Just for reference, we’re Vietnamese. I moved across the state to go to college and I always feel strange whenever I visit home. My parents never tell me anything so I’m always kind of in the dark about them both before and after I move, my parents have always relied on me and in many ways I’ve been parentified, the typical parentification x infantilation Asian parent combo. In the words of my younger sister, sometimes she feels like I’m the only real adult in the house sometimes. When I’m in college everything feels far away and I’m living my own life. I forget, especially since my parents don’t tell me anything, so when I come back I am hit with how much my family is struggling without me and I feel immense guilt for “abandoning” them, it’s truly upsetting how taking care of my parents and living my own life are not compatible.
When I come back I think my parents realize how much they have need me so they appreciate me a little bit more but after a few days and they get used to me or my attitude slips out, it’s back to taking me for granted and ingratitude.
I have always been very independent and not really reliant on my parents beyond money, even in middle school I was taking the bus on my own rather than relying on my parents for rides. I don’t think my parents ever recognized that until now, I think they’re beginning to realize how truly independent and “adult” I really am but I also think they’re realizing how much they actually don’t know me and how we’ve pushed each other away. I always threatened when fighting and stuff typical “I’m gonna move out as soon as I turn 18!!!!” Well that didn’t exactly happen when I turned 18, it happened pretty fast after I turned 19, when I moved in with college friends and I feel a little guilty for it? I don’t think they expected for me to leave the nest so soon as well.
I always have really weird and complicated feelings about my parents when coming home for the holidays and stuff. Just wanted to put this out there and see if anyone could relate.

Some backstory: I (19F) grew up in a very religious Asian home in the UK. I’m the eldest of three, my two younger siblings both being boys. Growing up, all three of us were raised to believe that the most important thing in life was education. We were all put into tuition from the age of 8 to pass the 11+, which is a test for selective schools. From the age of 8, we were not allowed to do anything but study. Every day after school, we would have to do some homework, read and memorize a textbook, or complete some other task like encyclopedia reading. My parents relaxed a little with my younger siblings, but as the eldest and the highest academic achiever in my family, they were always stricter with me. As a result, I got very, very good at hiding things from my parents. I could identify footsteps easily and lie very well.
As a child, I would often just play games on the family computer when I should have been studying. At around the age of 12, my younger brother was caught playing games, and my parents threatened to check the computer’s history in case he ever did it again. Naturally, I went and learned how to do it first, just so my parents wouldn’t catch me either (and no, no one knew about incognito tabs then). I used to clear the gaming history every single day on Chrome for my brother and myself. It wasn't long before I found my dad’s Chrome history too. He was on not one, not two, not even three, but many, many dating websites. It didn’t just stop there; he had a whole secret identity online, under a different name, with different social media accounts, emails, and a different phone. He was rubbish at hiding that phone, so it wasn’t long until I found it too. I took it upon myself to make sure my brothers didn’t find out and cleared the history for my dad as well.
My dad used to walk me to the bus stop for months (which he was only supposed to do for two weeks because I switched bus routes), and it wasn’t long until I realized he was doing that to get out of the house and phone someone on his way back home. I told my mum about the phone, and she confronted my dad. He told her that it was never meant to be a secret and that the phone was just like any other phone. She believed him, or rather, I think she chose to believe him. I knew that because she treated me like her therapist during that time. I never told her about the things he did on the internet; frankly, I was too scared to know. My dad used to leave unnecessarily early for work too. I’ve had my suspicions for years, but again, I’m too scared to know, so I chose to feign ignorance. I found out about the incognito tab and told my brothers, mostly just to give them a reason not to go on the computers history because the one time they did I had to lie and cover for my dad.
Over the years, I’ve been so close to telling. I remember once when we were sitting down to pray, and my dad lunged at my fleece pockets (I used to keep a lot of junk in there) out of the blue. Never once had this been an issue, but all of a sudden, it was. I felt so violated, and hearing him insult me for nothing, I could’ve ripped him a new one, but one look at my brothers and I couldn’t do that to them. Another time, he kicked my back out of nowhere because I was shaking my leg, something that I picked up from him. Again, the only reason I kept silent even when I wanted to scream was because of the boys. I still can’t sit in front of people or walk in front of people because of him. Or when he pretends he doesn't know how to work the internet or type out things like emails, I can't stand it and can't say anything either.
I’ve been keeping that secret for the last seven years. I've also been making sure no one finds out. It became my responsibility to make sure no one knows. My mum still doesn’t know, my brothers don’t know, and my dad doesn’t know that I know. I’ll probably keep it that way for the rest of my life. I’ve only ever told two people. I will never tell my mother; she doesn’t believe in divorce because of our culture and religion r. I’ve heard her judge people who leave their cheating husbands, and as they say, ignorance is bliss. I’ll never tell the boys either; I’d rather not further ruin their already damaged perception of their father. I don’t ever want them to go through what I do. I don’t trust anymore, and I’m incredibly doubtful about any relationship. I don’t believe in love, or at least that it is as common as we like to think.
So, for any fathers out there, please don’t cheat. Don’t ruin your relationship with your children or their relationship with others. No one is worth ruining that for.

I've read a lot of comments here that hate on Trump, pretty typical of Reddit mind you, and I'd like to say this post is for sharing my experience only. I don't care why you want to leave the US, if anything Trump haters leaving the US would make me more willing to move back. So, please leave, just don't come to where I'm living.
Now, about 1 year ago I moved to Japan on a study abroad with the intention of using that as a launchpad into getting a full residence work permit in Japan for a highly paying (by Japanese standards, anyway) international company. I succeeded in that endeavor as soon as I finished my study abroad, which I didn't realize was statistically exceedingly rare for someone in my situation, but it has worked for the best for me all the same.
The most difficult part for me was switching from my student status to a work permit, which involved going back for graduation from university to move the things I couldn't bring with me on my first semi-temporary move such as my giant PC, TV and sound set into my checked luggage (all of which survived ANA by the way, highly recommend that airline). After that, I had to come back to Japan on a re-entry permission, go to immigration and pick up my new residence card which wasn't possible until my undergraduate degree was officially "conferred" upon me. So I waited around until I was able to do that and successfully picked up my new residence card which activated my new visa status.
In all of this time back home I rented a storage place a block from my house pre-paid for two years for about $1250 and applied for my pistol and semi-automatic rifle permits in New York before I left. The fact that I was claiming to be a "part-time resident" definitely sussed them out, but they allowed the application because I told them if I ever move back full-time I don't want to be waiting around to take possession of my firearms in NY again. Ideally, if I were to move back at all I'd go to Arizona or someplace to own NFA guns instead, but the permit was useful regardless since I visit family there at least once annually now.
Life in Japan has been great, I got to know all of the top government, NPO, business owners and foreign lawyers in Tokyo; my home in based in Tokyo so I get to benefit from JR and Tokyo Metro's extensive railway system, work even pays for my commuter pass (I live intentionally far away from the office which extends its use case and pays for my bus commute to the station which in turn gives me access to the whole bus line) and I live not too far away from Tokyo DisneyLand being on the eastern side of Tokyo.
Everything here is still fairly cheap, I do need to buy a bike and I'm still working on converting my NYS driver's license over to a Japanese license, but I've been able to use my IDP once while I was moving my belongings over to my new apartment across Tokyo. My social life has also been fairly healthy compared to most new expats, dating is a little rough but other than that there is no lack of friends.\
So why did I leave? I had credible-enough threats of violence waged against me back home, and I didn't even recognize the place in which I've grown up in these past twenty plus years. Additionally, I like Asian culture and living in a country where I'm the minority has definitely made me the protagonist in my own little life's story, that isn't me being facetious either, so much good has happened from this move. I still do occasionally help with US-related things. I work with American commerce abroad, I visit the US military bases on special occasions in which my SOFA status friends invite me over and I volunteer for some US charities here in Japan.
Some tricky things that have arisen are the following:
-I run a business in Japan and hold multiple bank accounts worldwide including HK which has caused for a cluster fuck of a tax situation with the IRS. Unless, of course, I want to get my U.S. Passport revoked and be de facto stateless abroad (technically an Italian citizen by descent too but that process is taking forever) I have to put up with this shit.
-Renewals of my NY pistol permit aren't friendly to majority-year non-resident citizens. I lived downstate which results in me not having to just recertify with the state every 5 years for a "lifetime" license, but do a full renewal every 3 years with the local PD. This is pretty simple with a VPN and a credit card by just paying online, but I cannot upgrade to full concealed carry yet until the state rids of the training requirement or clarifies that it is only required to be done once, something neither the state nor the courts have yet done. I'm in no hurry because with the sensitive locations clause, every CCW is effectively just a glorified premises permit.
-Renewal of DL not an issue when renewing online with a credit card again, but every 15 or 20 years I need to submit a new photograph to the DMV and every 8 years since its a REAL ID I need to get my vision checked in NY.
-I apply for a lot of credit cards (over 20 at this point) to churn their SUBs which help fund me flying ANA and JAL in first and business class between JFK and HND. Sometimes, these issuers (aside from Amex) after uncooperative with me having a overseas address which means I need to phone up my parents to receive the card for me and for me to figure out how I am to use it contactlessly so I can meet minimum spend and get my next free flight home.
-I always have to say "I intend to return" on UOCAVA application forms, otherwise I can only vote in federal elections. I still voted in my local school board/budget elections when I last visited so I could write in all of the candidates and vote no on all of the budget proposals. Why would I want to give that up when I can legally say I "returned" so therefore had an intention to at some point in the course of human history? :>
-The biggest issue: my family is getting older and it's not too unlikely that my grandparents could die and I would not necessarily be able to take the time off to visit their funerals. Hopefully, this doesn't happen for quite some time.
Would I move back?
Well, no, not permanently. After I get permanent residency here I may see if I can't go work in the Midwest while on a re-entry permit for a while or look to Hong Kong/Singapore/Shenzhen/Shanghai to expand my cross-cultural lifestyle, but I have no urge to return to the US. Something people who never leave the US will say a lot is the US is the freest, greatest country in the world. I can't agree that it is the freest, but I can agree it is the greatest in the sense I can't go anywhere besides perhaps Russia, China or Afghanistan and other obscure countries to get away from the US' economic pull. Every time I go to open a bank account, brokerage account or make a big purchase or sale the US tax authorities always get involved somehow. We can seriously thank Obama for that one.
And lastly, would I ever renounce my US citizenship?
No, never. Not officially at least. If I happened to become de facto stateless as a political dissident or for tax reasons, etc. I still wouldn't give it up for Japanese nationality because Japanese nationality would cause me to lose Italian/EU nationality as well and my children could never benefit from all that comes with no immigration controls in the US for school and work in the future. If I ever needed to yeet out of Japan in the event of a national emergency like the Fukushima disaster, I would lose that ability immediately. And I would lose my US voting rights. Lastly, renunciation results in a disqualification to ever own a firearm in the US again, not sure how constitutional that remains to be.
I've heard of stories in which some Americans left for Japan, naturalized as Japanese citizens and somehow found their way back in the USA later in life as non-citizens. I know how shit the US legal immigration system is and I never want to voluntarily put myself through that where it is avoidable. The Japanese immigration system while strict and murky in some ways, is pretty understanding of individual circumstances by comparison.

Hi, hope you all are well! I will be staying in Brooklyn for a month. I need some general survival tips. I will be using public transport often, so where do I buy a bus pass? Are there any discounts for students? I read about OMNY, which gives free rides after a certain amount of rides. Is it better to make a OMNY account or get a 30-day pass? Can I buy the pass at JFK airport, or is there somewhere cheaper to get it? Is there an app to check the timings for buses or there is only google maps? If I am travelling by train/bus from the airport with my luggage, what can I do to not be annoying for the people around me? I know basic situational awareness is applied but is there anything else I should keep in mind? What are some free/cheap places that are a must visit, apart from the basics? Like field of light or rockefelkar park. What are some scams I should be aware of? Cheap grocery stores in general? Farmer markets, dollaramas, Asian markets? Where do you all like to shop on a budget regardless of location? Cheap phone plans for a month? The best one I found was by T-mobile for 60 gb data and unlimited calls and texts? Is there any other company that offers something cheaper with a good amount of data? How safe is brooklyn at night if you are travelling alone? Are trains and busses empty near 8-9pm? How do you blend in the crowd and not stick out as an obvious tourist?

