Hello and welcome to Daily News Updates. Here is the quick news for now.

Mario Kart Tour

• The Mii Tour comeback, featuring the spotlight of Red Comet & Red Checkered Glider.
• The Lemmy & Morton Mii Racing suits are making the comeback.
• Mii Cup, featuing the 1st week ranked cup for placing high of Green Comet & Green Checkered Glider.
• Race with only Mii Racing Suits to collect event tokens.
• The 2_player Challenge is now ended.
• Purchase this items:
  • Value Pack
  • Driver Point-Boost Tickets 10 Ticket Set
  • Celebrate the Mii Tour with the Mach 8-R kart!
  • 70 Rubies and Ticket Pack
  • 150 Rubies and Ticket Pack
• Updated:
  • Daily Selects
  • Daily Spotlights
  • Tour Challenges 1
  • Total Points Challenge 1
  • Total Points Challenge 2
  • Tier Shop
  • Token Shop
  • Gold Challenges
  • Premium Challenges
  • Premium Challenges+
  • Premium Challenges++
  • Tour Multiplayer Challenges
  • Tour Gifts
  • Mii Racing Suit Shop
• Opened:
  • Today's Challenge (Closed when completed)
  • Mii Challenges
• Closed:
  • Bowser Challenges
  • Tour Challenges 2
• You can increases up by 150 exp points daily.
• You can collect every coins daily of the following max:100 coins while waiting or in a Multiplayer Race.
• 300 coins in a course without Gold Pass.
• 600 coins in a course with Gold Pass.
• The cup for the Multiplayer Race will changed every 13 minutes.
• Today's rules for the Multiplayer Standard & Gold Race is updated!
• You can send Greeting Coins once daily and do not lose the coin. If someone send you the Greeting Coins, you receive 5 coins.

Super Mario Run

• The ? block hit and it's appears for the following times:
  • ? Block hit, and it's appears for 4 hours.
  • Large ? Block hit, and it's appears for 6 hours.
  • Mega ? Block hit, and it's appears for 8 hours.
• The Bonus House is closed of the following times:
  • The Red Bonus House, which is used, is closed. We will open for 4 hours.
  • The Blue Bonus House, which is used, is closed. We will open for 6 hours.
  • The Yellow Bonus House, which is used, is closed. We will open for 8 hours.
• The # of Friendly Run is limited runs per day of the following World
  • Haven't cleared World 1 - one time
  • World 1 cleared - three times
  • World 2 cleared - five times
• The mission of Super Mario Run with the Nintendo Account who is completed is reset:
  • Play Toad Rally.

Thanks for reading this thread. Use this thread if you need next to see.

Effect: Inverse the effect of surrounding jokers (immediate left and right)
Below is a list of how this joker would effect other jokers. I have bolded the changes to each effect to make it easier to see what is different.
I have italicized the effects that are only negative effects, I am not sure these effects should be included as a way to make this joker have downsides or not. On one hand its a cool idea because you need to manage the placement of this joker, but on the other hand this may be a very shallow complication to the gameplay of this joker and may not even be worthwhile. I would love to hear your opinions on this.
Also if there are (???) next to the effect I am unsure if this should be the inverted effect or not. The food items in particular I am unsure if they should get better over time instead of getting worse over time (and maybe if they do get better over time they should start as debuffs aka negative modifiers).
I will update this list with your ideas if they seem more cohesive or well thought out.
Also if anyone is interested in helping me turn this into a mod, please reach out. This idea is probably not going to leave my head until it gets implemented in some fashion. I have experience with coding and game development, but have never used love2d or looked into modding balatro)
Compatible Jokers (and new effect):

• All first page jokers would be negative mult or chips
• Half Joker(+20 mult if played hand contains 4+ cards)
• Joker Stencil (x1 mult for each filled Joker slot)
• Ceremonial Dagger (Generates a Joker to the right that costs the current mult to generate)???
• Banner (+30 chips for each discard used)
• Mystic Summit (+15 mult if no discards used)
• Raised Fist (Adds double the rank of the highest ranked card held as mult)???
• Abstract Joker (+3 mult for each empty Joker slot)
• Delayed Gratification ($2 per used discard)
• Pareidolia (No cards are considered face cards)
• Even Steven (Played cards with odd rank give +4 mult when scored)
• Odd Todd (Played cards with even rank give +31 chips)
• Scholar (Played aces give +20 mult and +4 chips when scored)??????????????
• Bussiness Card (Played non-face cards have a 1 in 2 chance to give $2 when scored)
• Ride the Bus (This Joker gains +1 mult per consecutive hand played with a scoring face card)
• Space Joker (1 in 4 chance to downgrade played poker hand)???
• Egg (Loses $3 of sell value at end of round)???
• Burglar (When blind is selected lose 3 hands and gain 3 discards)
• Blackboard (x3 mult if all cards held in hand are Diamonds or Hearts)
• Ice Cream (+100 chips +5 chips for every hand played)????????
• Blue Joker (+2 chips for every card used this round)
• Sixth Sense (If first hand of the round is a single 6, duplicate it and add it to hand)???
• Constellation (This Joker loses x0.1 mult for every time a planet card is used)???
• Hiker (Every played card permanently loses -5 Chips when scored)???
• Faceless Joker (Earn $5 when 3 or more non-face cards are discarded at the same time)
• Green Joker (-1 mult per hand played +1 mult per discard)
• Card Sharp (x3 mult if played poker hand has not already been played this round)
• Red Card (This Joker gains +3 mult when any booster pack is not skipped) [needs better wording]
• Vampire (Adds random enhancement to non-scoring cards in played hand)??????
• Hologram (This Joker gains x0.25 mult every time a playing card is removed from your deck)
• Vagabond (Create a tarot card if hand is played with $5 or more)
• Obelisk (This Joker gains x0.2 mult per consecutive hand played that is your most played hand) [probably too broken]
• Midas Mask (All played non-face cards become Gold cards when scored)
• Photograph (Last played face card gives x2 mult)???????
• Turtle Bean (+5 hand size increase by 1 every round)??????????????
• Erosion (+4 mult for each card above 52 in your full deck)
• Reserved Parking (Each non-face card held in hand has a 1 in 2 chance to give $1)
• Hallucination (1 in 2 chance to create a tarot card when any booster pack is skipped)
• Juggler (-1 hand size)
• Drunkard (-1 discard)
• Lucky Cat (This Joker gains x0.25 mult every time a lucky card is played and not triggered)??????
• Baseball card (Common and Rare Jokers each give x1.5 mult) [broken?]
• Trading Card (If first discard of round has only 1 card duplicate it and add it to hand)???
• Popcorn (+20 mult +4 mult per round played)????????
• Ramen (x2 mult gains x0.01 mult per card discarded)???????????
• Walkie Talkie (each played 10 or 4 gives +4 chips and +10 mult)???
• Castle (This Joker gains +3 chips per played [suit] card, suit changes every round)
• Smiley Face (Played non-face cards give +5 mult when scored)
• Campfire (This Joker gains x0.25 mult for each card bought, resets when Boss Blind is defeated)
• Acrobat (x3 mult on every hand besides the final hand)???
• Sock and Buskin (Retrigger all played non-face cards)
• Troubadour (-2 hand size, +1 hand each round)
• Certificate (When round begins add a random playing card with a random Enhancement to your hand)???
• Smeared Joker (Hearts and Spades count as the same suit. Diamonds and Clubs count as the same suit)???
• Throwback (x0.25 mult for each Blind selected this round)???
• Hanging Chad (Retrigger the Last card used in scoring 2 additional times)
• Glass Joker (This Joker gains x0.75 mult for every Glass Card played and not destroyed, loses x1.5 mult for every glass card destroyed)???
• Flower Pot (x3 mult if poker hand contains no suits) [I'm thinking all stone cards]???????
• Blueprint (Copies ability of Joker to Left) [This would be fun, but honestly confusing]?????
• Wee Joker (This Joker gains +8 Chips when each played 2 is not scored)???
• Merry Andy (-3 discards each round, +1 hand size)
• Oops! All 6s (Halves all listed probabilities (ex: 1 in 3 -> 1 in 6)
• Seeing Double (x2 mult if played hand does not have a scoring club card, but two still has at least two separate suits)??????
• Matador (Earn $8 upon completing boss blind without triggering its effects)???
• Hit the Road (This Joker gains x0.5 mult for every Jack in hand)
• Stuntman (-250 Chips, +2 hand size)???
• Brainstorm (Copies the ability of the Rightmost joker)???
• Shoot the Moon (Each played queen card gives +13 mult) [or maybe discard]???
• Driver's License (x3 mult if you have no enhanced cards in your full deck)
• Cartomancer (Create a tarot card when Blind is skipped)
• Astronomer (All Tarot cards and Arcana Packs in the shop are free)?????
• Burnt Joker (Upgrade the level of the first played poker hand each round) [broken?]??????
• Canio (This Joker gains x1 mult when a face card is added to your deck)???
• Triboulet (Held Kings and Queens each give x2 mult)???
• Yorick (This Joker gains x1 mult every 23 cards played)???
• Perkeo (Destroys 1 random consumable card in your possession at the end of the shop and generates a random planet, tarot, or spectral card)????????????????

Thank you for your time lol

Happy Wednesday, Barkada --

The PSE gained 4 points to 6608 ▲0.1%

Shout-out to financial freedom for the dividend card design advice, to Mike Tan for supporting the idea of the dividend cards, to Jing for hoping that competition would fix FMETF's iNav problems, to Justin Angelo Bantang for providing the equation that let him to "give up" on FILRT ("declining stock price + declining dividend payout = give up"), to VodkaMartini_007 for the OGP meme suggestion ("Doom Guy in Hell"), to Cheerful2_Dogman210x for the OGP analysis ("might take a quick peek if it hits a strong support"), and to arkitrader for the REIT Police vibes.
I know I still owe an update to the MB Underwriters League table, and I'll have that ready for tomorrow's send!

▌In today's MB:

• Citicore Renewable sets IPO for June 7
• MREIT to acquire P13-B in buildings through swap
• Vista Land approves P5-B prefs offer

▌Daily meme Subscribe (it's free) Today's email

▌Main stories covered:

• [UPDATE] Citicore Renewable IPO pushed back to June 7... Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation [CREC 3.88 pre-IPO] [link] pushed its IPO back one week to June 7, with a revised offer period between May 27 and May 31. This is the second time that CREC’s IPO has been rescheduled. CREC was originally intended to list in March, but the listing was pushed back to the end of May after sticky inflation prevented central banks from lowering rates. CREC raised ₱5 billion from its sale shares in its subsidiary, Citicore Renewable Energy REIT [CREIT 2.85 ▲0.7%; 107% avgVol], to SM Investments [SM 887.00 ▲0.2%; 163% avgVol] back on March 31. The offer is 1.786 billion common primary shares at a maximum price of ₱3.88/share. Together with the overallotment option, the total IPO is worth up to ₱7.97 billion.
  
  • MB: I don’t have any insider information about why the IPO was delayed a second time. I know that the PSE is usually hesitant to schedule IPOs too closely together for fears of oversaturating the market with new equity issuances, and given how heavy the OceanaGold PH [OGP 12.36 ▼1.1%; 31% avgVol] listing has been so far, perhaps the PSE and CREC together decided that it might be worth it to get a little (more) space between OGP and CREC’s listing just to be sure. Edgar Saavedra’s group has been clear the whole time of its intent to list CREC in Q2, so a reschedule by one week to June 7 doesn’t seem like anything other than a bit of fine-tuning. Not sure how deeply we can read into anything. Just excited to get a look at a new IPO.
• [NEWS] MREIT to acquire ₱13.15-B worth of office buildings through share swap... MREIT [MREIT 12.80 ▼1.2%; 380% avgVol] [link] announced that it has applied to the SEC to approve a property-for-share swap transaction with its parent company, Megaworld [MEG 1.79 ▲0.6%; 136% avgVol], where MREIT will acquire six “Grade A buildings” from MEG in exchange for 926,162,000 primary MREIT shares. The transaction is valued at ₱13.15 billion (~₱14.20/share). The properties that MEG will inject into MREIT are One Fintech Place and Two Fintech Place in Iloilo Business Park, Davao Finance Center in Davao Park District, and Two West Campus, Ten West Campus, and One Le Grand in Fort Bonifacio. The transaction will increase MREIT’s gross leasable area (GLA) by 48% to 482,000 square meters.
  
  • MB: This property-for-share swap structure is how the framers of the REIT Law imagined REITs would grow. I’ve seen some comments talking about how the issuance of primary shares by MREIT to MEG dilutes MREIT shareholders; this is true from a voting perspective, but not from a dividend or yield perspective. Starting from the point when the SEC approves the transaction, MREIT will begin generating revenue from these properties, and that revenue will flow into the dividends that MREIT will declare in future quarters. According to my calculations with the PSE’s data, this swap would push MREIT’s public float below the REIT Law’s one-third minimum public ownership threshold to 32.29%, so perhaps MEG will look to sell a small batch of shares in a private placement to prevent the possibility of suspension. Who knows when the SEC will approve the transaction? All I know is that it’s not a good look to get caught flat-footed by a surprise approval, like what happened to Leandro Leviste back when he still owned SP New Energy [SPNEC 1.13 ▼0.9%; 45% avgVol]. I’m interested to see how MREIT will react to the shifting fundamentals of the office market. Anyone here tried GPT-4o? Things are changing at a rapid pace. A year ago we were laughing at having text translated into Jar-Jar speak. Today, I had a full 10-minute conversation with GPT-4o (“Sky”) about how to use Google Looker to produce a financial dashboard using my Google Sheets data.
• [NEWS] Vista Land board approves ₱5-B preferred shares offer... Vista Land [VLL 1.50 ▲2.0%; 0% avgVol] [link] disclosed that its board has approved a ₱5 billion preferred shares offering, consisting of 50,000,000 Series 2 Preferred Shares priced at ₱100/share. VLL said that China Bank Capital and SB Capital will be joint lead underwriters on the deal. The company did not provide any information about the potential dividend or the timeline for the offer period and listing of the shares.
  
  • MB: This prefs sale comes after VLL had to kill its disastrous attempt to sell $700 million in US Dollar-denominated bonds back in late January. Back then, VLL’s bonds were simply not shiny enough to compete with the yields of other (better) issuers. When it pulled the bonds there was an expectation that VLL would try again once rates had come down a bit, and while rates have not gone down, perhaps this smaller offering is intended to deal with whatever short-term needs the company has while it waits to make a bond offering at some future time when rates are lower.

