I was at the dress rehearsal for the Dua Lipa episode tonight (via standby) and can summarize what what was changed/cut to the best of my memory. If anyone else was at dress, feel free to correct or add anything I missed :)
Student Protests

• Heidi had a bob wig at dress
  
• If I remember correctly, Mikey and Heidi’s characters were more anti-protest at dress than at live.
  
• Kenan got cheers at dress during his initial lines supporting the protests
  
• During his line about his daughter getting her degree, Kenan had a line mentioning "someone's dean" giving it to her.
  

Monologue

• I don't think her parents were shown at dress (although the lines referencing them were still there).
  
• The question from Andrew Dismukes was originally from Michael Longfellow
  

Young Spicy

• Young Spicy added additional context at the start that he needs a new tag cause there are a lot of beefs and diss tracks goin around right now in rap (indirectly referencing the Kendrick/Drake feud).
  
• When saying to "make it quick", in addition to the meter running, Kenan said he left a sandwich in the car with the windows open.
  
• At one point, Kenan asked everyone for quarters to pay for the parking meter.
  
• Kenan's joke about Young Spicy's neighbors was gone. Instead the sketch ended with Kenan's car getting towed.
  

Anomalous Man

• No changes I noticed.

Good Morning Greenville

• No changes I noticed.

Challengers Baby

• After Bowen and Marcello's back and forth "I'm 41 so it's not weird." "Yes it is!" There was an additional line from Bowen where he says it's weird "in a different way." [Correction] Marcello full line at dress was "Yes it is! Just, like, in a new way!"
  
• Edit: Bowen posted the dress version on his Instagram.
  

Penne alla Vodka

• No changes I noticed.

Dua Lipa - Illusion

• Introduced by Sarah Sherman instead of Troye Sivan.

Weekend Update: Colin Jost and Michael Che

• Colin did not say "It's the first night of spring, so we'll start tonight with puppy murder."
  
• Joke added for live: "President Trump seen here definitely not sleeping."
  
• Joke added for live: Che's follow-up to the Columbia students joke where he says the school should "stop telling students the truth" like him with his girlfriends.
  
• I believe Che's punchline about the Final Four was about a different sports event.
  
• Joke added for live: Colin's 11-day cruise joke
  
• Colin cut joke about a guy who killed some people and the punchline is that he ate them (cause he's fat)
  
• Colin cut joke: [paraphrased] Hope Hicks testified at the Trump trial, where she proved that the courtroom sketch artist can draw people that look human (cut to side by side of Hicks and Trump's sketches)
  
• Colin cut joke: [paraphrased] In the Trump trial, Hope Hicks testified that Trump trusts Melania's advice. Well we know at least one time that wasn't true (cut to picture of Trump and Stormy Daniels)
  
• Che did the same ad-lib after a bomb about Drake dropping another diss track, but he also did another one on a later bomb at dress, saying "And Kendrick just released a reply!"
  
• At one point after a joke bomb, Che said something that sounded to me like "Just put me on the cast, Lorne!"
  

Weekend Update: Kristi Noem's other dog

• There was joke using "All Dogs Go to Heaven" where they added a couple words making it specific to Noem's dogs.
  
• Marcello also held up a book he is going to release [can't remember the title]
  

Weekend Update: Jojo Siwa

• I don't recall hearing the snippets of her song played at dress.
  
• She originally ate the cigarette. (I think it didn't get a big enough reaction to warrant doing it again).
  
• Gay pop joke - Instead of Colin saying “I think that’s just pop”, he said “there’s been loads of other gay pop artists: Elton John, Ricky Martin, Renee Rapp. Also make up my gym playlist.”
  

Weekend Update: Jerry Seinfeld

• They punched up the Ryan Gosling part a bit for live. I don't remember it having as many jokes, and there was originally a line advising Gosling to stay at home with his wife and kids.

Fat Daddy

• No changes that I noticed.
  
• As they were setting this up, I could hear Punkie telling Kenan and a few crew members about something she had cooking in her dressing room.
  

Dua Lipa - Happy for You

• Introduced by Marcello Hernandez instead of Jerry Seinfeld.

Tiny Statement Pin

• This was slightly longer at dress. I remember there was a pin mentioning Trans rights on screen with the Ceasefire pin.

Jingle

• The Dua's "5 daqs deep" was originally said by Bowen.

Cut for Time
\1. Hotel/Restaurant (live sketch)

• Chloe Fineman is at the front desk of a fancy hotel/restaurant. On the phone she says they are fully booked, but they can make room for Leonardo DiCaprio and his five guests. Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner (Mikey looks dressed like a 00s rock band frontman and Heidi looks a little Paris Hilton-esque) come in and ask for a room/table. Chloe denies them and they go into the “do you know who I am?” routine. Mikey (who has a ridiculous name I can’t remember) is from a “famous” band known for their song “Becky’s Mouth”, which Mikey sings for Chloe and it sounds like Jessie’s Girl, as Chloe points out. Heidi (also with a ridiculous name) is a model/actress and she mentions a commercial she was in. Dua Lipa enters as the third in their group. She cites her own list of silly sounding credits. Kenan comes out as the manager and gets mad at the group. Mikey tries to prove his importance by pointing out his car (not shown) from [fake car brand with silly name] which he got before it even released to the public. Kenan calls it ugly. Mikey also cites his expensive [fake clothing brand with silly name] clothing and Heidi her fancy bag with an LLF on it (standing for something starting with Luigi). Heidi pulls out a bottle of their brand of Ferret Vodka, which has a Ferret-haped stopper. Then, Colin Jost comes out in full vacation get-up, who the staff recognize as Colin Jost, and says he knows the trio and they can come sit at his table. He says he was just listening to “Becky’s Mouth”. End of sketch.
  
• I thought this was pretty good. Sad to see a rare Colin Jost sketch appearance cut.
  

\2. What Would You Do? (live sketch)

• There is a standard “What would you do?” intro where the premise is explained. In this episode, two actors will simulate a racist encounter in a pizza place to see how the patrons will react. Andrew Dismukes is the actor playing the guy behind the counter, and Marcello Hernandez is the actor playing a Latino guy with an accent buying a pizza. Marcello tries to order a pizza and Andrew suggests he illegally immigrated. As Molly Kearney, playing a nearby patron, is about to react, Dua Lipa and Ego Nwodim barge in. The narrator explains that these two women came in and interrupted the shoot so they couldn’t get the patrons’ reaction. They are both in fancy tracksuits (different colors) with a lot of makeup on and Dua has big hoop earrings. Both in trashy English accents, they start accosting Andrew. They say they’ve both been experiencing terrible diarrhea and it’s because of the pizza. They say they’ve only been in the US for a day and have just had the pizza, a pretzel, and some oysters a guy on the street offered them. They describe in excruciating detail how bad their diarrhea was and how it hit them as they were getting on the subway with a joke to the effect of “Stand clear of the expelling women”. Andrew tries a few times to unsuccessfully explain to them that he is just an actor and that they are shooting. Dua and Ego say that they themselves were “shooting” (referring to the diarrhea). They eventually get it when he says they are on TV. They get all excited, but say they wish they were prepared and Dua laments that she has her small hoops on. And I believe it ends with them realizing that they’re “dia-ruh-rhea” story got recorded and the narrator says that they kept it as revenge for ruining their shoot.
  
• This was one of Dua’s best comedic roles all night so it was a shame it was cut. I guess the toilet humor could be a lot for some people, but it worked for me (and I thought the audience liked it).
  
• Marcello was also wearing a mustache that IMO was really working for him.
  

\3. Graduation (live sketch)

• Bowen Yang, Chloe Troast, Marcello Hernandez, Ego Nwodim, Dua Lipa [Corrected by u/wincew, Dua was not in this], and one or two others are on a college campus. They talk about their upcoming graduation and Chloe Troast with a guitar starts to lead them in a song to the tune of Graduation by Vitamin C. They recap their college experience year by year for a chorus/verse, with every year getting ruined by some world event. For each year, Kenan comes out with the respective NYE glasses for that year and for each bad news topic, they cut to JAJ as an anchor reporting that event. In 2020 they had Covid. Then they had the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kenan says “How did you forget about January 6th?” The students all say at least they had some good things like corn kid, and the Ice Bucket Challenge (“that was 10 years ago!”). Then they show Ego and Marcello in bed together (still standing with a sheet placed in front of them and a bed stood up behind them), which cuts to Roe v. Wade being overturned. Then graduation comes in 2024, but they find out the ceremony is canceled because [they say something to indicate the Gaza protests, without mentioning them explicitly] reasons.
  
• Maybe not the most original observation, but I liked it and liked what it was saying. Not really surprised it got cut though.
  

\4. Drinks after Work Promotion (live sketch)

• Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Andrew Dismukes, Dua Lipa, and Molly Kearney (?) are out for drinks at a bar after work. They are talking about a promotion Andrew just got (due to nepotism) and how he is now their boss. Andrew makes a comment about removing a framed photo of Dua and her son. She gets offended since it’s actually a picture of her and her husband. Andrew points out she looks much older than him. Something causes the whole group minus Andrew to sing the song “Don’t Matter” by Akon. Andrew says he loves that song and it’s actually it’s his favorite song. Dua doubts him and asks what his favorite part is. He sings the chorus “Nobody wanna see us together”. Dua points out that his favorite part is just the chorus, to which he responds “that’s why it’s the chorus”. Dua insists he doesn’t actually know the song and challenges him to sing along if she plays it on the jukebox. As the song starts, Andrew sings the chorus, and then when the verse starts, he says his throat is dry and starts sipping his beer. Dua calls him out, but the rest of the group tells her to calm down. He finishes his beer just as the chorus comes back in and sings the chorus. When the next verse comes, he repeats the dry throat thing and grabs Ego’s wine and does the same thing. Dua gets more mad as the group polices her. The next verse Andrew fakes having to sneeze. Then he fakes getting a phone call about his mom being in the hospital “oh she’s okay?” and immediately breaks back into the chorus. He fakes the phone call again, but Dua grabs his phone and throws it. After the group gets upset with her again, she admits she was really just mad about the promotion, cause she really thought she was gonna get it, and is just taking it out on Andrew. Bowen then reminds her that she didn’t get the promotion because she twisted the nipples of the water cooler guy and the only reason she didn’t get fired is because he spilled it on her and she threatened to sue. The sketch ends with Dua and Andrew singing the “best part” together, with Andrew taking a high harmony.
  
• I liked it, mainly for Andrew’s killer timing with each of his verse-chorus gags, but I’m not surprised it got cut.
  
• As they were setting up this sketch, I waved at Dua and she made eye contact and waved back at me and so I was slightly distracted and starstruck at the beginning of this one.
  

\5. Babysitter (live sketch)

• Sophie (Dua Lipa) is trying out for a babysitter gig for parents Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner. She seems to be getting along with the kids (extras) and Mikey and Heidi say how they don’t even want to see the other candidates cause they like Dua. Dua says how she appreciates that they don’t judge her for her past. They didn’t realize she had a past, which leads to her revealing she was in jail for DUIs. But she reassures them she doesn’t drink any more except [punchline I don’t remember]. She also mentions how she can’t read, and how in jail she fell in love with a guy, Winslow. She holds up a crayon drawing the kids made for her, with her as a stick figure behind bars, and written “visiting Sophie at [funny alternate name for jail]”. Mikey reads it aloud and Dua goes “so that’s what it says!” Dua asks if it’s alright that she invited her boyfriend over. There is a knock at the door and it is Kenan as Winslow. He has a long straight black wig and a long straight brown goatee and he is (as described by Mikey) “dressed like Carmen Sandiego”. Dua mentions something implying he runs a cult. Behind him are Chloe Troast and either Sarah Sherman or Chloe Fineman, who are dressed a little like what I imagine a Victorian schoolgirl would look like. Kenan introduces them both as Sophie. Mikey and Heidi ask “did he make you all change your name to Sophie?” to which all the girls confirm. Kenan then asks Heidi if she is “bleeding” because he needs it for a ritual. She is scandalized. The kids come back after interacting with Kenan and they both have red cloaks now, to Heidi and Mikey’s horror. That might have been the end of the sketch, but I can’t remember.
  
• I think the weakest sketch of the night so this was a fair cut.
  

I thought overall it was a good episode, but I personally would have cut the Young Spicy sketch and replaced it with the What Would You Do? sketch.

OK I know we've all had enough of chaos cuisine discourse but bear with me....
The main characters on The Bear (Matty Matheson's show) continually refer to their food as "chaos menu" as they develop the concept for their upcoming fine dining restaurant. Obviously the producers were inspired by this when designing the Chaos Cuisine challenge. It's cool and interesting, but I think this challenge was hampered by the fact that the contestants had to create a singular chaos dish rather than come up with a chaos menu.
Here are some of the dishes from the chaos menu on The Bear:

• Focaccia with various vegetable accompaniments
• Welcome Broth - smoked bone marrow and beef consomme served over frozen concord grapes
• Bucatini bolognese
• Seven fishes - various seafood including branzino, lobster, oysters in one dish
• T-bone steak served upright
• Savory cannoli - parmesan shell filled with mortadella mousse, finished with pistachios and roe
• Sundae with veal stock and caviar
• Cherry donut
• Homemade honeybun

Is every single one of these dishes inherently chaotic? I would argue that the true "chaos" nature of the menu is only present because each dish is considered in context with the rest of the menu.
This challenge would have been better as a team challenge with a progressive menu. I think that, then, we would have had less criticism that the dishes weren't "chaotic" enough.

Hey fine dining,
Was in Malta for a little weekend away and ‘hey is that a Simon Rogan restaurant over there?’.
Ion Harbour has just received its 2nd Michelin star making it the first in Malta and I was very excited to check it out after having just been to L’Enclume a few weeks ago.
First things, the view is incredible, you can see over the bay of Valetta and as time passes into night you can watch the night draw in and fall across the city. It’s glorious and comforting.
Simon Rogan’s influence is very clear here, some dishes are very similar but change the ingredients from the earthy, rural lakes of England to the vibrant seafront of Malta.
Started with some of the in-house cocktails - Cuba libre made with homemade cola and a lime foam. Delicious. My friend chose a Dom Perignon 2013 from the extensive bubbly section.
Nibbles to start, smokey tuna inside the carrot tart was a win and the tomato crisp with a flavoursome gazpacho were particular winners.
The menu focussed on vegetables and fish as you could imagine as the ingredients are mostly from Malta. A pumpkin dish followed by artichoke (with cheese Xem Xem only made for them) were delicious. Great textures and flavours.
Next executive chef Oli Marlow talked us through the lettuce dish - treated like meat, charcoal grilled (don’t tell Ramsey) and finished with a truffle sauce and fresh summer black truffles. A fantastic dish.
Rossi prawn and pikeperch roe was a particular highlight. Sweet, salty and creamy with a very satisfying texture of the prawn.
Sea Bream and local duck were the two ‘main’ dishes. Sublime. The duck (similarly to L’Enclume) came with duck fat crumpets, which seem to be a trend in fine dining at the moment and I am all for it.
Desserts were a sour cream sorbet and an apple tart. Great way to finish the meal.
I feel like I only talk positives in my posts here but when I am as fortunate to go to restaurants like this, it’s only fair. If you’re on Malta i highly recommend it.

