Thursday March 25, 10:10 p.m.

Thi s has been a day which couldn't quite decide which weather it wanted to throw at us. So I got a bit wet getting home tonight from my class. Speaking of which, the juku class with that long-absent student wasn't too painful at all. He was pretty rarin' to go compared to his last lesson over a month ago in which he was dying of a cold.

Well, my bedroom light is back to normal thanks to the starters...nearly normal anyways. There is still one flourescent tube acting a bit crochety.

I was able to score a lunch with my ex next Wednesday. It will have been a month and a half since my last meeting with her. I figure that since I have no classes on that day, I might as well touch base with her.

Skippy contacted me about getting together with her and her former classmates for a bit of Ohanami on the 4th. Unfortunately, I already have some plans with a couple of those Tuesday night students.

Tomorrow will be my busiest day with The Teacher, SR and Arwen. There shouldn't be too much to prepare, though.

Thursday March 25, 12:11 a.m.

I already know that next week will be a pretty slow one. The Office Lady told me that she would be too busy to come by for her regular session since it is the end of the fiscal year. With the Hawaiian out indefinitely to tend to her ailing father, the Stylist off in Hokkaido and now the Office Lady too busy, I'm gonna have a midweek day off. Well, not only then but I've also got my Friday completely cleared to prep up the apartment and then pick up the Anime King.

As I write this, my TV is on the 9/11 investigation live coverage. Up until now, I'd thought the banter between the CIA Director and the 9/11 Commission was in great danger of devolving into a cordial high school reunion. Thank you, Senator Kerrey for putting back the bite. Oh, wait...Senator Ben-Veniste is doing a kissup to ol' George.

It may be possible that I won't have any class tomorrow if my Thursday night student pulls off another scratch. I have most of the day free anyways.

Wednesday March 24, 3:34 p.m.

Another gray day today but so far, no rain. I went out to the electronics store to see if I could pick up a starter for my kitchen light since the thing keeps strobing for several minutes before it calms down. I found it but now I can't even open up the casing without tearing it apart. On the other hand, I could dismantle the casing for my bedroom lights which have also been wreaking havoc with my eyes but I now have to get those starters.

The Anime King just contacted me. It looks like his stay with me could be a lot shorter than expected since he's got a friend coming over from Hong Kong who'll be staying at the Iconoclast's old apartment. His buddy doesn't know Tokyo too well, so AK may end up nursemaiding him instead.

Well, it looks like that comedian whose death I had mentioned a couple of days ago is getting the royal send off. Two private channels have provided live coverage of his funeral and 3500 people have attended. That doesn't include the many fans who have come to pay respects to the man. I don't think I've seen this much full court press for a celeb's funeral since the funeral for that former member of the rock band X almost a decade ago. However, when I mentioned his name to the lead student of the Tsudanuma group yesterday, she gave a terse opinion that she didn't particularly like him or his old variety show because she thought that it had been a bad influence on kids. And sure enough, the show did get a lot of PTA criticism for its somewhat bawdy humour and Three Stooges-like slapstick.

Just have The Office Lady tonight so it'll be a quick outing. I may or may not have that guy who has cancelled his last three classes on Thursday, but I'll probably head on out to Tokyo tomorrow to get a new pair of UNIQLO chinos.

Tuesday March 23, 11:35 p.m.

Another no-problem day. I got my usual round of chocolates and Japanese crackers from my Tsudanuma ladies. It looks like there will be somewhat of a lull with these folks for the next few weeks after a pretty solid block of classes with them. I got back home for a few hours where I enjoyed a lunch consisting of salad, rice and Spam. Yes, Spam...I actually love the stuff fried up with soy sauce. The juku classes were also pretty smooth.

It looks like I may be facing a bit of a loggerhead with helping out that nephew of the president of the Iconoclast's old company. He's been asking me some pretty minute questions about his upcoming homestay trip in Canada while the homestay guy hasn't been too quick on his replies. The nephew's latest message just had a bit too many kanji for me to handle, so I've asked the Curry Master to help me out in the translation.

The 911 inquests are ready to go. Looks like some pretty interesting testimony will be coming up. Now that Richard Clark has been turning Benedict Arnold against the Bush adminstration, the plot will get pretty thick.

I've been going through the latest episodes of ENTERPRISE that my fellow Trekkie buddy has been sending me from Canada. All I can say is that T'Pol is turning out to be the most un-Vulcan Vulcan that I've ever seen. In the last episode, I've seen her plead, cry and have a shouting match with Trip. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I think she'd be ready for the Vulcan funny farm.

I'll be hitting the bed soon after a shower. I've basically got nothing tomorrow aside from my regular class with The Office Lady. So I plan to head out to the nearest electronics store and see if I can buy a decent lamp for my bedroom. With the Anime King coming around the end of next week, I think I ought to get some home improvements in.

Tuesday March 23, 7:34 a.m.

Well, no snow but it still looks pretty gray out there. However, it's good enough to finally get my laundry out there. My washer was starting to get a bit too stuffed. It'll be another usual Tuesday for me; my Tsudanuma ladies in the morning and then my juku classes at night with a big hole of nothing in between. It'll probably stay that way for at least another month since the new guys at the school won't be starting up until April 19th. Hurts me in the money department, but I can't complain about the relaxation at home.

I heard from Jazz Veteran about how much she enjoyed the outing on Sunday. I've yet to hear from Jazz Buddy, though. I did catch JB sleeping a bit at DUG, so I'm not sure if she did enjoy it. I hope she's not holding it against me. As for me, I kinda fall in between this potential spectrum. I must admit that I was getting a bit bleary-eyed at times despite the frenetic activity that was taking place down in front. Although I didn't get a whole lot of sleep the previous night before, I think my somewhat ambivalent feelings probably stem from my attitudes toward jazz.

I rather came up with a theory while I was listening to a jazz CD that JV had lent me on Sunday. It was a very good performance to listen to but I was also checking my e-mail at the same time. In fact, I realized that while I'm listening to jazz, I'm always doing something else at the same time, whether it be cooking or doing my crosswords. I've never listened to jazz by itself the way that I can listen to a recognizable pop song. This observation can reflect in any way that you can interpret it the complexity of jazz and the simple-mindedness of pop. As I read in my jazz book, one of the integral parts of the genre is improvisation so that even a cover of a famous standard can, or even has to, greatly diverge from its original melody. I guess for me that fact will be the main obstacle for me to truly appreciate the music and probably for me to last through a jazz concert. I recollect that I couldn't watch the Diana Krall DVD without starting to nod off a bit. I need some sort of pyrotechnics to get me through.

Speaking of music, I see that the Southern All Stars are getting to release a new single here. Who be they, you ask? They're the great dinosaurs of J-Pop who've been around since the late 70s. No, not exactly the Stones, perhaps, but in the very ephermal world of Japanese pop music, the SAS are legends. Basically, they're a band that sings a brand of summery pop/rock, and a lot of the natives my age are probably the greatest fans of the group. I've never been a huge fan of them myself; I just find them a bit too repetitive but I must admit that some of the tunes are distinctive enough to be enjoyed. If I ever do decide to permanently pull up stakes, I may get a compilation of their best stuff for posterity.

A talking head from Goldman-Sachs has just said that the current Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, may just not have the ability to pull off any economic recovery. Heck, all of us had that figured out 2 years ago.

Monday March 22, 10:39 p.m.

It was pretty much a cut-and-dry trip into Tokyo to teach at the company. It went pretty smoothly despite the slow-as-molasses performance of one of the pair of students. There are just some people who will never make it through languages.

No snow as of yet, but the forecasters are still saying that we're due for 1 to 3 cm of the white stuff overnight. I'm still not quite sure about that since it actually felt warmer heading home than it did heading over to Tokyo. But then, I overcompensated as usual in my winter wear. I threw on my big black bulky sweater underneath my winter coat, and I had on my longjohns. I was of course perfectly fine walking outside but I was doing a slow broil in the subway.

A mighty shoe dropped today in the Middle East with Israel's assassination (there's no other way to put it) of the spiritual leader of Hamas. The world is just waiting for that second volatile shoe to fall.

I've been enjoying reading the second of an epic sci-fi series called HYPERION. I'm currently on the second book, and it's been a pageturner so far as was the first book.

Monday March 22, 12:11 p.m.

Woke up after my exhausting night of jazz feeling semi-refreshed. It's been looking cold out there, and we still may get some snow on the way. So much for the arrival of Spring. Well, if it happens, it's gonna happen at around 6.

The networks have been blazing today about the death of one of TV's most recognizable and best-loved faces, Chosuke Ikariya. His fame came pretty early in the 60s when he led four other singer/comics to form a country band. However, their comedy acts overshadowed their songs so they redesigned themselves to become the comedy group, The Drifters. The group's claim to fame came in the late 60s with their legendary variety show which ruled the airwaves for 15 years and at one point, had half of Japan's population watching weekly. Ikariya as the leader had the role of being the eternal curmudgeon, berating his fellow members for their stupidity. As a kid, I used to watch the show via the embryonic technology of VHS when VCRs were the size of coffee tables. After the show ended its run, Ikariya turned to acting, and became known for his roles as either the unassuming wise elder statesman or as the crusty countryside father. However, his best post-Drifters character will probably be as the retired police detective from a series which is known outisde of Japan as The Bayside Shakedown. He was even seen and referred to as the Morgan Freeman of Japanese cinema for his hangdog look and laconic way.

Well, just some lunch for me and then I have to head on off for my lone class at the company. It could be a pretty light week for me since my Monday morning folks have cancelled out, along with the Hawaiian and half my kids on Saturday.

Monday March 22, 1:36 a.m.

Well, it's been a couple of days since my last entry due to the fact that I had been entertaining Movie Buddy on Saturday and Sunday.

Man, I am officially ready to proclaim this winter as one of the weirdest in recent memory. From a Wednesday that had 22 C temps and summer-like aspirations, we ended up getting wet snow falling on us and major chills on Saturday. I had been teaching at my kids' place when the elder sister and I noticed the fluffy wet flakes wafting down from the overcast sky. Things haven't improved much since then although we did get a sunny day today.