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LONG POST WARNING
Hello everyone,
My partner (24F) and I (25M) returned home from our 3-week Japan trip last week and due to us using this sub a lot during our planning I thought it would be helpful for other current planners to upload a trip report.
Our main interests are Japanese traditions and history, street style/culture, and food so keep reading if these interests are mutual. Read to the bottom to see how much we spent plus some tips and disappointments.
Prelude
We were caught up in the madness at Dubai airport during our layover. Long story short; Airport (and the rest of Dubai) flooded and caused all the flights to be cancelled. What was meant to be a 5-hour layover turned into a torturous 36 hour wait. No staff to be seen, crowds of people arguing, fighting, and crying. We queued for 12 hours to get a new boarding pass for the next flight to Japan. We were meant to fly to Haneda but settled for Narita as we needed to get out of that place as soon as possible but still ended up missing our first day in Tokyo (should have had 5 days). We can’t complain too much as some of the people I spoke to on emirates were in the airport for up to 5 days before getting a flight back to their departure destination. Oh, and our baggage was missing with us only receiving our checked in bags on day 19. Cheers Emirates.
Day 1
Arrived in Shinjuku around midnight. We went straight to Don Quiojte to buy some replacement cosmetics and clothes. The combination of no good-quality sleep for 48 hours and the stimulating nature of the store was very intense! We then started to walk back towards the hostel and passed a Ichiran, so dropped in for some 2am ramen. Not the best ramen I’ve ever had but was still very good for the price.
Steps: 21,643 (includes some airport steps)
Day 2
Woke up and ate the free breakfast at the hostel (this turned out to be a really good money saver for the whole trip as we are not huge eaters in the morning anyway, but it was good to get something light in us before a long day walking). We then walked through the Shinjuku Gyoen Garden – saw some late blooming cheery blossoms and overall, it was a really beautiful botanical garden.
The next stop was Meji Shrine and a walk through Yoyogi park. The shrine was cool to see, especially as it was our first one in Japan. Saw a middle-aged man wearing denim hotpants so short that his balls were hanging out?!?!
Walked to Shibuya to see the scramble. This was cool but also felt it was a bit underwhelming at ground level but the view from Shibuya station walkway was wicked. Lunch was at a conveyor belt sushi place on the top floor of this department store right next to the scramble. This would be higher than average quality sushi in Europe, so it blew our minds that it was available on the top floor of a department store and for so cheap.
Shimokitazawa – We picked up some bargains at 2^nd street and I treated myself some Japanese jeans from a small Demin shop called Bears. The guy in the shop was super helpful and friendly and even tailored the trousers to exactly my size.
In the evening, we first had a poke around Golden Gai and then headed towards Shibuya and stopped in a cool bar where the owner was mixing vinyl while he mixed your drinks (think it was called Q Bar).
We had previously bought tickets to a gig at Circus for one of my fav rappers who I’d been wanting to see for a while. Also really enjoyed seeing the local Japanese warm up acts. Stayed until 5am and then go the train straight to the Tsukiji outer fish market. Was there way too early and had to wait roughly an hour for thing to open. Went to chill by a bench for a bit and by the time we went back to the market it was rammed! Went to bed around 8:30am.
Steps: 32,159
Day 3
We woke up at 2:30pm, got ready, and headed to the Bunkyo civic centre for the free observation deck. We heard it wasn’t meant to be the best Tokyo skyline view but for a free attraction we thought it was very good! Jimbocho book town was also very cool to see. We had a peak into a couple adult movie/magazine stores where I don’t think the owner appreciated our presence as western tourists.
In the evening, we first went for Ramen at Motenashi Kuraki in Asakusa Bashi. Honestly probably the best Ramen I’ve had to date. I ordered the Black Pepper Shio special, and it blew my mind. Even though the staff didn’t speak English they were very accommodating for my partner who doesn’t eat meat (pescetarian but will brave a meaty broth).
We then had a stroll around Akihabara and played some dance mat games in the arcades before heading back for an earlyish night.
Steps: 28,680
Day 4
I couldn’t sleep so got up around 3am and did some admin stuff to try and get our bags back to us ASAP. Chatted to people in the hostel for a few hours.
We arrived at Senso-ji for around 8am. Wasn’t too busy at this time and the temple was impressive. Went for a coffee down the road and had a chill for about an hour before heading into Asakusa. Got admission to the Drum museum which was wicked. Only 400 yen each and had the whole place to ourselves to smack some big fucking drums and make as much noise as we wanted.
We then started to head towards Ueno but made a slight detour to Kappabashi Dougu street to peruse the Japanese chef knives and other cookware. Grabbed lunch from a 7/11 and went and sat in Ueno park which was super busy. There was some food market event on which loads of food stalls had set up. There was also a stage with some J-pop performers and people dressed as ninjas dancing in the crowd. Weird to say the least. By mid-afternoon we were pretty tired so headed back to the hostel for a nap.
In the evening, we headed down to Harajuku and stopped by Big Love records. My partner is really into vinyl, so this was definitely a highlight for her. She picked up Wu Tang 36 chambers in case you were wondering. We then went for food at Afuri as my partner wanted to try the Vegan ramen to which she said it was ok but nothing special. My cold dipping noodle dish was very tasty, however. We then stumbled across this vinyl listening bar called Bar Music on the 5^th floor of this pokey building on the outskirts of Shibuya for a few drinks before bed. There was such a good vibe in there and the cocktails were super good for the price. If you’re looking for a romantic spot, then this is the place to go.
Steps: 31,818
Day 5
Today we headed to Kyoto on the shinkansen around midday after a slow morning chilling in and around the hostel and catching up on some sleep. Checked in to the hostel and had a walk around downtown Kyoto, stopping at 2^nd Street to buy some more clothes.
In the evening, we headed to Kodai-Ji to see the shrine lit up at night. We couldn’t believe how few people were there as it was stunning and truly magical place to be at night. It also has a bamboo grove (much better than Arashiyama, see below). The bar for Kyoto shrines/temples had been set very high.
Walked down Pontocho alley and stopped at a yakitori restaurant which was just ok. We knew it was going to be average when we looked around the restaurant and it was just western tourists dining.
Steps: 25,255
Day 6
First thing in the morning we rented bikes and cycled across the city to Arashiyama. Parked the bikes at the train station and walked up through Arashiyama. We were expecting it to be busy but there were so many people it was almost impossible to move. Had a look around the bamboo grove and was slightly underwhelmed after our visit to Kodai-Ji so we took the tram and then bus up to Kosan-Ji. This was very much worth the 45-minute journey as there was only one other group there and the temple nestled between the trees overlooking the river was breath-taking. On the whole, Arashiyama was way too packed during peak times to enjoy and with everything else Kyoto has to offer we wouldn’t say it was a must see.
We then picked up the bikes from the train station and cycled back across Kyoto taking the long route to explore and get lost. Once we dropped off the bikes, we went for another explore and this time went into WeGo for more clothes shopping. At this point we’d pretty much matched the amount of clothing that we had packed in our checked-in luggage that was still stuck in Dubai.
After a nap we walked towards the metro and stopped at a Katsu restaurant as we wanted to try something different, and it was pretty good. For the price of 1300 yen each we got so much food/sake and left stuffed.
Fushimi Inari in the evening. Like Kodai-Ji, we would recommend visiting Fushimi Inari at night. Firstly, to help avoid the crowds (we got there around 9pm and there was hardly anybody there) and secondly as seeing it lit up at night is a nice change. It was however slightly creepy at night, especially as it was lightly raining. My partner started to get a bit scared once we saw the signs to be careful of the wild boar and monkeys haha. We didn’t make it to the top of Mt Inari as the rain started to get heavy but still very much enjoyed walking through the hundreds of tori gates, stopping off at the shrines and soaking up the history.
Steps: 23,686
Day 7
Today was a late start as even after 8 hours sleep the 25k plus steps a day was starting to catch up with us.
We took the metro to Shimogamo Shrine in north Kyoto. It was very peaceful and quiet however temple fatigue had definitely set in at this point. We then walked through Kyoto to the beginning of Philosophers path. We had seen on this sub that people recommend skipping it unless its Sakura season however we disagree. The path along the river is so pretty and atmospheric, along with the fish gently swimming along in the river.
Kyoto Hand Crafts Centre – if you have the money then this is a great place to pick up souvenirs.
Pre-booked Sushi Iwa for a 15 course Omakase. The food was amazing, but it came to an eye watering 28k yen each. The difference for our western palettes between mid-range sushi and exceptional sushi is negligible. Nonetheless it was a good experience and I’m glad that we did it.
Steps: 23,751
Day 8
Today was an empty day in terms of things we wanted to do, so used it to walk the city and explore.
We checked out the Nishiki market and ate various fried foods on sticks which were all pretty tasty. We then walked northwards, stopping for coffee before reaching the imperial palace. By this point we were very much bored of temples and structures of similar architecture, but we actually ended up enjoying walking the palace grounds and seeing the buildings more than we thought and would recommend it to those who find themselves in north Kyoto.
A leisurely walk back down towards downtown Kyoto, stopping off at a wicked standing soba joint. Forgotten the name but their curry soba was delicious.
Chao Chao gyozas (only veggie gyoza place we could find) for our evening meal before a night cap at the bar across the road before bed.
Steps: 23,304
Day 9
Shinkansen to Hiroshima arriving around 11am.
Checked into hostel and then went straight to the A-dome, peace memorial and museum. We thought the museum was very moving and captured the horror of the events that unfolded very well. A must see for sure.
Okonomiyaki at Okonomimura and then some vintage clothes shopping in Hondori.
Went back out for food in the evening and ended up getting Okonomiyaki again. This time it we enjoyed it a lot more than we did at lunch (probably because we got it covered in cheese). There are a few streets by Hiroshima station with lots of bars and restaurants on top of each other, much like Golden Gai in Shinjuku, however they are not super touristy and has a more laid-back feel to them.
We then went to some bars in the city centre. The best one we stumbled across was called Tropical Bar Revolucion. It was on the 8^th floor and the smoking balcony overlooked the city. Plus, the beers in there tasted so good and I’m not sure why.
Steps: 23,299
Day 10
A hungover morning. Headed to the Hiroshima National Gardens. Going to some gardens is my go-to hangover activity as its low effort, relaxing, and feels productive. These gardens in particular were great and we really appreciated the signs explaining the history behind the space. Overall, we enjoyed this more than the national gardens in Shinjuku.
Public baths near Dobashi in the afternoon. If you’re feeling brave enough to get your kit off in front of 10s of strangers, then this is a good experience. Male and female baths are separate. Can’t go wrong for 400 yen.
Went for a drink at Bar Pretty and then realised the effect of golden week on trying to get a table walking into a restaurant. Walked around for about an hour with no success so settled for food from a department store food court. Sounds miserable but the food was pretty good for the price, and it was busy in there, so it still had an atmosphere.
Steps: 29,487
Day 11
Miyajima Day. Took the ferry to the island arriving at 10:30am. The Ryokan staff met us at the port and collected our bags to take back to the hotel.
Had a mooch around the port area before doing the hike up Mt Misen. The climb to the top on a hot day is not to be underestimated. Sweating buckets, but the route and the view from the top was amazing and one of the standout highlights of the whole trip.
After descending Mt Misen, we bought some beers, oysters and, ice cream and sat along the beach wall and chilled in the sun for a couple hours. The hotel staff then picked us up from the ferry terminal, we checked in and went straight to the Onsen for a couple hours before dinner. Dinner was a traditional kaiseki meal (with more courses than I can remember) served in the banquet hall with the other guests.
While the staff converted our retro ryokan room and set up the futons we had a few more beers before bed.
Steps: 20,803
Day 12
Today we had a chilled morning on the island, having a stroll and stopping for some coffees. We then took the ferry back to Hiroshima, stopping for Okonomiyaki one more time, before taking the shinkansen to Osaka.
Checked into our hostel near Namba and went out for a walk around 8pm. When looking for somewhere to eat we walked past a sign for a vegetarian Indian restaurant called Shama. After nearly two weeks of pure Japanese food we were craving some variety so decided to head in. Located on the basement floor of a particularly run down looking building the restaurant was not the most glamorous. Barely enough space for 10 people, it was hot in there. A constant stream of people was coming in and out of the restaurant and we were lucky enough to walk in when there were two spaces available. From sitting down at the table to receiving our food we waited just under an hour. This would be enough to put most people off but fuck me the food was good when it did finally arrive. We got a selection of 4 different curries, naan breads and samosa. We left stuffed. If you’re in the area this is definitely a place worth checking out.
Steps: 25,502
Day 13
Our first stop of the day was the Umeda Sky Building. Not suitable if you are scared of heights as the glass elevator made our stomachs drop slightly. The views were impressive but we thought the price was a bit steep at 1500 yen each.
We then spent the afternoon wondering about near Namba and Shinsujibashi dropping into shops and picking up some food.
For dinner we made a reservation for a Mexican restaurant near Dotonbori. Massive margheritas, nachos and enchiladas. The food was great, and it shows by how busy the place was still at 10pm. It had been open since the late 70’s with the décor to match and it had a great atmosphere.
Steps: 27,290
Day 14
Checked out Tsuruhashi and Korea Town. Loved the market – dimly lit maze of numerous food and clothing vendors. Stopped to have some Korean stew and pancakes and it was delicious. One of the best meals of the trip.
Shinsekai in the evening. What I can describe as the armpit of Osaka. We loved it. Dirty? Yes. Rowdy? Yes. Rough around the edges with a red light district to top it all off. We had Kushikatsu to finish the evening off. Fried stuff on a stick – of course it going to be tasty but it wasn’t exactly flavour town.
Steps: 23,777
Day 15
Took the train to Minoh and hiked up the trail to see the waterfall. Hike was easy in comparison to Mt Misen and the waterfall was very cool to see. Had a wonder around Minoh stopping for some lunch at a Ramen bar.
We went to the Team lab botanical gardens in the evening. It was very awe inspiring seeing all the installations lit up.
After sampling Japanese McDonalds (I had a burger where the buns were made out of rice) we went for some drinks at Zerro. We liked this bar a lot, the guys working there were very friendly and it had a good vibe.
We then sat and watched the skaters at triangle park with some beers from the konbini before going to see Dj Masda at Circus until around 4am. This area of Osaka was such a vibe and came back here a few times over our 6 days here. Overall, a very fun evening.
Steps: 26,130
Day 16
Woke up chronically hungover but powered on and went to see a baseball game. You’re allowed to bring food and drink into the stadium (as long as alcohol is in plastic/paper cups) so we grabbed some beers and snacks from family mart. We had no idea what was happening but the atmosphere was electric and we enjoyed getting pissed and cheering.
Had a nap and then went to Hafez for middle eastern food. The food was good but not amazing, nothing in comparison to my local middle eastern restaurant back home. Chilled around the Namba park/Big step area. Loved this area so much, we are big into street fashion and culture so this place really ticked some boxes. Lots of skaters and street wear stores concentrated around here. Got an early night watching Battle Royale back at the hostel.
Steps: 22,065
Day 17
Today we went to the Umeda area. Popped into some shopping centres and had Omurice for lunch. It was tasty but not something I will crave when back home. Good experience trying it though. We then walked through Yodoyobashi along the rivers and got gelato and sat in the rose garden. The sun was beating down and we enjoyed just chilling in the sun eating our ice cream.
Compufunk Records were holding a party in their store. Decent gaff with some very welcoming and kind people to party with until the early hours.
Steps: 21,267
Day 18
We reluctantly left Osaka for Hakone today. Very sad to go but onwards to the next adventure. Took the shinkansen to Odawara and then the Hakone Tozan Train to Gora. Checked into our Ryokan and relaxed in the Onsen for a few hours.
Went for a walk around Gora and had dinner at the Ryokan before watching Predator in bed.
Steps: 16,926
Day 19
Today we did the Hakone Loop, starting early in Gora.
Started with the Open-air museum and it was great. We loved the installation and ended up spending 3 hours slowly making our way round. Got some cool photos as well for the gram.
Ropeway to Lake Ashi. This was absolutely terrifying. You have to swap cable cars 3 times on the way over and the warnings of the service being suspended due to the wind was announced at each stop. I’m not going to ruin the surprise, but one section made me literally freeze in terror due to the winds outside so try to do it on a calm weather day.
We then took the pirate boat (bit underwhelming) across the Lake and stopped for some soba noodles and a wander around. Unfortunately it was way too cloudy to even get a chance at seeing Mt Fuji.
Train to Kamakura and checked into our super cute traditional hostel near the beach.
Dinner at an Izakaya from the hostel owners recommendation. Food great and beers slipped down a treat. First time I tried Yuzu Kosho as well – I’m now addicted to the stuff and literally cover all my food with it.
Steps: 19,512
Day 20
A slow start to the morning. Weather was pretty bad but we still managed to hit all the main sights in Kamakura. Big Buddha was a refreshing sight from the temples. Did some shopping up Komachi Dori. Highlight of the day was Hukokaji temple. It was so peaceful and zen in the rain with its very own matcha tea ceremony backdropped by bamboo forest. This turned out to be our second favourite temple/shrine we visited, just being beaten by Kodaji.
In the evening we went for Sushi at a conveyor belt place. Figured this would probably be my last Japanese sushi of the trip so devoured 7000 yen worth of sushi and beer. Went back to the hostel and invited some of the other guests to drink with us. The owner of the hostel had some bayberry homebrew, so we got stuck into that.
Steps: 20,494
Day 21
Enoshima Island is just a 25 min train from Kamakura. Started off the day by walking to the top of the island to get French toast and a beer with a lovely view across the bay. We then headed up the Sea candle to check out the observation deck, still the illusive Mt Fuji hides behind the clouds.
We then bought admission to the caves beneath the island which was pretty cool. I won’t ruin the surprise but there’s something waiting for you at the end of one of the caves.
Had an explore around the rockpools near the caves and took some cool photos. We then had a pizza with fish on which was pretty crazy. Walked around the island a little bit more and I picked up some more Japanese denim which wasn’t the cheapest but the quality of the trousers are great and will last me a lifetime.
Back to Tokyo in the evening.
Went for Izakaya around Asakusa and popped into a couple bars. One was called Not Suspicious and the whole bar was covered in handwritten notes by patrons. Very touristy but quite cool at the same time. Our favourite was a drawing of Mario saying It’s a Me Muthafucka.
Steps: 25,903
Day 22
First stop was Don Quiojte to pick up some Yuzu Kosho (if you know you know) and weird flavoured KitKats.
Kappabashi Dougu street to purchase a fine Japanese carbon stell Santoku. Honestly in love with this knife so much. The people at the store were very happy to hear exactly what I was looking for and even let me try before you buy on some daikon radish.
While in Asakusa I had to return to the place where I put the best thing in my mouth in Japan. Motenashi Kuroki. Switched it up this time and had their classic Shio ramen plus the duck rice as a side. Honestly this place is amazing, and you have to go there if you have time. They aren’t veggie/pescy friendly so my partner went for one last round of sushi round the corner. We met up at a massage chair parlour and spent 30 mins relaxing in the chairs.
We had a bright idea to watch the sunset one last time so headed over to the rooftop park on a department store in Shibuya. Sipping on an ice cold Kirin, the sun slowly dropped behind the distant mountains and we knew our trip had come to an end. How symbolic.
Flight at 11pm from Haneda.
Steps: 23,187
On reflection:
I honestly think this trip was almost perfect in terms of hitting our interests and travel style. There was a good balance of doing the typical first time visit to Japan sights and activities while still exploring and seeing what we came across in the moment.
It hard to pinpoint exact highlights of the trip as everywhere we visited had so much going for it in different ways. We loved the rugged and trendy vibe to Osaka, and I think this would be the city I would most want to live in for a considerable amount of time (If I had to choose). Miyajima was also stunning and a great overnight trip with the Ryokan experience. We also underestimated how much we would enjoy Kamakura with its laid-back surfer vibe and access to Enoshima Island.
One random memorable moment that has stuck with me was when we landed at Narita airport, we took the limo bus to Shinjuku. As the driver pulled away, all the staff at the station turned and bowed in unison. It felt so special to first observe a culture totally opposite to the one I grew up with and was at this point I knew I had embarked on the trip of a lifetime.
If I could go back and change something I would probably miss out Hakone and do an extra day in one of the major cities. This isn’t because we didn’t enjoy Hakone, but we feel like it’s a place that needs more time to soak in what’s going on around you (plus the weather was bad when we were there). This being said the Open-Air Museum was amazing and we enjoyed it more than the Teamlab botanical gardens so the trip up the mountains was worth it just for that.
So, how much did we spend per person (not inc flights)?
Accommodation - £765pp
Given that we spent a couple nights in Ryokans raising the average price slightly, we were pretty happy with the accommodation costs. We stayed in a mix of private room and shared dorm hostels and pretty much all of them were spot on. Travelling as a couple meant that anywhere with a private room split the price between 2. The only hostel we didn’t like was the one in Hiroshima, there wasn’t anything in particularly wrong with it, there was just a really bad vibe from the owner and other guests.
Transport - £344pp
This includes shinkansen to and from all the major cities as well as our suica top ups for metros and buses. Unless your itinerary is something like 3 days Tokyo, 2 days Osaka 2 days Kyoto then there really isn’t any point getting the JR pass now that the price has increased.
Activities – £280pp
It is hard to give an exact amount for activities and food as 1) I didn’t track what we spent our cash on and 2) my partner and I would take in turns paying for things like temple admission. That being said I’ve allocated 25% of the cash we spent to activities such as temple admission. Activities includes our baseball tickets plus club entries as well as temple and museum admissions etc.
Food – £962pp
As above, its hard to give an exact amount for food. On the whole we tried to eat cheap with possible, especially at the start of our trip. There were a few expensive meals peppered in plus we ate out twice a day towards the end of our trip as we realised we were under budget.
The total is a bit skewed as this includes all the alcohol we bought in bars as well as the konbini trips for beers and cigarettes. I estimate that booze accounts for around a third of the total per person. If you would like to do Japan on a budget, reducing the booze will make a big difference.
Shopping/Souvenirs/Gifts – £607 (just me)
We went hard with the shopping. We didn’t actually receive our checked in luggage until day 19 so we had to buy all new clothes and cosmetics. If this wasn’t the case, then I don’t think I would have spent so much (airline is comping us for the additional clothing bought anyway). I also bought a fairly expensive chef knife and Japanese denim pieces, plus lots of gifts for friends and family. Obviously, this number could theoretically 0 if you are on a serious budget and did no shopping but I really underestimated Japanese shopping, especially thrifting. Also, given our cheap choices when it came to accommodation we could afford to splurge. However just to note my partner spent less than half than I did on shopping.
Total: £2958 (582,628 yen at time of writing)
I kept within my budget of £3000. I definitely got a bit frivolous with the cash in the last few days or so, if being as careful as I was towards the start of the trip, I think the total would be closer to £2500.
Disappointments
Takoyaki. We thought it was going to be all about the octopus but were disappointed with our balls of sloppy goo surrounding tiny chewy pieces of octopus. We tried it twice and couldn’t get behind it. Sorry Takoyaki fans.
Arashiyama. Way too busy, especially around the main station and bamboo grove. If it’s the bamboo you are going to see, then Kodaji is a much better spot.
Dotonburi. Albeit we were there in golden week, and it was pretty busy. However, I get the feeling this area has fallen to the past its golden days title and has become a bit of a cash cow for places selling spiralised potatoes on a stick. The area around Namba park was a better option for us.
Tips
Konbini. Absolute life saver for snacks and drinks on the go. The food quality for a convenience store is higher than most other countries so we had no problem with grabbing a meal from one to help keep within our budget.
Don’t over pack – even though we didn’t get our checked in bags, I still packed light so had plenty of space to bring stuff back. Emirates give you your allowance by weight rather than number of baggage so we could check in additional bags on the way back.
Don’t be scared of hostels. If you don’t want to brave the shared dorms, then most hostels offer private rooms with just the shower and toilet shared. Obviously, it’s cheaper if there are two people sharing a room.
Don’t stress about cash. Most places take debit/credit card and if they don’t, you’re never more than 5 minutes from a konbini ATM.
For us, golden week didn’t seem that big of an issue. No problems booking shinkansen around GW. We spent most of GW in Osaka, as such it was going to be busy anyway so maybe we didn’t see much of a difference from normal numbers in the spring.

