I'm a day late posting this -- I'm sorry to have gotten off schedule! I realize there have been a lot of high-earner diaries recently, but I hope my perspective is still of interest.
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Section One: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: $460K (mine) and $250K (husband’s). We both max out our annual withholdings. I’ve been working longer than him, and my employer offers a more generous match, which contributed significantly to my balance.
Equity: $275K. Our home is currently worth about $450K. We live in a M-HCOL area (far) outside of NYC, and our home was a fixer upper when we bought it. Honestly, it’s still a fixer, and we are saving towards a major renovation.
Cars: Maybe $15-$20k total…we drive two paid off cars. One is 13 years old, and the other is 10 years old.
Other Cash and Investments: $150K
Credit card debt: None, paid every month
Student loan debt (for what degree): $80K towards the grad degree I’m pursuing now. Since we’re saving towards the home reno, I’m financing my degree rather than paying for it outright. I know this is counterintuitive given the interest rate environment. However, the home reno has been a priority for us since we bought this home.
Daughters’ 529s: $75K
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I've been working in my field for 13 years and my starting salary was $40,000.
I work as a Director of Financial Planning & Analysis in a niche field. I won’t go into too many details because it’s a small world. My salary progression was as follows:
Year 1: $40,000 starting, right after recession. I had an amazing boss who mentored me and recognized my potential. After six months, I received a promotion and raise to $60,000.
Year 3: Promotion and raise to $90,000, for a role with more financial and analytical responsibility. Although I worked hard, I continued to benefit from having a boss who advocated for me. I consider this a major turning point.
Year 8: Raise to $120,000 for additional responsibilities after a coworker retired.
Year 10: Raise to $135,000
I’ve received an average of 2.5% COLA increases and now earn $145K. My boss has requested a $10,000 bonus for me this year, which I haven’t yet included because it’s still under review.
My husband earns $260,000 base salary as a VP of a large corporation (this is a very recent raise…he was at $200K previously). In addition, he can receive a performance-based bonus of 20-30%. We don’t include his bonuses in our financial planning because they are not guaranteed and because a portion is RSUs. When he receives a cash bonus, we put it towards our daughter’s college accounts and/or our home reno fund.
Education: I have a bachelors and a masters in a field unrelated to my career. My tuition was paid by scholarships/assistantships. In addition, my parents covered my living expenses during undergrad. During my first graduate degree, I worked 3 part-time jobs to cover my non-tuition expenses. I’m now enrolled in a grad program more directly related to my career. My employer encouraged me to do this program and generously allows me the time out of office. In addition, if I stay for a certain number of years, they will reimburse a portion of my tuition.
Main Job Monthly Take Home:
Monthly take home: $6,300 after taxes, retirement ($1,875) and medical/dental benefits ($110– self only)
Husband’s monthly take home: $12,560 after taxes, retirement ($1,875), and medical/dental ($400 for him and our two kids)
Section Three: Expenses
Mortgage: $2,485 for principal, interest, insurance, and taxes. We refinanced to a 15-year loan at 2.3% when rates were low
Daycare: $3,510 per month (full-time for a toddler and preschooler)
Savings contribution: $3,000-$5,000
Daughters’ 529 accounts: $2,000 ($1,000 each)
Debt payments: $700 towards my student loans. This will increase once I’m done with my degree
Donations: $3,000 annually
Transit $350-400 for husband’s commute (3x/week to NYC)
Electric: $60
Wifi/Cable/Landline: $120
Cellphone: $180
Subscriptions: $59 for Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Duolingo, Apple Storage, and credit monitoring
Gym membership: $149 for Pure Barre
Husband’s physical therapy: $130 (portion not covered by insurance)
Car insurance: $3,200 annually. (This seems high, considering we have good records, don’t drive much, and both cars are paid off. I need to look into this)
Life Insurance: $3,100 annually
Day 1 (Saturday):
6:00 AM: Wake up. I’m doing a modular course for my graduate degree, and the class wraps up today. I study for the exam that happens this afternoon. A little after 7, I walk to a nearby coffee shop and buy a large Americano for $4.50 including tip. When I’m back at the hotel, I pack up my room and leave a $20 tip for housekeeping. On the way out, I drop my bags at the bell stand. The hotel cost is covered by tuition.
9:00: Meet with my study team to finalize a paper and presentation that’s due today. At noon, we break for lunch (also covered by tuition). I have a salad and lots of carbonated caffeine. After lunch, we have an hour-long final exam.
2:00: Final course wrap up. It’s been an intense week-long session. I learned a lot, but am so ready to head home. I walk back to the hotel to retrieve my bags. Along the way, I stop to buy an empanada ($8 including tip). Then I call an Uber to the airport ($55 including tip). While in the Uber, I talk to my husband and daughters, who are 1.5 and almost 4. Due to the time difference, it’s their bedtime and if I don’t catch them now, I’ll lose my chance. I promise them that I’ll be home when they wake up in the morning. A lot of my classmates went to dinner together before heading to the airport. On the one hand, I have FOMO because my classmates are awesome. But on the other hand, it was really important to me to talk to my family, and I know I couldn’t have done that easily in a bustling restaurant (I’ve tried, and it was a frustrating experience for everyone!).
6:00: Arrive at the airport. I check my bag ($35). Once I’m through security, I pick up some souvenirs. My hotel wasn’t in an area with good shopping options, and the class days were pretty packed anyway. I get locally made chocolate for my husband. The girls get a small stuffed animal each, and a book to share ($70 total). Then I treat myself to crab cakes and a French 75 to celebrate the end of the week ($60 including tip).
10:00: On the flight, I read until the cabin lights go out and then try to sleep. I used to be able to sleep better on red eyes, but I wake up every 15 minutes.
Day 1 Total: $252.50
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Day 2 (Sunday):
6:00: Flight lands and I gather my bags and take the parking shuttle. Although I parked in an economy lot, the total was still $174. Ugh – this has been an expensive week.
7:45: Arrive home. The girls crawled into our bed and are snuggled up next to my husband. The toddler wakes up as I come into the room and the look on her face when she sees me is priceless. Our preschooler wakes up soon after. It’s so good to be reunited with my people! We all head downstairs and have breakfast (waffles and cereal, plus a huge pot of coffee). It’s cold and rainy today and we spend the morning watching TV together.
10:00: Our toddler falls asleep for her nap, and my husband encourages me to do the same. Our preschooler is happily entertaining herself with Legos and puzzles, so I doze for a couple hours. Around 1:00, we all have turkey sandwiches for lunch. Then, I take over kid duty so my husband can finally have some time to himself. He spends the afternoon woodworking in his basement workshop.
2:00: Our preschooler’s birthday is coming up. I buy digital invites from Etsy ($12) and send them to Staples to print ($16 with a promo). They are ready in about two hours and we pick them up. My preschooler asks for kinetic sand at Staples and I cave in and buy it for her ($11). I constantly complain about the amount of “stuff” in our house, but to be honest, I’m guilty of contributing to the clutter. When we get home, I spend the afternoon doing crafts with the girls.
5:15: We heat up some leftovers that my in-laws dropped off while I was gone. We do the girls’ bedtime routine a little early since everyone seems tired. Lights out by 8:00 for the girls. Then I catch up on work email and start making a list for the week. For the purposes of this money diary, my husband mentions that he spent $270 yesterday restocking groceries. Then I watch Succession and head to bed
Day 2 Total: $387
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Day 3 (Monday):
5:08: My alarm goes off because I typically go to Pure Barre on Monday morning. I’m still jetlagged so I decide not to go today. I hadn’t actually signed up for a class because I had a feeling this would happen.
6:30: Everyone else is still asleep, so I go downstairs to make coffee and enjoy a few quiet moments to myself. When my husband and kids wake up, we all have breakfast (frozen waffles and berries for the kids. English muffins for the adults).
8:30: Drop the kids off at daycare and then get to work. I work primarily from home, so I just have to walk upstairs to my office nook. I spend the morning prepping for an important meeting tomorrow with senior leadership. I get a reminder on our phone that our toddler has a well-child visit today…usually I sync my calendars, but I totally neglected to log this on my work calendar, and it conflicts with a meeting with our chief of staff. CRAP. I debate canceling the doctor’s appointment, but decide to keep it. Our toddler is getting vaccines today and if I don’t keep the appointment, I’m not sure when I can reschedule. I apologize profusely to our COS and ask if we can reschedule. She says not to worry, and that she appreciates the extra time in her schedule…hopefully I didn’t make a bad judgment call.
1:15: I quickly eat a turkey sandwich for lunch and then pick up our toddler from daycare for her appointment. These well visits usually take 30 minutes and are covered by insurance. As luck would have it, we spend 90 minutes waiting because they are running behind. Luckily, I have snacks and activities in my purse to occupy her. To pass the time, I browse for favors and paper goods for our older daughter’s upcoming party. I end up buying paper goods, decor, and favors ($67 from Target) and iced sugar cookies ($240 from Etsy). As I type this, I realize how bananas it is to spend that much on decorated sugar cookies. Our incomes have increased pretty dramatically in the past few years, and although we haven’t increased our fixed expenses, we’ve definitely succumbed to lifestyle inflation for one-off things like this. It’s something I need to be aware of. I’m finally home around 3:30, just in time for my next call. My husband is WFH today and takes over kid duty during this call.
5:15: It’s time to pick up our older daughter from preschool, but my call is running long so my husband picks her up. For dinner, we make salads topped with roast chicken. The toddler loves salad, but our preschooler proclaims “I don’t like green leaves – I’m not a caterpillar!”. Well, okay then.
8:30: We do the girls’ bedtime routine, and then I continue prepping for tomorrow’s meeting. I wrap up around 1:00 am. While I’m working, husband preps two meals that just need to be reheated sometime later in the week. Good night!
Day 3 Total: $307
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Day 4 (Tuesday):
7:30: Kids and I sleep in a bit this morning. My husband left home around 5:45 since he’s going into the office, so the three of us are on our own. For breakfast, the toddler has toast and berries. The preschooler has bran cereal and a frozen waffle. I eat their scraps, washed down with coffee.
9:15: I drop the kids off at daycare a little late this morning. Then I get working and practice the presentation I’m giving at 11:00
12:05: Call is over and I think it went as well as could be expected. I make myself a turkey sandwich for lunch. Then I go to the post office to mail a birth certificate request for our youngest daughter’s passport application. The cost for the birth certificate is $50. I also spend $15 at the post office to mail the envelope and buy stamps. Then it’s back to work.
5:10: Pick the girls up from school. My husband gets home around 6:45. Dinner tonight is a tofu and broccoli stir fry with rice. I don’t cook much, but I make this meal weekly and it’s everyone’s favorite. The secret is that I use soy sauce that is seasoned for seafood. I can’t explain what’s different, but the taste is so much different than standard soy sauce.
7:30: Bathtime and bed for the girls. I text with a mom from daycare whose kids are the same age as ours. We arrange a playdate for an upcoming weekend. I’m hopeful that she and I will develop a friendship – making friends is hard when you’re an adult!
9:10: I debate doing schoolwork or “work work.” Schoolwork wins tonight…I spend about two hours prepping a case study.
Day 4 Total: $65
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Day 5 (Wednesday):
5:30: Wake up and start working. I still have a lot of deliverables to catch up on. Husband leaves as usual to commute into the city.
7:00: I get an email and text message that daycare had to close today due to unforeseen circumstances. There was an issue with their plumbing that impacts the whole building. Oh no – I immediately feel a pit in my stomach. I really can’t afford this today, especially because I am out this Friday for another day of class. Although our preschooler is pretty independent, our toddler needs constant supervision. She’s always a moment away from jumping off a couch, climbing on a table, or otherwise causing herself bodily harm. My husband has multiple meetings with his division president today so he can’t realistically come home to help. Argh. I feed us all breakfast and prepare myself for a difficult day. I send my boss an email to let him know the situation, but promise to stay on top of my work after hours as needed. I also log a half day of PTO in the payroll system…I figure I can probably be about 50% productive today.
10:00: Our toddler falls asleep for a nap, so I frantically send out emails and run reports. Our preschooler watches shows on her tablet.
12:15: Toddler is up from her nap. Our poor preschooler has been on her tablet for too long and her eyes are glazed over. I decide to take the girls out for lunch to break up the day. We go to Jersey Mikes since it’s nearby and fast. The girls each have a kids meal and the toddler is delighted that it includes a kids cup. I have an Italian sub ($29). We eat outside and the preschooler hums and loudly proclaims "I love Jersey Mike's!"
1:30: We get back home and I jump on an internal call. Thankfully the girls are well behaved and don’t cause any disruptions, beyond waving hello at the start of the call.
3:00 I have another call and the girls are again on their best behavior. PTL. Maybe I’m just lucky, or maybe it’s that I bribed them with cookies.
4:45: I wrap up the workday a little early. I take the girls on a walk since the weather is nice. When we get back inside, they immediately melt down. The toddler wants to be held constantly, which is a challenge because she weighs 24 pounds. The preschooler is thrashing, spitting at me, and throwing toys. I resist a really strong urge to scream or cry or break something or hide in the bathroom – maybe all at once. Instead, I heat up one of the meals my husband made earlier this week. When our preschooler calms down, she asks if I still love her when she’s bad. She’s been asking this question a lot recently, and it makes me wonder if it’s just a phase, or if she needs more reassurance from us. Either way, it's heartbreaking to know she worries about this.
7:30: Husband had a late meeting, so he gets home later than normal. We do the girls bedtime and bathtime routines. We get another note from daycare saying that the plumbing issue is, unfortunately, still unresolved. We’ll get a tuition credit, but they will be closed another day. Husband and I talk through logistics. We agree that he’ll go into the city again tomorrow and I’ll handle the kids. His company is in the middle of a major reorg and it’s important for him to be there in person. We decide to ask his parents if they are available to help tomorrow. Between work, the kids, and my grad program, sometimes I feel like the only thing we talk about is logistics. It’s been at least 6 months since we’ve been on a date.
10:00: I catch up on work, and also prep for school this coming weekend. I go to bed a little after 1:00.
Day 5 Total: $29
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Day 6 (Thursday):
5:45: Husband is up and out of the house at his normal time. I wake up and run some financial reports while I have the chance.
7:30: Kids are awake. While they eat breakfast I pack their activity bags and snacks since we’re going to my in-laws today. They are semi-retired and often help when we have childcare hiccups. They are truly a godsend. They live about an hour away and we arrive at their house a little after 10:00. On the way, I fill my car up with gas ($52).
12:30: The girls are having a blast with my in-laws. We take a break for lunch, which is chicken nuggets and hummus for the girls. I eat their scraps and also have some Greek yogurt.
4:15: I have a full afternoon of calls, but it goes smoothly thanks to the grandparents. We leave a few minutes after 5:00 and both girls fall asleep before we reach the first traffic light. This makes for a peaceful drive home. Traffic is heavy so we get home around 6:30. I open the mail, and find a surprise medical bill for $572. This is for the toddler’s trip to the ER…14 months ago! This is the first bill we are getting and honestly it had completely slipped my mind. She had a triple infection and ended up severely dehydrated. Seeing this bill dredges up all sorts of unpleasant memories. I’m grateful we have the means to pay this without issue, and I’m grateful she is healthy. I understand it's a privilege to pay a bill like this without thinking twice.
6:45: Husband arrives home. We reheat a pasta dish he made earlier this week and have a salad on the side. The girls are beat today, so we skip bathtime and let them go straight to bed. Thankfully, daycare can reopen tomorrow. I feel like a weight’s been lifted from my shoulders, especially since I have class tomorrow.
9:00: I have a call with my school study team to work on our group project. It lasts for about an hour.
10:30: Husband and I discuss buying a swing set for our backyard. He’s narrowed it down to two choices, and they’re both awesome: three swings, a rock wall, slide, and clubhouse area. I think they both look great, so I leave the final decision in his hands. The total with shipping and tax ends up being $1760. We considered buying a pre-assembled swing set to save time, but similar models cost nearly $6K. He’s handy, so he said he’d prefer to assemble it himself.
Day 6 Total: $2,384
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Day 7 (Friday):
6:15: I have class today so I eat breakfast and get dressed early. I tend to wear a lot of athleisure when working from home. Today I put on a structured ponte dress and hastily apply Tarte makeup to give my skin some color. Every time I make the effort to get dressed, I'm reminded that I really do feel more confident when I look put together. I get to school around 9:00 for my first class.
12:00: Break in my schedule for lunch. I eat a salad and some kind of chicken dish, while catching up with classmates (covered by tuition). For dessert, I have a huge bowl of berries. Lots more coffee to keep me awake and engaged during class.
7:00: Classes are over for the day. I pay parking ($17) and am on my way. I get home at 8:30, in time to do bedtime with my girls. Husband made veggie quesadillas with black beans and guacamole, which I eat once the girls are asleep. I check my work email to make sure nothing is on fire. Then my husband and I watch an episode of “What We Do In the Shadows” and turn in for the night.
Day 7 Total: $17
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WEEKLY TOTALS
Food + Drink: $371.50
Fun / Entertainment: $2,106
Home + Health: $572
Clothes + Beauty: $0
Transport: $333
Other: $155
Weekly Total: $3,537.5
Reflections: Some of this week’s expenditures were unusual: the swing set, my travel expenses, and that old ER bill are not part of our normal recurring expenses. However, the rest of this week's spending was pretty typical. I realize a lot of this diary revolved around sorting out childcare disruptions…honestly, that takes so much mental and logistical energy on a weekly basis. Writing this diary also made me realize how little time my husband and I spend together. Often we feel like we’re in survival mode, but we need to be more intentional about prioritizing our relationship.

