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Checkin to Starbucks
๐ Cool enough to enjoy a hot coffee outside. -
The Week #221
by James- ๐ Autumn ๐ Finally ๐ Came ๐. This year it waited until the very last moment, the autumn equinox, to make its arrival.ย Not a moment too soon. This week we had a day with an overnight low of 28c. And now, 3 days later we have overnight lows around 19c. Finally.
- ๐ฒ Leo wanted to ride his bike. It was getting a bit late, but I caved. The reason why I cavedย was because he said "I want to climb hills". How can I say no to this? I put my light on his bike and we made a reason to ride our bikes to the local coop. Sometimes I get the sense that he's gonna be the kid that's in the local road bike clubs, not baseball. But maybe I'm reading too much into it.
- ๐ฒ I bought the bike. I went for a C line 6 speed in matcha green. Unfortunately it's in Kobe at another shop so I had to pay for shipping + wait a week. Super excited for it. If I wanted one day-of I would have had to picked black and that's boring.ย On second thought though, perhaps it's better I didn't get it today as I didn't have a bike bag to take it on the train and would of had to buy whatever they stock.
For lights, I went with a CatEye 300 lumens that charges via micro-usb. I also got the mount so it is fixed below the block, so any bag won't block it and I won't need to take it off each time I fold it. The rear light will replace the rear reflector. There isn't a rack on the bike, but I reckon I won't need one immediately (though the extra stability would be nice (from what I hear)).
Leo went with me to buy it (and make some Lego people afterwards if he was a good boy and was patient). Before going in to the store we had a picnic lunch of Onigiri and fried chicken on a stick. My chicken was in a tomyom sweet and spicy Korean sauce. With the cool weather, some shade provided by a tree, and the view pictured below, life is pretty good.Minatomirai Yokohama - ๐ณ We went bowling. It was crowded and so we had to wait an hour. I was not on point and got my but whooped. Leo had a meltdown (๐ซ ) because he didn't get any strikes and wasn't naturally good. Kids...
- ๐ฎ The neighborhood festival happened after we went bowling and I was in no mood to have fun and be merry after the meltdowns. That said, Leo got his cotton candy, something he's been talking about since he first had it a year ago. The main occurrence this year was a vendor that was selling bb-guns and airsoft guns...at a freakin' neighborhood festival. Kids milling about the park taking them, pointing them at each other, their own heads, and pulling the trigger. I get it, they're "toys" and this isn't America, but Christ. This is how tragedy occurs and kids loose sight in an eye. I plan to bring it up with the neighborhood association.
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Checkin to LEGO clickbrick
Making some people to work at the McDonads boyo has been making. -
Checkin to LEGO clickbrick
Making some people to work at the McDonads boyo has been making. -
by James๐ First Autumn Run
Chill run listening to Rick Steves talk about Munich.4.2km
30.7min
24.4m climbed
150.3avg bpm
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Checkin to ๆนๅใจใใใ ใใใฆใซ
Playing a game of Mario bowling. ๐ณ -
by James๐ง๏ธ Rainy Park Run
Started off looping around the park until a farmer started burning stuff nearby making the air smoky. Left the park and the โheavy rain starting soonโ alert I was beginning to doubt was indeed accurate.4.4km
30.2min
25.2m climbed
151.2avg bpm
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Checkin to Afternoon Tea TEAROOM
Tea time ๐ -
by James๐ณ Park Run
First run in what feels like a week. Maybe the last hot one of the season? Also, 29c at 7am is some nonsense.4.4km
30.3min
33m climbed
160.6avg bpm
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The Week #220
by James- ๐ I tried my hand at making pasta for the first time. I don't have a pasta machine so I had to cut the noddles by hand. It's difficult to cut them all the same exact size, but man was it good. I think I may try making pasta the next time I make lasagna.
- ๐ฒ Leo and I rode bikes to the 100 store for the first time. This is closer than our usual Ito Yokado ride, but it requires him to climb a hill and navigate with more cars about. He only pushed his bike partially up the hill and did a good job following me in the streets. On the way back we swung by the Onigiri shop. I've discovered that if you go early they have a much wider variety.
- ๐ก We went to Minatomirai. I've had a mixed relationship with minatomirai. I love going and walking about. The water and shopping, it's so nice. But since having Leo it always ends in conflict and a meltdown. Two articles from the NY Times this week (gift links) inspired me to give it a try again: Parents Should Ignore Their Children More Often (Opinion) and Today's Parents: Exhausted, Burned Out and Perpetually Behind. The first one is ignore in the sense of it's fine if your gets get bored, you don't need to always keep their brains active. The second, I just feel it and am sharing in solidarity.
The experiment this time was we're gonna let Leo get bored on the train. And he's gonna walk by himself. And we also made it clear that the reason why we're going is for me to check out a bike (more on that later), and that each person has a turn to do the thing that they want to do, then see what happens.
While out and about we visited the Lego Store (the Zelda set is really cool!) and the Harry Potter store (even cooler!). For lunch we went to Bubby's, which used to be good about 15 years ago. This time it was disappointing. I don't think we'll be back ๐.
Leo rode one of the roller coasters at Cosmo World. We also played this near AR game where you have a cellphone that has a gun attached to it and you shoot at ghosts in a room. It was a lot of fun. While in World Porter, we walked passed a zillion capsule toys and different areas that would have usually been a meltdown each.
But this time, he walked right past them. Didn't even ask. We went out without a meltdown?! Are we getting close to the point where it's more than just exhausting to go out...where it's...dare I say... fun? Good job, boyo! - ๐ฒ So I said we'd talk about bikes. The reason we went to minatomirai was for me to check out the Bromptons. I've seen them before in passing, but never really up close to touch and fiddle with. I know roughly the size of the bike but photos, but my main concern was the weight. I picked up a P-line, it's not bad. The C-line 6 speed (the one I'm looking at) also felt really light? I can tell it will take a little practice to get the folding and unfolding down to second nature...ย
Colors. Based on photos online, the colors I like the most are: black lacquer, black, green, and unsure about macha green. But the match green looks really nice in person. I had this idea in my head (perhaps from smaller stores in videos taken a few years ago) that you basically had to pick a color in stock or wait months. Turns out it's just a 7 - 10 days. Post-pandemic? Larger store? Combination of both?
On the subway ride back my wife asked a valid question: "Do you really need 3-bikes?*. The answer to that is "yes". They all serve a different purpose. The electric mama-chari is for trips when I need to take Leo with me. The cross-bike is for when I'm going fast and or long distances. And the brommie is for everything else. Leo will only be able to ride on the back of my mama-chari (legally) for another 6 or so months. And if push came to shove, I could get rid of the cross-bike (though I bought it used for 3-man 4 years ago or so, so I suspect it's not worth selling). Point is, yes.
