I did tell her that I wasn't too happy about how things developed; she felt suitably bad about it. Sometimes, she can be a real scatterbrain. Let's say this...I wouldn't be too kindly inclined if today were "Be Kind to Your Boss Day".
Between those two exercises in futility, The Egg and his wife came into town. Last Thursday, I went all the way to Narita's Terminal 1. Not surprisingly, AC001 was delayed by about an hour so I had time to check out the new mall sandwiched between the two wings. Yes, it looked like any one of those shiny shopping emporiums that have now liberally sprinkled themselves all over the Kanto. I saw a Thai restaurant, a ramen eatery and a conveyor belt sushi place along with the usual McD's and a Tsutaya bookstore. Not a bad thing to have while waiting for that flight.
When the Egg and Mrs. Egg finally came through the Customs barrier, it looked like the former gained some more yolk. Such is the passing of age. To rationalize it, there's more of us to love. For the past few days, it's been alternately getting on with my regular life and getting used to having two roomies. Strangely enough, it hasn't been too bad bunking on my sofa. I haven't had the usual backaches.
Right now, both Eggs are out of town. Off in Sendai to meet the in-laws. So I have my own place again for at least a couple of days. Then, my friends come back for two more nights at the Hotel H before taking off for The Great White North on Sunday. But in the meantime, I've got 001 and 007 tonight. 001 should be another funfest since she, 002 and the Baker had gone off on an onsen outing last weekend.
In the news, today is indeed Koizumi's last day as President...of the Liberal Democratic Party, that is. It should be a cakewalk for Shinzo Abe; even the media hasn't been too hyped up about the passing of the torch. Abe's accession to Prime Minister will be happening officially at the end of the month. I was reading in The Japan Times yesterday about Japan's No. 1 Elvis fan's legacy according to the international media. The best he could get was that he gave off a rock n' roll image. Otherwise, he was really just sizzle, no steak. And even Koizumi couldn't make it through his time as PM without an ewwwww moment...the one in which he was playing air guitar at Graceland in front of a bemused George Bush (Dubya must've secretly whooped it up at seeing someone else being called goofy for that week) and Presley clan. And here I thought that Koizumi's predecessor, Yoshiro Mori, took the cake when he had that cringeworthy conversation in English with Bill Clinton at the 2000 G8 Summit. Well, at least Koizumi had that rebel image (if only superficially); Abe just strikes me as being a cigar store Indian.
And of course, last Wednesday, the Imperial Household Agency proudly crowed the new name bestowed on the future heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne. The kid gets to be called Hisahito, which apparently means gentle. There was a bit of a hue and cry in the media since one of the hit singing duo, Yuzu, happens to have the exact same kanji as the little prince (though his name is pronounced differently). Also, the name can be said as "Yu-jin" which is analogous to the English "Eugene". So, when the prince eventually seeks higher education in an English-speaking country, he can invite his classmates to call him that. And his classmates can just paste the "Kick Me" sign on him as well.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Wednesday September 13, 5:31 p.m.
Well, I did look at that CNN Pipeline coverage of the original hours of the 9/11 attacks. I had originally caught it just when the 2nd plane hit the Twin Towers. So I managed to catch up in a way with the first 10 minutes of the bulletin. Judging from the coverage, it was a revelation that the CNN anchors couldn't realize initially that they were under terrorist attack even after that second plane had been sent careening into the building....even considering that first attempted attack in 1993 and then Oklahoma City in 1995. After that second plane, the reporters thought that it had been a second explosion from the first plane crash. Such was the mindset that the mighty fortress of the US couldn't be attacked.
My day yesterday was fairly pleasant as Tuesdays go. I had The Beehive...this time, we did get our old room back; the first floor of the bowling alley was looking pretty spanking brand new; the staff looked like their old sullen selves, though. Then, it was several hours of downtime just at Beckers the burger joint in Tsudanuma Station and then a Mister Donuts near Funabashi Station. The Mister Donuts had that classic American diner look but the music was this strange mix of Trance (interesting take on Queen's "We Are The Champions") and the "Superman Returns" soundtrack. Then, it was 002...which was fine as usual.
There was some more schedule jostling at the juku. Looks like I'll be starting an hour earlier next Tuesday with Seven because the boss decided to bring in a pair of twin kids for me to entertain for some reason. Thankfully, The Salaryman will be off in Bali so I have some off time to recuperate. I'm just having Mrs. Mild this month since hubby is really busy. Man, I almost strangled her last night since she had trouble with the just simplest samples of syntax...this, after over three years of teaching her. I was indeed glad that I didn't have The Siberian.
Well, I got a bit of a bombshell from GC out of Mie Prefecture. Looks like he'll be out of a job come December since the demographics for his client base have finally disappeared after over 12 years on the job. Man, that's rough. I gave him some advice and I think he has a 1 to 2-year safety net so hopefully, he'll have some lead time to get back on his feet. Speaking of old faces, I got my apartment partially ready for The Egg tomorrow. Man, did I throw out a lot of stuff today...including my 10-year-old pillow. Well, at least I got rid of the tick-and-mite colony.
But right now, I'm worrying about a couple of model lessons after 001 tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed but I'll be happy if I can just score .500.
Well, I did look at that CNN Pipeline coverage of the original hours of the 9/11 attacks. I had originally caught it just when the 2nd plane hit the Twin Towers. So I managed to catch up in a way with the first 10 minutes of the bulletin. Judging from the coverage, it was a revelation that the CNN anchors couldn't realize initially that they were under terrorist attack even after that second plane had been sent careening into the building....even considering that first attempted attack in 1993 and then Oklahoma City in 1995. After that second plane, the reporters thought that it had been a second explosion from the first plane crash. Such was the mindset that the mighty fortress of the US couldn't be attacked.
My day yesterday was fairly pleasant as Tuesdays go. I had The Beehive...this time, we did get our old room back; the first floor of the bowling alley was looking pretty spanking brand new; the staff looked like their old sullen selves, though. Then, it was several hours of downtime just at Beckers the burger joint in Tsudanuma Station and then a Mister Donuts near Funabashi Station. The Mister Donuts had that classic American diner look but the music was this strange mix of Trance (interesting take on Queen's "We Are The Champions") and the "Superman Returns" soundtrack. Then, it was 002...which was fine as usual.
