Miscellaneous things about Tsukuba and Japan (5)

Let's skip the intro and get on with the contents!

Abandoned bicycle check
At the beginning of this month, I've parked by bicycle at the parking lot by the cafeteria to go and eat breakfast. When I came out, I was surprised that there was a tag stuck on it? "Did I park at the wrong place?" I thought. It turns out that they periodically put up these tags to check for abandoned bicycle (which they'll remove for disposal). The text on the tag asks the owner to remove the tag from the bicycle to show that it's not abandoned.

Snack "share packs"
Many snacks in Japan comes in "share packs". That is, it's a huge pack which costs around ¥200 - 300 and has many small packs inside, which is useful for sharing with friends or eating only a little at a time. I guess this also makes it a good souvenir for classmates!

Scaring away birds
Around the Tsukuba station everyday, there will be a lot of birds flying around (which is actually kind of beautiful). There are staffs in charge of scaring away these birds by playing some kind of bird-like (I guess) sound on the megaphone.

Ramen Shop inside train stations
In some larger train stations, there are some small standing ramen shops locating inside the train station. I think this is so that people can have lunch while waiting to change trains.

Thirty-One Ice Cream
Are you familiar with the brand "Thirty-One Ice Cream"? I think most of you would be more familiar with "Baskin Robins". However, Japanese call it "Thirty-One" due to the "31" in the middle of the logo.

Baskin Robin's logo from its website. Notice the pink "31" in the middle.