Low price testim gel
[US-MD][H]SO MUCH NEW INVENTORY, HUGE KEYS AND PRICE DROPS, PLEASE HELP I CAN’T STOP: Major Keys, Minor Keys, Iconic Covers and Silver Age, Golden Age, Horror, Indie (Crumb & Adult), a bit of everything. $10 issue included free with purchase. [W] PayPal
2024.05.14 23:16 Making_flowers [US-MD][H]SO MUCH NEW INVENTORY, HUGE KEYS AND PRICE DROPS, PLEASE HELP I CAN’T STOP: Major Keys, Minor Keys, Iconic Covers and Silver Age, Golden Age, Horror, Indie (Crumb & Adult), a bit of everything. $10 issue included free with purchase. [W] PayPal
Adding new books every week! Added an inventory list (newly arrived issues in bold at the top) then you can scroll further for more details on condition and key facts. I’m always open to bundle deals and reasonable offers.
I’ve also taken on a lot of random fillers as I fill inventory, so I’ll be including a random comic valued around $10 in each order. Just some examples of the issues I will randomly include in packages:
Please take a look. Up to 8 imgur albums at this point to cover it all:
https://imgur.com/a/4Vs2PvN (Newly Listed Items)
https://imgur.com/a/Oq8vHnw
https://imgur.com/a/atKGE1G
https://imgur.com/a/eu9hXc9
https://imgur.com/a/CbVrE6w
https://imgur.com/a/3RtKPXR
https://imgur.com/a/rowfZD9
https://imgur.com/a/YfgSMEa
Inventory (new items since last post at the top in bold, scroll below list for details on each):
This iconic book is in good to great shape, see the photos for the details. Solidly attached and great colors.
Amazing Spider-Man #98 - 1971 - Non-Code Approved Drug Issue, Green Goblin cover: $66
Great condition. Some minor wear and ticks on the spine, but overall a great, beautiful, solid book.
Amazing Spider-Man #121 -1973 - Death of Gwen Stacy: $200
The cover is worn, has some holes but despite that the staples are attached,colors are good, and everything is attached and complete. The inside looks good, too. See photos for details.
Amazing Spider-Man #361 Newsstand - 1992 - First appearance of Carnage - Slice at top, $38
Here's a tragedy. This otherwise beautiful high grade major key book has a clean scissor cut at the top through the whole book. Included photos and closeups.
Journey into Mystery #125 - 1966 - Iconic cover and last Journey into Mystery before Thor title change: $49
Very good condition, has a small chip out of the bottom left cover but other than some cover wear it’s just a solid book with great colors.
Early Man-Thing lot: Astonishing Tales #13, Adventure into Fear #11-13: $80 (willing to split this lot up)
Third cover appearance of Man-Thing in awesome condition. The Fear 11-13 are in good condition, but a little more worn than the Astonishing.
Flash #113 - 1960 - First appearance and origin of the Trickster: $75
This one looks good until you realize it has tape up the spine holding the loose staples on. Included pictures of the staples and tape. It is complete and has good colors otherwise, but still low grade because of the tape/staple issue.
Werewolf by Night #8 - 1973 - Has Mark Jewelers insert included: $26
Is in great shape and includes a Mark Jewelers insert making this regular issue a little more rare.
Werewolf by Night #18 - 1974 - $22
Worn condition but great colors. See photos.
House of Secrets #91 - 1971 - Iconic Neal Adams cover: $32
Book is in great condition. There is some minor chipping on a portion of the bottom edge of the cover but other than the wear on the cover it is a beautiful book.
Amazing Adventures #13, #16 & #17 - $42
Good to great condition on these Beast issues, including the Juggernaut vs Beast cover. Bundle with Amazing Adventures #11 (first furred Beast) and I'll give you a great deal.
Invaders #31 - 1978 - Frankenstein is a Nazi. Come on: $17
In awesome condition. Also did I mention Captain America fights Nazi Frankenstein?
Action Comics #263 - 1960 - Last appearance of Bizarro world. End of Bizarro world not told. Not good deal.: $33
Cover has pen on it and is worn but interiors are good, complete and attached and colors are great.
Giant Size Chillers #1 - 1975 - John Romita art: $20
Not the more valuable 1974 with Drac but this is in awesome condition and still some great classic horror.
Daredevil #184 Newsstand - 1982 - Iconic cover: $22
In fantastic condition. Newsstand variant that has been very well kept.
Astonishing Tales featuring Dr. Doom & Kazar #1 - 1970 - First issue in series: $15
In great condition. Great colors and quality. Doctor Doom.
Detective Comics #355 and 2 copies of #375 - $25
Some classic old Batman. Good but a cleaning is needed on 355, two copies of 375 one clean and great condition one worn in but complete and attached.
Adult Comics / Crumb:
I know very little about these but did research on comps and to confirm first printing. All I know is there's a lot of nipples and bush to be had. See photos for condition.
Worn but complete. Attached at top staple, bottom staple detached.
Wolverine (1988) #1 - 1988 - Can’t have the 1982? Take this instead!: $65
Also in awesome condition. Very, very clean.
Amazing Spider-Man #29 - 1965 - SLAB CGC 4.5 - Second Scorpion: $140
Slabbed. See photos.
Amazing Spider-Man #40 - 1966 - Origin of the Green Goblin, Iconic Cover: $185
Looks great, clean, bright colors. Complete and solidly attached. See photos
Amazing Spider-Man #64- 1968 - Romita Spider-Man vs. Vulture Cover: $90
Great condition. Bright awesome colors.
Amazing Spider-Man #72 - 1969 - Shocker cover: $35
Is a bit worn and the centerfold is detached (see photos). But it is complete and still has good colors on the interior.
X-Men #221 - 1987 - First Appearance of Mister Sinister: $75
Awesome condition. Just a couple of minor spine ticks. Other than that, beautiful. See photos.
X-Men #4 - 1992 - First Appearance of Omega Red: $20
Awesome condition. Not even any spine ticks. See photos
Daredevil #157 (Newsstand) - 1979: $15
Awesome condition. No spine ticks, creases, color breaks or bends.
Daredevil #164 (Newsstand) - 1980 - Iconic Cover: $55
In awesome condition. Great colors on cover despite all the white. No spine ticks, creases, color breaks or bends.
Plastic Man #1 (#19 free with purchase) - 1966 - First appearance of Plastic Man (son of original): $41
Hole in cover, worn, needs a cleaning. But come on, it’s Plastic Man!
Detective Comics #259 - 1958 - First Appearance of Calendar Man: $175
Worn but expected for its age. Solid staples and fully attached. Great colors.
Batman Annual #14 - 1990 - Iconic Neal Adams Two-Face Cover, Origin of Two-Face: $15
Amazing condition, almost unused. See photos.
Detective Comics #324 (1964) and Batman #410 (1987) - $32
324 in good condition but could use a clean and press. Batman 410 is in awesome condition, but considering the prices of these I figured I’d just throw them together.
Amazing Adventures #11 - 1972 - First furry beast: $100
In awesome condition. Minor, tiny blemish (possibly a tape pull?) on the bottom of the A on cover. See photo, but very tiny blemish.
Incredible Hulk #105 - 1968 - First appearance of Missing Link, iconic cover: $45
In really good condition, with minor wear to the cover and some breaking on it. White interiors, solidly attached, great colors.
Incredible Hulk #179 - 1974: $15
In great condition.
Incredible Hulk #250 (Newsstand) - 1980 - Iconic Hulk vs. Silver Surfer cover: $38
Awesome condition. See photos.
Tales of Suspense #94 - 1967 - First appearance of M.O.D.O.K.: $50
In good condition, with a little edge wear and marks on the cover in places. Other than that it has bright clean pages and good colors.
Captain America #110 - 1969 - Rick Jones dons Bucky Costume, first appearance of Madame Hydra: $60
Iconic Jim Steranko cover and art. In OK condition, a bit worn, could definitely use a cleaning. See photos.
Flash #129 - 1962 - First team-up of golden age Flash and silver age Flash; first appearance of golden age Green Lantern and JSA in silver age: $95
Good condition! Very solid, great colors, complete and attached.
Flash #147 - 1964 - Second appearance of Professor Zoom: $95
Good condition! Very solid, great colors, complete and attached.
Aquaman #11 - 1963 - First appearance of Mera: $95
Worn condition but solid, complete and attached.
Mystery in Space #68 - 1961 - 10c Comic Goodness: $25
Cover is detached, but hey, it’s a 10c comic. Otherwise good colors and pages.
Strange Adventures #138 - 1962: $18
Good condition, good colors.
Golden and Silver Age Lot of 12- $85
Came into a lot of worn golden and silver books I know little about. Would like to offload them all together, so take a look at the album. Includes Little Lulu, Cheyenne Kid, the Flintstones, Tarzan, some other Gold Key and Dell stuff and an Adventures book from 1945. Did some research to get prices, take a look.
Tower of Shadows Annual #1 - 1971 - Romita cover and Neal Adams art: $25
Great condition. Good colors, solid book.
Dead of Night #1 - 1973 - Romita art: $35
Really great condition, with a minor color rub or stain or something (can’t tell what) to a spot on the bottom of the front cover and top of the back. Fantastic colors, white pages.
Tomb of Dracula #27 and #63 - $23
Non-key issues in great condition, just throwing together to move.
Sub-Mariner #15 and #31 - Silver Age Namor bundle: $22
Great colors and interiors. Fading on spine cover on #15, #31 in great condition, see photos.
Marvel Feature #1 - 1971 - Origin & First Defenders: $49
Has tape pull on cover, subscription crease color break (see photos)
Fantastic Four #150 - 1974 - Wedding of Crystal and Quicksilver: $25
In awesome condition. No spine ticks, creases, color breaks or bends.
Tales to Astonish #58 - 1964 - Silver age Giant Man: $19
Worn condition but complete and attached. See photos.
Marvel Team-Up Annual #2 - 1978 - Spider-Man & The Hulk team-up: $30
In awesome condition. No spine ticks, creases, color breaks or bends.
Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1 - 1987 - Death of First Hobgoblin: $19
Awesome condition. Pressable non-color breaking crease on back cover. See photos
submitted by Making_flowers to comicswap [link] [comments]
I’ve also taken on a lot of random fillers as I fill inventory, so I’ll be including a random comic valued around $10 in each order. Just some examples of the issues I will randomly include in packages:
- Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #4 (iconic Hulk cover)
- What If #37
- Our Army at War #238
- From Beyond the Unknown #13
- House of Secrets #109 (low grade)
Please take a look. Up to 8 imgur albums at this point to cover it all:
https://imgur.com/a/4Vs2PvN (Newly Listed Items)
https://imgur.com/a/Oq8vHnw
https://imgur.com/a/atKGE1G
https://imgur.com/a/eu9hXc9
https://imgur.com/a/CbVrE6w
https://imgur.com/a/3RtKPXR
https://imgur.com/a/rowfZD9
https://imgur.com/a/YfgSMEa
Inventory (new items since last post at the top in bold, scroll below list for details on each):
- Amazing Spider-Man #33 - $190
- Amazing Spider-Man #98 - $66
- Amazing Spider-Man #121 - $200
- Amazing Spider-Man #361 Newsstand (slice damage) - $38
- Journey into Mystery #125 - $49
- Early Man-Thing lot: Astonishing Tales #13, Adventure into Fear #11-13: $80 (willing to split this lot up)
- Flash #113 - $75
- Werewolf by Night #8 Mark Jewelers Insert - $26
- Werewolf by Night #18 - $22
- House of Secrets #91 - $32
- Amazing Adventures #13, #16 & #17 - $42
- Invaders #31 (Nazi Frankenstein) - $17
- Action Comics #263 - $33
- Giant Size Chillers #1 (1975 not 1974) - $20
- Daredevil #184 Newsstand - $22
- Astonishing Tales featuring Dr. Doom & Kazar #1 - $15
- Detective Comics #355 and 2 copies of #375 - $25
- Adult Comics / Crumb:
- Zap Comix #5 1st Printing - $15
- Big Ass Comics #2 1st Printing - $50
- Gasm, Feb 1978 issue - $19
- Green Lantern #59 - $125
- Wolverine (1988) #1 - $65
- Amazing Spider-Man #29 - $140
- Amazing Spider-Man #40 - $185
- Amazing Spider-Man #64 - $90
- Amazing Spider-Man #72 - $35
- X-Men #221 - $75
- X-Men #4 (1992) - $20
- Daredevil #157 - $15
- Daredevil #164 (Newsstand) - $55
- Plastic Man #1 (#19 free with purchase) - $41
- Detective Comics #259 - $175
- Batman Annual #14 - $15
- Detective Comics #324 and Batman #410 - $32
- Amazing Adventures #11 - $100
- Incredible Hulk #105 - $45
- Incredible Hulk #179 - $15
- Incredible Hulk #250 (Newsstand) - $38
- Tales of Suspense #94 - $50
- Captain America #110 - $60
- Flash #129 - $95
- Flash #147 - $95
- Aquaman #11 - $95
- Mystery in Space #68 - $25
- Strange Adventures #138 - $18
- Golden and Silver Age Lot of 12- $85
- Tower of Shadows Annual #1 - $25
- Dead of Night #1 - $35
- Tomb of Dracula #27 and #63 - $23
- Sub-Mariner #15 and #31 - $22
- Marvel Feature #1 - $49
- Fantastic Four #150 - $25
- Tales to Astonish #58 - $19
- Marvel Team-Up Annual #2 - $30
- Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1 - $19
This iconic book is in good to great shape, see the photos for the details. Solidly attached and great colors.
Amazing Spider-Man #98 - 1971 - Non-Code Approved Drug Issue, Green Goblin cover: $66
Great condition. Some minor wear and ticks on the spine, but overall a great, beautiful, solid book.
Amazing Spider-Man #121 -1973 - Death of Gwen Stacy: $200
The cover is worn, has some holes but despite that the staples are attached,colors are good, and everything is attached and complete. The inside looks good, too. See photos for details.
Amazing Spider-Man #361 Newsstand - 1992 - First appearance of Carnage - Slice at top, $38
Here's a tragedy. This otherwise beautiful high grade major key book has a clean scissor cut at the top through the whole book. Included photos and closeups.
Journey into Mystery #125 - 1966 - Iconic cover and last Journey into Mystery before Thor title change: $49
Very good condition, has a small chip out of the bottom left cover but other than some cover wear it’s just a solid book with great colors.
Early Man-Thing lot: Astonishing Tales #13, Adventure into Fear #11-13: $80 (willing to split this lot up)
Third cover appearance of Man-Thing in awesome condition. The Fear 11-13 are in good condition, but a little more worn than the Astonishing.
Flash #113 - 1960 - First appearance and origin of the Trickster: $75
This one looks good until you realize it has tape up the spine holding the loose staples on. Included pictures of the staples and tape. It is complete and has good colors otherwise, but still low grade because of the tape/staple issue.
Werewolf by Night #8 - 1973 - Has Mark Jewelers insert included: $26
Is in great shape and includes a Mark Jewelers insert making this regular issue a little more rare.
Werewolf by Night #18 - 1974 - $22
Worn condition but great colors. See photos.
House of Secrets #91 - 1971 - Iconic Neal Adams cover: $32
Book is in great condition. There is some minor chipping on a portion of the bottom edge of the cover but other than the wear on the cover it is a beautiful book.
Amazing Adventures #13, #16 & #17 - $42
Good to great condition on these Beast issues, including the Juggernaut vs Beast cover. Bundle with Amazing Adventures #11 (first furred Beast) and I'll give you a great deal.
Invaders #31 - 1978 - Frankenstein is a Nazi. Come on: $17
In awesome condition. Also did I mention Captain America fights Nazi Frankenstein?
Action Comics #263 - 1960 - Last appearance of Bizarro world. End of Bizarro world not told. Not good deal.: $33
Cover has pen on it and is worn but interiors are good, complete and attached and colors are great.
Giant Size Chillers #1 - 1975 - John Romita art: $20
Not the more valuable 1974 with Drac but this is in awesome condition and still some great classic horror.
Daredevil #184 Newsstand - 1982 - Iconic cover: $22
In fantastic condition. Newsstand variant that has been very well kept.
Astonishing Tales featuring Dr. Doom & Kazar #1 - 1970 - First issue in series: $15
In great condition. Great colors and quality. Doctor Doom.
Detective Comics #355 and 2 copies of #375 - $25
Some classic old Batman. Good but a cleaning is needed on 355, two copies of 375 one clean and great condition one worn in but complete and attached.
Adult Comics / Crumb:
I know very little about these but did research on comps and to confirm first printing. All I know is there's a lot of nipples and bush to be had. See photos for condition.
- Zap Comix #5 1st Printing - $15
- Big Ass Comics #2 1st Printing - $50
- Gasm, Feb 1978 issue - $19
Worn but complete. Attached at top staple, bottom staple detached.
Wolverine (1988) #1 - 1988 - Can’t have the 1982? Take this instead!: $65
Also in awesome condition. Very, very clean.
Amazing Spider-Man #29 - 1965 - SLAB CGC 4.5 - Second Scorpion: $140
Slabbed. See photos.
Amazing Spider-Man #40 - 1966 - Origin of the Green Goblin, Iconic Cover: $185
Looks great, clean, bright colors. Complete and solidly attached. See photos
Amazing Spider-Man #64- 1968 - Romita Spider-Man vs. Vulture Cover: $90
Great condition. Bright awesome colors.
Amazing Spider-Man #72 - 1969 - Shocker cover: $35
Is a bit worn and the centerfold is detached (see photos). But it is complete and still has good colors on the interior.
X-Men #221 - 1987 - First Appearance of Mister Sinister: $75
Awesome condition. Just a couple of minor spine ticks. Other than that, beautiful. See photos.
X-Men #4 - 1992 - First Appearance of Omega Red: $20
Awesome condition. Not even any spine ticks. See photos
Daredevil #157 (Newsstand) - 1979: $15
Awesome condition. No spine ticks, creases, color breaks or bends.
Daredevil #164 (Newsstand) - 1980 - Iconic Cover: $55
In awesome condition. Great colors on cover despite all the white. No spine ticks, creases, color breaks or bends.
Plastic Man #1 (#19 free with purchase) - 1966 - First appearance of Plastic Man (son of original): $41
Hole in cover, worn, needs a cleaning. But come on, it’s Plastic Man!
Detective Comics #259 - 1958 - First Appearance of Calendar Man: $175
Worn but expected for its age. Solid staples and fully attached. Great colors.
