10:55 p.m. It's been a miserable loss for Smart Falcon, Transcend and Eishin Flash, all three of the Japanese horses that ran the Dubai World Cup, the richest race in the world. I was afraid that Transcend might not perform well after he'd proven the curse of overseas expeditions in the February Stakes, but Smart Falcon dropping behind caught me totally off guard.

Taking the lead as usual and losing as a result is one thing, losing without having been able to take the initiative is another. So much for the media frenzy about Smart Falcon.

The End

Caterpillar

2:58 p.m. Am going to see my friend tomorrow, since cannot makeit to the cherry bloosm viewing summit she's scheduled on Thursday. But the forecast I saw last night said that the weather's going to be real nasty, with high winds up to twenty meters per second at most accompanied with occasional thunder showers. Great.

I wished it was another April-fool jargon or some sort of illusion, though nothing had changed in this morning's forecast... Speaking of trick of the eye, here's some trick art that could possibly take you to a wonderland. Optical Illusion: The Tilt

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Caterpillar

3:22 p.m. Didn't have any morning meetings today, so had lunch with friends and came in late. One of them was trying to cram in English phrases out of necessity to use them at work, and was carrying an English-Japanese phrase book. Here are two examples from the book.

"Father often sings in the bath." and "She made some wonderful tea for the guests." Some phrase book. Revealing personal information or describing tea someone has made for her guests as vaguely as "wonderful." Besides, when on earth would she possibly use these phrases? Not to mention, my friend from Germany and I laughed our heads off.

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Caterpillar

1:20 p.m. Looks like I've picked up a cold. Am suspecting that I might have caught it when I fell asleep on the electric heating carpet last weekend, becasue I was already feeling a slight pain in my throat by Sunday evening. Since then, my condition only seems to have got worse.

Gee, I feel terrible. Am wearing a mask, reignedly, to prevent passing this nasty cold to my clients, which turned out to be quite stressful. As am wearing the mask covering my mouth and nose, it sends my breath up through the crevices to form white fogs of steam on my glasses. Am looking so stupid.

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Caterpillar

2:10 p.m. Cold is more or less better. I was practically dragging my feet with aching body walking home from the station last night. Compared to that, today it's somewhat better.

Was checking out Karapaia as usual when I spotted an article of Momongas accompanied by the pictures of these adorable creatures. Photos of Momonga Dwarfs Flying Squirrels

Aw. They're healing me.

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Caterpillar

2:40 p.m. Thank God it's Friday. Have somehow made it through the week. Well, have still got another day to go, actually.

It's been an exhausting week, mostly because of my cold. Have been worn out. Voice too hoarse to speak, breathing capable only through mouth since nose has been clogged, I suffered unbelievable driness, as dry as the desert where a trickle of water would evaporate in three seconds before it even gets a chance to seep into the sand.

Such condition has left me weary, I think I can drop into deep sleep in less than ten seconds if someone would just give me a go ahead.

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Caterpillar

2:05 p.m. Head blurry, cannot put myself to do anything. Guess am still in bad state from cold. Recovery seems to come slow.

No, no. Must pull myself together because Oukasho will be run tomorrow. Have been feeling a bit of confidence for Joie De Vivre after I'd seen her in Hanshin Juvenile Fillies. Have also swore to keep in mind at the time, that she is not Buena Vista, only her sister.

2:18 p.m. I've just been to the JRA site to check out post numbers and odds. Oh, no. Have expected Joie De Vivre to be the most favored, but the odds were 2.5 to 1... Mmm, sounds risky. As I've said, she's not Buena Vista, only her sisiter.

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Caterpillar

4:13 p.m. Aww. What I'd feared has happened. Joie De Vivre has sunk in 6th place in Oukasho. Instead, it was Gentil Donna, another offspring of Deep Impact who won the race.

I had her marked, but have totally cut out Verxina because her owner was the former major leaguer, Kazuhiro Sasaki. I was hoping the grade one title to be saved up until Yasuda Kinen, for another one of his horse which happens to be an offspring of my favorite horse Admire Cozzene, to win him the honor.

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Caterpillar

2:52 p.m. Have been reviewing Oukasho and finally realized that fillies that perform well in Shinzan Kinen among male horses, usually tend to perform well in Oukasho, too.

Besides this notion, I've come to realize that Deep Impact offsprings tend to perform well on their first grade one challenge, however, they seem to lose their wind once they do. I shall keep that in mind for Satsuki-sho coming up this weekend.

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Caterpillar

2:04 p.m. While I was walking to the station, I saw a boy about 8 years of age, roughly assuming, walking some five feet ahead of me. After a few seconds, he broke into a skip and disappeared around the corner. Yes, it's a wonderful spring day indeed. As a matter of fact, I feel like skipping myself.

As I went on the train, I heard a bunch of excited chirps from a group of fresh first graders, with their eyes twinkling, their new Randoseru(leather school bags) gleaming as they caught the sunlight. Some of them were staying on the train, others getting off with a couple of them led by a parent, sobbing, for some reason I'd never know. I couldn't wipe a stupid grin off my face. As Satchmo put it, what a wondeful world!

