Real English Four-treat

As I told you in last week's blog, my mother in-law came to town last weekend.  
So on Friday night, after I got home, I said a quick hello, then washed my hands, gargled, changed my clothes and plopped my butt across from her under the kotatsu.  It was the first time we met, actually also talked, in about a year and a half because, well you see, we had a little spat in the summer of 2011.  So here is how the conversation went:

Me:  How is life treating you?
MIT(=mother-in-law):  Alright, thanks.  You look thinner.  Did you lose weight?
Me:  Yeah, a little.  Recently I work out a lot. 
MIT: And how is your back?
Me:  Not bad.  I am getting it treated and the treatment seems to be working.  So, how was the trip up?
MIT:  Ah...don't get me started...My train was late because there was an accident, and because of that I missed the Bullet Train from Hakata, so I couldn't use the discounted ticket which Kyoko sent me, and had to buy another ticket, and when I tried to get a refund at Shin-Osaka station, there was a mix-up, one train officer told me one thing, but then another train officer told me another thing, and in the end, it took over one hour to sort everything out...I was tired...
Me: Sounds annoying. Sorry to hear about that. But the most important thing is you arrived safely.
MIT:Yeah, you're right.  And Glenn, I would like to apologize for what happened a while back. I am sorry.  Please forgive me.
Me:  Don't worry about it!  It is water under the bridge.  Let's move on!
MIT: OK, thank you.
Me:  Tomorrow you are in for a treat! We are going to go to a nice place for your belated birthday party!
MIT:  That's great! I am looking forward to it.  Are you treating?
Me:  I am an American gentleman, of course it's on me!  By the way, how is "Hime-chan"?
MIT:  Thanks for asking. She is doing well, and staying in a "Dog Hotel" this weekend.  If she is a good dog, I told the staff to give her some of her favorite treats.  
Me:  If I am a good boy, will you give me some treats too?
MIT: Ha ha.  Don't hold your breath!

Real English Three-The honeymoon is over!

My mother-in-law came to Osaka to visit my wife and I this weekend, so after this, I will go out to dinner with them.  We will go to an izakaya which I have wanted to go to for a long time and am looking forward to it

But before that, let's review some of the top news stories this week.

First there was bad news.

One flight made an emergency landing due to a faulty battery and this resulted in a whole fleet of airplanes being grounded.

After that, some bad guys in Algeria took many people hostages...

But this week began with some good news, the Coming-of-Age Day on Monday the 14th.

If I was invited to speak at one of the Coming-of-Age ceremonies held at various Halls all over Japan, I would say the following:

Ladies and Gentlemen, first of all, congratulations on becoming 20 years old!! Now you can drink alcohol legally! Seriously, I hope you all had fun, because let me be the first to tell you, the honeymoon is over! Welcome to Reality!!  From here on out, life is not a bowl of cherries! With age comes more responsibility which you can't run away from...you have to embrace it!  My best advice is work hard, work hard, and after that, work hard again.  In the middle of working hard, have a little fun!!  And, with a little luck, everything will be alright! 

Real English Two-"I have a complaint"

Many Japanese people are shy, or introverted, or can't express themselves well.  The next time you have a problem, whether travelling for pleasure or on business or, this expression is essential, and the first step.

The other day I went to D's Pizza Shop. They are doing a "Buy One, Get One Free" Promotion now.  (It is great and I wonder how long it will last...I hope it continues forever, but that is doubtful.)    Basically, the promotion is pretty clear cut, with only one condition, which is you have to pick up the pizzas by yourself, NO DELIVERY.  

Simply put, if you pick up two pizzas, you have to pay for the more expensive one, but the cheaper on is free. Any size, and kind of pizza, is OK. There are not any strings attached, no catches,  just plain and simple.  And even more, if you order though the net, you can get an additional 5% discount.  And it says on the brochure and on the home page and in the shop, "If you order through the net, we won't make you wait!!!"

So we decided to try it.

My wife reserved one large Margherita pizza, which is about 2700 yen,  and one large plain pizza with extra cheese. which is also about 2600 yen.  In addition, she ordered through the Rakuten site so we got another discount.  In all, the bill was 2370yen.  Quite a good deal if you ask me.  And she made the order at 2:45pm, for a pick-up time at 7pm.

Since I am big on punctuality, I arrived at 7pm sharp.  When I arrived, they were hopping!

