Author: J

Can’t reverse the car…!!!

by J

“How is this possible that a car does not have a gear to reverse?”

No matter how hard I tried to move the gear stick all the way away from me to put it in reverse, the car moved forward. Because I was already in a position to park the car from the tail in a small parking area in the basement of the hotel that we were staying, I was only about 3 feet away from a car diagonally across the spot, where I was trying to park. Yet, I could not get the car to reverse so I was getting closer and closer to the car.

Everything was fine for about two hour of arriving in Germany for the first time. My colleagues and I landed in Munich on time, rented a car without any problem, and the drive on the highway was smooth. After dropping my colleagues off at the lobby entrance, I went down the slope to the hotel parking lot to park the car. Then, I was trapped in this curse…

My hands and back were sweating, and my brain was about to go blank. My collogues must be waiting for me for quite a while at the lobby. All the restaurants were closing very soon. Moreover, I was blocking the whole aisle on the parking lot. What would I do if a car comes in?

After several failed attempts to park the car, I stopped everything that I was doing because I did not have much more space between the car and the car in front of me. By then, I was less than 2 feet away from the car in front of me. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I looked at the gear stick, and I realized that the reverse sign was on the side closer to me. Strange, I thought.

Usually, the gears starts with 1 at the left upper corner, then 2 at the left lower corner, 3 at the center top, 4 at the center bottom, 5 at the right upper corner, and reverse at the right lower corner.

What I saw was reverse all the way towards the left side. Then, the rest looked similar to what I was used to seeing, except that there is a number 6 at the right lower corner, where I would usually see reverse.

I was puzzled but I tried to move the stick all the way towards me to put it in the reverse gear. When I gently stepped on the accel pedal and very slowly released the clutch pedal, hoping that car would move backward, the car continued moving forward. I was, then, less than a foot away from the car in front of me!

“May be I did not step on the clutch pedal deep enough, and maybe that is why the gear is not moving to the reverse,” I thought. I stretched my left leg as much as I could to step on the clutch pedal all the way, then I pulled the gear stick all the way towards me as hard as I could. I did not feel much different from what I felt earlier but I gave it a try.

The car continued forward! I was only a few inches away from the car! If I fail again, I would, for sure, be crashing. I could not make any more experiments, so I started thinking harder.

All the cars go through strict inspection process, and reverse function has to be one of the basic function that must be tested… or is that not the case in Germany?

Okay, how about other customers who have used this car in the past? Nobody has complained? Is this a brand new car and am I the first person driving this?

My logical thinking was telling me there is no way that I cannot get the car to reverse, but in reality, I could not get it to reverse. My brain was trying to make sense of the situation so hard but it couldn’t.

By the way, it was miracle that no other car had come into the parking lot until then, but at any moment, there could have been cars coming in.

I was out of ideas as to what more I could possibly try. Again, there was only a few inches in between the cars so I had to make sure I operate correctly in the next move. Without having any hope, I started looking for the user manual in the glove box. Before reaching the user manual, I saw the roadside rescue number on the brochure I received at the car rental place.

Maybe I could make a phone call to the roadside rescue… but is this situation worthy of calling the roadside rescue??? On top of that, I do not speak German, and can the phone operator understand the situation I am in now? Who would believe me that I cannot get the car to reverse!?

After thinking for a while, I have decided to try calling the roadside rescue.

***

A little relief after hearing the phone operator speaking in English… After explaining the situation I was in, and the type of the car I rented, the phone operator asked me,

“Sir, is there a silver ring around the gear shift?”

I looked the stick, and in deed, there was.

“Try lifting the ring upward, keep it lifted, then move the stick to the reverse position.”

Voila!

The dark basement parking lot was filled with rays of magical lights, and the gear shift has finally passed the enchanted gate towards the glorious well of the reverse gear! This time, I really felt that I was able to move the stick to the right gear so I moved the car. The car has started moving backward!

As soon as I hang up and started parking the car, I saw another car came into the parking lot.

***

Despite the magical experience, the time did not reverse with the car. Instead, it only moved forward by an hour since I dropped my colleagues off at the lobby entrance… By the time I went up to the lobby to meet my colleague, all the restaurants had already been closed…

By the way, the car I was driving was Nissan… If you are driving a Nissan car, be sure to remember about the “Ring.” Actually, you should check and understand all the functions of the car that you are renting before you leave the car rental’s parking lot. If you cannot find something, ask the staff there!

History of the Universe in 1 year

by J

“The whole universe was in a hot dense state. Then, nearly 14 billion years ago expansion started. Wait…”

That’s the opening theme song of our favorite comedy series, the Big Bang Theory.

