ahhhh...i'm tired from a long night....will update later. i need to get some sleep yo!!!

kaz out...

i got my contract extended!!!

past couple of days has been pretty chill.

on tuesday, the boys bball team practiced on shootin' the whole time, so i helped them with their form. when you're not runnin' around, it gets pretty frickin' cold in the gym. no wonder abiru and sasaki sensei are wearin' like 3-4 layers!

on wednesday, hung out @ ikko and went to have some chile wine with hashimoto.

had my alt meetin' yesterday and spoke with my boss about next year. he told me that he already set aside the budget for me...so that means that i'll be here for another year!!!

last night, had korean food with suga and crew. the girls were very surprised of how my japanese has come along. everytime i go out to eat yaki niku or korean food with suga, he always introduces to me new, crazy korean food that i've never even seen or heard of.

since yesterday, i've been proofreadin' asumi chan's diary. i've had to make a lot little corrections but now, with the help of takeuchi and takahashi sensei, i think i'm done.

plan for the weekend:
sleep, do laundry, clean, play bball in shibuya and catch up on my espn bball season


saw this on a site that i frequently read. called the friday five. feel free to leave any comments about your friday five.

the friday five

1. List your five favorite beverages.
1) oolong hi (sho chu & oolong tea)
2) aquarius (japanese sports drink)
3) ocha (japanese green tea)
4) tantakatan (sho chu from hokkaido)
5) kubota (japanese sake from niigata)

2. List your five favorite websites.
1) yahoo (fantasy sports, news)
2) espn
3) gamespot
4) anandtech
5) amazon

3. List your five favorite snack foods.
1) crunch tators
2) edamame
3) pocky
4) calbee potatoe veggie chips
5) takuan

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
1) spades
2) hearts
3) dominos
4) taboo
5) scattergories

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
1) espn basketball (back in the day, nba 2k-2k3)
2) high heat baseball
3) splinter cell (waitin' for pandora tomorrow!)
4) unreal tournament (mp/insta-gib)
5) quake 2

monday

school was pretty laid back today. only taught a couple of classes. played some bball after school and had a good time.

finished early cuz i had to go meet ko and yuko (she homestayed with my mother's friends about 5 years ago) @ tsudanuma station. we were goin' on for ko (just finished his 2 tests for the police dept) and yuko. didn't really recognize her cuz it's been such a long time. she was visitin' the tokyo area for the past 4 days and is headin' back to hokkaido on tuesday.

when i met up with ko, we started walkin' towards the gate and i was like, ummm...where are we goin'??? he said ueno. i was like tokyo?!? i thought we were goin' to chill in tsudanuma. he then tells me the reason we're meetin' in ueno is that rieko (ko's g/f) is goin' to join us. i was like what, what, what?!? man...you gotta tell me these things so i can prepare myself. but in the end, it was all good. 4th day straight goin' out to tokyo.

got to ueno i went to meet up with rieko in front of starbucks. we were waitin' for about 10 min when ko gets an email sayin' that she's in starbucks!!

we decided to go to watami because yuko took this seminar through the watami group and there aren't any watamis in hokkaido. from this point, starts our journey...

ko and yuko had no idea where it was at but rieko and i kinda had an idea. we first went my way, but to no avail, couldn't find it...strike 1. so then we took rieko's way, but in the end, negative...strike 2. we then split up, but yet again...nothin'...strike 3. we finally called watami and ko went to scout it out. after about a total of 30-40 min, we finally found it. the ordeal increased our appetites quite well.

situated ourselves and got some drinks and ordered some food. man, can rieko pound some beer, yo! from the first toast, she was already 2/3 of the way done!!

as for the food, it was the most food i've eaten with four people, regardless if two of them were girls. we (yuko, rieko and i) exchanged numbers/mail addresses by infared and took pictures to go along with the phone entries all while ko watched cuz he has a pretty old ketai. when i first tried to beam my number, yuko tells me that i didn't change the default name so it showed up as "my number".

it was interestin' to see rieko and ko together cuz for the past 3 months, they haven't really had any communication cuz he had been studyin' for his tests. i still can't believe she was down for that. don't think that would work out with a girl back home. we also compared stories/pictures of each other. ko, at his biggest stage was about 100kg (220lbs) but is now at around 65kg (143lbs). rieko mentioned that when they first met (about 1 1/2 years ago), she didn't think he was that big (ko @ the time was probably around 75kg) but she then says that she was drunk. yuko's story was that when she came to america, only for one year, she gained 8kg (about 18lbs). i just had to show them my alien's card and they said i looked totally different.

as we finally wrapped things up, yuko gave rieko and i some omiyage from hokkaido. she gave me a box shiroi koibito (literally = white lovers, but probably means more like snow lovers) a very famous cookie/chocolate maker.

as we were leavin', i had to remind rieko about her scarf that was on the floor. when we walked out, we got about 100 meters when rieko realizes that she forgot her ketai @ the restaurant. i think she put it down when she went to pick up her scarf. rieko cracks me up all the time.

the night started on a bad note, but i ended up havin' a great time. next trip...hokkaido!!!

kaz out...

friday night: yu's performance

tried to take a nap but couldn't cuz i was hyped for tonite.

went to shinjuku and met up with mike. after tryin' to go to watami, we ended up at this pub. had some guiness and chicken & chips. met up with yu and then went in to garam. when we first got there, it wasn't too packed and this was @ midnite! yu was gonna perform @ 0230, so we had to chill for a little bit. there's these stairs outside the club where people go to talk and get away from the loud music. mike, bein' a little bit tipsy, was talkin' a little bit loud...then this one african dude speaks up tells mike, in english and japanese that he has been tolerant and that you should do the same cuz they're talkin' bout some serious stuff, etc. so mike asks, what are ya'll talkin' bout and the guys goes it's none of your business. i was like whoah, but bein' level headed i told mike let's be up cuz the vibe here just got sour. so we bounced back into the club and hung out near the dj booth and talked with hide and chee. then, some commotion starts up @ the other side of the club. as i made over to see what was goin' on, i find out that it's a girl dancin'. soon after, she was on the floor, first with her booty shakin' in da air then she startin' rollin' around on the floor. kinda weird...but maybe it's normal...i'm still new to this reggae thing.

