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The SD Reader's "Picks of the week"
Also: "The SD Readers list of "Fun Things to Do"
As well as, the "Best of List"
If you're visiting on certain dates You can plug in your dates at the San Diego Reader and see what pops for events that might be of interest to your family.
Another "cheap or free" page from the local news station
For those that are thinking of going down to Tijuana Mexico
A list of 69 things to do in Tijuana
Thank You, u/Matingas for this link <_ Brother Moderator of Tijuana :)
Of course, there's the regular weekly stuff:
Saturday's u/ thedaymayne organizes a semi-regularly about a flag football game Saturday at 11a at Jefferson Elementary (turf field). There's a solid core of 6-8 people and were always looking for new people to join. No ones D-1 athletes and we don't allow blocking to keep it clean and injury free. PM for more info.
u/lightwolv Suggests:
https://www.meetup.com/Casual-Socce Heads up for soccer players. We run a free meet-up every Tuesday and Thursday from 5 - 7. It's outdoor with big goals, cones and co-ed. If you wanna get outside and active, sign up. All skil All skill levels welcome, for those who played in college and stuff, it's competitive and it's a good work out.
Every Sunday at 2pm-3pm, free organ concert at Spreckles Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park.
Every Sunday Farmers Market at the Hillcrest DMV
Free yoga classes All around San Diego (Coastal) :
A good list of classes all over the city, Solana Beach
Sunset Cliffs, USS Midway Museum
Yoga on the Bay Every Saturday 10:30 am
There's a Sunday live video streaming of the classes in PB 10-11:30 am
u/YmcaAdultSports suggests: If you are interested in joining an Adult Sports League, come check out what the Dan McKinney Family YMCA has to offer (La Jolla)
IF there's something that you think is important or needs to have tickets purchased in advance... please post in the comments. IF there's a link that's needed, please try to not make it part of some text but the full URL string So I can just copy and paste it. (It'll make things easier) I'll try to retain these in the following week until the date of the event.
Please don't post events that are several months in advance. Try to limit it to 30 days or so - unless there's a real need for advance notice well in advance for ticket purchases.
Stuff from Last Weeks post: N/A
Monthly Yoga class at the South Embarcadero Rady Shell
The MsMargo activity section (welcome back!)
Free Guitar-Based Classic Rock Jam
Mondays, 6:50 pm-9:00 pm Our Savior's Lutheran Church 4011 Ohio Street San Diego, 92104 Age Limit: 18+ All levels welcome. Bring your own guitar, mandolin, flute, etc. or just sing along. Song chords and words are displayed via projector to a large screen. No practice required.
Gilbert Castellanos Presents: Young Lions And The Wednesday Jam Session - FREE!
Wednesdays
Panama 66 restaurant, Balboa Park
"Every Wednesday Panama 66 at The San Diego Museum of Art comes to life with the sounds of jazz. San Diego jazz hero Gilbert Castellanos showcases young music prodigies with The Young Lions Series (7:00–7:50 p.m.) followed by the Wednesday Jazz Jam (8:00–10:30 p.m.) that transforms the James S. Copley Auditorium into a swinging speak-easy. Order a craft cocktail or draft beer, take in the view of the Museum’s Sculpture Court and Garden, and enjoy an evening of music from San Diego’s finest jazz musicians.
Visit the Panama 66 Instagram page for updates on performances, closures, and schedule changes.
FREE event. Drinks and food available for purchase."
https://www.panama66.com/livemusic
FREE Jazz at the The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center
Friday, June 2 · 4:30-5:30 PM - Gates open at 4 PM
Wu Tsai QRT.yrd, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, La Jolla
Besos Jazz Trio
"The Wu Tsai QRT.yrd Concert Series continues with Besos Jazz Trio as part of the First Friday La Jolla Art Walk.
Enjoy live swinging jazz and music from around the world with Besos Jazz Trio, featuring tap artist and percussionist Claudia Gomez, guitarist Beston Barnett, and bassist Evona Wascinski."
https://theconrad.org/events/besos-jazz-trio/
If there's something you think others will want to be know about happening the same week as the dates for this post OE in the near future (1-2 weeks out) please feel free to include it in the comments, Any future/reoccurring events will be added to the list in the next weekly TTD post.

So a few months ago in December I was in a really bad mood and so my friend, let’s call him T, invited me over to his place for some drinks and video games. My partner at the time had recently split with me and I was getting used to being alone for the first time in a long time.
He had some other friends over and one of them is a drug user, who knows everything there is to know about that type of thing. Let’s call him P. I had never met him before then and didn’t know much about that world. I smoked a bit of weed in high school but that was it.
My friend T is a stoner but that’s it. None of the people in our friend group did anything big. It was just this one person who I had never met before.
None of us were sober that night, I was drinking pretty heavily and P was high. My friend T told me he paid for an Uber for me and I was very thankful, but later on after everyone was inebriated he revealed he hadn’t actually planned on doing it. I called another friend but no one was available, so I decided to walk myself home. I live in a part of our city near where P lives, so we agreed to walk back together for safety reasons (I’m a short gay guy, and I was pretty drunk).
On the way back P ends up stopping somewhere and buying some drugs. I didn’t know what kind at the time. I wait with him for the person to bring it to him, and it was the first time I ever saw that sort of interaction, so I was scared. The guy said I was too drunk to be an undercover cop. The night gets fuzzy so I’m trying to get it all down.
Once P had what he had purchased, we made it to my place, and he asked to crash on my couch. I reluctantly agreed, but I was embarrassed by the mess that was my place.
He didn’t mind, and so we had one last round of beers and watched the end of a Harry Potter movie on tv, and that’s the last I remember. I woke up on the couch with him on the floor in front of me.
I was a little hungover but other than that it was a normal morning. I took a shower and by the time I was out he was gone. It was a little after ten so I made breakfast and tried to calm down.
I found a bag of powder he left on the floor near where he slept. It was a light brown and there was only a little bit there. I picked it up and planned on calling him to tell him. I went to work at one and got home after ten.
When I got home I found the bag because I had forgotten. I was in a pretty shit mood and my curiosity got the better of me. I’ve seen movies so the things I did that night were honestly embarrassing. I took a plastic straw from my kitchen and cut off the end. I dumped the powder onto my counter and lined it up using a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card. I thought long and hard, but I guess not enough, because I snorted it using the fucking end of the straw, and sat down at the table, cradling my head.
At first I felt nothing. I sat there for what must’ve been fifteen minutes just surprised. And then I stood up.
I think the moment I stood up was potentially the greatest moment of my life, when it hit me all at once, and I just stood in awe, complete euphoria, the greatest peace, I can’t even describe it. I had no pain, no worry, no sorrow, only pleasure. I laid down on the couch and soaked it all up. It was the greatest feeling ever.
I fell asleep not long after and honestly I hate myself for it. I should’ve stayed awake to appreciate and savor every second. The best feeling in my life and I slept through it.
I felt fine waking up but I called P to tell him what I did. I was preparing to pay him however much he wanted, but when we talked he wasn’t concerned about money. He was concerned about my health. Said it was fucking heroin, and how stupid I was for just snorting a powder I found on my floor, and especially not for telling him I was doing it. He basically yelled at me because he said I could’ve overdosed since I’m not used to it. I asked him if he had any more and he lost his shit at me, telling me I was ruining my life and shit. I was just in shock, because my friend T never seemed like the type to associate with a heroin junkie, and it wasn’t what I was preparing for. I don’t know what I had been thinking it was. Something more tame.
P refused to help me out and after talking to another friend I decided I wasn’t going to try to get high again, because I was afraid I’d hurt myself.
About a week and a half later I was babysitting my niece while my sister and her wife were out overnight. After my niece was in bed I was making myself a place to sleep and found a safe in the linen closet. I didn’t think. I just started to try to open it. And it was their wedding anniversary so it was easy to get into it. Inside they had a bunch of stuff, but I ignored the cash (like an idiot) and found a pill bottle of OxyContin, with my sister in law’s name on it. I opened it to nineteen pills, and took them all. I locked the safe back up with the pill bottle, now empty, still inside.
I hate the fact that I did this. But since it’s anonymous here, I’m telling the truth. One place I don’t have to lie.
The next day I snorted two pills and saw stars. It wasn’t quite as amazing as the first time with heroin, but it was pretty fucking spectacular. But I knew I only had a small amount so I focused on getting heroin.
I went back to the spot where P got heroin that night. I stood out in the snow for a few hours, checking my phone and playing stupid, before giving up. But my feet still hurt from it.
I called P and asked to meet him for lunch. Maybe he suspected something because he brought T along as well. We went to a nice restaurant where it was impossible for me to casually ask where to find heroin around. But I had become completely obsessive. It was the only thing that mattered to me anymore.
So I just asked. In front of T and the entire restaurant. “How do I contact that man we met” or something as cryptic and pathetic as that.
P gave me a phone number and I finally felt relieved.
I’ve been texting this man, call him L, for months now. I never had guessed how expensive it would be. I’m on top of it, like I don’t think my boss or my sister suspects anything. I’m managing to pay for it but I don’t have money for much else. I had to stop drinking coffee in the mornings and shit like that.
Looking back it’s actually so insane how this happened. I know it’s crazy. I had a moral code that I believed in that I threw out the window just to chase that feeling I had in December. That one goddamn feeling where they only thing that mattered was the pleasure.
I know it’s a problem but I can’t tell anyone in my real life because I know how scared they’d be. It sounds worse than it is. You hear heroin and you think the worst but I think I have it under control. I’m just disgusted with myself for lying and stealing.
Am I crazy, though? For thinking I can do this? Because it really feels like I can. It honestly feels like fate that I found it that night. It’s the only thing that makes me feel okay. The only thing. And if it kills me in the long run I guess I don’t really care because it gave me new life.

Hello all,
I am looking forward to purchase a new Jeep Wrangler. The 4xe plugin does look exciting to me given that I am going to drive jeep mostly in cities. Could be called a mall crawler or soccer mom/pop vehicle.
I do know that the Jeep wranglers usually have better re-sale value and many people also recommend to always get a new one rather than used because the used ones sell near to new prices.
However, I am not sure about 4XE resale or if all the issues have been ironed out by now.
Can someone share opinion how good are 4xE in term of resale value vs non-hybrid and if these still have any issues?
Also, if someone is aware of good deals in California please share.
Thanks in advance.

I'm newish to the city and have been traveling a ton for work so I haven't gotten out to explore nearly enough. I'm a bit of an introvert but I open up pretty fast. I love trying new restaurants and long walks along the lake. I'm also big into fantasy and sci-fi. I finished House of Dragon recently and damn I've got some opinions! No spoilers though! I don't play too many video games but I'm down to pick up some new ones. I mainly like strategy games and city builders.
My main hobbies are aquariums and houseplants! I have a bunch of house plants and 2 fully planted aquariums. I love talking about and showing photos of my tanks! I've got a gorgeous silver Betta Imbellis and 3 very cool gold spotted ottocinclus.
Feel free to shoot me a message if you think we'd get along or if you need a friend to try out a new coffee shop with!

So many of the restaurants in my local apps say 3.5 miles, 5 miles etc from pick-up to drop-off, but it's just not true. Half of the restaurants featured in app are nearly in an entirely different city, but they're still labeled as nearby spots.
I learned quickly. It really upset me to realize my driver had to come 7, 8, almost 10 miles outside of their usual routes AND THROUGH HEAVY TRAFFIC to bring me food, because I trusted the apps supposed distance. I will never make that mistake again.

