[Japan] Osaka

Osaka was the base of the first part of our Japan trip. This was because there are direct flights from Manila to the Osaka Kansai airport. From there, the plan was to take day trips to Kyoto and Nara. I booked a hotel at the Dotonbori area because this place is known for having many good restaurants, which meant it would be easy for us to find places to eat. I also wanted us to be near the Dotonbori River because that area is a really good place to take photos.

Dotonbori River

The highlight of our stint in Osaka was spending a day at Universal Studios Japan.

Universal Studios Japan

It was summer, which meant that Universal Studios was crowded and the lines for the rides were very long. I bought our tickets a bit late and unfortunately, express passes were already sold out. We made an attempt to go to Super Nintendo World once we arrived, which was about an hour after the park opened, but when we got there, we were told that the next available slot to go in was at 9pm. Wow! We gave up our attempt to get into what is arguably the best section of the park and instead, we made our way to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

We took some photos before falling in line for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is located inside the big castle. It's an incredible ride that is very well-made but I gotta say, it really made me and my mom dizzy. We rested a bit, had some Butterbeer, and took lots of photos before moving to our next stop.

"Snow-capped" stone houses at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The attraction we were after the most was the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne XR Walk. My nephew is a huge fan of Monster Hunter and he really wanted to try this. Tickets for this attraction have to be purchased separately and when you buy tickets, you have to select the timeslot you want. Once we got there, we chose our avatar and a weapon (I got a long sword) before getting instructions: how to use our weapons to attack and to shield ourselves, which direction to walk, when to stop walking, and how to gather items as we go along our way. They then fitted us with virtual reality gear and we were off. The actual XR walk lasts about 10 minutes but it was a really amazing experience. The quality of the XR is topnotch and we had a couple of pretty intense battles against huge monsters. Against the first monster, I must have either been killed or I followed the walking instructions incorrectly and ended up in front of a wall because I was instructed not to move (I had a red grid fully surrounding me). However, against the second monster, my entire family was locked in fierce combat. By this time, I had figured out when the monster's attack patterns so I knew when to block and keep myself alive. In the end, we were able to beat the monster and win the game. Hooray! This attraction was only available in Universal Studios Japan until August 31 so we were really lucky to go there at the time we did because we were still able to enjoy it.

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne XR Walk

Another attraction that's closing soon is The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man 4K3D so  we decided to try it. The big challenge we had was that a typhoon was coming to Japan at the time and hitting Osaka so it started to rain in the afternoon. One of my nephews got o try one more ride, the Hollywood Dream Backdrop.

Hollywood Dream: Backdrop

Meanwhile the rest of my family had coffee and snacks and checked out the souvenir shops. We ended up eating at the same place where we had lunch: Beverly Hills Boulangerie which is quite near the entrance. I had the Mini Parfait with Double Pudding. I really enjoyed it! (Actually, the desserts here are quite good!)

Mini Parfait with Double Pudding at Beverly Hills Boulangerie

Before we left Universal, we were able to have our photos taken with the minions. (I think this one in the photo with me is Stuart.)

The typhoon hit Japan full-force the next day. While the Osaka Metro was still running, intercity train operations were suspended. We ended up just spending the day in our hotel rooms, although we did have lunch and dinner in the Dotonbori area, so at least we still got to enjoy some really good food.

Dotonbori on a rainy night

The typhoon threw our plans off, which meant we weren't able to visit a couple of places that we wanted to see. We did manage to pass by Osaka Castle before heading to the Shin-Osaka station which is where we would take the Shinkansen (or bullet train) to Tokyo. We didn't have time to go inside or visit the garden but we were able to take some photos. I've seen pictures of the castle before but I had never seen it up close until now and it was a lot larger and more impressive in real life! If I ever visit Osaka again, I would love to spend a bit more time here.

Osaka Castle

Next: Nara Park

Family Trip to Japan

I took my mom and my nephews to Japan!

Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto

We were there for about two weeks and we got to spend time in Tokyo and Osaka. We got to see more of Japan by taking day trips to Kyoto, Nara, and Lake Kawaguchiko. This was my first international trip in almost four years and it was also the first international trip of my nephews in almost a decade!

