1:04 p.m. I was met with some trouble yesterday and was a bit depressed, but the members of tomorrow's Nakayama Kinen (grade 2) has slightly lifted my spirit.

Dark Shadow, Nakayama Knight, Tokei Halo, Yule Singing, Daiwa Maggiore and Meiner Lacrima are the grade winners, while there are the grade one champions such as Just Away, Logotype, Ayusan, and Sadam Patek rnning in this race. I wouldn't say it's an "all-star" but it's surely an interesting lineup in a while. Let's wait and see what happens.

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Caterpillar

5:49 p.m. Have just watched Kick Ass and it was AWESOME! It's the coolest movie I've seen in a while. Though there is one thing, if I'll be allowed to say it, I think they could've spend more time on the death of Big Daddy, and the crooked father-and-son bond between Frank and Red Mist, so that it'd have been a good contrast against Big Daddy and Hit Girl. Also, I wish I could've seen more about how Big Daddy and Hit Girl decided to hook up with Kick Ass. I wonder if such scenes were cut out while editting the film to broadcast on TV?

As for the Nakayama Kinen which I've been looking forward to, it ended in a most unexciting way with Tokei Halo screwing up at the start and Just Away snatching the win, scraping from the inside in a slow race.

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Caterpillar

2:10 p.m. Cow has received a spam mail from Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, which was fishy from the title as it said, "ID Authentication".

Needless to say we googled this title and found a blog page on our second hit, that referred to the same title as phishing scam mail. The blog page introduced the same content as that on Cow's email (yes, we opened it, just for fun) which said something like, "According to the upgrade of our security system in 2014, it will be necessary for you to verify your account, in order to avoid it going out of service." (literally translated,) with an additional coment right beside it saying, "(<- bullshit). And beside the next line which said, "Please use the link below to complete your registration.", the kind blogger had added, "(<- no, no, never)".

Cow and I were both suspicious from the start, but the blogger has also confirmed it by pointing out that the email contained an obvious language error, "kisama" to refer to us customers, which never happened in Japanese business letters. We actually laughed out loud at this. Not that we'd step on the link even if we didn't notice the error.

Just a little warning for you who might have gotten the same sort of spam mail from Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

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Caterpillar

5:12 p.m. I've been struggling to find a way to cope with a client of mine who is a serious complainer, when I happened to run across this term, Adult Children.

As I gathered more information on what exactly this Adult Children was, I came to learn that many of the features that they have seem to coincide with the problems I had been expereincing.

And suddenly, it hit me, that I was an AC after all. I've always thought that the problems I've been coping with, must fall on some category in the psychology field, especially the ones concerning JoOusama, but I didn't think myself to be a typical case. But it turns out, I am.

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Caterpillar

3:23 p.m. Cow is busy preparing income tax report. According to the tax report, our business seem to be recovering a bit compared to last year's critical state, which Cow admits it owes a lot to my hard work.

Oh yes, I've worked hard since the beginning of 2013, and still devoting to turning business into a better direction, not just trying to increase profit, but always seeking better ways to satisfy my clients. Well, except for the complainers. I'm afraid some people don't deserve my back-breaking labor.

As I'm contributing to the success of our organization, surely Cow will give me a raise to reward my performance. Surely, he doesn't think I would keep up or improve my performance with a mere "Thanks".

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Caterpillar

5:15 p.m. It seems the annual pollen season has arrived as usual.

Forecasts have been alarming us with colored maps since a few weeks ago, and since it was extremely windy last night, there must have been tons of cedar pollen flying in the air today. But the good news is, so far I'm doing okay even without the help of sesame oil!

Perhaps it's because the pollens haven't come yet in full force, though there's a big difference in everyday life. I have a hunch it has something to do with the improved condition of my intestines, thanks to the Miyarisan I'm taking every morning.

Well, the season has just started, so I can't be sure about anything. Let's wait and see.

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Caterpillar

3:47 p.m. Snow is falling. No wonder it's so cold. They said it's only for a short while and it won't pile up, but who knows what's going to happen in the future?

I never thought that my allergy symptoms can be reduced, but it actually did. Until a few years ago, I'd tried a lot of things including eating yogurt or natto every day, stop taking granulated sugar, taking antihistamine, etc., etc., which didn't prove to be very effective in my case. That's why I have been almost giving up about my allergy symptoms.

