Business trip to Japan.

This travel was out of luck even before leaving Pittsburgh. A few days before the departure, my 2009 Honda Fit was hit from behind. I was completely stopping in a traffic jam. Someone tried to shift the lane behind me. The Pittsburgh Police Bomb Squad truck hit that guy, pushed his car into my car. My poor Fit. It was the second time this car was hit from behind while stopping. It was a slow-speed collision. However, a corner of the car behind me hit my car. The body got somewhat large dent. The shock was strong enough to blow off my sunglasses, but maybe due to regular weight training, I sustained no injury.

Actually, my boss said I could extend the travel or leave early by a few days for visiting friends or family. But, I didn't leave early since I wanted to go to Dayton air show, which we cancelled anyway due to some other issues. We couldn't go anyway due to the car crash. I didn't extend the stay either because I have been working on my Certified Flight Instructor certificate, and I didn't want to leave training too long. However, the airplane I was using for CFI training was grounded due to some paperwork issues. The training is still suspended as of August 10, and I don't know when I can resume. There was no point to rush back to Pittsburgh.

I didn't have a good luck recently.

Overall, if you look at my life so far, I think I am very lucky. I was born far away from Tokyo. I was vaguely thinking I would go to local university and maybe become a teacher there. In reality, I ended up getting Ph.D from Carnegie Mellon and now am teaching programming, my favorite subject. Once I dreamed of writing a computer program that is used all over the world. And, I wrote YS Flight Simulator and FM TOWNS Emulator Tsugaru, which are both used all over the world. Once I dreamed of becoming a pilot. And, I am frequently flying a Cessna 172. I probably am the luckiest person in the world. Nonetheless, if you only look at the last a few weeks, I was feeling pretty unfortunate.

July 25. I left Pittsburgh while being worried about my car. The insurance adjuster from AAA Insurance Agency told me not to worry and she was going to take care of everything. But, my Fit never left my mind.

I flew All Nippon Airways this time. The serivce and food quality of All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines are much better than U.S.-based airlines. I always pick one of these two when I fly to Japan. Some say they don't like in-flight meals. But, eating dinner at 30,000ft itself is so extraordinary. Human taste is influenced by the environment. I rather let my taste fully influenced by the environment and enjoy in-flight meals. Some criticize that Japanese Sushi Chefs take too long time to train. I think just learning to make sushi doesn't take that much training, but what matters is to be able to make a good environment that enhances the patrons' taste, which I can see take time to learn.

Myself and three students were visiting the research facility of our research sponsor, but each of us bought airline ticket independently. So, we met up at Tokyo Haneda airport before heading for the hotel. Everyone was going to arrive around 3pm. I was thinking to make a quick run to Beep Akihabara after checking in to hotel, but ran out of time while exchanging cash and buying PASMO (pre-paid card that you can use pretty much everywhere in Japan) for everyone.

The hotel was located 3-minute walk from Ariake Tennis Forest (Ariake Tennis no Mori) station of Yurikamome line. There was a huge shopping center called Ariake Garden also within 3-minute walk. We went to Ariake Garden Food Court for dinner. We all had Tonkatsu. It was good, but not the best quality. The crust was not very crunchy, and the inside was not very juicy. I recommended students to go to Wako or Shinjuku Saboten before leaving Japan. Both are a very popular Tonkatsu restaurant chain. Well, it still was OK level considering we did not have too many choices.

July 26. I could have hotel breakfast, but I wanted to have some junk food from a convenience store. Japanese convenience stores are totally different from those in the U.S. You can expect pretty-good quality pastries and bento boxes as well as snacks and sweets. I believe you shouldn't leave Japan before eating a red-bean paste and whipped cream bun. We can get something similar in Pittsburgh, but vanilla flavor is added to the whipped cream. It should be plain. I don't understand why the flavor is added to destroy the concept.

