Erk's 2014 Pacamerican Circle

[erkpod]

NHK World reports that Tokyo metro had 27cm of snow Friday night going into Saturday - the same as the previous weekend.

Most roads & paths I saw today were clear but there is still some snow hanging around that hasn't melted yet.

 

[Grooba]

You're certainly following the cold weather! If I'm heading away on a ski trip then sure, but other than that I'm glad I save my holidays for the middle of the year and head somewhere warm!

Keep it up erk, loving every post.

 

[erkpod]

You're certainly following the cold weather! If I'm heading away on a ski trip then sure, but other than that I'm glad I save my holidays for the middle of the year and head somewhere warm!

Keep it up erk, loving every post.

The next Australian winter will be nothing compared to the last couple of months!

 

[erkpod]

Some of you may be more familar with the Park Hyatt.





Road work site. Note the car image.



Speaking of car images on signs, make sure you park your car wholly in the space provided.



Parking meter.

 

[erkpod]

While asleep this morning, I've been hearing the various Japanese station audio snippets in my head.

I've since found out courtesy of a friend of mine that these audio snippets have a name (Eki-Melo, train melody) & that there's a website for the Eki-Melo & station info for each station of the Yamanote line.

I could be here a while.

http://yamanote.tumblr.com/

 

[drron]

My favourite is Ebisu station and the Third Man theme.

 

[TomVexille]

Looks awesome Erk. You're just reinforcing my desire to return to Japan.

 

[serfty]

Looks awesome Erk. You're just reinforcing my desire to return to Japan.

Me too - I'll be there in April ...

 

[rogerkambah]

I'll be there in April too - anyone else?

 

[Atleastonce]

Just booked Japan for November/December.

 

[drron]

We are there in September.

 

[erkpod]

Day 48
Monday 17 February
Start Shinjuku.
End Shinjuku.

My plan for this fine Monday was to experience an AM peak hour on the Yamanote line, work out tomorrow's trip on a Shinkansen & head to The Railway Museum.



Starting near the hotel.



The Yamanote experience today starts at Shinjuku.



On the train to Tokyo station, the train ranged from not very crowded like this to near crush load. No free lap dances, though.



Right on 0900, I arrived at Tokyo station. with trains on most lines heavily loaded running every 2 minutes.



At many stations, there was a lot of people getting off & also getting on. There's many interchange possibilities.

 

[marki]

Day 48
Monday 17 February
Start Shinjuku.
End Shinjuku.

My plan for this fine Monday was to experience an AM peak hour on the Yamanote line, work out tomorrow's trip on a Shinkansen & head to The Railway Museum.

View attachment 24977

Starting near the hotel.

View attachment 24978

The Yamanote experience today starts at Shinjuku.

View attachment 24979

On the train to Tokyo station, the train ranged from not very crowded like this to near crush load. No free lap dances, though.

View attachment 24980

Right on 0900, I arrived at Tokyo station. with trains on most lines heavily loaded running every 2 minutes.

View attachment 24981

At many stations, there was a lot of people getting off & also getting on. There's many interchange possibilities.

Real like like this getting on and getting off seems like the story of my life LOL

 

[erkpod]

I'd done some quick research & decided that I waited to head north on the fastest Shinkansen. There are some trains where you can get on without a reservation but not to Shin-Aomori, the end of the line.

I was surprised that I was able to rock up to the JR ticket office & get the fastest of the fastest Shinkansen to the end of the line, returning today.

But somehow despite being clear (in my mind) that I wanted to round trip (protip, Japanese prefer round trip than return) today, the guy reserved a ticket for me to return tomorrow. No no no no.

A few keystrokes later & I'm booked on the same train for today & not tomorrow.



Waiting for my train, it looks like I have another Shinkansen going through my head. Even when departing, it looked quick when I was taking that photo.



Soon enough, my Haybasa Shinkansen arrives. There's a quick clean & people are lined up waiting to board. Lots of people board.

20 minutes after departure, we have left Tokyo metro behind & can see snow covered farmland. I'm in an aisle seat - all of the window seats were sold.

My seat buddy sleeps for a lot of the opening 90 minutes & somewhere, Fukushima station - yes, that Fukushima - zooms by. 90 minutes in total to Sendai from Tokyo at Shinkansen speed. If Sendai sounds familiar, it is because Sendai was also devested by the events of 2011, nearly 3 years ago.