Karat Packaging ($KRT) $27.39
Consumer Discretionary, Packaging & Containers.
IPO DATE 04/15/21 at $16.00 a share
Financial Data Available: 5 Years
Income Statement

• Revenues over 200M
• Revenue CAGR 16%
• Avg 5y Profit Margin 5.19%
• Avg 5y Gross Margin 31.17%
• Avg 5y Operating Margin 7.15%
• Free Cash Flow went from negative to positive in (2022 @ 14.8M) followed by (2023 @ 45.39M)
• EBITDA 5y CAGR 46%

Balance Sheet

• Current Assets covered total liabilities since 2021
• Total Debt under 100M
• Shareholders' equity positive all 5 years
• Retained earnings positive all 5 years
• Book Value Per Share 7.74

Cash Flow Statement

• CapEx under 40M
• Pays dividend between 1%-3% annually
• Net Cash Flow Positive since 2021

Ratios

• ROE: 21%
• ROA: 11%
• ROIC: 14%
• Enterprise Value > Market Cap

The Model Talking: DFCF 5 Year Model $54.55

• Growth Rate 8.55%
• Perpetual Growth Rate 3.20%
• Discount Rate 8.40%

Synopsis:
Karat Packaging, Young and small amongst its peers yet tall and mighty in value. The logo of the company is attractive in my opinion. They do make packaging and containers specifically tailored to boba shop, bubble tea shop applications. The USA bubble tea market is expected to grow @ CAGR of 13% from 2023-2033. Karat Packaging also has a line of environmentally safe products that make a percentage of sales as well. Karat Packaging does it all, from forks, spoons, cups, lids, they can really provide restaurant operators with options of many durable materials. I say this because I work in the restaurant industry and I have used Karat's lids and forks. They are durable and great for the application. I was walking past a random boba shop a couple weeks and saw a Karat Packaging box shining through their storefront window. It's a great observation to see after having a conviction about the company to see it being used in public spaces close to home. I wouldn't doubt Karat for a minute, do your own research, however I found this company to be in a great position to increase revenues for a long time.

I'm in my early 30s and I recently broke up with my girlfriend who I've been living with for 2 years. It has been so stressful and has really made me wonder if I have personality traits out of my control that make me bad at relationships, or if she has personality traits out of her control that make her bad at relationships or if I'm a shitty person that has the ability to better myself. I can't figure out how to actually see what this relationship was.
From my perspective, my ex-girlfriend was insanely perfectionistic and rule oriented and not very empathetic. The silverware had to be stacked a certain way in the dishwasher, the clothes dryer had to be used as minimally as possibly so that anything that could be hang dried was hang dried and each item could not touch at all another item and should be hung in the correct orientation. We had a reactive dog which was just total sensory overload for me. I literally could not get down the timing and movements and alertness of seeing other dogs or squirrels or whatever else that would set or dog off; of saying 'yes' at the right time but not 'ok' and not saying 'no!no!no!' quickly three times in a row. I was reprimanded often at not being aware enough to grab what my ex-gf was handing me or asking me to open or help her carry or move to a different spot. So much communication through just nonverbal, very subtle motions. Oh shit she's holding her arm out with a container! I'm supposed to grab it. Oh shit she just grabbed something at the bottom of a stack in the car trunk and she's waiting for me to removing the things on top for her to take it! I was basically fearful of my girlfriend through most of this relationship. Anything to avoid a really nasty drawn out chiding from her which frequently frequently happened. I feel like she would also frequently say not just in arguments but in passing in a matter of fact way how I was not an empathetic person to a concerning degree, that I was selfish and irresponsible and lazy. My therapist at one point suggested that she might have OCD, but when I looked that up it didn't seem to match. A couple years later I discover that OCPD is different than OCD and, boy it really seems to match. On the other hand, I have been diagnosed with ADHD twice, the second time because I doubted the first diagnosis so much. To me it was an impossible match. Daily I would forget where I left something or leave something in the wrong place or put something back in the wrong place or I would do something slightly differently than every time before which would infuriate my partner. And I tried SO HARD. I feel like I was just in constant panic mode for months! years maybe! And I could just not figure it out. And she berated me so often about not trying. I concluded that the relationship was impossible and I needed to get out.
From her perspective, I am selfish and unempathetic. I think I once in our 2 years organized a dinner date for us even though she had hinted fairly often she wanted me to do this more. I never brought home flowers or little things that I thought she would like or because I was thinking of her. In my defense, even that one dinner date was nerve wracking because she's so amazingly picky about where to eat. I tried helping plan for a trip once to pick out restaurants and I was scolded for picking things below 4.6 stars on google maps reviews. I didn't realize that 4.5 or less stars meant the place was shit or was just not an option. Also, I bring up ADHD and she says then why haven't you gotten medication for it yet! If you really cared and thought ADHD was the biggest factor in our relationship problems, then why haven't you gone and addressed this issue? Its a good point, I still need to find a pcp and schedule an appointment, which I almost did another night but it was too late to setup, and do I have good excuse for why I haven't done it since? No... I say "I'm always so stressed, I can't think about this stuff right now" but this is for sure a lame excuse. Its true that I wasn't thinking affectionately about my girlfriend for most of this relationship. Instead I felt like I was trying to survive. I think I do have a problem where my fear of offending or making someone angry trumps all other motives. I feel like for a long time I just wanted to do whatever I could to avoid her being upset. Its not like I was abuse as a child or anything, but I've always been so 'easy-going' or so easily 'won-over' or so easily manipulated. We are basically opposite personalities in that I will to a glaring fault always defer and try to do what some else wants (not necessarily out of emapthy or altruism) and she is incredibly confident and constantly driven. It was destined that I was just going to be going along for the ride and hanging on for dear life.
Early on in our relationship, I remember thinking about political issues raging, social issues raging and the incessant onslaught of social media and just internet media in general and feeling so removed and apathetic to it all. Before this relationship I had been in a depressive episode and I remember at one point sort of just breaking and being like I am destroying myself constantly worrying about what other people think so I will stop it now. I will feel no pressure to feel any way about anyone or anything. Well, fast forward, there was one day in the early part of our relationship where I had listened to this like 3 hour recording of Alan Watts who was talking specifically about how when trying to inspect where thoughts and feelings come from you realize that they just seem to happen spontaneously and that you can't in a sense control what emotions you feel, they happen to you. This was also just around the time that Roe v Wade got turned around in some states and abortion became illegal. I think I was beyond even feeling guilt at the fact that these words and concepts fell upon my ears and I had no visceral response. I thought well I can't even imagine, I can't relate to that world. I don't have any close connections who have had to deal with unwanted pregnancy and this news just seems like so many other things far out in the world. Well I made the mistake of articulating this when my partner asked how I felt about the abortion law news. Ever since then, she has brought up how "I've got mine" oriented I am and how unempathetic etc. Like if I don't empathize, I can't _try_ right? Oh and very relevantly, my ex-gf had told me she had gotten an abortion earlier in her life, so I definitely missed the mark in several ways of trying to think about how she would be feeling through all of this, but instead I just had this idea that "Oh I'm being so transparent and honest about how huge news items like this don't effect me or seem real!"
I think I have the potential to be empathetic and I am very much so at certain times but the past like 7 years of my life has been rough. I think just recently she said something like "maybe you just weren't socialized when you were young" when talking about how I have routinely dropped the ball with household chores and doing nice things for her. She was saying maybe she should find someone younger (she's 4 years younger than me) since perhaps my mind falls too much into the strict patriarchal expectations of boomer culture. Man, I really really don't think its my latent gender role bias. I think its my personality and ADHD. There is a guy my same age who can keep up with all the specific ways the house works and remembers everything. I'm not a selfish asshole damn it! I hope so.
Thanks the end

udon on the bottom with thinly sliced beef, mentaiko sauce, seaweed, picked radish and ebiko roe on top. the bowl is about 17cm in diameter and 6cm height. please help, restaurant food is so hard to estimate!! my guess is 800, could that be too low though?

Hi all, first time posting in this sub but found some of the advice really helpful planning for our trip, so thought I'd post our trip report.
A bit about us: Two late 20's Brits, husband and wife team. Mixed levels of fitness - we lift weights in the gym 5 days a week, and my wife additionally plays rugby with training/games 2-3 times a week (I coach). We both work 9-5 deskjobs. Interests include food, videogames, anime and history.
The trip: 10th April: Flew business class with JAL from LHR to HND. Flying business class was a bucket list thing for us, and we'd saved up a lot of money during Covid even with a marriage and a house move. Overall it was a great experience, but I'm a light sleeper and couldn't sleep a wink on the plane. Watched season 1 of SpyxFamily which became the anime of the trip, as we'd watch Seasons 2 and 3 before getting to bed most nights.
11th April: Landed at 7:40am at HND and set up our Ubigi eSims. My advice would be to set it up before you fly, as connecting to the Wifi at HND was a bit troublesome. On the whole, though, Ubigi was great - decent connection throughout and only lost connection in some tunnels, or in a couple of spots in Akihabara.
Got Suica cards at Terminal 3 and dropped luggage off at our hotel (Hotel Gracery Shinjuku). Was cool being in the Godzilla hotel on the Godzilla floor - room was pretty big and you get some good views from the 30th floor. Loved the iconography on the walls of various kaiju's in the Godzilla franchise (King Ghidorah, Rodan etc.), the iconography on the lift doors, and there's a panorama in the hotel lobby, too.
Went for a walk around Shinjuku and Shinjuku Gyoen garden whilst we waited to check in and were lucky enough to see the various cherry/plum (I think?) blossoms in the park. We had planned the trip knowing we were missing the blossom season, so to see some in full bloom was great. We'd grabbed some onigiri from a 7-11 and had a picnic on a bench under the trees. Grabbed Shinkansen tickets for a couple of days time in the Green Car from Shinjuku station, which was hassle-free. Checked into hotel, then went to find some food. Booked online at Teppanyaki Hama which was literally down the street, and what an experience that was. Only 12 seats in total at the restaurant, and we were treated to the chef cooking right in front of us a variety of 9 courses from roe, to oyster, lobster, snail and the best grilled veg I've had. Cost about £216 from memory, but it set the tone of the trip really well.
12th April: woke up early and got to Meiji Jingu for about 7am. We enjoyed how quiet it was, with only a handful of tourists at this time. We then went to a Family Mart and came back to Meiji Jingu (with the intention to eat breakfast in the park) at 8:30am, but all the tourists had arrived by then and we could see no food/drink signs so we moved on to Yoyogi Park which was also lovely.
Next we did Harajuku and I visited the Asics store there. Was disappointed at how touristy the area seemed even at 10/11am. At this time, it started to rain and, with not much appealing to us, we moved on to Shibuya. Did Shibuya scramble a few times for the fun of it, then grabbed lunch at Ichiran. Decent ramen, better than the chain ramen we get in the UK (I'm looking at you, Wagamama's) but not the best of the trip. Explored Shibuya and saw the Pokemon Centre there with Mewtwo, and then the One Piece and Jump stores too. We went to Sushiro for dinner. Ate about 15 plates between us for roughly £26 with drinks. First ever conveyor belt sushi experience and had to wait about 30 mins for a seat. Was pretty cool. Rounded off the day wandering Golden Gai and Kabukicho near the hotel.
13th April: had planned to explore Nakano Broadway and Ikebukuro this day but...
I was ill all day and after being up and down during the night, spent all day in bed. My wife was fine, so I either overate, felt jetlagged, stressed from overplanning, ate something my wife didn't (likely sea urchin at Sushiro), or a bit of everything. My wife went to Gotokuji temple in the afternoon and explored some of the neighbourhoods to find an Airbnb which a Youtuber she follows, owns. My illness put me off of seafood for most of the trip, which is unfortunate as I love seafood, but the smell of it just put me off on this trip.
14th April: took the 6:33am Shinkansen to Kyoto. This was awesome, and watching the Japanese countryside go by with the mountains in the background was something I'll never forget - it's so much more picturesque than from UK trains. We were lucky to see Mt. Fuji from the train as well, as we knew she was usually shy, but that morning she looked majestic.
Popped by the hotel so they knew we were in the neighbourhood (Yoin Hotel Kyoto Gion). Hotel was a bit disappointing. Largest hotel room of the trip (save for the ryokan) but it was only 4/5 storeys high so had a lot of noise from the road below from loud tourists at 1am.
We explored Gion district. Visited Chion-in which was brilliant, saw different delegations of monks and even a bit of their ceremonies when we were there. Also did Yasaka Shrine, Yasaka Pagoda, and Kiyomizu-dera (too crowded by the time we did it), and grabbed some lunch at Smile Burger. Smile burger was great, a small burger joint which did simple burgers that tasted good for a great price. We then took a break at Ryozen Kannon temple. Ate dinner in our room with some of the ekiben boxes I didn't eat for brekfast as I still felt iffy.
15th April: originally planned to do Fushimi Inari this day but instead took a trip to Nara as I wasn't feeling a 5am wakeup after being unwell. Nara was lovely, but again loads of tourists by 8am. Fed the deer, and loved how the vendors all charged the same and how part of the money goes towards conservation. We went to Kofuku-ji and then grabbed breakfast at a conbini next to the famous TikTok mocchi making place, then sat at Sarusawa-ike watching the Terrapins to eat. It was so peaceful here, away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist parts. Then visited Todaiji Temple and explored Nara park. Then, we hopped on a train to visit the old Imperial Palace of Nara with the intention of seeing all Imperial Palaces in the cities on our trip. Admittedly not much at the site but it was cool seeing the old buildings and some of the conservation work being done. Then, on a whim, we went to Uji at 3:30pm and again, it was away from the hustle and bustle of tourists. I dislike green tea and matcha, but my wife likes it so thought it'd be good to try. We found a cafe overlooking the river and got there at last orders. Admittedly, I didn't like anything on the menu but that's just my taste and dislike of matcha. We left Uji and found a Wagyu steak yakiniku place in Kyoto called Douraku Kyotorokkakudoriten. Had a whole board of Wagyu fillet, tongue, cheek, rib etc. for about £89 and we got to cook it ourselves. This was a treat, and I've never tasted beef so good - it literally melted in our mouths. We left very satisfied after getting a side order of rice and bimbap, too.
16th April: Tackled Fushimi Inari this day as I was getting my groove back. Got to the foot of Fushimi Inari at 7:30am and it was already packed with wannabe influencers - I could tell this was going to be fun...my wife and I like hillwalking and occasionally walk Bennau Brycheniog or the Lake District, so we can hike at a good pace. We passed many people getting irate over the number of people getting in their shots (what did you expect?) and even one woman walking in a dress and stilettos with her partner carrying a tripod!! Madness. The crowds did thin considerably once we hit the part where the path splits in two, and we got all the way to the top in 55 mins. We bought a tori gate from one of the stalls neat the top after waiting around for 25 mins for it to open, and we had our names and date painted on it in kanji. Certainly take some time to see the various shrines in the small paths off the main track, as they're so picturesque and peaceful. Shoutout to Pocari Sweat, which kept me fuelled this entire time whilst recovering from the lurgies.
We walked down the mountain pass at the back, past a small bamboo grove, and here I jumped with glee as I heard a school bell go which had exactly the same tone and tune as the one from the 'Izekai Quartet' anime. From here, we did Tofuku-ji as it was on the way back into town along the path. What was really nice was seeing the backstreets of Japanese society, so tranquil and well-kept (like it was straight out of an anime). We then grabbed some lunch at a Korean hotpot place in Kyoto station, and did Kyoto tower on a whim. I suffer from vertigo and 'call of the void' (where I want to jump off of high places just to know what the sensation is like) and they were pretty bad at the top of Kyoto Tower as I felt like the tower was shaking in the wind. Still, the views were great and I'm glad I did it. They had a stand/vending machines of 'Sound Euphonium!' merch, which is an anime I love as a former brass band player, so got some photos next to Kumiko and Reina. We then went on an hours detour just so my wife could find another Pokelid and ended up in a park watching the Shinkansen go by. We grabbed dinner in an udon place called Udon Shiogama round the corner from the hotel which did curry udon. My goodness it tasted so good! The rich, spicy sauce went so well with the juicy udon I can still taste it. It's about on par with a Jalfrezi or a hot tikka spicewise, so if you can't do spice it may not be for you, but my wife had tempura udon ramen which she said was also as excellent.
17th April: trip to Osaka. I originally wanted to go to Himeji castle given the advice on this sub, but my wife didn't want to go too far astray so instead we went to Osaka castle at 9am. It was nice to see the museum inside of it and was very informative. From there, we went to Dotonbori and tried the best Takoyaki from a place right outside Osaka-Namba station with a massive crab on top. Also tried melonpan with vanilla ice cream inside it (a game changer) and Okonomiyaki at Mizuno Okonomiyaki which was brilliant. Went for the seafood option (risky given recent events) but it was so tasteful. Top tip would be to get here early at 5pm to avoid much of a queue, as only a limited number of seats and they cook it up in front of you. Then went to find the Osaka Pokemon Centre as my wife wanted to see that. Eventually headed back to Kyoto at about 9pm.
18th-19th April: Kinosaki Onsen
We wanted to do a ryokan/onsen experience as part of the trip but I wanted to get away from the crowds, so avoided Hakone. A friend had gone to Kinosaki so I decided to as well. Took us 3 hours to get there from Kyoto so set off at about 9am and the scenery out the window as the local trains go through the mountains was beautiful. Got to Kinosakionsen at midday and grabbed lunch at Kinosaki Burger by the station. Best burger of the holiday, hands down. Japan does simple burgers, but it does them well. It doesn't overcomplicate them by adding in more ingredients/foods, they're just a solid good burger. This is no different, but their chips were the best chips I've tasted. Cooked to order, cripsy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and seasoned generously with salt. At 2pm we checked into the ryokan (Nishimuraya Honkan Ryokan) and got changed into our Yukatas and getas. We had the suite room so we had the highest room in the ryokan. Went to Kouno-ko onsen to try it out and didn't get weirded out by the amount of people there and being completely naked around them. Top tip - if you wear glasses, take them off as it can help with an 'if I can't see them, they can't see me' mentality. Had fun walking in getas - how anime characters run, fight and kick in those things will remain a wonder to me (looking at you, Elfman from Fairy Tail).
Had kaiseki dinner in the ryokan which was so good! Fresh crab, cold sakura noodles, sashimi, grilled salmon...divine. Went for a late walk in the town as it was lit by lanterns and it was so picturesque. I estimate maybe 50 tourists in total within the town on this Thursday evening? It was great. Went for a dip in the onsen within the Ryokan - it has two onsens, one male and one female, which alternate each morning. Both onsens are done in different styles, too, one Japanese and one Greco-Roman. Learning the history of Kinosakionsen was also cool, with healing storks and praying monks with a history spanning over 1400 years.
The next morning we ate breakfast in our room and after another dip in the ryokan onsen, again on a whim, did the Kinosaki ropeway. You could see the Sea of Japan at the top along with shrines to crabs and other Buddhist deities. We stopped halfway down to see the Onsen temple which I believe had nightingale flooring. The monk there was brilliant with even very broken English, gave us a leaflet with info on it, and let us roam. We missed the 12:10pm gondola down so were stranded midway until 12:50pm, but it was nice to take the time to smell the flowers as we heard more Isekai Quarter schoolbells ring, trains zip along the valley below us, birds singing their song as the gentle breeze tickled us. I'll never forget that moment.
Upon getting down from the ropeway, we stopped off at Kinosaki Burger again before getting the train to Kyoto. We went to Pontocho alley for some grub and along a backstreet, stumbled upon Restaurant Muni which is a French/Japanese place. Looks to be a father and son operation and we were the first ones there ar 6pm. They recommend 2-3 plates per person for 2 people. I started with the Japanese beef curry which was just right, and the wife had omurice. I then had grilled duck which was cooked to perfection, before I ended with omurice whilst my wife had a pork cutlet sandwich. All meals were divine and tasted good, think the bill was near enough £100 but in our minds, it was worth it. Reminded me of Yokihira Soma's restaurant in 'Shokugeki no Soma' (Food Wars) a bit with the dynamic of the chefs and the menu, but it gets 5 stars from me. From there, we sauntered along the river and took in the atmosphere, seeing the buildings all lit up.
20th April: Decided to skip Arashiyama bamboo forest as I was tired of tourists by this point (yes, I realise the irony that I am myself a tourist) so instead we hopped on a bus and headed straight to Kinkaku-ji. Even at 9:05am there's so many tourists and we were herded through narrow paths. Was nice for a quick photo op but it suffered from overtourism. We then went to Heian shrine on a whim which was so quiet! I loved the red wood and the green roofs of the buildings. We also did the gardens which were my favourite gardens of the trip. We fed the koi carp (and a turtle) for 200 yen and even saw a Japanese wedding on the bridge - the groom was a handsome young man in his attire and the bride looked beautiful in hers. We did some shopping before getting dinner at CoCo curry. I was hungry, so went for extra pork cutlet, extra mushrooms, and spice level 5 and I struggled with the spice. It was one of the hottest dishes I've tasted, so if I were to go again I'd pick a milder level.
21st April: Took the bus to Nijo Castle and walked around the grounds. The grounds were lovely and the castle was cool too. Then hit up Kyoto Imperial Palace. Went to the Kyoto Pokemon Centre and then hit up Gyoza Dokoro Sukemasa. Got their Gyoza Set B menu which was 6 gyozas, miso soup, rice, string beans and chicken mayo salad for...880 yen. Bargain! The gyoza had hints of ginger in them which made them bright and freshing. So good! We then walked through Gion at night and took pictures of Nannenzaka, Sinnenzaka, and Yasaka Pagoda in darkness when illuminated by lights. Beautiful.
22nd April: Bullet train to Tokyo where we hit up Nakano Broadway and Ikebukuro. We were disappointed by both - Nakano Broadway just felt like multiple Mandarake stores, and Ikebukuro didn't have much aside from Sunshine City. We then hit up Akihabara in the afternoon and loved it. We went for dinner at Kanda Matsuya which was a lovely pre-war building serving ramen. Loads of locals in here and the place was bustling which was great to see. Some great food too, at decent prices. Afterwards I stopped by the local MacDonalds to try their double Big Mac burger (4 burgers in a Big Mac bun) as it's such a novelty. Checked into our hotel (The Gate Hotel Kaminarimon) in Asakusa. Hotel was great, some lovely views on the 10th floor and a 2 min walk from Sennsoji Temple and Akihabara station. Our room was huge. Would recommend.
23rd April: did Sennsoji-Temple as it was right across the street from our hotel. It was pretty cool to see in the morning at 8am with barely any tourists around, though did get busy at 9am. Wandered the old streets of Akihabara and reflected at the shrines/memorials around Sennsoji. Had Tokyo Tower booked in the afternoon and almost died at being 350m up due to the vertigo, but managed to get my shit together for a photo on the green screen floor at 450m high (though did politely ask my wife to hurry up as I could sense the tower wobbling and I was freaking out). Grabbed curry udon by Skytree which was underwhelming compared to the one I had in Gion, then got some fresh Taiyaki in Asakusa and then some cute mango sorbet ice cream with eyes and biscuits by Canelé Créme Glacée. They donate 3 yen to a good cause for each ice cream bought, which was nice, especially as you get to choose which of the charities to donate it to.
24th April: Was going to do the Tokyo Imperial Palace but couldn't be bothered with the hassle of getting tickets. Did Ueno Park and the National History Museum instead and enjoyed a morning there, before hitting up Akihabara in the afternoon/evening. Did some crane games and played a Kantai Collection arcade game which was cool. Then played the Taiko(?) drumming game with the SpyxFamily and other anime tunes blaring out - awesome!
25th April - Akihabara. Enough said.
26th April - Had a reservation at a michelin star restaurant (another bucket list item for us) in Ginza so headed into Ginza for the morning. It was an interesting insight as to the other half of society lives, as we'd never been into any of the shops that surrounded the station. The michelin star experience at Ginza Toyoda was exceptional. Several courses at 30,250 yen each and had crab mince with ginger jelly served on a crab shell, tiger prawns, sashimi, sea urchin and abalone...sublime! We spoke a bit of Japanese with the chef, who said we spoke good Japanese for first-timers (albeit this was said over trusty ol' Google Translate). Just made the experience so much better! Spent the evening in Akihabara and had Pork tonkatsu ramen in Yaro Ramen Akihabara. We then had a frozen strawberry crepe out of the nearby vending machine for the fun of it.
27th April: flew from HND business class with JAL.
Things to note:

