Sorry it's been a while since I last BLOGGED. I had almost caught up with the BLOGS before the "Great Pbase Crash of '09", followed by a visit from our friend Mika (coming up in two entries' time), then my parents (coming up in three entries'), followed by a rather busy period of work, and trying to sort out my Australian taxes!
On the 21/09/2009 during "Silver Week"* in the morning Ritsuko and I went to look at a display houses (the one we liked best is on the left). Yes, we are seriously considering buying a house here in a year or two's time, dependant on a strong AUD v YEN and if we can get a good price for our house in Australia. Then in the afternoon I went to Yamazaki (near Nagaokakyo) see how long it takes to change from the Hankyu to the JR trains (as this is the closest point in the two lines anywhere near here). This was in preparation for my parents visit, they're were staying near the Hankyu line, but in order to catch an early Shinkansen (Super Express aka "Bullet Train") from Shin Osaka we had to change on to the JR to get to Shin Osaka (as Hankyu doesn't go to Shin Osaka). So being the eternal Boy Scout (even though I was actually in Boys Brigade as child), I practised and timed the change over and took notes of all the appropriate time tables.
Hankyu O-Yamazaki station is also right next too (like 50cm away!) the Shinkansen line, so while I was there I got the snap on the right of a Shinkansen passing at high speed (although not top speed). It's a big adrenaline rush to feel it going past! BTW if your wondering how I managed to snap a high speed train with a point and shoot? It's easy set it to shutter priority 1/640s, auto iso, and set focus to infinity (point and shoots have practically infinite deep of field). If you try with auto focus, it will never lock on high speed trains.
*a period of three consecutive public holidays was nicked named "Silver Week", which happened this year because of the two holidays (the Monday and the Wednesday) being near each other and the day in between became an extra public holiday. Normally these two holidays are not so close, because one is Lunar Calendar based and the other is Gregorian Calendar based. The reason it was called "Silver Week", is because every year in May there is a period of four public holidays near each other (and most companies close down for the whole time) known as "Golden Week".