Saying No to Thorpedo and Yes to Outro '6

AM

Least: At about 11:05am, I finally had breakfast. Having had nothing substantial since lunch yesterday, I could've eaten a horse. Instead I opted for an onigiri internally rife with salty cured red salmon. It was delicious, yet somehow only served to remind me of the breakfast the could've been. Bacon, eggs, tomato and coffee in a cafe is essentially unavailable in any edible form here. At the Beekman Sports Palace down the road, it is possible to buy mile-thick bread smeared with jam (only just sweeter than the bread) but it could only barely be called a breakfast. It might just be more interesting to launch a search party for the best cafe breakfast in Osaka.

Most: By 9:30am, I was once again barrelling towards Wakayama. The only point of interest I could extract from the journey was the sighting of the Thorpedo softdrink at Hineno station. Because of its association with Yakult, I declined the voice telling me to buy it - yoghurty soft drinks are pretty far from refreshing. According to the website, there are several versions of the drink - I wonder why it has never taken off in Australia. In addition, the Thorpedo is perhaps the only Australian sportsman to make a blip on the Japanese fame-dar. Interesting - sort of.

PM

Least: Between exactly 12:15pm and 12:55pm, I battled through an English lesson with a student who was both out of depth and was infested with a dreadful cold. Every ten seconds or so he would either sneeze of sniff up mucous into his blocked nose. I swear I could feel the swarms of flu virus's impaling my every cell. The next few days will be telling. If I'm sick next Saturday, I might just blow my nose on the guy's shirtsleeve.

Most: At about 9:15pm, Rosie and I walked in the gates of the Freestyle Outro '6 festival down near the docks in Osaka. The primary reason for attending was to see Palm and Edge of Spirit but we gather far more than this. The performances were crushing and we spoke to some guys from Palm, and a wild Japanese woman from California. As a cultural spectacle it was amazing. A sea of non-typical Japanese metal, hardcore and hip hop fans were drinking hard and enjoying the music, graffiti and skateboarding Far from the norms of Japan's staid appearances, most people had serious tatts and were larking about in a very relaxed manner. It was so refreshing to see a non-temple/manga/salary man side of Japan. One of the best nights here so far.

Feeding an Aching Head

AM

Least: This morning at about 8:20am I awoke from an apparently fitful sleep with an unfair headache delivered to me by a few glasses of white wine. If I had to go to work in this condition I might be considered a hard worker.

Most: Between about 10:20am and 10:40am I read a long piece in the LRB on the letters of Marcus Aurelius. What made the reading interesting was the fact that 80 of his letters were discovered in the early 19th Century hiding on reused parchments from the First Church Council in the AD451. The article reminded me that the process of collating and interpreting text puts a great distance between what we read and the author's original intention. Good brain food.

PM

Least: At about 1:50pm I rolled to the Kohyo supermarket in search of quality coffee only to find the shelves of overpriced Lavazza empty. I was forced to experiment with a tin of UCC Original Blend. The experiment was a partial success. It's minerally flavour and corporate logo recalled my visit to the UCC shrine up in Koya San (right).

Most: Soon after 5:30pm, Rosie and I began riding our bikes toward Daikokucho and a meeting with friends for a meal. On the way we stumbled across some kinda summer festival in Tamade. Apart from the important cultural rituals were stall after stall of kids games, goldfish, chickens, tortoises, booze and yakitori. A few people were really drunk and a few people won insignificant toys by shooting airguns. It was relaxing to mingle with other people relaxing. Our meal was great but we missed Birushanah.

Mandai Ike to Nakamozu

AM

Least: At about 8.15 I took the bottles and cans downstairs and left them on the road. The rubbish collection process in Japan is complicated - plastics on Monday, combustibles on Tuesdays and Fridays and bottles and cans on the second and forth Thursday of the month. Most of the rubbish is incinerated.

Most: Between 8:35 and 9:10 I waded through the humidity around Mandai Ike. I walked 5 or 6 laps. I saw visored Tezukayama Queens warming up for and performing their fan-yoga - the opening fans sound like the crackle of carbines in a firing squad. I saw birds waiting for a luckless fish, a large bee, turtles loafing about, dragon flies patrolling, sparrows and starlings scavenging and crows waiting for a scrap. The old men were either fishing or simply wasting time - all were smoking.

PM

Least: I went to the ATM at our local UFJ bank. I called on the machine to give me instructions in English. It responded favourably to my request, however at a volume too high for comfort. People turned their heads.
Most: At Nakamozu, I had just finished reading a very strange letter from an obsessed student when I was summoned to the window to look at fire-engines. The fire-engines and police were attending an apparent suicide at Nakamozu Nankai station. I saw the sheet and the body bag being carried away from the tracks. Withing 20mins the trains were up and running again.