• a bit of Japanese goes a long way. Simple phrases like 'hai', 'iie', 'sumimasen', 'gomenasai' and 'daijoubou' go a long way. Locals love it when you try to speak the language, and most of the time what they infer can be interpreted through their hand movements.
  
• carry around a plastic bag for your rubbish, as has been said plenty of times on the forum.
  
• the weather for the first week was about 20-26ºC, which did not help my wife or I whp had packed jeans, sweaters and down jackets. A trip to Uniqlo later had us buying shorts and Activism tshirts which were a godsend on the trip.
  
• Japanese public transport is second to none. It's clean, efficient, and usually on-time. Even the buses were well-labelled (we took the number 12 bus from Gion-in to Kinkaku-ji and Nijo Castle in Kyoto).
  
• be mindful of the Japanese culture, don't be loud, don't be a dick, always be humble and apologise if you think you're in the wrong. We did apologise plenty of times on the trip.
  
• Japanese schoolkids are adorable. They're young but behave so well, and take themselves to/from school alone. They navigate busy train stations solo, and do schoolwork on the train. They wear hats, and the lads wear shorts with high socks. Made my wife (a former teaching assistant) so happy seeing well-behaved kids. We saw some schoolkids on a trip at Osaka Castle and they were well behaved, lined up in single file, talking quietly and not getting in the way of tourists.
  
• We asked the hotels to forward our luggage between Tokyo-Kyoto and Kyoto-Tokyo. Cost us about £35 each time for 3 suitcases, with one of those days being on a Sunday. Arrived next day. We had Apple AirTags in each suitcase so we knew where they were.
  
• Google Maps on Android worked better than Maps on iOS, often with better signal and pathfinding.
  
• food was as expensive or inexpensive as we wanted it to be. Sure, we splashed out on several meals, but we tried to balance them with cheaper meals. I got addicted to Melonpan for breakfast when I was ill, and would double that up with pizza and fami-chicki for breakfast. Drinks-wise, Minute Maid was basically melted orange Calippo, Pocari Sweat was a mild lucozade original, and Calpis soda a muted lemonade. All were my top 3 drinks from vending machines/combinis. My wife loved the oolong green tea.
  
• the last few days in Tokyo we did have stuff planned, but we decided to focus on Akihabara to buy merch. Arguably taking these days at a slower pace was much nicer and enjoyable to what we had done in Kyoto.
  
• we averaged about 24,000 steps per day, with the highest being roughly 29,500 steps and the lowest about 12,000 steps. I wore New Balance 880 v12's and my feet were still sore after each day!
  
• Pokemon Centres personally became a bore after the second one as they sell the same merch more or less, with a few exclusives in certain stores. If you're a Pokénerd like my wife, you'll love it, but if you have no interest like me then you won't. We spent about 4 hours total in Pokemon stores across Japan, and a further couple of hours looking for Pokelids. All stores were out of stock of my favourite Pokemon (Alakazam - because he has spoons and is Gen 1).
  
• we only booked Tokyo Skytree and Ginza Toyoda before we flew. We booked a couple of restaurants the day of, after quickly browsing Google Maps or TripAdvisor.
  