later on that night while i was just chillin' with yu's friends, i couldn't find mike. when he finally came back, he was trippin' out cuz he was talkin' to the african all in chinese! anyhow...yu performance was about to get underway. man...he is a totally different person when he performs! i had a little taste last month, but this time...was kinda crazy. mike was totally shocked. anyhow...we partied til about 0530 and then went to go eat some ramen with yu, ai, hide, hanzo & mike. on my way back home, yu and i were pretty damn tired. thank god the train i got on ended @ tsudanuma or else i would have been stuck in chiba. as i was walkin' to shin tsudanuma eki, with my hat and hood on, i saw some kids that looked familiar...it was the girls bball team...guess they were goin' to a tournament while i was comin' home! ouch!! anyhow...i came home and crashed out.


saturday: me and hideki's bday party

slept in til like 1500

while i was waitin' for the train to head to ueno, i saw tomo comin' back from work. didn't really have time to talk, but it always nice to see somebody ya know cuz it's pretty rare when you're not in your hometown. met up with hideki @ starbucks @ 1800, then met up with aki and ikko. kaoru was busy @ the restaurant makin' the final preparations. tonyuu nabe was on the menu tonite. what is tonyuu nabe? well, it's the tofu before the final stage of the process. after feastin' on all kinds of yummy vegetables, meat and seafood, we put udon noodles in the leftover dashi. reminded me of the firepot dinners back home. for dessert, ikko baked a chocolate/white chocolate strawberry cake which was delicious. I don't normally eat cake but this cake wasn't too sweet. the girls got hideki and i our personal names, hand-painted ketai strap. they also got us a keychain: hideki got a ebi tenpura and i got a yaki onigiri. i also posed the question of ippai vs. ippiki and all of them answered without hesitation "ippai" i was like damn, ya'll know your stuff, yo! ikko also talked about how she went to the wakanohana's (brother of my favorite sumo wrestler, takanohana) resturant. we're plannin' on goin' there soon.

after cleanin' up, we went to go sing karaoke for like an hour or so. then i caught the train and went back to funabashi. on my walk to shin tsudanuma eki, i saw my buddy mark and this girl. when i finally got his attention, he was pretty surprised to see me. he and his friend keiko were just comin' back from watami. when he introduced me to his friend, she was a little confused (like all japanese who first meet me) of what nationality i was. since mark was a little tipsy, he was spoutin' all these things off to his friend about me. the funniest thing being,"kevin may look and be japanese american, but he's really black!" keiko got off @ maebara so mark and i just talked for like 2 min, cuz the next stop is my station.

after arrivin' @ yakuendai, decided to drop by serenade to say hi and have a drink. was totally shocked to see sakamoto there. this was my first time seein' him there. he was with these two other ladies who he introduced me too: mina chan and ito chan. we were there til about 0200 when sakamoto asks me if i wanted to go sing karaoke with them...i was like...ummm...what the heck. i was a little concerned bout mina chan and ito chan...aren't they a little old to be goin' out @ this time?? sakamoto reassured me that it was ok, so we caught a cab to tsudanuma and went to go sing karaoke for 2 hours. after singin', sakamoto insisted that i stay at his place so i agreed. got to his mansion, which was very nice. i got to sleep in kana's (sakamoto's youngest daughter) room because she sleeps with sakamoto and his wife. got to bed @ around 0530.


sunday

after sleeping for maybe 4 hours, woke up and had a grubbin' breakfast made by sakamoto's wife. he asked me if i wanted to go to tokyo with his family to go see the jintai fushigi exbihit. i was like ok whatever so we headed to the tokyo international forum. when we got there, the line was crazy long! i couldn't even see the end of it. we asked how long it would be and the man said about 1 1/2 hours! sakamoto's wife and kids waited in line while we went to look around. tokyo international forum is a modern, relatively new center that resembles makuhari messe in a way. it was a little kimochi warui (sick feelin') seein' actual dead people in this new plastic way of preservation called plastomic the body, organs, etc. i saw everything from muscles, organs, veins, babies, tons of human beings and one of the most interestin' was a full size human, horizontally cut in about 2-3 inch cross sections. the worst thing for me was seein' the eyes and the babies. everything else was ok. for all you doctors out there, ya'll would love this exhibit. it would've been nicer to be able to take able to take my time, but there was so many people...more people than on the weekend night yamanote sen or sobu sen combined. it was even crazier than sanjya matsuri. i would always hear mienai (i can't see) and see people literally pushin' each other. anyhow, sakamoto and i had to head back to funabashi for shacho's bday party @ 1500 @ ikko.

got to ikko @ 1500 and mama was there cookin' up a storm which consisted of: kamo nabe, karaage, butaage, tenpura (nasu, satsuma imo, piman), kabocha, ninniku ika, ninnniku tsunagimo, kim chee, salad and finished the night with miso shiru and onigiri.

shacho came through with some delicious nihon shuu and the slowly people started to come. yuasa sensei, yoko, kobi, ken, kumi, sensei, mori, takahashi, kita, ozaki, junko & jomi all came out throughout the night.

mama & i sang happy birthday to shacho. it was just nice to have these people, all from different walks of life as part of my takinoi/yakuendai family. @ the end of the night, mama went home, so i was left in charge of makin' drinks, etc. as i began washin' all the dishes, kumi san jumped behind the counter to help me out. before we could finish, shacho walked and it's usually my responsibility to walk him home. so i said my goodbyes and took shacho home. pretty much crashed out after gettin' home.

last night

after meetin' with kato san @ yac's, we headed to matsugaoka kominkan. she gave me a little background about herself. in a nutshell, she's been to more probably all of the continents except for antartica. as for the class, it was my first time teachin' elementary school kids; 6-8. one boy, thinks he's from outer space and anytime he answered, had something to do with that fact. anytime they completed something, they would say,"i'm finished!" and then i would have to give them a stamp. i was pretty much givin' out stamps the last 10 min of class! i was impressed of their skill level. after them, was another group of elementary school kids; 9-11. then we had a 30 min break in which kato sensei introduced me to this boy who works at the community center who has lived in america for a little bit. when i met him, i asked him where he lived and he says san jose, california! i was bouts to throw some bay lingo but first had to ask when he was there. he said from 3rd to 8th grade. anyhow, had to get goin' to the next class. the next group were three 9th graders and one 8th grader. one 9th grader goes to one of the most prestigious private junior high schools in tokyo...however i forget the name of it. after that, i had the last group of students. they were all pretty quiet which made it difficult to teach. plus i was gettin' pretty tired too. as we finished cleanin' up the meeting room, kato san handed me my pay. i was shocked to find out how much it was...let's just say it would take care of this whole weekend of partyin'. after kato san dropped me off at kita nara, i had to get off @ the next stop to go pick up my bike and called mama to see if it was ok still to come by and eat. she said koo and when i got there, ken and his 2 buddies were there as well as hashimoto. hashimoto bought some toys in tokyo; a little, cute plastic thingy that dances when there's noice or vibrations. so when people sang, it was gettin' down. kicked there for about an hour or so and then headed home. after takin' a shower, went straight to bed.


