The Battle for Bread

AM

Least: Just after 11:00pm, I listened in horror as the music of the rubbish truck faded into the distance. With no stinking bags of garbage left on the street it was clear that I had missed my chance to get rid of mine. Missing a 'household garbage' pick up can often mean having to live with a bag of food scraps and paper festering for a few days. Thankfully, in one small mercy, the tiny blue bin downstairs was empty, so I filled it.

Most: At 9:20am, I was struck by the cool temperature of the water coming out of the bathroom tap. For months, the water had been tepid enough to allow me to shave straight from the tap. I think the time has now come to return to filling the basin with warm water from the kettle and for some reason there is no hot water tap. I just want to know why they installed all the pipes in this building on the houtside with no insulation.

PM

Least: Some time around 4:00pm, Rosie and I began watching the Detroit Metal City movie based on the manga of the same name. The story centres around a young man who lives a double life between a complete dork and a crazed death metal vocalist. While the comic is very confronting, with shocking language, violence, male-male rape and treatment of women, the movie was simply painful. The shrill voices of the actors and the bad use of janglish swearing made it almost impossible to watch. In fact, I couldn't watch it any longer and had to evacuate.

Most: At close to 5:00pm, I decided to salve my pain from the Detroit Metal City movie by baking bread. The process was an experiment, because I was unsure as to the properties of Japanese flour and that I don't have a real oven. I chose a very basic recipe to minimise any disasters. After about and hour of kneading and rising, I shaped the dough into rolls and sent into the infernal reaches of a toaster oven (right). as I stared into to red glow, I could see the bread rising and browning, then blackening. I rescued the bread and realised that my experient had been pretty successful. We ate the bread with pasta topped by a simple tomato sauce. Another small victory in the battle for bread.

Just when you thought you spoke English

AM
Least: At 10:18am, I poked my nose through my kitchen window to get a whiff of the weather. The air was as hot as the gas-fired kitchen. Worse, though was the sour smell of decomposing pigeon guano that has piled up between Sanshou and next door. I'm sure that a bird-lover next door is aiding and abetting the local pigeon gangs with crumbs or some such. The scourge is such the we, like thousands of others need netting to defend our balcony against these depraved rats of the sky.

Most: At exactly 11:00am, my phone told me that I had 30 minutes left on my phone card. I spoke to Ceridwen for a whiles and mused about the oddities of Japan. We discussed important birthdays approaching and the growing clutch of babies that are beginning to populate our lives. The conversation reminded me of how hard it is to speak freely in Japan - it's very easy to get the wrong end of the stick - and that's only speaking to Canadians. Just when I think I'm speaking fluent English, my 'space' becomes 'spice' and my 'cram' becomes 'crime' - context, context, context. Perhaps interesting proof that Orstraylians are an outward looking people.

PM

Least: By 1:50pm it was becoming clear that I was about to miss out on the end of another classic war movie - Where Eagles Dare. Working in the afternoons has the effect of obliterating my motivation to do anything substantial in the mornings. I usually wake at 9:00am, eat at 9:30am then eat again just after noon. By the time that the glow of the midday meal wears of, I am usually sweating in my suit-pants, and the movie is not yet over.

Most: Just before 2:40pm, I walked into work to find that all the staff were wearing surgical masks. There was an unintelligible sign at the door explaining that a staff member had fallen ill with the New Influenza. Several disinfecting dispensers of alcoholic gel were scattered around the office. During the one week of swine flu panic last time, I often found myself the only person in a room or carriage without a mask. Some people in Japan seem to wear masks to stop getting the flu, to stop spreading the flu and to stop allergies - these people probably have little time left to travel mask-free. How long does it take to incubate?

July 23 2009

AM

Least: At about 8:15am I awoke with a distinct feeling of dehydration, a headache and a raging thirst. The day before I had eaten two suspicious foods - an onigiri and a spicy chicken rectangle from the Family Mart. At least one of these is ultimately to blame for my stomach upset and subsequent dryness.

Most: At 11:20am, Rosie and I began watching Revolutionary Road. It was fairly faithful to the book and well cast. The movie had less of the tension of the book and all of it's misery. Not a very interesting movie but, the most interesting part of my morning.

PM

Least: Between 8:00pm and 8:40pm I spoke to a guy who worked in the screens and filters industry. His company made screens and netting for industrial conveyor belts. His company had a massive drop in profits this year as the car parts industry lurched into catastrophe. Boring and depressing.

Most: Upon arriving home at about 9:30pm, I cooked a garlicky and basily pasta dish to go with the wedge of parmesan and the bottle of Italian wine in the fridge. The basil was from Rosie's balcony garden. The wine went straight to my head as we sat down to eat and to watch the spaghetti western, 'For A Few Dollars More'. The wine took me to bed with 20 minutes of the movie to go. I foresee that those 20minutes will become the most interesting events of my am tomorrow.