Sunday April 15, 2:18 p.m.
Well, that little dinner at Spyros last night made me think a lot. First observation: for a guy who's earned a reputation for being a stickler for details to an anal degree, Speedy is ironically not the most prompt person in the world. He usually comes 10-15 minutes later than he promises and I was left waiting in the genkan for another number of minutes as he had to get every little thing shut down.
As for Spyros in Roppongi, I'd give it a fairly good grade. There was quite a large group for this dinner outing, the second in Speedy's master plan to expose his friends to fine dining. We had the 3,150-yen course which consisted of all the basics in Greek cuisine. As a long-lived Torontonian, I could say that I've had the real stuff back home on the Danforth at places like Omonia, Pappa's Grill and, of course, Mr. Greek. The souvlaki was quite tasty although not as big as the Toronto version (no surprise there), as was the saganaki...the famous flamin' cheese thanks to some flambe action via a well-placed spurt of ouzo. However, the chefs kept that form of entertainment out of their saganaki...just came out on a plate with some olive oil dashed on it. The taramosalata wasn't on the list so a fellow who was sitting beside me and I decided to try it out a la carte. Hm...the bowl that arrived contained what seemed like tarako in an oily emulsion....not the greatest. In fact, I'd probably say that Spyros' fare was good for Greek in Tokyo but not great. The Danforth has nothing to worry about from this part of Asia. Mind you, the dessert came out quite nicely. The baklava usually comes out in Toronto as this huge hunk of supersweet pastry, but the Japanese propensity for conservative sizes won out and the Spyros version was much easier to handle. It was an expensive night, though, once again. Despite the 3,000-yen price tag on the course, a bunch of us had cocktails and other forms of alcohol along with any other a la carte stuff which tacked on another 100% onto the final bill. OUCH! Not blamin' the establishment or Speedy for that at all, but I think Spyros will be my final outing with Speedy and his gang. Just can't really rationalize paying over 6,000 yen for dinner.
There were a couple of other Speedy regulars sitting at the table across from us. I've been in their doghouse for some months now. Speedy doesn't seem to be aware of it and I'm not going to drag him into our private little war. I can imagine what soured the ladies on me. Several months back, I took them and a couple of others to the original Baker Bounce hamburger shop in Setagaya Ward to introduce them to what real hamburgers were all about. Apparently, during our meal, I may have said something inappropriate in the wrong politeness register. Well, since then, they've turned off me faster than warp speed. At the dinner last night, the more vocal of the pair snapped her neck away from me when she made inadvertent eye contact with me. The cold shoulder treatment is precise and quick here. I've not bothered to apologize to them since my instinct has told me that it would be useless. I've had to mediate a couple of similar situations between students and teachers in the past. Though they seemed to have gone well, one lady has actually remained quite standoffish toward the teacher even now. Forgiveness is strictly a Christian conceit in this country of just 1% Christians.
But my immediate dinner companions were quite an amiable lot. The Admin was the other staff member at my table, and she thoroughly enjoyed wining and dining according to the similarity in skin tone between her and her red shirt. The lady across from me was definitely someone who was very confident and comfortable in her own skin; she was either around my age or slightly older but she was dressed like a casual supermodel half her age. Va-va-va-voom, as they used to say. And she had more than a passing resemblance to a tarento, Tamao Sato, but with a lot more poise and intelligence.
As I said, the dinner last night did make me think a lot. For one thing, don't go to these things anymore. For another, it did make me think about the almost soap operatic nature of my career. Students and other folks seem to come and go like various characters in "General Hospital". After what seemed to be nearly weekly lunches with The Madame and frequent outings with MB and Skippy, all three have gone off of my social radar. I've got a feeling though that Skippy will pop in again for another late Spring burst. I just wonder if other folks like Jazz Buddy and The Stick have permanently left the show.
Anyways, this morning, as I still digested the last of my Greek dinner, I went off to meet Tully and The Coffeemaker. The Coffeemaker was looking quite exhausted since she had to take part in some art fair at Tokyo International Forum all day yesterday and she had deadlines in her regular job. Looks like she's getting together with The Barmaiden fairly soon to concoct another reunion with their old classmates.
For lunch, I just went to Sozaiya, a so-called healthy cooked meal store in Ichigaya Station. The prices match the high quality of the ingredients but my stomach would brook no argument from my economy-oriented mind, so in I went. The place has been there for several years, certainly during my years at the ol' school; I would get something there about once a week. When I'd first started at the ol' school a decade back, there used to be a Lotteria's fast food shop. In fact, the entire station was more for the salaryman set. Upstairs was a huge Kirin City izakaya franchise. Now, it's a To The Herbs Italian restaurant and a Starbucks.
I took the Sobu Line to Akihabara and went over to that imported DVD shop on the 2nd floor of the building across from JR Akihabara. I was looking for that copy of "Mishima" for SIL. The 1985 movie starring Ken Ogata as the titular right-wing zealot and author has been banned from these shores by Yukio Mishima's widow until her death. I thought the store had pulled a coup of some sort but as it turned out as I saw the sign for the movie, there was a string of kanji basically saying that it can't be supplied. Well, I'll just have to tell SIL the bad news.
As we approach Golden Week with its usual nightmarish 70-km traffic jams and overcrowded airports and train stations, I'm starting to wonder about what this life of mine has been all about all these years. It seems that I'm getting into some sort of time loop, repeating the same ol' things. The Lady mentioned last week all of a sudden that I would be rich in about 4 years. I was kinda taken aback by that comment. It would be nice if that were true...it would certainly kick start something.
Just a place to deposit my thoughts on life here in the Kanto and about anything else that sticks to my walls.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Saturday April 14, 5:07 p.m.
It's been a fairly languid few days. But the classes on Thursday were kinda finding their comfort zones. The Dentist's second lesson went OK but she's a bit of an old-world type despite her relative ability in English. She gets kinda embarrassed rather easily, and in fact, she even shut the inner door on us when she was on her way out since she didn't want anyone to see her transfer her tootsies from slippers to shoes....I guess the foot fetishists in all of us were sorely disappointed.
As for The Carolinan, most of the lesson was gab about what her immediate future will look like. She did pass her accounting exam with flying colours, so it was a case of now what? She's not all that thrilled with her job but she finally got her status as a full employee with all of the benefits, so she's at a bit of a crossroads. Then, I found out from BC that she quit her job after only 3 months. Ouch! That could also mean her time with me will be fairly short.
Friday turned out to be a day off since Jolly never called back. I think he's out the door as far as I'm concerned. So it was nice to not worry about students and lessons for at least 24 hours. Just cleaned and bought stuff for cooking. I even had time to watch "Spiderman 2" on DVD as a bit of prep work for the upcoming "Spiderman 3" in a couple of weeks. Yup, I'd probably say that Spiderman series is the best superhero movie series for right now. Superman is flawless, and Batman has got a mansion & butler along with his psychosis. Peter Parker is somebody we can all relate to.
Well, it's another near-summer day. It's 25 C out there and darn sunny. Can't be beat. Just had the Manhattanite for her third lesson. Pretty low but she's got heart. In about half an hour, Speedy and I are headed out the door to Roppongi for that dinner at Spyros, the Greek restaurant. It will be my first time for Greek in this country. The fare there will be under pressure to match my memories on The Danforth in Toronto.
It wasn't exactly Mikhail Gorbachev suddenly getting out of his limo in Manhattan and shaking hands with the New York masses in a grand gesture of glasnost, but Chinese Premier Wen did his best for Sino-Japanese diplomacy over the past few days by visiting Kyoto for a tea ceremony and playing a bit of baseball with a nearby high school baseball team. Every little bit helps...
I guess the United States has been caught up in all that Don Imus career implosion. To give in my two yen worth, I think that the guy got his just desserts and I hope that his professional demise will give way to some dialogue on how people oughta address each other. But I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn't the beginning of some paradigm shift but just another swing of the pendulum, culturally speaking. There's a chance that in a few years, people may be crying out censorship instead. As for Japan, we really don't have that type of beast known as the shock jock...most likely because radio is in a grand malaise here.
It's been a fairly languid few days. But the classes on Thursday were kinda finding their comfort zones. The Dentist's second lesson went OK but she's a bit of an old-world type despite her relative ability in English. She gets kinda embarrassed rather easily, and in fact, she even shut the inner door on us when she was on her way out since she didn't want anyone to see her transfer her tootsies from slippers to shoes....I guess the foot fetishists in all of us were sorely disappointed.
As for The Carolinan, most of the lesson was gab about what her immediate future will look like. She did pass her accounting exam with flying colours, so it was a case of now what? She's not all that thrilled with her job but she finally got her status as a full employee with all of the benefits, so she's at a bit of a crossroads. Then, I found out from BC that she quit her job after only 3 months. Ouch! That could also mean her time with me will be fairly short.
Friday turned out to be a day off since Jolly never called back. I think he's out the door as far as I'm concerned. So it was nice to not worry about students and lessons for at least 24 hours. Just cleaned and bought stuff for cooking. I even had time to watch "Spiderman 2" on DVD as a bit of prep work for the upcoming "Spiderman 3" in a couple of weeks. Yup, I'd probably say that Spiderman series is the best superhero movie series for right now. Superman is flawless, and Batman has got a mansion & butler along with his psychosis. Peter Parker is somebody we can all relate to.
Well, it's another near-summer day. It's 25 C out there and darn sunny. Can't be beat. Just had the Manhattanite for her third lesson. Pretty low but she's got heart. In about half an hour, Speedy and I are headed out the door to Roppongi for that dinner at Spyros, the Greek restaurant. It will be my first time for Greek in this country. The fare there will be under pressure to match my memories on The Danforth in Toronto.
It wasn't exactly Mikhail Gorbachev suddenly getting out of his limo in Manhattan and shaking hands with the New York masses in a grand gesture of glasnost, but Chinese Premier Wen did his best for Sino-Japanese diplomacy over the past few days by visiting Kyoto for a tea ceremony and playing a bit of baseball with a nearby high school baseball team. Every little bit helps...
I guess the United States has been caught up in all that Don Imus career implosion. To give in my two yen worth, I think that the guy got his just desserts and I hope that his professional demise will give way to some dialogue on how people oughta address each other. But I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn't the beginning of some paradigm shift but just another swing of the pendulum, culturally speaking. There's a chance that in a few years, people may be crying out censorship instead. As for Japan, we really don't have that type of beast known as the shock jock...most likely because radio is in a grand malaise here.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Thursday April 12, 3:47 p.m.
I did forget to mention one thing that I came across in the newspaper this morning. Apparently, the Japanese are the most prolific bloggers in the world. I think the huge I-community of Mixi has contributed to that fact. Ironically, my time in there was pretty brief. Just never caught on with me. I much rather prefer this court. I'm not surprised at this revelation. The Japanese are traditionally still not all that open with their feelings, so having this field to put out their thoughts in relative anonymity has been a godsend.
I did forget to mention one thing that I came across in the newspaper this morning. Apparently, the Japanese are the most prolific bloggers in the world. I think the huge I-community of Mixi has contributed to that fact. Ironically, my time in there was pretty brief. Just never caught on with me. I much rather prefer this court. I'm not surprised at this revelation. The Japanese are traditionally still not all that open with their feelings, so having this field to put out their thoughts in relative anonymity has been a godsend.
Thursday April 12, 3:24 p.m.
Another three-pack today. The Dentist here and then The Carolinan and BC later tonight. Glad that the weather is so nice today.
Well, Dice-K lost his home opener at Fenway against the Seattle Mariners tonight but that's not what the Japanese media were looking for. They were focused like a laser beam on the titanic battle of wits and skills between The Unstoppable Force (that would be Ichiro) and The Immovable Object (Matsuzaka). Ichiro couldn't get anything off the 26-year-old wunderkind. It would seem that Boston's newest hero won the battle but lost the war...Boston beat Seattle 3-0. Still, over here in Japan, the sports journos aren't interested in Major League Baseball...they may protest my opinion but they are really just interested in their fellow citizens in the MLB. You can be assured that by dinner news time, all the stations will be crowing about The Battle of Godzilla....sorry, that would be Hideki Matsui, wouldn't it?...let's say Gamera vs. Rodan...and oh, by the way, Dice-K lost the game 3-0 (which will be said under the collective breath of the sportscasters and just before the cutaway to commercial). The fact that the real story in Boston, at least for the journalists in the US, was that the real winner for Seattle was their pitcher Hernandez who had taken a no-hitter into the 8th inning, means nothing. I must admit that I was rolling my eyes a bit at the coverage but I also know that this is just Japanese psychology...the natives (or I should just say the media) here have an almost pathological need to know how their fellow men are perceived in the West.
The baseball story came ahead of Chinese Premier Wen's historic address to the Japanese Diet this morning. It was all very well stage-managed and pleasant. I think it was rather appropriate that the address played second banana to Matsuzaka, though, since politics does have that veneer of phoniness while the battle in baseball is all very real...Vaseline under the cap aside. However, I am hoping that Wen and Abe can bring about a good thaw to Sino-Japanese relations, certainly by Olympic time.
The Dentist has just arrived, a good 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Well, I can just go on in but I don't want to set any precedents so I'll just start at about 3:50.
Another three-pack today. The Dentist here and then The Carolinan and BC later tonight. Glad that the weather is so nice today.
Well, Dice-K lost his home opener at Fenway against the Seattle Mariners tonight but that's not what the Japanese media were looking for. They were focused like a laser beam on the titanic battle of wits and skills between The Unstoppable Force (that would be Ichiro) and The Immovable Object (Matsuzaka). Ichiro couldn't get anything off the 26-year-old wunderkind. It would seem that Boston's newest hero won the battle but lost the war...Boston beat Seattle 3-0. Still, over here in Japan, the sports journos aren't interested in Major League Baseball...they may protest my opinion but they are really just interested in their fellow citizens in the MLB. You can be assured that by dinner news time, all the stations will be crowing about The Battle of Godzilla....sorry, that would be Hideki Matsui, wouldn't it?...let's say Gamera vs. Rodan...and oh, by the way, Dice-K lost the game 3-0 (which will be said under the collective breath of the sportscasters and just before the cutaway to commercial). The fact that the real story in Boston, at least for the journalists in the US, was that the real winner for Seattle was their pitcher Hernandez who had taken a no-hitter into the 8th inning, means nothing. I must admit that I was rolling my eyes a bit at the coverage but I also know that this is just Japanese psychology...the natives (or I should just say the media) here have an almost pathological need to know how their fellow men are perceived in the West.