It’s no secret that Disney isn’t doing well lately - they just laid off nearly 15% of the workforce at Pixar, their movie studio that used to produce guaranteed hits, but Pixar’s recent films “Elemental” and “Lightyear” were bombs, and the division hasn’t turned a profit in more than two years. People just didn’t go for the strained interracial/immigrant metaphor in “Elemental” or the same-sex kiss in “Lightyear,” or the rehashed, stale vibe of both projects.
Additionally, Disney’s much-touted “fully immersive” “Star Was”hotel called the “Galactic Starcruiser,” shut down late last year, after operating for less than two years - Disney had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the project, apparently on the theory that people cared so much about the “Star Wars” brand that they’d be willing to spend thousands of dollars for the privilege of staying two nights in a windowless concrete building posing as a spaceship. That didn’t pan out; apparently people weren’t excited to stay in a hotel where the experience is seemingly designed to be as aggressively unpleasant as possible.
Now, that same quarter, Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, reported a loss of more than a million subscribers, and that’s not even getting into Disney’s decision to get involved in Florida politics, on the side of activist teachers who want to talk to kindergartners about “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.”
Faced with this brand collapse, Disney had two options: One option was to retool their content to focus on entertainment and family values instead of activism, which is what Disney used to do when it was a universally beloved and much more financially successful company - they can get back to their roots, in other words, and not in the sense of churning out more remakes, but in the sense of being a company that makes wholesome family films that capture a real sense of wonder and imagination.
But the other option was to keep doing exactly what they’ve been doing, and continue to shove the same agenda—the equity/representation/LGBTQ approach—that they’ve been pushing for years now.
Well, eight months ago, Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, publicly pledged to pursue the first option: He declared that Disney would refocus its efforts on entertainment, not political messaging - that was the plan, or at least the plan that was shared with the public, but that’s not what has happened.
Disney, over the past eight months, has apparently decided to double down on agenda-driven content, to the point that they’re now openly attacking their own fans. It’s a remarkable turn of events, and it’s one that’s worth discussing because this development is not unique to Disney. And it suggests that “wokeness,” as we call it, may not be the best way to describe what we’re seeing at Disney and other major corporations like it. That’s PART of what we’re seeing, but there’s something else going on here as well. It looks a lot like corporate mediocrity run amok - the private-sector version of what we see across the public-sector bureaucracy. Unimpressive people with impressive-sounding credentials, who check the right demographic boxes, are taking the helm of businesses and products that they don’t understand. They’ve insinuated themselves into these companies like a cancer that’s evidently impossible to remove, and even when the company CEO publicly tells them one thing, they’re free to do another.
Now, to get a better idea of what I mean, take a look at this interview from the other day, featuring Leslye Headland, the creator of the new Disney “Star Wars” show, “The Acolyte.” Now, I don’t want to prejudice you in any way, so I’ll just play the clip with no further introduction: This is the showrunner talking about her show.
So don’t worry about the story, or the plot, or the characters—who has time for that?—instead, just listen to these two women call old “Star Wars” characters gay, and then giggle like schoolgirls. They are excited that this new “Star Wars” show will be the gayest “Star Wars” show yet - which is, in every way, the exact opposite of what the audience actually wants. NOBODY has watched the recent “Star Wars” films and shows, and said to themselves, “You know, this would be better if only it was even gayer.” No one has thought that, except for the people behind this show.
Now, the only thing you learn from that interview is that Leslye Headland is gay and has no respect whatsoever for her audience or her own show - this is how Disney is promoting the latest entry in a franchise they spent $4 billion to buy a decade ago, and that has a lot of fans wondering how exactly she was CHOSEN for the role of showrunner. If her role is to push some subversive woke ideology, she’s not being very subversive about it. She’s just angering as many fans as she possibly can, and that’s all this is.
And she’s not the only one doing this: the CEO of Lucasfilm—a woman named Kathleen Kennedy—just came out in defense of her showrunner - Kennedy declared that if you’re not a fan of how Leslye Headland is handling herself, then you probably hate women.

I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male-dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal. … My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people. That’s an easy decision for me.

Yes, she really said that. “Storytelling does need to be representative of all people,” says the CEO of Lucasfilm, as she mocks her own fanbase. These people are so dumb that they don’t even understand the words coming out of their own mouths - “Representative of all people,” really? Are they gonna have eight billion characters in this show, one for each person on Earth? How exactly is this going to work? Is storytelling supposed to be “representative of all people”—whatever that means—or is it supposed to be representative of the distinct creative vision of the storyteller?
I was gonna show some more clips of these women, but it’s honestly too painful to subject you to - these are people who can’t even communicate without descending into valley girl nonsense, and they’re putting together shows that they expect millions of people to watch. Kathleen Kennedy was lucky enough to work with Steven Spielberg, and Leslye Headland worked on rom-coms with titles like “Sleeping With Other People,” so those are their credentials, and they’re considered impressive in the industry, I guess, so they get to continue butchering “Star Wars.”
By the way, “The Acolyte” was released this week and—as has become a new tradition for “Star Wars” films and shows—it has a very high critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, like, 88%, but a failing grade of 45% from the audience. That is the dynamic we always see now with these things.
Joel Berry, who apparently subjected himself to at least some of the show, offered this review:

The Acolyte is a queer, Marxist vandalization of the myth of Star Wars. In The Acolyte, the Force is a metaphor for cultural hegemonic power. The Jedi are a metaphor for cisgender white oppressors who hoard the power for themselves. Yes, it really is that obnoxious and stupid.

The account Wall Street Silver offered this viewer warning:

The Acolyte, Star Wars new series streaming, very woke. 1) main character has two mothers 2) main Jedi characters are all Black and Asian, no white men 3) only speaking role for white men in first episode is prisoners on prison ship.

So Disney has decided to right the ship by ramming it directly into another iceberg. And that’s not to pick on “The Acolyte” too much, although it obviously deserves it. Because of the fact that Disney is now pumping out “Star Wars” shows on an assembly line, there’s another one that I can mock as well, it’s called “Tales of the Empire,” and this one is apparently geared towards kids, and I guess it features a nonbinary Jedi, based on how all of the characters use “they/them” pronouns to refer to his corpse - If you can get through it, here it is:

SITH 1: “They’re still alive. We need to get them to the ship. We can save them!”
SITH 2: “Forget it. Let them die. It’s not worth the trouble.”
SITH 1: “They were about to surrender!”
SITH 2: “Irrelevant! The Jedi are a threat to be eradicated wherever they are found.”

That’s the one where that bad guy KILLS someone, but then still respects that person’s pronouns after having murdered them. So that’s nice, at least.
This is the result of Disney’s big plan to focus on “entertainment” and not “messaging:” We have nonbinary Jedis and girl bosses making sure we get the gayest “Star Wars” ever,” and that’s not all.
As Bloomberg recently reported, Disney is now banking on the upcoming film “Inside Out 2” as the, “key to restoring the magic” - they think this film—a sequel to a movie from 2015–is going to be a smash hit, to the point that they’re going to give it a 100-day run in theaters. As Bloomberg reports:

If families show up for Inside Out 2 in the kinds of numbers Pixar used to see, it will reaffirm the studio’s standing. But if the movie fails, it will fuel concerns about the company’s relevance.

And by the way, the whole article is kind of funny because it’s all about how Disney has come up with their brilliant strategy to get back on track, and their brilliant strategy is to do more sequels and remakes. And of course, anyone who reads that is like, “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing the whole time? Isn’t that the ONLY thing you’ve done for 20 years, now?”
Now, what is “Inside Out 2” gonna be about? It’s hard to say because it’s not out yet, but after some Googling, I came across this headline from an outlet called Pride.com, and here’s their assessment based on the trailer:

The long-awaited sequel to Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out isn’t hitting theaters until this summer, but the official trailer dropped this week…and it’s looking a little gay. … Fans think Inside Out 2 is going to be gay AF.

And how brave is that? They’re also gonna, I guess, gay-ify “Inside Out,” or maybe they will - which was kind of a middling Pixar entry in the first place. Is that the direction they’re going with it? Who knows, but based on the fact that they can’t make ANYTHING that isn’t gay, we can assume the answer to that question is probably yes.
And ALL of this is very woke. That’s true. It’s also incredibly lame and stale and unimaginative, and that would also be an apt descriptor for what Disney is doing with its theme parks. As the writer Peachy Keenan documented on X/Twitter, Disney is currently re-theming their famous “Splash Mountain” ride because the ride was racist for some reason, and they’re creating a politically correct version of the new ride—so they’re doing this even with the rides now—Keenan watched all of Disney’s promotional materials, and she put together a comparison of the old ride with the new one. Basically, the new ride won’t have Princess Tiana in a nice dress with a handsome prince, or even a storyline of any kind, I guess, because that’s too archaic and patriarchal:

Instead, you get a lot of dead space, repeated boring animatronic who look like zombies compared to the Pirates animatronics, and Tiana—incredibly—in ugly baggy pants, no makeup, no nonsense hair, zero glamour. … It’s Girl Boss Tiana and she’s dressed like a Jungle Cruise.

That’s the direction they’re going with their theme parks. Sounds thrilling. Now, I was trying to figure out why all of this is happening at Disney—why they’re sabotaging their own brand, despite what the CEO said they’d do—and it’s clear that, whatever’s going on here, it’s not unique to Disney.
Consider what just happened at Cracker Barrel. Their CEO is a woman named Julie Felss Masino, she took the job last year. Previously, she worked at Taco Bell, Mattel, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Starbucks, and Macy’s. And of course, the clientele of every single one of these companies is very different from the typical Cracker Barrel clientele, which skews older, but in general, her old jobs were mostly in the food industry, just like ”The Acolyte” showrunner’s jobs were mostly in the entertainment industry, and that’s good enough, so Julie Masino got the job.
Unfortunately, it’s not working out too well. Masino just announced on a call with investors that the company is, “just not as relevant as we once were.” Because, you know, when think of Cracker Barrel, you think of “relevant” - that’s why Cracker Barrel’s customers got there, because it’s so relevant. But now it’s NOT as relevant so they need to make it relevant again, she said. And, to “ignite growth,” she said, it’s necessary to “revitalize” the brand. She then outlined a bunch of generic initiatives like rewards programs that every other restaurant offers, and her announcement—because people know what that really means when you have one of these mediocre corporate people saying that “we’re gonna revitalize the brand and make it relevant again,” everyone knows what that means, everyone knows where that goes—and because of that, the stock went down 11% immediately, putting it down nearly 50% in the past year - and why WOULDN’T the stock drop? The new CEO clearly views Cracker Barrel as completely indistinguishable from every other place that she’s ever worked - if anything, she probably HATES the brand, and we can assume she hates the brand’s primarily blue collar, Christian clientele.
We saw something similar with that Bud Light VP, Alissa Heinerscheid, when she dismissed her own customers as “fratty” and said Bud Light needed a rebrand, and that’s when they brought on Dylan Mulvaney, and we all know how that turned out. So Alissa Heinerscheid, like Julie Masino, had great credentials—she went to Harvard and Wharton, and had worked at big companies like Listerine and General Mills—but she didn’t understand Bud Light or care about the customers—in fact, she HATED the customers and was very open about that—and so she destroyed the brand.
Now the same thing is probably unfolding at Cracker Barrel. And it’s a very slow-motion, preventable collapse. On social media, someone using the handle “Pine Barron” summed up the problem better than I’ve seen elsewhere - here’s what he wrote, describing an alternative to Cracker Barrel’s current CEO:

Imagine a CEO who actually loved Midwestern and Southern culture. What about pop up concerts and endorsements by Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen? Why not lean into its heritage as an ‘after church’ spot and create programs for church groups including discounts and shuttle bus services. Grassroots evangelical support has made huge hits of movies like the Sound of Freedom and restaurant chains like Chik-Fil-A. … Imagine a public company with leadership that didn’t hate the blue collar evangelical population. There are so many obvious partnership opportunities with brands like NASCAR or country music stars. I don’t think this is wokeness or girlbossery per se, but rather typical corporate mediocrity. … They hired a generic MBA type who built a career on the massive brand equity of Yum Brands and Starbucks. … Just a cog in the corporate machine. I hope we will see titans of industry again but this is not how we’ll get them.

