Thursday October 14, 5:21 p.m.

Back at the gym again. Over the past couple of days, I've come across a few characters working out here. On Tuesday, it was some sort of "gyaru" or Shibuya equivalent of the Valley Girl. She was decked out in strawberry blonde hair, tan skin, pink workout outfit and loose socks. Plus, she always dramatically wrapped her pink towel around her before and after a session on each machine. Talk about desperation... Today, it was some pretty gabby old lady who was obviously on her first day here. As for me, I was a bit surprised that I actually lost nearly a kilo between Tuesday and today, and that was considering that I'd had a rather large lunch after my lesson with Jazz Buddy.

As for her, she was her usual self. I lent her my Jane Monheit album which she was quite happy to borrow since she's a fan. We got into the topic of American food so I told her about TGIFridays which is one of the big US chains here in Tokyo. She was rather intrigued about the Philly Cheese Steak. I gallantly offered to show her the delights of the sandwich.

Well, being the last day of my monthly budget, I'm not looking forward to totaling everything up tonight. I know that I'm gonna be in the minus column again. Actually, I leafed through the latest issue of METROPOLIS yesterday which had an issue on how to gain landed immigrant status. Basically, for me, I'd have to get a full-time job again....that is, if I am gonna stay here permanently. I'll have to talk with the folks back at home once I go home in December. I'd, of course, lose my life of Riley timewise if I did get a new full-time job but on the other hand, I'd have a stable, more promising salary.

Yesterday, I went down to the photographer who took care of my passport shots to get my photos for the update of my Alien Registration Card. Luckily, I also brought that floppy disc with the photos inside. All he had to do was just crop and reprint. Saved me money and time.

Still pretty gloomy outside although it hasn't really rained in the last couple of days. However, I was finally able to air out my mattresses if only briefly.

Tuesday October 12, 5:41 p.m.

Well, it has been a while since the last entry. I thought I would be making it on Friday from the sports club but the rains were coming in something fierce so I decided to cancel the workout and go on straight home. Lucky I did, too, since the rain just kept getting harder and harder. I could only imagine that the subways were packed to the gills with damp and smelly commuters.

I was also lucky twice on Saturday since my Saturday students didn't have their regular lesson due to their so-called sports day. However, I'd think that it was mostly cancelled due to the arrival of Typhoon No. 22. And sure enough, it failed to disappoint. Of all the record number of typhoons to hit the mainland, it took the very last one to hit Tokyo straight on. I was a bit worried about what could happen so I filled up my bathtub with water just in case the water supply cut out and my otherwise useless shower radio was ready to go as an emergency communications source. The worst of the storm hit around 5 p.m. Winds whipped up to gale force and the rains came down in sheets, the first time I've seen that happen in nearly a decade. Sure enough, NHK reported that T22 would not only be the most powerful typhoon of the year but the worst one since 1994. My windows got the best cleaning in their lives and my balcony got an extra layer of soil. Otherwise, that was about it from the Sturm und Drang.

The next day was PH's annual Thanksgiving feast. She sighed with some relief that all the weather problems happened the day before. I never got that reply from Skippy to my invitation. I'm starting to wonder if she'd sent it to my old address after my very last check with my old provider and before my contract with it finished up. I hope that that is the case; I'd think I would rather give up on women if she also decided to go the way of The Madam and Arwen.

T22 left us quite a legacy. Since its foreshadowing on Friday, we haven't had a single sunny day. It was indeed a pretty dreary long weekend and my laundry is still damp after washing it yesterday morning.

I finally did get my workout in this afternoon. Because I only made it to the gym just once last week, I'll hit the place three times this week. Not surprisingly, with all of the culinary debauchery on Sunday, I was back to where I'd started weightwise. Ah, well.... But the second trip to the gym won't be happening tomorrow. I gotta head out to the photographers again to get a second series of photos made up; this time, it's for the new Alien Registration Card that's gotta be made next week.

Christopher Reeve passed away this weekend which is sad. He tried so hard to walk again after that horrific accident which left him paralyzed. However, he did leave a legacy of awareness on the public about the plight of parapelegics and quadrapelegics which will translate to a cure someday.

Thursday October 7, 2:00 p.m.

It's been a while but when one doesn't have ready access anymore.... However, I found out to my pleasure that my sports club does have one monitor and keyboard with ADSL access and it's free. Luckily, most of my fellow athletes are pretty senior so they don't really have much interest in computers. But for today, I'm back at the Kinkos.

The weather had been pretty wet for the first part of this week but yesterday saw some sun and nice temps and we're much of the same today. However, from tomorrow, we'll be on the lookout for yet another typhoon coming our way. We also had a bit of another kick from Mother Nature last night when a M5.8 temblor shook the Kanto around midnight. Just some fallen stuff from my shelves but nothing major.

I actually did get a class at the ol' school on Tuesday. I made the most of it by pulling out the Dancing Bear routine. Had the kids in stitches...even cured one girl's headache. Goes to show that laughter is indeed the best medicine. Now, I gotta scout out some of the international supermarkets like National Azabu and what remains of Kinokuniya for those big orange pumpkins.

Glad to see that those painters are finally dismantling the scaffolding that's been girdling my balcony a week longer than expected. But with all the rain that's been coming down, their project had to be extended.

Well, had the Jazz Buddy today. Looks like she never made it out to Taiwan after all on account that her passport had expired. The entire incident took place right at the airport just when she and her buddy checked in at the airline counter. Her trip ended up being a nice little sendoff for her erstwhile traveling companion. Ah well, live and learn.