today

it was freezin' on the way to school. the weather report said it was about 35 f but with the wind chill it "felt" like 23 f!!! taught with takahashi sensei today as well as the 9th grade elective class. the friday elective class was pretty dead...i think (i hope) that they were just tired from the week cuz they weren't too enthusiastic 'bout the lesson. takahashi sensei is slowly relapsin' into his sickness which makes him go overboard on some things he's tryin' to say to me. he just needs to go home early and get some rest. for soji, tokuoka kun and i were the last ones left in janken and on the last try, i edged him out with paper over his rock so he had to clean all the toilets and urinals.

just chillin' right now, tryin' to kill time before i get to leave. not goin' to play bball today because of two reasons: 1. the practice is only 1.5 hours long & 2. i'm partyin' tonite.

tonite is yu and his friends' performance @ garam, in shinjuku. we're also celebratin' mike's bday so it's gonna be one long night/day. hopefully i don't stay out too late cuz i gotta get some sleep before headin' out to ueno for hideki and my bday party. it's gonna be a long weekend!!!

aite then...i'm wrappin' this up...expect an update on sunday.

kaz out...

tako ippiki vs. ippai

in japanese, dependin' on what type of thing you're talkin' about, the counter for it changes. tatoeba (for example), the counter for thin objects such as paper is -mai; the counter for dogs, cats and most fish is -ppiki, bbiki, hhiki; the counter for glasses is -ppai, bai, hai; the counter for birds/rabbits is -wa, the counter for ika (squid) is -ppai, bai, hai. now the question is: what is the counter for tako (octopus)??? through my research which began the other night, when japanese are asked this question...the initial response, 100% of the time, is that of total bewilderment. based on the responses that i've gotten...it seems as though it's split basically 50/50 between -ppiki & -ppai


last night

met up with oshima san near maebara eki. when i got to her house, kazue san and matsui san were there. there was also this other lady, who i know but forget her name. oshima san made some hara () which was off da hook! shige san (?) made some kim chee nabe which was also quite delicious. tajima busted out the champagne and oshima san brought out some niigata nihon shuu by the name of secchubai which was really smooth. after stuffin' myself to near death, oshima san gave me a doggy bag of seki gohan which i'll probably eat later tonite. i then got on my bike and headed home.

stopped off @ ikko for some ocha and saw: hashimoto, noburu, mori, yoko and sensei there. everyone but sensei and hashimoto were pretty over.

i posed the question of ippiki vs. ippai to them and sure enough, they were stumped. yoko even called his friend who has a fish market and asked him. so the official word, from a fish market owner is.......ippai.


something to think about

so...in japan, as i mentioned before, when people get sick, but not so sick as to be bed-ridden, they wear these SARS-like masks. when you catch the flu, the japanese don't say flu or even furu, they say in furu en za which to me sounded like a really, really bad sickness at first.

just something to think about...


this mornin'

got a call pretty early this mornin'. i noticed instantly that it wasn't a japan number. when i saw the 19167877000, i knew it must be don. talked to him and jookie for a bit, mostly concernin' their trip out here (take a look @ the countdown script). don, as always, asked if i needed anything from back home. which i replied, dvds and smores pop tarts.

takahashi sensei finally came today after being sick for 3 days. he was wearin' his SARSlike mask and coughin' up a storm.

tried to pay mikami san for the obento yesterday but she refused it. she said that it was on her.

busy day, had 5 classes back to back.

well i must get goin' to my english class.

kaz out...

sunday night

dinner w/tomo was koo. we tried this new restaurant near tsudanuma eki. they had this one potato dish which didn't look that good, but was grubbin'. i also finally got to tell her about yu. she does remember him, she remembers him because he was always hangin' around a guy with dread locks or something. need to confirm w/yu bout that one. anyhow afterwards, got some ice cream @ the hagen daaz store.

headed over to ikko to get some tea. sakamoto, shacho, kita and kita's friend were there. after 2 cups of tea, shacho insisted that i drink a real drink. 2 oolong hi's later, shacho busts out these brand new, rare 1000 yen bills and hands them out to everyone. sakamoto's wife then comes by to pick up him, but not before shacho gives her a back massage. afterwards, helped mama clean up and then walked shacho back home...of course we had a lot of kyuke (breaks).


monday

start of a new week. ate my natto for breakfast and headed out to school. man, was it cold and was it pourin' rain! got to school and found out that 3 7th grade teachers were absent includin' takahashi sensei!

had class with takeuchi sensei and was surprised by kawashima chan, who has come up with a nickname for me... bin ke which is my name (phonetically) backwards. not sure how much i like that, we'll see if it sticks...

throughout the day, kids were constantly comin' into the teacher's room and callin' home because they're sick. i think we had about 30-40 kids sick with about another 20-30 all wearin' their sars masks.

got a weird call from some lady @ school. she's an english teacher in the funabashi and she asked me if i was available to come to her class on thursday night. from what i could understand, it seems as though i'm gonna get paid for this. kinda weird how she got my name...she just called the school and asked for the alt. hmmm...

got some pretty good exercise in playin' bball. played til like 1800. yumie & mika came out to play with the boys too.

headed over to ikko again to get a quick bite to eat. yuasa sensei was there with 3 of her friends singin' karaoke. kita & kobi were there when i got there. yoko came by later, so it was startin' to get pretty busy, so mama put me to work. she taught me how to make her famous karaage as well as her kumamoto miso shiru. sensei came by a little bit later and i gave him the rest of the tantakatan. chatted with mama and sensei for a while bout a lot of things. this new guy, well it was only his second time comin', came thru and i chatted with him a bit. you're typical older salaryman by the name of sasaki. went home and then crashed out.


tuesday

another day, 3 teachers sick, even more students. miyakawa sensei brought out this chainlink puzzle thinga majiggy. he said that he spend about 4 hours the night before tryin' to figure it out but couldn't. i attempted it for about 10 min before gettin' frustrated. class was koo...the 8th graders seem to be the most outgoin' now...more so than the 7th graders.

lost again in janken (paper, rock, scissors) so i had to clean the toilets. didn't play bball cuz i was a little tired. kinda had to pass time away, cuz from 1530, the school's internet was down. so i was kinda stuck for 2 1/2 hours tryin' to kill time.