The baseball story came ahead of Chinese Premier Wen's historic address to the Japanese Diet this morning. It was all very well stage-managed and pleasant. I think it was rather appropriate that the address played second banana to Matsuzaka, though, since politics does have that veneer of phoniness while the battle in baseball is all very real...Vaseline under the cap aside. However, I am hoping that Wen and Abe can bring about a good thaw to Sino-Japanese relations, certainly by Olympic time.
The Dentist has just arrived, a good 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Well, I can just go on in but I don't want to set any precedents so I'll just start at about 3:50.
Wednesday April 11, 8:31 p.m.
And thus we've come to the end of another teaching day. It's always nice to end on a happy note which is what 001's lessons usually amount to. The same running gags abounded: her drinking like a fish versus my devouring habits. She had another one of those onsen trips with her co-workers up in Tochigi Prefecture over the weekend. It must be nice to be able to go on those once in a while. I don't have those opportunities anymore since I don't belong in a typical company and the friends surrounding aren't exactly the onsen-going types...at least, not together.
I introduced 001 to the wonders of the Wikipedia, something that she'd never heard of before. Since we were on the topic, I first got her to Shokotan, the otaku-cum-tarento who has been having her 15 months of fame on Japanese TV. Actually her name is Shoko Nakagawa, a 21-year-old pixie of a woman who liberally wears her otakuness on her puffy sleeve. In appearance, she has the looks of the run-of-the-mill gravura idol (pin-up girl) and has indulged that part of the industry with some bikini pics but she's also become famous for her love of anime, manga and cosplay. She's been on a number of the variety shows exhorting her love for all things Akiba while even releasing some treacly pop confections. I'd actually seen her for the first time on a late-night program with comedic duo Downtown which involved panelists coming up with comic strip conclusions to pictures. Shokotan also has an eye for illustrating some pretty harsh drawings. Right now, she has her own little visual blog on Tuesday nights on SkyPerfect's Music On TV channel in which she speaks from her own "bedroom" on all sorts of stuff. Kinda wonder if she's gonna become a permanent part of the TV landscape or whether she'll end up like The Pirates or The Guitar Samurai.
However, the rain seems to have stopped and I'm fairly famished so I'm ready to try some of that China Quick fare now. I'm not in any particular hurry since I won't be having my next class until 4 tomorrow with the first official lesson for The Dentist. She was the one last week whose model lesson nearly self-destructed due to misunderstanding on mine and The Admin's part. So I am quite grateful that I managed to pull that one out of the fire.
I take it that Shintaro Ishihara hasn't been invited to any official dinner for Chinese President Wen tonight with PM Abe. The president is in town trying to shore up relations with his counterpart after a couple of years of tension. Apparently, things have gotten off to a good start; a trade accord was signed just before Wen left Beijing.
And thus we've come to the end of another teaching day. It's always nice to end on a happy note which is what 001's lessons usually amount to. The same running gags abounded: her drinking like a fish versus my devouring habits. She had another one of those onsen trips with her co-workers up in Tochigi Prefecture over the weekend. It must be nice to be able to go on those once in a while. I don't have those opportunities anymore since I don't belong in a typical company and the friends surrounding aren't exactly the onsen-going types...at least, not together.
I introduced 001 to the wonders of the Wikipedia, something that she'd never heard of before. Since we were on the topic, I first got her to Shokotan, the otaku-cum-tarento who has been having her 15 months of fame on Japanese TV. Actually her name is Shoko Nakagawa, a 21-year-old pixie of a woman who liberally wears her otakuness on her puffy sleeve. In appearance, she has the looks of the run-of-the-mill gravura idol (pin-up girl) and has indulged that part of the industry with some bikini pics but she's also become famous for her love of anime, manga and cosplay. She's been on a number of the variety shows exhorting her love for all things Akiba while even releasing some treacly pop confections. I'd actually seen her for the first time on a late-night program with comedic duo Downtown which involved panelists coming up with comic strip conclusions to pictures. Shokotan also has an eye for illustrating some pretty harsh drawings. Right now, she has her own little visual blog on Tuesday nights on SkyPerfect's Music On TV channel in which she speaks from her own "bedroom" on all sorts of stuff. Kinda wonder if she's gonna become a permanent part of the TV landscape or whether she'll end up like The Pirates or The Guitar Samurai.
However, the rain seems to have stopped and I'm fairly famished so I'm ready to try some of that China Quick fare now. I'm not in any particular hurry since I won't be having my next class until 4 tomorrow with the first official lesson for The Dentist. She was the one last week whose model lesson nearly self-destructed due to misunderstanding on mine and The Admin's part. So I am quite grateful that I managed to pull that one out of the fire.
I take it that Shintaro Ishihara hasn't been invited to any official dinner for Chinese President Wen tonight with PM Abe. The president is in town trying to shore up relations with his counterpart after a couple of years of tension. Apparently, things have gotten off to a good start; a trade accord was signed just before Wen left Beijing.
Wednesday April 11, 5:10 p.m.
Once again, I came up from the station near Speedy's for the second week in a row to a wall of rain. However, I was armed with my collapsible umbrella so no worries. Over here, one has gotta be ready for all weather conditions. My black bag even has its own socket for such brolleys. Earlier in the day, I decided to go for The Golden Arches, the somewhat cheaper and less healthier alternative, since China Quick was more China Slow last week in terms of service. Perhaps I still should've chosen the latter since the long ride to 002's neck of the woods still got me there a full hour before her lesson. I did a bit of walking around the neighbourhood and discovered that Yawata Station is just a corner away from the main drag toward JR Moto-Yawata Station. Good to know for later commutes. I also discovered a book/CD shop at the corner so at least I now have a browsing alternative. I ended up looking through a magazine which was doing a major retrospective on the year 1977. Ahhh...interesting to see what was hot back then: big hair, striped shirts and Kenji Sawada. I was surprised not to see anything on "Star Wars" but I guess the editors were keeping things strictly within Japan.
As for 002, she was giddily happy as usual. She asked me to decipher her Toronto host mother's handwriting in her letter. I had no problems with it since I tend to also write in unintentional code. 002 and I also spoke of next Saturday's home party with the usual suspects. It'll be sushi this time around.
Then it was back on the trains again for the ride back to the other side of Tokyo. It's a bit of a haul but at least I've been able to catch up on the sleep that I'd missed from waking up early on Wednesdays. The safety of the Tokyo subways is something that I'll never take for granted. Knock on wood, we'll never have another Aum Shinrikyo attack.
Some stuff on the e-mail. Looks like BC is good to go for tomorrow night. Her friend, The Carolinan, seems to be out on business but I think she'll be OK as well. Her sister, The New Yorker will be showing up at the end of the month. So, it looks like I won't be experiencing any more three-packs on alternating Thursdays this month. Tully and The Coffeemaker have re-scheduled their lesson for Sunday instead of Saturday so I can be a bit more leisurely heading over to Speedy's to teach The Manhattanite and The Cooking Teacher. Still haven't heard anything from The Polynesian since my small blowup at her for standing me up a few weeks ago.
DTE is back in town. But it looks like it might be a bit of a trick to get a day for the two of us to get together for lunch or coffee. Movie Buddy is seeing her tomorrow night for dinner in Shibuya but of course, I'm committed to lessons then. I've thrown her a suggestion for Friday afternoon since it looks like I'll be free and clear...provided that Jolly doesn't decide to finally show up for a lesson at the juku. If she's cool with it, I may take her to Genkatsu in Ginza.
Newswise, it hasn't been too busy here now that the elections have been done and Ichi The Killer is still at large. His ugly mug is now posted on the windows of the neighbourhood convenience stores. The only news of note I've seen in the last couple of days has been the crash of that helicopter in the Japan Alps.
But mind you, the Dice-K Matsuzaka Media Express has been rolling along like wildfire. The Japanese journos have been laying siege to The Green Monster in Boston for the last couple of days in anticipation of Dice's first pitching performance at Fenway today or tomorrow. Just wondering how the J-media has been handling the Bostonian accent.
I listened to that double-CD pack of Yumi Matsutoya that I'd bought last week. Then I took a look at good ol' Wikipedia to see what they had on the veteran J-Pop lady. One interesting point I found was that her recognizable nickname of "Yuming" was planted on her by "...her Chinese lover" back in her teens. As I say in my Johnny Carson voice, I did not know that. It also mentioned that most music critics consider her early works, when she was known as Yumi Arai, as her best stuff. I can go along with that opinion. The double-CD pack, "Seasons and Colours" has a real mixture of her songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. So when I hear her really old stuff with the songs from the last few years, I could really tell the difference of her somewhat controversial voice. Her pipes of the 70s were definitely more suited for the more languid folk tunes; she simply doesn't own a voice that can take a huge range like a Mariah or Whitney. Sometimes, when I hear her recent songs, I almost cringe when I listen to her try to reach those higher notes. Still, critics aside, I think there were quite a few tunes after her conversion to straight pop (circa 1978) that merit accolades. It's just when she entered the late 90s that the well has started to go somewhat dry although a few tunes over the last decade did make the media spotlight via commercials or TV dramas.
The Wikipedia entry on Yuming is pretty good (though it does scream for a good proofreader; I'm here whenever you need me) but it doesn't go into the different stages of her musical growth in terms of instrumentation and pop stylings. I can offer some insight there. Her 70s compositions, such as "Rouge no Dengon" (from Hayao Miyazaki's "Kiki's Delivery Service") that she'd written as Yumi Arai sound almost country-folk along the lines of a Carole King. It is during this time that Yuming sounded most like the legendary American singer. What also brought some of that country music feel to her earlier works was that a steel pedal guitar was often used as part of the band.
After Yuming married her producer, Masataka Matsutoya, she went into a more poppier, uptempo mode. Out went the steel pedal and in came more conventional electric guitar and occasionally more disco strings. The synths started playing more of a role when she made her way into the 80s. Also, the voice started getting that reedier, Buffy Ste.-Marie timbre from about that time that made some of my friends run away from her. Still, I think two albums stand out during that time in terms of pure pop pleasure. One is "No Side" (1984) which came with a number of hits such as "Blizzard" and "Downtown Boy"...quite away from folk-driven Yumi Arai. And the other is "Love Wars" (1989). I'd heard Yuming's tunes for some years previously but this was my first album purchase of hers. She had often been referred to as a purveyor of that West Coast summery sound. Well, "Love Wars" is probably the best example of that; I don't think there was a single entry in that album that missed the mark with the American R&B studio musicians. The turn of that decade kinda saw Yuming turn to this group of horns and synths as her backup band. Apparently, Masataka looked upon it with some regret according to Wiki but I think "Love Wars" and the next release "The Gates of Heaven" are solid efforts.
But once she started entering the 90s, her albums didn't seem to catch me so much with stuff. It was more of a case of one big hit surrounded by other unknown and uncatchy tunes in her releases...basically an overstuffed single. And so we're back to the mid-00's. Her last new album, "A Girl in Summer" has a couple of tunes I like, one which has become the jingle for the JR Suica Card commercials. She'll probably keep on releasing new albums once every couple of years while the various compilations will pad the dry spells for her die-hard fans.
Once again, I came up from the station near Speedy's for the second week in a row to a wall of rain. However, I was armed with my collapsible umbrella so no worries. Over here, one has gotta be ready for all weather conditions. My black bag even has its own socket for such brolleys. Earlier in the day, I decided to go for The Golden Arches, the somewhat cheaper and less healthier alternative, since China Quick was more China Slow last week in terms of service. Perhaps I still should've chosen the latter since the long ride to 002's neck of the woods still got me there a full hour before her lesson. I did a bit of walking around the neighbourhood and discovered that Yawata Station is just a corner away from the main drag toward JR Moto-Yawata Station. Good to know for later commutes. I also discovered a book/CD shop at the corner so at least I now have a browsing alternative. I ended up looking through a magazine which was doing a major retrospective on the year 1977. Ahhh...interesting to see what was hot back then: big hair, striped shirts and Kenji Sawada. I was surprised not to see anything on "Star Wars" but I guess the editors were keeping things strictly within Japan.
As for 002, she was giddily happy as usual. She asked me to decipher her Toronto host mother's handwriting in her letter. I had no problems with it since I tend to also write in unintentional code. 002 and I also spoke of next Saturday's home party with the usual suspects. It'll be sushi this time around.
Then it was back on the trains again for the ride back to the other side of Tokyo. It's a bit of a haul but at least I've been able to catch up on the sleep that I'd missed from waking up early on Wednesdays. The safety of the Tokyo subways is something that I'll never take for granted. Knock on wood, we'll never have another Aum Shinrikyo attack.
Some stuff on the e-mail. Looks like BC is good to go for tomorrow night. Her friend, The Carolinan, seems to be out on business but I think she'll be OK as well. Her sister, The New Yorker will be showing up at the end of the month. So, it looks like I won't be experiencing any more three-packs on alternating Thursdays this month. Tully and The Coffeemaker have re-scheduled their lesson for Sunday instead of Saturday so I can be a bit more leisurely heading over to Speedy's to teach The Manhattanite and The Cooking Teacher. Still haven't heard anything from The Polynesian since my small blowup at her for standing me up a few weeks ago.
DTE is back in town. But it looks like it might be a bit of a trick to get a day for the two of us to get together for lunch or coffee. Movie Buddy is seeing her tomorrow night for dinner in Shibuya but of course, I'm committed to lessons then. I've thrown her a suggestion for Friday afternoon since it looks like I'll be free and clear...provided that Jolly doesn't decide to finally show up for a lesson at the juku. If she's cool with it, I may take her to Genkatsu in Ginza.