I just had my honeymoon (originally scheduled for Jun 2020). My wife and I are in our early thirties. It’s my wife’s first time in japan while it’s my fourth. I’ve benefitted immensely from stalking Tokyo travel reddit and would like to return the favour. I’ll provide some of my tips and observations to the end (skip to the end if the itinerary doesn’t interest you), some of which I think haven’t been mentioned before.
Thank God pretty much everything went to plan, and my wife thoroughly enjoyed the trip. We spent 12 days in Japan, most of it in Tokyo and 2 nights in Kawaguchiko. Many people were surprised to know that we’d be spending most of our trip in Tokyo, but I thought it was just fine because Tokyo had a lot to offer. My wife and I aren’t big on visiting shrines or tick tourist hotspots off a checklist. We don’t shop much, but we did a lot of it simply because it’s Japan and we bought lots of quality-of-life items (not fashion) for ourselves and others. Given how much my wife really enjoyed the trip, I think others with similar interests could find something helpful too.
Pre-trip planning

• Other than the hotel & flights, I booked the highway express bus to Kawaguchiko one week prior.
• Decided on the airport limousine bus to bring us from the airport to the city a few days prior.
• Studio Ghibli tickets booked one month in advance. International tickets were quickly sold out, so we used a free VPN to get onto the Japanese site which had more tickets & timings available. Simply Google translate the entire page.
• Booked a cooking class on cookly months prior.
• Did Visit Japan QR two days prior. It takes some time so do it earlier rather than later.
• Added all places of interests in a Google list, and all food places in another Google list. I tried the custom Google maps at first but didn’t feel the UI was easy to navigate.
• Planned itinerary based on location proximity, and also highlighted parts that were interchangeable in case we wanted to switch it up (which we did).

Planning during the trip

• The Google maps foods list was always just for consideration: if we had time or were craving something. We didn't hard-code food places into our daily plans. But when food was the primary activity (e.g. visiting Tsukiji market), we'd determine to visit particular food stalls. Otherwise, just needed to do a cursory Google review check on whether a random food place is worth eating it. As a principle, we didn't want to spend time unnecessarily queuing for food.
• I'd plan the next day's itinerary the night before, considering fatigue, interest, and proximity. I would create a brand new Google maps list for the next day, including potential food places.

Day 0 (Wed) - Arrival at Shinjuku Airport- Arrived in Haneda late, about 11. Clearance was quick but baggage took 30mins. I had no choice but to cancel my airport limousine and take the metro to our hotel in Shinjuku.- I tried Apple wallet’s Suica at first. It worked seamlessly but felt that a physical metro card was just faster so I eventually switched over.- Reached after midnight, so do let your hotel know in advance if you anticipate arriving at odd hours.
Day 1 (Thurs) - Shinjuku exploration- Originally planned to visit Tsukiji on day 1, but given that we arrive late the previous night, agreed with my wife to change the plan and spend the first day doing the Shinjuku itinerary.

• Walked to a popular Tsukumen place at 11. Queued for 20mins and it was an interesting experience as there were lines of people standing right behind watching you eat. Wife said it was her best Tsukumen ever!
• Sekaido for art supplies: My wife does art so it was a haven for her. We spent a few hours there!
• Tokyu Hands Shinjuku: but two floors were under renovation.
• Omoide Yokocho: A quick walkthrough. Many tourists.

Day 2 (Fri) - Kappabashi St., Fabric Town, Akihabara

• Kappabashi Dougu Street: looked at kitchen supplies and to find a nice knife! (Do research on what knife you need beforehand).
• Fabric Town: My wife just passed a seamstress exam so she eagerly anticipated visiting fabric town, we spent a few hours in Tomato.
• Akihabara (Animate, Bic Camera, Gyukatsu Don): It was drizzling the entire day so it was not the most comfortable lugging that many bags around a wet Akihabara in the evening. Wife wasn’t interested but I wanted to let her experience this unique culture. Had dinner at a popular gyukatsu don (beef cutlet that you’d have to cook yourself). It was fantastic and I had never eaten it. But it was a long one hour wait.

Day 3 (Sat) - Cooking class in Shinjuku, Shibuya

• Private cooking class in Shinjuku: Our host was great! We were invited into his cosy house and he taught us how to make Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba, and a Japanese salad. My wife absolutely loved the experience of getting to know a local and understanding his life story, Japanese culture, and some of his horror stories of guests. We got more food recs from him to understand where the locals really ate at.
• Shibuya 109: Paid $5 for a drink to have a bird’s eye view of the Shibuya crossing. It was Saturday so the people crossing was at its full force. Even if you think this is touristy, it’s amazing to see that many people like little ants crossing a street. There are several nice locations here to take some artsy shots.
• Ishibashi Music Shibuya: absolutely loved the vibe in this music store. Back home, I’ve been thinking about getting a particular keyboard but never got a chance to try it. I was able to play this particular one undisturbed and feel totally comfortable. Bought a few Japan exclusive guitar picks as gifts.
• Shibuya Tokyu Hands: This was amazing. I thought Shinjuku Tokyu Hands was the flagship store. So I only stumbled into this because I urgently needed to pee and someone said Tokyu hands had toilets. We were confused as its name was rebranded to simple Hands with a new logo. This is the Tokyu Hands to go. Each floor had 2 sub-floors so that’s a ton of floors! Lots of quality-of-life improvements one could get from this store. My wife got a buckwheat pillow.
• Shibuya Loft: After Sekaido, I didn’t think there was much to look at. But Loft was very different. Similar to Tokyu hands but seems more modern and fashionable. Worth visiting together with Tokyu hands! It also had packaged food available! It was late and my wife and I concluded that we didn’t have to to explore all the floors and that we’d return to Shibuya again.

Day 4 (Sun) - Komazawa Church, Harajuku, Shibuya

• Church in Komazawa: not a tourist activity, but we linked up with some partners from our home church and attended service at a little church held in a nursery. It was an amazing and encouraging experience.
• Harajuku: Way too crowded. I had anticipated this as it was a Sunday, but thought to just try. Takeshita street was so packed my wife feared there would be a trample risk (it wasn’t that bad). We did queue 20mins for pretty tasty crepe. After checking out all the recommended streets (e.g. cat street, uru-harajuku), my wife simply felt that she couldn’t stand the Harajuku crowd and the vibes. So we decided to go back to Shibuya again!
• Shibuya JINS: I didn’t mention this but previously in Shinjuku and Shibuya, I had been checking out recommended optical shops in the vicinity. I had something in particular in mind. Japanese-made glasses are highly-rated, but I couldn’t find something at the right price-point. At JINS, I found a design I liked. Though not made in Japan, it cost me less than 5000 yen. Took them 1 hour to make it. For some reason I loved the vibes at Shibuya, and I earmarked it to return again later.

Day 5 (Mon) - Tsukiji Market, Ginza Muji/Uniqlo, Tokyo station

• Tsukiji market: wanted to arrive before 8 and was 30m late. But the crowds weren’t that bad either. Everything we tried was lovely. Potato/corn fishcakes, strawberry mochi, tamago, wagyu beef, uni inarisushi, unagi. But the star was Masa burger, which we waited till 11am to try. By then, the tourist buses had come and the streets were packed. But Masa burger was in a corner and we were their first customers. The fried codfish burger + homemade ginger ale was so well done and packed with such fresh and interesting salads! It so so good we had it twice.
• Ginza Uniqlo/Muji: we wanted to take a look at some of Uniqlo’s exclusive items. Apparently they do have exclusive t-shirts for each region (e.g. Harajuku, Shibuya, Ginza). They tend to be collaborations with well-known food places in the area. However, they were always white in colour and not made-in-japan-quality. Muji was a disappointment, not a lot more than the usual.
• Tokyo Station Ghibli & Tenugui: Went to Tokyo station to check out the Ghibli store and to look for a particular traditional tenugui (Japanese towels) store as my wife were hunting these down to give as gifts.
• Shinjuku Ichiran & Mister Donut: We returned to Shinjuku for Ichiran ramen, specifically at 5+pm. No crowds at all. Yummy! We then saw a Mister Donut, and recalled news in our home country that when it first opened, people queued 5 hours for it. We thought to try it to see what the fuss was all about. Cash only, but the donuts were wonderfully textured and not too sweet. My wife doesn’t like sweet stuff, but mister donut really hit the sweet spot (no pun intended).

Day 6 (Tue) - Tokyo National Museum, Fabric town revisit, Akihabara revisit, Ochanomizu

• Tokyo Tokyo National Museum: We had a good time learning about Japan’s early history, and discovered that so much that we know of Japan resulted from Chinese/korean influence.
• Fabric town & Akihabara revisit, Ochonomizu: We decided that this was likely the right time to go back for items we missed out on or didn’t have time to see. My wife went to fabric town while I went to Akihabara’s Yodaibashi camera, which I felt to be better and with more varied things than Bic Camera. I then went to Ochanomizu to look at more music and sport shops. We met up again at Shinjuku for another Gyukatsu Don before heading to mister donuts again.

Day 7 (Wed) - Shinjuku Gyoen Garden, Mori Museum, Ginza Wakamatsu, Shinjuku

• Shinjuku Gyoen Garden: lovely large garden grounds. We spent almost an hour just lying under a tree and watching clouds float by. Wife was doing some rough sketches of the garden. We had mister donuts from last night for breakfast.
• Mori Museum: Saw the exhibition of Heatherwick studios, which was inspiring and educational. Paid for the rooftop access to have a quick view of Tokyo from 50-ish floors up.
• Ginza Wakamatsu: Because of one of the Uniqlo-ginza-exclusive t-shirts, my wife was curious about this traditional Japanese dessert. So we gave it a check and realised it’s been around for more than a century. There was a short line (mainly Japanese elderly). The shop interior transported us back decades. It felt surreal eating a dessert that the Japanese ate centuries ago. It’s certainly doesn’t excite and overwhelm one’s taste buds immediately as modern desserts do. But there’s an old charm to it.
• Shinjuku Okadaya fabric: Returned to Shinjuku as my wife wanted to check out another of their famous fabric stores. Prices were more expensive than fabric town, but somewhat different items.

Day 8 (Thurs) - Kawaguchiko

• Bus to Kawaguchiko: Packed light to Kawaguchiko, and forwarded our remaining luggage to our post-Kawaguchiko hotel in Tamachi. The Shinjuku hotel staff were very helpful. I was merely inquiring on how luggage forwarding was done, but he picked up the phone, called my Tamachi hotel to confirm the booking, and prepared the documents for me. All I had to do was roll my luggage the next night to them and make payment. Booked a 7:45am bus to Kawaguchiko and managed to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji when we were on our way there!
• Cycling In Kawaguchiko: We lugged our bags to our hotel and headed out again. My wife was quite hesitant about cycling overseas and I was also worried it’d tire her out too much. I debated between cycling or simply taking the sight-seeing bus. Eventually felt it worth it. We unexpectedly walked by an e-bike place and decided - why not? Neither of us had tried an e-bike before and that could reduce the effort required for my wife. So we did and boy was it fun! It took a while to get used to the e-bike but it really reduced a lot of effort up the hills! I barely sweat. Kawaguchiko had pretty narrow roads so it wasn’t the easiest to cycle. But I had plenty of road-cycling experience back at home so I was not very deterred. We borrowed helmets from the e-bike place but saw that we were the only tourists that wore them.
• Kubota Itchiku Art Museum: Cycled here knowing that this museum would interest my wife. It had a garden that was free entry and it was beautiful! The pond had a singular vibrant-coloured Koi swimming in it. The Museum requires tickets. My wife was so enthralled by it. I was kinda sick of museums so I told her I’d wait for her outside. Wife took about 45m inside and even bought a heavy hard-cover book of Itchiku Kubota’s kimono art :/
• Momiji Corridor: was just 50m away. Still beautiful with only green leaves, but I’d imagine it would be majestic in Autumn/Spring.
• Oishi Park: Many beautiful flowers! It’s a pity that it had been cloudy the entire day, and Mt Fuji was not visible. That would have made the cycle perfect. Park was crowded with tourists.

Day 9 (Fri) - Fuji Q Highlands, Shimoyoshida Honcho St, Batting Cage
Planning for Fuji Q & Morning Jog: I didn’t plan to go to Fuji-Q highlands before the trip. Always felt it a bit of a waste to visit amusement parks overseas. That’s until I realised that Fuji Q had some of the most exciting, (I mean world-record-holding) rollercoasters in the world. Perhaps not anymore, but that intrigued me enough, because most amusement parks only had 1-2 coasters. Problem was that wife is terrified, and she said cycling on the streets of Kawaguchiko was like a coaster ride for her. So I decided I would reach at opening time, and buy time by paying for the fast passes and try their top three coasters. The night before, we felt that we had to make decisions on our itinerary as it was our last day at Kawaguchiko. If Mt Fuji wasn’t visible, go to Oshino Hakkai, if it was, we could try going to Shimoyoshida to get a nice picture.

• I took a morning jog that morning and my jaw dropped when I saw Mount Fuji towering over Kawaguchiko. I raced back to tell my wife (about 6am) and we both trekked up to a viewing spot to enjoy the view. This made it more urgent to not spend too much time at Fuji Q as we didn’t know how long Mt. Fuji would be visible for.
• Fuji-Q Highlands: Was absolutely amazing. Yes, I blew a lot of cash here buying fast passes for the three available coasters. But they were some of the craziest coasters. Took Eejanaika, Fujiyama and Takabisha. Total time it took probably a little more than 1 hour with the express passes. It was so good but so fast; I have little memory of it, except that there was a 90 degree climb to the top for Takabisha and I had a beautiful view of Mt. Fuji while climbing to the supposed world record of 79m for Fujiyama (this was 2 days before the news reported that Fujiyama got stuck in the middle of a ride and the people in the carts had to climb down :o). Had more time to take a few other rides, and enjoyed all the Naruto statues around for fun photo-taking. What I really enjoyed about the park was that it was mostly filled with Japanese tourists; in fact, there was a Japanese school having an outing there. It was nice to see excited students running about.
• Shomoyoshida Honcho St: This destination was simply to take the famous street view of Mount Fuji with Japanese shops lined in the foreground. It’s not easy to get to, and there was quite a walk. We noticed there weren’t much people around, and most shops were closed. But when we reached the destination, there were many tourists right at the particular traffic light. So much so there was a grumpy Japanese traffic police person managing the crowd. We saw the worst of tourists that day. People were disobeying traffic laws and just running in the middle of the road just to get a shot. We chanced upon a hidden udon shop and it felt like we were transported back to the 50’s! It was super old school, people sat on raised platforms, and several elderly customers were watching the tele while eating. There was only one udon option available, with free cabbage top-ups. We learnt that the shop had been around for 73 years.
• Batting Cage: I had never played baseball/softball and my home country doesn’t have a baseball culture. Yet I had seen batting cages in Japanese drama and always wanted to try. Loved it! My technique was probably pretty bad! I did well at first but as I tried faster balls, I tired out and failed to hit any haha. We ended the day eating ramen outdoors with a view of Mount Fuji.

