Friday, August 10, 2012

They're Back!

Friday August 10, 9:52 a.m.

My parents are back from their little Las Vegas fun with their buddies. So I get to hear the sounds of bickering once more. It was rather nice to have the apartment for my own for a few days at least....although I didn't quite need all of the food that Mom made sure I had access to. Y'know, I actually did a fair job of cooking during my 17 years living in Japan.

As for how my parents described Sin City, there is no reason for me ever to head over to that tourist trap. I have zilch interest in gambling, I was never a guy who went for shows or musicals, I can get my buffets here, and I have a certain aversion to paying $18 for a bowl of udon. They told me that there was still a ton of Japanese tourists scouring the place, though. For me, I'll be happy to see Lost Wages (my old high school history teacher liked to describe the city that way) through "Ocean's Eleven" or the occasional rerun of "CSI".

Unlike the 40-degree weather over there, it's been a very un-summer-like week here in Toronto. Or I should say that it's been a ferociously normal summer....the high temperature has only been hovering around 25. Believe me, there are probably millions of Japanese who would apply for permanent residency here if they could, considering the Hell-like conditions in their country. And considering all of the political turmoil in The Diet and the rising consumption tax from 5 to 10 percent, some of them may just do so....mind you, our HST is 13%, so we Canadians can be forgiven if we giggle a bit and say, "Quit your whining!" But all joking aside, it is scary to witness a tax rate skyrocketing to two times the original within 2 years.

My weekend will be a full one. I head out to see The Dancer's performance tomorrow at the Toronto Buddhist Temple and then there is CG's BBQ out in the wilds of Mississauga. He asked if I could bring an appetizer but when I offered to bring munchies instead (my culinary talents supply palatable stuff just for me), he said that his family had plenty of those and that I should just bring myself. Ain't happening....I never go to a person's house empty-handed. Just wouldn't be kosher. I'll have to find something around Union Station to bring over before I jump onto the Go Train. Problem is that The St. Lawrence Market is closed on Sundays.