There was some more schedule jostling at the juku. Looks like I'll be starting an hour earlier next Tuesday with Seven because the boss decided to bring in a pair of twin kids for me to entertain for some reason. Thankfully, The Salaryman will be off in Bali so I have some off time to recuperate. I'm just having Mrs. Mild this month since hubby is really busy. Man, I almost strangled her last night since she had trouble with the just simplest samples of syntax...this, after over three years of teaching her. I was indeed glad that I didn't have The Siberian.
Well, I got a bit of a bombshell from GC out of Mie Prefecture. Looks like he'll be out of a job come December since the demographics for his client base have finally disappeared after over 12 years on the job. Man, that's rough. I gave him some advice and I think he has a 1 to 2-year safety net so hopefully, he'll have some lead time to get back on his feet. Speaking of old faces, I got my apartment partially ready for The Egg tomorrow. Man, did I throw out a lot of stuff today...including my 10-year-old pillow. Well, at least I got rid of the tick-and-mite colony.
But right now, I'm worrying about a couple of model lessons after 001 tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed but I'll be happy if I can just score .500.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Monday September 11, 5:39 p.m.
I had a pretty pleasant if sleepy time with The Madame yesterday, although things got off to a rollicking start (now, let's not get our minds into the gutter from what I've just written down). The two of us went to our usual haunt above Shinjuku Station on the 7th floor of restaurants. We decided to go for Thai, an unusual choice for The Madame since she's not one for spicy food but her need for Asian cuisine overrode all other factors. She was talking more about her quest for spiritualism in which her latest out-of-body experience had her empty body flailing away on the mat during her seminar. She even re-enacted her actions which, vertically speaking, kinda looked like a Warner Bros. cartoon character on acid. Then, we went all the way downstairs to the level below the JR level to a fancy food court known as The City Cafe. I'd passed by the place over the past couple of years without once setting foot inside it but I (with The Madame) finally took our steps inside. We were escorted to a table (basically, it was like one huge cafeteria) and we got our Bubble Teas. We ended up staying there for a good 3-4 hours; at one point, the two of us were in danger of just nodding off so we went for some rather strong coffee from one of the counters called Negishi, and drank it down with that teen fave of a chocolate-banana crepe. I felt kinda bad that I was starting to get sleepy in front of my friend but I rationalized it as being so comfortable in front of her that I didn't need to put on airs.
Quite a few changes in my work schedule. I finally got word about what happened on Saturday morning concerning the family of the two kids. I actually got the message from the father, and not the mother since it seems that she has come down with some rather debilitating pain after their trip to Europe. It looks like we'll be getting together on Sunday afternoon so I'll have to re-schedule The Carolinan's lesson back a couple of hours. And then, I found out from SIL that she may be going on another hiatus although she finished her message by asking me whether if another venue might be suitable. The Part-Timer is good to go, though, in the next 20 minutes.
I still have to get ready for Egg and his wife for Thursday. I figure that I'll be doing some major adjustments to the apartment on Wednesday and Thursday. Plus, I have two model lessons on Wednesday night that I'm prepping for. I'll definitely be suffering for my art this week.
Speaking of suffering, I've been keeping my promise to do the tofu-and-salad dinners so far, although I've got the loophole of reverting back to my old omnivourous ways if I'm invited to dinner (I did exercise that option on Saturday when I went out with Speedy and his gang). Interestingly enough, I've been pretty faithful so far and in fact, I don't even find the thought of regularly ingesting vegetable protein and just plain vegetables all that unappealing. I had a Wendy's Bacon Burger Classic for lunch, though. The Matron filled me in on a tastier variation on the tofu theme. She said that I should fry up a couple of slices of bacon extra crisp and then chop them into pieces and sprinkle them onto some unsuspecting bean curds for some mighty good flavour. One would think that bacon would be the last thing that a dieter would put on tofu but The Matron reasoned that the extra grease would have been rendered out during the cooking process. Well, I could always use an alternative from just soy sauce and sesame seeds.
Speaking of The Matron, I was grateful that The Lady did show up for the lesson today. When I got to the house, I had been informed by the housekeeper that The Lady had been under the weather but she did come during the latter half of the lesson.
I had a pretty pleasant if sleepy time with The Madame yesterday, although things got off to a rollicking start (now, let's not get our minds into the gutter from what I've just written down). The two of us went to our usual haunt above Shinjuku Station on the 7th floor of restaurants. We decided to go for Thai, an unusual choice for The Madame since she's not one for spicy food but her need for Asian cuisine overrode all other factors. She was talking more about her quest for spiritualism in which her latest out-of-body experience had her empty body flailing away on the mat during her seminar. She even re-enacted her actions which, vertically speaking, kinda looked like a Warner Bros. cartoon character on acid. Then, we went all the way downstairs to the level below the JR level to a fancy food court known as The City Cafe. I'd passed by the place over the past couple of years without once setting foot inside it but I (with The Madame) finally took our steps inside. We were escorted to a table (basically, it was like one huge cafeteria) and we got our Bubble Teas. We ended up staying there for a good 3-4 hours; at one point, the two of us were in danger of just nodding off so we went for some rather strong coffee from one of the counters called Negishi, and drank it down with that teen fave of a chocolate-banana crepe. I felt kinda bad that I was starting to get sleepy in front of my friend but I rationalized it as being so comfortable in front of her that I didn't need to put on airs.
Quite a few changes in my work schedule. I finally got word about what happened on Saturday morning concerning the family of the two kids. I actually got the message from the father, and not the mother since it seems that she has come down with some rather debilitating pain after their trip to Europe. It looks like we'll be getting together on Sunday afternoon so I'll have to re-schedule The Carolinan's lesson back a couple of hours. And then, I found out from SIL that she may be going on another hiatus although she finished her message by asking me whether if another venue might be suitable. The Part-Timer is good to go, though, in the next 20 minutes.
I still have to get ready for Egg and his wife for Thursday. I figure that I'll be doing some major adjustments to the apartment on Wednesday and Thursday. Plus, I have two model lessons on Wednesday night that I'm prepping for. I'll definitely be suffering for my art this week.
Speaking of suffering, I've been keeping my promise to do the tofu-and-salad dinners so far, although I've got the loophole of reverting back to my old omnivourous ways if I'm invited to dinner (I did exercise that option on Saturday when I went out with Speedy and his gang). Interestingly enough, I've been pretty faithful so far and in fact, I don't even find the thought of regularly ingesting vegetable protein and just plain vegetables all that unappealing. I had a Wendy's Bacon Burger Classic for lunch, though. The Matron filled me in on a tastier variation on the tofu theme. She said that I should fry up a couple of slices of bacon extra crisp and then chop them into pieces and sprinkle them onto some unsuspecting bean curds for some mighty good flavour. One would think that bacon would be the last thing that a dieter would put on tofu but The Matron reasoned that the extra grease would have been rendered out during the cooking process. Well, I could always use an alternative from just soy sauce and sesame seeds.