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SPOILER and guesses
*******\*
In this post I just want to talk about a few ideas about the lengths of the arcs. Not in a negative aspect, but just my guesses on how long the NEL arc will go and what the future arcs could look like and their lengths.
The match against Pxg started in chapter 249. my guess is that this match will have about 30 chapters. I assume that Bastar Munich will win this match 3:2 (I won't go into who scores which goal).
so the match will end in chapter 280. with a few run out chapters we will end up with an arc length of:
Neo Egoist League Arc ending: 285 (134 chapters in total)
Now the speculation begins. After this arc we will not have the U20 World Championship immediately, but a Striker Selection Arc. What it will look like? no idea. But it will have about 25 chapters where the arc will be built up continuously.
Striker selection Arc ending: Chapter 310
Now the World Championship begins. In Japan, in the Blue Lock Stadium. The first match will be over quickly. BL11 rolls over the first opponents and sets the tone for the first match. The whole world holds its breath.
match 2 will have about 20-30 chapters. i see China in this position. and the last match will be against France. Here Blue Lock loses mercilessly.
Group Stage Arc ending (5 - 25 - 25) = Chapter 365
Now the knock-out stage begins and the opponents are just pure hype. I expect the USA to be the first opponent. A strong team of physically strong players. It's not an easy win, but after 30 chapters Japan wins. (3:2)
Next I see Spain or Argentina. (probably more likely Argentina) and again Japan wins (4:3 in 30 chapters)
In the semi-final they will then meet Germany... here Japan loses 3:2 after 30-40 chapters. Kaiser is a completely different person and proves it in this match. After a few run-out chapters, France were shown beating Germany 4-1 in the final
U20 World Cup Arc ending: Chapter 465
After this World Cup comes a time skip of 2-4 years. Kaiser has moved to La Real and Isagi plays for Bastard Munich. This is followed by a Champions League arc (I am undecided here, as it has been said that the Neo Egoist League will have several seasons. Maybe the Champions League is mixed with the NEL here. Everything is open -> 100 chapters
NEL S2 - Champions Arc ending: 565
Finally comes the biggest arc of all: the World Championship! France, USA and Brazil compete against each other in the group stage
Japan Vs. USA: 25 chapters (4:0)
Japan Vs. France: 30 chapters (2:2)
Japan vs. Brazil: 25 chapters (4:3)
Group-Stage Arc ending: Chapter 645
Japan Vs. England: 35 chapters (3:2)
Japan Vs. Italy: 35 chapters (4:3)
Japan Vs. Germany: 35 chapters (4:3)
Japan Vs. France: 40 chapters (5:4)
Japan wins
World Championship arc ending: Chapter 790-800
I'm not completely satisfied because I didn't include Spain, England, Germany, Italy and France to generate hyped moments.
But what do you say. That would be around 90 volumes... it sounds surreal, but football will always be in the world.
Thank you for reading. stay healthy :D

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State of the consumer Are U.S. consumers finally tightening the purse strings? That's the main question on the minds of investors as major retailers kick off their quarterly earnings reports this week, starting with Home Depot (HD). The home improvement chain's Q1 results came in below Street expectations, hurt by a delayed start to spring, continued softness in certain larger discretionary projects, and higher mortgage rates.
Dig deeper: Retailer earnings come at a time when consumer sentiment is weakening, amid expectations of stickier inflation for some time to come and a tempered outlook for income growth. Investing Group Leader Bret Jensen believes stagflation is an increasingly likely economic scenario. "Right now, I believe the average American consumer has a better handle on the U.S. economy than the average investor and a better take on the true level of inflation than governmental statistics."
Scott Feiler, consumer sector specialist at Goldman Sachs, said the consumer spending concerns have been driven by updates by bellwethers in the sector, and the notable slowdown seen in April - one of the worst months of the retail quarter. Companies like Wayfair (W) and Whirlpool (WHR) have already warned that consumers are cutting back spending on big-ticket items, while fast-food chains such as McDonald's (MCD) and Starbucks (SBUX) have observed pickier and more value-minded customers. "Consumer cracks are emerging," especially among lower incomes, warned Bank of America analyst Savita Subramanian.
Earnings watch: Walmart (WMT), which will report Q1 results on Thursday, is expected to report modest upside to the consensus U.S. comparable sales estimates, driven by bargain-hunting shoppers. Also keep an eye on other retailers scheduled to report results next week: Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), TJX (TJX), and Ross Stores (ROST).
Sustained weight loss Patients who are taking Novo Nordisk's (NVO) blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy have reportedly maintained an average of 10% weight loss four years after starting the treatment. "We see that once the majority of the weight loss is accrued, you don't go back and start to increase weight if you stay on the drug," said Martin Holst Lange, Novo's head of development. The data could help Novo in its efforts to convince insurers and governments to provide coverage for the treatment. The U.K.'s National Health Service provides only two years of Wegovy coverage, while Medicare does not cover the drug. A recent poll showed that many people believe Medicare should cover weight loss drugs. (2 comments)
Resisting takeover Anglo American (OTCQX:AAUKF) has unveiled a major shakeup of the company - which includes divesting its steelmaking coal and nickel businesses - as the British miner aims to stave off BHP's (BHP) takeover bid. Anglo American will demerge Anglo American Platinum (OTCPK:ANGPY), while its diamond business De Beers will either be divested or demerged "to improve strategic flexibility." The overhaul is aimed at sharpening Anglo American's focus on its mainstay assets - copper and premium iron ore. "These actions represent the most radical changes to Anglo American in decades," its CEO Duncan Wanblad said. The plan was announced just a day after the firm rejected BHP's (BHP) new £34B proposal.
Power grid boost The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved two new rules Monday that are expected to make it easier to expand the construction of big power lines and bring more renewable energy to U.S. homes and businesses. One rule will require companies that produce and transmit electricity to weigh factors such as supply and demand over at least 20 years; the other addresses the permitting of critical projects in areas that lack adequate transmission capacity. The rule requiring long-term planning is "the biggest single action by the federal government to advance transmission," according to Rob Gramlich, president of power consulting firm Grid Strategies. (46 comments)
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan +0.5%. Hong Kong -0.2%. China -0.1%. India +0.5%. In Europe, at midday, London +0.1%. Paris -0.1%. Frankfurt -0.2%. Futures at 7:00, Dow flat. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.1%. Crude flat at $79.10. Gold +0.3% to $2,349.10. Bitcoin -1.5% to $61,690. Ten-year Treasury Yield unchanged at 4.48%.
Today's Economic Calendar
6:00 NFIB Small Business Optimism Index 8:30 Producer Price Index 9:10 Fed’s Cook Speech 10:00 Jerome Powell Speech 8:15 PM Fed's Schmid Speech
Companies reporting earnings today »
What else is happening...
WSB survey results: Derisking and diversifying is still the way to go.
Biden administration raises tariffs steeply on Chinese EVs, chips.
Uber (UBER), Lyft (LYFT) face landmark trial on rideshare drivers.
BYD (OTCPK:BYDDF) sends shockwaves across auto with Seagull.
Biden faces mounting calls to take on grocery price-fixing issue.
HubSpot (HUBS) rises on report of 'compelling' offer from Alphabet.
Wedbush: Apple (AAPL)-OpenAI pact appears to be done deal.
OpenAI unveils new flagship model GPT-4o, available for free to all.
OPEC risks losing market share if it does not start raising output.
ZIM (ZIM) surges as container shipping stocks' momentum continues.

Continuing on from part 1 (vault), in the lead up to the summer team selections and the Olympics, I am previewing the anticipated event final fields! Today: uneven bars.
All data is sourced from u/bretonstripes, u/freifrausicher, and Lauren from The Gymternet - thanks for your efforts!
Event Finalist Predictions
Note that gymnasts are listed by existing top score; this is not a prediction of the podium.

• Qiu Qiyuan 🇨🇳 (15.450)
• Kaylia Nemour 🇩🇿 (15.433)
• Shilese Jones 🇺🇸 (14.833)
• 2nd Chinese gymnast 🇨🇳 (14.366 - 14.800)
• Nina Derwael 🇧🇪 (14.700)
• Alice D'Amato 🇮🇹 (14.700)
• Melanie de Jesus dos Santos 🇫🇷 (14.533)
• 2nd American 🇺🇸 (14.466)

Preview
In the spirit of the Mustafina vs. Kocian duel of 2016 and the Derwael v. Lee duel of 2020, the bars final is once again anticipated to feature a showdown between a dominant top pair in Qiu 🇨🇳 and Nemour 🇩🇿. Together, they own the top 14 international scores since January 2023, and having both improved greatly in consistency, they are favored to take gold and silver in either order.
The early bronze medal favorite is Shilese Jones 🇺🇸, medalist in the previous two World finals, having hit 11 of her past 12 routines since a mental breakthrough in consistency at 2022 Worlds. A group of experienced competitors with a history of 14.5+ scores and routines in the 6.2-6.6 D-score can be expected to challenge Jones:

• Alice D'Amato 🇮🇹
• Rebeca Andrade 🇧🇷
• Rebecca Downie 🇬🇧
• Melanie de Jesus dos Santos 🇫🇷
• Naomi Visser 🇳🇱

As this group is rather inconsistent, D'Amato 🇮🇹 may have positioned herself as the most likely medal spoiler by hitting all six of her routines to date this year, including defending her European title. Andrade 🇧🇷 has also shown decent consistency this quad hitting 11 of her last 12 and 22 of 25 this quad; however, all three misses came at Worlds 2022 or 2023.
These eight gymnasts alone would make an extremely deep bars final, but there are three "dark horses" who could shake things up, both for the bronze medal race and qualification to the final:

1. Nina Derwael 🇧🇪: The reigning Olympic champion made an extremely impressive recovery from a shoulder dislocation in late 2023. Despite falling at Euros QF on bars, Derwael is on-track to be competitive in Paris, as adding back her trusty Downie or Nabieva boosts her to a 6.3 D-score. She is also no longer attempting any Tkatchev 1/2 skill which could boost her execution score, and is typically one of the most consistent bars workers.
2. 2nd Chinese 🇨🇳 gymnast: Had China been able to keep two-time World Champion Wei Xiaoyuan healthy, she likely would be the bronze medal favorite over Jones. Nevertheless, China has shown impressive depth on this event in 2024. Yang Fanyuwei, Hu Jiafei, and Zhang Yihan have all earned high scores with hit 6.4 routines internationally, while Huang Zhuofan (6.8) and Du Siyu (6.6) hit their difficult routines at nationals. Zhang Yihan and Du Siyu are the most likely to make the team currently, and though neither are favored to medal, it wouldn't be a shock either.
3. 2nd American 🇺🇸 gymnast: Biles has teased a couple upgrades on social media which could put her back in the medal game, but the real unknowns in the American bars scene are Lee and Douglas. Without any scores for hit routines and with questions swirling about stamina, they need to show strong performances at nationals to be considered team contenders, much less potential medalists. However, both are set to attempt at least a 6.4 difficulty routine, which would put them in the mix for bronze given their typically high execution scores.

Interesting notes:

• While both the vault field and the bars field features the reigning World medalists favored to podium once again this year, the rest of the bars field is much deeper: only Visser 🇳🇱 made the 2023 final of the top challengers listed here. Charpy's 14.133 cutoff last year could rise at least four tenths of a point for the Olympic final, whereas vault is expected to rise at most two tenths.
• The difficulty at the top of the bars field has been pushed so far in the last eight years: Mustafina's routine (the most difficult in the Rio 2016 final) is valued at 6.4 today, while both Qiu 🇨🇳 and Nemour 🇩🇿 are likely to attempt routines valued at a gigantic 7.2 D-score. These two gymnasts may well be performing the most difficult routines of all time on this event!
  • Specifically, Qiu's routine has a massive 4.2 points in base value from the top 8 skills, while Nemour's routine "only" has 3.9 base value but earns a whopping 1.3 points in bonus.
• Should Zhang Yihan 🇨🇳 compete, she will be the the first WAG to compete two layout skills on bars at the Olympics - Derwael competed two at the Osijek World Cup 2021.
• Should Rebecca Downie 🇬🇧 medal, she will be the second-oldest uneven bars medalist (age 32) at the Olympics after Agnes Keleti in 1956 (age 35)!

