Thirty years ago today, an event that can’t be forgotten and shouldn’t be forgotten occurred in Kobe and its vicinity. Ten years ago, I posted both English and Japanese entries of what I had experienced, witnessed, and thought at that time; you can read them below:
30年前の今日、忘れられない、忘れてはならない出来事が神戸とその近辺で起こりました。10年前にそのときの様子を書いたエントリーを投稿しました。以下になります。
日本語版のエントリー：震災から20年
https://yuki.kawagishi.com/blog/2015/01/17/twenty_years_from_the_earthqua-2/
日本文が後ろに続きます。
The time has come to summarize what I’ve seen, done, and experienced over the past year in a few words. Unfortunately, I haven’t had many new experiences this year. As I’ve grown older, the opportunities to try new things have diminished.
The words of the year 2024 are Murasaki Shikibu and ChatGPT. As you know, Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese woman who authored The Tale of Genji, a novel written in the early eleventh century that later became world-famous. This novel is considered the oldest known work of fiction written by a woman. This year, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK produced a year-long drama (taiga drama), Dear Radiance (Hikaru Kimi e), with this remarkable woman as its protagonist. The drama centers on the life of the woman who would later become Murasaki Shikibu and primarily explores her romance with Fujiwara no Michinaga, the nation’s most powerful figure during the era when she wrote the novel.
Although there is no historical evidence that Murasaki Shikibu and Fujiwara no Michinaga had a romantic relationship, she is portrayed in the drama as encouraging him, her lover, to seize ultimate power and govern wisely for the sake of the Japanese people. In return, he uses his authority and wealth to provide her with the financial and material support needed to write The Tale of Genji. While she was of too low a social rank to become his legitimate wife, their bond is depicted as being far tighter than his relationship with his lawful spouses.
The drama features captivating performances by Yuriko Yoshitaka as Murasaki Shikibu and Tasuku Emoto as Fujiwara no Michinaga, drawing in many viewers, myself included.
When it comes to CharGPT, no year has involved me more deeply with it than this one. While many other generative AI tools like Claude and Perplexity became available this year, since the advent of GPT-4o, I have most frequently turned to ChatGPT — for inquiries, seeking opinions on social issues, and even drafting the English translations for this entry.
Someday, I might even have ChatGPT create the entirely of this entry from scratch. Of course, that would require considerable skill in prompt engineering.
This year began with a series of national crises, including major earthquakes and tsunamis, aviation accidents, and fires, casting great uncertainty over the future. Yet, it seems I’ve managed to make it to the year’s final day. I hope to continue adapting to the changing tides of the times and strive to live my best in the coming year as well.
今年も１年の新しい出会いや経験をキーワードで総括する時がやってきました。残念ながら歳をとるにつれ新しい体験というものは減ってくるのですが、２０２４年のキーワードは紫式部とＣｈａｔＧＰＴです。
紫式部は、今年のＮＨＫの大河ドラマ「光る君へ」の主人公で、吉高由里子さんと藤原道長役の柄本佑さんの演技が光り、私がどはまりしたドラマでした。「源氏物語」は全編読んではいないのですが、あらすじだけはつかんで、宇治とか石山寺とか越前とか、紫式部のゆかりの場所にも訪れました。
ＣｈａｔＧＰＴについては、今年ほどそのお世話になった年はありませんでした。もちろんＣｌａｕｄｅとかＰｅｒｐｌｅｘｉｔｙとか、他にも生成ＡＩは数多くありますが、ＧＰＴ－４ｏが今年出てからというもの、検索したり社会問題への意見を求めたり、はたまたこのブログの英語部分を作ってもらったりと、ＣｈａｔＧＰＴのお世話になりっぱなしでした。そのうちこのエントリー全体もＣｈａｔＧＰＴに作ってもらう時代が来るかもですが、まあプロンプトエンジニアリングのスキルを伸ばさないとそれは難しいでしょうね。
今年はいきなり地震と津波で始まり、あくる日には飛行機事故があったりとのっけからの国難から始まりましたが、なんとか今年最後の日を迎えることができそうです。来年も、時代の流れに適応しつつ、がんばっていきたいと思います。
日本文が後ろに続きます。
I have long been fond of airline flight attendants not only because of their charming appearance and graceful behavior on board but also because of their professionalism as security personnel who protect the cabin and passengers during emergencies. Their dignified appearance, backed up by their readiness to risk their lives to fulfill their duties in times of emergency, fascinates me.
Aspiring candidates must undergo months of rigorous training after joining an airline to become a flight attendant. During each part of the training, which includes training in emergency behavior, they must take several tests to ensure that they have mastered the skills required in each course and pass all of them. Even after becoming a flight attendant, they must undergo recurrent training, including emergency training, once a year to maintain their skills. They are suspended from flight service for a certain period if they fail.
