tearful day

Tomorrow, Malc is heading off to Canada to see his parents, brother, sister and 4 nephews. So, I was feeling a bit sad to be without him for the next few days. Not that we have not been apart from each other for long periods, it was only last August when we ended almost 2 years of one of us living in Canberra and the other living in Sydney. So, as some sort of going away party for two, we went out for dinner at Masuya (12 O'Connell St Sydney 2000 ph 02 9235 2717). The last time we were here was with Shogo and his parents when they were in Australia to attend Shogo's graduation. Back then, we ate probably half of the menu!

This time around, the mood was a bit more somber and the appetite less ravenous. Malc had garlic and chili chicken and I had Tasmania-don. The food was as good as ever, but the service was not up to scratch, which was surprising for a restaurant run by Japanese. They forgot to serve our entree of chawan-mushi and we had it after dinner.

But the most devastating news of the day was that my all-time favourite football player, Hidetoshi Nakata has retired at 29 years old. Friends who know me very well will understand how upset I am of this news, and from early this morning, I have been receiving emails and news articles about his retirement from everyone. Like millions of his fans, this has caught me by surprise.

My admiration for Hide started about the same time as when I caught the football bug. Malc & I were students in Japan when the J-League started, and the enthusiasm for the game rubbed off on me. Malc, of course did not need encouragement as he is the epitome of the whatever-sport fan. And after leaving the Japan, I have been keen on keeping up with Japanese football players, and when Hide made his international debut in France 98 as a flame-haired 21 year old, I became a fan! Finally, a Japanese (and Asian) player that can hold his own among the best in the world. His move to Italy was unJapanese-like, risking the comfort of the J-League and venturing to one of the major leagues with only the self belief that he is as good as any player in the Serie A. Although his roughly 9-year stint in Italy and one season in Bolton has been up and down, his mark and influence on Japanese and Asian football is undeniable.

And there is Hide, the person off the football field. His website (www.nakata.net) is one of my most frequented websites. Here, Hide posts photos from his matches, holidays and commercial shoots. He also writes his thoughts on his matches or whatever takes his fancy. And sometimes, he even posts recipes (to Shogo's delight). In short, though his website, fans get to know him better. And there of course the 'hotline' button, where fans can leave messages for him, and in more than one occassion he has noted that he reads every single message, including probably my mails congratulating, encouraging, berating and outrightly scolding him.

As a tribute Hide and to commemorate his retirement, I put together some of my memorabilia and took a photo of it.