this is the best of this bunch, for me. it is rather dark from the outside, but shows something bright and colorful when viewed closely. and the place was peaceful and noise free when i was there, that added a lot to the drama.
our adventure today is really just a means to get some cardio activities done. as i have mentioned, i have been going to the office for at least 3 weeks, getting 10 thousand steps daily was the norm back then. but starting now, the first monday of august, my office work has finally completed. work from home will be the norm starting today. and that meant that achieving much needed cardio load would be much more difficult to achieve.
good thing that my colleague introduced me to this train station stamp collection campaign, collecting most, if not all, stamps would be my next goal for these coming days. (this talk would have been introduced at my blog entry which got accidentally deleted last time.)
my colleague housemate went with me this time, she introduced me to the stamp collection so she was also invested in this journey. of course i chose those stations which are harder to reach on normal commuting days. the easy ones were all cleared up. i was in need of a toilet that time, we took a detour under this tunnel to the shrine with a toilet at the other side.
i joked my friend when we reached the shrine to find a bush in the dark and do her thing, she did not believe me at all. she immediately pointed at the toilet.
this really was just a detour, we went back down and started the journey. we both had the stamp for this station last week.
tabata station (田端駅)
the first actual stamp collected was in tabata station, a dreamy station along the yamanote line. i have featured this station a couple of times before, but i think i have not really shown that we had to climb down some stairs before reaching the actual entrance.
the station stamp was a stylized version of the second kanji of the station name. it featured a pen together with an ink, probably alluding to the number of famous writers residing in this area. but i am not really sure why it also had a "bullet train" and train tracks.
we continued walking north west toward the next station which was really new to me. i mean, i have been walking along this route for some time now but this station was just out of the main way. we had to turn towards the quite hous-ey neighborhood to reach the station. but they had this cool artsy wall in one of the buildings.
kami-nakazato station (上中里駅)
yes, this station was really new to me and i think i would have never been in this station if not for the stamps. the station ranks in the 300s for the mostly used jr line stations, and it really looked like there was nothing but houses around this neighborhood.
we kind of got down crested when we reached the station. usually, the stamps are located outside the station gates, there was no need to tap your transit cards, basically. this was the first we encountered where the stamp was inside the gates. good thing that the station staff was kind enough to let us in when we told him that we just wanted the stamp. good thing that i had a quite convincing pleading face.
the adventure did not end there though, the maps led us to these tiny soulless paths toward the next station. we passed by narrow corridors, even saw sunflowers at one point.
and then we reached the nanasha jinja (七社神社), by accident. my housemate was parched and wanted some water, this ground happened to have some vending machines. but i was more invested on the shrine itself. this happened to be famous for a gingko tree in the middle of the ground. and you know what, the place is renowned for prayers for safe pregnancy and childbirth. the first picture was taken from this place, by the way.
oji station (王子駅)
by the next station, my housemate was beginning to feel the pain at her legs. she was still willing to walk though so we were still on sched.
oji station, located in an area with lots of shrines, parks, and business. it was really at the center of activity, no wonder the station is ranked 69th busiest in all jr stations.
look at that stamp! isn't it cute! looks like a fox (kitsune), deshou? that is because of the shrine near this station which is famous for fox parades. i think i have featured that shrine in one of my nightwalks this year.
we quickly moved forward for the next station, made a u-turn back home. the next station was on the way back home on the other side of the train tracks. we had to cross this small river. but my housemate was already getting tired. i asked her if she wanted to ride the train, she was still fine. so we will decide on the next station.
oku station (尾久駅)
the last station of this nightwalk journey, this station was another one of those stations located in local neighborhoods. ranked in the 250s busiest station, there was really nothing around here. but the internet says that the station is famous among train enthusiasts and photographers. i guess it is because it is quite flat around here, nothing but the sky and the train tracks with the tall buildings at the far distance.
now we were wondering what this stamp showed. are those a clam and oyster shells on the upper right? and that circle at the lower right looked like eye designs in naruto, ain't it?
by this time, i asked my housemate again on what to do, it will take another 30 minutes riding the train, and around 25 minutes on foot. she made the correct choice of going on foot (lol). but she mentioned that she will be a lot slower this time. i guess i am just so used to walking that this feels not that exhausting to me yet.
4 stations stamps added for the day.
as always, AMPING KANUNAY!
all content is by yours truly unless otherwise specified
all photos are taken with a galaxy s23 ultra
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io
Height168.0 cm |  | Weight71.7 kg |  | Body Fat% |  |
Waistcm |  | Thighscm |  | Chestcm |  |
