grandpa's watch


grandpa's watch, originally uploaded by renfield.

Just this morning I was whining to Hiroko that I needed decent, normal watch, capable of both telling the time and not making me look like a moron when dressed up for work.

After we went to the local temple, grandma gave me a bunch of granpa's stuff, including a couple of awesome haori and grandpa's antique silver King Seiko 45-7001 Hi-Beat watch. Extreme coolness.

baachan & ebi fry


baachan & ebi fry, originally uploaded by renfield.

We rallied the troops and went to a local family restaurant, were we proceeded to pigout on all kind of scrumptous foods including fried eel backbone crunchy chips, spicy raw squid parts, crab pasta, ramen and grandma's breaded, deep-fried giant shrimp.

marugerita


marugerita, originally uploaded by renfield.

Before heading back to the homestead, Hiroko and I had some pizza at Salvatore's.

elbow

Wednesday evenings at fighting Inoue-sensei runs us through glove and target combos. I am happy to say that not only do I lack coordination, I am totally incapable of throwing a decent punch. Lots of power, zero accuracy, and 30 seconds into a 3-minute round I am gasping for breath. I am now seriously awed by boxers who can go round after round, throwing and receiving brain-brusing and rib-cracking punches.
My left hand is strongest, and because of this I tend to throw punches with arm strength, instead of pushing through with the hips (hips, eh? Amazing how all arts; karate, iai, etc. are based on the same principles.) Problem is I also have terrible form, so after an hour of combos my elbow and wrist and in pain. Also, because I can't square up my fist correctly and pull my hooks and uppercuts in instead of pushing them out, I end up landing on the pinky knuckle instead of the index and middle finger knuckles. So I've got sore elbow and wrists, and red-bruised pinky knuckles. Oh yeah, and since the punches come from the hips, with my abdomen and stomach muscles are killing me, too.

masa eating roll cake


masa eating roll cake, originally uploaded by renfield.

After teaching the kumitachi seminar, I followed my orders and purchased: 1 battery-powered cellphone charger, 3 whipped cream cheese roll cakes (strawberry, plain, and choco), and a large cafe latte and went to see Masa in the hospital.

Her fever isn't completely gone but her appetite is unfailing. She inhaled her dinner and finished off half of the strawberry roll cake. She'll probably be in the hospital another couple of days and then she'll stay with us until next weekend.