And it looks like Skippy hasn't responded to my invitation for PH's big Thanksgiving do on Sunday. Ah, well...that's life.

Not quite sure when I'll check in next. Maybe if I'm lucky, it'll be tomorrow night after my workout.

Saturday October 2, 3:01 p.m.

Well, it's official. Ichiro pulled it off. He not only tied the record..he broke it with two hits. Good place to do it as well...back at Safeco Arena. So I guess Mt. St. Helens wasn't the only place to go nuts in Washington State today. It feels a bit weird to find out from the sterile environment of the Internet. I haven't heard any major cheering or seen any newspaper banners screaming the headline. However, I'm pretty sure that I'll get plenty of both tonight when I get home. Now, all of us here can sigh relief.

Saturday October 2, 2:49 p.m.

I'm back on the road again as I'm typing this from the local Kinkos. So far, I haven't heard the results from the baseball game concerning Ichiro's odyssey but I am hopeful.

Had The Teacher yesterday for her lesson where she gleefully told me that she got me that Speedo trunks for my birthday. I was grateful for them but I also related that one important rule to her: Fat people shouldn't wear Speedos in public. Did make my unprecedented third trip over to the gym last night. It didn't seem too different from my morning bouts there but I guess the evenings must be really crowded. Right now, my upper body is aching somewhat so I'll take that as a good sign. However, the mother of those kids I teach on Saturdays gave me a box of chocolates from her trip to the sumo tournament (who'da thunk that sumo players give out chocolate?) so I now have four packages of the sweet stuff. Good golly, of all the O'Henryesque endings.

Those guys are still working off my balcony. Nice salt of the earth types but I hope that they're finished by today. There's nothing more unsettling than folks chatting up a storm just arm's-distance away from your window.

I'll probably just veg out tonight and just have a salad and chicken for dinner tonight while I attempt to lose some more weight. With my luck, I'll probably just balloon this weekend.

Thursday September 30, 9:41 p.m.

Well, my last entry here from home for the next little while. I'll be a bit more sporadic over the next couple of weeks as I write from Kinkos before my new provider gets me hooked up. I've sent out the word to everyone about my status so hopefully everything is OK on that front.

The only aftereffects of that typhoon were just some gustiness. Otherwise, it was pretty sunny. And though, it was 31 degrees, we didn't suffer any major humidity. It was nice and dry and the winds certainly helped things stay that way. I had another workout at the gym today. I even added to my program by lifting a couple of barbells. My arms and shoulders are feeling the burn right now.

Then, it was off to see I, ROBOT at the nearby theatre. The movie's gotten somewhat mixed reviews. But I'm one who enjoyed it. Sure, the movie only takes a cell's-depth of the original Asimov story, namely the The Three Laws of Robotics but what's on the screen works out pretty well as a medium-sized blockbuster It certainly comes off better than its stylistic clone, A.I. Will Smith plays a more dour version of his Agent Jay character but can't resist one little scene of full comedy. Also, the movie plays a bit as a film noir and certainly, I couldn't complain about the effects and some of those crazy camera tricks at the end. All in all, I'd give it a 8. Glad to hear that COLLATERAL will be headed our way by this time next month.

I hear that the government types in Ontario have slapped on a requirement to freeze all fish for a minimum 7 days before the sushi chefs can get their hands on them. The Entrepreneur and The Engineer sent me some news on it. The sushi chefs over in Toronto are up in arms over this law. Freezing certainly doesn't help the quality of the fish...especially not over a week. Over here, I don't think many fish get frozen and those that do, don't stay that way for long. One reason for it has already been cited, the other is proximity. The fish only needs refrigeration for the most part before it hits the boards for slicing and serving since Japan is such a small country.

However, in defense of the government, something that I rarely do, shipping fish from the ocean to a Tokyo sushi shop is rather different from shipping fish from the same ocean to a Toronto sushi shop. A lot more territory to traverse, and since there has been so much pestilence hitting my hometown in recent years, I guess the government had to come up with this hamfisted counterattack. But in a decade in this country, I've yet to hear of a single incident of food poisoning from a sushi bar anywhere in Japan. Before any of you state that there is a coverup, I'll say that if an incident of food poisoning ever occurred in a sushi shop, the media would probably pre-empt even Ichiro to find out where the offending restaurant is. The Japanese take their art of sushi THAT seriously.

Speaking of No. 51, Ichiro is truly a showman as well as a sportsman of the highest calibre. He got another hit today off the Oakland A's. He could've gotten all three to tie the mark but he's gonna keep us all in suspense, maybe even down to the final game against the Texas Rangers to get it.

Well, my usual classes with The Teacher and SR before I make my third consecutive trip to the gym. I heard that the place is pretty empty on Friday nights since most of the crowd usually does stuff of a most unhealthy nature on that night. More's the power to me.

Thursday September 30, 10:14 a.m.

Well, this is the last day with my old provider. It certainly feels like things are coming to an end with it. The connection seems to be taking a bit longer...just like in old age. I called up my new provider and found out that it'll take 1 to 2 weeks for things to clear so I'll be without home access for the first half of October. I hope I don't go through withdrawal during that time but maybe just like my new regimen of exercise, the separation of man and Internet may actually do me some good. However, there is always the friendly neighbourhood Kinkos to check for Internet.

Paddy, in a very timely move, sent me some e-mail asking how the new provider and my new regimen were doing. To answer both questions, I just replied "work in progress".

