The Ringing of the Ears

Monday 2nd November 2009

AM

Least: At 9:00am, my alarm barely penetrated the ringing in my ears from last night's gig. Although the ringing had reduced to a mere static crackle, it was very disconcerting and a reminder that earplugs are essential for gig going in Japan. The other, albeit minor injury I recieved, was a smallish puncture wound on the back of my hand, caused by a guitarist's ridiculously bestudded jacket and an out of control moshpit. I just hope the studs (right) were surgical steel.

Most: Just after 11:00am, I dragged my bike from under five other bikes which had been blown over by the gale that was buffeting Osaka. It is incredibly how quickly the weather went from  pleasantly Autumn to uncomfortably cold. My ride to the supermarket was assisted by a roaring tailwind, but the ride home was stymied by the wintery blast. The bikes that I had picked up at the beginning of my journey were all blown to the ground upon my return.

PM

Least: At around 5:30pm, I stood waiting for my training at Headquaters to start. I was immediately assailed by a crashing bore, who, new to a trainers position could help attempting a serious discussion about education with me. Almost groaning, I wondered if he realised the comedy of his earnestness in a room, one day from moving, filled with half-filled cardboard boxes. I'm sure he didn't and I hope that he impressed his superiors.

Most: At 9:20pm, as I braved the wind (see the god right) on my way to the Namba Nankai station, I was amazed at the fashion transformation that had occured during the day. People had gone from jeans and t-shirts, to puffer jackets, scarves and beanies. It reminded me of Melbourne, where at the first hint of a cool breeze in Autumn, people dress as if they're in a frozen wasteland in the Northern Hemisphere. Interesting - kind of.

Oncoming Bicycles

Thursday 29th October 2009

AM

Least: At nearly 11:15am, I rode down to the Kohyo supermarket to buy some lunch. On the way, I groaned audibly as time and again I had to swerve to avoid oncoming and erratic cyclists. I'm not sure why, or if it's actually true, but people seem to ride on opposite sides of the footpath to where they ride on the roads. I wish that someone would make a cute cartoon about it to teach people to at least be consistent.


Most: At about 11:25am, I waded through the mothers to the fish section of the supermarket. To my joy, they had a special on sashimi. For a paltry 500 yen I bought two trays of incredibly good fish. I'm still amazed every time I buy fish at the amazing quality and price. I wish that the same situation existed in Australia.

PM

Least: Just after 8:50pm, Rosie confirmed that pizza was to be on the menu. By the time I arrived home however, a dark uncertainty hung over the ordering process. We could not find a menu anywhere. Even on the Dominos website, it was impossible to find a number to call for delivery. It seems that in Osaka they still require customers to call the specific number of each store. After a forensic look at the site we did find a number, however it seemed to be for some other service. Thankfully, they gave us a number for the Sumiyoshi branch and the evening was saved.

Most: By 10:00pm, the doorbell rang and the pizza had finally arrived. To my astonishment, the pizza boy proceeded to give me the pizza, take the money then bow continuously as he took off his at. This cartoonish display left me puzzled as to how to react. I just said thank-you and inhaled the pizza. The longer I stay here the stranger Japan and it's people seem to get.

Duel or Wheels of Terror

AM

Least: At nearly 11:15am I stood in the the supermarket struggling to find a place to pack my bags and being buffeted by a series of incredibly rude old crones. I'm not sure if it's me, or the old bags are simply in mission mode and are not willing to let anything get in the way of their target. The first collision occured after a shopper discarded her trolley and rolled it towards me with little regard for my safety. The second incident was as I was packing my shopping into my bike-basket when a heavily osteoperosised old lady flashed past on her bike with her umbrella open. The edge of the frilly sun-umbrella struck me in the side of the face - luckily causing no injury. The bike rules discourage umbrella use and offer jail time for other bike offences. This morning's experience suggests that Japan's famous manners are concentrated in the younger age-brackets and non-existant among decrepit old ladies.

Most: At about 11:40am I sat down to have a look at the cycling rules for Japan after my brush with the maniac at the supermarket. The laws were revised in 2008 and seem to be quite harsh, especially in terms of the jail terms given for some offences. Some big penalties apply to the most common bike riding habits seen in Japan, such as dinking, riding on the wrong side of the road, failing to stop at signals and riding while drunk. The last crime can potentially send a person to the slammer for five years - as long as the rider doesn't crash and die first.

PM

Least: Between 3:20pm and precisely 9:35pm, I spent no less than four and a half hours staring out over Osaka's north-eastern skyline from the twenty-fourth floor of the Hankyu32 building (see rectangle in the centre of photo right) As night fell, the lights of the city made it slightly more interesting but soon became part of the same trance-like drone before my eyes. The HEP Five ferris wheel was not even turning and was covered in cloth for renovation. A rare highlight was seeing sparks from a welder fall from about thirty storeys up into the depths of the street. Having little work to do made a boring day drag on even longer.