This day, students and I were staying in the research facility all day. We were able to see robot arm working. Watching for real was much more informative than watching video clips. We left the facility at 5pm and headed for Tokyo station. My wife wanted me to get some stuffs, so I prioritized shopping for those things. I visited MUJI Flagship Store in Yurakucho, then Maruzen Bookstore near Tokyo station. Then tried to go to Beep Akihabara, but ran out of time. I went to Akihabara station anyway. I wanted to buy some camera supplies at Yodobashi. Then I realized Tonkatsu Wako was in the restaurant floor of the same building, so I had dinner there. Tonkatsu two days in a row. It was of the great quality. Crispy outside and juicy inside. This was the tonkatsu I wanted.

July 27. I tried hotel breakfast because the price was very reasonable. The food buffet was great. Healthy and tasty. But, while in Japan, I disregard healthy or unhealthy (only exception is oxalate) and eat what I want to eat. I do exercise because I want freedom of eating. Oil-free curry was a little bit off my theme.

I spent all day in the research facility. Then they invited me and my boss for a nice dinner. But, I was struck by the jet-lag during the dinner and did not remember what we talked there. Then I came back to hotel. Turned out the bookstore in Ariake Garden was open til 9pm or so. I stopped by the bookstore. I purchased some books that I could not find at the Maruzen at Tokyo station.

Then I received a text from the insurance agent. My Honda Fit can be repaired, which means it makes sense to repair than to total the car. I visited so many air shows with this Honda Fit. A lot of memories. I wanted to drive it as long as it wanted to run and then give a quiet retirement. Not this way. My Honda Fit was going to come back. That was a small relief for me.

July 28. I went to a nearby Seven Eleven for the junk food that I used to be eating when I was in college. This made a perfect breakfast for me.

This day, what students needed to do was to prepare for the experiment scheduled for the last day here. I told them they didn't have to stay until 5pm if they finish early. I hope it motivated them to finish preparation early, but didn't work. I ended up staying til 5pm.

I only had three-day supply of business-casual clothes, so I asked the hotel for laundry service. To my surprise, this hotel did not have laundry service. It had self-service coin-op laundry machine and irons. But, I do not have a good skill of ironing. The hotel clerk told there was a laundry shop in Ariake Garden. So, I went there. Then, the most friendly store clerk I have ever met greeted and took my clothes. But, she told that the clothes won't be ready by Monday. Well, if it is not ready, nothing I could do. Anyway, I was going to be in a facility where concrete droplets fly around. I decided to go with slightly less than business casual on Monday.

My mother came out to Tokyo. So, I met her in Odaiba. The TV news was telling a big fireworks show on Sumida river was planned for the next day. My mother was 75. I never expected she was going to go into such a large crowd, but she said she would go. So I did a quick research. Looked like Shioiri park, which was 16-minute walk from Minami-Senjyu station was not too far, not too extremely crowded, and the fireworks show was expected to be reasonably visible. My strategy was to walk to Shirohige Bashi (white-beard bridge) from Minami Senjyu station, then walk north along the river until we find a place to sit.

July 29. I realized Dotour Coffee next to Seven Eleven. Dotour is a national coffee chain. I had breakfast there. I tell you, never leave Japan without eating a piece of Mont-Blanc Cake. I repeat. Don't leave Japan before eating a Mont-Blanc Cake. Last year I found a pretty good-quality Mont-Blanc cake at Tully's Coffee at Fukuoka station, but Tully's around here didn't carry it.

I met with my mother around noon. Then had a chicken curry at Nakamuraya in Shinjuku. Looks like I forgot taking a picture before eating. It advertises as a Indian-style curry, but it was not quite same as curry that I could get in an Indian restaurant in Pittsburh owned by an Indian national. It certainly is somewhat different from a common Japanese curry. But, to me, it is a very Nakamuraya-original curry. It is very good. If you go to Shinjuku, try it.

Then I binge-shopped books in Kinokuniya Bookstore. Japanese yen was incredibly cheap now. It's like everything 40% off. I found two books that I could not find in Maruzen bookstore. Also bought some Manga books. I personally think the current style of e-books are blasphemy to the culture. It doesn't last. The seller can terminate service any time, then you will lose all books in your account. DRM-contaminated eBooks are volatile. A masterpiece will not survive to the next generation. Protecting creators is important. But, protecting their work and saving for the future generation is as important. We should also stop withdrawing works after the creator did something politically incorrect, by mistake of intentional. Once released, the work should be treated like an individual. From this point of view, eBooks are bs. Therefore, I rather buy paper-media until human kind comes up with a better solution. Paper-media sold more copies have better chance of survival to the next generation.

