AM
Least: At about 9:15am, I woke to find that I was horrifically dehydrated and that my bag was yet to be unpacked. The plane ride, combined with too much kushikatsu left me with a tired aching head and a parched throat. The unquenchable thirst lasted over an hour and came back to haunt me in the pm part of the day.
Most: By about 11:00am, I began thinking about whether my brief trip home had affected my view of Japan. I'm not exactly sure what the change has been, but it feels like I've been reading a book and had a chance to flip between two chapters. The Australia visit has refreshed my reference point to Japan and may make it even more interesting. I feel refreshed and ready for another stint in this oddity of a land.
PM
Least: Not too long after 12:20am, Rosie and I crawled into the familiar heat of Osaka and went searching for the massive Ooizumi Koen nearish to Nakamozu. We ended up strolling down this road with no shade and a Queenslandish sun roasting our brains. We arrived at the park to meet a decaying water feature (above) and waited to meet with Rosie's Japanese colleagues. We finally met them after a sweet 30mins in the sun. By then our beer was beginning to get warm.
Most: Thankfully, by 1:30pm, our picnic-mates were setting the Japanese barbecue into
motion. Charcoal was set smoldering, flammable gels were lit and fans waved to bully the fire into life. The food then was grilled like clockwork. Various meats, vegetables were seared and potatoes wrapped in Disney foil were roasted. The carefully chosen dipping sauces tipped the preferred barbecue nation status to the Japanese. Although the usual flames and manly hotplate scraping were absent, the end result gave amazing variety compared to the often meagre offerings found in Australia. And to think the Japanese look up to Australia as a high ranking barbecue culture.
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