Last year, some friends and I visited Mechanicon, the largest keyboard convention in Europe. Here, enthusiasts can present their creations and vendors can offer their items, with a prize raffle concluding the event. Sadly (or perhaps luckily, given that I didn’t need something) I didn’t win anything, however I did manage to pick up some low-profile switches from the trade corner. Once I had some switches in hand, I knew what I wanted to do: create my own PCB and keyboard. A numpad, to be precise. Since I have time to design my PCB and learn new things, how hard could it be?
I have a cookbook. It is just the bare ingredients and temperature. The steps to cook I can recall from memory, but the ratio and temperature is a different topic. I had the vision to create something interactive and web based and even contemplated if I should register a domain. But I can see that this thing will have no user base. So I resorted to LaTeX and created a PDF. This will hopefully help me to not mix up the amount of salt next time.
We arrived at Tokyo Station late in the evening, and from there it was just one stop to Ueno Station, a major station in Tokyo. This time, we decided not to experiment any more and to select a traditional hotel nearby. The main advantage of this is that the Skyline Express train starts next to Ueno Station. As the name suggests, this train goes directly to Narita Airport, which is some distance away from central Tokyo. With this station nearby, we could ensure frictionless travel with all our luggage back to the airport on Tuesday morning, our last day. On the subject of luggage, our bags had arrived and were waiting for us in the lobby.
As mentioned, we took the Limited Express from Kinosaki Onsen to Kyoto. The main benefit of this train is that it provides a direct connection to Kyoto. With the train card in Japan, you can use most regional trains directly and without reservation, but some trains do require a special reservation. The Limited Express is one such case. So we spent the money to get a little more comfort, as well as a direct connection.
For this trip, we decided to take all our luggage with us and use public transport to get to Kinosaki Onsen. This was partly because there was no convenient luggage storage facility nearby. After packing, we watched some Japanese television to pass the time while we waited for the bus. To avoid overburdening the local transport, we took the trip to Shin Onomichi station in two waves: me and my cousin on the first bus and my friend and his wife on the second, just after handing back the keys to the house.
After checking the room for our belongings, we gathered everything and headed out towards Onomichi. The ride was relatively short, but first, we had to get to Shin-Osaka Station, where the Shinkansen trains stop.
This is part two of our stay, you can find part one here. As last time we start with travel.
Shinkansen to Osaka
On Sunday, we concluded our stay in Tokyo and took the bullet train to Osaka. This was our first experience of traveling long-distance by train in Japan. The journey took around three hours, costing 90 euros for 500 km.
I was asked how I plan to share my travel experiences and whether I would post on my blog. So why not? Here is a summary of our trip to Japan. I started writing a draft while traveling to collect my thoughts and organize my experiences, but I quickly realized that I wouldn’t have the time or energy to publish while traveling. I’m currently reviewing these notes on my flight back to Germany, and I’ll add pictures and get someone to proofread once I’m back home. I will split the trip into the regions where we stayed, so you can expect six posts in total. The first will cover our first days in Tokyo. But first:
Getting there
We took the Deutsche Bahn from Stuttgart in the early afternoon. To be honest, I was more worried about issues with the train schedule than with our flight. Would we arrive at the airport on time, and would everything go well? However, since we chose a direct train starting in Stuttgart, there were no delays, and we arrived on time.
We had three hours at the airport before the plane took off. This gave us enough time to reach Terminal 2, check in, and pass through security. Overall, the entire process was painless since we traveled on a Tuesday with fewer activities at the airport. The only downside was that the shop behind the security checkpoint was not open yet, so we were unable to quench our thirst.