Day 10 (Sat) - Kichijoji, Ghibli Museum, Kichijoji Jazz bar
Woke up before sunrise for a run and to attempt to catch a sunrise picture of Mount Fuji. Streets were completely empty. Even ran to the famous Kawaguchiko Lawson for a picture. Headed back for an onsen bathe (note: we never used the hotel bathroom, and always went for an onsen bath throughout our stay in Kawaguchiko). Took a 7am bus to return to Shinjuku.

• Kichijoji: Arrived at Kichijoji at about 10. Wife really loved the vibes there. We we tried the Tsukuba suisan fish cakes which were really tasty, and my wife was intrigued that a line had formed at the adjacent store named Ozasa. Apparently they sell traditional Japanese desserts and locals would go there as early as 5am to get a ticket. So we queued and managed to get three boxes worth of the snacks! Tried the Amane Taiyaki fish-shaped bean paste snacks, another traditional dessert. It was a small lovely old shop.
• Ghibli Museum: Requires a long walk through Inokashira park. Ghibli was fantastic. Many people have been saying recently that it’s over-rated, and that it doesn’t cater to foreign crowds and most things are in Japanese. We similarly struggled with that at first. But we found out that if you asked the staff, they actually had English language exhibition booklets ready for every exhibition! That was a revelation. And we managed to understand almost all the exhibitions by asking the uniformed staff (except the short film, which had minimal dialogue anyway). I mentioned this to one foreign group and they were really grateful for that. But I saw that many other foreigners that probably came earlier were just bored or simply going crazy at the Ghibli shop. My wife bought the museum book (which also has English explanations of each exhibit), and we understood Miyazaki’s vision for the museum - to make it suitable for kids and adults, with no pre-determined route, allowing for play, exploration, to help people be inspired by the artists’ process. Through that, we saw that everything in the museum was intentionally designed, all of the exhibitions, cafe, shop, and garden. Reading that helped me appreciate and enjoy the museum much more.
• Roaming Kichijoji and Some Time Jazz bar: My wife and I split up to roam kichijoji. I checked out some sports shops and saw that their prices were lower than Ochanomizu. We reconvened for dinner at Sometime Jazz bar. I’m picking up Jazz piano but had never been to a jazz bar. Booked it one day before, but was sad that our table position only allowed us to see some of the drummer and the pianist’s expression. Still, it was a very cool place and we had a wonderful time. We only sat through the first half of the performance that night. Note that there are seating charges, so that + dinner added up to quite a lot. But we rationalised that this was akin to paying for a performance. Checked into our hotel in Tamachi.

Day 11 (Sun) - Tokyo Sky Tree, Shinjuku, Back to Kichijoji, Shibuya
It was a crazy day where we simply hit the places we wanted to revisit regardless of proximity. Headed to Tokyo Skytree in the morning to check out another Ghibli store. If you’re not going to the Ghibli museum, this is probably the best store available. Headed to Shinjuku to try curry udon, then to Kichijoji to try satou beef balls and dangos and to make some purchasing decisions on some sports equipment. Then we ended up at Shibuya (my favourite place!) to the mega Don Quijote and Tokyu Hands to shop for gifts for others. It was a lovely end to our trip!
Day 12 (Mon) - Back home
Best trip ever, says my wife.
Tips for travellers

• Spread out your itinerary: I originally planned to front-load all the must-see tourist stuff and leave the remaining days for shopping. But in May, Ghibli Museum was closed for two weeks so we had no choice but to schedule it at the end of the trip. That was a better arrangement. It felt that each day was distinctly different, and we could remember the highlight of each day. Also, be specific about where you want to go. Don’t simply put locations like - Visit Harajuku, or visit Shibuya crossing.
• Plan your itinerary in consideration of weekend crowds: Places like Tsujiki market, Ghibli Museum, Fuji-Q Highlands and other stuff are likely going to be very crowded on weekends. If you want to shop in Harajuku or Shibuya, try to avoid weekends. I opted to put the cooking class and ‘less-exciting’ Museums on weekends.- Use your telco’s roaming or get an e-sim: My wife and I split up on several occasions, so we already knew the pocket wifi was out of the question.
• Carry more cash than you think you need: In my experience, the cash-to-card ratio was about 40:60. Considering that all metro card top-ups require cash, you really need more cash that necessary. Sometimes even bigger restaurants are cash only.
• Bring foldable tote bags, and use lockers where necessary: If you’re buying stuff, packing them in tote bags makes it easier. Bigger shops will charge you for bags. All stations likely have lockers and they are really affordable and convenient.
• Travel light by planning to do laundry: I only brought four sets of clothing, and we did laundry every 3-4 days or so. It’s really convenient, about 200 yen per 30m wash, and another 200 yen for a 1h dry. It’s worthwhile to check if your hotel has coin laundry available.
• Buy wisely: Many people say the kind of things available at places like Don Quijote or Uniqlo are mind-blowing. Fact is, most of them are made in China or elsewhere. Almost 95% of the items we saw in Daiso were made in China. In fact, many items in Kappabashi street were made in China. You’re more likely to get value for money by buying a made in Japan item. Sometimes the shop will highlight if a product is Japan made. But other times, you have to scrutinise the fine print. Learn to look out for these three words in Kanji: 日本製. This is where the camera function of Google translate is immensely helpful. This was not available or widely publicised when I last visited Japan years back in 2016, so use this tech to your advantage and scrutinise the fine print!
• Plan your toilet trips if possible: If you know you’re headed to low-rise areas like Tsujiki, Fabric town where it’s just shop after shop, it’s going to be hard to find a toilet. Make sure you relieve yourself beforehand at the train station. But if you still need to go, try to find a multi-storey building and chances are, there’ll be toilets available there.
• Avoid queuing for food by timing right: In general, I found that most popular food places that required queuing had queues mainly consisting of foreigners. I wonder if this is because of the reddit/youtube/google maps review effect (not a lot of Japanese review on Google I think). Simply put, almost all food places open at 11am, so be there at 11, or have early dinner at 5pm and perhaps you may avoid the queuing.
• Scrutinise Google maps to figure out the different train types: for daily travel, there are local, rapid, and express trains. Local trains stop at every station. Rapid skips a few, and express trains likely only stops at key location. They make a big difference to travel time, and to your comfort. When Google maps recommends a route, scrutinise the detail to ensure what kind of train they are recommending. It gets confusing at the station as the platforms on your left and right may end up at the same location, but one could be a local train and the other an express train.
• Learn just 2 essential phrases: I know it may feel weird to some, but just learn to say thank you in Japanese (arigato gozaimasu). The other essential word is - summimasen - excuse me/sorry. Useful for if you need to exit a crowded train, or if you need to get someone’s attention. We survived with just these two phrases. As our cooking teacher told us - it’s better to say something in Japanese than say nothing at all. For the rest, you can use Google translate app’s picture function.
• Other misc tips: as mentioned, bring trash bags. Some shops explicitly tell you not to walk around and eat their food. So the solution is to finish the snack in front of the shop, and say, “summimasen, can you help me to throw this trash?” That helped us avoid carrying trash around a lot. As a traveller, you’re gonna get a lot of carbs (a bowl of udon + a bowl of rice....?) and fried food. Try to go to the basements of shopping centres and get yourself some fruits. Also, if you exercise regularly like me, you'd be concerned about getting some exercise. I did pre-trip research on pools/gyms/parks to visit. But visited none of them. I settled with a daily morning routine of 100 squats and 100 pushups. That and walking an average of 18k steps daily helped. I actually lost some weight somehow.

Observations

• Drinking culture in Japan: we saw quite a few drunk people in the streets. Some of them at the parks. I had never really seen drunkards much in my home country (it could be because I don’t stay out late). When we walked by a bar area with our cooking instructor, he told us some of the people in them had been there overnight.
• The Japanese sleep late: when we arrived, we were still on the train to our hotel at 11:50pm. But the train was still packed with salarymen in suits and many others. In fact, it seemed the later it was, the more crowded the trains.
• Foreigner influx and how they stick out: there were way more foreigners this time than the last I visited Japan. I tended to feel very uncomfortable when large groups of foreigners were around. I had to tell myself not to be hypocritical as I was a foreigner myself. But I suppose one reason is that there were many inconsiderate foreigners. Speaking loudly, making brash comments, and just not behaving like visitors. We saw a foreign couple snuggling each other on a picnic mat in a park full of families. And they chose a spot right next to the footpath. Many foreigners also leave unkind Google reviews for places just because it’s not up to their expectations. I get it, we worked for our holiday and are paying customers, and there is often an innate tendency to feel entitled or complain when something isn’t up to our expectations. But I think it helps to remember that we are like visitors in someone’s home. Be self-aware, don’t speak loudly, note the traffic customs, where to stand on the escalators, how to behave etc.
• Japanese men have great hair: the Japanese men’s hairstyle feels frozen in time. I didn’t see the typical Korean-inspired center-parted hairstyles in Asian guys nowadays. And balding men were a small minority somehow. As someone whose hairline is slowly receding, I was envious to see many Japanese men have wavy long hair deep into their 60-70s! My wife commented that the women's hairstyles were more or less the same - dyed, curled etc. But the men were rocking so many styles!
• Physical shopping still matters: as the days went by, my wife and I began to covet the "made-in-Japan" label, we realised that we hadn't done such window shopping in years since online shopping became prevalent. I also recall people commenting that you could get these goods online anyway, so why bother shopping in Japan. Well, window shopping makes comparison easy, it allows you to ask for recommendations, and enables you to know the items's size, feel, and look on you (if buying fashion items). It also makes discovery of new items possible. I'm not a huge shopper or a foodie, but in Japan, it's worth it to be one. I suppose it's a blessing in disguise that our honeymoon got delayed 3 years, as we now know our post-marriage lifestyles and the items we'd need in the kitchen/around the house.

This post outlines my research regarding whether my participation in the Amazon Vine Program (where one receives free product in exchange for reviews) might be subject to Canadian income tax. I joined the Amazon Vine Program in May 2023. I'm posting this so that other people don't have to start their research from scratch like I did.
Research Sources

• ITA 9(1) – “Subject to this Part, a taxpayer’s income for a taxation year from a business or property is the taxpayer’s profit from that business or property for the year.”
• ITA 248(1) – “business includes a profession, calling, trade, manufacture or undertaking of any kind whatever and, except for the purposes of paragraph 18(2)(c), section 54.2, subsection 95(1) and paragraph 110.6(14)(f), an adventure or concern in the nature of trade but does not include an office or employment”
• Moldowan v. The Queen, 1997 1 SCR 480
  • “…it is now accepted that in order to have a "source of income" the taxpayer must have a profit or a reasonable expectation of profit. Source of income, thus, is an equivalent term to business…”
  • “In my view, whether a taxpayer has a reasonable expectation of profit is an objective determination to be made from all of the facts. The following criteria should be con­sidered: the profit and loss experience in past years, the taxpayer's training, the taxpayer's intended course of action, the capability of the venture as capitalized to show a profit after charging capital cost allowance. The list is not intended to be exhaustive.”
• Stewart v. Canada, 2002 SCC 46
  • “The “reasonable expectation of profit” test should not be accepted as the test to determine whether a taxpayer’s activities constitute a source of income for the purposes of s. 9 of the Income Tax Act.”
  • “The following two‑stage approach should be employed to determine whether a taxpayer’s activities constitute a source of business or property income:
    • (i) Is the taxpayer’s activity undertaken in pursuit of profit, or is it a personal endeavour?
    • (ii) If it is not a personal endeavour, is the source of the income a business or property?”
  • “Where the nature of an activity is clearly commercial, the taxpayer’s pursuit of profit is established. There is no need to take the inquiry any further by analysing the taxpayer’s business decisions.”
  • “However, where the nature of a taxpayer’s venture contains elements which suggest that it could be considered a hobby or other personal pursuit, the venture will be considered a source of income only if it is undertaken in a sufficiently commercial manner. In order for an activity to be classified as commercial in nature, the taxpayer must have the subjective intention to profit and there must be evidence of businesslike behaviour which supports that intention. Reasonable expectation of profit is no more than a single factor, among others, to be considered at this stage.”
• 30 May 2012 Ministerial Correspondence 2012-0442371M4
  • From Martin v. The Queen 2003 TCC 155:
    • “The existence of a personal element must be put in perspective. There is frequently a personal element in the carrying on of a commercial enterprise in the sense that the person derives great personal satisfaction from the activity. This does not make the activity any the less a business… It is only where the personal element so overshadows any element of commerciality as to substantially displace it that one may conclude that the activity is merely a hobby and is not a business at all.”
    • “The appellant’s activity here has the necessary ingredients of commerciality to make it a business - the commitment of substantial capital, the organized and businesslike way in which records are kept and the devotion of enormous amounts of time by the appellant and his wife and, in earlier years at least, his sons as well as the intent to earn a profit.”
  • “Therefore, it is clear that if a personal endeavour or hobby is pursued in a sufficiently commercial and businesslike way, it can be considered to be a business activity, which is a source of income under the Income Tax Act.”
• CPA Article:
  • “…it is a question of fact as to whether a hobby activity generates a sufficient level of commercial activity to support a pursuit of profit and whether a taxpayer has established a clear distinction between a businesslike endeavour and a personal one.”
  • “…it is only where a personal endeavour is an activity primarily undertaken for pleasure, entertainment, or enjoyment rather than for profit, business, or commercial reasons that it may be considered merely a hobby and not a business.”
• CRA IT-490 Bulletin on Barter Transactions:
  • “The Department takes the view that barter transactions are within the purview of the Income Tax Act. Such transactions can therefore result in income…”
  • “In arm's length transactions, where an amount must be brought into income…, that amount is the price which the taxpayer would normally have charged a stranger for his services…”
  • “Where the goods or services given up cannot readily be valued but the goods or services received can, the Department will normally accept the value of the latter as being the price at which the transaction took place if the parties were dealing at arm's length.”

Analysis
Existence (or Not) of Profit & Intention to Profit

• Whether there is profit is questionable – the free product received in exchange for reviews has minimal value. These are new, untried products which are as likely to be excellent as they are to be garbage. This is why the suppliers are willing to provide free product – in return they gain honest reviews which will convince (or not) prospective buyers to purchase the product.
• It is also questionable how this would be valued. CRA’s barter bulletin indicates that the value should be the price the taxpayer would normally have charged a stranger for his services. I charge nothing for leaving reviews – it has no value to me, it’s just for fun. This would indicate that the value was zero, and therefore profit is zero. However, if the “goods received” are to be used as the value, it is also questionable as to whether the MRSP is the appropriate value for such objects, since these are objects of questionable value initially, thus needing further testing and review by Vine Voices to convince others to purchase them at that MRSP. In the U.S.A., where hobbies are taxed, and thus Vine Voices are taxed, the value assigned is not MRSP – a tax value is assigned which is less than MRSP, and for consumable objects, a $nil value is assigned. I would argue that perhaps the value is the value that the supplier gave up – the cost of the product, which depending on the cost structure and margins of the supplier, may be significantly less than MRSP. This is impossible to determine, as this information is not provided to Canadian Vine Voices – all objects are assigned a nil value on invoices. How does one even go about valuing a profit of questionable value, without such data?
• Further, true ownership of the product is not provided in Canada (differs from U.S.A., where objects transfer ownership at 6 months). The Vine Voice is limited by the Amazon Vine programs terms and conditions, which include the following:
  • “The product supplier retains all right, title and interest in a Third-Party Product until six months after the date of your review of the product, after which you may keep or destroy the Third-Party Product at your discretion, but may not transfer it.”
  • “All right, title and interest in Amazon Products will pass to you when the Amazon Product is delivered to the common carrier for delivery to you. You may keep or destroy the Amazon Product at your discretion at any time, but may not transfer it.”
• As “transfer” to another person is precluded by the agreement, there is no ability to convert the free products into cash by way of sale. One could argue this isn’t even true ownership, further muddying the waters of what the value of the product would be, given its limited uses.
• At most, “profit” could perhaps be considered to exist in a colloquial way, in that the Vine Voice “profits” (alternative definition – “benefits”) from the arrangement by being able to obtain free products that the Voice would otherwise have bought and spent money on. This is an indirect form of compensation – an expense foregone. However, this may not be the truth, as in many cases, the Voice may choose a product simply out of curiosity, rather than out of an intention to avoid some other purchase, or choose things that they never would have actually purchased, because they are “luxury” or “silly”. Here even the benefit is questionable.
• Finally, whether there is an intention to profit is also in question – given that the product may as likely be worth a 5-star rating as it could be worth a 1-star rating, the event of choosing a product to review takes on a level of gambling that is not consistent with business-like profit-gaining behaviour. I certainly have no intention of profit – every choice is a lark.
• Also, while this is taxable for Vine Voices in the U.S.A., the U.S.A. taxes hobbies (while Canada does not) and cannot be considered an equivalent tax regime, and as there are different terms and conditions of product ownership for American Vine Voices, this must be disregarded as comparable.

