I'm in #Tokyo #Japan riding the local trains. Masks are not really all that common any more. It's kinda a trope by now that the seats near The Big German remain free. I'm used to it. And if anyone sits down near or next to me it's almost exclusively men.

I'm wearing my #mask as I do on planes and public transport, and for the first time ~ever in Asia the seats right next to me were taken up very quickly, both by women, one wearing a mask, one not.

1/2

#travelnotes #traveltales

* At 0813, someone comes and yells, the music changes. Staff come back -- and smile and wave for two minutes

0815 sharp, lets-a go

So, was #nintendo world in #Oasaka worth it?

Unclear. The universal studies around it.. exist. Many people in Terfy Potter world, but everyone crams into NintendoWorld. The rest of the park seemed deserted at times.

The Minions ride is frustrating. Everyone hypes it, but it keeps you waiting in obnoxious (not smart like #MarioKart) ways. I'd avoid it even though we had express passes.

1/n

Flying dinosaur is nice. It tilts you forward by 90 degrees for the whole ride and some non-trivial G but mainly inwards not outwards. I get why to not make people too scared, but I'd have preferred outwards.

The ride you see at the beginning toys with negative G repeatedly, but otherwise it's kinda nin-thrilling.

If you're tall, flight of the hippograph won't fit you and you get two express passes as a mea culpa. Worth it if the wait is short or you could not buy a fitting Direct-In without giving money to a TERF.

IMO, Nintendo is used to cross-sell Terfy Potter by Universal.

So, that brings us to #Nintendo World:

Go on Wednesdays if you can. Least busy. They also show it on the website

Arrive at 0700 or earlier. Walk briskly, do not run, into NintendoWorld. Get in line for Mario Kart. Ignore Yoshi and Donkey Kong. Or do Donkey Kong first. Yoshi is good as a second ride. Not because it's good, but because it's got the shortest line.

The area is tiny. Unless you buy the wrist band, you will not have a lot to do other than taking photos and standing in line for the rides.

You can buy Mario etc merch, but a Don Quichote will have similar or the same items at 1/2 to 1/3 the price.

All in all, for a group of four people we paid over 1,000€ for the day. Entry, Direct-In, some wrist bands, food, souvenirs.

Not counting accomodation, transport, Shinkanshen.

Worth it? Unclear. Once in a lifetime, sure. But still, not sure...

To be clear, the most expensive part was the Direct-In, basically a "reduce the waiting line by 30-200 minutes". Yes, by 200 minutes.

It's expensive AF, but two days would be even more expensive when you factor in accommodations, access tickets, and prorated flight and PTO cost.

Taking the first train at 05:59 in the morning towards Toyosu Market, the wagons are already full. Arriving at 06:15, many tourists walk back already. It's been open since 05:00 after all.

The tuna auction itself is kinda funny. The bidders are super concerned about looking deliberately disinterested and chill; feels like high school or bad poker.

The few sushi restaurants which are open already are full. Mostly japanese men, drinking heavily this early in the morning

#traveltavels

So, on how the bus payments work..

In Osaka you have to get on in the back and pay while leaving in the front. Tokyo is the other way around. Kyoto is a mixed bag. This seems almost as random as when you're supposed to walk on the left, the right, or a wild mix which changes every few hundred meters.

In #Osaka, there are two fares posted in the bus: 210 (or 230?) yen for adults, 110 for children. Other rates are not posted, but as everyone sees both how much someone pays and how much balance is remaining it's easy to deduce.

Seniors pay 50 yen.

Disabled seniors pay 0 yen. There's a bright green line around the display to signal this.

Some people flash a card or something to the bus driver or simply put both hands together and bow and do not pay at all.

#traveltales

I am a somewhat frequent traveler for work reasons. If I have leg space, I always sit on the window, away from the sunny side. This is one of the tricks to a calmer flight and night.

Flying back from #Tokyo #Haneda to #Munich, only the right side was free. Good if we fly under Russia, OK if we fly over the Artic. Decent enough sun activity to have a chance at #Northernlights. It's a night flight. Or so I thought...

The #boeing787 has dimmable windows, not physical shades. It's summer solstice.

It's noon in Alaska where I am currently North of. ANA217 if you want to track me.