Top Eight International Scorers of 2024 Italicized gymnasts are ineligible for the Tokyo Final (didn't qualify or 2PC)

Rank	Gymnast	Score	Difficulty
1	Qiu Qiyuan 🇨🇳	15.450	6.8
2	Kaylia Nemour 🇩🇿	15.433	7.0
3	Kate McDonald 🇦🇺	14.850	6.1
4	Yang Fanyuwei 🇨🇳	14.800	6.4
5	Rebeca Andrade 🇧🇷	14.700	6.2
6	Alice D'Amato 🇮🇹	14.700	6.4
7	Rebecca Downie 🇬🇧	14.633	6.6
	Hu Jiafei 🇨🇳	14.600	6.4
8	Melanie de Jesus dos Santos 🇫🇷	14.533	6.2
	Zhang Yihan 🇨🇳	14.500	6.4
R1	Elisa Iorio 🇮🇹	14.466	6.3
R2	Elsabeth Black 🇨🇦	14.400	6.0
R3	Jayla Hang 🇺🇸	14.350	5.9

Relevant 2023 Scores

Gymnast	Score	Difficulty	Event
Shilese Jones 🇺🇸	14.833	6.4	Worlds
Huang Zhuofan 🇨🇳	14.766	6.5	Worlds
Naomi Visser 🇳🇱	14.566	6.2	Osijek
Simone Biles 🇺🇸	14.466	6.0	Worlds
Elisabeth Seitz 🇩🇪	14.400	6.1	Euros
Du Siyu 🇨🇳	14.366	6.2	Universaide
Lorette Charpy 🇫🇷	14.133	6.0	Worlds

Other Relevant Scores

Gymnast	Score	Difficulty	Event
Rebeca Andrade 🇧🇷	14.967	6.1	2022 Pan Ams
Nina Derwael 🇧🇪	14.700	6.3	2022 Worlds
Sanna Veerman 🇳🇱	14.533	6.3	2022 Worlds

​

Here is the recap of the 15 monetized posts from Kylea G Weight loss Journey on 05/12/24.
Disclaimer: I am not a physician, influencer, or paid content creator. I am not affiliated with WW. I am semi-retired from healthcare with multiple college degrees. These opinions are my own based on social media content. I wish no harm to Kylea or Joseph "Joe" Gomez.
☎️ If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, please call or text 988 for assistance.
The tagline of Kylea G Weight loss Journey is, "I changed my life with prayer and a playlist of songs. No surgery, no meds. Just Jesus."
DAILY STATS 05/12/24:
0/15 posts discussed prayer
1/15 posts discussed music (summer concerts)
0/15 posts discussed exercise
2/15 posts shared a recipe
3/15 posts were about something she ate or drank
1/15 posts was about food being fuel
1/15 posts was a tribute to Gibson Moon
1/15 posts was about Kylea packing a backpack
1/15 posts was about her pet cat
2/15 posts were about Joe liking bacon and Whataburger
3/15 posts were a tribute to her sweet momma
📢 For our friends at Meta, that means >53% of her monetized content had nothing to do with weight loss, which is the tagline and purpose of her page.
⚠️ Disordered Eating- Daily Food Consumption (Data compiled from monetized content):
0 WW Points: Hot Coffee. No protein shake or almond milk is described
0 WW Points: SalTea Sloth Loaded Strawberry, Watermelon, and Coconut Tea with 1/4 scoop "energy" (caffeine and other additive/chemicals);
4 WW Points: G Hughes Sweet & Spicy Shredded Crockpot Chicken, Cooked Red Potatos & Roasted Corn with spray vegetable oil.
25 WW Points: Great American Iced Cookie Cake Slice
📢 For our friends at Meta, that means Kylea consumed 4 WW points of her (up to) 30 WW point daily allowance and used 25 of her 28 weekly points on a sweet treat= Disordered Eating. This will be explained in more detail below. Please follow your policies on eating disorders and take action against Kylea Gomez.
Recipes Shared for Joe:

1. Cherry Cheesecake Overnight Oats
2. Pretzel Salad

📢 Joe is not on WW and prefers calorie-dense foods (per her content). Why post recipes of items she will not eat and Joe does not prefer?
🚨 Please speak with a medical professional about any questions or concerns you have about your health.
Comments: Although Kylea tried to focus her content on Mother's Day, the focus shifted to triggering food content and deadly messaging on the topic.
⚠️ Binge Eating, Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD), aka shopping addiction, Death, Disordered Eating, Food Addiction, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy Loss, and Religion will be discussed.
☮️ Today's discussion will be heavy. Please bow out at any time. Your mental health is more important than my comments.
Gibson Moon: Kylea kicked off the day early with this triggering post (she did not use a disclaimer), "Happy Mother's day to the momma's whose babies live in heaven with my sweet boy." An angel wing ornament with Gibson Moon and 9-5-22 is shown. She did not disclose this was an early pregnancy loss, leading followers to believe she lost a living child.
Using the Cat for Content: Kylea is feeling "a lot better" and will only have 1 cup of coffee today and "continue focusing on water." 🤔
Countdown to Concerts: Kylea is excited to "wear my pink boots again" at future summer concerts and "Just 18 days until I take Joseph to see Hardy." Kylea is a master at emasculating Joe with subtle digs. "...until I take Joseph to see Hardy." Please disregard the fact she travels to California tomorrow and getting a puppy in 1 week. I'm convinced she is not capable of living in the present moment.
SalTea Sloth to the Rescue: Why drink water when you can drink thrice-flavored tea with a caffeinated "energy" boost to cure your illness? 😉 This was Joseph's gift to her for Mother's Day.
Tribute to her Sweet Momma: Kylea praises her momma in a series of posts today. A quantity of fresh flowers to equal the 3 decades of her being a mother, a giant iced cookie cake, and gift bag (unknown contents) with a backyard BBQ and a new inflatable hot tub + previous all-expense paid cruise, wardrobe, and accessories were necessary to prove her love and adoration. 💰💖
Joe Loves Bacon & Whataburger: Joe's weight rapidly fluctuated in pictures today. 👀 He was the grill master with a pile of bacon, burgers (not shown), and then goofily posed in front of the unopened Whataburger. (He will be eating there tomorrow.) Remember Joe has not gained ANY weight and eats what he wants. Kylea triggers her followers on purpose for monetary gain. The fact that Meta is paying for this content on a weight loss page is a head scratcher.
The big finale: This is the time to bow out if triggered on the topic of disordered eating. My words will be harsh.
Kylea wants you to believe she has been extremely ill with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. She consumed a Loaded Tea and brought her own low WW point chicken to a family barbecue. She shows a picture of a large Iced Cookie Cake she purchased. She shows a large piece she eats for 25 WW points. Here we go...
Follower: "That looks good was it worth the points?"
Kylea: "I just see food as food. So it was fine. 💖"
⏸️ This is gaslighting. Kylea has a serious eating disorder. She chooses not to use her WW daily points and obsesses about planning for and obtaining her weekly calorie-dense TREAT.
Food is Fuel Speech: "Hey friends I haven't really had the energy lately to explain, but I view all food as food and not a treat. Green beans, brownies, chicken- it's all food to me. That's the way I feel has helped me the most to completely reform my relationship with food. Fuel. No matter what. 💖 It's all about balance."
Follower: "Yummmm! They got us cupcakes at work, I had to indulge."
Kylea: "I don't look at dessert in that way, to me it's just food. 💖💖"
⏸️ Kylea loves to rate her meals, desserts and treats 10/10 and wants you to mimic her choices.
Follower: "Everyone needs a sweet treat! Your awesome! Enjoy and celebrate your Mom! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️"
Kylea: "I don't use the word treat, just food! 💖💖"
⏸️ This is a lie. Throughout a large portion of her monetized weight loss journey, Kylea used the word "treat" in her content. Somewhere along the way, that word became a trigger for her.
Follower: "Good philosophy. I need to lose obsession with food as comfort and companion."
Kylea: "I did on July 5 of 2021.💖"
⏸️ This is potentially deadly messaging. Kylea wants you to believe she received divine intervention when she wept at the feet of Jesus in July 2021 inside a bath tub (she also claims she could not fit in). She wants you to believe that in that moment, the chains of her 20-year binge eating/food addiction (two separate issues she uses interchangeably) were broken, and she has had a perfect journey since. She is desperate for you to believe she has had no cravings, no setbacks, or plateaus, and has not gained ANY weight since reaching her goal in July 2023. This is a lie proven through her own content.
Many artificial sugars are sweeter than natural sugar. She is addicted to "sweet" and fulfills her cravings daily. She "plans" for calorie-dense sugar bombs weekly and tries to claim treats are medically necessary to jump-start weight loss, keep her out of ketosis, prepare her body for pregnancy...
If food is just food and it is all fuel, why do diseases and conditions like diabetes, hypertension, strokes, and heart attacks occur? Why is there an epidemic of morbid obesity? Foods are not and will never be on a level playing field. Kylea has provided no proof of formal education in medicine, nutrition, health, or wellness. Stop looking to UNeducated influencers for your health and wellness advice. Her motive is to make money. Otherwise, the stats and comments I provide in these daily and weekly recaps would tell a different story.
Kylea has gained weight, and it is obvious, even through highly modified photos. She stopped showing her scale pictures, started wearing larger clothing, spandex tank tops and shorts, became defensive about body shaming, and either hides or shows clothing tags (depending on her mood). She lives in fear of the scale and the truth.
Follower 1: "How? I'm struggling so bad."
Follower 2: "I'm struggling as well! All I think about is food."
Kylea: "finding healthy coping skills"
⏸️ In what world are extramarital affairs, mocking, blocking, and doxxing followers, an out of control shopping addiction, disordered eating, boasting and complaining about your 18+ hour work days 24/7/365, constantly running away from your problems (frequent travel), and inappropriate parasocial relationships with musicians and the Basham & Lee's healthy coping skills? Someone, please explain it to me.
Kylea, you need holistic care from a team of medical professionals. They are not the enemy. People of faith should not feel shame for seeking medical care. It is time to put your devices down and prioritize your health. ☮️
Takeout Purchase: SalTea Sloth Tea with Energy= $8 est + tip;
Shopping: Blue Hydrangea= $24.82 est; *Fresh Cut 2 Dozen Roses= $39.94 est; Iced Cookie Cake= $44.99 est; Items in gift bag= Unknown;
*I do not feel there were 36 roses in the vase.
All info from Reddit. ✌️

in honour of rwrb 2 being announced I hereby give to you: every single food seen in the red white and royal blue MOVIE. my very own sequel to this post. there's not nearly as much here as was in the book but that's understandable ig lol
also, fun fact: making this post was genuinely only the SECOND time I have watched RWRB. Im just a big book fan!
Champagne - 2:17 Alex swipes off a tray, 3:50 seen pouring more, lots of people drinking, 4:24 Henry drinking, 27:44 people drinking at nye party, 30:12 Henry drinking from bottle, 40:36 people at state dinner, 46:17 people at polo match, 50:37 I think
Cake - 2:37 first mention of cake 3:40 first see the cake, white w 9 layers 4:17 Henry in front of cake, Alex goes up to him, 5:10 gets buttercream on henrys shoulder 5:44 the fall :), (there is a whole scene in here of Alex’s meeting w his mom talking about cake gate but I didn’t take it down again peace and love) 14:36 interviewers ask about the cake
Whiskey - 3:41 Alex sulking in corner drinking, 4:03 Alex steals someone else’s from the bartenders hands, 10:28 Alex drinking on plane, 29:02 Alex drinking at nye party, 1:01:45 Alex (whiskey is movie Alex’s coffee), then Miguel, 1:35:39 Alex and zahra, 1:41:32 king
Wine - 3:50 seen, people drinking, 59:46 Alex drinking red, 1:04:25 Henry and Alex were drinking red night before
Hors d’oeuvre - 4:10 Alex sniffs and throws over shoulder, 1:49:59 on table seen after Ellen wins reelection
Tea - 6:47 butler pouring tea for Henry, 8:05 ‘gallons of tea’, 1:19:44 Henry has a pot
Cola #ad - 10:28 Amy drinking Diet Coke on plane, 59:46 Amy drinking Diet Coke, 1:00:09 staffer drinking
Beer - 13:43 Alex says he loves English beer, 34:22 Nora and staff cheers, 1:08:55 Alex and Ellen, 1:11:28 lake house, 1:12:09 at table at bar, Alex drinks
Coffee - 20:28 Alex gets at coffeeshop, 20:34 Miguel has a cup in front of him, 26:12 cup on Zahra’s table im guessing is coffee, 47:40 Henry and Alex drinking espresso in Paris (THEIR ASSES ARE NOT IN PARIS!!!), 1:13:01 Oscar gives to Alex at lakehouse, 1:47:45 might be coffee idk, some mugs
Biscuits - 20:28 cookies seen on counter, 1:19:44 looks like butter cookies on henry’s table
Crisps #ad - 22:14 Alex eating Cheez it while studying, 34:22 Cheetos, blue and red Doritos
Innocuous brownish drink (don’t think its whiskey, possibly just apple juice) - 24:00
Thanksgiving food - 24:08 turkey
Jaffa cakes #ad - 25:05 seen on bedside table next to henry
Water - 26:12 on Zahra’s desk, 58:14 Zahra desk, 1:03:55 Henry bedside table, 1:19:20 on table at meeting, 1:29:11, 1:30:51, 1:36:40 Zarah’s desk, 1:47:45 on table with a big bottle of voss #ad
Assorted alcohol - 28:13 people drinking all kinds of fun stuff at nye party, 1:11:51 shots
Burger - 59:46 burger room service
Barbecue - 59:53 on table, looks like some coleslaw and ribs?
Barbecue sauce - 1:00:21 ‘want to see your mouth covered in bbq sauce, then I want to lick it off’
Pizza - 1:00:09 Alex and staffers eating, 1:08:44 Ellen gets after Alex comes out
Ice cream (I think) - 1:03:18 Henry and Alex room service
Crumpet - 1:06:58 ‘chewing on a crumpet by sunset’
Misc - 1:12:53 Oscar making something at lake house, eggs spinach avocado peppers cheese, omelette ig, bread

~Pet travel service market~ is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period (2024-2031).Pet travel services are specialized services and accommodations that help transport pets safely and comfortably. These services can be used for short trips, vacations, or relocations. They can also help schedule animal concierge services, such as veterinary visits.
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The governments of different countries have policies for the traveling of different kinds of pets, especially dogs. All government have presented their list of required documents for traveling with pets. Canada, India, the US China, the UK, and many more countries have their own set of rules which is impactful for travel agencies and even with customers. For instance, according to CHD animal husbandry, the Animal Transportation Rule 1981 has defined rules for pet transportation.
full report of Pet Travel Services Market available @ https://www.omrglobal.com/industry-reports/pet-travel-service-market
· Market Coverage
· Market number available for – 2024-2031
· Base year- 2023
· Forecast period- 2024-2031
· Segment Covered- By Source, By Product Type, By Applications
· Competitive Landscape- Archer Daniels Midland Co., Ingredion Inc., Kerry Group Plc, Cargill
· Inc., and others
Market Segmentation
Pet Travel Service Market by Pet Type
o Dogs
o Cats
o Other (Birds)
Pet Travel Service Market by Mode
o Land
o Air
o Sea
Pet Travel Service Market by Travel Type
o Domestic
o International
Regional Analysis
o North America
o United States
o Canada
o Europe
o UK
o Germany
o Italy
o Spain
o France
o Rest of Europe
o Asia-Pacific
o China
o India
o Japan
o South Korea
o Rest of Asia-Pacific
o Rest of the World
o Latin America
o The Middle East & Africa
Company Profiles
o Blue Collar Pet Transport
o Citizen Shipper
o Starwood Pet Travel
o World Care Pet Transport, LLC
o PetRelocation, Inc.
o Worldwide Animal Travel Ltd.
o All Care Pet Transport.
o Tails-A-Wagon Pet and Vehicle Transport
o Aark Air International, Inc.
o Across the Pond Pets Travel.
o Cargolution Inc.
o Fetchapet Ltd.
o Flypets UK
o Aeropets Worldwide
o Petport
o Jet Pet Global
o Moving company
o Petfly Relocating Worldwide
o Starwood pet travel
o Anvis Pet Relocation
o Pet pros
o Enroute Relocation Pvt Ltd
The Report Covers

• Market value data analysis of 2023 and forecast to 2031.
• Annualized market revenues ($ million) for each market segment.
• Country-wise analysis of major geographical regions.
• Key companies operating in the global pet travel service market. Based on the availability of data, information related to new product launches, and relevant news is also available in the report.
• Analysis of business strategies by identifying the key market segments positioned for strong growth in the future.
• Analysis of market-entry and market expansion strategies.
• Competitive strategies by identifying ‘who-stands-where’ in the market.