Most: At about 9:50pm, I stepped onto the Midosuji subway train at Umeda. Within thirty seconds I had run into the barman from one of my favourite bars Jokerman (right). Takao had been eating Mexican and drinking vast quantities of tequila. His eyes were bloodshot and he admitted to being incredibly drunk. We talked about grindcore and the upcoming Brutal Truth show in Osaka. It was nice running into a familiar Japanese face in a sea of strangers.

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.

The Perfect Peach?

AM

Least: Pretty close to 8:50am, I cut an equator around a too-large peach that I bought from a street seller a couple of days ago. Despite twisting firmly, the greenish flesh refused to part from the stone. The most disappointing aspect of this particular peach was that its complexion was perfect - not a scar nor a browning hollow - but its insides were watery and tart. The Japanese art of overpackaging is rife amongst supermarket fruits - particularly peaches. The foamish coverings give the impression that they are protecting something excellent, however it it merely make-up - mutton dressed as lamb. For a few thousand yen, you can buy your boss a box of twelve as part of the summer gifting process - I wouldn't bother.

Most: I rose this morning at about 8:20am with a strong urge to open Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and keep reading. There were simply not enough waking hours last night to complete it. The incredible clarity of the writing and the rhythm that switches between the victims and the criminals gives reading it movie like momentum. Over the years, I've picked the book up and never bothered to buy it, but the ten dollar Popular Penguin was too good an offer to refuse. I've no doubt that I will finish it by the end of PM tonight.

PM

Least: Sometime close to 4:00pm, the dread of going back to ECC drone-hood began bothering me. As dreads go, it's a pretty bland version - no preparation and not much mystery. In my attempt to make today drag on, I tried to make the least of my time today to little avail. I extended the cover of my sunburn through.


大きな地図で見る

Most: Just after 12:20pm, Rosie and I wheeled down to Namba for a bite. Instead of taking the increasingly uninteresting routes previously describe in this blog, we opted for some almost randomly chosen streets. Our bikes took us through the surprisingly hilly and windy area just north of Tezukayama and down through Tengachaya's less trafficked roads. What we saw was almost like another city with a completely different atmosphere. There were lots of people sitting around in the heat, old men wearing kimono-like duds, baffling small businesses, and the rubbery smell of bicycle recycling. For some reason it reminded us of Vietnam.

___________
Food note: At the Conveyor Sushi trough that we often haunt, a young girl and her Grandfather shared their sushi. As usual, the Grandfather spent much of his time scraping wasabi paste from otherwise delicious dishes. The most touching moment though, was when they shared a generous piece of whale bacon - the little girl ate the meat, the Grandfather chewed the fat. Nice.

The Bike and the Castle

AM

Least: By 11:30am, I was riding my bike towards Daikokucho. As usual, I was on the footpath and as usual I spent much of my time dodging slow-moving pedestrians and oncoming bicycles. My flattening tyres didn't help either - I was forced to pay 50 yen for compressed air. If I was game enough to ride on the deadly road my journey might've taken half the time as long as I didn't die in transit.

Most: Approaching 11:59am, I rode north with Jack through the backish streets towards Osaka Castle. It was amazing to be so engulfed by the city and we wondered how every apartment block could be full, or how the thousands of minor restaurants and bars could survive all pitted against one another. Although the direct sunlight was oppressive, we made it to our destination after a small detour over a bridge or two.

PM

Least: Sometime around 5:00pm, I discovered an unlikely victim of the humidity and heat. My quarter-filled jar of Nescafe Gold instant coffee had collapsed into a cube. With the lid only half screwed on, the freeze-dried granules stood no chance. The 98% humidity won - no more coffee from that jar.

Most: Just after 1:00pm, I caught my first glimpse of the ramparts of Osaka-jo. The scale of the stonework is enormous, imposing and no doubt intimidating to military planners. Some of the stones were so large that it seemed impossible that they could have been placed so accurately 400 years ago. Expensive drinks were available in the bailey and be-samuried men posed for photographs in between picking up rubbish with tongs. Despite the external qualities of the castle, the interior looked like most other multi-storey buildings. Foolishly we climbed the stairs rather than taking the lift. Most impressive were the suits of armour from 1615ish and the holographic dioramas on the 7th floor. From the viewing deck I could see as far as the Tsutenkaku through the smog. Luckily I could also keep an eye out for my bike, which was a speck on the other side of the outer moat. Lamentably, I forgot my camera and could only squeeze off a couple of shots of ultra low-res phone pics (above). I will return.