Dotonbori in Osaka

Several years ago, I asked one of my nephews if he wanted to go anywhere for the summer. He said he wanted to go to Japan. I told him that it was too expensive for a summer trip but I promised to take him once he graduates high school. Unfortunately, passport issues and the pandemic prevented me keeping my promise. That is, until now.

Mt. Fuji

My family was actually planning a different trip this year but because my grandmother was confined for a while before passing away earlier this year, we weren't able to make that happen. I thought that maybe we could go to Japan instead during my nephews' school break since visa application takes only a week and Japan is not that far away. Unfortunately, because this decision was practically last minute, my mom was the only other person in my family who could join us since everyone else couldn't take 2 weeks off of work on such short notice.

Hachiko statue in Shibuya, Tokyo

What helped me was that I already prepared a high-level itinerary for a trip to Osaka and Tokyo a few years ago. (The initial idea was to go there back in 2020 but we were faced with a global pandemic at the time.) I dug up those plans and started adding more detail into it. It also helped that many of my friends had just been to Japan and they shared a lot of tips and suggestions. In the end, our itinerary looked like this:

Day 1: Travel from Manila to Osaka
Day 2: Day trip from Osaka to Nara
Day 3: Universal Studios Japan
Day 4: Day trip to Kyoto
Day 5: Day trip to Kyoto
Day 6: Travel from Osaka to Kyoto via Shinkansen
Day 7: Lake Kawaguchiko to see Mt. Fuji
Day 8: Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa, and Ginza
Day 9: Akihabara and dinner at Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu
Day 10: teamLab Planets and Odaiba
Day 11: Disneysea
Day 12: Shibuya, Meiji Shrine, and the Imperial Palace
Day 13: Travel from Tokyo back to Manila

Unicorn Gundam statue in Odaiba

It was a full schedule and in fact, we ran into some bad luck: bad weather disrupted our plans and we didn't get to see everything we planned to see. Nevertheless, it was an incredible trip that I got to enjoy with my family. Over the next several blog posts, I will write in greater detail about this amazing trip.

Torii gate at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo

Next: Osaka

Escolta at the Peninsula Manila

For the first time, I took my family to Escolta, the luxury buffet restaurant at the Peninsula Manila. We were celebrating the birthdays of my mom and my brother and I thought this place would be a perfect venue.

Another reason why I chose that place was because I got a 1-year membership package at the Manila Pen. This membership comes with a free overnight stay at a Superior Room along with several discount vouchers. One of those vouchers gave me 50% off for Sunday Brunch at Escolta for a party of 4 to 12 people. The challenge though is that Manila Pen is a very popular place to visit on Sundays, which means parking is always full. We had to park some distance away from the hotel because when we arrived, even valet parking was full!

My membership also allows me to avail of up to three vouchers at a time, so I decided to also use my vouchers for a free celebration cake and for a free bottle of wine. The requirement to claim these gifts is that you dine at any Manila Pen restaurant in a group of at least 4 people and that you inform them in advance of your plan to use these vouchers. 

Having buffet brunch turned out to be a great plan because everyone enjoyed the food and ate a lot! I have now more than made up for the cost of my 1-year Manila Pen membership: I've used my free overnight stay, I got 50% off of Sunday brunch for 9 people, I got a free cake, and I got a free bottle of wine. Hopefully, I can use more of my vouchers and that my family can enjoy more meals at the Peninsula Manila.

New Shoes

I kinda went on a bit of a shoe buying spree recently. In two weeks, I ended up buying three pairs of shoes. To be fair though, I needed to replace two pairs. I wrote about having to retire my blue and yellow Metcon 2 Flywire shoes a couple of months ago. Most of my other pairs of shoes were predominantly white or black (or a combination of both) so every time I would go to a shoe store, I would check whether they had any shoes with bright colors. Recently, when I went into a Nike store, I saw these Nike SuperRep Go 3 Next Nature Flyknit shoes. They are bright blue with yellow-orange highlights, similar to my retired Metcons. I tried them on, thought they fit well, and decided then and there to buy them. This purchase came with two bonuses. First, the salesperson told me that if I bought three items (including those shoes), I could get 30% off on all of them. My brother's birthday was coming up so I decided to buy a couple of shirts for him and that allowed me to avail of the 30% discount. Cool! The second bonus is that these shoes I got are made with at least 20% recycled content. Awesome! While I may not be able to use my favorite Metcon shoes anymore, I'm happy I was able to find a good-enough replacement.

