I love a culture were to save energy they shut off the engines of busses at stop lights, but heat toliet seats ( including on the intercity train)
Who knew that surgical masks could be sexy… when all you can see are the eyes.
Pedestrians have the right of way… saw a security guard whose job was to control cars from crossing a sidewalk while people were coming. At no time did he try and control pedestrians… just the cars, no matter how long the line was. In Toronto the guy would be stopping people to let the cars through.
Keitai are everywhere ( cell phones). People don’t talk on them ( at least on the metro) but they are constantly texting. On a train it averages about every 3rd person is texting away. Books and newspapers are a lot less common.
This city is Clean. Not in a Toronto street type of clean, but in a visit to Grandma’s house kind of clean. There are no garbage cans anywere, you carry your wrappers etc. with you. Construction sites are surrounded with plastic… I asume to keep the dust down.
There is a park about to open just up the street. Included in it is a automated underground parking faclity…. for bikes. I hope to be here when it opens because I want to see how it works.
I love the way you pay for the metro. You put money onto a card, which you then scan evey time you travel through a station. You get a read out of what you were charged, and how much is left on your card. You can use the cards at stores as well.
Everything talks here. The metro, the elevators, the escalators, the people movers ( moving walkways), trucks tell you when they are turning. They even have someone in the ambulances asking people to please move out of the way over a loud hailer.
I also love the buildings… the buildings are interesting to look at… watch for a separate posting about them.
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