Yanpa's Top Tips for the citizens of Japan

[yanpa]

1. Holding one hand over your mouth while speaking into a mobile phone does not make your conversation magically inaudible, especially if you are speaking loudly.

[omae mona]

Thank god that does not apply to resident gaijin. I'd be screwed!

[Coligny]

1. Holding one hand over your mouth while speaking into a mobile phone does not make your conversation magically inaudible, especially if you are speaking loudly.

Meanwhile it greatly reduce the background noise for the person at the other side ...

[matsuki]

1. Holding one hand over your mouth while speaking into a mobile phone does not make your conversation magically inaudible, especially if you are speaking loudly.

Meanwhile it greatly reduce the background noise for the person at the other side ...

Coligny's right but along the lines of what Yampa's saying, doing the quick left, right check and then speaking in a loud whisper to someone may look discreet in the movies but we're all still getting an earful of your conversation.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I guess it won't be possible to just eliminate mobile phones, eh?

[Coligny]

1. Holding one hand over your mouth while speaking into a mobile phone does not make your conversation magically inaudible, especially if you are speaking loudly.

Meanwhile it greatly reduce the background noise for the person at the other side ...

Coligny's right but along the lines of what Yampa's saying, doing the quick left, right check and then speaking in a loud whisper to someone may look discreet in the movies but we're all still getting an earful of your conversation.

Woa, not so fast Dood or I will be blamed for the lost users not checking the forum anymore...

And global warming...

Disappearance of the dodo birds ...

High oil price...

3 miles island perfectly safe not accident at all...

Extinction of the dinosaurs...

Resignation of the nazi pope...

And Die Hard 5...

[yanpa]

I guess it won't be possible to just eliminate mobile phones, eh?

On the plus side, Japan collectively stamped down hard and early on mobile phone usage so at least we're not subjected to the same level of one-sided conversations that the real world suffers from.

[yanpa]

2. Those metal thingies with the plastic flaps and beepy bingbong noises that suddenly spread out across the entrance of a station, startling you into immobility - outwit them by having your teikiken at the ready before they leap out at you.

[Russell]

2. Those metal thingies with the plastic flaps and beepy bingbong noises that suddenly spread out across the entrance of a station, startling you into immobility - outwit them by having your teikiken at the ready before they leap out at you.

Good to read that you are not driving your car while intoxicated...

[yanpa]

The intoxicated part comes quite easily, however a car is not something which currently troubles my life.

[omae mona]

I still can't find a compatible, portable power source for my ETC device, so I keep having to pay cash for those damn paper tickets at the train station. Really annoying. Is this so-called "teikiken" the ETC battery pack? Where can I get one?

[Russell]

I still can't find a compatible, portable power source for my ETC device, so I keep having to pay cash for those damn paper tickets at the train station. Really annoying. Is this so-called "teikiken" the ETC battery pack? Where can I get one?

Teikiken is a card that allows you travel along a certain route for a period of 1, 3, or 6 months. If you travel a route almost every working day, it is cheaper than those paper tickets. Old-fashioned technology...

[omae mona]

I still can't find a compatible, portable power source for my ETC device, so I keep having to pay cash for those damn paper tickets at the train station. Really annoying. Is this so-called "teikiken" the ETC battery pack? Where can I get one?

Teikiken is a card that allows you travel along a certain route for a period of 1, 3, or 6 months. If you travel a route almost every working day, it is cheaper than those paper tickets. Old-fashioned technology...

Sigh, I failed again. Yanpa already expressed my sentiments perfectly here. I too will shut up now. You're a tough nut to crack, Russell!

[Coligny]

I still can't find a compatible, portable power source for my ETC device, so I keep having to pay cash for those damn paper tickets at the train station. Really annoying. Is this so-called "teikiken" the ETC battery pack? Where can I get one?

Tried this :

image.jpg

Half double A size... Won't start the car though. I litterally have a bucket of them from deal extreme if you need for a test.

[omae mona]

Ooh, that is kind of you. I could solder the wires onto that. Now the next problem is that I read something about having to be walking under 20km/h to go through the turnstiles.

[Coligny]

There's speedo apps for dat'

[yanpa]

3. Cyclists! The "left" side of the road is generally the one you want to be cycling on, especially if it is a 6-lane road which is mentioned regularly in traffic reports.