@ 1700, i was out the door. headed home and played a couple of games of the new season i started in espn bball with the nuggets. then headed out to kita narashino @ around 1845 to meet up with mikie, junko and natsuyo. went to watami (again!) and tried to have food that we haven't eaten before. this dinner was part shinenkai and part mikie's quittin' work party. it's always interestin' hangin' out with them cuz they come up with the funniest english questions. we rescheduled our nabe party for next month. should be koo.


wednesday

another easy day today. mikami san gave me some special kind of preserved kaki. never had that before. today is also chukyokyo so there's only 4 periods and no kyushoku so we had to order bento. mikami san gave me the choice of the regular bento or another place. i was curious about the new place so i went with that...it was 50 yen more...but that's ok. when i got the bento, i realized it was from miyagokoro!!! holy crap!!! it's been a long, long time since the last time i had their bento. very very natsukashii yo. anyhow...i'm bouts to maybe head home soon and take a nap. tonite, oshima san invited me over for dinner @ 1830.

kaz out...

yesterday

spent most of the day yesterday just chillin' @ the house. finished up my sukiyaki for lunch and watched some movies: black rain and dazed & confused. tried to watch bowlin' for columbine, but for some reason, my xbox couldn't read it. not sure why...

got a call from sakamoto, askin' me to come to ikko cuz one of the other boy scout leaders were there. so i headed over there, it was pretty packed. kobi, kita, takahashi, mori, ken, kuro, ezure, ryuko, sugita and sakamoto. another boy scout leader by the name of shibata. his english really, really good. spoke to him a lot while helpin' mama out. @ around 2300, mama went home and all guys decided to play mahjong and sent me out to the convenience store for some instant udon. takahashi, shibata and i just chilled while the other guys played. i even brought out a bottle of tantakatan to share with the crew. we were there til about 0200!!! when we went outside, it was snowin'!!! not much, but it was kinda crazy. though it was pretty damn cold, i'd take this weather over the humid summers anytime! came home and instantly crashed out.

today

didn't do too much. did some movin' of furniture and set up the mirror takahashi sensei got me for my bday.

i also added some minor stuff to this blog...if you haven't noticed, i put a world time script @ the top, yim & aim notification buttons and added my fantasy bball status on the left side.

i'm also in the midst of makin' a super duper blockbuster trade. it seems as though wholly shet hasn't been updatin' his roster which could mean that he is either been too sick to access a computer or, given up on the season, or both. we'll see how this turns out, details to follow....

london boots were on tv this afternoon. it was a pretty funny show. they did all kinds of challenges based on will power. guess ya'll had to just see it. one of the funniest shows.

wellz...gonna have to get ready soon, havin' dinner w/tomo tonite in tsudanuma tonite. it's been a while since we kicked it...hmmm...i think the last time was in august. anyhow...should be fun to catch up on things.

kaz out...

it's snowin'!!!

so i put this new design up. what do ya'll think? feel free to leave me a comment

the past couple of days

ball was aite. 2 former students came to play. when we scrimmaged, i played like crap...all my passes were gettin' stolen and i kept losin' the ball.

yakiniku was off da hook. it was more like korean food, we had all kinds of original stuff. fun to see miyazaki get drunk.

yesterday's class schedule was crazy! had 5 classes and had to finish some of the remainin' students who have yet to take the interview test. chilled for a little bit and then went home.

went to ikko after school, the normal crew was there: kita, takahashi, endo, yoko, mori and kobi. ozaki came a little bit later and mama called junko to come over. ozaki and junko be partyin' hard for people who are in their 70s. had some grubbin', mama hooked up some karaage and made me some ninniku tenpura (garlic tempura) which was off da hook. i also had some saba and miso shiru. drank some fukuoka sho chu which was aite. i think tantakatan is way better. hashimoto came a little bit later and we went to this new place by the station for some drinks and to sing karaoke. had a good time there and met some new peeps.

today at school was pretty kick back. only had 1 class today! soji is gonna start soon and after that, it's time to play some bball.

weather report says that it's gonna snow tomorrow night and sunday. man...gotta stock up on food so i don't have to leave my apartment.

gonna have dinner with tomo on sunday. found out that she's goin' to sf @ the end of the month.

wellz...i'm decidin' to change my layout on my blog...i've been writin' this blog now since june. i'm glad there are actually people who read this...or somehow find my page through google. i've seen a steady increase, every month, except for november, but that's because i was home for 10 days.

aite...gonna try to work this new template in.

kaz out...

Congratulations to my cousin Steven and his girlfriend Tina!

Laci Lynn Sakamoto

Tuesday, January 13, 2004, 4:49AM, 7 lbs 1 oz. 19 1/2 inches

Now I have a niece!!!

The Best Sukiyaki

Didn't play bball yesterday, guess I wanted to take a day off. Headed over to MatsuKiyo to get all the necessary ingredients for sukiyaki. This time around, despite all the warnings, I got some high quality beef from Kumamoto. I also picked up some various other foods to fill my fridge. I got some more of that good prosciutto, cucumbers and tomatoes (for salad), natto and yakitori.

Came home, started up the rice and began washin' all the veggies. This time around, I decided to simmer my homemade sauce before puttin' it in cold to the main pot. I also, for some extra good flavor, added a dash of Kubota. The end result being the best sukiyaki that I've ever made!!

There was an interestin' show on instead of Back to School. It was a deleted/funny scenes show, where they had some of the dramas' deleted scenes and tv shows' funny scenes. It was kinda interestin' cuz I saw some of those dramas as well as those tv shows. Of course @ 2100, London Hearts came on and tonite's show was called THE CHOICE. Pretty much the usual storyline: young couple, g/f wants to test b/f. Sets him up with a famous model/actress (this show had Wakatsuki Chinatsu) @ a gokon (a matchmakin' party).

Cleaned out my fridge and did all the dishes! Was pretty tired after that. Chilled online for a bit and then called it a night.

This morning was some crazy wind, yo! I was in a headwind the whole way to school!! It's so windy right now, that the principal is goin' to cancel all the outdoor club sports.

As for class, it was a normal day, 2 classes in 8th grade, 1 in 7th grade. Gonna play bball today but have to quit a little early cuz Suga invited me to yakiniku @ the usual Korean spot.

Wellz...gonna try to take a little nap before cleanin' time. Aite...I'm outtie


Some Links for Ya'll

- For you tech fans out there, check out this new jacket that's comin' out

- Apple unveils new iPod mini



Kaz out...

Last Samurai

Well I spent most of yesterday, doin' laundry and cleanin' up my apartment.

