Yokohama Navy Exchange was where?

Kaoru et al
What wonderful modern expressways japan has .
I went onto the site and had to laugh at one of the "safety hints' which read..
Not to drive in the wrong direction.
Which means that in Japan they drive on the left side of the road. [as we all know]
But..good tip ! drive on the correct side..always a good idea..I almost always drive on the correct side..almost..
No snow yet in NH..sorry Barbara,Lori. If by Christmas we don't have any you could send some here...

Sorry, Peter; our snow here in Western Washington state is gone (except in the mountains). If we do have snow at Christmas, I will be MORE than happy to send some (or all of it) to you!

Thank you for your kind offer. I hope to take you up on it as I sincerely hope that New England is severely impacted by global warming..oh no...not that subject...
In Yokohama we made a snowman, the local kids pointed at it and laughed..
We moved into out little apartment in the heat of the summer and I didn't think to ask about central heating..what central heating! One snowfall the taxi driver wanted us to buy him snow chains..never happen yo..!!

Do motorists in Japan pay tolls for using these roads or is Nexco paid directly by the government through fuel taxes ?

Road construction tax revenues is complex systems. The government is discussing the amount of money though the road toll fee became a fixed amount. I do not know this in detail either. Please click this link.


http://www.mlit.go.jp/road/road_e/index_e.html

I assume you have driven on Nexco highways.
Do you have to stop and give money yourself for driving on the roads?

The Chicago Freeway system is like this. Also the Oklahoma Turnpike charges $3.50 for one way travel. The turnpike speed limit is 75 mph, which most of the time is 85-90, btw.

Hello fellows and ladies...
I ran into someting pretty cool..
try...go to Newgrounds dot com and type in
size of the universe..its not a game or anything its..an exploration into..well size..
I hope you like it.

Sorry..that is
" Scale of the Universe" not size.
Hint. slide the bar all the way to the right
and go from there.
Steffi's husband will love this..

Thanks, Peter. Amazing what fascinating and imaginative stuff can be found on the internet!

Glad you liked it..others ?
Am on a road trip this week. Stayed over in
College Park PA, sound familiar Barbara..sorry a little late for your talk..am in Ohio today..tomorrow..Buffalo ?? Haven't seen one palm tree..

And best wishes for a great 2011.

Does anyone happen to know how I could send a package to friends in Japan without spending a fortune on postage? I'm sending some small nonbreakable items in a mid-sized box. I don't want to spend more on postage than on the items themselves. Any ideas? And it doesn't have to get there by Christmas. Thanks!

Steffi:
Believe it or not, the USPS is the least expensive route vs. UPS or FedEx.

I will carry them for you. Im pretty cheap too !

Thanks Eric - and Peter. I will use the postal service.

Hope everyone is enjoying the pre-Christmas excitement, and not getting too frazzled by it.

A very Merry Christmas to everyone, and a happy, healthy New Year!

Best wishes for Merry Christmas!

These are Yokohama's street cars of 1960s. These were around Av.D, Sakuragi-chou, Honmoku, Rokakubashi, and the Kanagawa Prefectural government. The street car of Yokohama was abolished in 1972.

http://6.fan-site.net/~haasan55/Yokohama.htm

Kaoru, thank you for finding the wonderful pictures. I remember the welcome sight and rough, clanging sound of the trolley cars -- and the many ugly overhead wires they required. What kind of public transportation replaced the trolleys? Buses? Subways? High-speed rail?

Peter, there is a "College Park" in Maryland, where the University of Maryland is located. If you were at my alma mater, Penn State University, that would have been State College, Penna. The town never got around to changing its name when the college became a university in 1953, all of above can be confusing. To clarify (or further) the confusion, the Penn State University mailing address is University Park, Penna. In any case, thanks for remembering my connection to Pennsylvania -- you got that part right. Do you have any holiday haiku for us?

Steffi, you have it right. I am not only frazzled by the jostle and scramble of the holidays but also take joy in the season -- wet, windy, and raining in Northern California at the moment, a good time to be inside making hot soup and bread and baking holiday treats. My mantra for December is from Max Ehrmannfs gDesideratah: "Go placidly amid the noise and haste / and remember what peace there may be in silence."

Best wishes to all for a wonderful holiday season -- a merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

Yes, trolley cars was replaced to the bus and subway. The subway opened from center area in Yokohama to suburbs.

The Sannotani streetcar stop was a two minute walk from our front door in Yokohama. We became accustomed to the squeeking, grinding and clanging noise the cars made as they went by.
A one way trip from one end of Yokohama was 13 yen. Round trip was 25 yen via a perforated ticket.
If you were in no hurry, it was a great way to see the city and get somewhere.

The Sun
reaches the bottom
of the
Analemma.
Is there no where to go but up ?

And yes Barbara, it was Penn State.
Was in Buffalo NY too. Trolly cars ! Just like Yokohama.
Talk about snow !...nahh..