Helpful Youtubers who provided insightful videos for the trip include AbroadinJapan, Cakes With Faces, CDawgVA, Tokyo Lens, Sharmelion to name but a few.
We're now looking to do another trip to Japan, maybe doing the Northern prefectures of Tohoku and Aomori, and Hokkaido. We'd love to go back to Kinosaki Onsen again, and spend more time in Tokyo. We're going to double-down on the Japanese language learning, too, as we can barely read Hiragana and Katakana to a worse extent.
Thanks for reading, I hope other first-timers found this insightful and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Hi all,
I posted here a couple of weeks ago looking for recommendations on my itinerary for London (original post here). Thanks to everyone who commented, I had an absolutely fantastic trip full of phenomenal dining experiences. Below is a write up on my experience at each restaurant. I will also add a catch that I was unfortunately suffering from a pretty rough stomach bug for the first half of the trip that definitely impacted my ability to eat and enjoy the experiences. I tried to power through each meal as best I could and not let it hamper the experience too much, but I tried to account for that in my notes. I took as many pictures as I could, and put them all in an Imgur gallery here.
St. John Bread and Wine - This was my first stop on the trip, a very nice casual lunch. I enjoyed the mellow atmosphere and humbleness of it all - Soft spoken waiters in tattered and stained white coats, simple but tasty food, good solid wine. Some people in my party didn't enjoy the rustic style of food, as in being served a whole artichoke and carving out the fuzz and stem ourselves to access the heart. The service was friendly but a little haphazard. Overall - 7.5/10
Globe Artichoke and Vinaigrette - perfectly cooked, the vin was maybe slightly sweet and a little too thick.
Bread and Butter - excellent sourdough with whipped butter, chewy but not too much so.
Winslaid, Pink Fir, and spring onion - Solid, not spectacular.
Lamb - Braised lamb leg and carrot, both cooked phenomenally with a rich jus. Tender, flavorful, not a hint of chewiness.
Turbot - Also perfectly cooked. Served on the bone full, some people in party didn't love having to scrape off the meat and pick pinbone out, but it was flaky and delicate. Served just with a squeeze of lemon.
Chips - Not good, mushy and underseasoned.
My main complaint was that the silverware we were given was not adequate for the items we ordered. Our knives were all very dull and could not really cut through the artichoke, carrot, bread etc.
Brat* - A very nice experience. I sat at the counter and watched the kitchen. Loved the layout of the restaurant. Felt like someone turned the main floor of their home into a restaurant. The kitchen and dining room are one, with an impressive brick oven and open fire pit where all things are cooked. I came for lunch, it was busy but not jammed. Mostly businessmen having a quick lunch. Service was friendly and attentive, fairly direct and not overly chatty. I guess I am used to being in the states where sitting at the bar counter usually is accompanied by a friendly bar tender who likes to chat, but my overall experience in London at each location was that this is not the norm. I tried to write that off as cultural differences when I considered my experiences. Overall - 7.5 / 10
Grilled bread with courgette and spenwood - Very tasty, the bread was served as a sort of large puffed pita type loaf? There was not a dough in the middle, just the large round as you see it topped with the courgette and cheese. Very, very tasty. Maybe a little on the chewy side for me.
Smoked potatoes - These were not my favorite. Cooked through well, but no semblance of crispy skin which I was looking for. Served in a pool of butter. Just kind of a miss for me.
Duck Rice - A rice bowl cooked in the oven with duck breast, liver, leg, and heart. This was solid but not phenomenal, the breast cooked perfectly. The leg maybe a touch over. The rice was uneven, with some being a little crunchy.
Humo* - This dinner was absolutely stellar. One of the best food experiences I have ever had. In my opinion, with a little honing in, it could push for two stars. We sat at the chef's counter, where we could see the kitchen in its entirety. Everything is cooked over open fire, save for a very small fryer. The kitchen cooks with a number of different types of wood. The menu is broken up into four sections, Ignite, Smoke, Flame, Embers. We opted for the a la carte, where it is recommended to order one thing from each section for the full experience. The service was on top of it, friendly and accommodating. Perhaps not overly present throughout the night but very good regardless. One thing I noticed at many restaurants I dined at is that the server would not ask if I wanted another drink after I finished my glass, I would usually need to ask them. Not sure if that is just a British thing or what. 9.5 / 10
We started with snacks of a chicken skewer and grilled milk bread. Set the pace for the evening, the chicken cooked perfectly and the bread warm and crispy some sort of delicious butter emulsion.
Sea Bream - Peppery, bitter, and with some umami from the tomato dashi. Very tasty and an interesting pairing of flavors. The kinome is a saynso/szechuan leaf that is a little minty. The bream has a nice fattiness that helps cut through the bitter elements.
Trout and Caviar - Aged trout that was absolutely perfect. Served with the caviar and nothing else. Just perfect, simple fish.
Garden Salad - Served with smoked potatoes, which on the surface was an odd pairing but it actually worked quite well. Perhaps could have used a tad more vinaigrette.
Mushrooms - A grilled mushroom medley dish that was absolutely superb. Perfect smoke and cook on the mushrooms and a velvety, creamy mushroom and yolk sauce.
Lobster - A perfectly cooked lobster, just about melted in the mouth. The sake beurre blanc with fennel was a tasty combo as well.
Scallop - Also absolutely melt in mouth. The 20 yr rum sabayon and pear were a perfect combo. So, so good.
Crab - This was the only miss. Kind of bland and underseasoned. None of the items really showed through.
Seabass - Insane seabass, very crispy skin but flaky and tender.
Ikoyi** - This was a place I had very high on my list. I had been looking forward to it for a very long time. I did the lunch tasting. Honestly, in some ways it fell short of my expectations. The service was sort of strange, the pacing was so so slow, and while the food was extremely good, I would not say it was perfect. Overall, it was a great experience, but a couple things stood out a little strange to me. I was also at the peak of my stomach bug, and had to really really fight through this meal unfortunately. I tried not to let that sway my opinion of it. Part of the issue I had was that it was a blind tasting menu, but all of the servers had such thick accents (not sure from where) that I could not understand a word of what they were saying so I didn't really know what the components of each dish were. I was then given a menu to take home after the meal, but I would have appreciated having that throughout it. Most of my questions and comments were mostly just met with terse smiles and nods. Definitely felt stuffy and rigid, which was odd given the warm atmosphere the food and design give off. 8/10
Gola Pepper brother - nice peppery start to the meal on a cold London day.
Crab Tart - Really really good. The menu I received at the end said lobster but it was most definitely crab and the server said crab as well. It was topped with white kombu which I had never had before. Super tasty.
Smoked sirloin tart - This was ok, somewhat bland. Pretty much the only thing I ate that was not super spicy.
Scallop - Served with Rhubarb, Scallop Roe, Penja peppercorn sauce, and a number of other things I did not catch. The flavors here were good, somewhat spicy and the scallop was cooked very well but ever so slightly rubbery.
Sorghum Crepe and Dark Beer Fondue - This was the star of the show for me. Soft and velvety, but a good hit of spice dusted on the crepe. Stuffed with maitakes and topped with veal sweetbreads.
Monkfish and Egusi Miso - Perfectly cooked monkfish along with a super flavorful spicy miso.
Aged Mutton and Jollof rice - The flavors on these two were delicious. However the Jollof rice was kind of crunchy and the mutton was slightly chewy.
Counter 71 - We had a really fantastic service experience here, and the food was very solid as well. This is a small operation, with 1 chef, two cooks, and one managewine guru as the whole show. A much more humble venue than the previous restaurants - with just 12 seats surrounding a small kitchen with 1 induction burner and a small binchotan grill. Of all the places I ate, I would say the pacing/coursing was the best here and service was by far the most friendly and attentive. Very impressive from 1 man and a small team of cooks. Not sure its quite at star level yet, could use a little more creativity in the dishes but it was damn good. 8/10
Snacks - Tartellets of cep and truffle, trout and caviar, and a prawn cake with pork jowl. Flavors were great, the tarts were a little delicate and kind of fell apart when you tried to pick them up.
Tomato and Rhubarb - Solid, tart flavors with semi dried tomatoes. I enjoyed this but my wife didn't care for the texture.
Bread and Butter - a delicious whipped butter with a fluffy sourdough. I was given an entire mini loaf which I think is too much along with the rest of the courses. I ate half and that was still probably too much.
Langoustine - Damn good langoustine, perfectly cook. Subtle flavors from the Tomato and seaweed but they combined nicely.
Brixham Brill - Fish was well cooked, this was a very straightforward delivery with the vin jaune. Nothing super wowing here.
Cuttlefish - This was a really cool dish. They sliced and cooked the cuttlefish to have the look and texture of noodles. Went well with an aromatic and umami forward mushroom broth.
Beef - Beef with pureed potatoes. spring veggies, and a hollandaise. Again a fairly straightforward dish but very well executed.
Fuji Apple - This dessert transition dish may have been my favorite of the night. A mix between sweet and savory, with an apple granita and warm cooked apples and the cider vinegar. Super strong flavors along with the mugwort icecream which was delicious.
Trishna\* - We ate at Trishna for our last meal. We had originally planned on Rules but my wife wanted to have Indian before we left, and I agreed it would be a great place to try. Overall, a pretty good experience. Service felt very rushed, but it was friendly overall. The food was very good overall as well, but not absolutely spectacular. Overall 7.5/10
We ordered from the A la carte menu and shared most of our dishes.
Chickpea and Potatoes - served in a bowl shaped friend potato web. Cool technique, sort of odd tamarind sweet jam that didn't combine well but all the other flavors were phenomenal.
Coconut and Corn Tikki - Loved these, essentially a corn croquette with a very spicy green chutney.
Peanut Garlic Prawns - These were fine, pretty tasty. Wanted the peanut to come through a little more.
Dorset brown crab - As good as everyone claims it is, lush and rich. Amazing flavor.
Tandoori Lamb - Covered in a rich and aromatic marsala, these were tasty but not super juicy or succulent.
We also dined at Kiln, Kol Mezcaleria, and some more casual places. Kiln was great, super good food. Service there is chaotic but friendly enough. Kol Mez was lovely, delicious cocktails and the food was pretty solid considering its Mexican food in the UK. I had a delicious empanada. We did afternoon tea at sketch which was also one of the best experiences of the trip. 10/10. I wish we had not had lunch at Kiln right before as we were so full about halfway through the tea snacks. Amazing atmosphere. Also hit Devonshires for a pint of Guiness. The only places that we tried to make it to and weren't able to were Sabor (closed) and the British Museum (absolutely mobbed, 3 hr wait to get in).
Outside of dining, we hit so many museums and galleries. The National gallery, Hunterian, British war museum, V and A, and also hit the dreaded Millwall match which ended up being a total blast.
Overall, I have to say London is probably my favorite big city i've ever visited. So much to do, and so much that we weren't able to check off. Will definitely have to come back.

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Welcome back to the Reformed UPG of the Week!
Gonna leave this here because reddit is still a massive pain these days

Slight update, the new reddit UI has made it almost impossible for me to quickly do these, like I used to be able to do. Thus, theres a chance it becomes UPG of the every other week until the problem is fixed. I can't spend every one of my entire Monday mornings working on this for hours with stupid formatting issues.

Now, please meet the Jordanian Arabs of Jordan!

Region: Jordan

map
Stratus Index Ranking (Urgency): 34
It has been noted to me by u/JCmathetes that I should explain this ranking. Low numbers are more urgent, both physically and spiritually together, while high numbers are less urgent. The scale is 1-177, with one number assigned to each country. So basically on a scale from Afghanistan (1) to Finland (177), how urgent are the peoples physical and spiritual needs.

The Stratus Index - Synthesizes reliable data from different sources to clearly display the world’s most urgent spiritual and physical needs.The vast majority of missions resources go to people and places already Reached by the Gospel, while only 3% of missionaries and 1% of missions money are deployed among the Unreached. This is the Great Imbalance. As a result, there are more people without access to the Gospel today than a decade ago. Stratus seeks to equip the global church with fresh vision to accomplish the Great Commission by addressing some of the factors that perpetuate the Great Imbalance. We hope this tool allows the church to better understand what steps will be required to overcome the barriers that prevent needs from being met, spurring informed and collaborative missions strategy. Stratus Website

Amman, Jordan
Climate: The climate in Jordan varies greatly. Generally, the further inland from the Mediterranean, there are greater contrasts in temperature and less rainfall. The country's average elevation is 812 m (2,664 ft) (SL). The highlands above the Jordan Valley, mountains of the Dead Sea and Wadi Araba and as far south as Ras Al-Naqab are dominated by a Mediterranean climate, while the eastern and northeastern areas of the country are arid desert. Although the desert parts of the kingdom reach high temperatures, the heat is usually moderated by low humidity and a daytime breeze, while the nights are cool. Summers, lasting from May to September, are hot and dry, with temperatures averaging around 32 °C (90 °F) and sometimes exceeding 40 °C (104 °F) between July and August. The winter, lasting from November to March, is relatively cool, with temperatures averaging around 11.08 °C (52 °F).Winter also sees frequent showers and occasional snowfall in some western elevated areas.
Wadi Rum
Terrain: The east is an arid plateau irrigated by oases and seasonal water streams. Major cities are overwhelmingly located on the north-western part of the kingdom due to its fertile soils and relatively abundant rainfall. These include Irbid, Jerash and Zarqa in the northwest, the capital Amman and Al-Salt in the central west, and Madaba, Al-Karak and Aqaba in the southwest. Major towns in the eastern part of the country are the oasis towns of Azraq and Ruwaished. In the west, a highland area of arable land and Mediterranean evergreen forestry drops suddenly into the Jordan Rift Valley. The rift valley contains the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, which separates Jordan from Israel. Jordan has a 26 kilometres (16 mi) shoreline on the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, but is otherwise landlocked. The Yarmouk River, an eastern tributary of the Jordan, forms part of the boundary between Jordan and Syria (including the occupied Golan Heights) to the north. The other boundaries are formed by several international and local agreements and do not follow well-defined natural features. The highest point is Jabal Umm al Dami, at 1,854 m (6,083 ft) above sea level, while the lowest is the Dead Sea −420 m (−1,378 ft), the lowest land point on earth.
Village in Jordan
Wildlife of Jordan: Carnivorous mammals in Jordan include the striped hyena, caracal, jungle cat, sand cat, African wildcat, Arabian wolf, golden jackal, fennec fox, Arabian red fox, Blanford's fox, Rüppell's fox, Egyptian mongoose, least weasel, caucasian badger, honey badger and European otter. There are about twenty species of bat and a similar number of rodents including the Caucasian squirrel, Asian garden dormouse, Euphrates jerboa, Middle East blind mole-rat, and various voles, jirds, mice, rats, spiny mice, gerbils and hamsters. Other mammals found in suitable habitat are the wild boar, European hare, cape hare, Indian crested porcupine, rock hyrax, European hedgehog, long-eared hedgehog and desert hedgehog. Approximately 426 species of bird have been recorded in Jordan. Some of these are the Atlantic petrel, northern bald ibis, Egyptian vulture, Griffon vulture, lappet-faced vulture, Pharaoh eagle-owl, barn owl, golden eagle, steppe eagle, greater spotted eagle, eastern imperial eagle, MacQueen's bustard, Siberian crane, sociable lapwing, saker falcon, marbled duck, aquatic warbler, Syrian serin, short-toed snake eagle, long-legged buzzard, Barbary falcon and Bonelli's eagle. Five species of turtle are known from Jordan and there are a variety of snakes, mostly colubrids and vipers, but with representatives of seven snake families. The Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, a fenced off area in the deserts of central Jordan, has since been used in a breeding and reintroduction programme for the Arabian oryx, as well as other species such as the Somali ostrich, the Persian onager and gazelles. Other animals that have been released into the wild are the Nubian ibex, wild boar, fallow deer and roe deer
I cannot figure out if there are monkeys in Jordan but it doesn't appear to be the case. Praise the Lord!
The Arabian Oryx
Environmental Issues: Jordan is considered one of the countries most affected by environmental changes, especially those caused by the climate crisis and the resulting drought, desertification and loss of arable lands.
Languages: The official language is Modern Standard Arabic, a literary language taught in the schools. Most Jordanians natively speak one of the non-standard Arabic dialects known as Jordanian Arabic. Jordanian Sign Language is the language of the deaf community. English, though without official status, is widely spoken throughout the country and is the de facto language of commerce and banking, as well as a co-official status in the education sector; almost all university-level classes are held in English and almost all public schools teach English along with Standard Arabic. Chechen, Circassian, Armenian, Tagalog, and Russian are popular among their communities. The Romani people, though they may speak Arabic, speak Domari.
Government Type: Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy

People: Jordanian Arabs

Jordanian Arab woman
Population: 4,717,000
Estimated Foreign Workers Needed: 94+
Beliefs: The Jordanian Arabs are 2.5% Christian, but only 0.3% Evangelical. That means out of their population of 4,717,000, there are roughly 14,151 believers who share their faith. Thats less than 1 believer for every 333.
The state religion in Jordan is Islam. Nearly all of Jordanians are Muslim. The great majority of Arabs practice Sunni Islam. Shi'ites living in the East make up the remainder. Christians account for a small percentage of the population, but the largest churches are Orthodox and not evangelical. There are also a few small Muslim groups who desire to see a more extreme Islamic government. The Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood is gaining support in Jordan. This is an illegal political organization who are known for terrorist actions and violence against Christians.
King Abdullah I Mosque is the most famous Masjid in Jordan. Completed in 1989 as a memorial by the late King Hussein to his grandfather, King Abdullah I Mosque is the largest Masjid in the state.
History: Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire in 332 BC introduced Hellenistic culture to the Middle East. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the empire split among his generals, and in the end much of Transjordan was disputed between the Ptolemies based in Egypt and the Seleucids based in Syria. The Nabataeans, nomadic Arabs based south of Edom, managed to establish an independent kingdom in 169 BC by exploiting the struggle between the two Greek powers. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled much of the trade routes of the region, and it stretched south along the Red Sea coast into the Hejaz desert, up to as far north as Damascus, which it controlled for a short period (85–71) BC. The Nabataeans massed a fortune from their control of the trade routes, often drawing the envy of their neighbours. Petra, Nabataea's barren capital, flourished in the 1st century AD, driven by its extensive water irrigation systems and agriculture. The Nabataeans were also talented stone carvers, building their most elaborate structure, Al-Khazneh, in the first century AD. It is believed to be the mausoleum of the Arab Nabataean King Aretas IV.
Roman legions under Pompey conquered much of the Levant in 63 BC, inaugurating a period of Roman rule that lasted four centuries. In 106 AD, Emperor Trajan annexed Nabataea unopposed, and rebuilt the King's Highway which became known as the Via Traiana Nova road. The Romans gave the Greek cities of Transjordan—Philadelphia (Amman), Gerasa (Jerash), Gedara (Umm Quays), Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) and Arbila (Irbid)—and other Hellenistic cities in Palestine and southern Syria, a level of autonomy by forming the Decapolis, a ten-city league. Jerash is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the East; it was even visited by Emperor Hadrian during his journey to Palestine.
In 324 AD, the Roman Empire split and the Eastern Roman Empire, later known as the Byzantine Empire, continued to control or influence the region until 636 AD. Christianity had become legal within the empire in 313 AD after Emperor Constantine the Great converted to Christianity. The Edict of Thessalonica made Christianity the official state religion in 380 AD. Transjordan prospered during the Byzantine era, and Christian churches were built everywhere. The Aqaba Church in Ayla was built during this era, it is considered to be the world's first purpose built Christian church. Umm ar-Rasas in southern Amman contains at least 16 Byzantine churches. Meanwhile, Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after a 363 earthquake destroyed many structures, it declined further, eventually being abandoned. The Sassanian Empire in the east became the Byzantines' rivals, and frequent confrontations sometimes led to the Sassanids controlling some parts of the region, including Transjordan.
In 629 AD, during the Battle of Mu'tah in what is today Karak Governorate, the Byzantines and their Arab Christian clients, the Ghassanids, staved off an attack by a Muslim Rashidun force that marched northwards towards the Levant from the Hejaz (in modern-day Saudi Arabia). The Byzantines however were defeated by the Muslims in 636 AD at the decisive Battle of Yarmouk just north of Transjordan. Transjordan was an essential territory for the conquest of Damascus. The first, or Rashidun, caliphate was followed by that of the Umayyads (661–750).
Byzantine Madaba Map showing the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Dating to the 6th century AD, it is the oldest surviving depiction of the Holy Land
Under the Umayyad Caliphate, several desert castles were constructed in Transjordan, including: Qasr Al-Mshatta and Qasr Al-Hallabat. The Abbasid Caliphate's campaign to take over the Umayyad's began in a village in Transjordan known as Humayma. A powerful 749 AD earthquake is thought to have contributed to the Umayyads defeat to the Abbasids, who moved the caliphate's capital from Damascus to Baghdad. During Abbasid rule (750–969), several Arab tribes moved northwards and settled in the Levant. As had happened during the Roman era, growth of maritime trade diminished Transjordan's central position, and the area became increasingly impoverished. After the decline of the Abbasids, Transjordan was ruled by the Fatimid Caliphate (969–1070), then by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1115–1187).
The Crusaders constructed several Crusader castles as part of the Lordship of Oultrejordain, including those of Montreal and Al-Karak. The Ayyubids built the Ajloun Castle and rebuilt older castles, to be used as military outposts against the Crusaders. During the Battle of Hattin (1187) near Lake Tiberias just north of Transjordan, the Crusaders lost to Saladin, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty (1187–1260). Villages in Transjordan under the Ayyubids became important stops for Muslim pilgrims going to Mecca who travelled along the route that connected Syria to the Hejaz. Several of the Ayyubid castles were used and expanded by the Mamluks (1260–1516), who divided Transjordan between the provinces of Karak and Damascus. During the next century Transjordan experienced Mongol attacks, but the Mongols were ultimately repelled by the Mamluks after the Battle of Ain Jalut (1260).
In 1516, the Ottoman Caliphate's forces conquered Mamluk territory. Agricultural villages in Transjordan witnessed a period of relative prosperity in the 16th century, but were later abandoned. Transjordan was of marginal importance to the Ottoman authorities. As a result, Ottoman presence was virtually absent and reduced to annual tax collection visits. More Arab Bedouin tribes moved into Transjordan from Syria and the Hejaz during the first three centuries of Ottoman rule, including the Adwan, the Bani Sakhr and the Howeitat. These tribes laid claims to different parts of the region, and with the absence of a meaningful Ottoman authority, Transjordan slid into a state of anarchy that continued until the 19th century. This led to a short-lived occupation by the Wahhabi forces (1803–1812), an ultra-orthodox Islamic movement that emerged in Najd (in modern-day Saudi Arabia). Ibrahim Pasha, son of the governor of the Egypt Eyalet, rooted out the Wahhabis under the request of the Ottoman sultan by 1818. In 1833 Ibrahim Pasha turned on the Ottomans and established his rule over the Levant. His policies led to the unsuccessful peasants' revolt in Palestine in 1834. Transjordanian cities of As-Salt and Al-Karak were destroyed by Ibrahim Pasha's forces for harboring a peasants' revolt leader. Egyptian rule was forcibly ended in 1841, with Ottoman rule restored.
Only after Ibrahim Pasha's campaign did the Ottoman Empire try to solidify its presence in the Syria Vilayet, which Transjordan was part of. A series of tax and land reforms (Tanzimat) in 1864 brought some prosperity back to agriculture and to abandoned villages; the end of virtual autonomy led a backlash in other areas of Transjordan. Muslim Circassians and Chechens, fleeing Russian persecution, sought refuge in the Levant. In Transjordan and with Ottoman support, Circassians first settled in the long-abandoned vicinity of Amman in 1867, and later in the surrounding villages. The Ottoman authorities' establishment of its administration, conscription and heavy taxation policies led to revolts in the areas it controlled. Transjordan's tribes in particular revolted during the Shoubak (1905) and the Karak Revolts (1910), which were brutally suppressed. The construction of the Hejaz Railway in 1908–stretching across the length of Transjordan and linking Damascus with Medina helped the population economically, as Transjordan became a stopover for pilgrims.
Increasing policies of Turkification and centralization adopted by the Ottoman Empire in the wake of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution disenchanted the Arabs of the Levant, who came to adopt Arab nationalism. These changes led to the outbreak of the 1916 Arab Revolt during World War I, which would end four centuries of stagnation under Ottoman rule. The revolt was led by Sharif Hussein of Mecca, scion of the Hashemite family of the Hejaz, and his sons Abdullah, Faisal and Ali. Locally, the revolt garnered the support of the Transjordanian tribes, including Bedouins, Circassians and Christians. The Allies of World War I, including Britain and France, whose imperial interests converged with the Arabist cause, offered support. The revolt started on 5 June 1916 from Medina and pushed northwards until the fighting reached Transjordan in the Battle of Aqaba on 6 July 1917. The revolt reached its climax when Faisal entered Damascus in October 1918, and established an Arab-led military administration in OETA East, later declared as the Arab Kingdom of Syria, both of which Transjordan was part of. During this period, the southernmost region of the country, including Ma'an and Aqaba, was also claimed by the neighbouring Kingdom of Hejaz.
The nascent Hashemite Kingdom over Greater Syria was forced to surrender to French troops on 24 July 1920 during the Battle of Maysalun; the French occupied only the northern part of the Syrian Kingdom, leaving Transjordan in a period of interregnum. Arab aspirations failed to gain international recognition, due mainly to the secret 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement, which divided the region into French and British spheres of influence, and the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which Britain announced its support for the establishment of a "national home" for Jews in Palestine. This was seen by the Hashemites and the Arabs as a betrayal of their previous agreements with the British, including the 1915 McMahon–Hussein Correspondence, in which the British stated their willingness to recognize the independence of a unified Arab state stretching from Aleppo to Aden under the rule of the Hashemites.
The British High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, travelled to Transjordan on 21 August 1920 to meet with As-Salt's residents. He there declared to a crowd of six hundred Transjordanian notables that the British government would aid the establishment of local governments in Transjordan, which is to be kept separate from that of Palestine. The second meeting took place in Umm Qais on 2 September, where the British government representative Major Fitzroy Somerset received a petition that demanded: an independent Arab government in Transjordan to be led by an Arab prince (emir); land sale in Transjordan to Jews be stopped as well as the prevention of Jewish immigration there; that Britain establish and fund a national army; and that free trade be maintained between Transjordan and the rest of the region.
Abdullah, the second son of Sharif Hussein, arrived from Hejaz by train in Ma'an in southern Transjordan on 21 November 1920 to redeem the Greater Syrian Kingdom his brother had lost. Transjordan then was in disarray, widely considered to be ungovernable with its dysfunctional local governments. Abdullah gained the trust of Transjordan's tribal leaders before scrambling to convince them of the benefits of an organized government. Abdullah's successes drew the envy of the British, even when it was in their interest. The British reluctantly accepted Abdullah as ruler of Transjordan after having given him a six-month trial. In March 1921, the British decided to add Transjordan to their Mandate for Palestine, in which they would implement their "Sharifian Solution" policy without applying the provisions of the mandate dealing with Jewish settlement. On 11 April 1921, the Emirate of Transjordan was established with Abdullah as Emir.
In September 1922, the Council of the League of Nations recognized Transjordan as a state under the terms of the Transjordan memorandum. Transjordan remained a British mandate until 1946, but it had been granted a greater level of autonomy than the region west of the Jordan River. Multiple difficulties emerged upon the assumption of power in the region by the Hashemite leadership. In Transjordan, small local rebellions at Kura in 1921 and 1923 were suppressed by the Emir's forces with the help of the British. Wahhabis from Najd regained strength and repeatedly raided the southern parts of his territory in (1922–1924), seriously threatening the Emir's position. The Emir was unable to repel those raids without the aid of the local Bedouin tribes and the British, who maintained a military base with a small RAF detachment close to Amman.
The Treaty of London, signed by the British Government and the Emir of Transjordan on 22 March 1946, recognised the independence of the state upon ratification by both countries' parliaments. On 25 May 1946, the day that the treaty was ratified by the Transjordan parliament, Transjordan was raised to the status of a kingdom under the name of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Arabic, with Abdullah as its first king; although it continued to be referred to as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan in English until 1949. 25 May is now celebrated as the nation's Independence Day, a public holiday. Jordan became a member of the United Nations on 14 December 1955.
On 15 May 1948, as part of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jordan intervened in Palestine together with many other Arab states. Following the war, Jordan controlled the West Bank and on 24 April 1950 Jordan formally annexed these territories after the Jericho conference. In response, some Arab countries demanded Jordan's expulsion from the Arab League. On 12 June 1950, the Arab League declared that the annexation was a temporary, practical measure and that Jordan was holding the territory as a "trustee" pending a future settlement. King Abdullah was assassinated at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1951 by a Palestinian militant, amid rumors he intended to sign a peace treaty with Israel.
Abdullah was succeeded by his son Talal, who would soon abdicate due to illness in favour of his eldest son Hussein. Talal established the country's modern constitution in 1952. Hussein ascended to the throne in 1953 at the age of 17. Jordan witnessed great political uncertainty in the following period. The 1950s were a period of political upheaval, as Nasserism and Pan-Arabism swept the Arab World. On 1 March 1956, King Hussein Arabized the command of the Army by dismissing a number of senior British officers, an act made to remove remaining foreign influence in the country. In 1958, Jordan and neighbouring Hashemite Iraq formed the Arab Federation as a response to the formation of the rival United Arab Republic between Nasser's Egypt and Syria. The union lasted only six months, being dissolved after Iraqi King Faisal II (Hussein's cousin) was deposed by a bloody military coup on 14 July 1958.
Jordan signed a military pact with Egypt just before Israel launched a preemptive strike on Egypt to begin the Six-Day War in June 1967, where Jordan and Syria joined the war. The Arab states were defeated and Jordan lost control of the West Bank to Israel. The War of Attrition with Israel followed, which included the 1968 Battle of Karameh where the combined forces of the Jordanian Armed Forces and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) repelled an Israeli attack on the Karameh camp on the Jordanian border with the West Bank. Despite the fact that the Palestinians had limited involvement against the Israeli forces, the events at Karameh gained wide recognition and acclaim in the Arab world. As a result, the time period following the battle witnessed an upsurge of support for Palestinian paramilitary elements (the fedayeen) within Jordan from other Arab countries. The fedayeen activities soon became a threat to Jordan's rule of law. In September 1970, the Jordanian army targeted the fedayeen and the resultant fighting led to the expulsion of Palestinian fighters from various PLO groups into Lebanon, in a conflict that became known as Black September.
In 1973, Egypt and Syria waged the Yom Kippur War on Israel, and fighting occurred along the 1967 Jordan River cease-fire line. Jordan sent a brigade to Syria to attack Israeli units on Syrian territory but did not engage Israeli forces from Jordanian territory. At the Rabat summit conference in 1974, in the aftermath of the Yom-Kippur War, Jordan agreed, along with the rest of the Arab League, that the PLO was the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people". Subsequently, Jordan renounced its claims to the West Bank in 1988.
At the 1991 Madrid Conference, Jordan agreed to negotiate a peace treaty sponsored by the US and the Soviet Union. The Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace was signed on 26 October 1994. In 1997, in retribution for a bombing, Israeli agents entered Jordan using Canadian passports and poisoned Khaled Meshal, a senior Hamas leader living in Jordan. Bowing to intense international pressure, Israel provided an antidote to the poison and released dozens of political prisoners, including Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, after King Hussein threatened to annul the peace treaty.
On 7 February 1999, Abdullah II ascended the throne upon the death of his father Hussein, who had ruled for nearly 50 years. Abdullah embarked on economic liberalization when he assumed the throne, and his reforms led to an economic boom which continued until 2008. Abdullah II has been credited with increasing foreign investment, improving public-private partnerships and providing the foundation for Aqaba's free-trade zone and Jordan's flourishing information and communication technology (ICT) sector. He also set up five other special economic zones. However, during the following years Jordan's economy experienced hardship as it dealt with the effects of the Great Recession and spillover from the Arab Spring.
Al-Qaeda under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's leadership launched coordinated explosions in three hotel lobbies in Amman on 9 November 2005, resulting in 60 deaths and 115 injured. The bombings, which targeted civilians, caused widespread outrage among Jordanians. The attack is considered to be a rare event in the country, and Jordan's internal security was dramatically improved afterwards. No major terrorist attacks have occurred since then. Abdullah and Jordan are viewed with contempt by Islamic extremists for the country's peace treaty with Israel, its relationship with the West, and its mostly non-religious laws.
The Arab Spring were large-scale protests that erupted in the Arab World in 2011, demanding economic and political reforms. Many of these protests tore down regimes in some Arab nations, leading to instability that ended with violent civil wars. In Jordan, in response to domestic unrest, Abdullah replaced his prime minister and introduced a number of reforms including: reforming the Constitution, and laws governing public freedoms and elections. Proportional representation was re-introduced to the Jordanian parliament in the 2016 general election, a move which he said would eventually lead to establishing parliamentary governments. Jordan was left largely unscathed from the violence that swept the region despite an influx of 1.4 million Syrian refugees into the natural resources-lacking country and the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
King Hussein on 21 March 1968 checking an abandoned Israeli tank in the aftermath of the Battle of Karameh.
Culture: Typical qualification that all people groups can't be summed up in small paragraphs and this is an over generalization.
In the villages, Jordanian Arabs are usually hospitable and friendly. It is common for them to welcome traveling strangers into their homes. A woman's public presence is more accepted than in other Arab countries. However, restaurants may still only welcome men or show the women to a "family room," where ladies and children are allowed.
Education of children begins at five years old and is free. There is a secondary school system for both boys and girls. The brightest students attend one of three Jordanian universities or study abroad.
The economy is centered around the production of phosphates, fertilizers, agricultural products, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals.
Jordanian folklore band playing bagpipes in Jerash.
Cuisine: As the eighth-largest producer of olives in the world, olive oil is the main cooking oil in Jordan. A common appetizer is hummus, which is a puree of chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon, and garlic. Ful medames is another well-known appetiser. A typical worker's meal, it has since made its way to the tables of the upper class. A typical Jordanian meze often contains koubba maqliya, labaneh, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, olives and pickles. Meze is generally accompanied by the Levantine alcoholic drink arak, which is made from grapes and aniseed and is similar to ouzo, rakı and pastis. Jordanian wine and beer are also sometimes used. The same dishes, served without alcoholic drinks, can also be termed "muqabbilat" (starters) in Arabic.
The most distinctive Jordanian dish is mansaf, the national dish of Jordan. The dish is a symbol for Jordanian hospitality and is influenced by the Bedouin culture. Mansaf is eaten on different occasions such as funerals, weddings and on religious holidays. It consists of a plate of rice with meat that was boiled in thick yogurt, sprayed with pine nuts and sometimes herbs. As an old tradition, the dish is eaten using one's hands, but the tradition is not always used. Simple fresh fruit is often served towards the end of a Jordanian meal, but there is also dessert, such as baklava, hareeseh, knafeh, halva and qatayef, a dish made specially for Ramadan. In Jordanian cuisine, drinking coffee and tea flavoured with na'na or meramiyyeh is almost a ritual.
Mansaf, the traditional dish of Jordan, originates from Bedouin life and is a symbol of Jordanian hospitality.

Prayer Request:

• Pray for the work among other unreached peoples living in Jordan - Egyptian and Iraqi Arabs.
• Ask God to protect the small number of evangelical believers and help them to grow strong in Him.
• Pray that Jordanian Arab Christians would be willing to sacrifice their time, and even their lives, to bring the Gospel to neighboring countries.
• Pray against Putin and his insane little war.
• Pray for our nation (the United States), that we Christians can learn to come alongside our hurting brothers and sisters and learn to carry one another's burdens in a more Christlike manner than we have done historically.
• Pray that in this time of an upcoming election and insanity that the needs of the unreached are not forgotten by the church. Pray that our hearts continue to ache to see the unreached hear the Good News.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1)
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Here are the previous weeks threads on the UPG of the Week for Reformed from 2023 (plus a few from 2022 so this one post isn't so lonely). To save some space on these, all UPG posts made 2019-now are here, I will try to keep this current.