Speaking of The Matron, I was grateful that The Lady did show up for the lesson today. When I got to the house, I had been informed by the housekeeper that The Lady had been under the weather but she did come during the latter half of the lesson.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Saturday September 9, 2:54 p.m.
Well, 40 years and nearly 6 hours ago, a little show made by a former cop and war pilot came onto the air being touted as a "Wagon Train to the Stars" and ended up becoming this geek-and-nerd magnet. Yes, "Star Trek" has just turned 40. I kinda wonder if any affiliate in the US or Canada actually put on "Man Trap" at 8 p.m. EST on the 8th. Sorry, William but I guess millions of people just won't get a life.
As for me, I guess I haven't been getting much of a teaching life this week. Not only did I not get to teach the OL or the UL on Friday but The Ace bailed out on me. But I should be grateful to him since he did so some 10 minutes after his lesson was supposed to have begun, which means I still get at least half-pay.
A big reason that I should get a new phone...I got this garbled message on my machine yesterday. All I could make out was barely a name and the fact that she was calling long-distance....and then, the line cut out. After a few minutes of going over, I came to the thought that it may have the mother for my two girls, The Elder and The Younger. The family was off in Germany from the 26th and I was wondering if they had gotten stuck there with the airflight in Europe being what it is right now. Well, the proof was in the pudding this morning when I decided to head out to the house anyways all the way from my humble abode in Ichikawa. Sure enough, after three doorbell rings and several rings on the phone, there was noone home. Well, as they say here, sho ga nai. I just headed over to Shinjuku to hang out for those two unpaid hours. Looking at the bright side of things, I did manage to pick out some Arm & Hammer Deodorizer at Tokyu Hands, the household goods store in the Takashimaya Times Square complex. With The Egg and missus heading out here on Thursday, I figure I need to do some major deodorizing of my apartment. I also did some research on some other possible purchases for the upcoming arrival...such as a new pillow and electric fan.
I decided to walk through the sea of humidity and have lunch at Hansens. Well, when one has had a frankly frustrating end to the week, one should get a bit of pampering. So I was happy to have my two hot dogs and fries. I just finished my lesson with Farrah...not sure if it'll be my last with her since she only signed for a 4-lesson block. I frankly think that she should be coming out here every Saturday to make things worthwhile. Now, I'm just waiting for the Ramen Lady who'll be here in about an hour. Then, I've got this dinner with Speedy, his wife and the secretary who's just gone on maternity leave.
Well, 40 years and nearly 6 hours ago, a little show made by a former cop and war pilot came onto the air being touted as a "Wagon Train to the Stars" and ended up becoming this geek-and-nerd magnet. Yes, "Star Trek" has just turned 40. I kinda wonder if any affiliate in the US or Canada actually put on "Man Trap" at 8 p.m. EST on the 8th. Sorry, William but I guess millions of people just won't get a life.
As for me, I guess I haven't been getting much of a teaching life this week. Not only did I not get to teach the OL or the UL on Friday but The Ace bailed out on me. But I should be grateful to him since he did so some 10 minutes after his lesson was supposed to have begun, which means I still get at least half-pay.
A big reason that I should get a new phone...I got this garbled message on my machine yesterday. All I could make out was barely a name and the fact that she was calling long-distance....and then, the line cut out. After a few minutes of going over, I came to the thought that it may have the mother for my two girls, The Elder and The Younger. The family was off in Germany from the 26th and I was wondering if they had gotten stuck there with the airflight in Europe being what it is right now. Well, the proof was in the pudding this morning when I decided to head out to the house anyways all the way from my humble abode in Ichikawa. Sure enough, after three doorbell rings and several rings on the phone, there was noone home. Well, as they say here, sho ga nai. I just headed over to Shinjuku to hang out for those two unpaid hours. Looking at the bright side of things, I did manage to pick out some Arm & Hammer Deodorizer at Tokyu Hands, the household goods store in the Takashimaya Times Square complex. With The Egg and missus heading out here on Thursday, I figure I need to do some major deodorizing of my apartment. I also did some research on some other possible purchases for the upcoming arrival...such as a new pillow and electric fan.
I decided to walk through the sea of humidity and have lunch at Hansens. Well, when one has had a frankly frustrating end to the week, one should get a bit of pampering. So I was happy to have my two hot dogs and fries. I just finished my lesson with Farrah...not sure if it'll be my last with her since she only signed for a 4-lesson block. I frankly think that she should be coming out here every Saturday to make things worthwhile. Now, I'm just waiting for the Ramen Lady who'll be here in about an hour. Then, I've got this dinner with Speedy, his wife and the secretary who's just gone on maternity leave.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Thursday September 7, 2:40 p.m.
Back at my other office in I-Cafe. I've got Fred Flintstone snoring in the next booth so things aren't as quiet as I would have hoped. Still, the two cups of complementary of blend coffee have helped.
A number of little tidbits here and there:
Looks like The Egg and I have caught a break in logistics. He and the missus are planning to come over here to the Hotel Haruhiko for a vacation next Thursday. It was gonna be a tricky thing to have the apartment ready for them since I usually have The Carolinan for her regular lesson on alternate Thursday nights. Well, she just let me know that she has to cancel the 14th which leaves me free and clear to not only get the place prepped but also to pick them up at Narita. The wife won't be here for all of their 10 days but it looks like Egg will be a roomie; it's been a while since I've had one.
002 was back from Hawaii. She and her hubby had a good time traveling the less traveled routes of the Aloha State so there was an influx of English in their dialogues but she was a bit down on herself that she couldn't get all that she'd wanted to say out of her mouth. Well, I told her that considering most of her days are spent here amongst native Japanese with only a once-a-week session with me, she's doing pretty well. My newest souvenirs were a can of SPAM (I do love my luncheon meat) and some shortbread cookies from Waikiki. The latter I've already devoured with my blend coffee.
Now I'm just twiddling my thumbs here at the cafe before I see B2. Not sure if it'll just be the lass tonight. I recall that B2B is off on business for the next little while. It'll certainly make my lessons easier.
JJ finally got back to me. Yep, I think that it's the end between us but at least she was gracious about it.
Back at my other office in I-Cafe. I've got Fred Flintstone snoring in the next booth so things aren't as quiet as I would have hoped. Still, the two cups of complementary of blend coffee have helped.
