the morning report
I think I've developed a preference (addiction?) for coffee in the morning. Over the last month, I've drank more Starbucks, Japanese or otherwise, than I have cumulatively over my entire life. You know, Starbucks makes a good breakfast. It's a shame all the drinks here cost the same as a size DOWN in the US and are minus a significant portion of coffee.

This morning, probably because I stayed up until 3AM last night and couldn't sleep for the bit saw running outside my window this morning, I decided to go get a canned latte from the Co-op to go with my morning BREAD.

Yes, this morning's breakfast was made up of Japanese wacko-bread. If you've ever seen much anime (notably Ranma), you probably have some idea what I'm talking about. I seriously thought it was a JOKE when the kids at Furinkan high school started throwing Yaki-soba bread, curry bread and fish bread at each other. Nope. Not a joke. The Japanese love to put mysterious and undefinable substances of ALLLLLL flavors into or onto bread. The result? This morning I had a chocolate muffin (yum), a flake crust boat shaped pastry with flaked tuna and some sort of white cubed substance (cheese? daikon?) atop it (surprisingly also yum), and a white-bread lump with what looked like two chicken nuggets glued to the top by cheese. I didn't eat that last one.

Actually, I've gotten rather fond of sampling wacko-bread. Most of it comes out surprisingly tasty, even if it comtains some sort of mayonnaise or cream substance. For example, Melon bread, a convenience store staple, has never turned me on, but when we came across a vendor selling fresh, oven-hot buns in Kyoto, it blew my mind. Most things containing chocolate are passable for that very fact. But I refuse to eat yaki-soba bread. Who the hell needs more carbs with their other greasy carbs? UGH.

Thankfully, the latte I got at the Co-op seems to be doing its trick and goes nicely with chocolate-muffin substance. Alas, I made an unfortunate discovery on the way to get my latte-- though the construction crews have almost finished with the new ramen shop DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF MY WINDOW and have now moved from backhoes to bit-sanders on the interior, another crew has started demolion of the abandoned, mystery house on the adjacent corner. It also sticks out into the sidewalk and will hinder street expansion. Not to mention no one lives there.

Well, crap. I never liked sleeping late anyway. And now I have coffee to be my friend. Coffee, ear plugs and messed-up bread.

GOOD MORNING, JAPAN.