People Group	Country	Continent	Date Posted	Beliefs
Jordanian Arabs	Jordan	Asia	04/29/2024	Islam
Bouyei	China	Asia	04/22/2024	Animism
Arab Libyans	Libya	Africa	03/25/2024	Islam
Gafsa Amazigh	Tunisia	Africa	03/18/2024	Islam
Hindi	South Africa	Africa	03/04/2024	Hinduism
Arabs	Iraq	Asia	02/26/2024	Islam
Bagirmi Fulani	Central African Republic	Africa	02/12/2024	Islam
Gujarati	Portugal	Europe	02/05/2024	Hinduism
Western Cham	Cambodia	Asia	01/29/2024	Islamc
Yadav	India	Asia	01/22/2024	Hinduism
Thai (updated)	Thailand	Asia	12/18/2023	Buddhism
Bayad	Mongolia	Asia	12/11/2023	Buddhism
Bedouin (Suafa)	Algeria	Africa	12/04/2023	Islam
Aboriginal (Reached)	Australia	Oceania	11/27/2023	Christian

a - Tibet belongs to Tibet, not China.
b - Russia/Turkey/etc is Europe but also Asia so...
c - this likely is not the true religion that they worship, but rather they have a mixture of what is listed with other local religions, or they have embraced a liberal drift and are leaving faith entirely but this is their historical faith.
Here is a list of definitions in case you wonder what exactly I mean by words like "Unreached".
Here is a list of missions organizations that reach out to the world to do missions for the Glory of God.

1: Raw Fluke, turnip, tomato, sea squirt 2: Deodeok (kind of like celery root I guess?), white asparagus, dried squid 3: Cherry blossom trout, mustard, rhubarb root 4: Cheongju mieum (rice porridge), firefly squid, sea urchin, almond 5: Nettle egg jjim, snap pea, freshwater eel 6: Shrimp gulim mandu, littleneck clam, basil sheet 7: Ganjang gejang (raw blue crab marinated in soy sauce), rice, flying fish roe 8: Rosy sea bass, abalone, beef tendon, wood ear mushroom 9: Lamb Seattle, gosari, rice, razor clam 10: Tangerine and marshmallow ice cream 11: Black chestnut, doraji chocolate
So, where do I begin with this? I was extremely excited about this reservation for obvious reasons and managed to snag it 1 millisecond after 3pm the month prior. Maybe it was my heightened expectations, maybe my personal taste in food but this felt like… a bit of a letdown. First of all, if I’m eating at a multi star, very expensive restaurant, I don’t want to be kept waiting outside in a dingy vestibule before being let inside. Just not a great first impression. Once we got in, the restaurant was objectively beautiful, perfectly designed, etc. We got the presentation of seasonal ingredients and a dashi tasting at the beginning. Regarding the food, all of it was technically flawless. Flavors were subtle but perfectly balanced, and interesting. I am pretty versed in food but many of the ingredients and preparations I had never encountered before, which was a wonderful new discovery. That said, while it was all great, nothing felt truly transcendent and nothing made me want more of it. If anything the cooking felt sterile and reserved rather than ebullient. The service was again technically flawless but my fiancée again managed to distill the service down to its essence: “there is a 2:1 ratio of servers to guests and yet not one of them smiled all night.” I couldn’t agree more. It was so stoic and serious that I felt like I couldn’t relax and truly have fun (which, imo, having fun is why we go out to eat to begin with). I wanted to say “guys, you’re considered the best in the world. Enjoy it and have fun.” We got the wine pairings as I didn’t know the menu ahead of time. It read like the usual sommelier doing what is cool now: Mosel Riesling, Sav blanc from Austria, Madeira, etc. The ‘13 DP in the middle of the meal was nice though. Otherwise I wasn’t that impressed. Last year’s pairing at CTBF (before the implosion) was similarly priced but I thought showcased much better wines. Overall, I don’t know. Maybe I am just too much of a slut for continental European bacchanalia over restrained East Asian minimalism but i felt like I was eating the precocious kid’s science fair project when really I just want to be lathered up in foie and have champagne poured down my gullet. I felt guilty leaving 50 best #8 and craving a giant, messy cheeseburger, but I did… But that’s just like my opinion, man…

Hi all - I recently took a trip to Paris to visit my sister who had just moved there and decided to turn this into a week of some of the best dining in the city (with some help from the community on helping me select spots). I’d like to thank the community for suggesting spots that served some of the best food I’ve ever had and I wanted to share my experience with the community in case it helps anyone else visiting Paris. Apologies if the descriptions below are quite long, as I am just so excited by my experience. Not sure how I’ll be able to top a week of eating like this again but I’m just grateful to have been able to experience it. The below is a mix of some classic fine dining along with some more casual spots mixed in, which I find helpful to break up some of the more extensive tasting menus. Happy to provide more detail or answer any questions as helpful!
Abri Soba - This is the perfect spot for lunch to switch it up and have some great soba, hot or cold. The duck with leeks and cold soba along with the hot broth on the side has delicious umami flavor and for 6 euro more, you can make it a lunch set with 2 massive pieces of fresh maki, fried chicken karaage, and a salad (this is how you get really full. The shrimp tempura with hot soba was also very hearty and tasty. The lunch set of choice of soba with the maki, chicken, and salad was 26 euro and less depending on accompaniments to the soba.
Les Papilles - This is one of the spots I will go every time I’m in paris. It’s such a homey, welcoming bistro with a tiny kitchen (be sure to take a peek) that has a 4 course set menu. The front of house explains each dish in incredible detail in both French / English. In my multiple trips here, you quickly realize they really specialize in their soup course. They always start with a soup that will cure the soul before a full-bodied, family-style meat main course. This is followed by a cheese course and then a small dessert. At 45 euros with this flavor and this amount of food, this just has to be one of the best deals i’ve found in paris. This time, they started with the soup course of sweet potato mash, sweet cream with olive oil, breadcrumbs, and spicy chorizo in a sweet potato broth. This was followed by the main course, a veal breast braised for 4 hours with breadcrumbs, tarragon, carrots, fresh peppers, snap peas, fresh thyme, and garlic. They ended with a blue cheese d’auvergne with a prune confit and then a chocolate panna cotta (the panna cotta was only dish I didn’t love but not bad by any means).
El Nopal Taqueria - This is a small spot on a side street that serves some classic meat tacos. You can just sit on the street and keep ordering as much as you please while sipping a cold beer. The chicharron taco was by far my favorite, as the others were solid but nothing crazy. The sauces there really elevate the tacos and the spicy green sauce was so good (it should be sold in markets). The pork quesadilla with the green sauce was also delicious.
Le Colimacon - This is a bistro with a regularly changing a la carte menu. We started off with one of their main recommendations, their “snail chips” which were burgundy escargots made with garlic, butter, and parsley. They were in these chips made to look like the escargot shell that you could eat in one bite and truly was one of the best takes on escargots i’ve ever had. They then continued the strong start with an absolutely divine dish of a french toast topped with foie gras, pan fried smoked duck breast, sliced poached fruit, honey and cumin sauce, and a salad of young shoots and olive oil vinaigrette. The fattiness, sweetness, and acidity blended together here to create a near perfect dish. These two starters are worth the trip here alone. The beef sirloin tartare and seabass carpaccio for the mains were very solid, but just were not on the level of the starters. I think duck is where they truly shine here. We also ordered the organic leg of lamb from Sologne which was solid but definitely forgettable. Next time I come, I’d go with more duck or the Iberian black pork if on the menu instead. Overall, it’s a very quaint spot and would highly recommend.
Chez Aline - Sandwich spot that will always have a line but moves quick and is worth the wait. Very fresh, constantly changing sandwiches on incredible baguette where if you don’t speak French, you can point to the items you want in their sandwich that the chef makes that day. Lots of vegetables and salads. I ordered the jamon beurre which when toasted is ridiculous and also got the chicken salad sandwich, which is light and oddly refreshing which I rarely get out of sandwiches. Perfect casual sandwich spot with one chef behind the counter handling everything.
Frenchie - This was a pretty special meal and my first tasting menu of the trip. I have seen some of the mixed reviews but had a lovely time and was blown away by several dishes. The green asparagus with tarragon sorbet, tarragon puree, and gin caper sauce they introduced to the menu two days before dining there was refreshing, acidic, texturally complex, and just perfect, one of my favorite dishes ever. The pigeon with artichoke, guanciale, and brocoletti course and the skate wing with clams, lemon, asparagus and wild garlic course were also phenomenal with the pigeon being a bit richer and the fish before being so light and perfectly cooked, balancing each other out so well. The ravioli with anchovies, chicory, and mustard seeds were in a delicious, earthy broth but this was my least favorite of the mains. The kiwi parfait glacé dessert with sweet/soucitrusy kiwi sauce was one of my favorite courses of the whole meal. The banoffee dessert with dulce de leche, banana, and pecan nuts also shined. The only area they actually missed was on the amuse bouche (one of them tasted like cardboard and got me a bit worried for what was to come, thankfully there was no need to be worried).
Alliance - Thank you to all members of the this community who recommended this spot, as it truly does fit a 2 star level as a one star spot. The service was the best I’ve ever had, largely due to Shawn who serves as the front of house and who also helped open the restaurant. We ended up being the last table in the restaurant and Shawn came and sat with us for an hour to have some cocktails and converse about how he came to open Alliance with the chef Toshitaka Omiya, the gastronomic scene in paris, and his favorite spots to frequent in the city. Pivoting to the food, each dish was spectacular, with beautiful plating and even more beautiful flavor and balance. I went with a few friends, some of who do not frequently have fine dining, and they were blown away and more than happy to enjoy a 3.5 hour meal here. I would say the only underwhelming bites were the spring roll with cabbage and ginger amuse bouche and the watercress and caviar bite but the potato gnocchi with caviar, cream, and white wine dish and black leg chicken course were perfectly rich and balanced in texture and flavor. These were two of the best dishes I’ve ever had. This onion pie amuse bouche I wish I could have had 10 more of and paired really well with the rice crisp with steak tartare bite and came with a crispy yet soft on the inside cheese gougere with a “spicy stick”. The chef’s use of onion started with the onion pie and really shined throughout the night. An oyster appetizer with fried onions and lemon was another dish that left me speechless, really cool in terms of both soft texture balanced with crispy onions and warm and cold temperatures playing off each other. They replaced one crab dish I couldn’t eat due to dietary restriction with this leek dish with this creamy sauce that I can’t recall the description of for the life of me but was my favorite dish of the night (I had to give the rest of the table a taste who all were taken aback by how delicious this dish was). The John Dory fish course with an extraction of collagen and glasswort and the white asparagus course with passion fruit pepper and dried apricot were light and perfect in the midst of some richer courses. They ended with two awesome desserts, a beetroot, hibiscus, and smoked yogurt dessert and a red, yellow, and green kiwi dessert, along with a lovely cheese cart.
Le Rigmarole - This is the spot I’d recommend the most to anyone visiting Paris that doesn’t necessarily want to pay 2-3 michelin star pricing, as I can say I enjoyed this meal as much or more than most of the michelin star spots I’ve been. I tried writing down each course we had, which were pickled radish, carrots and cabbage, lightly fried asparagus fried in german beer, scallop crudo in olive oil, grilled cuttlefish in spicy yogurt sauce, rockfish with mushrooms, chicken neck with spices and orange zest, scarpinocc with homemade ricotta and spring garlic leaves, chicken artery / offal (that takes “20 chickens to make”), chicken heart, chicken wing, smoked zucchini with smoked fish roe, bone marrow ragu pasta, chicken “of all parts” meatball with flakey pita-esque bread, and chocolate fondant with oolong ice cream. I was lost for words on so many of the courses and the couple Robert and Jessica who run the spot are so lovely and curate the menu around each individual they are serving, which was awesome as some members of the party were more experimental than others in what they like and some had dietary restrictions. The wine recommendations were also incredible as I love earthy, funky wines and they had a lot of fun selecting some of their funkiest wines. This will be my first stop every time i’m back in paris.
Early June - This is very cool spot in terms of ambience, and I would definitely try a new chef next time as they change regularly, but I really did not enjoy my meal here with the new chef from Napoli who took over the day before I dined with them. The dishes were quite flavorless and seemed to lack any love. This was the only meal I had in paris that I was even slightly disappointed with.
Epicure - (Aside from visiting my sister) This was the main reason for my visit and was the most excited I’d ever been for a meal. Somehow it still surpassed my lofty expectations. This just felt like a masterclass in technique as nothing was something I hadn’t tasted before in terms of ingredients, but they somehow made everything 10x more delicious and exciting than I’d ever experienced them before. From the caviar from Sologne on a potato mousseline smoked with haddock to the burnt grilled leeks with tartare of Perle Blanche oysters, spring onions, and lemon in a seaweed butter (best dish I’ve ever had in my life) to the candele macaroni with black truffle, artichoke, foie gras, gratinated Parmesan cheese, and black truffle juice, they just maintained an astonishing level of consistency and flavor across each course. The Bresse Hen poached in a bladder (they accommodated my allergy to crayfish which I appreciated given this was one of the dishes I wanted to try most) just took the meal to an even more absurd level as I’d never had poultry that was as soft as a perfectly cooked fish. The salmon from Scotland with the tandoori spices, fennel, mint oil, and “rice krispies” completely shifted from the classic French and was so perfectly cooked. I didn’t even know food could be cooked this well… Nothing missed at all or even came close to disappointing me. Every dish made my eyes bulge and my cheeks hurt from smiling at how exciting everything tasted. The textures were mind-boggling as they danced across jellos and purees and temperature contrasts that I had never imagined possible. The service was also immaculate as they quickly adjusted when they quickly realized we were there to truly just soak it all in and have a fun time rather than be very serious. They gave us a full kitchen tour, and we got to meet Eric Frechon’s sous chef who had taken over the kitchen since Frechon’s departure 2 days prior and who kindly wrote a message and signed both of our menus (which they reprinted during the meal to reflect all the changes due to our dietary restrictions). They only do one staggered seating for each meal, so there’s no rush, which became evident in the meal lasting 4.5 hours. This was definitely one of the most expensive meals I’ve ever had but I had no complaints and completely believe the price was justified by the experience. Thanks again to all members of the community for pushing this recommendation.
Le Servan - I’ve seen some mixed reviews but honestly had a lovely experience, and this meal was my first after eating at Epicure the night before. I wasn’t expecting to like much food for a bit after Epicure, but this was really delicious. I definitely went a bit more out there in the dish choices going for sweetbreads, veal brain, and black pudding fried wontons, and they were all cooked extraordinarily well and were perfectly seasoned with nothing overpowering the stars of the dishes.
Faggio - This came as a recommendation from one of the waiters at Epicure as his friend runs this pizza shop and he admitted he might be a little biased but claimed this was his favorite spot to eat in Paris. I wasn’t expecting much given I’ve enjoyed some of the best pizza in New York, Japan, Italy, New Haven, etc., but this shockingly stood among some of the best. It’s Neopolitan style and the sauce and fior di latte they use in their pies made the pizza so light and perfect and just hit on all cylinders. I highly recommend especially to break up a lot of fine dining.

