Entries this day: Day_at_Yomiuriland Yomiuriland japanese

Day at Yomiuriland

10:20am JST Wednesday 19 November 2003

I'm on my way to Yomiuriland. Took the non-local train at Noborito, so I passed the station nearest YUL, but it's all good now I think.

I coudl

Oh JEEZ! I'm going to kill two things right about now.

A) This new OS X crap terminal doesn't fucking send a backspace that emacs can understand. Can't even switch it with the emulation changing thing.

B) Trains in Japan. All of them. Especially the ones on the other side of the station that go the same direction as the direction I'm trying to get away from! Japanese trains can bite my butt.

Well, one thing is good, if it actually works as it appears to work:

Nevermind. It doesn't. I can't type Japanese characters that stay in place. It's a tad closer; emacs doesn't die, but the characters don't stay on the screen.

C) I can't even type a tilde with this new improved terminal. Bah.

(update: I'm going the correct direction this time.)

Yomiuriland

2:52pm JST Wednesday 19 November 2003

Ol' Yomes ain't too crowded today. I wonder if it's on a downward trend. I've got 1 data point for how busy they usually are, but this is the middle of the day late in the season, granted, but it's not so busy. But all of the rides are running (except one that I can tell, the mini Cyclone-esque ride called White Canyon. It's a wooden coaster, but not so big. Only 2 circuits and probably 20 meters tall.)

Their minetrain, Bandit, is running two trains happily, with one train on backwards. I rode each train twice, then rode the Standing Loop Coaster, which has only one train running (and it's a sit-down train, not standing). (What kinda false advertising do they encourage around here?)

I watched the sea lion show, and practically enjoyed it most. The lion blowing the horn and the other balancing a ball on his snoot impressed me more than anything else here.

Crazy Houuuu Stoooon is an interesting ride. They've got two towers, one of which launches the riders up, then slowly oscillate/bounces them down. Then we go to the next tower and get lifted slowly and then dropped, then similary bounced and oscillated down. So there's a launch tower and a drop tower: two separate units, as part of one ride. Concept being we're launched and then drop back to earth. Except we change rides on the ground inbetween. But hey.

Next to Crazy Houuuu Stoooon is a bunjee tower. 22 meters tall. I did it. My first bunjee jump ever. It was a bit disconcerting to fall forward off the tower, but I have told everyone who has asked that I would do it in two seconds, so I couldn't hesitate for a moment. And I didn't. But the one poopy thing is I couldn't wear my glasses for the bunjee drop (*OR* for Crazy Houston). and damn crazy Houston isn't all that crazy. Nothing like Dodonpa for speed, and well blah. I enjoy being able to see as I dive toward possible oblivion (over a big billowed air bag.)

I ventured into the middle of Bandit, wondering where the sidewalk ends and headed toward the outsikirts of the park and found a dead end at the top of a rather tall flight (trail) of steps in the woods. I went past the plastic chain (as it wasn't very sturdy, not like a fence) and poked around a bit, but it wasn't too interesting; only interesting that I wonder what it used to be like. I felt somewhat like an archaelogist might, though the finds were not more than a couple years old. I hope not more than a season old for YUL's sake,

(a guy just gave me 300 yen worth of a ticket to ride stuff) wow. one of the workers on White Canyon.

um, so I wonder if the park is making money; it's not that great of a park (oh, I rode w water ride too. raft ride, with four places and no splashing water to endure. My computer (in backpack) rode with me. I kept switching seats in the boat to turn it around and kept getting pointed backwards as I was the heaviest thing. Next time I'll sit backwards in the seat. maybe.

I'm low on battery, low on film in my camera; I may rock outta here soon.

7:36pm

After writing the above. I applied the 300 yen towards another fall from the bunjee drop. It's 900 yen to do it. This time I had no fear, and allowed myself to tilt slowly forward until I fell at approximately 9.8 meters per second per second. If I were to ride it again, I would probably ask if I can go backwards. Knowing Japan, I'd be disallowed, but I'd still ask. I might try doing an intentional half twist on the way down. But really it's not that far to fall, doing all kinda acrobatic stuff.

I watched two girls sit on the bench while their friend climbed the bunjee tower. She didn't jump immediately, and they were like, "がんばって" (*) (!) and "だいじょぶう" (**) and stuff. Their friend didn't jump for fully 10 minutes. One of the two bench warmers became a bunjee jumper and rocked on up there. In high heels. After another 5 or 8 minutes, the first girl jumped. I clapped politely. She made a choked whine/gasp sound on the way down. Good work.

Second girl, in high heels walked out to the edge. After a few minutes I heard the operator guy say something that meant either, "hey man, I'm throwing a size 6 pair of black high heels onto the mattress thing so she won't pop it," or "look out below" and he tossed the shoes down. She wasted no time jumping.

読売ランドがすきです。

(*) Work hard, good luck!

(**) are you alright? / you're okay!

(!) I can type Japanese in my new version of emacs!!!!!!!! (!!)

(!!) and the backspace works!

japanese

2003年11月19日(水)8:03時

今、川崎に美貴さんに会いに行きます。

明日、川崎にキルビルの映画を見に行きます。

今日は読売ランドに行きました。

毎日、日本語をべんきょします。

新しOS Xv10.3のイマクスはだいすきです。