I met up with Movie Buddy at the station on Saturday afternoon. It ended up that he stayed at the Hotel Moi since we made it a marathon of flicks over pizza. I managed to devour an entire Dominos medium pizza called Giga Meat; MB was a bit more sedate in his approach. We caught a grand total of 4 movies over the next several hours. THE ROCKETEER was one of those underrated flicks that just fell through the cracks when it was first released in the early 90s. And there was a young ravishing Jennifer Connelly who looked a whole lot more fetching than her older self in that other, more recent superhero movie, THE HULK.

The second feature was THE MUMMY RETURNS. It wasn't a bad flick at all, though I'm happy I kept my 1800 yen. Then we saw that other sequel, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO. I'd already seen it a few days ago, but MB hadn't. The two of us agreed that this was more Johnny Depp's movie than it was Antonio Bandera's. By the end of that movie, we were getting pretty tuckered out, so we crashed a few hours until Sunday morning in which we caught "highlights" of Star Wars: Episode 2. After having gone through the scenes, my feeling is that George Lucas may be a visionary but he's also the richest hack this side of Hollywood.

The two of us got dressed up to head over to Curry Master's place for pancakes. So I brought my bottle of syrup as a contribution. The three of us plus MB's girlfriend just slogged down a bunch of savory and sweet concoctions. And then we also tackled eating through this monstrous citrus fruit only found in southern Japan and known as the King of Fruits. I stayed there a couple of hours before I was off to Shinjuku.

There I met Jazz Buddy and Jazz Veteran. We first went into the seedy area of Kabukicho to try out JB's recommended Chinese restaruant. It was small and had that ambience that a lot of those formica-and-tile Chinese eateries back in Toronto have. The food was excellent which pleased JB. Then, it was off to our main destination of DUG, a jazz bar on the main drag. The bar was typical for a jazz joint. It was tucked away in the sub-basement and had that small, dark and intimate look about it which typifies the usual joint. We got there almost a full hour before the trio started playing. It was a piano/bass/drums combo. Most of the songs were original compositions although there were a few standards thrown in for good measure. When they started their first session, it was just the three of us and one very appreciative couple at the front, but it gradually filled up by the end.

Overall, I feared that I was getting that Kabuki Narcolepsy Syndrome that I had suffered back on Tuesday. It is hard work concentrating on understanding the music being blasted at you, and since I was trying to interpret a previously unheard composition, at times, I was risking embarrassment by nodding off. It was difficult but I did manage to keep both eyes open. However, Jazz Buddy fell straight asleep in the second set. I was never quite sure how she took to the live performance. But Jazz Veteran ate it all up.

There was also a middle-aged drunk guy who kept acting up like Ed McMahon at a Jerry Lewis telethon and kept giving his very vocal appreciation for the trio's workmanship. He must have been a pretty bigwig, though, since he was approached by the guys later on for a drink. I have to admit that I was also greatly impressed by the bass player's virtuoso performance slicing through the strings like a knife through butter. At the end, Jazz Veteran at least openly suggested that we do another jazz outing in the near future. I'd be game but I think I should take in a bit more coffee beforehand.

Well, I'm back home ready to fall over. Luckily, I've got nothing until my company class later in the early evening since the others had to cancel their classes. Speaking of cancellations, The Hawaiian just contacted me saying that she wouldn't be able to make this Wednesday's class because of her father's illness.

Saturday March 20, 8:04 a.m.

Let's see...Pakistani forces pounding an Al Qaeda enclave which may have the No. 2 man, an attempted assassination on the top two people in Taiwan, and bomb threats against D.C area schools. Just another day on 21st-century Earth.

Yup, I woke up early with all the grogginess and creakiness of a guy who hasn't gotten enough sleep. Over breakfast, I was able to get 4 lesson plans done. Luckily, the e-mail traffic has been minimal so that I can get off and clean up a bit more before heading out.

Gray and overcast outside. Probable rain. Still cold. Kinda like my mood right now.

Saturday March 20, 12:30 a.m.

I hope I can get this entry done quickly since I need to get some sleep. And I only have the bare bones of lesson plans for the kids. Damn!

The two classes with the afternoon SR and then Arwen went refreshingly quickly thanks to some good sidetracking. Plus, I got a souvenir from SR's trip to Univesal Studios Japan in Osaka; it's some sort of Spiderman chocolates. Earlier I had gotten a golden Peanuts necktie from The Teacher.

I met up with Arwen in front of Foo Foo at 6 tonight. However, Ms. 77, who had suggested having the class in Shinjuku, ironically had to pull out due to a cold. So, Arwen and I just went over to the neasby Andersen bakery cafe across from City Hall for our lesson. We had a good class there; a lot of school gossip mixed in the actual text stuff. And we continued on with it afterwards when we had a bit of dinner a level up at the Royal Host. At first, I felt slightly queasy, probably due to fatigue and coffee, but luckily my good rapport and conversation with Arwen helped perk me up. It's been quite amazing how the two of us have managed to click. We got into some fairly deep topics such as love and marriage. Once again, I felt a bit of regret. However, I do have to remember that we probably could click like this since our relationship is platonic, and one of us is already married; I'm not sure if we would be this cordial in a romantic relationship...as strange as that may sound.

Ms 77's absence this week and next week made me wonder aloud if she were enjoying the lessons. This may have caught Arwen off-guard a bit, so I explained my view that students could decide to "fire" me by telling a little white lie to save face, an unsurprising but annoying cultural tic here. Arwen also agreed that she's not too thrilled by that approach to telling a teacher that his services are no longer wanted, and she reassured me that Ms. 77 was happy with the lessons but just can't make it out due to extenuating circumstances. That explanation by Arwen meant a lot to me.

Friday March 19, 12:42 p.m.

I had The Teacher for her first lesson today. She's one of those students whom I would consider to be an "automatic pilot" of sorts. She needs no prompting...she can just speak herself into a tizzy. She even gave me her own homemade text of articles for us to use.

I just have a short respite here before I head off to see my regular Friday afternoon student (or my semi-regular as she cancels quite a bit), and then meet up with Arwen and Ms. 77 in Shinjuku. The last matchup will probably be quite temporary in nature as 77 is planning to head over to the Great White North on some sort of visa. Chip Guy asked whether I would be available for tonight for a possible steak dinner out at the Outback. I said that I'd be available after the last class ends at 7, but since I haven't heard any response from him for the past day and a half, I assume that the idea didn't hold any water. With an 8-month-old baby, it rarely does.

Well, I managed to clean and vacuum things a bit for Movie Buddy's arrival tomorrow. I will endeavour to get the bare banes planning done for the kids' lessons.

I see that the Pakistani forces may have the No. 2 guy in Al Qaeda trapped. I think the media had said something similar about Bin Laden early in the Afghanistan adventure but he escaped. So, I'll only believe it when I see the good doctor in Allied hands.

Thursday March 18, 9:52 p.m.

"Hey, Tokyo...Toronto called. It wants its winter back." Yes, after a brief dalliance with summer yesterday, winter decided to return with a vengeance today. It was just rainy, cold and windy although the winds were not as gale-force as they were yesterday. The only thing missing was snow but I'm not exhaling just quite yet.

Luckily, today's schedule only involved going out to buy groceries for dinner and then the brief jaunt to teach The Curry Master and The Analyst. On the way back home, I just had that chocolate itch that I needed to scratch, so I bought some Kit Kat at the low, low price of 99 yen.

I got a message from Movie Buddy asking if he could come over to the apartment on Saturday night since he had some DVDs. Gotta clean the apartment tomorrow morning since I will have absolutely no time after that.

Happy day in Tokyo as the Japanese team won its game against the UAE. I got a slightly drunk Jazz Veteran sending me e-mail on that fact.

Wednesday March 17, 11:49 p.m.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Not that anyone really knows about this holiday over here aside from the ex-pats (no pun intended) and the groupies who love them. I haven't even mentioned it to any of my students.

Well, today was a downright warm day. It hit 22 C in the Big Sushi but the day also came with some pretty heavy-duty winds which wrought the parked bicycles-as-falling dominoes effect again. The subway systems had to set out a wind warning for trains on the outside which delayed things a bit. The Office Lady excitedly pointed out one paltry cherry blossom on a tree. The effect wasn't all that awe-inspiring to me but the point was made. It looks like Cherry Blossom Season may be here earlier than expected. Time to spread out the blue tarp, beer bottles and fried chicken again.

As for my rare Wednesday afternoon matinee at home today, I watched ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO on DVD thanks to Arwen's loaner while the movie is actually being played at the theaters as we speak (please don't tell anyone). I'm kinda glad that I didn't shuck out the 1800 yen for this one. It was very enjoyable to watch on the tube but I don't think it would've made much impact on me at the theater. Plus, I got the good extra on the DVD on how to make that pork dish that Johnny Depp's character loves in the movie. The only problem is that I don't think I can get the vital ingredient here, and I don't have a coffee grinder.

I see that the foreign celeb endorsements are back. Currently, there is a poster of Charlie's Angel Lucy Liu draped on the floor in a sexy silky shimmery slip hawking diet beer of all things. And I recently caught THE David Bowie on TV doing an ad for some Japanese company while parading himself in his various personae such as Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke.

I still haven't heard any fallout from my school concerning the sudden loss of teachers. I'm just wondering if this is going to be the equivalent of Geraldo's opening of Al Capone's Secret Vault.

The winds are still wailing away out there. We'll be hitting reality again as of tomorrow in terms of temps. And a bit of rain might fall on our parade as well.

Tuesday March 16, 11:39 p.m.

Well, Arwen and I met at the National Theater in Hanzomon to catch a Kabuki performance. We saw a beautifully-designed stage with cherry trees, performers draped in gorgeous kimonos and acting that was on the truly epic.

We both fell asleep within 15 minutes.

