shinkansen (bullet train)

another early morning, waking up at 5:00 so i can take the 30 minute train ride down to tokyo station to catch the 7:06 shinkansen to osaka, southwest of the capital, a 3 hour journey despite being in a bullet train. i got there with plenty of time to spare because i heard from both claudio and alex that tokyo station is like a maze and even long-time residents have a hard time finding the right terminal to catch the right train. it was a cold morning, but throughout the platform were heated enclosed glass waiting rooms. there's a train attendant who comes by and pushes a foodcart on the shinkansen, but i heard it was expensive and was told to buy my food ahead of time. i already had my drinks, and wasn't particularly thinking about eating until i saw all the box lunches on display at the obento kiosks. i went with one that seemed to have the most variety, 1100 yen. when the train arrived everyone climbed quickly onboard; there's no dalliance when it comes to the shinkansen, from past experience, i know that when the ticket says 7:06, that's exactly the time the train leaves. they don't recycle the doors to give you a warning, when that time comes around, the train is already moving out the station before the automatic doors have time to close. some of the cabins don't have reserved seats (they're probably cheaper) but i was in the cabin that did have reserved seating, just like on a plane, and i went down the aisle looking to match the seat with my ticket.

o-bento box (1100 yen)

kaiyukan - osaka aquarium

pacific tank

whale shark

jellyfish

shinosaka station

shinkansen speed reading