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A few days ago, I received a file from a journalist friend who teaches at a private university in Montevideo. I known this person for years now and the exchange with her on our countless bar nights basically made me want to try to study journalism. After I started my career we became even closer and we shared concerns about the evolution of information, social media and the infamous cerebral callosity we acquired to endure the tragedy.
My friend, let's call her Valeria, was part of a public competition to accompany a minor scientific expedition to the Uruguayan Antarctic base. Her thesis was about investigating how information reception behaves in remote and isolated areas.
I barely read it , but basically tries to show that information circulates and is received in a particular way in these circumstances by a group of unfamiliar people living under extreme climatic and isolation conditions, having as an example, life in submarines and in military bases in Siberia. The Antarctic base gave her the chance to observe some of her postulates up close.
Finally, she was chosen and traveled with this scientific group in a commercial flight Montevideo - Santiago de Chile to later arrive at Punta Arenas and fly to the Antarctic base.
The last communication I had with her before she sent me the almost 90 photographic captures of the Journal, was on March 15, 2024.
We talked over the phone about how the weather was in Montevideo, that it does not stop raining and the cars are practically floating on the streets. She told me that the transport that was going to take them back was having mechanical problems and they would probably have to order spare parts for the plane from Punta Arenas. Then She told me that it is freaking cold down there and his colleagues are all very boring. Nobody has whisky for the evenings. We laughed about that part because I told her to bring at least one bottle of Grappa in her purse.
Before saying goodbye, she told me they had spotted some old metal structures south of the base. The soldiers told her that it was safe to go near that part so she was going to explore them. It wasn't there when they first arrived and that the recent and atypical heat wave probably must have exposed it. I told her to be careful and we said goodbyes.
Three days later I received an email. “Valeria shared a file with you.” As I start to see what it was about she calls me.
“Mauro? MAURO!, can you hear me?” She said in a nervous and excited voice.
“I can barely hear you, what happened?”I asked half asleep, while still lying on my bed.
“Listen to me carefully, don't talk, just listen” I could tell by her agitation that she was walking fast or maybe running. The creaking footsteps in the snow could be heard in the background. in the distance, a catastrophe-type siren was blaring.
“Are you alright? What happened? What's that noise?” I said, now sitting on the edge of my bed.
“I sent you a file. Transfer it to a flash drive, delete history and reset your cell phone, the computer and your email address. I'll explain everything later, it'll be worth it.”
“What? What are you talking about Vale?, what for? Tell me what's going on - I started to yell at her, in slide panic.
“Listen, I found something that is not supposed to exist. In the diary he explains everything. I'm going back to the base, I think someone is following me, I set off an alarm or something. Save that file for me until I get there and remember that... “
There were two loud booms and the sound of water invading the transmission. A choked bubbling and cracking sound reminded me of ice collapsing. My friend had fallen into the water, in Antarctica.
“HEY, are you OK?! What happened?!” - I kept screaming hysterically until the call was cut off.
I looked at my cell phone for a second. My hands were shaking, I tried calling several times but the phone went dead. I looked at the compressed file. I jumped up and ran to the dining room furniture, frantically looking for a white flash drive that had to be in a drawer somewhere. I couldn't find it, so I went back to my desk. I pulled the drawer so hard that it came off the rail and fell to the floor. I started to dig through my belongings on the floor, coins, papers, cards, nothing.
I thought, I struggled to remember where I had fucking put it. Finally I saw my backpack peeking out from behind the desk chair, I jumped on it and in the second small pocket from the inside, there was a cheap white 16G flash drive. I put it in the pc, downloaded the file directly there, took it out and fabric restored the entire system on the computer. I do the same with my cell phone as Valeria said.
At the time I didn't even question if those measures really prevented me from being tracked, and the idea that that was the reason made panic run through my body like lightning. Sitting on the floor of my room next to the mess, my body was numb with tension. After a few seconds, I rebooted my cell phone to try to call Lucia, her sister.
“Hello?”
“Lucia, it's that you? I think something bad happened to Vale, I hear her over the phone as if she fell into the water, and some rumbling. I don't know what I heard, I think she got into some trouble or some place she shouldn't have been - I realized that I was mumble and not saying anything clear. For some reason, I didn't mention the file.
“It can't be Mauro, I just spoke to her on the phone. She was at the airport in Santiago de Chile at the boarding lounge, we talked for about half an hour, she told me she was bringing a fancy bourbon to share and…”
I stopped listening, it didn't make sense, how could it be? what the fuck is going on!
“Mauro, are you ok? Is something wrong? it's too early, are you sure you didn't dream it?”
“Did you talk to her? half an hour ago? But...,” I exclaimed without being able to hide my confusion.
“Are you... sure it was her?”
“Yes, of course you moron, it's my sister! Did you smoke pot again on an empty stomach?”
“No, you're right, nevermind, thanks Lucia, talk to you soon.” I ended the call without letting her say goodbye.
Had I dreamt about it? I erased everything now, how will I know if I dreamt it? I hesitated absurdly.
This is surreal, I thought to myself as I looked at the flash drive in my hand. I refocused my attention and went to the attic looking for my brother's old laptop he left me before going to live in Spain. It was practically useless, but it was enough to see the file. I turned it on, waited for the decrepit Windows XP to load, and put the flashdisk in, opened the compressed folder and found two files.
“LabNotes.pdf”
“PersonalDiary.pdf”
I decided to open the journal first. From what I interpreted from the loading order of the screenshots, after reading it, I opened the image of the last page.
I transcribe as is.
Day 243 of the 2nd mission 10: 40 am. March 12, 2019.
I am the head researcher of the Psychological Area at the UN Antarctic base; I'm currently assigned to Project Sisyphus categorized as the highest classified rank.
This is going to sound crazy, but the person living with my family is my clone.
It still surprises me when I say it out loud, but after being able to replicate the brain-muscular history (a perfect copy of our memory) of any person and having mastered replicating every cell of our bodies at any age, it was only a matter of time before the development of social biotechnology would emerge. Now and by worldwide agreement, as a complete secret.
There is absolutely no shame or a shred of ethics in what we do, there is no longer any constraint on what we can do to the subjects for the sake of research. That haunts me every day.
It all went to shit so fast, I doubt anyone will come to our rescue. The protocol says so, the base in the face of an imminent security risk will erase itself. The structure was designed to collapse methodically following a protocol of incineration and sinking. The immediate perimeter has underwater mines that make the ice collapse almost imperceptibly, but deadly to anyone who tries to leave.
No one can escape from the base, neither the research staff nor the subjects. Our place in the world is already taken.
I only hope that this journal along with my lab notes will be found at some point. I managed to construct a small insulating gasket for it so I trust it will survive in case this part of the building collapses as well.
Please use this data to let the world know what happened here and don't let perversity define us once again.
To my family: I love you and miss you every minute.
B.
At the exact moment I ended the reading I received a video call that made me jump with fright, it is...
Valeria.
With my pulse shaking, I answered the call.
“Hi you! The flight was delayed, can you believe it? This one is absolutely in my top three, worst trips of my life. I'm really hungry and everything is so expensive here. What are you up to? Tell me something, please, I'm soooo bored!”
I looked at her with confusion and I couldn't manage to pronounce words. When I was about to modulate an answer she interrupted me.
“What's the matter Mauro?, are you on pause? Is the signal OK? HELLO! Can you hear me? Can you see me?” She started to walk through the boarding lounge looking for better signal
“Yes yes, Valeria I can hear you.”
She laughed and looked at me with a face between sensual and serious, and continued.
“Do you miss me?” while raising the phone jokingly as she typically does in her selfie pose.
“Valeria, don't you remember calling me earlier today?”
“I? called you? Nop. Why? Ah! By the way, did you know there are penguins in Tierra del Fuego? I would have liked to go and see them.” She continued his verbose conversation in a carefree tone, with her typical hand gestures and playing with his hair.
“Well, at last!” She interrupted herself and shouted, jumping up from her chair.
“We are being called to board, see you in a couple hours!” She said goodbye with a smiling sonority, and began to walk towards the boarding gate.
But at the last second, before ending the call, her gesture changed. She looked directly at the camera with a hardened and emotionless face and almost mechanically, she whispered.
“(I'm going to retrieve that diary).”
My stomach dropped to the floor and I could feel as if my blood was running cold with fear. I could not shake the awful and eerie feeling that this person, who was returning, whom I had never in my life called by her full name, was not my friend.
So, the next couple of hours I put everything in to transcribe the rest of important passages of the diary. Something was compelling me to do it, i can't explain it, Some mix between moral duty, and morbid curiosity. Here is my selection of it.
Lab notes. day 96 of 1st mission 08:00 am December 22, 2016.
Subject JON X012:
First physical assessments: Normal, alert and inquisitive, exhibits some alteration to screens.
We place 100 cc of sedative in room air. The subject attentively follows the narrative of scenario B5 “The last mission”.
The subject responds positively to the premises of the story, where he is asked to address an audience threatened by a natural disaster, convincing them to choose a certain path out of the city.
He offers to collaborate but fails to articulate the message with the power to overcome the simulation.
We resort to pouring 125cc of concentrated Psilocybin into the air as stipulated in the protocol sheet.
The vocal frequency and body language reading receptors in the observation room are activated. The subject manages to formulate a series of premises articulately and with discursive power, circulating around the observation room.
Successful reaction.
We move on to the next stage.
Case is filed under the label “Jobs Project.”
Diary entry: Day 96 of the 1st mission 21:30 pm. December 22, 2016.
Today they transferred subject JON X0012 for psychological evaluation, several in the lab were very anxious about this arrival. I was never the religious type, but I can understand why. Truth be told,
I always imagined Jesus would be taller.
*********
Day 106 of the 1st mission 08:00 am January 02, 2017
Today we received a new lab assistant for the night shift. Much needed as I was covering these shifts myself and am really burned out. The underground operates at full power at those hours, the hum of the machinery becomes unbearable. This must be why the rooms have an insulating structure.
********
Day 112 of the 1st mission 19:00 pm January 08, 2017.
The new integration is not very bright. He labeled the transcripts wrong again yesterday and doesn't seem to fully understand the importance of these. I'm going to have to go through the whole method with him again. I don't have much patience lately, it's not his fault, he seems like a nice guy and it's real that I need a second of confidence. Better train him from now on. Maybe start a sketch of a short explanatory document.
*******
Small introductory guide.
When the subjects conclude the incubation and breeding process (pages 19 to 52 of the manual), that is to say, that they have at least remembered speech and with it, depending on the time in which they lived, reading and writing, they generally begin to perceive themselves. Just before situational curiosity is when the psychology department comes into action. Either to run the “stand by” simulation or the main tests.
In each subject's file is the target of their cloning, the era in which they lived, and the recommended scenarios to trigger the desired response. If the file has X amount on the cover, this corresponds to the generation of the subject, whether it is the first or 10th time it is incubated.
Generally, it takes between 2 and 5 attempts to generate the correct simulation, and administer the appropriate drugs.
It took 5 attempts to come up with the correct amount of methamphetamine that subject AH X005 (Hitler) needed to function in the scenario, as the correct amount bordered on overdose.
Simulations are much easier since the implementation of multisensor AI. We managed to generate almost any scenario including temperature, smells, lights and sounds. We tried not to use familiar ones, as human smells are impossible to replicate. We found this out in a complicated way. We tried to recreate a conversation between RR subject X003 (Reagan) and his mother, but he recognized the fakery by the absence of body odor. His mind collapsed and we had to move him to the Underground. The people in Area C (Private Clients) almost lost a very large Chinese account.
After calibrating the subject, we ran both psychological and behavioral tests, scanned retinas, analyzed blood, as well as vocal and body language. But what has really yielded surprising results are the free interviews. It is amazing what some minds are capable of with the right environmental and chemical stimulation. That's why transcription is vital (!!)
Our area develops BC (Behavioral Algorithms) which are then bought by the private sector, and some government agencies.
To give you some examples: Twitter was an idea of subject JO X008 (Orwell).
Bots in social media and the use of big data was an idea of JG X002 (Goebbels) and KM X014`s worst nightmare (Marx) was bought by Amazon.
It is an arduous process and the success rate is low, but when we achieve the goal per subject, well, these results are a mein part of the latest revolutions of mankind.
So follow the lab rules, never refer to subjects by their actual historical name, and always remember, they are assets, not people.
***********
Day 117 of the 1st mission 16:30 am January 12, 2017.
Today is a rest day all over area D. I miss many things from the old world that I thought I would never miss, taking a bus, standing in line with strangers, and today I miss Sundays. We only have one on the month. So as usual we gather in the rest area to listen to a liberated jukebox that tries to lighten the mood. I know, right? Why I wrote about this “Saturday” photocopy, well besides the same nostalgic drunks, I was approached by a person I didn't recognize.
From what I understood he was a rehabilitated alcoholic, maybe that's why I didn't see him on “Saturdays”. He must be in his 50's, he was portly and wore thick black-rimmed glasses, he seemed to have a slight limp, I noticed it when he went to refill my beer.
I am a very reserved person and find it hard to talk to people. Truth be told, I've lost the desire to talk to people here. What can you actualy fucking talk about here, if it's not about the same thing. Everything revolves around work and some inter-area gossip, which never escalates much.
But yesterday was Clara's birthday and to hide the remorse and sadness of only having shared with her the first 3 years of her life, I had a few too many beers.
We chatted about banal aspects of life in isolation, and the things we miss. For him it was going to the stadium to watch soccer with his grandchildren. I think it was loneliness and nostalgia that brought us together that night.
His name was Sigfried, I don't know if I spelled it right, but it was clearly Nordic, i notice because of some of the words he mixed up with English. He works as the underground level security manager. We all know that it is one of the most restricted areas and what we have learned in these almost 10 years in the project, is that the more restricted, the less questions you should ask.
But that day, I think I felt the urge to hurt myself, to go off the rails, so I asked what we all suspected but no one knew for sure. I asked about the blenders. I wish I hadn't.
************
Day 126 of the 1st mission 08:00 am January 21, 2017.
I almost can't express how furious I am today, but I'm going to try because if I don't, I'm going to punch the new assistant in the face. He has nothing to do with this, he's just mildly irritating.
Anyway, in Genetic Mapping or area A, they approved the incubation of another Anomaly. It seems to be an express request from a major shareholder and there is not much to say. Anomalies are very risky to reproduce, nature is wise, and for some reason it placed them in history moments where they had their limitations.
It seems that after the crisis of 2010 with “The Russian Devil” it is no longer scary enough. New school morons... If they had been there they wouldn't even dare to think about it. I AM FURIOUS.
The arguments are that this case lived longer, that the clone would be in his 70s, and that he possessed noticeably more “civilized” traits. As if the court of the last Zar had not been somewhat civilized.
Personally I think this is a big mistake. Since the discovery that some people possess unknown DNA components and with the 2010 background, they should draw the line. There are certain things, still beyond our ability to understand. But it is delusional of me to think that there are limits, someday the absence of them will consume us all.
************
Lab notes day 142 of 1st mission 08:00 am February 06, 2017.
Final free interview with JON subject X012
Scenario B-24 or “The Dinner Party” Result: Normal.
Notes: Subject is grateful, positive, docile and hopeful for the future. Offers to cook next time by asking for spices and ingredients of typical Hindu dishes.
The subject is directed to the Underground area.
Attached audio for transcription.
Case is filed under the label “Jobs Project”.
**********
Day 142 of the 1st mission 21:00 pm February 06, 2017.
Today was the last session with subject JON X012, I managed to extract the last retinal and body language readings, as usual before sending them to Underground level. We ran the dinner scenario, the truth is that is one of the best simulations we have achieved. The subjects are relaxed resulting in the best free interview environment. This one was no exception, I must say I understand the charm of the “messiah” turned out to be quite an entertaining subject. I hope his next generation will be similar.
**********
Day 152 of the 1st mission 19:00 pm February 16, 2017.
I was tasked with the continuous monitoring of subject NT X004. I am not at all happy with this transfer. First of all, I know nothing about area B of engineering and technology. Secondly, I still think this is a really bad idea.
One of the laboratories has been set up with the essential simulation equipment and personnel. Tomorrow we start with the calibration.
**********
Lab notes day 153 of the 1st mission 08:00 am February 17, 2017.
First interview with subject NT X004, we run simulation scenario 54-A, “Signal from another planet.”
Subject is observed to be receptive at first but quickly changes to paranoid. We administer 300cc of MDMA via air, according to protocol.
We introduce the reconstructed figure of a colleague in a cry for help speech.
The Subject laughs and doesn't believe a word, we move to a physical approach plane,
I volunteer myself with a room operator from the engineering area, we show him unfinished plans of an experimental vacuum propulsion engine.
He laughs again and tells us that we are not who we say we are.
We administer 50cc of DMT and move on to the next scenario.
From the screen an astronaut with non-human features sends a distress signal and intergalactic coordinates.
The subject looks thoughtful, reassesses, picks up the blueprints and begins to shout out values and what appears to be mathematical and physical formulas.
Air is charged with percentages of absolute sedation.
Audio recording is attached.
It is filed under the name “Project SpaceX.”
**********
Day 153 of the 1st mission 21:00 pm February 17, 2017.
I'm not sure what happened today, this is the first time in 10 years that a subject overcame the deception of 3 simulations. We had to place absolute sedation in the air, as risky as we know it is. I recommended that we restart the process from scratch, but it was a resounding no, the client is in a hurry.
I need to get more involved in this case to recalibrate the subject. I don't know if I want to. The words before full sedation still resonate with me. “are you still using DC current? interesting...”
**********
Day 154 of the 1st mission 21:00 pm February 18, 2017.
Something happened, I don't quite know what. The rooms have an emergency lockdown active. Outside hear security personnel mobilizing. I tried the intercom but it didn't work. The insulation prevents my screams from being heard from the outside. If this goes on another day I'm going to break the lock. I'm going to set my backpack to the bare minimum.
**********
Day 157 of the 1st mission 21:00 pm February 21, 2017.
Yesterday I heard explosions in the B area. I couldn't take it anymore and broke the lock. Whatever it was I had to go out and see. The corridors were dark, and the underground buzzer went on, at least that worked.
I went right to the north staircase, down the 4 floors in near darkness, the power was failing. The entrance to the underground area was barricaded but I managed to see a figure peeking out from inside as they felt me making noises.
It was Sigfried, he pointed me in the doors direction and I entered through a heavily armored side door. I was surprised by the immensity of this section, it encompassed a large hall below almost all the sectors of the base. In front of us there were 4 large industrial pipes with switches and multiple smaller pipes coming out of their bases. These were repeated like mosaics throughout the area until they disappeared into the distance in the darkness.
Leaning against one of them were 3 officers in formerly white coats and a nearly dead guard bloodied on the floor. Poor guy, his legs were crushed with his flesh in the open. He was lying in a pool of his own blood.
He had a blank stare and was panting, it seemed from the pale of his skin, that his fate was imminent. My asthma began to pound in my chest sharply, so I reached into my bag looking for my inhaler. I told them between visible gasps of bad breath to please tell me what's happened.
One of the doctors had a badge from area B and another from area E which corresponds to bio-armamentistics. The latter burst into tears and said “We deserve it, every one of us, we deserve it”.
I knew the other guy, he is an engineer in area B. I could hear him babbling almost nonsensically about, as why they never thought about it, an issue with electrical power.
He looked at me carefully as if recognizing me and grabbed me tightly by my jacket pulling me close to his face transformed for the panic.
“He let them out, all of them!” but not only that, no no no no... he told them the truth. Nikola fucking Tesla hacked us and told them the truth.”
He began to laugh frantically with a face of absurdity until he burst into a choked cry. At that moment everything went dark. The emergency lights activated, and from far away and getting closer, along with the emergency sirens that began to sound, we heard a large mass of people screaming and running through the corridors outside.
Sigfried looked at me as they started to pound on the shielded door and said.
“We're fucked.”
**************
Day xx of the second mission, month xx of 2017
“()The industrial sounds of spinning blades, the cries for mercy followed by the thunderous, liquid crack, down that big pipe, into the green barrels, with the Monsanto logo, dripped down one side an elongated drop of pink paste ending in the letter E on the chemical label. FERTILIZER.”
**********
After finishing the transcription, my whole body began to want to flee, the walls of my house were tinged with a faint blue light as the cloudy dusk came through the window, the lights turned off by my abstraction at the computer gave way to the dark corridors that began to feel alien. As I gently closed the pc my ears began to ring as if under pressure, my breathing became more present and the vibration of my cell phone interrupted my trance.
A call from the office. It was to tell me that I had a vacation week pending, that by schedule, I had to take it starting today.
Sons of bitches, now they even choose your time off - I thought at first, but at the same time I found the voice on the phone very strange, and to tell the truth, the procedure itself.
The anger turned into confusion that only added to the paranoia. The sounds in the street began to seem erratic, a chaotic and strangely familiar feeling came over me. My senses seemed increasingly acute, and they screamed:
Go away.
I grabbed the old laptop, the flash drive and headed for the bus station. The short trip from my house seemed like a long journey. People on the street looked at me with strange faces, the cell phone kept ringing with unknown numbers on the screen and a strange idea began to formulate in my head that whispered “Them, Valeria is one of Them”.
Already on the platforms I rummaged through my backpack where I confirmed that I had the key to the family beach house in San Luis, 60 km to the east of Montevideo. I turned off my cell phone, got on a bus heading to another and much far away town called Treinta y Tres. Sat near the last seat and slipped my cell phone in my front pocket of the seat in front of me, got off and commented to the driver with a clueless face, “I got confused, I'm going to the coast”.
I almost jumped onto the steps of the correct bus to where I was heading, unable to avoid the gazes of the passengers questioning me for the last minute drop in. I sat in my numbered seat and defragmented in dissociation, trying to understand what I was doing, I was running away, but from what?
The images of the last transcriptions were engraved in my mind, the last paragraph was repeated over and over again making me shake my head from time to time trying to get them away from my thoughts. The road was dark and I lost track of time, the digital clock within sight of the passengers jingling since we left, reading 10:40.
“San Luis Station!” - I heard the guard's shout in low volume.
I staggered to my feet, hurried to get off and with the same impulse I entered the dirt roads.
I zig-zagged through the dark, cold and silent beach town. The moonless night and the smell of the sea calmed me.
When I turned the corner to the gabled beach house of my family, on the steps of the front door lit by a white light, was her. Sitting, waiting for me. I stopped dead in my tracks and a chilling vertigo ran down my torso to my throat. We looked at each other for a short two seconds, until she stopped and started walking in sliding steps towards me, smiling and playing with her hands, crossing and uncrossing her arms. The growing sound of the wind through the trees covered us.
“Darling, how are you? How nice is the summer house, I don't think we ever came here, did we? Is it the one your grandmother left you?”
I felt the adrenaline rushing through my bloodstream, how could such a familiar attitude from such a familiar person transmit such panic to me? I had to answer something.
“Yes, this is it. I came to clear my head for a while, they gave me a few days at work and I wanted to take advantage of it.” I tried to excuse myself with failed dissimulation, since I stuttered in the middle of the words.
“Yes, I know! We arranged it with them, so you can be more relaxed and as a gesture for taking care of the file. Ah! and another thing. I think someone stole your cell phone at the bus station.” She looked at me with a smart-ass smile.
“Anyway, don't worry, they already found it on a bus on the way to “Treinta y tres”. You can get it back later.”
At this point I opened my mouth to ask for explanations, but as terrified as I was I only mumbled a “thank you”.
All this dialogue let us half a body length away, Valeria looked at me now a little more serious and stood at my side. She took my arm petrified and I could feel how a strong smell of neutral soap invaded me, as if she had rubbed herself in it too much.
“Shall we go inside? it's getting cold,” She said, finishing the sentence with a sweet gesture of pleading.
“Emm, shure.” I said.
My trembling hands managed to hit the lock on the 3rd attempt, we entered, turned on the lights and from his backpack she took out a red wine. Our favorite.
“Bring me some glasses, Mauro”. - She said to me as she sat down on the armchair against the window overlooking the gentle hills outside.
She poured wine until he almost filled the ex-cottage cheese glass, looked at me and in a toast gesture said.
“To... Dr. B?”
I slid a little smile and raised my eyebrows. Then I took half a glass in one sip.
“Well!” - She exclaimed, leaning over and resting the glass on the coffee table, and continued.
"You must be very confused, I understand, I saw it many times, the mind trying to adapt to a new, unsuspected reality and in your case all at once. It is not easy. First, make sure that no one is going to hurt you or anyone you know, second, what you read in that file, as you may have noticed, is not intended for public knowledge. Also to tell you”. I couldn't take the stress anymore, I exploded.
“You're not Vale. Who are you?! You're almost identical, but....”
“Ah yes, that one it's a tricky one to explain. Let's try, let's see:
“I'm a version of Valeria that she accidentally gendered when entered the lab. In one of the incubation rooms she touched a scan button that photographs her mind for 48 hours. It contains a micro needle that took her blood and thus generated me.”
“The thing is that we were in a situation of self-destruction of the systems, and that part of the programming code of the protocol was also copied in Valeria's mind.”
“And Valeria? She 's... dead?”
“Well, yes and no. If she tried to leave the base she's probably dead. if she's still there, she's probably frozen to death or killed by the cleanup command, but basically, if I'm here, she's not anymore.”
the coldness with which she answered me made me lose the little calm I had, I got up from the armchair and started to back away with my hands on my head, I couldn't stop repeating,
“this can't be happening, this can't be happening”.
“Hey! Mauro, calm down, it's going to be alright. I'm Valeria too. In every way, I'm still your friend, I know who you are and everything we went through, really, it's me, and when I finish managing the leak, the code, it won't work anymore, it will be erased from my mind and I'll be me. So don't worry. You only have to give me the flash disc and this issue ends here. We go back to normal life and nobody will know about anything.
“I'm not going to pretend that my friend didn't die! Alone, fucking freezing to death, I'm not going to let you take her place, I'm not going to let you!” - She interrupted me.
“Mauro, listen to me” - She came closer to me and grabbed my hands, her big, lined eyes looking at me with sweetness, like so many times before.
“I AM Valeria, I have the same fingerprints, the same blood, the same DNA, the same memories, the same scars, absolutely everything. Are you going to tell my mother that I died? to my sister? Are you going to report me? Nobody is going to believe you at all. If anyone even wants to believe you, how would you prove it? I am an exact copy”. - she told me, smiling with real sweetness and empathy.
I could only cry, for my friend, for the helplessness of the conclusion that she was right. I collapsed on the couch, and watched as the hills swayed in the night.
“Let's have the last glass and I'm leaving.”- she said to me.
“After I give you this, and that part of you disappears, will you remember that you are not... really Valeria?
“No, there is already a simulation on pause about Valeria's last week, she won't remember anything about this situation when she wakes up, because the memory is simply overwritten.”
“So I'm going to be the only one to know about this?”
“Take it as a gift Mauro, a glimpse behind the veil. And if you keep it that way, everything will be fine” - The threatening tone was soft but evident.
“Okay, hand me your PC and the flash drive.”
I looked at her evaluating all possible actions and if this decision was the right one, she stretched out her hand and smiled sympathetically. I gave her the old computer and the black 16G flash drive with the file. She inserted it, typed mechanically fast until the screen went black.
“Perfect, That would be all - She took out the flash drive, threw it on the floor and stepped on it violently with the heel of her shoe, put on his backpack and headed for the door.
“Stop,” I said.
“The things that Dr. B wrote... about the underground…
“Yes, they are true, it was the only way to be self-sustainable and to be able to isolate the complex from the rest of the world. Even the most morally flexible scientists would question the work if they knew where the subjects ended up, and what we were doing with their bodies... Anyway, I'm going home, Lucia called me 5 times already. Talk to you tomorrow.
“Love you,.” - She smiled at me and closed the door behind her. I felt a car slowly drive away from the house.
From my pocket I took out the white flash drive and looked at it. Now I had a decision to make.