The sun is burning with the intensity of one thousand^W suns... It's summer solstice so the sun will not even set on the geographical North Pole today. The window is doing its best, but it has to absorb the energy. No off-grey plastic to reflect light. It's so hot it's unpleasant to touch and is radiating so much heat I am sweating in my normal "slightly too cool for most people" travel sleep set-up.

Science...!

The Japanese guy next to me entered the plane masked. Medical mask as ~usual with men in Asia (women tend to wear FFP2 / [K]N95 maybe 66% of the time). I always appreciate people masking.

He started coughing shortly before food. Now he's sleeping with the mask off for several hours already.

I'm masked with FFP3 / N99 so whatever, but...

And also I am still (rather successfully) staying on top of an infection I got during a badly-ventilated KubeCon. Two coworkers coughed, I should have masked...

But for anyone who doesn't know them: Laryngomedin and Ocentident are near magic for viral infections of the respiratory system. You can feel your throat getting better because your immune system noticeably gets the upper hand for a few hours. Absolute game changer.

Not available in the US though, so people there need to get creative.

If you can't taste the salt,
and aceto tastes bald,
that's the cove...
that's the cove...

Second time in my life I have a positive #COVID #COVID19 test.

And I _THOUGHT I SHOULD HAVE MASKED AND I DIDN'T_

Oh well. At least I have a prescription for #paxlovid this time, but I don't think I can get it filled before Monday...

Continuing my #traveltales #travelnotes, and staying on the topic of #masks

I'm in #Hyderabad for #KubeCon #India and forced myself out of the hotel on my arrival day at least once. Even walking to the ATM around the corner, I already put on my mask against all the dust and smog. Taking a tuktuk across town, I was immediately forced to put it back on and keep it on.

I love the buzzing and chaos on the streets, but I am also quite happy about my place with quiet and good air..

I always take tuktuks (called auto, here) where feasible. Cheaper, quicker, and generally more fun. In a real car now, because other than one time in Iceland and one time in Moab, I've never driven through as much and deep water in my life.

We're stuck at an intersection trying to turn. The waves from the car passing by are rocking the car back and forth

#traveltales #travelnotes #hyderabad #india

One fascinating aspect is how, being with six Indian coworkers for food, when one of them chooses a restaurant serving their home food, none of the others know the dishes. I know #India is large etc pp. Still, this drives it home even more.

#traveltales #travelnotes

#India was way too short, as always. I love the bustle, the colors, the smells, the spices, all the chaos which somehow just chugs along.

On the negative side, I don't think I will be able to not wear a mask outdoors in any major Indian city for the foreseeable future.

One small and almost invisible aspect of Asian countries is how even low quality goods will have high quality cases, lanyards, etc. in Western country, you regularly need to buy expensive stuff to get nice auxiliary goods; in east Asian countries you will get nice auxiliary goods even for giveaways.

I received a battery powered fan someone got for free and didn't need; and the lanyard it came with is nicer than most lanyards I recently got with any but the most quality goods.

That was certainly unexpected..

I've seen this a few times already, only on German cars.

Reduce, reuse, recycle etc

The food in #Taiwan is impressive. The night markets are really something for locals, and the density of food stalls is the highest I have ever seen in such places

Homeless (or very poor, I don't know) old people are markedly better dressed and smelling than in most other places I've been. Convenience store owners let them sit at the tables in peace and quiet to rest from the heat. The homeless often had impressively large sandwiches which I presume shopowners hand them when business slows down

I did see one man eat out of a trashcan, but other than that the social fabric seems to cushion the poor surprisingly well.

(I'm a simple man. I see you eating out of the trash, I give you enough cash to eat a few days if I can reach you and have some on me)

Overall, I didn't expect to be this impressed, but Taiwan did impress me. Seemingly solid social fabric, good maintenance, things are planned well. Quite efficient and effective.

There's an impressive level of non-predatory convenience built at least into Taipei. Stuff is where you need it, shops sprinkle the streets, pricing is reasonable.

And if you're a foody.. recommend.

#travelnotes #traveltales

Not saying where I am yet. Maybe a good #osint #geolocation #geoguessr challenge...

I am sleeping in the middle of nowhere. Bioluminescent algae randomly appeared.

NB: I can't easily verify on mobile if exif data is stripped. Fair have if it's not, just let me know.

Let's try an actually solvable #osint #geolocation #geoguessr challenge.

This image was taken a few minutes ago.