A number of little tidbits here and there:
Looks like The Egg and I have caught a break in logistics. He and the missus are planning to come over here to the Hotel Haruhiko for a vacation next Thursday. It was gonna be a tricky thing to have the apartment ready for them since I usually have The Carolinan for her regular lesson on alternate Thursday nights. Well, she just let me know that she has to cancel the 14th which leaves me free and clear to not only get the place prepped but also to pick them up at Narita. The wife won't be here for all of their 10 days but it looks like Egg will be a roomie; it's been a while since I've had one.
002 was back from Hawaii. She and her hubby had a good time traveling the less traveled routes of the Aloha State so there was an influx of English in their dialogues but she was a bit down on herself that she couldn't get all that she'd wanted to say out of her mouth. Well, I told her that considering most of her days are spent here amongst native Japanese with only a once-a-week session with me, she's doing pretty well. My newest souvenirs were a can of SPAM (I do love my luncheon meat) and some shortbread cookies from Waikiki. The latter I've already devoured with my blend coffee.
Now I'm just twiddling my thumbs here at the cafe before I see B2. Not sure if it'll just be the lass tonight. I recall that B2B is off on business for the next little while. It'll certainly make my lessons easier.
JJ finally got back to me. Yep, I think that it's the end between us but at least she was gracious about it.
Wednesday September 6, 6:27 p.m.
Last Friday when I was teaching The Ace, the newest student at the juku, during an exercise on the Superlative, he told me that he thought teaching to be the most unrewarding occupation amongst the group of jobs listed. Though I wasn't particularly hurt by the comment...I can definitely understand why he would say that....I did do some reflection on it.
My response to his statement (for which he suddenly turned slightly crimson when he realized who he was talking to) was a memory of teaching those junior high school kids on a hot July day all those years ago. Yep, that memory would be categorized as "unrewarding". Also, beyond my own experiences, I think teaching has become even harder over the years when taking into consideration some of the extreme forms of teenage rebellion that have happened in schools. I recollect distinctly about the observations that a teacher from the ol' school had had when he visited one particular junior high school in Setagaya Ward. There, he was witness to a bunch of sociopathic monkeys in a zoo while the teachers clearly had given up.
In the English-teaching biz here, I think I have said on occasion that it's a dime-a-dozen scam a lot of the times. A lot of so-called teachers just come here with very little in the way of experience or training to the big chains such as NOVA, just throw out some ready-made lessons haphazardly and then skip off to the next Asian country. To be honest, I could understand that some students wouldn't hesitate to get revenge by suddenly not showing up for lessons anymore. Also, and I am talking about my own circumstances here, the English-teaching biz is far from financially rewarding. Sure, I can sell my lessons for at least 5,000 yen an hour and there would probably be gullible folks who would pay that much for simple conversational practice but then again I'd also be paying my soul, wouldn't I (as corny as that may sound)?
Still, I really can't say that my experiences here over the past 12 years have been unrewarding. I've had my ups and downs, certainly, but I look at the fact that though my bank account isn't exactly bursting at the seams, I've been able to make friendships and other relationships that have been valuable because of my job. I'm not exactly running The Beehive and The Class Act like a well-oiled military machine but the ladies there (I think) enjoy my company just as a source of social interaction. Former students like Skippy and The Madame still continue to hang out with me because I could help them during their time at the ol' school. And I have current students like 001 and 002 who enjoy their lessons. So, from my angle, I'd have to disagree with The Ace. Teaching may never get me into that high income tax bracket and I may never see the end result of my attempts but it's been good for me as I near two decades in the biz.
Last Friday when I was teaching The Ace, the newest student at the juku, during an exercise on the Superlative, he told me that he thought teaching to be the most unrewarding occupation amongst the group of jobs listed. Though I wasn't particularly hurt by the comment...I can definitely understand why he would say that....I did do some reflection on it.
My response to his statement (for which he suddenly turned slightly crimson when he realized who he was talking to) was a memory of teaching those junior high school kids on a hot July day all those years ago. Yep, that memory would be categorized as "unrewarding". Also, beyond my own experiences, I think teaching has become even harder over the years when taking into consideration some of the extreme forms of teenage rebellion that have happened in schools. I recollect distinctly about the observations that a teacher from the ol' school had had when he visited one particular junior high school in Setagaya Ward. There, he was witness to a bunch of sociopathic monkeys in a zoo while the teachers clearly had given up.
In the English-teaching biz here, I think I have said on occasion that it's a dime-a-dozen scam a lot of the times. A lot of so-called teachers just come here with very little in the way of experience or training to the big chains such as NOVA, just throw out some ready-made lessons haphazardly and then skip off to the next Asian country. To be honest, I could understand that some students wouldn't hesitate to get revenge by suddenly not showing up for lessons anymore. Also, and I am talking about my own circumstances here, the English-teaching biz is far from financially rewarding. Sure, I can sell my lessons for at least 5,000 yen an hour and there would probably be gullible folks who would pay that much for simple conversational practice but then again I'd also be paying my soul, wouldn't I (as corny as that may sound)?
Still, I really can't say that my experiences here over the past 12 years have been unrewarding. I've had my ups and downs, certainly, but I look at the fact that though my bank account isn't exactly bursting at the seams, I've been able to make friendships and other relationships that have been valuable because of my job. I'm not exactly running The Beehive and The Class Act like a well-oiled military machine but the ladies there (I think) enjoy my company just as a source of social interaction. Former students like Skippy and The Madame still continue to hang out with me because I could help them during their time at the ol' school. And I have current students like 001 and 002 who enjoy their lessons. So, from my angle, I'd have to disagree with The Ace. Teaching may never get me into that high income tax bracket and I may never see the end result of my attempts but it's been good for me as I near two decades in the biz.
Wednesday September 6, 5:07 p.m.
We've just got ourselves a future national holiday here in Japan. And not only is the nation celebrating on this gray day but the Imperial Household Agency along with some conservative Imperial experts are breathing a sigh of relief. Yep, as of 8:45 a.m., all of the television channels were screaming "IT'S A BOY!", some 18 minutes after the birth of a future Emperor to Princess Kiko and Prince Akishino. The media played it up like a royal coronation with Fuji-TV even having tons of flowers surrounding the news desk where the two anchors were dressed to the nines. And true to its insecure nature, the same media trumpeted that even CNN and BBC had announced the birth. Reporters and cameramen were solidly planted around various areas such as the Kanagawa-ken hospital where Kiko had given birth, and Nagatacho (Japan's equivalent to the White House or Whitehall). So TV was basically hijacked for the entire morning.
