give your meat

BBG: Singapore Hedge Fund Mecca Lures Japanese Dismayed by Regulator

The title says it all. A Bloomberg article explains why hedge funds don't set up shop in the world's second-largest economy. In two words: taxes, regulation.
Let's quote:

"Japanese taxes were four times more and Singapore had a quicker approval process"

"just two weeks to get a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to operate as an investment manager and...started in two months"
vs.
"waited for six months to get approval from Japan's Financial Services Agency to manage its own funds"

currying favorite

Had one of those rare double-curry days. Went for the veggie curry with nan for lunch, and then tonight after work we all headed to Kenbokke for a celebratory dinner. Prawns brilliant as always, and of course the sag chicken is loverly, too. The place is so small and the waiter was off so I bussed tables in order to keep the chef busy in the kitchen and keep the food coming.

morning hair

morning hair
Originally uploaded by renfield.

looking good!

long time no cut

Finally made it to cutting practice, first time in forever. Haven't been to the dojo in over 2 months, thanks to our friends at the Ministry of Finance. Today I took my new sword for a test drive; no complaints. I was kinda rusty but the sword cut like a pro. Good profile, decent weight, ok balance (a bit tip heavy but doable.)

earning my keep

Big day of getting things done. Woke up fairly early, inhaled a bowl of granola and soy milk (no I'm not some crunchy health freak, yes I am a lactard), and disconnected all the av equipment, moved the tv, antique chests, all the books, albums, CDs, and DVDs, and pulled out the shelves. Around 9am Suruga Isho arrived with my new custom TV stand and they constructed it and slotted it in place.
By noon it was done and we had everything put back and wired into place (and working).
In a word: fabulous.

But I had no time to appreciate it, as I had to jet out to zazen without lunch. Got back just before dinner time, hit the dry cleaners, unpacked the new trashbin and a million other packages that arrived and had dinner. Tonchan was feeling considerably better so was in more of a tolerant (and tolerable) mood.

not happy sick girl

not happy sick girl
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Someone has stolen my daughter and replaced her with a crying mass of snot-producing grumpiness. She doesn't really like it when mom isn't holding her, and even then she's not entirely happy. Can't blame her; using a cleverly engineered snot-sucking-tube I've personally removed about 4 kilos of nasal discharge from her head in the past few days (a process which she really does not appreciate as much as she should), and yet the flow seems unending, making it tough for her to breathe well. If I had that much gunk in my skull I'd cry all the time, too.

The good news is that when she's all grown up and we're doing the slide show at her wedding, we will have many, many embarrassing pictures of her as a wee child.

billy barew's

Met up with the old posse at Billy Barew's in Ebisu so for much needed mud slinging trash talk. The late night and smokey bar room atmosphere has done wonders for my cold. Not.
Tonchan continues to have endless snot dripping from her tiny little nose, but I guess the rule is as long as she doesn't have a fever, she's fine and bouncing all over the place!

Also, and totally unrelated, the intercom system in our apartment building seems to have died, and this week we have a number of deliveries arriving, so my cell keeps ringing with delivery guys in the lobby trying to get in touch with P in the apartment. Note to self: from now on put the apartment's home number not my cell phone as the delivery address contact.

lunch @ chamate in loft

lunch @ chamate in loft
Originally uploaded by renfield.

In the morning went to the hospital because we've all now got colds. Everyone has a runny nose and Tonchan's started to cough a bit too so we got her checked out and got some medicine to ease the coughing and stuffy nose so maybe she can sleep a bit better.

In the afternoon we walked down to Shibuya and bought some curtains at Loft.

starbucks break

starbucks break
Originally uploaded by renfield.

spaghetti lunch

spaghetti lunch
Originally uploaded by renfield.

In the morning we moved the bed into the other room and busted out the new supa-waido futon in the master bedroom. Now we can roll about on the floor without a care!

