Coming back up for air, I believe this is the daily listing of the sumo bouts out the front of the venue. The Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium is in the south of the city - one of my favourite areas. Namba is an area of mixed interests... there's the new upmarket shopping development called Namba Parks, there's nearby Denden Town (Osaka's answer to Tokyo's Akihabara... electric town. You can buy all sorts of gadgets, electronic components, cameras etc at low prices.) Nipponbashi is a strip that has a magnetic pull on geeks, or otaku, as they are called here. I freely admit to having a very wide otaku stripe in me. There are all sorts of shops vending robots, figures, comic books, porn and even cafes where the waitresses dress like French maids to cater for the guys who are more in love with animated female characters than real people. Apparently this is a real problem for some otaku. I haven't reached that stage thankfully... robots and geeky vinyl toys are enough for now.

Osaka Gundams. Gundam is a phenomenon in itself. I used to make the model kits as a kid, having never seen the cartoon. My primary school friend from Hong Kong, Arnold Chan, used to have these amazing toys and pictures of robots that would make me drool. So, when I went to HK when I was 11 years old I stocked up on some robots. Japanese are ingeniuous at shortening English words - plastic models are called puramo. Potato chips are potechi. Lawson Online Shopping is Loppi! I love the way this country mangles and reinvents my native tongue - it's exciting witnessing the evolution of language. Anyway, where was I? Yeah, Gundam is a mainstay of kids and otaku throughout Asia. I saw a show about how they make the model kits. It was amazing to see this guy designing each intricate part using AutoCAD - no wonder they are so precise.

This is looking towards Dotombori, a lively strip you can see in the photo below. The area along the river here has been partially ruined, as they have covered over the river in parts and installed large perspex barriers along the pedestrian bridge in an attempt to stop crazed Hanshin Tigers fans (the local baseball heroes' disciples) from jumping in the water following significant victories. I hear many became ill from the festy water and one guy died! It's sad that they've wrecked one of Osaka's great views. So the photo above is of a nicer angle where there's still water.

There are some great places to eat around here. The vibe here is very Osaka - kind of bustly and grimey but very exciting. I've read that this area was an ispiration to the design of Bladerunner, one of my favourite movies.

Well, I've had some sad goodbyes to say recently. Some of my favourite students have gone, due to various reasons. I'm told I'm not one of them, so I hope that's true. Yes, I know you're not supposed to have favourites (I've had this discussion several times), but you naturally feel so - the important thing is treating everyone the same way, regardless of how you feel. But yeah, I really miss Kotoko (above). That's just a taste of what's to come in September I guess...


And lastly but definitely not least my good friend Justin (bottom left) has gone back home to the States. Here we are supping on the vine at his place. It sucked saying farewell to him - we had some great times talking about our experiences here. He was kind enough to give me his bicycle, which has made a big difference (i.e. improvement) to my lifestyle. I have since seen parts of the local area that I couldn't reach before and I'm actually feeling more healthy! So thank you so much if you're reading buddy! But more than that, thanks for your tops friendship. Anyway, I'm starting to write a personal email, so I'll stop here. On that note, I'm really sorry for being so attrocious at writing to so many people (especially you, Caroline! And Sam! And...). I will try to lift my game, but know that out of sight doesn't mean out of mind. I love youse all!