Of course, the royalwatchers had their cue sticks and Imperial Family tree charts out again showing what the new line of succession will look like. The Japanese Imperial Line may not be broken but there's sure gonna be a new kink in it. As for the newest arrival, the boy is automatically 3rd in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne after Crown Prince Naruhito and his brother, Prince Akishino. Pretty big promotion for a human less than a day old. As for the princesses...well, I guess they'll be back to smiling vacuously and lisping to the reporters.
Prime Minister Koizumi's reaction to the birth: "Great, eh?" as he passed by the reporters. The silence was deafening.
Meanwhile, CNN was on the other end of the emotional spectrum, mourning the death of The Crocodile Hunter. I couldn't believe how much the news channel was devoting to this oddball. You'd think that Mr. Irwin had saved the entire US population from mutant crocodiles in the sewers. I was almost expecting to see a picture of the Aussie draped in black while Soviet funeral music was playing in the background. Irwin may have been respected for his passion for animals but he'll always strike me as "having an excess of personality", and I'm sorry but I don't have much use for a guy who would dangle his own infant son in one hand while feeding a hungry croc with the other....that's going into Wacko Jacko territory. There has been talk about the Australian government offering a state funeral for the man....I'd think that Crocodile Dundee would be more deserving. Anyways, at least I have a better understanding of stingrays now.
I had my first meeting with The Beehive yesterday in over a month. Looks like the ladies had a good summer. Five of them went off mountain climbing in early August. Our usual haunt in that Tsudanuma bowling alley was closed down due to repairs...not that the staff mentioned to us or anything. So we ended up going across the street to Ms. Perth's place. Ms. Jade was kind enough to bring some sweet corn-on-the-cob.
The juku gang was fine although it looks like Mr. Mild will be away on business for the next month. So I'm hoping for some big things from Mrs. Mild in terms of her ability. The Parisian will be away in a couple of weeks for a trip to Bali. And The Siberian is gonna be off to Korea this month. Still glad that I'm being paid by the hour instead of the number of students, though.
I only have 007 tonight. But it looks like Speedy is up the creek again...this time in the administrative department. Up until recently, it seemed like we had a plethora of secretarial help. But one of them just couldn't cut the mustard with computers, and now another one has pulled out due to a broken foot. With another girl on materity leave (did I say girl?! I meant fully adult woman), the red flags have gone up. I've even sent a plea to The Sylph via Movie Buddy.
Tomorrow will also be a pretty sparse day workwise. I've got 002 for her home lesson after her trip to Hawaii, and then several hours later I'll be seeing B2. Not sure what I'm gonna be doing in between. Maybe another trip to the I-Cafe may be in order.
We've just got ourselves a future national holiday here in Japan. And not only is the nation celebrating on this gray day but the Imperial Household Agency along with some conservative Imperial experts are breathing a sigh of relief. Yep, as of 8:45 a.m., all of the television channels were screaming "IT'S A BOY!", some 18 minutes after the birth of a future Emperor to Princess Kiko and Prince Akishino. The media played it up like a royal coronation with Fuji-TV even having tons of flowers surrounding the news desk where the two anchors were dressed to the nines. And true to its insecure nature, the same media trumpeted that even CNN and BBC had announced the birth. Reporters and cameramen were solidly planted around various areas such as the Kanagawa-ken hospital where Kiko had given birth, and Nagatacho (Japan's equivalent to the White House or Whitehall). So TV was basically hijacked for the entire morning.
Of course, the royalwatchers had their cue sticks and Imperial Family tree charts out again showing what the new line of succession will look like. The Japanese Imperial Line may not be broken but there's sure gonna be a new kink in it. As for the newest arrival, the boy is automatically 3rd in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne after Crown Prince Naruhito and his brother, Prince Akishino. Pretty big promotion for a human less than a day old. As for the princesses...well, I guess they'll be back to smiling vacuously and lisping to the reporters.
Prime Minister Koizumi's reaction to the birth: "Great, eh?" as he passed by the reporters. The silence was deafening.
Meanwhile, CNN was on the other end of the emotional spectrum, mourning the death of The Crocodile Hunter. I couldn't believe how much the news channel was devoting to this oddball. You'd think that Mr. Irwin had saved the entire US population from mutant crocodiles in the sewers. I was almost expecting to see a picture of the Aussie draped in black while Soviet funeral music was playing in the background. Irwin may have been respected for his passion for animals but he'll always strike me as "having an excess of personality", and I'm sorry but I don't have much use for a guy who would dangle his own infant son in one hand while feeding a hungry croc with the other....that's going into Wacko Jacko territory. There has been talk about the Australian government offering a state funeral for the man....I'd think that Crocodile Dundee would be more deserving. Anyways, at least I have a better understanding of stingrays now.
I had my first meeting with The Beehive yesterday in over a month. Looks like the ladies had a good summer. Five of them went off mountain climbing in early August. Our usual haunt in that Tsudanuma bowling alley was closed down due to repairs...not that the staff mentioned to us or anything. So we ended up going across the street to Ms. Perth's place. Ms. Jade was kind enough to bring some sweet corn-on-the-cob.
The juku gang was fine although it looks like Mr. Mild will be away on business for the next month. So I'm hoping for some big things from Mrs. Mild in terms of her ability. The Parisian will be away in a couple of weeks for a trip to Bali. And The Siberian is gonna be off to Korea this month. Still glad that I'm being paid by the hour instead of the number of students, though.
I only have 007 tonight. But it looks like Speedy is up the creek again...this time in the administrative department. Up until recently, it seemed like we had a plethora of secretarial help. But one of them just couldn't cut the mustard with computers, and now another one has pulled out due to a broken foot. With another girl on materity leave (did I say girl?! I meant fully adult woman), the red flags have gone up. I've even sent a plea to The Sylph via Movie Buddy.
Tomorrow will also be a pretty sparse day workwise. I've got 002 for her home lesson after her trip to Hawaii, and then several hours later I'll be seeing B2. Not sure what I'm gonna be doing in between. Maybe another trip to the I-Cafe may be in order.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Monday September 4, 9:46 p.m.
I had my first official lesson with 008 just now. She's a good student and things got off to a good start. Unfortunately, I probably won't see for her next lesson until the end of the month due to her work.
