R2 Day 83 - Rest

I did Cardio X and Ab Ripper X yesterday, and had a rest day today. I've been thinking about some New Year resolutions lately. Usually the two that have been on the top of my list for years and years was to quit smoking and get healthy. Well, I've done those two, and I didn't need no stinkin' arbitrary date to do 'em, neither. (Sorry, been watching a lot of Friday Night Lights.) I'll put them up on January 1st. The nice thing is that I know from experience that if you have a goal, and work towards that goal just a little bit every day, then you will reach that goal. Simple, really.

R2 Day 81 - Legs & Back

Let's run through the last few days for the record, because I got a little confused yesterday. Today, Legs & back. Yesterday Plyo, ARX. Day before Back & Biceps. I'm not actually sure what day this is. According to my schedule I'm on day 82, but I haven't been writing on my schedule, but using this blog to keep track of where I'm at. With all the chopping and changing, I'm a day or so out of whack. Oh well. I do know that I've got one more week of phase three, then a recovery week, then I've finished my second round of P90X. This round will have lasted about 98 days because of the extra week I added for being sick (sound like a punishment), so even though I've lost track, there's no doubt that I will do the 90 days.
My legs were a little unsteady today because of Plyo yesterday, but I broke the 100 pull up barrier again, which I'm happy about. Only one more Legs & Back to go! Having to do this workout another 12 times would be a huge hurdle to overcome if I was going to do another round of this. It is the tough one. The first round is harsh. The second is not so bad, but it's more psychological. Pressing play and hearing Tony talking about how he likes skiing, then hearing the music, and seeing Dreya and Sophia and the guy (forget his name) and I just think Ughh.
If I'm going to do something after this, I'll do a combination of Insanity and P90X, Insanity and One on One with Tony, or just Insanity.
Anyway, got to go.

R2 Day 77 - Yoga, ARX

Hey, Merry Christmas everyone. I'm at work, and there's not much to do because it's the end of the year and a lot of people are taking sickies to get an early start to the holidays. Working on Christmas sucks, but at least I'm not busy. I haven't done Plyo or Ab Ripper X yet today, but I will. Pretty sure I will.
EDIT: Nup. Too tired. I did Yoga instead.
We celebrated Christmas yesterday. It was a nice day. The kids played with their presents, we ate well, generally relaxing. Except for poor Jo Jo, who has a respiratory virus. He's coughing all the time and is very wheezy. I feel really sorry for him but there's not much we can do about it. Just make sure he gets enough fluid and let him rest if we can. Poor little Joey Jo Jo.
I did Chest, Shoulder & Triceps, which is one of my favourites. Those weighted circles are killers. Burn burn burn!
I've found a TV show to carry me through this festive season. Friday Night Lights. I don't know anything about American Football, but they must take it pretty seriously in small towns in Texas if this show is any guide. The high school teams even have full-time coaches! Assistant coaches! The money must be incredible. Good show.