Looks like the Bee saw my earlier post.
They call attention to the fact that, for the most part, people enjoyed outdoor dining during the pandemic. Today, the program that's supposed to make outdoor dining permanent is crumbling.
How does Reddit feel about this? Personally, I'm dismayed that the Al Fresco program is inefficient, and I consider it a failure. The only thing it has accomplished is removing parklets and outdoor dining from the grid. Summer is here, and I would really love to enjoy dining on R street, or in the pop-up near Beast and Bounty. And who doesn't love the Rind's parklet? While I understand the need to change it to be ADA compliant and what not, its unfortunate that the Al Fresco program is prohibitively expensive to allow for the Rind to retro-fit their parklet. From the article:
"Yet $20,000 won’t cover retrofitting all patios to meet city codes. That’s one reason The Rind is removing its L Street patio, owner Sara Arbabian said, along with the strain it put on her small restaurant’s kitchen staff. To be compliant with the city’s new requirements, The Rind’s lifted wood patio needed a ramp or wheelchair lift, better drainage and to ensure that their structure didn’t stress the roots of a large tree that sat in the center. It’d cost $30,000-$40,00 to renovate on top of sunk costs".
The article mentions that some restaurants have managed to make the Al Fresco program work for them, but these restaurants seem like exceptions to the rule. At this point in the year, it's mind-boggling to me that we are still this far behind and no new parklets have been completed. Of the 85 restaurants that applied for the initial temporary grants, only one of them has applied for the formal program. This makes me think that the new program is prohibitively expensive.
Serious reform is needed here IMO. Open to your thoughts as well. Going to paste the article in the comments.

Headlines: https://youtu.be/IH5MFOmmZPI
Deadly Shooting / Moody St. Hyrbid Closing / New Candidates / Waltham Pride / Housing Notification Ordinance / Energy-Efficient Building Codes / Proposed Sober House / Lexington Power Plant
Debrief: https://youtu.be/IH5MFOmmZPI
1:00 What to expect from Waltham Pride? (Nick Hammond) 3:10 Speakers at Pride 4:40 Where’s the money come from for Waltham Pride? 6:46 Volunteer at Waltham Pride! 9:25 Waltham Reproductive Justice Paint Event @ Pride! (Amanda Kennedy) 10:45 Sneak Peak at Portrait 13:45 Waltham City Council Passed Pride Resolution - Not Everyone Signed On 16:30 Shoulda Been A Roll Call 21:06 Tenants Rights Ordinance 26:20 Difference Between a Citizen Input Hearing and a Public Hearing 30:00 Sober House Application Goes Awry 33:20 Clips From the Meeting 38:20 Councilor Bradley-MacArthur's Climate Resolution Shot Down 43:00 If The Whole World Doesn’t Agree To Do Something, It’s Not Worth Doing (Councilor Lafauci) 46:25 This Puts Anthony Lafauci To The Right of Oil Industry 50:30 Waltham Should Be Leading, like We Used To
Headlines transcript:
Waltham resident Shelson Jules passed away on Monday 5/22, apparently from a gunshot that occurred about 1:30am near Lyman St. and Faneuil St. According to a gofundme set up to support his family, Shelson was also known as JJ and was a 22 year-old alum of Waltham High School. Waltham Police and the district attorney are investigating the shooting and so far no additional details have been made public.
This weekend is the first weekend a portion of Moody St. is closed to cars this year under the new "hybrid" plan that allows for outdoor dining but with more restrictions than in past years. Moody St. from High St. to Pine St. will be closed to cars Thursday evening through Sunday, as well as some holiday Mondays , from now through September 25. According to a WCAC article, business owners have mixed feelings about the new arrangement but 12 restaurants as well as the Game Underground have applied to use outdoor space.
A few more prospective candidates have pulled papers for this year's Waltham election. They include one more person who's been part of our Channel 781 News team-- Chris Hammer, who has helped us with video production, plans to challenge Councilor Harris in Ward 8. In addition Tammy Wong-Bigelow is the first challenger to pull papers for the School Committee race, Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey has pulled papers for Ward 3, and elementary principal Stephen Duffy plans to run at-large.
Waltham Pride is happening next Saturday, June 3 on the Waltham Common. This is the third time in Waltham's history that we've had our own Pride event, and the second year on the Common. Some of last year's popular performers will be returning including Missy Steak, Evan Greer, Toast, Katie Gullotti, Rose Bello, and Zumba with Jen, along with a new drag performer Iris Laveau. Speakers will include community members from the middle school, high school, Brandeis, a local Church, and Waltham's recently formed Trans Alliance. That's 11-4 on Saturday and if you'd like to help out, there's still time to sign up as a volunteer. We'll have Nick Hammond and Amanda Kennedy on our debrief show to talk more about th event.
In this week's city council meeting, Councilors Bradley-MacArthur, Paz, and Darcy introduces a resolution recognizing Pride month and calling for a Pride flag to fly on the Common. The council voted to approve that without committee reference.
Also in this week's meeting Councilor Paz re-submitted the housing rights notification ordinance, and the council set a date for a citizen input hearing to take place Wednesday 6/21 at 6:30pm at Government Center. That ordinance was originally proposed by Watch CDC and would require landlords to give tenants in danger of eviction information about their rights. The new version Paz submitted includes language that also protects homeowners in danger of foreclosure.
Also in recent meetings, the city council shot down a proposal to make Waltham's building codes more energy efficient. The state sets standard that require new buildings or renovations to meet a certain level of energy efficiency, but municipalities can choose to adopt "stretch codes" that require a higher standard, which Waltham has done in the past. Councilor Bradley-MacArthur submitted a resolution to adopt the latest stretch codes, which was discussed at the Public Works & Public Safety Committee on 5/15. At that meeting Councilor LaFauci argued that the standards were too difficult to meet and would cost the city money by deterring people from renovating their homes. He said that "fossil fuels are not going away" and argued that it doesn't make sense for Waltham to take steps to address climate change if not all states and countries are doing it. The committee recommended the council file the resolution with prejudice, meaning they will not take action on it and no one can submit a similar resolution for at least a year. In the following meeting the council voted to do just that despite an effort by Councilor Bradley-MacArthur to send it back to committee.
Also at this meeting neighbors showed up to oppose a proposed lodging house on Robbins street that would provide shared bedrooms for about 20 people in recovery from addictions. That was sent to committee and we'll talk about that more on our debrief show.
A proposed solar plant in Lexington near the Cambridge Reservoir and the Waltham line was approved by the Lexington Planning Board on 5/17. The City of Waltham previously went to court to prevent developers from building an access road to the plant through a Waltham neighborhood, but lost. More recently Waltham neighbors organized to pressure the Lexington government not to approve the project. At the recent council meeting Councilor Darcy requested certain city department heads come to the next meeting to discuss.
There's no city council meeting this week but committee meetings will return June 5.

My name is Alice, and my best friend for the past 9 years is Carol, we’ve have been friends since middle school when we were both 10, she was by all rites my sister, I was an only child, and she filled the void of not having any brothers or sisters of my own. We would spend most days together at my house, she was one of five siblings, her parents managed, but struggled to keep up with all the bills, so her spending nights at my house were frequent, I’m talking about 20 to 30 times a year. My parents treated her like a daughter, my mom would even spend time in private talks with her and without me, like mother, daughter talks. Of course, me and my mom had the same type of relationship, but Carol’s mom was too busy to have these kinds of talks with her, so my mom was the mother figure to her. Carol was part of our family, and we all respected each other. When she would spend those nights with me, my dad would always drive her home the next day. When my dad would take her home, he always returned 30 minutes later, but she only lived 5 minutes away, He would always walk in with a half-drunk Slurpee when he returned. I never really thought much about it then, life went on as normal. When she would spend those nights at my house for sleepovers, my mom would look in on us maybe once a night if at all, but my dad would check in 3 to 4 times and always say something or try to join in our conversations.
Fast forward 8 years, we just graduated high school, at the end of summer I was heading off to college in another state, she was going to remain in our little town and go to the state university about 20 miles away. We live in a small town 10 miles from a large city, but our town has only about 10,000 people, just enough for 2 elementaries and 1 high school so everyone knows everyone. Carol some how always had money, but she didn’t have a job, I had money from a part-time job and my parents both had great jobs, my mom was a RN for a large hospital in the city and my dad was a partner of a law firm he started right out of college and had build himself up as the top law firm in the city. He did a lot of charitable work and was on several committees helping small businesses. I could ask for anything, but they gave me just what I needed, like a car and paying for my college, the rest I tried to earn for myself. One day Carol drives up in a used car and I asked where it came from, she replied that her uncle gave it to her as a gift for her graduation. I had never heard about this uncle, she said that he was around, but didn’t get along with the rest of her family so she never spoke of him. Carol was a beautiful girl with long black hair, she hadn’t cut it since before we met, it hung down her back all the way to her butt, she always kept it in a ponytail, you could always tell it was her even from the back because it was unique. I am a pretty good-looking girl, I have no problem finding dates or boyfriends, Carol on the other hand, never once had a boyfriend, not because they didn’t ask, she would always turn them down, saying she wasn’t ready to get tied down to any guy.
One day my mother took me out to lunch and told me that she suspected my dad is having an affair, she said she looked over the bank statements, he was taking money from their accounts weekly, between 500 to 800 dollars each Friday and never had anything to show from it. She said that she may hire a PI to help her get to the bottom of it. I said let me investigate it first, I was going to college for journalism, this would be great practice for me, my dream job was to become an investigative reporter. She said okay, I have the summer, then when I left for college, if I hadn’t found anything she would hire a PI and I agreed. We finished our lunch and told her not to say anything to dad, because it would be harder to catch him if he thought she may know anything, she agreed, this would be our secret.
I told Carol about the situation, she said that she couldn’t believe my dad would ever cheat on his family, she said that both my mom and I were crazy. But said she would help me, she said that she wanted to prove he was doing nothing wrong, but she would keep an open mind. That Saturday I followed my dad as he left the house and he ended up at the library, I walked in and I saw him in the law section reading and he was alone, I walked out and sat in my car for 4 and a half hours. He drove to a restaurant, I could see him from the parking lot as he sat alone, he had a slice of pie and a soda. He left there and just took a walk to the local park, I stayed out of sight, he just sat on a park bench and pulled his phone out, texting someone for the next 30 minutes. He got up and walked back to his car and drove home. I kept driving to kill 30 minutes before returning home, I had found nothing and was disappointed with myself, but happy for my mom. I told Carol what I seen but all she said was I told you your dad’s not a cheater. I looked at her and said this was only day one and who was he texting for 30 minutes. She said maybe another lawyer. I knew she was right, I was grasping at straws, but something didn’t feel right, I was going to continue the investigation.
The following Saturday I had to work, Carol said she would follow him and take notes as to what he was doing and report back to me later that night. I thanked her, I told her she didn’t need to get involved, but she said she felt like she owed it to our family, because of all the years being treated like a daughter. That night Carol and I met up at a coffee shop and she said she followed him to a mall and he went into a bunch of stores but never bought anything, she said he was alone the entire trip other than when he went to the food court and sat with another couple, but it appeared he sat there because no other tables were open, he just sat and ate without saying anything to the couple. I thanked her and we just had a normal evening and went to see a movie. The next Saturday came up and I followed him again and he did exactly the same as I watched him two weeks ago right down to the pie and texting in the park. Carol was just too easily willing to give up, but I wasn’t done yet. She said I was wasting my time that could be better spent studying for college to get a head start. I found this very strange, she never cared about my studies while we were in school why now.
I told her I had to work on the following Saturday, she said she would watch him again. I started to get a gut feeling something was off. I took that day off and I followed them both to the mall. I put on a hoodie that I borrowed by a guy friend, I kept the hood on as I watch and videoed them from my phone as my dad and Carol walked the mall hand in hand, stopping at stores as he bought her clothes, shoes, and they even stopped into a jewelry store and looked at rings together, I had it all on tape. When they left, I continued to follow as they took my dad’s car to a motel, and I saw him get the key from the office and signal her to join him. They both walked into the room. As I was waiting, I was livid, how could my best friend do this to our family. 3 hours later they emerge from the room, he returns the key, then they drive back to the mall, and they say their goodbyes with a long kiss. He drove home and Carol called me as she was still sitting in the mall parking lot to tell me, she watched him all day, but he just walked the mall like her previous investigation, but I knew the truth. I didn’t say anything and thanked her for all her time.
I needed to find out when it started and I just knew it was on her phone, so I went to her house and was immediately told she was in her room. I walked in to see her reading a book, I said I just met these two amazing guys, they wanted to meet up at a new under 21 dance club. She was reluctant to go, but I pleaded with her, she said she had to wash her hair and get ready. This is what I was hoping for, as soon as I heard the shower, I opened her phone messenger and started typing in my dad’s phone number, the name Michael showed up, my dad’s name is Tony. I open the texts and there are thousands of them going back to when she was just 15 years old, the first text was her thanking him for her new phone. I forwarded the entire chat to my home PC and it took 20 minutes. There were so many, I closed her phone just in time for her to re-enter the room. We went to the dance club, I said I didn’t see them, they never existed so of course I didn’t see them, so we left after about an hour. Went to get a bite to eat and drove her home.
That night I spent it going through all of the text starting from the first one and documenting them all. There were talks about how much she enjoyed sharing a Slurpee with him before he dropped her off from our sleepovers. And the car that he bought her, not the uncle as she told me, my freaking dad bought her a car. I even had proof when they had sex for the first time, when she was 16. It also was a bunch of thank yous, for paying for her car insurance and the money my dad had given her weekly, that’s why she always had money. I put this on a thumb drive along with the edited video I had taken during the day. I made 6 copies of the thumb drives, I placed them into envelopes and on the outside it was typed LAWYER IS A CHILD MOLESTER. Inside I had typed a cover sheet stating that a prominent lawyer in the city, was a child molester and the proof was in the thumb drive included.
I had one bit of revenge for my best friend, I asked her out for dinner at the restaurant I worked at, she agreed, I set the table up where her back was facing the kitchen, I went to get our dinner or she thought, when I returned I was so quiet, I walked up as she was writing a text to my dad. I took her hair as I had done many times before, she slammed her phone down on the table face down. And I said how nice it looked today, pulled out the freshly sharpened knife and a final how nice it looked, I lopped it off as she sat there, I walked next to our table as she was grabbing the back of her head, I dropped the ponytail on the ground as I stared into her eyes. She immediately tried to pick up her hair as if she could glue it back on or something, I said this is what you get for having an affair with my dad.
I had sent the thumb drives to the city mayor, the DA’s office, The police department, The local news station one to her parents and one I gave to my mother. When Carol got home the reporters were already camped out on her front lawn. When I returned home, we had news crews and cameras staking out our house also, along with 3 police cars, I watched my dad being taken out of the house wearing handcuffs. He was arrested and will lose everything. I was consoling my mom, when we got a call from CNN looking for a statement, I declined, but was told this was going to get aired tonight, so this was our chance to make a statement, but we still declined. I turned on the TV and my dad was everywhere, every station local news and network news stations. He was on the front page of our local newspaper and the city newspaper. His story was even in the New York post.
Mom and I took a long vacation and disappeared for the next month and let things calm down. When we returned my dad had moved all his clothes out of the house, now he lives in a rundown apartment trying to find a lawyer that will work for him. Carol was kicked out of her family’s home due to the disgrace she brought onto her family, Carol left our town due to shame. Nobody that I know knows where she went or what happened to her, I guess the police must know because she will have to testify against my father at some point. We are still in the thick of things, but I have put college off for the near future to help my mom as this works through the courts and as she files for divorce. We are going to family counseling and trying to piece our lives back together. My dad faces so many charges starting with child molestation because of the text when the first sexual encounter was, he is also facing charges for manipulation of a minor for sexual purposes, and other charges stemming from his affair. He is looking at a possible 10 years of incarceration. I have no feeling for either of them, they manipulated me and my mom for years, they can both rot in hell for all they did to us.