[Coligny]

3. Cyclists! The "left" side of the road is generally the one you want to be cycling on, especially if it is a 6-lane road which is mentioned regularly in traffic reports.

AMEN

Where can you buy cheap bullbars ?

[GomiGirl]

3. Cyclists! The "left" side of the road is generally the one you want to be cycling on, especially if it is a 6-lane road which is mentioned regularly in traffic reports.

AMEN!! I am a cyclist and I am regularly berating the muppets who are riding on the wrong side of the road and straight towards me. It is hard enough to navigate with the taxis stopping where and whenever they damn well please, but to add an additional layer of idiocy into the mix is more than I can take.

Can I add one for pedestrians too - the lanes that are marked at intersections for bikes should be kept free for bikes to use so we don't have to weave in and around you.

[yanpa]

+1. Same goes for cycle-lanes as marked out on Yamate-dori etc.

Also 4: Pedestrians - take half-a-second or so to visually scan left and right (especially right) when suddenly stepping out onto the street, as it will save you from near-misses with a bell-ringing gaijin. (Who luckily for you expects at all times to be surprised by pedestrians and other vehicles appearing suddenly).

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

+1. Same goes for cycle-lanes as marked out on Yamate-dori etc.

Also 4: Pedestrians - take half-a-second or so to visually scan left and right (especially right) when suddenly stepping out onto the street, as it will save you from near-misses with a bell-ringing gaijin. (Who luckily for you expects at all times to be surprised by pedestrians and other vehicles appearing suddenly).

+1 on both points.

[GomiGirl]

Damn but isn't the new and improved Yamate Dori a Tokyo cyclists' wet dream??? I rode from Meguro to my house near Opera city on the weekend and it took minutes after I hit Shinsen/Shoto.

[matsuki]

I had a bicycle when I lived in Coligny's backyard but in Tokyo, I don't even bother. Dodging idiots on foot and obstacles in a car are bad enough, doing both on a bicycle for a few weeks and you'll have the next Tokyo killing spree.

[yanpa]

Lycra-clad cyclists on racing bikes! When forced to stop by those greenblue/yellow/red light arrangements, do take the opportunity to adjust the position of one of the levers on or close to your handlebars which will move your chain onto one of the larger cogs on your rear wheel. This will enable you to make a much faster start when the light arrangement turns to greenblue and spare you the ignominy of being overtaken by a non-lycra-clad, uncool person such as myself.

[Coligny]

Most (if not all) racing bicycle gearboxes can't change gears while stationery. Works only for 3 speed planetary gearboxes bikes.

[wagyl]

Honest to goodness, this is a tip offered in good faith: stationery is paperclips and office binders and pencils and paper, stationary is the condition of not being in motion. You can remember it by thinking of the stationer's shop being next door to the butcher and the baker.

Just like the middle aged man in lycra (because it always is) can remember to change down his gears as he is slowing down to a stop. Unless he is listening to sick beats on his MP3 and not paying attention so every stop is an emergency stop.

[yanpa]

Just like the middle aged man in lycra (because it always is) can remember to change down his gears as he is slowing down to a stop.

Dat is what I mean. Sure, occasionally one ends up stopping without a change to change down, but seems every time I get stuck behind a road cyclist at lights they power away with all the acceleration of an obachan on a mamachari.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Just like the middle aged man in lycra (because it always is) can remember to change down his gears as he is slowing down to a stop.

Dat is what I mean. Sure, occasionally one ends up stopping without a change to change down, but seems every time I get stuck behind a road cyclist at lights they power away with all the acceleration of an obachan on a mamachari.

I don't get it either. I always try to gear down for my own sake not because I give a fuck about being in the way of motorists.

[wagyl]

My guess is that part of being a road cyclist is the element of struggle, and being seen to be struggling and straining and putting in effort. And then there is the natural tendency here to ride the clutch, start in second, and change up too early in manual transmission drivers.

[yanpa]

Just like the middle aged man in lycra (because it always is) can remember to change down his gears as he is slowing down to a stop.

Dat is what I mean. Sure, occasionally one ends up stopping without a change to change down, but seems every time I get stuck behind a road cyclist at lights they power away with all the acceleration of an obachan on a mamachari.

I don't get it either. I always try to gear down for my own sake not because I give a fuck about being in the way of motorists.

BTW I'm talking from the viewpoint of being another cyclist. Fucking annoying because quite often there's no space to pass until they've crawled up to speed anyway.