Rumor says that some nearby country is launching up ballistic missiles. Let them do what they want. For they might succeed in stirring up fear and sorrow in our hearts, but they'll never be able to change this wondeful world we live in. Never.

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Caterpillar

12:56 p.m. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Got three sessions in a row this afternoon, and have been tied up at preparations for them.

Had planned at the beginning of the week to check on the past races of horses that are to run in Satsuki-sho, but haven't been able to put that plan into practice, at least, not yet.

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Caterpillar

2:14 p.m. Don't know why but have woken up tired. My body felt so heavy and my head blurred. But I had to get to work.

Here's a little quiz for those of you who'd like to use your little grey cells to freshen up a bit.Problem solved in five to ten minutes by pre-school children, by programmers in an hour. For your information, I solved this in about five to seven minutes, which only proves I'm an average pre-schooler.

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Caterpillar

4:12 p.m. It took Cow eight minutes and a bunch of my kind advice to solve yesterday's problem. It only proved he's about an average pre-school kid.

As I was browsing, I came across a video of a hopeful future entrepreneur. His name is Caine. This 9-year-old boy in Los Angeles has created his own arcade which gathered many people across the nation. Caine's Arcade

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Caterpillar

2:08 p.m. And now, time to think about Satsuki-sho. Have vowed to keep in mind, that Deep Impact offsprings tend to perform well on their first grade one challenge, however, they seem to lose their wind once they do. That was Monday, merely four days ago.

Am staring a hole into the barrier draw, in which I see five Deep Impact offsprings. Three of them have already won a grade race. The remaining two are the third favored and the twelfth favored, repectively. What should I do.

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Caterpillar

11:38 a.m. Have been reviewing all the prep races for Satsuki-sho. After all, you can't really learn or find out the truth, the facts, unless you see it with your own eyes.

1:10 p.m. Made up my mind to set Deep Brillante as key horse and bet on a wheel of World Ace(he's fast, no doubt, though am not sure if he could perform like he'd done in the top category), Meiner Robusto(the distance might be too long, but he's a Nakayama expert), and Goldship(he's tough, he might not win today, but surely will in the future). Grandetza, I left out since he was rather blessed with luck in the past races.

10:04 p.m. Can't believe it but I've won.

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Caterpillar

3:29 p.m. My, my. Have won Satsuki-sho two years in a row. The secret of my success, as small it may be, is that I've gone back to the basics; watching the races. The races, and only the races can tell you what really happened. How well or bad a horse performs, the condition of the turf, the dynamics of the competitors, sometimes even the reasons for the losses of certain horses.

Come to think of it, I used to record the main races every weekend to review them later, when I first started buying betting tickets. I didn't have much knowledge nor insight on horse racing back then, however, now I think I've absorbed enough so that I can work out some prospective solutions, combined with the facts I gather from race videos. So far Satsuki-sho has proven I'm on the right track. If I win the Tennnou-sho, it would prove this idea to be brilliant.

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Caterpillar

2:33 p.m. A problem has come up in a meeting last week. Since then, I've been thinking, thinking, thinking, for a week though hadn't come up with any solutions which could be considered effective.

I slept over and came in late today, since was up until three this morning, to figure out a way to get over this obstacle before four o' clock this afternoon when we're scheduled to meet again.

2:48 p.m. Finally, an idea is beginning to take shape and am desperately preparing the papers in my last minute attempt.

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Caterpillar

2:49 p.m. There has been a misfortune in a family that I know of. I've been helping a boy and his brother learn English for some years. It was yesterday evening when I got a call from their mother that her husband has passed away last weekend.

Am going to attend the wake this evening. The older boy must be crushed, both from the loss of his father and from the pressure that he's now involuntarily put in a position to look after his family. I offer my deepest condolences to the family, and am willing to help them in every way I can. May their father's soul rest in peace, and God bless those boys and their Mom.

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Caterpillar

5:39 p.m. Cow has downloaded yet another online game. Wonder if he ever gets tired of it.

Had to wait for nearly an hour until he's finished the initial settings and stuff. All this waiting has got me sleepy, don't think I can stay awake any more... am running out of batteries...

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Caterpillar

3:37 p.m. Came across a troubled situation. Wanted to record a radio program but realized with shock that my broken stereo component had been long gone and, although there are some transistor radios that Obaba used at home, I had no device to record. Have searched for IC recorders with radio or vice versa on the Internet, only to learn they weren't as low priced as I'd expected.

So I decided to take advantage of a combination of the Web radio and a free software. What's smart about this software is that you can set the timer to restart the computer from sleep mode, and make it start recoding a certain radio program, and then shut the computer down when the recording is finished. Moreover, you can arrange the setting so the recorded file is automatically converted into a choice of mp3, mp4, WAV and some other forms, which means I can carry the recorded data in my iPod. Cool. Things are getting convenient these days.