After a relaxing European vacation with one of his employees, Mark Schaming, director of the New York State Museum, is back and ready to get to work. All who know the man will tell you that he's displayed new energy and ambition after Chris Churchill of the Times Union insinuated that he is unfit in his job as director of the New York State Museum. As Mr. Churchill writes:

The full-sized carousel, up on the fourth floor, has been closed for maintenance for years. The museum's famous subway car is also off-limits, with a sign telling visitors it's closed for repairs. Discovery Place, the building's hands-on learning center for young kids, is also closed.
Those aren't the only disappointments. The State Museum no longer offers a restaurant or any sort of fresh food, forcing visitors to line up at vending machines to quell their grumbling tummies. Some escalators and elevators are out of service. The museum, on the whole, feels forgotten.

From the imposing stone edifice of the Cultural Education Center, Mr. Schaming is cognizant of the cries of the people. This reporter can confirm from a recent visit that Discovery Place has reopened after only three years of closure. JP O'Hare, a spokesperson for the State Museum, explained the long closure, saying that "the pandemic forced us to rethink touchable exhibits."
Visitors to the newly reopened Discovery Place will see that the State Museum has taken to heart rethinking touching exhibits, as it is clear the room has been largely untouched after years of "rethinking" and "renovation." From a cursory glance, it seems to me that the only changes are the removal of all books, toys, puzzles, handouts, and staff.
Now, as a scattering of sources indicate, the New York State Museum approaches its pièce de résistance, the reopening of its carousel which has been closed since 2019. After much digging, it appears the cause of the closure was some minor damage the carousel experienced when it violently (and potentially lethally?) exploded during regular operation. Thinking it unsafe to have metal suspension beams swinging about and shrapnel flying as children rode the carousel, a repair effort was initiated.
The century-old artifact was ridden into the ground (or, technically, helicoptered into the air) once due to poor operating conditions, but the people of Albany ought feel confident that mistakes were learned from. Previously the carousel was operated nearly constantly and without proper care in place to keep the artifact balanced. Although unconfirmed, word is that now the carousel will be operated nearly constantly and without proper care in place to keep the artifact balanced. It is said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, but I call going in circles a carousel.
Fortunately for the carousel, it looks like staffing constraints will interfere with the planned constant operation of the carousel. This is being swiftly addressed by Mr. Schaming, though not by hiring new staff. Rather, as at least one source indicated, Mr. Schaming is currently interested in changing the job descriptions of people in different departments to include carousel operation.
It may seem strange that Mr. Schaming is reticent to staff his museum, but the reader must understand the important considerations behind these decisions. One must first be aware that in 2015 the New York State Museum received $14 million in funds for a massive three to four year renovation. As Paul Grondahl of the Times Union wrote in 2015:

The State Museum will undergo a $14 million renovation that will dramatically re-imagine the exhibits with dynamic technology, interactive displays and a fresh form of narrative storytelling.
When the work is finished in three to four years, it will represent the largest upgrade to the capital city's most popular tourist attraction since it opened in 1976 at the newly built Empire State Plaza.

The expected completion date is in the rear view mirror, and it's now common knowledge that the $14 million gas tank is mostly fumes. Although it has been difficult to unravel exact information, best evidence suggests that currently the State Museum has $5 million still in the pocket. It's time for tightening the belt, and part of that looks to be staffing cuts.
One may be concerned that Mark Schaming, director of the New York State Museum, is having difficulty performing his job. Fortunately the director of the New York State Museum is overseen by the Deputy Commissioner of Cultural Education, who is also Mark Schaming.
One may then be concerned that Mark Schaming, director of the New York State Museum and Deputy Comissioner of Cultural Education, is having difficulty performing his two jobs. Fortunately the director of the New York State Museum who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Cultural Education is overseen by Sharon Cates-Williams. Ms. Williams, who herself holds the two jobs of Deputy Commissioner of Performance Improvement & Management Services (PIMS) and Executive Deputy Commissioner, stated to Mr. Churchill on the matter:

I think he's doing a good job wearing two hats. It does not interfere with the core mission of the museum, and it's a decision that we stand by.

One may then be concerned that Sharon Cates-Williams, herself wearing two hats and self-supervising, may have some biases. Fortunately the Deputy Commissioner of PIMS who is also the Executive Deputy Commissioner reports to Betty A. Rosa, the Commissioner of Education.
Dr. Rosa has served as Commissioner of Education since 2021 when she, as Chancellor of the Board of Regents, elected herself Commissioner of Education. Unlike others, she gave up her former position as Chancellor of the Board of Regents upon her self-election. It is unclear how she feels about others who do not likewise content themselves with wearing only one hat.
Perhaps we soon will have an opportunity to ask Dr. Rosa. Although details are sparse, it has been indicated that Mr. Schaming is planning a victory celebration for managing to successfully reopen the carousel after four years. Specifics on the event and even the exact date have been infuriatingly kept under wraps, but it is speculated that Mark Schaming and Betty A. Rosa plan to celebrate this monumental occasion by giving speeches and riding on the carousel with elementary school students.
We can safely say that the sun is rising on the New York State Museum. After only four years the State Museum has managed to successfully "renovate" Discovery Place through the power of downsizing and is on the cusp of reopening the carousel under the same conditions which led to its prior destruction. With only $5 million remaining in the pocket and only running about five years behind schedule on a grand renovation, who knows what wonders we can expect in the years to come.