I did not care how long this “14 billion years” span of time until someone told me that we are at very close to the New Year countdown if we put the history of the universe into the scale of a year. Then, I started thinking, doing some research, and plotting the timeline on my excel spreadsheet.

Then I realized how little we know about the history, and how ignorant I had been.

I am not going to layout everything but I want you to see some of the key events below:

Years ago…In 1yr scaleEvents
13,800,000,000Jan 1the Big Bang
4,600,000,000Maythe birth of the sun (our solar system)
4,540,000,000the birth of the earth
245,000,000Dec 25appearance of dinosaur on the earth
66,000,000Dec 30Chicxulub impact
(that killed the dinosaur)
800,000appearance of homo sapiens
10,000Dec 31
@23:37		emergence of civilization
(like Mesopotamia and other)
2,000Dec 31
@23:59:55		the birth of Jesus Christ
500Dec 31
@23:59:59		Christopher Columbus voyage
100the World War
15the 1st generation of iPhone
2COVID pandemic

***I just cut and pasted the info from various sources on the internet so it would not be the super accurate info but I think you get the idea… Also, the events that I picked are random without any subtext or whatsoever… The intention here is just to show the scale of the time.

Let’s try a quick arithmetic to apply 1 year scale to this history.

13.8 billion years / 365 days = 37.8 million years

>>> Dec 31 @ 01:00 = it is after the Chicxulub impact but long before the emergence of homo sapiens.

37.8 million years / 24 hours = 1.6 million years

>>> Dec 31 @ 23:00 = … homo sapiens have not appeared yet…

1.6 million years / 60 minutes = 26 thousand years ago

>>> Dec 31 @ 23:59 = … 16 thousand years to go until the beginning of the human civilization…

Dec 31@23:59, that is a minute before the year ends and no human civilization yet!
I did a different calculation and what I got is that Jesus Christ was born 4.6 seconds ago, Christopher Columbus voyaged around the world a second ago, and the World War happened, computer became a household item, internet boosted, and iPhones came out in less than a second!

I think you got the idea of this enormously history of the universe but do not forget that there must have been something else before the Big Bang. I have no idea what is out there but the scale of the timeline just makes me dizzy!

My question is what was going on on Thanksgiving Day or Halloween? On earth, on Mars, or on a planet in a different solar system. Are we really the first civilization on earth? Are we really the only one in the Universe?

I would probably not get the answer to this question in my life time but I enjoy stretching my imagination.

Amazing Compost

by J

Ew… disgusting!

That was my first reaction when I started doing it, and I am sure it is the same case for many people. As for my wife, she encouraged me to do it but she has never touched it…

Why did I even start making compost? Well, it was a half, out of necessity, and the other half, out of curiosity. When corona crisis started in Mexico, people started buying supplies in large lots, and there was a rumor saying that supply of everything will be cut off for a few months. We did not believe in that rumor but we thought maybe we should start growing our food in the yard, just in case…

When we thought of growing our own food, there were two problems. One, we could never take care of plants well, and all the flower pots that we bought in the past died in our house. Two, the access to soil was limited in the house, where we were living.

Because we had never had success with plants, we did not want to buy pretty pots and bags of soil, although I was very much tempted to do so. I have also explored the hydroponic option but it looked very complex. Also, we were renting the place so, I thought a hydroponic system can become a chunk of garbage that I would regret buying when we move in the future.

That led me to propose the option to make our own soil… Just after I said it, I regretted, thinking that it would stink the whole house and there would be complaints from our neighbor. I thought my wife would yell at me for proposing such thing. On the contrary to my concern, my wife was supportive of the idea.

I did not know where to start but I gathered kitchen scraps and put them in an empty tall yoghurt container. My gut feeling told me not to put meat so I gather vegetable and fruit scraps. On a later day, when I did some research about compost making, I found that my gut feeling was right. I should not put meat, fish, or bones in compost as they can draw pests. Some egg shells are good. Egg shells can add calcium to the soil. (Not all the cases, though… it depends on what kind of plants you are growing. Different plants prefer different kind of soil…)

A few days after I started collecting kitchen scraps, the scraps started smelling bad. Since bacteria is doing their magic, I was not sure if I should completely seal it with a lid but, I could not stand it so I put the lid on.

That night, my wife told her mother what we are doing. Surprisingly, her mother is an expert in plants, and she has been making compost on her own, as well. She told us what we need to do is very simple. First, put some soil at the bottom of a container. On top of the soil bed, place kitchen scrap, then place soil on top of compost. Every time we put kitchen scrap, put soil on top. That way, smell is sealed yet the compost can breath.

