Richard Walton
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a local liquor store that was really mostly a dagashiya closed last year or so. it was very sad for the kids and former kids of the community. the grandma who used to run the shop also missed it. so she recently opened a smaller version in a shed next to her house. all the kids go there after school to get snacks and it is fantastic
Richard Walton
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saw a Hello Kitty train of the New Trunk Line for the first time. also i love the shape of these Kodama trains on JR West
Lotte World theme park in Seoul. Didn't realize Lotte only entered the Korean market from Japan in 1967. Amazing growth.
Visited the famous Starfield Mall in Seoul with a library of over 50 thousand searchable books you can read as you drink coffee.
We are spending a few days in Seoul visiting my daughter who is doing a university exchange here. Beautiful city and for one thing the onigiri/rice ball varieties are great.
typical local scene I came across while walking our dog: a cherry tree in bloom and a small shrine on either side of a memorial to neighborhood war dead
I only viewed the cherry blossoms in passing this year. Now rain is forcing down the remaining blossoms. However, I did see a nice tree in bloom surrounded by concrete between our offices and Tokyo Station last night.
Richard Walton
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another instance of emergency clothing purchases determining my entire style over time. i needed clean and comfortable clothes for the Frankfurt-Haneda flight so now i have a Porsche tracksuit. watch out as i am now German mafia
Just love the idea of a "9 million dollar cow manure ponzi scheme" https://thebusinessjournal.com/porterville-man-stole-9m-in-cow-manure-ponzi-scheme/
Fascinating lecture last evening at the University of Tokyo by Nobel Prize winner Svante Pääbo on the sequencing of the Neanderthal Genome and how surprisingly relevant it is for us today.
My submission for excellence in category of US-Japanese cultural synergy. The SPAM rice ball.
A clear, but cold, Tokyo as seen from work on a Thursday morning.
Richard Walton
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Jeff Beck, one of the most skilled, admired, and influential guitarists in rock history, died on Tuesday at 78. He brought a sense of adventure to his playing that helped signal the emerging psychedelic rock revolution. https://nyti.ms/3iAhYLV
Richard Walton
さんがブースト
in this house we 揚げ twice. amen
(yes this is today's second round of karaage. life is good)
Finished a personal holiday challenge over the holidays. I walked/hiked the entire Gotemba train line. As the train runs through tunnels and over bridges, it is 60.2 km (37.4 mi) according to Wikipedia, but walking it requires lots of extra climbing and alternate routes so not sure how far I walked. Great scenery.
Richard Walton
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i do not mean to live toot the Hakone Ekiden but an unprecedented thing is happening. there is a hodgepodge team called 学生連合 made up of runners from schools who don't qualify whole teams for the race. their records don't count and they can't win the race. but their first runner does not care and is kicking everyone's ass in the first leg. to the consternation of everyone involved including TV announcers. now everyone knows the name of Nitta from Ikuei University. such moxie.