I spent 2 weeks traveling through Japan - Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and I'm writing this for those who are thinking about visiting. To preface, I did travel with a friend but spent a lot of time on my own. I'll cover as much as possible.
Pre-Trip
I booked a flight with American Airlines / Delta Airlines for $590 round-trip three months before departing.
I flew out of Los Angeles to Tokyo (Haneda). The trip started on February 9 and ended on February 20. I booked my accommodation before arriving in Japan. I used Hostelworld and Agoda. More about the hostels and hotels I booked are below.
COVID Screening and Visa information for US Citizens only
During the time I visited, Japan still required visitors to be fully vaccinated and have a pre-screening for arrival. First I had to do a pre-screening for American Airlines on VeriFly (please do this a day before checking in at the airport if so). Then, save yourself time and use Visit Japan Web (http://vjw-lp.digital.go.jp/en/) and do the pre-screening requirements a couple of days before departure.
When you land in Tokyo, immediately after deplaning, swaths of airport personnel ask if you have the screener filled out and ready to go. If you don’t, they put you to the side and ask you to fill it out using the airport’s wifi. It takes time and you still have to go through customs after.
Visas for US citizens is a free, 3-month visa if I recall correctly. Bring your COVID vaccination card just in case they ask for it.
Tech/Phone
I took my iPhone 14 Pro (unlocked) and connected buying Ubigi 10gb data plan. Do this before flying to Japan. When you land, you can activate your data plan directly on your phone. I didn’t get pocket wifi as the Ubigi worked perfectly.
Download the Ubigi app. They give instructions but please follow them.
Apps that I used:
Google Maps: you can download offline maps.
Google Translate: Use this everywhere you go. You can use the camera feature and it can translate Japanese to English really great. It saved me a lot of hassle when ordering at restaurants.
Currency Converter
You might want to download a VPN if you want to use Netflix and such. Express VPN is one I’d recommend.
Money/Currency
I took my Charles Schwab debit card and a backup Chase credit card/Chase debit card. Surprisingly, a lot of stores in Japan are cash-heavy; especially small shops and restaurants. My budget for the trip was $2000 with flights included.
Hostels and hotels were around $20-35 USD. Food prices were about $7-$20 a meal. It can get really expensive if you eat at fine dining restaurants. That being said, I stuck to eating mostly at hole-in-the-wall establishments where no English was spoken. Believe me when I say that the best ramen I ever had was only $7 USD. More on what restaurants I recommend are down below. If you really want to save money, don’t buy alcohol.
A solid budget for me was $60-$80 per day without lodging expenses. Some days, I only spent $40 which was all food (I spare no expense for food), then some days I went over because I bought cool souvenirs for myself and some excursions were pricey. You can visit Japan for less but I didn’t want to money pinch myself because I was only there for 2 weeks.
Transportation
I love Japan for this reason. So here’s my take: If you are visiting Japan for exactly 14 days; get the JR Pass on Klook. You buy this a month before departing your home country. For me, Klook delivered it about a week after I bought it over Mail. You could buy either a 7, 14, or 21-day JR pass so I would recommend planning a trip that matches these exact number of days to get the most out of your money.
Now imagine you’re in Japan. It is your first day officially visiting…go to a JR Pass office at any major train station and ask them to redeem your pass. They will ask for the paper ticket that arrived in the mail to your home and they will ask for your passport. After they verify that it is you, they will give you a small ticket which will be your JR pass. DO NOT LOSE THIS! I believe they will not replace it. On how to use it, check out this video.
Now to navigate, I used a combination of Google Maps and Apple Maps to get around. Use whichever one is more comfortable for you. These 2 apps are really exceptional at mapping out the best routes and the times trains depart. Note: the JR Pass only works for JR rail lines! Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka all have their own subways and train lines with their own payment system. More on this…
So the best way to get around the city is using a Suica card. These are sold virtually at any train station. If you can't find it, ask a train station attendant and say “Suica?”. They point you in the right direction.
A Suica card can be refilled unlimited times and can be used for any rail lines (JR included, but not for Bullet Trains). It is used by tapping at the turnstiles to enter the rails and at any vending machine in Japan! Also at arcades! It is a total mindblower haha Also in Tokyo, some hostels or hotels have a 3-day subway pass for cheap.
Bullet Trains - You can use the Shinkansen bullet trains if you have the JR Pass. Make an important note: You can only ride the Hikari or Sakura trains with your JR Pass. The Nozomi and Mizuho are reserved seating and cost extra because they have fewer stops. If they catch you using these rail lines, they will ask you to get off the next stop or worse, fine you and report you. To see Mount Fuji from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka, sit on the right side of the train (right side of the direction it is going). Use Google Maps and Apple Maps to pinpoint when to look out the window.
Food
I usually ate sandwiches and pastries from 7-Eleven in the morning or whenever I needed to pack a lunch. It was a great way to save cash and the food was delicious. High-quality foods and snacks.
As I said earlier, I really spare no expense for good, big meals. I save money at 7-Eleven so I can go all out for lunch and dinner. My go-to meal was usually ramen because it was so damn good. I tried a lot of foods. I’ll try and remember which ones I ate: - Ramen - Okonomiyaki - Unagi - Katsu Curry - Taiyaki - Tempura - Japanese cheesecake - Macha ice cream - Macha waffles - Onigiri - And a lot of different ice creams, confectionary snacks - McDonald’s - please try lol they have interesting combinations
Pack List
I used a 40-liter Osprey backpack.
1 scarf
1 beanie
2 cotton t-shirts
2 thermal polyester long-sleeve shirts (Odor resistant)
2 pairs of joggers
1 pair of Nike thermal leggings
8 pairs of Nike Dri-Fit boxers (lost 1)
4 pairs of ankle socks
3 pairs of Darn Tough Merino wool blend socks (Highly recommend, Odor resistant)
1 parka
1 pair of Adidas Ultraboost shoes
1 Hershel toiletries bag
2 Forge cable combination locks
External battery pack (13000 mAh)
Bose QC-25 noise-canceling headphones
Over the course of the trip, I bought a much-needed 30L Patagonia day backpack
I don’t sweat heavily so I re-wore my shirts, the Merino wool blend socks, and joggers. I did my laundry maybe once or twice at the hostels. It was freezing at the time I went, so I usually layered up when temperatures were lower than usual.
Safety
I am a 6'1" (1.85 m) male with a light brown complexion. I felt safe most of my time there. I think it was the safest country I have ever been to. Some Japanese people are known to be racist but I didn’t experience it. So I wouldn’t worry about it.
Itinerary/Activities
Feb 9 Day 1 Tokyo Feb 10 Day 2 Tokyo Feb 11 Day 3 Tokyo (Day Trip to Odiaba/Yokohama) Feb 12 Day 4 Osaka Feb 13 Day 5 Osaka (Day Trip to Hime-ji Castle/Kobe) Feb 14 Day 6 Osaka (Day Trip to Nara) Feb 15 Day 7 Kyoto Feb 16 Day 8 Kyoto Feb 17 Day 9 Kyoto Feb 18 Day 10 Tokyo Feb 19 Day 11 Tokyo Feb 20 Day 12 Tokyo (Fly Out)
I will put a star (*) next to anything that I highly recommend! 2 stars are for more emphasis! I will list the accommodation first, then activities, and then bars/restaurants.
Tokyo - 3 Nights (Asakusa + Akihabara + Odaiba + Yokohama)
Lodging: Sakura Hostel Asakusa
Activities: *Tokyo National Museum, *Senso-ji Temple, Kaminarimon Gate, Nakamise-dori Street, *Sengaku-ji Temple, Hirose Entertainment Yard arcade, Animate Akihabara, **Mandarake Complex Akihabara, Tsukiji Outer Fish Market, TeamLabs Odaiba, Gundam Yokohama, NISMO Museum Yokohama, Nissan Headquarters Yokohama
Restaurants/Bars: Fuji Ramen Asakusa, Asakusa Unana, *Naruto Taiyaki, *Koyangi Asakusa, *Ouzakura Ramen Yokohama
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka
Osaka - 3 Nights (Kobe + Nara)
Lodging: Backstage Osaka Hostel
Activities: *Hime-ji Castle, *Kaiyukan Aquarium, Dontonbori, Shinsekai, Round 1 Stadium (arcade), *Nunobiki Waterfall Kobe, *Todai-ji Temple, *Nara Park, Kasuga Taisha Temple, Gilco Sign
Restaurants/Bars: *Wakakusa Curry Nara, *Nakatanidou Nara, *cafe CROCO Nara, Fanny Mae Bar Osaka, Rikuro’s Namba Main Branch, PC and Retro Bar Space Station, Bible Club Bar Osaka, Untitled karaoke bar next to Rock Bar Cherry Bomb lol, Takoyaki Wanaka Sennichimae Osaka, Sushi Dokoro Kuromonsuehiro Osaka, *Dotombori Ichiaki Osaka, *Hamamoto Coffee Himeji, Tairku Ramen Kobe
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Osaka to Kyoto
Kyoto - 3 Nights (Day Trip to Uji)
Lodging: **Gojo Guesthouse
Activities: Otagi Nembutsu-ji Temple, Adashino Mayumura (closed when I arrived early), Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, *Tenryu-ji Temple, Togetsukyo Bridge, *Nishiki Market, *pocoapoco Record Store, Super Milk Record Store, *Fushimi Inari Taisha Temple Complex, *Byodo-In Temple Restaurants/Bars: *comorebi Ramen House, 茶室 tea room Uji, *Gion Duck Noodles, 自家製麺 うどん 讃式
Took a Shinkansen bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo - Saw a glimpse of Mount Fuji :’)
Tokyo - 2 Nights (Shinjuku + Shibuya + Akihabara)
Lodging: **Capsule Hotel Anshin Oyado Shinjuku Station (Males Only)
Activities: Tower Records Shinjuku, Disk Union Shinjuku, Mandarake Complex Shibuya, Nakano Broadway, Tokyo Dome for Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, *Shibuya Sky at Night, Tokyu Hands Shop
Restaurants/Bars: Ramen Kaijin, Shakey’s, McDonald’s, Ichiran Nakano
Tips, Advice, and Bonus Stuff!

1. Goes without saying but please respect the local customs.
   
2. Please learn how to say “Thank You” in Japanese! Just learning and using “Arigato” anywhere you go will make you seem like you care and respect everyone. Nothing was more embarrassing than watching an American say “thank you” to a Japanese person.
   
3. Plan to do the major tourist attractions early in the morning. You will get nice pictures without any tourists and you’ll sometimes get the whole temple complex to yourself. The staff will also be more friendly and willing to chat with you. I usually aim to be at temples around 7:00 when they open.
   
4. Use Google Translate for everything! You can have full conversations with friendly Japanese people when using the conversation feature on the app! Use the camera feature to translate Kanji at restaurants that do not offer an English menu.
   
5. Get a Ubigi data plan, I bought 10GB and it had good service anywhere I went. Get more GB if you plan on staying longer.
   
6. I ate at 7-Eleven most of the time when I was too lazy or tired to go out. The 7-Elevens here in Japan are nothing like the ones in the US. Expect to find high-quality sandwiches, Onigiri, and more Japanese snacks.
   
7. Shop at supermarkets near the end of the day (1 hour before closing) and they usually mark down prepped meals half-off or at a discounted price! If you really on a budget, this can help you to save a ton of money and still get a taste of the local cuisine.
   
8. If you need to buy random stuff like clothes, bags, or toiletries; go shop at any Don Quijote or Tokyu Hands department store. They have other shops too that are great to find cool stuff.
   
9. Use Google Translate to translate English to Kanji (Japanese) and use Kanji to find restaurants that are hidden because they don’t use English words. For example, if you want to find the best ramen place, search “拉麺” and you’ll find hidden gems with 5-star reviews!
   
10. The best souvenir I brought back myself was a Goshuincho. These are “honorable stamp/seal book” used by people visiting shrines or temples. If you want more info, google this! I highly recommend doing this!
    

If you have any questions, comment below or send a DM. Peace!

Hi Napoli! I'm excited to be planning a trip to your beautiful city and would love to get some insider advice from the locals. I have a few questions about preparing for our visit, especially in terms of transportation, places to visit with my two kids (ages 7 and 11), and all food related must-taste marvels you have. Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

1. Transportation: a) As we won't have a vehicle, what are the best ways to get around Napoli? Are the public transportation options reliable and child-friendly? b) Are there any specific apps or travel cards we should consider for navigating the city's public transportation system?
2. Kid-Friendly Places: a) We'd love to explore some attractions that are suitable for our children. Are there any must-visit places in Napoli that are particularly enjoyable for kids in the 7-11 age range? b) Are there any museums or cultural sites that offer interactive exhibits or activities for children?
3. Fooooooods: a) We really like food :D What are some really must-taste foods or restaurants we absolutely needs to try ? b) What are some of the most locals goods to buy in super market that you, as Napolitans, eat for a daily basis.
4. We will stay somewhere near "Vico Carceri San Felice". a) Is it ok ? n) Any idea where we can let our luggage between 8am and 5pm, until our room is available ?

