Toilet Reno

   We had intended to get this done two weeks ago but there were some technical difficulties* which prevented it from happening. So we rescheduled and today it got done. The guy said he's be here between 1:00 and 3:00 pm and showed up at 1:01pm. Brilliant. I sincerely like and appreciate punctuality (probably because my own is so lacking).  Now the old ugly noisy runny toilet is out and the new water-efficient white toilet is in. The toilet is dead. Long live the toilet!  Now we also need to go out and get a white toilet seat. We have a beige "washlet" from the old toilet, but we never use it as a washlet. It's just a drain on power and almost entirely useless. Though the heating function is nice on those cold winter mornings, I'd prefer a plain white toilet seat that matches.
   Next up, i have to get in gear and paint the bathroom walls. Still in negotiations with Ulala about what design to use. My original idea of making a tile mosaic into an awesome 8-bit video game design was vetoed. Now i'm thinking Ikea-esque grass and sky pattern in easy-to-wash paint (not unlike this blog's template).  Not that i don't have enough other projects already on the go...

Wine and Cheese in the Park for Peter's Birthday

 Today was Peter's birthday, so we had a little wine and cheese in the park (Utsubo-koen again) and then walked around and tried another of the cafes. We actually tried one we hadn't even seen the other day when we were in the area.  It's a cafe called DBL and it's super dog-friendly - they even have a special dog cafe just down the road!  They're located on the south east side of Utsubo-koen, in the first floor of a very trendy condo tower.  I forgot to take many pictures of the day (having too much fun) but did manage to get a couple. Check out the awesome cappuccino design work.  After that we headed over to Yokoji Hamburger and had avocado cheese burgers. I let Ulala justify eating the burger since it also had cheese and avocado. 

At the park:

Kuma Cappuccino at DBL Cafe:

Random cool building in Hommachi:

Yokoji Hamburger:

Symian is:  in need of a foot massage.

Currently Reading: The Girl Who Played With Fire

Currently Listening: Metric - Fantasies

Kanji of the Day:  含／ふく／ガン／involve, include

Crib pt 2

Though i should post a pic of the crib all done up with our cute sheets and all. =)

T-minus three weeks....

Utsubo Cafe Walkabout

We went looking for a particular cafe today right by Utsubo-koen. Unfortunately it was closed so we'll have to come back. But that area is so full of cute little cafes, you can't throw a rock without hitting at least three of them.  But please, no rock throwing. That's just mean.

We stopped at Cafe Bon Sowa (the second to last picture) and had a coffee and a light meal. Ulala had pineapple juice. The decor was excellent and the food creative and tasty. They also have a fridge full of Belgian beers, but i resisted.

Here are just some of the cafes we passed in the area. One day i WILL try all of them...

Waiting on the 5

The Father of the iPod ...and the future/present.

So the rumors are that the new iPhone 5 will be announced in the coming weeks and released soon thereafter. This is very exciting for me since i have been waiting patiently, while my "old" 3G grows rapidly more and more obsolete. I have fought the urge to upgrade to the 4 since i know that as soon as i do, the 5 will be out. So i wait. *sigh*   I wonder if Tim Cook will be as charismatic as Jobs? I suppose he'll do things in his own way and i hope it goes well for him and for Apple.  Recently the boss changed at my work as well. There have been some growing pains as we adjust to the new leadership style, but i think it will work out alright. I have a lot i can learn from the new guy.

And did you know that it has now been ten years since the world first met the iPod?  

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

-Ferris Bueller

Achievement: Crib Assembled!

Today we assembled the crib. Only took a few minutes. Big thanks to Noriko who is lending it to us, saving us a small fortune.
 Just a couple weeks left!  We've been busy shopping and cleaning and re-organizing furniture.  Still lots to do but all the big stuff is out of the way now.  =)

The Great Sannomiya Beer Tasting

So many beers, so little time...

Minoh Beer:

Just ask Alice

Fell in love with a beer

fell in love once and almost completely 

she's in love with the world 

but sometimes these feelings 

can be so misleading 

she turns and says "are you alright?" 

I said "I must be fine cause my heart's still beating" 

She says "come and drink me by the riverside, bobby says it's fine he don't consider it cheating" 

Red hair with a curl 

mellow roll for the flavor 

and the eyes for peeping 

can't keep away from this beer

these two sides of my brain 

need to have a meeting 

can't think of anything to do 

my left brain knows that 

all love is fleeting 

she's just looking for something new 

and I said it once before 

but it bears repeating 

Fell in love with a beer

fell in love once and almost completely 

Red hair with a curl 

mellow roll for the flavor 

and the eyes for peeping 

can't keep away from this beer


Song: The White Stripes' "Fell in Love with a Girl"
Beer: Brew Dog's "Alice Porter."

Typhooooooooooo !

It's pretty rare that a typhoon heads more or less straight for Osaka. They usually turn off as they approach land.  People here were all aflutter with dread and anticipation this week and today,  yet all seems to have been sound and fury signifying diddlysquat.  The more people got worked up about it, the more i had to bite my tongue to stop myself acting like a jaded hipster. It's no big deal, people. It'll lose force and die as it crosses land. Osaka will be fine. But people like to be distracted by things like weather.

As far as typhoons are concerned, Osaka is quite well situated, really. Even when the occasional storm makes a determined approach, it inevitably loses most if not all of its force as it passes over Shikoku and/or Awaji-shima. Not that i don't admire the effort. We certainly did get a lot of rain and wind, but that's about all. And i in no way intend to make light of the typhoon overall. It was a big storm and the coast was hit hard, including two deaths and thirteen missing at the last news report i saw.  These are tragedies and should not be ignored. 

Here was the projection Friday afternoon, menacing though slow:

And here was this afternoon (Saturday), greatly diminished and winding down:

On a happier note, it looks like tomorrow's "Picnic in the Park" will go ahead as planned, though we will likely stick to the covered area since the park field will be wet still.  We'll count our blessings and raise a glass.  =)

Addendum (Sept6): The picnic was cancelled.  =(  The typhoon was just moving too damn slowly and so Sunday was rainy and wet all day long.  But we had a nice dinner with friends to make up for it.  Also, canceling a picnic is nothing at all when compared to the damage and loss suffered in Wakayama and Mie (and other places). After receiving over half their annual rainfall in two days, roads and a couple bridges were washed away, houses damaged in landslides and over 50 people are declared dead or missing. Everyone at work (here in Osaka) was really surprised by the amount of damage, considering all we'd gotten here was a lot of rain and some wind.