Yuki's Web

Category: Yuki’s Diary 日記

  • How can I pray for getting such a big one?

    A man on the cannon
    First of all, I’d like to ask you if you are of AGE 18 OR UP? If so, you can continue reading. Otherwise, please leave.

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  • I’ve got an iPhone! / ｉＰｈｏｎｅ買いました

    I’ve got an iPhone! / ｉＰｈｏｎｅ買いました

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    I’ve bought an iPhone. I ordered it from a broker in Hong Kong who got it at Apple Store Hong Kong, because the iPhone sold in Hong Kong is locked to no particular mobile carriers. In Japan, you can buy an iPhone at a Softbank cell phone shop but they sell only the iPhone locked to Softbank. Softbank does offer international roaming service, but if you go out of Japan and use it with a Softbank SIM card in a foreign country they will charge tremendously high international roaming charges to your bill (It costs as high as hundreds of thousand Yen per day! Crazy!). That’s why I’ve got an unlocked iPhone so that I can freely replace a SIM card into that issued at the country I’m in when I travel abroad.

    When I put a black SIM card issued by Softbank for iPhone use into the iPhone I had bought and turned it on, it recognized the SIM card and the phone number recorded in it activated. When I plugged it into my MacBook Pro, it downloaded music, photos and data via iTunes.

    Of course it recognizes either a Softbank SIM card or NTT DoCoMo’s one because it’s SIM-lock-free.

    I think the iPhone matches to my MacBook Pro more than any other mobile devices like Blackberry or Nokia cell phones. More than that, there are more applications for iPhone released from both Japan and other countries so it is easier to use even in Japan.

    From now on the devices I use on a regular basis would be:

    • iPhone with Softbank for web browsing and researches
    • Nokia N82 with Softbank for talking
    • Blackberry Bold 9000 with NTT DoCoMo for mailing
    • Galapagosian NTT DoCoMo N906iL my employer makes me keep for emergency contact

    Advice: when you use an iPhone with Softbank, you need a special SIM card designed only for iPhone (the Black SIM Card), NOT a normal SIM card for other Softbank cell phones (the Silver SIM Card). If you put a Silver SIM Card into an iPhone, you’ll have extremely high packet communications charges. To get a Black SIM Card you’ll have to buy one locked iPhone from a Softbank shop because they won’t solely issue a Black SIM Card without selling any iPhone. You may want to keep it unpacked so that you can resell it to anybody else.

    ｉＰｈｏｎｅ買っちゃいました。香港の電脳中心買物隊さんでＡｐｐｌｅ香港のＳＩＭフリー版をオーダーしました。ソフトバンクで普通のを買うと海外に出たときに目ん玉飛び出るほどのローミング料金を請求されるので、ＳＩＭフリー版にして、海外に出た時はその国のＳＩＭカードに入れ替えて使えるようにしたいと思って。

    事前にソフトバンクの黒ＳＩＭを手に入れておき、それを買ったｉＰｈｏｎｅに入れて電源をＯＮすると、ちゃんとＳＩＭとその中の電話番号を認識してアクティベーションに成功。ＭａｃＢｏｏｋ　Ｐｒｏに接続するとｉＴｕｎｅｓ経由で音楽、写真、データがダウンロードできました。

    ＳＩＭフリー版なのでドコモのＳＩＭもごらんの通り認識しちゃいます。
    ｉＰｈｏｎｅはブラックベリーやノキアよりもＭａｃＢｏｏｋ　Ｐｒｏとの相性もいいし、何より日本で使えるアプリが多いので日本でも使いやすいと思います。
    これで今後の端末運用はこんな感じでしょうか。

    • iPhone：ＷＥＢ、調べ物もろもろ
    • Nokia N82：メインの音声通話、ＳＭＳ
    • Blackberry Bold 9000：メール端末
    • ガラケー（笑）ドコモN906iL：緊急連絡用に会社から持たされている

    注意：ソフトバンクでｉＰｈｏｎｅを使う際はｉＰｈｏｎｅ専用ＳＩＭカード（通称黒ＳＩＭ）が必要です。他のソフトバンクケータイ用のＳＩＭカード（銀ＳＩＭ）を使うとパケ死しますのでご用心。黒ＳＩＭだけを発行してもらうことはできず、必ずソフトバンクのｉＰｈｏｎｅ（ＳＩＭロック版）をセットで買うことが条件なので、とりあえず１つ買っておいてあとで転売するのがいいでしょう。

