I know I'm going back and forth, but I also want to write about breakfast that day.

I missed dinner the previous night. I left my hotel just before the Placebo concert began, and once it was over, only the pubs were open. I don't drink alcohol and didn't want to talk anymore that night. Even with Placebo fans, I hadn't been able to speak very well, so I had lost all of my meager confidence.

I waited for morning, hungry and unable to sleep deeply. I went to the hotel restaurant at exactly the time it was supposed to open, 6:00 a.m., as I recall. A South Asian chef cooked two eggs and served them with lots of bacon. I don't like the bacon they sell in Japanese supermarkets, which is thin, colored and smoothed out using additives. However, the bacon at that restaurant was amazing. It tasted of rustic meat, salt and smoke. I also recall having pleasant conversations with the chef who seemed to be used to serving non-native English speakers.

Of course, this breakfast was memorable partly because I was very hungry. They say hunger is the best spice, and it's true!