Sufficient Commerciality

• Court cases indicate that to be commercial (and therefore intend to profit), business-like behaviour must exist. Martin v. the Queen 2002 described the ingredients of commerciality: the commitment of capital, the organized way in which records are kept, and the devotion of time.
• My involvement in Amazon Vine does not include these factors:
  • Time involvement (on my part) is minimal. Those crazy Vine Voices who choose to pursue Gold Tier and obtain and review 100 products every 6 months likely commit significantly more resources and may in fact meet the standard of commerciality, but my occasional obtention of a product on a weekly basis is likely insufficient.
  • There is no commitment of capital on my part.
  • There is no true record-keeping. Amazon does not even produce enough information to allow for recordkeeping to result – invoices are assigned a $nil value. Canadian don't get a "tax value". The only records I keep are my usual household records – I keep a full home inventory of everything my wife and I own, for insurance purposes (we had a scare with a fire). This has nothing to do with Amazon Vine and everything to do with the fact that I’m an overly-detailed, OCD Chartered Professional Accountant on the autistic side of the spectrum. You should see my budget spreadsheets. I’m a nerd.

Personal Component

• I view Amazon Vine as a hobby. I never pursued Amazon Vine – being invited to the program was a surprise, as I’d never heard of it. I was entertained to learn that people actively try their best to get in, when I was invited on basically no real effort on my part – I just like leaving reviews, partly because I rely on reviews myself when buying items.
• I enjoy leaving reviews – I leave copious Google reviews on restaurants, locations, hotels, businesses, none of which I receive any compensation for. It’s just a fun thing to do when bored, and it feels useful, like I’m contributing something to society by being honest about the nature of existence. Certainly more useful than doom-scrolling Tik Tok, as leisure time goes.
• I view Vine much the same way – it is odd to be compensated for something that I otherwise do cheerfully for free. Getting free product is fun – sometimes its crap, sometimes its great. Either way, it’s an adventure. And that’s why I do it: I do it for the adventure.
• The quantity of activity I do on Vine is minimal. My time spent on Vine is never more than an hour or so a week. I spend more time on my other hobbies: reading, writing, cooking, baking, hiking, gardening, playing piano… It’s just another leisure past time.
• I have no intention of accelerating my participation in Vine to a business-level involvement. I have a full-time job. I am writing a book on the side. I have too many hobbies as it is. I don’t need another gig.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I would argue that there is insufficient commerciality, no intention of profit (and potentially no real profit, regardless) and a very significant personal component to my involvement with Amazon Vine. I would argue that this makes it a hobby, and not a business, and thus not subject to tax under the Income Tax Act. Individuals who engage with Amazon Vine on a more involved basis (i.e. crazy Gold Tier) may have a different result.
Should Canada Revenue Agency disagree, I leave it to them to try to value the damn income that would result, because the gods know Amazon doesn’t actually provide enough information to determine it. I wash my hands of this nonsense. I wish CRA had published guidance on this so I didn’t have to spend hours on this kind of research.
TL;DR: It can likely be argued that Amazon Vine involvement is a hobby for Canadian tax purposes, and thus not taxable (provided the Vine Voice in question isn't doing crazy business-like activity and pumping out massive amounts of reviews for Gold Tier). CRA needs to publish better guidance, because the interpretation is unclear.

I am not The OOP, OOP is u/ThrowraHusbandDoesnt
(OOP has since deleted her account)
My husband(38M) doesn't think I(39F) love him
Originally posted to relationship_advice
Original Post May 22, 2023
For reference, let's call my husband Jack and my daughter Lily. Jack and I've been married for about ten years, dated for five, and have a four year old. Overall we've had an absolutely wonderful relationship Sure occasionally we hit a rocky spot but we always recovered stronger than ever. Most of our friends look at us as the ideal couple too. I've never doubted that he loves me and I've tried my best to reciprocate it, even when he wasn't home often during our first five years of marriage, he came back home after that since he got a promotion. We have great communication and I already am planning on how to approach this with him but a second opinion would be nice just in case someone else already dealt with something similar.
Yesterday he was doing some very acrobatic exercise in our backyard. He does this every day even when he's almost delerious from fever, which was hilarious to see. I joked that he'd leave me to become a monk. He just froze for a second and responded, 'maybe, after Lily grows up'. Sure this could just be playful ribbing but I had a bad feeling in my gut and kept poking at him. He almost fell down, which is very odd since he has excellent balance, made me leave so he could focus on his stuff. That especially made the feeling even worse.
The rest of the conversation happened at dinner. The gist of what he said is something like, "the signs are all there". He mentioned that we haven't been as romantic or intimate as of recent. He even said something about less attraction on my end, which isn't true. Then mentioned 'weeks of silence', I don't remember this happening at all.
frequent absence, I haven't been going out much except with my friends for dinner dates. Which isn't often just four times a week for now. Something about initiation. The only one that somewhat made sense was how I was cutting couple time for friend time or game time, which doesn't happen all that often. I can only count two or three times last week where I did that and we still had an hour or so out of planned three or four to spend together so he shouldn't have an issue. What he aiad next honestly broke my heart and I almost started crying right there.
"I don't think you love me as much as I do you, but that's fine. We'll raise our kid, grow old and exist till we die. I already have a few hobbies that make me happy. I can't make you responsible for all my happiness, that would be unfair"
And he said that with the most deadpan expression ever, like we were talking about the weather or how our day went. I tried to make him understand that this hurt me but it didn't seem to land at all. He just kept staring at me blank faced and I honestly felt terrified. Afterwards we slept in the same bed after he put Lily to sleep and cuddled like normal which was so jarring to me. I've put a lot of work into keeping us together, so to hear this from him has hurt me deeply.
It's even worse because what he describes sounds exactly like his parents. They're two old bitter people who stayed together to raise him and still stay together for god know why. I've never seen them be loving towards one another and only once towards him. He was always very particular about that stuff and said he never wants to have something like that. A few years ago he said that he was so glad we weren't like that and that he was so lucky to have someone who actually loves him and won't spontaneously stop because folded clothes wrong. Which made me fall in love all over again to know how much I meant to him.
And then there's all that's tuff he said and I honestly can't remember soemthing like not talking to him or silence. But I remmeber how his mother used to forget things. Like she'd do soemthing wrong, get that wrong thing pointed our and then forget it ever happened. One time she was saying something about how my kind of people are less likely to succeed in business and should become a housewife, which is wierd because she's a lawyer and he certainly hasn't said anything like that and is very proud of my passive income stuff.
My husband called her out on it stone faced like yesterday and defended me, I didn't like that he said that I made more than him at the time cause I was afraid his mom would say something, but she backed down after that. She forgot about that incident a day later. Couldn't recall that lunch or what we did or anything sound that one hour period. He didn't want to subject me to that but I insisted since family is pretty important to me so we went back a few times. This same thing has happened at least two times, the target switching to him, I'm proud of him for standing up to her and she can't remmeber any of it. Eventually I got a begrudging approval from her, his dad didn't care too much and was, 'Whatever makes you happy,' from the start, which was nice.
I'm crying my eyes out at a friend's house, I wanted to take Lily with me this morning but she was in the middle of some class with Jack helping her do some activity the teacher gave them so I just went on my own. I feel so heartbroken right now and I don't know what could have happened to make him think this way. I've been having a great few years since he's been home the last five or so years and lightened th e load on taking care of Lily.
What happened? Does anybody have expeirence dealing with something like this? This is a complete breach of my trust and I'm hurting so much from what he said, any advice is helpful. I plan on returning at lunch and dinner for Lily's sake but I'll try to talk to him after I've settled for a day.
Tl:dr Husband of 10 years doesn't think I love him anymore and we have a 4 year old. Has anyone dealt with this before and how did you deal with it?
Edit 4hrs in: I've cancelled my plans for this week and told my friends nothing about why. One of my close friends who is very friendly toward any husband, asks for him every time I go to their houses, and spoils and plays with my daughter then suggested it was my Husband and said he was controlling and other things. I told to stop but she didn't and nobody in the group did anything to stop her. Some even joined in.
I've cut them all off, can't believe this. .
.
. Edit 5?Hrs in:
Working on what to say tonight, also working on replacing friend time with date nights. Somebody said I have to "Make him fall in love with me again", that's a goal.
.
.
. Edit 7 hrs in: Went back home, mostly finished the list of things to say. Found him repeatedly smashing his shoulders into a tree and actually denting it. Lily was watching and eating ice cream. She seemed tired but didn't want to go inside yet.
I'm making dinner tonight.
Update May 23, 2023
Screenshots of since deleted update
This went better than expected. I wish I could say there were tearful embraces and we spent a passionate night rekindling our marriage in record speed like in a lifetime movie. But no. Still, this is what I'd say is one of the best case scenarios.
Firstly, I'll clarify from the other post on a few things I've noticed that people are getting blatantly wrong. Most seem to think that I:
Are gone without him several nights a week - 2-3 times max four was a unique case and I mistated that.
Don't initiate sex - I'm the only one initiating and I get turned down half time time which, as you can imagine, is doing wonderful things to my self worth. I literally have to spend minutes 'convincing' him to get any more than 3 times a week.
Cancel plans with him regularly for friends - I want to say no but I'm beginning to doubt my own judgement.
He isn't invited out that often to friend night - He is invited to every single friend night, he just prefers not to come.
Affair - I'm not going to parties or clubs or anything like that,that a hard boundary I set for him as well, the get togethers and dinners are usually held a few houses down at my former friend's house. A ten minute walk away.
Are seemingly disinterested in him, his interests or your family life. - I don't even know how to respond to this I'm tired.
Why are you laughing at him being delerious and still having the will to train? - I was next to him with a towel, a inflatable fall bed and water. He would literally drag himself with his fingers to train if he could, I think I'm entitled to a little chuckle after that much safety prep.
Now onto the update
That could've gone better but I can say with confidence that I've done everything I could when it came to yesterday.
Dinner was very good Jack and Lily loved their meals and afterward I did what a commenter suggested and asked Lily
"Do you love mommy?", she answered yes.
"Do you love daddy?" the yes was bigger.
"You think daddy loves mommy?" another adorable yes.
"You think mommy loves daddy?"
Silence.
I felt like I got slapped. I'm not sure if it showed on my face because Jack immediately came between us and rubbed her hair. He gave a very loud, boisterous 'Of course she does,' picked her up and carried her to bed while tickling her.
Pretty sure I was still reeling from that revalation but I snapped out of it. Weirdly enough he seemed annoyed when he got back, which is strange since he rarely ever shows something like that. Anyway I remembered my points and pretty much unloaded everything in a half blubbery mess.
I said that I was sorry for everything. That I got too caught up with old friends and I was blinded by all the activities and catching up and get togethers that I didn't realise how much time I was cutting from our plans and our time and family. I was sorry for leaving thud morning and trying to make this about me when he's trying his best for our daughter. 'I've been a bad partner I know.'
I told him that I really appreciate that even if he has doubts he's still willing to be true to me and I'm proud of him for having the courage to communicate because it really needed to be said and how I couldn't imagine how hard that was for him.
That I wouldn't be associating with that group again because I realised what they really thought of him and that I was stupid not to have realised it earlier.
That I know I hurt him and broke his trust and I'm sorry he had to go through all of this and that I never noticed because I was too caught up in my life when I should've been caught up in our lives and I'm sorry. That we should be a team and that I don't only want to stay together for Lily but I want him. If he had anything else to say or any doubts to please say it because I'll geniuinely listen this time and won't get defensive.
Cue handholding over table
That I do really care for him and I was so so sorry that I haven't shown it recently and to please just give me a chance. Just one chance, that's all I needed. To give me the the opportunity to show that I love him.
He just took a few breaths and said general issues that I pretty much initially dismissed. The intimacy was because I apparantly rushed it every time and it felt less like making love and more being a living, breathing dildo. That hurt a lot, I swear I felt chest pain right there and I don't understand what I did to possibly make him feel that way. He mentioned how little I spend on Lily as well and that he'd been trying to get us together more often, only to have me come home tired half the time.
He also said that it would be a while before he trusts me enough to say anything that might "send you running to your friends", which hurt considering the fact that I gave them up for him but I mostly understood where he was coming from now that I wasn't feeling attacked by what he said. It sitll hurt when he added, "You'll change for a week or two then change right back and forget it ever happened."
I told him that was fine and all he had to do was let me show him how much I care.
All in all that was great. All the planning paid off and it felt like a weight was off my chest. I even did the small gestures of comfort stuff during it like holding hands and meeting eyes. I could almost see a little change in his expression, mainly the eyes. He was blank faced throughout the whole thing but I could tell he was fighting to not break down since he rarely trembles. One of his tells is when his fingers start to spread out like some silly claw shape, that certainly didn't happen before. I knew there was hope!
I've already booked a babysitter on his free day and have a reservation for a fancy restaurant that he likes. He agreed to go out with me with a small nod and I honestly felt ecstatic. I immediately hugged him and even though he was a bit stiff at first he returned it! It's been a while since we've felt together now that I think about it and the feeling is different and bubbly.
We went to sleep in the same bed and got excited when he held my neck and brought us closer and stared my eyes while touching foreheads. Then disappointed when he just went to sleep there.
I know it'll be a long road and if everything goes well I'll touch on how my needs could be met a bit better. Sex seems to be off the table because as a commenter said, "you pestered him while he was stressed so much that it's a chore to him now and forcing it will only cause resentment". If he initiates, great, I'll try every now and again and not neg him if he doesn't seem into it. I've realised that my ego really took a hit when he refused when I initiated and that I had to beg him other times just to feel loved by the only person whose opinion matters when it comes to my body. We both have work to do, expecially when it comes to communication and I'm already looking for a therapist or counselor who fits our criteria. Also got the books recommended to find our love languages and making this work.
Since this morning I've tried my best to initiate regular cuddling, which he seems to prefer over sex at the moment, also little hugs from behind whne he's cooking or kisses and pecks make him jolt him sometimes. I don't know how I could've missed this. He even turned his cheek to the side one time but that might've been by accident. He's been very receptive otherwise and our daughter seems to be happier for it.
Might update one more time at the end of the week and that should be it. Thanks for everyone who helped me come up with points and what to do.
And to all those people who say he should leave me. Seethe. It isn't happening.
Tl:dr Second chance!
THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP

Just got back from 10 days in Japan and wanted to type up a trip report to hopefully help others that are trying to plan a trip!
Our trip was 5/16 - 5/28 including travel days. This was my 2nd time in Japan (first time was study abroad for 5 weeks in May/June 2016), but it was my mom & sister's first time, so the goal was to include as many must-see activities as we possibly could in the short time we were there. Our days were packed to the brim however all 3 of us are fairly active and healthy so despite being absolutely exhausted by the end of each day, in retrospect we wouldn't have changed a thing in our itinerary.
That being said, our itinerary would be much too busy for the average person's first trip to Japan so keep that in mind if you use this information to plan your own trip. For example, we usually only had time to sit down and eat for one meal per day and had to eat on the go for the other meals in order to have enough time to go to all the places we wanted to go to. There was very little downtime in our trip.

