The other day, I wrote about receiving a box of confectionary called "Chinsukou", a local specialty of Okinawa. Later, a friend of mine who turned out to be a "Chinsukou" lover sent me an e-mail saying, that there were several different flavors including chocolate, Matcha(Japanese ceremonial green tea powder), and the newly-marketed salt flavor.

Hmmmnn, is that so. Additionally, the one I got was that new salt flavor. Yes, it does taste good with the salt matching perfectly with the sweetness. If there's anyone who's tried Matcha or chocolate flavor, it would be nice if you drop me a line.

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Caterpillar

A shock resignation of prime minister Fukuda was reported in the news last night. As I arrived home from a hard day's work and was about to have my meal, JoOusama who was ringside at the NHK news seemed awfully enthusiastic. Personally, I received the impression that Fukuda withdrew himself calmly and objectively, in order to enact the legislation or to carry out the policies that he had been working on, which seemed very likely to me for this cool-headed old man.

There may be lots of criticism that his action is "irresponsible" but if so, I'd like to ask those critics including the media, what then would "responsibility" exactly mean in this case, whether there are any politicians who can actually live up to one's responsibility in Japan today, and if there are, who would that be.

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Caterpillar

It was about 11:30 at night. I guess it would be too late to practice guitar, I thought, as I was smoking out on the balcony. There were the chirping of the insects telling me the season was shifting into autumn from summer. Hmmn, it's already autumn. I was relishing the change of season when suddenly a loud Ee-ee-e-e-e sound from somewhere pretty close broke the atmosphere. Was it a sound? of a cricket?

It seemed like he was up in our Japanese maple tree. And he was very...LOUD! Hey, you're ruining the whole atmosphere! How could he be so assertive?! He's waking up the neighbors! What time does he think it is! And why the hell is he in a tree?! He's supposed to be down on the ground! Since he was so loud, I went inside and started practicing my guitar. I was positive that I must be much quieter than that cricket.

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Caterpillar

I've been wanting to bring my coat and down jacket to the dry cleaner's for a while, but it's become fall before I actually did. I'm gonna bring it today for sure I thought, and finally dropped it at the dry cleaner's on my way to work. Then.

Shop staff "You don't need this in a hurry, do you?" Me "Uh..not really." Shop staff "That'll be 2,993 yen." !! It costs that much?! 3,000 yen for a coat and a jacket?! Say 3,000 yen.. add 900 yen and you can get yourself a new down-jacket...well, I paid though, 'cause there was nothing for me to do but to pay. I wonder if this cleaning bill is fair price.

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Caterpillar

I was about to leave the house this morning, when our caseworker came. JoOusama welcomed her wearing about three hundred layers of hypocritical masks, then they went talking endlessly in Obaba's room. Well, what exactly is a caseworker's job? My personal recognition was that they were supposed to visit people who need social welfare service, and find out if they're having sufficient support, sometimes suggesting respective services when necessary.

In that sense, isn't Obaba the most important person she should talk to? And shouldn't she turn to me next? As she got her chance, JoOusama semmed to be all out to make a strong appeal that she's been the one taking good care of Obaba. Hey. You haven't been cooking even one meal for Obaba these past few months. Do I have to dob you in?

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Caterpillar

Rohou and Hakurozan Positive. It's the headline from today's evening edition of Mainichi Shinbun. That means the suspicions on Russian Sumo wrestler brothers Rohou and Hakurozan that has been creating a sensation recently, has been reinforced by the result upon closer inspection which turned out to be positive. Since their junior fellow wrestler Wakanohou also Russian, had already been arrested for carrying marijuana, it may be natural to suspect them too.

Howewver, what's even more annoying is that the Oyakata who is supposed to be in charge of training and controling the wrestlers, is trying his best to cling onto power and to save his own skin, rahter than to carry out his responsibility. I thought you said that Oyakatas are supposed to live up to their responsibilities when the rampage took place, didn't you? Shame on you, Kitano-umi.

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Caterpillar

The printer in our office has broken down. It hadn't been working properly from a while ago, and Cow's been making every effort to revive it cleaning the printer head or any parts where ink could cause clogging however, unfortunately he hasn't succeeded yet.

Well, it might be good to get a new one on this occasion after all, since printer prices seem to have become pretty low these days. But for Cow, he wants to make use of this printer somehow, maybe because we still got about half of the ink refills left. "At least for about a year from now," says Cow. Err.., wouldn't that be asking too much? We've been using this printer for four years now, you know.