We're really looking forward to experiencing Napoli's vibrant culture, history, and cuisine, and would be grateful for any advice or suggestions you can offer. Grazie mille in advance!

Spend 2 weeks in Italy with 2 short stays in Rome separated by a week in Southern Sicily.
I'm not that good at writing, so ...
We've been to Rome many times before, we have a few places to eat that we like, places to visit that we like and also discover new places; my GF is a little less adventurous than I am and not that in shape (she's working on that), so I tried to set destination goals instead of just getting out in the morning and walk aimlessly.
Our flight in got delayed, missed a connection in Zurich, staff was very good at finding us the first plane to Rome, we just lost a couple of hours, no biggie (thanks SWISS Air).
Seriously busted my budget. (worth it, but not funny... lol )
Driving around Sicily was fun; on our way in to Porto Empedocle, the GPS got us on some small roads, weird, but we saw some really nice areas, fields, hills, flowers. Smaller winding hill roads were more complicated because I'm just not used to them, and even if we sometimes blocked other drivers, they were not that impatient and passed us when they had the chance.
​
The weather in Rome for the first few day was OK, not cold, but not warm, a little bit of rain, but not enough to us miserable (lol).
Rome (part 1):

1. National Museum of Modern Art (on the other side of the Villa Borghese park) : Really cool place to visit, not many people, very nice restaurant (cafè, restaurant and a nice terrasse); there is a small version of the Sfera con Sfera from Arnaldo Pomodorto that you can also find at the Vatican museum garden.
2. Botanical Garden: better than last year, roses were all blooming.
3. Did the usual Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps meandering.

Flew to Sicily; this was the discovery part of our trip.
We based ourselves in Porto Empedocle and stayed at a very nice B&B with a pool, but the weather (cool, very windy, rainy-ish) did not permit us to indulged and GF had a nice cold/sore throat and slept 12hours per day. We had a boat tour cancelled (and refunded) because of the bad weather; so did not see the Scala dei Turchi.

1. Porto Empedocle: Nice little resort town; did'nt go to the beach (weather), the pedestrian area was nice with a few good restaurants (Vigata in particular and Il Ritrovo), we did not go to the upper side of the town, as the week went on, there were more and more tourists.
2. Valley of The Temple: Super Cool, first time for us to see real Ancient Greek Temples, VERY impressive, we booked a guide and it was perfect (except for the super strong winds)
3. Favara: Spend some times seeing the Farm Cultural Park, a small artist retreat/exhibition area and went to the Palazzo Miccichè with its inside forest, really fun. Unfortunately the weather was not great and the city seems to be closed down on a Saturday, but we found a nice open restaurant, U MACCICUNI.
4. Agrigento: The weather was not good that day, we just bee-lined to the Museo Diocesan (only thing opened on sunday, we did not stay there long enough, rainy and GF was not feeling it, but I need to go back and climb and walk all around.
5. Weather was good on Monday and we drove to San Leone and see the beach, spend a couple of hours just sit by the sea.

Drove back to Palermo for 24 hours; I loved the city, I need to go back; we had nice weather (for once)

1. We stayed near the Cathedral
2. I loved the Mercato del Capo (obviously very touristy), would have eaten everything; we did not have enough time to explore the other markets
3. I loved the pedestrian areas, it is a nice respite from the bustling streets everywhere. (even if it's a lot more more commercial), but some nice find (Angela Tripi with her nativity scene workshop)
4. I loved what I saw from the small area near the Mercato della Vucciria.
5. Fun little Sweets store at the Dolceria di Santa Caterina.
6. Mostly clean in the more tourist area, lot of trash everywhere else.
7. Cars, cars and more cars ... damn, more cars and cars and scooters ... many piazza that could be nice place are just over-filled with cars (not just palermo, but everywhere in Italy).

Rome (Part 2):
We flew back from Palermo to Rome with stupendous weather, warm, sunny.

1. Went back to brave the hordes of tourist (us included) at the Vatican Museum, we spend a lot of time in the Sculpture area and Pinacoteca and the modern arts after the Sistine Chapel. (we rushed as more we could the long corridors)
2. Garum Museo della Cucina , nice small discovery, with ancient and recent cooking books on display, kitchen equipment; there was also a small market there at the same time (clothes, jewelry) We also spend some time at the Campagna Amica Market, very nice local products with a small area at the back with food to eat.
3. Walk back to our place and stopped at the Galleria Doria-Pamphilj, we found that they have a really nice fancy outside restaurant in the courtyard, one of our best meal of this vacation.
4. Antique Market at Ponte Milvio on the GIRO Sunday, we got lucky, walked toward the Vatican and got a taxi just on the other side of the street closures (same when getting back), market seemed smaller than last year (?)
5. We enjoyed the GIRO, watched the laps on Vittorio Emanuele II. They GO FAST.

​
All in all an enjoyable vacations.
We will probably spend more time in Sicily next time, maybe in early October (or even the same time as weather seems unnaturally bad this year).
Maybe on the eastern side (Noto/Ragusa) and some wineries we know near the Etna.
Anyway,.