Decided to finally go and see Last Samurai @ Makuhari Cineplex. The movie was pretty good. It's kinda funny to see the Hollywood style within the movie. Much like Kill Bill, but from a different angle. Was kinda upset @ how John's character got jacked. At least he got to say something. I want to see the movie in America to compare the audience's reaction to the movie. As for representin' the samurai tamashii (soul), I think it did a very good job.

Rating: 4/5

Here's an email I just got from my buddy who lives in NYC.

From: "Matt O." <#######>
Subject: What's the weather out like?
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 15:44:24 +0000

ok people. it's 10:30 in the morning and the current temperature is 2 degrees with a windchill of -10! the fact that it is sunny out makes outside look deceivingly beautiful, but it begs me to ask the question, are people supposed to live in these conditions? after all, we have heaters and poly-liner this and that.... but what about those fools back in the day? all they had was fur, of which they caught and ate themselves, to wear on their backs to keep them warm. why the hell did they not get up and move west?!

was it that whole "follow the leader" thing going on? ya know, one person says "i'm gonna stay" and the others just decide to do the same? cuz really, this shit is funny. i mean... it's so cold, you can't even hauc a spit cuz it'll freeze in your mouth before you can spit it out. it's so cold, farting has become enjoyable cuz it gives you a brief exhileration of warmth. it's so cold, i'm actually writing this email....

hahaha. just thought i'd share with you.

ttysoon
matt

Did ya'll know that I love Japan??? Anyhow...what meant to be just a nice little dinner, somehow turned out to be super duper tantakatan fest! I want to send a special shout out to Mike, for dealin' with all my shiet on the way home. I pretty much gave him a tour of Funabashi in our journey to get home! I really didn't expect to go that crazy last night...but hey, who's BDAY was it??? A-chan and I, officially killed 3 bottles of tantakatan!!! Don't get it sick and twisted...I'm not an alky....well....I don't think. I would tell ya'll everything that transpired last night...but...I kinda don't remember. Let's just say...it was a birthday to remember yo!!!

Went to Ikko today after doin' some shoppin' @ Jusco. Mama had a present for me (she got me clippers and a hair catcher; kinda like a big, huge collar to catch the hair), Sakamoto sang me Happy Birthday and even Takahashi and Ryuko gave me a BDAY gift!!! For the latter part of the night; Mama, Sakamoto and I were talkin' about all the customers that come to Ikko. I learned a lot about the peeps. The most shockin' news that I learned was that Chi Mama was 62!!! She looks 50 and has the mind of a 30 year old!!! But 62!!! Shiet....zen zen shinjiranai yo (I don't believe it!!!)

Anyhow...I'm home, good thing I have tomorrow off. It's the Coming of Age Day. Where they honor all the 20 year olds for becomin' adults. In Japan, when you turn 20, you officially become an adult. You can drink, smoke, vote, etc... It's a pretty big day, some girls dress up in kimonos to celebrate.

Wellz...I might go see Last Samurai tomorrow with Sakamoto and Mama. Sakamoto insists that I bring a "friend" but I don't think that's goin' to work out.

Ok...I think I said waaaaayyy more than I should've. I'm callin' it a night yo!

Kaz out...and is still feellin' the effects of his birthday party!!!

Congratulation Russell and Arlene!!!

Bryson James Pascual Wong

Friday, January 9, 2004, 11:50 p.m. 6lbs 1oz. (almost born on my birthday, just 10 more minutes)

I'm unofficially an uncle now!!!

Today is a good day!!!

First off...I find out that MatsuKiyo is havin' a sale on Kubota (senjyu). Normally $55 but on sale for $30...so I buy all the inventory.

Secondly, when I got home, there was a letter from picture.com sayin' that the photo I submitted will be published in their annual book!

I think I'm goin' to go celebrate @ Ikko now. Tomorrow is bball in Shibuya, should be a good time. Aite...signin' off...

Kaz out...

Wassup ya'llz! First of all I want to give a shout out to my sister, wishing her a Happy Birthday.

As for the rest of Wednesday, played bball again for a couple hours. 2 graduates came out to play too.

Afterwards, went grocery shoppin' @ MatsuKiyo then headed home. Had some snacks and got a call from Kita, who randomly calls people when he's drunk. So I headed over to Ikko and it was pretty packed. Ken & Kumi, Ezure and Chi Mama were there, along with Kobi, Hashimoto, Sensei and Kita. Tonight I just asked Mama to recommend what I should eat. She came out with buri which reminded me of my grandmother's cookin'. Had some sho chu daikon zuke which was pretty interestin'. Mama also made me some natto ten. Afterwards, Hashimoto took me to this new bar which right across from Serenade.

This place was kinda expensive, probably due to the fact that there were hostesses. Found out that one of the hostesses is Junk's master's wife. For some crazy reason, I decided to drink Suntory whiskey, which didn't sit too well. After that place, headed to Cha Cha, and then headed home.


Thursday, 01.08:

Slept through my alarm and got to school a little bit late. Luckily, I only had one class that day. Prepared the 8th grade lesson and went home @ around 1800. Headed over to MatsuKiyo for some groceries and saw Yamazaki sensei there. I guess his wife called and told him to stop by and get groceries. But the highlight of the day was when I was walkin' through the wine/sho chu/nihonshuu section and saw 3 kanji that I know so well. It was the first time seein' Kubota @ MatsuKiyo. I saw it the other day @ Ito Yokado but it was 5500 yen (about $50!) but here, it was on sale for 2900 yen (about $26!). Since I didn't have that much money on me, I could only pick up 2 bottles. I'm plannin' on goin' again today to see if they have anymore left.

Came home, cooked up a feast. Had some salad w/sesame miso dressin', nama hamu (proscuitto), pan fried cod, miso shiru & fried potatoes. Yummy!

On TV, there was this interestin' program on that pit these chefs against each other in usin' a huge fryin' pan. Everything from jambalaya, fried rice to pancakes and bentos. The Japanese have some of the most interestin' programs. Then there was another program that would go to all these different ramen shops throughout Tokyo and the surroundin' areas. Really made me hungry for some ramen.

While doin' some research for my fantasy bball league, I put in the 12 girl orchestra from China which I really liked. They're sound is very similar to that of Vanessa Mae...but add 11 more different instruments.


Friday, 01.09:

Another day at school. Man, it's pretty frickin' cold in my apartment these days, especially in the mornin'. I keep the heater in my bedroom when I sleep, but when I wake up to go the bathroom or take a shower, right as I open the door to my kitchen, the temperature drops a good 20-25 degrees F.