Then we headed for Minami-Senjyu station. The original plan was to get there by Japan Railways train, but the service to that station was disrupted due to fire on the railway. We went to Akihabara station via Chuo-line, and then changed to Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line to get to Minami-Senjyu. We got there about two hours before the show started. By looking at the human flow, I concluded that getting to Shirohige-Bridge was impossible. We walked straight to Shioiri park. It was just like an air show. I'm used to the crowd. My mother was 75 years old, but she could walk. No difficulty to get to the Shioiri park. We sat near Suijin Oohashi and waited. It was very hot and humid, but still tolerable.

I had no plan on going to a fireworks show. I didn't have an equipment for photographing fireworks. I made a bet on the in-body shake reduction of my Olympus OM-D E-M1X. The camera was boasting its capability to absorb vibration. In fact, the experiment showed that it can take a sharp picture with 150mm lens (300mm film equivalent) without using a tripod. It was impressive! Looks like the camera locked the orientation when I half-push the shutter button. As long as I don't turn the camera too much from that direction, the camera locks on to the target. So, the point seemed to be don't keep the shutter half-pressed too long.

I was expecting a massive exodus after the show. In contrary, Minami-Senjyu station was crowded but the crowd was steadily moving. We were able to get on the second train, and was able to find a seat. Probably many locals were showing up, who didn't need a train to come home. Also many people left like radiating from the show center, rather than everyone rush to the train station.

July 30. I visited my cousine in Itoh. I was going to meet my mother at Shinagawa Shinkansen platform around 11am. I found a MOS Burger branch that opens early near Osaki station. Osaki is one station away from Shinagawa. So, I went there for breakfast. HOWEVER! To my disappointment, they only offered a veggie burger, and no signature onion source in it. I go to MOS Burger because I like a burger with the signature onion source. The signature onion source is what makes MOS Burger a MOS Burger. I should have rather bought something from a convenience store again. That was a major disappointment.

I should have attended a ceremony to scatter ashes of my father to the ocean two years ago. But, then COVID-paranoid Japanese Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare house-arrested me for 10 days because I was tested positive for COVID, although my major symptom was gone in one day. I missed the ceremony. That was absurd, and I never forgive them for what they have done to me. This time we took a sight-seeing boat to get close to the area where my father's ashes were scattered. Hmmm, that didn't make me sentimental much though. The seagulls there were shy and did not come too close. Seagulls near Matsushima didn't fear human, and I was warned that beware of seagulls stealing a smart phone mistaking it as a food. But, the seagulls here were not that aggressive.

Then we came back to Shinagawa station. We tried to find a restaurant, but gave up because too much people. Maybe people came for the fireworks show the day before probably were still staying. So, I left Shinagawa and barely made to MUJI Flagship Store to buy additional stuffs that my wife asked me to buy. Then I went to Tokyo station to get a tuna-uni-ikura bowl and came back to hotel. Japanese bento quality is very high. I would worry about uric acid level after coming back to Pittsburgh. I exercise because I want to eat.

July 31. More preparation for the experiment scheduled for tomorrow. I tried again to encourage students to finish it early so that they have more free time, but didn't work. I looked at the code written by a student, which turned out a tragedy. It is very difficult to transfer what we learned in 30 years in a few months. It didn't finish by 5pm, and we called for the day. I was supposed to meet with my friend in Toyosu, so I met him there, came back to hotel, and debugged her code. I was able to patch it by 2AM or so. I want to teach debugging technique. But, the problem is how to prepare materials and assignments.

August 1. The last day to visit the research facility. The code I debugged was still computing a path to be sent to the robot arm in the morning. Two paths were ready, but we wanted two more. Only option was to use the best data we were able to prepare in the morning. They said we could use one more day for experiment, but I didn't think adding one day could make a meaningful difference. The code would need an overhaul. Then, the experiment was successful for the two paths we already had. For the other two, I am hesitant to call them success, but we were able to get good data. So, my duty in Japan was done.