Nike SuperRep Go 3 Next Nature Flyknit

I also recently noticed some damage in my brown Sperry shoes recently. I've had them for a while now so I thought that maybe it was time to replace them. I finally found a pair that I liked in Aldo. It helped that they weren't as expensive as the other brown shoes that I had seen and liked. After trying these Aldo shoes on, I decided to get them.

Brown Aldo shoes

The third pair I got were these white Metcon 8 shoes with bright crimson and obsidian highlights. I had been seeing this style of shoe for a while but I only saw this particular color scheme on the app. It was also on sale. However, it wasn't until I saw someone wearing these shoes that I decided I wanted to get them. I went to a nearby Nike store but they told me that this particular shoe with the colors I wanted wasn't able in any Nike store in the Philippines. It was most likely available on the app because it would be shipped from abroad, possibly Singapore so they suggested I just buy from the app. So that's what I did. It was my first time using the Nike app to make a purchase and my shoes arrived in 4 days, which was the estimated delivery time. I know that I just bought another pair of sneakers that I don't actually need but I got them at 30% off and I do like how they look so I guess I shouldn't feel too guilty haha.

Nike Metcon 8

If you're wondering about the shoes that I got rid off, I donated them. Don't worry, I made sure that the recipients understood the condition of the shoes and I checked if they were okay with them and they said that they were. Hopefully my old shoes can still serve their new owners well.

Fitting into my old new suit

My friend and ex-colleague Mitchell invited me to his wedding. The invitation specifically asked the men to come in a black suit. This caused me a bit of anxiety because I had only one good black suit; the previous two I had were a bit ill-fitting now because I had lost weight since I got them. The problem with my good black suit is that I had it tailor-made right before the pandemic, when I was at my thinnest in 10 years. I am still about 2 kilos away from my pre-pandemic weight so I was worried that the suit wouldn't fit me. I tried to go on a bit of a diet shortly before the wedding by eating a lot more salad but I didn't seem to lose any weight haha. Thankfully, on the day of Mitchell's wedding, I was able to fit into my suit, albeit very tightly. Still, I could close all the buttons and I could even sit! Hooray!

Mitchell's wedding ceremony was held at the Shrine of Jesus - The Way, The Truth, and The Life in SM MOA. There was threat of rain that day so it was cloudy but that also meant that it wasn't too hot inside the church.

After the ceremony and the pictorial, it started to rain a bit. Thankfully, there is a covered walkway from SMX (which is just across the street from the church) all the way to Conrad Manila, where the reception was held. There were a couple of hours between the church ceremony and the reception so cocktails were laid out for the guests to while away the time. While we were enjoying coffee and snacks, one of the wedding coordinators approached me to ask me if I could say the prayer before dinner. The coordinator didn't explain to me why I was being asked last minute but I just said yes.

(That actually wasn't the first time I was asked to come up with and lead a prayer at the last minute. The first time that happened, I was hosting my friends' wedding reception and even singing a couple of songs. I was stressed enough as it was so when I was asked to come up with a prayer, I ended up with something that felt too short and didn't really have any impact. I think I learned my lesson from that because this time, I was able to calmly prepare what I felt was a good prayer. And no, I didn't ask Chat GPT or Google to prepare it for me haha.)

It was a lovely wedding, with beautiful speeches and an abundance of delicious food. The experience was made even better by the fact that several of our ex-colleagues were there so it felt like a mini-reunion. I'm also really pleased that I managed to fit into my suit and that I finally got to wear it after I had made right more than three years ago! I do think that I need to lose about 2 more kilos to fit into it comfortably. Hopefully, I can achieve that before I get invited to another wedding haha.

More Fitbit Achievements

Just a couple of months after I got my previous Fitbit badge, I apparently took enough steps to earn me my latest badge: Japan. That's 3.007 lifetime kilometers I've walked.

And just a month after that, I got my next badge: India. This means that I have now walked a total  of 3,123 kilometers since I started using my Fitbit. Wow!

I also achieved a new record. In the previous week, I walked a total distance of 74 kilometers, my new personal best! 