Flight attendants, who have overcome such difficulties, are different from the average waitpersons who solely serve food and drinks in a restaurant, and they fascinate us with unparalleled professionalism. They demonstrated their professionalism to the fullest when the Japan Airlines Flight 516 was involved in an accident on January 2. When the Airbus A350 aircraft went up in flames after colliding with a Japan Coast Guard Dash-8 aircraft on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, 12 JAL crew members calmly calmed the 367 panicked passengers as they saw the burning exterior and smoke entering the cabin, assessed where the doors safest to evacuate were, opened the doors and developed the emergency escape chutes according to the predetermined procedure, gave precise instructions to the passengers on how to escape, and helped all of them make it out alive. The crew evacuated after checking inside the burning cabin, ensuring that none of the passengers were left behind. Their selfless airmanship was impeccable.
The fact that all of the JAL passengers and crew survived the accident was due not only to the flight crew’s professionalism. The passengers’ high level of discipline also helped this miracle. None of the passengers acted selfishly, ignoring the cabin attendant’s instructions. They gave up their carry-on baggage, which included toiletries, car and house keys, laptops, tablets, expensive cameras, and New Year’s otoshidama from relatives. Although it must have been a wrenching pain for them, it was unavoidable for the safety of all passengers.
Air travel is a privilege allowed only to those who can share responsibility for safety with crew members and passengers with high ethical awareness. As passengers on board an aircraft, you may want to remember to respect the flight attendants in charge of security and help them facilitate their duties. You may want to check your baggage as much as possible to minimize carry-on baggage to conserve overhead bin space. If you have carry-on items that are small enough to put under the front seat, you may want to do that rather than put them in the overhead bin to give up space for more oversized baggage. If you have large and heavy baggage, you may want to put it in the overhead bin yourself rather than make a cabin attendant do so.
When sitting, you should permanently fasten the seat belt and turn off or set all your electronic devices to airplane mode. Keep your shoes on and stay awake when taking off and landing to be ready to take action quickly should any emergency occur. It would be desirable to wear pants with pockets to keep valuables inside in case of evacuating without having any bags. In colder months, wearing a coat is a good idea to increase the room for putting things inside.
When a cabin attendant serves or lowers your in-flight meal or drink, it is a good idea to say “thank you” to her, looking her in the eye and smiling. The thank-you word will boost her morale. If you have to ask a question or even make a complaint, you should do so in a gentlemanly and calm fashion. When disembarking after landing, saying “thank you” with the utmost gratitude to the cabin crew who stand and see you off is desirable. Especially if you are getting off a delayed flight that forces them to work late at night, the word of thanks to them will be most comforting. They are busy from start to finish. You may want to be considerate to them, though it’s true for everyone, and to help them fulfill their duties. You should strictly refrain from stopping a busy cabin attendant and forcing her to write your logbooks.
Again, the flight attendant is the security personnel responsible for the safety of the passengers. Whosoever annoys her, whosoever looks down on her, whosoever looks on her to lust after her, whosoever yells at her, whosoever touches her body or otherwise molests her is not fit to be on an airplane and should immediately get off board and use transportation appropriate to status.
An airplane cabin is a solemn salon reserved solely for humble and modest passengers. Only those ladies and gentlemen deserve the smiles of the “angels on board.” Passengers’ continuous awareness is required to keep their smiles.
