Lots of Yellow and Red…Made it to Boston Anyway.

 Technology, Travel  Comments Off on Lots of Yellow and Red…Made it to Boston Anyway.
Nov 072013
 

I slept in a bit today, because I figured I would leave around noon and just toodle on up to Boston. I didn’t have to be there at any particular time, so I took it easy this morning and lounged a bit.

Okay, not really. I lounged for about 20 minutes or so, then got cracking.

Google Maps said it would take 5:45 to get to Boston. I laughed. I’ve made this drive before, and no way will it only take 5:45.

The Quest For Gas

I wanted to gas up at the nearest Costco, because in NC, they’re the cheapest places to get gas.

“Okay Google, where’s the nearest Costco?” 10 minutes later I got there… and they didn’t sell gas. Doh.

“Okay Google, where’s the nearest truck stop?” 10 minutes later, a closed onramp and a long detour later, they were out of gas. *Facepalm.*

“Okay Google, where’s the nearest gas station?” 10 minutes later and I finally found an establishment willing to sell me gas!

Yeah, it was that kind of day.

The George Washington Bridge is Never Green

I was listening to a lot of traffic info on the way up the NJ Turnpike, because I know how NY/NJ traffic is–it changes from minute to minute from smooth as butter to clogged up and not moving at all. “The GWB is green, the GWB is green,” I kept hearing that, so I decided to take the GWB across the Hudson… and hit a 30-minute delay right at the toll booth. Yay.

The whole time I’m driving, I’m also fighting the new version of Google Maps. The old version would let me seek alternate routes. The new version does not. I don’t like this improvement at all, but since I have a new phone, I can’t roll it back.

The phone keeps telling me to take weird routes I’m not used to taking, and I can’t tell if I’m actually going to save any time at all. It’s really frustrating and annoying. I don’t want to take the Merrit across Connecticut. It looks like a big red line of non-moving traffic from the map and from behind the wheel.

So I moved back to I-95. It didn’t move much, either, and Maps was still trying to get me to go back the Merrit. Ugh.

Before I left I-95, I pulled off at a service area to get gas and some food.

I finally got off on to I-91 and things were moving again, but this jaunt across Connecticut probably took 3.5 hours, when it should take two, max. The traffic was horrible on all of the east-west roads.

I got to the Mass Pike, and everything was smooth again, but the drivers were all crazy. And just as I’m pulling into Boston, the GPS drops, and stops giving me directions, and I wind up who-knows-where. When I got out from underground, it kicked in again and figured it out, but it was annoying to have to guess what it wanted to do next.

So my 5:45 trip took about 8 hours.

The hotel is nice. Expensive, but nice.

Dumb Things in the Rain

 Food, Japan, Technology  Comments Off on Dumb Things in the Rain
Oct 302011
 

It’s Sunday, and I didn’t do much today. I mostly rested. But in the evening, I started to go stir crazy.

So I decided to go to the 7-11 that I saw on Google maps which was apparently a 20 minute walk away. I usually go to Family Mart, because it’s closer, but I hear 7-11 has good salads, so I figured I’d go there.

This was a dumb idea.

I decided to walk there. Another dumb idea. In the rain. Really dumb idea.

I spent about an hour looking for a convenience store that didn’t exist, in the rain. I did find a Lawson a block up the street, but it didn’t have anything, as in, it had been completely cleared out of bentos.

I had no idea that that sort of thing was even possible in Japan.

I trudged to the Family Mart, which was full of good food as usual. I decided to go for a hamburger tonight, because I miss America. (Pun intended.)

I nuked it when I got home, and had it with some Pringles. It was actually pretty good when I added some mustard to it.

Okay, this wasn’t a meal that would win any nutrition awards, but it was the best I could do given that I spent an hour walking to get it.

And now that I’m writing about this, I’m getting hungry again. Ugh.

Sunday Is For Laundry, and Another Trip to Nagoya.

 Japan, Japanese Language, Photos, Travel  Comments Off on Sunday Is For Laundry, and Another Trip to Nagoya.
Oct 022011
 

It’s Sunday, a day for laundry, and for going to Nagoya again.

So, laundry.

I have this really long metal pole that hangs horizontally in the middle of my apartment, over the TV. It’s suspended from the ceiling by two other big metal poles.

Apparently this is my clothes dryer.

I come from a country renowned for its household appliances. We have machines that wash dishes, machines that dry clothes, and ovens so big you can stick a dinosaur-sized bird called a “turkey” into it.

