Speakers in Lamps

Sunday 18th October 2009

AM

Least: At about 9:30am, I woke with a splitting headache from the few glasses of German  riesling that I'd had with dinner the night before. Perhaps it was the flu, or the tiredness brought on by my trip to Wakayama, but I felt as if I'd been dealt an unfair blow. The wine was from the Rhine region and tasted pretty good, however it's after-punch was simply too great and unfair.

Most: At nearly 10:30am, I began making a series of Morinaga pancakes. As usual, they looked just like they did on the box, thick and fluffy. In an otherwise painful morning, the sweetness was a welcome relief to the empty morning. I can't believe that I've finally come to love maple syrup, although the real thing is very expensive. The next, and even unhealthier step will be to mix the sweet of the pancakes with the savoury of eggs and bacon.

PM

Least: At around 2:30pm, Rosie and I rode our bikes through an arcade that was mostly closed for the day. What added to its sadness was the strange music eminating from speakers hidden in lamps. The lamps were spaced apart just enough for the bizarre childrens' singing to fade only to reappear at another part of the song. It was like a cheesy Stephen King horror movie, only slightly more boring.

Most: At close to 1:30am, I stepped into an okonmiyaki retaurant on Abeno-suji called Ponpocotei. Rosie and I had been there before and ate until bursting last time. I ordered the 'mix modanyaki' which included pork, beef, prawns, octopus and squid. It was huge and it tasted incredible. By the time I'd finished it I could barely move and was glad that I'd ridden my bike so that I could begin to work some of it off in the headwind.

Meeting Mr Melor

Thursday 8th October 2009

AM

Least: At 8:00am, I woke to a typhoon-free morning, and to the discovery that I had had a minor nose bleed in my sleep. The little roundel of blood on my pillow suggested that I probably picked my nose in my sleep, or suffered some strange buffeting from the storm. Either way, it will be a crashing bore to wash the stain out when I finally get around to it. One of the few benefits of living alone for a week it that I can put off until Monday, what I should really do today.

Most: At about 2:00am, I was wide awake listening to the howling of typhoon Melor passing by my window. Gusts of wind seemed to be compressing our apartment block and threatening to rip out the windows. A lone pigeon had sought refuge on our kitchen window-sill and cowered a the gale as I snapped his photograph (right). I had to remove the washing and a few loose items from the balcony, but in the end the storm was a bit of a non-event. The only damage for us was a missing ribbon from a decrepit spring ornament and leaves missing from the basil plant. When I woke at 8:00am, it was cool and sunny with no sign of the terrifying winds except for some un-Japanese like rubbish on the road.

PM

Least: Between 3:45pm and 9:45pm, I did no more than 10 minutes of teaching work after most people, like their companies had cancelled their activities in fear of typhoon Melor. The rest of the five hours and fifty minutes was filled with coma inducing tasks, concocted by the busy-bee staff. When I wasn't contructing a poster or stuffing tissues, I was stringing up worn out cliches for Halloween. It seems though, that the staff took the process seriously and darted around scratching their heads and wrinkling up their noses at where to put the next tattered jack-o-lantern. Lamentably, I will probably have to find a costume for the kids' Halloween lessons. Groan.

Most: At about 9:30pm, I began to make okonomiyaki for dinner. This time, I added some dodgy slices of roast pork and tried a few tips on making the dish given to me by students. One of the tricks is not to mix the egg too much, so it retains a little of its character in the finished product. The meal was very successful, and given that I made two, I'll be able to eat the remaining okonomiyaki for my next PM meal.

The Three Bad Smells of Japan

AM

Least: Sometime around 8:50am, I walked out the door for a stroll around the park carrying a large back of household rubbish. I added the bag to the mountain on the road and went on my way. About five minutes later, I discovered the third bad smell of Japan. The first is especially well documented - the stench of the drains that occasionally waft above ground to assault the senses. The second is the extreme body odour exuded by certain members of the middle management class who probably work too hard to care about armpit hygiene. My experience of the third came as I walked around the park. The smell was a complex combination of rotting park-garbage, cigarette smoke and dog piss - all baking to perfection in the morning sun. Thankfully, the second and third nose-sores are seasonal and only make and appearance in summer, leaving Japan with only one bad smell for much the rest of the year. I can live with one.

