Getting a Driving License in Kumamoto

I recalled my miserable driving tests in Kumamoto when I read the article below. I failed three times and only passed the test on my fourth attempt. I know some people who renewed the international license every year at the original home country and used it to drive in Japan. However, it's not really legal. I once heard from a former colleague who studied in Japan for his degree, he was almost deported back for driving with a international license after two years in Japan. Since he was a student, the judge gave him a lenience sentence which was only fines. So, he borrowed money and paid off the fines, he said he had bread only for almost a year to pay off the debts. So, better get the license the proper way.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/driving-illegally-in-japan

First, I worked in Kumamoto City for a year and I took train to work. The second year, I had to transfer to Nakatsu in Oita 中津市、大分 which was not very convenient in terms of public transport. So, I had to take a driving test to drive in Japan. International driving licence is valid for the first year only. Since I had my original driving licence from Malaysia (pass on my second attempt because I forgot my seat belt the first time around), I could convert the license to a Japanese driving license, it is called 外国免許切替. However, for direct conversion, only a few countries are qualified, info here. 

For others, like a Malaysian driving license holder, I had to take a written test and driving test to convert my license to a Japanese license. It's a big discount compared to what the Japanese people had to do to get a fresh new driving license. To many Japanese, the written test was what they dreaded the most. It's a very difficult multiple questions test and many failed at first attempt. So, in Japan, there's tuition class for driving license written test. However, for this license conversion written test for foreign driving license holder, it's just a common sense 10 multiple choices questions. I personally found it easy. 

KTM (Mid Valley → Kepong ; Kepong → Klang)

A friend in Kepong was getting married and he invited me for his wedding dinner. Well, I hate driving and I had plenty of annual leaves. So, I decided to take public transport to Kepong and stayed for the night in another friend's house. I took annual leave the next day. 

This time around, I took KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu) and bus. Well, this was the second time I took train in Malaysia, I didn't have much memory on my first train ride though. First, I took bus to Mid Valley Station because the bus I boarded didn't pass by KL Sentral. Well, Mid Valley Station was quite busy that day, most of the commuters had to stand. However, the situation was not as crowded as the one in Tokyo (of course!).

I entered the ladies coach, however, a lot of men were inside that 'Ladies Coach' too! Well, if there's only one man inside the coach, maybe he would feel uncomfortable, but when there's a crowd, it looks like normal! Anyway, I got a seat very fast after the train stopped at KL Sentral, a lot of commuters departed there, there's only 5 people left on the coach,  the coach looked so empty. I reached Kepong Station very soon and called my friend to fetch me up. We went to a salon to prepare ourselves for the dinner that night.

Ladies Coach (KTM)

Selangor ⇔ Johor with Public Transport

24th August 2013

A friend of mine (MK) came back to Malaysia for her maternity leave holiday, since we haven’t met for a long time, another friend (SY ) and I decided to go to Johor Bahru to visit MK and the baby. Both of us are not used to long distance driving, so we took express bus. Well, SY and me, we stayed in Japan before and public transport was our major of mode of transportation. Travelling in Japan is quite a breeze because the public transport is on time and the schedule is easily available online. (*-*) For train schedule, if you don’t like to refer to the online schedule, you can always buy a train schedule book 時刻表 from the book shop!

Back to our Johor Bahru trip, compared to Japan, finding public transport information in Malaysia is still not so difficult thanks to the helpful netizens. Well, for the express bus, it's quite easy to find the information online. Now, buying express bus ticket is available online, easier compared to few years ago. I had never have to buy express bus ticket because I studied in the same state as my hometown. Before any long holiday, my course mates would go to the bus station to buy ticket in advance. It was a waste of time and money. Luckily, nowadays, one can book a ticket online in the comfort of one's home.

Traffic Light with Timer

One of the aspects that I don't like about the traffic light is I never know when it will turn red. Sometimes, from afar, I saw that it have been green for a while, so I slowed down, however, by the time I reached the traffic light, it was still green, that's still ok. The worst part was I accelerated and by the time I reached the traffic light, it turned red and I had to brake hard and face the danger of being hit from behind from another speeding car. I hate this!

traffic light with timer (located in an intersection in Banting)

So I like the traffic light with timer, at least I know when to decelerate and accelerate. The people who came out with this idea is very brilliant!

Fuel mileage with the Idle Stop Function

Idle Stop	Odometer Start(km)	Odometer End(km)	Fuel(ℓ)	Fuel Mileage(km/ℓ)
off	4466	4839	15.27	24.43
on	4839	5194	14.75	24.07

After an accident that left my rental Daihatsu Move dented, the rental car company replaced it with a Suzuki Alto. That was the first time I saw a car with idle stop function. However, in my thought, it is not so suitable for brief stop. It is only a 15 minutes ride to my work place, and there are lots of traffic lights, the stop usually won't last more than one minute. On off engine will use more fuel in a short span of stopping time. To test it out, I decided to count the fuel mileage.

I filled my gas tank full after I jot down the reading on the odometer. Did it twice, once with 'idle stop function' off and another on. However, I was surprised that it doesn't change much. Maybe the sample size was too small. Anyway, that's it. This experiment ends now. To get an accurate result, I refrained myself to switch on the heater, it is damn cold now. (I started this during September, the weather was nice, not too hot, not too cold, so I didn't switch on air conditioner!)

Top: Suzuki Alto dash board on the top (the engine signal is cold)
Below: the Idle Stop Function Switch

Hitoyoshi Steam Locomotive ＳＬ人吉

http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/kumamoto/train/sl-hitoyoshi.html

Finally saw a steam locomotive in action when I waited for the train to back to Kumamoto Station 熊本駅 in Kawashiri station 川尻駅.

Normally, I could just catch a glimpse of this in the Kumamoto station when it stopped. I was so excited when I heard the sound of the engine, I quickly switch on my camera video mode and start to take the video as soon as I could see the train.

Transit at Incheon Airport, Korea (things to do while waiting for the transit flight)

21st January 2012

23rd and 24th January are the first and 2nd day of the Chinese New Year, I wanted to go back to Malaysia for the new year celebration. So, I started to scout for ticket last July. Since MAS and Air Asia did not fly to Fukuoka, I had to choose other airlines and transit before I can reach Kuala Lumpur. I found out that for the chinese new year period, only Korean Airline offered the cheapest ticket and it can be pay in the convenience store. The Singapore Airline and Cathay Pacific tickets was so expensive. So, I bought the Korean Airline one and transit in Korea.

view from the restaurant

To my surprise, there were many stuffs to do during the transit waiting time. If the transit time is long enough, there is a tour that one can join with a small fee. However, I did not intend to go anywhere, so after I got out from the plane (Fukuoka to Incheon), I went to find a restaurant, first I thought I had to change to Korean Won to pay. However, one can pay with USD, Japanese Yen, Korean Won and China RMB. So, I did not have to waste the money on conversion rate. I found a Korean restaurant and ordered a Tofu Soup set, it was quite spicy, but very delicious, eating that hot stuff was very smoothing.

Korean Tofu Soup Set