I think it was just about an year ago when I suffered minor health problems like cold, toothaches, bladder inflammation, pustulosis of palms and soles, all at once. At the time, I figured that my resistance was getting low and, determined to improve my life a bit, started taking Miyarisan. Miyarisan is an antiflatulent containing butyric acid bacterium called Clostridium butyricum, which you can buy over the counter in chain drug stores such as Matsumoto Kiyoshi. Thanks to the Miyarisan I'm taking every day, my allergy symptoms have been greatly reduced this year.

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Caterpillar

2:12 p.m. Looks like we're catching up on the future we dreamed of 25 years ago. There was a demonstration video of a hovering skateboard called HUVr Board on you tube. And yes, it's exactly what a hoverboard was like in that famous film, Back to the Future 2. Better see it first. BELIEF - HUVr Tech

Since the title of the clip is "BELIEF" there might be a possibility that the whole thing is fictional, but even if it is, it makes you want to believe this is true. Well, if it IS true, I'd certainly want one of those. Definitely!

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Caterpillar

10:05 p.m. Have been talking with a friend via Skype. It seemed my friend has got a new lap-top so we switched to video chat and had great fun. I actually had a tour of my friend's house, and even enjoyed a short, but nice live music performance!

It's amazing what we can do nowadays with all these hi-tech gadgets. I never thought that I'd be able to sit in a mini concert by logging onto my Skype account. And although Cow had crushed my dream of getting myself a HUVr Board and flying on it in just about 2 seconds after I'd uploaded yesterday's Murmur, I'm still hoping that it might come true some day.

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Caterpillar

3:02 p.m. Cow has pulled out an old knit cap and is wearing it now.

It's a beanie cap with devil horns on top. And as Cow has a big head, the cap is stretched to its most and nearly about to burst, yet the horns were sticking out and he looked hilarious.

It's a pity I can't upload a photo, because he's doing everything to prevent me taking one.

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Caterpillar

4:32 p.m. There was an announcement in the subway today, that Toyko Metro was going to stop all cars for a few minutes at 2:46, as a memorial to the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Can't believe it's been three years since then. My client whom I was with at the time of the earthquake, has given birth to a girl later that year. For several weeks, the city lights went out from Tokyo in order to save power. It was a shocking sight, especially because I remembered the pretty sight seen from a window of my first flight to NY.

I hear there are still many people suffering the loss of their loved ones, or being forced to live in temporal housing. There are still many people whose bodies are not yet found. Tokyo Metro has reminded me once again, that we shall not forget what has happened. We mus think well, and choose our way into the future.

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Caterpillar

12:52 p.m. Have finally finished my income tax report.

God, it's so troublesome! My circumstance hasn't changed a bit in the past five years and I have to fill in the form with mostly the same information every year. And the annoying thing is, that although my income hasn't increased, social security premiums are rising, so that I cannot simply copy the figures from the copy of last year's which I keep just in case. Grrrr...

Oh, well. Have already sent this year's via snail mail yesterday, so wouldn't have to worry about it any more. Ha!

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Caterpillar

5:05 p.m. Oh, no. Rain and wind is getting stronger by the minute.

They said we were going to have a storm tonight and it seems the prediction has been right. According to the weather news, the storm is going to reach its peak from around 6 this evening to midnight. Just when I'm moving from work place to home... Great.

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Caterpillar

2:45 p.m. I was watching some video clips on YouTube when Cow interrupted me, and told me I should see the photos of a crossbreed called pomsky.

Pomskies seem to be hybrids between huskies and pomeranians, mostly having the color and face of huskies in pomeranian size, though they seem to vary from 10 to 40 pounds.

Oh, golly. I can almost see hearts flying from Cow's eyes. He's completely charmed by the pomskies. I must remind him that there probaly are pomskies that come with a pomeranian face and in husky size.

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Caterpillar

2:35 p.m. Am gathering information about smart phones in my spare time, not that I have much time.

The reason is because it might be cheaper to get myself a mobile router. Yippee! Haven't checked thoroughly enough yet, but it surprised me that in some cases when you can get monthly support discounts, you might even be able to keep the running cost low, too.

Must look into this. On second thought, I should get a zero yen smart phone rather than buy a mobile router for over 20,000 yen.

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Caterpillar

10:25 p.m. Okay. Have seen the weekly forecast and it looks like we're in for another roller coaster week.

It's going to get warmer toward Tuesday, when the high in Tokto is expected to be 20 degrees, which is about the same as mid-April, though rain is expected on Thursday and, after the rain the high temperature will drop down to a mere 13 or 14 degrees and the low, 3 to 4 degrees.