After seeing multiple rave reviews from this community, Atomix has been on the top of my list of restaurants to try. When work took me to NYC earlier this month, I knew I'd have to do everything I can to grab a reservation. We were able to score an 8.45 pm seating at the chef's table. Fast forward to the day, my partner and I arrived 10 minutes prior to our seating time to a group of people waiting in front of the restaurant. After all, the restaurant did warn us that the service will begin promptly at the reservation time. Around 5 minutes before, we were let in to the restaurant. We were greeted warmly by the host. The first group of people were let downstair to the main dining room. We were told to wait by the bar. This was a bit strange to be honest. We stood around for 10 minutes or so watching the team prepping ingredients behind the bar. The hosts were busy organizing themselves, so we were just kind of there. The next set of diners arrived and were checked in. We were then brought downstair to an area with today's ingredients. The chef also gave us an introduction about two types of soy sauces they use for the meal and gave us samples to try. After we were seated at the U-shaped chef's table.
Our servers came by to introduce themselves and brought the drink menu. They were quite excited for us to try the brand new menu. Chef JP was in the kitchen tonight since it's only the second day for the new menu. For drinks, we decided to skip the pairings and went with the cocktails to start.
Fluke, Turnip, Tomato, Sea Squirt - Beginning started off shaky. We were actually served the second amuse bouche first. I think they confused us with someone else. The Fluke tart was good. Nothing memorable.
Deodeok, White asparagus, Dried Squid- This was pretty good. Nice charred flavor.
Cherry blossom trout, Korean mustard, Rhubarb root - Very refreshing dish. I haven't seen cherry blossom flavor used in a lot of fine dining restaurants. Korean mustard gave a nice kick.
Chungju mieum, firefly squid, Sea urchin, Almond - This is where Atomix took it to a whole other level. Might be my favorite for the night. The rice porridge was served with warm firefly squid and sweet Hokkaido uni. Not just this was delicious, you could really feel the heart they put in (especially with the description provided on the card).
Nettle egg jjim, Sugar snap pea, Freshwater eel, Nuruk - Grilled eel served with egg custard. A very close second favorite of the night. Warm, soothing, amazing.
Shrimp gulim mandu, Clam jeotguk, Aehobak, Basil - shrimp dumpling served with a thin sheet of basil, clam broth. The broth was peppery and offered a nice contrast to the sweet shrimp mandu.
Ganjang gejang. Gim rice, Flying fish roe - Presentation of Korean raw crab dish. Another home run for the night.
Mumallaengi, Red Pepper, Scallion
Rosy seabass, Cheongyukjang, Abalone, Tendon. Bamboo shoot - a bit like surf and turf. Seabass was well-cooked. Tendon offered nice textural contrast to the firm abalone. Very good.
Lamb saddle, Gosari, Perilla seed, Chopi - After a series of one delicious dish after another, this was a miss. Lamb was quite fatty. They gave us regular knife, which couldn't cut through the meat. It wasn't a bad dish but felt like something that needs a bit more work. I'm sure they'll tweak and improve.
Dureup rice, Razor Clam, Jidan - Served with the lamb was the rice dish with razor clam and asparagus. Good dish.
Tangerines, Marshmallow, Dashima - Refreshing dessert.
Black chestnut, Doraji chocolate - A nice end to the meal. This one reminds me of Korean Choco Pie. Chocolate, chestnut. Delicious.
Drinks - We went with cocktails and a few glasses of wine, recommended by our waiter. The cocktails were delicious and inventive. The Beso De Nopal was recommended for us to pair with the dessert. This was so original, inventive, and delicious. The drink incorporates cactus and cilantro, which reminded me a bit like an Amaro. The cocktail program here is probably the best I've had anywhere.
Service - Overall, great service. Two hiccups in beginning. Not 100% polished service. However, we would feel the warmth from the Atomix team and the care they put in to the service.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by Atomix. This is probably in my top 2 best restaurants in the US. I'm already planning a return.

3 new starred restaurants in Miami!
EntreNos (Contemporary cuisine):
Chefs Evan Burgess and Osmel Gonzalez are at the helm of this dinner-only spot where a tightly edited à la carte menu puts the spotlight on Florida’s seasons (and almost everything is sourced from the Sunshine State). The eclectic space has an inviting feel, and the high dining counter offers a prime view of the open kitchen. High-quality ingredients meet serious skill here. The smoked dry-aged cobia is a perfect example of what this place does so well. Dry-aged for one week in-house, then smoked and finished over the grill, it’s served with a Moujean tea beurre blanc sauce. Pumpkin flan is churned into ice cream and topped with pepita granola and coffee espumita for a dessert that is as unexpected as it is delightful.
Ogawa (Japanese cuisine):
Chef/co-owner Masayuki Komatsu commands a presence with an omakase that stuns with a series of enticing cooked dishes and a procession of focused and skillful nigiri. From baby sea eels with a soy-cured quail egg and bigfin reef squid in a shiso-miso sauce to baby snow crab and Japanese-style herring roe, this appetizer of four bites is the first sign that this isn’t your typical sushi counter. Then, lotus root, wild yam and langoustine tempura is sided by a thick sauce made from roasted langoustine shells. After the cooked dishes, nigiri comes next with bright and balanced kisu, creamy ebodai, squid topped with osetra caviar and anago dusted with sansho pepper exemplifying the chef’s skill.
Shingo (Japanese cuisine)
Chef Shingo Akikuni, ever gracious and welcoming, has returned, now back in action behind a spacious, 14-seat counter in Coral Gables. Chef Akikuni and his second-in-command handle the crowd without breaking a sweat and even switch sides midway through the meal. Once the room fills with the sharp smell of vinegar to mix into the sushi rice, it’s off to the races. Fish is sourced almost entirely from Japan, sliced in uniform fashion, and dressed with little more than a swipe of nikiri. They keep a close eye on the seasons too, evidenced by a recent special of high-grade tuna from Aomori prefecture and an indulgent chawanmushi with matsutake

Hey everyone! I had a lot of fun posting my MD last year, so I decided to write up my first big girl vacation.
Aside from random day trips, this is my first-ever solo trip and my first time in Japan. I had a lot ~feelings~ leading up to it--can I handle solo traveling, will the language/cultural barrier make me feel isolated, do I even "deserve" to spend all this money on myself (this in particular I've spent a lot of time in therapy unpacking 🥲)--so join me on the financial and emotional journey!!

Section One: Bio

Most of these details are the same as my last MD, so I'll try to be brief.
Age: 24
Occupation: Paralegal (same job, still unfulfilled ✨)
Hometown: Originally a Midwestern city; currently live in NYC
Number of PTO days and how you accrue them: Current balance is 17 days. After your first year you accrue 18 days each calendar year with that amount scaling up based on how long you've stayed with the firm. We have lots of paid firm holidays, so I only used 8 days of PTO for this trip due to us being off for Good Friday.

Section Two: Assets + Debt

Retirement Balance: $7,117.41 in my 401k and $1,072 in a Roth IRA.
Savings account balance: $2,201.17 in a regular account and $12,798.98 in a HYSA as of 03/18 (thank you all for pointing out how insane it was that I didn't have one in my previous MD lol).
Checking account balance: $511.11 in my regular checking account and $500 in a Charles Schwab checking account (that I opened just for this trip to take advantage of 0 ATM fees!) as of 03/18
Credit card debt: None! I pay off my balance in full every month.
Student loan debt: $5800 for public unsubsidized loan (which I make no payments for on the SAVE plan, at least for now) and $12,000 for private loan (which my parents are paying off as a gift) both for my liberal arts bachelor's degree.

Section Three: Income

Main Job Monthly Take Home: ~$2900 after taxes and 8% contribution to my 401k--I'm paid $25.50 per hour and my paychecks vary.
Any Other Monthly Income Here: For full transparency, my parents still pay for my aforementioned private student loan, health insurance, cell phone, Spotify, occasional Ubers, and now therapy, in addition to other gifts like flights home to visit. They did not contribute to this trip, but it would be very difficult for me to afford it without their financial assistance.

Section Four: Travel Expenses

Transportation:
$1547 for a round-trip, nonstop flight from JFK to HND in economy--ideally would have been booked with credit card points, but I didn't have many at the time. I booked a non-refundable ticket partially because I am cheap, but mostly because I wanted to force myself to take this trip & not chicken out. Please do not follow my example.
Accommodations:

• $275.16 for 4 nights ($68.79/night) in Shinjuku (Tokyo)
• $218.52 for 3 nights ($72.84/night) in Kyoto
• $352.35 for 3 nights ($117.45/night) in Asakusa (Tokyo)

I booked these right after I booked my flight. I originally planned to stay in hostels to save money & potentially meet other solo travelers, but the places I was interested in weren't that much cheaper than business hotels in the same area. For me, 100% worth it to spend more for privacy and peace of mind!
Pre-Vacation Spending:
I did an Am*z*n order for travel essentials:

• $19.99 power bank
• $39.99 travel pillow
• $13.99 for 3 pairs of compression socks
• $31.99 for 6 compression packing cubes
• $25.99 foldable duffel bag
• $34.99 Bluetooth headphone jack adapter (to use my Airpods with the flight entertainment system!)
• $24 for AirTag to put in checked bag

This all totaled $190.94. I also paid $52.72 for pocket wifi for 11 days--I would have just done an e-sim, but sadly my phone is too old for it--all for a total of $244.66 before I even got to the airport (ouch!).

Travel Diary

Just a note that anything charged to my card will be exact amounts that were converted to USD. I won’t count any individual cash purchases in my daily totals—just cash withdrawals—but will put the price in yen for my daily entries. For reference, the current exchange rate is about ¥150 = $1. For my grand totals, I'll be splitting my cash withdrawals 50/25/25 between food, shopping, and entertainment--I cannot be bothered to do the real math.
DAY -1:

• I'm on a Tuesday 1:50 AM flight which made planning this trip very weird. I’m in a rush to finish getting ready, so I get delivery for dinner ($19.62).
• I’m lowkey freaking out as I say goodbye to my roommate—I can’t believe I’m doing all this ALONE—but calm down in the Uber to JFK ($0 courtesy of the bank of mom & dad). While I wait to board, I grab two liters of bottle water. ($13.78)

DAY 0:

• Board flight and take off only 10 minutes behind! I usually get motion sick on long flights, so my mission is to do everything I can to prevent throwing up. I get up constantly to move around, meaning I don't get much sleep, but I don't throw up. Mission accomplished!

💸 DAY -1 & 0 TOTAL: $33.40
DAY 1:

• Land in Haneda at 5:30 am. Customs and baggage pickup all go smoothly, but I take forever finding my pocket wifi. I locate an ATM and take out ¥30,000 in cash ($203.67).
• I freshen up (scent of the day is Atelier Cologne’s Bergamot Soleil), add ¥5000 to my digital Suica card ($33.58), and take the subway to Shinjuku. I knew Japanese transit was nice, but wow am I impressed by the trains!!!
• I get to my hotel around 9:00 am and drop off my bags. I planned nothing for today, but I eventually decide to wander around Don Quijote. I find a Kirby plush section and send pictures to my younger brothers; they immediately request which ones they’d like me to bring back. I’m confused why they’re up past their bedtime but I’m no snitch!
• Walk to eggslut to get breakfast. Horrible coffee, but good sandwich! ($9.97)
• Wander around Hands. I want to buy a coin purse for all my yen but only find fancy expensive ones, but do find an umbrella I like ($29.29). I sit in their bathroom for 30+ minutes to give my feet a rest.
• More wandering around department stores. I find a jacket in Uniqlo that I really love but hold off on buying it.
• It starts raining, so I run into a 7-Eleven to get some tea (¥120) and dry off. I’m shivering despite the fact that I’m wearing a very warm wool sweater, but on the bright side, my new umbrella works great!
• Walk back to Uniqlo to rectify my horrible mistake ($42.36). I wear the jacket out of the store and realize it has pockets inside the pockets! Incredible.
• I’m hungry again, so I get lunch at Sushiro. I order 3 different kinds of sushi with raw squid and realize that I hate raw squid. Most of the other sushi isn’t that great either, but I’m happy to have a cheap lunch ($8.79)
• Rain finally stopped, so I walk to Shinjuku Gyoen for a change of scenery (¥500). I watch a gaggle of artsy high schoolers do a photo shoot with a mostly-bare sakura. Never change, artsy high schoolers!
• Finally time to check-in! I flop into bed and turn on the TV. So glad to be horizontal again.
• Wake up from nap (sleep?) 4 hours later. I think about grabbing dinner, but I’m so tired I just eat the remainder of my plane snacks. I try to stay up but pass out again 30 minutes later.

💸 DAY TOTAL: $327.66
DAY 2:

• Wake up to my alarm, fall back asleep, and wake up again around 10 am. Frankly, could sleep more as I’m pretty exhausted, but I decide to sit upright in bed a few more hours before I gather the strength to go outside.
• I’m feeling a little sick, but thankfully I remembered to bring some cold meds from home (possibly illegally?) just in case. I take my time getting ready and picking out my perfume (scent of the day is Snif’s Golden Ticket) while I wait for my Dayquil to kick in.
• Walk to Kirimugiya Jinroku as I’m craving some hot broth to relieve the sickiness—I burn the roof of my mouth, but the udon and tempura are so amazing that I don’t care (¥1450).
• I feel sleepy all over again but press on to Koenji for some thrifting. Most of the stores stock overpriced 80s American vintage, but I still have a good time browsing. I am, however, horrified to hear Shawn Mendez and Imagine Dragons—these are our great cultural exports??? I think not.
• My stomach is a little upset so I decide to grab some tea (¥140) and take the subway back to rest.
• As I lie in bed, I’m frustrated again that I have no good way to keep track of my coins—where does a woman buy a reasonably priced coin purse??? I go on the Hands website and see that they sell coin organizers for ¥1000 (yay!) but are out of stock at most stores nearby (boo) except for the Shibuya location. I decide to head there tomorrow.
• Fall asleep around 7 (oops!), wake up at midnight, and decide to go back to bed instead of heading out again. My appetite and energy are completely gone.

💸 DAY TOTAL: $0
DAY 3:

• Wake up around 9 am and start getting ready. I’m frustrated I’ve been slow-moving—being by myself means I don't feel pressure to do as much, which is nice, but I’m already feeling some FOMO. Scent of the day is Diptyque’s Philosykos which immediately brightens my mood—the power of perfume!
• Konbini breakfast of hojicha, cod roe onigiri, and an egg sandwich (¥613). I’m not usually a fan of egg salad (or anything with mayo), but Japanese mayo and eggs really are amazing!
• Walk to Meiji Jingu. I no longer regret sleeping so much the past 2 days—I feel so reenergized by this beautiful weather!! I get there around 11:30, later than I wanted, but it’s not as crowded as I thought. I get a fortune (¥100) that seems positive and a charm to stay safe while driving (¥1000)—I barely drive these days, but I need all the help I can get. I take a moment to sit and people watch—I could stay here all day!
• …but I can’t, so back to walking. I pay ¥500 to go inside the gardens. Most of the plants are dead but it’s still nice.
• I walk by the donated sake barrels (very pretty!) and out the exit towards Yoyogi Park. I look around for sakura, but no dice—lots of buds, but no blooms aside from one tree. I give my feet a rest and watch a giant crow/raven(?) terrorize some ducks. (Seriously, there are so many huge black birds here in Tokyo! No one warned me!!)
• I’m starving and a predictable tourist, so I decide to go to Kura Sushi to see if it’s any better than Sushiro. When I get there it’s a 120 minute wait(!) but I say screw it; there’s no way it’ll be that long for a party of one. (Reader, I was wrong.) There’s a lot of cool teenagers in the waiting area and they all have bangs—should I get bangs?? I do have the forehead for it. Much to think about.
• Finally eat two hours later. Dare I say it’s worth it? 20 decent-quality pieces for ~¥2100 is a good deal! ($15.31)
• Walk around Omotesando, then down Cat Street to Miyashita Park. I hang out on the roof a bit but am very intimidated by all the cool kids there!!! These girls do school uniforms way better than I did—the ties with the oversized sweaters and sweatpants under the skirt with scrunched socks is all very much a vibe.
• I figure I’m obligated to do Shibuya Crossing and see Hachiko. It’s WAY smaller than I thought and filled with people. Glad I did it, but happy to never go back again.
• I remember my mission from yesterday and head to Hands. I find my coin organizer, then get distracted, and walk out with mascara, two lip tints, and travel sizes of J-Scent’s Hojicha and Yuzu—these are $50 apiece back home! ($67.27) I get a tax refund of ~¥900 in cash.
• I'm tired and my feet hurt, but I decide to stop at a bar I saved called Grandfather’s. Very moody basement bar with a very talented DJ! People are chainsmoking and I think about how cool and chic it would be if I had a smoke, but I don’t smoke and don’t want to embarrass myself by coughing up a lung, so I settle for two Sidecars and some chips (¥2640). I stare enviously at a man who lights his cigarettes with matches. So cinematic. So cool.
• While I’m there, I chat with an older Japanese woman who is delightful. She tells me this bar has been here for 50+ years and the guy doing the music is the owner—she had a boyfriend who worked here 20 years ago, so she used to come all the time, but the owner does not remember her!! I am deeply offended on her behalf. It starts to get crowded and I’m a little tired, so after an hour and a half I thank her for the wonderful convo and add her on Line.
• I take the subway back and think about ~keeping the good vibes going~, or even buying a pack of smokes to practice (???? sober me hates cigarettes, but tipsy me sure does love the idea of them!), but I realize I stink and am grossed out. Never mind, smoking is deeply uncool!
• I swing by the konbini for snacks and bath salts as I feel like taking a hot soak (~¥900). My hotel room has a Japanese unit bath where you’re supposed to shower outside the tub (there’s a drain in the floor for this), THEN get in the tub once you’re clean, but as I am a disgusting American, I shower inside the tub before filling it up.
• Enjoy my bath with some matcha ice cream—this is the height of luxury!!!—before heading to bed.