Batman Annual #14 - 1990 - Iconic Neal Adams Two-Face Cover, Origin of Two-Face: $15
Amazing condition, almost unused. See photos.
Detective Comics #324 (1964) and Batman #410 (1987) - $32
324 in good condition but could use a clean and press. Batman 410 is in awesome condition, but considering the prices of these I figured I’d just throw them together.
Amazing Adventures #11 - 1972 - First furry beast: $100
In awesome condition. Minor, tiny blemish (possibly a tape pull?) on the bottom of the A on cover. See photo, but very tiny blemish.
Incredible Hulk #105 - 1968 - First appearance of Missing Link, iconic cover: $45
In really good condition, with minor wear to the cover and some breaking on it. White interiors, solidly attached, great colors.
Incredible Hulk #179 - 1974: $15
In great condition.
Incredible Hulk #250 (Newsstand) - 1980 - Iconic Hulk vs. Silver Surfer cover: $38
Awesome condition. See photos.
Tales of Suspense #94 - 1967 - First appearance of M.O.D.O.K.: $50
In good condition, with a little edge wear and marks on the cover in places. Other than that it has bright clean pages and good colors.
Captain America #110 - 1969 - Rick Jones dons Bucky Costume, first appearance of Madame Hydra: $60
Iconic Jim Steranko cover and art. In OK condition, a bit worn, could definitely use a cleaning. See photos.
Flash #129 - 1962 - First team-up of golden age Flash and silver age Flash; first appearance of golden age Green Lantern and JSA in silver age: $95
Good condition! Very solid, great colors, complete and attached.
Flash #147 - 1964 - Second appearance of Professor Zoom: $95
Good condition! Very solid, great colors, complete and attached.
Aquaman #11 - 1963 - First appearance of Mera: $95
Worn condition but solid, complete and attached.
Mystery in Space #68 - 1961 - 10c Comic Goodness: $25
Cover is detached, but hey, it’s a 10c comic. Otherwise good colors and pages.
Strange Adventures #138 - 1962: $18
Good condition, good colors.
Golden and Silver Age Lot of 12- $85
Came into a lot of worn golden and silver books I know little about. Would like to offload them all together, so take a look at the album. Includes Little Lulu, Cheyenne Kid, the Flintstones, Tarzan, some other Gold Key and Dell stuff and an Adventures book from 1945. Did some research to get prices, take a look.
Tower of Shadows Annual #1 - 1971 - Romita cover and Neal Adams art: $25
Great condition. Good colors, solid book.
Dead of Night #1 - 1973 - Romita art: $35
Really great condition, with a minor color rub or stain or something (can’t tell what) to a spot on the bottom of the front cover and top of the back. Fantastic colors, white pages.
Tomb of Dracula #27 and #63 - $23
Non-key issues in great condition, just throwing together to move.
Sub-Mariner #15 and #31 - Silver Age Namor bundle: $22
Great colors and interiors. Fading on spine cover on #15, #31 in great condition, see photos.
Marvel Feature #1 - 1971 - Origin & First Defenders: $49
Has tape pull on cover, subscription crease color break (see photos)
Fantastic Four #150 - 1974 - Wedding of Crystal and Quicksilver: $25
In awesome condition. No spine ticks, creases, color breaks or bends.
Tales to Astonish #58 - 1964 - Silver age Giant Man: $19
Worn condition but complete and attached. See photos.
Marvel Team-Up Annual #2 - 1978 - Spider-Man & The Hulk team-up: $30
In awesome condition. No spine ticks, creases, color breaks or bends.
Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1 - 1987 - Death of First Hobgoblin: $19
Awesome condition. Pressable non-color breaking crease on back cover. See photos
2024.05.14 23:13 thepzt [WTS] Vortex Strike Eagle 1-6 OPMOD with mount
Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/9dDVAgF
More pics https://imgur.com/a/AGvu8hz
https://imgur.com/a/BzpypWW
Cosmetically salty, but good glass. With the matching mount. Has turret caps and throw lever. Fresh battery
$225
Will absolutely be willing to do bundles if you make reasonable offers. (If you make an obnoxious lowball, if you make me answer a bunch of questions like an askhole then ghost, if you fail to respond etc I will probably screenshot and put in comments and then block you)
All GAFS rules and etiquette apply. Call dibs in comments. I honor dibs in order and over PMs. You must also comment to PM. GAFS WITH ANYONE <10 FLAIR IS AT MY DISCRETION. Price is shipped/insured and paid by Paypal Friends, I’m willing to do some reasonable bundles and I will listen to your offers. For any trade, low flair ships first
submitted by thepzt to GunAccessoriesForSale [link] [comments]
More pics https://imgur.com/a/AGvu8hz
https://imgur.com/a/BzpypWW
Cosmetically salty, but good glass. With the matching mount. Has turret caps and throw lever. Fresh battery
$225
Will absolutely be willing to do bundles if you make reasonable offers. (If you make an obnoxious lowball, if you make me answer a bunch of questions like an askhole then ghost, if you fail to respond etc I will probably screenshot and put in comments and then block you)
All GAFS rules and etiquette apply. Call dibs in comments. I honor dibs in order and over PMs. You must also comment to PM. GAFS WITH ANYONE <10 FLAIR IS AT MY DISCRETION. Price is shipped/insured and paid by Paypal Friends, I’m willing to do some reasonable bundles and I will listen to your offers. For any trade, low flair ships first
2024.05.14 23:03 ahead-market GSM Q1 2024 Earnings: Mixed Results with Financial Challenges
GSM reported a slight revenue growth to $391.9M in Q1 2024, but faced a net loss of $2.0M, contrasting with analysts' expectations of a larger loss.
Segment Performance
Expectations: GSM's revenue of $391.9M exceeded the average analyst estimate of $343.45M for Q1 2024, showing a positive surprise in revenue. However, the net loss of $2.0M, though better than the estimated loss of $0.02 per share, indicates underlying profitability issues. The company's EPS of -$0.01 was better than the expected -$0.02, showing a slight positive earnings surprise.
submitted by ahead-market to ahead_market [link] [comments]
Key Metrics
| Revenue | $391.9M | 4% |
| Net Income | $-2.0M | |
| Earnings Per Share | $-0.01 | |
| Cash and Cash Equivalents | $159.8M |
- Silicon Metal (revenue - $167.8M, profit - $16.1M) - Revenue in line with prior quarter. Adjusted EBITDA decreased due to reduced energy compensation in France.
- Silicon-Based Alloys (revenue - $112.0M, profit - $14.4M, growth - 4.8%) - Revenue increased due to higher volumes in the U.S. Adjusted EBITDA decreased due to lower average realized price.
- Manganese-Based Alloys (revenue - $66.4M, profit - $5.5M, growth - 9.8%) - Revenue increased due to higher average realized selling price and increased total shipments. Adjusted EBITDA decreased due to reduced energy compensation in France.
- Posted adjusted EBITDA of $25.8 million for the first quarter of 2024
- Net cash positive for the first time in the Company’s history; all-time low gross debt of $81 million
- Initiated a quarterly cash dividend of $0.013 per share, paid on March 28, 2024; announcing a second quarter dividend of $0.013 per share, payable on June 27
- Board approved stock buyback program; shareholder vote to approve buyback scheduled for June 2024 AGM
- Successfully restarted French operations on April 1, 2024, with all furnaces running
- Applying for permit to expand silicon metal production in the U.S. to address strong secular trends in solar and EV batteries
- Signed a memorandum of understanding with Coreshell, followed by an investment post-quarter after strong test results in our lab
Expectations: GSM's revenue of $391.9M exceeded the average analyst estimate of $343.45M for Q1 2024, showing a positive surprise in revenue. However, the net loss of $2.0M, though better than the estimated loss of $0.02 per share, indicates underlying profitability issues. The company's EPS of -$0.01 was better than the expected -$0.02, showing a slight positive earnings surprise.
2024.05.14 23:02 buzzmayor 🌟 Unlock the Power of Liquid Logistics: Charter Our Tanker Vessels Today! 💧🚚
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submitted by buzzmayor to u/buzzmayor [link] [comments]
Unwavering commitment to quality, competitive pricing, and prompt delivery. 💰💰💰
We offer direct access to premium petroleum products sourced from refineries around the world, including:
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
🇮🇶 Iraq
🇷🇺 Russia
Our lucrative commission structures ensure that you benefit from every successful transaction. Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your earning potential in the dynamic world of petroleum trading.**Key Highlights:**
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2024.05.14 23:01 Reparteey The case for Rivian
You can make the case for weakened demand due to people who can afford EV's already having bought one and the sustained elevated interest rates hurting demand but there are a couple of factors that can affect the future stock price that are of varying degrees of likelihood of occurring but are positive catalysts for the stock.
take this information as you will and make your own financial decisions.
Positive Catalysts and likelihood of occurring
*Rivian has just completed their plant shutdown in order to streamline operations and promote productivity which should also impact profitability.
As this has already occurred the chance is 100% and unless they are complete idiots should in fact lead to greater productivity and in turn profitability aka less $ lost per vehicle, it remains to be seen how much impact this will have on operations
*Rivian has changed suppliers on certain things like sensors and cameras as they are doing a refresh on the current R1 lineup. Chances of occurring is 100% and based on what Wassym from Rivian has stated should lead to increased capability including self driving capability. May lead to increased demand.
*Rivian has access to the Tesla charging network and is currently in the proceess of sending out CCS to NACS adapters for free to current owners. Chance of occurring 100% as this has happened / is in progress. Some rivian owners have already bought their own adapters. This should solve the issue of the charging station woes and lead to reduced range anxiety for current and potential owners as road trips become basically a non issue. Just happened recently so should lead to increased demand going forward.
*EV tax credits are currently being looked at to be reworked in 2025 the details are still in flux, but as Rivians currently only qualify for $3750 tax credits to those who are under the income limits this is more likely to be a beneficial change to rivian than to hurt rivian. I'd say the chances of a rework to EV tax credit rules are 100% as the current EV tax credit rules are stupid and everyone knows it. The chance of it being beneficial to Rivian is currently unknown as they could increase the amount Rivian owners would qualify to receive or increase the amount of potential Rivian buyers who would be eligible. Worst case I could see no change for Rivian,
I dont see Rivian buyers less eligible or receiving less credit than they do now.
*Rivian becomes positive gross margin by Q4 on a per vehicle basis. This is what Rivian is pushing for and what they say they are striving for on their earning calls. For this to occur they would have to make great strides to profitability. Whether they meet their goal or just get close remains to be seen. I think this is both a potential positive catalyst if they meet this goal or get really close as it should greatly increase stock buyer sentiment. Conversely if they fall well short then this could be a very negative catalyst. its hard to assign a chance to this occurring with so many variables that could happen between here and there.
*Interest rates reducing. Interest rates haven't increased since July of 2023. As the rates have been sustained since then that may have weakened demand somewhat. However I believe it is more likely for interest rates to be reduced than to be increased further. If interest rates somehow increased I couldn't see how they could possibly sustain more than an additional .25 or .50 total increase from where they are now and even then I think those are unlikely. I think its more likely that interest rates are reduced at least .25 by the end of the year with further rate reductions likely in 2025. This should increase consumer sentiment toward both the stock and toward demand.
Can't predict the future but I think rate reductions or at least one by the end of the year is at least 65-70% likely in my opinion. The stock price at the time of the last rate hike was around a peak of $26-27 before dropping after that but staying around $17-23 til 2024.
*R2 model, if Rivian starts improving their financial situation and that they look like they will be able to stay in business to launch the more affordable R2 which there should be a robust preorder demand I think this will have a good impact on the stock price. They will probably release preorder numbers at some point this year and if they do that will probably help the stock price on their own. I would estimate that there are 60k-100K R2 Preorders and as that is a much more affordable price point the closer we get to the 2026 projected launch the better rivians stock price should be.
My positions: 170 Shares and 21x $20 calls for January 2025 with plans to add another $10k worth of a mix of calls at varying strikes and shares in the near future. If you do your research and decide to buy calls/puts dated out in 2025 or beyond make sure to check the bid/ask and put in a limit order so you aren't burned by large bid/ask gaps. I also own a Rivian Quad R1T
I would like to address the apple partnership speculation last. This is all rumor based and should be taken as such and not as factual in any capacity. As to what validity to it I wouldn't care to guess but there are many options in which a partnership of some sort would make sense and a lot of different options as to how that would take shape.
*Apple could simply lease/sell the research from Project Titan to Rivian for cheap as they spent a lot of money on it and Rivian was asked on the Quarter 1 24 call how they plan to be able to fund future development of their driver+ software (self driving).
Apple spent a lot of money on project titan and it would be a waste if none of that data was useful or ever used.
*The rumors of the apple rivian partnership was credited to an unnamed supplier in Asia. This could be relevant because if Rivian is purchasing or looking into purchasing Apple chips (to power self driving AI assistants) or anything like sensors of the same kind that apple used on its test cars for project titan, could make the rumor a bit more credible. If any information comes out supporting that Rivian is buying apple related hardware this could impact the stock price upward.
*maybe this could simply be a planned implementation of Carplay with the new upcoming version of Carplay being added to R1 and future R2 lineups. Given that no one is going to refuse to buy a Rivian if it introduces the completely 100% optional carplay and that Rivian has a real issue with the lack of software in its vehicles (I can't name another vehicle that doesn't have integrated text messaging) I could only see this only helping demand as there are plenty of soccer moms who wouldn't buy a car without carplay.
*could be a partnership to build apple branded R1/R2/R3 vehicles. Rivian vehicles look good and have a good interior quality thats better than what you would expect. I could see apple badging and functionality being added to a Rivian vehicle to be sold as the apple car.
They could even throw an apple chip in there to run the center screen and it could basically be an IPAD and run all the ipad apps to instantly compete with tesla on functionality and breadth of media/games etc.
Think of like how Ford had an Eddie Bauer edition of their Expedition vehicle years ago. Makes way more sense than apple starting their own car manufacturing and Rivian makes a whole lot of sense for Apple to partner with due to quality of the vehicle.
Note I dont believe the chances are anything but low for most of the speculation about Apple above, but if there was a major or even minor partnership with apple, expect the stock to take off.
Even without any of the apple things above taking place, I think if Q4 profitability happens the Rivian stock price could be above $20 again in 2025. While there are chances of negative catalysts taking place such as dilution so that Rivian can raise cash and other negative things that could occur so take care to make your own informed decisions do the research and dont risk more than you can afford to lose.
submitted by Reparteey to wallstreetbets [link] [comments]
take this information as you will and make your own financial decisions.
Positive Catalysts and likelihood of occurring
*Rivian has just completed their plant shutdown in order to streamline operations and promote productivity which should also impact profitability.
As this has already occurred the chance is 100% and unless they are complete idiots should in fact lead to greater productivity and in turn profitability aka less $ lost per vehicle, it remains to be seen how much impact this will have on operations
*Rivian has changed suppliers on certain things like sensors and cameras as they are doing a refresh on the current R1 lineup. Chances of occurring is 100% and based on what Wassym from Rivian has stated should lead to increased capability including self driving capability. May lead to increased demand.
*Rivian has access to the Tesla charging network and is currently in the proceess of sending out CCS to NACS adapters for free to current owners. Chance of occurring 100% as this has happened / is in progress. Some rivian owners have already bought their own adapters. This should solve the issue of the charging station woes and lead to reduced range anxiety for current and potential owners as road trips become basically a non issue. Just happened recently so should lead to increased demand going forward.
*EV tax credits are currently being looked at to be reworked in 2025 the details are still in flux, but as Rivians currently only qualify for $3750 tax credits to those who are under the income limits this is more likely to be a beneficial change to rivian than to hurt rivian. I'd say the chances of a rework to EV tax credit rules are 100% as the current EV tax credit rules are stupid and everyone knows it. The chance of it being beneficial to Rivian is currently unknown as they could increase the amount Rivian owners would qualify to receive or increase the amount of potential Rivian buyers who would be eligible. Worst case I could see no change for Rivian,
I dont see Rivian buyers less eligible or receiving less credit than they do now.
*Rivian becomes positive gross margin by Q4 on a per vehicle basis. This is what Rivian is pushing for and what they say they are striving for on their earning calls. For this to occur they would have to make great strides to profitability. Whether they meet their goal or just get close remains to be seen. I think this is both a potential positive catalyst if they meet this goal or get really close as it should greatly increase stock buyer sentiment. Conversely if they fall well short then this could be a very negative catalyst. its hard to assign a chance to this occurring with so many variables that could happen between here and there.
*Interest rates reducing. Interest rates haven't increased since July of 2023. As the rates have been sustained since then that may have weakened demand somewhat. However I believe it is more likely for interest rates to be reduced than to be increased further. If interest rates somehow increased I couldn't see how they could possibly sustain more than an additional .25 or .50 total increase from where they are now and even then I think those are unlikely. I think its more likely that interest rates are reduced at least .25 by the end of the year with further rate reductions likely in 2025. This should increase consumer sentiment toward both the stock and toward demand.
Can't predict the future but I think rate reductions or at least one by the end of the year is at least 65-70% likely in my opinion. The stock price at the time of the last rate hike was around a peak of $26-27 before dropping after that but staying around $17-23 til 2024.
*R2 model, if Rivian starts improving their financial situation and that they look like they will be able to stay in business to launch the more affordable R2 which there should be a robust preorder demand I think this will have a good impact on the stock price. They will probably release preorder numbers at some point this year and if they do that will probably help the stock price on their own. I would estimate that there are 60k-100K R2 Preorders and as that is a much more affordable price point the closer we get to the 2026 projected launch the better rivians stock price should be.
My positions: 170 Shares and 21x $20 calls for January 2025 with plans to add another $10k worth of a mix of calls at varying strikes and shares in the near future. If you do your research and decide to buy calls/puts dated out in 2025 or beyond make sure to check the bid/ask and put in a limit order so you aren't burned by large bid/ask gaps. I also own a Rivian Quad R1T
I would like to address the apple partnership speculation last. This is all rumor based and should be taken as such and not as factual in any capacity. As to what validity to it I wouldn't care to guess but there are many options in which a partnership of some sort would make sense and a lot of different options as to how that would take shape.
*Apple could simply lease/sell the research from Project Titan to Rivian for cheap as they spent a lot of money on it and Rivian was asked on the Quarter 1 24 call how they plan to be able to fund future development of their driver+ software (self driving).