That does a fairly good job of putting into perspective everything we’ve been seeing over the past few years at Disney, Bud Light, and so many other major corporations. And I think it’s a more apt explanation than simply chalking all of this decline up to “wokeness.”
This trend of hiring interchangeable CEOs with resumes and trendy demographics has been an unmitigated disaster because it overlooks what the leader of every company should have, at a bare minimum, which is an understanding of their product and a genuine respect for their customers. Without that, you get shows like “The Acolyte.” You get Dylan Mulvaney and angry customers, and your stock collapses along with your brand.
All the combined efforts of feminism and diversity and equity and wokeness have brought us to this point, all of those things together. But it’s bureaucracy and inertia that keeps it alive, long after everyone’s tired of it. And that inertia is the reason why—whether you’re going to a restaurant or a movie theater—you’re now guaranteed a product that’s as mediocre as the people who created it.

I saw a sad video on WSHH that showed a South Asian girl (judging by her features) getting spat upon, getting groped, assaulted, and called the n-word. It's quite upsetting.
Is anyone familiar with this video that was just posted today?
I am quite annoyed by pro-Zionist people who have been trying to shut up everyone and their lobbying group, which is a foreign entity, using $100M to interfere with our elections.

[ For obvious reasons I’ve used fake names. ]
I (F, 31) and my boyfriend Ryan (M, 29) are part of a group of friends who reside in different parts of the country, but make it a point to meet at least once a year.
Ryan and I live in the South of our country.
The second couple, Dan and Ella, live in the capital.
Then there is Lucas, who resides in the North.
Ryan and Dan have always been close friends, having grown up as neighbors. About 11 years ago, they befriended Lucas, establishing a strong and enduring relationship. They bonded over their shared interest in video games, D&D and role-play games in general; they frequently talked over Discord and played a few D&D campaigns together.
In 2021 Lucas met Mary, and they started dating. He invited all of us over to get to know Mary, so that December we all gathered at Lucas's - we had a habit of sleeping over every time we came over since we were all traveling from different cities.
DECEMBER 2021
We spent about a week there: Mary was lovely, very kind and warm. She loved cooking for everyone and she showered everyone with affection. For instance, every day she liked to hug everyone good morning. I love hugs, so I never thought anything of it.
Mary also liked to make quite a lot of sex-related jokes. Nothing against it, I do it too. But jokes like “So… When’s the orgy?”, while funny the first time, made everyone uncomfortable when repeated almost every day.
Ryan was also acting differently that week. He’s always been very affectionate, even in public, but he was particularly loving (almost clingy) during our stay, and was always by my side. I didn't really notice it right away since I thought he was just being shy.
On the 31st, we planned to celebrate the new year by playing some board games, having drinks, and then heading to the beach to watch the midnight fireworks.
Mary's sister, Anna, also joined us with her boyfriend to spend a couple days at Lucas’.
We all drank but Mary was the only one getting tipsy - weird, since Ella and Dan are occasional drinkers and they were still sober. About thirty minutes before midnight, Mary appeared noticeably "drunk". We decided to get ready to go out, with everyone taking their turn in the bathroom. Ryan was the last one. While everyone gathered at the front door, I was still getting dressed in our room while Ryan was in the bathroom.
When I came out I saw Mary bent over the bathroom door, peering through the keyhole, laughing, while Anna was whispering to her to stop and to look away. I glanced toward the front door and noticed that everyone else was gathered at the door except Ryan.
I was in shock, so I stood there, frozen. I didn't know what to say.
Also, as I said, Ryan is very shy. If he were aware something like this was happening outside the door, he would’ve been mortified.
While I was still processing all of this, staring at Mary, Anna noticed me and pulled Mary away from the door. Mary then turned to me and, still laughing, said: “I saw your boyfriend’s penis”.
Seeing that I wasn’t laughing with her (AND WHY WOULD I), she shifted from laughter to tears in a fraction of a second. Mary and Anna both started apologizing. Mary kept repeating that this wouldn’t happen again. All I could mutter was: “...I should hope so. Were you planning on doing it again?”.
Anna asked me not to mention this to anyone since Mary was too drunk to think straight, and I said “I won’t tell for now or Ryan will be devastated”.
Luckily Ryan didn’t seem to notice because he came out of the bathroom in a good mood, ready to go. I didn’t tell him right away.
I tried to get ready but I was so in shock I came out of the bathroom too late, so we ended up staying in.
That night, when we went to bed, Ryan told me that he had the impression he was being spied on while in the bathroom. I hesitated a second, unsure about what to tell him since he caught me off guard. Sensing my hesitation, he pressed for an answer, so I had to tell him. He was so mortified that for the rest of the week, every time he went to the bathroom he locked the door, closed the window shutters, turned off the lights and blocked the keyhole with a t-shirt.
I began to notice things during the rest of our stay. Mary’s morning hugs were a tiny bit longer with Ryan. Mary was always invading Ryan’s personal space, which is why he always came by my side and showed me so much affection in front of everyone. I later discovered she was always molesting Ryan, giving him kisses on his neck, nibbling him, pinching or groping him, and it always happened when I wasn’t looking or when I wasn’t right there.
Mary also said some stuff that sounded pretty shady. For example one day she randomly opened Google Maps and handed her phone to Ryan, asking him to show her where he lives. When Ryan showed her his building on street view, she got her phone back and put it in her pocket again. When I asked her "Don't you want to know where I live? Or where Dan and Ella live?" she looked like she wasn't expecting me to say that.
We ended up overstaying for a couple of days, so we had to use their washing machine. Mary offered to load it, but I helped her unload and fold everything the next day. While we were folding and talking, she took one of Ryan’s t-shirts, buried her face in it, took a long sniff and moaned, right in front of me. Then she said: “Ryan’s clothes smell so good, even after being washed…”
I figured she was talking about his fabric softener’s scent still lingering after being washed with her products, so it completely went over my head at the time. Also, I thought that there could be no way Mary would actually do something else in front of me, especially not while sober. So I didn’t say anything and moved on with our conversation.
Days later, when I brought up that sentence with Ryan, he told me he had caught Mary sniffing his underwear while loading the dirty clothes in the washing machine.
I can’t even imagine what he must have felt like. The more I heard or noticed things, the less I knew what to do or if I could even react at all.
You might wonder where Lucas was all those times. He missed the bathroom incident and both of the clothing episodes, but he was there for the general harassment happening during the day, and he never said a word. We’re still not sure whether he noticed and chose not to say anything, or if he simply didn’t notice at all. This uncertainty stems from some random remarks Lucas made on a few occasions.
For example, there was a time when Ryan walked into Lucas and Mary making out in their room, and Lucas jokingly remarked: “Oh, no, Ryan’s here…”, playfully insinuating that Ryan was some sort of romantic rival.
A lot happened that week, but Lucas was so happy with Mary that Ryan chose not to tell him for the time being. Ryan also wanted to avoid creating tensions between him and Lucas, so we only confided in Ella and Dan. They were shocked and disgusted, but they agreed to keep it quiet.
AUGUST 2022
Lucas invited us again the next summer and so we went again. This time I was extremely vigilant about Mary’s whereabouts at all times. I tried to stay close to Ryan as much as possible and subtly kept an eye on the door whenever he used the bathroom.
We went to the beach a few times. Mary made unsolicited comments about Dan’s and Ryan’s physiques. She compared Dan and Ryan, saying that “Dan has no booty”, while describing Ryan’s as “perfectly round and plump”. “Our boyfriends have great asses”, she said to me one morning during our walk to the beach, while we were walking behind Lucas and Ryan. I responded with an awkward “I don’t know about Lucas. I don’t look at him like that, to be honest”.
The trip was more or less fine otherwise, except the usual daily orgy proposal and her constant attempts to be alone with Ryan.
We also played a quick D&D one-shot campaign, and she turned out to be an extremely negative, disruptive, problematic player, but I might share more about that in another post.
We concluded the trip peacefully.
SEPTEMBER to DECEMBER 2022
Between the following September and October, Ryan and Dan received a message from Lucas, urgently asking for a call. When they called him, they found Lucas crying desperately, revealing that Mary had cheated on him.
Apparently, Mary cheated on him with some guy from her band named Sam (Mary sings).
Lucas saw some incriminating message notifications on her phone that day and immediately confronted her. She said all kinds of horrible things to Lucas, blaming him for not supporting her enough (I think she referred to Lucas not giving her enough likes on her socials), claiming Sam was her soulmate, and asserting she had her reasons to cheat. She convinced Lucas it was his fault she cheated on him.
That was what Lucas said to Ryan and Dan that night. And while he was bawling his eyes out, desperate, he also told them that Mary was in the next room, talking on the phone with Sam.
A few days later Lucas was set on the idea that what happened was entirely his fault and that since Mary was “very regretful”, he forgave her and insisted that we had to do the same.
[ Note: by “we” I mean everyone except myself. Lucas never treated me as part of the group. He simply accepted my presence because Ryan wanted me there. But whenever he initiated anything with the group I was never invited. At the time, he was DMing an entire D&D campaign with everyone else but me, despite my having been in the group since 2016. So from now on I’ll refer to the three people he always talked to - Ryan, Ella and Dan - as RED. They always updated me every time something happened so that's how I know these next parts. ]
At this point RED already wanted nothing to do with Mary, given what they knew and also knowing what a horrible person Mary had been to Lucas. In an attempt to manipulate them, Mary orchestrated a Discord call where Lucas was supposed to be alone, but when RED joined Mary was there as well.
Mary tried to play the victim, beginning by saying some cringe-worthy statements like “Call me a whore, I deserve it…” and, seeing it wasn’t working, she shifted back to blaming Lucas.
Dan and Ella were firm on their opinion of Mary, so Lucas called them narrow-minded because they “could not understand them”.
The call was overall painfully awkward.
I just want to make a little note about the state of Lucas and Mary’s relationship up to this point. Mary and Lucas were living together at Lucas’ apartment, along with their two cats. Having saved for years, Lucas had accumulated a decent sum of money in his bank account, so he had a nice stable environment to offer.
Mary was still a student. According to Lucas, she struggled to concentrate on her studies, attempting to pass the same exam for the last two years and failing numerous times. “You have to understand”, said Lucas, “she cannot concentrate enough. Too many distractions at home. She has to take a bus to get to the library, so she prefers to study at home”.
Mary wasn't employed and had no intention of working at the time.
Back to the story.
The subsequent months were insane. RED constantly got into calls with Lucas, in tears, telling them the new horrible thing Mary did to him that week. Here’s a little list of the most heinous acts Mary committed:

• One night Lucas called at 1 AM to see if anyone was up. Only Ryan was available. Lucas told him he just wanted some company. During the call Ryan heard loud splashing in the background and inquired about it. Lucas explained he had to drive to the beach, under heavy pouring rain (it was almost winter), because Mary had asked him to leave so she could “have some privacy to stay on the phone with Sam”. He complied.
• Mary decided to try out both relationships at the same time, with Lucas being fully aware of this (even though he was not okay with it), and also having to be her confidant for her relationship with Sam. She shared every detail with Lucas, and he always listened.
• Mary regularly asked Lucas to drive her to Sam’s place, which is a 20-minute drive. She mostly saw Sam for intercourse. Lucas drove her every time.
• During one of those drives, after being with Sam, Mary cried in the car with Lucas. She complained about Sam getting jealous and resenting their current arrangement.
• Mary took Lucas to meet Sam at one of their band practices. Lucas later said to RED: “I can’t seem to hate him, no matter what”.
• Mary faked a suicide attempt to get pity from Lucas since they were fighting a lot and she was “scared Lucas was going to leave her”. Her words.
• RED suggested therapy for Mary after a while, but she manipulated her way into couples therapy after discussing it with Lucas. Mary also chose the therapist. The few sessions that took place were filled with Mary’s rants about Sam being her soulmate and Lucas not doing enough for her. The therapist, who was a friend of Mary’s family, seemed somewhat biased, suggesting that Lucas needed to “meet Mary halfway”.