Typhoon 21 (or Meari, as it's called in the West), was pretty skittish here. Aside from a burst of squall overnight that I detected for just a few seconds before slipping off into Dreamland again, it didn't do all that much for us here in Chiba. However, there were sudden bursts of rainfall in the evening last night. But today, the clouds are starting to break apart and the sun is peeking out. Of course, on the flip side, the typhoon is dragging in some hot air so the temps will be taking us back to midsummer, if only for a couple of days.

I'm running a bit late so I'll head to the gym in the early afternoon instead of the morning and I'll probably catch I, ROBOT in the late afternoon.

Party Hearty's contacted us about the big Thanksgiving party at her place in the next couple of weeks. I may actually ask a couple of students to see if they would like to partake in the annual feast.

Wednesday September 29, 6:00 p.m.

Typhoon No. 21 will probably be the last one to scour through Japan this year but it's certainly making sure we won't forget it. It's going to ram right through the mainland. We've already had a slight taste here in Tokyo from one of the squall clouds ringing it. As usual, the southern parts are getting trashed right now.

I also had my third trip to the gym this morning. Worked out a bit longer than before thanks to an extended walk on the treadmill. And I was a bit heartened when I looked at the scale before working out. Since I had that pigout last weekend with ribs, karaoke food and all that meat at MB's, I thought I was back to square one again. However, I was actually weighing less than when I checked myself out on the first day.

Had my weekly class with The Hawaiian all the way west of Shinjuku today. She was my only customer since The Office Lady is too busy tonight. A bit of a pain having to go out all that way for just one hour of English teaching but The Hawaiian is an enthusiastic learner so I didn't mind at all.

Back home to see that NTT has left a message on my machine concerning my ADSL. Uck! I'm never all that thrilled about talking with authority in Japanese..probably, worst-case scenario, I have to pay the 72000 yen to officially get ownership of my phone line since I found out that it had been under the previous resident's name all these years. In which case I will be quite happy to relinquish my so-called dream of ADSL and go hat in hand back to my old provider and have my snail's-pace dial-up connection.

Well, the countdown for Ichiro's place in baseball history continues unabated. This morning, I heard that he only had 5 hits to go to reach Sisler's record of 257 hits. Then, on the way to work, I saw a sign on a newspaper kiosk trumpeting in bold yellow and black that the magic number was 4. Now, on the news, he only has 3 more to hit with 5 games left. It could be an interesting day tomorrow.

Aside from the call to the phone company, I hope to have a rather peaceful evening. I picked up something rather fascinating from the supermarket tonight...something that Homer Simpson (and I) would love. How about deep-fried potato and chicken skin on a skewer. I realize that I'm on a regimen but I just couldn't resist trying that out.

Tuesday September 28, 11:07 p.m.

Finished my juku classes tonight. Had the boss for the last lesson. We managed to keep it to the target structure for most of the class unlike in previous lessons. But she then got off track again to talk about the possibility of moving shop to a house next year. It would be a big step for her and a good one, in fact. We then got into the subject about my situation past the end of next year since my visa cuts off then. At this point, I cannot say that I will be able to remain here without some company sponsoring me. She would like me to stay me on indefinitely. So I then suggested that if she could incorporate her new company and hire me on as a full-timer, perhaps I may be able to get that new visa. However, she got somewhat noncommittal about that. So, I still face that uncertain future.

Tuesday September 28, 2:51 p.m.

Thought I was going to the gym in a few minutes but I've decided to hold my regimen one day. I had my class with the Tsudanuma gang and then one of the students invited me for lunch. I declined their kind invitation last week so I felt that I shouldn't do so this time.

I don't regret my decision. This time, the restaurant was just down the main street from the bowling alley. It was a small French place and done up like a farmhouse from the Gallic countryside itself. It's actually the first time that I've been to a French restaurant, and this place certainly left me a good first impression in terms of both taste and price (well, that is, if I had to pay...once again, the students picked up the tab). The appetizer was a potato salad with chicken and bacon shaped into a nice disc with carrot shavings on top and drops of lemon sauce sprinkled around it. Very artsy...this is French. Of course, there was the basket of crusty bread.

Then, came the main course which, for me, was slices of tender rump roast in a garlic sauce and coated in ground pepper. There was also the distinct taste of butter. I was sopping up the sauce with the crusty bread. Marvelous stuff. And then dessert was a plate of assorteds including a pretty tart passion fruit mousse cake. The only down side to all this culinary heaven was that I'd just come down with a case of hay fever. So I was sniffling into my well-used Kleenex all throughout the meal.

So I'm back now. The reason I'm staying put for the next few hours instead of working out is that I still have to plan for tonight's classes at the juku. I'm sure Paddy wouldn't be too pleased to hear that but I gotta get ready. Besides, I'll be heading out to the gym for the next three days anyways.

After I got back home last night, I watched Star Wars: A New Hope on DVD while scoffing down a mess of Spam and rice (don't knock it til you try it). I had the commentary track activated so I got to hear George Lucas, a couple of his assistants and Carrie Fisher gab on their opus. I was a tad disappointed by the fact that they were all separately taped instead of having the whole crew together but then again, the separation meant that everyone could focus on the task at hand instead of just doing the happy talk together. It's also too bad that the other actors, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, couldn't come on board. Harrison, I'm not too surprised about since he's always been pretty reticent with the media but it would've been interesting to see how he and Carrie would've done the commentary together. As for Carrie, she was just about a cameo performer in the commentary; most of the talking came via Lucas and the effects guys. And boy, does 26 years after the fact make a difference...Carrie definitely developed a whisky-and-cigarette voice since 1977.