ずっと、私はエアラインの客室乗務員（ＣＡ）が大好きです。それは彼女たちが容姿端麗で機内での振る舞いが優美だからというだけではなく、彼女たちが緊急時に機内と乗客を守る保安要員でもあるというそのプロ意識に惹かれるからでもあります。彼女たちの凛としたたたずまいに裏打ちされた、いったんことあれば命をかけて職務を全うする姿勢に、魅了されるのです。
ＣＡになるためには、航空会社に入社後、数ヶ月に及ぶ厳しい訓練を受けなければなりません。緊急時の行動訓練など訓練の各パートでは、各課程で必要な技量を身につけているかどうか何度もテストされ、そのすべてに合格することが求められます。晴れてＣＡになってからも、技量維持のため年一回、緊急時訓練を含むリカレント訓練を受けなければなりません。不合格になると一定期間、乗務停止となってしまいます。
そんな困難を乗り越えてきたＣＡたちは、レストランで食事や飲み物を提供するだけのそこらへんのウェイトレスとは違い、比類なきプロフェッショナリズムで私たちを魅了してくれます。そのプロフェッショナリズムがいかんなく発揮されたのが、２日のＪＡＬ５１６便の事故です。羽田空港の滑走路で日本航空のエアバスＡ３５０型機が海上保安庁のダッシュ８型機と衝突して炎上した際、12人のＪＡＬ乗務員は、燃えている外装や機内に入ってくる煙を見てパニックになった３６７人の乗客を冷静に落ち着かせ、最も安全に避難できるドアがどこかを見極め、決められた手順でドアを開けて緊急脱出用シューターを展開し、乗客に脱出方法を的確に指示し、全員を生きて脱出させました。さらに乗員は燃え盛る機内を確認し、乗客が一人も取り残されていないことを確認したあとで避難したのです。クルーたちの無私のエアマンシップは非の打ちどころがないものでした。
ＪＡＬの乗客乗員がみな生還できたのは、フライトクルーのプロ意識によるものだけではありません。乗客の高い規律もこの奇跡を支えたのです。ＣＡの指示を無視して自分勝手に行動した乗客は一人もいませんでした。乗客は洗面用具、車や家の鍵、ノートパソコン、タブレット端末、高価なカメラ、親戚からもらった正月のお年玉などが入っていた手荷物を諦めました。それは身を引き裂かれるような辛さだったに違いないでしょうが、乗客全員の安全のためにはやむを得ないことでした。
空の旅は、クルーと乗客とが高い倫理観をもって安全に対する責任を共有できる者だけに許された特権だと思います。機内の乗客としては、保安を担当するＣＡへの敬意を忘れず、彼女たちの任務の円滑な遂行に協力したいものです。頭上の荷物入れのスペースを節約するため、手荷物はできるだけ預け、機内持ち込み手荷物は最小限にしたいものです。手荷物がある場合は、前の座席の下に入れられるサイズなら、頭上の荷物入れではなく座席下に押し込むようにしたいものです。大きくて重い荷物がある場合は、頭上の荷物入れにはキャビンアテンダントに頼んで入れてもらうのではなく、自分で入れるようにしたいものです。
座っているときは、シートベルトを必ず締め、電子機器の電源を切るか、機内モードに設定しましょう。離着陸の際は靴を履き、起きた状態で、緊急事態が発生した場合にすぐに対応できるようにしておきましょう。バッグを持たずに避難する場合に備えて、貴重品を入れておけるポケット付きのズボンを着用するのが望ましいでしょう。寒い季節には、中に物を入れるスペースを増やすためにコートを着るのもよいかもしれません。
ＣＡが機内食や飲み物を出してくれたり下げてくれたりしたら、彼女の目を見つめてほほえみながら「ありがとうございます」と言うのがよいでしょう。感謝の言葉はＣＡの士気を高めてくれます。問い合わせをしたりする場合や、苦情を言わなければならない場合があったとしても、紳士的かつ冷静にすべきです。着陸後に降機するときは、立って見送ってくれるＣＡには最大限の感謝を込めて「お疲れ様でした」と言うのが望ましいでしょう。特に遅延便で、夜遅くまで乗務を強いられた便から降りるようなときは、彼女たちへのねぎらいの言葉が何よりの慰めになることでしょう。彼女たちは最初から最後まで忙しくしています。誰にでも言えることですが、彼女たちへの思いやりを持ち、職務を全うする手助けをしたいものです。忙しく立ち働くＣＡを呼び止めて自分のログブックを書かせるようなことは厳に慎むべきでしょう。
繰り返しになりますが、ＣＡは乗客の安全を守る保安要員です。ＣＡを困らせる者、ＣＡを見下す者、ＣＡを情欲をもって見る者、ＣＡに怒鳴りつける者、ＣＡの体に触れたりハラスメント行為をする者は、飛行機に乗る資格はないので直ちに降機し、身分相応の交通機関を利用すべきです。
飛行機のキャビンは、謙虚で慎み深い乗客だけに許された厳粛なサロンです。そのような紳士淑女だけが「機上の天使」のほほえみを受けるに値するのです。彼女たちの笑顔を絶やさないために、乗客は絶え間なく意識することが必要なのです。
日本文が後ろに続きます。
On New Year’s Day, as I do every year, I paid a New Year’s visit to a local shrine to pray to the deities enshrined there for the development and prosperity of the Imperial nation and the happiness of all the people, to buy a shrine calendar to check my good fortune around my star for this year and to draw an omikuji to predict my fortune for this year. Then, I gathered around a festive meal with my relatives to celebrate each other’s health and pray for a safe and peaceful year ahead…until we heard the news of the earthquake and tsunami centered on the Noto Peninsula in the afternoon.