Around this time last year when my resistance was low, I read it somewhere that spring was the time of year when all the fatigue, strains and stress you've experienced till then bursts out. Especially, while we're having these ups and downs in temperatures, we'd better be careful not to work ourselves too hard.

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Caterpillar

1:16 p.m. I've been looking for a 0-yen smart phone over the weekend. It turns out to be harder than I'd thought.

I thought it would be nice if I could get a 0-yen smart phone so I could use it to tether with my iPad mini. Thought it might also benefit me if the device had a better camera, wifi antenna, or full segment TV. I might not need them but it would be nice if I had them, plus an all-round docomo network.

However, in order to fully enjoy the benefit, I will have to find a smart phone device mounted with such functions which is offered for 0 yen to new comers, so that I can keep my monthly payment low with the help of the monthly discount. And despite my vain attempt to find one, these devices seem very hard to come by.

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Caterpillar

3:57 p.m. While I've been busy trying to find a 0-yen smart phone, docomo has announced the release of a new mobile wifi router.

The newly released router is Wi-Fi Station HW-01F, manufactured by Huawei. The device can catch wireless 5GHz band which might be very useful outside, has Xi connection and a 2.4 inch touch screen, weighing 98 grams. The impressive thing is, you can get this device for 17,640 yen that is more than 5,000 yen cheaper than the one I was considering buying, plus monthly discounts. If you can combine other discount plans such as Xi router discount, you might even be able to keep the running cost less than 1,500 yen or possibly, close to 1,000 yen per month.

Mmm... tempting.

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Caterpillar

2:51 p.m. Despite the news of this season's first cherry blossoms from Kohchi, it's getting chilly again in Tokyo. Brrr...

4:45 p.m. Just turned the heater on. Hope it doesn't get too cold, though I've worn a down jacket and stuck a scarf in my bag. Good thinking, me. Yes, I'd rather carry a huge bag than go home shivering. Who cares if I look like a hermit crab. It's much better than feeling bitter with cold.

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Caterpillar

5:20 p.m. Australian prime minister Tony Abbot has announced that two seemingly debris have been spotted on satellite images, and that it could possibly be linked to the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.

I've been wondering what was going on with the investigation of the missing airplane, secretly hoping that it would be landing somewhere with the passengers all safe and sound. I'm still hoping for the safety of the 239 people who had been on board when the plane went missing, since the details are yet to be discovered among conflicting reports.

The news has been reported this morning (Japan time), but I hadn't had the chance to take a look at it until now. More details may be coming, soon. Let's hope for survivors.

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Caterpillar

11:00 p.m. I was going to get a lot of things done as today was a holiday, though all I've managed to finish was visiting our family grave and have my hair cut in 6 months.

There's a very reasonable hair salon nearby where they cut your hair for only 980 yen. If you go there on weekdays before 3:00 p.m., you can get a haircut for 690 yen. Pretty impressive. It's a small place run by middle-aged ex-hair stylist moms, and they don't do designing.

I have always thought the price of other hair salons not only expensive but unnecessarily expensive. People who pay 4 digits just to have their hair cut and arranged, let alone people who pay that much every month or so must be very well off.

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Caterpillar

4:22 p.m. I found the link to these heart-warming photos at Karapaia today. One of the Best People in the World

As you can see, 99-year-old Mr. Dobrev is a truely exceptional charachter. And it makes me wonder, aren't I being too selfish, thinking only about myself?

I also wish that leaders of some countries would learn a thing or two from Grandpa Dobri. Just like we can learn from him that we're depending on each other's support to live in this world.

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Caterpillar

9:36 p.m. I've been taking my sweatshirt off then putting it back on again for hours now. It gets too cool when I take it off, but gets too hot with it on. Am not sure if it's warm or cold.

They say some of the cherries on the Foreign Ministry's property has started blooming, and it's going to get warmer this week, which means there might be cherry blossom viewing parties all over this weekend.

For those visiting Tokyo this weekend, congrats, you're here at the right time. As for myself, I'll be swamped with work. Too bad.

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Caterpillar

4:12 p.m. I deposited some money from the bank account of one of the major city banks with alphabets included in their company name today, so that I wouldn't have to pay service charges.

