takoyaki for lunch today, bought from the stand outside Daimaru department store. 6 of them, on a flimsy styrofoam tray, the first skewered by two wooden toothpicks in case one hoped to share. in theory, they combine the best of two worlds – bits of octopus and warm, comforting fried batter – but fresh from the stand today they were volcanically hot and nearly impossible to eat until, after much painful chortling, they had cooled down. so today my students might hear my speech a bit slurred from the swollen burned mass that is now my tongue.
too hot to handle