Had some natto (the breakfast of champions) and some vegetable juice then quickly got ready and headed to work.

Just a regular day so far @ school. The day is goin' by pretty slow. I had to classes earlier, but now, takin' a break til 5th period. Gonna play bball today, my final practice before playin' with everybody in Shibuya.

Wellz...here's some stuff my mom sent me. Enjoy!

Kaz out...

------------------------------------------------------------------
10 WORDS THAT DON'T EXIST...BUT SHOULD
- Rated PG

1. AQUADEXTROUS (ak wa deks'trus) adj. Possessing the
ability to turn the bathtub tap on and off with your toes.

2. CARPERPETUATION (kar'pur pet u a shun) n. The act,
when vacuuming, of running over a string or a piece of lint at
least a dozen times, reaching over and picking it up, examining
it, then putting it back down to give the vacuum one more
chance.

3. DISCONFECT (dis kon fekt') v. To sterilize the piece of
confection (lolly) you dropped on the floor by blowing on it,
assuming this will somehow 'remove' all the germs.

4. ELBONICS (el bon'iks) n. The actions of two people
maneuvering for one armrest in a movie theater.

5. FRUST (frust) n. The small line of debris that refuses to be
swept onto the dust pan and keeps backing a person across
the room until he finally decides to give up and sweep it under
the rug.

6. LACTOMANGULATION (lak' to man gyu lay' shun) n.
Manhandling the "open here" spout on a milk container so
badly that one has to resort to the 'illegal' side.

7. PEPPIER (peph ee ay') n. The waiter at a fancy restaurant
whose sole purpose seems to be walking around asking diners
if they want fresh ground pepper.

8. PHONESIA (fo nee' zhuh) n. The affliction of dialing a
phone number and forgetting whom you were calling just as
they answer.

9. PUPKUS (pup'kus) n. The moist residue left on a window
after a dog presses its nose to it.

10. TELECRASTINATION (tel e kras tin ay' shun) n. The
act of always letting the phone ring at least twice before you
pick it up, even when you're only six inches away.

------------------------------------------------------------------

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's
the guy who once said: "I woke up one morning and all of my
stuff had been stolen and replaced by exact duplicates." Here
are some more of his gems:

* I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

* Borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back.

* Half the people you know are below average.

* 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

* 42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

* A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel
so good.

* A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

* If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

* The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse
gets the cheese.

* I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before
we met.

* OK, so what's the speed of dark?

* How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?

* If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously
overlooked something.

* Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

* When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong
lane.

* Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to
be lazy.

* Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.

* I intend to live forever - so far, so good.

* If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

* Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet
engines.

* What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

* My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I
made your horn louder."

* Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

* If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you
tried.

* A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

* Experience is something you don't get until just after you
need it.

* To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from
many is research.

* The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

* The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to
catch up.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

* Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have
film

------------------------------------------------------------------

DARWIN AWARDS - 2003

Yes, it's the one we've all been waiting for ... the Darwin
Award 2003. The candidates have finally been released!
For those not familiar with the Darwin Award, It's an annual
honor given to the person who provided the Universal human
gene pool the biggest service by getting KILLED in the most
extraordinarily stupid way. As always, competition again this
year has been keen.

DARWIN AWARD CANDIDATES
* In September in Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck
and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head first
through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.
* In October, a 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker,
who "totally zoned when he ran," accidentally jogged off an
100-foot-high cliff on his daily run.
* Buxton, NC: A man died on a beach when an 8-foot-
deep hole he had dug into the sand caved in as he sat inside
it. Beach-goers said Daniel Jones, 21, dug the hole for fun,
or protection from the wind, and had been sitting in a beach
chair at the bottom Thursday afternoon when it collapsed,
burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach, on
the outer banks, used their hands and shovels, trying to claw
their way to Jones, a resident of Woodbridge, VA, but could
not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment
almost an hour to free him while about 200 people looked on.
Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.
* In February, Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed in
Lompoc, CA, as he fell face-first through the ceiling of a
bicycle shop he was burglarizing. Death was caused when
the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth (to keep his
hands free) rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the
floor.
* According to police in Dahlonega, GA, ROTC cadet
Nick Berrena, 20, was stabbed to death in January by
fellow cadet Jeffrey Hoffman, 23, who was trying to prove
that a knife could not penetrate the flak vest Berrena was
wearing.
* Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed in February in
Selbyville, Del, as he won a bet with friends who said he
would not put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his
mouth and pull the trigger.
* In February, according to police in Windsor, Ontario,
Daniel Kolta, 27, and Randy Taylor, 33, died in a head-on
collision, thus earning a tie in the game of chicken they were
playing with their snowmobiles.

DARWIN AWARD HONORABLE MENTIONS
* In Guthrie, Okla, in October, Jason Heck tried to kill a
millipede with a shot from his 22 caliber rifle, but the bullet
ricocheted off a rock near the hole and hit pal Antonio
Martinez in the head, fracturing his skull.
* In Elyria, Ohio, in October, Martyn Eskins, attempting
to clean out cobwebs in his basement, declined to use a
broom in favor of a propane torch and caused a fire that
burned the first and second floors of his house.
* Paul Stiller, 47, was hospitalized in Andover Township,
NJ, and his wife Bonnie was also injured, when a quarter-
stick of dynamite blew up in their car. While driving around
at 2 AM, the bored couple lit the dynamite and tried to toss
it out the window to see what would happen, but apparently
failed to notice the window was closed.

RUNNER UP....

TACOMA, WA
Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends
when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-
jumped from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the middle of
traffic. The conversation grew more heated and at least 10
men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 am.
Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge they discovered
that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had
continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil
of lineman's cable lay nearby. One end of the cable was
secured around Bingham's leg and the other end was tied to
the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened
and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived
his fall into the icy river water and was rescued by two nearby
fishermen. "All I can say, " said Bingham, "is that God was
watching out for me on that night." "There's just no other
explanation for it." Bingham's foot was never located.

AND THE WINNER....

PADERBORN, GERMANY
Overzealous zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt fed his
constipated elephant, Stefan, 22 doses of animal laxative
and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the
plugged-up pachyderm finally let it fly, and suffocated the
keeper under 200 pounds of poop! Investigators say ill-fated
Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an
olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded on him.
"The sheer force of the elephant's unexpected defecation
knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground, where he struck his
head on a rock and lay unconscious as the elephant con-
tinued to evacuate his bowels on top of him" said flabber-
gasted Paderborn police detective Erik Dern. 'with no one
there to help him, he lay under all that dung for at least an
hour before a watchman came along, and during that time he
suffocated. It seems to be just one of those freak accidents
proving "shit happens."