Unlike parts of Fukushima which are still no go zones nearly 3 years later (the station is fine), Sendai looks like it is going ok.

I note that many people leave the train at Sendai & are not replaced. I head to a vacant window seat. The ticket gates at Tokyo checked my tickets to enter the Shinkansen platforms but the conductor didn't check to see if I was ever in the right carriage or seat.

Hey you guys, I got row 3 without having status!





North of Sendai, the weather was getting ugly. There was a lot of snow on the ground south of Sendai but the sun was out. Not now. There was fog, some periods of white oot (wait until I tell K the Canadian from the cruise aboot that) and the snow was falling in places. In places, the movement of snow under the train could be heard..

 

[erkpod]

After 3 hours of high speed running, I was arriving in Shin-Aomori.





I was there merely because the internet said that it was the end of the fastest Shinkansen line. I had no idea what was there or how far I was from Tokyo. I figured out that at 300kph, I'd be around 900km north of Tokyo.







Even before leaving the station, there was lots to see but there didn't look like a lot nearby. With about 4 hours before my return trip, I should have lunch & do a bit of exploring.

Dropping into the tourist information centre at the station, I learnt from the helpful ladies in there that I was 713km from Tokyo. One of the ladies looked up the JR timetable for that info. She also told me that I wasn't in downtown Aomori (Shin-Aomori is the location of the city's Shinkansen station) & that to go downtown, I needed to go one stop on a local train which would take 7 minutes.

 

[erkpod]

Finding out that my Pasmo smartcard wasn't valid (but could be used at Shin-Aomori for vending machine purchases), I purchased a ticket for 180¥.

Remembering that this isn't Tokyo anymore, Toto, it was not metro style service. I had 15 minutes to wait for the train. 15 cold minutes. Not expecting to be in falling snow 713km north of Tokyo, I had decided not to wear my winter coat but a hoodie. That would have been fine - if I was in Tokyo. But I wasn't. I decided to get seek shelter in the warm waiting room.



Soon enough, the 3 car local train arrives. The platforms are really long to fit the long distance trains & the waiting room wasn't close to the centre of the platform where the local train arrived.

It was here that I realised that the amount of English used was greatly reduced in announcements & signage compared to Tokyo.

The snow covers most of the tracks. There is snow falling. The side of the train is covered in snow dust. The doors don't open automatically. They are released by the conductor but opened & closed by the passengers as I was to find out.

The train waits for departure & I decide to head to the front of the train. Looking out the front, I can see that there is a passing loop (island platform) at Shin-Aomori but a single line mostly to Aomori.

Some of the crossovers & tracks are heavily covered & snow & there are teams of men working to clear it by hand. No snowblowing machines here.

Bitterly cold at Aomori, the snow is blowing hard. Before leaving the station, I check the time of the last train I can catch to connect with my Tokyo bound Shinkansen. This works out to be at 1634 from Aomori for a 1712 departure from Shin-Aomori.



Totally unprepared for the weather, I am so cold. Snow is falling, hard. Many paths are uncleared. And I'm hungry. And I'm a fussy eater who doesn't like Asian food. And I'm 713km (probably 720km now) north of Tokyo.



I find what the sign refers to as Amenity Street & start my search for food I like.

Good luck, Erk, we're all counting on you.

 

[erkpod]

I find a place that might be suitable for me to eat across the road from Aomori station. It is called....

Fish or Meat.

I like fish. I like meat. I can eat here.

Not wanting to get into trouble, I ask if my Visa card (VFF Global Wallet) is accepted. Yes. Great.

Not wanting to waste food & insult my hosts, I ask the waitress if I can get chicken only or beef only, including pointing & hard gestures. Eventually after a couple of trips to the kitchen, she confirms chicken only.

Chicken only comes out as chicken, rice, noodles, pasta & soup. There's also a couple of beef sausages. Never mind. The chicken & the beef sausages were fine, however.

I ate & then successfully paid for the meal with the card - no trip to the nearby Police station for me.





Walking around town, I notice that there's little visible or auidible English. There's lots of snow & ice around but some people still slip & slide including a teenaged schoolgirl. Not knowing the Japanese word for careful, I tell her to be careful in English. She laughs. I don't know if she understood or if she thinks that I said that she looks pretty today but often, the Japanese know more English than they let on.



