Seems like it was just yesterday that I gave Yu-ching the really, really terrible nickname Chimichanga (now reduced to the much more tolerable Chimi-chan), but now she's been at Amazaon.co.jp for a while, and I'm at Deutsche, and she's run the Honolulu marathon for the 3rd time! Amazing. I can't even get up before 10am on a Sunday, and she flies to the other side of the world to run for hours on end.
Speaking of which, Ramesh now officially owes me money, as not only did he not run the marathon in under 5 hours, but he didn't even bother to go to Hawaii! Beers on him, but it's up to me to collect!
andy
This is Andy. Andy came to Japan 18 years ago with a UK new wave pop band. Now he goes to the Tsukiji fish market every morning, buys up all the leftover good stuff, and sells it at Shin-hinomoto, right under the train tracks at Yurakucho station.
He is tall of height, quick of wit, and a damn fine chap who sells the best and cheapest seafood in the dingiest salaryman hangout.
crab!
Serious crab closeup. Plenty of crabs guts (brains, eggs, etc.) to eat after we powered through all the legs and claws.
jorge!
Jorge randomly appeared in Japan for a day, on his way back from a Samsung meeting in Korea. Hiroko and I took him to eat okonomiyaki and monjayaki across the street and then we goofed off as we generally do.
x-mas party
Research X-Mas party, so at the Tokyo American Club first we went bowling and my team came in 3rd! Woowoo!
Then we headed over to the banquet hall and had some food and bingo insanity.
After that we were singing karaoke up the street until I finally dragged myself home.
Check out the photos.
ako
Ako from the NY Japan desk is in town, so she and I and Scott went to Akihabara for uh, technology, um...research. Yeah, that's it.
We did the standard tour, checked out the cool TVs (Ako really needs to buy a new TV) and had a killer lunch at some hole-in-the-wall. The owner was showing off his festival photos and told us to come back in May.
shopping
Hiroko and I finally put on our motivational hats and went Holiday Season Shopping. Unlike yesterday, it was damn cold, so we were motivated to keep moving. Bussed to Shibuya and hit the Seibu Department Store and connected Loft to spend 4000 yen in gift certificates that Hiroko got from credit card points, then walked over to Harajuku up to Omotesando, and back down through Aoyama to Shibuya. It was surprisingly not too crowded, and once the drizzle sputtered out, it was pretty nice, though gray.
Saw a totally ridiculous protest march: a bunch of college students complaining about not having adequate health coverage and benefits as part-time workers. Um, maybe they're unclear on the concept: it's called 'part-time', as opposed to 'full-time', i.e. "I work for a living" versus "I leech off my parents and earn just enough spending money to keep me in Gucci and karaoke."
Sorry kids, no pity from me. Here's a novel idea: you are students, right? How about maybe studying something interesting and actually becoming a useful member of society?
Saw a totally ridiculous protest march: a bunch of college students complaining about not having adequate health coverage and benefits as part-time workers. Um, maybe they're unclear on the concept: it's called 'part-time', as opposed to 'full-time', i.e. "I work for a living" versus "I leech off my parents and earn just enough spending money to keep me in Gucci and karaoke."
Sorry kids, no pity from me. Here's a novel idea: you are students, right? How about maybe studying something interesting and actually becoming a useful member of society?
cutting
Had the last cutting session of the year at Honbu. There was a big Mochi-tsuki festival down on the street below, so we all assumed that after we cut we'd got some eats, but alas it was all gone by the time we were done. Most folks cut ok, and I demo'd some basics, but I'm so out of practice, I really need to get back into cutting every week.
work x-mas party
Had our company party at the lovely Hotel New Otani up the street. Check out the photos. For some reason, Emiko managed to get into just about every photo. And she was quite drunk, as many folks were. The food, of course, was top notch. Hats off to the chefs of the hotel; the did a spanking good job on the vittles, from the sushi to the stir-fry, fresh curries, and fantastic fruit and dessert assortments.
patents and pop
Patents are, in general, patently silly. Here's a good idea to fix the system.
And while we're talking, why is it I get all the good toys in Japan?
And while we're talking, why is it I get all the good toys in Japan?
bad apple (sauce)
Had my traditional breakfast this morning: some bread, some coffee. Also pulled a cup of apple sauce out of the fridge for some much needed fruit.
Went to work and spent the morning in the bathroom, doubled over in pain. Didn't eat much. Came home early, curled up fetal on the couch.
Haven't had white-hot-iron-poker-in-the-abdomen pain in months, and will be happy to never have it again. Must check expiration date on apple sauce...
Went to work and spent the morning in the bathroom, doubled over in pain. Didn't eat much. Came home early, curled up fetal on the couch.
Haven't had white-hot-iron-poker-in-the-abdomen pain in months, and will be happy to never have it again. Must check expiration date on apple sauce...
bid'ness illiteracy
My mom is religious in her pursuit of spelling and grammar errors on my blog (no I don't spell check it. What would mom do then?) But believe me, there is worse. The good news is email does not make you illiterate. The bad news is you can't hide your illiteracy anymore what with all the email you send.
heater
Bought me one of them groovy oil heaters from Electrolux. Has two timers to set the desired temp at one-hour increments. Has casters. Is totally silent. Gets warm slowly, cools down slower still. Very toasty. Speaking of which, finally broke down and bought a toaster, too. Convinced myself for the longest time that I didn't need one. I was wrong.
calf muscles
A stunningly warm and sunny day. Serious global warming problems when it's the beginning of December yet 24° outside.
Did kenjutsu today for the first time at Shinbukan. Actually, all I did was suburi, practicing one basic cut over and over. Elbow was tweaking, but didn't hurt nearly as badly as my legs. Try this: stand with your feet together, move the right foot way forward and face left, such that your toes and heels are all on one line. Now turn your left knee way, way in until you're facing forward again. And lower your left knee until your left calf and right thigh are parallel to the ground. And don't let either heel touch the ground. Hold that position with practicing basic cuts. For two hours.
Did kenjutsu today for the first time at Shinbukan. Actually, all I did was suburi, practicing one basic cut over and over. Elbow was tweaking, but didn't hurt nearly as badly as my legs. Try this: stand with your feet together, move the right foot way forward and face left, such that your toes and heels are all on one line. Now turn your left knee way, way in until you're facing forward again. And lower your left knee until your left calf and right thigh are parallel to the ground. And don't let either heel touch the ground. Hold that position with practicing basic cuts. For two hours.
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