Dressed as an ice hockey player but in reality, wearing all of Sean's clothes. Apparently wanted to go as a high school student *wistful sigh* but forgot the skirt.

No, this wasn't my actual costume.

23 typhoons thus far, 2 large earthquakes ... I won't be that surprised if Fuji or one of the other dozens of Japanese volcanoes suddenly erupts.
All these natural disasters happening around the place. I'm wondering if it's such a good idea to remain here.
Still, things are progessing smoothly. Work is as good as ever, I've finally shaken that infernal cold, and I'm actually being set up with a blind date this Saturday. Woohoo! As they say, there's always a first time for everything.
Having been in the works since the onset of summer, Kaoru (my blind date) has been through a certain degree of QC being the friend of my friend's wife (for those in the know, that'd be Tomoko). So it's not totally blind ... just ... partial? What an odd concept ... a partially blind date.
I shall be meeting the potentially lovely Kaoru this Saturday with the rest of the guys for a little Halloween party. Costumes, as such, are a necessity. I've never actually worn a Halloween costume before. I suppose the easiest one would be to go as an English teacher but I strongly suspect that I will be subjected to much abuse (both verbal and physical) should I consider such a copout.
I suppose I could dress up as Eminem. According to this, I actually have most of the bits necessary. I have the sneakers, and white tank top (haha ... the 'wife beater' top ... who comes up with this?). All I need are the baggy jeans and an indifferent look on my face.
Ooh .. For the ultimate low-budget costume, I could be a T-SHIRT NINJA!!!

My, my. Aren't you lucky.
Me blogging twice in a single day is nigh unprecented. I guess this is what happens when I am bed-ridden and sipping hot green tea all day long.
I just spent the last ten minutes sticking little プリクラ stickers into my Little Sticker Book(tm). Yes, I have a Little Sticker Book(tm). Yes, it's just like the ones the Japanese schoolgirls have. My only saving grace is the fact that I have nowhere near the amount that the average schoolgirl has.
This Little Sticker Book(tm) holds some of the mementos given to me by students (past and present) as well as other friends.
One of the girls from 扇田小学校 gave me a couple of little プリクラ stickers one day and I stuck them in my Little Sticker Book(tm) so as not to misplace them. After all, the best place for little stickers is in a Little Sticker Book(tm). The following week, to prove that I did not just place them in a corner rarely exposed to the light of day, I showed her my Little Sticker Book(tm). I think this was the beginning of a chain of events leading to my inundation of little stickers. She gae me yet more little stickers.
Another girl from 高浜三小学校 saw my Little Sticker Book(tm) and quickly appropriated it. Noticing the little stickers and not to be outdone, I find myself on the receiving end of over two dozen more little stickers.
Ah ... it's hard being popular. ^_^

Among them the cause of my absence in the world of online blogging. Call it whatever you like, be it lack of inspiration or sheer laziness. The cure seems to be the embodiment of all that is ironic in my life. What brought me back to blogging was actually no less than the common cold. I have honestly no idea why I keep being tormented by this accursed ailment. It's not from any lack of nutrition at least. I've been eating some fairly balanced meals and more than taking my recommended daily allowance of vitamin C and yet I still seem to be particularly susceptible to catching colds. I'm trying not to think about the possibility that I may have come down the with the full blown flu again like last year.
Accompanying me in similar misery is Nick who had to go for some minor surgery to remove an alien body from his right foot. No, wait. That should be 'foreign body', shouldn't it? Not entirely sure what it was but it's been ailing him for the past few months so he decided to finally rid himself of it and see the doc for a diagnosis. Turned out the doc said it'd be best for him to surgically remove it (not by himself, obviously).
Surgery, success.
Foreign body (along with chunk of foot), gone.
Nick, Mr. Hoppy.
I'd just received an email from Clare, one of my SY chums back in Yawatahama, saying she'd started blogging too. I thought it was strange since I never once saw her use a computer in all my time there. Still, she has a certain flair with the written (or even typed) word.
Reading her blog has made me feel quite nostalgic about the Yawatahama arc of my life. There were certainly some memorable times there, most if not all of them were good. Among them that make me reminisce with no small amount of fondness;
my first karaoke session - they had to all but twist my arm to get me to sing. But from there, it was all downhill (in more than one sense). Karaoke? Gimme that mike! Even severely botching up 'Baby Got Back' didn't put me off.
the visits to SY - truly my Japanese family. Kept me sane, kept me entertained. Possibly the only place I've discovered that I can go to by myself. Alone and everyone else busy? Not a problem. Just waltz in to SY for a chat with Syuunii, Aniki and Ta-bo.
my fellow Yawatahama watering hole buddies - Clare and Dave. Being the only other foreigners in the same town, we hung out most of the time. Dave has gone back to ol' Blighty and Clare is now too far away and on her last year. Strange that we all met up in KL last winter holiday. Great times to be sure.