It was a pity, but I had half-expected it to happen. Perhaps it was a bit of a self-realizing prophecy, but there's something about watching Kabuki that brings out the urge to nod off better than warm milk with nutmeg. It certainly didn't help that I had rented the wrong earphone guide (Japanese instead of English translation) for the first act. I think Kabuki is just a bit too archly performed for me, and the fact that it lasts 4 hours brought Mr. Sandman all the sooner. As for Arwen, I was a bit surprised that she dropped out, too, since her understanding of Old Japanese is probably a whole lot better than mine.

Well, after that first act (an entire hour), we ran out of the theater to get some cool air into our systems to wake us up. Then, we gave it another shot...this time, I got the right guide. And the second act was just half an hour. Still, though, I was on the verge of heading back into narcolepsy. I'm not sure how my partner felt at that time. However, by the second intermission, we had to make a big decision since the intermission only lasted 10 minutes. I was definitely ready to head on out, but I did try to give Arwen every opportunity to give her opinion. In true Japanese fashion, she merely replied that she was OK either way; but she did leave a couple of signs that tipped the balance: 1) she was doing a lot of stretching, and 2) she stated that she would probably end up snoozing through the third act which was to last 100 minutes. After that comment, we decided to throw in the towel and scurried off to a Tully's. I still felt bad since I had invited her to the performance, and the performance was indeed visually stunning, but considering that she was little better than I was, and that the other audience members probably wouldn't have appreciated a couple of dozers, I think it was the inevitable thing to do.

We laughed our way to the neighbourhood Tully's where we spent the next 2.5 hours gabbying about everything from the OTAKU phenomenon to my poor excuse for a love life. I think that fact in itself reflected how I felt about Kabuki. Also, I kinda got a bit wistful over lost opportunities talking with Arwen. For a bit, I wondered about how it would have been if Arwen hadn't already married. However, the moment passed into oblivion as it should have.

Afterwards, I headed over to the juku, but on the way, I stopped in at McDonalds. I realize that I had been to the Big M yesterday and that having their fare twice in a week was not a good way to a healthy state, but I just had to try the newest thing on the menu, FISH MCDIPPERS. Now, I'm not sure if this is a Japan-only thing, but it's basically the Piscean equivalent of Chicken McNuggets with tartar sauce. The McDippers passed muster with me. Not too bad...and the campaign for it has been pretty hard-sell. They've got posters plastered all over the restaurant with no less than a supermodel, a comedian and an acapella group all shilling the item.

The classes tonight were slightly limp. The first class came with one of the regular pair off with a cold. The other ended up just engaging me in free conversation which was basically a mix of Japanese and English due to her low level. However, we did set a date for our rendezvous with that secret restaurant in Tsudanuma that the Tuesday morning ladies had taken me to last week. The Anime King is at my place at that time, though, so I hope he doesn't mind foraging for himself on that day.

Well, I'm a bit wiser now in my preferences for Japanese culture. And I've also gleaned some new insight in my burgeoning hobby as a jazz enthusiast. I listened to the first disc of Django. It's amazing that his best stuff was recorded back in the 1930s but a lot of what he did has been emulated a lot in the present age on TV. I also recall hearing something similar to Django Swing in the movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Steve Martin and Michael Caine.

I'm wondering how the school is doing right now. For a few weeks, I had been aware that a couple of teachers were planning to fly the coop secretly. One was the Cop who took off today for Taiwan. And the Songbird had legitimately put in her 1-month notice with the staff. DTE and the Cop predicted that I might get a frantic call from the scheduler about coming in to teach someclasses, but there was nothing on my message machine tonight. However, I figured that since the staff has long been inured to these escapes so they probably had some teachers on standby to fill in the gaps.

Tomorrow, I just have The Office Lady for an atypical morning class. Then, I'll just be looking for material for Thursday's student.

Monday March 15, 11:56 p.m.

Another long day is over. I had a couple of surprises this morning at my morning class. First off, the student that I had expected to be away today actually came, and then my afternoon student cancelled. The conclusion for all that was that I did a bit of roaming around Tower and HMV. I bought CDs by a couple of jazz legends, Django Reinhardt and Bill Evans. I knew that the 3-disc set of Django for just 1390 yen was just a bit too good to be true. There was only a flimsy cover for each of the CDs, but then again what could I expect for that price? Well, I've gotten all the info on the man in my JAZZ FOR DUMMIES.

My traipse through the Shibuya HMV revealed a better jazz section. In the DVD area, there were a bunch of guys guffawing at the big screen showing a Mr. Bean sketch. I also took a look through UNIQLO, a very American-looking Japanese clothing store which has boasted low, low prices for pretty good quality. I found a pair of chinos that could actually fit me for just 2900 yen. I didn't buy them but I'll eventually get them.

Since I had some extra time, I ended up sitting in an open-air plaza in the Shinjuku hotel district near the Iconoclast's company. It was still a bit chilly to sit there but I managed to do so for 40 minutes. I wanted to prove my willingness to cut back on spending by not going into the cafe that I used to frequent, so I just bought a vending machine milk tea.

The night class was a slog. One guy who had been away for 2 weeks was struggling to get through the book, while the low guy on the totem pole has the mind of a sieve. However, I got my money from the president. We also had another one of our chats about the foibles of the Iconoclast. However, that was only a 10-minute session so, lucky me, he took me to one of his favorite sushi bars in Shinjuku. Again, the staff was really nice and the food was just resplendent: melt-in-your-mouth fatty tuna, tender sea eel and velvety chopped tuna wrapped in rice and seaweed. The conversation between me and the President was very cordial. We went through the gamut of topics from the Iconoclast through the musical genre of chanson to the terrorist attacks in Spain. Of course, he treated me so that really helped out my new budget.

Checking my e-mail, I got a message from Arwen stating that she would be willing to meet me for the Kabuki performance tomorrow. That will be nice. She just has to call me tomorrow to find out where and when to meet. In the meantime, I do have to prep for my juku lessons later that night. The students will be scratching their heads as to why I'm in a full suit.

Monday March 15, 8:04 a.m.

Well, the Russian and Spanish general elections are now history. Guess which one got the bigger coverage by the world media? The Election of Inevitability got swept aside by the dramatic win by Spain's Socialist Party over the ironically named Popular Party.

From the mountain to the molehill. The local entertainment wags were clucking today over the hospitalization of one of the more popular members of the ubiquitious Morning Musume. I couldn't read the kanji clearly but the poor girl has some sort of intestinal disorder. Perhaps she ate too much of her own publicity.

I'm still stinging over that monthly budget assessment from last night. I'm thinking that it may have been better if I'd just not started that financial habit last year. Ignorance is bliss!

I did a bit of late-night middlemanning over phone and e-mail for the nephew of the president of the Iconoclast's former company. After a couple of failed tries to get through to the lad, he finally called me so we went over his flight schedule on the 29th to Toronto to start his new homestay life in the Great White North. Then, I sent off the info from him as well as his queries to the Iconoclast and the nephew's host.

Well, off to the salt mines.

Sunday March 14, 8:23 p.m.

As expected, it's been a quiet day here. Just stepped out to get the usual fixins for dinner. But I have gotten messages. Chip Guy sent me one concerning getting together on the 24th for some Korean BBQ (why midweek?), and Jazz Buddy sent me an e-mail further progressing next week's visit to that jazz bar in Shinjuku. We've decided to go for the more storied DUG since it's in an area with a lot more culinary possibilities before the performance.

I did the finances. Not surprisingly, I made another loss. Although I did make quite a bit of dough this month, that lease renewal fee took a chunk out of me. However, if I subtract that from the expenditures, then I only really lost just a few bills. But the bottom line is that I'm gonna have to make a concerted effort to rein in my spending. Well, thankfully, I've increased my number of students. The Hawaiian, though, has cancelled her class for this Wednesday due to a family matter.

Gotta get some domestic stuff out of the way before I hit the hay including writing up a letter to VISA to not have the bills come over to Japan. The last couple of statements arrived here probably because I either made that Amazon purchase back in February or I reactivated my Toronto account. In any case, I gotta get that done.

Sunday March 14, 1:22 a.m.

Well, the long day has now become part of my history. It all started with breakfast at McDonalds just across from my station. I was lucky to ply myself down with a generous helping of protein, carbs, sugars and caffeine to carry myself through the day since I would have little time to eat aside from a can of coffee.

I noticed that the refit to the station was nearing completion. Now, we've got escalators and elevators coming out of the wazoo, and there are new washrooms. I checked out the men's washroom; I saw that it didn't take too long for one of the stall s to get soiled.

My two pairs of sisters followed parallel patterns. The older sisters were either lazy or slow to speak while the younger kids were much more on the ball. Such is youth. I'd better appreciate their efforts while they're still in prepubescence.

After my last kid, I took a walk around the Tokyo Dome area. Boy, that area has really developed into some complex. There's an amusement park, a huge shopping complex and an impressive hotel surrounding the home of the Giants. I even saw a Bubba Gump restaurant beside the complex with a mockup of Forrest's bench and box of candies.

I had a couple of hours before I was to meet the Cop and his group for dinner at El Torito, so I browsed around Times Square. Ended up not buying anything although I was interested in trying to buy that Django album at HMV. HMV has a much smaller jazz section, so he didn't rate a mention there. Well, there is always Tower again on Monday.

I met the Cop, his girlfriend, one of the receptionists from the school and later the Jester in front of El Torito. We had quite a wait of about 40 minutes but we managed to keep ourselves entertained with the tale of the Cop having to take care of the receptionist (which included having to get his hand coated in her vomit) after she lost control of her faculties after a beer binge a few days back. It was hard to imagine this soft-spoken young woman pulling off a bender but then again, I've seen the Ballerina go from swan to ugly duckling.

The wait was long but the food was worth it. And certainly the talk was hilarious. Since we had the minimum number of teachers there to rant about our motley crew of dysfunctional staff, the Cop, Jester and I were just taking potshots at some of the weirdos who populate the upper echelons including Ms. Hip-Hop, one of the more colourful teachers. It looks like, according to the Cop and the Jester, that a few vents let off a lot of steam in the last couple of weeks. There was apparently a huge confrontation among the Songbird, the coordinator, the most senior teacher and one of the staff. The most senior teacher hasn't made himself a very popular man on campus. Some of his anal ways have rubbed the teachers the wrong way, and he had a screaming match against the assistant manager this past week when he found out that he would have to take some paid vacation days this week. For that matter, a number of full-timers are being told to take a vacation. What gives? The school is supposed to be having the full slate of high school kids to train for American universities, and a number of semi-privates to take care of. Nothing really surprises me about the machinations of the staff anymore.

