soubriquet

Iced lemon tea and green tea definitely count. I drink both during the day, and when driving because they are great for thirst. But they are no good for breaakfast. In Thailand you can find green tea everywhere, but the heathens put sugar in it

Ah yes, it (like the identical Akita shinkansen) has special magic powers. These two services run up and down the Tohoku main line at normal speed, coupled to the standard double decker sets. For Yamagata, they split the sets at Fukushima. The line to Yamagata is conventional standard gauge track, and it operates as an express rather than a Shinkansen. The trick is the mini shinks fit through the existing bridges and tunnels (mostly) so it became relatively cheap to feed into the mainline system.

Rats. All I really miss from the UK are pies, sausages and bitter. Make mine a pint of Sam Smiths.

Can you get Cornish pastys?

Tesco, I noticed that. They were everywhere in Thailand. Didn't know they'd made it this far east. I wonder how they will go. I know Carriefour (sp?) tried and failed.

Excellent. I don't eat breakfast. Instead I brew a 1 litre pot of tea. I have a very nice glass teapot with a container in the centre to hold the tea, like a coffee plunger. Warm the pot, a tablespoon of tea, and pour the boiling water through the leaves. Press the plunger, and the tea is off the leaves and won't stew. Job done. I'm a MIF (milk in first), allegedly the sign of a pleb. No sugar. Tea has to be Ceylon Broken Orange Pekoe. When I lived in Perth I could get estate packed Loolacondera BOPF (Fannings) which made a superb strong cup. Here I buy Ceylon blended lea

Mini shinkansen. The originals were 400 Series. The new sets are E-3 2000. Very nice they are too. I like the colours. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamagata_Shinkansen Here is the E-3 2000 leaving Oishida.

Great news. I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight.

Can't you find a ricefield to transfer it to? I'm sure it would be much happier in a wet field with all its freindsandrelations.

Japan finds a social value in investing in an efficient train system. The Yamagata shinkansen were replaced a couple of years ago after a service life of about 18 years. I contrast the UK attempts (fails) to run trains at a profit. I see that what were the Intercity 125 units, about 10 years old when I lived in Reading (late 80s) are still in service. Unreliability is hardly surprising when your rolling stock is 30 years old.

Funny you should say that. Living in a caucasian-free zone, I get a lot of open mouthed stares. I got two this morning. Win.

It's turned out clear today, and my thermometer has rocketed to an unprecedented 27C. Time to slip into something looser. Speaking of which, when I got to work this morning, there were a couple of teenage chicks beavering away packing cake. Work experience girls from high school apparently. I wish the memsahib had warned me, I'd have worn my best underpants.

Prediction here is to rocket to a massive, unprecedented 25C tomorrow. I've ordered extra ice.

Apparently it's really serious. The climate crisis in the UK is so severe (according to the climate models) that London has been forced to invest in a desalination plant. The UK water crisis will come as a surprise to most Australians. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/thames-water-desalination-plant It's worse than we thought.

A curry house. Sigh. I have to go to Sendai (70km) to get a decent curry. It ends up being once every three years when I renew my visa and re-entry permit. No beers either, driving.

It's too low I believe. People do cross country, but there's nothing commercial. You have to go to the Victorian Alps or NSW. They sometimes get snow in the SW of Western Australia. When that happens, all the enthusiasts gather to stand around in their winter kit in about an inch max. I can relate to that. I lived there long enough to suffer from severe snow withdrawl.

Is he related to the Czar? Lol. My lot are Norwich. Good to see them up this year. I wonder that will go. Head to head with pie-eater for the opener I see.

Sad that, how every aspect of peoples live have been screwed by something so totally out of their control. The memsahib and I have often reflected on the effect it has on businesses such as hers. She's spent a lifetime building something out of nothing, and there is no way we could ever re-start. Just too much time and effort. We still plan for a major aftershock. We have water stored. I keep 10 litres of petrol in a can in the garage, and we never let the cars drop below half full.

Oh yes. 148 pages of text and diagrams. And you need to pass an exam before passing anything........

That's todays work over. I've upgraded the factory bogs to cyber-techno dunnies. What should have been a simple job was made very tricky because my body is so stiff I can't get into a small space without a real struggle. Getting down and dirty in the dunny was no fun.

Is Hearts your team TB?

Yes, they get snow in Tassie. 22C here, and raining. Lovely cool day.

22.5C today. I've changed back into longs, and needed a sweatshirt last night.

My thermometer (it's a good one, a proper mercury lab instrument) has soared to a dizzying 23C. It's worse than we thought.

I've just checked my thermometer. It's 24C here.