Supposed to be a turning point of some importance yet I am strangely unconvinced.
Do I feel older? Perhaps.
Wiser? Well, it all depends on what 'wiser' means.
My friends are fairly set on doing all they can to establish a policy whereby a person should have the day off work, no questions asked, on their birthday. Whilst this would be a very nice addition to have in any term of employment, I very much doubt the ability of my friends to ensure its succesful implementation, although not from any lack of trying.
The typhoon blew away quite a lot of Tokyo last night. Broken branches and things strewn about the street in sections of the suburbs. Not unlike the monsoon season back in KL but a lot windier.
I heard the bikes outside fall over due to a surprising gust of wind. I decided to go outside to return them to their normal upright position. Being naturally cautious about venturing outside in such appalling weather, I opened the door a crack, got a face full of water, then decided to leave the bikes as they were. Sod the bikes. I'm going back to bed where it's warm, dry, and within arms length of internet access.
So anyway, Sean held his last BBQ today to mark the end of the warm-ish period as well as to celebrate my birthday. It was great fun (as per usual) but cozier in a way. Compared to the last few times, today's was smalle with only a dozen or so people there.
I got another couple of presents today.
#1 Sean's BBQ Jerk Beef Recipe (of which I am now the only other person aside from Sean to know the secret of) - This is Sean's signature dish at his barbecues.
#2 A psychedelic trance CD (Lemurians - Secret Message) from Jin and Tomoko.
#3 A very nice birthday cake from Jin and Tomoko which I couldn't actually take back with me :(
Yup. A pretty good birthday, weather notwithstanding.
Spending it with some good friends always makes for a nice one.
Have a picture of me with my very pretty birthday cake.

And the heavens have decided to open up in celebration. By this, I mean that I'm currently sitting through the worst typhoon I've seen since arriving in Japan. The apartment is locked down tight - storm shutters firmly closed, windows bolted shot and I'm quietly biding my time watching 27 mm/h of water cascade down the glass. That's more than an inch of water an hour! Not to mention the insane winds. It's the first time I've experienced winds strong enough to shake the apartment.
なんじゃーこの天気は！？
Hmm ... should I be evil an order a pizza now?

With my birthday just around the corner, some of the lovely people I know already sent me a few things just to make sure I don't forget their birthday when the time comes.
The first birthday card this year arrived yesterday and comes from Canada.
Today, I had the pleasure of receiving some little gifts from three of the girls in one school I taught. After class, Tsugumi, Risa and Yuka sequestered me to present me with a nice little red plastic bag (labelled 'Merry Christmas') containing some little items.
Item #1 - A small uchiha (japanese fan, unfoldable) with my name as well as some little drawings and 'I love English' on it.
Item #2 - A birthday card/letter written by the aforementioned three with some real gems of japlish; 'Happy Barsday', 'ki horuda' (key holder), and the priceless 'Engrish berygood!'.
Item #3 - A Naruto 'ki horuda'. The kids know me so well ^_^ I guess Risa decided to give me this because we were talking about the hit anime series over lunch.
Item #4 - A little stuffed bear which looks like it could be tied to a bag.
Aren't they just adorable?!
The keychain and bear have found their way onto my bunch of keys.
wai wai! kawaii desho?

My university held an alumni meeting at the British Council here in Tokyo which actually turned out to be a very pleasant affair. Aside from meeting some old friends from Chaucer who I thought had been scattered to the four winds, I met some interesting new people who have been living here for quite some time in different lines of work.
One of my friends is working for Mitsubishi Shindoh which has an office in Malaysia and according to him, they are looking for someone down that side of the ocean who can speak a little Japanese. He seems to think I fit the bill which is mighty interesting. Will have to look into this.
In the meantime, have some pictures.