As reported worldwide, on New Year’s Day afternoon, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake centered on the Noto Peninsula, followed by intermittent aftershocks, devastated the cities of Wajima and Suzu and surrounding towns. The following massive tsunamis swept away some parts of those towns. Residential houses and commercial buildings were destroyed. The morning market in Wajima was burnt down. Dozens were reported dead, and rescue efforts are underway for hundreds of people believed to be buried alive. Those who escaped death fled to shelters, enduring the cold and inadequate water and food rations. They will have to live in squalor for years to come until they can rebuild their homes.
On January 2, a Japan Airlines airplane collided with a smaller plane of the Japan Coast Guard at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. All crew and passengers of JAL miraculously managed to evacuate off the plane alive, but 5 out of 6 crew members of the JCG were confirmed dead.
On January 3, a believed-to-be-mentally-ill young woman on the train approaching Akihabara, Tokyo, stabbed at random several men near her on the same train simply because she wanted to attempt to kill somebody. The victims were hospitalized, but all of their lives were not in danger.
On the fourth day, a 12-story building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo, was on fire, injuring seven people.
As mentioned above, some misfortune has struck Japan every day since the beginning of this year. Has this country finally been cursed?
元日には毎年、地元の神社に初詣に行き、皇国の隆昌と国運の発展、国民みなの幸福を祈念したあと、神社暦を買って私の星である九紫火星の今年の運勢をチェックし、それからおみくじを引くというのが習慣になっています。今年はそのあと親戚一同が集まって今年一年良い年であれかしと祈りあったのでした…午後に能登半島の大地震と津波のニュースを見るまでは。
すでに世界中で報じられているように、能登半島を中心にマグニチュード７．６の大地震とそれに引き続く断続的な余震が発生し、輪島市や珠洲市、周辺の町が壊滅、それに続く津波がこれらの町のいくつかに到達しました。住宅やビルが倒壊し、輪島の朝市は阪神大震災時の神戸・長田の菅原市場のように火災ですべて焼失しました。すでに数十人の死亡が報じられ、数百人が生き埋めになっているとのこと。助かった人たちも避難所で、寒さと不十分な水や食料に耐えています。このあと向こう数年間、家を再建するまでは、不自由な生活を送らなければなりません。
１月２日には、羽田空港の滑走路で日本航空の飛行機が海上保安庁の小型機と衝突・炎上、日航機側のほうは乗員乗客ともに全員、奇跡的に助かりましたが、海保側の搭乗員は６人中５人が死亡が確認されたとのことです。
１月３日には、秋葉原駅に入線しようとする山手線の車内で、基地の外と思われる若い女が刃物で同じ車両の周囲の男性たちを無差別に刺したと報じられました。被害者は病院に搬送されましたが全員、命に別状はないとのことです。
４日には、東京・西新宿の12階建てのビルで火災が発生、７人がけがをした模様。
このように、今年が始まってから毎日のように日本で何かしらの災難が襲っています。とうとうこの国は呪われてしまったのか、と暗澹とさせられます。
日本文が後ろに続きます。
It’s time to wrap up the words of this year. As I do every year at the end of the year, I’m looking back at what has happened to me and what I have encountered over the past year, and I’m listing them up in a few short words.
The words of 2023 are flight simulation, fitness, TOEIC, and voice recognition.
As I wrote in the past entry, I’ve enjoyed flight simulation since I bought a gaming PC with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 installed, a control yoke, thrust levers, and rudder pedals. I’ve continually downloaded and used terminal and en route charts and documents provided by the Federal Aviation Administration and Japanese aviation authorities. I flew a Cirrus SR22 in the early stages to learn the flying basics. Several months later, I changed the plane into a Beechcraft G58 Baron twin-engine airplane to develop advanced flying skills. These days, I fly Boeing 787 Dreamliner between airports, both in Japan and the United States.
As I turned 50 this year, I had more and more opportunities to feel testosterone deficiency. Reading that strength training was the best way to supplement it, I decided to join a fitness gym and begin training regularly. I had several fitness gym chains nearby to choose from. Out of those gym chains, I decided on Anytime Fitness and became a member since I was attracted to it having franchises worldwide. Members who have been members for over a month can enter and train at any Anytime-Fitness-branded gym worldwide. Since I joined, I have sometimes used several different Anytime Fitness gyms besides what I usually use, from a gym a little farther from the home-ground gym to that in my homecoming prefecture and that in Taipei.
Of course, training once or twice a week for about six months is far from the muscular body of a bodybuilder, but it seems to be compelling enough that my shoulders, arms, chest, and thighs look a little tighter, and I no longer find it hard to climb stairs.