On the CD front, one of the discs that I bought during that binge last week was by a group called EGO-WRAPPIN'. They're an Osaka band which started out on the indie circuit before striking it rich with their jazz/rockabilly sound. Their latest release, MERRY MERRY, seems to be a departure from their usual stuff. It looks like the lead singer has decided to go off on a Bjork-influenced vocal trip with some definitely non-jazz melodies. I'm not sure if this will be their new incarnation, but I kinda hope that they return to their jazz roots next album.

Monday September 27, 8:51 p.m.

Feeling pretty beat right now. The rains came down on Tokyo today. However, much to my chagrin, the temps outside were cool enough that I needed the jacket but the subways were warm enough to make it feel like the summer we had just gotten rid of.

The Class Act was mostly a solo since the host lady had to take off for parts unknown. However, before she did, she related us that she almost became the victim of telephone fraud or as they say over here, "Ore ore sagi" ("It's me, it's me" scam). What happens is that a con artist phones up an unsuspecting person, usually a middle-aged person with maturing kids, after doing some research on the patsy. The artist then either takes on either one of two personae: 1) a police officer, insurance agent or some other authority figure who reports to the parent that his son/daughter has gotten into some trouble and that a fine or fee has to be paid into the so-called figure's bank account to help expedite matters, or 2) the child himself/herself who tries to convince the parent in a small or whispery voice that he/she is in a pot load of trouble and needs money right away. Of course, the parent gets hooked because of the immediate panic involved so that even if the voice and the circumstances sound a bit strange, the parent is too rattled to notice.

My student almost fell victim to it. I thought she was a pretty sharp lady but even she blanked out during the hour of conversation with the con artist since she was so panicky. However, she did have the final presence of mind to say that she would call him back as a precaution. Of course, that ended the scam when she had her real son call the number given by the scammer to find out that it didn't pick up (because it was probably a public phone). There was actually a "school" run by the Yakuza for teens who wanted to hone their craft in the lucrative business of fraud until the police finally caught wind of it and busted the place.

Came home to see that the travel agency sent the fax confirming that I've got a lock on the flight home so I gave word to my brother.

Sunday September 26, 11:28 p.m.

Kinda of a gray and intermittently drippy day. Despite my balcony being trussed up with scaffolding for those painters, I was able to get my laundry done. Just brought it most of it to dry inside the living room. Luckily, my decade-old washer can still wring most of the moisture out of the wash so the clothes don't end up overhumidifying the room. However, I've seen the insect population start to increase so I'm gonna have to defumigate the place before bedtime.

Instead of catching I, ROBOT today, I just headed over for a rubdown at the massage clinic. It was absolutely empty when I got there. When I asked the clinic director what was up, he answered the weather and perhaps some school sports days were keeping the customers away although I couldn't really see much going on during this weather. However, I'm not one to complain when I could get serviced immediately.

I came home and then caught the rest of the specials on the Star Wars DVD. Lucas mentioned that it was rather bittersweet when he finally wrapped that first trilogy since all his labours to create Star Wars also finally cost him his marriage. I also think watching the documentary was rather bittersweet since all the love and respect which has gone to this first trilogy really hasn't translated over to the current trilogy. Now when people talk of the next Star Wars movie, it's with a small sense of resignation to follow through as loyal but disappointed fans to catch the final Star Wars movie...for this trilogy anyways. I'm still fairly confident that either Lucas or his own Padawan Learner will make a try for the sequel trilogy.

Then, it was time to head over to downtown to meet up with Skippy and the others for those ribs at Tony Romas. The roll call had her, me, DTE, Arwen, Movie Buddy and her girlfriend, The Kid and The Golfer. The Ballerina sent her regrets but we did get a cameo in the form of Gabby via cellphone from San Francisco. I went literally whole hog and went for the large rack of ribs. I must admit that they were very tasty and meaty. Apparently since the restaurant is celebrating its 25th year in Japan this year, we all got a special ticket promising a free dish for our next visits, valid until next May. DTE was quite high on that thought to the point that she suggested going sometime in the very near future.

After dinner, we lost The Kid and Movie Buddy. But the rest of us traipsed along the main street over to Anna Millers. The waitresses were wearing their usual short skirts and loose socks but they didn't get any sort of reaction from me. I had my usual Dutch Apple Pie and bottomless coffee. Within half an hour, Arwen decided it was time to go. So I thought it was everyone's cue to call it a night. However, Skippy asked if everyone had to go. I decided that I could stay, but DTE and The Golfer went with Arwen. So it was just Skippy and myself for the next hour. It seems her career and family life are paralleling mine. She's currently encountering the same pains that I did several years ago when I accepted promotion at my then-school and found myself being dragged away from teaching and into the mundane and political life of being an administrator. So she's considering options.

Well in any case, we're thinking about the next outing. Perhaps it'll be when COLLATERAL comes out here or when DTE gets that craving for ribs again.

Sunday September 26, 12:00 a.m.

Right on the stroke of midnight...

Another day to make me forget any good I did to my body at the gym this week. I went over to the welcome party where a couple of the higher students took over the hosting duties. Very good. I had a pretty fine time with the food and I met a new teacher who comes from the ol' hometown. The new kids seem fine and as is usually the case with the newbies, they were fairly subdued. However, everyone enjoyed themselves during the party games and the singalong. The coordinator seems to feel that renditions of "Do, Re, Mi" and "Edelweiss" are mandatory customs at the school parties. However, I was able to grit my way through it.