Newswise, it hasn't been too busy here now that the elections have been done and Ichi The Killer is still at large. His ugly mug is now posted on the windows of the neighbourhood convenience stores. The only news of note I've seen in the last couple of days has been the crash of that helicopter in the Japan Alps.
But mind you, the Dice-K Matsuzaka Media Express has been rolling along like wildfire. The Japanese journos have been laying siege to The Green Monster in Boston for the last couple of days in anticipation of Dice's first pitching performance at Fenway today or tomorrow. Just wondering how the J-media has been handling the Bostonian accent.
I listened to that double-CD pack of Yumi Matsutoya that I'd bought last week. Then I took a look at good ol' Wikipedia to see what they had on the veteran J-Pop lady. One interesting point I found was that her recognizable nickname of "Yuming" was planted on her by "...her Chinese lover" back in her teens. As I say in my Johnny Carson voice, I did not know that. It also mentioned that most music critics consider her early works, when she was known as Yumi Arai, as her best stuff. I can go along with that opinion. The double-CD pack, "Seasons and Colours" has a real mixture of her songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. So when I hear her really old stuff with the songs from the last few years, I could really tell the difference of her somewhat controversial voice. Her pipes of the 70s were definitely more suited for the more languid folk tunes; she simply doesn't own a voice that can take a huge range like a Mariah or Whitney. Sometimes, when I hear her recent songs, I almost cringe when I listen to her try to reach those higher notes. Still, critics aside, I think there were quite a few tunes after her conversion to straight pop (circa 1978) that merit accolades. It's just when she entered the late 90s that the well has started to go somewhat dry although a few tunes over the last decade did make the media spotlight via commercials or TV dramas.
The Wikipedia entry on Yuming is pretty good (though it does scream for a good proofreader; I'm here whenever you need me) but it doesn't go into the different stages of her musical growth in terms of instrumentation and pop stylings. I can offer some insight there. Her 70s compositions, such as "Rouge no Dengon" (from Hayao Miyazaki's "Kiki's Delivery Service") that she'd written as Yumi Arai sound almost country-folk along the lines of a Carole King. It is during this time that Yuming sounded most like the legendary American singer. What also brought some of that country music feel to her earlier works was that a steel pedal guitar was often used as part of the band.
After Yuming married her producer, Masataka Matsutoya, she went into a more poppier, uptempo mode. Out went the steel pedal and in came more conventional electric guitar and occasionally more disco strings. The synths started playing more of a role when she made her way into the 80s. Also, the voice started getting that reedier, Buffy Ste.-Marie timbre from about that time that made some of my friends run away from her. Still, I think two albums stand out during that time in terms of pure pop pleasure. One is "No Side" (1984) which came with a number of hits such as "Blizzard" and "Downtown Boy"...quite away from folk-driven Yumi Arai. And the other is "Love Wars" (1989). I'd heard Yuming's tunes for some years previously but this was my first album purchase of hers. She had often been referred to as a purveyor of that West Coast summery sound. Well, "Love Wars" is probably the best example of that; I don't think there was a single entry in that album that missed the mark with the American R&B studio musicians. The turn of that decade kinda saw Yuming turn to this group of horns and synths as her backup band. Apparently, Masataka looked upon it with some regret according to Wiki but I think "Love Wars" and the next release "The Gates of Heaven" are solid efforts.
But once she started entering the 90s, her albums didn't seem to catch me so much with stuff. It was more of a case of one big hit surrounded by other unknown and uncatchy tunes in her releases...basically an overstuffed single. And so we're back to the mid-00's. Her last new album, "A Girl in Summer" has a couple of tunes I like, one which has become the jingle for the JR Suica Card commercials. She'll probably keep on releasing new albums once every couple of years while the various compilations will pad the dry spells for her die-hard fans.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Wednesday April 10, 11:32 a.m.
Kinda hopping right now at the school. Just finished my lesson with The Nurse; happily, she's signing up for more of them...always a good ego boost. The Admin is also fielding calls while Speedy is teaching class. And I've gotta get headed on out in the next few minutes to teach 002. Yes, it's yet another hump day with my multiple crosstown journeys. Luckily, though, it shouldn't be too bad next week since The Nurse will be coming on Tuesday afternoon instead.
Yesterday was a bit of a custom-fit day in that the students that have done well by me showed up while the ones that are rather sporadic canned out. I had a mini-Beehive with just Mrs. Jade, Mrs. Perth and Mrs. Alp, and at the juku, it was Chip N' Dale, Seven and Mrs. Mild. Neither Jolly nor The Siberian showed up. I've got a feeling that Jolly's days with us are numbered.
Anyways, I'm outta here...
Kinda hopping right now at the school. Just finished my lesson with The Nurse; happily, she's signing up for more of them...always a good ego boost. The Admin is also fielding calls while Speedy is teaching class. And I've gotta get headed on out in the next few minutes to teach 002. Yes, it's yet another hump day with my multiple crosstown journeys. Luckily, though, it shouldn't be too bad next week since The Nurse will be coming on Tuesday afternoon instead.
Yesterday was a bit of a custom-fit day in that the students that have done well by me showed up while the ones that are rather sporadic canned out. I had a mini-Beehive with just Mrs. Jade, Mrs. Perth and Mrs. Alp, and at the juku, it was Chip N' Dale, Seven and Mrs. Mild. Neither Jolly nor The Siberian showed up. I've got a feeling that Jolly's days with us are numbered.
Anyways, I'm outta here...
Monday, April 09, 2007
Monday April 9, 7:40 p.m.
Now that I got my Ishihara rant out of my system (although not totally as you'll read soon), I can talk about the rest of the weekend. I got to meet The Wild Thing, The Chipmunk with her little kid and Alpha at Shimbashi Station for our little lunch at TGIFridays in Ginza. The waiter who greeted us there seemed so somnabulent that I almost mistook him for Ichi The Killer. However, I was a much wiser person after my two trips to the Shinagawa branch last week and a few years ago. I warned everyone off the grilled meat stuff (spareribs and steaks), and we settled for the much tastier appetizers such as calamari, fish n' chips and the Three For All. We even had enough room for dessert. It goes to show that time in Toronto has made our stomachs quite pliant, although Omega finally had to give up a third of her Warm Apple Crisp to me.
The Chipmunk had to leave a bit early since her little son was starting to act up a bit, so the three of us just walked on the main street of the Ginza which was closed off for the usual hokoten Sunday. We checked out a couple of bookstores since The Wild Thing was searching for some rather serious tome. One of them, Fukaya, had some sort of media event with yet another cute young lady shilling her latest photobook. Not surprisingly, the front of the store was swarming with middle-aged otaku with large-lensed cameras (could be compensating for something). We tried another bookstore near the main intersection, the local branch of Book 1st, but nada. So we kept on walking down the main drag; I showed Omega and The Wild Thing the famed Genkatsu, the home of the 25-layer tonkatsu steak, so both of them mentally put that into their to-eat lists. We turned the corner south to find a coffeehouse. Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee were unsurprisingly filled to the gills so we walked further south across another major street before deciding on smoky Doutors. But there weren't too many people there so the smog was kept to a minimum.
We spent another 40 minutes just gabbing away. Of course, it was inevitable that The Wild Thing would go into one of his long soapbox oratories about politics or the economy. But Omega, The Chipmunk and I have known the man for a very long time (in my case, 20 years) so we could all take it pretty well, but I know when enough is enough so when 5 o'clock struck, I suggested an adjournment and we went back out. We ended up hanging about the southeast corner of the main intersection for another 5 minutes since we got into another conversation topic but the added coffee and earlier foodstuffs finally rang alarm bells via Nature, so I had to politely but clearly bow out and run for the nearest washroom in Mitsukoshi. I actually broke my own rule and risked going to one of the lower floors; usually, the chances of unoccupied toilets on a Sunday especially were much greater on the higher floors but I decided to try out the 3rd floor. I struck it rich.
This morning has been pleasantly cool, a nice balance of the scales since last week's freak winter storm. Had my usual suspects. The Class Act half-jokingly admonished me for bringing up the topic of Shintaro Ishihara's relatively easy win last night. They're definitely no fans of the man. SIL also said as much in her lesson. And then The Part-Timer pretty much said it all when she said that there really was no viable choice other than Ishihara when compared to the other candidates. As usual, Dr. Nakamatsu, the crackpot inventor emiritus, had thrown his hat into the ring and boasted that his inventions would save Tokyo. Well, I would've just blown him off just like that but I do remember that he is the one who invented the floppy disc, that piece of plastic and magnetic tape that was the de rigeur storehouse for data before the CD-ROM arrived.
Well, I've got another 90 minutes here so I'll be starting up the curricula stuff again since Speedy has shown me the light. Then I'll just head on home in the rain.
Now that I got my Ishihara rant out of my system (although not totally as you'll read soon), I can talk about the rest of the weekend. I got to meet The Wild Thing, The Chipmunk with her little kid and Alpha at Shimbashi Station for our little lunch at TGIFridays in Ginza. The waiter who greeted us there seemed so somnabulent that I almost mistook him for Ichi The Killer. However, I was a much wiser person after my two trips to the Shinagawa branch last week and a few years ago. I warned everyone off the grilled meat stuff (spareribs and steaks), and we settled for the much tastier appetizers such as calamari, fish n' chips and the Three For All. We even had enough room for dessert. It goes to show that time in Toronto has made our stomachs quite pliant, although Omega finally had to give up a third of her Warm Apple Crisp to me.
The Chipmunk had to leave a bit early since her little son was starting to act up a bit, so the three of us just walked on the main street of the Ginza which was closed off for the usual hokoten Sunday. We checked out a couple of bookstores since The Wild Thing was searching for some rather serious tome. One of them, Fukaya, had some sort of media event with yet another cute young lady shilling her latest photobook. Not surprisingly, the front of the store was swarming with middle-aged otaku with large-lensed cameras (could be compensating for something). We tried another bookstore near the main intersection, the local branch of Book 1st, but nada. So we kept on walking down the main drag; I showed Omega and The Wild Thing the famed Genkatsu, the home of the 25-layer tonkatsu steak, so both of them mentally put that into their to-eat lists. We turned the corner south to find a coffeehouse. Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee were unsurprisingly filled to the gills so we walked further south across another major street before deciding on smoky Doutors. But there weren't too many people there so the smog was kept to a minimum.
We spent another 40 minutes just gabbing away. Of course, it was inevitable that The Wild Thing would go into one of his long soapbox oratories about politics or the economy. But Omega, The Chipmunk and I have known the man for a very long time (in my case, 20 years) so we could all take it pretty well, but I know when enough is enough so when 5 o'clock struck, I suggested an adjournment and we went back out. We ended up hanging about the southeast corner of the main intersection for another 5 minutes since we got into another conversation topic but the added coffee and earlier foodstuffs finally rang alarm bells via Nature, so I had to politely but clearly bow out and run for the nearest washroom in Mitsukoshi. I actually broke my own rule and risked going to one of the lower floors; usually, the chances of unoccupied toilets on a Sunday especially were much greater on the higher floors but I decided to try out the 3rd floor. I struck it rich.
This morning has been pleasantly cool, a nice balance of the scales since last week's freak winter storm. Had my usual suspects. The Class Act half-jokingly admonished me for bringing up the topic of Shintaro Ishihara's relatively easy win last night. They're definitely no fans of the man. SIL also said as much in her lesson. And then The Part-Timer pretty much said it all when she said that there really was no viable choice other than Ishihara when compared to the other candidates. As usual, Dr. Nakamatsu, the crackpot inventor emiritus, had thrown his hat into the ring and boasted that his inventions would save Tokyo. Well, I would've just blown him off just like that but I do remember that he is the one who invented the floppy disc, that piece of plastic and magnetic tape that was the de rigeur storehouse for data before the CD-ROM arrived.
Well, I've got another 90 minutes here so I'll be starting up the curricula stuff again since Speedy has shown me the light. Then I'll just head on home in the rain.
Monday April 9, 5:12 p.m.
Ah, I think my luck may be rather good this week (despite the presence of the dreaded Friday the 13th this week). I just found out from the Admin that that low-as-you-can-go TOEIC student never called back to re-schedule for a class tonight. As much as I usually feel bad when a client goes away dissatisfied, I'll have to admit that I'm not too sorry about this one. Despite what Speedy might say, this student shouldn't even be allowed anywhere near a TOEIC test until he gets some basics under his belt. And despite the fact that I lost 5,000 yen in potential income because of his non-appearance, I actually got the same amount in cash from the Admin herself for helping proofread some documents for her husband.
However, although the luck is good, it isn't perfect. For one thing, Shintaro Ishihara is still the Governor of Tokyo. It really was no surprise...the man was expected to get his third term in City Hall...ahhh, sorry, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Ishihara won by a pretty good margin but Mr. Asano, the former governor of Miyagi Prefecture, kept it from being a total landslide. But was there even some begrudging sense of congratulations from Asano, or the third-place finisher, slightly nuts architect Kurokawa? Not at all...at least, not according to the stuff I saw on Tokudane, the Fuji-TV morning wide show today. All 3 men appeared on the show...not together but one after the other. Asano kept it rather polite though the disappointment wasn't hard to detect, but Kurokawa started blasting away at his two rivals as soon as the cameras trained on him while host, Mr. Ogura, and his panelists tittered away uncomfortably. I don't think even the US political debates have seen politicians call each other out-and-out liars and idiots. No love lost there.
Some observations on this election. Amazingly enough, the voter turnout was about 54%, a full 10% more than last time...which translates to a little over 1 million folks who decided to come to the booths who didn't four years ago. And while I was watching the exit polls on NHK last night, it seems as if it was a clean sweep for Ishihara in all age categories from 20s to 60s; he dominated them.