However, I have been overeating after workouts and have gained weight, and my body fat rate has gotten much worse, so it seems that a different approach is needed to improve these things.
The TOEIC stands for the Test Of English for International Communication and is one of the standardized English tests administered by the Educational Testing Service, a New Jersey-based non-profit organization, to measure English proficiency, mainly in business situations. The TOEIC L&R test is a listening and reading test on paper and one of the most well-known English tests, particularly for Japanese and Korean businesspeople, as an indicator of English proficiency for better or worse. It measures test takers’ performance in listening and reading sections. Their performance in each section is shown as scores ranging from 5 to 495 points, and total scores range from 10 to 990 points. The higher the scores they take, the better their English ability. If you have 900 points or more, at least traditional Japanese companies like the one where I currently work would evaluate you as a high English performer.
My highest score so far is 915 points, which I earned in 2017, but the score is so old that I need more recent scores. I took the test several times in the last two years, all with scores hovering around 830 to 895 points, except the 900 points I got this October. The reason why I can’t take 900 points or more so often is apparent. It is because of my lack of listening ability. It would be imperative to make my lifestyle more “English-oriented” to get more used to English.
I joined a new service development team for AI-based voice recognition services in July of this year. I never knew the team members before joining the team, but the job in this team is a new and exciting challenge.
2023 is the year when the COVID pandemic ended, authorities lifted many restrictions and mandates, and people regained more freedom to participate in activities nationwide and overseas. Although unrest is still underway in several places worldwide, I hope people will be happier with many good things next year.
今年のキーワードをまとめる時が来ました。毎年年末にしていることですが、今年あった出来事を振り返っていくつかのキーワードにまとめています。
２０２３年のキーワードはフライトシム、ジム、ＴＯＥＩＣ、職場異動です。
過去のエントリーにも書いたように、ゲーミングＰCと操縦桿とラダーを買ってＭＳＦＳ２０２０をインストールしてフライトシムを楽しんだ１年でした。ＦＡＡや日本の航空当局が出しているターミナルチャートやエンルートチャート、その他のドキュメントなどをダウンロードしてフライトに使ったりしました。最初はシーラスＳＲ22で数ヶ月、操縦の基礎を身につけ、そのあとはビーチクラフトＧ58バロンの多発機の飛行、今では主にボーイング７８７ドリームライナーを使って日米で空港間のフライトをやってます。
今年50歳になり、テストステロン不足を感じる機会が増えてきました。テストステロンを補うには筋トレがよいと読んで、ジムに通ってトレーニングをしようと思い立ちました。ジムのチェーンはいくつかあったんですが、結局、世界中にチェーン店があるエニタイム・フィットネスに決め、そこの会員になりました。メンバーになって１ヶ月たつと世界中のどのエニタイム・フィットネスにも入ることができるようになるので、自分のホーム以外の、近隣のところから実家の近くや台北にいたるまでいろんなジムに立ち寄ってトレーニングしたりしました。
もちろん週１〜２回で半年ぐらい通ったところでムキムキのボディには程遠いですが、肩や腕、胸、太もものあたりが少しなりとも引き締まってきたような気はします。あと階段を登るのがあまり苦にならなくなったというのもあります。
ただ、トレーニング後についつい食べ過ぎてしまうので、体重が増え過ぎて体脂肪率も増えてしまったので、それの改善は別のアプローチが必要そうです。
日本と韓国ではＴＯＥＩＣが良くも悪くも英語力の指標として見られるので、私は最高９１５点取ったことがありますが、２０１７年のことでちょっと古いので、最近のスコアを得ようと何度か受けていました。
２年ほど受けて、１回だけ９００点に達したものの、あとはだいたい８３０〜８９５点あたりをうろうろする状態です。原因は明らかで、リスニングが弱いことです。生活習慣を「英語化」して英語に慣らさないとだめそうです。
この７月から新しいミッションをいただき、ＡＩベースの音声認識サービスのサービス企画業務のチームに加わることになりました。チームメンバーは知らない人ばかりでしたが、内容は楽しそうなので期待しています。
今年はコロナもようやく終息し、規制や義務も解除されて、人々は国内外で活動する自由を取り戻した年でした。世界では不穏な動きも散見されますが、来年はさらにみんな良いこといっぱいの幸せな年になるよう祈ります。
The words of each year are summarized in this table.