Saturday, 01.03:

Can't really remember what I did...oh wait...I went to Shacho's house for his new year's party @ 1130. I didn't realize how close I live to him. It probably only takes like 30 seconds, for realz!! Anyhow...Sakamoto and his family were already there. Met all of his kids and before I could sit down, Shacho was already orderin' me to drink. The food, man, the food was off da hook!!! Sashimi, sushi, yakitori, grilled tai, oshinko, tenpura, soba, etc... Of course there was beer, then gold specked sake, then sho chu. Somewhere down the line, I took a nap under the kotatsu. @ around 1630, Shacho, Sakamoto and I headed to Ikko for some drinks and to sing karaoke.

For some reason, after takin' that nap, I think my body became immune to alcohol...or my liver just shut down, cuz no matter how much I drank, it didn't even phase me. Since it was a packed house, I helped Mama serve people and make drinks while she cooked. Sakamoto (who I now call nichan = big brother) handled the karaoke machine for everybody. I was gettin' a little tired, so I decided to call it a night @ around 2000ish. Found out later that they played mahjong and Sakamoto lost all the money he won from the other day.


Sunday, 01.04:

Chilled at home for most of the day. Headed out to Yokohama to meet up with Scott, who was organizin' this event for his friends and students. It was my first time in Yokohama, yeah, it took over 9 months to finally go there. But I must say that it's quite a nice place. Met up with Scott @ Takashimaya and met his friend Martin (from England) and Akiko. John came by a little bit later, as well as Bryan. Met some more of their students and we all headed to Hama Bowl.



Monday, 01.05:

Since I stayed up til like 0700 modifyin' all the rosters on my ESPN BBall season, I slept in til like 1500. Went grocery shoppin' and then headed over to Ikko for dinner. Kita, Takahashi and this old guy who I know but can't remember his name. Sensei came through later as well as Hashimoto. I had some grubbin' sukiyaki, karaage, salmon and some miso shiru. This night, Sensei drank a lot. First, he had to drink the beer this one old guy was pourin' for him, next, he killed his bottle of sho chu, then drank some sake that mama had @ her house. He was pretty funny. Around 2200, I went home and crashed out.


Tuesday, 01.06:

This mornin' I got one of the craziest IMs. It was from "the Dude" aka. Brandon Smith, my old co-worker back @ Prima. He tells me that he's gettin' married!!! I was like whoah, easy rider, u serious? I'm happy for the guy cuz he found a girl who shares the same interests as him. They both love anime, fantasy/sci fi movies, toys, etc...

First day of the new semester. Openin' ceremony was kinda borin', like all these endin' and closin' ceremonies. Now just chillin'
So I finally broke down and signed up for Myspace.com. I must say that it's a lot better than Friendster. Tony's page is pretty tight, gots the Zion I video playin' on it. We'll see how long this keeps my interest...

Played some bball today with the team. Since it was Tuesday, only the boys practiced. The first day back into playin' ball after a long hiatus of eatin' and drinkin' was REALLY tough. Played for about 3 hours before callin' it. Went home, showered and was off to Tsudanuma to kick it with Ko. Ko's parents and little brother are out of town, so he made some slammin' curry the other day. The longer the curry sits in the pot, the better it tastes, so after 3 days, I was eatin' it at it's prime time. Brought some DVDs over for Ko to borrow but all the "digital archives" didn't work. Hero and Fist of Legend worked (because they're region free) and of course Azumi does. After that, we walked down to this music, toy, videogame, dvd & manga shop. They had all this retro stuff: from Famicon (NES in America) to PS2 & Xbox. Ko picked up 2 more volumes of Azumi and I picked up a used Glay CD. It was crazy how they had all these gift packs of CDs rangin' from about $4 to $15, whose original price is somewhere near the vicinity of $35/CD. There were even some albums that I paid $35 for, sellin' for $.50!!! After that, we headed back to the house and Ko made me a "digital archive" of the 12 girl orchestra from China. Ko showed me the squad he came up with in Winning Eleven (the dopest soccer game series out, hands down). After that, I passed out on for a bit, cuz I was exhausted from the day. Around 2330, Ko drops me off @ home and I hit the sack instantly.


Wednesday, 01.07:

I was so tired this morning, that I slept through my alarm. Luckily the internal alarm kicked in @ around 0715, which gave me enough time to get ready but not to eat breakfast. Today was the start of the regular classes. Gave a little speech about my winter vacation and then tested the students on how much they could understand. For this month's lunch, my menu was picked out by Takahashi sensei because I was gone when they asked for the lunch scantrons. Today, I'd rather would've had B, but A was ok. Just been chillin' since lunch. Cleanin' is gonna start soon, so I'll wrap this up. Gonna play some bball today. Need to get into shape for this weekend.

Kaz out...

Tuesday, 12.30:

This day is kinda of blur. I'll try my best to recall what transpired.

Slept in pretty late and did some more cleanin'. Headed to Ikko for dinner. Had some nira tama and some karaage. Chilled with the regulars and then went home.

Wednesday, 12.31:

Woke up and did some more last minute cleanin'. Watched some TV and headed over to Ikko for some toshikosho soba. The whole "family" was there except for Kita. I think he didin't come because Mori was there. They had a little verbal scuffle 2 months ago and since then, I haven't seen them both @ Ikko. My plans for the rest of night was: 1)go to Atsuko's house for dinner 2)head to Asakusa to go the shrine with Kaoru, Hide, Hideki and Ikko. I would've accomplished my plans, unfortunately, Jomi and Yuasa sensei invited me over to their place for some food. They also mentioned that Kiyomi was goin' to come to. So I went home, changed and headed over. Yuasa sensei hooked up some more grub while Jomi insisted that I drink with him. Tonite was the big K1 fight between Bob Sapp (Warren Sapp's cousin) and Akebono (very famous sumo wrestler who just recently retired). Unfortunately it was the last fight, so we were channel jumping between Pride, inoki (another fightin' federation) and kohaku (the famous year end music program that I always watch or have Aunty Nancy tape for me). I got to mee Seiko and her son Sho who arrived just after I did. Kiyomi came thru a little after them. I was really surprised to see her a little dressed up with some makeup. Their older brother, Yuta, came thru a little bit later. He was totally buzzed. He could speak a little bit of English but not enough to really carry on a conversation. As for kohaku, the white team kicked @$$! @ the very end, both teams throw out balls from their bucket and I think it was the first time that I've seen one of the teams have nothing to throw! As for the other fights goin' on...I got to see Royce Gracie fight! It's been a while since the last time I saw him compete. He went up against this Japanese guy. I told everyone that I gurantee that Gracie is gonna win. Of course they were rootin' for the Japanese guy but in the end, it only took 2 rounds before Gracie got the guy into this sick reversal submission. As for the big fight between Bob Sapp and Akebono, it wasn't even a fight! Sapp knocked him down really early and shortly thereafter, one right hook to the temple and Akebono was lyin' flat on his big 'ol tummy. All this while his wife and 2 kids were watchin'. Jomi called it a night right after the fight, I was kinda surprised that he didn't stay up for the countdown. Anyhow...due to the current situation, I was unable to go to Atsuko's and to Asakusa. However I did talk to Kaoru, Hide, Hideki and Ikko; wishin' them a happy new year and everything. We promised to have a shinenkai (New Year's party) sometime this month. @ around 0100, decided to call it a night. Kiyomi walked me out to the main road and I headed home. Sent out a mass email to all my Japanese friends, wishin' them a happy new year. Had an interestin' text converstation with A-chan. She was all geared up about when the next tantakatan shinenkai is gonna be. Watched a little bit of New Year's tv and then crashed out.