Apple spent a lot of money on project titan and it would be a waste if none of that data was useful or ever used.
*The rumors of the apple rivian partnership was credited to an unnamed supplier in Asia. This could be relevant because if Rivian is purchasing or looking into purchasing Apple chips (to power self driving AI assistants) or anything like sensors of the same kind that apple used on its test cars for project titan, could make the rumor a bit more credible. If any information comes out supporting that Rivian is buying apple related hardware this could impact the stock price upward.
*maybe this could simply be a planned implementation of Carplay with the new upcoming version of Carplay being added to R1 and future R2 lineups. Given that no one is going to refuse to buy a Rivian if it introduces the completely 100% optional carplay and that Rivian has a real issue with the lack of software in its vehicles (I can't name another vehicle that doesn't have integrated text messaging) I could only see this only helping demand as there are plenty of soccer moms who wouldn't buy a car without carplay.
*could be a partnership to build apple branded R1/R2/R3 vehicles. Rivian vehicles look good and have a good interior quality thats better than what you would expect. I could see apple badging and functionality being added to a Rivian vehicle to be sold as the apple car.
They could even throw an apple chip in there to run the center screen and it could basically be an IPAD and run all the ipad apps to instantly compete with tesla on functionality and breadth of media/games etc.
Think of like how Ford had an Eddie Bauer edition of their Expedition vehicle years ago. Makes way more sense than apple starting their own car manufacturing and Rivian makes a whole lot of sense for Apple to partner with due to quality of the vehicle.
Note I dont believe the chances are anything but low for most of the speculation about Apple above, but if there was a major or even minor partnership with apple, expect the stock to take off.
Even without any of the apple things above taking place, I think if Q4 profitability happens the Rivian stock price could be above $20 again in 2025. While there are chances of negative catalysts taking place such as dilution so that Rivian can raise cash and other negative things that could occur so take care to make your own informed decisions do the research and dont risk more than you can afford to lose.
2024.05.14 22:59 akstee [CA-ON][H] Artisans (S-Craft, Archetype, BOB), Mode Sonnet Accents [W] PayPal
TIMESTAMP
Hi all. Selling everything shown in the timestamp. Prices in USD, no trades atm, I'll cover shipping in North America (but will split shipping outside NA). I want all of this gone so I'm open to offers but please nothing ridiculously low.
S-Craft Gengar - $80
Archetype Matilda Kolkrabba - $100
Archetype BFI M89 Kolk - $40
BOB GengaKoffing - $40 each or $100 for all 3
Sonnet Accents - $60 (selling as a pair, it's brushed copper and multicolour - both BNIB)
Thanks for looking :)
submitted by akstee to mechmarket [link] [comments]
Hi all. Selling everything shown in the timestamp. Prices in USD, no trades atm, I'll cover shipping in North America (but will split shipping outside NA). I want all of this gone so I'm open to offers but please nothing ridiculously low.
S-Craft Gengar - $80
Archetype Matilda Kolkrabba - $100
Archetype BFI M89 Kolk - $40
BOB GengaKoffing - $40 each or $100 for all 3
Sonnet Accents - $60 (selling as a pair, it's brushed copper and multicolour - both BNIB)
Thanks for looking :)
2024.05.14 22:57 Trevorlahey1 Trip Report - 13 days Panama
I wanted to give back a bit after receiving some great information from folks on this sub before a (very short notice and sparsely planned) solo trip to Panama in late April/early May of 2024. I'm subtitling this post "I did a lot in Panama so you don't (necessarily) have to". Truth be told, I started the trip with 4 nights and one in-country flight booked and built the rest of my itinerary on the fly. I definitely could have used an extra week or so before the trip to do some itinerary planning, deeper research on where I chose to stay, etc. but I really enjoyed most of the trip and would absolutely recommend Panama as a solo trip destination.
Rough pre-departure itinerary:
I was up early to get to David on Sunday morning, so I figured I'd just grab food and coffee at the airport lounge (mistake). It turns out the Copa flight to David departs from the "domestic" gate, which is a standalone area on the ground floor of the airport. There are no amenities, just a single vending machine, and you get bussed to the plane. Do not go early for a David flight, security was very easy and I ended up waiting in the small seating area for way too long. The flight was fine, but don't expect to access a lounge or coffee shop after security.
I got to David pretty early and hadn't done my research on transit, but knew there was public bus service to Boquete. I was trying to figure out how to get to the bus terminal when a taxi offered to drive me all the way to Boquete for $40 which seemed like a decent deal so I went for it. Boquete is pretty small, a little mountain town with a relaxed vibe. I spent quite a bit of time at the brewery which, if you know craft beer pretty well, wasn't the best on beer quality but had good live music and a fun atmosphere https://maps.app.goo.gl/EJFiRiwQsbJ89UPa9 . I worked from here a little bit too, definitely where I spent the most time. I got a delicious dinner at RetroGusto which was really reasonable https://maps.app.goo.gl/8gcU1GHqXrfbTCoX9 and a good lunch at Donde Giselle which was a little more expensive, but also delicious https://maps.app.goo.gl/uNsz1EqCDfnSpYfk8 . I did a coffee finca tour through Bambuda ($35) at Don Pepe. It was pretty cool, not a lot of walking but the guide was knowledgeable and we got to see the full operation in a small footprint. I bought one bag and was happy I did, they were 3 times the price in the airport on the way home. The Tres Cascadas (three waterfall) trail was a must, it does have a steep section that has ropes affixed to help but was otherwise a pretty straightforward trail. It did cost a few dollars to hike as it's on private property. I took a taxi there ($20) but took the bus back ($2.25). The bus comes by every 30-40 minutes and they generally wait a bit at the entrance to the trail from the road to see if people come down. We did end up picking up a whole bunch of kids leaving school, but it was pretty funny and we managed to fit everyone. I did do the Volcan Baru hike, which cost $18 for a taxi to the trailhead but was otherwise free. It is a grueling hike, it took a little over 5 hours for me to get to the top and I was not having fun. I was very lucky to encounter a couple who was dropped off at the same time at the trailhead and, while we did not hike together, we did take a few breaks together and it was nice to be within sight of their headlamps. It was COLD at the top and I was happy I had a light down jacket and a fleece. I did a good job of timing up my climb with the sunrise, only needing to wait at the top for maybe 30 minutes before the sun came up. You can go up in a jeep, and I was very lucky to beat the offroad vehicles up as they were very loud coming up the mountain. It did get pretty crowded at the top by the time all of the jeeps had emptied out and their clients climbed the last bit to the summit. The view was phenomenal, you can see both the Caribbean and the Pacific on a clear day and the sunrise was beautiful. It was a little annoying that the 6 of us who climbed it had to share with the 25 or so who rode up in cars, but worth it. One spot I wish I had visited, but it just didn't work out, was a wood fire pizza spot that came recommended by our coffee guide and by several travelers https://maps.app.goo.gl/T93KKqHxXoQ7AFhf6 . I got lucky at the Bambuda Castle as I booked a 3 bed room but had it to myself. It had a nice restaurant and common space within the castle itself that was a good working space and had a fantastic view. The food was pretty good, with a few vegetarian options and smoothies. It's a pretty decent walk from the center of town, and about $4-5 taxi ride from the Boquete center. If I went again, I would probably look to stay somewhere in the center of town but I don't regret giving the Castle a shot.
I traveled out of Boquete to Bocas del Toro the same day I did the Baru hike, leaving via shuttle at 1 PM ($37) which I arranged through Bambuda. I ended up using a discount QR code at Bambuda Castle to book their Bocas town Hostel for three nights. The shuttle was fine, but it's a quick trip through winding mountain roads so be prepared if you get carsick. A big bonus, that I would recommend you ask about, was that this shuttle did not go all the way to Almirante, but instead stopped at Chiriqui Grande and proceeded via small boat (lancha) from there. The longer boat trip was fantastic, much better than the long/boring road which runs the rest of the way. I got stopped right off the boat in by several people trying to sell tours and got one person's number for a potential $35 Cayo Zapatilla tour but didn't commit, choosing to get to Bambuda Bocas Town first and settle in before making decisions. While I wish I had spent some more time at either red frog beach or another island, with only 3 nights and having booked late my options were limited. For Bocas Town, Bambuda was great. The front desk folks were pretty helpful and the restaurant was good for breakfast (the vegetarian burrito option is better than the sandwich). The hostel deck goes right out to the lagoon, and it's always busy with people hanging out in the sun or jumping into the lagoon. It was a great spot to do some work over coffee and, frankly, I wish I had spent more time here or at the Bambuda Lodge. I ended up doing the Caya Zapatilla tour (highly recommend, if only for the stop at Caya Zapatilla) for $35 with the operator I met right off the boat. This included pick up and drop off from Bambuda, and they had a cooler that I threw a few Balboas of my own in for the trip. We did stop mid-way for lunch which was not included and was a little expensive. This was the only actual tour I did during my time there, I spent my other full day just kind of hanging out and went to Starfish Beach (not as nice as Caya Zapatilla, but worth an afternoon) with a group from the hostel. I also did salsa night at Selina (fun, but a bad instructor) and karaoke at Aqua Lounge (get there in time to get a round of the happy hour special, the screen is behind the stage so not ideal for karaoke but it's easy to get on the list). I did not do Filthy Friday, I ended up departing Bocas that day but I would have been on the fence about it anyway. I guess it's a "when in Bocas" thing, so I probably would have gone for it. I really wish I had spent another night in Bocas, I regretted not having another day out there as soon as I left. It turned out to be the best place on my trip to meet people, it's definitely a general party vibe, and actually the best place to get work done of the hostels I stayed at. I did dinner at Pier 19 which was pretty nice, if not a little expensive and probably not a good solo traveler vibe https://maps.app.goo.gl/6vJG1rdUPCqEf9W3A . I did brunch one day away from Bambuda at Casa Papaya, their typical Panamanian breakfast and it was a great deal/meal https://maps.app.goo.gl/9CPFCxu6woWwKuwM7 . I did hear from some people that the bird island was a fun tour, and worth the day/cost. I did some bonus late night, unofficial stuff like swimming after midnight at Selina and an impromptu midnight trip out to see the bioluminescence and the stars with a random lancha taxi from the Selina dock. Not sure how I'd direct someone to arrange that, but say yes if it's an option.
I took off from Bocas via shuttle for the Lost and Found Hostel on Friday around noon ($20) which I arranged at the main lancha dock. This shuttle did not include a boat all the way to Chiriqui Grande, it was the short boat with the long road segment. A few people did get car sick during the first leg of the trip, the road is in pretty rough shape so lots of speeding up, slowing down, and swerving potholes. Lost and Found really caught my eye because of how much I enjoyed Secret Garden Cotopaxi in Ecuador. In the end, it didn't live up to that lofty expectation and I should not have squeezed it in. The allure is that it's isolated in the jungle, you have to walk about 15 minutes up the trail from the road to reach the hostel property. There are several buildings, with one primary common area with a few tables and hammocks. A big downside is that everything is outdoors, under cover of roofs but open still, which wasn't ideal in the evening during the season I went where it rained in the afternoons. There is a community kitchen if you bring your own food along, or there is an option to get breakfast/lunch/dinner from the hostel. I had a few meals there: the smoothie bowl was good, the lentil curry was a little on the salty side. The hiking is pretty cool and I ended up going up over the mountain to the big tree, the lookout, and the river. I didn't bring water, but definitely should have brought a liter along. In the end, with only about half a dozen other people staying there and 2/3 of the staff being pretty insular and not really socializing with the guests, it just wasn't a great addition to my trip. It might be a better option for a group or during a different season, but it provided a logistical challenge to make my flight back from David to Panama City and it wasn't really worth the risk of making it work, so I hired a car ($30) to take me to David and just ate the price of my second night at Lost and Found. It was beautiful, but it just wasn't on the same level as Secret Garden Cotopaxi which inspired me to give this a shot. I think, all in, my stop at Lost and Found cost me about $76.
The combination of having scheduled a flight on election day (oops) and the lack of help from lost and found staff meant that my best bet was a night in David. I used Hilton points to book a night at the Hampton and had myself a recovery night. I got a hot and ready pizza from the Little Caesar's next door and two Sam Adam's Boston Lagers from the bar. Fantastic recovery night, vey nice Hampton, and a pretty nice little breakfast. It refreshed me at a point where I was not really enjoying the trip and pushed me to go for one more stop rather than laying low in Panama City.
After my flight back to Panama City, I took the metro all the way to the Avenida Terminal (less than $1 total, it is very easy to purchase a card and load it at the station) to grab the bus to Valle de Anton. It was fairly easy to find the window to buy the bus ticket ($4.25). It's important to buy for El Valle and not just Anton, a town which is not where you want to end up. There was a confusing bit of business related to a transit card (not the same transit card as the metro. I couldn't seem to find a machine to buy one from, and eventually the guy at the turnstile took pity and just used his own to let me in. I paid him back, but it was very confusing that you needed to buy the ticket then a card with which to pay an additional 10 cents to get to the bus at Gate 53. I can't really offer advice other than you should try to figure out how to get this card, or if you can just pay with a dime, right when you buy your ticket. I let the bus (not a very big bus, somewhere between a van and a bus) driver know where I was headed on the way and they dropped me right at Bohdi in Valle de Anton. The whole trip is about 3 hours, with lots of local stops the whole way. Bohdi was a pretty cool spot, with a great yoga space with a guided lesson on a TV every morning. It has a kitchen if you want to cook for yourself and free coffee plus breakfast every day from 7:30-10:00. Both breakfasts were pancakes, but it was free and they were pretty good. There are some cool lounge spots out back, a few cafe tables out front, and a loft space as well. It was a decent, but not perfect spot, to do work if that's what you're looking for. The dorm does have 3 levels of beds, and they aren't all that comfy, but I'd recommend Bohdi. The first night I was in town I went to the Golden Frog Inn on a recommendation and it turned out to be a great spot to watch the sunset and have some pretty good (although a small) vegetarian tacos https://maps.app.goo.gl/pzRuyYuwHZvMVnAo8 . One afternoon I chose to do the India Dormida hike, I left and walked all the way back to Bohdi, it was a few hours total. It's a quick climb up to the top and you can walk the whole ridge that forms the edge of the caldera. It was a beautiful view and you can really see the old crater rim formations from the top. It's clear up there, no trees and wide open, and the breeze was very refreshing. I ended up coming down about halfway across the ridge, starting from the north. I grabbed a vegetarian dinner at El Rincon Colombiano which I'd recommend https://maps.app.goo.gl/tRcAAnAm9fYni7Nv8 and some guacamole and a beer at La Ranita which was pretty good https://maps.app.goo.gl/BcdB8uCqaSRv1RyE8 . Overall, I really liked Valle de Anton and I'm happy I made it happen. It's a little drier and warmer than Boquete, with a lot less coffee influence, but I liked the vibe and wish I had done more hiking around the area.
For my last evening in Panama, I grabbed a room just to have a place to put bags and clean up before my flight at Hotel Caracas, a recommendation from someone I met in my first stop in Casco Viejo. I did not plan to work from here, nor did I spend a night, but for $35 it was a perfect spot to leave things as I went to knock out a few more items before my flight home. I popped into Tantalo for a quick bite to eat https://maps.app.goo.gl/9pA9Dmw8AE9doabT7 which I don't know if I'd recommend for food, but the view was good. I think I meant to go to CasaCasco, which was recommended for ceviche and sushi, but ended up in the wrong spot. I then went over to Element to get some cocktails https://maps.app.goo.gl/mwYt2D7X43ua4jGu6 . Element has an interesting vibe, kind of a steampunk theme to the décor. The two guys behind the bar, who I believe own it, were fantastic. They don't have a set menu but instead try to match a drink to what you're feeling at the time. I had a classic daquiri and an old fashioned, which both came with a little bit of a twist on the classic recipe. They also pulled down a few different spirits which we tasted together, overall I'd highly recommend a stop and it was especially fun as the only patron there. After two cocktails, I cleaned up and called an Uber and headed to the airport. Just a heads up, the Copa Club is pretty nice, has limited food, but tragically closes at 9 PM. I had a flight that left at nearly 11 PM, so this was a little disappointing.
Overall, I loved Panama. The people were friendly, even if the service in many places was pretty lackluster. It's more expensive than Colombia or Ecuador, but several people told me it's slightly cheaper than Costa Rica. It's a good stop if you're not sure about central or south America as it's extremely safe, if you use common sense, and it's not too hard to get around using shuttles/taxis/ubers if you don't want to brave public transit. It offers very good food options in Panama City, and it's easy to find a Hampton Inn/Hooters/McDonald's/Little Caesar's/Wendy's if you need a break from being adventurous. The Spanish isn't difficult, and most people speak at least some English. I would have dropped lost and found hostel from my itinerary if I planned it again, but did not regret any of the other stops. I do kind of wish I had focused on Bocas and Boquete, saving Valle de Anton and maybe San Blas together for a future trip, but I had already painted myself into a bit of a corner with my David-Panama flights by the time I realized this. I hope this helps someone as they plan their Panama trip, or helps them decide Panama is a worthwhile visit! Please do not make as many changes as I did, I absolutely did at least one to many stops and wish I had spent more time in Bocas and probably Valle de Anton. Anyway, feel free to ask questions in the comments and I'll try to address them as they come in!
Final Itinerary:
submitted by Trevorlahey1 to solotravel [link] [comments]
Rough pre-departure itinerary:
- Panama City: Arrive at about 2 PM on a Thursday, stay three nights at Selina Casco Viejo, depart at 8 AM on Sunday via plane to David (Copa Airlines)
- Boquete: Arrive at about noon Sunday (after transit to town from airport), stay two nights at the Bambuda Castle
- Bocas for unknown amount of time/other stuff in the west off the country
- Return to Panama City from David via plane (Copa) Sunday Morning
- Return to USA on a redeye flight Tuesday night
I was up early to get to David on Sunday morning, so I figured I'd just grab food and coffee at the airport lounge (mistake). It turns out the Copa flight to David departs from the "domestic" gate, which is a standalone area on the ground floor of the airport. There are no amenities, just a single vending machine, and you get bussed to the plane. Do not go early for a David flight, security was very easy and I ended up waiting in the small seating area for way too long. The flight was fine, but don't expect to access a lounge or coffee shop after security.