You’d think this could be enough to break any man. Not our Lucas. He was in love.
DECEMBER 2022
December arrived, marking the time to organize the yearly group reunion.
Lucas was insistent on having Mary invited to Dan and Ella’s house. We chose the place particularly to avoid seeing Mary. But Mary wanted so much to “repair” her relationship with us, so she instructed Lucas to call RED.
The call was supposed to be between RED and Lucas only. But while Mary wasn't logged inside the call, she was there, beside Lucas. She was listening the whole time and telling Lucas exactly what to say. RED noticed by the way Lucas was speaking, so out of character, with noticeable pauses before each sentence.
The gist of it was that Mary wanted to spend New Year’s Eve with us because she enjoyed spending time with us. Flattery wasn’t working so she told Lucas to say: “Why is it so important to you guys? Why do you care if she did what she did? It’s my relationship, you guys don’t have a say in it”.
That made their (and mine) decision even simpler. Lucas had to come alone or not come at all. Also RED asked that Mary at least apologize before even considering meeting her again sometime in the future.
Meanwhile Dan encouraged Ryan to open up to Lucas about the harassment. Ryan agreed, so Dan called Lucas and explained everything.
Lucas didn’t seem very receptive to the idea of Mary harassing Ryan for some reason (cheating yes, bullying of course, but anything else seemed implausible, apparently). He decided to confront Mary that night and find out. Mary, of course, denied everything. Her reasoning shifted from “I don’t remember” to “I was too drunk and lost control” to “I don’t even like Ryan”. He believed her.
After that, Mary reached out to RED creating a new group chat, in which she basically said she was sorry, she was devastated to find out RED thought of her that way, and that she had no memory of any harassment or weird behavior towards Ryan. She cooked up a bunch of excuses and justifications for her actions while also denying said actions. No sincerity in those words whatsoever, we could all tell (of course RED updated me and shared the entire conversation with me). Dan and Ella responded but Ryan kept to himself.
When we all met for the last week of the year at Ella and Dan’s place, Lucas came alone. We all managed to give him some input without having it being utterly poisoned by Mary’s gaslighting. It was almost as if he was hearing our words for the first time.
I also had the chance to talk to Lucas about everything, finally.
He heard me out, patiently listening to my version of the facts (pre-Sam) and looked shocked as I recounted the bathroom incident from my perspective.
Over the course of the next few days, we had extensive conversations with Lucas, and he ultimately reached the decision to end his relationship with Mary once he returned home.
JANUARY to MARCH 2023
So when Lucas came back Mary was waiting for him at his house. He ended the relationship on the spot.
Mary put on a whole show: she cried, she begged, she put on their song and sang along. Lucas stuck to his decision.
For a month. They were back together by the first week of February.
During that month apart from Lucas, Mary started a serious relationship with Sam. And that was when we learned a little bit more about him. Lucas told us that Sam was in his forties - nothing wrong with that per se. He was divorced with a kid in first grade and he had a bit of a reputation with Mary’s family.
Sam had known Mary's family for years. They also knew why Sam and his ex wife split up - apparently he beat her. So understandably, Mary’s family was opposed to Mary getting with Sam.
We know very little about what is true and what is not but I tend to believe the ex-wife personally.
Some red flags were uncovered during that month. First, he became very jealous. He didn’t want Mary to have anything to do with Lucas (great, good riddance) as he believed Lucas was trying his best to “lure her back into his arms”. I don't know if that was true, but from what Lucas was telling us he had no intention of "disrupting their relationship" at that time.
One night, Mary came out as bisexual to Sam and he didn’t like it. After dinner they apparently went a little wild in bed and Mary called Lucas to tell him Sam hit her during the act.
Of course Lucas told her to come back immediately (and good on him, in my opinion).
Of course Mary had lied again. A week or so after coming back to Lucas, Mary told Lucas it was only a light slap; she and Sam used to moderately smack each other in bed, and that time Sam hit her a little stronger than usual and she got scared. I sincerely hope she didn’t change version just to reassure Lucas, but who knows with her.
In February Lucas and Mary were back together. Lucas wrote on our group chat (I was finally included yay), that he hoped we would all understand and accept his decision. We told him we still didn’t like Mary and would not attend anything if she was there. Lucas expressed he was hurt and the group chat fell silent for a month.
We all gave Lucas some space since he also told us he needed time to think.
There was a little pregnancy scare after a while: Mary was late and she decided that even if it was Sam’s, she would raise the baby with Lucas “because she loved him more”. Of course Lucas was overjoyed at that prospect. When it turned out it was a false alarm, Lucas told me he was “pretty disappointed Mary wasn’t really pregnant”.
Lucas wrote again in March. He was disappointed in the lack of interest we showed for his life lately, asking why nobody wrote anything - even though he was the one telling us he needed space. Lucas wrote a long message, in which he once again said that he believed Mary and that what Mary did to Ryan “wasn’t so bad after all”. Lucas also said that he didn’t understand why we were being so hateful about Mary.
Lucas then proceeded to discuss in length with Ryan and Dan that Mary’s actions were only driven by innocence and clumsiness rather than depravity.
For example, she wasn’t spying on Ryan. She was just trying to check if someone was in the bathroom since she noticed light coming from the keyhole.
This led to a big discussion, where I repeated once again what I clearly saw. Ryan was just hurt and decided then and there that Lucas was no longer his friend.
DECEMBER 2023
Months later, Lucas wrote again in the group chat. He said he wanted to give us a call to state once and for all what we wanted to do with this friendship. Dan ended up being the only one calling Lucas to give him a chance to explain.
Lucas told Dan he was hurt and confused about the whole situation and, when the topic came up, Lucas went ahead to describe yet another version of what happened in front of that bathroom door two years prior.
The new bathroom incident 3.0 was now involving Mary and Anna both at the door, without me. Mary, still drunk, was “checking if anyone was inside” by looking through the keyhole, and while she was doing so she regained clarity enough to come running to my room (where I still was, apparently) and tell me, out of the purity of her heart, what she had done.
Of course, Lucas believed her, even though it was a whole new story. I can’t even imagine what she told him to justify her other actions. I don’t really care at this point. I just want nothing to do with both of them. And Ryan feels the same way.
Lucas also sent a fake apology message to Dan and Ella (the usual “I’m sorry BUT…” kind). Nothing for me or Ryan though.
All Ryan wanted was Lucas’ sincere apologies. He went as far as telling Lucas directly. Ryan didn’t even receive a fake apology like Dan or Ella. Dan is trying to mend back the scraps of this friendship, but I think it’s too late. Lucas is trying to get Ryan on a call to “resolve this conflict”, but he is still justifying everything Mary did to him and to Ryan. Nothing we could say can change his view at this point.
If anyone was wondering, I’m still not even in the picture in Lucas’ apology plan. I don’t want any apology, since even a sincere one would not erase all that happened. I could not trust Lucas or Mary ever again.
That’s all for now. It was a very weird couple of years.
I’m sorry for the length of this story. It was very tiring to piece it up together, remembering everything, organizing facts and stories, asking everyone to fill in my blanks where I didn’t have all the facts. Also translating everything and checking each paragraph for errors with the help of ChatGPT took a lot of time.
There might be another update since Lucas and Mary are still together, but honestly, I hope not.

Just came back from Istanbul . We were two girls travelling alone and it was amazing ! wanted to highlight some of our favourite reccos ( posting here because the Istanbul community never seems to approve any post )

1. We stayed in karakoy - it was perfect - felt safe , right opposite the Bosphorus , tram stop close by and everything within 15 min by taxi if needed . There was a very cute lane behind the hotel full of cafés and pubs and restaurants and it was super lively till 1 am at night .
   
2. Scams - these are very exaggerated online honestly . Yes there are scammy people but as long as you are vigilant and don't talk to random people approaching you in the street you should be fine ! What I will say however is please don't change your currency in the airport - they are absolutely shocking in terms of the rates offered and the woman at the global exchange counter scammed us and didn't even give us a receipt . Ugh . The only other "scam" we experienced was when a waiter didn't give us back our change and then pretended like he didn't know what we were talking about . But if you push back with confidence , they usually back down.
   
3. We loved the vibe of the city , the sunsetting over the Bosphorus - the mix of cultures , the sounds of the mosque while doing sheesha at a cool cafe , the views as it gets darker , the Turkish people and their hospitality . People were really nice wherever we went honestly .
   
4. Cabs : again this wasn't half as bad as what we expected . Just always ask to switch on their meter - and don't get in if they don't simple . Sometimes this means having to wait for a cab longer and letting some cabs go or maybe paying 100 lira extra but honestly that's ok . Plus there's always alternate means .
   
5. Favourite activities / food / restaurants
   
6. loved the Bosphorus cruise - we did a small yacht tour on tripadvisor with about 20-25 people for about 2 hours. Super worth it https://www.tripadvisor.in/AttractionProductReview-g293974-d23480734-Istanbul_Bosphorus_Sunset_Cruise_on_Luxury_Yacht-Istanbul.html
   

• the pub crawl even though we were in our early thirties was amazing . The pubs were whatever average but meeting people from so many countries was so fun , that was a super fun night

https://www.tripadvisor.in/AttractionProductReview-g293974-d23585923-1_Rated_Istanbul_Party_Pub_Crawl_w_Party_Bus_Sultanahmet_Taksim-Istanbul.html

• Hagia Sophia was gorgeous , it's a shame we couldn't go to the ground floor but it was lovely in itself . Also the tunnels which show the water systems were super interesting too . Blue mosque is skippable .
• Fish wrap at karakoy don't miss this and loved the simit carts too . So yum
• The San Sebastián cheesecake is a very touristy thing to do near galata but it was still nice to do it. It isn't a mind blowing cheesecake but just sitting there right beside galata tower was so nice . I loved this entire area
• western style Breakfast at mums cafe in karakoyz
• wolf Irish pub in karakoy and the bar opposite - we were here almost ever other evening as it was behind our hotel .
• We did a fancy meal at aheste and it was amazing . We also went to Ruby and the Bosphorus views from there were stunning .
• Huqqa for hookah and good food and sheesha at night
• We also ate at mukellef which was very nice
• Karabatak for coffee
• nightlife : Ruby / oligark / 360
• baklava at karakoy gulloglu

1. don't miss the Asian side . Kadikoy was amazing - just the vibe was so different , so youthful and just fun . If I come again maybe I'll stay on that side

Company Information

Corporate Site
Fuji Kyuko Co., Ltd. engages in transportation, tourism, distribution service, real estate, civil engineering and construction, and information technology businesses in Japan. It operates amusement hotels, parks, golf courses, ski resorts, camp grounds, etc.; and offers transportation services, including Fujikyu railway, Fujikyuko bus, share-ride buses, highway buses, reserved buses, etc., as well as real estate services, such as building leasing, condo/villa subdivision, etc.
Most of their services are centered in the Yamanashi area, and along with transportation they operate several leisure facilities in the area.

Stock Perks

Categories: Amusement, Discounts, Hotels, Transportation

Rights day

End of March, end of September

Details

Tickets which can be used as follows:

• Train (Fujikyu Line) Full ride (1 person per ticket for one trip)
• All bus routes (1 person per ticket for one trip)
• Fuji-Q Highland (2 tickets can be exchanged for 1 ride ticket or 1 skating ticket, 5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 free pass)
• Amusement Park Grinpa (1 person per ticket, 5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 one-day coupon)
• Lake Sagami Resort Pleasure Forest (1 person per ticket, 5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 free pass)
• Snow Park Yeti (5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 day admission ticket)
• Adatara Kogen Resort (5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 day lift ticket or 1 round trip ropeway ticket)
• ~ Lake Kawaguchi ~ Mt. Fuji Panorama Ropeway (1 person per ticket (round trip))
• Lake Kawaguchi sightseeing boat, Lake Yamanaka sightseeing boat, Lake Motosu sightseeing boat, Hakone Lake Ashi sightseeing boat (1 person per ticket)
• Hatsushima route (every 3 tickets includes 1 person boarding the ship (round trip) and 1 person admission to PICA Hatsushima (Asian Garden R-Asia)) *Outbound tickets are only valid on the day of exchange
• Fujiyama Museum (1 person per ticket)
• Fujiyama Onsen (2 tickets for 1 adult, 1 ticket for 1 child)
• Lake Sagami Onsen Ururi (2 tickets for 1 adult admission, 1 ticket for 1 child admission)
• Adatara Mountain Okudake no Yu (1 person per ticket)
• Oshino Shinobi no Sato (2 tickets for 1 person admission)
• Jukkokutoge Cable Car (1 person per ticket (round trip))

Certain share levels will also receive free pass tickets for the following:

• Amusement Park Free Pass (Fuji-Q Highland, Amusement Park Grinpa, Lake Sagami Resort Pleasure Forest)
• Ski resort 1-day pass (Snow Park Yeti/Adatara Kogen Ski Resort)

You can also receive a coupon book with the following:

