Irreverently irrelevant.
Sysadmin, developer, web dude in a science research organisation. WordPress, Japan, planes, trains, Arduino, Raspberry Pi/Pico, puns, dad jokes, etc
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Tsuwano go there
It is such a struggle getting out of the hotels on time. We had to race down the main strip of Yamaguchi in the rain rolling our bags noisily behind us in order to reach the station in time for our train to Tsuwano. It’s the first day of wet weather on this trip, which…
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Goldfish lanterns, soy sauce and a bridge to blossoms
I have a fondness for goldfish and I love lanterns, so how could I resist combining the two? Today we caught the train to Yanai where Kingyo Chouchin, or paper goldfish lanterns, are made. It was a journey of sniffles as Alex has given us his cold. I hate getting a cold in Japan, a…
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Doing the rounds in Kagoshima
We tried to get out early from the hotel this morning. We did make it down for the free Japanese breakfast of rice and soup, but couldn’t quite check out on time. Our luggage left in the care of the hotel we eventually made it to Hakata Station, where we tried to book some seats…
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Mamma mia, it’s dancing water[loo]!
It proved impossible for us to leave the hotel before midday. We woke up too late for the free breakfast and then washed our clothes in the hotel coin laundry. Eventually we made it to Hakata station, where we visited a travel agent to try to book some hotels for the 20th and 21st. It’s…
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A long day training
The original plan for today was an epic railway ride as far as the continuous Shinkansen tracks go, from Hachinohe in Japan’s north to Hakata in the south (actually, there’s another stretch of Shinkansen track down to Kagoshima from Shin-Yatsushiro, but there is a break in between there and Hakata). Well, as noted before, we…
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Doctors, dentists and plum blossoms
Before Alex, hospitals we only visited hospitals to see other patients, and that rarely. Now we have seen one in Japan. To see a doctor in Japan you generally have to visit a hospital. We woke early and walked a couple of blocks down to Eiju Hospital, where we discovered that registrations began at 8:30…
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Kawaii!
I think Alex’s first word will be kawaii! It’s Japanese for cute and it’s all he’s been hearing lately. Even before we left Australia the other Japanese passengers came up and exclaimed “kawaii!”. Alex may be a big drawcard here in Japan, but sadly he’s not the happiest little fellow. The poor guy seems to…
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Baby’s first flight
It was the best of flights, it was the worst of flights. After the drama of the day before we were glad that Alex slept through the remainder of the night, but it was oh too short. We rolled our luggage out of the hotel at 6am and along the road to the domestic airport…
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The first steps are the hardest (we hope)
It was a dark and stormy night. No, really, it was. Not only was the prematurely blackened sky lit by the fireworks of lightning, there was thunder under our roof as well. Baby Alex wouldn’t settle. The start to our trip began poorly indeed. The morning itself was enjoyable, as we spent the morning up…