Tourist Tips

• Luggage
  • We each traveled with 2 checked luggage since they were included in our flight. I had one full sized suitcase and one slightly smaller suitcase which both only had one side filled when I left the US. The plan was to fill the other half of the suitcases with souvenirs to bring home. Last time I went to Japan, it cost me ~$200 to ship two large boxes of souvenirs back home, so despite having to bring a lot of luggage this saved me a significant amount of money and I will be doing this for future trips as well.
  • Within our luggage we also packed a duffel bag to hold all our purchases on heavy shopping days and a daily backpack to hold things like our trash bag, hand towel, hand sanitizewet wipes, body wipes, small purchases, etc. My carry-on was a 40L backpack that I took with us when we stayed overnight in Kyoto.
• Money
  • I brought $400 cash to exchange at the airport. I had gotten a Charles Schwab debit card before leaving which has no foreign transaction/ATM fees so I planned to use my card for whatever purchases I could then use cash for everything else. I ended up withdrawing another ¥20000 which was just enough cash to last me the rest of our trip.
• Walking
  • Last time I went to Japan I survived wearing flat gladiator sandals basically the whole trip, but this did NOT work this time around for whatever reason (I guess we walked a lot more this time?). BRING COMFORTABLE SHOES TO WALK IN. I ended up having to buy sneakers on day 2 because I stupidly didn't think I would need them. I was more concerned about looking cute for pictures (ha) but I quickly realized that all the girls in Japan wear sneakers with their cute skirts and dresses, so I blended right in. I would also recommend bringing a second pair of shoes with you each day (in your backpack) to swap into if the shoes you are wearing start giving you blisters.
• Masking
  • We saw a lot of people not wearing masks, but the majority of people still wear masks. I would say the ratio of people wearing masks to not wearing masks was about 80:20.
• Trash
  • As many have mentioned on this subreddit, due to the lack of public trash bins I would highly recommend bringing a reusable trash bag to store your trash while you're out and about until you can find a bin. We found these cool black fabric ones with a waterproof liner on the inside that you could rinse out when it got dirty and could clip to the outside of your backpack so it wasn’t with your other belongings.
• Restrooms
  • Due to the lack of hand dryers/paper towels in bathrooms we also brought hand towels as recommended, but found ourselves just air drying our hands way more often than using the hand towels as it was often more cumbersome to remove our backpacks and fish out our hand towels to use.

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Accommodations

• Sakura Hotel Jimbocho in Tokyo
  • I stayed in this hostel when I studied abroad in college in 2016, so it holds a special place in my heart. You can get a single room here for cheap, and although the rooms are extremely small, I don’t travel to Japan to spend time in my hotel so when looking for accommodations price is my #1 factor, not comfort. Toilets and showers are shared in this hostel and the rooms are set up coming off of a square hallway with sinks/restroom facilities in the center. The facilities don’t appear to be very modern and pretty, but the water pressure of the showers is the BEST. They have other room types as well, like bunk-beds, double rooms, etc. They have a 24 hour cafe downstairs and breakfast is included in your stay. All their staff speak English & Japanese (and other languages as well). They host some cool events like language exchanges and walking/jogging groups if you are more of a social person. I really enjoy the location of this hostel. You are within walking distance from the Imperial Palace and it still feels like you are in the city without it being so loud and busy like if you were to stay in Shibuya, etc. They do have other locations if you’re looking for somewhere with more nightlife.
• The Millennials Hostel in Kyoto
  • This is a really modern looking hostel in Kyoto, 2 streets over from Pontocho. The facilities are gorgeous and look brand new. They are set up similar to a capsule style hotel with a bunch of rooms coming off a hallway. Your bed takes up your entire space, and you have about 18 inches at the foot of your bed to stand. You pull an opaque privacy screen down to make your room private - there is no door. You can control your bed’s incline and lights through an iPhone in your room. There is storage space under your bed and on a shelf above your bed. Restrooms are shared but the showers are in one room and toilets in another. There are a lot of shared common spaces including a full stocked kitchen you can cook your meals in, but we literally only stayed here to sleep so we didn’t explore those spaces. I was worried about other guests being noisy but that wasn’t the case - everyone was super respectful. The price and location was great so I would definitely come back here.

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Daily Itinerary

Day 1 & 2: Travel

• We flew out of Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Our direct flight to Narita was around $1600 after taxes, fees, and flight insurance. I had one layover the last time I flew to Japan and in the future I will only be buying a direct flight as I found this to be way easier than having a layover.
• Once we arrived in Narita we turned on our e-sim. We chose Ubigi after reading many positive reviews on this subreddit and I highly recommend them. We had some issues getting iMessage to work despite following Ubigi's instructions to a T, so we ended up just using WhatsApp to message during the trip, however, iMessage did start working later on.
• We decided against picking up our JR passes & seat reservations at the airport because the line was long and we didn't need them for another 5 days.
• Going through customs/immigration and grabbing our luggage only took about 20-30 minutes. There were many staff to guide you and we found the whole process to be really smooth.
• We exchanged our currency and went downstairs to buy our tickets for Narita Express at a ticket vending machine. We got round trip tickets for ¥3460 (keep in mind that the return ticket needs to be used within 14 days). We had purchased our Suica before leaving and put them in our iPhone wallets and they came with a balance of ¥2000 so we didn't load money onto our cards until the following day.
• We took the Narita Express to Tokyo Station then took a cab to our hostel in Jimbocho. We each traveled with 2 checked luggage, so we found the short and inexpensive taxi ride to be a better option than lugging 6 giant suitcases on local trains to get to our hostel.
• We checked into our hostel. The total price per person for 11 nights was ¥49500 (about $380).

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Day 3: Imperial Palace/Ueno

• We woke up and walked to the Imperial Palace/East Gardens. We got there right when they opened and spent about 90 minutes there. We walked back to Jimbocho to go to my favorite tempura place in Jimbocho. This place has gotten quite famous since I was last there in 2016. We were first in line at 10:45am and by the time they opened for lunch at 11:30, there was a line of 20+ people. Our lunch cost only ¥800.
• After lunch we took the train to Ueno and spent some time in the Tokyo National Museum and Ueno Park. We also visited Shinobazu No Ike Bentendo Temple which is a cool temple right inside Ueno Park. While at Ueno Station, we picked up our JR passes & seat reservation tickets and also put ¥5000 on our Suica. We really enjoyed the fact that you could charge your mobile suica at a convenience store using cash - we didn’t have to worry about finding the machines in train stations with the phone holders.
• After that we walked through Ameyoko and did some shopping - I bought a super cute used Coach purse for around $65. Ameyoko seemed to have a lot more products than when I was there in 2016… but I also had more money this time around so maybe I was just paying more attention!
• We took a train back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags and change. We took a train to Shinjuku to go to New York Grill for our dinner reservation. New York Grill is on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt hotel in Shinjuku and the views were incredible. We got the Spring Harvest 5-course dinner which included wagyu and it was easily the best beef I have ever eaten in my life - so juicy and buttery. The cost was ¥23100 per person (~$175).
• 25,138 steps on this day.

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Day 4: Shibuya/Akihabara

• We woke up and took a train to Shibuya to see Hachiko, go to the Starbucks near Shibuya Crossing, and shop at Shibuya109 and Uniqlo. It was hard for me to find any clothing that would fit me at the stores in Shibuya109 (I am a US 8/10 which is basically considered plus size in Japan) however I was able to find a cute t-shirt at Punyu's in Shibuya109 and two dresses at Uniqlo. I also bought sneakers at the Skechers store.
• I also went to the Mega Don Quijote in Shibuya and spent about $102 on candy and snacks to bring home. Lots of fun KitKat flavors here but it was very crowded and hard to walk around with my extremely full baskets.
• We took a train back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags and had a quick lunch via conbini.
• We took a train to Akihabara and bought some souvenirs and gachapon, and walked all the way back to Ameyoko where I spent another $90 on candy and snacks to bring home.
• We took a train back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags and change. We took a train to Ginza to go to Tempura Kondo for dinner (a Michelin starred tempura restaurant). We got the Yomogi dinner which was ¥23100 per person (¥25410 after fees, ~$195). The staff were amazing - they noticed that my sister was left-handed and set up her plates/silverware as such which was really observant. We loved the dinner, however there was WAY too much food for us; the staff recognized we were starting to get full, and asked us if we would be able to eat the next course which was ten-don. I was really concerned about being disrespectful and wasting food, so I was really glad that they noticed and asked!
• 19,445 steps on this day.

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Day 5: Asakusa/Ginza/Omoide Yokocho

• We woke up and took a train to Asakusa to see Sanja Matsuri. We shopped at the small souvenir shops on Nakamise-dori and had street food at the festival for lunch. I bought an awesome goshuincho here with a wooden cover and foxes on it.
• After being completely overstimulated, we took a train to Rikugi-en Garden to escape the crowds. This garden is a little off the beaten path, just outside the big city, but it is completely gorgeous and so worth the trip.
• After the garden, we took a train to Ginza to window shop and go to our reservation at Higashiya Ginza for wagashi & tea pairing. We had 5 wagashi paired with 5 teas that were amazing. It cost ¥4500 per person.
• After this, we walked to Mitsukoshi Ginza to explore the basement food floor and grab dinner. They start to discount the food as the stores near closing time, so going for a late dinner can save you a couple yen! After eating on their rooftop terrace which was beautiful, we walked to Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki Paris Marunouichi to grab dessert then headed back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags.
• After we ate, we took a train to Shinjuku to walk down Omoide Yokocho. We had a drink on the third floor of Bar Albatross - highly recommend! The alleyway is a lot shorter than I imagined, and very crowded as you would expect. I probably wouldn’t go back here in the future but I am glad we visited!
• 25,002 steps on this day.

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Day 6: Harajuku

• We woke up and took a train to Harajuku to visit Meiji Shrine and got our first goshuin.
• After visiting the shrine, we walked back to Takeshita-dori to get lunch at Afuri Ramen. They’re known for their ramen with yuzu in their broth and this was one of our favorite meals during our trip. We got there about 20 minutes before they opened and were ~8th in line. By the time they opened, the line was stretching around the building!
• We walked down Takeshita-dori and shopped, then went to our reservation at Mipig Cafe (mini pig cafe). This place was so cute! You can make reservations for 30 minutes or 1 hour where you sit on the floor and miniature pigs will come and sit on your lap. You weren’t allowed to pick the pigs up and the staff were super kind and handled the pigs well. A 30 minute reservation was ¥1800 per person.
• After the pigs, we walked down Omotesando and took the train to Shinjuku to get dinner on the food floor at Isetan.
• After we ate on the rooftop terrace (beautiful once again), we headed back to our hostel to drop off our shopping bags. We took the train to Shibuya to go to our reservation at Shibuya Sky. We got the package where you get an admission ticket including a 50 minute reservation for the sofa seats and a choice of a mini bottle of champagne or 2 beers per person, which cost ¥5900 per person. The views were unreal and I recommend reserving the sofa seats so you can get amazing pictures. This was a highlight of our trip.
• 21,719 steps on this day.

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Day 7: Kawaguchiko

• This was our first travel day. We woke up early to take the highway bus from Busta Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko. The bus was ¥4400 per person. We were able to get some super clear pictures of Mt. Fuji while we were on the bus and right when we arrived at the station.
• We bought the daily unlimited bus pass for ¥1500 which ended up not being worth it for us because we spent so little time seeing things on the bus route. First, we went to the Panoramic Ropeway. We got there about 15 minutes before they opened and there was already a really long line. By this time, Mt. Fuji was already completely covered in clouds but the ropeway was really cool and we still got some awesome panoramic pictures. They have a shop at the top where you can get ice cream and sit on some swings and take pictures.
• After the ropeway we took the bus back to Kawaguchiko Station to get on the train to go to Chureito Pagoda. The gnats here were INSANE. We climbed up the ~400 or so steps to the top and got some cool pictures as well as our goshuin.
• We walked back to the station and took the train to Fuji-san Station and walked ~30 minutes to Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine. The wooded walk up to the shrine is absolutely gorgeous. We got goshuin here as well.
• After the shrine, we walked and took a train back to Kawaguchiko Station to eat a conbini dinner, do last minute shopping, and catch our bus back to Tokyo.
• 19,374 steps on this day.

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Day 8: Kanazawa

• We woke up early to catch our 6:16am shinkansen to Kanazawa. Once we arrived, we bought the daily unlimited bus pass and took the bus to Omicho Market where we bought some souvenirs and food.
• We walked from Omicho Market to visit Ozaki Shrine and Oyama Shrine and got goshuin at both places. My sister realized she lost her wallet at this point, but a kind soul had turned it in to the staff at Ozaki Shrine!
• We took the bus from Oyama Shrine to Kenroku-en Garden, where we walked around, took lots of pictures, and sat down for lunch at a local restaurant.
• After lunch, we took the bus to the Higashi Chaya district where we shopped and took pictures.
• After that, we took the bus back to Kanazawa Station to catch our 5:57pm shinkansen back to Tokyo.
• 20,192 steps on this day.

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Day 9: Kyoto Day 1

• We woke up early to pack our overnight bags and catch our 6:21am shinkansen to Kyoto, where we would be staying for one night. We decided to keep our reservation at our Tokyo hostel because 1) it was super cheap and 2) we would be able to leave all our suitcases and belongings in our rooms for when we returned to Tokyo.
• When we arrived in Kyoto, we headed straight to our hostel to have them hold our bags before we could check in later that day.
• After that, we took a local bus to the Arashiyama area. It was absolutely packed with school groups and tour buses. We walked up Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street to Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple where it was much quieter. We got goshuin and visited the small and private bamboo grove behind the temple. We walked back down Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street towards Togetsukyo Bridge where we stopped and sat down for lunch then continued shopping along the way. I got lots of uji-matcha here.
• We walked back to Arashiyama Station and took a train to Kiyomizu-dera where we got goshuin, then walked to a small rooftop bar overlooking the Hokan-ji temple and pagoda and got awesome pictures and had dinner.
• After eating, we walked back to our hostel and checked in, then slept for the night. Our 1 night stay cost ¥5000 per person.
• 21,545 steps on this day.

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Day 10: Kyoto/Nara Day 2

• We woke up super early to check out of our hostel and head to Fushimi Inari. Our hostel held our bags while we went sightseeing for the day. We arrived around 6:45am which was so worth it - it wasn’t crowded at all and we got lots of pictures of the shrine and torii gates without any people in them. We walked for about 30 minutes up the mountain then headed back to Inari Station to head to Nara.
• Once we arrived in Nara, we spent some time with the deer then visited Todai-ji and got goshuin.
• After that, we took a train back to Fushimi Inari to visit the souvenir shops which had not opened yet when we had gotten there earlier that day. We shopped and got goshuin, then headed to Sannenzaka/Ninenzaka to shop. We visited Ryozen Kannon to get pictures (they had closed by the time we got there) and walked down Ishibei-koji Lane and Hanamikoji Street.
• After that, we walked back to our hostel to pick up our bags. We took a taxi to Kyoto Station to catch our 7:36pm shinkansen back to Tokyo.
• 27,861 steps on this day.

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Day 11: Tattoo

• My mom and I went to a tattoo shop near Shibuya to get matching tattoos on our wrists, then my mom spent the rest of the day shopping in Shibuya with my sister while I got another large tattoo on my shoulder.
• After my tattoo was finished, we all met up in Ikebukuro to get gyudon for dinner.
• 9,879 steps on this day.

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Day 12: Yokohama/Kamakura

• We woke up and took a train to Yokohama where we walked the Minato Mirai 21 area and shopped and had lunch at World Porters.
• After lunch, we took a train to Kamakura. First, we visited Hase-dera and got goshuin. I got lots of pictures of the hydrangeas even though they weren’t in full bloom yet.
• After that we walked up the road to Daibutsu and got goshuin. We walked back to Hase Station and took a train to Kamakura Station and walked the pedestrian pathway in the center of the road to Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu. We got our goshuin and were able to observe a small part of a traditional Japanese wedding that was happening at the shrine, which was really cool.
• After that, we walked back to Kamakura Station and took a train back to Tokyo.
• We spent the night packing. I ended up completely filling my suitcases with my souvenirs and had to put even more in my carry-on bag.
• 21,131 steps on this day.

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Day 13: Travel

• We woke up and headed back to Senso-ji to grab our goshuin, since it was too busy when Sanja Matsuri was happening the week before.
• We took a train back to our hostel and checked out around 11am, then made our way to Tokyo Station to take the Narita Express back to the airport.
• We arrived at the airport with plenty of time before our flight so we could get last-minute souvenirs. I found a couple flavors of KitKat and Hi-Chew here that I could not find in Donki/Ameyoko - but I could not find Beni-Imo KitKat which is the flavor that I was looking for! :(
• We flew back to O’Hare and drove home from there.