• Highland Hotel and Hotel Mt. Fuji, 10-20% off the room rate. (3 coupons each)
• Mt. Fuji Station Hotel, Fujinomiya Hotel, Cabin & Lounge Highland Station Inn, 20% off the room rate (2 coupons each)
• Fujikyu Group Hotel Dining Discount, 10% off on restuarants and bars in the group hotels. (5 coupons)
• Fuji Golf Course, 1,000 yen discount on the full plan including caddie and lunch. (1 coupon)
• Daifuji Golf Club, special member's pricing on weekdays or 10,000 yen off on weekends. (1 coupon)
• Fujiyama Hot Springs, special admission pricing of 1,000 yen for adults or 500 yen for children on weekdays, 1,300/600 yen on weekends. 4 people per coupon. (2 coupons)
• Lake Sagami Hot Springs Ururi, 150 yen discount for up to 4 people. (2 coupons)
• Mount Adatara Okudake no Yu, 100 yen discount for up to 4 people. (2 coupons)
• Oshino Shinobi Village, 5% discount at restaurant "Setsugetsufuka" for up to 4 people per coupon. (2 coupons)
• PICA Lake Yamanaka Village, 10% discount on stays or 5% discount at the restaurant. (2 coupons)
• PICA Fujiyoshida, PICA Fuji Lake Saiko, PICA Fuji Grinpa, PICA Lake Sagami, PICA Omote Fuji, PICA Fujiyama, PICA Yatsugatake Akeno, PICA Hatsushima, PICA Chichibu, 10% discount on stays. (2 coupons)
• Fuji Mineral Water, 20% discount if you buy a case. (1 coupon)
• Fujikyu Travel, 3% discount on package tours. (2 coupons)
• Fujikyu Auto Service, 10% discount on shaken inspection, maintenance, and repairs. (1 coupon)

In addition, there are the following transportation-related perks:
Tickets which you can use for the following Fujikyu Express Highway Bus routes: "Fuji Five Lakes - Shinjuku Line", "Mt. Fuji 5th Station - Shinjuku Line", "Kofu - Shinjuku Line", "Fuji Five Lakes - Tokyo Line", "Kawaguchiko - Shibuya Line", "Fujinomiya - Tokyo Line", "Fuji/Fujinomiya - Tokyo Line", and "Numazu - Shinjuku/Shibuya Line".
Unlimited pass which lets you ride all trains and non-highway bus routes.
There is also the following perk for people who hold the stock for 3 years. You only get this perk once every 3 years:
Tickets which can be exchanged for 100% discount on the room rate for a twin room or 30% discount at the restaurant at the Highland Resort Hotel & Spa or Hotel Mount Fuji

Requirements

Coupon book - 100 shares
For the tickets which you exchange for transportation or amusement:
100 shares - 5 tickets
500 shares - 10 tickets
2,500 shares - 15 tickets
5,000 shares - 25 tickets
10,000 shares - 40 tickets
Free pass tickets:
500 shares - 1 ticket
1,500 shares - 2 tickets
2,500 shares - 3 tickets
5,000 shares - 4 tickets
10,000 shares - 5 tickets
17,500 shares - 6 tickets
Highway bus tickets:
2,500 shares - 1 ticket
5,000 shares - 2 tickets
10,000 shares - 4 tickets
Unlimited train and bus pass:
17,500 shares
3 year tickets for the hotels:
5,000 shares - 2 tickets
17,500 shares - 3 tickets

Comment

There are a wide variety of things you can exchange your tickets for and if you travel or live in the area the coupons may also be of use. The share requirement for most of the perks are probably going to be too high for most people, but even at the 100 share level you can get a free ticket to Fuji-Q Highland if nothing else.

Company Information

Corporate Site
Fuji Kyuko Co., Ltd. engages in transportation, tourism, distribution service, real estate, civil engineering and construction, and information technology businesses in Japan. It operates amusement hotels, parks, golf courses, ski resorts, camp grounds, etc.; and offers transportation services, including Fujikyu railway, Fujikyuko bus, share-ride buses, highway buses, reserved buses, etc., as well as real estate services, such as building leasing, condo/villa subdivision, etc.
Most of their services are centered in the Yamanashi area, and along with transportation they operate several leisure facilities in the area.

Stock Perks

Categories: Amusement, Discounts, Hotels, Transportation

Rights day

End of March, end of September

Details

Tickets which can be used as follows:

• Train (Fujikyu Line) Full ride (1 person per ticket for one trip)
• All bus routes (1 person per ticket for one trip)
• Fuji-Q Highland (2 tickets can be exchanged for 1 ride ticket or 1 skating ticket, 5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 free pass)
• Amusement Park Grinpa (1 person per ticket, 5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 one-day coupon)
• Lake Sagami Resort Pleasure Forest (1 person per ticket, 5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 free pass)
• Snow Park Yeti (5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 day admission ticket)
• Adatara Kogen Resort (5 tickets can be exchanged for 1 day lift ticket or 1 round trip ropeway ticket)
• ~ Lake Kawaguchi ~ Mt. Fuji Panorama Ropeway (1 person per ticket (round trip))
• Lake Kawaguchi sightseeing boat, Lake Yamanaka sightseeing boat, Lake Motosu sightseeing boat, Hakone Lake Ashi sightseeing boat (1 person per ticket)
• Hatsushima route (every 3 tickets includes 1 person boarding the ship (round trip) and 1 person admission to PICA Hatsushima (Asian Garden R-Asia)) *Outbound tickets are only valid on the day of exchange
• Fujiyama Museum (1 person per ticket)
• Fujiyama Onsen (2 tickets for 1 adult, 1 ticket for 1 child)
• Lake Sagami Onsen Ururi (2 tickets for 1 adult admission, 1 ticket for 1 child admission)
• Adatara Mountain Okudake no Yu (1 person per ticket)
• Oshino Shinobi no Sato (2 tickets for 1 person admission)
• Jukkokutoge Cable Car (1 person per ticket (round trip))

Certain share levels will also receive free pass tickets for the following:

• Amusement Park Free Pass (Fuji-Q Highland, Amusement Park Grinpa, Lake Sagami Resort Pleasure Forest)
• Ski resort 1-day pass (Snow Park Yeti/Adatara Kogen Ski Resort)

You can also receive a coupon book with the following:

• Highland Hotel and Hotel Mt. Fuji, 10-20% off the room rate. (3 coupons each)
• Mt. Fuji Station Hotel, Fujinomiya Hotel, Cabin & Lounge Highland Station Inn, 20% off the room rate (2 coupons each)
• Fujikyu Group Hotel Dining Discount, 10% off on restuarants and bars in the group hotels. (5 coupons)
• Fuji Golf Course, 1,000 yen discount on the full plan including caddie and lunch. (1 coupon)
• Daifuji Golf Club, special member's pricing on weekdays or 10,000 yen off on weekends. (1 coupon)
• Fujiyama Hot Springs, special admission pricing of 1,000 yen for adults or 500 yen for children on weekdays, 1,300/600 yen on weekends. 4 people per coupon. (2 coupons)
• Lake Sagami Hot Springs Ururi, 150 yen discount for up to 4 people. (2 coupons)
• Mount Adatara Okudake no Yu, 100 yen discount for up to 4 people. (2 coupons)
• Oshino Shinobi Village, 5% discount at restaurant "Setsugetsufuka" for up to 4 people per coupon. (2 coupons)
• PICA Lake Yamanaka Village, 10% discount on stays or 5% discount at the restaurant. (2 coupons)
• PICA Fujiyoshida, PICA Fuji Lake Saiko, PICA Fuji Grinpa, PICA Lake Sagami, PICA Omote Fuji, PICA Fujiyama, PICA Yatsugatake Akeno, PICA Hatsushima, PICA Chichibu, 10% discount on stays. (2 coupons)
• Fuji Mineral Water, 20% discount if you buy a case. (1 coupon)
• Fujikyu Travel, 3% discount on package tours. (2 coupons)
• Fujikyu Auto Service, 10% discount on shaken inspection, maintenance, and repairs. (1 coupon)

In addition, there are the following transportation-related perks:
Tickets which you can use for the following Fujikyu Express Highway Bus routes: "Fuji Five Lakes - Shinjuku Line", "Mt. Fuji 5th Station - Shinjuku Line", "Kofu - Shinjuku Line", "Fuji Five Lakes - Tokyo Line", "Kawaguchiko - Shibuya Line", "Fujinomiya - Tokyo Line", "Fuji/Fujinomiya - Tokyo Line", and "Numazu - Shinjuku/Shibuya Line".
Unlimited pass which lets you ride all trains and non-highway bus routes.
There is also the following perk for people who hold the stock for 3 years. You only get this perk once every 3 years:
Tickets which can be exchanged for 100% discount on the room rate for a twin room or 30% discount at the restaurant at the Highland Resort Hotel & Spa or Hotel Mount Fuji

Requirements

Coupon book - 100 shares
For the tickets which you exchange for transportation or amusement:
100 shares - 5 tickets
500 shares - 10 tickets
2,500 shares - 15 tickets
5,000 shares - 25 tickets
10,000 shares - 40 tickets
Free pass tickets:
500 shares - 1 ticket
1,500 shares - 2 tickets
2,500 shares - 3 tickets
5,000 shares - 4 tickets
10,000 shares - 5 tickets
17,500 shares - 6 tickets
Highway bus tickets:
2,500 shares - 1 ticket
5,000 shares - 2 tickets
10,000 shares - 4 tickets
Unlimited train and bus pass:
17,500 shares
3 year tickets for the hotels:
5,000 shares - 2 tickets
17,500 shares - 3 tickets

Comment

There are a wide variety of things you can exchange your tickets for and if you travel or live in the area the coupons may also be of use. The share requirement for most of the perks are probably going to be too high for most people, but even at the 100 share level you can get a free ticket to Fuji-Q Highland if nothing else.

Me and my boyfriend are a gay couple who moved to Germany two months ago for many reasons, including the freedom of being gay as we come from Eastern Europe. He’s a bit more feminine than me but I’m not terribly manly either.
We settled in Mannheim and it was all fairly ok. Sometimes we’d get looks on the street, even without doing anything, regardless if we walked together or not, from “some people”.
But today it all went downhill. We were near the Planetarium, a chill area, in the afternoon, at the tram station. Three young / teen Arab guys were there as well. One came and in a broken German accent asked us if we’re gay and told us to kiss. My German isn’t very good and my boyfriend, who knows the language much better, absolutely froze in panic. The teen insisted that we kiss several times. I responded in English saying “I kiss him when I want to”. He then asked us where we’re from and when I told him he left. Only we got in the same tram and we sat right in front of them (or them behind us, it happened at the same time). That guy continuously asked us if we’re gay, and even after I said “yes”, it was like he couldn’t believe it. I said, once again, “Yes, we are gay. What can do you? 🤷🏿‍♀️” and in that moment one of them said something like “Let’s get out of here, I don’t want to see / deal with people like them” or something in those lines and they moved to another place. They got off at the next station when the ticket controller came on but not before taking the football ball of a kid from the bus. My Deutschland Ticket had en error so we got off at the follow up station but walked really fast to our destination so the group didn’t catch up with us.
Our destination? The Queen Zentrum in the city. As we were leaving to go to the store with a gay Jordanien friend of ours (who looks very manly), another group, this time of four Arabs in their 20s passed by us and the center and two of them said “Gay Center, Shit!”. The other two were coming behind and one of them pushed himself into me as you do when you want to start a fight. He walked menacingly down the street alongside me and looked me straight in the eyes despite me apologizing anyway (even if he was the one who did the pushing). The Jordanian friend dismantled the situation but I couldn’t really tell what they said as it was Arabic. There were some German words used but they don’t bear repeating.
When we returned to the Queer Zentrum, there was a group of people there who asked us if we’re ok and such and the Jordanian friend was shocked because this had never happened to him in the 2-3 years he’s been living here. But everyone who was trying to console us said things like “Well, some people are like that, some people, some people”, they were just trying to find a way to not say Arab.
Why not say that? We’ve had people criticizing Eastern Europeans to our faces, knowing we are EE, but that is where you draw the line?
I haven’t had such a terrible and terrifying experience since I was in high school over 15 years ago. I was already not feeling safe and not knowing how to cope with the situation of the stabbings a week ago but now we’re both terrified!
Not every Arab person bullied me in Germany, but every person who bullied me in Germany is Arab. There are so many young and old Germans who saw us holding hands and didn’t even whisper something amongst themselves. Black people don’t care either. Neither do other white people or Indians or East Asians.
Now my boyfriend, who is studying to become a doctor, is afraid to go out tomorrow for classes and he said he’ll put his hair in a man bun because he has long hair and doesn’t want to be harassed again, especially by himself.
What can we do? We can’t call the police because the harassers would obviously leave by the time they’d get there and they may even escalate the situation by becoming physically abusive. Of course this is all made worse by the stabbing a week ago in the city.
We love Germany so much and there are so many things to appreciate about it but such situations are unacceptable in any country that is supposed to be developed, safe, civilized, however you want to call it! …