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Caterpillar

5:08 p.m. A news has been reported around this time yesterday, that six brown bears have broken out from a bear ranch in Akita Prefecture, killing two women working at the ranch. The bears were said to be surrounded by concrete walls as high as five meters secured by a lock, however, piled snow have been found in a heap in a corner, suggesting that the bears might have climbed over the fence from the top of the snow pile.

The ranch was meant for tourist attraction though it was not yet opened this season. Specialists say that bears seldom attack people because of hunger, but rather probable to follow their gut instinct when they're surprised or frightened. Therefore, it is very likely that the women were attacked because they might have been surprised by the unexpected appearance of the bears outside the fence and screamed, or ran away from them. All Six bears that broke out have already been found and shot to death by the local hunters group.

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Caterpillar

3:50 p.m. No grade one races today, instead there was a prep race for Oaks, Flora Stakes. The winner, Midsummer Fair, need to be kept an eye on. I have a hunch that the race course is going to boost her performance.

9:12 p.m. The caption on the TV screen has just reported a breaking news that an egg of a young Toki (Japanese crested ibis) couple has hatched. After thirty-six years of hard work and countless troubles and difficulties, a new generation has finally arrived!

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Caterpillar

2:35 p.m. According to The Mainichi, the ibis couple that produced the hatchling were among the 76 of them born at the ibis conservation center, and released into the wild over several stages from 2008. The last wild Japanese-born crested ibis died in 2003, and Japan has been struggling with the project to reintroduce the species into the wild since 2008 after succeeding in artificial breeding with a pair presented as a gift from China in 1999.

Upcoming problems are feared, such as attacks from other birds and animals, or the young couples' lack of experience to raise chicks, however, the long-awaited arrival of the hatchling is a ray of hope.

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Caterpillar

2:30 p.m. Two more eggs have hatched and now there are three hatchlings! Cheep, cheep, cheep. Soon there would be more, hopefully.

Also, seems Hideki Matsui may finally have found a team to play for. Mainichi Daily News reports that Matsui is in the final stages of negotiations with the Tampa Bay Rays on a minor league contract. The air is warm today, sun is shining, perfect day for a new start.

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Caterpillar

1:34 p.m. Daydreaming about Tennou-sho. Mmm... cannot cut out Orfevre in any case...

But suddenly it hit me that he'd run a reckless race last time, nearly stopping at the third corner, and then accelerating into top gear again like that. It isn't hard to assume he was under overload. Perhaps I should buy some combination without Orfevre.

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Caterpillar

2:17 p.m. Cannot believe myself. Have been collecting stamps from bread packages for more than three weeks, only to exchange them for a silicone steamer the manufacturer was giving away as prize for their spring promotional campaign, and I've forgot that the campaign was until last Friday...

How could I have forgotten? Is there something wrong with my head?

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Caterpillar

4:07 p.m. An old man who lives near our office, has been dropping in on us about once a week, lately. As a matter of fact, he's the author of that self-published book I introduced earlier. And every time he drops by, he brings us these little gifts, usually a box of sweets.

This afternoon, he's brought us a box of "One Piece Gomu-Gomu no Mochi," whatever that is. Cow has been searching the manufacturer on the Net for some time now, because the old man has kindly cut out part of the box where the manufacturer sticker had been, probably merely out of courtesy, but hasn't been able to come up with a satisfactory result so far. Mmm, mysterious.

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Caterpillar

2:41 p.m. Back to Tennou-sho. Hmm... Orfevre is the most favored by the odds of 1.3 to 1. No surprises here. And fortunately, I still remember what I'd vowed to myself earlier in the week, Orfevre could have an accident, as slight a possibility it might be. Should think about other horses that could perform well. The question is, who?

Haven't made up my mind yet, but am intrigued by Gustave Cry. He's the one horse who didn't let Orfevre take him over in the prep race, Hanshin Dai-shouten. And another horse, Tosen Jordan has been on my mind for a couple of days. Am sure he has potential ability to win a grade one, though am skeptical about his performance on Kyoto tracks.

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Caterpillar

11:32 a.m. Have overslept. Must wash my clothes, hang them to dry, then check the all race video in two hours...

1:30 p.m. It is very natural for Orfevre to win, however, have not forgotten my vow. From what I learned from the video, think I'll buy some trio wheel without Orfevre keying Tosen Jordan.

10:42 p.m. Oh, God. Last year's triple crown winner has sunk in 11th place. Cannot believe what's happened.

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Caterpillar

11:40 p.m. Haven't had time to do a thorough review on Tennou-sho yet, though judging from the record updated on JRA website, Orfevre has run the last three furlongs in merely thirty-four seconds. This suggests that the performance of the horse was actually not so bad, rather remarkable, after having run so recklessly in the prep race. Yet he let a long-shot get away by more than ten lengths.

Still, I must admit the horse did his best considering that he was nearly thirty lengths behind when the winning horse rounded the corner. The question is, where was the jockey?

The End

Caterpillar