After a long day in my roachkillers, I'm ready for bed. I'm just relieved to have another quiet Sunday to let my feet recover. Still, I enjoyed dinner tonight. We just don't have that many opportunities to cut loose without being worried about the students.

Saturday March 13, 7:24 a.m.

I've got a feeling of the fatigue and creakiness that usually comes with an early wake-up call. Luckily, it's gonna be a good day today. None of this SADS thing for me. I'm getting some of the domestic stuff done right now, and I've had the remaining cereal. However, I will be getting a heartier one at the Golden Arches on my way to work. My kids' classes are set up so that I won't get any time for a proper lunch. I do get snacks at both of my kids' houses but dessert does not a lunch make, and that dinner with the Cop won't be happening until 6:30.

I forgot to mention that Tokyo had a jewelry heist of sorts right out of The Thomas Crowne Affair about 10 days ago. One or two pairs of foreigners wearing bad wigs and armed with mace robbed 3 billion yen worth (probably $30 million US) of jewelry from a Ginza shop. To the shock of passersby, the folks got away on a scooter and apparently made it out of the country.

Friday March 12, 9:35 p.m.

It was a pretty easy lesson with 77 and Arwen. We kept a good balance between the text and chat. They were happy about their White Day presents; unfortunately, I had forgotten to bring up the topic of the Kabuki tickets. I didn't bother mentioning anything about dinner although none of us had any dinner plans; we did get together after all on Wednesday, and if the ladies had been that interested in going out together, one of them would have said so.

So, instead I had dinner at the neighbourhood kaiten. I'd forgotten the golden rule about going to the conveyor belt sushi place....go around 6 p.m.. I got there around 8:30, so the conveyor belt didn't hold all that much sushi, and the chef looked rather stressed out.

The Cop left me a message on the machine inviting me to the El Toritos across from Times Square tomorrow night. It looks like The Jester and DTE are coming a s well, so I may also make the splurge, too. I'll have to give him a call. Once I get all that done, I'll make myself a Chai and get hunkered down to smooth out the lesson plans for the kids.

Friday March 12, 12:35 p.m.

It's been a pretty quiet day here in Tokyo, so far. As the weather forecasters indicated last night, it's much colder and it's overcast. I'm still in my bathrobe and I spent the morning watching CNN and planning for my kids' lessons tomorrow.

What hasn't been happening here is a contrast to what's been erupting overseas. The terrorist attacks in Spain are still getting exclusive coverage, and I just saw that the South Korean parliament has just impeached the president. There was the usual brawl in the chambers.

I've also found out that my good friends up in Ibaraki that they will be moving up to the resort area of Karuizawa because the husband was able to get a job. I'm happy for them since he'd been looking for a number of months. I'm also happy now that I have a good reason to go up to the area. I guess if I were to analogize the situation, Karuizawa would be to Tokyo as Banff would be to Toronto.

It looks like the Anime King will be making his pilgrimage to Tokyo in a couple of weeks. He has made reservations at the Hotel Haruhiko for a week. Hm...it's been a while since I've had any overnight guests, let alone a long-term one. I may be able to unload some of the stuff that The Iconoclast left to me.

Thursday March 11, 10:39 p.m.

Seeing that massive bombing attack in Madrid just now makes me wonder about Tokyo's subways. The authorities feel that a similar attack over here is remote, and not unjustifiably so, but I'm also aware that Madrid has always been vigilant about terrorist attacks because of ETA and yet this morning happens.

My lesson with the Office Lady went smoothly although my so-called reciprocal White Day present for her wasn't one after all. She had never given me anything for Valentine's Day. However, she was pretty happy and I've apparently got a hole in my head. But since Ms. 77 reminded me last night that she had given me some chocolates a month ago, I won't be messing up tomorrow.

Watching it alternately with the Madrid bombing coverage, I caught a better-than-average Jean-Claude Van Damme movie called TIMECOP. The concept was quite good and it managed to carry the movie despite the thespian underachievements of the star.

The winds have died down to nothing so I was working up a sweat in my leather jacket coming home tonight. As it turned out, the high reached 22 degrees C. However, it doesn't mean that Spring has finally arrived. The temps will be plummeting tomorrow to a more seasonable 10. So, I'll still be seeing more of my breath for a little while longer.

Thursday March 11, 1:27 p.m.

It's been a fun day...meterologically and geologically. On the first part, we've been having some pretty gusty winds scouring through the Kanto. There were some mini-sandstorms being whipped up in my neighbourhood thanks to the dusty schoolyard down the road. Plus, Mother Earth decided to give the area a little kick at about 11:35 this morning. Nothing too serious...just some shaking.

Well, it looks like I may have yet another old student as a new student. The Teacher called me up after several months to see if I would be available to teach her. When I initially got into this freelancing gig almost a year ago, she got me in contact with that Japanese website, SenseiSagasu.com, which didn't yield any results for me. Now, her former teacher has decided to head back home to Canada, so she's calling for my services. I can fit her in on Friday mornings. She was an interesting one a few years back when she was one of the students at the school. A lot of the younger ladies despised her for some of the condescending comments she allegedly made in class, and she drove the coordinator crazy with her treatise-sized complaints about the school program. She was quite aware of her persona non grata status although I'm not sure how she actually felt about it. Perhaps, she has been inured to the slings and arrows from years as a high school teacher.

I'm not just slowly digesting a mammoth meal of spaghetti and salad. In previous years, I would have just said "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" and devoured the entire bowl, but being slightly wiser now, I'm just saving the still-sizable remainder for either a late dinner or breakfast.

Thursday March 11, 12:35 a.m.

I managed to win another round against the Scheduling Monster. No, I don't mean the lady who does our schedules at the school but just the usual rigmarole involving my Thursday night student at the juku. I never really got an answer from him by noon yesterday so I just decided to set him adrift and teach the Office Lady instead tonight since I had to defer her class last night due to the farewell party for that Chinese student.

Speaking of whom, I met Arwen and Ms. 77 in front of Studio Alta in Shinjuku at 6 tonight and then we walked down a few hundred metres to the front of the Isetan Department Store where we met the Chinese student along with fellow teacher, The Jester. This is a guy who just cannot turn off his goofy humour...which was fine for the dinner since it was supposed to be a happy affair. We waited there for another 10 minutes until DTE came by. Then, we headed off for the Chinese restaurant that had been recommended to us by another teacher who could not be with us tonight.

The place was literally just a few dozen metres down from the Aussie pub that Movie Buddy and I frequent and perhaps even just across the street from that Turkish restaurant that the Madam and I plus two others had gone to last year. The Chinese restaurant failed to disappoint. Even though Arwen had mentioned that the place was more of a pub than a full restaurant, the fare there was good enough to satisfy me. And the banter generated by the Jester kept us gabbing for a few hours. The climax, and I use the term quite specifically, came near the end when the Japanese word for "circumcision" came up, and Ms. 77 was struggling to explain it to us in English. It was certainly a classic moment culminating in 77's typically boisterous laughter....loud enough to wake up the dead. I think my regular lesson with her and Arwen will be made more interesting on Friday. I do wonder if we're gonna make the after-class dinner a regular thing. I can't think that they would want to do that every Friday night so I'll just let them decide what they want to do. Plus, I do have to get them some White Day chocolates since 77 made some for us a month ago.

Earlier in the afternoon, I had met the Hawaiian after an absence of about 3 weeks. She was as energetic as usual, and I received a nice souvenir of chocolate chip and macadamia cookies from the Islands. I would've devoured a few tonight but I just got home a bit too late. Afterwards I went off to Shinjuku to that branch of Tower Records. I took a look through the jazz section. I may decide to get another Bill Evans CD, but I think the first purchase will be one of Django Reinhardt, the legendary gypsy jazz guitarist. I'm not sure why, but he just stands out, and I think, although I've never heard any of his stuff, I have heard some of his influences on some soundtracks.

Well, I'll be heading to bed in a few minutes. When I wake up in 7 hours, I'll be facing a light day of just getting my usual rubdown, then planning for the Office Lady's lesson followed by some prelim work on the kids' lessons for Saturday (man, I hope I can survive 4 hours of them) before I head out the door.

Tuesday March 9, 11:06 p.m.

Well, the juku owner was back at the house, if not in perfect health. Her personality was as bubbly as ever but she cancelled all of her classes with her regular kids. Fortunately her mother came by from the country to help her although, according to the owner, she's actually helping her mother out on most chores.

I bought a couple of White Day pound cake for my first two students, the only ones to give me some chocolates back on Valentine's Day. They certainly got interested in that restaurant I had gone to today; one of them plans to make that reservation for next month. My second group was also in a pretty good mood. The middle-aged couple had just come back from a short trip to Shanghai a few hours ago, so they got me some candy as a souvenir. My third student was his usual churlish self thanks to a combination of fatigue and second-language induced stress.

I may have made some good choices on my jazz club choices. Jazz Veteran got back to me after she had gone to those websites herself to check out the performers. She said that the bands playing at the two clubs on the 21st are pretty top notch. Now, the only problem is just trying to make the decision of which club to select.

Well, tomorrow I get to see the Hawaiian after her trip over to her namesake islands. Her family had to make an earlier-than-expected return home after the father fell ill. Although the circumstances of seeing her again aren't exactly happy ones, it will be nice to see such an enthusiastic student. Then, I head off to Shinjuku to meet up with Arwen and Ms. 77 and a few other alumni to have a farewell party for that student heading back to China. It does mean that I'll have to re-schedule The Office Lady's class; I just hope that that Thursday night student at the juku does cancel out again.