Me and my boyfriend are a gay couple who moved to Germany two months ago for many reasons, including the freedom of being gay as we come from Eastern Europe. He’s a bit more feminine than me but I’m not terribly manly either.
We settled in Mannheim and it was all fairly ok. Sometimes we’d get looks on the street, even without doing anything, regardless if we walked together or not, from “some people”.
But today it all went downhill. We were near the Planetarium, a chill area, in the afternoon, at the tram station. Three young / teen Arab guys were there as well. One came and in a broken German accent asked us if we’re gay and told us to kiss. My German isn’t very good and my boyfriend, who knows the language much better, absolutely froze in panic. The teen insisted that we kiss several times. I responded in English saying “I kiss him when I want to”. He then asked us where we’re from and when I told him he left. Only we got in the same tram and we sat right in front of them (or them behind us, it happened at the same time). That guy continuously asked us if we’re gay, and even after I said “yes”, it was like he couldn’t believe it. I said, once again, “Yes, we are gay. What can do you? 🤷🏿‍♀️” and in that moment one of them said something like “Let’s get out of here, I don’t want to see / deal with people like them” or something in those lines and they moved to another place. They got off at the next station when the ticket controller came on but not before taking the football ball of a kid from the bus. My Deutschland Ticket had en error so we got off at the follow up station but walked really fast to our destination so the group didn’t catch up with us.
Our destination? The Queen Zentrum in the city. As we were leaving to go to the store with a gay Jordanien friend of ours (who looks very manly), another group, this time of four Arabs in their 20s passed by us and the center and two of them said “Gay Center, Shit!”. The other two were coming behind and one of them pushed himself into me as you do when you want to start a fight. He walked menacingly down the street alongside me and looked me straight in the eyes despite me apologizing anyway (even if he was the one who did the pushing). The Jordanian friend dismantled the situation but I couldn’t really tell what they said as it was Arabic. There were some German words used but they don’t bear repeating.
When we returned to the Queer Zentrum, there was a group of people there who asked us if we’re ok and such and the Jordanian friend was shocked because this had never happened to him in the 2-3 years he’s been living here. But everyone who was trying to console us said things like “Well, some people are like that, some people, some people”, they were just trying to find a way to not say Arab.
Why not say that? We’ve had people criticizing Eastern Europeans to our faces, knowing we are EE, but that is where you draw the line?
I haven’t had such a terrible and terrifying experience since I was in high school over 15 years ago. I was already not feeling safe and not knowing how to cope with the situation of the stabbings a week ago but now we’re both terrified!
Not every Arab person bullied me in Germany, but every person who bullied me in Germany is Arab. There are so many young and old Germans who saw us holding hands and didn’t even whisper something amongst themselves. Black people don’t care either. Neither do other white people or Indians or East Asians.
Now my boyfriend, who is studying to become a doctor, is afraid to go out tomorrow for classes and he said he’ll put his hair in a man bun because he has long hair and doesn’t want to be harassed again, especially by himself.
What can we do? We can’t call the police because the harassers would obviously leave by the time they’d get there and they may even escalate the situation by becoming physically abusive. Of course this is all made worse by the stabbing a week ago in the city.
We love Germany so much and there are so many things to appreciate about it but such situations are unacceptable in any country that is supposed to be developed, safe, civilized, however you want to call it! …

Got on the 14 at the campus loop this evening, driver wasn't there but a couple people had taken a seat inside. Across the aisle from me was an older Asian lady with a round face and a bright red coat and dress (description becomes relevant later). She had a couple yellow carry-on suitcases and black reusable shopping bags that she spent a minute arranging on the seat beside her. When she was done, she stood up and got off the bus at the back door. I was a little confused since she'd left her bags behind, but figured she was just going to throw something out at the trash cans near the stop, and kept an eye on her in case anyone tried to snatch her stuff.
I watched her walk away from the bus, squat, and start peeing (???) very confidently on the sidewalk beside the bus stop bench, using her dress as cover. At first I thought she was buckling her shoe since the piss was NOT registering to me, especially since people were just walking by as if nothing was happening. Obviously I looked away as soon as I realized what she was doing, but once she got back on the bus I looked back and the puddle was there as evidence that I hadn't hallucinated. I guess if you have to go you have to go.
I've seen people talk about someone matching her exact description on UBC and vancouver before (e.g. this post) but never saw piss mentioned, just scams and rumours. Curious if anyone else has had a similar interaction???

I am of East Asian descent American male in my late 20s from the States who traveled to Poland as my first European country for ten days during mid May. I got the idea from an old colleague of mine who is Polish, but have been in America for twenty something years and she kept nagging me to go since she knows I like to travel.
I flew into Copenhagen from JFK and had a short layover before flying into Warsaw. To be honest, the layover did not even count as one because both ways, the plane landed on the opposite terminal ends of the airport in Copenhagen which took 20 minutes to get walk over.
This is my first trip report write-up.
Budget: N/A.
I am not a big spender as a person as I usually cook and meal prep when I am back at home with low expenses, but I also do not have a set budget when I am in other countries. The spending in Poland overall is around 15 to 20 percent cheaper compared to NYC (where I'm based in). Also, Poland uses their currency and not Euros which I think is in US dollar benefit. I booked half of my living accommodations ahead of time and booked the rest while I was there. This included the various Airbnbs and train tickets to each city & back.
Trip Length: 10 days
Destination(s): Warsaw, Krakow, Zakopane, Tatras National Park
Accommodation: I stayed only in Airbnb except for Zakopane where I stayed in a hotel. Hotels seemed to be a little more expensive in the bigger cities like Warsaw and Krakow, but the pros are that the check-in time is usually earlier compared to Airbnb so that is always a consideration.
I ate mostly in cafes and restaurants which was great imo. The food was splendid and cannot think of one "bad" meal I had. There is no tip, I paid everything with my Chase Sapphire Reserve which was simple and I always chose to pay in their currency. Except 1-2 restaurants that had a 10 percent service fee or whatever, but otherwise eating in Poland was "tipless". There is Zabka in almost every few corners which is their version of "7-Eleven" and you could buy an entire meal there if you may.
The trains were comfortable. I took their EIC and IC trains (10 to 12 USD) from Warsaw to Krakow and back. On my way from Krakow to Zakopane and back, I took the TLK train (2USD). To be honest, almost no difference for me in terms of comfort. The EIC and IC trains are "faster" and newer, include water and you can pay more for business class. The trains were punctual for the most part. I only had a one-hour delay on my way from Krakow to Zakopane.
Uber is widely used in the major cities of Poland and is also not very expensive. Most of my rides have not cost more than 5USD. They even have Uber Airport which is probably the most expensive ride I had there, but even that was no more than 10USD.
I also love walking in new cities when it is feasible as I tend to average around 20k or more steps during my travels. Biking is very popular in Warsaw and Krakow. The bike lanes in Warsaw are designed and phenomenal in my opinion. I heard biking is a big thing in European countries, but I cannot compare it since I have not been to any other. People pretty much commute on a bike as if you are a pedestrian. The traffic system is well-designed. Coming from NYC, not jaywalking was an itch I could not scratch while I was in Poland. Everyone waited for the light to turn red before crossing even when there was no traffic coming in. Maybe with the exception during the night time, I see some people cross the streets more often when the light is not red.
Krakow had the Trams which was interesting to see.
Activities: Wieliczka Salt Mine, Auschwitz concentration camp, Old Towns, Zakopane, Tatras National Park, mountains, Morskie Oko, eating out every meal at cafes and restaurants, getting convenience food at Zabka, gym
What Went Right: Pretty much everything went right. Poland is easy to get around by just speaking English. As long as you have Google Maps and the internet, you will be fine. For internet, I rented a wifi and used my regular SIM card (ATT) which saved me 50 bucks if I were to pay for international service.
What Went Wrong: I took the bus in Zakopane to Tatras National Park entrance on Google Maps, but it led me to the ski resort area entrance instead which was my fault for not double-checking. Luckily I caught a taxi driver who offered 150PLN to drive me to Morsko Okie entrance (20km away). The taxi driver turned on his meter when I went into his vehicle and at the end of the trip, it went to 200PLN. So I tried to pay him whatever was on the meter instead of what he initially told me. When I handed him the money, he gave me back the extra 50PLN and told me it was okay. So there you go, very nice people!
On my way back to Krakow from Zakopane, I was looking for the numbers written on the train and thinking "Oh this can't be it, it is a completely different train", but it left at the time that was written on my ticket. So my smartass waited another ten minutes after my scheduled departure time and asked one of the train staff where the train was and told me that it had just left. Anyway, I hopped onto another train which took an extra hour to get to Krakow.
I wouldn't say this went wrong, but just wanted to put it out there because it caught me off guard completely. While I was walking around in Krakow Old town during the evening at around 10PM making my way back to my airbnb, literally three people asked me if I was interested in going to the strip club lol. It just was not something I was expected to get approached for lmao.
Recommendations: Bring sunscreen and wear sunglasses is a big one that comes to my head immediately. The sun was "bigger" when I was in Poland, meaning that it seemed a lot closer compared to when I was in the States. This may be due to the different hemispheres. The sun rose around 4:30AM and set around 8:30PM every day which was impressive to me.
For the main tourist attractions like the salt mine and Auschwitz, it was impressive, but I wouldn't overthink in deciding which tour to take. Both places will be "packed" regardless and more or less the same. However, I booked my Auschwitz tour through Airbnb and I was glad I did it because it was only a group of 6 people and the guide(s) were amazing.
Auschwitz is an important piece of history and some people might feel a different way when they stumble upon the place. The place is huge like a university campus and you can only see so much of it within a day as most tours are around 5-6 hours, but my tour was around 8-9 hours. There are also a lot of exhibits where you CANNOT take pictures or videos in Auschwitz and I hope people respect it more. However, most of the people who did not follow that rule were usually the elderly.
Ask questions if you do not know. Polish people are very nice. They may be straightforward in which some people may find rude, but that is just how they are. Most of them speak English to some extent if you are within the major cities. Except for the older generation, their English may be more limited. I was always spoken to in Polish - at restaurants, cafes, and even at the gym (receptionists) until I told them I only speak English.
The food was great. Lots of meats and potatoes. There was seemingly a lot of Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine in both major cities. The pizza was amazing in Poland, could have easily eaten 2-3 pies and not felt bad compared to eating NYC slices. I have not been to Italy and I know that is where all the hype is so just keep that in mind again, don't burn me on here for this lol.
Water was always stilled vs. sparkling and the caps on the bottles were attached so when you open the caps, it never falls off which I found interesting and have not seen it anywhere else yet. Try the staple dishes like pierogi (of course), literally could eat it any time during the day, but eventually, I got tired of it since it is so similar to dumplings and I believe that my ancestors gave them it lmao. Try it steamed, fried, with bacon dip, sour cream, all of it. There was also wifi everywhere - cafes and restaurants. Depending on the time you go during the year, definitely try Oscypek in Zakopane (smoked cheese made from sheep milk), had it with bacon and jam (they also seem to have jam on a lot of their dishes). Surprisingly Polish food is well seasoned for my taste buds which was a big plus. They eat lots of red meat and potatoes so if you are vegan, or vegetarian, it may be a little more challenging to find abundant food when in Poland.
The architecture was simply stunning everywhere. Both Warsaw and Krakow Old Town were the main hubs for tourist attractions within the city. I personally found Krakow more interesting for my taste to be in after all it was the old capital of Poland. There is an inside joke about how people from Warsaw do not like Krakow because they think they are trying to become the capital again - given by one of my tour guides.
Final Verdict:
Eastern European countries are seemingly not as popular to visit on a global scale compared the the western European countries (Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc.). Of course, I am saying this based on my interactions with people from NYC, and given that Poland is the first European country I visited so please do not bash me on this lol. When I was speaking to my Polish tour guide for Auschwitz she agreed with me and thinks I might be onto something here since I am doing the opposite (visiting the east side of Europe and then moving my way to the West side, maybe the opposite will also be true at the same time, just a funny though) Most of the tourists I have seen in Poland were other Europeans - Italians, French, and some others. I also saw quite a few Asians from Asia (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese) visiting. I only saw ONE other Asian American there at a restaurant I was eating at.
Lastly, the ladies were stunning, probably the most beautiful people I have seen for the average woman in any country I have been to thus far. I didn't want to believe it because funny side story, I met two white male solo travelers (UK and Aussie) when I was in Mexico, and they both had told me Polish girls were the most beautiful to them. Fast forward a year or two later I went to Poland and saw it for myself. Lots of them were on the taller side, probably like 5'6" to 5'9-10", and some maybe even taller. Lots of them had blonde hair, very symmetrical faces, and the perfect nose, blue/green eyes, pretty much like supermodel body figures. It must be the meat and potatoes lol.
No, but seriously, go visit Poland!

