Day 3 part 3 "The good life"
Fri, 2010-05-07 13:00 | by Erin
Day 3 part 3 "The good life" 
I decided to the last part of the experiment would be taking the Shinkansen to work. I had to wake up around the same time as the bus and be on the train at 0648. It was kind of a pain to get to Mishima you need to take Gotemba line to Numazu the from Numazu it is one stop to Mishima on the Tokiado Line. It was easy going due to the fact that it was the last day of golden week. I can easily imagine that this would be a crowded pain in the getting to Mishima, fortunately I think this would be one of the times that I would need to drive to the train station either on a motorcycle or a car.
assume there would be some hassles getting a seat now and again but really I think the amount of time you actually spend traveling being almost 1/2ed would make it worth while. The problem is the cost, 3900 yen to Shibuya. That is more than 2x of what every other mode of transport was, and even with a discount for buying a 6 month ticket I think it will still be out of my price range. That also does not include gas and parking.
0610 Woke up
0823 Got on Yamanote Line for Shibuya
I decided to the last part of the experiment would be taking the Shinkansen to work. I had to wake up around the same time as the bus and be on the train at 0648. It was kind of a pain to get to Mishima you need to take Gotemba line to Numazu the from Numazu it is one stop to Mishima on the Tokiado Line. It was easy going due to the fact that it was the last day of golden week. I can easily imagine that this would be a crowded pain in the getting to Mishima, fortunately I think this would be one of the times that I would need to drive to the train station either on a motorcycle or a car.
assume there would be some hassles getting a seat now and again but really I think the amount of time you actually spend traveling being almost 1/2ed would make it worth while. The problem is the cost, 3900 yen to Shibuya. That is more than 2x of what every other mode of transport was, and even with a discount for buying a 6 month ticket I think it will still be out of my price range. That also does not include gas and parking.
Fortunately that day Satomi and the kids drove back from Gotemba to Tokyo so I did not have to go back to Gotemba. Instead my plain old 20 minute commute home on Inokashira line.
0610 Woke up
0630 Went to Iwanami Station
0635 Arrived at Iwanami Station
0648 Got on Gotemba Line for Numazu 400 yen
0705 Arrived in Mishima 0710 Purchased Ticket for Shinkansen to Shibuya 3850 yen
0722 Got on Kodama Shinkansen for Shinagawa
0805 Arrived in Shinagawa 0823 Got on Yamanote Line for Shibuya
0835 Arrived in Shibuya
0840 Got to work
Worked
Eric and the Bay Blade Masters
Fri, 2010-05-07 13:00 | by Erin
Eric went to a Bay Blade Tournement, and pitted his spinning metal
top against other kids. He was pretty excited and so was Anna. I missed
most of the "event" because Anna was screaming so much. She really
wanted to get out of the stroller and walk around. I did not allow that
because it would have meant baby godzilla would have been loose to
smash and disrupt small metal top compititions.
Eric had his chance and the competition is structured like this;
Eric had his chance and the competition is structured like this;
1. The contestants face off over the "stadium"
2. The contestants bow and exchange tops to check for deffects.
3. The judge tells them to get ready.
4. The cadence is given, Ready Go SHOOT! On shoot the combatants launch their tops into the stadium.
5. The last top spinning or left in the stadium wins.
6. Best out of 3 is winner of that match.
7. Winner advances, looser is out.
Eric
lost in his first competition but we waited around to watch the last of
the competition. Eric & Kazuma realy enjoyed it. Anna was yelling
the whole time so I guess she had a good time too.
Steel Balls
Wed, 2010-05-05 13:00 | by Erin
Found these steel balls in the street on my way to the data center the other day. They were probably happy little parchinco balls at one time but now looked sad and abandon.
Part 2 Day 2 The train
Wed, 2010-05-05 13:00 | by Erin
Part 2 Day 2 The train 
I knew for a fact that the train sucks. I use to take it once a week to get back to Tokyo. The trip is long, and you need to switch trains a couple of times along the way. In the morning Odakyu line is one of the main lines into the city from the country side, so I can imagine it will be very crowded with little chance of sitting, and this is a line you will be on for the bulk of the trip.
When I got to Iwanami station I saw they had a IC card reader and thinking that this a JR line the reader must be Suica capable. I pressed my phone against it and it made that reassuring beep. Augh technology.
When I rode the Gotemba line up to Shin-Matsuda I did note that the scenery is very nice and provides a s good view of rural Japan.
At Matsuda there was no IC reader "Doh!" so I paid for my ticket in cash and tried to get on the next train. Now my IC chip in my phone was blocked from use because I had not checked it out "Doh!" so I went to the ticket counter and wasted 5 minutes waiting in line and explaining what happened. The cleared my IC chip and I was able to use it to get on the Odakyu line, but I missed the train that I wanted to take and ended up taking the next express train. This set me back 15 minutes on my already very tight schedule. I thought for sure I would not make it to work.