Previous
That night Simon and Nemeria watched from the rooftop of a rented apartment in Coven as shooting stars fell over Homeworld for the first time. "Make a wish, my love." She said as she put her head in his lap, the rapidly disintegrating space station above filling the sky with streaks of light that reflected in her eyes.
He thought about it for a second. "Should I tell you what it is?"
"No, definitely not." Nemeria replied. "Then it won't come true."
"Oh… then I will not." Simon said as he played with her hair. For a moment he felt as if he were standing at a crossroads, straddling two potential futures, then the feeling faded. He had wished for them to have a happy life together. He felt they at least deserved that after all they had been through and all the time they had spent apart.
The morning after Haven fell something interesting happened. Pirate radio stations began to emerge, filling the airways with music, but it wasn't like anything they had heard before. It was something new.
"Good morning Homeworld!" Called out a rough but enthusiastic voice in Dansk from the clock radio on the dresser. It was out of arm's reach, probably so the person being woken up would have to actually get out of bed to shut it off. "This is not a test, this is rock and roll! Time to rock it from Katzenlund to the Winter lands! Is it too early to be this loud? Too late!"
Simon frowned at the clock radio. He didn't remember scheduling an alarm. "I'm Mr. Bones and this is human music! I'm going to start off with a favorite of mine, Zombie by the Cranberries!"
He went to turn it off but Nemeria tackled him before he could reach the button. "Do you dare." She said as she pulled him back into bed. "That song is a classic."
So instead of starting the day early they stayed in bed and listened to The Doors, Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed, and Pink Floyd. It was surprisingly good, even if his wetware had a hard time translating the lyrics.
"Human music on the radio." Nemeria mused, her head on his chest. "I never thought I would see the day."
"Oh? I just assumed you people didn't like to share." Simon tousled her hair, it was starting to change from dull brown to a more vivid copper red.
"No. There are countermeasures in place, Haven would have sent a kill team to destroy anyone who tried or just blasted the site from orbit. We had a black market, exchanging things from the old world, books, music, things to keep us sane. But it was very hush hush." Nemeria looked at him, her eyes were different too, they were an almost opalescent green. Something had changed in her. "I want to read you something."
"Alright." Simon sat up, his muscular shoulders against the headboard and he listened as she recited Edna and Shakespeare from memory, beautiful human words, full of sentiment and meaning.
"That was beautiful." Simon said. "Why haven't you shared this with me before?"
"It wasn't allowed. You would have felt compelled to share it and then Haven would have come for you." She smiled, but for once there was no pain behind it, or guilt. Perhaps it was the first real smile he had even seen on her face. It was like a weight had been lifted. "But now, there is no Haven. We don't have to worry about them anymore. We can live our lives, start anew."
"You seem different… unburdened." Simon observed.
"I am. I woke up this morning and realized that I don't have to feel guilty for something someone else did. Something that I never played a part in. I should have realized it sooner, but something was blocking me from making the connection." She laid back in bed. "I feel… new? Is that the word? Yes, new. I feel like I'm not the same person who went to sleep last night."
The old hund's words echoed in Simon's mind. He had said he would crack Haven like an egg, destroy the Howl, then set everyone free. So was he free? How different would he be now that his programming no longer bound him to her?
Before they had parted the old hund had given him a piece of advice. He had told Simon that love was a choice, not a feeling. That if he wanted things to work out with Nemeria he would have to choose her, and keep choosing her, to decide once and for all that he would always love her. And to stand by that choice.
"Would you please give me your ring?" Simon asked. "There's something I need to do."
Nemeria slipped the silver band off her finger and handed it over. Then Simon sat her on the edge of the bed and knelt down. "The world is new, we are new, so I ask… will you marry me? Will you be my wife?"
Nemeria paused, realizing that she had a choice to make. Before then she had been hard coded to love him, hard coded to believe that she was someone, now all that was falling away. Her mind was free, unshackled. Unburdened. She remembered so much that had been kept hidden from her.
The Red Titan had stolen one of Esmerelda's backup clones and poured their mind into it, essentially putting the mind of one warden into the body of another. But that didn't make her them. She was someone else, someone new. She didn't have to pay for their mistakes anymore.
But what about Simon? Did she love him? Could she love him? Did she want to commit to this when her whole life was ahead of her? And the child, she had agreed to raise a child! Did she even know that she would like being a mother? Or that she would be a good one?
A soft caress brought her back to reality. It was Simon, touching her cheek with the tips of his fingers. "I don't know what is going on, or what tomorrow will hold, or even how I will feel, and it terrifies me. But I know that together we can face anything. We have a chance to choose for ourselves, and I choose you. I promise that I will always choose you."
Then as he went to slip the ring on her finger he repeated what she had told him when she handed him his first Vampirzahn. He didn't know where it came from or what it meant. But the sentiment had been clear, that she couldn't protect him from the world, that she couldn't keep him safe, that this was all she could give and she hoped that it would be enough. "It's dangerous to go alone, take this."
Nemeria laughed and accepted the ring. "Yes it is, isn't it? I suppose you're stuck with me now."
"Damn. Perhaps I should rethink things?" Simon laughed as he pulled her back into bed. "No, I think I like this." He gave her a playful nip on the side of the neck. "Yes, I believe I do."
They made love until the afternoon then went out for pastries and provisions. Somehow it felt right, finally choosing each other. They walked hand in hand, ignoring the looks of surprise at a human and a hund so boldly displaying their affection. GG had said she would contact them when the child was ready to be picked up.
"I can't believe Haven is actually gone." Nemeria said as she sat on a bench eating an ice cream cone. Technically they were in a graveyard, but between the sunshine and the families with their strollers it felt just like any other park.
She took a second to make sure nobody was listening. "I joined some of the old nets anonymously and asked around. Everyone says it was some kind of system failure, or possibly sabotage. Apparently the boosters just went haywire, spun it until it fell apart."
"It's hard to believe it." Simon looked up at the clear sky, there wasn't a single sign of the once proud space station. "I wonder if there will be a backlash against humans now that there isn't anything stopping us from getting even."
"Possibly, but we're resilient and useful. With Haven destroyed I expect you will see a lot of human tech being sold to the highest bidder. And not just tech, entertainment as well. There are a bunch of black market music and books that are going to see the light for the first time in centuries."
Simon felt a call come in from GG and he accepted it. The encryption in their wetware made sure nobody else could listen in. She got straight to the point.
"Someone took out all of the Howl's senior leadership last night." She said over the link, "It was a bloodbath."
Simon blinked in surprise. "What happened? And why wasn't I invited? Was it Las Brujas?" He replied back, his wetware translating thoughts to words.
"Details are sparse but apparently they had an emergency meeting to discuss what to do about the Haven situation and someone took the opportunity to clean house. It was some kind of commando style raid, nobody knows who or why. All the tapes and satellite images were erased. Just a lot of dead bodies." She sent him a few choice photos. "Multiple locations were hit simultaneously. All locations were remote and heavily guarded. Looks like whoever this was they hit hard and fast. Local security was packbound and armed to the teeth, didn't help. They were put down with precise shots and a minimum of fuss. Look familiar?"
He sucked in his breath. Somebody had been using a Jagdkommando carbine, he recognized the tiny entrance and massive exit wounds. Yes, they looked familiar. He had carried that same rifle.
Even five decades after their defeat Döbi still produced some of the most sought after weapons. Half the militaries on Homeworld used their hardware. But these were old classics, pre-war. Someone was sending a message.
New tech was all about drones and smart munitions. Why risk a soldier's life when you could lob a smart grenade through a window that would identify friend from foe and destroy the latter with smart shrapnel? No, this was old school. Someone looked them in the face and pulled the trigger.
Apparently the old hund hasn't been lying when he said he would destroy the Howl. But what kind of power vacuum would that leave? And who would step in? The Howl wasn't just a supremacist group. They ran weapons, narcotics and black market tech all over the globe. They had strongholds in various capital cities and major political protection.
"Any noise on who is going to step up now that they're out of commission?" Simon asked.
"It's too soon to say but my money is on the Bone Syndicate. They've been looking to expand and with the Howl out of the way they'll probably jump at the chance. They've been staying out of the news but my sources say they have been muscling out smaller gangs and taking over their turf. Nobody seems to mind because there aren't gunfights in the streets anymore. But it's still organized crime."
Simon was familiar with the Bone Syndicate, he had even done some work for them after they restructured a few decades back. Territory under their control tended to be mostly peaceful and safe, so long as you followed the rules. They even helped out during national disasters. But the line between gangsters and good samaritans tended to blur.
They might extort local restaurants then give them money to rebuild after a fire. They would blackmail politicians… to ensure a new school got funded. Or to pass a social welfare bill. It was almost as if they had decided that the best way for them to make money was to improve the areas which they controlled. And it was working.
They operated almost in the open and had so thoroughly greased all levels of local government that any attempt to take them down would cause a major budget crisis. But when they did choose violence, it was with massively overwhelming force and military precision. Yes, this sounded like their way of doing things. The old hund must have tipped them off.
"Any news on our bundle of joy?" Simon asked.
"Yes, she is en route." GG confirmed. "She should arrive in a few hours. We have papers for her ready as well as a safe house in Porto."
Porto? Now that was a surprise. "Why Porto?"
"Because they acknowledge mixed species marriages and it's one of the few places you have amnesty." GG reminded him. "You are technically a war criminal. Even if most of the world thinks you are dead."
After the war Porto had offered him amnesty in return for helping them hunt down and kill those responsible for the genocide of their fellow katzen. Porto was after all a mostly katzen nation and they knew how to hold a grudge. So he had joined a task force of other enhanced hunds and katzen with a similar thirst for blood and they had done their best to kill every last one of the people responsible. Afterwards he had gone into the private sector, but it was true, he did have a place to go if he ever felt like retiring.
He contemplated that for a moment. If he was going to raise a child he couldn't exactly run off for months at a time to do contract work. Perhaps it was time to retire, at least until she was grown. It wasn't like he needed the money. Perhaps it was time to become the warrior in the gardens like the old hund had said.
"How do you feel about moving to Porto?" Simon asked after he broke the connection.
"Oh, I have a little place near Intra, on the coast." Nemeria frowned. "I don't think I've been back in quite some time though. Let me check something…"
Her eyelids fluttered as she scanned the net. "Yes, the management company I hired is renting it out. I can have them cancel the bookings and make it ready for us, if that's what you want." She smiled. "It's quite well defended, I purchased it in my post-war phase when I thought everyone was out to get me. We could hold off an army there."
"Perfect." Simon said, squeezing her hand three times and receiving three squeezes back in reply. In the camps that had been their secret way of saying "I love you" and he was happy to see that she still remembered.
He looked out across the park and frowned. "Darling, was that church always there?"
Nemeria followed his gaze, her eyes narrowed. "No… I'd say it wasn't. Now the question is, was it hidden or did it just appear?"
Simon cocked his head to the side, surprised at the flexibility of her thought process. It was like she was waking up, becoming bright again, becoming the person he had fallen in love with in the camps. "Shall we investigate?" He asked.
"Oh yes. Definitely." Nemeria made a gesture with her fingers and he could almost swear there was a faint rainbow flickering of light in the palm of her right hand.
"Dearest, what was that?" He asked as they stalked across the graveyard.
"Oh, it's something old. It goes nicely with the something new." Nemeria said playfully, nudging him with her hip.
Simon mentally filed that strangeness into a drawer marked "wife/human stuff" and put it out of his mind. There was no sense trying to understand it all, to attempt to do so was to invite madness.
The church was old, hundreds of years old. With moss growing from the roof and black stones making up the walls. Which made it very strange indeed that it seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere and hadn't been there yesterday.
"Fascinating." Nemeria said as she turned around, not looking at the church but at the people around them. "Absolutely fascinating."
Simon didn't get it. "What is so interesting, my love?"
"It's an SEP field." Nemeria replied.
"And that is?" Simon pressed.
"Someone else's problem." She turned to him and smiled. "They can all see it, they just ignore it. But look at them. Really look."
Simon did as requested, they seemed like normal hunds to him. There were certainly more bicycles than he was used to but then again this was Coven. Then he looked with his other senses and he quickly realized that what was going on was anything but normal.
Almost everyone in the park was running some form of wetware, even the pups. Warhunds shared data along a kind of mesh network that mixed low power local signals with satellite uplinks and repeaters to allow them to communicate nearly instantly and move as a team. This was something similar but with vastly more users.
He looked up with his mind and touched a commercial recon satellite, purchasing some time through a shell company, accessing its spectral analysis capabilities. The whole city was a hotbed of activity, and the network was growing at an exponential rate.
A wave of digital traffic was spreading out over the country, awakening new mesh nodes as it went, strengthening and spreading the network. Soon it was in Döbi, Möhi, Sühi, and the rest of the continent.
He looked down, his own wetware telling him something very important. It wasn't just the living who were part of the network. Somehow it seemed to be leveraging the dead as well.
Some of the more recent graves seemed to be exchanging packets with the network. Answering queries perhaps? But what could the dead possibly have to say?
"Many things, I would imagine." Said a raspy voice from the entrance of the church, seemingly reading his thoughts. It was an old Döbian with high cut ears, but it was hard to say if it was the same one he had met in his dream. He was wearing plain black clothes and a white priest's collar rubbed with sandalwood, the traditional scent of his station. "Come, you don't want to be late for the wedding."
Nemeria and Simon exchanged a knowing look. "It's our wedding, isn't it?" Simon asked.
"Of course." The old hund said with a dry chuckle. "Who's else would it be? You know that this is one of the few places you two can get married, don't you? Why else bring you here?" He gestured for them to come inside.
Nemeria shrugged and walked towards the door, that same strange shimmer dancing around the fingertips of her right hand. "You said you brought us here. Why?"
"As bait, mostly." The old hund laughed as he turned his back on her and entered the building, talking as he walked. "But also because I have fond memories of this city. Plus the whole marriage thing. It was owed to you, a chance at a happy ending."
Nemeria looked at Simon and raised an eyebrow.
Simon just shrugged. "He's a friend… I think."
The church was well maintained, if dusty. The windows were not particularly ornate and the altar didn't hold anything worth stealing. Simon tried not to let his hackles rise at the idea of being used as bait. But bait for what? He wondered.
The old hund spun on his heel and faced Simon. "Bait… for a warden." He explained. "A very nasty warden who has quietly been growing their power and influence since the war. A cancer which, if unchecked, will spell the end of this world and all within it. Also he is a threat to my granddaughter, so that means he must die."
"How are you reading my mind?" Simon demanded angrily. It seemed like all he had to do was think of a question and the hund would answer it.
"Because to think of a question when we share a network, dear brother, is to ask it." The old hund replied cryptically. "Your wetware is querying me for information, seeing if I have an answer."
Simon frowned. "I know you… don't I? From before the war? You said we were like half brothers…" He felt a name coming to his lips, but it was as if the memory was fighting him. "Are you Gershwin's son? The pup he brought back from the dead? The reason for all this madness?"
"Yes, I am Kerner. As are many others." The old hund shrugged. "I suppose it is a very common name where I come from. Perhaps more common now."
Simon blinked. "Copies… you and the other hund I spoke with… you're copies of Kerner. The same mind spread out over different bodies." He could see it now, the advanced age made it hard to tell but this wasn't the same hund he had met in virtual.
"Duplicates yes, but not necessarily equals. Not until today." The old hund explained. "Only one of us at a time had the ability to make more, to overwrite wetware at will, to influence the Gravekeeper. But he patched out those vulnerabilities yesterday after Haven fell and the Howl was brought low. Now we are all just regular warhunds. The more recent of our number may revert back to their former selves, others will find a middle ground, and the old ones will most likely remain the same. After all, I have been Kerner for most of my life. I see little reason to change now."
"But how many of you are there?" Simon pressed.
"Many." Kerner said with a shrug. "Though now that I have revealed myself perhaps that number will decrease rapidly." The old hund chuckled, gesturing towards Nemeria. "Your other half will see to that if I am unable to stop him."
Now it was Nemeria's turn to be confused. "You don't mean Simon, do you?"
"No, I do not." The old hund sat down on an old wooden chair, looking up at the bare altar. "The problem with making copies is that the original still remains. I was made when Kerner was murdered by his sister during a training exercise. He jumped out of an airplane and realized half way down that his parachute had been sabotaged. I remember feeling his fear, his desperation, and I remember seeing him hit the ground."
The old hund looked back over his shoulder at her. "You my dear are one possible answer to a question. What does one do when the body does not fit the mind? Either the being must suffer, the body must change, or the mind must change."
The old hund went back to looking at the altar. "It's amazing how paths can split. You went one way, and he went another. You took a form to fit your mind, and he altered his mind to accept his form."
There was a polite knock on the ancient timbers of the open church door as a tall well built man with flaming red hair entered the building.
He looked at Simon and smiled. "Hello, Puppy." He said softly. It was Nemeria's old form, her old identity, the Red Titan, very much alive.
Simon realized now that the dead body he saw in the lab as they were fleeing had been a fake. This was Raul Reyes, in all his glory. A flash of anger rose in Simon as he realized that Raul had tricked him, made him think that he was alone for all these years. What a cruel thing to do to someone that you said you loved. The betrayal of it wrenched at Simon's heart, tearing open old wounds.
Simon reached out and took Nemeria's left hand, squeezing it firmly three times. "I choose you." He said. "I will always choose you. Fuck him, he's dead to me."
Nemeria squeezed back three times. "I have your back, whatever happens."

My hometown is only 10,000 people, but the next town over is about 50,000 and growing fast now. This is town has always been our shopping hub, but traffic has gotten terrible in the last 10 years. Everything being built now are large suburban subdivisions on the outskirts of town, where nothing is, and a few main stroads through the town.
They do have a downtown area that they "beautified" with street parking and sidewalks, and it honestly is pretty good. Lots of shops, but the problem is the location because this is the historic downtown which is far from the side of town that's actually growing. So people don't generally go there. Most people go to the opposite side of town where Walmart and strip malls and chain restaurants are.
There's no thought given to bikes or public transit, though the city does have a bus system which is basically a shuttle van with about 2 or 3 routes with a few stops each. No dedicated lanes or anything, but use is very low. Mostly seniors who need to get to Walmart.