I got to David pretty early and hadn't done my research on transit, but knew there was public bus service to Boquete. I was trying to figure out how to get to the bus terminal when a taxi offered to drive me all the way to Boquete for $40 which seemed like a decent deal so I went for it. Boquete is pretty small, a little mountain town with a relaxed vibe. I spent quite a bit of time at the brewery which, if you know craft beer pretty well, wasn't the best on beer quality but had good live music and a fun atmosphere https://maps.app.goo.gl/EJFiRiwQsbJ89UPa9 . I worked from here a little bit too, definitely where I spent the most time. I got a delicious dinner at RetroGusto which was really reasonable https://maps.app.goo.gl/8gcU1GHqXrfbTCoX9 and a good lunch at Donde Giselle which was a little more expensive, but also delicious https://maps.app.goo.gl/uNsz1EqCDfnSpYfk8 . I did a coffee finca tour through Bambuda ($35) at Don Pepe. It was pretty cool, not a lot of walking but the guide was knowledgeable and we got to see the full operation in a small footprint. I bought one bag and was happy I did, they were 3 times the price in the airport on the way home. The Tres Cascadas (three waterfall) trail was a must, it does have a steep section that has ropes affixed to help but was otherwise a pretty straightforward trail. It did cost a few dollars to hike as it's on private property. I took a taxi there ($20) but took the bus back ($2.25). The bus comes by every 30-40 minutes and they generally wait a bit at the entrance to the trail from the road to see if people come down. We did end up picking up a whole bunch of kids leaving school, but it was pretty funny and we managed to fit everyone. I did do the Volcan Baru hike, which cost $18 for a taxi to the trailhead but was otherwise free. It is a grueling hike, it took a little over 5 hours for me to get to the top and I was not having fun. I was very lucky to encounter a couple who was dropped off at the same time at the trailhead and, while we did not hike together, we did take a few breaks together and it was nice to be within sight of their headlamps. It was COLD at the top and I was happy I had a light down jacket and a fleece. I did a good job of timing up my climb with the sunrise, only needing to wait at the top for maybe 30 minutes before the sun came up. You can go up in a jeep, and I was very lucky to beat the offroad vehicles up as they were very loud coming up the mountain. It did get pretty crowded at the top by the time all of the jeeps had emptied out and their clients climbed the last bit to the summit. The view was phenomenal, you can see both the Caribbean and the Pacific on a clear day and the sunrise was beautiful. It was a little annoying that the 6 of us who climbed it had to share with the 25 or so who rode up in cars, but worth it. One spot I wish I had visited, but it just didn't work out, was a wood fire pizza spot that came recommended by our coffee guide and by several travelers https://maps.app.goo.gl/T93KKqHxXoQ7AFhf6 . I got lucky at the Bambuda Castle as I booked a 3 bed room but had it to myself. It had a nice restaurant and common space within the castle itself that was a good working space and had a fantastic view. The food was pretty good, with a few vegetarian options and smoothies. It's a pretty decent walk from the center of town, and about $4-5 taxi ride from the Boquete center. If I went again, I would probably look to stay somewhere in the center of town but I don't regret giving the Castle a shot.
I traveled out of Boquete to Bocas del Toro the same day I did the Baru hike, leaving via shuttle at 1 PM ($37) which I arranged through Bambuda. I ended up using a discount QR code at Bambuda Castle to book their Bocas town Hostel for three nights. The shuttle was fine, but it's a quick trip through winding mountain roads so be prepared if you get carsick. A big bonus, that I would recommend you ask about, was that this shuttle did not go all the way to Almirante, but instead stopped at Chiriqui Grande and proceeded via small boat (lancha) from there. The longer boat trip was fantastic, much better than the long/boring road which runs the rest of the way. I got stopped right off the boat in by several people trying to sell tours and got one person's number for a potential $35 Cayo Zapatilla tour but didn't commit, choosing to get to Bambuda Bocas Town first and settle in before making decisions. While I wish I had spent some more time at either red frog beach or another island, with only 3 nights and having booked late my options were limited. For Bocas Town, Bambuda was great. The front desk folks were pretty helpful and the restaurant was good for breakfast (the vegetarian burrito option is better than the sandwich). The hostel deck goes right out to the lagoon, and it's always busy with people hanging out in the sun or jumping into the lagoon. It was a great spot to do some work over coffee and, frankly, I wish I had spent more time here or at the Bambuda Lodge. I ended up doing the Caya Zapatilla tour (highly recommend, if only for the stop at Caya Zapatilla) for $35 with the operator I met right off the boat. This included pick up and drop off from Bambuda, and they had a cooler that I threw a few Balboas of my own in for the trip. We did stop mid-way for lunch which was not included and was a little expensive. This was the only actual tour I did during my time there, I spent my other full day just kind of hanging out and went to Starfish Beach (not as nice as Caya Zapatilla, but worth an afternoon) with a group from the hostel. I also did salsa night at Selina (fun, but a bad instructor) and karaoke at Aqua Lounge (get there in time to get a round of the happy hour special, the screen is behind the stage so not ideal for karaoke but it's easy to get on the list). I did not do Filthy Friday, I ended up departing Bocas that day but I would have been on the fence about it anyway. I guess it's a "when in Bocas" thing, so I probably would have gone for it. I really wish I had spent another night in Bocas, I regretted not having another day out there as soon as I left. It turned out to be the best place on my trip to meet people, it's definitely a general party vibe, and actually the best place to get work done of the hostels I stayed at. I did dinner at Pier 19 which was pretty nice, if not a little expensive and probably not a good solo traveler vibe https://maps.app.goo.gl/6vJG1rdUPCqEf9W3A . I did brunch one day away from Bambuda at Casa Papaya, their typical Panamanian breakfast and it was a great deal/meal https://maps.app.goo.gl/9CPFCxu6woWwKuwM7 . I did hear from some people that the bird island was a fun tour, and worth the day/cost. I did some bonus late night, unofficial stuff like swimming after midnight at Selina and an impromptu midnight trip out to see the bioluminescence and the stars with a random lancha taxi from the Selina dock. Not sure how I'd direct someone to arrange that, but say yes if it's an option.
I took off from Bocas via shuttle for the Lost and Found Hostel on Friday around noon ($20) which I arranged at the main lancha dock. This shuttle did not include a boat all the way to Chiriqui Grande, it was the short boat with the long road segment. A few people did get car sick during the first leg of the trip, the road is in pretty rough shape so lots of speeding up, slowing down, and swerving potholes. Lost and Found really caught my eye because of how much I enjoyed Secret Garden Cotopaxi in Ecuador. In the end, it didn't live up to that lofty expectation and I should not have squeezed it in. The allure is that it's isolated in the jungle, you have to walk about 15 minutes up the trail from the road to reach the hostel property. There are several buildings, with one primary common area with a few tables and hammocks. A big downside is that everything is outdoors, under cover of roofs but open still, which wasn't ideal in the evening during the season I went where it rained in the afternoons. There is a community kitchen if you bring your own food along, or there is an option to get breakfast/lunch/dinner from the hostel. I had a few meals there: the smoothie bowl was good, the lentil curry was a little on the salty side. The hiking is pretty cool and I ended up going up over the mountain to the big tree, the lookout, and the river. I didn't bring water, but definitely should have brought a liter along. In the end, with only about half a dozen other people staying there and 2/3 of the staff being pretty insular and not really socializing with the guests, it just wasn't a great addition to my trip. It might be a better option for a group or during a different season, but it provided a logistical challenge to make my flight back from David to Panama City and it wasn't really worth the risk of making it work, so I hired a car ($30) to take me to David and just ate the price of my second night at Lost and Found. It was beautiful, but it just wasn't on the same level as Secret Garden Cotopaxi which inspired me to give this a shot. I think, all in, my stop at Lost and Found cost me about $76.
The combination of having scheduled a flight on election day (oops) and the lack of help from lost and found staff meant that my best bet was a night in David. I used Hilton points to book a night at the Hampton and had myself a recovery night. I got a hot and ready pizza from the Little Caesar's next door and two Sam Adam's Boston Lagers from the bar. Fantastic recovery night, vey nice Hampton, and a pretty nice little breakfast. It refreshed me at a point where I was not really enjoying the trip and pushed me to go for one more stop rather than laying low in Panama City.
After my flight back to Panama City, I took the metro all the way to the Avenida Terminal (less than $1 total, it is very easy to purchase a card and load it at the station) to grab the bus to Valle de Anton. It was fairly easy to find the window to buy the bus ticket ($4.25). It's important to buy for El Valle and not just Anton, a town which is not where you want to end up. There was a confusing bit of business related to a transit card (not the same transit card as the metro. I couldn't seem to find a machine to buy one from, and eventually the guy at the turnstile took pity and just used his own to let me in. I paid him back, but it was very confusing that you needed to buy the ticket then a card with which to pay an additional 10 cents to get to the bus at Gate 53. I can't really offer advice other than you should try to figure out how to get this card, or if you can just pay with a dime, right when you buy your ticket. I let the bus (not a very big bus, somewhere between a van and a bus) driver know where I was headed on the way and they dropped me right at Bohdi in Valle de Anton. The whole trip is about 3 hours, with lots of local stops the whole way. Bohdi was a pretty cool spot, with a great yoga space with a guided lesson on a TV every morning. It has a kitchen if you want to cook for yourself and free coffee plus breakfast every day from 7:30-10:00. Both breakfasts were pancakes, but it was free and they were pretty good. There are some cool lounge spots out back, a few cafe tables out front, and a loft space as well. It was a decent, but not perfect spot, to do work if that's what you're looking for. The dorm does have 3 levels of beds, and they aren't all that comfy, but I'd recommend Bohdi. The first night I was in town I went to the Golden Frog Inn on a recommendation and it turned out to be a great spot to watch the sunset and have some pretty good (although a small) vegetarian tacos https://maps.app.goo.gl/pzRuyYuwHZvMVnAo8 . One afternoon I chose to do the India Dormida hike, I left and walked all the way back to Bohdi, it was a few hours total. It's a quick climb up to the top and you can walk the whole ridge that forms the edge of the caldera. It was a beautiful view and you can really see the old crater rim formations from the top. It's clear up there, no trees and wide open, and the breeze was very refreshing. I ended up coming down about halfway across the ridge, starting from the north. I grabbed a vegetarian dinner at El Rincon Colombiano which I'd recommend https://maps.app.goo.gl/tRcAAnAm9fYni7Nv8 and some guacamole and a beer at La Ranita which was pretty good https://maps.app.goo.gl/BcdB8uCqaSRv1RyE8 . Overall, I really liked Valle de Anton and I'm happy I made it happen. It's a little drier and warmer than Boquete, with a lot less coffee influence, but I liked the vibe and wish I had done more hiking around the area.
For my last evening in Panama, I grabbed a room just to have a place to put bags and clean up before my flight at Hotel Caracas, a recommendation from someone I met in my first stop in Casco Viejo. I did not plan to work from here, nor did I spend a night, but for $35 it was a perfect spot to leave things as I went to knock out a few more items before my flight home. I popped into Tantalo for a quick bite to eat https://maps.app.goo.gl/9pA9Dmw8AE9doabT7 which I don't know if I'd recommend for food, but the view was good. I think I meant to go to CasaCasco, which was recommended for ceviche and sushi, but ended up in the wrong spot. I then went over to Element to get some cocktails https://maps.app.goo.gl/mwYt2D7X43ua4jGu6 . Element has an interesting vibe, kind of a steampunk theme to the décor. The two guys behind the bar, who I believe own it, were fantastic. They don't have a set menu but instead try to match a drink to what you're feeling at the time. I had a classic daquiri and an old fashioned, which both came with a little bit of a twist on the classic recipe. They also pulled down a few different spirits which we tasted together, overall I'd highly recommend a stop and it was especially fun as the only patron there. After two cocktails, I cleaned up and called an Uber and headed to the airport. Just a heads up, the Copa Club is pretty nice, has limited food, but tragically closes at 9 PM. I had a flight that left at nearly 11 PM, so this was a little disappointing.
Overall, I loved Panama. The people were friendly, even if the service in many places was pretty lackluster. It's more expensive than Colombia or Ecuador, but several people told me it's slightly cheaper than Costa Rica. It's a good stop if you're not sure about central or south America as it's extremely safe, if you use common sense, and it's not too hard to get around using shuttles/taxis/ubers if you don't want to brave public transit. It offers very good food options in Panama City, and it's easy to find a Hampton Inn/Hooters/McDonald's/Little Caesar's/Wendy's if you need a break from being adventurous. The Spanish isn't difficult, and most people speak at least some English. I would have dropped lost and found hostel from my itinerary if I planned it again, but did not regret any of the other stops. I do kind of wish I had focused on Bocas and Boquete, saving Valle de Anton and maybe San Blas together for a future trip, but I had already painted myself into a bit of a corner with my David-Panama flights by the time I realized this. I hope this helps someone as they plan their Panama trip, or helps them decide Panama is a worthwhile visit! Please do not make as many changes as I did, I absolutely did at least one to many stops and wish I had spent more time in Bocas and probably Valle de Anton. Anyway, feel free to ask questions in the comments and I'll try to address them as they come in!
Final Itinerary:
- 3 nights at Selina Casco Viejo (meh, not recommended)
- 2 nights at Bambuda Castle Boquete
- 3 nights at Bambuda Bocas Town (recommend)
- 1 night at Lost & Found Hostel (not my jam, would not do again)
- 1 night at Hampton Inn David (saved my trip, loved it, would recommend)
- 2 nights at Bohdi Valle de Anton (solid, would recommend)
- 1 kind of night at Hotel Caracas (did exactly what I needed)
2024.05.14 22:57 Beginning-Weight9076 Housing prices / cash offers
Can someone explain to me like I’m 5 what this is about. I’m talking about this experience we keep hearing about where people are offering asking price and being outbid (by a lot) and often with cash. And given listing prices are significantly higher than 5 years ago. It seems like no one can afford to buy a house, yet 3-4 years into this phenomenon, there’s still people to buy houses before they even get to an Open House. And I know this to be true even in (a lot of) low COL areas, relatively speaking.
During COVID, the reasons seemed to track. Now, it seems like people’s reasons as to why either over simplify or over complicate the matter. I’m wondering if anyone has a global, 50,000 viewpoint as to the variables driving the bus.
For context, I’m asking this is a very
submitted by Beginning-Weight9076 to SameGrassButGreener [link] [comments]
During COVID, the reasons seemed to track. Now, it seems like people’s reasons as to why either over simplify or over complicate the matter. I’m wondering if anyone has a global, 50,000 viewpoint as to the variables driving the bus.
For context, I’m asking this is a very
2024.05.14 22:57 Broad_Athlete_3181 Should I move to Gramercy or Kips Bay?
24M w/ partner and 2 cats. We are deciding between 23rd & 3rd or 20th & 3rd. Same amenities same price at each place.
23rd & 3rd: Has 1.5 bathrooms 2 floors (loft) No explicit rooms Amazing view (empire and Chrysler building) Has a dishwasher, but no exhaust fan Has low ceilings and linoleum floors
20th & 3rd: Has 1 bathroom One floor Has explicit rooms No good view, but access to Gramercy park No dishwasher, but has an exhaust fan Has regular ceilings and hardwood floors
Which should we choose and why? They are the same distance from both our jobs. But we are split, and can’t agree on which one.
submitted by Broad_Athlete_3181 to AskNYC [link] [comments]
23rd & 3rd: Has 1.5 bathrooms 2 floors (loft) No explicit rooms Amazing view (empire and Chrysler building) Has a dishwasher, but no exhaust fan Has low ceilings and linoleum floors
20th & 3rd: Has 1 bathroom One floor Has explicit rooms No good view, but access to Gramercy park No dishwasher, but has an exhaust fan Has regular ceilings and hardwood floors
Which should we choose and why? They are the same distance from both our jobs. But we are split, and can’t agree on which one.
