The Problem With Parking

AM

Least: By 10:15am, I was groaning at the thought of untangling my bike from the logjam downstairs. Through sheer numbers, the bicycle parking area has become a nightmare of interlocked steel and rubber. There is also a carport where, if the bikes are three deep, I have little chance of extricating the Impression without some kind of rage attack. There also seems to be a single spot reserved for a particularly crappy red bike - parking in that unmarked area only means that your bike will end up elsewhere by day's end. People who think cycling will solve parking problems should come to Japan, or at least Sanshou Mansion.

Most: Just after 11:00am, I began doing my Japanese study for the day. I was surprised at the progress that I had made on the very simple things but, frustrated about how hard the new vocabulary is even at Japanese Core Step 1. Even more surprising is that it appears that I am going to stick with it - at least on the computer. It will be very interesting when I finally have someting to say in Japanese, or can vaguely understand conversations. I'm sure that what I hear and say will be as mundane as what I hear and say in English. It has been an interesting experience to be mute for eight months, but I think Japan will be far more interesting with a few more scraps of Japanese under my belt.

PM

Least: At about 1:00pm, I paid 200 yen for a can of mango juice at a Thai festival in Tennoji park. As I picked up the can, I realised that it was in fact a tin can. I suspect that the slightly rust tin of oddly tasting mango slurry had been manufactured in the 1980s. I'm not sure just how much juice was in the drink, but I am sure that it tasted like an antibiotic immulsion from my childhood. I made it through just quarter of the can before condemning it to the rubbish bin. I wonder if the local recycling facilities can handle a relic made out of strange metals?

Most: Sometime around 12:30pm, I began sampling the Thai food at the abovementioned festival in Tennoji. To my surprise it was excellent, and the smells took me straight back to Bangkok. Although I heard the odd Thai voice, all of the people at the restaurant stands were speaking Japanese which, although not surprising, created a bizarre world inside the park, which is usually inhabited by homeless men. I sampled some grilled meat and a green curry and collected numerous cards and menus so I could make some visits another day. It was a good change to eat some food with strong flavours which seems lacking in most Japanese food. Many Japanese people I have spoken to have an almost genetic aversion to spicy food - mild kim chi is about as far as they will venture. Today was a delicious departure.