Greetings pue-mans,
I've now had the chance to sample over 40 different puers (mostly shou) and dial in my preferred brewing style. I haven't taken notes, but I've noted some favourites and I'm becoming familiar with the qualities I like/dislike.
I'm in Canada and am putting together my next order now. At this point, I was hoping that with this information, I might solicit suggestions for both any potential "bang-for-buck favourite, buy 10 tongs" daily drinkers, and any that could fill gaps I've missed in my sampling.
In general, I like to brew fairly dark/strong, but just short of coffee-like. I'll typically use 10-12g in ~250ml of water off the boil in a yixing pot, quick rinse, then steeped for ~60-120 seconds increasing over the course of five or six steeps.
In general, I prefer shous that are thicc, smooth, pungent/musty, with a tiny bit of astringency on the tail, little-to-no bitterness, LOW caffeine (more relaxing than energetic), with some mildly interesting note(s)--not just muddy water--and a lingering "hui gan". So, you know, how they're all advertised.
I’m not good at naming flavours, but I’ve tended to like puer others have described with creamy, nutty (walnuts), earthy, dates, ginseng, petrichor, old books. Woody can be nice if there’s more to it (except for bamboo and camphor, the former dominates everything and the latter seems to be code for all aroma, no taste). Hit or miss on mushroom, mineral, barnyard, spice, and surprisingly, cacao. Negative on vegetal/herbal/grassy. I’m floral-curious, and drawn to the promise of stuff like plum and honey, but I think those are more sheng territory.
Here’s my list with some commentary.
 
FAVOURITES:
[Yunnan Sourcing]
2019 Menghai DaYi V93 Premium (Ripe)

• My current favourite daily drinker. Just can't go wrong, it ticks all the primary boxes for texture and and it has enough of a flavour to not be boring. It becomes weak and thin after ~3 of my murderous steeps, but that's fine by me as I'm usually tapping out around that amount, and I hate wasting potential steeps as it approaches noon. I can't drink puer after noon or it messes with my sleep.

2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Year of the Dog Blue Label" (Ripe)

• It's like the V93, just a little better in every way. But not 2X-price better, so not a contender for a replacement daily drinker.

1990 CNNP "9016" Aged (Ripe)

• I thought this one would knock my socks off, yet I was underwhelmed for the price. It's good, and has a quality I really like that I can't put my finger on (some kind of delicious lingering mustiness), but is also a little too thin from the first steep.

[San-Tea]
2005 “Muddy Lips” Jing Gu (Da Ye) (Ripe)

• This was my daily drinker for awhile. The price was right. Unfortunately, too boring. I need more depth.

1999 “Dirty Knees” Langhe (Ripe)

• Successor daily drinker to the above, much more interesting, yet finnicky to brew (easily becomes too bitter) and pricier.

[Crimson Lotus]
2021 Pasha Shan “Lao Cha Tou” (Ripe) & 2021 Pasha Shan (Ripe)

• Really great, outstanding flavour and ticked all of the most important boxes. Would be my current daily drinkers if I could afford it. (Grouped together because I couldn’t tell much of any difference between the two versions.)

2022 Night Shift (Ripe)

• Also great. The thing is, to brew it as dark as I like brings out a bit too much of a bitterness, off-note, and astringency.

[TREASURE GREEN]
2018 Xiaguan Tuo Cha (Ripe)

• Previous candidate for a daily drinker, until I found the V93.

2012 Bingdao Gu Shu (Ripe)

• Very good, in a different way from the rest of what I usually like, in that it has rich and complex flavours; texture is too thin to be a top favourite, yet I commend for what it is. If it weren’t so pricey I’d stock up for some variety in the rotation, and I think I could grow to appreciate it even more over time.

[SOFTER DRINK]
2020 Kuura Cola (Ripe)

• Seems almost exactly like the V93, while lasting for twice the steeps at twice the price. Not a feature for me, but deserves as honourable mention; I’d be curious to try more Kuura stuff.

LIKED:
[Yunnan Sourcing] 2020 Yunnan Sourcing "Bronze Label Peerless" (Ripe) 2023 Yunnan Sourcing "Mengku Teng Tiao" (Ripe) 2021 Yunnan Sourcing "Di Jie Village" (Ripe) 2001 Basket Aged Yi Wu (Ripe) 2022 Xiaguan "Tibetan Flame" (Ripe)
[San-Tea] 2004 “Sapwood” Xiaguan Te Ji (Ripe) 2004 “Worm Hands” Langhe (Gong Ting) (Ripe)
[Crimson Lotus] 2023 #PNWLOVE (Ripe) 2017 Storm Breaker (Ripe) 2014 Yiwu “Iron Forge” Huang Pian (Ripe) 2019 Nevermore (Ripe) 2021 Dark Depths (Ripe)
[Treasure Green] 2008 Ban Zhang Organic (Ripe) 2005 Chang Tai Hong Jing Dian (Ripe) 2013 #7562 Dayi (Ripe) 1998 Fu Hai (Ripe) 1993 #7581 (Ripe)
MEH:
[Yunnan Sourcing] 2001 Basket Aged Yi Wu (Ripe) 2022 Xiaguan "Tibetan Flame" (Ripe)
[San-Tea] 2005 “Sediments” Mengsong (Ripe) 2004 “Herds” Da Xue Shan (Ripe) 2007 “Undergrowth” Yiwu (Ripe) 2001 “Fauna” 7542 (Ripe)
[Crimson Lotus] 2016 Cloudy Days (Ripe) 2010 Black Gold (Ripe) 2014 Capitalist Lion Tamer (Ripe) 2000 Old Warrior (Ripe) 2014 Huang Pian MEGA Brick (Ripe)
[Treasure Green] 2012 Chuan Jia Bao Beeng Cha (Ripe) 2003 Bamboo (Ripe) 2012 Basket Hei Cha 2009 Liubao Hei Cha
DIDN’T LIKE:
[Yunnan Sourcing] 2015 Gao Jia Shan “Da Cang Jia” Wild Harvested Fu Brick 2018 Mojun Fu Cha “Pure Happiness” 2018 Mojun Fu Cha “Ming Pin”
THANKS, I HATE IT:
[Yunnan Sourcing] 2009 Lao Ban Zhang Premium (Raw)
[Crimson Lotus] ? Bulang Dragon Ball

