Random photos of stations I have visited

[Kingmeow]

@Tony Galiani New Brunswick????  You're going in the wrong direction.  You need to to westerly (towards Japan)!  🤣

[RS18U]

4 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

I spent yesterday on an Air Canada (mis)adventure

Welcome to our national airline!  On behalf of Canada, I apologise for whatever misadventures you had.

[Tony Galiani]

@Kingmeow - Absolutely!  I am actually planning a couple of Japan trips now with the hope of going sometime April, May or June.  Scheduling is a bit of a problem but hoping to find a good window in there.  And, once again, I will say that traveling to Japan spoils you for traveling elsewhere.

BTW - I generally ignore the news but I do see Japan is struggling with a cabbage price issue.  I know you and Teresa enjoyed the extra cabbage at Tonkatsu Wako - I hope this won't cause them to amend their free extra cabbage policy!

 

@RS18U - Thanks.  We have had some challenging travels with Air Canada - a missing fuel cap causing us to have to stay in Fredericton an extra day once, cancellations causing havoc with our travel and the need to factor in flight delays as the norm.  First world problems I guess but frustrating nonetheless.

Yesterday we spent about 17 hours traveling but only four of those were in the air.  Our flight Newark to Montreal was cancelled but only after we had left RDU and were on the first leg of our three flight schedule.  Had they cancelled it an hour earlier, we would have been able to easily reroute.  As it was, by the time we got to Newark all our options save one were gone.  Thankfully, we did get the last flight to Montreal and then the last flight to Fredericton but both were delayed as well.

 

Cheers,

Tony

 

[Kingmeow]

1 hour ago, Tony Galiani said:

I know you and Teresa enjoyed the extra cabbage at Tonkatsu Wako - I hope this won't cause them to amend their free extra cabbage policy!

 

I heard about the cabbage shortage and high price but I didn't realize the connection to the unlimited cabbage refills at Tokatsu Wake and many similar restaurants!  We may have to switch to the unlimited rice and clam soup refills instead.  🤣

[cteno4]

7 hours ago, kuro68000 said:

 

Niiza rang a bell somewhere in my brain... A favourite Hard Off? Don't trust Google Maps' advice? Or... My nemesis

Very cool tunnel boring machine monument! Can anyone translate the plaque? Google couldn’t raise it off the background. At first it looked like their city flag had something to do with rail tunnels, but it’s not, it’s made from kana Ni and Za. Quick google search didn’t bring up anything on the monument.

 

While searching I did come across a trove of Japanese manhole covers!

 

jeff

[kuro68000]

Glad you are okay Tony. Not looking forward to flying on Sunday, but at least it's direct. Sounds like you have been having "fun".

 

You comment about videos reminded me of something. When I went to Omika near Mito, the buses there are billed as "rapid transit", and sure enough they have a separate dedicated roadway. It's quite a nice ride actually.

 

Another quiet day today. Bought my wife a new insulated bottle, a Zojirushi that claims to be the best at keeping things hot/cold.

[Tony Galiani]

@kuro68000 wrote:  "Bought my wife a new insulated bottle, a Zojirushi that claims to be the best at keeping things hot/cold."

 

It is!  I bought one in Tokyo a few years ago and it is great.  I used it to bring hot coffee with me to work in the mornings and found it to be really good.  Coffee from my Zojirushi coffee maker into my Zojirushi thermos for a good start to the day.

 

Cheers,

Tony

[kuro68000]

5 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

@kuro68000 wrote:  "Bought my wife a new insulated bottle, a Zojirushi that claims to be the best at keeping things hot/cold."

 

It is!  I bought one in Tokyo a few years ago and it is great.  I used it to bring hot coffee with me to work in the mornings and found it to be really good.  Coffee from my Zojirushi coffee maker into my Zojirushi thermos for a good start to the day.

 

Cheers,

Tony

 

Oh, I didn't know they did a coffee maker too.