While Ishihara can savor his victory again, it should be noted that voters didn't bring him into the fold again because they necessarily liked him or his policies. It was because the opposition was so unoriginal in their campaigns which basically amounted to "Let's beat up on the Governor". None of them could come up with anything good to topple the incumbent's quixotic attempt to bring the 2016 Olympics to his fiefdom. It was a case of "better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't". Some of the folks that had been interviewed on the street this morning merely commented that the other politicians just didn't provide anything of substance. Ishihara heard all this and when asked to comment, he gloriously bleated that it proved that his victory was complete. Uh-huh. I read one person's reason behind his choice of the xenophobe, and he just remarked that though Ishihara did have some scandals, the governor wasn't exactly terrible, either. Hardly resounding endorsements. But as The Japan Times noted, Ishihara's re-election also reflects the resurgent right wing in Japan, and I've got a sneaking suspicion that the governor is stating out loud what a lot of folks feel privately but won't say publicly.
So, now Governor Ishihara feels that he has a mandate to plow ahead and get his Olympics (and let's be honest here...it's his Olympics, not anyone else's), although if the trends hold true, it'll mean vacuuming more tax money from each of us for puffed-up security, civil infrastructure and Olympic facilities. Believe me, not a lot of folks here are too keen to get The Games in this burg. For another thing, we have nothing left to prove. We are already a world-class city. When Tokyo got the Olympics in 1964, it was important as an event since it was a chance for Japan to be let into the pantheon of civilized countries after almost 20 years of coming back from the ashes. I've got another sneaking suspicion that Ishihara wants the Games so bad so that he can trump his arch enemy China after their Games next year.
However, I think there is some hope in that Tokyo will most likely not be the choice since by 2016, the US will not have had a Summer Games for 20 years, and at this time, since the US has a lot of pull when it comes to the IOC, perhaps New York City may get the brass ring. I'm rather hoping so.
Ah, I think my luck may be rather good this week (despite the presence of the dreaded Friday the 13th this week). I just found out from the Admin that that low-as-you-can-go TOEIC student never called back to re-schedule for a class tonight. As much as I usually feel bad when a client goes away dissatisfied, I'll have to admit that I'm not too sorry about this one. Despite what Speedy might say, this student shouldn't even be allowed anywhere near a TOEIC test until he gets some basics under his belt. And despite the fact that I lost 5,000 yen in potential income because of his non-appearance, I actually got the same amount in cash from the Admin herself for helping proofread some documents for her husband.
However, although the luck is good, it isn't perfect. For one thing, Shintaro Ishihara is still the Governor of Tokyo. It really was no surprise...the man was expected to get his third term in City Hall...ahhh, sorry, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Ishihara won by a pretty good margin but Mr. Asano, the former governor of Miyagi Prefecture, kept it from being a total landslide. But was there even some begrudging sense of congratulations from Asano, or the third-place finisher, slightly nuts architect Kurokawa? Not at all...at least, not according to the stuff I saw on Tokudane, the Fuji-TV morning wide show today. All 3 men appeared on the show...not together but one after the other. Asano kept it rather polite though the disappointment wasn't hard to detect, but Kurokawa started blasting away at his two rivals as soon as the cameras trained on him while host, Mr. Ogura, and his panelists tittered away uncomfortably. I don't think even the US political debates have seen politicians call each other out-and-out liars and idiots. No love lost there.
Some observations on this election. Amazingly enough, the voter turnout was about 54%, a full 10% more than last time...which translates to a little over 1 million folks who decided to come to the booths who didn't four years ago. And while I was watching the exit polls on NHK last night, it seems as if it was a clean sweep for Ishihara in all age categories from 20s to 60s; he dominated them.
While Ishihara can savor his victory again, it should be noted that voters didn't bring him into the fold again because they necessarily liked him or his policies. It was because the opposition was so unoriginal in their campaigns which basically amounted to "Let's beat up on the Governor". None of them could come up with anything good to topple the incumbent's quixotic attempt to bring the 2016 Olympics to his fiefdom. It was a case of "better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't". Some of the folks that had been interviewed on the street this morning merely commented that the other politicians just didn't provide anything of substance. Ishihara heard all this and when asked to comment, he gloriously bleated that it proved that his victory was complete. Uh-huh. I read one person's reason behind his choice of the xenophobe, and he just remarked that though Ishihara did have some scandals, the governor wasn't exactly terrible, either. Hardly resounding endorsements. But as The Japan Times noted, Ishihara's re-election also reflects the resurgent right wing in Japan, and I've got a sneaking suspicion that the governor is stating out loud what a lot of folks feel privately but won't say publicly.
So, now Governor Ishihara feels that he has a mandate to plow ahead and get his Olympics (and let's be honest here...it's his Olympics, not anyone else's), although if the trends hold true, it'll mean vacuuming more tax money from each of us for puffed-up security, civil infrastructure and Olympic facilities. Believe me, not a lot of folks here are too keen to get The Games in this burg. For another thing, we have nothing left to prove. We are already a world-class city. When Tokyo got the Olympics in 1964, it was important as an event since it was a chance for Japan to be let into the pantheon of civilized countries after almost 20 years of coming back from the ashes. I've got another sneaking suspicion that Ishihara wants the Games so bad so that he can trump his arch enemy China after their Games next year.
However, I think there is some hope in that Tokyo will most likely not be the choice since by 2016, the US will not have had a Summer Games for 20 years, and at this time, since the US has a lot of pull when it comes to the IOC, perhaps New York City may get the brass ring. I'm rather hoping so.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Saturday April 7, 12:21 p.m.
Well, finally got down to Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi yesterday afternoon to have a look-see at the next Big Thing in town. And it's a big thing, alright. It's taken over the former SDF base. Consisting of a huge fancy mall, one of the premier hotels in the world (the Ritz-Carlton) and an art gallery among other things, I'd say that the population will be occupied for a while. I took some pics there, and basically, it's got the usual decor for a trendy shopping complex...lots of beige wood paneling, huge plazas and skylights to let in the sun. The crowds weren't too bad for a Friday afternoon; I could navigate through the hallways and escalators fairly easily.
I took a look first inside the 24-hour supermarket, Preece (again with the weirdo naming). In the weekly free magazine for foreigners, METROPOLIS, one of the PR guys at Tokyo Midtown, as he was trying to dispute his client's reputation as just another playground for the rich and elite, noted this place as proof of it being for the masses. I think he should've been demoted. I saw a bag of Dorito's going for over 500 yen ($4.50 US), and I saw the beautiful display of fruits (probably need a down payment before the installment plan for those apples). Instead, he should've pointed out the presence of the second Baker Bounce hamburger shop as a more accessible and affordable joint. I've been to the original little shop in Setagaya Ward, the home of the humongous Double Burger. This new branch is obviously looking a lot spiffier than its older sister but the place does look a bit of a tight squeeze. Still, I didn't see any major lineups there like the one for Krispy Kreme (didn't seen the second branch of that donut shop anywhere on the map).
To be honest, though, Tokyo Midtown isn't really just for The Class Act type of folk. Along with Baker Bounce, there do seem to be some other restaurants and shops that do cater for the more middle-class of us. In fact, as I was leafing through the restaurant guide, I found that a number of the places do have some very reasonable lunches for just around 1,000 yen...pretty comparable to other places elsewhere in The Big Sushi. I saw that ABC Cooking School in the B1 of the Galleria, one of Midtown's sections. One of the new breed of students that I've collected at Speedy's in the last month is a teacher there. I should be seeing her this time next week. The place looked quite bustling and happy with young women donning their aprons in a very large and open concept kitchen. The aroma wafting from the place also heralded some good education being gained at ABC.
A couple of other shops that got my attention there was the Coppola restaurant (yep, that Coppola), and a store on the 4th floor which sold the latest cutting-edge electrical appliances. I saw something called a Miuro, a portable stereo which looked like Darth Vader's TIE fighter with a thyroid condition...and some hip-hop moves. The thing was just rolling around happily to the music emanating from the iPod placed into it like a brain. Just another must-get toy for the music lovers.
When I finally left the complex, I got a good bearing on my coordinates. Midtown is just a few hundred metres north of the main intersection of Roppongi with the famous Almond cafe on the southwest corner. After a pit stop at the Wendy's in the basement right by Roppongi Station, I decided to visit what was The Next Big Thing a few years ago just a stone's throw away: Roppongi Hills. Back at the beginning of the decade, this place, designed by the ubiquitious Mori Group, was just attracting hordes of folks to the extent that I didn't dare visit it for the first few weeks of its existence. Well, what a difference a few years makes. Things were almost wistfully quiet in this place. Its curvy walls had very few folks walking amongst them. And in fact, a lot of the mall was closed down due to some construction (probably to come up with some sort of countermeasure against its new rival). Well, the Hills should feel somewhat relieved to know that Midtown will probably face the same situation by the end of the decade.
I had The Ace for that lone class last night. I kindly donated my guides from Midtown over to him....along with that recipe for Sweet N' Sour Chicken. He'll be away for the next couple of weeks so maybe I can meet DTE for dinner while she's back here for a bit of reminiscing. May also be a good opportunity to see Movie Buddy whom I haven't seen for nearly a couple of months.
Got the reservations put in at TGIFridays, the Ginza branch, for the get-together tomorrow with The Wild Thing. I gotta remember not to order anything meaty and grilled there, judging from that rather mediocre steak from the Shinagawa branch last week.
Also had the long-awaited haircut at my usual place. Of course, the first topic of barber-client banter was on the Hawker murder, but we also touched upon the usual Ohanami chit-chat.
Caught my usual late-night fare on the tube. "Tamori Club" had its usual bizarro topic...the wonderful world of meat-eating plants like pitcher plants and Venus flytraps. Then, there was this one-off on TBS called "Shikatte, Blonde Sensei!" (Chew him out, Blonde Teacher!) It consisted of six of the female tarento fully conversant in English, including Lisa Stegmeyer and seemingly airheaded Mika Mifune (daughter of Toshiro), all clad in blonde wigs and dispensing (screaming?) advice on the English language to some of the homelier and English-illiterate male counterparts in romantic situations. I could imagine Mika doing that sort of stuff, but was a bit surprised to see Lisa since she had always struck me as being a bit above that kinda thing. Just another reason that I prefer late-night fare.
Anyways back to home...
Well, finally got down to Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi yesterday afternoon to have a look-see at the next Big Thing in town. And it's a big thing, alright. It's taken over the former SDF base. Consisting of a huge fancy mall, one of the premier hotels in the world (the Ritz-Carlton) and an art gallery among other things, I'd say that the population will be occupied for a while. I took some pics there, and basically, it's got the usual decor for a trendy shopping complex...lots of beige wood paneling, huge plazas and skylights to let in the sun. The crowds weren't too bad for a Friday afternoon; I could navigate through the hallways and escalators fairly easily.
I took a look first inside the 24-hour supermarket, Preece (again with the weirdo naming). In the weekly free magazine for foreigners, METROPOLIS, one of the PR guys at Tokyo Midtown, as he was trying to dispute his client's reputation as just another playground for the rich and elite, noted this place as proof of it being for the masses. I think he should've been demoted. I saw a bag of Dorito's going for over 500 yen ($4.50 US), and I saw the beautiful display of fruits (probably need a down payment before the installment plan for those apples). Instead, he should've pointed out the presence of the second Baker Bounce hamburger shop as a more accessible and affordable joint. I've been to the original little shop in Setagaya Ward, the home of the humongous Double Burger. This new branch is obviously looking a lot spiffier than its older sister but the place does look a bit of a tight squeeze. Still, I didn't see any major lineups there like the one for Krispy Kreme (didn't seen the second branch of that donut shop anywhere on the map).
To be honest, though, Tokyo Midtown isn't really just for The Class Act type of folk. Along with Baker Bounce, there do seem to be some other restaurants and shops that do cater for the more middle-class of us. In fact, as I was leafing through the restaurant guide, I found that a number of the places do have some very reasonable lunches for just around 1,000 yen...pretty comparable to other places elsewhere in The Big Sushi. I saw that ABC Cooking School in the B1 of the Galleria, one of Midtown's sections. One of the new breed of students that I've collected at Speedy's in the last month is a teacher there. I should be seeing her this time next week. The place looked quite bustling and happy with young women donning their aprons in a very large and open concept kitchen. The aroma wafting from the place also heralded some good education being gained at ABC.
A couple of other shops that got my attention there was the Coppola restaurant (yep, that Coppola), and a store on the 4th floor which sold the latest cutting-edge electrical appliances. I saw something called a Miuro, a portable stereo which looked like Darth Vader's TIE fighter with a thyroid condition...and some hip-hop moves. The thing was just rolling around happily to the music emanating from the iPod placed into it like a brain. Just another must-get toy for the music lovers.
When I finally left the complex, I got a good bearing on my coordinates. Midtown is just a few hundred metres north of the main intersection of Roppongi with the famous Almond cafe on the southwest corner. After a pit stop at the Wendy's in the basement right by Roppongi Station, I decided to visit what was The Next Big Thing a few years ago just a stone's throw away: Roppongi Hills. Back at the beginning of the decade, this place, designed by the ubiquitious Mori Group, was just attracting hordes of folks to the extent that I didn't dare visit it for the first few weeks of its existence. Well, what a difference a few years makes. Things were almost wistfully quiet in this place. Its curvy walls had very few folks walking amongst them. And in fact, a lot of the mall was closed down due to some construction (probably to come up with some sort of countermeasure against its new rival). Well, the Hills should feel somewhat relieved to know that Midtown will probably face the same situation by the end of the decade.
I had The Ace for that lone class last night. I kindly donated my guides from Midtown over to him....along with that recipe for Sweet N' Sour Chicken. He'll be away for the next couple of weeks so maybe I can meet DTE for dinner while she's back here for a bit of reminiscing. May also be a good opportunity to see Movie Buddy whom I haven't seen for nearly a couple of months.
Got the reservations put in at TGIFridays, the Ginza branch, for the get-together tomorrow with The Wild Thing. I gotta remember not to order anything meaty and grilled there, judging from that rather mediocre steak from the Shinagawa branch last week.
Also had the long-awaited haircut at my usual place. Of course, the first topic of barber-client banter was on the Hawker murder, but we also touched upon the usual Ohanami chit-chat.