Original itinerary here for reference. We planned this trip primarily with Halal food in mind, along with regular sight-seeing locations + shopping for Switch games, clothes, and souvenirs
Overall notes / Takeaways * I rate our trip a 9/10. It was a great time with the authentic halal Japanese food, seeing all the cool sights & places, and experiencing a very nice environment + culture.

• The amount of researching / pre-planning can be a double-edged sword. Things that were unexpected were some of the best experiences. At the same time, if we tightened our itinerary and squared away some details better: we could have saved some cash, lessened on-the-spot deliberations / route planning; and perhaps, squeezed a few more places to visit.
  
• This is where the 1 point ding comes in, especially not realizing until after-the-fact that the 14 day JR Pass was not cost efficient for us, especially with our hotel locations utilizing local lines + purchasing two separate pieces of luggage whereas instead, we should have just brought them from home. (If we had our luggage situation better planned, we would have shopped a bit differently.) This 1 point ding is not a deal breaker at all, and we’re still super happy with the trip.
  
• For our trip with the Halal dietary restriction, it would have been helpful to pickup a sim card for a Japanese phone # to make some reservations ourselves and taxi’ing around in Kyoto when we got tired of walking around. At the end of some of the shopping trips, the 10-15 minute walk back to the hotels were very tiring, and the cost estimates on Google didn’t seem too expensive for short trips.
  

First part of the trip - East side of Tokyo: Asakusa FRI 5/5 Arrival HND arrival was around 2pm, and we got to the hotel around 6:30pm. From there: We were able to start off our trip with Ramen for dinner @ Ayam-ya Halal Ramen Tokyo –> Senjo-jii and Nakamise Street at night (which was not crowded at all at night)

• Airport sidenotes: If you do the JapanWeb form online, make sure to complete it all the way until you get the QR code. I had started the day prior, but didn’t realized I left it incomplete. So we had to step out of line to manually hand-write. Also, we didn’t realize there’s two sets of lines / forms: the first for customs entry and second for customs declarations.
  
• SAT May 6: Edo Castle Ruins –> Tokyo Station (Ghibli, JUMP, Pokemon stores which were all super packed with long lines) –> (walked to Ginza and attempted late lunch at Ginza Tendon Itsuki, but line was too long and we went to MOS burger instead) → Tokyo Skytree Mall (first Takoyaki for my wife here! Some souvenir shopping here) –> Akihabara at night for videogame/anime trinket shopping → Antep Kebab Akihabara for dinner
  
• Sun May 7: Ueno Park –> Akihabara again –> Sushi lunch @ Sushiken Asakusa –> (skip daytime Senso-jii due to rain, and instead return to hotel) –> Yakiniku @ Wagyu Yakiniku Panga –> Rescue Cat Cafe Asakusa Nekoen
  
• Mon May 8: Early AM laundry @ hotel (only did this once), chill (play some Switch games) & Depart hotel (decided against baggage transport this time) –> Tokyo Station and some Ekiben from Ekibenya Matsuri –> Shinkansen
  

Notable Highlights Part 1:

• Ueno Park was our favorite part from this portion of the trip - even though it was raining, there were so many unexpected sights! We thought Edo Castle Ruins would be closer to like how Ueno Park was.
  
• Getting lucky at the halal yakiniku place for dinner without a reservation! Being there at open and the rain may have helped.
  

Notable Mid-light:

• Going to Akibahara twice since the first time where second trip ended up mostly window shopping. The first night, I tried using Google Translate photos on the rows of Switch videogames. This was not efficient, and after the first night, learned it was better to physically and manually go through each game and ask the cashiers if they had specific games with photos/screenshots instead.
  
• We went to different stores each day, and it was really only the first night where we actually bought stuff. I did not find collector Switch steelbooks which I was specifically keeping an eye out for. We didn’t find much luck anime trinkets we wanted here, and instead found those at the next part of our trip.
  
• Notable Low-light: Even though the mall was fun for shopping and there was a festival ongoing, we were unable to reserve actual Tokyo Skytree Towers tickets. This stung a bit since this was after missing lunch at our original place. IIRC, I got stuck on the mobile webpage where it asked for a phone # that needed to be a JP #...although checking now, it doesn’t seem to ask for it.
  

Second part of the trip: Kyoto * Mon May 8 continued: Hotel arrival around 4pm –> Downtown Kyoto shopping (Surugaya) and clothes @ Coco → 7/11 dinner (taxi here would have been really helpful to go to once of the local restaurants, as I started getting foot pains)

• Tues May 9: Gion & Nanzaka, light street food for lunch, including better street Takoyaki –>(skip Philosopher's Path and Central Kyoto area) –> went straight to Kinkakuji –> Downtown Kyoto (luggage, insole, not much luck at more games/anime trinkets at this time) –> South Asian @ MABRUR for early dinner –> called it an early afternoon due to fatigue/foot pain (finally installed the insoles this night with borrowed scissors from front desk)
  
• Wed May 10: Bus to Arashiyama –> Bamboo Forest –> (Missed the Sagano train, did not appear open) –> chill at the Katsura riverside instead → Japanese curry @ Yosiya –> Monkey Forest Hike –> (skip boat ride due to closure / high water levels) –> Fushimi Inari –> chill at Kamo River on our return to hotel –> called it an early afternoon with private onsen reservation waiting for us at hotel
  
• Thurs May 11: chill (play more switch games) and pack in the AM (we used luggage transfer this time) → Ramen @ Ayam Ya Karasuma Kyoto prior to Kyoto departure (which turned out to be her favorite meal from this whole trip) –> Back to Shinkansen
  

Notable Highlights Part 2: * Experiencing all the nature on WED was our favorite part of this portion, especially the rivers! We did not realize the “20 minute walk” would end up a 45 minute hike as we were not prepared, but it was a very fun going up and taking breaks at all the stops.

• We did not expect downtown Kyoto to be as lively and cool at night as we saw it, since we mostly researched the traditional parts of this city beforehand; and we did not expect Kyoto to be where we’d get a lot of our shopping done. The Surugaya here had the most Switch games I purchased at best prices (and the anime bins for trinkets as souvenirs, my wife had a lot of fun here); Gion had a lot of other souvenirs; and downtown had a lot of clothes.
  
• Notable Low-light*: fatigue and foot pain at the end of those days when we did a lot of shopping, especially traveling between different stores (not all of which didn’t have what we were looking for, like the extra Bookoffs and Lashingbangs we visited). Some benches really would have helped. We did buy Dr. Schwartz insoles and cooling pads for our feets at the pharmacy stores here, which helped with some exhaustion, but not all.
  

Last part of the trip: Shibuya/Shinjuku * Thurs May 11 continued: Reach Shibuya @ 6:30pm → Shibuya Scramble once –> Walk to Yakiniku @ GYUMON –> back to Shibuya Scramble and see Hachiko + Tower Record –> grab Chestnuts –> Starbucks at night with upper view of Shibuya crossing

• Fri May 12: Diet Building Observatory (no luck with viewing Mt. Fuji due to clouds, even on the Shinkansen rides) –> Ramen @ Honolu Shinjukugyoenmae –> Friday Congregational Prayer @ Tokyo Camii Center –> Harajuku & Takeshita Street (heavy snack with fried cheese stick + cotton candy) → back to Shibuya Crossing → Shibuya Mega Don Quijote (lots of shopping here) –> (missed the Pokemon Center) → picked up some takehome kebab from near Shibuya crossing → back to the hotel early afternoon/night due to rain and bags full of purchases
  
• SAT May 13: Shinjuku Bookoff (notable for large inventory, but not too cheap compared to Surugaya Kyoto) –> Omoide Ally short walk –> Godzilla @ Toho –> Kabukicho short walk (was looking for the large entrance side, but did not find) –> Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (just the north part, mainly the Botanical Garden) –> Ramen @ Honolu Shinjukugyoenmae –> Nakano Broadway –> Golden Gai (was super crowded, left halfway) –> Uniqlo –> Shinjuku Don Quijote (mainly for luggage scale that we missed) –> Surugaya –> Subway for dinner since we were not able to get in Zen restaurant for vegetarian or seafood okonomiyaki
  
• Sun May 14: Tokyo Tower (one of the only reservations we made) –> Tsujiki Outer Market for light lunch (we ate only at places with small/no lines, everywhere else was packed) –> Odaiba & Diver City Mall + Gundam Base + Gundam Unicorn –> skip lunch for some crepes and banana smoothie, even though there were halal meat places around → (skip teamLabs that we didn’t end up reserving for) → Surugaya Shinjuku (last shot at games/trinkets) –> last Ramen @ Honolu Shinjukugyoenmae –> sad walk back to hotel, but also relief knowing that we’ll be done with all the walking soon.
  
• Mon May 15: finish packing –> taxi to airport (through Booking.com where we made hotel bookings) –> kebab lunch @ Mrs. Istanbul (had to utilize bus transfer between terminals after luggage dropoff) → final souvenir snack shopping inside airport → Depart back home to LAX!
  

Notable Highlights Part 3:

• The Ramen with the Fried Chicken @ Honolu Shinjukugyoenmae was my favorite meal, especially coming back to it so many times!
  
• Friday congregational prayer at Tokyo Camii Center: the sermon was done in 4 different languages (Arabic first, then Japanese, then Melay I think, then English) - that impressed me along with its architecture. It was such a peaceful and familiar experience in a new environment. They gave out some food after (rice+natto I believe plus sesame ball sweets I believe), although we passed since we were still full.
  
• Shibuya Scramble was always fun to walk across! Busiest crosswalk in the world!
  
• Tower Tokyo tour was the nicest tower experience that I’ve had (they served us Lemonade!) and my wife got to take a photo with the Tokyo Tower Mascot, Noppon.
  
• Mega Don Quijote at Shibuya to finish up the bulk of our shopping, especially on souvenirs! Especially picking up Zelda Tears of Kingdom at release day!
  
• Gundam Base & live Gundan Unicorn transformation @ Odaiba Diver City! My wife went into it mostly blind, and was very impressed.
  

Noteable Mid-light: Harajuka and Takeshita street were cool to window browse, but we didn’t find anything we actually wanted to purchase here. It made me realize, like our second time at Akihabara, that window shopping isn’t as fun as actual shopping. -Aside from the Gundam @ Odaiba, we didn’t get too excited about anything else here. If we visited here first / sooner, we may have had a better time (along with keeping an eye out for more Gundam merch earlier throughout the trip). There was a nearby amusement center that was on our original plan to visit too. But at this point, I think we ran out of gas.
Notable Low-light: * The last hotel for me, especially with its location being furthest out from nearest station and not being as nice as the first two hotel.

• The Subway sandwiches (shrimp and tuna respectively) were pretty sad on SAT, although the potato fries they gave were okay (we forgot to ask for ketchup). There was another halal yakiniku place nearby that we stopped by in front of, but decided against it as we wanted something quicker / more casual.
  
• Though not part of the actual trip, on upon LAX arrival: the lack of cleanliness, customer service and organization were immediately noticeable, which reflected on how nice Tokyo & Kyoto were!
  

Other notes

• Biggest shoutout to my wife for being with me and her patience, especially while Switch game hunting and being chaotic while planning!
  
