No coffee, no eggs, no bread, no butter

Wednesday 30th September 2009
 

AM

Least: At close to 9:30am, I discovered that my breakfasting stocks were at an all time low. No coffee, no eggs, no bread, no butter. To alleviate the sheer awefulness of it all, I trotted up to the Family Mart for resupply. To my horror the only bread that they had was some inedible and sugary loaf with slices about three inches thick. I settled on pancake mix, however in my confused state, I forgot to buy butter to butter up my meal. Despondant, I sat down to pancakes with faux maple syrup sans-butter. After one cake, Rosie stumbled through the door with a tub of grease for my meal. Despite the drama of breakfast, it was a grindingly boring experience.

Most: Approaching 11:50am, I finally finished reading The Grapes of Wrath after picking away at it for a few weeks. The ending was a little on the brutal side and shattered my hopes of a better outcome for the itinerant workers. The book is a condemnation of capitalism but rather than idealising it's victims, allows the characters to be crushed by their appalling conditions. The same process that had giant companies engulfing smaller farms it probably still happening today, especially in the developing world. I'm slightly sad that the book is over, but it was an interesting journey.

PM

Least: At about 1:50pm, I stepped onto the tram for my commute to work in Yao. Because it was the first time that I had been to this suburban sprawl (see its seal right), it carried ore stress than a usual trip to work. One mistake, or missed train could mean lateness or it could mean ending up on the wrong side of town. To make matters worse, there was a steady fall of rain and the wind allowed the water to sneak under my umbrella. After a wrong turn outside, Kintetsu-Yao station, I finally realised that my map had failed to notice that the MUFJ bank had relocated across the town square. I was only slightly damp by the time I arrived.

Most: At nearly 9:30pm, Rosie and I walked down some Tennoji steps into a below-ground izakaya. We were told that the last food orders were about to be taken, to we cut a swathe through the menu. By the time we had finished ordering, It was dificult to remember what we had actually requested. Each dish that arrived was slightly more suprising than the last and included, chips, edemame, fried chicken gristle, sashimi, tofu salad, samma and beer. The highlight was the slightly seared sashimi of salmon and tuna and the ultra-friendly manager. We'll be back.

The Trains of Wrath

 Saturday 26th September 2009
 

AM

Least: As I punched in at work at exactly 10:43am, I noticed that the same time had appeared no less that three times in the past month. It seems that my routine from my doorstep to work has become deeply entrenched. Even though I often browse in the Lawson convenience before I ride the lift to work on the  sixth floor the time somehow remains the same. Maybe next week, I should try the coffee at Mr Donut on the first floor.

Most: At 9:13am, I once again boarded the train at Tezukayama on my weekly pilrimage to Wakayama. Many of the same characters were sitting in the carriage and I decided to disappear using my Ipod and copy of Grapes of Wrath. Even though, I've crawled through the Steinbeck classic, today I just couldn'd put it down. As well as providing an extra layer of personal space protection, it is a cracking read. Even drifting down train lines in Japan, I still felt as if I was part of the book being pushed from place to place in search of work with wages ever lowering. I must've been on commuter autopilot because when I looked up I was stepping onto the platform at Wakayama.

PM

Least: At nearly 5:50pm the so-called Kishuji Rapid service speaker told everyone to leave the train at the impossibly remote Hineno station. I imagine that there had been some sort of trouble down the line towards Tennoji and that the delays meant a radical rethinking of train times and my trip home. I followed the hurrying crowd onto another platform, only to have to turn around a minute later to return to the platform from which the hundreds of people had just evacuated. To make the trip more boring, I underwent the indignity of catching a bluer than blue local train (above)  back to Mikunigaoka which meant stopping at every station. Despite the apparent efficency of the rail network, a blip can mean chaos.

Most: After 9:00pm, I sat down to watch the first episode of X-Files. It was amazing to see how dated the show was in terms of fashion and production. Even the SWAT team looked as if it had just left the set of the A-Team. Still, it was pretty enjoyable even after all this time even though it was weirdly streched on our huge screen. It will be a real journey to trawl back through every episode. Once again the internet saves the day.