Digital Vortex A-Go-Go

Tuesday 28th October

Yes, I did the walk. And didn’t even get blisters. Huzzah!

OK, what I mean is that today I’ve been mostly walking, all around parts of Hiroshima and Itsukushima (an island off the coast of Hiroshima and better known as Miyajima).
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When it comes to traffic in Japan, some things are the same whereas some things are not. Yes, Captain Obvious is reporting for duty.

As said, pedestrian crossing indicators tweet like birds (more on that at the bottom of this post) and the fact that bicycles generally ride among pedestrians on the sidewalk was also already mentioned. That traffic goes on the wrong side of the road (left not being the right side), was probably also already common knowledge.

However, something that you have to quickly get used to is a completely different thing.
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Quicky: if you think that we in Europe have a problem with over packaging everything in plastic? Think again… In Japan, even if you buy one pre-packaged sandwich, in plastic, you get a small plastic bag in which to take it with you.

Quicky: there be pigeons over here (still in Hiroshima). While that is not a surprise to me, it did surprise me that they are way, way less forward than I’m used to.

Quicky: I’ve been wondering what those things are that I see attached to the steers of many bicycles.
Turns out that it’s a holder type thing for umbrellas. Clever.

Quicky: even at the ginkō (bank) they couldn’t help me get more o-kane (money). But they did have friendly employees, of which one spoke enough English to point me to the nearest yūbinkyoku (post office), where I got to make a cash withdrawal.

Quicky: yes, all doors open up outwards, not inwards as is common in the Netherlands.

Quicky: there’s little trash to be seen (as far as I can tell), even though trash bins are terribly scarce.

Well that is, if you discount those next to the numerous vending machines that sell you all kinds of drinks. But I suspect you are only allowed to put empty drinking bottles and cans into those… So, for now I’ll just hang on to my precious trash, which I cannot seem to get rid of.

At least they were containers of delicious sushi. *nom

Quicky: it’s true. Relatively few Japanese are able to speak English. Demo watashi wa nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimasu! (but I speak a little Japanese – for which I am very glad)

Monday 27th October

This morning I had some time to spare, so I went for a walk through Kōbe. I walked to the part of the city that is on the side of the hill and thus I got a nice exercise. 🙂

It has gotten very windy all of a sudden but at least it wasn’t raining and storming like the night before. Although being in a lightning storm at the 46th floor of a building is quite awesome (at least, to me, not to Midori).
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Quicky: Dutch debit cards and credit cards don’t work in common ATM machines. Tomorrow I will go to the ginkō (bank).

Sunday 26th October (mo ichi do — once more)

As mentioned before, today I went to see a sakkāgēmu (soccer game) of Vissel Kobe versus Omiya Ardija.
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Quicky: If Japan is one thing, then it’s the country of little noises and jingles. Everything needs to “pling”. This of course includes the audio indicators at pedestrian crossings, which signal that pedestrians can cross the road. Of course they need to “pling”. But while they’re at it, they do have to sound like the chirping of birds. Of course they do.

Sunday 26th October

After getting a good night’s sleep, I feel much refreshed. Momentarily I’m taking it easy and simply enjoying my stay. That is, I’m sitting on the balcony of my host’s apartment, enjoying the view, the scenery and everything that’s going on down below.

Yes, I’m staying on the 46th floor of the tallest building in Kōbe, which goes all the way up to the 60h floor, or so. Pictures will follow. 😉 It’s so tall that you even need to pop your ears when taking the elevator up. Nice!
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Saturday 25th October – arrival

On the last episode we learned that our hero had made all kinds of plans for his trip through Japan. What would come of it?

On today’s episode, we continue where we left off: the flight to Hong Kong was underway and finished by the time the previous episode aired. That is, Hong Kong had been reached, hence the publication.
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I will post / add pictures later.

Friday 24th October – departure

After weeks, nay, months of preparing, today is the big day. Yours truly is on his way to Japan. Konnichiwa, birches!

As I’m typing this, I’m on board of flight 270, en route to Hong Kong, an 11h trip. There I will take my connecting flight to Ōsaka, another 4 hours. Side note: I’m glad I have my phone charger with me and that there’s a socket available to keep my phone charged. Very handy!
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Yours truly will be going to Japan… You can follow me here.