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Trip Cost

• Total trip cost: ~$5462.73
  • Total spent before I left Japan (flight, JR pass, highway bus ticket, tattoo deposit, pay-ahead reservations, suica, car rental): $2562.73
  • Total I spent in Japan (souvenirs, snacks, accommodations, transportation, meals, activities/admission, reservations, tattoo): ~$2900

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Cost Breakdown

Airfare

• Total (USD): $1600

Accommodations

• Total: ¥54500
  • ¥49500 (Tokyo hostel/11 nights) + ¥5000 (Kyoto hostel/1 night)

Transportation

• Total: ~¥64470
  • ¥33610 (JR pass) + ¥4400 (highway bus) + ¥3460 (N’EX) + ¥18000 (local trains/bus) + ¥5000 (taxis - approximate)

Meals

• Total: ~¥88510
  • ¥40000 (breakfast/lunch/dinner) + ¥48510 (meal reservations)

Souvenirs

• Total: ~¥150000
  • Goshuin, charms, matcha powder, candy, jewelry, clothing, purses, shrine offerings, postcards, etc.

Activities/Admission

• Total: ~¥9800
  • Pig Cafe, tea/wagashi tasting, shrines/temples, etc.

Tattoo

• Total (USD): $604.66

Hello, this is the story of how my grup of 4 friends turned into a group of 3 thanks to Bridezilla. The group consisted of 4 girls, me (Dana), Gabby, Lilly and Lucy, it al started when Lilly got engaged and Gabby and I were so excited for her and kind of over the moon making jokes and never stop talking about the subject, we kind of felt like Lucy was jelaous but we let it go, a few weeks after guess who ends up engaged as well, yes, LUCY! We were happy for her as well. Lucy immediately asked us 3 girls to be her bridesmaids along with other 7-8 girls (girls she just met through her fiancé, her sister and SIl). Lillys wedding was going to be different and there were no bridesmaids at all, so the whole wedding planning and leading to her wedding was very different.
When Lilly told us her wedding date Lucy couldn´t handle it so went ahead and set her wedding one week before Lillys... we didn´t think much of it atm but I did felt like she was competeing or something. To give you a little context Gabby and I were on our early 20s still in Uni. Gabby was starting a beauty business and all her expenses were put into that business and school, where in my case I was paying my University tuiton with a Scholarship and by working for the school as well, my career was very expensive in tuiton and supplies as well, (needing gamer computers, art supplies, etc, every week) so all of my money was spent on school and transportation to and from School, Lillys situation was very similar, she was also in her early 20s, had just moved in with her fiancé, was paying a new car and on top of that had a whole wedding to pay for.
So I think you know where this is going. Lucy was one of my best friends so I did everything I could to support her and be there for her wedding and planning of it. Soon she started showing her bridezilla true colours. First she asked all of us bridesmaids to wear the exact same dress from a very expensive store, at the time I did not have the money so I asked her if I could make an exact copy of the dress with the help of a seamstress (it is cheaper in our country) and she said NO because she did not want to risk it being slightly different so I had to borrow money from my parents.
On the fitting day a couple of us bridesmaids were complaining about the prices and how a certain style doesn´t always fit bodies, one specifically said that she felt very uncomfrotable and she would never wear a dress like that also pay so much money for it. Bridezila wasn´t there but one of her bridesmaidezilla made sure to tell her the rumours. So that bridesmaid was UNIVITED. We were also supposed to wear the same shoes, and do our hair and makeup with the same MUA because otherwise "we could be late to the wedding" her MUA was very expensive as well. All of us had to buy the same shoes but since you guessed it they were very expensive I bought a cheaper replica of them (the dress was floor lenght so you wouldn´t even see them).
We 3 bridesmaids were invited to the bachelorette party a day before. And we were told to get there lets say 5pm, so we arrived and no one was there. The other group of bridesmaids told us to go ahead and start decorating the place, that we could help that way. We went out to buy some decorations and told the other group to text us when they were heading to the place with Bridezilla. They never texted us so when we got there bridezilla had already been surprised and we were seen as "the ones that got there late". The expected us to pay for that nights meal and again it was very expensive, more than what I would pay for in a restaurant, keep in mind I am vegan and I dont drink alcohol, there were of course no vegan options for me, so I paid more than I would´ve paid for in a fancy restaurant for salad and water.
We were kind of upset at the bridesmaids for not letting us know when they were getting there and we decided to talk to bridezilla about it, to what she responded "I am very busy to deal with that right now" and kept asking us for money to pay for her bouquet and extra money to pay for a bouquet that all of ous bridesmaids were expecting to carry. At that point I wanted to quit being a bridesmaid but I knew that ment I was going to be uninvited and I wanted to be there for my friend, I asked how much it was in total and it was bananas, overall I had spent in HER wedding more than what a month of school tuition was worth, plus I had to still pay for the hair and makeup and bouquets? I kindly asked if it was really necessary for us to do all that, and I explained my situation, she was very angry about it and said that I was not being supportive. (keep in mind I have another wedding coming up a weekend after that).
The invites came in and turnes out I only have a pass and I have to pay for my boyfriend to be there... In a wedding where there were more than 300 guests and I was one of the best friends of the bride. I again talked to Bridezila about it and she said that Lillys fiancé was invited because it was a serious relationship while mine was not. So I paid insane money for his invite.
The night before the wedding we texted bridezilla wishing her the best and also asking her what type should we be there since she stopped texting in the bridesmaids group chat since weeks ago and we were supposed to do a photoshoot while getting ready, and then with the groom etc. She replied saying that the photoshoot was canceled and we should be there on time for the ceremony only.
We got ready and showed up at the ceremony on time. The moment when I flipped was when one of the groomsmaids (idk how to say that in english, sorry) that I was very close with, as soon as he saw me asked why I hadn´t been at the photoshoot!!!!! I was like.. "I thought it was canceled" and he said no. During the wedding Bridezilla never even looked or talked to us 3 bridesmaids.
A few days after the wedding we found out through one councious bridesmaid that Bridezilla had made a new grouchat called "The cool bridesmaids" and chat there talking bad about us, saying how unsopportive we were and purposly did a photoshoot where WE her closest and best friends would not appear in. We were fuming and confronted Bridezilla about it, but againg she said she was busy planing or going to her honeymoon that she didn´t have time for us. She decided loosing her 10+ year friendship over her wedding. Later we found out that she copied exactly Gabbys business and that made Gabby lose her shit and we stopped talking to her. She moved to another state where she thought she would make friends but didnt because she doesnt work at all so she never left the house and made friends, The wedding was paid by the groom. She moved back to the city and realized that "the cool bridesmaids" are busy women and not very close to her so she lost all her friends and she reached out again to apologize saying "I am sorry even though I dont know what I did wrong" we said it was better to not be friends and now she really has no friends.
This brought us Gabby, Lilly and I closer and very happy, supportive friends (: The end

My BF and I are celebrating our anniversary and I have enough points to book at room at the Hotel Drover in Fort Worth, TX (49,000 points for a room that’s normally $750/night). If I ask to be upgraded to a slightly better room, would it be an automatic no based on my status? I know silver elite is at the bottom of the totem pole, but would love for this night to be extra special.

Anyone familiar with the history of crime/mob films knows the importance of food/dining in them (see "Goodfellas" for one, where you learn how to slice garlic with a razor and that Vinnie puts too many onions in the sauce). But there's probably no mob movie where food plays as critical a role as "Dinner Rush", where the action takes place at a trendy Tribeca eatery run by Danny Aiello's Louis Croppa, who will tell anyone who asks that he doesn't have mob ties. However, on this night he's certainly got problems with them in the form of two hoodlums dubbed "Black and Blue" who previously committed a terrible act against someone close to Louis and now are aiming to muscle their way into an interest in his bookmaking operation and his restaurant. Louis will accept the former, but NEVER the latter.
Further complicating matters for Louis this evening are family issues. His son Nino (Edoardo Ballerini) has become a celebrity chef thanks to his unique dishes (much to the despair of his father, who just wants some good old Italian-style sausages and peppers) and is angling for a bigger say in running the restaurant. Meanwhile sous chef/surrogate son Duncan (Kirk Acevedo), who gladly makes Louis's favorite entrees, is a chronic gambler who happens to owe Black and Blue a hefty sum. And all this is happening on a busy night where the clientele includes an acerbic food critic (Sandra Bernhardt) who previously slept with Nino and who is here with a friend dubbed "the food nymph", a pompous art dealer (Mark Margolis aka Hector Salamanca) who is here with his entourage and is the walking embodiment of "pretentious asshole" and an enigmatic yuppie (John Corbett) who observes the events of the evening from his perch at the bar. (As he asks Jamie Harris's Triva-ace bartender, "When did eating out become a Broadway show?")
All this seems like a lot to take in, but the film expertly juggles all these subplots and characters and is never dull at a tidy 99 minute runtime. There's a first rate look at the behind the scenes running of a restaurant (especially how in the kitchen, a chef is the tyrant and his subordinates are slaves at their will) and the cast is uniformly excellent, anchored, unsurprisingly, by Aiello, who conveys both paternalistic warmth (Louis is an ideal boss) and quiet unflappability in the face of adversity. And there's a twist at the end that will probably catch you completely by surprise. It alone is worth the viewing
Basically, if you're looking for a movie option to go with dinner, this is an ideal choice. Because this movie WILL make you hungry.

Edit: turned out this is a long one. TLDR at the bottom.
I will try to keep it short so here is the rundown.
I 20M met this girl, F25 in October of 2022. There was some light banter right off the bat but we were just acquaintances. We didn’t talk/see each other much. Maybe once a week. At the moment I was in a relationship and wasn’t looking for anything (other than a new friend maybe).
Come December, I broke up with my girlfriend after she confessed that she cheated on me. It was my first long relationship and serious lasting 2 years. I learned a lot about what I want and relationship dynamics. So I am grateful for having those experiences.
Now onto this girl. When we first met, she thought I was 23-24 (I am extremely mature for my age, won’t get into it but I live the life of a 30yr old, the good and bad lol). Regardless once she found out, she teased me about it for a while.
Come February of this year, she invited me to get some food with her (on Valentine’s Day none the less). I obliged but later found out she had a boyfriend. Her boyfriend is in another country 8 hours away. She seemed like a cool girl and we have a lot in common being raised similar from the same country having watched the same cartoons, having the same morals, life goals, etc…
This was the start of our friendship. There are some habits of hers I didn’t like at first and after hearing about her boyfriend she was unavailable (to me, I wouldn’t chase etc…). I let the friendship develop.
We have gone skiing for the whole day (she was a beginner and we had fun), we’ve gone on some walks, gotten dinner alone a few times. Celebrated my birthday (20th at a fancy restaurant alone again). I’ve never hung out in a group setting with her since. Always one on one, we are both busy people but make time for each other.
Now we hang out on average twice a week alone at bars or restaurants. Furthermore, she has just gone on a trip she has been dying to go on for years. I thought great, she will be busy etc, I can get my mind off of her. But no, instead, she has called me multiple times a day, 100s of texts about her trips and everything good and bad about her trip. I’m okay with it as I work a lot and it’s nice to do anything but work for a change.
Last couple nights we would be on FaceTime together for 1hr or more as she is falling sleep in bed (won’t lie it’s a little cute). Just yesterday, the conversation somehow got to a point where she imagined moving to this new country (with me) because she loves it so much, etc… Like a whole entire life about living on a farm etc… visiting our parents back home every couple months. Obviously it was a joke but it hit a nerve. Now I’m not sure what to do. I’ve tried letting go of my emotions towards her but it’s getting harder and harder.
She’s been helping me with some stuff outside of life (personal achievement) and while she’s been away I hit an incredible life goal. I told her we would celebrate when she gets back. I planned a great evening for her. At first it was as friends but after the last 2-3 days of being on call all day it’s making me question reality.
On one hand I understand I should shoot my shot and either our friendship is strong enough to handle a rejection, we fall apart or we start dating if the feelings are shared. I feel bad about asking her out because she obviously has a boyfriend and I respect that very much.
I don’t quite know what kind of relationship they have other than they visit each other once a month for a weekend. And she’s complained about their life goals not aligning lately. They have been on and off for the last 5 years having dated for 2yrs. I know I’m reading into it a lot.
I wanted to ask how bad of an idea is it to mention to her that I think we could be more than friends but I totally understand if she doesn’t feel the same as I value our friendship. I doubt we would have a falling apart as we have become extremely close. She has even invited me to travel with her the next time (she loves to travel).
Should I do it when we celebrate or is that a bad idea cause she will think I had it set up that way to “confess my feelings” (I obviously wouldn’t tell her I love her, we just have a lot in common.)
Should I just sprinkle into a conversation we have?
Thank you!
TLDR: Became close friends with a girl. Developing feelings but she is taken. What do?
I’m also 99% sure she’s not interested. Atleast not with how things stand now. Is it worth it to tell her how I feel to start moving on?

Hello! My husband and I went on our first-ever cruise on the MSC Meraviglia earlier this month and it just occurred to me that it might be nice to post a review. Since the biggest questions I see people ask about with MSC are "how is the food?" and "why do people hate the food?" I thought I'd do a food review. Obviously I can't compare it with any of the other cruise lines, but we like to eat out and are willing to spend money on a great meal so that's what I am comparing it to. We've eaten at Michelin starred restaurants and typically avoid chains but on a normal day we're making spaghetti with meat sauce or dumping frozen garlic chicken pasta into a pot like the average American.
Before I get started with this, I need to note that I have been dealing with a health issue that makes me constantly somewhat queasy and have little appetite. While I've lost a bunch of weight I do not recommend this method. However, some days I feel better than others, and I had a couple of good days on the trip, enough to try a couple of specialty restaurants, but not enough to try everywhere I wanted to.
So MSC food is *different*. It's like when you go to Europe and the food isn't really unfamiliar, but you don't find the stuff you're used to eating. They don't really have fried food, they didn't seem to have bags of chips or candy. On days I didn't feel well, I ordered a chicken sandwich from room service. It came on thin-sliced white bread with no crusts, with sliced roasted chicken (not deli slices), tomato, and darker greens. The potato chips were hand-sliced potatoes and tasted like potatoes pan-fried with a little salt. There was a small side-salad too, again with darker greens, not iceberg or romaine, dressed with a little vinagrette. I got chocolate-chip cookies for dessert, and they were crisp and the size you'd get making them at home, not the giant size you usually get here. And it was all delicious! Hopefully that helps to clarify what I mean by "different".
My husband ate at Kaito Sushi by himself, and I joined him at Butcher's Cut and Ocean Cay specialty restaurants. He said the sushi was good, not spectacular, but at least as good or better than we get in our Midwestern city (which has a well-respected food scene). He liked it enough to eat there twice. At Butcher's Cut, I had bone marrow with parsley sauce for an appetizer, filet mignon and crispy fries for the entrée, and lava cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. The steak was done perfectly medium-rare, per my request. I didn't try the sauces on the steak because it didn't need them. The scoop of ice cream with the lava cake was small but rich and creamy. Best, though, were the fries. OMG the fries were the most amazing thing I have ever tasted! I cannot express how much I loved them. Steak fries, perfectly crisp and lightly salty with almost a caramelized crust on the outside, perfectly soft and almost melty on the inside. If I could only eat those fries for the rest of my life, I would die happy. This was as good a meal as we would get at a higher-end steakhouse, and definitely worth buying the package.
At Ocean Cay, I had the crackling fennel salad (very good, and a large portion), the roasted lobster tail with bourbon vanilla cream and pureed carrots (very surprising and delicious flavors, not sure that I would have roasted lobster again) and crème brulée (large portion, very rich, so much that I couldn't finish it though I sure tried). I tried my husband's crab cakes - they were tender and seasoned fine for me but he thought they were a bit bland. His tuna steak was good, though. The waitstaff there were particularly attentive and helpful. Worth it with the package, though I got the lobster off the regular menu.
We are not drinkers so did not get an alcohol package. I got a glass of wine with supper at both specialty restaurants, but there were surprisingly few choices by the glass. They were both nice wines but I would have liked a few more options. BTW, there are AA meetings ("Friends of Bill W") every evening in the "library" - more a corner with some bookshelves - in case you need them.
We only ate in the main dining room once for supper. I would say it's like eating at a mid-range restaurant, maybe like a local chain. Not the best meal ever, but far from the worst. This is where you're most likely to find food that is closer to a typical American restaurant - they had meatloaf and potatoes as one option the night we went. Again, the staff is fantastic and are happy to give you more cheese or pepper or leave off the sauce, etc.
We ordered continental breakfast every day but one (it was free with our Fantastica experience). Pain au chocolate every morning, with fresh fruit! The only bad part was that I couldn't get a diet coke delivered with it - my husband ran up to the buffet to get some for me every morning. He said his coffee was great, though, plus he got big bottles of Sanpellegrino all day, so he was happy. We tried eggs and bacon one morning, but it wasn't that great. I had pain au chocolate with a little peanut butter and fruit the rest of the time and was quite content.
The buffet was big and very busy whenever I went to it. They had multiple stations for the more popular items, but I don't think everyone realized that. The pizza was, in fact, very good, but again it is not much like American pizza. The slices were large but had thin, flexible crusts that were not greasy and did not have tons of cheese or tomato sauce. There were pepperoni slices when I was there, but also white pizza and different kinds of veggie slices. The one closest to plain cheese was either pepperoni or one that had small slices of zucchini scattered on it that would be easy to pick off if you didn't want them. If you have a picky person in your party that intends to rely on pizza for their meals, please reconsider - it really isn't even like the Neapolitan pizza I've had here. They didn't have peanut butter out anywhere but they had it available. They had a grill section for burgers and hot dogs (I didn't get a close look, so not sure what else might be there but I didn't see chicken nuggets). They had lots of salad fixings and pasta salad and fruit and a rotisserie chicken station. A wide variety of tasty bread and rolls and real butter. Desserts were usually small - two bites - pieces of cake in different flavors, not necessarily plain chocolate or vanilla. ETA: We just put together a charcuterie plate with french bread and prosciutto and salami and fresh mozzarella and pears, etc a couple of times. Highly recommended.
The chocolate place served an absolutely divine hot chocolate with whipped cream, and the gelato was stellar, but they are extra. Budget for them, both in cash and calories.
My husband gained two pounds even though he mostly lounged around and he ate constantly. I'm sure it's possible to gain a lot more but the smaller portion sizes and dearth of heavy sauces and fried food definitely helped. Neither of us felt deprived at all.
So TL;DR: MDR food was fine, specialty restaurants better and worth the package prices, but picky eaters or fried-food lovers may not be happy with food options.