2024.05.14 22:55 Soninetz Softr vs. Retool: Unveiling Key Differences
 | Did you know that 61% of businesses struggle to choose between Softr and Retool for their development needs among web applications and mobile apps? Both platforms offer unique features and benefits, making the decision a tough one. In this post, we delve into a detailed comparison of Softr vs. Retool, highlighting key differences in functionality, pricing, customization options, and user-friendliness. By the end, you'll have a clear understanding of which platform aligns best with your business requirements. submitted by Soninetz to NutraVestaProVen [link] [comments] Useful Links: Key Takeaways
Key Differences Between Softr and RetoolEase of UseSoftr offers a user-friendly interface, making it ideal for non-technical users. On the other hand, Retool requires some coding knowledge, catering more to developers who work with software and code platforms.https://preview.redd.it/8xugzkhlgg0d1.png?width=784&format=png&auto=webp&s=6be16d88ba60b62e5c1cc536bf61c168250c3230 Say goodbye to complex coding – build apps effortlessly! 💡 Experience Softr with a free trial! Pricing Disparities
Design Flexibility and CustomizationCreating custom designs is simpler on Softr, with its drag-and-drop features allowing for quick changes. In contrast, while Retool provides powerful customization options, they might require more technical expertise to implement effectively.Pros and Cons AnalysisSpeedSoftr stands out for its speed in creating websites and web applications. Users can swiftly develop functional sites without extensive coding knowledge, saving time and keeping the code low.CustomizationThe platform offers a range of flexibility in design elements, allowing users to customize their sites according to their preferences. This ensures a professional plan look without compromising on unique branding.Integration Capabilitiestr seamlessly integrates with popular services like Airtable and Stripe, enhancing the platform's capabilities. Users can easily incorporate data from Airtable or enable payments through Stripe, making it easier to code, build interactive websites.Best Use Cases HighlightedSoftrSoftr excels in creating portals and internal tools. It is a versatile platform that empowers businesses to develop custom web applications by writing code. With its intuitive interface, Softr streamlines the process of building sophisticated software applications by writing code. This makes it an ideal choice for companies looking to enhance their internal operations efficiently.RetoolOn the other hand, Retool focuses on developing internal-facing apps. It is specifically designed to cater to businesses seeking to optimize their internal processes and workflows. Retool's strength lies in its ability to rapidly build functional and user-friendly applications tailored for internal use.Useful Links: Catering to Diverse NeedsSoftr stands out by catering to both internal and external app needs. Whether a business requires an internal tool for improving operational efficiency or an external-facing application to engage customers, Softr offers a comprehensive solution. Its adaptability and ease of use make it a valuable asset for businesses looking to create a wide range of software applications.Pricing OverviewSoftr Pricingtr offers a diverse range of pricing options, starting from $0 for the free plan with limited features. The paid plans begin at $23 per month, providing more advanced functionalities for users. At the top end, the most expensive plan costs $323 per month, catering to businesses needing extensive capabilities.Non-Profit DiscountsFor non-profits, Softr extends discounted pricing options to support their initiatives. This feature sets Softr apart in terms of flexibility and supporting social causes compared to Retool's pricing strategy.Retool ScalabilityRetool's pricing model allows for significant scalability, accommodating businesses with varying needs. With plans reaching up to $155,000 per month, Retool provides a robust platform suitable for large enterprises requiring extensive resources and capabilities.User Feedback InsightsTestimonialsUsers have consistently praised Softr's platform for its remarkable speed and flexibility. They appreciate how quickly they can customize their sites without any technical hassle.Data IntegrationCustomers also highlight Softr's exceptional data integration capabilities, allowing seamless incorporation of various tools and platforms. The intuitive interface simplifies the process for both novice and technical users.Setup and Customer ServiceMany users express their satisfaction with Softr's setup process, emphasizing the platform's user-friendly nature. Moreover, the prompt and efficient customer service support has been a standout feature for many customers.Final RemarksNow that you have a clear picture of the disparities between Softr and Retool, as well as their respective advantages and drawbacks, you can confidently determine which platform aligns best with your specific needs. By considering the highlighted use cases, pricing structures, and user feedback insights, you are better equipped to make an informed decision tailored to your requirements. Remember to prioritize what matters most to you and your project goals when selecting the ideal tool for your workflow.Make sure to delve deeper into each platform's features and functionalities to gain a comprehensive understanding before making your final choice. Your selection will significantly impact your efficiency and productivity, so take the time to evaluate all aspects carefully. Keep exploring and experimenting with different tools to optimize your workflow continually. Unlock your business potential with custom apps! 📊 Start your Softr free trial now! Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat are the key differences between Softr and Retool?tr focuses on no-code website and web app building, while Retool specializes in building internal tools for businesses. Softr offers a user-friendly interface for beginners, whereas Retool provides advanced customization options for developers.Which platform offers better pros and cons analysis - Softr or Retool?tr's pros include ease of use and quick setup, while its cons may be limited customization. Retool excels in advanced features but may have a steeper learning curve. The choice depends on your specific needs and technical expertise.What are the best use cases highlighted for Softr and Retool?tr is ideal for creating landing pages, portfolios, and simple web apps without coding. Retool shines in building complex internal tools like dashboards, admin panels, and data visualization interfaces for businesses with diverse requirements.Can you provide an overview of the pricing models for Softr and Retool?tr offers subscription plans starting from $10/month with additional charges for custom domains. Retool operates on a usage-based pricing model, where costs depend on the number of users accessing the tools created using their platform.What insights can you share about user feedback regarding Softr and Retool?Users praise Softr for its intuitive interface but request more customization options. On the other hand, Retool users appreciate its powerful features but mention a learning curve. Both platforms receive positive feedback overall based on their respective strengths.Useful Links: |
2024.05.14 22:53 uninvitedthirteenth Travel Diary: Amsterdam, May 2-May 8
Travel Diary: I make $195,000 and spent $2149.75 (+49k points) while on a trip to Amsterdam
Section One: Bio
Age: 40
Occupation: Lawyer
Hometown: DC
Number of PTO days and how you accrue them: I earn 6 hours of annual leave every two weeks (19 days total a year), and used 36 hours for this trip
Section Two: Assets + Debt
Not super comfortable with a very detailed financial picture, but my NW is ~$750k. No SO.
Section Three: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: After all deductions and contributions to savings, my monthly take home is ~$6200
Section Four: Travel Expenses/Diary
Trip planning - My (40F) best friend from college (39F) and I decide to go to Amsterdam on a birthday trip. We both turn 40 in 2024, and we decide to go in May because it's in between our birthdays and because it'll be tulip season in Amsterdam! Neither of us have been. We also haven't travelled together before, despite being friends for 20(!) years, so we are a little apprehensive, although we have spent a lot of time together over the past few years. We decide on a 6 day trip. For purposes of this diary I'm going to list my half of the expenses for things we split. Costs are in US dollars, despite paying using Euros. As a side note, I also am a little over one year post-Gastric Bypass, which has a limited effect on my diet (I try to eat low carb, but you'll see that I mostly fail at this on this trip!).
Pre-trip expenses: $1193.15 total
Flight: $255 + 49k points (from Capital One)
Lodging: $1425.91 (split) - $713
Rijksmuseum: $40.28
Anne Frank House: $24.95
Keukenhof Gardens plus bus ticket: $36.20
Red Light District Tour: $50.52
Day trip to windmills tour: $43.20
Snacks: $30ish
Day 1 (Total $21.17)
Our flight is at 5:30pm, so we planned to be at the airport by 3:30pm, which actually turned out to be 4pm. Uber ($21.17). After checking bags (included in flight price) and getting through security we made it to our gate right as boarding was about to start. No time for food or drinks.
On the plane I eat a snack of roasted chickpeas before dinner, which was chicken cacciatore with mashed potatoes, bread, cheesecake, cheese, and a salad. And two glasses of wine. I save the cheesecake and cheese for later.
My friend and I watch a movie (Poor Things) and then try to sleep. I am reading A Fault In Our Stars, because Amsterdam. I try unsuccessfully to sleep for awhile and then go back to reading. At some point i eat the cheese and cheesecake. Breakfast is a cheese roll, which i eat a couple bites of (OMG does all of Amsterdam have this much cheese?? - spoiler alert… yes it does!). I wish I had slept more.
Day 2 - Even though it feels like a continuation of day one. (Total $207.02)
7am - We land at 7 and then grab the bags and go through customs. Easy peasy. We are exhausted so we grab coffee at the airport before figuring out public transit ($5.10). I take out 60 euro for cash in case we need it ($65). We buy a train ticket to the central station ($6.33) and when we get there we buy a four day unlimited public transit pass ($28.44) so that we don’t have to worry about it later.
We get to the hotel at around 9am. They tell us it will cost $50 to check in early, which we opt not to do. Instead we go get breakfast and coffee at a cafe nearby ($21.20). The hotel tells us that our prepaid amount did not include city taxes, which is another $183 (my half $91.88).
11:30am - Back at the room we decide to rest for 90 minutes. Enough to catch up on sleep but not to waste the day and get more jet-lagged. After a rest we decide to walk around and get a feel for the neighborhood and do some shopping. We find a bookstore, and I buy a copy of my favorite book from high school, Tess of the D’Ubervilles with a beautiful cover and gold edges ($21.46). We also buy fries with truffle, mayo, and Parmesan at a fry shop ($3.32) (that’s all they have and they are delicious!). We also stop a grocery store and pick up a few things including yogurt, cheese, salami, apples, and an energy drink ($13.19). We have some early days planned and nothing seems to open early. It’s very cold and rainy and semi unpleasant.
6pm - We drop stuff off, bundle up, and head off to dinner and a tour of the red light district. We try to find a place that serves Snert, a Dutch pea soup, but strike out. We end up at an Asian place instead. I get chicken satay and a beer and my friend gets Indonesian soup and wine ($16.10). Our red light tour is great, but we are exhausted after and head straight home to bed. 22k steps total
Day 3 (Total $87.24)
7:30am - We have an early day planned, and have to be on a bus near the central station by 8am. I eat a yogurt and energy drink (from grocery store) for breakfast and we take public transit (covered on unlimited card) to the station. We find the right bus and head off!
First stop is the windmills, which are beautiful! I am happy we get there early because we basically have the place to ourselves. My friend gets a coffee and we both use the restroom ($1.08!). Then we head to Edam and do a walking tour there. Next stop is a clog/cheese place, which feels very touristy but they do feed us lots of cheese. I buy a cheese slicer as a souvenir ($10.81). Next stop is another small town where we have lunch at a cafe. We basically pick one at random. My friend gets fried fish and I get a ham and cheese panini and a beer ($17.30). Final stop is an artificial island town called Maarken. We do another walking tour.
2:30pm - we arrive back in Amsterdam and get let off north of the water. I grab a coffee ($3.76). We go up to the Adam lookout and take a ride on the swing off the side of the building ($25.95 for swing plus ticket to lookout). We also grab a drink and sit on a pillow watching the city from very high up, which is lovely ($6.63). On the way out I buy a reusable water bottle at the gift shop ($4.87).
After the lookout we take the tram over to a brewery at a windmill that was recommended to us by several people (including here on Reddit!). Cost was covered by the transit pass. We buy bitterballen and a small bottle of Genever (local whiskey) (paid by my friend) and a flight of beer ($16.84). We are a bit tipsy but enjoying the lovely weather.
6:30 - On the way back toward the hotel the weather turns and it starts raining so we dip into a pub for dinner. I have a burger ($16.12). We are there at 8pm, which is momentous because it’s a day of remembrance and the whole bar is silent for two minutes. It was very interesting to be there during this time.
We are exhausted by this point and go home to bed. 19k steps total for the day.
Day 4 (Total $104.33)
7am - Another early day as we have to be on a bus at 7:30 to go to Keukenhof for the tulips! (paid in advance). We wanted to take the first bus out there because we heard the crowds were bad. I eat a yogurt for breakfast and take a 5 hour energy (no cafes open this early!). We try to take public transit to the train station but didn’t realize that the trains do not run that early on a Sunday so we grab an Uber instead ($12.20). We tell the Uber driver we’re trying to catch a bus so he makes sure we find the right place and we pull up just as the bus is loading. Phew!
8:00am - we spend 5 hours in the gardens and take literally hundreds of pictures. We are glad that we get there early as the first few hours are lovely and empty. We get a coffee ($4.60) and lunch later ($25.36). By 1pm it’s getting very crowded so we start heading out. We grab the bus back to the train station.
2:30pm - We decide to go by the Rijksmuseum although not in it because we planning that later. Instead we stop off at the Van Gogh/Rijks gift shop that’s nearby. I get a couple souvenirs, including a foldable bag and a magnet ($20.44). I also get a coffee ($3.64) and my friend gets bubble tea. We sit on the hill on museumplein and people watch. After awhile it starts to get hot (we had dressed for the early morning) so we head back to the hotel to change.
5pm - we decide we are having an evening of drinking. We first grab a drink in the hotel bar because we get free vouchers for each day we choose not to have the room cleaned. Then we have dinner at an udon place, which is delicious. We have tempura, chicken katsu, and dumplings ($15.94). Then because it’s cinco de mayo we decide to have margaritas at the Mexican place near the hotel ($15.15)! Not Dutch but it’s fun. We head down the street to another bar and have a Genever cocktail called an Amsterdam mule ($9.91). I am happy with our choice of hotel because there are so many places in our neighborhood. On the way home we pass a fresh stroopwaffle place and must get in line for one ($5.92).
By then we are exhausted and head to bed. 21k steps total for the day.
Day 5 (Total $80.44)
8am - We have a slightly less early day but have tickets to the Anne Frank house at 9:15. (paid in advance). I eat some yogurt and cheese in the room before we leave. It’s walkable so we decide to head out early and grab coffee on the way. ($3.19). The house is sombering but I’m glad we did it.
11am - After the Anne Frank house we walk to the nearby cheese museum. We sample lots of cheese. I buy one cheese to take home ($15.18). We want to walk to a used bookstore, but decide to have lunch at a cafe on the way. We pick one at random. We split chicken tenders and a goat cheese and apple sandwich and I have a beer. ($15.14). The sandwich is one of the best things we have eaten. We spend about an hour in the bookstore and my friend buys one book.
3pm - We realize we are by the monkey bar (one of the oldest bars in Amsterdam that they told us about on our red light district tour). We stop in for a drink. Ok two drinks. ($12.50). We take the metro back towards the hotel and stop in at a tile store in our neighborhood so I can buy a magnet. I buy magnets from all my trips, but I like non-touristy handmade ones if I can find them, Van Gogh magnet from yesterday aside. I buy one with a windmill on it. ($14). We also stop at the grocery store for more yogurt ($3.05) and for Dutch apple pie at the cafe across the street from the hotel ($4). We get back to the hotel and have another free drink and then rest before dinner.
8pm - We go out to a Dutch restaurant for dinner. I am not super hungry from pie so I just get the snert (pea soup). My friend gets sauerkraut and potatoes. Sorry, but I thought it was pretty bland food in general. ($13.38).
We head home. It’s a lighter day, only 14k steps today.
Day 6 (Total $194.47)
8am - Today is our last full day in Amsterdam. We have planned to spend the day at the Rijksmuseum. We want to get there right when it opens for crowd reasons. We had bought “friend of the museum” passes ahead of time so that we can skip the line. I have a yogurt for breakfast and we walk to a cafe near the museum for coffee and breakfast for my friend ($3.78). The man at the cafe is very nice and we love sitting outside in the sunshine. It’s going to be a warm day!
We spend about 5 hours at the museum. We rush to see the Van goghs and the main gallery where the Rembrandts are, including The Night Watch, which is probably one of the most famous paintings in there. We had downloaded the app so we shared a pair of earbuds and listened to audio notes about many of the works (they have a number you can enter in). We take a break outside for coffee ($7.29 - i pay) and skip the line again. Totally worth it for the more expensive ticket. Around 2 we are hungry and have seen almost everything. We stop in the gift shop and I buy a ring and earring set. ($64.76). I forget to use my 10% discount for being a friend. :( I wanted a necklace too but didn’t like the ones they had there so I’ll try to find a matching piece at home.
2pm - My friend has been trying to get herring for the whole trip so we make it a point to do that. The first place is a bust so we find a little stand that sells it a 15 min walk away. We are determined, so we head there. I don’t eat fish so I get a shawarma on the way, which is terrible (cash). I throw half away. After lunch we get ice cream. I get coffee ice cream, and it makes up for the bad shawarma ($6). We also stop at the peanut butter store, which is allegedly the first in the world, and I pick up 3 small jars for my mom for Mother’s Day ($8.11). We also stop at a thrift store and i buy a dress ($21.59). At some point this day (I think), we also stop at another bookstore, and I buy a few things including a card, a couple gifts, and a book ($39.71).
6pm - After resting a bit, we get two more free drinks at the hotel and then head out to dinner. We pick another Asian place. I get an aperol spritz at dinner and we share appetizers (satay, spring rolls, and bitterballen). We also get coconut ice cream with mango sauce for dessert. All yum! ($33.03).
We get one final drink at a local bar near the hotel ($10.20) and I’m again grateful for our choice of neighborhood. Today has been all walking because our 4-day metro pass ran out yesterday. Total steps 13k.
Day 7 (Total $36.93)
8am - this our last day. The plane was supposed to leave at 1:30pm, but we get a message that it’s delayed an hour. We decide to have a leisurely breakfast. We pick a place that’s at a hotel near our hotel. I get an egg sandwich and my friend gets French toast. We both get coffee. ($15.27)
We decide to leave for the airport around 11. We walk to the central station about 20 min away, and I buy wooden tulips for my mom on the way (cash). We buy train tickets (cash) and get right on a train. We are proud of ourselves for our navigation on this trip.
12pm - we get to the airport and through security. We head to a lounge but there’s a line. We are 40th in line based on our QR code place. We decide not to wait and sit down for lunch at a random bar. I get a sausage and a beer ($20.66). We walk around some and get another message that our flight is delayed more, to 4pm. It’s finally our turn to get into the lounge at 2:30 (2 1/2 hour wait) so we go. I grab some water and a whiskey and coke but we just ate so we are not hungry. Around 3 we head to the gate. Unfortunately when we get there our flight is delayed more and will board at 4. They give us airport vouchers so we buy a book, beer, and some stroopwaffles ($1 after vouchers). We finally board and head off around 5.
On the flight we are served dinner. They have run out of chicken by the time they get to me, but eventually find one and bring it to me later. I have a wine too. I read, watch a movie, and try to sleep a little. We have a whole row of four to ourselves so we can spread out. Dinner is a French bread pizza.
8pm - We land around 7pm (love time zone math!), grab our bags, and get a taxi to my car ($27.09). I drop off my friend and get home at 8:30. I am exhausted but cuddle my cats for about an hour before going to bed. 15k steps today
After trip expenses - $225 cat sitting
Total expenses: $2149.75 (+49k points)
Flight: $255 + 49k points
Lodging: $804.88
Food/drinks: $531.38
Travel: $101.56
Activities: $221.10
Souvenirs/gifts: $ 231.93
Final parting thoughts - I think just over $2k for an almost-week long trip to Europe is a pretty comfortable number for me. I am glad I could use points for most of the flight. We definitely didn't try to cheap out on anything. We spent a lot of money drinking (neither of us drink this much usually). I hope this was helpful to anyone, and I look forward to reactions/comments!
submitted by uninvitedthirteenth to MoneyDiariesACTIVE [link] [comments]
Section One: Bio
Age: 40
Occupation: Lawyer
Hometown: DC
Number of PTO days and how you accrue them: I earn 6 hours of annual leave every two weeks (19 days total a year), and used 36 hours for this trip
Section Two: Assets + Debt
Not super comfortable with a very detailed financial picture, but my NW is ~$750k. No SO.
Section Three: Income
Main Job Monthly Take Home: After all deductions and contributions to savings, my monthly take home is ~$6200
Section Four: Travel Expenses/Diary
Trip planning - My (40F) best friend from college (39F) and I decide to go to Amsterdam on a birthday trip. We both turn 40 in 2024, and we decide to go in May because it's in between our birthdays and because it'll be tulip season in Amsterdam! Neither of us have been. We also haven't travelled together before, despite being friends for 20(!) years, so we are a little apprehensive, although we have spent a lot of time together over the past few years. We decide on a 6 day trip. For purposes of this diary I'm going to list my half of the expenses for things we split. Costs are in US dollars, despite paying using Euros. As a side note, I also am a little over one year post-Gastric Bypass, which has a limited effect on my diet (I try to eat low carb, but you'll see that I mostly fail at this on this trip!).
Pre-trip expenses: $1193.15 total
Flight: $255 + 49k points (from Capital One)
Lodging: $1425.91 (split) - $713
Rijksmuseum: $40.28
Anne Frank House: $24.95
Keukenhof Gardens plus bus ticket: $36.20
Red Light District Tour: $50.52
Day trip to windmills tour: $43.20
Snacks: $30ish
Day 1 (Total $21.17)
Our flight is at 5:30pm, so we planned to be at the airport by 3:30pm, which actually turned out to be 4pm. Uber ($21.17). After checking bags (included in flight price) and getting through security we made it to our gate right as boarding was about to start. No time for food or drinks.