After walking around the shops & downtown for a while (protip - most of the ATMs there don't have an Engrish button), I am so cold. The display of 0°C at 1500 does not surprise me. Is the snow following me or am I following the snow.

I regret the fact that I don't have a friendly Canadian or American girl to hug to keep warm at this point. I bounce up & down on the spot. I wonder what the Japanese version of "bbbbrrrr" is. For one of the few times this trip in the snow, I'm shivering. Bbbrrrrr.

In the distance, I see a fire engine responding. It is heading towards the train station. I decide that even though I still have around 90 minutes before my last possible train, I should head to the station in the direction of the fire truck. An ambulance also heads that way.

Just before the station, I catch up to the fire engine & ambulance. Cold is forgotten for a moment. I don't hang around to see what happens or I might need an ambulance.



Returning to the station, I just manage to make the next train. If I missed that train, I'd have a 30 minute wait.

I had some ladies I wanted to say goodbye to....

Back at Shin-Aomori, I return to the tourist information centre. Using an app on my phone (which I also used at Fish Or Meat), I thank the ladies very much for their information. I tell them their office is very warm & that downtown is very nice but very cold. I tell them about Fish or Meat.

I decide to ask for a photo. I've had several Japanese people ask me if I wanted them to take my photo in front of something - and I've always accepted the offer - but apart from the Shinjuku firemen & the Shinjuku snowball fighters, there's no photos yet with Japanese women, only guys.

I ask for a photo. The ladies say yes but remain behind their counter. So to get me in the photo & the 3 of them behind the counter, I get into selfie mode but need to lean back - there's the counter ' a height difference.

The ladies look at me & look at the screen. There's lots of laughter as there has been for the last 5 minutes. I'm guessing they don't see a lot of Aussies in Shin-Aomori.

 

[erkpod]

I have a while to wait for the return train. The platform is cold except for the waiting rooms & shops.

Because car 1 has the long front & driver's compartment, the passenger section of car 1 is not as big as the other carriages. So if you can, see if you can get the first or last carriage. Mind you, these trains are very quiet both because of the train noise & the passenger noise.

I have a window seat & a shadow. The train leaves just on sunset & it soon becomes dark outside. It becomes hard to see outside so I decide to have a nap. It has been a long day. The nap lasts for most of the trip.

Another protip (at least on this type of Shinkansen) - there's a powerpoint in the wall next to each window seat against the wall. So as I was recharging myself, I was recharging my phone.

Before I knew it, I was back in Tokyo & the train was arriving at Ueno. I could have changed there for the Yamanote line there but I paid for Tokyo so I was going to go to Tokyo. Besides, I could get more train pics at Tokyo.







More train photos & another offer for a photo by a local & my train was in the middle of a 25 minute turnaround clean before the next trip.




I had just traveled 1426km on a Shinkansen but I still had to get back to the hotel. As I was to find out shortly, the Shinkansen ticket features a free transfer on JR.

 

[erkpod]

I decided to return the way I came from Tokyo to Shinjuku on JR & then come back one stop on Tokyo Metro.

It was 2100 but there was still a lot of people traveling & a 5 minute service on the Yamanote line. I boarded the train & was settling in for the 30 minute Yamanote line ride to Shinjuku until I decided to get off at the first Odeo line interchange chance.

Leaving the station using my Shinkansen ticket, I crossed the road to the Tokyo Metro station. I soon found out I was at station E09. (Another protip - don't expect the station staff to direct you solely using the alphanumeric system. You will find it an awesome way to navigate, though.)

So I was at station E09. The hotel is right next to station E02. This means that I now had a 7 station ride & no more interchanging required. I now had a 14 minute train ride & no long interchange (probably 10 minutes of walking between platforms at Shinjuku. Winning!



I didn't totally follow my game plan but I had a great day. So I don't have to worry about not being able to get on that Shinkansen tomorrow.

Last full day tomorrow in Tokyo.

 

[erkpod]

Snowy track between Sendai & Shin-Aomori







Looking out the front window of the local train between Shin-Aomori & Aomori



Snowy tracks at Aomori. If you look closely, you'll see a train in the mirror.