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Caterpillar

Yesterday, I had watermelon at home. Actually, it's more right to say that I was made to, rather than "I had" it... JoOusama bought it for her beloved grandchildren to eat, and after the gangsters had it I am made to eat the leftovers (there's usually more than half of it left). Additionally, I get complained by JoOusama whenever I can't finish it up. Why is it always me that get complained?

I can't remember how many watermelons I've had during this summer...I don't want to see them any more.

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Caterpillar

Despite yesterday's "Murmur" in which I've written I don't want to see watermelons any more, there was a piece of watermelon set on the table for supper last night. Hey...I am NOT a grasshopper, you know. Gimme a break will ya please?

While I was whimpering about such things, the Paralympics has begun from last weekend. Swimmer Mayumi Narita, who has been placed in a lower disability classification than she usually competes, is forced to face a stiff challenge. Hang in there! Maybe Kay Espenhayn is giving you this opportunity as a chance to achieve higher goals! I've also forgotten some other important things. Our office's first anniversary, and oh geez, a year since Mikeco's passing has been already more than a month ago...sorry, Mikeco. R.I.P.

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Caterpillar

Speaking of Mikeco, JoOusama has told me that she sometimes feel the weight of Mikeco on her stomach while she's in bed. It's true the cat used to sleep on her stomach sometimes. "Sometimes I also feel like she's right there, too," says JoOusama.

Rrrreeaaallyy?? Well I've once heard before that cats unlike dogs, stick to the house and not the family. But Mikeco's been dead for over a year, you know. Oh, that can't be. Chit-chiki-chee. Wasn't she in her dream, huh? Oh, or maybe she's just simply getting dementia...

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Caterpillar

As I got up a little late, I went to work using a different route. I couldn't use my commuter pass so I bought a 120 yen ticket at the vending machine. I put 150 yen in the slot, but somehow I got 130 yen back...lucky me.

When getting off, I used the fare adjusting machine. I was putting in the necessary amount of money, when I dropped a coin and as I picked it up, I noticed a 100 yen coin at the foot of the machine...it must have been my lucky day today.

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Caterpillar

Recently, my Saturdays have been quite busy with tons of work to do. Additionally, my Friday also happens to turn out as busy as the following day, preparing for the upcoming busyness. Which actually leaves me little time and power to write this "Murmur"... Sorry folks, I think I'll have to give it up today.

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Caterpillar

I have a friend who runs an Izakaya (Japanese style pub) near our office, and she's told me that her Izakaya was going to be on TV. Oh really, that's great. According to her, it was supposed to appear in a program showing shops and restaurants around their neighborhood in a ranking. Soon our concerns moved on to the position in which her Izakaya would be ranked.

My friend said, "I had a dream about it this morning. It was ranked in 27th place when I did." 27th? How come 27th?? It seems to be rumored among her customers as 17th position or, no, no, it's gonna be single. Well, I haven't actually been there yet, so I guess I'll drop by and see what it's like tonight.

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Caterpillar

The little gangsters came again as usual. My second niece who is having a mini-Olympic at the child care center in October, was having trouble with jump rope. So I helped her out with her practice a bit.

After about an hour, I let out a sigh saying "Phew, I'm tired," as I was fixing myself a cup of coffee. Without a moment's hesitation, JoOusama threw words at me saying, "I've been doing that every day, you know.&quout; So what? Why do I have to get pushed around? Why don't you quit taking care of the kids if you don't want to that much? After all, Hime calls you every day to ask if she could bring her kids along. Why not just say no? If you can't, then don't complain.

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Caterpillar

As I had two consecutive day-offs, I went for a drink last Saturday. Yep, to the Izakaya that was gonna go on TV. It's called Yamashiroya. My impression of it was... a typical old-fashioned downtown Japanese pub.

The crowd was mostly regular customers from the neighborhood, with a local kind of relaxing atmosphere to enjoy some drinks. I like these kind of places better than one of those chain Izakayas. It feels much more family-like and comfortable. Re-laaaaxed. The food was also good. They had a variety of menus from the usual side dishes to something like Oyakodon, a heavier dish to fill your stomach. I had Sashimi, fried vegetables with pork and Kim-chee, and fried horse mackerel fillets, and they were all good. I'd definitely love to go there again sometime.

