Well, it may be impossible for JoOusama to respect someone else's privacy, after all. I mean she's the kind of person who opens my personal letters that says "CONFIDENTIAL" on the envelope without hesitation. She used to give me a lame excuse before that she had "opened it by mistake" though now she doesn't even leave an excuse. She is totally hopeless.

I bet she's thinking "I'm the law in this house" or something.

The End

Caterpillar

I think it was March 31st, so it must have been the evening paper of the day before yesterday, that I saw a large ad notifying that JR would totally ban smoking in all stations within the Tokyo metropolitan area from April 1st. There were tiny smoking spots at the end of many JR platforms, but now they're taking them all away. This is a troublesome situation. I think this smoke-banning trend could be going too far. These days they're banning smoke everywhere you go, in restaurants, hotels, planes, Shinkansen (the bullet train).

Later that night, I saw this little portable air-cleaning device in a TV shopping. The ones you hang from your neck. It's supposed to clean the air or neutrolize smoke around your face. Don't you think seperating smokers and non-smokers would be enough to satisfy us all if such a thing exists?

The End

Just about a week ago, I happened to find a Tsukushi (edible wild plant, horsetail) growing by the side of the road right near my house on my way to work. Though there seemed to be only one growing among other weeds. Spring has come. I remember spring in my childhood days, when JoOusama took me with her to visit one of Tono's acquaintance in Machida, and we found countless Tuskushi growing in a vacant lot nearby. I picked lots of them, brought it home, had them cooked in Miso soup and was struck to find out that they could be eaten moreover, they were good!

It's been a week since I found one near my house, and although I've been keeping my eyes peeled for more on my way to work every morning, somehow I haven't been able to even find that first Tuskushi... D'oh! I should've marked the spot.

The End

Caterpillar

Looks like I've slept wrong. My back hurts... I've just written about Cow twisting his neck in his sleep the other day.

Geez, why do we have to take turns twisting our necks and backs all the time?

The End

Caterpillar

I have been thinking how I should fool one of my clients, since I was to meet her on April 1st. However, despite all my silly ideas, I've suddenly noticed that today was April 5th already... Oh dear, and you're right. I've forgotten completely about the April Fool's Day and fooling my client on that day until now! Now, it's obvious that I must be the real "April Fool".

I wish this hadn't happened or better yet, this whole thing had been a lie.

The End

Caterpillar

Sakura, known as the cherry blossom has come to a full bloom here in Tokyo, from around last Saturday. Although we had a little rain on Saturday night, Sunday and today have been blessed with fine weather; mostly clear with only a gentle breeze, not too hot and not too cold. Perfect weather for Ohanamis (cherry blossom viewing).

It must be said that tourists who have arrived in Japan from the end of last week are very lucky. For I can assure you for one thing, that this is probably the best season to visit Japan, if you can only shut your eyes to those pollen allergies.

The End

Caterpillar

The movie trailer of the upcoming release of Valkyrie featuring Tom Cruise has been on TV from a short while ago. I happened to see it on TV a couple of times, but the line Tom Cruise is saying somehow sounds like he's saying, "Operation Doctor is effected." Well, that can't be, I mean it's supposed to be a crucial line, and it just can't be "operation Doctor". Besides, the title of the film is "Valkyrie",that's got nothing to do with doctor...

Apparently, this title, pronounced in Japanese as wa-ru-kyuh-re, was not pronounced the same way in English. Still, it's far from "doctor". Looks like my listening skills don't add up to much.

The End

Caterpillar

Cow who's hooked on online games seems to have applied for a closed beta test of a new game (again?). And it said on that site that they would let him know by "Mini-mail" if he won the chance to play closed beta. Huh? Mini-mail? What the hell is a Mini-mail, he thought. Are they going to send me a tiny tiny e-mail or something?

Later on, he found out on some BBS for the first time in his life, that a "Mini-mail" was supposed to be a sort of web mail that you can read online, when whoever having account of that game site logs in to that site. A tiny tiny e-mail... It can't be.

