Tag: transit

by jad

Travel Spam and Transport Geographies

Back to our regularly scheduled programming with more travel spam that the same 10-15 people care about. I’d wanted to lean into the “nonlinear” in my bio by mixing up photos from the two visits to NYC that bookended our trip, but found it harder to find the plot than I expected. So, to get me back into the flow, here’s the quintessential New York experience: the Metro now OMNY. Twenty years ago, I was such a greenhorn to big cities shaped like grids that I had no concept of stations having many entrances or trains having different directions of … Continue reading “Travel Spam and Transport Geographies” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Gundam, Malls, and the Ghost of Empire

After a couple of days in Tokyo, I started to realize that a lot of time can be wasted transferring between stations on subway trips across more than one line, and I didn’t want to spend all day underground in the name of “efficiency.” So, we started treating transfer stations as destinations in themselves, adding extra sites to our itineraries. These gardens were one such bonus visit. x I’m a sucker for a good frame within a frame. x It’s weird how brains work. When I was in Japan eleven years ago, Christine had googled a shinkansen themed kaitenzushi place … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Gundam, Malls, and the Ghost of Empire” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Hiroshima (Part III)

Another interesting feature of Hiroshima’s topography that I learned on Tommy’s tour is that the reason why the city has so many iconic trams is that it’s simply not possible to dig any subways here, given that it was built on reclaimed marshland. We rode trams of all vintages, including one of the only two trams that survived the bomb still running today. This is one of Hiroshima’s hibakujumoku (被爆樹木) or survivor trees, an a-bombed camphor at the base of the hill leading up to the Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art. I’ll post a highlight video from that visit shortly. … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Hiroshima (Part III)” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Out-of-the-Way

I chose this out-of-the-way neighborhood in Osaka because of its relative proximity by metro to the artificial island where the Expo is being held, with the added bonus of staying several nights in a surprisingly affordable hipster hotel in the area as well. The quaint backstreets here were where we learned that one does not simply order a coffee at a cafe during breakfast time in Japan. There are set menus here and you’re going to get a slice fluffy, pillowy bread and maybe even a hardboiled egg with it too, even if you’re already looking forward to the spread … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Out-of-the-Way” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Osaka Moments

We’d decided to travel to Japan two years ago when I realized that the next World Expo would be in Osaka during the summer that Hiroshima would also mark 80 years since the war crime that became synonymous with its name. At the time, that’s all I really had planned, and as I collected points of interest and eventually developed something of an itinerary, I still regarded our stay in Osaka as mostly a pitstop that just happened to host a mega-event I was nerding out about while we adjusted to the jetlag. And yet, by the time it was … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Osaka Moments” →

by jad

Japan Trip: Osaka Morning

After a very long flight and dicey layover in Tokyo, we arrived as bleary-eyed time travelers—August 1st never happened, you guys!—very late at night in Osaka. Thankfully, Christine had had the foresight to suggest that we book a single night right next to the airport so we could find our bearings before venturing out into Osaka proper the next morning, which I’m very grateful we did. I was not ready to tackle the tangle of Japanese trains just yet; plus, the breakfast buffet was out of this world. Waking up to this view wasn’t too shabby either. We spent a … Continue reading “Japan Trip: Osaka Morning” →

by jad

Transit Equity Day: RR x TRU

I want to use this last post of a gorgeous bus stop from my time in California as an opportunity to ask for your financial support of @RidersRightsLB. Next Saturday is #TransitEquityDay, and, to coincide with this occasion, the #Seattle Transit Riders Union has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support a mutual aid initiative that RR is coordinating in #Lebanon. I’ve put a link where you’d expect to find it on my profile. Please consider supporting mobility justice in Lebanon during an extremely difficult economic and political time there. The parallels we are drawing between our two very different contexts are deliberate. Rosa Parks and … Continue reading “Transit Equity Day: RR x TRU” →

by jad

#Route101: Napa Valley / SF

If there’s any stretch of this road trip that I’d do all over again, it’s #Route29 through Napa Valley. This region, with its wineries and whistlestops, is obscenely picturesque, and had way too many photo-ops to fit into our schedule. Here are two pit stops and one drive-by through the car window. I love that this combination gas station & burger joint says: “welcome to wine country.” x I keep mentioning #SanFrancisco without posting anything from there, so how about a little nibble on this sugar cookie of a building to whet your appetite? We were so very lucky to arrive here on the … Continue reading “#Route101: Napa Valley / SF” →

by jad

Trip Like I Do—Eating Edition

Spokane, June 28: Our vacation was obviously not deep and moody all the time, despite our itinerary; a big part of traveling for us is finding fun spots to eat. Frank’s was the first of two train-themed restaurants we stumbled on during this trip, located right next to an active railway line. Here’s what their website says about this space: “During the golden days of railroading, Barney-Smith and Pullman vied for supremacy of the elegant rail car business. In 1906, Barney Smith manufactured this car as an “observation car”. It remained unsold until 1909, when it was purchased by the … Continue reading “Trip Like I Do—Eating Edition” →