Most: At about 10:00pm as I ate my perfectly poached eggs in front of the television, I once again stumbled on the science-ish show 'The Making'. Normally, this would warrant a place in the above entry, however today something special stopped me from changing the channel in disgust. Today's episode centred on the mass production of pre-cooked, frozen okonomiyaki. The amazing thing was, that the incredibly complex machinery served only to replicate how the delicious dish is made in the restaurants. (see actual pack right) The highlight was probably the mechanical spatulae that were robotically nudging each okonomiyaki into shape as they cooked on a moving skillet. The finished product looked without fault as it was photographed, x-rayed, wrapped then snap frozen for the supermarket. On the strength of this television experience, I will buy a frozen okonomiyaki today and report back in a food note.


PM

Least: Closing in on 10:00pm, I realised that I'd blurred past Tezukayama station. I was alerted to my folly only by the sight of a Fusball complex which told me I was nearing Tengachaya station. I'm not sure if complacency, doziness or glassy-eyed boredom caused my lapse, but as my station came and went I was none the wiser. I was listening to the deceptively long 'Black Diamond Bay' by Bob Dylan at the time and perhaps those tropic isles in song took my thoughts far away from the Nankai line. Thankfully, I did not have to wait too long for the return trip.

Most: As I left the train at 10:12pm, I sensed a change in the atmosphere. For the first time in months, I felt a very faint chill in the air brought by a northerly breeze. I also noticed that the cicadas are gone, giving room for the crickets to annoy passers by. It will be interesting to see if the season changes from summer to autumn as quickly as how summer engulfed spring in June. Many locals claim that the weather has been very strange this year with oddly timed and located deluges across Japan. I actually thought it might have been wetter than it has been, with few days of rain, and few torrential downpours. The heat and humidity though have been a brutal and character-building experience that will be good to leave behind for six months.
________________________

Food Note: For lunch I tried the frozen okonomiyaki as-seen-on-tv (see actual result right). For a frozen meal it had very good texture and taste, although it was a little small. The sauce, mayonnaise, seeweed and bonito were a nice addition to the pack and did not seem affected by their frozen ordeal. I will certainly eat this again - thanks tv!

The Early Lunch and Late Dinner

AM


Least: At about 10:20am, I found myself still bleary and in the Life supermarket bike parking area. For some reason, maybe micro-geographical, it is the hottest place in Osaka. As soon as I rolled around the corner into the sea of shopping bicycles, it was as if I'd stepped into a hot, boring oven. Downstairs in the supermarket, the competition for aisle-space was hot too - with the hoonish old ducks stopping at nothing to get their wares. There seemed to a run on horrifically filled crustless sandwiches.

Most:  At 11:40am, I began cooking okonomiyaki for an early lunch. Thankfully, the packet of flours, seaweeds, and prawn-bubbles made the job pretty easy - I just had to add chopped cabbage, eggs and flour. For the flavour layer, I added mushrooms for Rosie and leanish pork on mine (above). The real trick to to be able to flip them over without destroying thier structural integrity. Okonomiyaki is always in danger of being bland, so it is crucial to had plenty of worcester sauce on standby if another squirt is required. Bonito flakes are a must - mayonnaise is optional. Being a work-day it was a little disappointing not to be chugging down a beer with our meal - maybe tomorrow.

PM

Least: Approaching 11:00pm, I sat at Nakamozu atation and watched an Out Of Service train arrive, empty and depart. In the excruciating time between that disappointment and my train, no less than three trains passed me by. It felt like Melbourne, but with the trains clearly labelled, my rage was kept to a minimum. The most uninteresting of trials become far less enraging when their outcome is entirely predictable.

Most: Just after 8:45pm, I walk out of my pink workplace and down a flight of stairs to a vast barn of an izakaya. Despite the occasional whiff of oil and smoke, I had never contemplated that such a complex had existed less than a metre beneath my feet. The feeding trough catered for all tastes, ranging from repellent pizzas and bakes, to silky sashimi and three kinds of grilled offal. I settled for the grilled vital organs and semi-dried squid. The beer was great too. My new awareness though, will make working upstairs drag on that little while longer.

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!