Caught my usual late-night fare on the tube. "Tamori Club" had its usual bizarro topic...the wonderful world of meat-eating plants like pitcher plants and Venus flytraps. Then, there was this one-off on TBS called "Shikatte, Blonde Sensei!" (Chew him out, Blonde Teacher!) It consisted of six of the female tarento fully conversant in English, including Lisa Stegmeyer and seemingly airheaded Mika Mifune (daughter of Toshiro), all clad in blonde wigs and dispensing (screaming?) advice on the English language to some of the homelier and English-illiterate male counterparts in romantic situations. I could imagine Mika doing that sort of stuff, but was a bit surprised to see Lisa since she had always struck me as being a bit above that kinda thing. Just another reason that I prefer late-night fare.
Anyways back to home...
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Friday April 6, 1:25 p.m.
A bit better in the sun department but it's probably gonna cloud over later this afternoon. I know that the pollen is out there. Had to stem a sneezing attack and so had to buy another pack of hay fever medicine.
Got in touch with The Wild Thing. Looks like he and his missus have moved over to the neighbourhood of Uguisudani, next to Ueno on the Yamanote Line. Still not quite sure where we'll have the get-together on Sunday since I've still yet to hear from The Chipmunk; she's the point person in all this since she is lugging the entire family with her. I would probably suggest El Torito in Kasai Station as that is next to Urayasu, but I also don't want to lug the others too far out to the east either.
Almost two weeks since Lindsay Ann Hawker's murder, and the cops are no closer to finding Ichi The Killer. Now, the journalists are starting to openly wonder if the Chiba Police screwed up in procedure. Of course, the cops are pretty tight-lipped (and probably quite snarly at the accusation). A criminology expert has said that Ichi is most likely still alive after hints of suicide were floated, and may even be hiding out in Tokyo. And with all of the hay fever masks and hats being worn right now, Ichi would be a veritable needle in a haystack.
I listened to CD 1 of that double-disc set of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra yesterday. Yah...pretty good, especially that collaboration, "The Star-Spangled Night", between them and Hiroto Komoto, formerly of The Blue Hearts and The High-Lows. I was initially surprised at the label of 1998-2007 since I'd thought that To-Skapa had been around for many more years. Well, it turned out that I was right; the good folks at Wikipedia pointed out that the band had started all the way back in 1985. I should've known since I remember a similar band called La-ppisch around 1989.
Well, although I only have The Ace tonight for work, I've decided to head on down to check out Tokyo Midtown. It is a Friday so the place could get quite packed tonight but I figure that if I do a quick in-and-out in the next few hours, I should be able to squeeze in a little look-see. I even bought the disposable camera for a few pics since I'll probably be shooting stuff when The Wild Thing and I get together.
A bit better in the sun department but it's probably gonna cloud over later this afternoon. I know that the pollen is out there. Had to stem a sneezing attack and so had to buy another pack of hay fever medicine.
Got in touch with The Wild Thing. Looks like he and his missus have moved over to the neighbourhood of Uguisudani, next to Ueno on the Yamanote Line. Still not quite sure where we'll have the get-together on Sunday since I've still yet to hear from The Chipmunk; she's the point person in all this since she is lugging the entire family with her. I would probably suggest El Torito in Kasai Station as that is next to Urayasu, but I also don't want to lug the others too far out to the east either.
Almost two weeks since Lindsay Ann Hawker's murder, and the cops are no closer to finding Ichi The Killer. Now, the journalists are starting to openly wonder if the Chiba Police screwed up in procedure. Of course, the cops are pretty tight-lipped (and probably quite snarly at the accusation). A criminology expert has said that Ichi is most likely still alive after hints of suicide were floated, and may even be hiding out in Tokyo. And with all of the hay fever masks and hats being worn right now, Ichi would be a veritable needle in a haystack.
I listened to CD 1 of that double-disc set of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra yesterday. Yah...pretty good, especially that collaboration, "The Star-Spangled Night", between them and Hiroto Komoto, formerly of The Blue Hearts and The High-Lows. I was initially surprised at the label of 1998-2007 since I'd thought that To-Skapa had been around for many more years. Well, it turned out that I was right; the good folks at Wikipedia pointed out that the band had started all the way back in 1985. I should've known since I remember a similar band called La-ppisch around 1989.
Well, although I only have The Ace tonight for work, I've decided to head on down to check out Tokyo Midtown. It is a Friday so the place could get quite packed tonight but I figure that if I do a quick in-and-out in the next few hours, I should be able to squeeze in a little look-see. I even bought the disposable camera for a few pics since I'll probably be shooting stuff when The Wild Thing and I get together.
Thursday April 5, 7:00 p.m.
Man, when I pull a boner, I pull a real floppy one. For those who may have just coughed up their lungs on reading that, my deepest apologies. I was being merely figurative. It's just that I managed to dodge a rather large bullet at Speedy's earlier this afternoon. What should've been a slam dunk in terms of model lessons almost ended up as a backboard bounce. Speedy had told me some days in advance of an acquaintance of his, a dentist, who was interested in taking English lessons. He reassured me that there would be no problem signing this one up. Well, she did show up and it was rather obvious that she belonged in The Class Act's income tax bracket. Our admin assistant set her up in the good room with a glass of water and then the bossman went to have a few words with her. And so I waited...and waited...and waited. I was getting a bit concerned some 15 minutes after my ML was to have started; what was he doing in there, I thought. Little did I realize that the guy had already left her some minutes before to teach his own lesson in the next room. The dentist was twiddling her thumbs for a quarter of an hour! Man, I thought I was in the deepest hole; certainly, I wanted to crawl in one.
What saved me was that both The Dentist and Speedy were very accomodating folks. At first, she seemed a bit out of sorts at how long I took but 20 years of experience...and Dancing Bear...were more than enough to win her over, and the day was saved. Speedy was gracious enough to say that all that was important was the 2-point conversion. So I've got my newest Thursday afternoon student.
However, before that near-fiasco, I had a very delightful surprise when I met up with The New Yorker earlier in the afternoon. As she came toddling up to me in Ichigaya Station, she was toting a couple of boxes in plastic bags. She gave me one....carrying a box of the much-vaunted Krispy Kreme donuts! Nearly 4 months after the lone branch opened, I finally could get my mitts on a box. The New Yorker must have a sixth sense of when to go. Once again, despite the discouraging sight of 2-hour lineups, she was able to get her boxes in just 20 minutes. I just wonder if she has some close connections working in the shop. In any case, I gladly treated her to the coffee at Tully's...a small price to pay for what she shucked out.
So, after all of us at the school sweated somewhat after the big misunderstanding with The Dentist...Speedy, the assistant and I partook in the ingestion of said donuts. The New Yorker was insightful enough to leave us a choice of either the Original Glazed or the Chocolate Glazed. I had mine...yup, it was as sweet and chewy as I remembered it back in Toronto. Now that I've been reminded of the taste, I just marvel at how popular Krispy Kreme has been here in Tokyo. The taste of that coating should've sent most Japanese into diabetic shock, and yet I always mention the huge lineups. I guess the natives are getting further accustomed to the very American tastes of the Fast Food Nation.
I got word from The Wild Thing. He's back in town (although I don't know how much longer he and his wife will be here) so I've gotten in contact with The Chipmunk and Alpha, a couple of our mutual friends from Toronto days. We're seeing about getting together sometime on the weekend. Now that The Chipmunk and her family have recently expanded by one, I have to find a family-friendly place. Really, the TGIFridays in Shinagawa came to mind, since The Wild Thing is currently living near there. But I've also thrown out The Outback and Tony Romas as options.
Well, aside from The Ace tomorrow night, I'm incredibly off for the next three days. So, I'm gonna check out Tokyo Midtown for the first time since its official opening a week ago. I don't expect to buy anything there without putting up a down payment, so it'll the old practice of window shopping.
Man, when I pull a boner, I pull a real floppy one. For those who may have just coughed up their lungs on reading that, my deepest apologies. I was being merely figurative. It's just that I managed to dodge a rather large bullet at Speedy's earlier this afternoon. What should've been a slam dunk in terms of model lessons almost ended up as a backboard bounce. Speedy had told me some days in advance of an acquaintance of his, a dentist, who was interested in taking English lessons. He reassured me that there would be no problem signing this one up. Well, she did show up and it was rather obvious that she belonged in The Class Act's income tax bracket. Our admin assistant set her up in the good room with a glass of water and then the bossman went to have a few words with her. And so I waited...and waited...and waited. I was getting a bit concerned some 15 minutes after my ML was to have started; what was he doing in there, I thought. Little did I realize that the guy had already left her some minutes before to teach his own lesson in the next room. The dentist was twiddling her thumbs for a quarter of an hour! Man, I thought I was in the deepest hole; certainly, I wanted to crawl in one.
What saved me was that both The Dentist and Speedy were very accomodating folks. At first, she seemed a bit out of sorts at how long I took but 20 years of experience...and Dancing Bear...were more than enough to win her over, and the day was saved. Speedy was gracious enough to say that all that was important was the 2-point conversion. So I've got my newest Thursday afternoon student.
However, before that near-fiasco, I had a very delightful surprise when I met up with The New Yorker earlier in the afternoon. As she came toddling up to me in Ichigaya Station, she was toting a couple of boxes in plastic bags. She gave me one....carrying a box of the much-vaunted Krispy Kreme donuts! Nearly 4 months after the lone branch opened, I finally could get my mitts on a box. The New Yorker must have a sixth sense of when to go. Once again, despite the discouraging sight of 2-hour lineups, she was able to get her boxes in just 20 minutes. I just wonder if she has some close connections working in the shop. In any case, I gladly treated her to the coffee at Tully's...a small price to pay for what she shucked out.
So, after all of us at the school sweated somewhat after the big misunderstanding with The Dentist...Speedy, the assistant and I partook in the ingestion of said donuts. The New Yorker was insightful enough to leave us a choice of either the Original Glazed or the Chocolate Glazed. I had mine...yup, it was as sweet and chewy as I remembered it back in Toronto. Now that I've been reminded of the taste, I just marvel at how popular Krispy Kreme has been here in Tokyo. The taste of that coating should've sent most Japanese into diabetic shock, and yet I always mention the huge lineups. I guess the natives are getting further accustomed to the very American tastes of the Fast Food Nation.
I got word from The Wild Thing. He's back in town (although I don't know how much longer he and his wife will be here) so I've gotten in contact with The Chipmunk and Alpha, a couple of our mutual friends from Toronto days. We're seeing about getting together sometime on the weekend. Now that The Chipmunk and her family have recently expanded by one, I have to find a family-friendly place. Really, the TGIFridays in Shinagawa came to mind, since The Wild Thing is currently living near there. But I've also thrown out The Outback and Tony Romas as options.
Well, aside from The Ace tomorrow night, I'm incredibly off for the next three days. So, I'm gonna check out Tokyo Midtown for the first time since its official opening a week ago. I don't expect to buy anything there without putting up a down payment, so it'll the old practice of window shopping.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Wednesday April 4, 8:55 p.m.
Well, I also got word from Speedy that another one of the B-tier (at least in terms of exposure) of English language schools breathed its last. Apparently, LADO International's English schools went under although it looks like their ability to send people overseas for study is still intact. Kinda wonder what will mean for a lot of student who now find themselves without a school and perhaps a good chunk of yen. Speaking of that other school, as I said this morning, NOVA is probably feeling rather vulnerable right now, especially after getting its wrist slapped by Japan's Supreme Court for shortchanging customers on their refunds. Basically, Japan's largest English-teaching chain got nailed for having its sales staff sell their lessons at a certain per lesson cost on contract but then pulling a bait and switch and refunding any money after calculating a higher per lesson cost...a price that wasn't in the contract. In other words, the disgruntled students don't get as much back as promised. NOVA had been hoping that the prohibitive costs of lawyers would discourage any lawsuits. Not anymore. The higher-ups at NOVA have given up the ghost and said that they would refund any extra money, although they grumbled that this punishment would probably mean that discounts may be harder to come by for long-term students in the future. I think they should be more worried about other things such as further litigation against them since the Supreme Court decision has thrown things wide open.
During my days there, I had heard about all sorts of dodgy things that NOVA was pulling off such as the company not observing any of the national holidays outside of New Year's Day just so that they could remain open for customers. And of course, the open secret/inside joke of the company is that NOVA often stood for NOVAcation....probably the lack of national holidays and real weekends (ie Saturday and Sunday) figured in that expression. Still in some defense of my former organization, NOVA has been like any other company when it comes to paid vacation time...people apply for them and then wait for them to be approved. Also, I think the initial on-the-job training is quite comprehensive for the rookie teachers at least. I'm hard pressed to remember anything I learned from my 2 years at TESL education, but I can still glean things from the NOVA training. And the small branches of the monolith, such as the one I was at for most of my time with the company, are probably much easier to handle than the zoos that are the main schools. So, really, NOVA may deserve the moniker of McDonalds of English teaching but it still really comes down to the individual English teacher.
Well, I also got word from Speedy that another one of the B-tier (at least in terms of exposure) of English language schools breathed its last. Apparently, LADO International's English schools went under although it looks like their ability to send people overseas for study is still intact. Kinda wonder what will mean for a lot of student who now find themselves without a school and perhaps a good chunk of yen. Speaking of that other school, as I said this morning, NOVA is probably feeling rather vulnerable right now, especially after getting its wrist slapped by Japan's Supreme Court for shortchanging customers on their refunds. Basically, Japan's largest English-teaching chain got nailed for having its sales staff sell their lessons at a certain per lesson cost on contract but then pulling a bait and switch and refunding any money after calculating a higher per lesson cost...a price that wasn't in the contract. In other words, the disgruntled students don't get as much back as promised. NOVA had been hoping that the prohibitive costs of lawyers would discourage any lawsuits. Not anymore. The higher-ups at NOVA have given up the ghost and said that they would refund any extra money, although they grumbled that this punishment would probably mean that discounts may be harder to come by for long-term students in the future. I think they should be more worried about other things such as further litigation against them since the Supreme Court decision has thrown things wide open.