We had some soil in the pot, which we killed flowers in the past so I took some soil from it, and redid the compost bin. It was, indeed, stinky and disgusting… but after I did what my mother in law told us, things got a lot better!

People, remember this procedure if you are into compost!

Just so you know, I did an experiment later, in which I put kitchen scraps in a completely sealed air-tight container (orange juice plastic bottle). Kitchen scraps made liquid, gas, and odor but they never turned into soil.

***

About a week from collecting kitchen scraps, the it started growing green mold. By this time, the compost started attracting flies. That is when I realized I should not keep making compost indoor. I took my compost container to the side , where we had never used before corona quarantine started. I was afraid that our neighbor wouldsmell the compost and complain but the covert soil prevented the odor well.

Another week has passed. I was curious if the compost has turned to soil so I poked and turned the soil around in the container.

Wow!!! The smell!!! Worse than last week!

I have immediately covered the container with more soil, and looked at the neighbor’s window. A little relief. It was closed.

As for the compost, it was not ready yet. The scraps had already turned blackish, mostly, but I still saw chunks of orange peels.

In the third week, the compost has started smelling like soil, like the smell of earth after the rain. I still saw some chunks of scraps and the smell of rotten food was still there but it was a lot less.

The compost turned completely black and no more rotten-food smell in the fifth week. It did not look like kitchen scrap but dark soil. It is amazing how kitchen scraps turns into soil.

I have decided to use that batch of compost to start planting. The first attempt was tomato. My wife has removed some seeds from tomato when she was cooking the other day. The tomato grew very well, and we have harvested several fruits of tomato from the scrap.

Since then, we have been making soil on our own, and planting different vegetables. Still, many plants did not grow but we have had some successful ones, especially tomatoes.

By the way, since we did not have containers to plant things to start with, we have recycled plastic boxes that lettuce, tomatoes or other vegetables come in. The idea sounds cheap but we have made quite a vegetable garden in our yard.

Cold Christmas Eve in Chicago

by J

It was the first Christmas together with my wife… well back then, we were still dating. We drove up to Chicago in my ’92 red Ford Taurus, which broken down on the way back, in the middle of nowhere, but that’s a story for some other time.

After we checked in the hotel, we headed to the Sears Tower (renamed to Willis Tower in 2009), a 1,450-foot (440m) skyscraper built in the 1974s. Considering the age of it, he is like my big brother. Maybe that is why I have so much affection to it… Whenever I go to Chicago, I always go up there to see the view especially at night because it is one of a kind. The city is so organized that the night view looks like a shiny living organism; between blocks of buildings, the streets and the highways carry millions of cars that shine in yellowish orange. The view goes far out in the horizon especially to the south. I think it is much prettier than the view from the Empire State Building in NY, and my wife, who lived there, agrees with it.

After we “descended on the earth,” we started looking for food. I think it was passed 8pm when we started walking. The walk from the Sears Tower made us feel miserable. We were hungry but we found no restaurant that is open. My naïve Gaijin expectation was that many people celebrate Christmas eve so all the restaurants are open for celebrations on Christmas eve. What I did not realize is that those waiters / waitress and cooks also celebrate at home or in church, but not in their workplace for other people, which makes it difficult for customers like us to have nice dinner outside.

On top of our hunger, the wind in the “Windy City” was freezing. Plus, the streets under the Loop were dark with almost all the business on holiday. Occasionally, train made massive mechanical noise above our head, and cars passed by fast, as if they are chased by time. On the ground, lonely torn piece of newspaper blown by the cold wind seeking warmth of human. At the entrance of some buildings, we passed by shivering people with plastic cups asking for changes.

Originally, I wanted to take my wife to a nice warm restaurant and have a nice dinner after seeing the spectacular view from the Sears Tower but look at us now, we were hungry and tired in the dark cold Christmas eve. We just wanted to eat anything to fill our stomach in anywhere that is warmer than out on the street.

I do not remember which street it was but maybe it was Wabash… We saw Dunkin’ Donut that was open. It was far from what I expected to have for the first Christmas eve with my wife but what the heck!

We opened the glass door with cold aluminum frame. What a relief! On top of the warmth of the air inside the store, we felt the warmth of the people. It is funny I say that because nobody smiled at us or anything. In fact, the waitress just seemed busy, trying to forget she is working on Christmas eve. She was somewhat hyper, and trying to be friendly. Yet I felt warm inside. Maybe I was feeling grateful. I felt grateful for the warm place. I felt grateful for the food. I felt grateful for the people working when everyone else is enjoying their holiday. I felt grateful for being with my wife on a Christmas eve.

