Weekly Updates
Well, the third week of work is just as usual, but there's something much more important happened for me this week - I drove for the very first time in Japan.
Driving has always been my kind of thing, I enjoy driving everywhere in the car, listening to music, feeling the tires rolling on the tarmac roads, sometimes feeling the incoming wind, enjoying the views around and stuff, I really loved driving.
So, in this hotel we have a total of 3 Malaysians, as far as I know, first one would be me, another one is working at the Resort Market, and the last one works at the corporate office. I happened to know the one from the resort market and we meet each other quite often since I worked at Sheraton Hotel's front desk and I always see him around, so we would normally chit-chat and stuff. Then one day I happen to know that he owns a car, and I thought I might be able to borrow the car to go around, so I asked, and who knew, he was actually ok with it, so I actually went ahead.
Now, the legality of me driving in Japan was a definite no, as I do not have an International Driving Permit (and I regret not getting one now), but since we are in such an isolated small place, I figured that I'd most probably not get pulled over provided I do not do anything stupid and stuff, and I heard also that there's not really any checkpoints set up to do random checking and stuff, so I just went ahead with the driving plan.
Ever since the first time I came to Japan, I have always impressed with the road quality here, it's so smooth and flat, and so well maintained, unlike those in Malaysia, with filled with potholes and rough as they'd just add layers on top of old layers instead of removing it and redo everything during road maintenance (for this problem, I realize only like Malaysia does this, even the Philippines has smoother roads than Malaysia).
But of course, I am in this tiny township far away from big cities in Hokkaido, so the road quality here was of course not as good as those in Tokyo or Osaka, and to be honest, even slightly worse than those of Toyama and Fukui, but it was acceptable.
Well, I drove through mountains and valleys, the view was really breathtaking. I have never seen such a beautiful view before, it was a cherry farm, and it was under a valley, imagine seeing a huge wide field, with mountains surrounding and stuff, it really makes a great driving experience, much better than driving on country roads in Malaysia, where there are only palm oil plantations.
The driving was also a great opportunity for me to travel to the town of Yoichi though, as I wouldn't have travelled there if I do not have a car, I was too lazy to take a train there. The town was beautiful, and was quiet, with all the super old vibes going on too just like Otaru City, so I just toured around the city a little, and then there's the thing about driving in Japan is that carparks aren't everywhere, and there's really no free carparks around, but at least I found a relatively cheap carpark with the first half an hour being free, so, all in all, I only had to pay like 100 yen since I parked for about 1 hour.
I drove from Yoichi to Otaru City though, just roaming around the city by car, and then went back to the dormitory. I spent 1000 yen on petrol too though, and for that price, I only got like 7 litres of petrol, it's not to say too expensive considering petrol in the Philippines costs around that much too, needless to say, it is much more expensive than Malaysia, God I love petrol prices in Malaysia.
Really, driving in Japan is a very different experience for me, as a person who loves to drive, the roads are quiet, even though it's a city, and people generally are very law-abiding, not much speeding occurs even though the speed limits are generally lower than I'd like, if it's not for the cost of driving in Japan, I'd love to make road trips around Japan one day.
#23 First-time Driving in Japan
First Time Driving in Japan
From Kiroro to Yoichi to Otaru and Back
Driving has always been my kind of thing, I enjoy driving everywhere in the car, listening to music, feeling the tires rolling on the tarmac roads, sometimes feeling the incoming wind, enjoying the views around and stuff, I really loved driving.
So, in this hotel we have a total of 3 Malaysians, as far as I know, first one would be me, another one is working at the Resort Market, and the last one works at the corporate office. I happened to know the one from the resort market and we meet each other quite often since I worked at Sheraton Hotel's front desk and I always see him around, so we would normally chit-chat and stuff. Then one day I happen to know that he owns a car, and I thought I might be able to borrow the car to go around, so I asked, and who knew, he was actually ok with it, so I actually went ahead.
Now, the legality of me driving in Japan was a definite no, as I do not have an International Driving Permit (and I regret not getting one now), but since we are in such an isolated small place, I figured that I'd most probably not get pulled over provided I do not do anything stupid and stuff, and I heard also that there's not really any checkpoints set up to do random checking and stuff, so I just went ahead with the driving plan.
Ever since the first time I came to Japan, I have always impressed with the road quality here, it's so smooth and flat, and so well maintained, unlike those in Malaysia, with filled with potholes and rough as they'd just add layers on top of old layers instead of removing it and redo everything during road maintenance (for this problem, I realize only like Malaysia does this, even the Philippines has smoother roads than Malaysia).
But of course, I am in this tiny township far away from big cities in Hokkaido, so the road quality here was of course not as good as those in Tokyo or Osaka, and to be honest, even slightly worse than those of Toyama and Fukui, but it was acceptable.
Well, I drove through mountains and valleys, the view was really breathtaking. I have never seen such a beautiful view before, it was a cherry farm, and it was under a valley, imagine seeing a huge wide field, with mountains surrounding and stuff, it really makes a great driving experience, much better than driving on country roads in Malaysia, where there are only palm oil plantations.
The driving was also a great opportunity for me to travel to the town of Yoichi though, as I wouldn't have travelled there if I do not have a car, I was too lazy to take a train there. The town was beautiful, and was quiet, with all the super old vibes going on too just like Otaru City, so I just toured around the city a little, and then there's the thing about driving in Japan is that carparks aren't everywhere, and there's really no free carparks around, but at least I found a relatively cheap carpark with the first half an hour being free, so, all in all, I only had to pay like 100 yen since I parked for about 1 hour.
I drove from Yoichi to Otaru City though, just roaming around the city by car, and then went back to the dormitory. I spent 1000 yen on petrol too though, and for that price, I only got like 7 litres of petrol, it's not to say too expensive considering petrol in the Philippines costs around that much too, needless to say, it is much more expensive than Malaysia, God I love petrol prices in Malaysia.
Really, driving in Japan is a very different experience for me, as a person who loves to drive, the roads are quiet, even though it's a city, and people generally are very law-abiding, not much speeding occurs even though the speed limits are generally lower than I'd like, if it's not for the cost of driving in Japan, I'd love to make road trips around Japan one day.
