Amagasaki 9 (for Mar. 25)
Today was a really quiet day. Carla and Tyler both worked this morning, so we slept in for a while longer after they left. After showering and eating, Celeste continued reading her book and I blogged some extras and caught up on the bank account and credit card.
After lunch we went out exploring the neighbourhood again. It was a beautiful day – sunny and 14 degrees. We checked out the newer area on the other side of the station, and then came back to this side again. We found lots more bicycle parking, underground and tucked underneath the car overpass. It was too dark for pictures, but here is an above ground one. There must be parking for a couple of thousand or more bikes around here.
We toured the nearby electronics store that is a bit like Future shop. Cameras, TVs, stereos (but not prerecorded CDs or DVDs), fridges, stoves, small appliances, pet food – Yup, you read that right, pet food. I don’t quite get the connection either. It was the only non-electronic thing in the store.
We watched a little construction project for a while that illustrated something we have observed fairly frequently. Two guys were pouring a cement curb around a new building. One was wheeling cement back and forth from a small cement truck and the other was doing the cement work. But there was a third player in this drama/comedy. He was the public safety guy. Since the wheelbarrow had to cross a public sidewalk, he had to make sure the public was kept safe. As the wheelbarrow guy was filling up, the safety guy would stand behind him to make sure no one accidentally bumped into him. When the barrow was full, safety guy would step out onto the sidewalk and try to halt traffic for the 10 foot trip. At the other end, he would stand guard for the few seconds it took to dump the cement and then escort the wheelbarrow back to the truck. I am not sure how many trips we watched, but I think the only person less productive in that time than us was the safety guy. He took it all quite seriously in his construction helmet (the workmen wore bandanas), reflective vest, and red baton. But pretty much everyone else ignored him. We have seen this at many construction sites where they are all barricaded off, but there is some guy there directing pedestrians so they don’t run into the barricade. It must be part of a full employment program.
Well rested from watching the safety guy, we set out to explore some more. We found that the train station also emptied out onto a busy street that passed over the station via an overpass. It had convenient bus stops and car drop offs for people making train connections. And, as previously described, bike parking was built into the space below. We continued on exploring, then picked up some groceries and returned to the apartment where Tyler was already waiting. We chilled for a while until Carla got home, chilled a little more, and then set out to meet up with some of their friends.
After our train ride, we toured an entertainment and shopping district before heading to the meeting place. Tonight’s venue was a restaurant where there is a little propane barbeque embedded in each table. There were nine of us at two adjoining tables. You order plates of thinly sliced meat with an occasional vegetable thrown in for colour and some sauces, and cook it all on your grill. It was great fun, especially with several beers thrown in. Suddenly, Carla announced that time had slipped away on us and we had to run to catch the last subway. We made it with about 2 minutes to spare and connected to the last train to their stop with about 5 minutes to spare. Whew! We made it home and to bed by about 1 AM.
After lunch we went out exploring the neighbourhood again. It was a beautiful day – sunny and 14 degrees. We checked out the newer area on the other side of the station, and then came back to this side again. We found lots more bicycle parking, underground and tucked underneath the car overpass. It was too dark for pictures, but here is an above ground one. There must be parking for a couple of thousand or more bikes around here.We toured the nearby electronics store that is a bit like Future shop. Cameras, TVs, stereos (but not prerecorded CDs or DVDs), fridges, stoves, small appliances, pet food – Yup, you read that right, pet food. I don’t quite get the connection either. It was the only non-electronic thing in the store.
We watched a little construction project for a while that illustrated something we have observed fairly frequently. Two guys were pouring a cement curb around a new building. One was wheeling cement back and forth from a small cement truck and the other was doing the cement work. But there was a third player in this drama/comedy. He was the public safety guy. Since the wheelbarrow had to cross a public sidewalk, he had to make sure the public was kept safe. As the wheelbarrow guy was filling up, the safety guy would stand behind him to make sure no one accidentally bumped into him. When the barrow was full, safety guy would step out onto the sidewalk and try to halt traffic for the 10 foot trip. At the other end, he would stand guard for the few seconds it took to dump the cement and then escort the wheelbarrow back to the truck. I am not sure how many trips we watched, but I think the only person less productive in that time than us was the safety guy. He took it all quite seriously in his construction helmet (the workmen wore bandanas), reflective vest, and red baton. But pretty much everyone else ignored him. We have seen this at many construction sites where they are all barricaded off, but there is some guy there directing pedestrians so they don’t run into the barricade. It must be part of a full employment program.
Well rested from watching the safety guy, we set out to explore some more. We found that the train station also emptied out onto a busy street that passed over the station via an overpass. It had convenient bus stops and car drop offs for people making train connections. And, as previously described, bike parking was built into the space below. We continued on exploring, then picked up some groceries and returned to the apartment where Tyler was already waiting. We chilled for a while until Carla got home, chilled a little more, and then set out to meet up with some of their friends.
After our train ride, we toured an entertainment and shopping district before heading to the meeting place. Tonight’s venue was a restaurant where there is a little propane barbeque embedded in each table. There were nine of us at two adjoining tables. You order plates of thinly sliced meat with an occasional vegetable thrown in for colour and some sauces, and cook it all on your grill. It was great fun, especially with several beers thrown in. Suddenly, Carla announced that time had slipped away on us and we had to run to catch the last subway. We made it with about 2 minutes to spare and connected to the last train to their stop with about 5 minutes to spare. Whew! We made it home and to bed by about 1 AM.
posted by Celeste at
10:16 p.m.
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