Anyways, going back to Sunday night, after "Superman Returns", Movie Buddy and I had a small snack at the local Excelsior's in Shinjuku. It was jampacked as it usually is on a Sunday afternoon. A couple of the usual boorish Shibuya gal-types tried to jump the line on us for a table but a kind staff member managed to make things right for us...this was according to MB; I was too busy munching on my Croque Monsieur to notice. MB seems to resemble The Entrepreneur in that both guys get rather throbbing headaches in the midst of smoke. Like a number of places, the non-smoking and smoking sections don't really have any differences.
We took the Marunouchi Line and Chiyoda Line to Akasaka where we did some walking around the neighbourhood for the better part of the hour before meeting Skippy and OA at Exit 2. It was nice to walk on a nearly deserted street by Hie Shrine. Since Akasaka is virtually only a commercial area, Sundays are a pedestrian's paradise. We almost got lost in the return back to the exit but luckily we got our bearings just in time to see the ladies pop out of the subway. It'd been almost a year since we've seen OA. She's been having her own time with work and a new boyfriend.
We only needed to turn a corner to reach Hyunboo, that Korean restaurant frequented by the hoi polloi near TBS Studios. According to Skippy, folks like the Korean singer BOA and other native Korean thespians have come to Hyunboo around the witching hour for some good hot grub. At first, we thought we'd entered the kitchen site but the orange-T-shirted wait staff led us into a long windowless room. It had the ambience of an airplane aisle but it was comfy enough. One wall was covered with tons of autograph cards of happy celeb customers including the aforementioned BOA. Skippy happily did the ordering for a round of BBQ pork, kimchi chijimi, a hot pot of spicy stuff and a round of beers to start. Man, the food was good and the beers had their uses. The final dish of spicy hot pot was delish but had our sweat glands working overtime. Another winner by Skippy. However, in a bad case of timing, Skippy didn't have enough funds and I wasn't exactly filled to overflowing with the yen either so I needed to replensish my wallet at the nearest 7-11.
We did a quick walk up Hie Shrine, thanks to some automatic escalators (we would never have made it up the steep stairs in our gastronomic condition), came back down and walked some more before ending up in Ark Hills, the hotel/TV Asahi Studios/Suntory Hall complex, for some coffee at a boulangerie. We had our Cafe Au Laits and watched as a ton of people came out of Suntory Hall after a concert had been held there. I got a feeling that the consecutive Sunday outings with Skippy have come to an end for a bit since I think the girl has kinda burned herself out. Besides, I'm meeting The Madame next Sunday for something. I sent her a birthday card last week but haven't gotten any reply.
The Lady pulled a dotyakan herself today but The Matron did arrive for her 90 with me. And SIL had another grand old time. Somehow, we got onto the topic of an old 70s idol by the name of Hiromi Go, one of the very early Johnny's Jimusho boy idols and precursor to SMAP and TOKIO. Now in his 40s, he's become one of those veteran celebs who only needs to show up on a show to get attention...he's just a bit of a bon vivant around town. He did have a bit of a comeback hit 7 years ago when he did his own cover of that Ricky Martin party song, "Livin La Vida Loca"...improbably called "Goldfinger 99" but mostly he's just popping about and doing ads for a spa called Takasu Clinic. But the weirdest thing happened to me today when I was on my way back to Shibuya Station when lo and behold I came across a small mob in front of the discount store, Don Quixote, and saw a camera crew. Two men stepped out of the store. One was a famous TBS announcer, and the other guy was none other than Hiromi Go himself. Man, I'll never admit it to The Madame but somehow my thoughts can be downright scary. I did send a report of my findings to SIL.
Well, things are kinda getting back to normal tomorrow. I've got the Beehive for their first after the summer vacation. It'll be my 8th year with them and knowing them pretty well by now, I've got a feeling that the talk will all be about their time off and the events of the day. Quite a few ranging from Princess Kiko's impending delivery of the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne to last week's little quake to the impending retirement of PM Koizumi. Always stuff to talk about with these ladies. But just in case, I may run off some copies of The Teacher's articles. Of course, The Teacher will be away for the next month. But I still have the juku students. Well, The Siberian will be busy with his upcoming Korea trip but I'll still have my hours with the rest of them.
I had my first official lesson with 008 just now. She's a good student and things got off to a good start. Unfortunately, I probably won't see for her next lesson until the end of the month due to her work.
Anyways, going back to Sunday night, after "Superman Returns", Movie Buddy and I had a small snack at the local Excelsior's in Shinjuku. It was jampacked as it usually is on a Sunday afternoon. A couple of the usual boorish Shibuya gal-types tried to jump the line on us for a table but a kind staff member managed to make things right for us...this was according to MB; I was too busy munching on my Croque Monsieur to notice. MB seems to resemble The Entrepreneur in that both guys get rather throbbing headaches in the midst of smoke. Like a number of places, the non-smoking and smoking sections don't really have any differences.
We took the Marunouchi Line and Chiyoda Line to Akasaka where we did some walking around the neighbourhood for the better part of the hour before meeting Skippy and OA at Exit 2. It was nice to walk on a nearly deserted street by Hie Shrine. Since Akasaka is virtually only a commercial area, Sundays are a pedestrian's paradise. We almost got lost in the return back to the exit but luckily we got our bearings just in time to see the ladies pop out of the subway. It'd been almost a year since we've seen OA. She's been having her own time with work and a new boyfriend.
We only needed to turn a corner to reach Hyunboo, that Korean restaurant frequented by the hoi polloi near TBS Studios. According to Skippy, folks like the Korean singer BOA and other native Korean thespians have come to Hyunboo around the witching hour for some good hot grub. At first, we thought we'd entered the kitchen site but the orange-T-shirted wait staff led us into a long windowless room. It had the ambience of an airplane aisle but it was comfy enough. One wall was covered with tons of autograph cards of happy celeb customers including the aforementioned BOA. Skippy happily did the ordering for a round of BBQ pork, kimchi chijimi, a hot pot of spicy stuff and a round of beers to start. Man, the food was good and the beers had their uses. The final dish of spicy hot pot was delish but had our sweat glands working overtime. Another winner by Skippy. However, in a bad case of timing, Skippy didn't have enough funds and I wasn't exactly filled to overflowing with the yen either so I needed to replensish my wallet at the nearest 7-11.
We did a quick walk up Hie Shrine, thanks to some automatic escalators (we would never have made it up the steep stairs in our gastronomic condition), came back down and walked some more before ending up in Ark Hills, the hotel/TV Asahi Studios/Suntory Hall complex, for some coffee at a boulangerie. We had our Cafe Au Laits and watched as a ton of people came out of Suntory Hall after a concert had been held there. I got a feeling that the consecutive Sunday outings with Skippy have come to an end for a bit since I think the girl has kinda burned herself out. Besides, I'm meeting The Madame next Sunday for something. I sent her a birthday card last week but haven't gotten any reply.