Hi guys. I’ve seen a few posts recently about people considering China and SE Asia in general and just wanted to let you know about my experience in Hong Kong.
I came here in 2013 when I was nearly 31 (✅ for the ‘oldies’). I’ve been here over 10 years now. I started earning a pension (MPF) as soon as I arrived that I can withdraw once before pension age if I leave HK for good (✅ for those only here for a few years and want some extra savings as your company also contributes)
I work in language centres by choice. I love the small classes and the opportunity to tailor my classes to individual kids. There are SO many language centres. Some better than others. Some offer accommodation (not free, but with other teachers, so instant social group).
I’d say a low to low average salary is HKD20k a month (USD2.5k). There are definitely opportunities to earn more.
You only need a university degree and TEFL for a company to sponsor your visa for language centres (and some kindergarten schools).
If you have any teaching license, then International Schools pay $$$. And the government NET scheme is pretty good and pay for some housing (although you will have to take a test on the new National Security Law 😬)
Yes, cost of living can be expensive. But tax is very cheap. Utilities are cheap. Transport is amazing and cheap (you will never need a car). Rent, food (and drink 🍺) will be your biggest outgoings. However, there are plenty of houseshares available, or cheaper apartments if you live further away from HK Island. You can keep costs low by living like a local and shopping in wet markets (an experience in itself!) and cooking.
The students, in my opinion, are amazing!! English is an official language here, so most parents speak a decent level. I can have full on conversations with 3 year olds in English (I’ve never learnt Cantonese 😬).
I’ve worked with native teachers from all over the world….UK, USA, Aus, NZ, Canada, SA, Zimbabwe, Philippines, India. Men, Women, White, Black, Brown and Asian. It’s a sad fact I have to mention, but racism here for teachers is not as apparent as mainland China.
HK is a great place to be based as well. Plenty of low cost flights to SE Asia for a weekend away. Macau is literally a bus/ferry ride away. Plus HK is actually 70-80% beaches and mountains! Not many people realise that! Hiking is MASSIVE here. Plus, Disneyland and another theme park. Great malls for shopping and no sales tax!
It’s a small city, and densely populated, but one of the best in the world in my opinion! It did used to be better. Things have gone downhill a bit since 2019 protests, but if you’re just looking for a couple of years, it won’t affect you as an expat.
I’m not a recruiter. I can maybe help if you any questions about reputable language centres though. Haha.
I just wanted to put it out there for those people that are considering a TEFL future 😊
Happy to answer any questions!

Hi everyone! Sorry ahead of time, as this post is everywhere and ver long, but I really just want to rant and get this off my chest…
My ex (white 28M) and I (Asian 23F) broke up back in January after nearly 3 years together. We had agreed to still be friends, but we "drifted apart" due to various reasons (both him and I at fault, no matter how you look at it). Months before we broke up, I had agreed to be in his cousin's wedding (fiancee's side), and I still plan on being in it because her and I grew pretty close throughout my ex's and my relationship.
Here's where it gets messy...
Before we broke up, we had obviously planned to go together to the wedding (taking place in a different state in July). But after we had broken up, I asked him if that was still the plan, he said, "I haven't thought that far out yet, I don't care." I spoke with my parents about carpool advice, especially since my car is not reliable right now (I can not afford maintenance atm), and my mom said that she will drive me since it's a weekend and she happens to be free. I texted my ex to let him know (1 month ago), so he has ample time to put something together. Last I spoke to his mom, she was planning on going too, so I naturally thought the new plan for them would be to carpool together. Long story short, he blew up on me for "throwing him under the bus," since the plan was to carpool together. He pettily responded, "thanks for letting me know ahead though, I guess." And we haven't really spoken or texted since.
Fast forward to yesterday and into today, I finally unadded him on everything, as I saw he moved on with a new girl (less than 5 months after we broke up), and I was cleaning out my purse and found his house key, so I texted him saying, "Hey, I found your key in my purse, do you want it back? You can give it to your girl." I genuinely did not intent for this to come across as petty. But he blew up at me for being "the most petty human ever", and said, "I just have a friend I ride [motorcycles] with." My coworker lurked his instagram... Low and behold, they're together... Another piece of info I should add is we were having sex up until like 1 month ago. So, I'm sure you can imagine why this hurt. Not only becuase he straight up lied to me, but because it feels and seems like he's had her lined up for when we officially cut contact. A couple of his cousins have even messaged me to see if I was okay and expressed how they feel "he really did [me] dirty." But I really want to get outsider perspective and opinion, because I feel broken. I had an emotional and mental breakdown at work today because it all felt so real that we are forever done now.
Other info I forgot to add…

1. Of the nearly 3 years we were together, he has been unemployed for more than half of that time. He also still lives with his mom and doesn't pay rent. (I also live with my parents at age 23, but I do pay rent). He uses taking care of his grandma as an excuse to not have a job, but his mom goes in to work late morning and he wakes up late (gaming until 3/4 AM or riding his motorcycle late into the night), and immediately hits the gym for 2-3 hours as soon as her husband gets home. IMO, he has plenty of time to at least have a PART TIME JOB and still have time for his hobbies. Where I know I may be wrong is that I called him out on this, but he accused me of bashing his grandmother (which I did not).
   
2. I graduated undergrad in 2023, but throughout the time we were together while I was in college, I would go to his place after a long day of school and work (1-2 jobs a day) and was expected to cook dinner for him and his family. I did this because A. I needed to eat, and B. I loved him, so I did it while he played his video games. I got fed up with this because he would get mad the days I didn't come over after work after graduation (I am a behavior therapist for kids diagnosed with ASD, so it's very exhausting).
   
3. The reason we broke up came down to because I want to have kids and he doesn't (never held this against him, as this is a valid opinion and desire to have), and I didn't want to move away from my family and everything I know to across the country with him, where there are little to no Asian Americans I can connect to (family and my roots are very important to me).
   

Hi all,
I got so much great assistance from this board so I wanted to give back to the community. I (34F) travelled to Japan solo in May with a week on the ground (9 days including travel) from Australia, so no jet lag. I packed in a lot - I have a family with young kids at home and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity so wanted to make the most of it. For those not travelling solo the itinerary is likely less realistic, but worked great for me. I spent approximately 400,000yen for the 7 days including flights and accommodation, and approximately 100,000 of that was on souvenirs and gifts. I walked at least 30,000 steps each day (with the exception of day 1 which was around 25k + a 17km bike ride).
I tried posting to JapanTravel first but it keeps getting rejected by bots!
Day 1 - Arrive 5:30am Haneda, Tokyo (Fri)

• Flew into T1, but arrived a little early and had zero lines through immigration etc so decided to travel by free shuttle bus to T3 to pick up a Welcome Suica. This ended up being so worth it and making life easy.
• Train to Higashi-Ginza, drop off bags. Explore Tsukiji. I recommend Tsukiji Uogashi building for food rather than the markets themselves, significantly cheaper, you can take your meal to the rooftop.
• Coffee from Turret Coffee - a standout for coffee (latte) lovers).
• eBike tour by Compass bikes - I am not a huge fan of tours but this was great way to see a lot in a few hours and I really loved Fukagawa Fudou-dō temple which had a walkway inside that felt like it was designed by TeamLabs (no photos allowed unfortunately)
• Back to Higashi-Ginza, picked up my bags and went to check in to my hotel, Dormy Inn Ueno, which was perfectly located (I loved staying in this area).
• On to the Sumo Tournament for which I had purchased tickets through buysumotickets. I think my whole section had as they were all foreigners, haha! I loved this, a really different experience.
• Explored Ameyokocho before calling it a night.

Day 2 - Tokyo (Sat)

• Up bright and early at 3am. Went to the sento, still couldn't sleep after so took the first train of the day to Asakusa. Explored Senso-ji without crowds. Back to Ueno station where I purchased tickets for the shinkansen the next day. It looks like the line gets busy so this was a good idea to do early.
• Explored Ueno park, Nippori, Ueno by foot.
• Back to hotel to get ready for the day, and out around 8:30am.
• Train to Yoyohi where I got a coffee at Dimlight Espresso then walked through Yoyogi park/Meiji shrine area towards Takeshita St. By now it was around 10:30am and most shops online looked like they didn't open until 11am but most did seem open. I bought some socks at Tabio and then a Harajuku special crepe from Godiva on Meiji-Dori Ave (so good!).
• Walked up Cat St which I loved and was much less busy than the rest of Harajuku and Shibuya. Got some sweets from Number Sugar. On to Shibuya via Miyashita Park. Shopped throughout Shibuya, but it honestly wasn't my favourite as there was just so much choice and so many people. It didn't feel unique to me (ie could have been in any country).
• Train to Akihabara, which was also very busy but felt more unique. I loved Yellow Submarine where I got some board games that are made in Japan but had English instructions, and did some other light shopping for my boys.
• Back to my hotel to rest and eat some gyoza I got on my way from the train station, before heading out for a 7pm localised tour of Shinjuku. Again this was good, but I think limiting doing tours works best for me as I can't take the slow pace, haha!!

Day 3 - Matsumoto, Kiso, Tsumago

• I took the shinkansen to Nagano in gran class which was truly amazing and worth the additional cost. I had the carriage to myself so a personal attendant, meal, slippers included and comfy reclining chair. Then took a train from Nagano to Matsumoto.
• Explored Matsumoto Castle then did a tour at Ishii miso (this was OK, but a bit more of an explanation rather than tour) and visited the Art Museum (this was good for a quick visit even for someone with passing art interest).
• On to Kiso for lunch and to explore, loved the foot bath. Train to Nagiso, where I walked the Nakasendo to my minshuku in Tsumago, Daikichi. Tsumago was just lovely, the people living there are just a wonderful community. Daikichi was incredible. Had a wonderful dinner and breakfast and highly recommend this sort of accommodation.

Day 4 - Tsumago, Magome, Osaka

• Left at 7.30am after breakfast as the weather was not great and more rain was planned as the day progressed. Loved the tea house on the way to Magome. Got in to Magome around 10am, grabbed a coffee from Hillbilly coffee and walked to Chuodo Magome to get a bus as it was a better schedule than the bus from Magome to Nakatsugawa. I don't recommend this as it was a roadhouse with only locals and felt a bit awkward haha. But, it all worked well and was actually a really comfortable trip to Nagoya.
• I decided to take the slower Kintetsu Ltd Express from Nagoya to Osaka-Namba, as it was direct, and I could book a premium seat again which was a great place to rest on a rainy day. The premium seat on the Hinotori was incredible comfy (perhaps more so than the shinkansen?) and had a seat warmer function.
• Explored Kuromon market, Sennichimae Doguyasuji for kitchenware, Ota St, DenDen Town, Dotonbori. Took two trains to my hotel in Kyoto, Hotel Aru. Again this was a fab hotel in a really great location, and the room was much nicer and newer than the Dormy Inn (although no sento).
• Did some washing and crashed.

Day 5 - Kyoto in the rain

• There was a Typhoon in the Philippines today which brought with it significant rain. I had originally planned Nara but with flooding and rain inundation warnings thought I would stick close to my hotel instead.
• Walked to Sentido for a coffee, then on to Kyoto Gyoen National Garden and the Kyoto Imperial Palace. This wasn't in my original itinerary but I really enjoyed it and the audio guide was really well done (and all free!). Another coffee in School Bus Coffee Stop.
• Spent the rest of the day exploring the undercover shopping streets, department stores, Nishiki markets. Loved the Daimaru basement food court, the staff here were especially polite with every single one bowing and greeting me as I walked past.
• Back to my hotel to dry off my feet after they had been wet for the past 14 hrs. The rain had finally eased off so I then headed out at night to explore Yasaka shrine and Gion. I saw a Maiko (who unfortunately looked quite distressed, clearly still getting harassed by tourists!).

