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.

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.

Harry Potter and the Something of Fire

AM

Least: At about 9:25am I awoke to discover that it was Sunday. Sunday is a day when none of the several types of rubbish are collected. By Sunday, we usually have three bags of rubbish lying in our kitchen.

Most: Close to 12:00pm, I was woken from my doze by the clanging and drumming of a procession passing beneath my window. Several trucks loaded with colourfully-cloth'd characters drove by at irregular intervals, probably on their way to some kind of summer festival. I managed to get a bird's-eye photo (above) through our pigeon-proof netting.

PM

Least: Planning to see a movie in a cool cool cinema we arrived at about 1:pm to find that the most interesting selection was Harry Potter and the Something of Fire - we weren't interested.

Most: At about 1:20pm Rosie and I decided to take a turn away from the teeming arcade near Dotonbori to find a bite. We settled on a little okonomiyaki joint in an alleyway. What made it great was the character greeting us from out the front (right) and the fact that the cooks made the food for us in front of our eyes then served it on a sizzling skillet. I ordered the modernyaki with squid and pork. They listened to Rosie's request for okonomiyaki sans meat. We'll go back if we can find it again!