The End

Caterpillar

It was later on when Cow found out what a Mini-mail was. So that's what it was... he finally understood. He rushed off to the game site to check if he had that Mini-mail, and there it was! He had won the chance to participate in the closed beta test! But there's the cold reality. They had stopped accepting applications by then...

Eventually, Cow had missed the chance of joining the closed beta test. Too bad, Cow.

The End

Caterpillar

I've been quite busy for a while, and there are Post-Its lined up on the computer that I'm using in my office, all fluttering in the gentle breeze of spring. In such glorious weather, a new version of our security software have been released. I was too busy, so Cow had them installed for me right away. But... what is this, what is this, what in the world is this?? How come the characters are all garbled?? I panicked for a second, but I'm glad that it has been fixed by Cow's effort now.

I've had another busy day today, and had to make full use of my puny little brains which I usually don't. Maybe I could get teething fever tomorrow.

The End

Caterpillar

Oukashou, the Japanese 1,000 Guineas will be held tomorrow. But I've got to say that Buena Vista is a notch or two above. Though she probably must be the most favored. I guess there's just about two blind spots for her which I can possibly think of; one, achieve a mediocre result from tiredness, having raced past the rest of her contestants in Tulip-shou, or two, there is a hard-to-beat rival hiding in the members of Oukashou that she hasn't raced with yet.

In either case, I don't think that she'd perform that bad. There's too big a difference between her and the others.

The End

Caterpillar

Cow seems to have had a fight with his mother. As fights always do, looks like it started from a small thing. Mom Cow seems to have forgotten and bought a new set of toothbrushes although she had replaced the older ones just a short while ago. Cow must have complained something about her forgetfulness, and they got into a fight taking out all their frustrations on each other. Well, these things happen, I thought, as I barely made it home all tired out and weary after work. As I reached home, I don't know why, I absolutely have no idea why, but JoOusama was furious.

Why... What did I do wrong? I just went to work and came home like I ususally do. What's so wrong with that?

The End

Caterpillar

Somehow, I was fortunate enough to win the triplet of Oukashou with just 600 yen. Of course, I was satisfied. And feeling good, I went to a 100 yen shop to get some of the things we use at our office. I must have lost perspective having won a grade one race, especially because it was a classic race, I threw the articles in the basket one after another. And then I got in line at the checker, asking the staff nice and smart, "Can I have a receipt please?" as if to say I'm a considerate person. However.

Ohhhh jeez... There were more articles in my basket than I thought there were and my money went short.

The End

Caterpillar

Do I have to return an article just because I ran short of coins? After I've asked for a receipt so nice and smart?? Ohhh, don't make me do this, please! But there were already people waiting in line behind me. It had to be said. I barely squeezed out my voice to say, "Could you return this one for me?" However, worse comes to worst. "Eh?" The checker staff couldn't hear me and asked me back... Gosh, it's a total disaster.

I don't want to even get close to that 100 yen shop for a while. Although I'll probably have to...

The End

Caterpillar

Cow has been suffering from a pretty bad pollen allergy these past couple of days. Sometimes his sneezing continues for minutes, while he uses wads of tissue paper to blow his nose every 10 minutes. Well, he should be. Tokyo has been displayed all red in the weather forecast every morning, predicting that there would be "extremely high volume of pollen" floating in the air.

"Why don't you use that Magic Oil I've told you about? I'm perfectly fine because of it," I said to Cow, but he replied, "That's too much trouble." Too much trouble, you say, huh? All right. Let's have the pollen make such lazy bones suffer a bit more.

The End

Caterpillar

It seems that a new member has joined the Obamas. It's their pet dog being hailed in the media as "first dog". According to some reports, Barack Obama's older daughter Malia seems to be allergetic to dogs, and the "first dog" has been chosen from kinds that are said to have less chances of causing allergies. The lucky dog is a 6-month-old Portugese water dog, and his name is Bo.