On the plane I eat a snack of roasted chickpeas before dinner, which was chicken cacciatore with mashed potatoes, bread, cheesecake, cheese, and a salad. And two glasses of wine. I save the cheesecake and cheese for later.
My friend and I watch a movie (Poor Things) and then try to sleep. I am reading A Fault In Our Stars, because Amsterdam. I try unsuccessfully to sleep for awhile and then go back to reading. At some point i eat the cheese and cheesecake. Breakfast is a cheese roll, which i eat a couple bites of (OMG does all of Amsterdam have this much cheese?? - spoiler alert… yes it does!). I wish I had slept more.
Day 2 - Even though it feels like a continuation of day one. (Total $207.02)
7am - We land at 7 and then grab the bags and go through customs. Easy peasy. We are exhausted so we grab coffee at the airport before figuring out public transit ($5.10). I take out 60 euro for cash in case we need it ($65). We buy a train ticket to the central station ($6.33) and when we get there we buy a four day unlimited public transit pass ($28.44) so that we don’t have to worry about it later.
We get to the hotel at around 9am. They tell us it will cost $50 to check in early, which we opt not to do. Instead we go get breakfast and coffee at a cafe nearby ($21.20). The hotel tells us that our prepaid amount did not include city taxes, which is another $183 (my half $91.88).
11:30am - Back at the room we decide to rest for 90 minutes. Enough to catch up on sleep but not to waste the day and get more jet-lagged. After a rest we decide to walk around and get a feel for the neighborhood and do some shopping. We find a bookstore, and I buy a copy of my favorite book from high school, Tess of the D’Ubervilles with a beautiful cover and gold edges ($21.46). We also buy fries with truffle, mayo, and Parmesan at a fry shop ($3.32) (that’s all they have and they are delicious!). We also stop a grocery store and pick up a few things including yogurt, cheese, salami, apples, and an energy drink ($13.19). We have some early days planned and nothing seems to open early. It’s very cold and rainy and semi unpleasant.
6pm - We drop stuff off, bundle up, and head off to dinner and a tour of the red light district. We try to find a place that serves Snert, a Dutch pea soup, but strike out. We end up at an Asian place instead. I get chicken satay and a beer and my friend gets Indonesian soup and wine ($16.10). Our red light tour is great, but we are exhausted after and head straight home to bed. 22k steps total
Day 3 (Total $87.24)
7:30am - We have an early day planned, and have to be on a bus near the central station by 8am. I eat a yogurt and energy drink (from grocery store) for breakfast and we take public transit (covered on unlimited card) to the station. We find the right bus and head off!
First stop is the windmills, which are beautiful! I am happy we get there early because we basically have the place to ourselves. My friend gets a coffee and we both use the restroom ($1.08!). Then we head to Edam and do a walking tour there. Next stop is a clog/cheese place, which feels very touristy but they do feed us lots of cheese. I buy a cheese slicer as a souvenir ($10.81). Next stop is another small town where we have lunch at a cafe. We basically pick one at random. My friend gets fried fish and I get a ham and cheese panini and a beer ($17.30). Final stop is an artificial island town called Maarken. We do another walking tour.
2:30pm - we arrive back in Amsterdam and get let off north of the water. I grab a coffee ($3.76). We go up to the Adam lookout and take a ride on the swing off the side of the building ($25.95 for swing plus ticket to lookout). We also grab a drink and sit on a pillow watching the city from very high up, which is lovely ($6.63). On the way out I buy a reusable water bottle at the gift shop ($4.87).
After the lookout we take the tram over to a brewery at a windmill that was recommended to us by several people (including here on Reddit!). Cost was covered by the transit pass. We buy bitterballen and a small bottle of Genever (local whiskey) (paid by my friend) and a flight of beer ($16.84). We are a bit tipsy but enjoying the lovely weather.
6:30 - On the way back toward the hotel the weather turns and it starts raining so we dip into a pub for dinner. I have a burger ($16.12). We are there at 8pm, which is momentous because it’s a day of remembrance and the whole bar is silent for two minutes. It was very interesting to be there during this time.
We are exhausted by this point and go home to bed. 19k steps total for the day.
Day 4 (Total $104.33)
7am - Another early day as we have to be on a bus at 7:30 to go to Keukenhof for the tulips! (paid in advance). We wanted to take the first bus out there because we heard the crowds were bad. I eat a yogurt for breakfast and take a 5 hour energy (no cafes open this early!). We try to take public transit to the train station but didn’t realize that the trains do not run that early on a Sunday so we grab an Uber instead ($12.20). We tell the Uber driver we’re trying to catch a bus so he makes sure we find the right place and we pull up just as the bus is loading. Phew!
8:00am - we spend 5 hours in the gardens and take literally hundreds of pictures. We are glad that we get there early as the first few hours are lovely and empty. We get a coffee ($4.60) and lunch later ($25.36). By 1pm it’s getting very crowded so we start heading out. We grab the bus back to the train station.
2:30pm - We decide to go by the Rijksmuseum although not in it because we planning that later. Instead we stop off at the Van Gogh/Rijks gift shop that’s nearby. I get a couple souvenirs, including a foldable bag and a magnet ($20.44). I also get a coffee ($3.64) and my friend gets bubble tea. We sit on the hill on museumplein and people watch. After awhile it starts to get hot (we had dressed for the early morning) so we head back to the hotel to change.
5pm - we decide we are having an evening of drinking. We first grab a drink in the hotel bar because we get free vouchers for each day we choose not to have the room cleaned. Then we have dinner at an udon place, which is delicious. We have tempura, chicken katsu, and dumplings ($15.94). Then because it’s cinco de mayo we decide to have margaritas at the Mexican place near the hotel ($15.15)! Not Dutch but it’s fun. We head down the street to another bar and have a Genever cocktail called an Amsterdam mule ($9.91). I am happy with our choice of hotel because there are so many places in our neighborhood. On the way home we pass a fresh stroopwaffle place and must get in line for one ($5.92).
By then we are exhausted and head to bed. 21k steps total for the day.
Day 5 (Total $80.44)
8am - We have a slightly less early day but have tickets to the Anne Frank house at 9:15. (paid in advance). I eat some yogurt and cheese in the room before we leave. It’s walkable so we decide to head out early and grab coffee on the way. ($3.19). The house is sombering but I’m glad we did it.
11am - After the Anne Frank house we walk to the nearby cheese museum. We sample lots of cheese. I buy one cheese to take home ($15.18). We want to walk to a used bookstore, but decide to have lunch at a cafe on the way. We pick one at random. We split chicken tenders and a goat cheese and apple sandwich and I have a beer. ($15.14). The sandwich is one of the best things we have eaten. We spend about an hour in the bookstore and my friend buys one book.
3pm - We realize we are by the monkey bar (one of the oldest bars in Amsterdam that they told us about on our red light district tour). We stop in for a drink. Ok two drinks. ($12.50). We take the metro back towards the hotel and stop in at a tile store in our neighborhood so I can buy a magnet. I buy magnets from all my trips, but I like non-touristy handmade ones if I can find them, Van Gogh magnet from yesterday aside. I buy one with a windmill on it. ($14). We also stop at the grocery store for more yogurt ($3.05) and for Dutch apple pie at the cafe across the street from the hotel ($4). We get back to the hotel and have another free drink and then rest before dinner.
8pm - We go out to a Dutch restaurant for dinner. I am not super hungry from pie so I just get the snert (pea soup). My friend gets sauerkraut and potatoes. Sorry, but I thought it was pretty bland food in general. ($13.38).
We head home. It’s a lighter day, only 14k steps today.
Day 6 (Total $194.47)
8am - Today is our last full day in Amsterdam. We have planned to spend the day at the Rijksmuseum. We want to get there right when it opens for crowd reasons. We had bought “friend of the museum” passes ahead of time so that we can skip the line. I have a yogurt for breakfast and we walk to a cafe near the museum for coffee and breakfast for my friend ($3.78). The man at the cafe is very nice and we love sitting outside in the sunshine. It’s going to be a warm day!
We spend about 5 hours at the museum. We rush to see the Van goghs and the main gallery where the Rembrandts are, including The Night Watch, which is probably one of the most famous paintings in there. We had downloaded the app so we shared a pair of earbuds and listened to audio notes about many of the works (they have a number you can enter in). We take a break outside for coffee ($7.29 - i pay) and skip the line again. Totally worth it for the more expensive ticket. Around 2 we are hungry and have seen almost everything. We stop in the gift shop and I buy a ring and earring set. ($64.76). I forget to use my 10% discount for being a friend. :( I wanted a necklace too but didn’t like the ones they had there so I’ll try to find a matching piece at home.
2pm - My friend has been trying to get herring for the whole trip so we make it a point to do that. The first place is a bust so we find a little stand that sells it a 15 min walk away. We are determined, so we head there. I don’t eat fish so I get a shawarma on the way, which is terrible (cash). I throw half away. After lunch we get ice cream. I get coffee ice cream, and it makes up for the bad shawarma ($6). We also stop at the peanut butter store, which is allegedly the first in the world, and I pick up 3 small jars for my mom for Mother’s Day ($8.11). We also stop at a thrift store and i buy a dress ($21.59). At some point this day (I think), we also stop at another bookstore, and I buy a few things including a card, a couple gifts, and a book ($39.71).
6pm - After resting a bit, we get two more free drinks at the hotel and then head out to dinner. We pick another Asian place. I get an aperol spritz at dinner and we share appetizers (satay, spring rolls, and bitterballen). We also get coconut ice cream with mango sauce for dessert. All yum! ($33.03).
We get one final drink at a local bar near the hotel ($10.20) and I’m again grateful for our choice of neighborhood. Today has been all walking because our 4-day metro pass ran out yesterday. Total steps 13k.
Day 7 (Total $36.93)
8am - this our last day. The plane was supposed to leave at 1:30pm, but we get a message that it’s delayed an hour. We decide to have a leisurely breakfast. We pick a place that’s at a hotel near our hotel. I get an egg sandwich and my friend gets French toast. We both get coffee. ($15.27)
We decide to leave for the airport around 11. We walk to the central station about 20 min away, and I buy wooden tulips for my mom on the way (cash). We buy train tickets (cash) and get right on a train. We are proud of ourselves for our navigation on this trip.
12pm - we get to the airport and through security. We head to a lounge but there’s a line. We are 40th in line based on our QR code place. We decide not to wait and sit down for lunch at a random bar. I get a sausage and a beer ($20.66). We walk around some and get another message that our flight is delayed more, to 4pm. It’s finally our turn to get into the lounge at 2:30 (2 1/2 hour wait) so we go. I grab some water and a whiskey and coke but we just ate so we are not hungry. Around 3 we head to the gate. Unfortunately when we get there our flight is delayed more and will board at 4. They give us airport vouchers so we buy a book, beer, and some stroopwaffles ($1 after vouchers). We finally board and head off around 5.
On the flight we are served dinner. They have run out of chicken by the time they get to me, but eventually find one and bring it to me later. I have a wine too. I read, watch a movie, and try to sleep a little. We have a whole row of four to ourselves so we can spread out. Dinner is a French bread pizza.
8pm - We land around 7pm (love time zone math!), grab our bags, and get a taxi to my car ($27.09). I drop off my friend and get home at 8:30. I am exhausted but cuddle my cats for about an hour before going to bed. 15k steps today
After trip expenses - $225 cat sitting
Total expenses: $2149.75 (+49k points)
Flight: $255 + 49k points
Lodging: $804.88
Food/drinks: $531.38
Travel: $101.56
Activities: $221.10
Souvenirs/gifts: $ 231.93
Final parting thoughts - I think just over $2k for an almost-week long trip to Europe is a pretty comfortable number for me. I am glad I could use points for most of the flight. We definitely didn't try to cheap out on anything. We spent a lot of money drinking (neither of us drink this much usually). I hope this was helpful to anyone, and I look forward to reactions/comments!
2024.05.14 22:52 Zealousideal_Pain374 [WTS] Silver and Gold Coins and bullion for sale 5/14/2024
[WTS] silver and Gold Coins and bullion for sale 5/14/2024
Ships from NJ
Selling some gold and silver coins and bullion. Make offers if prices off. Credit to all of you who regularly post. Making the ad, the pictures, the description, etc is time consuming.
Proof
https://imgur.com/a/16MpAmh
Gold 1992 Cook Island $50 coin Proof Panda 14k Description: Panda Ruler Name: Elizabeth II Diameter: 25 mm Weight: 0.25 (oz.), fineness 14k $575 Gold plus numismatic value
https://imgur.com/a/da0ep0y
https://imgur.com/a/TtofpBu
https://imgur.com/a/ANFIViv
2000 Jahre Christnetum Austrian Gold Coin 500 Schilling Birth of Christ 10g, .986 fine AU, # 42953 of 50,000 in box w/ COA $750
1904 Russia gold coin 5 Rubles Key date $475 gold plus numismatic
https://imgur.com/a/p9oWKOd
https://imgur.com/a/S9ZaUqw
https://imgur.com/a/lVM62Fu
Gouden Dukaat 1989 proof 3.494g plus numismatic value $275
https://imgur.com/a/xjmfaSX
https://imgur.com/a/SMIHQUg
1909 20F gold coin 6.46g $465 gold plus numismatic https://imgur.com/a/10A2Qb4
Silver
United States 1986 Prestige Set $30
US Silver Corp 1974 world trade 1oz- $32
https://imgur.com/a/WsAGl7t
https://imgur.com/a/Nf1YWWi
Lot of 3 coins-$24 George Washington 1982 half dollar 90% Two 1976 Washington quarter proof 90%
Canada Silver stamp- Nonsuch 1968 Very rare $55
Statue of Liberty Centennial 1986 (Washington crossing the Delaware) Statue Of Liberty Washington Crossing Delaware 28.6 Grams Sterling Silver .925 collector coin $45
One Peso Filipinas 1908S $200obo Rare. Low mintage. Dirty
https://imgur.com/a/6aTy3EA
Astrology bullion Two, 1/2 oz each $32 for the pair
https://imgur.com/a/lffQIrM
1970 Egypt nasser commemorative $32
Andrew Jackson liberty lobby 1991 240 grains silver $17
https://imgur.com/a/4vFj87v
2017 Canada big horn sheep 3/4oz proof69 $40 2018 Canada wolverine 3/4oz proof69 $40
https://imgur.com/a/d2UZJoG
2023 silver Krugerrand MS69 $36
https://imgur.com/a/CuKTEfA
2021S silver eagle $41 emergency production MS69
https://imgur.com/a/vY8caDp
WWII 50th anniversary silver coin D-Day $37 1991-1995 26g .9 highly collectible low mintage https://imgur.com/a/xzkxVPw
Silver round Eisenhower addresses troops at Normandy $31 1oz
https://imgur.com/a/JQUKy3K
https://imgur.com/a/k9YVYMy
Eisenhower Liberia $20 silver coin 20g .999 Low mintage $26 proof
https://imgur.com/a/Jq95ugr
Douglas Arthur Philippines one Peso $115 obo Low mintage, excellent condition On the low end it’s $65 coin, high end $325. What’s fair?
George bush 1oz silver gold plated 24k $32
https://imgur.com/a/DlxvepK
1960 South Africa 5 shillings silver coin very nice condition $30
https://imgur.com/a/twGBcLo
1934 silver coin Peru 5 decimos $22
https://imgur.com/a/NcqP1dk
https://imgur.com/a/avoUGoN
FAO TONGA 1975 2 Pa’anga Food for all coin, copper not silver $15 42.8 grams. Heavy coin.
https://imgur.com/a/10c3N5a
1848 Large Cent $22 (copper)
https://imgur.com/a/Hfj4Pv5
$6 for <6ozs silver or each prestige set $10 >6ozs
Gold coins $10 each or all I can take more pictures just ask More interested in selling but would consider trades.
Shipping is USPS. I will email a picture of the tracking receipt.
Insurance is optional paid by the buyer I accept Venmo, Zelle and PayPal friends and family only. If you want to use goods and services please pay the ~2% extra that they charge me. I used Internet and online auctions to determine prices. Make offer if you think they are unfair. Thank you for looking.
submitted by Zealousideal_Pain374 to Pmsforsale [link] [comments]
Ships from NJ
Selling some gold and silver coins and bullion. Make offers if prices off. Credit to all of you who regularly post. Making the ad, the pictures, the description, etc is time consuming.
Proof
https://imgur.com/a/16MpAmh
Gold 1992 Cook Island $50 coin Proof Panda 14k Description: Panda Ruler Name: Elizabeth II Diameter: 25 mm Weight: 0.25 (oz.), fineness 14k $575 Gold plus numismatic value
https://imgur.com/a/da0ep0y
https://imgur.com/a/TtofpBu
https://imgur.com/a/ANFIViv
2000 Jahre Christnetum Austrian Gold Coin 500 Schilling Birth of Christ 10g, .986 fine AU, # 42953 of 50,000 in box w/ COA $750
1904 Russia gold coin 5 Rubles Key date $475 gold plus numismatic
https://imgur.com/a/p9oWKOd
https://imgur.com/a/S9ZaUqw
https://imgur.com/a/lVM62Fu
Gouden Dukaat 1989 proof 3.494g plus numismatic value $275
https://imgur.com/a/xjmfaSX
https://imgur.com/a/SMIHQUg
1909 20F gold coin 6.46g $465 gold plus numismatic https://imgur.com/a/10A2Qb4
Silver
United States 1986 Prestige Set $30
US Silver Corp 1974 world trade 1oz- $32
https://imgur.com/a/WsAGl7t
https://imgur.com/a/Nf1YWWi
Lot of 3 coins-$24 George Washington 1982 half dollar 90% Two 1976 Washington quarter proof 90%
Canada Silver stamp- Nonsuch 1968 Very rare $55
Statue of Liberty Centennial 1986 (Washington crossing the Delaware) Statue Of Liberty Washington Crossing Delaware 28.6 Grams Sterling Silver .925 collector coin $45
One Peso Filipinas 1908S $200obo Rare. Low mintage. Dirty
https://imgur.com/a/6aTy3EA
Astrology bullion Two, 1/2 oz each $32 for the pair
https://imgur.com/a/lffQIrM
1970 Egypt nasser commemorative $32
Andrew Jackson liberty lobby 1991 240 grains silver $17
https://imgur.com/a/4vFj87v
2017 Canada big horn sheep 3/4oz proof69 $40 2018 Canada wolverine 3/4oz proof69 $40
https://imgur.com/a/d2UZJoG
2023 silver Krugerrand MS69 $36
https://imgur.com/a/CuKTEfA
2021S silver eagle $41 emergency production MS69
https://imgur.com/a/vY8caDp
WWII 50th anniversary silver coin D-Day $37 1991-1995 26g .9 highly collectible low mintage https://imgur.com/a/xzkxVPw
Silver round Eisenhower addresses troops at Normandy $31 1oz
https://imgur.com/a/JQUKy3K
https://imgur.com/a/k9YVYMy
Eisenhower Liberia $20 silver coin 20g .999 Low mintage $26 proof
https://imgur.com/a/Jq95ugr
Douglas Arthur Philippines one Peso $115 obo Low mintage, excellent condition On the low end it’s $65 coin, high end $325. What’s fair?