  • Returned home from Taipei

    Returned home from Taipei

    Taipei International Airport
    On the last day, I gave up sightseeing in the downtown because I had not so much time, then I went straight to the airport from the hotel.
    What I ate at the airport until the flight to Japan:
    Luroufan lunch at airport Xiaolongbao Roasted duck slices
    Luroufan, xiaolongbao and roasted duck.
    CI0106 to Tokyo
    See you again, Taiwan!
    Note: all photos taken in Taiwan are uploaded on Flickr.

  • Hotel where I stayed

    Hotel where I stayed

    I stayed at Novotel Hotel near Taipei International Airport for this trip. I took this hotel online on Expedia.co.jp. It was super gorgeous, with a clean and modern room and a wide bed with two pillows.
    Guestroom of Novotel Taipei Hotel
    You can see an airplane taking off from the guest room window because this hotel is located right beside a runway.
    View from Novotel Taipei Hotel
    One problem: as it’s very close to an airport, when a plane takes off at midnight its roaring sound will wake you up 🙁 It’s recommended to avoid staying near an airport.

  • Cell phones in Taiwan

    Cell phones in Taiwan

    The Shizilin building
    The Shizilin building in Ximending is a complex of cell phone shops, arcade game shops and a movie theater. The first floor of it has plenty of shops selling cell phones, cell phone accessories, cameras, electric devices etc., like Sincere Podium in Hong Kong. The staff doesn’t understand English, though.
    My new Nokia 6120
    I got Nokia 6120 classic at a shop in the building, just for NT$5000. When I looked into my wallet I found enough money I can afford to buy it. It supports HSDPA.
    When it comes to cell phones in Taiwan of these days, I found that Nokia wasn’t dominant. I saw not so many people used Nokia handsets. Instead, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung seem to be popular among Taiwan’s people. Among them, Samsung’s Anycall brand handsets were seen in many places.

  • Wanhua and Ximending

    Wanhua and Ximending

    Heping Road Street view of the Wanhua district
    It’s the Wanhua district. There are old Chinese buildings and stores in the area. I like it.

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  • Sightseeing in Taipei — Longshan Temple

    Sightseeing in Taipei — Longshan Temple

    Taipei International Airport looked as if it had been a major airport in Japan. Signs looked almost as same as those in a Japanese airport, except that they were written in traditional Chinese characters.
    If you go to the bus stop on the first floor of the airport you can catch a route 705 bus to HSR Taoyuan Station, costing just NT$30 (almost 1USD). It’s too cheap!

    There were no other passengers but me in the big double-decked bus.

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  • TAIPEI101 and Shilin Night Market

    TAIPEI101 and Shilin Night Market

    Taipei 101
    Taipei 101
    This is TAIPEI 101, which HAD BEEN world’s tallest building until Burj Khalifa was built in Dubai. It was closed to general people but employees of its tenants.
    Shilin Night Market
    It’s Shilin Night Market, one of Taipei’s famous night markets crowded for thousands of people from around. At stores of both sides of the main street clothes and wallets were sold for cheaper prices than at department stores. If you get on a branch road you have stinking stalls selling foods.
    Chicken rice
    I got chicken rice at one of the stall. It tasted nice, although stalls around there stank.

  • Going to Taipei / 台湾に行ってきます

    Going to Taipei / 台湾に行ってきます

    日本文が後ろに続きます。

    I’ll be in Taipei until next Monday to see my brother working there now. The airplane will depart in an hour. I’m typing this entry in front of the gate. Flight attendants are chatting very loudly…. Anyway I’ll enjoy being abroad because it’s been almost three years since my last trip to a foreign country.

    台湾に短期出張中の兄に会いに来週月曜日まで台北に行ってきます。この時期だと往復３万円なので中華航空にしました。大阪行くより安いですね。
    あと１時間で離陸です。搭乗口の前に座ってこのブログを書いてます。現地のスッチーたちはけたたましくおしゃべりしながら近くに座ってゲートオープンを待ってます。。。ともあれ３年ぶりの海外なので楽しんできます。

    旅行記はフォートラベルに書いています。