So, this topic is an interesting one and isn't talked about enough for me. Your house or apartment number radiates at a number based on the number itself it is one digit or the sequence being added into one.
For example, if you live in apartment 304, then your # will be 7 because you add all numbers until you get a single digit. If you live in an apartment that equals 7, you may find yourself extra inquisitive or connected to some type of contract or relationship. Some people living in 7 homes say that it ends up being related to ghosts and others notice it can be connected to learning about something more.
If you live in an apartment with 302, then your number will be 5. This is better than living in a 104/5 apartment because 104 is 14 and 14 is a karmic number. I actually lived in a 14/5 apartment which is a karmic debt number and this was after I didn't notify my income increase. 14 is taking advantage of a comfortable situation to get your way basically or in other words "dodging responsibility". It made a lot of sense when I looked into this. I didn't stay in the 14/5 apartment long. Since 302 isn't karmic, this may be a better 5 apartment or home to live in because 3 is connected to creativity, communication, friendship, and optimism. 2 is connected to cooperation, compassion, and love. This is probably a more ideal 5 energy to live under. You may notice an increase in your social activity and the excitement in your life.
No matter what your home or apartment number is, just add up all the digits until you get 1 digit and that is the number.
This is not focusing on the full address!
It is only your apartment or door number.
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Carol Frye
Fiction Workshop
Apr 19, 2024
My Escape
Yes this is a serious plot, anime fans. We are in a literary fiction class, it will be original
Chapter 1
Trigger Warning: Suicidal Ideation
Seoyeon wanted to faint, or get sick, or randomly fall into a coma. It was a familiar feeling. She sat at the blindingly bright cram school . This entire life felt like a prison in the darkening day. And in this moment of her life her cell was the rows and rows of desks that lie next to each other and pale beige walls. But she, like most prisoners, didn’t want to die. She couldn’t blame those who did.
She just wished that she lived in any other rich country. Sometimes, she daydreamed about swimming from the Busan harbor to the relaxing sunny beaches of California or Washington state. She still remembered going to In N’ Out, the fries, the burger, the “audacious” kids not studying at 8pm on a wednesday. Instead they were sitting down, talking, using their phones, while sitting on tables veiled by umbrellas, while the sun set. She was annoyed by how little international travel she did. Sometimes the In N’ Out felt more real than the cram school. But usually the cram school felt more real than the In N’ Out.
“Seoyeon. You have to be studying right now.” The teacher said in his usual sharp and slightly heavy voice.
Stupid fucking cram school.
Stupid fucking cram teacher. These words always played in her mind while here.
But she did her work, getting distracted or doodling every few minutes. And she anticipated, always anticipated the next class on the bullshit schedule she did every day, counting down the moments until she could leave. The sunset was a good marker that she was in the home stretch. Thursday were the worst kinds of days because they were the days where all of her cram schools were done. Her parents budgeted a little by buying more sessions in what she was bad at. She was good at english, and math, but she simply couldn’t understand biology or especially Korean. She liked rules, Math had rules, and so did English. The rules of english are irrational, and the language contains truckloads of irritating surprises in terms of pronunciation. And sometimes the rules weren’t even always consistent. No, it must have been her history of learning languages. She might’ve liked Korean, but all that was done was boring shitty depressing books. And it would be mediocre if it weren’t for the fact that she had no idea how to intercept the text. It all had to be cookie cutter. English was the last of this class marathon of walking for cram school to cram school over and over again.
That was what she was thinking in the middle of the cold night, walking to the bus home. Only the bright as hell city lights and consumerist billboard guided her. Nobody bothered to place street lights. The weather changed significantly from day to night. The jean jacket that was good enough with her t-shirt in the morning now made her cold. Slowly, the nights were coming early and the prison got darker. She was annoyed by this a s it reminder her of the time she had to fucking waste. She didn’t usually think about this sort of thing at all. Rather she chose to rebel by thinking about new metas in games, and new tv shows (That aren’t stupid K-dramas. She didn’t want to admit she liked those.). People said that she was strapped to her favorite MMOs but she saw it as freedom. A lovely beautiful simple world where she could do so, so much more than study. She could be an adventurer, a hero even. She heard of hikikomori in Japan, people who leech off of their parents and stay at home. She couldn’t allow herself to leech off her parents. She would not leech off her mom, Haeun and especially not her Dad, Doyun, who already couldn’t speak and had a hell of a bad time with his shitty job. And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she felt like she had to work. Instead hoped that one day she could just get an apartment of her own and live alone being a hero forever. Forget this stupid work culture. Either way she has never had more than six hours of sleep. After all, as the stupid saying goes, you’ll only get into a college if you have less than four hours of sleep. Isn’t that what they want? Seoyeon hoped that her father knew deep down that this was her escape, or that Mom wanted her sufficiently sleep-deprived and this was the way to do that.
At home she she open the door to her living room/dining room which consisted of a dirty white hard couch and cyan pillows. The table was large and glass. Doyun peaked out from the side of the TV. It was the placer where another parent might have called Soyun, but he couldn’t speak or even yell if she tried. He signed “Hello, you better have done your cram school. We will now do homework”
Seoyun walked into the skinny kitchen which was a hallway reaching towards the left. Doyun sat at the far end. She sat on her chair at her desk next to Doyun. She had to do some normal distributions. God, what’s the point in that?
She had to be at least 2.5 standard deviations lower than most people in terms of time saying Korean per day. For one, she learned sign language before Korean, her dad was mute and could only model that language for him and Haeun played a minimal role in her development. His boss never learned sign language and his wife only learned a few signs. They instead preferred to speak to him through a method that he could understand but couldn’t respond in. But he was mute, and her Mom, Haeun, and therefore only played a minor role as a parent, couldn’t even be there to model speech. It was only with instruction from her (at 3!) that she learned to articulate the words in the language she already learned to read (also at 3, she was smarter than average). But out of habit, she always kept signing to her dad. But don’t get it wrong, she felt grateful for being capable of speech. How the heck else was she going to complain?
She didn’t want to be like her dad, who was, by necessity, quiet and small. Doyun, the polite factory worker. The perfect factory worker, who could never respond, only listen and obey. Doyun, who wanted to sign reassurances to his coworkers about how everything’s fine, and to not listen to the colored remarks of his boss, but none of them know KSL. She was certain that Doyun must’ve accepted that he had to go with the flow, and that was why he was the way he was. Even his wife didn’t bother to learn more than a few signs. She much preferred to speak in a method where he could only listen and not respond. She pitied her dad’s lack of vocal cords. And she was not planning on living the way her dad made her live, but she did not want dad to feel the pain of struggling against her currents.
⭑◉⭑
After yet more assignments, a long night of playing SohanWorld with her (male) American friend Gorgen was due. She had to use VPNs to contact the server but that was a microscopic price for being able to play past midnight, and avoid the stupid server curfew.
Gorgen So I found some side hustles where u don’t have to leave home
Neenok Cool
Gorgen You’re so good at this game and overwatch. IDK why u don’t want to play competitively
Neenok I hate this place. I say that over and over.
Gorgen I know. But isn’t gaming fun? I thought u hated the educational system. lol
Neenok You don’t know how competitive gaming is. I am good but I hate spending 6-12 hours of my life in any pressure place.
Gorgen It is “place with pressure” lol. (Seoyeon was mildly annoyed by that) Anyway gonna answer questions randomly on the test or what? It’s coming up in 8 days.
Neenok My dad would know if I did, because I would get about a 25%. Some questions are not A, B, C, and D, you have to write them out. Yes it is coming out in 8 days.
Gorgen Just get 60% of the questions wrong or something.
Neenok can’t
Gorgen why
...
Gorgen why
Neenok I don’t want to put in the effort into answering the questions
Gorgen lol u really that lazy
Neenok I’m not I just can’t have them win. Can have them force me to do this.
Neenok Oh no! Oh no I’m on a server.
Seoyeon would’ve said oh god if her limited english allowed it. Language skills weren’t really valued her.s
Gorgen I’m one of the few english players and the only reason im here is that I bribe the compsci teacher with snacks LMAO. What time is it in korea
Neenok 1:30Am we are not even supposed to play games at this time
Gorgen literally 1984
Neenok You always say that
Neenok let me tell you something.
Neenok I want to prove them wrong so bad. I hate this place I hate the pressure and I want to prove that I don’t need it. That is why I am not doing e sports
Gorgen Damn
Neenok What do you mean?
Gorgen I can’t believe ur determined like that. TBH, if I were like that I would deny capitalism.
Neenok but the US is great. What is bad about the US?
Gorgen FFS we don’t have universal healthcare. My dad is getting sick and we are in a money crunch rn.
Gorgen Our government is corrupt lol. So much corporate bullshit in the government. Both parties are the corporate party.
Seoyeon You have no clue what corrupt means!
Seoyeon shut the computer off because she didn’t want his slander of what she felt was a distant, pure, milk and honey land. She knew she couldn’t come back there. It was all much less pressure. While trying to sleep, she remembered the level up system for spells 1, then 1+2=3, then 3+3=6. She thought that would try to succeed on those questions. Then for each number after those, she would try to fail. Otherwise, she would just make a rough guess.
She wrote down this great idea
Well, she thought, didn’t need his help to screw up the test anyway.
⭑◉⭑
The next day, Seoyeon’s Mom, Haeun came from her business trip in the Philippines. Seoyeon’s notebook was left open and moved into the living room. Seoyeon knew that Haeun wanted to talk with her. So she herself must've made a mistake. Seoyeon had drawn her ideal single room apartment where she made no contact with anyone on the right page, and on the left was a note on how to fail the CSAT. For Seoyeon it was her escape plan as a prisoner of this stupid society. A bundle of hope. But her Haeun wanted to play stool pigeon.
“You really decided to be this lazy.” She looked like she didn’t care. “Well, I want you to succeed” Haeun said this if she was told that this was the automatic thing you were supposed to say in response.
“Don’t tell dad about this-”
“You will not be a parasite” She interrupted “I will tell him because I’m tried of him being such a-
“I'll do the right thing! I'll do the right thing! Sometimes. I make things up.” She rushed to say.
“Why would you even dream about this thing? Why would you care show god damn much about burdening us”
“Burdening! I don’t want to live with you! I just don’t want to do anything!”
“I thought you said you would do the right thing. And why do you like making yourself so pathetic.”
“No I’m not. No I’m not.”
“Then why are you doing it?”
“I DON’T WANT TO BE A PARASITE! I JUST WANT TO REBEL AGAINST THE CULTURE OF THIS STUPID COUNTRY! I WANT TO PROVE THAT I DON’T WANT TO BE FORCED TO DO THIS SHIT.”
“You don’t understand where I came from. Let me explain something.” Seoyeon sat down.
“I didn’t want to marry your father but I had to. He was in love with me. I didn’t care for him but he was better than my other suitors. You were an accident. We weren’t planning on having any children but my parents were against abortioning you. I wish I could but I didn’t.” Haeun stood up, walked a bit closer and leaned in. “Sometimes… You have to go with the rules. If you love your parents that time will be know”
Seoyeon was floored. She always hoped, really hoped that Haeun secretly loved her and her Dad, that like other fictional parents, she was just busy. But she was never there, and she was never aware.
And all she could say after 2 minutes, faintly, was “fake.”
“You call me fake?” Haeun cornered Seoyeon as she was about to leave
“FAKE! All of this love was fake!”
Doyun ran into the room, and, after a bit of hesitation, peeled off her Haeun’from the wall.
“I read her notebook and noticed that she wanted to go be lazy and screw up her test”
Doyun looked angry and held her head within his hands, turning it towards him.
He grabbed her head gently but firmly from above and signed “Seoyeon, I need you to succeed. I know the future is scary but it is gonna be alright.”
“Yeah, as I said it's only a fantasy.” she said.
Haeun looked in the notebook and flipped some pages back. “You were taking it seriously!”
Doyun signs backed her up “Seoyeon, you will not do that.”
“You've always been too soft” Haeun said to Doyun “and, Seoyeon, you are a spoiled piece of shit. If I were like you I would've left all of you. But I am responsible. I will never ever allow you to fulfill any of your fantasies, not even if you decide not to be a parasite on this family. I expect you to listen to society.”
Seoyeon just ran. His dad tried to come after her. She sprinted and got onto a bus without him.
⭑◉⭑
She ran off the bus a few stops later. She felt crazy and wanted the decision to be reversable. God, her mom hated her. She knew now that she could never obey. She was tired, and walked into some random park of plaza will benches. People walked all around her. The park was at sunset. (She had more time on Friday because she didn’t go to math and english during this time.) She then looked at the annoying, evil sign outside the cram school. “If not now, then when?” Such a stupid ideogly. An ideogly invented by the cram schools invented by everyone fuck over every high schooler in korea. And Samsung loved it, her Dad was brainwashed by it, and her Mom only cared about her following it. Was cram school seriously time sensitive shit? From their perspective it was. It was necessary, essential for any life goals. Life goals like mine. The sunset started reminding her of the landmark she used time and time agains to mark the home stretch of this school after school. Escape: If not now, then when? If today wasn’t the day to be free how much longer will I have to wait? How will Mom trying to stop this dream, this escape? Will I be able to succeed at that point?
A person brushed past her and broke her out of her trance. She spent the rest of the day wandering around until it was midnight dark. There were no consumerist billboards or street lamps so she couldn’t see a thing. She got tired eventually and sat down on a bench. She took out her phone. She was in such a daze that she had forgotten her phone existed until now. She saw a sign with the same stupid message as when she started. I guess this slogan is popular …and effective. She felt so much calmer. Outside was a little bubble tea stand. Some teenagers and a lone hairy skinny fat adult sat outside of the bubble tea stand. The stand emitted bright white-yellow light that vaguely illuminated. She could she simple white house with a frames in different colors red, green and blue. She wished she lived there.
The stand reminded her of the bubble tea shop she went to with her weekend job money. Her crush Wook was often there. She would ask out wook, if she didn’t believe that she was a shitty girlfriend. She didn’t care about her looks and was under no delusion that she looked beautiful. Her hair was straight and tangled and while it wasn’t gray or anything it gave off the feeling of having aged like an old dusty school chair from lack of grooming. She had a skin tone resembling a lighter shade of the skin of almonds, and two clouds of freckles in formations around two sagging phone lines propped up between cheekbones and lips on each side. She never wanted to go outside, and had shitty hobbies that she thought no boy would be interested in. She didn’t have the emotional energy to even try to return affection and while she could articulate she knew it as the reason she was a bad girlfriend. So she ignored him.
She looked around for some way to escape but she didn’t know how. So impulsive, and at first solemnly, she got onto the bridge. The houses were still clearer now. Each one having gardens and quiet dark streets. She sees a factory and an industiial distort downstream coated in brown and gray. There no fucking way to ecapse. I’ll be fucked up I’m a orphan at this point I’m a orphan at this point. She looked down in the water.
You shouldn’t do this! This is stupid. You shouldn’t die!
It’s okay. It's just dark. You would even see the river just jump.
A great debate raged in her mind between common sence, because her will to live and general reluctance to die and her want to espcae, the voice inside her head saying: “There’s no other way, how else can we leave?” and “if not now, then when?”
She leaned on the bridge then stopped herself. And stared for a moment. She heard frantic footsteps.
It was her dad, and his face said it all. He knew what was going on.
What in the actual fuck has gotten into me?
He signed “I’m sorry”
She signed “Dad, Mom said that she doesn’t love you. She said that it was a mistake”
He signed “Is that why you did it?”
She yelled: “Don’t blame yourself! Please don’t blame yourself! I was just looking at the river… Don’t blame Mom either…”
Doyun chased Seoyeon.
See, you are a spoiled brat. You just fished for sympathy.
You bitch, now you should fall in there.
Just escape. He has so much on fucking mind. He has to go to sleep at 9:00 pm everyday and the only reason why he doesn’t sleep at 8 is because of you.
Everything you do is so contradictory. You want to be free so how about you just jump the fuck in.
The water splashed. Seoyeon had already gotten off the bridge but she didn't know how to swim very well. Doyun couldn't swim at all and just wade-ran at the edge of the river. Good. Just steadily swim towards the center of the river. At some point he'll stop trying to get me.
She wasn’t scared but her body was. She squeezed her eyes closed. She just tried to get through the river to go with the flow and try to swim slightly faster in case her Dad was crazy enough to follow her.
She came to check if everything was ok. She looked back seeing if Dad was around. She felt like she was about to die of hypothermia. She saw her Dad in a lifeboat. Right then she knew that she deserved nothing.
Contrary to her survival instinct, her eyes began to blur with tears.
She said, and signed “I love I just want to leave I want to escape” hoping that his eyes or ears would perceive it.
Someone pulled her from the waters. Or at least she assumed. She was in some kind of gray room but she couldn’t tell because her vision was so blurry. The woman looked off and inhuman, not really it an uncanny valley kind of way. Her voice sounded like an angelic version of a robot voice but not in a voice that seemed unnatural.
“I have a deal for you Seoyeon. I know how much you want to escape.”

Season One
An unemployed start, with no professional football experience and somehow even less qualifications, the world was my oyster, unfortunately the oyster had been in the back of the freezers of Iceland for far too long past their sell-by date so, applications where due to be made. In what felt like a Dave re-run of my teen love life, the rejections poured in, I didn't mean to apply though, it was my brother, honest!
Eventually, 3 interviews rolled in, Persik in Indonesia refused to let me get a coaching badge, Fukushima seemed like a radioactively bad idea and Qingdao Manatee was too funny a name for me to take seriously. After attending the interviews and weighing up the good and the bad, the pro's and the con's and the fact they're the only team that offered me a job, Fukushima were the one's for me! I've always wondered what it would be like having a third arm.
I arrived at the club expecting, well, nothing much, I'd never had a job in football and I'd never been to Japan, though, I have seen a lot of Anime so I'm practically an expert. What I did find was a team in dire straits, 19th in the J3 with only 12 games to save the team from relegation to the Nippon leagues and keep my brand new job, I'd not even found a house yet!
We started our journey together slowly, a 1-1 with My Neighbour Tottori, AKA Gainare Tottori. A great start considering the 8 game losing streak I'd walked into. Now, to stop the rot, if we can keep playing Ghibli related teams we might be in a good position. Samigahara followed and, with my new tactic in place, the new manager bounce in effect and some transfers on the horizon we lost 1-0. FUCK.
Luckily, the team above us, FC Osaka were also absolute doo-doo and they kept losing, and with them only having 2 more points than us, we may survive! We walked into October hoping the spooky season would effect our opponents more than ourselves as we had 5 matches to play, We headed to FC Gifu and got stomped 3-0. Dammit, okay, Imabari next. This time we'll win, 2-1 loss. Okay, Nara are only 2 places above us, we'll do this. We drew. 1-1. Okay, another point on the board, Osaka also drew, but it's fine, we can catch them, we just need one win, out of our next 2 October games before we play Osaka.
We didn't win either.... Vanraure Hachinohe, the team bottom of the table, beat us 1-0, laughing the entire way, whilst Kagoshima were nice enough to let us score one in a 1-1 draw.
It was the 5th of November, Bonfire night and a must win game against FC Osaka, admittedly, all of our games have been must win and we've adopted a style of 'can't win' instead. So imagine my surprise when we actually won a goddamn game! An incredible 4-2 victory and out of the relegation places with only 4 games left in the season , surely now we can use this as the catalyst to put together a run of form and move clear with games to spare. Matsumoto Yamaga was next and we scored 3 more glorious goals en route to a spectacular 5-3 defeat...... Hang on what?
3 games, level on points with both FC Osaka and, escaping my attention, Y.S.C.C who were above both me and Osaka but had had such a calamitous collapse that I didn't consider them an escape option. We needed points on the board, and invited Ehime FC to our home to try and take some of those points from them. We. Did. Not. We opened up our doors, allowed them to walk mud in our home and shit in our tea pots. 2-1 to them. 2 games to go, still, level on points, Giravanz Kitakyushu were next, and we didn't score but neither did they! a 0-0 draw to put us a point above both teams, and due to our somehow slightly superior goal difference, surely only a point from safety. Provided neither team break the habit of the season and decide to actually win a game.
FC Ryukyu stood in the way, we drew. 0-0, again. We sat, fingers crossed, arse cheeks clenched, awaiting the results from elsewhere Kataller Toyama smashed Y.S.C.C 6-3 whilst Ehime FC beat FC Osaka 1-0. And due to that goal swing, Fukushima and FC Osaka stayed up whislt Y.S.C.C took our place in the red section of the league.
Next season needed to be better, we needed to win, and do it often because I don't want to go back to England, tail between my legs, begging McDonald's to take me back.
Reinforcements are coming.

Buckle in, guys - this is going to be a long one. Also, I come out of the closet...as a Swiftie. HMU if you want me to bring friendship bracelets to Brooklyn.
Any resemblance to real people is...not coincidental, actually.

Race Information

• Name: Boston Marathon
• Date: April 15, 2024
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Boston, MA
• Website: https://www.baa.org/
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11188906240/overview
• Time: 3:04:31

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Don't totally kill my legs	Sorta
B	Get the finish	Yes
C	2:55	No
D	3:00	No

Splits

Kilometer	Time	Pace (min/mi)
5	20:25	6:35
10	20:50 (41:15)	6:43
15	20:39 (1:01:54)	6:40
20	20:44 (1:22:38)	6:41
Half	4:31 (1:27:09)	6:38
25	16:20/20:51 (1:43:29)	6:45
30	21:43 (2:05:16)	7:01
Heartbreak Start (20M/32K)	10:03 (2:15:19)	7:24
Heartbreak End (21M/33.6K)	6:56 (2:22:15)	6:57 (lmao)
35	5:30/22:29 (2:27:45)	7:22
40	27:03 (2:54:48)	8:42*
Finish	9:43	7:08*

(Boston does intermediate splits late-race starting 35k (35K, 23M, 24M, 40K, 1 mile out), so so the last two splits are aggregates.)