We left the store with hot chocolate in our hand. It was still the same freezing windy city but I was filled with warm feeling of grace for the fact that things did not go the way I planned.

By the way, in my opinion, we can experience grace in Christmas season because it is in cold winter…

Beetle Covered in Post-it Notes

by J

My wife and I were driving to Leon, Guanajuato one Sunday. It was a regular peaceful Sunday morning. As always, weather was nice with blue sky without any cloud. On the highway, there were not many cars but when we entered the city, there were more cars, and I could not speed so much.

When we just entered the city, at the first traffic light, we slowed down to stop for the red light. So did the car next to us. Usually, I do not care so much what car stops next to me but this time, the car was so catchy that my wife and I had to stare at it.

It was an old VW Beetle that was dented and broken here and there, just like the rest of other Beetles that we would see many of them in Mexico. What was so catchy about it was that it was covered with Post-it notes and the family in the car. Yellow, pink, orange… very colorful ones. We could not help but staring at it for minutes, until the traffic light turned green.

In the small Beetle, father with a big smile driving the car, his charming wife next to him talking, and energetic kids in the back seat laughing and jumping. Everyone looked very much excited to have a weekend drive to the city with the Beetle covered in Post-it notes.

What did the Post-it note say?

One that was obvious from my angle was “The greatest dad.”

Oaxaca Taxi

by J

It is a story when my wife and I went to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Oaxaca, pronounced as Wa-ha-ka, is located in the south of Mexico, and it is culturally very rich place. There are many crafts in Oaxaca, and my favorite is very colorful Alebrijes. It is wooden craft that are carved by men, and painted by ladies. They represent “Tonas,” the animals in Zapotec calendar, and “Nahuales,” the animals fused with humans. They are your protectors and spiritual guide, and you can find them out based on your date of birth. (sorry, I do not remember which of Tonas and Nauhales are the protectors and the spiritual guide…) They are just like the animals that appear in the movie Coco.

Anyways, we went to Oaxaca because there was an Aikido Gasshuku seminar there. My instructor in Mexico was originally from Oaxaca, and that is why the seminar was held in there.

The seminar was held in far north west of the downtown, where no tourist would go. A long narrow curvy local street extended from the far tip of the downtown, through various local villages and farm land, then to the Gasshuku dojo. The trip from the downtown area is about one hour drive. My wife and I were probably the first Asian persons to step in there… well… except my Aikido instructor’s master, who is a Japanese maestra.

After the morning seminar ended on the first day, I have decided to take my wife to the hotel in downtown. My instructor took us to the taxi stand nearest to the dojo. There, we took a taxi. I took the front seat, and my wife sat in the back. Up to this point, everything seemed fine.

The taxi was Nissan Tsuru, which is a very common car in Mexico. It is so basic that you would realize how much unnecessary things cars nowadays are equipped with once you drive this car, but we’ll talk about it some other time…

The driver was very fascinated to drive two Gaijins. Yes, we were a total strangers to him. I do not remember much about what we talked but he was very curious about us.

Through the narrow street, the taxi curved left and rights, and up and down.

After about five minutes of the ride, the taxi suddenly parked at the side of the narrow street. A young lady opened the taxi door and sat next to my wife. She may have said “hola” or something but that was it. Then the driver started driving again. I was thinking that she maybe the driver’s wife or a relative.

After another five minutes or so, the taxi stopped and parked again. While I was expecting the passenger in the back may get off, she skewed towards my wife! Then, I heard someone opening the door in the back. A skinny boy came in and took the seat.

By then, I understood that the taxi was a shared ride. Two persons in the front, the taxi driver and myself, and three passengers in the back. Reasonable, and environmentally friendly, I thought.

The taxi took off again, and as I was wondering if we would be splitting the fare or if there is a set fare for each person, the taxi slowed down… I started having a bad feeling… how can we fit another person?

It is amazing how many people you can fit in a car! Four persons in the back now! I had to look at my wife to make sure she is still okay. Good thing that everyone in the back was skinny.

I told myself, okay, just another 10-15min or so, then we’ll get off the car and transfer to the taxi to downtown. By the way, there are area limits where taxi can go in Oaxaca. The Aikido dojo is outside the city limit where the taxi from and to downtown can reach, and the taxi that we were riding could not enter downtown.

