Kids on Trains, Flipping Tables, Doughnut Cats and Taco Dogs

Sometimes you have to take time to get words out. I found that out the hard way earlier this week when I was composing a blog post that will now remain permanently in ‘draft’ status.

Earlier this week marked the one-year anniversary since my Nonna passed away. She taught me to love and cherish two things above all in life – family and food.
She is sorely missed and will always be remembered by those who knew and loved her.

My thoughts were very much with my family this week. In an all too welcome surprise, my jetsetting cousin Gini just happened to be in Osaka for one night. We managed to catch up twice in the brief time she was here. We also came to the realisation that we had never sat down and had a good old chinwag one-to-one.

Dawwwww. Family feelings aplenty in this entry. Shout outs to other members of my clan – my cousin Marcus turned 30 and my younger bro Tim turned 25.
It’s these moments where I get nostalgic pangs, I find.

What’s that? More cute, life-affirming moments? Well, OK then.

Last night on my way home, a young bub (one year old) would not stop looking at me, smiling and waving occasionally while trying to figure out where and how I fit into this world. We ended up playing peek-a-boo with fans, much to the delight of his mother and grandparents. Then it was all too much excitement and the kid was out to the world in no less than 10 seconds.

A

D

O

R

A

B

L

E

!

More cute things to come in this entry, I swear. But for now, let’s change the pace a bit.

I’ve managed to catch a few films lately too. Pacific Rim and Star Trek: Into Darkness, both of which I enjoyed to varying degrees, but both had their flaws. If I’m ever at a loss for things to write (doubtful, but you never know), expect some reviews at some point.

There’s a videogame arcade in the same complex as the cinema. At this particular arcade, there’s a very particular game.

This particular game sums up so much about life in the space of one minute. Hall & Oates’ seminal track ‘Did It In a Minute’ has never had a more literal interpretation than in relation to this game (sans the love life stuff, but not entirely unrelated).

To fully grasp and comprehend the minutiae of this game, place yourself in any one of the following situations – a classroom, a fast food restaurant, a funeral, having dinner at home with the family, your workplace, a nightclub or a wedding.

Now, imagine that you are the focal point of each situation.

Only, there’s a slight problem.

Everything everyone is saying is grinding on you. Chipping away at you, bit by bit, and your rage is becoming harder and harder to suppress.

And then the people surrounding you amorphous blobs of your past – the kid that picked on you in primary school, that coworker you could never quite figure out and you never knew why, that jerk customer at your first job when you were earning minimum wage, those people that just didn’t ‘get’ it at nightclubs – those small moments all coming to a glorious crescendo where you finally say three words you’d wanted to say for the longest time…

Enough is enough.

..so you get everyone’s attention by slamming your hands down on the object in front of you. But it’s not enough, no, you’ve gone past enough and want more than enough, because you’ve had enough already. The message has been sent, but not received. So what do you do?

You.

Flip.

A.

Table.

And you feel redeemed. And cause a lot of stuff to break and blow up.

That is exactly what this game lets you do. You have one minute in these scenarios. Everyone is complaining. You slam you hands down on a plastic table, build a meter up to it’s maximum setting and then you let that table FLY.

The ratio of entertainment-to-time is scaled somewhere between ‘ridiculously fun’ and ‘OMG I made a burger fly 40 metres!’

Slow-motion replays and songs play out your glory to full effect and show you the amount of damage you did. And yes, I hold the record for a number of stages.
Greg, of course, is the one who introduced me to the game and has video footage of me grinning like a madman post-flip.

And now comes the serenity. Here’s a picture of the view from my train on my daily commute.

Remember how I said earlier that I would show you pictures of more cute things?

Well, that will be happening now. Well, after you’ve read these words, anyway.

That’s one chocolate-coated doughnut plus one heavily white- and coffee-chocolate coated middle of a doughnut displayed in a ridiculously cute fashion.

I didn’t even get to mention that the ears are almonds.

This thing was so damn cute I almost didn’t want to eat it.

But by Burt Reynolds, I took one bite and was transported to tasty town faster than you could say ‘Deliverance’.

And I’m sure you’re thinking now, “But it’s so damn cute!”

So I took this picture too.

Still adorable, even when half-eaten.

And now comes the clincher on this all-too-cute onslaught.

When’s the last time you thought to yourself, “You know, if my dog was wrapped in a waffle or a taco, how freakin’ adorable would that be?”

Probably never.

Here’s a picture of a small gatchapon vending machine near my work.

I just don’t even know how to feel about those toys. It’s just…

Where’s a table I can flip when I need one?

In closing, I will be partaking in some open mic nights in the next week. One in Kyoto, one in Osaka. So expect an entry detailing the madness that shall ensue.