I know what you're all probably thinking, "Legends and Leaders, what is wrong with you?". But hear me out! All must know of the divisions the Big Ten used from 2011 to 2013! Rutgers and Maryland joined in 2014 when they switched to the East and West divisions, so I tallied the responses from my comment on my previous post to decide who of the two would be the legend. Tomorrow Rutgers will be the leader along with Notre Dame. The year in parenthesis is the date the teams last played each other. As always if I missed any dates or matchups, please let me know!

1. Michigan

Arizona State (0-1) (1987)
Kansas State (0-1) (2013)
Mississippi State (0-1) (2011)
Oklahoma (0-1) (1976)
Tennessee (0-1) (2002)
Texas (0-1) (2005)
TCU (0-1) (2022)
Toledo (0-1) (2008)
Wesleyan (CT) (0-1) (1883)
Cleveland AA (OH) (0-1) (1891)
​

1. Michigan State

Alabama (0-2) (2015)
Army (0-2) (1984)
Auburn (0-1) (1938)
BYU (0-1) (2016)
Colorado State (0-1) (1998)
Florida State (0-2) (1988)
Georgia Tech (0-3) (1985)
Houston (0-1) (1967)
LSU (0-1) (1995)
Louisiana Tech (0-1) (2003)
Texas Tech (0-1) (2010)
Saint Louis (MO) (0-1-1) (1924)
Marietta (OH) (0-1) (1920)
Haskell Indian Nations (KS) (0-1)
Fort MacArthur (TX) (0-1) (1917)
Creighton (NE) (0-2) (1923)
Cornell (NY) (0-1) (1926)
Chicago (IL) (0-1) (1923)
​

1. Minnesota

Arizona State (0-1) (1969)
Hawaii (0-1) (1997)
North Carolina State (0-1) (2000)
Notre Dame (0-4-1) (1938)
Oklahoma (0-2) (1986)
Tennessee (0-1) (1986)
Texas Tech (0-2) (2012)
Virginia (0-1) (2005)
Iowa Navy Pre-Flight (0-3) (1944)
Chicago Naval Reserve (IL) (0-1) (1918)
​

1. Iowa

Colorado (0-2) (1992)
North Carolina State (0-3) (1992)
Miami (FL) (0-4) (1992)
Oklahoma (0-2) (2011)
Stanford (0-1) (2016)
Texas A&M (0-1) (1931)
Utah (0-1) (1978)
Physicians & Surgeons (IL) (0-1) (1897)
Iowa Navy Pre-Flight (0-2) (1944)
Great Lakes NTS (IL) (0-4) (1943)
Doane (NE) (0-1) (1895)
Denver AC (CO) (0-1) (1893)
Centenary (LA) (0-1) (1930)
​

1. Northwestern

Akron (0-1) (2018)
Arizona (0-2) (1976)
Arizona State (0-4) (2005)
Arkansas (0-1) (1981)
Florida (0-2) (1966)
North Carolina (0-2) (1977)
Southern Cal (0-5) (1995)
Tennessee (0-2) (2015)
Texas A&M (0-1) (2011)
Texas Tech (0-1) (2010)
Washington (0-3) (1984)
New Hampshire (0-1) (2006)
Iowa Navy Pre-Flight (0-1) (1942)
Harvard Prep School (IL) (0-1) (1886)
Denver AC (CO) (0-1) (1893)
Chicago University Football Club (IL) (0-2) (1890)
Chicago Naval Reserve (IL) (0-1) (1918)
Carlisle Indian School (PA) (0-1) (1903)
​

1. Nebraska

Arkansas (0-1) (1964)
BYU (0-1) (2015)
Duke (0-1) (1954)
Georgia Tech (0-1) (1990)
Georgia Southern (0-1) (2022)
Houston (0-1) (1979)
Ole Miss (0-1) (2002)
Stanford (0-1) (1940)
Southern Cal (0-4-1) (2014)
Saint Louis (MO) (0-1) (1907)
Iowa Navy Pre-Flight (0-1) (1942)
Carlisle Indian School (PA) (0-1) (1908)
Camp Dodge (IA) (0-1) (1918)
Butte AC (MT) (0-2) (1896)
​

1. Maryland

Houston (0-1) (1977)
Miami (OH) (0-1) (1969)
Marshall (0-1) (2013)
Nebraska (0-2) (2019)
Notre Dame (0-2) (2011)
Ohio State (0-8) (2022)
Oklahoma (0-4) (1967)
Oregon State (0-1) (2007)
Stanford (0-1) (2014)
Texas A&M (0-2) (1958)
Washington (0-1) (1982)
Wisconsin (0-4) (2022)
Walbrook AC (MD) (0-1) (1901)
Swarthmore (PA) (0-1) (1919)
Princeton (NJ) (0-2) (1922)
Mount Washington AC (MD) (0-1) (1906)
Haverford (PA) (0-2) (1916)
Gibraltar AC (DC) (0-1) (1900)
Gallaudet JV (DC) (0-1) (1898)
Curtis Bay Coast Guard (MD) (0-1) (1943)
Columbia AC (DC) (0-1) (1894)
Chicago (IL) (0-1) (1926)
Chemical Warfare Service (DC) (0-1) (1918)
Carnegie Mellon (PA) (0-1) (1921)
Baltimore Medical College (MD) (0-1) (1897)
Alexandria Episcopal HS (VA) (0-4) (1900)
https://freebiesupply.com/logos/big-ten-logo/
*Don't sleep on Iowa Navy Pre-Flight!

Welcome to HamptonRoadsVAHousing! Our subreddit gets a lot of questions about relocating to the area, so be sure to search the subreddit to see if your specific questions have already been answered.
Here's a quick list of the top tips and most frequently repeated advice about moving to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area:
Live on the same side of the water as you work. Our many bridges, tunnels and bridge-tunnels frequently experience heavy traffic volume and become chokepoints even on days without incidents or accidents. Commuting from the Southside (Norfolk/Virginia Beach) to the Peninsula (Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg) and vice versa is not recommended. Additionally, many water crossings are now or will eventually be tolled. Get an EZ-Pass to pay the lowest rate.
This area floods. Look at FEMA flood maps for the area you want to move to and be aware of possibly needing flood insurance. Similarly, our area occasionally experiences hurricanes. Know your Evacuation Zone and learn more about Hurricane Preparations. Hampton Roads has a lot to offer. Obviously there is the beach. But there is also a surprisingly good and growing food & craft beer scene. A great many museums and activities. And an easy drive to the mountains and other major cities. Career wise the medical center is growing year over year, and is only expected to continue expanding into a major hub for the region. Norfolk offers a slightly more urban feel, with lots of great food joints and cultural amenities, all while being walking and bike friendly. Virginia Beach is more suburban in feel, and has a large amount of great neighborhoods at a decent price not too far from the beach. Chesapeake is even more suburban, but more affordable. Suffolk is growing, but still by all rights could be considered mostly rural. (credit to u/Here4thebeer3232)
Check crime reports. Crime can happen anywhere but some areas see more reported incidents than others. Great areas can be adjacent to bad neighborhoods, sometimes separated only by a road or a few blocks. When buying or renting a residence, try to visit the area at different times of day and strike up conversations with locals to get a feel for the location. Use Norfolk's Crime Mapping tool to view crime reports and statistics.
Norfolk Neighborhoods of Note
Chelsea/West Ghent: Small former industrial area that is now home to 2 top tier Breweries and is a central part of the Elizabeth River Bike Trail. Has a growing culinary scene. Limited residential options.
Colonial Place: Upscale residential neighborhood with waterside access. Flooding is a concern in this area, but neighborhoods are family friendly and homes are gorgeous.
Downtown: the urban center of our region. Growing residential population to match established barestaurant, entertainment and financial scenes.
East Beach: Newly constructed high end beach condos right on the Chesapeake Bay. Has abundant docking for boats, fishing holes, and beach access. A more quiet and older community.
Fort Norfolk: Growing area adjacent to EVMS and Sentara Medical Center. The unofficial midtown of Norfolk, that is slowly becoming a part of the city skyline. Floods often.
Freemason: straight-laced & upscale enclave adjacent to downtown and built around cobblestone streets.
Ghent: trendy, historic and filled to the brim with character, culture and delicious cuisine. The neighborhood’s main thoroughfare, Colley Avenue, and adjacent 21st and 22nd streets are lined with eclectic eateries, unique shops, art galleries and antique stores.
Larchmont: High end homes in a family friendly neighborhood. Adjacent to ODU, but without the noise, Larchmont is home to incredible homes in a very green and quiet part of the city. Also has waterside access. Oceanview: Affordable community right on the beach. Still considered more working class, it is slowly looking to compete with the Virginia Beach Oceanfront as a tourist attraction. Home to the Bold Mariner Brewery and Jessy's Taqueria
NEON District: Growing Arts district, adjacent to downtown. Home to a variety of arts shops and artisan restaurants, as well as the Chrysler Museum of Art and the Harrison Opera house.
Park Place: Park Place is a historic neighborhood centrally located to the north of Downtown Norfolk. Park Place offers multimodal access to health and fitness facilities, dining, coffee shops, retail, visual art, live music, and community for people from all walks of life. This historic residential neighborhood is a diverse and inclusive community, and is comprised of a mix of single detached houses, condos, luxury, market rate, and affordable rentals homes and apartments. Located between 23rd street and 38th street, and between Granby street on the east, and Colley ave on the west, the Park Place area neighborhood includes two business districts, the 35th Street Business District and the Railroad District, and is walkable to the North Colley, Ghent, and Riverview business districts.
Railroad District: Rapidly growing former warehouse district located between Ghent and Park place. Home to the majority of Breweries in the city. While could be considered gentrified, is still home to novel cultural centers such as 757 Makerspace and Nomads Clothing Exchange.
Riverview: Immediately adjacent to the Norfolk Zoo and
Lafayette park. With waterside access and a small commercial corridor, Riverview is a good area for all ages. Also home to MJs Tavern, the largest LGBT bar in the metropolitan area.
St Paul's District: Under construction
West Ocean View: Turns into a parking lot for HRBT traffic every time the base lets out.
Willoughby Spit: Quiet residential sandbar. Remains somewhat isolated from HRBT traffic, but offers a commanding presence along the Chesapeake Bay.
VirginiaBeach Neighborhoods of Note
Chesapeake/Chic's Beach: "locals only" beachside community.
Oceanfront: touristy stretch of beach + boardwalk, hotels, and trinket shops.
Town Center: VB's Central Business District including Pembroke Mall and other high-end shopping, dining, and entertainment.

Does anyone know exactly what factors into increasing XP earned in a level the most?
Currently, I mainly grind for gems at Cafe Mexicana as I get around 980 XP, which is higher than other restaurants I own right now. Ideally, I'd like to push that to over a thousand so that I can play it 10x to level up instead of 11. I know it's just a difference of one time but this is long-term and I think it might be worth the investment if I know what to aim for to get the best results. Or is a difference of 20 XP gonna require a lot more upgrades?
Would internal or kitchen upgrades matter more in this case? Also, does anyone know how much those tip increase upgrades really add to your earnings? Trying to decide if I'm better off upgrading an ingredient or the tip increase if the earnings is what increases XP the most.

Join the Fort Worth discord to connect w/other folks in FW, chat & check out different meet ups: https://discord.com/invite/9KUdWdQVdJ
Thought this post would be the first w/o the PSA, but need to include it again: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
[Tuesday May 30th]
Pickleball Clinic 8:30-10:30 a.m. Chisholm Trail Community Center Free Learn the rules and the basics of playing pickleball.
Free Yoga Burnett Park 5:30-6:15PM bring your own mat
Silent Book Club 6:30-8PM Hotel Dryce free Silent Book Club
Geeks Who Drink T&P Tavern 7:30PM
Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night University Pub FW 8-10PM
Dallas Sports & Entertainment Career Fair 3-5 p.m. College Park Center $30-$44 Learn about open positions and internships with the Wings, Mavericks, Rangers + other sports teams around the metroplex.
Trig44 presents Trig Tuesday ft. Dalton Torres, Taylor Ochs, Matt Gumley Tulips FW doors 7, show 8PM
[Wednesday May 31st]
Nature Hike 10-11:30 a.m. Nature Center, 9601 Fossil Ridge Rd. $5 Take in the beauty of the Texas countryside during this morning hike surrounded by blooming flowers.
Lunchtime Music Series Burnett Park 12-1PM Grab your lunch & enjoy the beautiful weather paired w/local artists
We Run Wednesday’s The trailhead at clearfork 6:30-8PM
Fort Worth Film Club May Signature Screening: Lucas before Luke The Stage West Theatre 7-10:30PM
No Pressure w/ Koyo, Illusion, & Fleshwater Tulips No Pressure, Koyo, Illusion, Fleshwater Tulips FW 7PM
Tekken 7 weekly meet 6-11PM, 21+ after 8PM Electric Starship Arcade $10 for the night/ $20 monthly pass Can bring your own wired controllefight stick or they’ll have some for public use If enough people, casual tournament bracket @ 9
BettySoo and Pat Byrne The Post at River East 8PM An intimate acoustic performance $20+
[Thursday Jun 1st]
Happy HouCrazy Crowler Sale 4-9PM Salsa Dance Lessons 7-8PM Neutral Ground Brewing Company
Erick Willis LIVE Rusty Nickel IceHouse 6PM $10+
Summer Menu Tasting Taste Community Restaurant 6-8PM
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s Concerts in the Garden Festival Gates open 6:30 p.m. start 8:30 p.m. Grab your picnic baskets & enjoy Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Greater Tuna Downtown Cowtown at the Isis June 1-3 8PM 2-man comedy show
Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night HopFusion Ale Works 8-10PM
Crimson Wine Tasting at Neighbor’s House Grocery complimentary wine tasting for sipping & shopping. Guests get to try 4 different wines from Napa’s Crimson Wine Group Drop by anytime 4:30-6:30 pm
[Friday Jun 2nd]
First Fri-YAY All day Fort Worth Bike Sharing Stations Free Explore the city on wheels with a free bike rental courtesy of Fort Worth Bike Sharing and the Blue Zones Project — promo code “92020APP.”
Kimbell Happy Hour Kimbell Art Museum’s weekend happy hour 5-7 pm beverages & bites w/live music by the Allegro Guitar Society.
National Donut Day TX Whiskey 6 p.m. a donut + cocktail pairing, burgers, live music, on-site engraving, & a donut hole bar $35
FWSO’s Concerts in the Gardenl Gates open 6:30 p.m. start 8:30 p.m. Grab your picnic baskets & enjoy symphony sounds Radio Highway Performs the Music of the Eagles *The orchestra does not perform on this concert.
Locals Only Hip Hop Haltom Theater 7-11PM
Live Music on the Plaza, Sundance Square 7-10PM every Fri-Sun
Dial Up - A 90's Party Experience Dial Up Tulips FW 8PM $15
Rhett Miller Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall 8PM $44+
D.L. Hughley Arlington Improv Jun 2-4 times vary
That Texas Meskin Tour - THAT MEXICAN OT Ridglea Theater $40+
Special E.D w\ Dude-Man & MORE Doors 7:00pm, Start 8:00pm Lola's Fort Worth
[Saturday Jun 3rd]
Drag with Me! The Show: Brunch Located upstairs at The Red Goose Saloon the ONLY interactive Drag Show of its kind: 2 audience members will be selected each show to be transformed into a Drag Queen themselves, lip sync battle, & win their very own Drag with Me! Crown! Ticket price inc Meal & Show! 18+
FWSO’s Concerts in the Gardenl Gates open 6:30 p.m. start 8:30 p.m. Chicago Nights featuring Jason Scheff
Zumba Sundance Square Plaza 9:45am - 11:00am
Goat Yoga Bedford! Generations Park at Boyd Ranch 10-11AM $20+
Catalina Canned Wine Mixer Truck Yard Alliance 12PM themed after the 2008 hit movie Step Brothers. Wear your best tuxedo t-shirt for a wine tasting, photo ops, food trucks, and a Step Brothers cover band. Admission is free, but a $15 wine tasting is offered from 7-9 pm, featuring six wine samples and a souvenir glass filled with frose. Costume contests will be held at 5 pm & 10 pm.
Random Direction artist pop up 1-6PM Love Sammy's chef popup 2-7PM Neutral Ground Brewing Company
CyberPunk w/ APT 75 + P!xel Ampersand 5:15-9PM
Miracle Nights Allmo$t Music US Tour Fort Worth Ridglea Theater 6PM
Ill Nino with Through Fire, Dropout Kings and more The Rail Club Live 6:30PM
WOODEYE (One Night Only) w/ Brave Little Howl + Vacation Dad Lola's 8PM $15
FANCY: Queens of Country Party - 21+ Tulips FW 10PM $15+
WOODEYE (One Night Only) w / Brave Little Howl + Vacation Dad Doors 7:00pm, Start 8:00pm Lola's Fort Worth
[Sunday June 4th]
Panther Island Beer Yoga Panther Island Brewing 10:30AM $20
Sunday Supper Club: Courtney Patton and Bri Bagwell The Post at River East 6PM $25+
The Damn Quails Fort Brewery & Pizza 7PM $10
FW Symphony Orchestra’s Concerts in the Gardenl Gates open 6:30 p.m. start 8:30 p.m. Grab your picnic baskets & enjoy symphony sounds Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to the Beatles**The orchestra does not perform on this concert
Summer Afternoon Tea at Indulge Enjoy three courses inc chicken tarragon sandwiches, roasted vegetable phyllo cups, and street corn crostinis, scones with clotted cream and jam, cream puffs, madeleines, and shortbread cookies. Tea choices inc black or herbal blend. The tea service is $65 & begins at 2 pm.
[Ongoing]
Riders of the Purple Sage Hip Pocket Theatre until June 11 Fridays-Sundays 9PM $10+ Featuring action, adventure, & romance in the wide open spaces, it’s a classic Western of the silent film era
“Lives of the Gods” until Sept. 3 Kimbell Art Museum $14+ Explore the divinity of Mayan art at this exhibition of nearly 100 rarely seen masterpieces & discoveries