The Lady pulled a dotyakan herself today but The Matron did arrive for her 90 with me. And SIL had another grand old time. Somehow, we got onto the topic of an old 70s idol by the name of Hiromi Go, one of the very early Johnny's Jimusho boy idols and precursor to SMAP and TOKIO. Now in his 40s, he's become one of those veteran celebs who only needs to show up on a show to get attention...he's just a bit of a bon vivant around town. He did have a bit of a comeback hit 7 years ago when he did his own cover of that Ricky Martin party song, "Livin La Vida Loca"...improbably called "Goldfinger 99" but mostly he's just popping about and doing ads for a spa called Takasu Clinic. But the weirdest thing happened to me today when I was on my way back to Shibuya Station when lo and behold I came across a small mob in front of the discount store, Don Quixote, and saw a camera crew. Two men stepped out of the store. One was a famous TBS announcer, and the other guy was none other than Hiromi Go himself. Man, I'll never admit it to The Madame but somehow my thoughts can be downright scary. I did send a report of my findings to SIL.
Well, things are kinda getting back to normal tomorrow. I've got the Beehive for their first after the summer vacation. It'll be my 8th year with them and knowing them pretty well by now, I've got a feeling that the talk will all be about their time off and the events of the day. Quite a few ranging from Princess Kiko's impending delivery of the heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne to last week's little quake to the impending retirement of PM Koizumi. Always stuff to talk about with these ladies. But just in case, I may run off some copies of The Teacher's articles. Of course, The Teacher will be away for the next month. But I still have the juku students. Well, The Siberian will be busy with his upcoming Korea trip but I'll still have my hours with the rest of them.
Monday September 4, 6:36 p.m.
The weekend was pretty good as weekends go. Saturday was just the meeting with the one M. The other M did a dotyakan due to an interview in Yokohama. So it was the just the older M with me at The Tea Room. Ever since her rather unceremonious departure from her company last year, she's been doing just some part-time stuff but it looks like she's been wise enough to save enough money to float for quite a while. And she apparently has saved enough to get one of those Nintendo DS units. Of course, she got the English training program software. I gave it a whirl as well. You have to use one of those things in a quiet room. Even in a place like The Tea Room, the ambient noise level was such that I had to have the Nintendo repeat its phrases a few times before I could dictate it down correctly.
Sunday was the day for "Superman Returns". MB was with me for that one. But The Satyr pulled out due to finances and Skippy had already seen it in a special preview. I'd probably say that it was not nearly as bad as the American critics had put it but not the soaring piece of magnificence that the UK guys made it out to be. It's a bit of an interesting pattern, to be sure. The Yanks and the Brits were split the same way for the Star Wars prequels.
Anyways, the movie started out nicely with the old theme of planet Krypton playing while we pulled back from the erstwhile orb itself before its inevitable explosion. And then that logo and that John Williams theme blared out. The opening credit sequence just about matched the 1978 sequence except that the credits and theme were shorter (for the more ADD-riddled audience for today...and the fact that the cast list is much more concise than for the original movie) and the effects were far better. No more of those firework sparklers and oil/water splotches.
In fact, I'd say that instead of a sequel, this new Superman came off as a bit of a remake of the Christopher Reeve flick. Of course, much has been said about how similar Brandon Routh is to Reeve (not that much, in my opinion) in looks. But certain scenes paid tribute and hinted at scenes from the other movie such as Superman reappearing in public after saving an airplane in 2006 while in 1978, the other Superman rescued a helicopter. Also, certain lines were quoted as well....which, in one of the final scenes, was rather poignantly handled.
What worked was those aforementioned effects; the plane rescue sequence, for instance, was the most thrilling aspect in the movie. In those three minutes, the falling plane and the incoming Man of Steel managed to date all of the effects in the 1978 version. Also, the relationship between Supes and Lois Lane has matured...or at least Routh's and Kate Bosworth's portrayal of them. I'd like to see a show of hands of people who went for the airsick bag during the "Can You Read My Mind?" sequence with Reeve and Margot Kidder. At least here, the 2006 pairing was a lot less gooey. And then there is the meaner, more embittered and just about psychotic version of Lex Luthor as played by Kevin Spacey. No goofy theme music, no lovably oafish sidekicks and almost no comedic repartee. This Luthor has got some major hate issues with Superman and is more than willing to bring out the violence and dark banter.
What didn't quite work was some of the slow passages. MB mentioned that the ending of "Superman Returns" reminded him of the ending of "The Return of the King"....we didn't quite know when the movie would finally end. It just seemed to drag on for some minutes after the so-called climax. And speaking of that climax, MB also gave out a pretty astute point about the problem inherent within a Superman movie. Superman is supposedly so omnipotent that no villain could convincingly be a threat...unless that threat has the same powers (read: General Zod in "Superman II"). So the climax in this new flick wasn't really much of one. Not to say that the original "Superman" particularly succeeded in that regard either. Basically, it and "Superman Returns" and just about every first movie of every superhero franchise has a freshman jinx, not a sophomore one. For some reason, the first movie, whether it be the first "Spiderman" or the first "X-Men", hasn't been wholly satisfying. "Superman Returns" can also fall into this category. Brandon Routh is and will become a good Superman but he doesn't quite have the comic timing for Clark Kent down pat quite yet. Still, after so many years in development hell, I think we can give some kudos to Bryan Singer and look forward to the next adventure.
The weekend was pretty good as weekends go. Saturday was just the meeting with the one M. The other M did a dotyakan due to an interview in Yokohama. So it was the just the older M with me at The Tea Room. Ever since her rather unceremonious departure from her company last year, she's been doing just some part-time stuff but it looks like she's been wise enough to save enough money to float for quite a while. And she apparently has saved enough to get one of those Nintendo DS units. Of course, she got the English training program software. I gave it a whirl as well. You have to use one of those things in a quiet room. Even in a place like The Tea Room, the ambient noise level was such that I had to have the Nintendo repeat its phrases a few times before I could dictate it down correctly.
Sunday was the day for "Superman Returns". MB was with me for that one. But The Satyr pulled out due to finances and Skippy had already seen it in a special preview. I'd probably say that it was not nearly as bad as the American critics had put it but not the soaring piece of magnificence that the UK guys made it out to be. It's a bit of an interesting pattern, to be sure. The Yanks and the Brits were split the same way for the Star Wars prequels.