During my days there, I had heard about all sorts of dodgy things that NOVA was pulling off such as the company not observing any of the national holidays outside of New Year's Day just so that they could remain open for customers. And of course, the open secret/inside joke of the company is that NOVA often stood for NOVAcation....probably the lack of national holidays and real weekends (ie Saturday and Sunday) figured in that expression. Still in some defense of my former organization, NOVA has been like any other company when it comes to paid vacation time...people apply for them and then wait for them to be approved. Also, I think the initial on-the-job training is quite comprehensive for the rookie teachers at least. I'm hard pressed to remember anything I learned from my 2 years at TESL education, but I can still glean things from the NOVA training. And the small branches of the monolith, such as the one I was at for most of my time with the company, are probably much easier to handle than the zoos that are the main schools. So, really, NOVA may deserve the moniker of McDonalds of English teaching but it still really comes down to the individual English teacher.
Wednesday April 4, 8:25 p.m.
Well, I can officially say that it's been one wacky season for weather. Last Saturday, we were breaking records for heat (including 30 C in Shizuoka). Now, today, Tokyo once again got its second snowfall. I gather that locusts and pestilence aren't too far away.
I'm also officially baked. Finally got all four classes at Speedy under my belt after a 10 a.m. start here. Luckily, all four of the ladies (The Nurse, Miss SDF, 002 and 001) were all great; it's just that I will end up traversing Tokyo four times by the time I reach home tonight. Luckily, that won't be too far away. As for Miss SDF, she will be off to The Great White North on Saturday.
Tomorrow will be relatively calm. I just have The New Yorker for her biweekly in Ichigaya, and then I gotta rush back here for a demo lesson with a dentist's wife. Still, I gotta catch up on the curricula so it won't be an early night.
Well, I can officially say that it's been one wacky season for weather. Last Saturday, we were breaking records for heat (including 30 C in Shizuoka). Now, today, Tokyo once again got its second snowfall. I gather that locusts and pestilence aren't too far away.
I'm also officially baked. Finally got all four classes at Speedy under my belt after a 10 a.m. start here. Luckily, all four of the ladies (The Nurse, Miss SDF, 002 and 001) were all great; it's just that I will end up traversing Tokyo four times by the time I reach home tonight. Luckily, that won't be too far away. As for Miss SDF, she will be off to The Great White North on Saturday.
Tomorrow will be relatively calm. I just have The New Yorker for her biweekly in Ichigaya, and then I gotta rush back here for a demo lesson with a dentist's wife. Still, I gotta catch up on the curricula so it won't be an early night.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Wednesday Apirl 4, 9:41 a.m.
Into the second day of my marathon session of classes which started from here yesterday with Ms. SDF. The juku classes went pretty well. This time, I started off with Chip instead of Dale since the lass was on her own holiday with her family. Then, it was Seven. She seemed rather sleepy after 7 hours of work at the hotel....she could have joined the club; I had the jackets. On the other hand, Mrs. Mild was just bursting at the seams, a fact that both Mr. Mild and I noticed quite vividly. The lady had just retired after several decades of work so she was quite bouncy. I did bring her back to earth a bit by reminding her that she now had the time to devote to further English study. Jolly was a no-show as usual. And then, it was The Siberian for his 90 minutes talking about his 3 weeks in Seoul.
I got home at 11:30, hit the sack and was up again some 6 hours later to be out of the apartment in less than an hour so that I could avoid the rush hour. Today, I've got The Nurse, then Ms. SDF before she goes on her yearlong odyssey to the wilds of Toronto, rush out to teach 002, and then finally her buddy, 001 back here at HQ. I should be properly baked by 8 tonight.
Well, it looks like NOVA has had a pretty lousy couple of weeks. Not only has one of its teachers been murdered, but it lost its appeal against the Japanese Supreme Court in its suit for gouging money from former disgruntled students. But more on that later...The Nurse has arrived.
Into the second day of my marathon session of classes which started from here yesterday with Ms. SDF. The juku classes went pretty well. This time, I started off with Chip instead of Dale since the lass was on her own holiday with her family. Then, it was Seven. She seemed rather sleepy after 7 hours of work at the hotel....she could have joined the club; I had the jackets. On the other hand, Mrs. Mild was just bursting at the seams, a fact that both Mr. Mild and I noticed quite vividly. The lady had just retired after several decades of work so she was quite bouncy. I did bring her back to earth a bit by reminding her that she now had the time to devote to further English study. Jolly was a no-show as usual. And then, it was The Siberian for his 90 minutes talking about his 3 weeks in Seoul.
I got home at 11:30, hit the sack and was up again some 6 hours later to be out of the apartment in less than an hour so that I could avoid the rush hour. Today, I've got The Nurse, then Ms. SDF before she goes on her yearlong odyssey to the wilds of Toronto, rush out to teach 002, and then finally her buddy, 001 back here at HQ. I should be properly baked by 8 tonight.
Well, it looks like NOVA has had a pretty lousy couple of weeks. Not only has one of its teachers been murdered, but it lost its appeal against the Japanese Supreme Court in its suit for gouging money from former disgruntled students. But more on that later...The Nurse has arrived.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Tuesday April 3, 12:40 p.m.
Feeling pretty tense right now. I've got that SDF lady for 90 minutes today, then I gotta rush over to the juku and teach the kids (nice they are, but kids are kids). Then I have to find out whether Jolly is going to show up since I gotta prep TOEIC for him. Plus, The Siberian is back for a full 90 to make up for his absence...not a great schedule considering that I've gotta leave home around the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I can hold it together until Thursday.
That friend of The Entrepreneur's called me up this morning. Looks like she is headed out at 5:30 p.m. after all. She kinda kvetched about the fact that the travel agency wouldn't be flexible about giving her an extra day since she got here a day late...then she told me that she screwed up her own schedule. I held my tongue but it is her fault. Still, she was able to get some of that kabuki in at Kabuki-za in Ginza. She loved it so once again, I held my tongue since my family genetics have made it imperative that I love the Japanese art form as much as Montezuma's Revenge. It's just so beautifully boring...
Well, the police are still looking for Ichi the Killer. However, after a plaintive cry from the British Ambassador for the public's help in this case, the wide show journos and citizen interviewees have been coming forward with some info. Apparently, (alleged) murderer and victim were seen in a cafe and a taxi so far in the Gyotoku neighbourhood.
Feeling pretty tense right now. I've got that SDF lady for 90 minutes today, then I gotta rush over to the juku and teach the kids (nice they are, but kids are kids). Then I have to find out whether Jolly is going to show up since I gotta prep TOEIC for him. Plus, The Siberian is back for a full 90 to make up for his absence...not a great schedule considering that I've gotta leave home around the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I can hold it together until Thursday.
That friend of The Entrepreneur's called me up this morning. Looks like she is headed out at 5:30 p.m. after all. She kinda kvetched about the fact that the travel agency wouldn't be flexible about giving her an extra day since she got here a day late...then she told me that she screwed up her own schedule. I held my tongue but it is her fault. Still, she was able to get some of that kabuki in at Kabuki-za in Ginza. She loved it so once again, I held my tongue since my family genetics have made it imperative that I love the Japanese art form as much as Montezuma's Revenge. It's just so beautifully boring...
Well, the police are still looking for Ichi the Killer. However, after a plaintive cry from the British Ambassador for the public's help in this case, the wide show journos and citizen interviewees have been coming forward with some info. Apparently, (alleged) murderer and victim were seen in a cafe and a taxi so far in the Gyotoku neighbourhood.
Monday April 2, 8:07 p.m.
Gad...my clothes always smell like an ashtray after I get back from a session with The Part-Timer. Not that's it's her fault...Doutor is probably one of the most smoker-friendly coffeeshops in this increasingly smoker-averse burg...one of the final holdouts in an age of smoker/non-smoker partitioned age. Doutor has, nominally, smoking and non-smoking sections. But that means absolutely nothing without any glass shields or dedicated air filtration systems. As for the gal herself, she seemed fine in the environment but for the first number of minutes, I was just grabbing for my tissue until the meds finally kicked in. As for Speedy, he absolutely avoids the place. I can only imagine how The Entrepreneur, a very anti-smoking fellow, would react if he saw the haze in this place.
Speaking of whom, The Entrepreneur gave me a heads-up some days ago that his good friend would be making a stopover in Tokyo for a couple of days. There was no chance of us being able to meet due to my full schedule over today and Tuesday, but it looks like there probably won't be any chance of us even exchanging a few words over the phone either. For one thing, she came in a day late and for another, she said that she would have to be out of the Ginza Tokyu by 5:30 tomorrow morning. Ah well...
As for my schedule...the next couple of days will indeed be full. I've got that SDF officer for her prep classes before she heads on out to her new, wholly different assignment as a Working Holiday Visa student in Canada, and then I've got my juku students. The boss informed me that The Siberian is back in town and he's gonna have to do a bit of catching up since he was away for a month. Just great....it means that I'll be at the juku until 10:30 tomorrow night for the next several weeks while I gotta get up before the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning to head out back to Speedy's to teach The Nurse for her lessons. Basically, Wednesdays will truly be a hump day to overcome. In fact, I'm pretty much here at Speedy's for most of the week except for Friday.
I did catch most of that marathon seasonal special on TBS on Saturday, the All-Star Festival. But Governor Higashikokuburo of Miyazaki Prefecture didn't show up for the usual racing around TBS HQ. However, I was witness to a mock sumo competition amongst some of the more homelier male tarento. What made it further interesting was that the guys and the dojo were smeared in lotion to keep things....interesting. What would've made things even more interesting if there were some female tarento involved. Of course, at the end of the match, the host, volatile Shinsuke Shimada, and his female co-host, a former idol-turned-tarento, got thrown into the goop afterwards. Of course, despite the seeming spontaneity of the situation, it was most likely all planned in the briefing room weeks before. The hosts came out several minutes later in well-fitting gym clothes. Spontaneity doesn't really belong in Japanese variety shows...everything is scripted to the second.
Speaking of governorships, this Sunday is gonna be Election Day for a number of prefectures including The Big Sushi. About 11 folks are going for the big prize of getting the big seat in that Macross-like structure in Shinjuku known as The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. I've spoken to a number of the students and they all say that while they would love to see Shintaro Ishihara get his comeuppance after years of him treating Tokyo like his own fiefdom, they also concede that most likely he'll win out since none of the other candidates really have any additional charisma or policies to trump the xenophobe governor.
Well, I've had a chance to listen to some of the CDs from my shopping spree on Saturday. So far, I've only been able to hear the Hiromi Iwasaki re-release. It was an original from 1980, about a year before I first discovered her as a callow youth about to discover the weird world of kayo kyoku. As was usually the case with the more technically proficient singers during that turn of the decade, Iwasaki released this album, "Wishes", which goes into more of a West Coast sound although Eagles it isn't. I'd say that the album is more akin to the AOR of the time. For those singers, check out Mariya Takeuchi or Junichi Inagaki. I also listened to some of the tracks on Yumi Matsutoya's latest release, a 2-disc compilation based on her spring and summer-themed tunes. Some of her more recent tunes are nestled right up with her originals from the early 70s. As I mentioned to SIL today, Yuming's voice is very much a love/hate affair. Some wags have compared it to fingernails on a blackboard while others aren't bothered by it at all and love the tunesmanship. I kinda understand both sides: when I hear the oldies and the newer stuff, I do think that Yuming sounded much better and less reedier as a younger woman handling the new music.
I've yet to hear the "Happy Feet" soundtrack and I've just listened to the one track from the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra compilation discs. I forgot the title but it has a guest vocal in the form of the former lead singer of the Blue Hearts, an old pop/punk outfit from the late 80s. The video for the song is fun to watch, especially for the Blue Hearts leader excessively chawing his gum and rattling his knees as if he needed immediate hospitalization.
Morning Musume seems to be heading for the history books...fading away into the huge encyclopedia of J-Pop culture. I couldn't catch it since I was teaching the kids but the flagship show for the Tsunku-produced girl-group on Sunday mornings on TV Tokyo ended its run yesterday according to the TV guide. Mind you, the next Sunday will see the network launch a new show with the girls, but it's only a half-hour, compared to the full hour the previous show was. At one point about eight years ago, MM had about 4 or 5 shows all over the TV spectrum, after the big mainstream hit of "Love Machine" and its subsequent hits. But now it looks like with the slow disappearance of a lot of the original members, the Ai Kago scandal, and its gradual overtaking by the larger behemoth known as AKB 48, Morning Musume may just limp into its 10th anniversary before calling the Hello Morning Project quits. But as they say here in the geinokai, old idols don't die....they just become full-fledged tarento. At least, a couple of the kids have made the full transition into TV personalities, Nozomi Tsuji and Mari Yaguchi. But the biggest clue that the group is starting to reach the end of the line is that when the whole group gets together on one of those music/variety shows, it's to give the umpteenth rendering of their biggest hit, "Love Machine".
Gad...my clothes always smell like an ashtray after I get back from a session with The Part-Timer. Not that's it's her fault...Doutor is probably one of the most smoker-friendly coffeeshops in this increasingly smoker-averse burg...one of the final holdouts in an age of smoker/non-smoker partitioned age. Doutor has, nominally, smoking and non-smoking sections. But that means absolutely nothing without any glass shields or dedicated air filtration systems. As for the gal herself, she seemed fine in the environment but for the first number of minutes, I was just grabbing for my tissue until the meds finally kicked in. As for Speedy, he absolutely avoids the place. I can only imagine how The Entrepreneur, a very anti-smoking fellow, would react if he saw the haze in this place.
Speaking of whom, The Entrepreneur gave me a heads-up some days ago that his good friend would be making a stopover in Tokyo for a couple of days. There was no chance of us being able to meet due to my full schedule over today and Tuesday, but it looks like there probably won't be any chance of us even exchanging a few words over the phone either. For one thing, she came in a day late and for another, she said that she would have to be out of the Ginza Tokyu by 5:30 tomorrow morning. Ah well...
As for my schedule...the next couple of days will indeed be full. I've got that SDF officer for her prep classes before she heads on out to her new, wholly different assignment as a Working Holiday Visa student in Canada, and then I've got my juku students. The boss informed me that The Siberian is back in town and he's gonna have to do a bit of catching up since he was away for a month. Just great....it means that I'll be at the juku until 10:30 tomorrow night for the next several weeks while I gotta get up before the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning to head out back to Speedy's to teach The Nurse for her lessons. Basically, Wednesdays will truly be a hump day to overcome. In fact, I'm pretty much here at Speedy's for most of the week except for Friday.