.

 Looking for a woman to chat and exchange some pics I love all women. I’m in the west Fort Worth white settlement area just need some good head, if you can deepthroat that’s a plus I got plenty to put down there. 420 friendly, I like giving as well. 

Often found in between your fingernails The tacqueria restaurant wails With both their legs clutching both their tails And lovers begin to melt
The tacos sold are old and musty The customers buying are cold and dusty The management running are bold and fussy And complaints are closely felt
Do you feel in charge? Do you feel in your station? Do you want more fries than your financial compensation Feels worth their time and following moderation Or do you want really less?
The management running are bold and fussy The customers buying are cold and dusty The tacos sold are old and musty And leave a burning in the chest

I'm a provider on push health and also partnered with ACA pharmacy. Just thought I'd share my experience with them.
To start off, I've only been working with them for 2.5months. I haven't had anyone mention that the amount they're getting is too short but I have had some patients say certain doses feel like they have no effect. I don't know what else to say besides, this may be risk of going down compounded pharmacy route? I would be happy to send a prescription to other pharmacies if a patient asks for it and has heard good things about them.
Initially it was taking them 10 business days to get the compounded meds out to patients (so realistically 2 weeks plus) but recently they sent an email saying they're increasing staff (and therefore prices). However, it does seem like the wait time has shortened significantly and now for the recent prescriptions its taking only about 1 week.
ACA does prefer patients pay directly to providers office so to make it easy, I usually include my fees in the list of prices I give to patients, which also includes shipping. Paying via invoice through Push is ideal so that the record of the transaction stays in a HIPAA compliant medical system. However, push health does charge a 7% fee.
They're customer service is pretty good and responsive but because they only communicate with providers directly, I oftentimes end up being the middleman/messenger owl which can end up causing delays for people.
In terms of the medications, the way the dosage is written on the bottle always causes confusion. For example, Semaglutide comes in a 2 miliLITER vial which is supposed to last for the month. So each week the instructions say to inject 0.5 miliLITERS which will give 0.25 miliGRAMS of the drug. Even at the higher doses, the vial always only has 2 miliLITERS worth of liquid but each 0.5 miliLITERS will have higher miliGRAMS worth of semaglutide. I'm probably confusing you more with this but all to say, the math does actually workout but the regular retail pen injectors from the drug companies are much simpler (but obviously more expensive).
And speaking of injections, ACA sends 4 syringes (each 0.5mL) which you have to draw up manually each week. So people who hate needles be warned. Unfortunately, ACA doesn't send even a basic infographic to show how to draw up the liquid and where on the body to administer. It's not hard to look this up online but I wish they'd just send everyone a basic information sheet on it.
Finally, I asked about where they source their compounds, and was told their supplier is an FDA approved facility based in the US. They use the base molecule of semaglutide/tirzepatide, NOT the salt forms.
Happy to answer other questions you might have!
If you're interested in a consultation for weight loss meds (ONLY IN WA, TX, IN, MI, AND NY), below is my link.
https://www.pushhealth.com/practices/697912/new-patients/jnaveedahmad#.Y8CEWj14Gk4.gmail

... several hours, down the drain.
Buddy of mine and I on our sloop, grinding out Gold Hoarders and such. Got a ship full of junk to sell, start heading toward an outpost...
...ambushed by two skeleton ships. Manage to sink them, not much issue...
...then ambushed by a player brig. Manage to kamikaze gunpowder barrel them, killed them, sank their ship. Respawned on the ship...
...to another sloop attacking us. Manage to fight them off and sink them...
...and see a player galleon chasing us. . Manage to evade between rocks, past islands, dodge two megalodons, sailed past a fort, through a storm. We start celebrating that we're gonna get away...
...kraken. Stopped us dead in our tracks, tentacle face grabs us off our ship and makes us watch helplessly as the galleon rips my ship to pieces and they make off with well over 200k worth of our crap.
Nothing wrong with the game, player mechanics and PVP are just fine, just a little salty about rolling a -1 on luck and getting the biggest middle finger I've ever gotten from the game since it released... may be a little while before I work up the courage to set sail again.
And no, we had nothing on our ship to make us publicly visible.
TL;DR: had the most unlucky SoT run in years.

Hey gang,
My partner and I just got back from our first trip to Japan so I thought I'd do a write up of our experience.

• 13/05: Flew into Narita Airport from Australia. Overall uneventful since we landed at around 6:30pm. Getting through customs and immigration was easy and quick thanks to the QR codes. Had a few issues with transport to the hotel. First being that the JR Suica/ticket machines don't accept foreign credit cards, which we didn't know and caused us a bit of panic thinking our cards just wouldn't work in Japan. Thankfully we had cash and were able to load money onto the Welcome Suicas with that. We were staying in Shinjuku so we caught a train to Nippori Station and transferred there. Accidentally tapped the Suica card where I shouldn't have and couldn't get through the gate to transfer. One of the employees thankfully spoke fluent English and was very helpful, he took me to the counter to get the $13 I had just accidentally been charged refunded, but I think there was a language breakdown between him and the man at the counter, as the man at the counter charged me another $13 and made me pay for a physical ticket to Shinjuku. Eventually we got to Hotel Sunroute Plaza Shinjuku around 9:30pm and called it a night.
• 14/05: Explored Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku this day. Shibuya was awesome to finally see in person, wasn't as busy as we expected but to be fair we got there around 11am. Harajuku was packed though. Overall we felt that Takeshita street seemed a bit tourist trap-y. There were a lot of people to the point where we could barely move but a lot of the shops were much the same (so many crepe shops). There were also a fair few men following people in the crowds and trying to pull them into shops, which made us a bit uncomfortable. We made our way to Kabukicho at night and loved how alive it was (also had some of the best mochi there). The lights were definitely something to behold and for what is considered the "red light district", we didn't feel unsafe or anything (except for one moment where we were followed by some guys who kept trying to get our attention).
• 15/05: Made our way to Disneysea. My partner had never been to a Disney park and I had only ever been to California Disneyland once a few years ago. Overall we loved it, the atmosphere was great, the popcorns were fun to try, and the end of night show was incredible. Not much more to say here.
• 16/05: Today was Asakusa and Akihabara. Asakusa and Sensoji were really great to see in person. We got there early before the shopping street filled up (and before most of the shops opened) and it was great to be able to walk around without the crowds of people. The temple and pagodas were bigger than we expected. We went to Akihabara afterwards and were a little let down. Not sure what we expected but there just didn't seem to be a whole lot there. The shops we went into seemed overpriced when comparing the stock to what we'd already seen elsewhere. That night we went and watched the Sumo Grand Tournament and loved it. Definitely something I'd encourage everyone to try and see once, it was an awesome experience.
• 17/05: Day trip to Hakone on this day. Very picturesque, wasn't super packed and touristy, which was nice. Around the Hakone Shrine was very busy though. There was a line about 50 people long to take a photo in front of the shrine. We waited in the line for about 40min and barely moved before we gave up and went elsewhere. Everyone at the front of the line was doing a full photoshoot with multiple phones and cameras. We got the Hakone Freepass so we hopped on the ship across Lake Ashi and caught the ropeway up to Owakudani. It was a little cloudy but we were still able to see Mt Fuji. Overall a good day, got a lot of great photos out of it.
• 18/05: Travel day today. We caught the Shinkansen to Osaka for the next leg of our trip. Checked in to Hotel Intergate Osaka Umeda and it was an incredible hotel for the price. Can't recommend it enough. Went to Dotonbori for dinner but I stupidly left most of our cash in the hotel by accident, so we couldn't get a whole lot of food. Still, Dotonbori was really fun to just walk around and look at, albeit also very busy.
• 19/05: Went to Universal Studios on this day and it might be the only day of the trip we would consider "bad". The park is not designed well for the number of visitors it gets. It was raining this day which I obviously won't blame the park for, but it did make things a bit more difficult. We went on a "quiet" day and there was still a 90min+ wait for almost every ride. Comparing it to Disneysea, it was obvious that this was an "American" park and not a Japanese park, if that makes sense. Our lunch here may have been our most expensive meal all trip and it genuinely just wasn't very nice (I know you can't expect much from theme park food but Disneysea raised our expectations a bit). Tip for anyone planning on going: disregard whatever the Universal website says is the opening time, it's 8:30am. Apparently this is just something they don't tell you. And expect Harry Potter land and Super Nintendo World to be packed no matter what.
• 20/05: Nara. This was a nice little day trip, but definitely geared toward tourists with the deer. There were some nice temples and the deer were cool to see roaming around the street and parks, but it's definitely somewhere I don't think we'd go back to. Once you've seen the deer and the temples there didn't seem to be much else around. Wouldn't say it was a bad day though, but the deer are very obviously the main draw.
• 21/05: Kyoto on this day, it was lovely. All of the old temples and shrines were great to see. We got to Fushimi Inari early in the morning so it was quiet and we were able to experience without hoardes of people. Kiyomizu-dera definitely had to be seen to be believed. The view seemed unreal. Be aware though, the old streets of Higashiyama got VERY packed, almost as busy as Takeshita Street in Harajuku.
• 22/05: Had a bit of a shopping day today. We had breakfast at a very lovely bakery near Osaka Castle and checked out the castle in the morning, then spent the day shopping around Osaka. That night we went to Shinsekai and were incredibly underwhelmed. Not sure what we expected but it wasn't what we got. A lot of storefronts were either empty or were rundown and just had a few capsule toy machines in them. It reminded us of an old carnival. We didn't stay very long here.
• 23/05: Another travel day back to Tokyo on the Shinkansen. Checked in to Hotel Sardonyx Tokyo and it was a fine hotel. Lovely view from the corner suite but the room itself needed a clean. Also had the comfiest bed and pillows of any hotel we'd stayed in this trip, granted the other hotel beds were hard as stone and the pillows weren't much better. We went to Teamlab Planets on this day as well and while it was nice, we came to the conclusion that if you've seen everyone elses Instagram posts, you've seen it all. We aren't huge social media people so we were in and out within 30-45min. I'd imagine the only way people could spend 2 hours in there is if they were taking a lot of Instagram photos everywhere.
• 24/05: Day trip to Yokohama. This may have been one of our favourite days of the trip. Yokohama was a lovely city. That was clean and modern but without the crowds of Tokyo, and it was only a 30min train ride out of Tokyo. The Cupnoodles Museum was fun and Cosmoworld was really cool to see. The Air Cabin gave us a real view of how picturesque the city was. We made our way through Yamashita Park to the Gundam Factory to check out the giant Gundam. Initially we thought it was a waste of money since it cost a bit to get in, but after seeing the giant mech move we decided it was worth the money. We aren't huge Gundam fans but where else can you see a giant robot doing that? It was just a great thing to experience. That night we went back to Tokyo for dinner and had probably the most uncomfortable dining experience of the trip. We found a street of cool looking restaurants the previous night so this night we found one that looked good, had a huge menu, and advertised that there was an English menu. We went in and were told there was a 350yen cover charge per table, which we were fine with. The lady began to seat us at a booth near the entrance to the restaurant but was stopped by a man who I assume was her boss. They seemed to begin arguing in Japanese and eventually he led us to a very cramped back room near the smoking area and seated us on a bar table. In this room were mainly Americans and sleazy looking older businessmen. The menu they gave us had significantly fewer items on it than the one outside and there was hardly enough room for us to get on to our seats. We figured that we were probably being treated a bit differently because we were foreigners and we felt a bit uncomfortable. So we just ordered a plate of gyozas and asked for the bill. When the bill came, the cover charge was 700yen (350yen per person), which was more than the gyozas. I put 5000 yen in the tray to pay and the waitress walked off with it and didn't return with my change. We sat there for a couple of minutes before the man who had seated us in this back area came back with my change and we promptly left and got dinner at a 7/11 instead.
• 25/05: Tokyo Disneyland. We were excited for this, I think I was more excited though since I had such fond memories of California Disneyland. The park was great, but something about it wasn't as good as the park in California. I can't fully put my finger on it but it felt different. It wasn't a "child vs adult" thing because I was 21 when I went to California. I think the different language on the rides played a part in the enjoyment. Not a huge part, but it just throws you a little bit. We obviously didn't expect the rides and whatnot to be in English, but we didn't think we'd notice it as much as we did. That being said, however, the rides were still obviously incredible. My partner loved the Beauty and the Beast ride and we both thought Pooh's Honey Hunt was one of the best rides we've been on (seriously that trackless system is a game changer). I loved Pirates and Haunted Mansion before getting to Tokyo and my partner, similarly, was in love with both from the first time we rode them. They cancelled the night time fireworks due to "weather" (we really aren't sure if this is the real reason as the weather was fine, no rain and barely any clouds). But overall a good way to end the trip.
• 26/05: Our last day. The flight was at 8:50pm so we spent the day packing our bags and getting some last minute shopping done. There was an earthquake when we were in the airport that made the building shake, so that was an especially interesting way to end the trip.

All in all, we enjoyed the trip. It had it's hiccups but we'd definitely go back.