Alas, you will find none of these mythical machines in my apartment. They’re generally scarce in this country.

Well, I have an oven, but I don’t even think I could fit a chicken in it, let alone a turkey.

If I want to see a dishwasher, I can just look down. I have two of them sprouting off of my arms.

And while my washing machine had some misleading text that implied it could also dry clothes (wouldn’t THAT be awesome?), sadly, I am left with metal pole for my drying needs.

But I bought clothes that all dry really fast, so I just let metal pole do it’s stuff while I head to Nagoya.

This time, I need some JLPT prep books for N1, and for some accessories for my Canon IXY. And, it’s a good reason to get out of the house and do some exploring!

Before I headed out, I tried to find the Kinokunia I went to four years ago near JR Nagoya. I couldn’t find it anywhere on Google Maps. I did find Maruzen.

Before I left, I took a few test photos with the IXY. Here’s my apartment’s front door, and here’s my bright green bike that I’m renting from Yamasa.

My front door (Villa 5)

The side of my apartment (Villa 5)

Isn’t this a lovely shade of green?

My green chariot

The price on the bike isn’t bad. It’s 9,000 yen for 3 months’ use. That’s around 750 yen/week, if my math is correct. Yes, I could buy a bike for that much, but what would I do with it when I was done? I would have to sell it, and that would be a royal pain in the butt.

I headed to JR Okazaki (again), and along the way, I took this photo of the rusty clock/sign thing near South Okazaki Hospital. I’m a sucker for a rusty sign.

Rusty Hospital Clock/Sign

Rusty Hospital Clock/Sign -- 2

I got on the train to Nagoya, and saw some interesting looking ads. There’s a lot of stuff I want to do while I’m here, and whenever I see stuff like this, I want to be able to record it. What better way than with the IXY? They came out a little blurry, but I wanted you to get the idea:

Train ad for Ogaki Festival

Train ad for "Refreshing Walking" tours.

Buying Camera-Related Stuff at a Camera Store, What a Surprise!

When I got to town, I headed to Bic again to buy some stuff for my camera. Mainly I was looking for a strap set of some kind. Something I can use to hang it around my neck, or maybe a wrist strap. I also wanted a nice case for it, too.

I found a strap set after some digging around, but I never really found a case I liked. I managed to find a clear plastic cover for the LCD display. I used up a bunch of points to knock the price down, then went back to the station to find out what happened to Kinokunia.

I asked at the info booth, and apparently, that location closed. Bummer. Well, there’s Maruzen. Google Maps said it’s near the Fushimi station on the Higashiyama Line.

The Nagoya subway system uses a card similar to the Suica card I use in Tokyo and here to go back and forth between Okazaki and Nagoya. Both cards work the same way– you fill them with money, then tap them at the wicket to get in/out, and it automatically deducts the proper fare.

Sadly, the Suica card won’t work on the Nagoya subway, so I had to buy a card for myself. It took a few extra minutes, because I had to give the nosy machine all kinds of info so my card could be returned to me in case I lost it. It’s kind of a pain, but it’s worth it to know I can get it back.

Google Maps Is Great, Except When It Isn’t.

Card in hand, I hopped on the Higashiyama line, got off at Fushimi, and wandered around for about 15-20 minutes before I realized that Google Maps was dead wrong. There was no Maruzen there of any kind. There were many things that weren’t Maruzen, but Maruzen was not among them.

So I went back to JR Nagoya, asked at the info booth, and they told me it was in Sakae, one stop over. Sure enough, as I walked past the Maruei department store, I could see the sign for Maruzen.

On the way, I saw this:
Sunshine Sakae Ferris Wheel

That’s pretty cool.

Google Maps was a bit of a disappointment, because I have had generally good luck with it. But that mistake cost me about an hour of wandering around and asking questions.

Maruzen

Maruzen is a nice bookseller, with solid inventory. It took me a few minutes to figure out where all of the JLPT prep books were. Oddly enough, they were in the Foreign Language section. I guess because foreigners need it more than Japanese people do? Dunno.

I picked up the new Kanzen Master N1 series. All of them. I’ll need them for the upcoming N1. Looks like it’s a bit different from the old Kanzen Master books.

I spent a lot of time just wandering around the store as well, looking for more books, just in case. But I decided to keep it to just the JLPT books for now.

Then I headed back to JR Nagoya, and back home to Okazaki.

It was an exciting afternoon, in that I had an adventure! Those are always fun.

Oh, and when I got back, my clothes were dry!

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