Travel

Until We Become the Legend…

by J

We may not have to drive in the future but for now, drive safe

I started driving cars when I was in high school, and since then, I have been driving in different countries. Thanks to many people who have cautioned me various things, I have been fortunate not to be in a serious accident so far, although I have been in near miss accidents a few times.

What is unfortunate is that some of my friends and acquaintances drive or drove very dangerously, and some of them even lost their lives so, I would like to take some time to share the things that I keep reminding myself when I drive.

0. The big lesson

On one rainy day, I was driving on a busy street with road construction. The traffic was moving slow so most of the cars were rushing to go before everyone else but I made sure I have enough room in front of me to stop, in case of an emergency break. Several cars cut the line but I did not care. I yielded for them. The car behind me was obviously eager to go faster, and it was tailgating me and flashing the headlights at me to close the distance in front of me. I knew he was very frustrated how I was driving. I felt pressured and I was tempted to close the space in front of me but the next instance, I saw several cars in front of me stepped on their breaks.

I only expected the traffic to be slowing down but it turned out to be a complete stop!

I stepped further onto my break pedal but I was getting closer and closer to the car in front of me. I thought I would crash. Fortunately, I was able to stop just a few inches behind the car in front of me.

As soon as I felt the relief, I heard a big crash behind me. It was two cars behind crashed into the car behind me.

I was able to stop in time, and so was the car right behind but that was not the case for two cars behind me.

1. Distance, distance, and distance

When there are no cars, people, or any object on the street, you would not get into an accident, unless if you fall asleep, but in reality, there are all sorts of obstacles on the street. On those chaotic streets, what you can control is very limited. In fact, there is only one thing that you can control – your car. On top of that, the only thing that you can control by controlling your car is the space in front of you.

You cannot control the pedestrians. You cannot control the broken tire on the highway. You cannot control the traffic. You cannot control the driver behind you, who is eager to go faster and getting closer to you.

The good news is that the only thing you can control will drastically decrease the chance of getting you into an accident. Of course, many crazy things happen when you are on the wheels so, it is not the 100% protection. However, I feel that too many people do not take care of the only thing that they can take control of.

It is important to pay attention to your surroundings but remember, the space in front of you is your sacred zone. You must secure it at all time, even when you are tailgated!

***By the way, I have been taught to count the seconds from the moment the car in front of me passes a landmark till I pass the same landmark. If I count to three seconds, then that means I am maintaining the optimal distance. The time it takes for cars to stop is relative to how fast we are driving. If you maintain a 3-second distance, you can likely come to a complete stop in time.

2. Pay extra attention when changing lane or turning

When you are going straight, the only thing that you need to take care of is your sacred zone in front of you but things get complicated when you are not going straight. Many accidents happen when cars are changing lane or when making a turn. Do not forget to do all the due diligence.

3. Look at tires

Sometimes, there are cars cuts in all of a sudden…, or you feel like all of a sudden. Especially when you are driving long distance on a highway, you lose concentration, and your reaction time delays. For me, it had been difficult to detect a large truck coming into my lane when it was dark at night, and when it was raining… Someone told me to watch the wheels of the vehicles. Voila!

It is so much easier to detect vehicles changing lanes when you look the wheels.

4. Driving safely is much more important than showing off techniques

The sole purpose of driving on public streets or highways is nothing else but to get to our destination.

Who cares how closely you can drive behind a car and how fast you can react to a stop. It only bother people… Please read below if you are one of those who enjoy practicing or showing off your driving techniques…

5. Stay cool, and yield

To tell you the truth, I used to get road rages. I was so intense and I easily became short tempered when I was driving. When someone was driving slow on a highway, I tail gated. When someone drove faster than me, I speeded to chase the car. When someone told me directions incorrect, or too late, I yelled and made crazy turns. In traffic jam, I made sure I leave no space for other cars to cut in.

I feel very embarrassed how childish I used to drive… but at the same time, I understand how those childish drivers feel when they are driving crazy, and I also understand how difficult it is to control their emotions. I am not expecting that I can change all the raged drivers in the world but I hope this article can help some drivers… or even one driver…

How I was able to start coping with road rages was a shock remedy… In the company in Missouri, where I started working after graduating from the college, there was this quality manager who loved driving his green mustang. Whenever he left the company, we heard his mustang driving away. He was born and grown up in south part of Chicago, in the ghetto area. He was a big white guy with a strict father, who valued courtesy. Despite the education at home, he grew up doing street fights with the gangs. I remember him telling me one time, in his deep voice, “I recognize the smell in the bathroom. Someone is doing pots in there.” Then, the company-wide drug test was carried out, and a few people has been kicked out.

He was divorced but he was still in love with his ex-wife. One day, he told me with a big smile on his face, telling me that he is getting back with his ex-wife. Then he told me the story of the special rings he prepared… I do not remember the details but he melted the original rings to make a new ones, or something… The tough big boss was a romantic guy. That weekend, he took us to a bar in town, then took us on a drive in his mustang. Because he was speeding so much, we were caught by the police, but some how, he was able to talk out of it. Several weeks later, we attended his wedding, and celebrated the happy re-married couple.

Unfortunately, things went south a few months later.

He had been accused of some ethical issue at work, and he was fired. He found a new job but it was three hours away, in Iowa. He started living in Iowa, and came back to Missouri during weekends. He moved back and forth between the states for a few months, then the horrible accident happened.

He must have been texting his wife while driving. His mustang slipped off into the opposite lane, and crashed into an oncoming car, taking lives of two persons, including himself. The worst part is that on the oncoming car, there was a child also, and he lost his mother because of one person’s careless driving.

Since this accident, I started thinking about what it means by responsible driving. I learned that it is not only the matter of myself. I started thinking it is better to yield than causing an accident and make multiple parties suffer. I started thinking how childish it is to get road rage. I started feeling the sense of accomplishment when I managed to control my rage. Then, I realized one thing. No matter how fast I drive, and try to go in front of all the other cars, I cannot even halve the time it takes to get to the destination.

There are a lot more to pay attention to but above are things that I noticed many people value less. I hope less people get into accidents… but who knows, maybe in a few decades, we become the legend… the generation that survived actually driving cars!!! Until then, drive safely.

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!

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!