George bush 1oz silver gold plated 24k $32
https://imgur.com/a/DlxvepK
1960 South Africa 5 shillings silver coin very nice condition $30
https://imgur.com/a/twGBcLo
1934 silver coin Peru 5 decimos $22
https://imgur.com/a/NcqP1dk
https://imgur.com/a/avoUGoN
FAO TONGA 1975 2 Pa’anga Food for all coin, copper not silver $15 42.8 grams. Heavy coin.
https://imgur.com/a/10c3N5a
1848 Large Cent $22 (copper)
https://imgur.com/a/Hfj4Pv5
$6 for <6ozs silver or each prestige set $10 >6ozs
Gold coins $10 each or all I can take more pictures just ask More interested in selling but would consider trades.
Shipping is USPS. I will email a picture of the tracking receipt.
Insurance is optional paid by the buyer I accept Venmo, Zelle and PayPal friends and family only. If you want to use goods and services please pay the ~2% extra that they charge me. I used Internet and online auctions to determine prices. Make offer if you think they are unfair. Thank you for looking.
2024.05.14 22:52 maskedmybacon PC for Photoshop / Premiere Looking for Suggestions
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HgDgWt
1k budget. Already have an SSD. Choosing an Intel GPU for AV1 encoding and low price.
submitted by maskedmybacon to buildapc [link] [comments]
1k budget. Already have an SSD. Choosing an Intel GPU for AV1 encoding and low price.
2024.05.14 22:50 Sea-Tomorrow-9787 BV after pregnancy loss & methotrexate
Background on my pregnancy loss- A few days after a faint positive test, I started spotting which led to bleeding, cramping, and clotting. My HCG was still increasing some after all of that. I had 2 vaginal ultrasounds and never saw anything or a heartbeat. Nothing in my tubes either. It was concluded to be "pregnancy of unknown location". I was treated with methotrexate injection and so far, my HCG is dropping. (My levels were always low, never got over 100 so it was never a viable pregnancy)
3 days after the methotrexate injection I started to get a yeast infection. I treated it with 1 dose of diflucan. Now I have started having some burning when urinating and feeling the need to urinate often. I've never had a UTI before but that's what it sounded like to me. I went to the gynecologist to get checked out. My urine looked OK minus a little blood so they are sending it off for a culture. I asked if she could swab me to make sure the yeast infection was gone and she found out I have BV.
I feel extremely defeated. Has anyone had a situation similar to mine? The nurse said this has probably all been caused by the hormonal and PH imbalances from what I've went through this past month. My PH level was normal on the urine test though. She is treating me with a prescription gel.
submitted by Sea-Tomorrow-9787 to u/Sea-Tomorrow-9787 [link] [comments]
3 days after the methotrexate injection I started to get a yeast infection. I treated it with 1 dose of diflucan. Now I have started having some burning when urinating and feeling the need to urinate often. I've never had a UTI before but that's what it sounded like to me. I went to the gynecologist to get checked out. My urine looked OK minus a little blood so they are sending it off for a culture. I asked if she could swab me to make sure the yeast infection was gone and she found out I have BV.
I feel extremely defeated. Has anyone had a situation similar to mine? The nurse said this has probably all been caused by the hormonal and PH imbalances from what I've went through this past month. My PH level was normal on the urine test though. She is treating me with a prescription gel.
2024.05.14 22:44 Reparteey The case for Rivian
You can make the case for weakened demand due to people who can afford EV's already having bought one and the sustained elevated interest rates hurting demand but there are a couple of factors that can affect the future stock price that are of varying degrees of likelihood of occurring but are positive catalysts for the stock.
take this information as you will and make your own financial decisions.
Positive Catalysts and likelihood of occurring
*Rivian has just completed their plant shutdown in order to streamline operations and promote productivity which should also impact profitability.
As this has already occurred the chance is 100% and unless they are complete idiots should in fact lead to greater productivity and in turn profitability aka less $ lost per vehicle, it remains to be seen how much impact this will have on operations
*Rivian has changed suppliers on certain things like sensors and cameras as they are doing a refresh on the current R1 lineup. Chances of occurring is 100% and based on what Wassym from Rivian has stated should lead to increased capability including self driving capability. May lead to increased demand.
*Rivian has access to the Tesla charging network and is currently in the proceess of sending out CCS to NACS adapters for free to current owners. Chance of occurring 100% as this has happened / is in progress. Some rivian owners have already bought their own adapters. This should solve the issue of the charging station woes and lead to reduced range anxiety for current and potential owners as road trips become basically a non issue. Just happened recently so should lead to increased demand going forward.
*EV tax credits are currently being looked at to be reworked in 2025 the details are still in flux, but as Rivians currently only qualify for $3750 tax credits to those who are under the income limits this is more likely to be a beneficial change to rivian than to hurt rivian. I'd say the chances of a rework to EV tax credit rules are 100% as the current EV tax credit rules are stupid and everyone knows it. The chance of it being beneficial to Rivian is currently unknown as they could increase the amount Rivian owners would qualify to receive or increase the amount of potential Rivian buyers who would be eligible. Worst case I could see no change for Rivian,
I dont see Rivian buyers less eligible or receiving less credit than they do now.
*Rivian becomes positive gross margin by Q4 on a per vehicle basis. This is what Rivian is pushing for and what they say they are striving for on their earning calls. For this to occur they would have to make great strides to profitability. Whether they meet their goal or just get close remains to be seen. I think this is both a potential positive catalyst if they meet this goal or get really close as it should greatly increase stock buyer sentiment. Conversely if they fall well short then this could be a very negative catalyst. its hard to assign a chance to this occurring with so many variables that could happen between here and there.
*Interest rates reducing. Interest rates haven't increased since July of 2023. As the rates have been sustained since then that may have weakened demand somewhat. However I believe it is more likely for interest rates to be reduced than to be increased further. If interest rates somehow increased I couldn't see how they could possibly sustain more than an additional .25 or .50 total increase from where they are now and even then I think those are unlikely. I think its more likely that interest rates are reduced at least .25 by the end of the year with further rate reductions likely in 2025. This should increase consumer sentiment toward both the stock and toward demand.
Can't predict the future but I think rate reductions or at least one by the end of the year is at least 65-70% likely in my opinion. The stock price at the time of the last rate hike was around a peak of $26-27 before dropping after that but staying around $17-23 til 2024.
*R2 model, if Rivian starts improving their financial situation and that they look like they will be able to stay in business to launch the more affordable R2 which there should be a robust preorder demand I think this will have a good impact on the stock price. They will probably releease preorder numbers at some point this year and if they do that will probably help the stock price on their own. I would estimate that there are 60k-100K R2 Preorders and as that is a much more affordable price point the closer we get to the 2026 projected launch the better rivians stock price should be.
My positions: 170 Shares and 21x $20 calls for January 2025 with plans to add another $10k worth of a mix of calls at varying strikes and shares in the near future. If you do your research and decide to buy calls/puts dated out in 2025 or beyond make sure to check the bid/ask and put in a limit order so you aren't burned by large bid/ask gaps. I also own a Rivian Quad R1T
I would like to address the apple partnership speculation last. This is all rumor based and should be taken as such and not as factual in any capacity. As to what validity to it I wouldn't care to guess but there are many options in which a partnership of some sort would make sense and a lot of different options as to how that would take shape.
*Apple could simply lease/sell the research from Project Titan to Rivian for cheap as they spent a lot of money on it and Rivian was asked on the Quarter 1 24 call how they plan to be able to fund future development of their driver+ software (self driving).
Apple spent a lot of money on project titan and it would be a waste if none of that data was useful or ever used.
*The rumors of the apple rivian partnership was credited to an unnamed supplier in Asia. This could be relevant because if Rivian is purchasing or looking into purchasing Apple chips (to power self driving AI assistants) or anything like sensors of the same kind that apple used on its test cars for project titan, could make the rumor a bit more credible. If any information comes out supporting that Rivian is buying apple related hardware this could impact the stock price upward.
*maybe this could simply be a planned implementation of Carplay with the new upcoming version of Carplay being added to R1 and future R2 lineups. Given that no one is going to refuse to buy a Rivian if it introduces the completely 100% optional carplay and that Rivian has a real issue with the lack of software in its vehicles (I can't name another vehicle that doesn't have integrated text messaging) I could only see this only helping demand as there are plenty of soccer moms who wouldn't buy a car without carplay.
*could be a partnership to build apple branded R1/R2/R3 vehicles. Rivian vehicles look good and have a good interior quality thats better than what you would expect. I could see apple badging and functionality being added to a Rivian vehicle to be sold as the apple car.
They could even throw an apple chip in there to run the center screen and it could basically be an IPAD and run all the ipad apps to instantly compete with tesla on functionality and breadth of media/games etc.
Think of like how Ford had an Eddie Bauer edition of their Expedition vehicle years ago. Makes way more sense than apple starting their own car manufacturing and Rivian makes a whole lot of sense for Apple to partner with due to quality of the vehicle.
Note I dont believe the chances are anything but low for most of the speculation about Apple above, but if there was a major or even minor partnership with apple, expect the stock to take off.
Even without any of the apple things above taking place, I think if Q4 profitability happens the Rivian stock price could be above $20 again in 2025. While there are chances of negative catalysts taking place such as dilution so that Rivian can raise cash and other negative things that could occur so take care to make your own informed decisions do the research and dont risk more than you can afford to lose.
submitted by Reparteey to RIVN [link] [comments]
take this information as you will and make your own financial decisions.
Positive Catalysts and likelihood of occurring
*Rivian has just completed their plant shutdown in order to streamline operations and promote productivity which should also impact profitability.
As this has already occurred the chance is 100% and unless they are complete idiots should in fact lead to greater productivity and in turn profitability aka less $ lost per vehicle, it remains to be seen how much impact this will have on operations
*Rivian has changed suppliers on certain things like sensors and cameras as they are doing a refresh on the current R1 lineup. Chances of occurring is 100% and based on what Wassym from Rivian has stated should lead to increased capability including self driving capability. May lead to increased demand.
*Rivian has access to the Tesla charging network and is currently in the proceess of sending out CCS to NACS adapters for free to current owners. Chance of occurring 100% as this has happened / is in progress. Some rivian owners have already bought their own adapters. This should solve the issue of the charging station woes and lead to reduced range anxiety for current and potential owners as road trips become basically a non issue. Just happened recently so should lead to increased demand going forward.
*EV tax credits are currently being looked at to be reworked in 2025 the details are still in flux, but as Rivians currently only qualify for $3750 tax credits to those who are under the income limits this is more likely to be a beneficial change to rivian than to hurt rivian. I'd say the chances of a rework to EV tax credit rules are 100% as the current EV tax credit rules are stupid and everyone knows it. The chance of it being beneficial to Rivian is currently unknown as they could increase the amount Rivian owners would qualify to receive or increase the amount of potential Rivian buyers who would be eligible. Worst case I could see no change for Rivian,
I dont see Rivian buyers less eligible or receiving less credit than they do now.
*Rivian becomes positive gross margin by Q4 on a per vehicle basis. This is what Rivian is pushing for and what they say they are striving for on their earning calls. For this to occur they would have to make great strides to profitability. Whether they meet their goal or just get close remains to be seen. I think this is both a potential positive catalyst if they meet this goal or get really close as it should greatly increase stock buyer sentiment. Conversely if they fall well short then this could be a very negative catalyst. its hard to assign a chance to this occurring with so many variables that could happen between here and there.
*Interest rates reducing. Interest rates haven't increased since July of 2023. As the rates have been sustained since then that may have weakened demand somewhat. However I believe it is more likely for interest rates to be reduced than to be increased further. If interest rates somehow increased I couldn't see how they could possibly sustain more than an additional .25 or .50 total increase from where they are now and even then I think those are unlikely. I think its more likely that interest rates are reduced at least .25 by the end of the year with further rate reductions likely in 2025. This should increase consumer sentiment toward both the stock and toward demand.
Can't predict the future but I think rate reductions or at least one by the end of the year is at least 65-70% likely in my opinion. The stock price at the time of the last rate hike was around a peak of $26-27 before dropping after that but staying around $17-23 til 2024.
*R2 model, if Rivian starts improving their financial situation and that they look like they will be able to stay in business to launch the more affordable R2 which there should be a robust preorder demand I think this will have a good impact on the stock price. They will probably releease preorder numbers at some point this year and if they do that will probably help the stock price on their own. I would estimate that there are 60k-100K R2 Preorders and as that is a much more affordable price point the closer we get to the 2026 projected launch the better rivians stock price should be.
My positions: 170 Shares and 21x $20 calls for January 2025 with plans to add another $10k worth of a mix of calls at varying strikes and shares in the near future. If you do your research and decide to buy calls/puts dated out in 2025 or beyond make sure to check the bid/ask and put in a limit order so you aren't burned by large bid/ask gaps. I also own a Rivian Quad R1T
I would like to address the apple partnership speculation last. This is all rumor based and should be taken as such and not as factual in any capacity. As to what validity to it I wouldn't care to guess but there are many options in which a partnership of some sort would make sense and a lot of different options as to how that would take shape.
*Apple could simply lease/sell the research from Project Titan to Rivian for cheap as they spent a lot of money on it and Rivian was asked on the Quarter 1 24 call how they plan to be able to fund future development of their driver+ software (self driving).
Apple spent a lot of money on project titan and it would be a waste if none of that data was useful or ever used.
*The rumors of the apple rivian partnership was credited to an unnamed supplier in Asia. This could be relevant because if Rivian is purchasing or looking into purchasing Apple chips (to power self driving AI assistants) or anything like sensors of the same kind that apple used on its test cars for project titan, could make the rumor a bit more credible. If any information comes out supporting that Rivian is buying apple related hardware this could impact the stock price upward.
*maybe this could simply be a planned implementation of Carplay with the new upcoming version of Carplay being added to R1 and future R2 lineups. Given that no one is going to refuse to buy a Rivian if it introduces the completely 100% optional carplay and that Rivian has a real issue with the lack of software in its vehicles (I can't name another vehicle that doesn't have integrated text messaging) I could only see this only helping demand as there are plenty of soccer moms who wouldn't buy a car without carplay.
*could be a partnership to build apple branded R1/R2/R3 vehicles. Rivian vehicles look good and have a good interior quality thats better than what you would expect. I could see apple badging and functionality being added to a Rivian vehicle to be sold as the apple car.
They could even throw an apple chip in there to run the center screen and it could basically be an IPAD and run all the ipad apps to instantly compete with tesla on functionality and breadth of media/games etc.
Think of like how Ford had an Eddie Bauer edition of their Expedition vehicle years ago. Makes way more sense than apple starting their own car manufacturing and Rivian makes a whole lot of sense for Apple to partner with due to quality of the vehicle.
Note I dont believe the chances are anything but low for most of the speculation about Apple above, but if there was a major or even minor partnership with apple, expect the stock to take off.
Even without any of the apple things above taking place, I think if Q4 profitability happens the Rivian stock price could be above $20 again in 2025. While there are chances of negative catalysts taking place such as dilution so that Rivian can raise cash and other negative things that could occur so take care to make your own informed decisions do the research and dont risk more than you can afford to lose.
2024.05.14 22:40 thugbeet Any new/budget wedding photographers?
Hello,
Looking to see if anyone knows new photographers maybe trying to get into wedding pictures? We are working with a really small budget and don’t want anything fancy so perhaps we could be a client for someone starting out that isn’t charging $300+ an hr. I understand the work that goes into it but I know there is a wide range of skill as well so looking for prices on the low end.
Thanks
submitted by thugbeet to cincinnati [link] [comments]
Looking to see if anyone knows new photographers maybe trying to get into wedding pictures? We are working with a really small budget and don’t want anything fancy so perhaps we could be a client for someone starting out that isn’t charging $300+ an hr. I understand the work that goes into it but I know there is a wide range of skill as well so looking for prices on the low end.
Thanks
2024.05.14 22:40 ConfidentLeg7645 Japan (Honshu) 3 Week Spring Trip Report. A perfect trip (almost)!.
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 2nd 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 5th 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 2nd 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 8th 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.
submitted by ConfidentLeg7645 to JapanTravel [link] [comments]
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 2nd 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 5th 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 2nd 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 8th 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.
2024.05.14 22:36 Quirky_Permit_1313 Best Possible Picture Quality under 3000$
Thanks for anyone who reads this and helps out! I am looking to get a projector with THE BEST picture quality and black levels possible under 3000$ (Screen Seperate), I will also be spending a lot of my time gaming on it (mostly medium paced story games). The screen size will be between 90-100" and I would prefer a UST but if it means better quality, a traditional lamp projector also works.