• Hotels: all our hotels were listed as 3 star hotels. We learned that every minute walk closer to the nearest station(s) really makes a difference – i.e. a 5 min walk back to the hotel wasn’t as bad as a 7-8 minute walk, and 10-12 minute walks back where the worst. We did keep an eye on square footage for the rooms (wanted to avoid less than 150 feet² for 2 people). We averaged around $95 USD per night.
  
• Henna Tokyo Hotel - Asakusa was a very nice hotel, especially with the animated front desk and great first time with bidets and warm toilet seats which the other hotels did not have. 183 feet² which felt small but sufficient.
  
• Second hotel - Kyomachiya Ryokan Sakura Urushitei in Kyoto - was a bit further from local bus points, but this was also a very nice hotel, especially as a Ryokan with great customer service and hidden shelve compartments in the room. We also did not expect a 2nd floor for the private garden view, which was also very nice. 156 feet² would have been small by itself, but pretty sure this does not account for the 2nd floor.
  
• Our last hotel, Cloud Himalaya felt like a re-designed local apartment, so it didn’t feel as nice, but it was the most spacious @ 291 feet². It was the furthest away from the local stops/stations. It was a low-light for me, especially compared to the first two hotels. My wife thought it was okay though: she thought it was comfy and the space inside the room made up for it.
  
• -Local Transportation: We only got on the wrong train once, and it was on our first night when leaving HND airport. For the rest of the trip, we didn’t have much issues. The learning curve for us was short to navigate the trains with GoogleMap, by looking at train departure times on our phone directions and platform # to match info listed on the electronic train station boards that have or switch into English.
  
• Even if we took an extra min or two to verify the train/bus to take, and we missed a train that was right in front of us, the trains were frequent enough such that it wasn’t a long delay – usually 5-8 mins at most. Having very little reservations in our itinerary helped in this aspect.
  
• The GoogleMaps LIVE view on directions was a useful feature in finding bus stops, especially in Kyoto and Shibuya/Shinjuku.
  
• Phone Plan: We decided against one Ubigi and one Airalo data plan and just got two Ubigi data plans. Overall, we used only 4-5 GBs each out of the 10 GBs available. Ubigi worked well throughout the 10 days. As noted earlier, having a JP phone # would have been helpful.
  
• Flights: standard flight experience with Delta - around $750 USD roundtrip for each of us. The lack of space didn’t bother us too much except when fumbling around with the meal trays. We requested special accommodations for Halal food on the HND inbound flight, and they provided vegan food which we didn’t enjoy that much (i.e. PICKLE SANDWICH!).
  
• On the return flight to LAX, we did not put in any special accommodations and had a better time with their regular vegetarian food (although the pasta salad was very creamy and the Hagan Dazs they gave were slightly melted).
  
• Language: We were able to get away with just using from sumimasen and arigato for the most part, and used English/non-verbal language most of the trip otherwise.
  

*more review/input on food commented in original plan here

First off, let me apologise for such a long post! It's been on my mind since I woke up, so I'm trying to be as thorough as possible. Specifically I'm looking for some help/insight into interpreting this dream and the figure who showed up in it. Typically I don't remember my dreams, so it's really odd to me that not only did I fully remember this one but the figure I'm concerned about and the place in which she was seen I've dreamt about once before in the past. I can't remember exactly how long it's been since the first time, but it's within the last six months at max.
The beginning of the dream itself didn't seem particularly interesting or out of the ordinary, very dream-typical stuff that I'm used to. For context, I was a teenager again. I had a friend with me, a girl about my age with black hair and dark skin. We were riding bikes, trying to get away from some bullies, and ended up in a part of the city I currently live in (nowhere near where I lived as a teen), and we were trying to find our way out.
As we were going through side streets, alleys, main intersections, etc, we came upon a shop that looked like it could have been something like a laundromat or dive restaurant. It didn't seem weird and it looked totally innocuous, even though I saw the sign above it had kind of a weird name. I can't remember exactly what it read, it was something like "Ms. (name)'s" and the letters looked like they were painted on the overhead of the front of the building, but they were glowing a deep purple like they were actually neon lights or something.
Because we still thought we were being followed and there was no alley between any of the buildings to go through that we could see, we decided to go through the building, hoping there was a back exit (weird, I know, but dream logic lol). As we went in, I noticed a lot of middle aged and older people sitting silently in chairs against the front window, almost like it was a waiting area. Everybody was dressed really nicely, like they were waiting for an appointment or an interview, etc. They all turned to stare at me, but it didn't creep me out at the time (it does now that I think about it).
I had started going through before my friend, and noticed a change as I left the front area (white walls, front window, dim lights but natural light coming in) and went into the back (black walls/ceiling/floors, no furniture, buzzing fluorescent lights). There was only one other person in the room near the backdoor, which was open. He watched me run through and didn't say anything or try to stop me, and I ran about 20-30 feet ahead before I turned around to look for my friend, who wasn't coming.
After a few minutes I went back in, and the man in the black room was gone. I went up to the front of the building again, and all of the waiting people were still there, still watching me in silence. There was a woman standing at the front door, and I recognised her almost immediately from a previous dream, where she had been wearing the same outfit and hairstyle. She had a white tank top on and faded red pants, wooden heels, and a red bandana on her head. Her hair was in dreads and she looked either black or Hispanic.
She held the door open for me as I walked past her, and I turned to look at her and ask what happened to my friend. When I asked she got this really sad, sort of tired smile on her face and told me in a really gentle voice, something along the lines of, "You can't wait here and you won't find her. You'll be back when it's your turn. Don't be sad, everybody has to come back someday." I'll note that the first time I saw this woman, she never spoke to me, but she did have the same expression when I looked at her and she was holding the door of the building open but I never went inside.
After she spoke to me, I walked over to the left side of the building and somehow there was a tight alleyway where there hadn't been before. I went through and came out on the other side, near the backdoor. The door was closed and I just ended up walking away and back in the direction I had been going, and I woke up after I had gotten far enough away from the building that I couldn't see it anymore.
Tl;Dr : I dreamt I ran with a friend to an unknown place I've seen once before, but lost her on the way through. Met a woman who told me I couldn't stay but I'll be back someday too.
Does anybody have any idea of who this could have been/what this place was or what this was about? I have my ideas, but I'm curious to hear some other opinions. Not sure if it helps with the context of things but I'm Mexican myself and Native (Lakota), though I don't know much about any practices from either of those sides of my heritage. I'm wracking my brain trying to think of if this means anything. All insight is appreciated, and thanks for putting up with this hulk of a post! BB

This is the first and second of a four-part story.
---------------
He no longer knew his own name.
The Wanderer had travelled for several years, shuffling through sand and bone for months, stumbling over the remains of human civilization. Cars, metal signs, frayed electrical wires, various trinkets and gadgets buried under nature’s wrath. The world had slowly disappeared under his feet, along with the bodies of those that did not survive.
He was weary, and voices echoed in his head relentlessly. He could never figure out the source of those voices.
Are these voices coming from long-forgotten frequencies?
Did malfunctioning devices remain near the surface? Were they just that prolific?
How many children’s toys respond to tiny voices and now respond to the high pitches of harsh winds and birds of prey?
Are the voices just in my head after so many months of solitude?
He was so lonely.
The memory of his name was the last to leave him. Before that, he was a “project management specialist”, whatever that meant. The truth was that he was a generic paper pusher, badgering recent college graduates to deliver spreadsheets and pretty charts from one overpaid middle manager to another slightly-less overpaid middle manager, making sure that the right colors and shapes were telling other overpaid people with fancier job titles how to make decisions so that a little line could go up every three months. That little line was important to the investors, and only the investors. It did not matter what they created, or what harm they caused. It only mattered that the line went up every three months so that no one lost their jobs. And even then, people still lost their jobs to make sure the line went up. Those people would go to other places where they did the same thing, until they could make sure that they became the new overpaid middle managers, convincing a new group of twenty-somethings to do the same thing.
Before he became a Wanderer, he convinced himself that this was the right way, enough to make a nice living for himself and his family. He could take his family out for a nice dinner each Friday night, a movie or play each Saturday, enough money to tithe on Sunday, and a comfortable two-week vacation each year. Occasionally, he could take a day of golfing or a night out for beers with his friends, maybe some flirtation with a waitress or two. Nothing serious, just something to make him feel special, like he still had some youth and vigor. This went on for eight years, and despite his otherwise bland personality, the people in his life seemed to enjoy his company.
None of that mattered anymore. It does not matter when there are no longer places to vacation, or golf courses or bars. It does not matter if there are no churches or places to work. It does not matter when there is no longer a family for which to care.
---------------
The Wanderer stubbed his toe and tripped face-first into the sand. After quickly getting up while wiping away the sand from his face and out of his mouth and nose, he looked down to see what he tripped on – a metal sign. He hurriedly dug through the sand to unearth the sign, trying to make sense of where he was. He had walked for what felt like hours, but his sense of time was off. He pulled back the shirt that he wrapped around his head and tucked back the tie that he used as a belt. The reflective green sign came into focus, and a white “S” appeared. It was perfect – a metal exit sign for a major road. He dug faster, pulling on the sign as he scooped handfuls of sand away from it. Soon, the sign was revealed.
Springfield. He was not too far from where he grew up. But where exactly?
He knew that the Sun had been setting for some time, which gave him an idea of which direction he could go, but he could not remember where his childhood home was. Was it south of that sign? North? East or west? Springfield was a larger city, so he could be five minutes away or fifty minutes away. He needed more information.
As he dug further down, he realized that he was not going to get the answer that he was looking for. He unearthed only the most generic relics of suburban living – a few broken mobile phones, a running shoe, a baby stroller with a convertible car seat, some cheap clothing that he remembered seeing in shop windows when there used to be malls. Nothing of importance, and certainly nothing that would tell him where exactly he was.
He knew that he had a good shot of walking north to find someone. There had been reports from days prior of people still living in, or roaming near, the major city centers. He did not know what he would come across, but he knew that any situation was better than trying to survive alone. The end of the world was too sudden, and all of his friends that had scattered too far were now gone to him. The voices would call out to him.
Why didn’t you know anyone around you?
You couldn’t try to make just one new friend?
Who will you turn to now?
He started to think about all of the missed opportunities. The birthday parties that he missed because he was working. The family vacation that was postponed because he was driven mad thinking about Peter running his project. A project that clearly does not even have any value anymore. Minutes of ruminating over every decision, which turned to hours of inaction because he just needed to control such minor things. The time he spent schmoozing and kissing up to those overpaid managers just for the chance to get more work and spend less time living his life. And when he found time to see his wife and child, he frantically checked his phone every minute, waiting for the next big update where he could act. He would always snap when they asked him to join the party. Always another email. Always another crisis averted. Or at least, what he considered to be a crisis at the time.
The contempt he had each day for everyone and everything. The resentment that he had for his career because it took him away from his family. The resentment that he had for his family because it took him away from his career. The stress put upon him, the stress he put upon himself, and how meaningless it all became in the end.

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I replied "like where?"
"Any of them!"
"Why?"
"So much crime!"
We live within two hours of 2 major cities and closer to 3-4 smaller cities. Crime fallacy aside I was so amused by her claiming we don't live near any cities. My final reply was "there's a lot of crime in rural areas too, more inside the homes" and that was the end of it.
People in our area (including her) drive into the cities to go to concerts, nice restaurants, museums, events, sports games... and most people in our country live in cities. How can Qs believe that the majority of our population just chooses to live in absolute war zones?