I met with the president of the Game Preservation Society for dinner. I ate Tsukemen-style ramen noodle for the first time. It was very good. I'll try it again next time.

August 2. It was the only one day I had full freedom. I tried to make the best use of this day. First, my friend told me that F-18 flight simulator at Luxury Flight was fun. I called Luxury Flight Fighter shop, and made a reservation of F-16 flight simulator from 10AM. I am used to a single-engine airplane, so I chose F-16. (Well, it didn't matter though). I also reserved a Boeing 737 flight simulator, but it was not available until 4PM.

I was going to stay Haneda Royal Park Hotel for the last night. I left the hotel in Ariake early morning and headed for Haneda to dump my suitscases. I realized Mt. Fuji was visible from Haneda Terminal 3 near Royal Park Hotel. I left my bags at the hotel, then went to MOS Burger for breakfast. A person was having difficulty ordering cafe lattes in English, so I helped him. He wanted two iced cafe lattes and one hot cafe latte. But, when the person at the counter tried to confirm the order, he replied, two iced coffee and one hot coffee, which totally confused her. So, I explained him that her question was three lattes or three plain coffees, and he confirmed three lattes. I wondered if we were not distinguishing coffee and latte in the U.S. Anyway, MOS Burger with onion source is delicious. I checked one more item in my to-eat list. Can't they export onion source to the U.S.?

Although Mt. Fuji was visible from Terminal 3, it was covered by clouds while I was eating breakfast. Actually, I tried so many times to take a good picture of Mt. Fuji from Shinkansen Train, but almost all the time the mountain was hidden by clouds, until last December. Maybe in summer, clouds build up quickly once the sun comes up. If that's the case, next time I should ride a very early-morning train to shoot Mt. Fuji from the window.

I realized my iPhone battery was 43% when I was about to leave Haneda airport. Maybe the AC adapter was loose? I found a charge station, but I left all my charge cables at hotel, that's what I thought, but miraculously I found one charge cable in my bag. I charged my iPhone SE for about 10 minutes up to 50% and then left for Luxury Flight Fighter Shop near Tenkubashi station.

It was a little bit difficult to find an entrance to IHCity where Luxury Flight Fighter shop was located. At the counter, two former Japan Air Self Defense Force pilots greeted me. Actually, one of them had glider training in Arizona, which was pretty close to where I did my private-pilot training. His base was to the mountain-side from my base Chandler. He said he once flew a cross-country to Eloy, and then stuck there for several days. I told him one of my friends was a helicoptor mechanic working at Eloy. I lost contact with him. I hope he is doing ok.

I was asked if I have some experience in a flight simulator. I hesitated to say that I was making one. But, I told them I had about 800 hours in single-engine land and was working on CFI. The F-16 simulator was not 360 degree dome monitor, but it coverd forward 180 degrees. This setup is difficult to have at home. If you have budget to get this your home, I highly recommend you to get a real private-pilot certificate. I took off Yokota base. I first wanted to do some basic maneuvers to get used to it. In YS Flight Simulator, I casually climbed up at 60-degree pitch, rolled 180 degrees and pulled to level off, and then another 180-degree roll to roll out, but I was not sure if I could do the same without any precaution. So, I took off like 10-degree pitch, then it accelerated to 400kt pretty quicly. Looked like I could casually invert the plane, or I easily overshot the designated altitude. Then tried touch & goes at Atsugi airport. The monitor had 180 degree coverage, but it was somewhat difficult to take timing for base-to-final turn. In the end, I landed at Haneda airport and taxied to the terminal (in F-16).

They commended me that I flew well. Well, I think it included some sales pitch, but I honestly was happy.

