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.

The Man with the Magnets

AM

Least: At 10:15am, I began carefully poaching my eggs according to the tried and true Box method. When the crucial time for toasting arrived, I was devastated to discovered that we were breadless. Given the sensitive nature of the poaching process the only two options were to complete then eat the eggs or send them to the Osaka incinerators. The two eggs alone on the plate looked pathetic and lonely. In my panic, I had undercooked the eggs by approximately one minute.

Most: Just after 10:30am, I made a trip to Family Mart then a trip to Kohyo in search of bread. Upon arrival at Kohyo, I discovered that every overcashed housewife in Tezukayama was there. Normally, this fact and their ruthless shopping methods could only be recorded as uninteresting, however some barking piqued my curiosity. It appears that every one of the aforementioned housewives uses several cash and point-cards, one of which makes a machine bark like a puppy when scanned. An 'electronic money' dog named Happy Waon (above) specialises in point collecting and singing. His hobby is shopping. A small sign at the counter read 'Electric Money Can Be Used At This Counter'.

PM

Least: At 2:35pm, I was transported back to work and back into a very familiar routine. Everything was exactly as I'd left it. The staff, the building, the now out-of-date postings, the students, the awkward smalltalk and the lack of useful breaks. At least the sheer sameness of it all caused absolutely no stress. I'm sure it won't cause any stress for the rest of my time there.

Most: At about 9:05pm, I took my usual seat in the very last carriage of the Nankai Local at Nakamozu station. Some familiar characters were there, including the cougher in his brown suit, and the young pastry chef thumbing his latest edition of the glossy mag 'Super Patissier Book'. One stranger tended a finger wound with a tissue. Most interesting though, was an unfamiliar bloated wreck who, suffering some ailment, began placing numerous (about 30) adhesive magnets to his chest and wrists. I hope his illness wasn't serious. The tanned girl wearing her all-yellow softs didn't blink and fell asleep.