I did catch most of that marathon seasonal special on TBS on Saturday, the All-Star Festival. But Governor Higashikokuburo of Miyazaki Prefecture didn't show up for the usual racing around TBS HQ. However, I was witness to a mock sumo competition amongst some of the more homelier male tarento. What made it further interesting was that the guys and the dojo were smeared in lotion to keep things....interesting. What would've made things even more interesting if there were some female tarento involved. Of course, at the end of the match, the host, volatile Shinsuke Shimada, and his female co-host, a former idol-turned-tarento, got thrown into the goop afterwards. Of course, despite the seeming spontaneity of the situation, it was most likely all planned in the briefing room weeks before. The hosts came out several minutes later in well-fitting gym clothes. Spontaneity doesn't really belong in Japanese variety shows...everything is scripted to the second.
Speaking of governorships, this Sunday is gonna be Election Day for a number of prefectures including The Big Sushi. About 11 folks are going for the big prize of getting the big seat in that Macross-like structure in Shinjuku known as The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. I've spoken to a number of the students and they all say that while they would love to see Shintaro Ishihara get his comeuppance after years of him treating Tokyo like his own fiefdom, they also concede that most likely he'll win out since none of the other candidates really have any additional charisma or policies to trump the xenophobe governor.
Well, I've had a chance to listen to some of the CDs from my shopping spree on Saturday. So far, I've only been able to hear the Hiromi Iwasaki re-release. It was an original from 1980, about a year before I first discovered her as a callow youth about to discover the weird world of kayo kyoku. As was usually the case with the more technically proficient singers during that turn of the decade, Iwasaki released this album, "Wishes", which goes into more of a West Coast sound although Eagles it isn't. I'd say that the album is more akin to the AOR of the time. For those singers, check out Mariya Takeuchi or Junichi Inagaki. I also listened to some of the tracks on Yumi Matsutoya's latest release, a 2-disc compilation based on her spring and summer-themed tunes. Some of her more recent tunes are nestled right up with her originals from the early 70s. As I mentioned to SIL today, Yuming's voice is very much a love/hate affair. Some wags have compared it to fingernails on a blackboard while others aren't bothered by it at all and love the tunesmanship. I kinda understand both sides: when I hear the oldies and the newer stuff, I do think that Yuming sounded much better and less reedier as a younger woman handling the new music.
I've yet to hear the "Happy Feet" soundtrack and I've just listened to the one track from the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra compilation discs. I forgot the title but it has a guest vocal in the form of the former lead singer of the Blue Hearts, an old pop/punk outfit from the late 80s. The video for the song is fun to watch, especially for the Blue Hearts leader excessively chawing his gum and rattling his knees as if he needed immediate hospitalization.
Morning Musume seems to be heading for the history books...fading away into the huge encyclopedia of J-Pop culture. I couldn't catch it since I was teaching the kids but the flagship show for the Tsunku-produced girl-group on Sunday mornings on TV Tokyo ended its run yesterday according to the TV guide. Mind you, the next Sunday will see the network launch a new show with the girls, but it's only a half-hour, compared to the full hour the previous show was. At one point about eight years ago, MM had about 4 or 5 shows all over the TV spectrum, after the big mainstream hit of "Love Machine" and its subsequent hits. But now it looks like with the slow disappearance of a lot of the original members, the Ai Kago scandal, and its gradual overtaking by the larger behemoth known as AKB 48, Morning Musume may just limp into its 10th anniversary before calling the Hello Morning Project quits. But as they say here in the geinokai, old idols don't die....they just become full-fledged tarento. At least, a couple of the kids have made the full transition into TV personalities, Nozomi Tsuji and Mari Yaguchi. But the biggest clue that the group is starting to reach the end of the line is that when the whole group gets together on one of those music/variety shows, it's to give the umpteenth rendering of their biggest hit, "Love Machine".
Monday April 2, 4:52 p.m.
The weather is a bit unsettled right now. Not sure if it's gonna rain or not but although the nights are still chilly, Spring is definitely here to stay. I'm sure that there will be some hardy types out there in Ueno Park or Chidorigafuchi tonight for some late-season ohanami.
Yesterday, I had a fairly good session with the kids. I got the Elder on the new book that I've been using with The Part-Timer, The Polynesian and The Ace. She said it was good enough for her although she brought back some of the slacker attitude from months past. The Younger was her usual steady self.
Then, I sped down The Yamanote Line to meet up with Boop, The OL and an old student from years past in Shinagawa's TGIFridays for lunch. Unlike today, it was pretty darn warm on Sunday; Shizuoka broke some records by hitting 30 C...not sure if that's good for the tea seedlings, and the Japanese need their green tea like the British need their pekoe.
That old student is a nurse, but I really can't call her The Nurse since that moniker has already been taken by one of my students here at Speedy's. So, I think I shall dub her Miss Demure due to her self-effacing nature. Despite that personality trait, though, Miss Demure has got the stamina of a bull. Despite having just finished off an 18-hour shift at her hospital, she still decided to show up for lunch and she didn't even yawn once...at least, not to my knowledge.
It was interesting to compare my lunch at TGIFridays with last Tuesday's luncheon with The Beehive at Casa Des Fado. Whereas my meal with my Tsudanuma ladies was somewhat like the Oscar movie, "Sideways", the lunch yesterday with these girls could be compared to a Marx Brothers flick....mostly driven by the fast-talking banter of Boop. I think she and I would make a good manzai comic duo. It would just be like a Japanese version of Burns and Allen. As for the food there, I had been initially mystified by BB's choice of the American chain since at our last meal there some years back, we'd been far less than impressed by the spareribs there, which were more like things you would see in Jurassic Park...after the T-Rex got through with them. However, the ladies and I were quite happy with the starters...and the burgers which came after them. Although I was too polite to say so, I wasn't all that particularly happy with my main course of the Strip Steak which, unlike the mouthwatering picture, came out smothered in some sort of cream gravy with too much fat surrounding it...kinda like my liver and heart, probably. So I guess the moral of the story is that avoid the grilled stuff at TGIFridays. As with last time, the meal there should provide the impetus for us to hit Tony Roma's again for far better ribs and steak.
Afterwards, the four of us did a bit of cherry-blossom viewing around the hotel area in Shinagawa. Not surprisingly, there were also quite a few other people traipsing around the petal-covered lanes, but happily not the hordes that would usually clog Ueno Park. Generally, not sure if the pleasant lunch has jump-started the monthly lunch/dinner outings of a couple of years ago but I'm sure if the ladies are game, so am I.
Had The Class Act for the first time in a couple of weeks. Of course, the dark humour started coming out about the murdered English teacher, Lindsay Ann Hawker (nope, Ichi the Killer still hasn't been caught) in their lesson along with SIL's session. In fact, SIL had more to milk about the situation, since like 002, hers is also a house call. I remarked that although a bathtub wouldn't be big enough to hold my rotting carcass, I did point to that huge safe in the corner of the room. She laughingly said that she would take it under advisement. She also requested if I would be able to shop around for that DVD of "Mishima", the 1985 movie starring Ken Ogata as the titular author who committed seppuku in 1970 after having demanded the SDF to stand up and fight the government for straying from "Japanese ideals". I wouldn't be surprised if noone in this country had ever heard of it since the movie has been banned from these shores by the widow of Mishima herself. However, I'd seen it over 2 decades ago back in my university days at a local cineplex in Toronto. It was a stunning movie in terms of cinematography and was certainly an interesting picture in terms of structure. The movie was bookended by scenes from Yukio Mishima's final moments at SDF HQ while the middle scenes included no less than 3 short dramatizations of his most famous novels, interwoven with scenes of the author's life and gradual radicalization.
In any case, I told SIL about the fact that I'd seen the DVD of "Mishima" at that import disc store in Akihabara. Well, I've been given the assignment to hunt it down and secure its purchase. I also mentioned that the notorious "Ai no Corrida" was also there, but she demurred on that one.
Got to Speedy's where the bossman informed me that there was good news and bad news. He then told me that very very low TOEIC student that almost had me tearing what remained of my hair out last week had cancelled tonight's lesson. I cheekily remarked what, then, the bad news was. He was classy enough not to retort. Actually, the good news was that the textbook for him had finally arrived. Well, I bought the same thing just earlier this morning at Book 1st in Shibuya...but I didn't end up smashing my head against the wall since the Speedy arrival still didn't have the audio CD...the one thing that I needed. In any case, my stress levels are now much lower since I only have to worry about The Part-Timer now in about half an hour, and she's very easy maintenance.
But there is still the issue of wolfing down my dinner...
The weather is a bit unsettled right now. Not sure if it's gonna rain or not but although the nights are still chilly, Spring is definitely here to stay. I'm sure that there will be some hardy types out there in Ueno Park or Chidorigafuchi tonight for some late-season ohanami.
Yesterday, I had a fairly good session with the kids. I got the Elder on the new book that I've been using with The Part-Timer, The Polynesian and The Ace. She said it was good enough for her although she brought back some of the slacker attitude from months past. The Younger was her usual steady self.
Then, I sped down The Yamanote Line to meet up with Boop, The OL and an old student from years past in Shinagawa's TGIFridays for lunch. Unlike today, it was pretty darn warm on Sunday; Shizuoka broke some records by hitting 30 C...not sure if that's good for the tea seedlings, and the Japanese need their green tea like the British need their pekoe.
That old student is a nurse, but I really can't call her The Nurse since that moniker has already been taken by one of my students here at Speedy's. So, I think I shall dub her Miss Demure due to her self-effacing nature. Despite that personality trait, though, Miss Demure has got the stamina of a bull. Despite having just finished off an 18-hour shift at her hospital, she still decided to show up for lunch and she didn't even yawn once...at least, not to my knowledge.
It was interesting to compare my lunch at TGIFridays with last Tuesday's luncheon with The Beehive at Casa Des Fado. Whereas my meal with my Tsudanuma ladies was somewhat like the Oscar movie, "Sideways", the lunch yesterday with these girls could be compared to a Marx Brothers flick....mostly driven by the fast-talking banter of Boop. I think she and I would make a good manzai comic duo. It would just be like a Japanese version of Burns and Allen. As for the food there, I had been initially mystified by BB's choice of the American chain since at our last meal there some years back, we'd been far less than impressed by the spareribs there, which were more like things you would see in Jurassic Park...after the T-Rex got through with them. However, the ladies and I were quite happy with the starters...and the burgers which came after them. Although I was too polite to say so, I wasn't all that particularly happy with my main course of the Strip Steak which, unlike the mouthwatering picture, came out smothered in some sort of cream gravy with too much fat surrounding it...kinda like my liver and heart, probably. So I guess the moral of the story is that avoid the grilled stuff at TGIFridays. As with last time, the meal there should provide the impetus for us to hit Tony Roma's again for far better ribs and steak.
Afterwards, the four of us did a bit of cherry-blossom viewing around the hotel area in Shinagawa. Not surprisingly, there were also quite a few other people traipsing around the petal-covered lanes, but happily not the hordes that would usually clog Ueno Park. Generally, not sure if the pleasant lunch has jump-started the monthly lunch/dinner outings of a couple of years ago but I'm sure if the ladies are game, so am I.
Had The Class Act for the first time in a couple of weeks. Of course, the dark humour started coming out about the murdered English teacher, Lindsay Ann Hawker (nope, Ichi the Killer still hasn't been caught) in their lesson along with SIL's session. In fact, SIL had more to milk about the situation, since like 002, hers is also a house call. I remarked that although a bathtub wouldn't be big enough to hold my rotting carcass, I did point to that huge safe in the corner of the room. She laughingly said that she would take it under advisement. She also requested if I would be able to shop around for that DVD of "Mishima", the 1985 movie starring Ken Ogata as the titular author who committed seppuku in 1970 after having demanded the SDF to stand up and fight the government for straying from "Japanese ideals". I wouldn't be surprised if noone in this country had ever heard of it since the movie has been banned from these shores by the widow of Mishima herself. However, I'd seen it over 2 decades ago back in my university days at a local cineplex in Toronto. It was a stunning movie in terms of cinematography and was certainly an interesting picture in terms of structure. The movie was bookended by scenes from Yukio Mishima's final moments at SDF HQ while the middle scenes included no less than 3 short dramatizations of his most famous novels, interwoven with scenes of the author's life and gradual radicalization.
In any case, I told SIL about the fact that I'd seen the DVD of "Mishima" at that import disc store in Akihabara. Well, I've been given the assignment to hunt it down and secure its purchase. I also mentioned that the notorious "Ai no Corrida" was also there, but she demurred on that one.
Got to Speedy's where the bossman informed me that there was good news and bad news. He then told me that very very low TOEIC student that almost had me tearing what remained of my hair out last week had cancelled tonight's lesson. I cheekily remarked what, then, the bad news was. He was classy enough not to retort. Actually, the good news was that the textbook for him had finally arrived. Well, I bought the same thing just earlier this morning at Book 1st in Shibuya...but I didn't end up smashing my head against the wall since the Speedy arrival still didn't have the audio CD...the one thing that I needed. In any case, my stress levels are now much lower since I only have to worry about The Part-Timer now in about half an hour, and she's very easy maintenance.
But there is still the issue of wolfing down my dinner...
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Saturday March 31, 5:27 p.m.
Feeling pretty tired. Went on a spending binge today; probably the first time in several months or even years that I bought as many CDs that I did today. Got myself three J-Pop CDs: the best of the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, another Yuming double-disc compilation, and a remastered release of an old favourite from way back by Hiromi Iwasaki....arguably the one kayo kyoku singer with the best pipes ever. I even got the soundtrack for "Happy Feet"; the movie may have been just so-so but the music was pretty decent. I blew off a little over a man (10,000 yen) for the stuff but I think after a few months of somewhat ascetic living, I should give myself a little treat. I also picked up another one of those puzzle books for the Junior sister for her class tomorrow at Maruzen. In any case, my purchases should keep HMV and Yamano Music quite happy.