The train itself was pretty crowded for a holiday at 715 in the morning. I was able to get a seat the whole way but it was not very comfortable and working on my laptop was next to impossible. The trip seemed to take forever and when we did arrive in Shimokitazawa I bolted from the train that by this time had become packed. I do not want to see what it would look like on a Monday morning.
I made it to my office with only a few minutes to spare but I was still on time. Started in on some of the things I needed to get done.
I ate my lunch outside in the park next to my office and had 1 beer with it. Worked some more but the beer and travelling dragged me down and I could not complete too much.
To get back I decided to see if I could get the bus route back right this time. I did not want to take the train even though the purpose of my experiment was to try all routes there and back. I know the train sucks, I have taken it enough to know that and did not see a point in practicing to be miserable. But in order to make the bus there was no time to eat. I bought a Chuhi and a snack got to the bus.
The bus trip back was surprisingly comfortable and I almost fell asleep. I made it home at 2010, gave Anna a bath and then passed out putting her to bed.
As in my initial assumption the train sucks, although it is more reliable then the bus and costs about the same amount.
Train
Cost 1,470 yen Distance:105.0 km Time 133 minutes
0525 Woke up
0600 Left the house
0605 Arrived at Iwanami eki (SUICA like machine)
0622 On the train
0856 get to work (gi di gi di safe)
1810 got out of work
1835 got to Shinjirigaoka
1845 got on Tome Highway Bus
2010 arrived at Gotemba Tome Intersection
2025 Got home and gave the Babu-Chan a bath
2130 In bed
I knew for a fact that the train sucks. I use to take it once a week to get back to Tokyo. The trip is long, and you need to switch trains a couple of times along the way. In the morning Odakyu line is one of the main lines into the city from the country side, so I can imagine it will be very crowded with little chance of sitting, and this is a line you will be on for the bulk of the trip.
When I got to Iwanami station I saw they had a IC card reader and thinking that this a JR line the reader must be Suica capable. I pressed my phone against it and it made that reassuring beep. Augh technology.
When I rode the Gotemba line up to Shin-Matsuda I did note that the scenery is very nice and provides a s good view of rural Japan.
At Matsuda there was no IC reader "Doh!" so I paid for my ticket in cash and tried to get on the next train. Now my IC chip in my phone was blocked from use because I had not checked it out "Doh!" so I went to the ticket counter and wasted 5 minutes waiting in line and explaining what happened. The cleared my IC chip and I was able to use it to get on the Odakyu line, but I missed the train that I wanted to take and ended up taking the next express train. This set me back 15 minutes on my already very tight schedule. I thought for sure I would not make it to work.
The train itself was pretty crowded for a holiday at 715 in the morning. I was able to get a seat the whole way but it was not very comfortable and working on my laptop was next to impossible. The trip seemed to take forever and when we did arrive in Shimokitazawa I bolted from the train that by this time had become packed. I do not want to see what it would look like on a Monday morning.
I made it to my office with only a few minutes to spare but I was still on time. Started in on some of the things I needed to get done.
I ate my lunch outside in the park next to my office and had 1 beer with it. Worked some more but the beer and travelling dragged me down and I could not complete too much.
To get back I decided to see if I could get the bus route back right this time. I did not want to take the train even though the purpose of my experiment was to try all routes there and back. I know the train sucks, I have taken it enough to know that and did not see a point in practicing to be miserable. But in order to make the bus there was no time to eat. I bought a Chuhi and a snack got to the bus.
The bus trip back was surprisingly comfortable and I almost fell asleep. I made it home at 2010, gave Anna a bath and then passed out putting her to bed.
As in my initial assumption the train sucks, although it is more reliable then the bus and costs about the same amount.
Train
Cost 1,470 yen Distance:105.0 km Time 133 minutes
0525 Woke up
0600 Left the house
0605 Arrived at Iwanami eki (SUICA like machine)
0622 On the train
0710 Off at Matsuda to change for Odakyu line had to pay
0716 Miss the train cause of Suica SNAFU
0729 On the next Express train Got a seat w/o having to hipcheck any old ladies for it .... but just barely
0835 Arrived at Shimokitazawa
0850 Arrived at Shibuya 0835 Arrived at Shimokitazawa
0856 get to work (gi di gi di safe)
1810 got out of work
1835 got to Shinjirigaoka
1845 got on Tome Highway Bus
2010 arrived at Gotemba Tome Intersection
2025 Got home and gave the Babu-Chan a bath
2130 In bed
