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by James5am 5k to start the week
The storm has passed and weβre back to summer βοΈ5.0km
33.9min
26.4m climbed
158.1avg bpm
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Checkin to γγ³γ¨γ¨γΉγγ¬γγ½γ¨ ζΉε
Fantastic bread and a latte for lunch π -
Checkin to BOOKOFF θ€ζ²’ε δΌεΊ
Selling some books. -
by JamesβοΈ Rainy Park Run π³
Happy to report Iβm becoming the kind of person who runs in the rain. The temperature drop when it started felt great.5.0km
34.6min
36.6m climbed
162.7avg bpm
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by JamesCheeky Afternoon Run
Found a gap in the rain and itβs only 30 and cloudy, so relatively cooler than usual.3.7km
25.4min
25m climbed
163.6avg bpm
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The Week #217
by James- π₯Έ I bought a new pair of glasses. There's nothing particularly wrong with my current pair, other than I've had them for 7 or 8 years and wanted to change things up a bit. Since I've been in Japan I always bought glasses at Zoff or Jins because they're inexpensive and near the stations. They're inexpensive because all of their glasses are the house brand. I wanted to get a pair of Ray Ban's again, so they were off the table. Thankfully there's a regular glasses shop a short cycle away that had just the pair I was looking for. I will pick them up next week. For the first time I opted to get the blue-light coating, which is supposed to make it easier on your eyes when you use computers all day. We shall see....
- π² After getting glasses, I rode my bike down to Totsuka for lunch with Yumi. It's definitely starting to cool off a bit, as I was able to make it all the way there without being drenched in sweat. After lunch we checked out the bookstore for anything interesting. I found a few books that looked interesting, but not enough to buy. Of note, the English book section seems to have shrunk from 2.5 - 3 columns to roughly 1. They didn't even have non-fiction books in English, which was disappointing. Back in the day, this bookstore was my lifeline for interesting things to read.
- ποΈ A new shopping mall opened a few stations away called Soratos. We finally have a movie theather nearby. Along with a second Starbucks, a Tully's and a giant area designed to drain your wallet β 50+ crane games, including one large enough that a human attendant sits inside help (and costs Β₯500 a play).
On the roof of Soratos is a really nice play area β the kind with the squish ground. Since it's the tallest building around it has some nice views on the top. Once it cools off a bit more, I can see us spending many an hour up there with Leo.
On the way out we swung by the Tsutaya bookstore to see what it was like..and like Barnes and Nobles in the US, there's a significant "definitely not books" at the bookstore. We found a plush of Link from Breath of the Wild! Leo was, as readers of this blog can probably guess, incredibly excited to find it and there was precisely zero chance of me leaving the store without it. Truth is though I wanted it as well. - π΅Β I've been trying to introduce more aloha in my life to keep me relaxed and positive. This week's recommendation is Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Facing Future (Apple Music).
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Checkin to ηΌι‘εΈε ΄
Renewing my glassesβ¦probably been 7 years?! -
by Jamesπ³ Park Run
Seeking shade. Good news is I had a good cashless at the vending machine that was crowdstriked last time. No sports drink thoughπ₯²5.0km
34.7min
36.6m climbed
162.1avg bpm
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Checkin to Yumegaoka Soratos (γγγδΈγ½γ©γγΉ)
Nothing scarier than carrying two hot bowls of ramen through a crowded the food court. -
The Week #216
by James- πΊ I started watching What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 (Netflix). You can guess from the title that the show is largely about food as the main character cooks at home and explains what he's doing while he's doing it (to himself, not like a cooking show) and my explanation isn't doing it any justice. The sub-plot is that the main characters are gay men and it portrays a realistic look at what life is like in Japan as a gay man. Just watch an episode and I promise you'll be hooked.
- π« The emoji is of pita, but it's the closest I could get to cheese naan. Sorry. Inspired by episode 2 of season 2 of What Did You Eat Yesterday where he cooks a butter chicken curry and cheese naan (official recipe from TV Tokyo), I had a go at making some and it turned out ok. Technically it may have been a cheese roti as I ran out of white flour and used whole wheat for the remainder. Either way, I will give it a go. Did I also make the buttery chicken curry you ask? No, I did not. Why? Because somehow I ran out of curry powder and garam masala and basically everything but cumin (I never run out of that). What is the world coming to...
- βοΈ It feels like the temperatures for the summer have peaked or just about peaked in Kanto. It could be that the sun isn't fully up by 4:30am making the difference, but the heat is less oppressive in the morning.
- πββοΈ Related to the oppressive heat, after having a reprieve from the temps in the US a couple weeks ago, returning to the heat is difficult mentally. It's just zapped my motivation to do...anything (perhaps you can tell as the top item for the week is about watching a TV show π). Still I got in 2 runs last week, not my goal of 3 but my "minimum number of runs".
