Chapter 22 – Sunday 6th July 2008
We went off to Osaka today to sign some papers for the concert hall where we are doing the ‘World Fusion’ concert and then we had a meeting with some ‘new people’!!
A lovely Aussie expat, Blair who is originally from Melbourne and has lived in Japan for 6 years. He and his Japanese girlfriend run a gym where they teach lots of stuff. Mainly martial arts and break dancing as well as gymnastics. He first came here as a stunt man for Universal studios (which is in Osaka) and ended up staying. It was great to have a ‘good old Aussie natter’, we are getting a little homesick for ‘Aussie Talk’. We tend to speak in broken English to those around us and then broken Japanese to the general populous, so speaking good ol’ Aussie at the normal pace was a nice change. He does a lot of theatre work and still works at Universal studios and has lots of contacts in the entertainment industry here. So it was really good ‘networking’ for us and who knows where it will go!!!
Our plan today was to go to the Louvre exhibition (it was the last day) but didn’t make it!!!………gotta learn to be flexible! We had also planned to attend a play in Kobe but the meeting with Blair took all our time so that didn’t happen either. We find that every day brings something new and that what we might plan to do changes at a moments notice.
I have been cooking meals while the girls have been here and experimenting with my ‘I don’t know what that is’ ingredients. My Banana noodle pancakes for breakfast were a bit of a shock but the girls hoed in and ate them and actually enjoyed them!!
Aki offered to make dinner tonight as I like ‘Gyoza’ little parcels of yummy things in thin pastry (bit like dim sims but nicer.) So Brian went off for an explore (see photos) and Aki and I went to the supermarket. This was a bonus for me as I could get a clearer idea of what things were.
I wanted the sauce that we had tried at the BBQ café (I really liked its lemony taste though it looks like soy!!!) and how to find it in the rows and rows of the ‘I don’t know what that bottle of stuff is’ was made easier as I could ask Aki. I watch intently as she moved from isle to isle and took note of all the ingredients she bought so that I can make ‘Gyoza’ later!!
Brian rang Jack and said he was bored and wanted to meet for a drink in the ‘apartments café’ so ‘The Boys’ went downstairs for a bit of a bonding natter while ‘Us Girls’ ………..’Gyoza’d’!!! It is an art as you have to make the ‘inside’ stuff first. We made pork/beef ones but you can have chicken or prawn or anything really. You then get these little round thin pastry things and you put a blob of meaty stuff in the middle and then pinch the top to make a moon shape. Well Aki’s was a lovely moon shape mine looked more like a lop sided piece of moosh. I got better at making them as time went on though I still only make one to every three of Aki’s. I got inspired and decided that banana might go well! Aki was mortified. The look on her face was priceless that I would even consider putting ‘banana’!!!?????? I persisted and made three to try for ‘desert’! (they tasted good though, Aki’s smile was a bit lopsided – I think she was humouring me!!)
I had to go fetch Brian as he was not going to jump up on his own and say
“Oh My Goodness, It must be time to go as I am sure that the girls want to serve dinner and are waiting for me!” So I went downstairs and helped him drink his Sake (or he would have been there with Jack for half the night), and then dragged him away as dinner was ready and Aki had taken lots of trouble to have it ready “On time, Brian!!!!!”
Dinner was yummy and we really enjoyed the wonderful food. I now know how to make ‘Gyoza’. Jack said that when Chieko makes Gyoza he says “Matane” (pronounced matinee) which means “See you later!” It is pretty labour intensive and he said his pinching technique is something to be desired!!!
Well Brian is off to Tokyo tomorrow on the bullet train to visit his brother on his ‘overnight stopover’ flying back from Australia to the UK. It will be a really nice one night visit as they have not seen each other for a few years.
Aki and I are going to do some flower arranging in Osaka!!!
Well stay on the edge of your seat as the next instalment is not far off of
“MARTINSSSSSSSS INNNNNNNNNN JAPANNNNNNNNNNNN!!!”
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