Everyone pretty much broke up afterwards which was a bit atypical when compared to welcome parties of the past. However, I just went up to the Tea Room and enjoyed what had to have been the very first time to just have tea there and not hold a lesson. Not that the staff particularly paid too much mind about that.

About an hour later, I headed out to Nakano where I was met by Movie Buddy's girl. We went shopping for the food for the grill. As usual, I ended up buying too much meat. However, MB and I were dutiful enough to devour everything though it took about 3 hours. During that time, we had a very pleasant evening chatting and eating while MB's brazier burned away. Curry Master did another quick cancellation...she really has a problem with going out; a bit of an extreme homebody, she is.

Earlier this morning, I watched the first bit of the Star Wars documentary, "EMPIRE OF DREAMS" on the DVD. It was quite enlightening despite the fact that I'd had read most of the stuff that came on screen on the unauthorized biography of George Lucas called SKYWALKING. Got to see some of the alternate choices for the characters trying out for Han Solo and Luke Skywalker such as a post-Disney Kurt Russell and William Katt. I'll probably slog through some more of it tomorrow before I head out to the third and final chapter in the saga of my weekend culinary binge.

Friday September 24, 11:22 p.m.

Smellin' of smoke and sweat once more after what seems to be becoming a monthly ritual with the Beauty Pair and Mr. Eccentric at the local SHIDAX karaoke box. It was fun again but I tried to make sure that everyone got their equal share in the spotlight. However, I kinda worried that Mr. Eccentric was getting a little downbeat over my facility with both English and Japanese songs. However, one of the BP assured me that everything was OK. I did my tribute to 80s singles by singing 66% of the hits of STARSHIP. To be honest, I was rather shocked by one of the music mags which labeled "We Built This City" as the 20th-century's shlockiest song but then again reporters of music magazines have become so jaded and snobbish.

Earlier in the day, I had The Teacher for her first lesson in 2 weeks. She was much better after her bout with asthma last Friday. And I got a surprise in the form of her lending me the Classic Star Wars trilogy DVDs. So I get a sneak peek at them after all before I get my own copy from my brother this Xmas. Then, I saw SR at the Tea Room. Apparently, she got a bit of a shock herself when there was a message from the Coordinator for some reason. There has been no contact between SR and her old school since she graduated over 18 months ago and suddenly she gets a message out of the blue. We gradually theorized that the Coordinator wanted her to come into the school on Saturdays to be the prodigal mouthpiece for potential students. SR was also somewhat put off that the Coordinator left another message inviting her to come to her chorus group's recital since the Coordinator shouldn't really be using alumni phone numbers on non-professional business.

Well, I contacted a travel agent acquaintance of Party Hearty's in Osaka to see if I can get that air ticket for home. When I got back from karaoke, there was a fax with all of the details. Air Canada is traditionally not one of those airline companies which gets on the discount ticket lists but for a direct flight from Narita back home, I guess the extra money is worth it. Anyways, I gotta get the info faxed back to him.

Also, Paddy's been taking some of his precious time to help me out of that snag with NTT concerning my attempts to get ADSL. Hopefully, he'll be able to do since I've got less than a week before my contract with my current provider runs out.

I've got a welcome party at the school tomorrow despite the fact that I'm no longer teaching the kids there. I'm gonna come in late so the Coordinator no longer takes it for granted that I will be always be the host for these parties especially when I'm no longer a presence in the regular classes. Stiil, it'll be nice to see the kids again.

Then, I'm headed over to see Movie Buddy, his girlfriend and Curry Master for dinner at his place. The wedding party for his buddy may be off but MB still wants to have a bit of dinner together.

Thursday September 23, 8:16 p.m.

Well, I guess the weather gods have cooperated with the official coming of Fall. The temps were actually decent today with the high being a warm but not stifling 27 degrees. The good news is that the weathermen are saying that this is indeed the beginning of the end of the Hell that was Summer '04.

More good news in Japanese baseball. Looks like the strike for this weekend has been averted. The chairman of the Japanese Baseball Players' Association, Atsuya Furuta, has definitely been coming out as the hero in this struggle against the so-called greedy owners. It helps that he had always been pretty popular as the catcher of the Yakult Swallows since he comes across as the regular guy. It also helps that his wife is a popular freelance announcer on TV. His regular guy status was further enhanced by his wearing a suit during the negotiations. Some good touches included his most public refusal to shake hands with the other side since he felt that there was nothing to shake hands about, and the fact that he got rather teary-eyed when the first weekend strike had been announced. Over here, a manly man crying just adds to his appeal....something that I've never really cottoned to.

The other good news here in baseball is Ichiro's rampaging run to become the highest-scoring hitter in a season. If he's getting a lot of press over Stateside, you can only imagine the ink and bytes of data that are being spewed out in his honour over here. A week back, I didn't think even he could make it but after hearing that he got 9 hits in 2 games, maybe it's time to change that opinion.

Had my class with Jazz Buddy. She was pretty good today. I won't be seeing her for the next couple of weeks since she's off with a friend to Taiwan for a vacation. I met The Carolinan later on in the day for her second lesson. She's a definite straight-shooter alright...it was only her second time in the Tea Room and she made her order to the waitress without opening the menu. She's not like the OL in that she's absolutely ravenous about using and learning English. She's somewhat more subdued so it ended up that I did more of the talking. Her basics in grammar seem to be OK but she had some rather surprising difficulties with preps so it's still going to be a bit before I finally nail her down on a teaching rhythm.

Movie Buddy left a message on the ol' machine. Looks like he'll come out to the welcome party now that the other party has been cancelled but he asked me if I'm still game for a BBQ at his place anyways.