I do have an upcoming trip planned. If that pushes through, I may just improve on my personal best pretty soon.

IKEA and Swedish Nostalgia

IKEA Philippines opened in November 2021 but it took almost two years for me to make my first visit here. I guess that's because up until just now, I hadn't had a need to buy any new furniture or home equipment.

Recently, however, I realized that I needed a new shelf. That's because I have amassed so much stuff over the last few years and I don't have enough storage at home anymore. I started going to furniture stores to look for possible shelves and I actually found a couple of really nice ones, although they were very expensive. (The ones I saw that I really liked were in the P38,000-50,0000 range!) I checked out the Ikea website to see their range of shelves and I saw one that appealed to me. While I could've just purchased the shelf online, I wanted to see it in person first. I decided to make my way to Ikea to check it out.

Ikea is a Swedish brand (although apparently, it is now based in the Netherlands) so there was a sense of nostalgia as soon as I got there. (I lived in Sweden for about 6 months in 2007 when I was assigned to work on a project there.) The Ikea logo itself sports the blue and yellow of the Swedish flag. And inside, there was a display that showed the flags of the Philippines and Sweden next to each other, along with the seal of Pasay City.

I will say that I got a bit lost when I arrived. I wasn't quite sure where to go and I also didn't know how to purchase items. I decided to have an early dinner before delving into my search for the shelf I wanted. I gotta say, I really love the Ikea restaurant! I ended up ordering meatballs (after all, Sweden is known for meatballs haha), salmon, a croissant, and coffee (their coffee is refillable). I really enjoyed my dinner and seeing the Swedish flag on my plate of meatballs made me miss Sweden even more.

I eventually got my bearings and found my way to the section with shelves. I was looking for a shelf named Jattesta so I asked one of the salespeople for help and he pointed it out to me. While the website does indicate the dimensions of the shelf, seeing it up close made me realize it was bigger than what I expected. (It was also definitely bigger than the other shelves that I saw from other furniture stores.) This was perfect for me because it meant that I could place more items on it.

I purchased the white and light bamboo Jattesta shelf (it also comes in black but the lighter color works better in my small space). The purchasing process requires you to take a photo of the price tag with the bar code and show it to the salesperson. They will print out an invoice for you that you have to present at the check-out counter and that's where you pay. Since the shelf was quite big, I opted for their delivery service (P600). The salesperson asked me if I wanted to purchase anything else because the fee would be the same no matter how many items I had delivered but most of the other items I wanted to buy, I could just carry home with me. I placed my order and I was told that it would be delivered in about 3 days. Cool!

I then went around to purchase more stuff. I ended up getting a couple of bookends, several picture frames, a storage case made of fabric, and a bedside clip-on lamp (I needed to replace the one I got a while back). My lone impulse buy was another lamp named Tarnaby. I didn't need another light source at home but when I saw it, I thought it looked really nice. The light can also be dimmed. The bulb is sold separately so all in all, it cost me more than P1000 but now that I've set it up at home, I'm really happy with it and I have zero buyer's remorse haha.

On my way out, I also purchased a bag of frozen meatballs.

I also purchased some plant balls to take home with me. They said that they don't have a lid for it but I told me them it was okay. They were actually quite good!

A few days later, my delivery arrived. I ended up spending an entire Friday evening building my shelf. (Ikea provides a service for furniture assembly but I decided I wanted to build it myself.) It wasn't easy to put it together, much less to make it stand (it was really heavy!) but now that it's set up, I think it looks really nice. I now have more storage for my books and board games! I also thought it would be a perfect place to put my new lamp.

This trip to Ikea really reminded me of Sweden and brought back so many wonderful memories. It makes me want to visit Sweden again. Until then, maybe I will just visit Ikea more often.

IKEA Philippines
https://www.ikea.com/ph/en/
MOA Square, Mall of Asia Complex Zone 10 CBP-IA, Marina Way, Pasay, 1300 Metro Manila

Family Day and Other Random Stuff

My family and I spent a day out recently to do some shopping and errands together. We found ourselves in Powerplant Mall in the late morning so we decided to have lunch there. I suggested CDP Global Table because my family hadn't eaten there yet and it's been a while since I last had a meal there. We all ordered separate dishes but I also got some steak for all of us to share. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food and the steak was really good!