Here is the dialogue with me and the staff at the pizza parlor:

Me:  I have a reservation for Gross.

Staff #1:  Please wait a moment...(While I was waiting, he fumbled with some papers and looked around the shop frantically.)  Oh, your pizza will be ready shortly.  Please wait about 7 minutes.  First, please pay. 2370 yen please.

Me:  OK.  Here you go.  (I handed him the money and then I thought, "Wait?! But it says 'we won't make you wait!'"). 

And then I sat down. 7 minutes passed. 10 minutes passed. I was becoming impatient.

Me:  Excuse Miss.  Staff #1 said my order will be ready in 7 minutes.  But, what's up?

Staff #2:  We are very busy. Please wait a few more minutes...

Me:  Your advertisement says "No waiting!"

Staff:  Uhh...What do you mean.

Me:  (I pointed at the advertisement on the counter) Who is the manager?

Staff #2:  (While pointing to the young man making pizza in front of the oven)  He is.

Me: Well, I'd like to talk to him.

Staff #2: OK

8 minutes later at 7:15.

Staff #3:  Mr. Gross.  Your two pizzas are ready.  Did you pay yet?

Me: Yes.

Staff #3: (Talking to staff #4)  I didn't get his money.  Did he pay you?

Staff #4:  No....

I was becoming more agitated...

Staff #4:  Ah, I think he paid Staff#1...Ah, Mr. Gross here are your pizzas. Thank you.

It was 7:16pm.

Me:  Thanks.  But, I have a complaint. Get me the manager.

I moved to the side of the register and waited for the manager to come over.  He came quickly and took off his hat.

Me:  (Speaking politely) I am sorry to interrupt you in the middle of your work. I can see you are very busy.  However, your advertisement says "We won't make you wait!"  My order was for 7pm. It is past 7:15pm.  And nobody apologized or said "I am sorry."  What kind of service is that?

Manager:  I sincerely apologize.  We messed up the order of your pizzas and should have called you.

Me:  But my wife placed the order around 3pm!

Manager: (Bowing deeply) I am very sorry. I don't know what to do, but if this is any compensation, I would like to give you some drinks for free.  Please forgive us.

Me:  I understand. Thank you. The next time I come, I hope I don't have to wait.

He compensated us for the wait by giving us one carton of orange juice and one 2 liter Coke.  It was sufficient and I was satisfied with the manager's apology and the pizza was delicious, so I will go again.

Midosuji Street Illumination

2013-Real English One-"It blew me away!"

First of all, Happy New Year!

Second of all, sorry for the delay.  

I have been busy with stuff since the start of the new year and haven't any time to blog.  But don't fret, I am going to write two "Real English" this week in order to keep my new year's resolution, which is the same as last year, to write one "Real English" a week.  How about you?  Did you make a new year's resolution for 2013?  If yes, have you broken it yet? :)

To change the topic, this year's Chinese sign is the snake!  

What is your Chinese sign?  Mine is the Tiger!! My brother is a dragon!  My wife is...I don't know!  Oops,  better find out!

Can you name all 12 of the Chinese signs?

Finally, let's get to "Real English One."  Right after the New Year, I got an email from Ms. e.  She said, "I just got back from Tunisia.  It was my first trip overseas over the New Year's Holidays.  I had a great time and I want to show you some photos from my trip, so please refer to the attached file."  When I opened the file...I was speechless.  Her photo blew me away!  It was a spectacular shot of some animal, I don't know the name of the animal but it looked like a whitish ram, on the middle of the desert!

Later that same day, I spoke to my father on the phone and he said, "We went to the movies last night and the movie really blew me away!  I highly recommend it!"

After I got off the phone with him, I went to the park and I saw a kid's kite get blown away by the wind.

Then, at night on the same day, I watched the news and I was blown away when I heard that another person got blown away in Kyushu Prefecture.  Why is it that practically the only shootings in Japan, which rarely happen, occur in Kyushu?

Has anyone or anything blown you away recently?

The first three photos below are from Ms. K. 

She went to Rome with her bf for 3 weeks in December.  

They (only) had one fight, and had four close calls getting pick pocketed...

but other than that, they had a GREAT time.  

And seriously, I was really blown away by her truly amazing photos.

The next three photos are from Ms. e.  

The one that blew me away is not included, but these are also GREAT!