Down in Narita, now down with a HiRai-sing sense of being cold (it is cold).
A group plan dating back half a year ago, my own time (maybe yours too) being in Japan is now back after two years – quite possibly the most unsuitable Singaporean to go.
I suppose after a two year hiatus, Japan entries will come about again. I’ll not be following the day-by-day format like the old one. Actually, please don’t go looking for those. I cannot say my format and writing are.. up to standard these days (neither are these).
Anyway, this trip could be something magical (as in completely alien to someone as narrow-minded as me) with a start of such a view from the airplane window. (The photos are somewhat realistic to the actual view).
Despite a frequent visitor to Penang, I am infrequently familiar with night flights, and these views were cool.
Touching down, from Narita airport to Hirai, the trip was done purely by train including one transit. The train rides definitely need getting used to for this writer – much faster than Singapore’s MRT. I am fine with the consensus of not causing noise in the train, but my group.. is less than suitable for quiet environments.
I am here alongside friends, whom are not necessarily car enthusiasts but good mates either way. Seanan is part of this group trip, so some future articles from him about it might turn up in the future.
Cars.. well, Japan is naturally car-spotting heaven for anyone with a vested interest in the hyped and mundane. Let’s start with this estate that I’ve never seen and heard of.
This is a 1998 Toyota Vista Ardeo, a largely mundane estate car (the Ardeo) that apparently shares its platform with the first-generation Prius. In a way, its a successor to the Corolla Fielders that I keep seeing around.
Its a really quiet area that we passed through, although no stranger to flaunting the uncommon luxury brand or model and rare glimpse of an older or enthusiast car parked around.
I don’t have pictures, but I vividly recall a Toyota Crown Comfort stockpile behind someone’s shed and a silver Mitsubishi Galant (E3# series) in the middle of literally nowhere, amongst one Hummer H3 and other interesting commuter cars.
Sincerely it might be me and my crippling interest in automobiles, but I am genuinely taking time out of my travels to photograph the mundane Toyota Noah, simply because it has tri-spoke wheels.
One thing I notice compared to Singapore is how naturally bright the sun is in this time of Japan. I won’t get into the schematics (given I am writing this at 12am after the usual touristy >12km journey) but I can plead you to get a ND (Neutral Density) lens filter for your camera.
I have not used any ND filter throughout my years photographing. Maybe I am the equivalent of a neet, but I sure need a ND filter to avoid criminal amounts of overexposure and underexposure.
Too overexposed I am with photography fails, so glad am I with a set of lens filters that can finally be used.
Actually, it is still the same across shaded and unshaded places, but maybe that is due to me being inexperienced.
At this time of the year (March), it is much cooler than my time in June two years ago. Temperatures are around 12 degrees celsius – probably colder with a simpl- mega blast of wind – so even this air-conditioned-conditioned laptop slave is freezing over.
I write this with a day or so from the time I touched down, so I can confidently mention an essential or two for anyone entering as blind-sided as I am. Please standby at least a plastic bag for collation of trash, body warmers and gloves. Some psychologists say that people’s advice are a mirror of what they want to hear, and good god, I wish I knew before flying.
I am freezing. In fact, if you’re reading this within the two weeks from this posting being live, I still am freezing. The trash doesn’t freeze me (dropping one ought to as I’d like to avoid incurring trouble), but the body warmers and gloves are a desperate lifeline for someone with zero cope for temperatures outside of 20-28 degrees.
I gest that seasoned Japan-goers are probably sneering a little because of how “common-sense” these are, but I lack common sense – most of my thinking are uncommon and senseless. Ha.
But anyway, while I find myself struggling to adapt from the folks around me due to national and language barriers, my brain and body is adapting well to the generally-quiet and fresh sights, away from the brutalist and modernist HDBs of Singapore.
Oh, and distracting myself by very conspicuously photographing cars passing by on the street.
I needn’t say again how photogenic and car-spotting-worthy Japan is; the former is up to your eyes to debate, the latter for me to debate, which I did just above. The spot of this post – not even for the day, that’s how good my luck got – is an Alpina B8 Gran Coupe. This is one of around sixteen of this Alpina model in Japan, possibly less than 300 globally.
Going by an unofficial Alpina archive, this car could be number #006, #028, #068, #070, or #112.
That’s.. the overview of touching down and doing whichever relevant there is here, then. Its not much – no different to write home about than a family-driven or simple trip out to Japan to enjoy the country. But, I mean, I’m writing, so that’s my recount.
Recounting more, Akihabara was the first destination. See you in that entry.
~Efini
Gallery:
Read more: Japan 2024: D1