Anyways, the movie started out nicely with the old theme of planet Krypton playing while we pulled back from the erstwhile orb itself before its inevitable explosion. And then that logo and that John Williams theme blared out. The opening credit sequence just about matched the 1978 sequence except that the credits and theme were shorter (for the more ADD-riddled audience for today...and the fact that the cast list is much more concise than for the original movie) and the effects were far better. No more of those firework sparklers and oil/water splotches.
In fact, I'd say that instead of a sequel, this new Superman came off as a bit of a remake of the Christopher Reeve flick. Of course, much has been said about how similar Brandon Routh is to Reeve (not that much, in my opinion) in looks. But certain scenes paid tribute and hinted at scenes from the other movie such as Superman reappearing in public after saving an airplane in 2006 while in 1978, the other Superman rescued a helicopter. Also, certain lines were quoted as well....which, in one of the final scenes, was rather poignantly handled.
What worked was those aforementioned effects; the plane rescue sequence, for instance, was the most thrilling aspect in the movie. In those three minutes, the falling plane and the incoming Man of Steel managed to date all of the effects in the 1978 version. Also, the relationship between Supes and Lois Lane has matured...or at least Routh's and Kate Bosworth's portrayal of them. I'd like to see a show of hands of people who went for the airsick bag during the "Can You Read My Mind?" sequence with Reeve and Margot Kidder. At least here, the 2006 pairing was a lot less gooey. And then there is the meaner, more embittered and just about psychotic version of Lex Luthor as played by Kevin Spacey. No goofy theme music, no lovably oafish sidekicks and almost no comedic repartee. This Luthor has got some major hate issues with Superman and is more than willing to bring out the violence and dark banter.
What didn't quite work was some of the slow passages. MB mentioned that the ending of "Superman Returns" reminded him of the ending of "The Return of the King"....we didn't quite know when the movie would finally end. It just seemed to drag on for some minutes after the so-called climax. And speaking of that climax, MB also gave out a pretty astute point about the problem inherent within a Superman movie. Superman is supposedly so omnipotent that no villain could convincingly be a threat...unless that threat has the same powers (read: General Zod in "Superman II"). So the climax in this new flick wasn't really much of one. Not to say that the original "Superman" particularly succeeded in that regard either. Basically, it and "Superman Returns" and just about every first movie of every superhero franchise has a freshman jinx, not a sophomore one. For some reason, the first movie, whether it be the first "Spiderman" or the first "X-Men", hasn't been wholly satisfying. "Superman Returns" can also fall into this category. Brandon Routh is and will become a good Superman but he doesn't quite have the comic timing for Clark Kent down pat quite yet. Still, after so many years in development hell, I think we can give some kudos to Bryan Singer and look forward to the next adventure.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Thursday August 31, 2:35 p.m.
I think one of the biggest myths here about this country is that the Japanese diet is one of the healthiest. Anyone who says that is talking about something from perhaps 30-50 years ago. Sure, you still have tofu and green tea and seaweed but that's about it. Nope, thanks to the influx of American fast food over the decades and the fact that Japanese cuisine has its own artery-busting dishes, I'm afraid unless you're heading for the most ascetic existence amongst Buddhist monks in Kyoto, this ain't the place to become nice and slim.
Case in point: the buffet. Over here, it's also called viking. Yep, you heard it...just like that Hagar character in the comics. You hear it all the time amongst the folks here: "Hey, how about going to that viking in Shinagawa? It's got great roast beef." You can bet that it doesn't have anything to do with anyone in the Norwegian Embassy. I guess the term was coined as an easier substitute for smorgasbord. The Japanese linguists would've had major strokes trying to put that word into katakana.
Over the past several years, the buffet has insidiously penetrated itself into the Japanese culinary ethos. Anyone who still clings to the remains of the myth that the Japanese people are amongst the longest-living people in the world due to their diet will automatically be brought back to sobering reality once he/she goes into any large hotel in Tokyo. There are Chinese buffets, American buffets and the favourite amongst the ladies...the cake buffets. The hotel smorgasbords can ring up quite a cost from 4,000 yen upwards but during lunch, there are a lot of independent restaurants which offer lunchtime buffets for some pretty cheap yen. I, myself, hit a place called LAST in the modern complex known as Shiodome, just between the ritzy Ginza and the salaryman's paradise of Shimbashi. This LAST has a spread, calling itself a "country buffet" (yee-hah), which could also be called an ode to cholesterol. Fried chicken, fajitas, jambalaya, pizza, pasta...lots of stuff to stuff down...and that doesn't include the dessert tray. And all of it just goes for the measly price of 1,000 yen.
I think one of the biggest myths here about this country is that the Japanese diet is one of the healthiest. Anyone who says that is talking about something from perhaps 30-50 years ago. Sure, you still have tofu and green tea and seaweed but that's about it. Nope, thanks to the influx of American fast food over the decades and the fact that Japanese cuisine has its own artery-busting dishes, I'm afraid unless you're heading for the most ascetic existence amongst Buddhist monks in Kyoto, this ain't the place to become nice and slim.
Case in point: the buffet. Over here, it's also called viking. Yep, you heard it...just like that Hagar character in the comics. You hear it all the time amongst the folks here: "Hey, how about going to that viking in Shinagawa? It's got great roast beef." You can bet that it doesn't have anything to do with anyone in the Norwegian Embassy. I guess the term was coined as an easier substitute for smorgasbord. The Japanese linguists would've had major strokes trying to put that word into katakana.
Over the past several years, the buffet has insidiously penetrated itself into the Japanese culinary ethos. Anyone who still clings to the remains of the myth that the Japanese people are amongst the longest-living people in the world due to their diet will automatically be brought back to sobering reality once he/she goes into any large hotel in Tokyo. There are Chinese buffets, American buffets and the favourite amongst the ladies...the cake buffets. The hotel smorgasbords can ring up quite a cost from 4,000 yen upwards but during lunch, there are a lot of independent restaurants which offer lunchtime buffets for some pretty cheap yen. I, myself, hit a place called LAST in the modern complex known as Shiodome, just between the ritzy Ginza and the salaryman's paradise of Shimbashi. This LAST has a spread, calling itself a "country buffet" (yee-hah), which could also be called an ode to cholesterol. Fried chicken, fajitas, jambalaya, pizza, pasta...lots of stuff to stuff down...and that doesn't include the dessert tray. And all of it just goes for the measly price of 1,000 yen.