• We went to the Odawara Hilton hotel with the big pool that we went to last year. It was a lot of fun though was muuch busier this time around what with covid restrictions being a thing of the past and the borders open again.I booked using my family discount, so it was a bit cheaper for the room...but then I realized it didn't include dinner or breakfast. And since it's a "resort", there's not anything across the street or even nearby. So we had to reserve when we checked in...which resulted in dinner at 7:30, which is a bit later for us than usual.
  
  Thanks to that though, we got the kill some time spending money at places we usually wouldn't in the hotel – namely the "amusement center", which includes 8 lanes of bowling, air hockey, and some arcade games.
  
  I love bowling. I took 2-semesters in college as my sport. So I was happy to be able to play a couple of games with Leo (bumpers down). He loved it. In his second game, he event managed to knock all the pins down. I'm greatly looking forward to going bowling again.
  
  As for the main attraction at the hotel, the pool, it was as good as always. Leo's swimming has really improved. His front crawl is on point. We went both as soon as we arrived and for an hour in the morning before checkout. I think visiting the Hilton Odawara Spa and Resort may become an annual trip for our family.
  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

• Until relatively recently, sun umbrellas were used almost exclusively by women. I've thought this was ridiculous for a while, but the only sun umbrellas they sold were all frilly, something I'd be embarrassed to carry by myself.
  
  Recently though, they've been making more "mens" / unisex umbrellas. i.e. simple black or or gray ones (thank god men's version == camouflage patterns  isn't a thing here). And as such there's been a growing number of men carrying the umbrellas – enough for a dedicated word, 日傘男子 (higasa-danshi) or "sun umbrella guy".  I've become a 日傘男子.
  
  My particular umbrella is collapsible. The top is gray and the inside is black, which is what allows it to block 100% of UV. The handle has a slight curve so it can hang on things. The stem is made a cheap alumni that feels like it will (and indeed it did) bend with a good gust of wind. It can be used in the rain as well.
  
  As for the experience, it's so much cooler, like walking in the shade the entire time you're outdoors, even when there is none. I felt a bit sad for salarymen walking under the oppressive august sun without one. No sunglasses...no UV umbrellas...do they  not teach about the sun in school?
  

  

• For the first time since I moved into my neighborhood, the neighborhood association had a festival. It usually a yearly thing and they canceled it during the pandemic. They held it on the grounds of our neighborhood elementary school and it was a lot of fun.
  
  We went with some neighborhood friends/pre-school friends who live in the neighborhood. Boys dressed in jimbei (me included) and girls in yukata. There were some stalls with yaki-soba, corn dogs, shaved ice, beer, and more. In the center was a large stand with a taiko and people would take turns drumming it. While there Leo ran into other friends from pre-school and he ran around heaps (good thing for the running as his dinner was a croquette and a giant shaved ice).
  

  

• My father-in-law turned 81, which boggles my mind. He doesn't look like he's in his 80's in the slightest. I think the secret is to be active everyday, especially as we age. The moment you stop moving you start losing it. We went over to his house and brought ice cream (Leo's request) and unagi and sushi for dinner.
• I've been making good progress on Ultra-Processed People on my kindle. So far it's been enlightening. The two ideas that are standing out to me immediately are: the struggle for life takes place within us and food seems not to be the just the sum of its elements, how it's processed affects health.
  
  Inside our bodies is a unique and complex microbiome of bacteria that help us digest and extract nutrients. There's also a balance at place – bacteria in your gut are different from those in your large intestine and on. They've evolved with us over the millennia to digesting certain kinds of foods, which helps keeps them in balance and us healthy.
  
  Over the past 50 years there's been a large percentage of the population that overweight. It seems like it's mostly caused by eating industrialized food-like substances (ultra-processed foods). You'll find the same basic ingredients in UPF that when made traditionally, would have entirely different ingredients lists. Indeed in clinical studies they've found that people will eat more UFP (500 calories/day) and enjoy it less. Industrialized food is a lie.
  
  Highly recommend giving this book a read.
• My headphones right channel stopped broke producing sound. The cables don't look damaged at all, which is odd. I've had these headphones (Sony studio monitors) for about 11 years so I'm a bit sad that it seems they've reached their EOL. I don't particularly want to buy a new pair of headphones right now, but at the same time, losing the wire would remove a weekly stress as inevitability my headphone cable tangles with my keyboard cable...🤔 

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