I learned a lot from the flight. I had long been wondering if I was simulating fighter jets correctly in YSFLIGHT. Like, when I simulated as calculated, F-16 easily accelerated beyond Mach 1 at military power. I thought it shouldn't be possible until F-22, so I remember I made some adjustment from my original calculation. But, in this simulator, F-16 accelerated beyond Mach 1 on military power. My initial calculation may not have been too off then. I don't know if the real F-16 is like that, but this level simulator shouldn't be too off from the real airplane. Maybe the engine power is reduced in trans-sonic regime in reality. I don't know.

And, unless I pitch up to 30 to 40 degrees during take-off climb, it reaches easily 400kt even without afterburner. That was my another question while I was writing YSFLIGHT. What percentage thrust from military power compared to afterburner? Should the real fighter jet accelerate this fast without using afterburner? This simulator told me so. Again, my calculation was not too off then. And, the approach speed was like 160kt. I thought it was like 120 to 140kt. So, my estimation was a bit too slow apparently.

Then, I had some time before my next appointment to fly Boeing 737 simulator. I wanted to go to Beep Akihabara, but turned out the shop was closed on Wednesdays. Damn it, I missed priglimage to Beep. I gave up going to Akihabara. Actually, I couldn't decide to buy or not to buy a piano score at a shop in Ariake Garden the day before. So, I decided to go back to Ariake to buy it after all. But, I also found a Gyutan (grilled ox tongue) restaurant in Ariake Garden. Never leave Japan without eating Gyutan. So, I went there, purchased a score book. Then had lunch at the Gyutan restaurant.

Actually, Ariake Garden is a good spot for tourists. Nice food court with some full-service restaurants, 3-floor MUJI, DAISO, Maruzen Bookstore, Bic Camera, a hot spa, supermarket, and laundry shop. You may think it doesn't make sense to come all the way to Japan and buy something you can also buy in the U.S. However, how about an AC adapter? Or how about USB-C hub? We bought USB-C hubs from Amazon, which both broke within 2 months. I cannot find a reliable one in the U.S easily (OWC's USB-C hub was pretty good and working stably though). I trust Elecom, IOData, Sanwa Supply brands. What can I get from Amazon? Extremely unreliable stuffs. It makes a very good sense to buy reliable electronics and bring back to the U.S.

Then came back to Haneda airport. Haneda airport was entertaining by itself. It was very easy to kill time. Then I checked in the hotel (Royal Park Hotel is connected to Terminal 3) at 3pm. I was told my room was upgraded to Delux Twin. It was a nice large room.

I came to 5th floor or Haneda Terminal 1 around 3:30pm, where Luxury Flight Boeing 737, Airbus 320, and Beech Baron simulators are set up. I was again asked if I had some experience in the flight simulator, but I hesitated to say "I made one". This time, a retired captain who used to be flying for an airline until two months ago flew with me as a first officer. I took off Haneda airport, flew over Tokyo to get used to the controls, then did some touch & goes at Haneda airport. I leaned that in Boeing 737, the captain while flying manually controls the yoke only, and all other controls flaps, landing gear, auto-pilot settings are done by the first officer upon order from the captain. He said he speaks a lot to give orders to the first officer in 737. Of course, I, just am a Cessna 172 pilot (although with commercial, instrument rating, and multi-engine rating) did not know all the settings of 737. So, he did pretty much everything by himself, and I controlled the yoke and a little bit of throttle levers. I wish I can do better next time.

Basically, once the parameters are configured and auto-throttle is turned on, all I needed was to keep the needes center in the flight director, then the airplane flew as planned. Of course, if I turned auto-pilot on, I would have nothing to do, which would have been no fun. So, I tried to keep the needles center manually.

One of the things I remember was I had to start landing flare when the radio-altimeter reading reaches 30ft or so. The pitch change was so small. If I pull like Cessna, the airplane easily ballooned. Also, the power setting is not RPM, not mmHg, but ty percent. I think the approach power was 53% or so. I should have taken memos while flying. It was so much fun. I'll try again next time, too. Both F-16 and B737 cost about 20K JPY per hour, which is $140 per hour. JPY is incredibly cheap now. Actually it was almost same as flying a Cessna 172 from the flying club.