It'll be another 2-lesson day tomorrow with The Teacher and SR. Then I've got my second round of karaoke with the Beauty Pair and Mr. Eccentric.

Wednesday September 22, 11:15 p.m.

Summer is determined to be dragged away kicking and screaming before Fall gets here tomorrow. It was another hot one in the Big Sushi. I had another go at the gym this morning. Just went through the routine as shown by my trainer the day before. Did two rounds of each exercise which were bracketed by 10 minutes on the bike and 15 minutes on the treadmill. I got everything done within an hour which kinda felt a bit hollow, a bit too fast. So, the next time I go there I'll go farther and faster on the treadmill and maybe I'll even sneak in one of Paddy's more advanced exercises to bulk things up a bit. I did lose another several grams, though.

However, all that effort probably went down the drain since I met the oil company guys tonight at Shimbashi. They took me to a new Italian buffet place which reminded me, if not fully equaled, the late lamented Farm Grill. Filled myself up with pasta and other goodies from the shelves. It's been six months since our last encounter so there was a bit to catch up on as well as the usual juicy gossip of who wined and dined who.

In between that get-together and the earlier workout, it seems that my life is now solidly spent in cafes. Except for another trip to the new Maruzen to pick up a couple of texts, I went to see The Hawaiian at our usual cafe in her neighbourhood and then I spent over an hour in another cafe in Shiodome before meeting up with the oil guys and after the dinner, we stopped at yet one more cafe before calling it a night.

I told The Hawaiian about the cancellation of the party on Saturday. She kinda went into shock for a couple of minutes because I also told her the reason behind it...the bride's mother passed away suddenly. I gather that I should have been a bit more gentle about it since The Hawaiian's father had also passed away not too long ago but I found out that her family and the bride's family were fairly close. I'm just surprised that Movie Buddy didn't bother calling her about the news. I sent him an e-mail telling him what happened today so that perhaps I could get some sort of response from him.

On the way home tonight on the subway, I was standing over one rather smelly guy who obviously was trying to raise his own dandruff farm. He ambled off the train looking like a slovenly version of Charles Bronson.

Well, I gotta get ready for the lessons for Jazz Buddy and then the Carolinan tomorrow despite the fact that it's a national holiday. But I'll be glad for the income since I've managed to fritter away a good bit of money since last week.

Tuesday September 21, 11:28 p.m.

It was another hot one today so we did break that record. The Weather Office says that by the end of the 21st-century, Japan should easily have double the plus 30-degree days that we have now. Oh, joy! Mind you, I don't think I'll be around quite that long unless there are some truly mindblowing advances in medicine and cybernetics.

My first session with the Tsudanuma gang in 2 months was unsurprisingly a big long chat about everyone's summer events. However, we did get into politics which kinda tuned out a couple of the ladies. Well, live and learn. They got quite a kick when I told them about my new life as a fitness nut.

And so later on in the afternoon, I made my way to the sports club to begin my long odyssey to a better me. Well, I quickly found out that I have to use a lot of lockers: the first one to store my valuables, another to store my sneakers which I can't use on the gym floor and yet one more in the men's changeroom to store the rest of my stuff and the keys for the first two lockers. I then rented a couple of shoes as if I were at a bowling alley and then my first steps onto the gym floor.

The staff there are very happy happy, joy joy. My trainer showed me the ropes by first having me checked out for blood pressure and weight. My weight was a bit of a shocker...I underestimated it by a good 10 kg or 20 lb. Yikes! Well, there's nowhere to go but down.

Then, my guy got me started on the process. First he had me do 10 minutes on the bike to check my heart rate. I skewed right in the middle; I wasn't breathing too hard but I did work up a good sweat which is a good start. Next, he had me do stretches to a video with a very well endowed young lady. And then he gave me the tour and test run of some of the machines. As a teacher, I'd give him full marks on his presentation: he was very patient and explained things very clearly in Japanese in a way that I could understand without having to guess too much at the details. Finally, we gave the treadmill a test run.

Finally, he wrote me up the programme which is a whole lot lighter than the one Paddy wrote up for me on Saturday. But then again, seeing that I am a beginner it's probably better for me to start out slowly. I did one more round by myself before calling it a day. The entire process took about an hour and 15 minutes. Not too bad and I even lost a good portion of a kilogram. I'll be giving things another go tomorrow morning before I see The Hawaiian. I'll probably hit the treadmill for a longer session. Kinda too bad that I faltered and did hit the burger shop after the first session though.

I got to the juku a full 90 minutes earlier than usual which surprised the boss. She also kinda gave me a surprise when she requested me to call up a cancer institute in Boston for her hubby's friend. I said that I would try my best although I wasn't too confident since all of the information about the friend was pretty much third-hand. However, I missed a bullet when the boss agreed that it would be a bit of a challenge so she had the friend call overseas instead.

They said that one has a lot more energy after a good workout. All I felt was some dull aches and pains. However, I did have a good couple of classes. The Beauty Pair just confirmed our second karaoke night for Friday. My juku boss once again took things way off the tangent once she heard my time at the gym. And in fact, the last 5 minutes had her jabbering in Japanese about advice concerning my dietary needs. I've been getting all sorts of diverging info on that topic that I just wonder if any of it really means anything.

Meanwhile at home, I'm facing perhaps a couple of weeks of scaffolding all around my balcony due to some work that's needed on the veranda side wall. I'm not too put out since the last time any outfit was doing that, Clinton had barely started his second term as President.