Steak at CDP Global Table

My mom and my nephew also ended up going home with some new stuff. My mom purchased a bag and I got my nephew jogger pants and socks at Uniqlo. On our way home, we passed by Tomas Morato and I decided to have a coffee break at Halfsaints, mainly because I told myself I wanted to return there and also because I wanted my family to try the Flower Tartlet Trio. It was still as good as I remember and my mom ended up liking the Quezo De Bola tart which also happens to be my favorite.

While we're on the subject of quality time with family, I visited Tita Florence at her home recently to join in her birthday celebration. The last time two times we saw each other were during sad moments - my cousin Maricel's funeral and the wake of my grandmother - so I wanted to be present for her party. It was wonderfully unique, with her family preparing lots of food included a few items that aren't your traditional birthday party fare, such as nilagang baka and banana cue. The nilagang baka was especially nostalgic because it was a staple dish of my other grandmother (Tita Florence's mom) and we would also have it for dinner back in the day. Naturally, I made sure to have some. Her son Rainier also prepared his famed ribs which continue to be really good. I brought a red velvet cake and I'm glad I did because one of her grandchildren apparently doesn't really eat cake except red velvet. Cool! I'm really happy that I got to spend time with Tita Florence under much better circumstances and I wish she has many more birthdays to come.

Happy birthday, Tita Florence!

I also got to spend some time with friends. Suzanne and Nenen visited the Philippines for the first time in five years so the gang joined them for lunch at Mary Grace in BGC. Steph, who is based in Singapore, also happened to be in Manila at the same time so she was able to join us. A lot has happened since they were here the last time so there was a whole lot of catching up. We spent several hours together and even then it didn't seem that it was enough. 

French Toast at Mary Grace

I also met up with my college friends for dinner. There were two reasons why we were meeting up. One was because it was Letlet's birthday. The other reason was because Hes was taking on an expat assignment abroad and would be leaving soon. She didn't have a lot of time left in Manila so we made sure to catch up before she leaves. As is always the case with this group, we spent several hours wining and dining and talking and laughing. Things won't be the same without Hes in town but this is a great opportunity for her so I wish her all the best.

Oh and I also got to try out the limited edition Barbie donuts from Krispy Kreme. A couple of designs were available when I was at their store so I ordered them both, along with several other donuts. I ended up trying the pink Barbie donut and I thought it was pretty good.

Krispy Kreme Barbie Donuts

Eating Out

I've been going out a lot recently to meet up with friends or do errands and other stuff. As a result, I've been eating out quite a lot. Coffee Academics has been one of my go-to places for brunch ever since I discovered it last year. In my latest visit, I saw that they had a new item on the menu: HK-Style Chicken and Waffles. I immediately decided to try it and I'm happy I did because I absolutely love it! The chicken is crispy and very flavorful and the waffle is not too sweet. The dish is served with some salted egg sauce for the chicken and what I think is strawberry jam for the waffle. Naturally, I ordered this with some pour-over coffee. It was perfect for brunch! Even writing about it now makes me want to have it again.

HK-Style Chicken and Waffles at Coffee Academics

Another place where I had brunch was Dean & Deluca. It's been ages since I last ate here. I ordered the Dean & Deluca Big Breakfast. It comes with a sausage, bacon, potatoes, free-range egg, sauteed mushrooms, pork and beans, a grilled tomato, and sourdough bread. Pretty much everything I want in a breakfast meal. This was really good too! This makes me want to visit Dean & Deluca again soon.

Dean & Deluca Big Breakfast

I also had brunch at La Condessa. It was my first time visiting this place and I like the vibe and the ambiance.

La Condessa

The menu also looked really interesting but as it was still mid-morning, I once again gravitated towards the breakfast section and I ordered the Condessa, which is an egg white souffle with bacon and sausage and served with sourdough bread on the side. I was told it would take time to prepare which made sense because it is a souffle and I told them I didn't mind. When it arrived at the table, it looked pretty cool! The service is also really good here. Hopefully I can go here again soon and try other items on their menu.