I was looking and ended up with either the formovie theatre or the epson 5050ub, not sure which one to get as they both seem really good and are appx. in the budget, another thing to consider is that I don't live in the usa so prices can be horrible, anywhere from 500-2000$ more expensive than somewhere like amazon or projector central. I am planning to use one of those services that have the products ship to their warehouse and then ship it internationally to your house. But would still say to keep atleast a 200-500$ overhead (not strict),
some other things I had questions about is that I will be sitting about 7-8 feet MAX away from the projected wall and was wondering if the projection might feel pixely or not that good because of sitting so close. (main reason to get a ust as I'll be able to easily adjust the image size accordinly if I have to go as low as 80" and also my celing is unmountable because of a false ceiling design and a fan in the middle covering the entire space where a projector would likely go. and I might take it with me if I go for vacation to relatives.)
so TLDR; need the best visuals projector for under about 3000$, ust preferred.
also any suggestions for a screen would be great! currently planning to get a grey ALR screen.
submitted by Quirky_Permit_1313 to projectors [link] [comments]
I was looking and ended up with either the formovie theatre or the epson 5050ub, not sure which one to get as they both seem really good and are appx. in the budget, another thing to consider is that I don't live in the usa so prices can be horrible, anywhere from 500-2000$ more expensive than somewhere like amazon or projector central. I am planning to use one of those services that have the products ship to their warehouse and then ship it internationally to your house. But would still say to keep atleast a 200-500$ overhead (not strict),
some other things I had questions about is that I will be sitting about 7-8 feet MAX away from the projected wall and was wondering if the projection might feel pixely or not that good because of sitting so close. (main reason to get a ust as I'll be able to easily adjust the image size accordinly if I have to go as low as 80" and also my celing is unmountable because of a false ceiling design and a fan in the middle covering the entire space where a projector would likely go. and I might take it with me if I go for vacation to relatives.)
so TLDR; need the best visuals projector for under about 3000$, ust preferred.
also any suggestions for a screen would be great! currently planning to get a grey ALR screen.
2024.05.14 22:30 OhWowMuchFunYouGuys This safest win under $5 with full breakdown why. $NOK
 | I’m gonna use a word that is rare around these parts so please brace yourselves. Long term, penny stock with dividend. Today was a crazy day with FFIE, GME, AMC and KULR has ER tomorrow. So many stocks up 25%+ the memes and rides were real like it was 2020 for a minute. I congratulate all who won and had fun doing so. I mourn for those who lost lol. I have a proposition for the winners and an opportunity for the losers. submitted by OhWowMuchFunYouGuys to pennystocks [link] [comments] I have tried to find the perfect combination of attributes in a pennystock and it’s nearly impossible. You can get runners and pumps but nothing usually flashing green lights at all stops. I think I may have found something though. It’s not as pushed and nearly ever mentioned but it’s real and it’s all good. I believe it to be the safest investment under $5. It may not be the biggest runner or crazy yolo, but it’s the safest to make money imho. So let’s start here …. Nokia is a major player in the telecommunications industry, specializing in 5G networks, IoT solutions, and cloud services. The company continues to innovate, contributing significantly to global communications technology advancements. Well that’s nice but who cares?? I agree let’s continue. Nokia Corporation has announced the purchase of 376,363 of its own shares at an average price of €3.49 on May 13, 2024, as part of its €600 million multi-tranche share buyback program. The program, which began on March 20, 2024, aims to return value to shareholders Okay that’s cool but what’s else? O2 Telefonica in Germany and Nokia announced the deployment of 5G standalone core software on Amazon Web Services (). The rollout provides O2 Telefonica with ultra-low latency to deliver advanced 5G services, like extended reality and network slicing, which require instant availability and greater bandwidth capacity. Seems fair but what about the numbers? Well those are even better. Fair value $6 Dividend 2.61% P/E ratio 23.5 Smashed through 200 day MA and reset the support. Beat last earnings and will absolutely do so again in August. If that isn’t enough to make you believe in a pennystock idk what you buy honestly. I think this is what a true value investment looks like. The P/E ratio is fair, the chart is ripping, the company just did a share buyback, brand new rollout plans with Amazon, was over $4 today with zero push and yet….the volume was double. This goes straight to $5+ with any love and stays there. I don’t think you should yolo or anything. I believe if everyone put 15% of your portfolio here it would be the safest thing you own and pay long term on value and dividends. I know that’s not sexy but that’s security and I rather be safe than fucked. I hope you win on whatever else you play and I hope you join me with a safety net in $NOK. It’s going to $5+, bank that shit. |
2024.05.14 22:29 ZevNyx The cost of SotO vs previous Expansions
I see a lot of people say things like living world used to be free and now it’s expensive cause it’s bundled with the expansion and is small. Or various other arguments about the cost and quality of SotO vs other expansions, HoT & PoF in particular. I thought it would be interesting to go back and look at the numbers. Sometimes I participate in arguments to and I really should be saying accurate things myself.
When living world first came out, the base game was buy to play @ $60. And you had to own the game to access it. LWS1 never cost anything but each release was somewhere between as small as pressing f on some signs for refugees or as big as the Tower of Nightmares and then literally disappeared from the game 3 weeks later. An attempt to get us to log in from extreme FOMO.
LWS2 consists of 8 content drops that cost 200 gems, 160 gems each if bought bundled for $16. Required owning the base game. ANet made a decision at the time that IF you login during the correct time period per episode that you can have it for free in the hopes they’d make up for the difference in gem sales but 200 gems has always been the “box price” for these episodes.
HoT cost $50 at release and consisted of the expansion drop plus 6 content drops (LWS3, which cost 160 gems each if you buy it all as a bundle. So LWS3 cost $12.
PoF cost $30 at release and consisted of the expansion drop plus 6 content drops (LWS4, which again cost $12 unless you met the same criteria that was supposed to get you to spend more in the gem store.
IBS, an attempt to quit having to make expansions, was 6 content drops for $12 or free if you again met the free-ness criteria that was meant to get you to drop money in the gem store. It still requires you to own PoF though so in order to play it you had to buy PoF.
EoD cost $30 and consisted of the expansion drop andof 2 small content drops (Gyala Delves) or 7 if you consider the LWS1 re-release to be content which many in the community don’t, but at best it’s double dipping.
SotO costs $25 and consists of the expansion drop plus 3 small content drops which you receive as part of the expansion regardless of when you buy it or whether you log in during a certain period of time.
I see the old model as a business putting a sign on the door saying “free stuff” to get you in the door to buy other more expensive things and then leaving the “free stuff” sign up in the door forever after and saying “whoops forgot to take the sign down that’ll be $5 please”. Whereas the “free stuff” being advertised now is worth less and everything else has gone up in price but at least the sign isn’t a lie later on.
This is how businesses like ANet and NCSoft view things.
GW2 base game in the LWS1 era, $60 with FOMO dialed up to 11 to try to push gem sales.
GW2 base game in the LWS2 era, $76 with LWS2, discounted to $60 if you participate in the FOMO to push gem sales.
HoT, $62 with LWS2, discounted to $50 if you participate in the FOMO to push gem sales.
PoF, $54 with LWS4 & IBS, discounted to $30 if you participated in 3 years of FOMO to push gem sales.
EoD, $30 as is, no living world FOMO cause we have to panic and re-release LWS1 so the Steam release doesn’t flop and the player base will revolt if we attach gems to it. And we threw Gyala Delves in there to wrap up EoD in a bow so we can move to the new model.
Soto, $25 as is, with Wizard Vault seasons, constant in game bonus events, and 3 content patches included in the box price to create a constant low level FOMO to drive gem sales.
Additional sales as needed get new people to buy old “free” content and skins.
Personally, I think the cost of the content is the most honest it’s ever been.
I’m fine with being cynical here, and have been cynical to ANets reason for previous and current business models here. SotO is definitely designed to create more consistent profit for the company while managing a smaller workforce.
If we spread the cost of content out over time, the game cost $170 if you participated in 100 percent of the FOMO so $15.50 per year (including some extreme content droughts.) Compared to $25 per year that certainly can seem like a 61% cost increase for what has certainly been a mediocre story in Inner Nayos so far.
Even jf you didn’t participate in the FOMO it cost $222 over the years, so $20.20 per year, less if you caught sales or buy the complete collection today. So a 24% cost increase.
If we compare per expansion though, SotO is less than half the bundled price of the core, HoT, or PoF eras individually and around 15% cheaper than EoD.
For people who primarily care about story and new maps, I get it. For story and map content alone, if this is going to be the quality going forward over multiple annual expansions it’s a disappointment that costs more over time.
I would argue that the increased game balance frequency, consistent bonus events, numerous QoL improvements, increased attention to WvW and PvP (something is more than nothing), increased communication, actual bug fixes for old content, and improved frequency of new open world and instanced content (hopefully consistency of quality improves there too) is worth the dollars, despite the story.
I’d really like a better story. ANet please learn things from Inner Nayos and Gyala Delves in particular. Those adorable Kryptis Quaggans should probably be trying to eat my face, not apples, and a battle to fight through Eparch’s queens forces should make me break a sweat. If neither Peitha or Isgarren betray me next week I’ll probably quit the game for a month.
submitted by ZevNyx to Guildwars2 [link] [comments]
When living world first came out, the base game was buy to play @ $60. And you had to own the game to access it. LWS1 never cost anything but each release was somewhere between as small as pressing f on some signs for refugees or as big as the Tower of Nightmares and then literally disappeared from the game 3 weeks later. An attempt to get us to log in from extreme FOMO.
LWS2 consists of 8 content drops that cost 200 gems, 160 gems each if bought bundled for $16. Required owning the base game. ANet made a decision at the time that IF you login during the correct time period per episode that you can have it for free in the hopes they’d make up for the difference in gem sales but 200 gems has always been the “box price” for these episodes.
HoT cost $50 at release and consisted of the expansion drop plus 6 content drops (LWS3, which cost 160 gems each if you buy it all as a bundle. So LWS3 cost $12.
PoF cost $30 at release and consisted of the expansion drop plus 6 content drops (LWS4, which again cost $12 unless you met the same criteria that was supposed to get you to spend more in the gem store.
IBS, an attempt to quit having to make expansions, was 6 content drops for $12 or free if you again met the free-ness criteria that was meant to get you to drop money in the gem store. It still requires you to own PoF though so in order to play it you had to buy PoF.
EoD cost $30 and consisted of the expansion drop andof 2 small content drops (Gyala Delves) or 7 if you consider the LWS1 re-release to be content which many in the community don’t, but at best it’s double dipping.
SotO costs $25 and consists of the expansion drop plus 3 small content drops which you receive as part of the expansion regardless of when you buy it or whether you log in during a certain period of time.
I see the old model as a business putting a sign on the door saying “free stuff” to get you in the door to buy other more expensive things and then leaving the “free stuff” sign up in the door forever after and saying “whoops forgot to take the sign down that’ll be $5 please”. Whereas the “free stuff” being advertised now is worth less and everything else has gone up in price but at least the sign isn’t a lie later on.
This is how businesses like ANet and NCSoft view things.
GW2 base game in the LWS1 era, $60 with FOMO dialed up to 11 to try to push gem sales.
GW2 base game in the LWS2 era, $76 with LWS2, discounted to $60 if you participate in the FOMO to push gem sales.
HoT, $62 with LWS2, discounted to $50 if you participate in the FOMO to push gem sales.
PoF, $54 with LWS4 & IBS, discounted to $30 if you participated in 3 years of FOMO to push gem sales.
EoD, $30 as is, no living world FOMO cause we have to panic and re-release LWS1 so the Steam release doesn’t flop and the player base will revolt if we attach gems to it. And we threw Gyala Delves in there to wrap up EoD in a bow so we can move to the new model.
Soto, $25 as is, with Wizard Vault seasons, constant in game bonus events, and 3 content patches included in the box price to create a constant low level FOMO to drive gem sales.
Additional sales as needed get new people to buy old “free” content and skins.
Personally, I think the cost of the content is the most honest it’s ever been.
I’m fine with being cynical here, and have been cynical to ANets reason for previous and current business models here. SotO is definitely designed to create more consistent profit for the company while managing a smaller workforce.
If we spread the cost of content out over time, the game cost $170 if you participated in 100 percent of the FOMO so $15.50 per year (including some extreme content droughts.) Compared to $25 per year that certainly can seem like a 61% cost increase for what has certainly been a mediocre story in Inner Nayos so far.
Even jf you didn’t participate in the FOMO it cost $222 over the years, so $20.20 per year, less if you caught sales or buy the complete collection today. So a 24% cost increase.
If we compare per expansion though, SotO is less than half the bundled price of the core, HoT, or PoF eras individually and around 15% cheaper than EoD.
For people who primarily care about story and new maps, I get it. For story and map content alone, if this is going to be the quality going forward over multiple annual expansions it’s a disappointment that costs more over time.
I would argue that the increased game balance frequency, consistent bonus events, numerous QoL improvements, increased attention to WvW and PvP (something is more than nothing), increased communication, actual bug fixes for old content, and improved frequency of new open world and instanced content (hopefully consistency of quality improves there too) is worth the dollars, despite the story.
I’d really like a better story. ANet please learn things from Inner Nayos and Gyala Delves in particular. Those adorable Kryptis Quaggans should probably be trying to eat my face, not apples, and a battle to fight through Eparch’s queens forces should make me break a sweat. If neither Peitha or Isgarren betray me next week I’ll probably quit the game for a month.
2024.05.14 22:23 AEGISAlliance CSL Plasma: Get 5,000 iGive Rewards® points ($50) after five donations for new donors! (Plus new donor money) Using the CSL Plasma app! Referral Code: ZULMHXXVCB Solid advice for new plasma donors included! Thank you!
I have advice for new plasma donors who may be considering to try it out and earn extra money:
Individuals with well-controlled diabetes can contribute to plasma donation, but certain criteria need to be met:
Absence of Complications: This means no existing diabetic complications affecting your kidneys, heart, blood vessels, or eyes.
Insulin Independence: If you rely on insulin for diabetes management, a three-month waiting period is required after using needles for non-prescribed medications. Additionally, you must be free of symptoms or treatment needs related to blood sugar fluctuations (high or low) for the past three months.
https://rewards.cslplasma.com/referral/referral-unique-code/eyJkb25vcklEIjoiMDBEMjNEVSIsImNvZGUiOiJaVUxNSFhYVkNCIn0
CSL Plasma: Get 5,000 iGive Rewards® points ($50) after five donations for new donors! (Plus new donor money) Using the CSL Plasma app! Code: ZULMHXXVCB Thank you!
Code: ZULMHXXVCB
submitted by AEGISAlliance to CSLPlasmaReferrals [link] [comments]
- Plasma is 92% water and the rest is mostly protein elements.
- The plasma is separated from your blood and your red blood cells are returned to you in cycles.
- Per FDA regulations, you're only allowed to donate plasma twice in a 7 day period, with a 48 hour wait inbetween those two times. Don't risk your health by hopping around to different plasma donation centers to circumvent these regulations, and you may get caught if you do.
- Eat a meal high in protein 2-3 hours before donating, but your plasma protein levels depend on what you ate the day before.
- Drink plenty of water and/or non-caffeinated juice before donating to stay hydrated.
- Avoid caffeine such as in coffee or soda before donating or you may get nauseous and vomit or faint during your donation.
- No alcohol 24 hours before, and for a little while after donating.
- No exercising for at least 6 hours after donating as it can put too much stress on the vein.
- Some people get away with smoking or vaping nicotine before and after donating, but it's recommended not to for 2 hours before and after. The nicotine can raise your heart's pulse rate.
- If your pulse rate is 100 or above, you'll be able to do a vitals retake after a 15 minute wait. But if it's 100 or higher again you'll be deferred for the day. If your pulse rate is an issue, listen to "Pink Noise" or "Green Noise" at a low volume before donating which may help reduce your pulse rate, along with its effect on lowering your blood pressure.
- There is a risk of getting a blown vein if the worker is having a hard time finding your vein when they're sticking you with the needle or if you have small veins. You may get deferred until your vein heals if that happens. But it's ok, your body is able to regenerate your veins with a process called Angiogenesis.
- There is a risk of blood clots, but when your blood is constantly moving through the machine it prevents that from happening.
- You may be subject to drug screening. The drug screening tests for methamphetamines, cocaine, and heroin. Certain pharma prescription meds may show up as a false positive so you'll want to let the plasma center know what meds you're taking. Testing positive for these drugs can result in a permanent deferral from donating plasma.
- A sample of your blood will be drawn periodically to test for certain sexually transmitted infections (STIs). A positive test will result in either a temporary or permanent deferral from donating plasma. If you've ever been diagnosed or received treatment for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B (HBV) or Hepatitis C (HCV) you will be permanently deferred from donating plasma.'
Individuals with well-controlled diabetes can contribute to plasma donation, but certain criteria need to be met:
Absence of Complications: This means no existing diabetic complications affecting your kidneys, heart, blood vessels, or eyes.
Insulin Independence: If you rely on insulin for diabetes management, a three-month waiting period is required after using needles for non-prescribed medications. Additionally, you must be free of symptoms or treatment needs related to blood sugar fluctuations (high or low) for the past three months.
- Healthy Feet: Active foot ulcers requiring medical attention will disqualify you from donation.
- Steady Balance: You shouldn't experience dizziness or lightheadedness upon standing.
- Type 1 Consideration: For Type 1 diabetics, eating within two hours of donation is mandatory.
- Wait a few hours before taking the bandage wrap off of your arm after donating.
- It's recommended to use Vitamin E oil/Mineral oil on the needle site for the puncture area to heal better. A Q-tip can be used to apply it easier. I simply dip the Q-Tip in the bottle, but never dip the used cotton back into the bottle.
- Frequently donating over a prolonged period of time may lead to your body having decreased vitamin D levels.
- Red meats are particularly high in the protein vitamins and minerals found in plasma.
- Personally, I take a Now brand Vitamin D supplement that contains vitamin D3, Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc. But I only take a half a dose, 1 gel capsule instead of 2, since I get these from eating meats and other foods as well. It's bad for your health if you take too much of these vitamins and minerals over time. I also take an Iron supplement. I also drink a protein shake before donating. Just to be safe.
https://rewards.cslplasma.com/referral/referral-unique-code/eyJkb25vcklEIjoiMDBEMjNEVSIsImNvZGUiOiJaVUxNSFhYVkNCIn0
CSL Plasma: Get 5,000 iGive Rewards® points ($50) after five donations for new donors! (Plus new donor money) Using the CSL Plasma app! Code: ZULMHXXVCB Thank you!
Code: ZULMHXXVCB
2024.05.14 22:23 Last-Equipment-1324 Inflation at 2ish%
Can anyone explain to me why goods and services are still so high despite the 3 year low. I'm not at all in the know but I'm sure things like minimum wage increase, high fuel prices and other factors is the reason why we are seeing food still being sold at the moment in Ireland. I understand that we get a lot imported here as well but there is no reason why we can't get the price of a shopping basket to a reasonable level by the end of the year ? 🤷♂️. I'm clueless and need some schooling on the matter.
submitted by Last-Equipment-1324 to irishpersonalfinance [link] [comments]