Then I had dinner at Lion restaurant in Terminal 1. Sausage platter and High ball. I have been searching desperately for a high-quality sausages in the U.S., but I have never found anything close to the quality of Japanese-made ones, namely Shau Essen brand. I used to be able to buy imported Shau Essen in Asian grocery stores. However, when moron Japanese government overreacted to mad-cow disease and shut down all meat import from the U.S., U.S. retaliated by shutting down all meat-product import from Japan. Somehow the ban is in effect. I missed a sausage with elastic skin and juicy inside. The sausage platter from Lion restaurant was not Shau Essen, but looked very good from the sample picture, and it was of very high-quality as expected. I'll be worried about my uric acid level after coming back to Pittsburgh. If I eat more, I exercise more.

By then, my landing gears (legs) were exhausted after walking long distance. I felt landing-gear warning signs. My legs were hurting. But, I had only this day left. I headed for Game Center Mikado across the street from Takadanobaba JR station.

It was a HEAVEN!!!! It was the extremely well-maintained SEGA Afterburner 2. Even in 1989, when Afterburner 2 was very popular, I saw so many game arcades that did a poor maintenance and analog joystick was uncontrollable. This Afterburner 2 was PERFECT!!!! I couldn't finish it with one coin, but I reached stage 19. I also played Xevious. I used to be able to go up to Area 14, but this time I could only go to Area 13. I used to be able to leave five or six ships left at the beginning of Area 14, and then lose all in the storm of Blagzakats at the beginning of Area 14. I lost my skill a little bit. I wish I had known this place earlier! Next time, I will allocate one whole day to spend in Mikado.

What a day! I flew an F-16 flight simulator with very wide-angle monitor in the morning. Then flew a Boeing 737 simulator that is certified to train real airline pilots. Then F-14 in Afterburner 2! It made such a great day!

The last lucky occasion of this trip was a surprise. My flight from Haneda to Washington D.C. was upgraded to the business class! I walked around in record-breaking heat, and my landing gears were hurting. I was utterly exhausted. Being able to sleep in the full-flat seat of All Nippon Airways business class was very nice.

Next morning, I had so much space in my suitscases. I made a quick stop at Air Lawson and bought bags of Jagabees. Jagabee is my wife's favorite, but for some reason, import to the U.S. has stopped or very short supply.

I checked bags, then registered face-recognition, and lined up with the security line. But, nobody told me there were separate line for the passengers who registered for face-recognition gate. So, I didn't save any time by the face recognition. I think it's meaningless unless there's some guidance to tell where to line up after registering face recognition. In fact I rather wasted several minutes for the registration.

Then went to ANA business lounge! I was looking forward to the in-flight meal, so I was not planning to eat anything, but I was powerless in front of curry and rice. Curry from Shinjuku Nakamuraya was very nice. But, I like common Japanese-style curry, too.

The airplane was delayed about 30 minutes due to the late arrival of the airplane. ANA Business Class was so comfortable. All four seats of my Cessna 172 are first-class, but cannot match ANA Business Class. The seat was comfortable, and in-flight meals were delicious.

I had 7 hours of good sleep. When I boarded, I had a light headache maybe from the flight simulators and Afterburner 2 the day before, but it was gone when I woke up. I don't watch movies in flight much. I took out Koku-Fan (Aviation Fan) Magazine September 2023 edition to read in flight, but I ended up not reading much before arriving at Wachington D.C. My younger self could have felt I wasted a business-class trip, but this time I really enjoyed 7-hours of good sleep.

International arrival at Washington D.C. (IAD) was made worse than before. There used to be a security checkpoint exclusive for international transit. Therefore I used to be able to pass the security checkpoint quickly. This time, although still not many local passengers, I had to pass a security checkpoint that was open to local passengers. Chicago (ORD) was the worst. IAD was nothing compared to the worst transit experience in ORD. But, added with 30-minute late arrival, my Pittsburgh-bound flight was only minutes away from boarding.

My wife picked me up at the airport, then when I came back home, the owner of the auto shop picked up my poor Honda Fit for repair. I was feeling pretty unlucky when I left Pittsburgh, but I felt my luck is better again when I came back.

OK. I need to start worrying about the fall semester now.

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