I just found out from the CNN website that an old member of the extended Star Trek guest star family has passed away. Good ol' Paul Winfield, aka the ill-fated Captain Clark Terrell from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, passed on. I remember him popping up in a quietly acclaimed episode of TNG and also appearing as one of the main characters' father on Babylon 5.

Well, happy to say that I've got a late wake-up call tomorrow. It'll be nice to loll about in bed, then have a good student followed by a dinner party at a Chinese restaurant.

Tuesday March 9, 3:43 p.m.

Just got back home after having lunch with the Tsudanuma ladies. This time out, they took me to this very hidden restaurant in the area called TAKIMOTO. It's a Japanese place which has some very fine fare in the form of sashimi, broiled fish, and chawanmushi. For a place that is literally secretly esconced in the middle of a residential neighbourhood, the student who made the reservation told me that there is usually a 1-month wait to get a table. Now, that's good word-of-mouth. After the leisurely lunch, we made a brief stopover at that same student's house nearby to check out her Hina Doll display for the March 3rd festival. According to the folklore, the display should be stored away no later than the 4th or it would endanger one's daughter's chances of marriage. Apparently, the student doesn't seem too worried about that for her own daughter although she had confessed in class that she'd never go into a cemetery alone day or night.

I've got a slight waiting time until I head on out to the juku. I've still received no reply from the juku owner, so I'm not certain whether she's back from the hospital or not. I've got the spare key just in case to open things up. If she's isn't there, then I'll have to call up my Thursday night student at the juku to see if he's gonna pull off another cancellation since I'd like that time to teach The Office Lady.

Well, the new lease came in last night along with the insurance policy. So that chapter of bureaucracy is now over and done with for at least 2 years (provided if I'm still in J apan at that point). I still have yet to hear from the Canadian government concerning my birth certificate; it's been 4 months since I sent in the application.

Monday March 8, 11:18 p.m.

Another one of those subtly exhausting days today. I had a new student for her second class, which therefore meant that I was trying out the new material on her. And I had my regular company class which is a bit of a slog. In both cases today, the former forgot to pay me, and the president of the latter wasn't there to pay me for 5 weeks' work. I'm gonna be leaving him a nasty note if I don't see any moola next week.

In between classes, I managed to grab another couple of CDs from Tower. I got the latest by local jazz crooner, Kei Kobayashi. He's got potential but he's still a kid so his voice still sounds a bit on the altar boy side. And as a further tribute to my days of salad, I bought a compilation of old disco hits which include Chaka Khan, Earth Wind & Fire and Prince. They're mostly from the 80s but they're all good songs so who's to complain? Plus, I filled out my point card with the Kobayashi purchase so I was able to get the disco CD for just a measly 400 yen.

Speaking of jazz, I was once again on the search for a decent jazz club for that inaugural trip on the 21st. I found a couple of places that are open on Sunday. One is DUG up in Shinjuku, one of the older jazz places in Tokyo. I can't say the cover charge for either place is cheap but compared to the Blue Note, I think I can live with it. I just hope that the two ladies can as well, although I'm a bit worried about Jazz Buddy since she's living here by herself and just has a part-time job.

Well, tomorrow should be a regular Tuesday with my Tsudanuma class in the morning and then my juku classes tomorrow night. I also have to get some chocolates for the ladies since the upcoming Sunday is White Day, the second half of the Valentines Day celebrations. The men have gotta give stuff to the women this time. If I remember correctly, I may be going out with the morning folks for a bit of lunch afterwards. It should help alleviate my daily food budget since the ladies always insist on paying for the teacher, one of the few and treasured benefits of being a private educator in this nation.

For the past few weeks, the weekly rags have been featuring raunchy pictures of a TV personality who's due to appear in an S & M flick which would put Kim Basinger's tied-up role in "9.5 Weeks" to absolute shame. The TV personality started out as a swimsuit model back in the late 80s before coming out as a popular singer/TV personality. Then she ditched it all to get married for several years. She dropped off the pop culture radar during that time until she got divorced. Probably needing to pay the bills again on her own, she's come back in dribs and drabs on the variety show circuit but nowhere near her former stature. So, here comes this little movie with her in full frontal nudity, seemingly having all sorts of disgrace being heaped on her. If the pictures are correct, then this flick may just have everything short of the actual act. Usually these former idols find it next to impossible to come back but with this flick, maybe this lady will get all of our attention.

Sunday March 7, 8:20 p.m.

I've just been digesting a rather filling meal of four hamburgers, rice, broccoli soup and Pringles...and washing it all down with Tetley's Iced Tea. Yes, it might sound disgusting but give it a shot, then we'll talk.

It's been a very quiet day today. I've had no classes, no social contact with students or friends, and no reason to head down to Tokyo. I even got to partake in a nap. I just bought the fixins for dinner and cooked & ate everything up to the sounds of my jazz CD.

I did give a call to Mom as part of my monthly ritual, and I even got a call from my cousin in Osaka to thank me for sending over that bottle of maple syrup and chocolates over to her family.

Saturday March 6, 8:23 p.m.

I thought I would just have that one kid today but her mother asked me if I could also teach her older sister for an hour. Luckily, I didn't have any plans. The other sister is quite a bit more fluent and talkative. Since the class was a sudden one, I just made it more of an exploration session finding out what she wants to do. Being a teen, she was suitably vague about it all so I had to decide that she needed a bit more work on higher grammar. Perhaps, she could use that text that I had bought the other day but it seems rather similar to one other that she's using in her high school, so I'm not quite sure. But it looks like I'll be having a 2-hour session in their house for the next couple of weeks. Good golly...4 hours of kids for the next 2 weeks...I hope I survive.

Martha, Martha, Martha...it's amazing how much that somewhat archaic female name was thrown around on CNN this morning, after the Domestic Diva got nailed to the wall. It was wall-to-wall Ms. Stewart on Anderson Cooper, Paula Zahn and Larry King. The first two shows handled the conviction fairly professionally, although I thought that legal analyst Jeff Toobin seemed uncharacteristically uncharitable when he blurted out in quick succession : 1) that Martha had lied to his face in an interview last year, and 2) that he was absolutely sure that she would get a good tough prison sentence. Talk about your vindictiveness. I would have thought that Toobin, being a former prosecutor, would have been able to sniff out any bull at that interview. I guess her souffle must have thrown him for a loop.

The Larry King show should've been called "The Sore Losers". Once again, the show was handled by frequent guest host, Nancy Grace, the most ironically named talking head on TV. There was no doubt on which side of the well-manicured fence she and most of the guests were standing on. They just sounded like the most embittered Martha Stewart fans anywhere. Jeffrey Toobin would have been flayed alive. I have no qualms about Grace and her opinions but her way of spitting them out like a rabid Schnauzer and showing very little consideration for her fellow panelists just galls me. The perpetual sneer and Robert De Niro lingo that she pitches out makes her ripe for a "Saturday Night Live" caricature. If only were she on Crossfire...

Well, things are a bit quieter now so I just cooked up a couple of thin steaks...from Australia, of course...and finished off the leftovers from last night. Drinking the stuff down with some sake has given me a bit of a buzz. Too bad I'm gonna have to call up that guy who's planning to head over to Toronto; hope I don't sound too soused.

With all of the news I've been watching on CNN and BBC recently, the local Japanese TV variety shows actually acted like a tonic. There's nothing like four grown TV personalities dancing around a microphone in a combination game of "Name That Tune" and "Musical Chairs" to make one forget about the more depressing things in life. And TV Tokyo has also been doing its part by showing its regular fare of travel and food shows.

I heard that the paper legend of Japanese baseball, Shigeo Nagashima, suffered a mild stroke a couple of days ago. That would definitely have been grounds for a special bulletin in the Japanese media.

Friday March 5, 9:15 p.m.

Pretty quiet day today. I just went over to the juku to pick up my suitcase. The owner is off in the hospital having an operation for her gallstones.

Then I met up with my Friday afternoon student for her regular class. No problems. I got home and cooked up a pretty starchy dinner consisting of macaroni & cheese, pizza and broccoli soup. I couldn't finish it all off...thank heavens, I've grown out of that need to finish everything at one meal. I probably would have exploded if I'd had.

The weekend looks pretty quiet. I just have the little kid for tomorrow and then the rest of the time should have nothing. I was thinking about looking for a text for that new lady on Monday, but I figure that perhaps the new text I just used on the Curry Master, Arwen and Ms. 77 may suffice.

Thursday March 4, 10:41 p.m.

Well, it's official...I've got a cold. albeit at this moment, I'm suffering chiefly from a sore throat. However, I'm also feeling some aches and pains in my upper body. I was planning to get some domestic stuff done but it looks like my priority is sleep after another dose of medicine.

My lesson with Arwen and Ms. 77 went quite well with the new book. Once again, though, we ended up talking about what's wrong with my school. I wonder if the staff has been having some sneezing fits recently (sorry...that's an inside Japanese cultural joke). It was also quite successful in that I have found takers for those tickets to the Kabuki. And as a further bonus, I've been invited to one of the recent grad's goodbye party next Wednesday. I'll have to see if I can re-schedule my class with The Office Lady.

My later class with the Curry Master went pretty swimmingly. We just extrapolated from the material that I used with the earlier couple. Then, I met my second student who's a systems engineer. He's pretty good but needs some fluency as well as some conversational practice.

Well, I just hope that I'll be OK to pick up the hotplate from the juku tomorrow morning. My voice is just about gone...not that it really matters on a blog.

Wednesday March 3, 10:46 p.m.

It was certainly a cold day for the annual Hina Matsuri, that time to celebrate the girls of this country. Basically, all it entails is setting up a multi-tiered stage with little dolls called hina. I felt even colder than usual despite the longjohns and the coat which probably means that I've come down with a bug. Certainly, the beginnings of a sore throat isn't a very positive harbinger.

The Stylist's lesson was pretty freewheeling. Just into our second formal lesson, we already started getting majorly sidetracked into topics that I was surprised to get into at such an early stage in our professional relationship. Well, I was able to get some English into her and I got paid and she had a smile on her face so I guess that it wasn't too bad. However, it'll be more than a month before I see her again since she'll be off on a vacation up in the wilds of Hokkaido in mid-March.

