Monthly Archives: September 2011

Arrogant bureaucrat

For lunch, Katya and I walked to New Mahal for a curry buffet. During the lunch time, they do not make curries hot. Other than that, the buffet was satisfactory. After lunch, I talked with the bureaucrat about the project budgets. He talked in a very typical arrogant bureaucratic way, which made me very irritated. How can a person be so arrogant (and I know that he does not consider him as arrogant)? In the evening, Katya and I played tennis. I hit balls as if they were him.

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Smart’s lamps changed

On the way to Shimosuwa, we noticed that one of the small lamps of Smart was dead. Since there were three more lamps (one small, two larger) to light the road, we kept the drive to Atami. This afternoon, I went to Yanase Kofu with Smart to have the lamps changed.  Although SmartForFour is not sold any more, luckily they kept the lamps. It cost 2,910 yen for two bulbs, cheaper than I expected. Katya is having fun with her iPad. On the internet, she ordered a red leather cover for it.

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Getting relaxed

I woke up at 4 AM to work on the budgets and schedules. I worked at the office, and at 8 PM, I submitted the files on line.  It was a relief. At 11 AM, I received a phone call from the funding office.  A man on the phone told me that he had received the documents.  Then he started talking about things very tedious: different fonts, centering of the words, positions of numbers, etc.  He talked in such a typical bureaucratic way that I was a bit irritated. Anyway, I made notes on what he said, and right after the talk, I started revising the files. It took several … Continue reading

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Budgets ending

I slept well last night over glasses of wine. I woke up at 7:30 AM and took Maya-san out for a walk.  Then I went to school. I worked all day today.  The project schedules and budgets are almost set. I finished dinner and am watching Wozniacki vs. Gajdosova in Toray Pan Pasific Tennis.  I will work a bit more tonight.

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Work continues

I came back to my apartment at 6:30 AM. I slept till 7:30 AM. Katya told me that I had snored, but I do not remember if I actually fell into sleep. I took a shower and went to my office. I restarted working. At 9 AM, a company man, subleader of the project arrived at the institute.  We checked and rechecked the schedules and budgets. We worked till 4 PM, and the man went back to Kyoto. I finished different two articles, and came back home at 8 PM. I had dinner with two glasses of wine.  While I was writing this post, I fell into sleep.

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Budgets, Budgets, Budgets

Today is Sunday. I woke up at 9:30 AM after the busy 2-night journey. I had breakfast with Katya and Maya-san and went to my office to work on the budgets.  The bureau asked us to send them tomorrow. Katya and I had lunch at 3 PM at Gusto. Then I started working again. At 9:30 PM, Katya, Maya-san and I had a walk. Then I started working again. I will stay at the office tonight.

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Returning Home

After breakfast, Katya and I went up the roof of the hotel.    Then, Katya took a quick facial massage, while I was taking a rest in the room. Katya came back and told me that the technician, Maruyama-san, was very skillful as well as charming.  She did like her and asked me to mention her name in the questionnaire; so I did. We packed up, took a shuttle bus, and arrived at the harbor. Before taking a boat back to Atami, katya bought dried fish as a souvenir for my parents. We stayed inside.    Katya drove all day today. She drove up the Hakone mountain. And drove down. … Continue reading

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Autumn Equinox Day on Hatsushima Island

We stayed one night at my parents’ in Shimosuwa. Today is Autumn Equinox Day, a national holiday. We had breakfast at my parents’. Maya-san stayed in Shimosuwa, and Katya and I drove to Atami.  It was a bit cloudy. On the way from Tokyo to Yamanashi, on the opposite way from ours, there was a traffic jam.  People in Tokyo have difficulties driving out. As was last time, we had sushi lunch at Nigiri no Tokube in Gotemba.    We then drove to Atami to leave the car.    Leaves of a palm tree were faded: fall has come. We took a boat to Hatsushima Island.    We arrived at Grand … Continue reading

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Katya’s new friend arrives

I was busy with my work in the morning. At 12:20 PM, Katya sent me an e-mail telling she had bought an iPad. Such a quick decision! In the evening, she showed it to me. She bought a brown screen protector for her iPad, too.    Katya was very happy with it. I asked her why she had chosen an iPad instead of an Android. She said that iPad was the first tablet that impressed her, so she followed her first impression. It is midnight and all of us are at my parents’ in Shimosuwa. Katya and I will go to Hattushima, leaving Maya-san as usual.

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Macarons and Chinese Restaurant

Katya and I had a quick lunch together at Starbucks. I found a pack of two small macarons. I will check the taste of macarons in France next time. For diner, we went to a Chinese restaurant, Mampuku Roh, on Takeda street. It is close to the university. Katya had never been there. The prices are reasonable and students like to go to there.    The tastes acceptable. We would go there sometimes.

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