To celebrate we had a loverly pasta lunch and Tonchan enjoyed stretching and throwing the noodles all over.

gyukaku

More mad crushage at work, but I managed to get outta the office about 9:30 and met The KnewMan for dinner. We wandered Roppongi looking for decent yakiniku and I was really hankering for some gyukaku, and finally we found it and feasted in cheap, meaty splendor.

michelin

Furthering my assertion that Tokyo is the most awesomest city in the world, the indefatigable frogs have now declared it the Place for the Palette.
The new Michelin guide for Tokyo gives it a whopping 191 stars, leaving Paris with only 65 a far second.

nap time

nap time
Originally uploaded by renfield.

walking practice

virgin a5 cow!

virgin a5 cow!
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Brilliant teppanyaki dinner at Kisentei in Midtown with the defenders of the free world.

rock garden circle

Yoga Hippie has a video of us making a rock garden circle at the retreat this year.
He has lots of cool videos.

honesty

Been thinking recently about the various problems people have with their training. Actually it's not so much a problem with the training, it's actually a problem with all the other stuff; life in general perhaps.
There are a couple of different theories that focus on most of the problems being Gosoke's fault. I agree that Gosoke is at the center of the issues, could even be called the cause or trigger, but he's not the one at fault.
One theory goes like this: Gosoke is too nice. He is too quick to promote people to a rank undeserved and too free to give out responsibility to those who cannot meet the requisite demands.
The other theory is, amusingly, the exact opposite: Gosoke is too harsh. He punishes for the slightest infraction of protocol, allows no second chance, expects perfection.
I tend to think both theories are correct. It comes down to the simple expectation that Gosoke has: he expects you to be honest; to do what you say will do, to be responsible for your words and actions.
I don't think it's possible for anyone to be honest with others without first being honest with himself. This means possibly admitting that you cannot do what is asked of you. It's much more sincere and downright impressive to honestly say you cannot do what is asked of you than to say that you can and then get it done half-assed and late.
A big part of Japanese society is "effort". Trying hard is important, oftentimes regardless of the outcome. You work 14 hours a day every day for 15 years, you deserve a promotion and a fat pension. Never mind how much value you actually added to the company. I remember when I first came to Japan and was amazed at the school graduation ceremony. Students got top awards not for academic achievement but for attendance, for not missing one day of school, never mind how much they actually studied nor how well they scored.
I have a hard time believing this is an old tradition in Japan. Back in the day I imagine you were expected to do what you said, and trying was lovely but if you didn't deliver you were probably told to split your stomach to atone for your failure.
Some people these days seem to think that if they promise to do something, pull three all-nighters in a row and finally deliver half of what they said they would, they somehow deserve praise for such an heroic effort. Gosoke doesn't believe that doing what you say you will do is heroic or even praise-worthy. It's merely expected. And not doing what you say is dishonest. Far better to be honest about doing nothing well than be dishonest about doing something badly.
So Gosoke has no problem with people who want to get rank, take responsibility, and work hard. And the more you say you will do, the more he expects you to actually deliver. Therefore, the farther you have to fall when you cannot deliver. The problem is not that someone didn't deserve that rank or that position, it is that they failed to live up to it.
Gosoke likes to push people out of their comfort zone and demand that they constantly strive to get better and achieve more. People mistake promotion for praise. Gosoke doesn't promote you because he thinks you deserve that rank, he wants to put pressure on you to step up to that rank by forcing you to face the fact that you're not deserving of the rank you have. But alot of people get the order confused; they think that since they are now promoted, they somehow deserve some respect or praise or something. They feel entitled, not under pressure to grow.

There is often this fundamental mismatch between what people expect and what they deserve; how the world is and how they think it is, or how they think it should be.
Amazing how it comes back to the basic zen principle of truth. The name Mugai is taken from the first line of a poem that starts "there is nothing but the one truth."
Being honest with yourself is first recognizing the truth, of yourself and your situation. Your abilities and your limitations, what you can do and what you cannot. If you are honest with yourself then it's easy to be honest with others, and people will recognize your honesty, sincerity, and humility.

more photos

As promised here are more photos:

Also Mama put up some photos, and papa's put up some photos, too.

break @ muji

break @ muji
Originally uploaded by renfield.

Yesterday the rain let up and it wasn't too cold, so we headed to the big Muji in Yurakucho to check out the all-wooden walker for Tonchan and various other bits and bobs. Afterwards went to MOS Burger and Tonchan had a burger and fries. When we came home we sat in front of the TV and zoned out. I guess being overseas so much has really made her American now!

crushed

Had a lovely time at Peter and Jenn's wedding in the Santa Lucia Preserve (photos coming later) and am now back in the grind, getting crushed. Leaving work after midnight, waking up at 4am.
Strangely, I don't feel tired as in sleepy, just exhausted.