Seeing that I had almost 7 hours of nothing between classes, I just had lunch at SEI-AN up in the station building before heading up to Maruzen up in Nihonbashi to pick up another couple of texts, and then it was off to Ginza to check out what was selling in HMV and Yamano Music. I did see a number of CDs that I wanted to get but the only one I splurged for was an old J-Pop disc.

The Office Lady was the only one who recognized Hina Matsuri by telling me that she was heading out to a hot spring out in Odaiba with her friend. I'm sure she's appreciating soaking in the tub on such a frigid evening. To remedy my chills, I made some Sapporo Ichiban with some cheap fish cake. I'll also probably take a good hot shower tonight before hitting the hay. I hadn't been getting a lot of quality sleep these past few days so I'm looking forward to getting some tonight without having to set the alarm for an ungodly hour. To think, the weather forecaster on NHK has predicted some snow again for my area tomorrow morning.

Well, I've got Arwen and Ms. 77 in the early afternoon, and then the Curry Master and her old student in the evening. I may be picking up the printer from her then.

Tuesday March 2, 11:27 p.m.

There was none of that freak snowfall from yesterday but the gray and the cold were still there as I headed off to see the Tsudanuma group in Ryogoku. It was the fisrt time in a long time that the entire membership showed up. One of them, the most fluent of the group, stopped coming some months ago; she says it's because she's busy but I think it's because she just finds the class a bit too easy for her.

It was the first time ever for me to go to Ryogoku, that area which boasts the Sumo Arena. We didn't actually go to see that but instead we went to the Tokyo Edo Museum. It certainly was an intriguingly designed building with a main base propping up a large wedge which represented the upper floors by huge red pylons. We were there to see the Okyo Maruyama painting exhibit; he had lived in the 18th-century where he was revered for combining Eastern and Western techniques. I'm not a huge art fan but I did enjoy looking at his works painted on scrolls and sliding door panels, and I had a good running dialogue with the students about the exhibit. Then, we went up to the wedge to see the general museum. There was a large semi-representation of Edo Tokyo surrounding Nihombashi. The gigantic exhibit gave insights on what life was like in Edo from the Tokugawa Period into Meiji-era Tokyo. It was all quite impressive and may merit another closer look in the near future.

The entire tour took less than 2 hours which suited me fine. We then hopped into a couple of taxis and headed for the Asahi Beer Building in Asakusa. It is one of the more notable buildings in Tokyo, no slouch when it comes to architectural oddities, in that it was developed by Phillip Stark and that it does look like a mug of beer with most of the building gilded in gold and the rooftop coloured in white. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant with a good view of the city below. From the impeccable service and the quality of the food, I assume that the place is usually a pretty exclusive place but their lunches were very reasonably priced. We all drank our lunch down with Bellevue Cherry Beer from Belgium. It's a deceptively strong brew despite its sweetness. After the satisfying lunch, I accompanied some of the remaining members into Asakusa, my old haunt, into Shin-Nakamise Dori, the shopping arcade until we reached a famous shoe store known for its low, low prices despite the cachet of its wares. I took a brief look and though there were a few pairs my size, I wasn't really into purchasing anything so I took my leave of the ladies and headed back home. I did receive a pair of invitation tickets from the most fluent of the group for a Kabuki show at the National Theater for the 16th. I'll have to try and find someone to go with although I think it will be rather tough. I don't know too many young folks who still like Kabuki.

I managed to stay at home for a little under 2 hours before heading out again to the juku to start off my 2nd Pancake Day festivities. I had to do a lot of quick thinking and arranging since I was lugging a lot of stuff over there. I skimmed some equipment before leaving with one suitcase holding the hotplate and a bag of utensils, books and the fondue pot. Getting there, I had to make one more pit stop at a nearby convenience store before the gang got there. The juku owner also joined us. After a brief note on how maple syrup is produced, all of us hit the production of pancakes with great gusto. Ironically, the one young lady who would have really appreciated the pancakes couldn't make it because of overtime. It's even sadder to note since she had never missed a single class before tonight. Well, the rest of us even tried the fondue. We actually had to boil the mixture on the stove to warm it up quickly but it also turned out OK. My 9 o'clock guy couldn't make it for the main party but I still had enough fixins on the table so that I was able to cook up a couple of pancakes which he gobbled down with panache. My little seminar and Q & A on maple syrup helped to cut down the time considerably.

I'm happy to be back home although I'll have to get up relatively early again since I have the Stylist tomorrow morning for her biweekly class.

Monday March 1, 9:32 p.m.

I'm very happy to hear that "The Return of the King" not only got the Oscar for Best Picture but swept every category that it had been nominated in. Hearing the other major Oscar winners, I gather that it was a pretty dull affair ...no surprises at all. I often miss and dread watching the show at the same time. There's plenty of potential for some pop culture moments and moments of cringing. Seeing Sean Penn go up to the stage to collect his Oscar, I'm reminded that this was Jeff Spicoli 23 years ago.

I was meteorologically surprised today when I went off to work and was greeted by the sight of wet snow dropping out of the sky. Nothing punctuated the strangeness of this winter than the cold temps and snow after a fairly balmy weekend. Unfortunately, I had hung out my wash to dry, but the washing machine was pretty overloaded so I really had no choice in the matter.

I had another new student added onto the list this afternoon when my Monday morning student's sister-in-law asked me to help her with her English. Her ability is quite good but she's just a naturally shy person with not a whole lot of confidence. This could be a challenge. My Monday nighter was the first one without the company of The Iconoclast who had taken off for Hong Kong last Thursday. Therefore, I will probably not be having anymore Monday night dinners at Chinese restaurants and Foo Foo. It'll save me the money but I'll miss the conversation. I just had one student tonight, the weakest one of the bunch and it was a fair struggle to get through the wonderful world of preps. It didn't help that the President of the company was having a rather loud phone conversation for some of the class.

Well, I'm 70000 yen poorer after having paid my lease renewal fee, but that should take care of the drama behind the biannual rite. I'm sending off a thank-you gift to my uncle and his family for helping me out.

Although, officially I'll just be teaching one class tomorrow night, I've got quite a few miles to go before I lay my head down to sleep. I've gotta pack the aformentioned gift, do some ironing lest I really want to go outside without pants the next day and get the stuff ready for Pancake Day 2.

I got a message from Jazz Veteran. Hmmm...I hope that we can really get some sort of outing for a jazz place sometime in the next little while just to compensate for that downer by the Madam.

Monday March 1, 8:19 a.m.

Busy social calendar yesterday. I met up with Chip Guy and his family plus a couple of others for brunch in tony Omotesando. The place was called Fujimamas, a foreigner's enclave close by the landmark Kiddyland toy shop. The menu and portions were definitely akin to any place back home. My order, "The Plate" was an understatement; it was more of a platter laden down with scrambled eggs, sausages, pancakes, biscuits with gravy and hash browns. It was half the price of the ROTI version, but it was a bit uneven. The pancakes and hash browns were fine but the sausages tasted sweet and I didn't care much for the gravy. Amidst the conversation, I found out that Chip Guy will be pulling up stakes at the end of April.

I was frankly stuffed so I decided to walk up from Omotesando to Shinjuku. It didn't help too much in alleviating the bloated feeling but the exercise was good. I met up with Movie Buddy, Jazz Buddy and Jazz Veteran to catch "Master and Commander". The movie was good not great. There were some great battle scenes and Russell Crowe WAS Captain Jack. He really was convincing as a leader of men, and I wonder if his character could have been Captain Kirk's ancestor in terms of his command style and personality. The only thing that was missing was a predilection for women which only came up as a long stare at a pretty woman in a boat.

The movie had some slow points, though, and it was obvious from the pacing and episodic feel that the producers and writers were liberally borrowing from various chapters in the literary series. It felt like one season of a TV series pastiched together into a 2-hour movie. However, it was nice to see Billy Boyd use some of those swordsmanship skills from LOTR. All in all, though, I'm a bit surprised that it actually did get nominated for a Best Movie Oscar. I thought it would have been better if Crowe did get another Best Actor nomination.

Movie Buddy enjoyed it thoroughly but I think the two ladies were not nearly as enthralled. It did come off as more of a man's movie. Afterwards, we met up with Skippy and Sandra Dee in front of the theater for dinner. Movie Buddy took off for home while the rest of us headed for a nearby Asian fusion place nearby. We were later joined by Cutey. The food was quite good and we all ended up at the place for four hours, buoyed by the fare and the happy, and occasionally mildly raunchy, talk .

Perhaps the next time we meet, it will be to go with the Jazz ladies to a jazz club. So I'll have to search the Internet for a relatively cheap place (Jazz Buddy hinted a bit at the high price of the movie, despite the fact that we bought the tickets at the discount shop).

Sunday Feb. 29, 1:01 a.m.

My kids' classes were two-thirds OK. The older sister was giving me attitude again. I sometimes think that adolescence should be banned. After I finished with my last student, I decided to head home instead of just hang out downtown for five hours looking for dinner. It was a good decision since I was able to get some down time with a cheap bento.

I met up with the Cop, Movie Buddy and DTE at the bar along with the Cop's girlfriend and some of her friends. They were very friendly but the conversation was pretty much segregated into native English speakers and native Japanese speakers. We got into all sorts of topics including the usual harangue about the idiots who run our school. DTE also had some very choice words for the Scheduler; I now consider her to be a full veteran. MB was providing some sage advice for her about upcoming contract negotiations. Once again, I was the first to leave since the chime struck 11. Also, there were quite a few boorish and obnoxious men and women there by that time so I felt it was best that I leave.

Tomorrow I've got that brunch with Chip Guy followed by catching "Master and Commander" in Shinjuku. Skippy contacted me about some confusion over the bill from last Saturday's karaoke session. Ugh. I told her that we'll talk later.

Saturday Feb. 28, 8:07 a.m.

Got less than 6 hours of sleep so I'm feeling rather out of sorts now. However, the chai is helping a bit. I'm starting to fine-tune the recipe after the Iconoclast's initial lesson back on Sunday. My first solo attempt was way too strong...let's say that it acted as a good alternative to Ex-Lax.

