(Japan) Traveling In Japan Made Easy

Are you planning on going for holiday to Japan? Have you prepared all the necessary items needed during your stay? How are you going to reach your destination once you arrived in Nagoya, Tokyo or Osaka? Whether business or leisure, finding your destination become easier if you already knew the method of transportation available at any given time. Well, as you probably knew, the main transportation mode in Japan is the train.

There are 'Shinkansen' aka bullet train, 'Chikatetsu' aka subway & 'Densha' aka the normal train. If you're lost, use this words and people will instantly understand and they can help you to reach the train station easier. Now I will show you how to check for the train schedules by using this online service.

Meet Hiperdia. An online timetable for trains in Japan. What you have to do is just select the departure station and arrival station. Then fill up the date and time. You can also choose up to maximum 5 route suggestions. The system will gives you recommendations completes with time, estimated time, the name of stations, distances, fare and so on.

Below are the classic version that I used to. Looks very simple but very informative.

And this is the new version. The new interface is very pleasant to use. Try it!

Available on iPhone, iPad and Android too.

(MyStory) The Story Of My Past

I have been using an iPod Touch 32GB for 2 years until I bought an iPhone 3G not long ago. Gave Sold the ipod to my sister as replacement for her old Walkman.

The ipod was great and I really mean it. I was studying in Japan and been searching for a portable device to help me with my studies and backpacking. Previously I bought a Casio E-Dictionary which cost me ¥25800 from BicCamera and also a PSP to stores pictures that I need such as train timetables, routes etc. The dictionary was good but I urgently need a better alternative. It was bulky and need to be flipped out and during walking around that is a big hassle...

The PSP was great for gaming, but for image viewing, I wished it was faster & easier. I prefer something smaller that I can carry or use just using one hand and I want it to be able to translate the japanese words into something i can understand, if complete with an explanation that would be a bonus. Then I found out about the iPod Touch and instantly I was hooked.

What's so great with an iPod Touch anyway some of you might ask. Well it was smaller than my dictionary, thinner than the iPhone (lighter too), I can use any dictionary I want (Kotoba anyone?) instead of one single dictionary that I can hardly understood, and it gets better. It has easier way to manipulate photo ie zoom in /out just by tapping the screen instead of using buttons. Well have you ever tried using PSP to view a photo before? It's cumbersome to say the least. Can you imagine, while fumbling with the button to zoom in the photo of a timetable, the train arrived and as you are in a hurry, you jump in just to realise later that you hopped into a wrong train.... What a waste of time.

And why I didn't bought the iPhone 3G earlier? Well... that's another story that I will share next time.

Thanks for reading my blog!

(MyStory) The first step...

Good evening everyone!

First of all, thank you for stumbling on this page whether accidentally or not. This is the first post for this new blog that I'm starting. My previous blog was on WordPress, and although it was a good exposure, I've decided to starts on a new platform and this is the first step.

I’ve always dream about starting on a blog of my own. Previously, there were attempts to create a personal site just to have it stopped halfway. Of course my studies and part time jobs helped to make that goes away. Even after I started working 5 years ago, I intended to pursue my dream and yet again, the long working hours and a lot of side works crushed my hopes away. Maybe I didn’t fully understand how to accomplish it those times.  Maybe I did have an insomnia and forgotten about it after those accidents… who knows? I will try to achieve those things that I had always dreamed of. While in the process I did manage to achieve 4 of them which is my car, my house, my love and also my dream to go to Japan.

I am in Japan right now.

The train lines taken from Higashi Kariya Station

One beautiful firework taken at Gamagori

Another firework also at Gamagori

Flowers at Aichi Expo

A view from above a hill at Aichi Expo

A beautiful lady cycling over the bridge near my home

A flower at my neighbour's house

A cute car, also in the neighbourhood

Nissan ??? Guess the model..

Omatsuri at Sakae

Street performance, also during omatsuri at Sakae

One of the cultural dance among many

One of the displays during omatsuri

The roller coaster rail at Nagashima Spaland, Aichi

Another roller coaster with wooden beams

The water splashes during the ride. It was awesome!

Captured this while waiting to be seated at the cafe.

An awesome light display, rides shone with colourful lights

Another firework at Gamagori

Firework..I didn't remember the place. Nagashima Spaland?