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Caterpillar

It seems that Obaba has gone to the clinic on her own last week, saying "I got a pain in my stomach." Though it's doubtful whether she really did because it's a story I heard from JoOusama... And when JoOusama asked her which clinic she'd gone to, Obaba seems to have answered, "The usual one." Since JoOusama keeps bothering me with the same question "The usual one? Which ONE's the usual one?" I asked the doctor when I went to our home clinic to pick up Obaba's medicine.

Err, may I ask if my granny has come here last week? And the doctor says, "Oh no, I don't think she has." ...I knew it. So, where the hell have you been to, Obaba?

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Caterpillar

As I was leaving the house, JoOusama was on the phone again this morning. Though this time, she seemed to be talking with the staff at the daycare center that Obaba has been going to, not the case worker.

That Obaba, she must have caused some kind of trouble again... Maybe tonight, JoOusama would be waiting for me to come home to rain a storm of complaints. I wish she'd quit blaming me for Obaba's behavior...

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Caterpillar

Cow has been complaining for a couple of days. Cow's opinion was that "SMAP (Japanese idle group) are terrible singers. They should at least, practice a little harder since they are professional."

Oh well, they are indeed terrible singers. I've always thought that it's almost embarassing as a pro. I guess they don't necessary have to be great singers, after all they're just an idle group and Japanese idles are usually bad singers, but can't they sing a little better? As a same Japanese, I'd be embarassed instead of them if they don't practice a little more and become able to at least stay on their key. Speaking of singing, I never thought Cow was much of a singer though.

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Caterpillar

A large typhoon is coming closer to the Kanto area. It has been on Taiwan once, but changed its course eastward like a boomerang as it left the island toward the Japanese archipelago. And now it's moving slowly up the coast of Kii peninsula in the east north-east direction as of 7:00 pm this evening. It's supposed to become closest to the pacific coast of Kanto area by tomorrow morning, so those of you who have to work on Saturdays please be careful. Wish you luck.

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Caterpillar

Eventually, the typhoon seemed to have passed during the night and troubles are gone. However, one of my friends almost got herself in trouble being nearly victimized by bank transfer scams. She's the friend that I've written about before who runs the Izakaya Yamashiroya, and this seemed to be her second time.

According to her story, the caller makes a coughing sound so as to offer a likely reason to why he sounds different from whoever family member we think he is. My friend was fortunate enough to notice while talking, that something was wrong so she pressed the caller. She thought it was her nephew until then, but the stupid bank transfer scam showed himself up saying, "Yeah, mom." So my friend told him, "Listen boy, I've never been your MOM and I'll never be either," and hung up the phone. Well-done.

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Caterpillar

Obaba finally got kicked out of the daycare service. Since her behavior has been so terrible, it made the other users and the staff throw out tons of complaints, eventually getting both JoOusama and our care manager called out by the director, and having been told something like, I'm sorry but I'm afraid we can't take care of her any longer.

Well, Obaba actually is pretty much a selfish jerk, and I can easily imagine and understand how a person might feel after staying with her for a day. However, even so, I still can't approve such an all-too-easy way to just simply throw Obaba out. I mean, someone even worse could always walk right in, you know.

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Caterpillar

So Obaba got kicked out of daycare, though she herself hasn't been told about it yet. Hey, come on, she could go to some other center in the near future. Isn't it better to tell her what had happened? Otherwise, she could cause trouble again.

But JoOusama seems to have absolutely no intention of informing her saying, "She wouldn't change if I did." Excuse me. When you come right down to it, you were the one who suddenly gave up on fixing her supper. Couldn't it have effected Obaba's behavior more than a little? JoOusama is ever so irresponsible.

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Caterpillar

I've been to a bedrock bath for the first time in my life. A little while ago, I happened to come across an article of a Super-Sento (a delux communal bath) site that said they were offering a 25-minutes' bedrock bath for 700 yen, and I've been longing to go. Well, I thought I might as well make it an early Labor Thanksgiving Day.

It was relaxing, alright. And I think it might have improved the circulation of my blood. I felt blood running through my body as much as when I'm jogging, while I lay there on those stones in a healing sort of music, unique aroma, and steam of about 40 degrees celsius. I actually felt a little tired after the bath. Though it was a pitty that the music which probably must have been made to create the sound of the waves, had a slightly higher pitch that it sounded more like the sound of cars passing along a rainy highway...