I've prepped my lessons for today. Hopefully, everything will work out although knowing the unpredictability of kids, one really never knows. I just have to figure out what I'm going to do for 4 hours between my last lesson and the Cop's farewell.

Saturday Feb. 27, 12:09 a.m.

Well, I found out that Aum Shinrikyo guru Shoko Asahara got the death sentence that he so richly deserves for that sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subways back in March 1995. I remember being home at the time when the special bulletins came in, and seeing bird's-eye views of emergency crews and stricken commuters scattered throughout the central business district. Because of today's verdict, the police were on high alert for any possibility that the Aum, now known as Aleph, might wreak revenge. Strangely enough, several other cultists have been given the death penalty but none of them have been executed as of yet. Perhaps the guru will be the first to hang. I'm not sure if there will be any mention of when the execution of Asahara will take place; Japan has a custom of keeping executions secret until well after the the deed has been done.

I blew a lot of money today on work-related expenditures such as texts at Maruzen and another round of maple syrup from Kinokuniya. One bottle will be contributed to the Pancake Day party at my juku while the other plus a box of candy will be going to my uncle in thanks for his stamp on my lease renewal form. I sent in the renewal form by mail today but I couldn't make the transfer payment since the banks were all filled with people due to payday today.

I crashed at my school trying to get some of the props from my Pancake Day party. The coordinator was nowhere to be found so I just sat down in the computer room for several minutes until I heard the chatter of former students who just couldn't let go their old alma mater. I had a nice talk with them including the one boy with a number of fetishes. Then I met up with two of my newest students, newly-graduated Arwen and Ms. 77.

We went off to the Tea Room to have our inaugural lesson. It was basically talking on a printout of a CNN article on the Janet Jackson controversy. We leapt from there into unexpectedly deep topics such as religion and one's mortality. The talk was quite good, but at the end I wondered if the two were really satisfied with the lesson because of its casual nature. They reassured me it was but I wasn't totally convinced. In any case, they did request that they would like a mix of structured lessons and casual ones like today's. It looks like I'll be doing some more shopping next week.

Then the three of us went off to Foo Foo where we all tucked into my fave Breaded Pork in Spicy Ramen. It was there that the chemistry finally started to click in so that we ended up talking up a storm for 2 hours. I felt that the relationship was dipping deep into close friendship territory which may or may not be a good thing considering that I'll be teaching them. But in any case, it was a very enjoyable dinner. Luckily that harridan food critic from Monday didn't show up. I was also privy to some rather interesting gossip about the former top class. Apparently, there was a lot of friction and cliquism there. Certain students didn't care much for Skippy and vice versa; Arwen and 77 mentioned that their class which was one level lower had a much more convivial relationship. It was interesting to hear but not surprising. Skippy was indeed this year's lead student, and leaders of any sort have their detractors. Past lead students have also had their enemies at my school. It is a bit ironic that the same reasons which explained Skippy's good work in front of the teachers also got her enmity from a few of her classmates.

We finally broke up at about 10:30 with the next class being held next Thursday in the afternoon. The Cop left a message asking me whether I would be attending his farewell later Saturday evening. I relayed a message to him via Movie Buddy that I indeed would. I've got those kids beforehand which makes me kinda glad that my two former students have canned their session with me at the Tea Room due to illness. I could use a bit of down time after the kids.

And surprise, surprise. The Madam sent me a brief note after several weeks of no contact. I was just as short and sweet with her.

Friday Feb. 27, 11:42 a.m.

I received an SOS of sorts from my old school, so DTE's premonition that I may be getting more requests from them due to the sudden exodus of teachers may be coming true. I initially asked the scheduler who the students were, and she told me that they were the kid s heading off for university in the States. Over the years, I've also taught my fair share of those classes, and it's been a bit of a mixed bag so I replied that I could do the 10-12 slot. Perhaps the kids may be a bit more sedate then.

Well, I finished off the remaining Fettucine (otherwise known scientifically as artery-hardening plaque) and the Japanese pork soup, so I don't think I'll be needing any lunch before my class today at 6. I've got a bit of shopping and other errands to do, though, which should help burn off some of those abundant calories.

I'm watching some of that Democratic Debate on CNN. For the first time in history, I think Larry King is actually having some trouble moderating his guests, and that's saying a lot considering he often has that harridan lawyer on the regular show.

Thursday Feb. 26, 10:18 p.m.

Well, I finally got to see the much vaunted "Lost In Translation", the movie that takes place on my turf in the largest city on the planet. Movie Buddy brought over the DVD, and we immediately fired up the player. Nice opening shot of Charlotte's butt. MB joked about how Scarlett Johannsen managed to find her motivation for that scene.

I've heard views from friends back home. One commented that it was a fascinating trip through the bizarro world of nighttime Tokyo paralleling with Bill Murray's poignant trip throught a mid-life crisis. Another just stated that he found the flick merely ponderous and self-indulgent. A third friend was straight down the middle. As for me, I thought it was a very nice little movie although I'm not wholly convinced that it merits Oscar recognition, but it is nice that it has been nominated. I think Bill gave his best performance in his second career as a well-respected actor instead of his early years as the lovable goofball of "Stripes", "Meatballs" and "Ghostbusters". In fact, I think he was basically playing himself filled with regret over doing those movies. As a longtime resident of Tokyo, I've walked through Shinjuku and Shibuya countless numbers of times, but seeing the protagonists look at the strangeness of the neon and concrete of those areas brought back some early memories to me. I could actually relate to some of what they went through. There wasn't really any local talent involved in the film except for that Matthew Minami fellow. He does exist and he does indeed have that same show on Wednesday nights at 11:30. It was rather surreal seeing it with with Bill as the guest as a special feature on the DVD after having seen it before on real Japanese TV. Actually, Matthew is a character portrayed by the actor/comedian Takashi Fujii. I think the only other comment on a specific scene is the accuracy of the lunacy of filming a Japanese commercial with Hollywood celebs. I wonder if people like Harrison Ford, Richard Gere and Cameron Dias had to go through the same sort of hell for 2 million bucks. Speaking of Diaz, I think Anna Faris did a good job dissing her in the movie.

When we finished the movie, MB continued to watch through the extras while I made up that Fettucine Alfredo that the Iconoclast left me. Serving it as a side dish along with some other stuff, I think my stomach and the Astrodome now share something in common. Regardless, I will have to finish the rest of it off tomorrow for breakfast. After dinner, MB was starting to enter sleep mode although he made it through half of "South Park: The Movie" before calling it a night and heading home. Not having seen it before, he did get some laughs out of it.

I activated that air cleaner for the first time today. It seems to work OK although I didn't notice any particular improvement in the room. However, the fact that I didn't sneeze may augur good news. However, there was a rather unpleasant smell emanating from it, so I just threw in some cinnamon powder to get rid of it.

I did some preliminary planning for the kids' classes on Saturday in the afternoon. I'm glad I did it then since I'm not feeling too energetic to do it now. But I will have to think about my schedule tomorrow since I'll be doing some shopping for that new kid, the Pancake Day next Tuesday and then picking up some of the Pancake Day props from the school. All that before meeting Arwen and Ms. 77 for their first lesson at the Tea Room.

And speaking of the Tea Room, I got word from one of the former Tea Room ladies who's now living in Argentina. She sent me the first photo of her baby daughter.

Thursday, Feb. 26, 12:21 p.m.

I woke up this morning after a rare lengthy sleep to see my cluttered living room with the Iconoclast's plastic box of engineering notes esconced under my coffee table, an air cleaner nestled next to my fan and heater. And I remember how clean Movie Buddy's 1K apartment was last night. Good heavens, the man even hangs out his sink trap to dry. My only saving grace is that he's lived in his place for little more than a year while I've been here for nearly ten. That's a good enough time (and excuse) for my place to get filled up.

I am very happy for the computer speakers and the mouse. The speakers boom with sound instead of just squeak. And my mouse actually goes where I want it to go. I will have to get accustomed to pinpoint steering again.

Well, CNN has been focusing on what could be Mel Gibson's opus to overlook "Braveheart". "The Passion of the Christ" opened on Wednesday to much controversy and to some of the greatest marketing ever done for a movie. I'm definitely not a religious man by any means, but I think what Gibson has done is not stir up a hornet's nest or open up a Pandora's Box but to start a huge healthy debate on one of the most seminal events in human history. Considering all of the controversy surrounding the movie, I think it would be rather superficial to even mention future Oscar possibilities, but I think the Academy will probably steer it away from any of the major categories. It would be interesting to see how something like this film would play in this still largely non-Christian nation (although I think the percentage of practicing Christians in Japan must be over the 1% mark that has been written in the history books).

Well, I've gotten my op-ed piece out of my system. Now it's time to unclutter the clutter.

Thursday Feb. 26, 12:43 a.m.

It's been another windfall day fo rme with the Iconoclast meeting me for the last time before taking off for Hong Kong later today. He brought me some more stuff including an extra futon, and even better, a better mouse and speakers. Also, he gave my old SOTEC a Norton Utilities lookover; unfortunately, he couldn't bring back my missing fonts but most of the other problems have been solved. It is nice to be able to have an obedient mouse once again.

After my class, I sped off to Nakano to Movie Buddy's apartment in preparation for his surprise birthday party. DTE was to meet me at the station but she got held up at her student's dinner party, all the way up on the 35th floor of the Marunouchi Bldg...nice place, so she came later. The Curry Master and MB's girlfriend were there to meet me so we planned out a pretty low-key spread consisting of my bottle of sake, smoked salmon & cream cheese on cracottes, friend chicken and sushi rolls. MB finally came home several minutes later. He didn't look too surprised which worried The Curry Master a bit, but his girlfriend assured us that MB is not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. I gave him his present of that Lord of the Rings book.

When DTE finally came over, she related to me her frustration about all of the schedule changes and screwups (she used far more creative language) at the school this week. I told her that she was now a full-fledged member of the school. I think all of the veterans have had at least a few run-ins with the staff about some inanity.