 

She had an old one from maybe 10 years ago. The cap eventually deteriorated, and they discontinued replacement ones. So I got her another one, but she says it doesn't keep things hot as long as the old one. This one is more expensive and the lid is just a cap with gasket, not a mechanical thing with a cup. Their website does claim significantly better performance.

 

I want to buy a new insulated tumbler. My old one is Zojirushi and I'm happy with it, but dropped it last year. Must have had that for at least a decade too.

[kuro68000]

On 1/16/2025 at 5:27 AM, cteno4 said:

Very cool tunnel boring machine monument! Can anyone translate the plaque? Google couldn’t raise it off the background. At first it looked like their city flag had something to do with rail tunnels, but it’s not, it’s made from kana Ni and Za. Quick google search didn’t bring up anything on the monument.

 

While searching I did come across a trove of Japanese manhole covers!

 

jeff

 

 

Kirari Kawaguchi Yume Line.

 

Impressed with myself that I was able to read that without assistance, although it's only two easy kanji. What I mean though is that I just read it without thinking, not even really registering that it is Japanese. My brain has integrated it.

 

It's easy to read on the full 50MP version. I'm looking at options to share the originals somehow, but there is so much data. This trip is looking like another terabyte, although the JPEGs are just a fraction of that.

 

I had another easy day today. Only one more day. Went to get one thing on my maybe list and ended up with a load of stuff.

 

There are a couple of shops that sell clothing with cats on that I normally go to, but both seem to have closed.

[cteno4]

Thanks! Ok I found it at Higashi-Kawaguchi Station. 

 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pusxvvjdMje4nbpb8

 

The monument is that this station was the last of the subway boring on the Santana high speed line. It’s not a real TBM head, just a representation.

 

https://ja.monumen.to/spots/3364

 

would be an interesting bit to put in a model scene.

 

jeff

[kuro68000]

I'm back in the UK now. The last few...

 

     

 

Keio-Horinouchi Station.

 

 

  

 

Keio Shinjuku Station.

 

 

 

Hachiman-Yama Station

[kuro68000]

 

Kichijoji.

 

 

 

Horinouchi. It marks where there is a shallow trench for cables.

 

 

  

 

Yokohama.

[kuro68000]

  

 

Higashi-Kanagawa Station.

 

  

 

Haneda Airport.

 

 

 

Iceland.

[kuro68000]

 

Hard Offs visited this trip are in yellow. I have stats from my Suica card and a load of other stuff to process when I have time.

[Tony Galiani]

Wow - I am impressed.  That is a lot of territory covered!

Tony

[cteno4]

Wow astounding! Perhaps you need to become a hand off foreign correspondent influencer! Get them to subsidize your adventures.

 

they would of course get most of that money back from you!

 

thanks for the fun adventure and many modeling scene and details ideas. I now want to do a canal and also start doing some of the drainage ditches/gutters.

 

jeff

[Gunzel]

Is there a meaning to the different symbols, some have white circles, diamonds, or stars in the centre?

[kuro68000]

16 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

Wow - I am impressed.  That is a lot of territory covered!

Tony

 

Thanks Tony, but honestly I had intended to go much further if I hadn't got that virus and if Niigata hadn't been snowed under. I really wanted to visit Doai too, and nearly did but just missed the opportunity due to the weather on the day.

 

 

13 hours ago, Gunzel said:

Is there a meaning to the different symbols, some have white circles, diamonds, or stars in the centre?

 

So colour wise I do a different one for each year. This year was yellow, last was orange, and green before that. The blue ones are stores I know about but which have not been visited yet.

 

The symbols were my attempt to rate the stores, but I've largely given up on it now. While some are much bigger than others, what they have is so random that any rating becomes invalid from year to year. Sometimes the starred ones disappoint, sometimes the ones I think are small and unlikely to have much turn out to have some treasure.

 

I think in the future I'll add more text notes, and only use the cross icon for ones that I visited but which have now closed permanently.