• The Week #301

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    • 🏝️ We made a short trip to Okinawa (as you probably already know from my checkins). This was my first visit to Okinawa and our first domestic trip by plane. My impressions of Okinawa are two: the sea air really does a number buildings and holy smokes this is like being in America.

      The first is true, I think, of any tropical island. The second was the made-for-cars wide streets, with nobody walking or on bicycles. The highway also wasn't chock full of cars either.
    • 🏨 We stayed up in Manza Beach at the ANA Intercontinental, a resort hotel from the end of the bubble and about halfway to Churami Aquarium. The hotel was quite nice with a pool and beach area that had a huge athletic in the ocean. The first day we arrived around dinner time and ended up having dinner at the "Italian restaurant". Which turned out to be michelin guide listed (no stars) Pizza Studio Tamaki. Apparently it's main shops are near-ish to my office πŸ˜‚, but incredible pizza either way.
    • πŸ› Day two Leo and I braved the cold-ish ocean water to get out on to the athletic and walk / climb around. Leo was screaming and having a good time. He also faced his fears a few different times. Was it worth the Β₯4,000 per person? From an experience perspective, when am I ever going to have this opportunity again? So most definitely worth it.
    • 🐠 After playing on the athletic we drove up to Churami. We only visited "the main event", which is a massive whale shark. I need to go back and see all of the other exhibits as there was so much more to explore.
      Whale shark
    • 🏠 So the question I always ask when I visit someplace: could I live there? And for Okinawa, I think I probably could for a short period, but car dependence would grind on me after a while.Β 
    • ✈️ On the plane I watched Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, which I really wanted to watch and it lived up to my expectations. Recommended.

  • Checkin to Naha Airport (OKA) (那覇空港)

    Back to HND

  • Checkin to Starbucks

    Starbucks with a view (which we could not see, sadly)

  • Checkin to Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (ζ²–ηΈ„ηΎŽγ‚‰ζ΅·ζ°΄ζ—ι€¨)

    Massive!

  • Checkin to Naha Airport (OKA) (那覇空港)

    Easy flight. Good vibes.

  • Checkin to Gate 61 (搭乗口61)

    Making a short hop to Okinawa

  • The Week #300

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    • πŸ’―πŸ’―πŸ’― Somehow I've managed to reach 300 weeks in a row of posting to the week.Β 
    • πŸ’Έ Like the world is arranging itself to fit my blog, the exchange rate is back where it was when I posted The Week #200 ( Β₯160 per $1 USD).Β  One day the exchange rate won't be so bad.
    • πŸ“€ We bought a Bluray/DVD player. Part of me wishes I did this years ago so that became the default way of watching movies in the house (rather than the endless supply of streaming). The quality of the image is so good compared to Netflix and friends. I look forward to random trips to Book-Off to browse the used Blurays in hopes of finding a bargain.Β 
    • 🏫 The school year has ended and Leo has finished the 2nd grade. This year has been quite the struggle school-wise, so I really hope that next year is better. I'm optimistic it will be, but time will tell.Β  One more week until 3rd grade.
    • 🚲 As Leo is getting taller he's outgrown his single speed bike. With the nice weather we decided it was time to pick him up a new bicycle with gears. He got a 6-speed from our local Asahi cycle and it makes all the difference riding around Yokohama. Not only is he much faster now, he can easily climb even the biggest hill near our house. I look forward to riding longer distances together – maybe we'll be able to go for a long-ish ride on the cycle road for some fresh gelato...

  • Checkin to Saza Coffee (γ‚΅γ‚Άγ‚³γƒΌγƒ’γƒΌ)

    Friday latte and letting the Ginza line clear out a bit.

  • The Week #299

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    • πŸŽ’ I went to Kamakura to visit the Patagonia store. Our plan was to drop off some of our worn clothes/jackets in their recycling bin and maybe pick up a backpack. But they had worn wear up front and when we asked where the the box was, she saw what we had and asked us if we were sure we couldn't wear that anymore, and she handed us flyer that had the QR codes to get started on the buy-back process. As it happens via the post, I took the clothes for a tour of Kamakura, but glad that she living the company's values.

      I couldn't decide at the shop (and ordered later) a replacement for my refugio . After 10 - 11 years, it's starting to show its age (though still usable – I'll probably try to sell it with everything else). I landed on Blackhole Micro 22L in Noble Gray. It's cool because it can be turned from a backpack, into a messenger bag, or a regular carry bag and it opens flat. I wish they offered the green color in Japan tho...
    • 🚌 With the end of the school year, Leo is bringing home his work that's been stored at school. Standard parent talk, but I'm a fan of his art – I think he's already surpassed my drawing abilities. This piece of a double decker bus surprised me because he never mentioned drawing summer memories or anything. He also drew the 3 of us at the front of the bus, which is where we sat on our way to the London Zoo.
      British Double Decker Bus
    • The Last Quiet Thing really resonated with me. Highly recommend you read it. I had never thought about how our smart phones are todo lists that write themselves and how the wording of screen time (which is supposed to help you understand / use your phone less) is worded such that it's all your fault, not that of the device. Switching back to my Casio away from my Apple Watch never felt better.

  • Checkin to Blue Bottle Coffee

    Post health check meal, as is tradition.
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