I think that half-glass of sake really liberated me. I was spouting off more off-color jokes than I usually do. But I think I left people relatively unoffended.

Well, my Thursday night student canned his class once again. I think this guy is gonna probably fade away pretty soon. As a result, I have no classes so Movie Buddy will be coming over with his better DVD copy of "Lost In Translation" that he is borrowing from Arwen tonight. Speaking of movies, Arwen had to pull out of the Sunday outing because the timing just wasn't good for her. Maybe Ms. 77 will do the same as well, but the Jazz Buddy will be bringing another classmate of hers instead. And, Movie Buddy will also come out. I therefore sent word to Chip Guy that he can count me in for Sunday brunch. I feel kinda bad for Arwen but at least I'll see her and 77 on Friday night and then hopefully take them out to Foo Foo.

Wed. Feb. 25, 10:51 a.m.

I got a bit of a surprise last night when I was trying out the YAHOO search engine to look up info on the Kinokuniya Supermarket and found one of my blog entries as one of the results. Nice to have one's name in lights, so to speak.

So far, so quiet. I got a call from the Iconoclast a half-hour ago concerning his next arrival. He'll be trying for the same time of 1400 h. I may be getting some rather bulky stuff such as a futon. I wonder where I'll be storing some of this stuff.

Did a superficial cleaning of the apartment since I don't foresee us staying at home too long. Plus, mid-week laziness is setting in. And I do have my regular Wednesday nighter before heading off for Movie Buddy's surprise birthday party.

I received an article via one of my oldest friends, The Doctor, concerning my bizarre little industry in Japan. It was interesting reading and pretty accurately summed it up for me...that it's not all that far removed from being a bit of a McDonalds.

My area seems to be getting rocked every few minutes or so with tremors. I'm just kinda wondering if this is a prelude to The Big One.

Wednesday Feb. 25, 12:20 a.m.

Steady day today. My Tsudanuma class went quite smoothly although I had that little chat with that student who had rejected my proposal to be my guarantor. She said that her husband wouldn't agree because HE had never met me and didn't know my character. Again, I will gripe slightly and say that HE could have trusted his wife's assessment of me. Well, it's all water under the bridge for me since my uncle has agreed to be my guarantor.

The evening classes also went pretty smoothly. I did get th e message out to everyone about Pancake Day next week. It looks like everyone is pretty keen on it, and I was lucky to have have my photos from the first Pancake day with me to show as a promotion. Then, after class I had a powwow with the owner about the plans. The scale will be much smaller than at the main school but I'll still have to do my shopping for syrup and lug my hotplate once more.

Next Tuesday will probably be the easiest Tuesday I've ever had here since both my private classes will be of a special nature. The Tsudanuma class and I will be off on a field trip to the Edo Museum in Ryogoku, and of course, there is Pancake Day at the juku.

It also looks like Movie Buddy's surprise party plans are getting together. And the plans for the next Movie Buddy outing are being sent out to the pertinent players. Now, it's just a matter of the responses. If everything works out, I will be able to join Chip Guy and family for brunch on Sunday before meeting up with the rest for "Master and Commander".

Now, it's just a matter of hearing from The Iconoclast about when he'll be returning to my neighbourhood for some final unlaoding.

Monday Feb. 23, 10:56 p.m.

Well, that calm and pleasant day didn't last that long. The wind picked up and the temps dropped by the evening so by the time I got home, most of my wash was on the balcony floor. Mind you, they were nice and dry. I just wonder if any of it flew off to the second floor.

My Monday morning student followed up on that potential new student in the form of her sister-in-law. It looks like the initial meeting is set for March 1st. It'll cut down on my respite but at least I'll make a bit more money in the process, and it may just curtail me from pulling off any more of those binges that I was guilty of last week.

After the class, I went searching for that Canadian bar in Shibuya. My initial foray turned up nothing so I just went for my weekly Big Mac and then went off to Towers to pick up Movie Buddy's present....the book about the making of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think that's fair recompense for his kind gift of a Star Trek book. After that, I made one more try into the heart of Shibuya and found a couple of forlorn Canadian flags fluttering all the way on the banister of a fourth-floor staircase. I was later to find out from Chip Guy, who had gone there yesterday, that the place was a bit on the smallish side with friendly staff but was still finding its sea legs. Not surprising considering that it's barely a week old.

Then, I headed off to Nihombashi to do a bit of initial shopping for materials for a few of my students. Boy, these things can get really expensive. I mean, I know that I'll get reimbursed for them but still I'm sure the clients would appreciate not having to pay so much. I decided to pick up a TOEIC practice book for the Office Lady. There were some books that I wanted to get for my newest, littlest kid on Saturday but I decided to hold that purchase off until later in the week.

My night class was OK although one student is simply needing a lot of time for the stuff to sink in. And my other student was pretty tired by the end. Afterwards, the Iconoclast gave me some further foodstuffs and discs which weighed down my already burgeoning load even more. We went off to our usual Monday night haunt of Foo Fool for ramen. I don't think the Iconoclast noticed but some non-Japanese woman in front of us at the counter was clearly complaining to the stuff about the quality of the ramen. She wasn't loud about it but she made her point clear to which the staff apologized. I hate to say it, but I was thinking some rather evil thoughts at her such as "How dare you mouth off at them?" I think part of my slow boil was because of how much I enjoyed the place myself, and also because she was going at it in such a superior holier-than-thou manner. I realize that everyone has the right to criticize a product, especially when that person is paying money for it....and that an individual has his or her own way to criticize: diplomatically or brusquely. I couldn't even say that she was even brusque...just haughty. Mind you, I've always despised snobs with a passion. Still, the bottom line was that I was not too happy with her. I just hope that she isn't one of those psychos who regularly haunt such places just to abuse the staff since I'm planning to bring Arwen and Ms. 77 here on Friday after their first lesson with me.

Well, I finally got home. I decided to work on the birthday project for Movie Buddy. The Curry Master and MB's girl don't really know any of the teachers so they asked me to see if I could contact anyone. I decided to go through Movie Buddy himself to surrepitiously contact one of his close buddies in the school, DTE. I asked him if I could get her to call me. I was surprised to get a call from her in about 15 minutes. We spent the better part of the hour talkingabout the party and just chatting on various things. She's always been a good person to talk to. In anycase, I'm gonna get back to the Curry Master about the addition in the guest list.

Monday Feb. 23, 7:54 a.m.

It's sunny and warm outside compared to last night's wind and rain. Hope it stays that way.

Looks like there has been a bit of Yakuza warfare. Last week, a gang leader was assassinated which touched off 11 shootings of payback all around the Kanto yesterday. Three bit the bullet. I wonder if I should just be avoiding Shimbashi or Shinjuku for the next little while.

Looks like that plan to see "Master and Commander" is starting to take shape. I got a reply from Arwen just now giving her OK for next Sunday. She'll see if her karaoke buddy will be joining the fray. Skippy and the Swimmer are already game for later that night. Maybe I'll even give the Jazz Buddy, and certainly the Movie Buddy will be getting the call.

Speaking of Movie Buddy, his party venue has been switched to his place. For purely selfish reasons, I would've preferred the Curry Master's place since it's just two stations down from my apartment. However, the Curry Master was trumped by MB's girlfriend who lives all the way out in the west. I'm gonna have to get him a present.

Sunday Feb. 22, 9:52 p.m.

Very windy today. In fact, I'm hearing a lot of whistling past my window as I type. I wonder if this is the HARU ICHIBAN (The First One of the Spring), the Japanese equivalent of Canada's Chinook winds. I couldn't complain about the temps, though. It was in the high teens which made the winds a lot more bearable.

I definitely hit the jackpot in the food sweepstakes. The Iconoclast came over with three big bags of stuff. Along with the bathrobe, the pan, the cutting board and other utensils, I also inherited the fixins for real chai tea, tons of sugar, dried scallops (good for Chinese soups), Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, olive oil, a jar of winter honey, candies, a barrel of iced tea mix, a jug of maple syrup and even ingredients to make Fettucine Alfredo. In a very small act of compensation, I paid for his lunch at the neighbourhood eatery.

The Iconoclast gave me a lesson in making chai with the very assorted spices. The stuff certainly put hair on my chest and put the Starbucks' variety to shame. It would probably kill the ordinary Japanese person. Luckily, the winter honey took the edge off nicely.

At the same time, he set off to work on my computer. He marveled at how I could stand using my mouse, a very moody part of my computer. He was able to not only get my Windows Media Player up and running, but we were able to watch Michael Moore's "Bowling For Columbine" on it. It was definitely a very interesting movie. I think that exchange between Moore and former NRA president Charlton Heston was priceless.

Afterwards, we went off to a ramen shop for dinner. Once again, my bad luck with restaurants this year continues. Another favorite restaurant has apparently bit the dust. For many years, I used to frequent this place called Tsukasa for decent ramen. Well, sometime in the last couple of months, it got replaced by a new joint under Chinese management. Since the Iconoclast could speak some Chinese, we were quite lucky although the waitress was perfectly capable in speaking Japanese. The decor was very different and the ramen was OK. It may be worth another shot. Unfortunately, there was one of those loudmouth Japanese rednecks shooting off what little intelligence at another table but we managed to ignore it.

As we passed by the domino effect fallen bicycles and the flying traffic cones, The Iconoclast said that he would be dropping by my place on Wednesday to give me some further stuff for safekeeping and eventual transport back to Canada. Speaking of Wednesday, the Curry Master asked if I were doing anything on that night, presumably for Movie Buddy's birthday party. It was a strange night to be having it but since I don't have anything for most of Thursday, I said that I could make it out there.

Skippy got back to me about catching a movie on the 29th. It looks like she'll be busy at a seminar until the evening so the movie is out but she and her fellow grad, The Swimmer, would be game for dinner. I'll take that as a yes. Now, it's just a matter of finding a good place for dinner.

Well, I gotta clean up the kitchen and find out where to store the extra foodstuffs before tackling the plans for tomorrow's lessons. It will be a very light week.