I wish I had a chance to let Malia know of the "Magic Oil". That if she used this oil, she would be able to have any kind of dogs without worrying about allergies.

The End

Caterpillar

Anyway, I never knew there was such a breed as Portugese water dog. I used to have a pet dog and I thought I knew a little about dogs, but it seems I was wrong.

But even so, I don't know how they found such a rare kind. I mean, the kind of dogs that have less chances to cause allergies. I wish I knew before I had mine.

The End

Caterpillar

Satsukishou, the Japanese 2,000 Guineas will be run tomorrow, following last week's Oukashou (the Japanese 1,000 Guineas). And as it was a week ago, there seems to be an evident difference of ability between the favored two horses and the rest. One of them is Unrivaled, who has beaten last week's winner Buena Vista in his maiden race, and the other is Logi Universe, who tore Reach The Crown away by over three lengths, a horse that had came in second of Unrivaled in the former mentioned race.

I wonder what the outcome will be. I think I'll go home and be absorbed in calling the race.

The End

Caterpillar

One of our clients has brought us some just-dug Takenoko (bamboo sprouts) saying, "You've been nice to me." There were three of them, a big, fat one, and two comparatively small ones. I was going to boil them last night as soon as I could, since Tkakenoko are said to grow astringent by the hour but unfortunately, I found myself asleep before I knew I was. So I woke up a little earlier than usual today, and had them boiled for about an hour, in some water with a cup of rice bran and a bit of red hot chilli pepper. Now, all I have to do is wait till they cool down, strip them and eat them! Yippee, it's making my mouth water!

Uh-oh. I've suddenly remembered that I should have taken a picture of those Takenoko...

The End

Caterpillar

I really got hammered by Satsukishou. It was a complete loss. Well, same as usual. Let's get back to our regularly scheduled program, I said to myself, though my head drooped. However, ever, ever, I still got my Takenoko (bamboo sprout)! I stripped with glee the Takenoko I had boiled and refined earlier and oh? Uuh-Ohhhh?! Oh no, it's become so small!! I cooked it in a Katusobushi (dried bonito) broth and made a dish called Umani (stewed vegetables), and now there was so little left to eat...

Despite the size, I brought it to my mouth with excitement and it was ... gooooddd!!! So good, so good, to be alive. (T-T)

The End

Caterpillar

It's a pity that there are some people in this world who don't act what they say. On my way to work today, I came across this giveaway pocket tissue hot spot as usual. There are always several guys standing giving out things like pocket tissues, cosmetic samples, pamphlets or free coupon magazines. I had my left hand stuck in the pocket of my jacket, and my right hand was busy holding my umbrella when I came by. Then one of the guys came up to me and tried to screw in a, a free magazine or something, between my fingers holding the umbrella saying, "Thnaks inadvance."

He said "Thanks" but his attitude was deffinitely not appreciative. To this, I've automatically raised a voice, "I don't want it!" I don't think that'll work, young man.

The End

Caterpillar

Today was April 22nd, Wednesday. That means next Wednesday would be 29th, the beginning of "Golden Week". Wow, already? I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been asked about my next week's schedule. "Golden Week" is recognized in Japan as a holiday-studded week that annualy start from April 29th which is the Showa Day (public holiday). This year, some people can make it a 16-day holiday by taking paid holidays in between. Hmm.

Well, I guess I'm not a part of it. Work, work, work every day. No, I'm not complaining. It's rather the opposite. I'm grateful for having work to do, really. At least I get paid, even though it's not much.

The End

Caterpillar

Yes indeed, I'm grateful that I have a job now. After all, I didn't have one when I launched this site only a couple of years ago. I think I know veeeery well, how important it is to have a job and be of some help to someone, and how blessed I am to be in such condition. Not to mention, how precious the money is too, that you get by working. And I think Cow who was also in the same sort of situation as me, must know about these things as much as I do.

