Sunday was going to be busy. I got up 1 1/2 hours after my alarm went off and made for the Thai Consulate in Osaka.

A little info about Thai visas:
If you entered by air, which I’m not, you get a 30 day visa on arrival
If you enter by land, which I am, you get a 15 day visa on arrival
If you apply in advance, you get a 60 day visa, this was what I was doing

I went there and filled our the forms, which all assume I am a resident of Japan… I went and spoke to the fella at the desk… The next thing I know I’m in an interview with the Consul himself, producing plane tickets, criminal record certificates, birth certificates, degree certificates, credit cards, the works!! Just to prove I am who I am and am not a terrorist?!

After photocopying a load of stuff at Kinkos for ¥750, I handed over the 20 page application plus passport and made like stink for the Sumo arena!

After meeting Janet 30 minutes late, and having a Starbucks while we waited for the others, we parked on overly hard, arse numbing seats.

The format of a sumo bout is a bit of ceremony, some salt throwing etc, takes quite a while, a few false starts etc, and then a usually quite short wrestle. In it, virtually anything goes, throat grabbing, slapping, throwing, whatever!

I’ll put vids and photos up later! It was better towards the end when the excitement of the crowd picked up! Fun!

Udon for tea