Thursday, 01.01

HAPPY ##(shhh...it's a secret!) BIRTHDAY AUNTY NANCY!!!

Woke up early and headed to Ikko to have some ozoni. Takahashi and Yoko san were the only ones there when I came. Mama brought out this phatty crab which we all devoured. I wasn't plannin' on drinkin' so early, but all my elders ordered me to, so I had no choice but to. Kita, Sensei, Noboru, Minoru, Ken, Kohiyama, Jomi & Endozawa came thru. I brought up the Akebono/Sapp fight and remembered that I bet somebody @ Ikko that Sapp was gonna win. I thought it was Kita, and Sensei remembered it too. After some time, I realized that I bet Sensei 1000 yen. He tried to say that since I already said it was Kita, it was too late. But Mama insisted that Sensei pay me...so he did. A little bit later, Mama (in her kimono), Sensei, Sakamoto and I went to the shrine between Ikko and my apartment to go to hatsumode(sp?). It was pretty funny to hear what Sensei asked for this year...let's just say it was of the dirty nature. As for my prayer, it was mostly a thankful one, which was quite long. Sensei said that the Gods are goin' to fall asleep cuz you're prayin' too long! Mama made her famous tempura which was off da hook! A little bit later, Sakamoto passed me the mic and I sang Happy Birthday to Takahashi who forgot it was his birthday. @ around 1300ish, all the guys started to play majhong for some high stakes. Found out later that Sakamoto won like a couple hundred bucks!!! @ around 1700ish, went to kick it at Kohiyama's. Met his wife and she served us some food before we crashed out. Woke up and went home @ around 0200.


Friday, 01.02

Woke up pretty early and met up with: Mama, Sakamoto, Sensei, Kita & Minoru @ Ikko and then headed out to the Funabashi Auto Raceway. Right when we got into the car, Sensei had this weird look on his face and then proclaimed that aaa...chotto matte...unko (uh...wait a sec, I need to take a #2!). we all busted up, so we met up with Sensei @ his mansion. Then we hit the road to the raceway. Got there, paid 500 yen to sit inside. Mama brought out some onigiri and then we figured out who we wanted for the first race. Even though it was Sensei's first time, he explained how to go about markin' the card. I pretty much just looked @ the racer's nickname and where they were from. They had some interestin' names; for example this one guy's name was Komemoto and his nickname was rice book. The kanji for his name was kome = rice, moto = book. Some other ones were: Iverson, Kobe, Cervantes, Hustler, Matrix, Liar, Eminem, Genuwine, King Mambo & many others. What was a trip was that some of the racers were like 55+! Most of the racers were in the 20's or 30's. Another trippy thing is that the handle bars on these bikes were a little different. The left handle is higher than the right, cuz they get almost parallel to the ground on the turns. They also don't have brakes. All the bikes are 600cc's with the new racers havin' 500cc's which really didn't make a difference cuz some of the newbies won some races. Throughout the day, Mama made sure that our stomachs were empty by bringin' us takoyaki, onigiri and yakisoba. What was koo about the place was that it was unlimited drinks. Now now...let me be more specific, all you can drink tea, coffee and juice. I mostly bet around 400-500 yen on each race but the major winner was Minoru on the fifth race. He only bet $1, but won $150!!! We were like damn! He treated us all the food we had throughout the day. Mama brought me outside to see a race cuz she told me that soto ni, zen zen chigau yo (watchin' outside is totally different than inside). Boy was she right! When you're outside, you really hear the engines roar. You can actually feel the engines and wind as they pass by. So the next race, I took some video, which I found out later was prohibited. So the 7th race comes around and I decide to pick Genuwine (#8) and Manhattan (#1). They're the leaders after 3 laps (all the races are 6 laps around a circular course with each lap bein' around 500m) but it was way too early to jump for joy. with the final lap, they were still the leaders, but swass was comin' up quick. But @ the finish line, Manhattan and Genuwine crossed, 1-2!!! Hip Hip Hooray! I finally won!!! Mama had marked the same. She put down 300 yen while I only put down 100 yen. She won 3000 yen and I won 1000 yen! Mama had me get the reward for her. I don't know how the races are back home, but here, you stick your ticket in the machine and it pays you. What was funny, Sensei tried to put in losin' tickets to see what would happened. That guy is a trip man! Anyhow...we decided to head home after the 9th race. Everyone but Kita and Sensei won. Kita was the funniest one, cuz he was the one who organized this excursion and he's been there many, many times. He was always lookin' at his newspaper, makin' all these little notes and writin' picks on the back of cards and givin' them to us all sly and stuff. We headed back to Ikko for some drinks and food and Endozawa and Noburu swung thru. Was there til about 1800ish then headed home. Came home and wrote this blog and now bouts to go play some more True Crime.

Tomorrow is Shacho's New Year's party @ 1100.

Quick question for ya'll...how many of ya'll are interested in my little blurb I used to put at the top of each entry. Ya know the thing with the weather, japanese phrases, news, links and fantasy sports stuff. Let me know if ya'll actually read that stuff, aite.

Well well...I'm gonna fire up the xbox now...


Kaz out...

akemashite omedeto HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

it's been another hectic few days...gonna go to the autobike race tomorrow, so I will update later.

Aite then,

Kaz out...