Race Information

• Name: London Marathon
• Date: April 21, 2024
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: London, UK
• Website: http://www.tcslondonmarathon.com
• Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11231697234/overview
• Time: 3:09:57

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	3:09:30	No
B	3:09:59	Yes

Splits

Kilometer	Time	Pace (min/mi)
5	22:25	7:12
10	22:36 (45:01)	7:16
15	22:31 (1:07:32)	7:15
20	22:23 (1:29:55)	7:13
Half	4:58 (1:34:53)	7:16
25	17:45/22:43 (1:52:38)	7:19
30	22:27 (2:14:59)	7:13
35	22:42 (2:37:41)	7:19
40	22:34 (3:00:15)	7:16
Finish	9:42	7:08

(London's app shows aggregate splits, so if you look at my official times it'll look like I was perfectly even throughout.)

Opening

Some people overthink their training programs. I overthink my race recaps.
Okay, OP. Why did you do this to yourself?
tl;dr: I'm basic.
Like a lot of people, one of my goals is to be a six-star seven-star finisher (thanks Sydney). Boston and New York were relatively easy to check off, and they've both kind of become my "regulars." I did Chicago last fall after a long delay - originally I was planning on doing it in 2020, but you know what happened. You might have heard about it!
For London, I applied to the lottery - or as they say across the pond, the ballot - last year and got rejected like everyone else does. I had a backup plan, though - I was going to apply to be a pacer. Two of my friends (David and Jazmin) had paced London last year and had a good experience, and they asked me to throw my hat in the ring this year.
...Okay, but OP, HOW did you do this to yourself? I want the deets.
Step 1: qualify for Boston again. (You can do it at Boston, but I don't recommend it because that is absolutely stressful. On the other hand, the one thing worse than trying to BQ at Boston without one in hand is trying to BQ in New York when it's 75 degrees.)
Step 2: apply to be a pacer and pray. London has open pacer applications, although I think they preference returning pacers. Also pacers that have actually paced marathons before. Neither of which applied to me at the time (I had signed up to pace Philly, but applications opened around NYC for this year). However, one thing I don't value is my bodily integrity so I just put down the fastest times I felt comfortable doing.
David, Jazmin, and I got the acceptance emails about a week later. David would be pacing 3:25, Jazmin would be pacing 3:40, and I...would be pacing 3:10, or the fastest group I put down. I remember being at work and listening to "Cornelia Street" by Taylor Swift when I read my email. The only way it could have been more on-the-nose is if it had been "London Boy."
(Also, justice for "Lover.")
Since I'd never internationally traveled before, I applied for a passport in November (just before Thanksgiving). Keep that in mind.

Training/Preparation

*starts laughing with a seamless transition into sobbing*
...ooh boy.
General training (or what SHOULD have happened)
My friend David coaches a group of us, adapting the training program that our club coach used. We're fairly heavy on the MP work, and surprisingly not so much on threshold. A typical week looks like this:

• Monday - easy 60m. Normally, this is about 7 miles.
• Tuesday - track workout; ~2 miles up, ~3 miles total on (at 5KP or faster), ~1-2 miles down
• Wednesday - easy 60m
• Thursday - tempo/MP work (because I know I'm gonna get yelled at). 1-2 miles up, up to 90 total minutes at ~MP down to ~HMP (for me, ~6:30 to ~6:00, roughly), couple of miles down.
• Friday - easy 60m
• Saturday/Sunday - easy one day, LR the other day. LR's normally easy (~8:00 pace or so), but sometimes includes MP chunks. We go up to 23 miles (or 3 hours).
• (Bonus) Doubles whenever I can fit them in during marathon blocks...and strangely enough, I'll usually double on Wednesdays regardless because our local Fleet Feet has a 3-mile group run Wednesday evenings. And yes, I know this is insane but apparently I'd rather be crazy than be alone.

Normally, most of my runs are with friends - so I'll run their easy paces (a bit slower than what I'd run on my own), and then we do our workouts at our own paces.
What ACTUALLY happened
Post-Chicago, I was pretty much unstructured, but ran a couple of more races:

• I paced a HM two weeks post-Chicago (0/10 do not recommend pacing a 1:30 HM on a course with 800 feet of elevation two weeks after your goal marathon, those first few miles hurt).
• I ran with a friend at NYC to help him get a BQ (which he ran 5 minutes under - he's 47, so we did just under 3:15).
• Philly went surprisingly well, considering I had done like two marathons in the previous month and a half.
  • On the plus side, we ended up splitting 1:34:30/1:35:20ish. So a bit hot at the start, but not overly so.
  • On the downside, I ended up taking two bathroom stops. Shout out to my co-pacer Mu for...you know...not having his bladder decide to be embarrassing. Shout out to Liz (the Philly coordinator) for having the good sense to give me adult supervision.

Meanwhile, a bunch of other things happened:

• My primary training partner from last fall tore his meniscus and still can't run.
• Jazmin decided to get a private coach, but still asked me to do some of her workouts with her.
• Another one of my friends made his comeback after being hurt last year - and he's following Daniels and his own schedule, and also asked me to run with him on occasion.
• Meanwhile, the rest of the group stuck to the same schedule I posted before.
• Also, I should mention I'm a terminal people pleaser and hate making decisions.

So by the time it was time to hop back into training, I was floating around pretty aimlessly and - because I didn't really have any performance goals this cycle - I tried to run with everyone as much as I could. I...do not recommend this. By February, I was looking at my messages and considering going into witness protection while figuring out which long run out of three I wanted to show up to.
Suffice to say, my training was disorganized as hell. I think I got a couple of 70-mile weeks in back in February, but kind of fell off in March when I was still dealing with some niggles of my own and also work things. Somehow, I managed to do a couple of races:

• I ran 1:19:5x at NYC Half (like half of this sub apparently).
• Also, I ran a sub-36 10k. A week before Boston. In retrospect, this might have been a mistake.

Meanwhile, my original passport seemingly never arrived. I ended up finally calling the passport center about a week before my London flight (I would have called earlier, but work was crazy and if I'm nothing else, I'm wildly irresponsible), and somehow managed to get an appointment before I left. In Boston (I live about 4 hours away). The day after I was supposed to come home from Boston.

Boston

Pre-Race
This was the less stressful event - on Saturday, I went up with my friend Joe who was spectating. Did the standard Boston race weekend stuff (shout out to Puma for their Sunday shakeout, the amazing panel, and for actually feeding us), met up with our other friends running Boston Sunday, and had dinner with our friends Jazmin and Janna (who were running) and Janna's husband Mark (who was not).
Also, I got my bib signed by Jenny Simpson on Saturday.
Monday, I just did my usual race prep - which is absolutely no prep whatsoever. (To wit, breakfast was "coffee and a banana loaf from Dunkin'.") I met up with Jazmin - who was planning to leave that night - and caught a shuttle to the Common with her. Funny enough, on the bus to Hopkinton we met up with our friend Cole who was getting his sixth star at Boston.
Race Day
I figured I'd go for an "easy 2:55" because Chicago gave me way too much confidence. I started from corral 3 and caught up with Cole (in corral 2) within the first mile. We mostly ran together for about 6 or 7 miles and then I lost track of him. I just assumed he'd dropped me because he's much faster than me. (The guy's currently a 2:30s marathoner. I say that because his lifetime PR is in the 2:20s.)
Gradually, it got warmer and warmer, but I was still feeling relatively good through the first half. I kissed one of the Wellesley students in the Scream Tunnel (to be fair, I was going to mind my own business, but she was standing on top of the fence holding a sign saying "Kiss me if you can reach," and I'm 6'5" and do not back down from challenges), but I mostly maintained pace into Newton.
And then I realized a few things:

1. While the temperature may have been approved by Rob Gronkowski, it was definitely not approved by me.
2. I ran a 2:47 last fall, so I had exactly zero reason to continue to try for a 2:55.
3. I also had to do this again in six days. And that was the deciding factor to just throw in the towel.

So, the last ten miles or so I mostly run-walked, which concerned my friends back home. (I contemplated posting to our WhatsApp group mid-race but that would have been weird.) It felt funny - it's only the second time I've "given up" on a marathon, and while I felt about as good as you can feel after doing 16 miles straight at MP, it was weird to just be so casual about things when I felt like I could still continue to race if I really wanted to.
Anyway, so, long story short:

• Around mile 18, I actually ended up running with a guy that I'd recognized from NYC 2022 - that day, he went down on the side of the course. At Boston, we ran together for about half a mile going back and forth...and then I just let him leave me.
• Somehow, still managed to set a Heartbreak PR. I think.
• I totally missed Joe, Mark, and the three blondes Joe and Mark recruited to cheer for me around mile 25. (I regret to inform all of them that three hot women are not quite as good at getting my attention as three hot men are. 💅🏿)

My finishing time was 3:04:31. Which was my slowest Boston to date, including 2021 where I keeled over on Boylston and ended up in the med tent. I still finished in like 3:00 high or something that day. (This is not a flex, and should not be considered a flex. That day sucked.)
Post-Race
I managed to get myself back to our hotel (also, ended up taking a selfie with an older gentleman on the Silver Line), and waited for Jazmin. And waited. Opening the tracker was pretty worrisome, as she'd slowed down a ton.
Finally, she finished, but she had a rough time. Thankfully, her coach found her at the finish and drove her over to our hotel. And one of her friends picked her up and drove her home. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty worried about her for London six days later.
(I'm intentionally being vague here, but...yeah, it was rough.)
I also found out that Cole finished about 15 minutes behind me (he said he'd been sick the week before, which I didn't know until after the race). Janna did pretty much the same thing that I did, in jogging in the back half. She still ended up on the Fast Women Instagram page (as she should).
Anyway, Janna, Mark, Joe, and I had a rather interesting dinner, and then it was back home on Tuesday. For most of us, anyway.

London

But first, Boston (again)
I did the math and - yeah - it was actually less expensive for me to go back home than to just stay an extra night. Welcome to marathon weekend. Paid through the nose for an expedited passport ($225), but...hey, I managed to get it. Shout out to FlixBus for the hook-up. Honestly, I recommend the 6:30 AM buses.
London (for real this time)
To Taylor Alison Swift: Why would you drop a double album on London Marathon weekend. Not only that, while I was taking a red-eye trans-Atlantic flight. Joe Alwyn wasn't even running it (and I'm not even sure Matty Healy could run 26.2 feet), so you don't even have that excuse. Janna suggested I buy the in-flight WiFi. I opted not to, and in retrospect that was the correct decision. (FWIW, TTPD is okay, but not worth $8 to United. That said, "So Long, London" into "But Daddy, I Love Him" is a hell of a choice.)
Anyway, for London, I flew in with Jazmin and my dad (who was also flying trans-Atlantic for the first time), and meeting David and another one of our friends (who is also named Joe) in London. If you are keeping count, we're up to three Joes in this recap already. Due to an opportune seat swap (shout out to the lady who wanted to sit with her husband, I don't care if you were telling the truth or if you just felt sorry for me), I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep on the flight.
We landed mid-day Friday at Heathrow, got into London, and my dad and I checked in to our hotel. (Right next to Waterloo Station, actually, which was nice!) Or we would have checked in, if everyone wasn't evacuating the hotel because of a fire alarm.
We did manage to get checked in after everything was sorted out, and then it was off to the expo (or the show, as London puts it). When we signed up, we had to volunteer for a 2-hour shift at the expo - and in our infinite wisdom, we chose the 3:30-5:30 shift. I spent most of that shift trying to explain why we ran out of 3:20, 3:25, 3:50, and 3:55 pace bands (god speed to the pacers for those groups).
Also, I picked up my gear for pacing - including the uniform (excuse me, kit), pacer flag, and the shoes. In my case, because I have clown feet (14 US/13.5 UK), they ended up being 1080s. And since London strongly encourages us to wear NB, I did not bring my usual shoes (Endorphin Elites).
"OP, it seems like you make a lot of poor planning decisions," you might be saying if you're still reading this. And...yes, yes, I agree. (Technically, I could wear whatever shoe, I'd just need to cover the logos. But I figured I'd be running 22 minutes slower than my PR so I'd be fine regardless.) I will say the 1080s are comfortable, though. Very loud - it's the London colorway, so imagine my size shoe in highlighter yellow, orange, and hot pink - but comfy.
Got back to the hotel, had dinner, argued with my dad about English electrical ports (despite what they look like, they are not USB ports), and tucked in for the night.
Saturday was mostly sightseeing - David, Jazmin, and I did a shakeout run around Westminster and caught the start of the Mini Marathon, and then my dad and I walked around a bit. Also did a night bus tour - shout out to Emma and Julie from Golden Tours - and had the standard pasta dinner. I went to bed around 9...only to get woken up at 10 by yet another fire alarm. After stumbling outside in 5-degree weather and back to our hotel, I somehow managed to get back to sleep.
Race Morning
Whoever labeled Waterloo East on literally every map by the platform instead of the entrance: your mum.
After having a surprisingly leisurely breakfast and a surprisingly hard time finding the entrance for the train station, I managed to hop the train out to the start of the race. Met up with David and Jazmin (apparently they were in the last car and I was in the middle of the train), and then we went out to the pacer meetup in the basement of the Clarendon Inn.
Imagine a small basement room with 140 people speaking multiple languages crammed in together, and that kind of approaches the chaos we were dealing with. You also have to add in a very assertive British guy with a whistle (shout out to Akram, the London coordinator). From past experience, David and Jazmin decided to leave for the corrals (or waves - I feel like London has its own language) around 9, and I went with them to our starts (blue for me and Jazmin, green for David).
I put on my flag (which I've never run with before - every other race has been with a hand-held sign) and immediately became one of the most popular people at the London Marathon. Most of my time was spent going, "uh I guess I'm running even 🤷🏿‍♂️," which I am sure boosted everyone's confidence in me.
The Race
London is similar to NYC where there are three separate starts that merge into one course. London's merges are a bit earlier than NYC's - Blue and Green merge in the first mile or so, and then Yellow/Red merge in around mile 3. (Not sure why they use two colors for that start!) The major difference is that there isn't one unified starting gun - in fact, the starts are pretty spread out, and it feels more like a rolling start. From big-race experience, I knew my GPS would be off, so I'd have to rely on my elapsed time and my pace band. I tried to yell out splits every mile and every 5k (so yes, I was the annoying American with the especially annoying New Jersey accent yelling out random numbers).
The first mile was relatively easy and uncongested - in fact, I was a bit concerned because I was a little fast (7:11 by my reckoning). And then we came up behind the Green 3:15 pace group. Famously, Comrades Marathon (at least - I'm not sure if this is a South Africa thing, or specific to that race) refers to their pace groups as "buses." I can see the comparison, as trying to maneuver safely around the pace group while knowing I had my own group felt like trying to parallel park a double-decker bus.
Somehow, we managed to pass them relatively safely...and then we came up behind the Yellow 3:15 group. I was pretty stressed, I'll admit. (The next largest race I've been a pacer for is Philadelphia, which is at most 1/4 the field size.) Somehow, I managed to keep people with me, although I admittedly didn't look too much.
That said, it says something when Cutty Sark feels like one of the more open places on the course.
We crossed Tower Bridge and got to halfway in 1:34:55 by my watch. Okay...but a little bit slow. My preference is to be 15 seconds under at halfway, and 30 seconds under at the finish. But hey, I was well within the window, right? The halfway window was 90 seconds under to 30 seconds over, which I was within.
Heading out to Canary Wharf, we actually got a good look at the pro men coming back - Munyao, Tola, and AdvancedRunning favorites Bekele and Cairess. I don't think I've ever been that close to the pros at a major before, so that was pretty cool. If Bekele is reading this, hi, I was the weird tall guy from London. (The one with the flag.) Please continue wrecking my age grading.
Meanwhile the chaos on the course shifted from fighting through slower groups in other starts to wading through the carnage of people blowing up. I don't know if it was especially bad, but - again - it kind of hits different when you know people are following you and also you're on English roads in a world major.
As I was going, I was keeping track of the splits. I knew it was going to be close...but when I saw 3:01:16 at 25 and checked my band (which said 3:01:10 for a 3:10 bang-on), I knew things were close. For reference, pacers' flags at London actually say "Sub [pace]" because they're expected to come in up to a minute under their time. My target was 3:09:00 to 3:09:59. We could make it, but it'd take a bit of a push.
Coming around Buckingham Palace, I was checking my watch and checking the time. I thought I'd make it. And then I crossed the line and stopped my watch.
3:10:00.
Fuck.
Post-Race
But hey, some people managed to hang with me. (Shout out to Nathan on the PR!) I gave (and got) congrats, took a couple of photos, picked up my stuff, and handed in my gear. Like hundreds of other people (my god like hundreds of us), I stopped by Waterstone's, went up to the cafe, and got a tea and scone. (Very good post-race fueling, I must admit.) Got back to the hotel, showered, and went out for pints and dinner post-race with the gang and my dad.
Also, I checked my official time. 3:09:57. I made it, but just barely. It was a bit slower than I'd like, but hey - not too shabby for doing this in 1080s.

Epilogue

So Long, London
Jazmin made it through a bit off target (like 19 seconds, I think), although it was a bit of a struggle, she said.
David...had a rougher go of it. He himself was injured going into the race, so he had to take his flag down around mile 22. He still managed to finish, though.
As for me: Got home that Tuesday. Told myself that I wouldn't do this again next year as we were going through Newark passport control (aka: Satan's butthole). Changed my mind after I got back on Eastern time, went back to work, and realized what I'd missed. Ran a trail 10k (Leatherman's Loop) the week after because (again) I do not value my bodily integrity. (Also, it was an impromptu midlife crisis.)
It took me a while to gather my thoughts - and even longer to edit this down somewhat. And yes, this is actually edited a bit from where it was.
Finally, one thing I've kept coming back to is the Boston Globe article about 26.TRUE that came out around the same time as the Boston Marathon. I highly suggest you read it - I couldn't decide whether to lead or to end with this, but at any rate it's worth it.
Made with a new race report generator created by u/herumph.