Day 6 - Kyoto

• Today I made up for lost time and fit in a LOT. More than I would like realistically, I would have loved more time in Uji and Nara, I would definitely like to spend more time in that region if/when I return to Japan.
• Train to Fushimi Inari, at 5:30am it was still quiet, at 6:30am it was already getting busy. I made the call at the halfway lookout point that I could probably squeeze Nara in if I left then, and tbh Fushimi Inari wasn't a standout for me.
• Grabbed some breakfast at the konbini while I waited for a train to Nara. I loved Nara. Not so much the deer, or Todai-ji (both were good) but the forest beyond and places like Todaiji Nigatsudo, Kasuga Taisha. I loved taking paths where there were no other tourists.
• On to Uji - bought several bags of matcha and sencha, some matcha treats, explored Byodo-in and had a matcha parfait at Tsuen overlooking the river. I would have loved to stay here longer but had a tour booking for 2pm on the other side of Kyoto (but an easy trip due to being on the same line)
• 2pm tour at Matsui sake, a tiny sake house in Kyoto. The tour was great and I loved their anime branding and innovative tasting system.
• The weather today was SO amazing and I really loved this area (Sakyo ward) so hired a bike from emusica edmachiyanagi and travelled north along Kamo River, exploring some temples along the way, having something to eat by the river. Rode to Circus Coffee which had the most lovely staff and I loved the branding. Explored some shopping streets, then on to Philosophers Path and returned the bike around 7:30pm.
• Got a massage at ボディケアボディ 三条河原町店 which was so cheap and so good. Had a 40 min wait so I went to Donki and bought a suitcase for all my extra shopping (had travelled carry-on only). After my massage I packed and crashed.

Day 7 - Kyoto, Inuyama

• Got up and took the train to Kiyomizu (could have walked but my legs were sore!), then walked up to Kiyomizu-dera. I wasn't sure if I would like it as I was disappointed with Fushimi Inari but it was simply spectacular.
• Explored Higashiyama then enjoyed a zen meditation session at Ryosoku-in. This was a great experience!
• Back to my hotel to change and check out then lunch at Roan Kikunoi, my Michelin restaurant (**) for the trip and a wonderful meal and experience.
• Went and grabbed my bags from the hotel, taxi to train station, shinkansen to Nagoya and train to Inuyama.
• Inuyama was a gorgeous little town. Nagoya has a lot less foreign visitors, and there were few signs, train announcements etc in English. I actually didn't see a non-Asian person my whole time in Nagoya (including in the airport the next day). The castle here was gorgeous and I loved the town, a great slower pace to end my trip.

Day 8 - Chubu airport

• There is a train without changes to chubu airport from Inuyama. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated my remaining yen so was 200 yen short for the limited express, so had to take the commuter which meant standing for 1 hr in a crowded train. The ltd express would have been better but I didn't want to get out 10,000 yen just for the train and I wasn't sure whether I could use card at the airport for fare adjustment (I could have, it turned out).
• The airport was super clean and easy and not too busy. I had used points to fly SQ business which was a luxurious end to a truly incredible trip.

Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Hi all,
I got so much great assistance from this board so I wanted to give back to the community. I (34F) travelled to Japan solo in May with a week on the ground (9 days including travel) from Australia, so no jet lag. I packed in a lot - I have a family with young kids at home and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity so wanted to make the most of it. For those not travelling solo the itinerary is likely less realistic, but worked great for me. I spent approximately 400,000yen for the 7 days including flights and accommodation, and approximately 100,000 of that was on souvenirs and gifts. I walked at least 30,000 steps each day (with the exception of day 1 which was around 25k + a 17km bike ride).
Day 1 - Arrive 5:30am Haneda, Tokyo (Fri)

• Flew into T1, but arrived a little early and had zero lines through immigration etc so decided to travel by free shuttle bus to T3 to pick up a Welcome Suica. This ended up being so worth it and making life easy.
• Train to Higashi-Ginza, drop off bags. Explore Tsukiji. I recommend Tsukiji Uogashi building for food rather than the markets themselves, significantly cheaper, you can take your meal to the rooftop.
• Coffee from Turret Coffee - a standout for coffee (latte) lovers).
• eBike tour by Compass bikes - I am not a huge fan of tours but this was great way to see a lot in a few hours and I really loved Fukagawa Fudou-dō temple which had a walkway inside that felt like it was designed by TeamLabs (no photos allowed unfortunately)
• Back to Higashi-Ginza, picked up my bags and went to check in to my hotel, Dormy Inn Ueno, which was perfectly located (I loved staying in this area).
• On to the Sumo Tournament for which I had purchased tickets through buysumotickets. I think my whole section had as they were all foreigners, haha! I loved this, a really different experience.
• Explored Ameyokocho before calling it a night.

Day 2 - Tokyo (Sat)

• Up bright and early at 3am. Went to the sento, still couldn't sleep after so took the first train of the day to Asakusa. Explored Senso-ji without crowds. Back to Ueno station where I purchased tickets for the shinkansen the next day. It looks like the line gets busy so this was a good idea to do early.
• Explored Ueno park, Nippori, Ueno by foot.
• Back to hotel to get ready for the day, and out around 8:30am.
• Train to Yoyohi where I got a coffee at Dimlight Espresso then walked through Yoyogi park/Meiji shrine area towards Takeshita St. By now it was around 10:30am and most shops online looked like they didn't open until 11am but most did seem open. I bought some socks at Tabio and then a Harajuku special crepe from Godiva on Meiji-Dori Ave (so good!).
• Walked up Cat St which I loved and was much less busy than the rest of Harajuku and Shibuya. Got some sweets from Number Sugar. On to Shibuya via Miyashita Park. Shopped throughout Shibuya, but it honestly wasn't my favourite as there was just so much choice and so many people. It didn't feel unique to me (ie could have been in any country).
• Train to Akihabara, which was also very busy but felt more unique. I loved Yellow Submarine where I got some board games that are made in Japan but had English instructions, and did some other light shopping for my boys.
• Back to my hotel to rest and eat some gyoza I got on my way from the train station, before heading out for a 7pm localised tour of Shinjuku. Again this was good, but I think limiting doing tours works best for me as I can't take the slow pace, haha!!

Day 3 - Matsumoto, Kiso, Tsumago

• I took the shinkansen to Nagano in gran class which was truly amazing and worth the additional cost. I had the carriage to myself so a personal attendant, meal, slippers included and comfy reclining chair. Then took a train from Nagano to Matsumoto.
• Explored Matsumoto Castle then did a tour at Ishii miso (this was OK, but a bit more of an explanation rather than tour) and visited the Art Museum (this was good for a quick visit even for someone with passing art interest).
• On to Kiso for lunch and to explore, loved the foot bath. Train to Nagiso, where I walked the Nakasendo to my minshuku in Tsumago, Daikichi. Tsumago was just lovely, the people living there are just a wonderful community. Daikichi was incredible. Had a wonderful dinner and breakfast and highly recommend this sort of accommodation.

Day 4 - Tsumago, Magome, Osaka

• Left at 7.30am after breakfast as the weather was not great and more rain was planned as the day progressed. Loved the tea house on the way to Magome. Got in to Magome around 10am, grabbed a coffee from Hillbilly coffee and walked to Chuodo Magome to get a bus as it was a better schedule than the bus from Magome to Nakatsugawa. I don't recommend this as it was a roadhouse with only locals and felt a bit awkward haha. But, it all worked well and was actually a really comfortable trip to Nagoya.
• I decided to take the slower Kintetsu Ltd Express from Nagoya to Osaka-Namba, as it was direct, and I could book a premium seat again which was a great place to rest on a rainy day. The premium seat on the Hinotori was incredible comfy (perhaps more so than the shinkansen?) and had a seat warmer function.
• Explored Kuromon market, Sennichimae Doguyasuji for kitchenware, Ota St, DenDen Town, Dotonbori. Took two trains to my hotel in Kyoto, Hotel Aru. Again this was a fab hotel in a really great location, and the room was much nicer and newer than the Dormy Inn (although no sento).
• Did some washing and crashed.

Day 5 - Kyoto in the rain

• There was a Typhoon in the Philippines today which brought with it significant rain. I had originally planned Nara but with flooding and rain inundation warnings thought I would stick close to my hotel instead.
• Walked to Sentido for a coffee, then on to Kyoto Gyoen National Garden and the Kyoto Imperial Palace. This wasn't in my original itinerary but I really enjoyed it and the audio guide was really well done (and all free!). Another coffee in School Bus Coffee Stop.
• Spent the rest of the day exploring the undercover shopping streets, department stores, Nishiki markets. Loved the Daimaru basement food court, the staff here were especially polite with every single one bowing and greeting me as I walked past.
• Back to my hotel to dry off my feet after they had been wet for the past 14 hrs. The rain had finally eased off so I then headed out at night to explore Yasaka shrine and Gion. I saw a Maiko (who unfortunately looked quite distressed, clearly still getting harassed by tourists!).

Day 6 - Kyoto

• Today I made up for lost time and fit in a LOT. More than I would like realistically, I would have loved more time in Uji and Nara, I would definitely like to spend more time in that region if/when I return to Japan.
• Train to Fushimi Inari, at 5:30am it was still quiet, at 6:30am it was already getting busy. I made the call at the halfway lookout point that I could probably squeeze Nara in if I left then, and tbh Fushimi Inari wasn't a standout for me.
• Grabbed some breakfast at the konbini while I waited for a train to Nara. I loved Nara. Not so much the deer, or Todai-ji (both were good) but the forest beyond and places like Todaiji Nigatsudo, Kasuga Taisha. I loved taking paths where there were no other tourists.
• On to Uji - bought several bags of matcha and sencha, some matcha treats, explored Byodo-in and had a matcha parfait at Tsuen overlooking the river. I would have loved to stay here longer but had a tour booking for 2pm on the other side of Kyoto (but an easy trip due to being on the same line)
• 2pm tour at Matsui sake, a tiny sake house in Kyoto. The tour was great and I loved their anime branding and innovative tasting system.
• The weather today was SO amazing and I really loved this area (Sakyo ward) so hired a bike from emusica edmachiyanagi and travelled north along Kamo River, exploring some temples along the way, having something to eat by the river. Rode to Circus Coffee which had the most lovely staff and I loved the branding. Explored some shopping streets, then on to Philosophers Path and returned the bike around 7:30pm.
• Got a massage at ボディケアボディ 三条河原町店 which was so cheap and so good. Had a 40 min wait so I went to Donki and bought a suitcase for all my extra shopping (had travelled carry-on only). After my massage I packed and crashed.

Day 7 - Kyoto, Inuyama

• Got up and took the train to Kiyomizu (could have walked but my legs were sore!), then walked up to Kiyomizu-dera. I wasn't sure if I would like it as I was disappointed with Fushimi Inari but it was simply spectacular.
• Explored Higashiyama then enjoyed a zen meditation session at Ryosoku-in. This was a great experience!
• Back to my hotel to change and check out then lunch at Roan Kikunoi, my Michelin restaurant (**) for the trip and a wonderful meal and experience.
• Went and grabbed my bags from the hotel, taxi to train station, shinkansen to Nagoya and train to Inuyama.
• Inuyama was a gorgeous little town. Nagoya has a lot less foreign visitors, and there were few signs, train announcements etc in English. I actually didn't see a non-Asian person my whole time in Nagoya (including in the airport the next day). The castle here was gorgeous and I loved the town, a great slower pace to end my trip.

Day 8 - Chubu airport

• There is a train without changes to chubu airport from Inuyama. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated my remaining yen so was 200 yen short for the limited express, so had to take the commuter which meant standing for 1 hr in a crowded train. The ltd express would have been better but I didn't want to get out 10,000 yen just for the train and I wasn't sure whether I could use card at the airport for fare adjustment (I could have, it turned out).
• The airport was super clean and easy and not too busy. I had used points to fly SQ business which was a luxurious end to a truly incredible trip.

Feel free to reach out with any questions!