I got word from Movie Buddy that the big party this Saturday has been called off due to a tragedy in the family of one of the happy pair. Really too bad about that. Also, I got a message from the folks at my potentially new Internet provider...in pretty voluminous Japanese. I could glean barely that there will be a snag due to something concerning my NTT line. I forwarded the calligraphy over to Paddy who should get back within the next couple of days. I hope he can work things out. Otherwise, I may have to have hat in hand for my old provider.

According to the local news last night, there was an incident at a junior high school which ought to belong to one of those newspaper columns devoted to the bizarre and truly boneheaded. Apparently, a principal who just wanted to improve relationships between him and his students went up to a girl and felt that she looked better with shorter hair. Therefore as a "favour" to the young lass, he promptly produced a pair of scissors and snipped some locks off much to the shock of the girl. The girl immediately ran to her homeroom teacher who promptly went over his boss' head (which was pretty amazing in itself) and reported him to the Board of Education. I wonder if the principal (if he still has the title) had snipped a couple of nerves before he went on his tonsorial rampage.

Well, just gotta make the student reports and then head off to bed.

Monday September 20, 9:27 p.m.

Another hot day today. We'll be breaking the record for most number of days over 30 C in a single summer tomorrow. Not a record that I'd like to see broken next year.

Took advantage of a deal at the neighbourhood kaiten sushi place and had my usual plates of sushi with 20% off and a free drink. As expected, the place was hopping.

Then I went down to Daiei and picked up a really cheap pair of gym shorts for the ridiculous price of 695 yen. After paying all that money for joining the club, it's about time that I got a deal there as well.

I ended up planning most of this week's lessons. I'm all set for the juku, the Tsudanuma group for their first session in 2 months, and even for the Carolinan. I also got that pronunciation tape done for the Hawaiian. As I was doing this planning, I listened to one of my CDs during that spending binge last week. It was Jane Monheit's latest. She's appparently tied with Diana Krall as jazz chanteuse of the moment, and it shows. Very nice set of pipes and a heartwarming cover of "Over The Rainbow". Then I listened to the big band swing of Count Basie.

I was wondering whether to make Spaghetti Bolognese or Pork Kimchi for dinner tonight. I ended doing neither. I just bought some cuts of roast chicken with some supermarket spaghetti.

E-mail and phone were keeping me busy tonight. I got a call from Movie Buddy. It'd been about 2 weeks since I last spoke with him. Looks like he has to make his own pilgrimage down to Immigration tomorrow so I told him the ropes. Hopefully, he'll get through with his bureaucracy like I did. He also told me about the machinations at the ol' school. Apparently, there was something close to revolt last week when the new 3-class system started. The top class evidently had 11 students crammed into the room. Several angry complaints later, the coordinator will be going back to a 4-class system. Smart belated move, sister.

And then a couple of hours later, Arwen called me up. She sounded like she never left. However, she is still wondering about whether to accept that offer from my chiseling manager and take a job at the school. I told her what I thought of that in no uncertain terms. Anyways, she'll be joining us for that rib outing next Sunday.

On the e-mail front, my brother told me that as a birthday/Xmas present, he's gotten me the DVD set of the Classic Star Wars trilogy. Good on him. I'll be looking forward to seeing that...in January 2005 since my parents don't have a DVD player. Also, one of the oil boys contacted me to confirm the Wednesday night dinner. The Wild Thing has followed my lead to give weekly reports of his time in his new land. The MBA programme there is already grinding sweat and blood from him.

Well, I figure it's time to clean up a bit, have a cup of coffee and then start the ironing before I retire. Big long day coming up.

Sunday September 19, 6:08 p.m.

Just came back after my trip out to the great backwoods of Nagano Prefecture with a bried detour through Tokyo Dome.

After my morning lesson, I headed out down to Tokyo Station and got my tickets for Karuizawa. There were some sizable lineups for each of the doors of the cars but I managed to get a seat with no problem in the non-reserveds. However, I made a slight mistake by going into the smoking car. My nose behaved itself but my clothes picked up the distinct smell of tobacco.

The trip up to Sakudaira Station took about an hour and 15 minutes. As we gradually left the Kanto, things started to cloud up so by the time we reached Karuizawa it was overcast. Mt. Asama loomed in the background but it didn't do too much during the weekend. However, what it did do was basically obscure the sky at night with the tons of ash in the atmosphere. We couldn't see any stars, and since my friends' area was pretty devoid of nightlamps and noise, it made for an eerie effect.

Paddy and his buddy picked me up from the station and we made a pit stop at the baby goods' store since they're still in the phase of acquiring stuff for their new arrival. This time, it was a baby buggy. If there were anything in this country that proves how pricey it is to live here, the baby buggy was it. There were the really cheapo ones for 3000 yen. However, most of them were going for between 20000 and 50000 yen. Ugh!

We made it over to the apartment. My good friend was cooking up some really delectable BBQ chicken while the newest addition to the family was quietly laying on a cushion just gurgling away. For the next several hours, we just gabbed, Paddy advised me on his sports program for my visit to the sports club, and we tried to get through the DVD of the pilot episode of FRIENDS (we failed)...all while we just continued to munch down the chicken wings and some other wonderful sushi rice with toppings wrapped in a leaf. It turned out to be a several-hour wait since we were waiting for another ol' buddy of Paddy's who was supposed to head out here with his new family the night before. Apparently, he's had the reputation as a procrastinator according to the talk bandied about. In the interim, we also decided to go the nearest supermarket to pick up some ice cream. During the ride there, we noticed a shopping street all boarded up like a ghost town. The recent appearances of megamalls and outlets have dried up customers for the old little retail places. It's a pity.