It's true I wasn't paying much attention, when the atm screen showed the familiar terms and condition screen about charges. And there was also a screen kindly informing me that they had changed the charge fees from December, Heisei 25, which I assumed, must have been last December since this year's has yet to come. As a matter of fact, I didn't realize that I was actually charged 105 yen for the deposit, until I came to the final confirming screen. I searched the screen for a "Go Back" or "Cancel" button, though there wasn't anything of the sort, only a "Confirm" button and a "Correct" button.

So I had to press "Confirm" although I didn't want to pay 105 yen. If I'd known they charge service fees, I might have used the postal savings account. Well, at least, they should have prepared a "I'd rather cancel" button.

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Caterpillar

1:17 p.m. The first of the spring turf G1, Takamatsu-no-miya Kinen is going to be run this weekend, and major horses are moving into action for this season.

Gold Ship has restored his pride as a champion horse, by earning an easy win in the Hanshin Dai-shohten last Sunday, the prep race for the spring Tennou-sho. Well, he'd won the same race last year and still lost in 5th place in Tennou-sho, so I can't tell anything yet. But the horse looked more refreshed than last year and, I'm thinking I might be able to give him the credit, considering the fact that he'd hung in on the slow pace winning by a lead of three lengths this year. Winning the prep races easily, I think, is crucial to good performance in the real part.

As for this week, while I will be focusing on the G1 at Chukyo race tracks, Nikkei-sho, another Tennou-sho prep race will be run in Nakayama. Gold Ship's rivals such as Fenomeno, Win Variation, Blue Ocean will be running, followed by the exciting race of Sankei Osaka-hai, where Meisho Mambo is running against Kizuna and Epiphaneia. Too long to wait to see them.

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Caterpillar

5:30 p.m. Cherry blossoms are starting to bloom in Tokyo. TV news make it sound like a huge event every year, reporting the blooming of cherrys. It is said to be considered "blooming" when more than five flowers have been observed to come into bloom in respective areas.

I heard a show host say that there were five cherry blossoms spotted in Chiyoda ward yesterday, which means the cherry blossoms have arrived in Tokyo. Is that so important?

Yes, it's nice to see flowers bloom and appreciate the coming of spring, but is that so important as to be picked up in every news programs? I doubt it.

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Caterpillar

5:19 p.m. Cow is furious.

He is outraged because he couldn't buy any toilet paper rolls, due to the stocking up concerning the raise of consumption tax starting from April, thank you very much.

True, many people are stocking up items that can last such as detergents, toilet paper, canned food, etc., etc. I even heard an announcement in a supermarket, encouraging their customers to make a bulk buy before the consumption tax is raised.

But hey, folks. What good will it do to bulk buy? After all, it won't last forever, you know.

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Caterpillar

3:10 p.m. While toilet paper rolls are going out of stock at the nearby supermarket, the baseball season is beginning.

The first game of this season, Yomiuri Giants vs Hanshin Tigers will be held tonight. The top starter for the Giants, Sugano vs Hanshin's Nohmi. Ah, interesting.

That reminds me of watching a news report about the Los Angeles Dodgers playing MLB's opening series in Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Apparently, MLB is considering Australia as a potential market, though the combination of Australia and baseball surprised me a bit, as Australia has always been linked to football or tennis or swimming in my head.

I hope the audience there have enjoyed the game and that there might come a day, hopefully in the near future, when I will enjoy chatting with Aussies about baseball.

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Caterpillar

5:11 p.m. I thought I needed a pep talk before the G1 tomorrow, as I'm exhausted after a busy day's work.

This might not actually be a pep talk, but it gives you so much insight so why don't you take a look? Here Are 25 Positive Quotes That Will Inspire You To Be Even More Awesome Than What You Already Are.

On second thought, it might be better to savor these quotes after the race.

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Caterpillar

10:48 p.m. In spite of the inspiring quotes, I've lost the Takamatsu-no-miya Kinen mainly because I'd forgotten to take in account, that horses coming from behind would have the advantage.

Though I might have lost, Japanese horses have been performing well over the sea in Dubai. Gentil Donna has won the Dubai Sheema Classic, while Just Away has swept away in the Dubai Duty Free. As the say, good news travels fast.

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Caterpillar

2:34 p.m. Together with the invigorating news from Dubai, these ideas might make your life a bit more enjoyable. I Thought I Knew All The ‘Life Hacks’ Out There. But These 23 Proved Me Wrong...YES!"

There might be some that you wise viewers might already know, but still, isn't it these little simple ideas that brings you up sometimes? Though I wonder if one doesn't forget about the emergency money sneeked inside a sanitary napkin, and throw it away with the wrapper by mistake.

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Caterpillar