R2 Day 75 - Cardio X

Today my company released its new corporate identity. This is a translation of the first paragraph of the new corporate mission staatement.
"We have a vision to fulfill the future dreams of the people of the world and to constantly strive for new value and contribute to a thriving society."
Smell that? There's six more paragraphs, including "Value today over yesterday and tomorrow over today" and "Bring wonder and passion to the world". Marketing. That's where the real work is done.
Will and I went down the shop to buy Santa a beer last night. We are going to leave out a couple of biscuits and a beer for Santa tomorrow night. Can you remember coming into the kitchen on Christmas morning and seeing crumbs on the plate and an empty beer can on the table and thinking that Santa (or Father Christmas, as he was back then) had actually sat there sometime during the night and had them? Wasn't that a great feeling? I have to work Christmas day and Boxing day (that's what you get for living in a country of heathens) so we are going to celebrate Christmas on the 24th, which is a day off for me. After Boxing day I get about nine days off. It's really cold and there's not a lot to do during the break. I have to relax and not be so restless this break. Just relax, get my mind right, and bring it! It's nearly over.
Speaking of which, I did Legs & Back last night. Pat myself on the back and give myself a handshake ('cause everything is not yet lost! FNM) because I broke the barrier. 102 pull ups. Yes, baby. And I kind of did Cardio X tonight. I was tired and intensity was low so it was a bit of a waste of time. Tuesdays always seem to be a struggle. I'll try to fit in a Yoga and Ab Ripper X tomorrow sometime.
So what is Christmas in Japan like? Basically, Christmas in Japan is for young unmarried couples. Just as in ancient times, they go to KFC for ye traditional Yuletide offerings, and then they will travel from hotel to hotel, just like Mary and Joseph did, except they'll be looking for a spare room for three hours to have sex. No-one knows how KFC came to be associated with Christmas in Japan, but when KFC got a sniff of it they really pushed it in its advertising, apparently. This is decades ago. KFC is really popular here despite the fact that they don't actually use real chickens but use the offspring of rats and pigeons (according to Ben Elton). The hotels are called love hotels, and they are everywhere, and you can rent a room for a few hours for $50 or so. It's all automated so you don't have to actually meet anyone on your way in or out. You can get themed rooms, from Hello Kitty rooms to mad S&M rooms. I have heard of a room in Tokyo that has no furniture and the entire floor of the room is covered with dirt. If this room doesn't actually exist, you have to ask, why not?
Tomorrow is the Emperor's birthday holiday, but I have to work. I don't know much about the royal family here. They all look the same. A month or so ago they had a concert to celebrate the 20th year of the reign of the current Emperor, Hirohito's son. They held it at night outdoors, and they had the Emperor and his wife (they must both be in their 70's) stand on a nearby bridge and watch the concert, featuring all the latest boy bands and cute singers. How they stood there for what must have been an hour and a half watching these shitty performers promoting their new singles astounded me. Respect for that. Poor guy's a prisoner of history.
Technically I haven't bought my wife or sons anything for Christmas. In terms of my wife, the policy we seemed to have developed is that in the months approaching a birthday or Christmas, we can each make a big ticket purchase, and the other will say "That's your (Christmas) present." For example, my wife's birthday is in late September, and in August she bought some Birkenstock sandals. Bang. There's your birthday present, I said. Happy birthday or whatever. I can do this because it's my money that she's using. When you think of it, her Christmas or birthday present to me is just letting me buy something without the grief. I'll take it. As for my kids, we only recently gave Jo Jo the gift of life. That's his Christmas right there. Will has gifts from his grandparents, his Auntie Leigh, and others, so there you go. Does he need any more? No. I think Junko bought them something, anyway.

R2 Day 73 - Shoulders & Arms, ARX

Yo, wassup? Shoulders & Arms today, and then Ab Ripper X. I watched a few youtube videos of people doing Ab Ripper X and failing miserably, which made me feel great. I powered through it. This was the first time I've done Shoulders & Arms for a couple of months, and it is a little disheartening to see that my numbers haven't changed from the last time I did it, considering that I have been working out nearly every day in between. The thing is though, I haven't been doing the exact same exercises, so that's why. They body is an amazing thing. Actually, I did improve on the biceps curls, because I have been doing them in other workouts, but that's all.
Junko took the kids to an outlet shop in the afternoon, so after my workout I went to Matsuya. How to describe Matsuya? Think of it as MacDonald's for middle aged men. No playground, no characters, no toys. No fancy burgers or chips. Just beef on rice. And cheap! For 420 yen (about $4 US) I got: A bowl of salad, a bowl of hot miso soup, a bowl of hot beef on rice (gyuudon), and a cup of hot tea. Then you've your condiments like ginger strips, soy sauce, and salad dressing. Not bad! You walk in, buy a ticket at the vending machine, then sit down and give the ticket to the waitress/cook (talking is optional) and wait. I had to wait five minutes today, which is outrageous. They messed up my order. Usually it's ready in one or two minutes. Often, in the city, competing gyuudon chains have price wars, and a bowl of gyuudon can fall to around $1. Crazy times. I love Matsuya. I'm not crazy about the bigger gyuudon chain Yoshinoya, which you may have heard of (they have a few stores overseas) because you don't get the free bowl of miso soup that you do with every order of gyuudon like at Matsuya, and they don't have the vending machine system. You actually have to order what you want to the waitress/cook, which can be difficult if you can't read the menu, and you have to settle the bill after the meal, which means if they are busy you might have to wait a minute or two to get their attention before you can pay. They nearly went down a few years ago after a Mad Cow scandal in America stopped imports, while Matsuya surged because they use only Aussie beef, or so they say. If you're going to either of these places though, product quality is obviously not your main concern.
Then for dinner we all went out to eat at an Okonomiyaki restaurant, Great Grandmother's shout. My wife and her sister are always inviting her out to dinner because she pays. I used to feel bad about it, she's 80-something years old and she can't really eat anything but noodles and rice, while my wife and her sister go to town on her coin. But her husband was a councilman and she still gets his pension even though he died like 5 years ago, so she's loaded. And she's cheap, too, my wife reminds me. If you can't beat 'em...
I have to say, Okonomiyaki is probably my favourite Japanese food. Spare me all the sushi and cold, raw stuff. The fried "izakaya" food is awesome, and I see it's catching on in other places. And the okonomiyaki at this place was so nice. We had to wait half an hour to get a seat, which sucked, and a kid chucked right next to where we were waiting. Too much free soft drink, probably. But we finally got seated and went berserk. Here's a picture of Will sipping on his melon soda waiting for his okonomiyaki while Great Grandmother looks on, probably wondering how much this is going to set her back and if it is worth it.