Condessa, an egg souffle dish from La Condessa

If you haven't quite figured it out yet, I enjoy breakfast food haha so when I went to The Perfect Pint for lunch recently, I ended up ordering their Continental Breakfast. It was my first time at The Perfect Pint and I didn't expect them to have brunch items on their menu so this was a pleasant surprise. It has sausages, bacon, a hash brown, sunny-side up eggs, sauteed mushrooms, baked beans, and cherry tomatoes. I would have liked it to have some bread but I guess there already is a hash brown that provides the carb content. I actually really enjoyed this dish and it was cool that The Perfect Pint also has coffee on their menu (and their coffee is not that expensive).

Continental Breakfast at The Perfect Pint

I also recently enjoyed some coffee and a midday snack at Patisserie Le Choux-Colat in Podium. I had ordered cakes from this place a couple of times before so when my friend suggested that we meet for coffee there, I agreed. There are only a couple of tables here so thankfully there was an available one when we arrived. I ordered the Espresso Salted Caramel Gateau de Voyage, which is an espresso pound cake with milk chocolate salted caramel, caramelized hazelnuts, and espresso whipped ganache and finished with dark chocolate shavings. Looks good and tastes good!

Espresso Salted Caramel Gateau de Voyage at Patisserie Le Choux-Colat

There were some terribly hot days last month and on one of those days, I happened to pass by Kuya J. As I did, I saw a large poster outside the restaurant with pictures of their halo-halo. I gotta say, their ad worked very well because as soon as I saw it, I immediately got drawn in hahaha. I ordered the Kuya J Halo-Halo Espesyal. It isn't your usual halo-halo because it uses a coconut ice-mix instead of just ice. I think I prefer normal halo-halo but this was still a perfect way to cool down on a very hot day.

Another new place I got to try was Teppan Okochi. It had been a while since I last had soba so I ended up ordering the Ten Zaru Soba, which was a plate of soba and some tempura. I also saw that they had chawan mushi, which is Japanese custard, and it has been ages since I last had that so I got one as well. Finally, I also ordered their vegetable soup. I hadn't had much vegetables leading up to that meal and I also wanted soup that evening so when I saw their vegetable soup on the menu, I ordered it. It came out after the rest of my dishes (which is why it's missing from the pic below) but wow, that soup was surprisingly very good! I think I need to visit this place again soon.

Ten Zaru Soba and Chawan Mushi at Teppan Okochi

I guess all this eating out is kinda like the restaurant version of "revenge travel" because I couldn't really go out as much in the last few years due to Covid. I would love to revisit all these places again but I also look forward to being able to try more new places in the near future.

New Wimbledon Champions!

 Congratulations to Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova, our 2023 Wimbledon singles champions!

Our new singles champions 🤩#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/IU4ZC1RjNc

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 17, 2023

Carlos won his first Wimbledon title by defeating Novak Djokovic in 5 sets, 1-6 7-6 6-1 3-6 6-4. Carlitos - I believe this is how he prefers to be called - has been doing incredibly well in the last two years, achieving the #1 ranking and winning his first major title at the US Open last year. However, prior to this year, he hadn't really done that well on grass. Given this, and considering Novak's recent win at the French Open that would surely have buoyed his confidence, I thought Novak was going to win. When Novak won the first set 6-1 and the 2nd set was very tight, I thought he would take the match in straight sets. Somehow, Carlitos steadied and steeled himself and in the end, he notched what is arguably the biggest win of his career so far - a Wimbledon trophy against arguably the greatest ever tennis player (or well, greatest so far). I already had a very high regard for Alcaraz but this win and this fightback just made me that much more impressed in his talent and his potential. He now has two Grand Slam singles titles and he's only 20 years old. I am really intrigued to see what else he can achieve in the future and how much more success he can attain. 

On the women's side, history was achieved when Marketa Vondrousova became the first female player to win Wimbledon. She defeated crowd (and heavy) favorite Ons Jabeur to win her first Grand Slam singles title. While this seem like she came out of nowhere, Vondrousova has actually been knocking on the door of the top tier of women's tennis for a while now. She made the final of the French Open in 2019 and she won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Her career has been hampered by injuries, so much so that last year, she went to Wimbledon as a spectator. I think Ons succumbed to the pressure while Market played a lot more freely and that determined the winner of this match.