Soon after the fourth person took the seat in the back, I saw a lady waving at us. She was probably twice as large as I was, side ways. There was no way she could fit in the car. I expected the taxi driver to pass on her. How naïve was I…

The driver stopped in front of her. Nope, can’t fit any more person in the back…

I thought she would give up. Again, wrong…

She opened the front door, where I was seated. Somehow, she pushed me towards the center console of the tiny Tsuru, I supported my butt on one foot, and she some how was seated.

Now I think about it, I do not know how that was possible but some how, three people fit in the front seat!

The good thing was there was no more person got in the taxi, and the ride lasted only about 5 minutes.

The fare? it was MXN10 (about USD 0.5) per person.

It was an interesting experience, which has become part of a good memory of us but since the second time on in Oaxaca, we decided to rent a car. I do not know about now but back then, there was no Uber so we figured it is better to rent a car.

Before ending this article, let me introduce just a little more about the place, simply because my wife and I love the place. If you get to go to Oaxaca, be sure to check out, like pottery called Barro Negro, textile called Zapotec Weaving, Monte Alban Pyramid, and frozen (so it looks…) waterfall called Hierve el Agua. I like the festive feeling of the downtown area, and the food too. Unfortunately, we have not had a chance to visit the beach in Oaxaca but I have heard it is quite something too… Anyways, Oaxaca is “the place” that I would recommend people to visit in Mexico!

ShinKanSen, the Bullet Train

by J

“Sir, you are on a wrong train…”

the ticket inspector told me.

I was a third embarrassed, a third confused, and a third panicked for not knowing what to do… yes, a very complicated feeling…

I was on the ride from Hiroshima to a OnSen hot spring vacation hotel to see my parents and brother. In Hiroshima station, where I boarded the train, I thought I was very punctual. When I arrived at the designated platform 15 minutes prior to the departure time, the train had also just arrived and stopped right in front of me. Soon after I boarded the train, sat down and accommodated myself at my assigned seat, the train started moving. It was way too ahead of time, I thought. My watch showed I had another 10 minutes till the departure time…

I was a little confused but I felt relief. If I had arrived at the platform 5 minutes later, I may have missed the train. I thought it is about time to change the watch battery…

As I watched the fast-gliding scenery outside from the wide window, I was thinking about my family, whom I had not seen in years. When I was small, my parents took us to different places as family trips. We went to strawberry hunting in springs, beach in summers, forest in falls, and ski in winters. That was when I was small, before we moved to Malaysia. It was probably the first time in many years that we had a family trip together.

When the food cart passed by my seat, I bought a bottle of cold green tea. I was not thirsty or hungry but I was curious what kind of things they are selling. I almost got a box of Bento box lunch but I reminded myself that a big luxurious dinner is waiting for me in the Onsen vacation hotel.

After a while of watching the scenery outside, I had slipped to my dream land.

…

I was woken up by the ticket inspector’s voice asking for the train ticket. As I reached my pocket for the ticket, he told me that I am on a wrong seat. I took out my ticket and handed it over to him. As I handed it over, I glanced at the seat assignment on the ticket, and I immediately looked at the seat code on the wall.

I was at the right seat.

The ticket inspector looked at the ticket twice. I thought the system that he had in his hand must have Wi-Fi connection error or something that did not show the real-time information of who is assigned to which seat.

My doubt about the technology has turned into an embarrassment in less than a second when I was told that I was on a wrong train!

The next moment, I thought “but how???”

The train inspector told me, after punching some information in his system, that I had to wait for my train at the same platform for another 5 minutes, then my train had arrived just in time.

In other words, my watch was correct. The trains were operating every 10 minutes, and I took the train just before my train. That is why the train left way ahead of time. I should have waited for another 10 minutes. I should have checked the board on the train and checked its destination. I should have…

Well, it was too late. I had to some how get to the destination from there. Should I get off at the next station and return to Hiroshima? Maybe there is a train from the next station going to the OnSen hotel. Can I rent a car? Is it really far??? Where am I and where exactly am I going???

I must have looked very desperate… the ticket inspector punched in some information in his system and told me to get off in the next station and take what-what train, that I do not even remember what it is called.

The train that I transferred was not the fast bullet train but a local train that stops at every single station. It was slow. Frustrating. I did no even know what time I would be arriving at the destination… My parents and brother must have finished their meal and enjoyed the hot spring… what a stupid son…

It was passed 9pm when I arrived at the destination train station. I was supposed to be there at 4pm… I missed so many hours on the train. My parents were waiting for me at the station. I did not know what to say but to thank them.

Despite the hour, the hotel served us the huge dinner. Such a great meal. The hot spring was great too!