Typically when ordering food in Japan but not speaking nor reading the language nor comprehending the culture’s systems, one is able to order by pointing at plastic molded simulcrums. In this restaurant we were presented with an English menu which had pictures and did lots of delicious barbequed yummies which we could only guess at from pictures. BBQd chicken offal is surprisingly delicious when you have no idea what it is you’re eating.
Osaka was a surprising discovery as a cultural & entertainment hub. We’d changed our plans as we’d intended to stay a few days in Tokyo but this had been deemed off limits by DFAT. An unkind travel guide suggested the best place to stay in Osaka was Kyoto. We found this far from the truth in the Minami (south) area. Plenty happening, lots of places to eat & be entertained. Den Den town with its mix of electronics and manga was an amazing discovery and more than made up for missing the cancelled Tokyo Anime Fair.
Ordering food was an interesting experience. We discovered 2 issues to navigate, the first being that in certain eateries one orders by purchasing a ticket through a vending machine, the second being the ever so helpful Japanese would give us options (eg: Udon or Soba, wasabi or mustard, etc) to which we (not understanding that we were being presented an option) typically answered ‘yes’ which made the Japanese very confused. Or perhaps confirmed their estimation of our Western appetites…
Our overseas trip to Japan had a difficult start, what with a magnitude 9 earthquake, numerous aftershocks, a tsunami, a nuclear meltdown and a volcanic eruption to the south. We decided we’d only cancel the trip & claim the insurance if the situation got worse. Osaka was cold(er than Melbourne) and I’m always cranky hauling 20ish kilos of luggage bertween destinations. Still some hot midnight Osakan octopus balls hit the spot…
A lovely day was to be had at Otway Estate. We tasted some yummy blue cheese from Apostle Whey. And got to love the music of The Tiger and Me.
No visit would be complete without a trek to the Six-and-a-half Apostles. The only thing that really spoilt the atmosphere was the BUSloads of tourists making what used to be a fairly relaxed place more like Boxing Day at the G. Loch Ard Gorge was no better. We did titter that the hordes having ignored most other things also ignored the warnings of the harsh summer sun…
No visit to the area would be complete without a visit to Dot & David’s winery. David generously showed us a half dozen sparkly whites being finished off Frenchy Methodey style. Frozen plugs of yeast were popped out to our delight and the bottles topped up, corked, caged, and labelled. The current Pinot was delicious. Much nicer than the Mornington varieties. We also picked up our favourite Pinot Griggio. Yummy summer drinking.
We entertained the Sydney rellies with a grand trip down Timboon to see the new Cheeseshop (formerly National, formerly King Island, formerly Timboon Cheese…). The new proprietors are planning several types in the French style. A lovely washed rind and triple cream were to be had. Except with a French accent.
Carsel-maine or Cassel-maine? Charnce? Darnce? Romarnce? I suspect I can get away with the mis-pronunciations with the Asian appearance. Whilst Anna’s off learning how to etch copperplate, I have been defying gravity in the interests of homework for week 5 of my DSLR course. All the much harder as I had to be both subject and photographer.
Desperate for some photos for photography homework, I decided to use Emirates Family Day at Flemington to test my shooting skills for the compositional section combining ‘documentary’ and ‘sport’. I wasn’t about to fork out whatever huge sum it was to get in for the day so I skulked around and got some general shots until a very nice security man showed me where I could get some really nice shots at the starters’ gates. There I was met by a not-so-nice security man who turned out to have a very low tolerance for the likes of me and promptly shooed me away with the use of many guttural mono-syllables.
A last minute excursion to Melbourne to gather some homework pictures. The brief was to shoot in 2 styles unfamiliar to us. I read that as ‘uncomfortable’, so crowds and sports came up trumps. My train trip into the city was timed just right for sunset over Southbank whereupon I trekked around Fed Square, up Swanston Street, and mingled around Bourke for a bit. The trepidation of doing the DSLR thing around Melbourne was eased I think by the fact it was a Friday night and everyone seemed pretty relaxed about things. I’ll try my luck at Flemington tomorrow.