これまでのキーワードを以下の表にまとめました。
| Year 年 | Words キーワード |
| 2023 | flight simulation; fitness; TOEIC; voice recognition フライトシム、ジム、ＴＯＥＩＣ、音声認識 |
| 2022 | web3; Ford Focus; gout; pilotage ｗｅｂ３、フォードフォーカス、痛風、飛行機の操縦 |
| 2021 | Google Maps; Yurie Omi’s resignation; Tokyo Games; death games グーグルマップ、近江友里恵卒業、東京五輪・パラリンピック、デスゲーム |
| 2020 | Synapusyu; the handgun; computer programming シナぷしゅ、拳銃、プログラミング |
| 2019 | Hokkaido; Mercari; Grand Cherokee 北海道、メルカリ、グランドチェロキー |
| 2018 | cashless; Japanese language; comeback キャッシュレス、日本語、復帰 |
| 2017 | Yurie Omi; NHK; shingles; English exams 近江友里恵、ＮＨＫ、帯状疱疹、英語の試験 |
| 2016 | traveling to places in Japan; mapping; Jeep 国内移動、地図作り、ジープ |
| 2015 | Maine, United States; Estonia; transfer of workplace アメリカ（メイン州）、エストニア、職場移動 |
| 2014 | England; Android イギリス、アンドロイド |
| 2013 | Ayurveda; Korea; high school alumni; Tsuyoshi Takashiro アーユルヴェーダ、韓国、高校の同窓生、高城剛 |
| 2012 | Oji; the mahjong; the flight attendant; Facebook 王子、麻雀、ＣＡ、フェイスブック |
| 2011 | the car; the British culture; China クルマ、イギリス文化、中国 |
| 2010 | Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia; iPhone; the credit card 台湾・シンガポール・マレーシア、ｉＰｈｏｎｅ、クレジットカード |
| 2009 | office position change; MacBook Pro; JR Seishun 18 Ticket 職場異動、ＭａｃＢｏｏｋ Ｐｒｏ購入、青春１８きっぷ |
| 2008 | England; Fukagawa イギリス、深川 |
| 2007 | changing my car; visiting Hawaii クルマの買い替え、ハワイ旅行 |
| 2006 | the US stock; the mutual fund アメリカ株、ミューチャルファンド |
| 2005 | darts; the GSM and WCDMA mobile phone; visiting Hong Kong again ダーツ、ＧＳＭ／ＷＣＤＭＡ携帯電話、香港再訪 |
| 2004 | the blog; Asian countries (Singapore and Hong Kong); the GSM mobile phone ブログ（文芸業界）、アジア（シンガポール、香港）、ＧＳＭ携帯電話 |
| 2003 | the airplane; the musical 飛行機、ミュージカル |
| 2002 | America アメリカ |
| 2001 | getting a flat within the Tokyo metropolitan area; a position change at the office; Soarer 都内一人暮らし、職場の異動、ソアラ |
日本文はフォートラベルのほうをどうぞ。
I visited Taipei last week. It was the first time I went abroad in four years, as the coronavirus pandemic beginning in 2020 had prevented people from getting in and out of borders. Since the border opened this year, I wanted to travel somewhere overseas. I chose Taiwan for this trip because I wanted to see the whole exhibition of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. I also wanted to enjoy Taiwan before it was too late due to possible unrest in Taiwan, which is likely in the near future.
The passport control procedure at Narita Airport was more advanced than four years ago. There were automated gates instead of passport control booths. A small scanner was in front of each gate. The procedure was to place the page with the passport photo face down on the scanner, to face up to the camera in front of the gate, and to wait for the gate to open. The gate doors opened shortly to let me go beyond. No pages of my passport were stamped. If you wanted your passport stamped, you could stop by a conventional manned booth a little further to ask for a stamp.
There were more shops and restaurants between the passport control and boarding gates. The Tax Free Akihabara was more spacious than before. The food court provided various kinds of Japanese foods. A large souvenir shop sold light meals, travel toiletries, and Japanese art and craft products.
The airline I took this time was Starlux Airlines, an emerging Taiwanese airline founded several years ago. It was not a so-called low-cost carrier, and in-flight meals were complimentary.
Since the outbound flight arrived late in the evening and the return flight departed early in the morning, I decided to use a capsule hotel attached to the airport for the outbound and return flights instead of staying in Taipei City. Changing lodging night by night meant that I had to carry my luggage at all times, so instead of using a carry-on bag, I packed all of my personal effects in a 20-liter backpack, always on the move with it.
The airplane cabin was clean, with brand-new wide seats. Flight attendants were professional, and in-flight meals were splendid. A retractable tray table, a small rack for a cell phone, and a USB port were equipped on each seat back. A touch-screen LCD on the back seat provided multilanguage information and in-flight entertainment, including movies, in-flight meal information, and various flight maps. What I liked most was the cockpit mode, which displayed our plane’s current position over the map, current heading, current altitude, and current ground speed in knots.
