what with this and that; for a number of reasons
setback; failure (e.g. plans, business); frustration; discouragement
to be confused; to be flustered; to be at a loss
drawing room; parlour; parlor; reception office
middle-age; middle age; midlife; one's middle years
thank you for waiting; sorry to have kept you waiting
stoic; stoical; self-disciplined; abstemious; Stoic (philosopher)
sweating easily; profuse sweater
influential; powerful; popular; prosperous; doing well
Beijing dialect (of Mandarin); Pekingese
proficient; skillful; enjoying; satisfaction; satiation
to have a lot of influence (in); to have clout (with); to be influential; to have contacts (in)
management; (executive) staff; leaders; leadership; top brass; upper echelons
casual; unconcerned; nonchalant
(newspaper's) financial columns
article; news story; report; account
curiously; curiously enough; oddly enough; to the point of being mysterious; to the extent of being strange
automatic teller machine; ATM; asynchronous transfer mode; ATM; anti-tank missile; ATM
sea of fire; sea of flame
to glare at each other; to confront each other
to weaken (of willpower, solidarity, etc.); to lose one's edge; to become less tense; to become lax (of discipline, rules, etc.)
New Territories (Hong Kong); Neogaean realm (terrestrial division in zoogeography)
high alert; a state of high alert; on alert
both (hands, parents, sides, etc.); counter for carriages (e.g. in a train); counter for vehicles; ryō; tael; ryō; pre-Meiji unit of currency, orig. the value of one ryō of gold
money order; draft; exchange (e.g. foreign)
to avert one's eyes; to avoid looking straight at something; to cover one's eyes
cunning; crafty; wily; sly
lively; vigorous; energetic; full of (energy, appetite, curiosity, etc.); brimming with
one's true feelings and one's official stance (which may be at odds); one's real motive and one's stated reason
the positive and the negative
Chinese cooking; Chinese food
civilization; civilisation; culture; Bunmei era (1469.4.28-1487.7.20)