The Last Weekend in September

Sunday 27th September 2009

AM

Least: Just after 5:00am, I was jolted out of my fitful sleep by the first of perhaps a hundred tram rollbys for the day. If only the Japanese engineers could have made the track as smooth as the rail network so that my sleep would be left uninterrupted. The Melbourne-ish clunk of the wheels as they pass over the gaps in the rails has the effect of shaking Sanshou at its foundations. I have heard that the Uemachi tramline (see bizarred simulation right) has been in danger of closure in the past, only to be saved by nostalgic locals who apparently live nowhere near the wonky rails.



Most: At close to 9:30am, I finally added wireless internet to our flat after days of technlogical agony. I thought I'd give it one more try after a thought I had in the very early hours of the morning. My idea failed miserably, but an idiot's guide on the internet showed me how to set the wretched thing up in less that ten minutes. Amazingly, the shonky 'bloadband' router came to life gave our laptop new freedom. The triumph I felt literally left me punching the air. Amazing.

PM

Least: Just after 2:00pm,  I scoured Youtube for footage of one Brendan Fevola disgracing himself on national TV during the Brownlow telecast. He was clearly incredibly drunk and displaying the rank boganism that is so rife in the AFL. The most boring part of it will be his fellow players tut tut tutting about his behaviour even though most of them do the very same thing every weekend. Good one Brendan.

Most: Not too long after 1:00pm, I began the very satisfying process of cooking the Autumny meal of Sanma. A student told me how to make the dish a few weeks ago, and I watched carefully as Tee of Tee's Kitchen cooked one up for me. I bought two of the long silvery fish for 200 yen down at Life and prepared them according to the simple instructions. I scored one side of the fish, added plenty of salt then grilled them in the fish grill for a total of nine minutes. The result was spectacular (above) and I served them with grated daikon, ponzu dressing and a squeeze of kabosu. I'm now looking for a new cooking adventure.

Gastronomy Versus Gastro

AM

Least: At nearly 8:20am, I awoke with a sore neck, a splitting headache and a stormy gizzard. The first affliction I have had for days, the second caused by beer and the third probably via kids at Rosie's school. The unpredictable nature of my malaise meant that I was confined for much of the AM period and less able to fight my other physical impairments. As the morning wore on, I began to question the foods the I had eaten in the last twelve-ish hours but I just couldn't bring myself to blame the sashimi, doteyaki, the octopus or the sanma. I finally settled on blaming a school environment teeming with virus's and imperfectly washed hands.

Most: By 9:30am, I had realised that Collingwood had in fact won the game of football that I had recklessly ignored last night. While speaking to my sister and niece is was strangely comforting to be able to give my comisserations to my Adelaide following brother in law. While AFL is pretty far from being interesting, this short skyped aside was a shining light in an otherwise dreadful morning.

PM

Least: Pretty close to 12:30pm, I paid a visit to the Nankai station branch of the MUFJ Bank to check my bank balance. Seconds later, I discovered that August's wild spending spree had taken its toll and worse, my pay had yet to be credited to my account. The dismal figure made me ponder where the money had gone. Expensive meals, taxis, pizza and an airfare to Malaysia. Hopefully this month's boring balance will be a cracking holiday in December.

Most: At about 3:00pm, Rosie and I browsed the shelves of the A-Price Supermarket in Namba. The shop is aimed at caterers with caterer-sized everything to sham your restaurant into respectability. Among the frozen fish and crabs was the whale section. Frozen packs of whale bacon and blubber called out from the freezer. Some of the larger cuts of meat actually had a picture of a humpbacked whale to assist with advertising and the biggest steaks were simply frozen flesh sawn into rectangular boxes. The supermarket also has an admirable selection of cheese.

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Food Note: At around 2:00pm, I ordered what I thought was fried seafood chunks by pointing at a photo. Unfortunately, the dim lights of the restaurant meant that I had actually ordered a sizzling skillet of horemon which consisted of asparagus stems and pig entrails served on a bed of cooked onion. With a sqweeze of lemon it was delicious and given my intestinal issue, I imagined that by eating intestines their strength might transfer to mine. Magic.