But when I turned to him sitting by my side, there he was playing that online game again... Hey!!

The End

Caterpillar

I have to say that Cow should be more aware that he's being paid for his work. Speaking of lacking self-awareness, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi a member of the Japanese pop idol group SMAP has been arrested for his indecent behavior in public. It happened yesterday. Well, if what he did is accused as a crime then that's that, I must say he should have been more aware of himself as an idol, and of course, he should pay the price for what he'd done.

Even so, aren't the media stirring up too big a fuss, just because Tsuyo-pon (nickname for Kusanagi) is a big name?

The End

Caterpillar

It made me wonder what big crime Tsuyo-pon has got himself into watching the way the media has been making a big story out of it, but according to those reports, all he did was get drunk, strip off his clothes and become naked at a park in Akasaka, shouting out something that doesn't actually make sense around two in the morning. (What's so unusual about that? You can find a bunch of these people at a Hanami party evry year.) It was two in the morning! Who would be hanging out at a park to catch him naked at two in the morning? I doubt if there was anybody around. If so, then I think his behavior must have done no harm to nobody. Was it really necessary to arrest him in this situation?

I felt a bit sorry for Tsuyo-pon. I think he was simply out on his luck that day.

The End

Caterpillar

Yesterday, I dropped by a bookstore on my way home. I had seen an ad in the subway about a magazine featuring "How to flatten your stomach" and I wanted to check it out. Since the beginning of this year, I have been doing a simple workout trying to tighten up my loose body a little bit, and although my upper body seem slightly better, I haven't seen any changes around my stomach. So I decided to take a look on that magazine that was supposed to feature "How to flatten your stomach". However...

Well, I'll have to pluck up my courage to pick up a magazine that has "How to flatten your stomach" printed in large bold letters on the cover with so many people around... Especially when I'm not buying it (yet).

The End

Caterpillar

There was a long time of hesitation before I plucked up my courage and took the magazine in my hands. I hate to admit it but after all I'm a timid person, and so it was pretty thrilling for me. Anyway, I turned the pages with my heart thumping and there I found this simple answer, sit-ups. Oh, come on, I've been doing sit-ups all this time and what did I get? Feeling a bit disappointed, still I went on reading to find out the secret of success that must be said in the article somewhere. Well eventually, I discovered there were no magic short-cuts to flatten my stomach, though I learned that sit-ups and crunches worked more effectively when they were done as interval training.

Hmm, I see. Interval training. Okay, so let's try that right away starting... tomorrow.

The End

Caterpillar

Tomorrow is the 29th, Showa Day. That's a public holiday here in Japan. How come I'm working overtime? More over, I know I won't get paid for this...

Oh jeez.

The End

Since I had to work overtime, I returned home much later than usual. I was about to have my late supper when JoOusama came up to me and insisted that she couldn't rewarm the side dishes because the microwave range has broken, and hurried off up to her room. Yes, she was right about the microwave range. It broke down that morning not being able to stand Tono's heavy use. But... that can't be an excuse for not rewarming the dishes, you know. If the microwave's down, then you can always use the pots and pans in the old fashioned style. I guess she simply wanted me to settle for it 'cause she didn't want to go through the trouble.

Even so, JoOusama boasts that she's the one making things go round in this house and never seems to be ashamed.

The End

Caterpillar

While I have been goofing around with JoOusama, it seems like the feared new virus has broken out at last and is creating a sensation. Despite the concerns about bird flu, the newly-discovered virus turned out to be swine influenza virus. It came out from swines transmitted to humans, now spreading between humans causing many deaths. Speaking of human to human infection, I remember hearing somewhere that DNA structures of swines are rather likely to humans' and that's why they use swines to test new medicine.

I guess the virus would be imported to Japan sooner or later, so I'd better start regulating my daily life a bit, wash my hands and have a goggle when I get home, and be on the watch.

The End

Caterpillar