Here's a picture of me from yesterday. I wouldn't exactly call this "lean", but then I've been eating my fair share of rubbish food. I'm going to try and lean out a little this last month, which might be hard to do this time of year, the traditional eating season here in Japan. Plus, it is so damn cold! My body might be reluctant to give up even the slightest bit of fat. But for what it's worth, I have stocked up on tea bags and milo at work to help me stop drinking coffee at work, and I've got some popcorn at home to help me with the chips.

R2 Day 72 - Rest

I did Chest & Back on Thursday, Plyo and Ab Ripper X yesterday, and took a rest today. I was supposed to do Arms & Shoulders but I was really tired. Both the kids are a little sick and I think I have a bit of what they have (runny nose, raw chest) so I ditched it. I'll do it tomorrow, and maybe do Yoga and Ab Ripper X as well if I'm feeling better and if I have the time. Otherwise, I'll do Yoga on Wednesday, my rest day. My motivation is waning, and I'm struggling to get up for these workouts. I'm looking forward to the end of it.

R2 Day 69 - Cardio X, ARX

I took a rest yesterday because I really needed a good night's sleep. I had an awful dream where I woke up and found out that Tiger had committed suicide. For a few days now I've been dreading checking TMZ or Drudge because I don't want to know what's going to happen next. Steroids has entered the picture now. Boy, when a man is down... The only illegal performance enhancing drugs that could possibly help a golfer are Beta Blockers, which dull the nerves, and there is no way Tiger is on them. Everything else might help one thing, like driving distance, but hurt another, like touch around the greens. Steroids? Tiger is big, but he has been working out every day for ten years, and that will do it. And he's not baseball big, he's just put on a lot of muscle. One curious thing is that while he is drug tested regularly by the PGA, he also drug tests himself privately. I used to think this was in case of tampering, but now, who knows. It's not like you can trust the guy anymore, is it? He could just be making sure that the drugs he's taking don't show up in any tests. I have been shocked by some of his behaviour on the course this year, especially when he bounced a driver into the crowd in Melbourne last month, but I'm going to put that down to the pressures of lying to the whole world, not 'roid rage.
I am prepared to say that not even Tiger Woods would take steroids. This is golf, not baseball. I do think he will come out and say he is addicted to sex, and painkillers, like everyone who has had any type of operation seems to be, but that is it. Please, Tiger. Don't be taking steroids.
So I got up early this morning and did Cardio X, and I did Ab Ripper X after work, and then I went to the end of year work party.
The end of year party was okay. I was late because I thought the party started at 6:20 when it was really 6:00, so I got the last seat next to T-san, the boss of the division next to ours. The problem is that when these guys get a few drinks in them, they want to try their English, which is usually terrible. Where do you from? Can you sushi? I answer them in Japanese until they give up. It's all I can do to make them stop. Then the interrogation begins. How long have you been in Japan? Is your wife Japanese? Where did you meet your wife? Do you speak English or Japanese at home? Can your son speak English? and so on. It's not that the questions are so bad, only a little nosey, it's that they always ask them without fail. They are only interested in me in terms of them. How different am I to you, is basically what they want to find out. After ten years of this, it's hard to feign interest. But on the other hand, if someone comes along and is a little different, they really get my attention. So I ditched this table as quick as I could and went and sat with my own department. It was a little more fun because there were a couple of middle-aged ladies who are good value. We got onto the subject of cleaning ears, which is a big thing in Asia. (Guys, if you ever go on a date with a hot Asian chick, make sure your ears are clean. They check.) I asked one lady if this was the reason why a lot of Japanese men grow the nail of their little finger, so they can get inside and really shovel the wax out. Disgusting, I know, but I cannot think of another reason why they do it. So I asked her, and she was like, "What? I've never seen that before. No, they don't grow their nails, that stupid." Just then, my boss joined us, and we all just happen to look at his nails at the same time, and wouldn't you know it, he's got the long little fingernail! Everybody screamed, and I'm pointing at my boss' fingernail saying See! See! She couldn't believe it. Funny stuff. Turns out my boss grows his little fingernail long because his dad does too, and he thought it was cool. Not a very satisfying answer. I left early to go and teach Nori, which was okay except I was really tired, and then I went home. Busy day.