I also feel compelled to write about Diede De Groot, who won the women's wheelchair singles title. This is her 5th Wimbledon overall and, even more impressively, her 12th Grand Slam women's wheelchair singles title. 12th! She has now won two consecutive Grand Slams - not the title but the actual Grand Slam where you win all four major titles in the same calendar year - and is on track to win her third. That's just crazy. I'm a fan now and I am really interested to see what kinds of records she will continue to set. 

Congratulations, Diede De Groot!

The Ladies' Wheelchair Singles champion for a fifth time after a straight sets victory over Jiske Griffioen! 👏🏆#Wimbledon | @DiedetheGreat pic.twitter.com/x6dPdYMH4y

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 15, 2023

Congratulations Carlos Alcaraz, Marketa Vondrousova, and Diede De Groot!

Reducing my Shelf of Shame

One of my goals at the start of this year was to reduce my "Shelf of Shame". This self-deprecating tongue-in-cheek term is used by board game aficionados to refer to the board games they have purchased but haven't played yet. At the start of this year, of the 62 base games I own, I had only played 36 of them. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to reduce it. In a recent game night, I brought out Notre Dame. It's a relatively fast board game to play but it took a while to explain the game mechanics. There was some initial confusion about how to perform the different actions but once people understood it and got the hang of it, everyone started playing much more quickly. I actually quite enjoyed this game and it looks really nice too. 

Notre Dame Board Game

The other game that I finally got to play is Foodies, which is quite easy to teach and to play. It's great for casual gamers or if you're looking to play something that can be done in half an hour or less. That said, when I taught and played this game with my friends, I realized I made a mistake: we used the wrong side of the board, making it just a bit more difficult for the first player (in this case, me) to purchase cards during the first turn. That is my excuse as to why I didn't win haha.

I also got to play a couple of my board games that I had previously only played once. The first of these is Champions of Midgard. I played this once before the pandemic and this year, I have gotten to play it twice already. I really enjoy the mechanics of this game, especially when your warriors go into battle against Monsters, Trolls, and Draugr. The next game I got to play again is Tapestry. This is another game I really love, not just because of its beautiful game elements, but also because of the variety of actions you can take.

I've also gotten to play a few new board games that my friends have brought to game nights. One of these is The Lost Ruins of Arnak. It took me a while to figure out how to play it and I thought I wasn't doing well initially but it turned out that I made a lot of good moves and in the end, I won by a narrow margin. I really enjoyed this game and I hope I can play it again soon.

I also finally played the Tuscany Expansion of Viticulture. My friend JM had been wanting to play this expansion with us since before the pandemic but the one time it hit the table, I was playing another game with other people in the group and JM had to leave early so they didn't finish the game. This time around, we managed to finish the game. There are some pretty big twists in playing this game, including having a worker that can be placed in a previous season or how workers of a certain player are cleared immediately from the board once that player has passed (this opens up spaces that may have previously been occupied). I ended up winning this game by a relatively comfortable margin. Cool!

Viticulture Tuscany Expansion

There are so many other games I've played, including Citadels (I don't particularly think this game is meant to be funny but it was absolutely hilarious when we played it haha) and a really cool game called Role Player where you kinda build your own character. I'm just really happy that the world is starting to get back to the normal we had pre-pandemic and I am now getting to enjoy playing board games again. Hopefully I can reduce my shelf of shame just a bit more before the year ends.

Avantgardey!

This video of Avantgardey performing at America's Got Talent went viral recently and it's easy to see why:

 

video uploaded on YouTube by America's Got Talent

I absolutely love this performance on so many levels. The choreography is really unique, with innovative movements and body positions, flashy formations, and so many things going on that there always seems to be something new and interesting to see each time you focus on a different woman or a different part of the screen. Case in point: at 0:44, and it's quite easy to miss because of what's going on at the center of the stage that draws our attention, there are four women in the background who are each lifting another woman and spinning while they do. That's pretty awesome and showcases the strength of these amazing dancers! Also, their facial expressions are very quirky, making their performance even more entertaining to watch. Heck, even their stage entrance was unexpected and set the tone for the dance.

I've also been trying to figure out what the name of the song is that they dance to. It's a great song and their choreography works perfectly with it. If you know the title of the song, please leave a comment. 

ETA: I found out what the song is! It's Cinderella Honeymoon by Hiromi Iwasaki.