I was surprised that the food mall underneath the bookstore was fully operational considering it was a Saturday but I guess the business types must still work in Otemachi on the weekend. Anyways, I had a very nice lunch at my favourite Vietnamese eatery there, Com Pho. It was certainly nice that I didn't have to push through any major crowds to get there, either.
For the first time in 6 months, I finally got to see both M's for a chat session. While I met the older M last month at that health restaurant where I finally indulged in the bane of my culinary existence, natto, I hadn't seen the younger M since last November due to the rigours of her university classes. Well, younger M finally graduated and as of Monday, she'll start her new career as an occupational therapist in the small city of Yamato next door to Yokohama. Older M also finally got a break in her career. She got a part-time job at a Swiss watch company which could translate into something more permanent if she plays her cards right. Since the Tea Room is no more, we walked over to a smaller place called Cafe Des Etoiles closer to the station. I'd passed by it every time when I walked to my erstwhile home away from home but had never partronized it til today. It was a pretty nice place...not as old-fashioned as the Tea Room but a bit more lighter in atmosphere.
Here in Japan, New Year's is seen as the big season for cultural celebration. Well, right now, it's the season for the big media and corporate reset. It's kinda like what September is for TV back in the States. We're in another intermission between drama seasons so the specials are kicking into high gear, including the mother of all perennial specials, TBS' All-Star get-together which starts off in about 15 minutes. It's 5 hours of pelting quiz questions at a ton of tarento and real thespians from controversial (he has a penchant for smacking female staffers if they screw up) comedian Shinsuke Shimada, and a throw-in of athletic events such as the mini-marathon around TBS HQ in Akasaka. Japan's currently most popular governor, Miyazaki Governor Higashikokuburo, was a staple in the show in the past and I've got a feeling that he'll be popping up again.
Speaking of Governor Higashikokuburo (formerly Sonomanma Higashi), this is a guy who's managed to become the media darling and perhaps even the public one as well after less than 3 months of taking office in a surprise election win. I don't know of any celeb-turned-politician who's managed to garner so much good will in so short a time...certainly not Governor Shintaro Ishihara of Tokyo nor novelist-turned-Nagano Governor Tanaka. I don't even think that popular lantern-jawed wrestler Antonio Enoki got that much of a buzz when he became a Senator years ago. Sonomanma seems to have pulled off (so far, anyways) a minor miracle. Despite his promotion into higher office, he has been able to show up on all of the TV shows (including last Thursday's "Who Wants to be Millionaire?") and still act like one of the boys, although either stress or needed decorum has toned down his gestures a bit. I don't think he really has quite the charisma but I could compare him to former PM Koizumi in the impact that he's had.
In any case, along with the TV specials, there will be new TV shows popping up and old faves will be getting their annual makeover. And certain tarento will be getting some further rises on the media ladder. It seems that the next comedy duo to beat is a pair called Oriental Radio. Joining such other comic combos like 99, Downtown and Ameagarikesshitai, Oriental Radio are getting hosting duties for a couple of prime time variety shows from April to join their late-night one.
Anyways, I should be getting ready for dinner. The Ace gave me his recipe for jinja rossu, Chinese-style sliced beef and green pepper in oyster sauce. Tomorrow, I've got the kids and then I meet up with The OL, Betty Boop and another old face from the ol' school days in Shinagawa for some lunch.
Feeling pretty tired. Went on a spending binge today; probably the first time in several months or even years that I bought as many CDs that I did today. Got myself three J-Pop CDs: the best of the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, another Yuming double-disc compilation, and a remastered release of an old favourite from way back by Hiromi Iwasaki....arguably the one kayo kyoku singer with the best pipes ever. I even got the soundtrack for "Happy Feet"; the movie may have been just so-so but the music was pretty decent. I blew off a little over a man (10,000 yen) for the stuff but I think after a few months of somewhat ascetic living, I should give myself a little treat. I also picked up another one of those puzzle books for the Junior sister for her class tomorrow at Maruzen. In any case, my purchases should keep HMV and Yamano Music quite happy.
I was surprised that the food mall underneath the bookstore was fully operational considering it was a Saturday but I guess the business types must still work in Otemachi on the weekend. Anyways, I had a very nice lunch at my favourite Vietnamese eatery there, Com Pho. It was certainly nice that I didn't have to push through any major crowds to get there, either.
For the first time in 6 months, I finally got to see both M's for a chat session. While I met the older M last month at that health restaurant where I finally indulged in the bane of my culinary existence, natto, I hadn't seen the younger M since last November due to the rigours of her university classes. Well, younger M finally graduated and as of Monday, she'll start her new career as an occupational therapist in the small city of Yamato next door to Yokohama. Older M also finally got a break in her career. She got a part-time job at a Swiss watch company which could translate into something more permanent if she plays her cards right. Since the Tea Room is no more, we walked over to a smaller place called Cafe Des Etoiles closer to the station. I'd passed by it every time when I walked to my erstwhile home away from home but had never partronized it til today. It was a pretty nice place...not as old-fashioned as the Tea Room but a bit more lighter in atmosphere.
Here in Japan, New Year's is seen as the big season for cultural celebration. Well, right now, it's the season for the big media and corporate reset. It's kinda like what September is for TV back in the States. We're in another intermission between drama seasons so the specials are kicking into high gear, including the mother of all perennial specials, TBS' All-Star get-together which starts off in about 15 minutes. It's 5 hours of pelting quiz questions at a ton of tarento and real thespians from controversial (he has a penchant for smacking female staffers if they screw up) comedian Shinsuke Shimada, and a throw-in of athletic events such as the mini-marathon around TBS HQ in Akasaka. Japan's currently most popular governor, Miyazaki Governor Higashikokuburo, was a staple in the show in the past and I've got a feeling that he'll be popping up again.
Speaking of Governor Higashikokuburo (formerly Sonomanma Higashi), this is a guy who's managed to become the media darling and perhaps even the public one as well after less than 3 months of taking office in a surprise election win. I don't know of any celeb-turned-politician who's managed to garner so much good will in so short a time...certainly not Governor Shintaro Ishihara of Tokyo nor novelist-turned-Nagano Governor Tanaka. I don't even think that popular lantern-jawed wrestler Antonio Enoki got that much of a buzz when he became a Senator years ago. Sonomanma seems to have pulled off (so far, anyways) a minor miracle. Despite his promotion into higher office, he has been able to show up on all of the TV shows (including last Thursday's "Who Wants to be Millionaire?") and still act like one of the boys, although either stress or needed decorum has toned down his gestures a bit. I don't think he really has quite the charisma but I could compare him to former PM Koizumi in the impact that he's had.
In any case, along with the TV specials, there will be new TV shows popping up and old faves will be getting their annual makeover. And certain tarento will be getting some further rises on the media ladder. It seems that the next comedy duo to beat is a pair called Oriental Radio. Joining such other comic combos like 99, Downtown and Ameagarikesshitai, Oriental Radio are getting hosting duties for a couple of prime time variety shows from April to join their late-night one.
Anyways, I should be getting ready for dinner. The Ace gave me his recipe for jinja rossu, Chinese-style sliced beef and green pepper in oyster sauce. Tomorrow, I've got the kids and then I meet up with The OL, Betty Boop and another old face from the ol' school days in Shinagawa for some lunch.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Friday March 30, 11:18 a.m.
Just getting some blogging in at the neighbourhood I-cafe before I take off for 002's weekly lesson. I've got a feeling that there will be some additional black jokes about the risks of me making house calls from now on after that murder of that British English teacher in my neck of the woods. As for that matter, the scum is still on the loose which should make me somewhat nervous since he could still be lurking about nearby. BBC has been naturally devoting coverage on the situation but they haven't said much about the neighbourhood where Ms. Hawker had lived, Gyotoku...they just mentioned Chiba by name. Well, let me elucidate. Gyotoku is part of my city of Ichikawa, basically one big bedroom town for the masses in Tokyo. It's on the Tozai Line of the Tokyo Metro, and ever since I arrived here 12 years ago, I've known it to be an area that seems to be populated by and popular with the foreign population. There are apparently quite a few gaijin bars around the station. It's just a typical quiet residential neighbourhood.
Yesterday was a nice one to take a much-needed all-day break. At Speedy's, between students, on Wednesday, I was so burnt out that I was just going through the "Battlestar Galactica" version of Wiki; Speedy caught me doing so but, as he has so generously done, he just chuckled and didn't say anything. Perhaps it was because he's so burnt out as well. I know that I was; I just couldn't think about tackling any curricula planning.
So, what did I do? I went up to Akiba and did the search for that legendary prepaid cellphone. It stayed legendary...I checked out all the stores including the colossus of Yodobashi Akiba by JR Akihabara Station. Nada...just the usual phones with the tons of contracts needed to be signed. Sorry, ain't doing that. I did notice that McDonalds put up yet another branch, squeezed into the walkway between the main and Yodobashi exits of the station. Man...just like mushrooms.
Another phenomenon popping up like mushrooms on a wet tree has been the shopping complex in The Big Sushi. Over the past several years, we've had Roppongi Hills brightening up the somewhat seedy area, Omotesando Hills taking over the former site of the Dojunkai Apartments, and MaruBiru across from Tokyo Station. Well, as of today, there is a new kid on the block...Midtown. In what seems to be the gradual but inevitable Manhattanization of Tokyo (in nomeclature, at least...Takashimaya Times Square, a New York-themed food court in JR Shingawa, a number of shopping avenues labled 5th Avenue), another high-rise, high-priced complex just started full operations less than an hour ago on the site of the former SDF HQ less than a kilometer away from its older sister of Roppongi Hills. Of course, the morning wide shows have gone out of their way to give a video tour of the facility...just like the aforementioned Hills, the stores are all of the brand name variety and there is the latest addition to all of the big international hotel chains that have just swarmed into town recently. This time, it's the Ritz-Carlton. And true to its reputation, the big suites are going for no less than 200,000 yen a night. The cub reporters have been wide-eyed and awe-struck by the luxury and big-city views...no doubt, since they probably won't get anywhere near the suites again in their lifetimes. One of the newest students at Speedy's, a cooking teacher, will be starting her job there at a cooking school that's nestled into the complex.
Well, as I've said, I've got 002 in little more than an hour, and then it's just The Ace at the juku tonight. Not too bad a schedule.
I did enjoy, in a creepy way, watching Karl Rove dancing like a white man on CNN's "Larry King" this morning. His comrade-at-arms, Alberto "Speedy" Gonzales may have to do a bit of dancing on his own after that testimony by his former chief of staff. And Arianna Huffington does need to lighten up...perhaps she should drop the first seven letters of her last name.
Just getting some blogging in at the neighbourhood I-cafe before I take off for 002's weekly lesson. I've got a feeling that there will be some additional black jokes about the risks of me making house calls from now on after that murder of that British English teacher in my neck of the woods. As for that matter, the scum is still on the loose which should make me somewhat nervous since he could still be lurking about nearby. BBC has been naturally devoting coverage on the situation but they haven't said much about the neighbourhood where Ms. Hawker had lived, Gyotoku...they just mentioned Chiba by name. Well, let me elucidate. Gyotoku is part of my city of Ichikawa, basically one big bedroom town for the masses in Tokyo. It's on the Tozai Line of the Tokyo Metro, and ever since I arrived here 12 years ago, I've known it to be an area that seems to be populated by and popular with the foreign population. There are apparently quite a few gaijin bars around the station. It's just a typical quiet residential neighbourhood.
Yesterday was a nice one to take a much-needed all-day break. At Speedy's, between students, on Wednesday, I was so burnt out that I was just going through the "Battlestar Galactica" version of Wiki; Speedy caught me doing so but, as he has so generously done, he just chuckled and didn't say anything. Perhaps it was because he's so burnt out as well. I know that I was; I just couldn't think about tackling any curricula planning.
So, what did I do? I went up to Akiba and did the search for that legendary prepaid cellphone. It stayed legendary...I checked out all the stores including the colossus of Yodobashi Akiba by JR Akihabara Station. Nada...just the usual phones with the tons of contracts needed to be signed. Sorry, ain't doing that. I did notice that McDonalds put up yet another branch, squeezed into the walkway between the main and Yodobashi exits of the station. Man...just like mushrooms.
Another phenomenon popping up like mushrooms on a wet tree has been the shopping complex in The Big Sushi. Over the past several years, we've had Roppongi Hills brightening up the somewhat seedy area, Omotesando Hills taking over the former site of the Dojunkai Apartments, and MaruBiru across from Tokyo Station. Well, as of today, there is a new kid on the block...Midtown. In what seems to be the gradual but inevitable Manhattanization of Tokyo (in nomeclature, at least...Takashimaya Times Square, a New York-themed food court in JR Shingawa, a number of shopping avenues labled 5th Avenue), another high-rise, high-priced complex just started full operations less than an hour ago on the site of the former SDF HQ less than a kilometer away from its older sister of Roppongi Hills. Of course, the morning wide shows have gone out of their way to give a video tour of the facility...just like the aforementioned Hills, the stores are all of the brand name variety and there is the latest addition to all of the big international hotel chains that have just swarmed into town recently. This time, it's the Ritz-Carlton. And true to its reputation, the big suites are going for no less than 200,000 yen a night. The cub reporters have been wide-eyed and awe-struck by the luxury and big-city views...no doubt, since they probably won't get anywhere near the suites again in their lifetimes. One of the newest students at Speedy's, a cooking teacher, will be starting her job there at a cooking school that's nestled into the complex.
Well, as I've said, I've got 002 in little more than an hour, and then it's just The Ace at the juku tonight. Not too bad a schedule.
I did enjoy, in a creepy way, watching Karl Rove dancing like a white man on CNN's "Larry King" this morning. His comrade-at-arms, Alberto "Speedy" Gonzales may have to do a bit of dancing on his own after that testimony by his former chief of staff. And Arianna Huffington does need to lighten up...perhaps she should drop the first seven letters of her last name.