The airplane flew for four and a half hours and arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 11:30 pm, a little delayed from the scheduled arrival time. The immigration process in Taiwan didn’t change from what I’d had last time. I passed my passport to the immigration officer sitting at a booth, who scanned my index fingers’ fingerprints on the scanner in front of the booth, stamped my passport, and told me to go.
Arriving at Terminal 1, I had to take a train to Terminal 2 to get to the capsule hotel where I would stay the night.
Finding an ATM at Terminal 2, I withdrew NT$5,000 with my US Bank ATM card and went up to the fifth floor with the escalator nearby to go to the capsule hotel.
I found the entrance of the capsule hotel on the left side. Entering the entrance, I saw the representative of the reception. He looked into my passport and asked me to pay NT$1,800 as the fee for that night in advance. I passed my AMEX card, but he said it wasn’t available. I paid NT$1,800 in cash because I happened to have the money withdrawn just before.
After payment, he took me to the shoe-changing space and told me to remove my shoes and put on slippers in the locker where my room number was printed. I had to have these slippers on while I was in the hotel. He guided me to the automated door, opened it with a card-shaped room key, and let us go inside to lead me to the cell where a bed where I would sleep was installed.
A cloth shade was the only shutter that separated each cell from the outside. The sounds of other people packing and unpacking, doors opening and closing, and even snoring could be heard, making it noisy and difficult to sleep. The bathroom was shared. A placard instructed to dispose of toilet paper in a wastebasket on the side of the toilet, not flush it after use. There was a shared shower room, but no bath towels were provided (though the receptionist would’ve lent them to me if I’d asked in advance).
The following day, I checked out of the hotel and took the train to the Taipei’s city center.
There are two kinds of trains: the Commuter train and the Express one. The Commuter train stops at every station to Taipei Main Station, the terminal station. The Express train is faster because it stops at only major stations and skips others. The Commuter takes one hour from the airport to the Taipei Main Station, while the Express takes just 40 minutes.
An endless walk at the Taipei Main Station to change trains, a Red Line MRT ride to Shilin station, and a dozen-minute bus ride from the station took me to the National Palace Museum.
The National Palace Museum in Taipei is famous for exhibiting Chinese historical masterpieces collected by the Qing Imperial Household, such as chinaware, bronze potteries, arts, calligraphy, ceramics, lacquerware, and jadeites. The two must-see items are the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-shaped stone.
The museum ticket was valid for one day, so even if I left the building once, I could enter again on the same day. If I wanted to have a meal during my visit, I could use the restaurant in a separate building or eat at Sanxitang, a restaurant on the fourth floor of the same building as the exhibition halls.
I had lunch at Sanxitang because the food provided there was less expensive than that served in the restaurant in a separate building. It cost nearly NT$1,000 for what I ate for lunch, though.
The appeal of Taiwan’s food was not limited to such fine cuisine. The food served at night market stalls was also delicious and cost less than NT$100 per dish.
This is a rice bowl topped with fried chopped fish, squid fillets and fish paste marinated with starchy sauce. It was served at a Lin-Chiang Street Tourist Night Market stall in Xin-yi District.
This bowl sweets consisted of ai yu jelly and xian cao jelly, topped with douhua and tapioca, and drizzled with honey. It seemed to be healthy. It was served at Ai Yu Zhi Meng You Xian Cao Ai Yu Jelly & Grass Jelly, where teenage girls seem to be the favorite customers.
McDonald’s was also one of Taiwan’s popular restaurants. Visitors were to place their order at the large touch screen instead of going to a cashier and being asked for their order by the clerk. I ordered a Big Mac combo for dinner. The Big Mac tasted almost the same as what I ate in Japan. Coke and an apple pie tasted a bit different. An Egg Mac Muffin was a bit softer.
While walking around Taiwan, looking around a bit, I noticed an important fact: Taiwan is a small island, but it is mountainous and has many ups and downs. It is tough to invade and occupy such a place from the outside because the islanders can easily hide from invaders, and it is easy to target them. Even if an elite army attacked in large numbers, they could hold out for several months. Chiang Kai-shek was right to flee to this island in 1949 after the defeat in the Sino-Chinese Civil War, as the Chinese Communist army had not been able to attack the island until now.
日本文が後ろに続きます。
As I wrote in this entry of my blog, I became interested in flying an airplane last year; I had been interested in airplanes and aviation 20 years ago, but at that time, I was more fascinated by the women flight attendants who took care of the passengers in the cabins of airplanes than by the flying itself. This time, I was seriously interested in piloting the plane itself.