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Caterpillar

551 Hourai's pork buns returns! After about 2 months since I've been passed off fake pork buns and ended on a painful note, the ball seems to have come at my feet unexpectedly to get the real ones!

This morning, I laid my eyes unconciously on an ad on the subway going to work, that said "Naniwa Umai-mon Ichi (tasty dish of Osaka bazaar)" with the red logo of 551 Hourai...! Yippeee!! It's got the picture of pork buns, and it's got the "551" part of the logo, so this time there's no chance it could be a fake..I think. There's more to it. The place where this "Umai-mon Ichi" is held is at the transfer station I use for commuting, and they're open every day to 9:00 pm. until September 30th. Thank you, God. I swear, I'm gonna get it this time!

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Caterpillar

So on my way home yesterday, I dropped by to get those 551 Hourai pork buns right away. As I arrived, wooow, people were queueing! I joined at the end of the line with a light heart. Meantime, I checked out that they were also selling Shu-mai (Chinese style raviolis), Gyouza (Chinese dumplings) and Dongpo pork Chimaki (Chinesse steamed rice and pork dumplings) besides pork buns, also discovering that the pork buns were sold in boxes containing 2, 4, 6 and 10, respectively. I decided 4 pork buns would be enough for the moment. After a short while, it was my turn!

I ordered, "4 please," to the man in the counter, but somehow the man yelled back inside, "Six, please," then turned back to me and said, "Ohkini (an Osaka style of saying thanks)!" I wonder if it was because of my sloppy pronunciation...

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Caterpillar

At last, I got my first pork buns. Though I've bought a little too much... And so, how's the taste?

Hmmn..g,gooodd! The matching of the juiciness of pork meat and the sweetness of onions is an exquisite combination! Oh, but it may be a little oily. My hands holding the pork buns have become gooey... At this point, I suddenly remembered that the man at the counter had thrown in a bunch of mustard. What will happen if I eat it with these mustard? I dotted some mustard on the buns and took a bite...it's goooooddd!! It tastes absolutely better with mustard! I thought the "Umai-mon Ichi" was supposed to be held until September 30th, so try some if you like.

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Caterpillar

Today is an X-day for Obaba. She's been kicked out of the local daycare service because of her terrible behavior, and she hasn't been informed of it yet, at the discretion of JoOusama.

Today is also the day for my aunt to pay her usual once-in-a-month visit to Obaba. Since JoOusama is a daughter in law to Obaba, JoOusama must have felt reluctant about telling Obaba the shocking news that she can't go to the daycare anymore. So she is tempting to make my aunt who is Obaba's daughter, to tell Obaba the bad news... Let's wait and see what happens.

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Caterpillar

The temperature has suddemly dropped from around yesterday night, and it has become way past cool, rather cold. They say the temperature is that of the begining of November.

In such weather, Obaba is walking about in a thin summer dress... Well it seems that my aunt and JoOusama didn't tell her that she got "kicked out". Instead, they told her that she is quitting the place for other unavoidable reasons. I guess that might have been a right decision. After all, the old lady still has to go there one more time, and it's not hard to imagine her cursing everybody around, if she had been informed beforehand that she's been kicked out.

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Caterpillar

Season 6 of the American TV series "24" is going to be broadcasted in Japan from tonight. It's ususally been on air during the first week of October for the past 5 years, but this year it seems they're doing it a week earlier than I had expected.

I guess I'm gonna spend another sleepless week, though I'm anxious to see how the story is gonna develop after the death of my favorite characters, Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler or President David Palmer. How would Chloe get involved in the next series? I can't wait to see it.

The End

Caterpillar

Since "24" was gonna start, I wrapped up my work as early as possible yeterday, and went straight home in order to finish my daily activities like preparing lunch for the next day or taking a bath, before the show began. However.

Despite my effort, I heard Obaba boast "I'll have Caterpillar pull out and set the Kotatsu (Japanese heating equipment) for me," as I got inside the house. Hey. It's the first time I've ever heard about it. How many times do I have to tell you that I can meet your requests only on Sundays? And why did it have to be tonight of all nights? She can't tell if it's hot or cold herself, so I guess she must've heard somebody talking...shit.

The End

Caterpillar