I spent much of today on a high speed train to Hiroshima. The rail network is incredible – both in its comprehensive coverage and its efficiency. How do they do it? What powerful political/cultural drivers must exist to commit to this level of effort ad quality? And at what cost (beyond the financial)?
The rail network aside, Tokyo is also an incredibly wired city. The hotel brochure actually apologises to guests for not being able to guarantee a 100Mb/s connection all the time! This is the free connection in a modestly priced hotel.
I have also been walking a lot, somewhere around two to four hours a day. It made me realise how little I walked in Singapore – primarily because of the heat and humidity. Walking really slows me down and allows more opportunities for simply being. Nothing beats walking in the cold for that hit of clarity!
The main daily activity of simply taking in information, not thinking too much, not planning ahead or controlling too much, and being in the moment is a great change from the sometimes frenetic pace at work. I need to work towards a better balance between work and life…