Of course, I don’t have the time, ability, or financial resources to attend flight school or have a flight instructor train me to get a certificate to fly an actual airplane. What I am trying to do is just a simulated flight using a flight simulator. Nevertheless, the version of Microsoft Flight Simulator released in 2020 is much closer to flying a real airplane than the previous versions, so mastering how to fly in that simulator is enough for me. Most reassuringly, nobody will die or be injured if I make a mistake in the controls.
In the months since late last year, I taught myself about navigation, including using wind triangles to determine true airspeeds and tracks from winds and courses, airplane structure, basics of aerodynamics, weather theory, maneuvers, and facilities and signage at airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s free online resources such as charts, handbooks, and other publications, and the airplane manufacturers’ online Airplane Flight Manuals and Pilot’s Operating Handbooks (AFM/POH), were excellent teaching aids. Aviation-related websites, such as SkyVector, Aeronautical Information Manual, and FlightService also helped a lot.
After learning all I could about airplanes, I bought a reasonably inexpensive gaming PC and installed Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. I then purchased a control yoke, rudder, and thrust lever for flight simulation software and connected them to the PC. I went through the flying tutorials in that software and learned the basics of piloting. Much of what I had learned about airplanes up to that point came in handy. I chose the Cirrus SR22, one of the most used aircraft in primary flight training, and practiced for a few months before switching to a twin-engine Beechcraft G58 Baron. The Civil Aviation Academy in Japan uses these aircraft types to instruct students who wish to become professional airline pilots. I’ve flown for hundreds of hours between major airports in Japan and the United States (and made dozens of planes crash in the process, though).
I am now simulating IFR (instrument flight rules) flights from one large city to another using mainly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Learning to use the Flight Management System is challenging, and navigating an airplane properly by correctly programming the FMS with information on departure and arrival airports and en route airways is very difficult. Still, I am delighted when I can complete a flight to landing. It is still profound, and there is much to learn, but it is a great way to relieve daily stress.
ブログでも以前書いたように、去年から飛行機の操縦に興味を持っています。実際には20年前も飛行機や航空には興味があったんですが、そのときは操縦そのものよりも客室にいるＣＡのほうに魅せられていたんですが、今回はガチで飛行機を操縦することに興味があります。
もちろん今から実機のライセンスをとりに学校行ったり教官について訓練を受けたりするような時間も能力も金銭的余裕もないので、あくまでフライトシミュレーターでの操縦のマネごとをするだけの話ですが。でも最近のマイクロソフトのフライトシミュレーターはかなりリアルさが実機に近づいているようなので、それをある程度マスターできれば自分としては十分かと。ミスっても誰も死なないし、怪我もしないので。
去年の暮れぐらいから、空中航法とか風力三角形を使って風向きや航路から真対気速度と航跡を求めたりとか、飛行機の構造とか、航空力学の基礎とか、気象理論とか、マニューバーとか、空港の施設やら標識やら独学で勉強してました。アメリカの連邦航空局から航空図やら操縦ハンドブックやらいろんな資料が無料で出ているのでいい教材が簡単に手に入ります。あと飛行機メーカーが出している操縦マニュアルとかパイロット運航ハンドブック（ＡＦＭ／ＰＯＨ）とかもネットに出ているのでプロシージャーとか覚えたりもできます。SkyVectorやらＡＩＳジャパンやらFlightServiceやらの航空関係のサイトとか、日本航空機操縦士協会が出してるＡＩMーｊなんかも役立ちます。
ひととおり勉強したあと、そこそこ手頃なゲーミングＰＣを買ってＭＳＦＳ２０２０をインストールし、コントロールヨークとラダーとスラストレバーを買ってＰＣにつないで使い始めると、これまで学んだ知識がそのまま役に立ちました。航空大学校で訓練で実際に使われているシーラスＳＲ22を機体に選んで何ヶ月か練習し、そのあとは双発機のビーチクラフトＧ58バロンに乗り換えました。だいたい日本とアメリカの空を数百時間ぐらい飛んだかと思います（その過程で何十機も墜落させましたが）。
今はボーイング７８７で計器飛行の練習してます。ＦＭＳを使いこなして正しくプログラムするのは難しいんですが、ちゃんと着陸までできるとやっぱり嬉しいですね。まだまだ奥が深いですがストレス解消にはもってこいかと。
日本文が後ろに続きます。
In the mailbox beneath my apartment room, I found a letter from Central Pacific Bank, a Hawaiian bank I’ve kept my account for almost 15 years, saying that it had changed the policy for customers with Non-Resident Alien (NRA). According to the new policy effective April 1 this year, the bank will deduct $20 of monthly service charge from accounts of NRA customers if they don’t keep at least $10,000 in total in their accounts.
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