It’s been a rainy day, a good day to travel by bullet and local trains from Okayama (1) to Kyushu, one of Japan’s four main islands. I’m staying in the onsen town of Yufuin (2) for two nights then I’ll stay in Fukuoka (3) as a base for day trips.
Category: Travel
Okayama: a good base for exploring
440 miles on a bullet train to Okayama, my base for the next three days. Took this rural train to Kibitsu Shrine, distinguished by a cypress bark gabled roof (unusual) and a 400-year-old, 1,200-foot covered walkway between buildings (again, unusual). Here, the train driver is doing what all train drivers do in Japan: “pointing and calling” (shisa kanko) at signals, status lights, switches, etc., with white-gloved hands. This is a safety protocol.
Trippy at Chicago O’Hare ORD
Couldn’t resist a slow-shutter shot at Chicago O’Hare ORD on my way to board a 13-hour United flight to Tokyo Haneda HND. I’ll be in Tokyo tomorrow afternoon: the machinery of travel never ceases to be an adventure.
Internet micro-influencer for a day
Helped a neighbor install the Airalo app and an eSIM for their Portugal trip. The $16 total was much better than Verizon’s $12/day international roaming. The price included a $3 discount with my code TOM7929 (feel free to use it, I get a kick-back). While I was there I helped resolve other techie issues: cheekily, Dwight called me the Florence Nightingale of Electronica.
Japan trip currency (starter set)
Assembled currency for my upcoming trip. My phone is reading the remaining balance on my Suica card, I use for local transit. That’s Hideyo Noguchi, a bacteriologist who researched rabies, polio, and syphilis, on the ¥1,000 note. Natsu Higuchi, Japan’s first prominent female writer, is on the ¥5,000 note. The nonsense in Washington this week is weakening the dollar, increasing the cost of my trip.
A day to hunker down
Earlier rain has given way to a gentle dusting of snow, making it a perfect day to stay in and plan upcoming travels.
Swapping spring and fall trips
Today we flew back and are getting reacquainted with home. “Now, where are the cutting boards?” The next trip was to be to Italy with family but we just learned my SiL busted a knee, so we’re rescheduling to the fall. That was an opportunity to move my fall solo Japan trip. It’ll be too cold to start in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, so while I was flying to Minneapolis, I changed the start city to subtropical Fukuoka, Kyushu, leaving in 12 days.
Ghosts from Palm Springs’ past
While making random turns down streets that were new to me, discovered this scene of celebs who once had homes in Palm Springs. The developer of this building site had decided to have fun until construction begins. The mountains in the distance are topped with last night’s fresh snow while down in the valley it was warm enough to wear shorts while riding my bicycle.
Getting around the Coachella Valley by bike, bus, EV, and foot
It never rains in Southern California… but today a welcome shower promises a colorful desert bloom in the coming weeks. Undeterred, we picked up bicycles that will be our companions for the next few weeks. For the first two weeks, we also have an EV (the learning curve on charging is proving interesting!). The local bus service complements our transportation options, and of course, we can always walk.
Palm Springs arrival
It was 65° warmer at Palm Springs PSP than when we left Minneapolis/St. Paul MSP this morning. This is cool for Palm Springs but it heats up next week. Here, we’re walking from the arrival gate to baggage claim.