Finally at around 9:30, earlier than anticipated, the other family came with their little kid in tow. She was about a year older than my friends' daughter but she was a bundle of energy. She was in that new phase of touchy-feely-walky. She just couldn't stay still for a single minute. However, it was nice to be the uncle of the family and play around with the kids.

A couple of hours later, we said our goodbyes to our hosts and then headed out to the cottage where we would be staying for the night. It was Paddy, me and the procrastinator's family (don't get me wrong, he is a nice guy...the name is just a handle). A half-hour later, the car rambled through some thoroughly darkened woods (I was reminded of Blair Witch) before coming to a stop in front of a pretty large wooden cottage. Entering the rustic lodgings, I realized through the musty air that this was the first time I'd ever stayed in a cottage. The closest I ever got to that was perhaps during my childhood days at camp.

The cottage was a mix of old and new. The structure itself was over 40 years old with that mustiness but it also had a modern flush toilet with the heated seat and bidet functions plus a TV with surprisingly good reception. We hit the hay within the next couple of hours. On the TV, we found out that there was a hostage-taking in progress in Ichihara City, not too far from where I live. Another wonderful crime for the talking heads to gab about on Monday morning.

I woke up around 8 this morning and had instant ramen and coffee for breakfast; I think that would be my version of roughing it in the woods. The air was comfortably cool but the mosquitoes were out in force. I managed to swat most of them away but a few still got through the defences. A couple of hours later, the Procrastinator drove all of us to the station. I was the only one to drop out though. The others decided to stay another day to partake in the hot springs.

It was already getting quite warm even in Karuizawa before the duck-billed Nagano Shinkansen arrived to pick up the passengers for the trip back to Tokyo. During the ride down, I continued to dig through the 9/11 Commission's Report. Parts of it just read like a Tom Clancy novel and therefore it was very difficult to put down.

I hit Tokyo a little after noon and quickly made my way up to Tokyo Dome. Considering that baseball is on strike, the surrounding area was still remarkably crowded. But now that there is a huge mall and amusement park, the area doesn't really need baseball to perk up its population. There I met my old Tea Room Ladies for what I realize has been the first time in over a year.

We found the News Deli as our place to eat. It was once again another baby session as the most talkative of the group brought her 7-month-old daughter along. The most talkative one has been living in Buenos Aires with her hubby for the past year and a half due to work, and although she wouldn't admit it, I think she's settled down there pretty well. Her English was getting mixed up with her Spanish at times and her delivery did have a tinge of Spanish. We gabbed about the usual things: certain students, teachers and the old days.

After about 2 hours, we split up. I don't think I'll see them again for a while.

Back home, I received some further surprises. On my message machine, I received no less than 3 calls from The Bohemian. He's back in town and probably wanted to see if I were available for dinner tonight but frankly I just wanted to get home. However, I'll call him and see if he's up for something tomorrow afternoon. DTE contacted me telling me that she ran into a current student in Tokyo. Apparently, the school now only has 3 classes under the coordinator. No wonder I won't get any classes. Geez, how bad is it gonna get?

But the biggest bombshell of the day was a message from, lo and behold, Arwen. Apparently, that new job was indeed the job from Hell. She almost became a victim of "death by overwork" and had to quit prematurely. She basically spent most of August and September trying to recuperate. And now that she has, she took a small trip to London and saw the Ballerina by coincidence.

My response to her was frankly quite muted. Despite her ordeal at the company, I'm still not particularly all that thrilled that she disappeared on me like that without so much as a word. And I still have no idea about what has happened to 77. But I invited her to the rib pigout next Sunday being planned by Skippy.

Well, time for me to pick some supplies for the fridge and then I'll have a bit of leftovers for dinner.

Friday September 17, 8:42 p.m.

Well, finally paid the hunk of money and I'm now a member of NAS Sports Club. Seeing that I haven't received any schedule from the school for any classes, it looks like my first outing to the club will be on Tuesday afternoon. The coordinator told me the details about the welcome party for the 25th so I responded with a shot across the bow about what my status at the school will be. But back to NAS, my nervousness was showing when I signed up, I forgot to take my change and forgot to take my package of materials with me. I'm sure the staff must think me a bit of an idiot.

With The Teacher off with her cold and SR too busy today, I had a totally free day so just did some shopping and cleaning up. Cooked up that curry udon that the juku boss had given me back on Tuesday. She said that she didn't put any meat into the curry since she's not a big fan of the stuff. Well I am an unrepentant omnivore so I added some chicken and some remaining veggies to give it a bit of a lift. Worked out well.

We're still waiting here for the final word from the Japanese baseball negotiations whether there will be indeed be a weekend strike. The guys have delayed their decision twice already.

Actually, I received e-mail from DTE for the first time in a while. Apparently, she'll also be joining Movie Buddy's party next week. I also asked her about the fate of Arwen and 99 since she was also close to them. Carolina also contacted me to see if she could move up her next class to the holiday Thursday next week. Since I'm teaching Jazz Buddy on that day, I said that I could do that. Only problem is that the Tea Room closes early on national holidays so we'll need an alternate venue. I'm waiting myself for what the kids' mother wants me to do tomorrow. I still don't know whether I'll be teaching the older daughter or "teaching" the parents.

Well, gotta pack for my trip to Karuizawa tomorrow afternoon. I assume that Paddy is already up there. I'll give the bath another try to see if I can endure my stay there better with my bath radio.

Oh, news flash...the strike is on. Baseball is taking an unscheduled holiday for the first time in history in Japan.