💸 DAY TOTAL: $82.58
DAY 4:

• Wake up at 9:30, feeling a little hungover. Yes, I only had two drinks; I am sadly a lightweight and a failure to my Irish ancestors. SOTD is J-Scent’s Yuzu which definitely helps wake me up.
• I leave for Kyoto tomorrow, so I try to reserve a seat for the train there on the app, but every card I put in gets rejected. 😭 After that crushing defeat, I head out around 12:30 and take the subway to Ginza.
• I’m starving, so before I do anything I go to Yomoda Soba for soba and curry. Possibly the fastest meal of my life? (~¥900)
• Time to shop! I visit the 12-floor Uniqlo flagship, expecting it to be extra cool and big, but it isn’t that much different than the 5th Ave flagship back in New York—dare I say it is worse because of how small each floor is! I do get a nice discount on some Heattech, a pair of shorts, and a t-shirt though ($41.43).
• More wandering! I step inside Itoya which is a delight, and get a goshuincho ($10.93). In hindsight I really should have thought about getting one before I went to Meiji Jingu. Oh well!
• I visit some stores, looking for this shade of Canmake eyeliner, and I cannot find it ANYWHERE. What gives?? I take it as a sign to head back.
• I decide to walk the extra 15 mins to Tokyo Station to buy tickets for the shinkansen tomorrow. I wait in line and get my express ticket & seat reservation, realize the price seems suspiciously cheap, and after some Google learn I ALSO need to buy a standard train ticket, which means waiting in line. Again. ($95.17)
• Subway back to Shinjuku! I stop by the same Donki from my first day to get two Kirby plushes for my brothers ($33.37).
• I grab a bottle of tea from the lobby vending machine (¥140), drop my shit, and flop in bed. I am hangry and do not want to deal with figuring out dinner tonight—decision paralysis is a bitch. I see I have a gyoza place saved and decide to head there for dinner. Thank you, past me!
• Wait outside Gyoza no Fukuho for about 20 minutes, then order boiled & pan-fried gyoza (pan-fried is definitely the way to go!), cucumber with miso paste (so simple! so good!), and shochu with soda and lemon. So far being on my own has been a blast, but being the only person dining alone makes me wish my friends were here to experience this. (¥1420)
• Pit stop at the konbini for dessert and this low ABV peach drink (¥809) before I go back to my room. I planned on doing Omoide Yokocho, Golden Gai, and some lesbian bars in Nichome at some point during the first third of this trip (I was VERY optimistic on how quick I would adjust lol), but I’m not feeling it. I contemplate what to do for my last night here…and fall asleep with my makeup on, peach drink unopened. I guess the answer is nothing!

💸 DAY TOTAL: $180.90
DAY 5:

• It’s a travel day! I wanted to get packed last night, but past me decided otherwise, so I am rushing to leave. I do remember to put on perfume—SOTD is 1900 L’Heure de Proust by Les Baines Guerbois. As I tidy, I do a quick taste test of my peach drink (very sweet, but good) and check out at 10:00 am on the dot—at least I’m not late?
• Quick konbini breakfast of pickled plum onigiri, egg sando, and tea ($3.48) before I take the train to Tokyo Station.
• I get lost trying to find the normal entrance, then get lost finding the Studio Ghibli store (which I finally figure out is in the basement—there’s a line to get in, to which I say fuck that, but I have a nice time gazing at the merch from outside), then get lost again trying to find a place to buy bentos (turns out they’re past the shinkansen entrance—I get a bento with eel, my favorite, and tea for $11.62), then get lost finding my train station platform…and miss my train. I find a station attendant and ask if I’m able to change my ticket—he says I would have to pay again to reserve a seat, but with my ticket I can walk onto the next shinkansen and sit in the non-reserved section. Crisis averted!! I’m able to get a window seat (on the side facing away from Mt. Fuji—normally a bummer, but it’s so cloudy you can barely see it anyway) and enjoy my ride to Kyoto, surprisingly motion-sickness free.
• It’s still rainy and gross and I don’t feel like dealing with the bus with my luggage, so I grab a taxi ($9.92). My driver is chatty and I feel insecure about how little Japanese I know, yet pleasantly surprised that I’m able to pick up bits and pieces of his Japanese mixed with English.
• The front desk has me pay a tourist tax ($3.97) before I can get to my room and unpack. It seems like it’s going to be rainy and gross for the rest of my trip, so I’m not motivated to spend much time outside. I try to reframe my mindset to think about how “atmospheric” and “peaceful” the rain will be.
• I decide to have dinner at a sukiyaki spot near the Takase River, but they say they’re full, so instead I put my name down at Huromon Chiba down the street. While I wait, I watch some drunk businessmen yell at passerbys as they walk home—it’s 6:00 pm on a Sunday, but hey, we’ve all been there.
• Finally get in an hour and a half later. Only when I’m given an English menu do I realize that half of it is organ meats. I’m a little hesitant, but when in Rome, right? I don’t mind tripe in my pho—what’s some fourth stomach and heart?? Everything is delicious and I leave absolutely stuffed. (~¥4300)
• I planned on staying out later (Kyoto at night is gorgeous!), but I’m so tired from all the meat that I head back to the hotel.

💸 DAY TOTAL: $28.99
DAY 6:

• Good morning! A running theme in this trip—I wanted to get up early as I plan on hiking to the top of Mt. Inari today, but I am a sleepy woman and struggle to get out of bed. (So sleepy I forget to put on perfume!!) While I wait for my skincare to sink in I decide to buy my Tokyo DisneySea ticket for Thursday ($72.12).
• Eat hotel breakfast then off to Fushimi Inari! It is PACKED at the bottom, mostly with elderly European tour groups(??). Thankfully past the first few stretches of torii it clears out. I was worried about the hike as I am very out of shape, but it’s a breeze aside from the final stretch of stairs. It’s rainy and foggy, so you can’t see much from the top, but still very scenic!
• Along the hike up and down I pick up some souvenirs. At the main shrine I get a goshuin (¥1000) and a fortune (¥200)—bad luck, so I tie it up and leave it behind—and at shrines on the mountain I get a torii-shaped ema (¥1000) for my mom to use as a Christmas ornament (probably sacrilegiously?) and a charm for back pain (¥800)—happy to report that since my previous diary it hasn’t been an issue, but not taking any chances!
• Lunch is udon at Inarinadai Dohachi (¥670). The broth is oddly sweet but otherwise very good!
• My feet are killing me, so I take the train back to the hotel. Once I get there I draw a piping hot bath to soak my feet, then realize I left my fucking umbrella at the udon place!!! They’ve already closed for the day, so I'll have to go back tomorrow. 😭
• I go to Nishiki Market to eat away my sorrows. I get grilled tuna and grilled octopus (¥1000), takoyaki (¥550), and a strawberry daifuku (¥350). It’s really crowded and the food is all just ok (except for the daifuku—the strawberry really helps cut through the richness of the red bean!).
• What IS exciting is the Snoopy store & cafe!! I am not immune to overpriced character merch. I pass on food from the cafe, but walk out with a postcard, chopsticks, and chopstick rest for my roommate and a small dish for myself ($18.43).
• Wander around Teramachi Street. I stop into a random drug store and see they have the eyeliner I want in stock—fucking finally!! I’m so excited I head straight to check-out. (¥715)
• At this point I’m pooped, so I decide to go back to the hotel and get in bed, even though it’s only 8:00 lol.
• TOTAL: $90.55

💸 DAY TOTAL: $
DAY 7:

• Wake up at 5:30 am and cannot fall back asleep. I figure I have plenty of time before I have to get moving, but get stuck in a TikTok binge and only start getting ready at 7:30. So much for waking up early! SOTD is Hermes’s Un Jardin Sur Le Nil.
• I skip hotel breakfast and head to 7/11 instead for curry bread, salmon onigiri, and hojicha (¥513). It’s been raining all morning, but thankfully my hotel has umbrellas guests can borrow.
• Time for some temple/shrine hopping! Walk 30 mins to Kiyomizu-dera and it is uphill the. entire. way. My calves!!! It’s worth it though—it may be crowded and rainy, but it’s beautiful! I pay ¥400 for admission, ¥900 for two charms, and ¥500 for a goshuin.
• Walk down Sanenzaka and Ninenzaka, which are surprisingly empty. I take a break in Maccha House and get a matcha tiramisu and hojicha latte ($7.95).
• Back to temple hopping! I stop by Ryozen Kannon temple (¥300), which apparently is a memorial to fallen WWII soldiers. I remember my grandma’s nutjob husband talking about how he thought it was so ridiculous there were protests at a temple for WWII soldiers because people were ~so offended~ they commemorated convicted war criminals. I do some panic googling and realize he was talking about Yasukuni Jinja, not this place—to my knowledge there are no major war criminals commemorated here? I enjoy the giant Kannon statue with a mostly clear conscience.
• Walk across the parking lot to Kodaiji, pay the ¥600 entrance fee and get a goshuin (¥500). My favorite of the day!! The temple is nice, but the real appeal are the grounds surrounding it. At this point it is pouring rain, so for most of my walk I am the only person around. I enjoy the scenery in their small tea house with matcha and red bean mochi (¥500).
• The rain lets up, so I check out Maruyama Park. Most of the sakura just have buds, but there’s a few plum blossoms on their last legs. I can’t imagine what the park looks like in full bloom!! I curse the bad weather and my poor timing.
• Google Maps says I can get to Chion-in by walking uphill, but I end up in a random Buddhist temple next door—I only realize when I climb a bunch of stairs and reach a dead end. The top has a great view though! The magic of ~getting lost~.
• Finally find my way and enter through a back road. The main temple is HUGE and gorgeous on the inside! I can’t figure out where to get a goshuin, so I move on.
• Walk to Yasaka Jinja. I’m a little underwhelmed, especially since it’s so gray outside—I imagine it’s prettier at night with all the lanterns lit. I get a special pink(!) goshuin which makes up for it (¥500).
• At this point I’m starving, so I decide on zarusoba at Gion Ishi. Not my favorite—even though it comes with wasabi, without broth or dipping sauce it’s pretty bland. The tempura that comes with it is amazing though!! (¥1400) It’s at this point that I remember my lost umbrella again—by the time I take the subway towards Fushimi, the udon place will be closed again, so I consider it lost forever. RIP 03/20/24 — 03/25/24 😭
• I’m cold and my feet hurt, so back to the hotel I go. I spot a Miffy Kitchen on my walk—so cute! I get a Miffy-shaped anpan and a chocolate strawberry milk bread ($4.15).
• I enjoy my snacks while soaking my feet in the hottest water I can tolerate. Of course, this is when it decides to be beautiful and sunny outside.
• Lay down in bed and oops wake up 2 hours later. I decide to wander around Gion again. While there are some bougie historical areas, most of it is just normal urban sprawl—even kind of seedy? Lots of host clubs. While walking down an alleyway I pass by either a normal-looking geiko or a very fancily dressed normal woman. We both stare at each other for an uncomfortably long time.
• Check out around Pontocho Alley—this time I 100% spot a geiko (or maiko? can't fully tell)! Very cool; her kimono looks extremely heavy. I think about getting real dinner at one of the restaurants here, but decide to head straight to a bar I saved called Bar Beetle.
• I wait outside for a good 30+ minutes (and make friends with others in line!) before I can grab a seat. I enjoy a Moscow Mule, a highball, and salami & cheese ($21.83) to some great records. The owner asks if I have a request—I ask for anything by Prince, but he already has Raspberry Beret queued. Our minds! So in-sync! In the bathroom I see a sign saying his dream is to open a bar in Brooklyn, so we have a nice chat about that—I tell him I will be one of the first to go when it opens!
• I leave after last call, thanking the owner profusely. I grab a melonpan, chocolate taiyaki, and Pocari Sweat to wolf down in the hope of preventing a hangover ($3.19). I planned on packing when I got back, but I’m so sleepy and drunk that I tell myself that I’ll handle it in the morning.

💸 DAY TOTAL: $37.12
DAY 8:

• Wake up feeling tired but fine? Than you Pocari Sweat! I take my time getting ready (SOTD is Parisian Musc by Matiere Premiere) and still manage to be out the door before 9:50 am.
• Konbini breakfast of egg sando, cod roe onigiri, and warm hojicha (~¥600) before I take a taxi to Kyoto Station ($11.91). Really sad to be leaving!
• I grab a reserved train ticket ($95.05) with plenty of time to grab food and find my platform—I eventually decide on pork katsu ($8.68).
• Take the shinkansen back to Tokyo. I manage to spot some of Mount Fuji—there is still a lot of cloud cover, but hey, I’ll take it.
• By the time I'm done navigating Tokyo Station again (a scary thing to relive) and take the subway to my next hotel, it's just in time for check-in! I unpack and change, then have a crisis over how I look, realize it’s the bad lighting, still feel weird, but decide to soldier on because I am #brave, then take the bus to Ueno Park an hour and a half later. #justgirlythings 😙✌️
• I stroll down Sakura-dori in Ueno Park. There’s a couple sakura scattered around that have started to bloom, including a weeping cherry, but nothing close to full bloom—damn you, cold snap!! There’s still lots of people picnicking under the trees. I admire their dedication.
• After checking out some closed temples/shrines, I head to Ameyokocho—lots of neat little restaurants and izakayas! I stop at a yakitori place for dinner. I get various kinds of chicken and pork, smashed cucumbers, and grilled squid with two oolong shochus. ($20.11) Even though I'm seated in the back corner, completely isolated, I still have fun.
• I’m borderline drunk, and after passing by some karaoke places, I say fuck it, let’s do some karaoke alone! I get a lemon highball to accompany one hour of my renditions of Beyonce, Madonna, and No Doubt ($17.14).
• Long walk back to the hotel. It’s at this point I have my first true emo moment on this trip. I’m having so much fun, but I miss being around familiar people, I miss my apartment, I miss NY!!! I don’t cry (gotta stay hydrated!), but I do get very wistful as I listen to Karen Carpenter the entire way back.
• Konbini stop! I get some pistachio cannoli thing, matcha baumkutchen, chooclate chip crepe, and a bottle of Aquarius (no Pocari Sweat in stock here—here’s hoping this helps me get in shape enough to tackle The Mouse™ tomorrow) ($4.37). I enjoy my dessert in bed while streaming Fantasy High. Really helps to lift my mood! I nod off in the middle of the episode.

💸 DAY TOTAL: $157.26
DAY 9:

• Up bright and early! The Aquarius worked, thank god. I’m aiming to leave by 7:30 but don’t actually start heading to the subway until 7:45. I speedwalk while eating my crepe (and enjoy my SOTD, J-Scent's Hojicha, which smells also very edible).
• As I’m sitting on the train, I’m wondering why I took one day out of my precious vacation time to do this, but then I spot Space Mountain. Never mind! We are so back! Inject this shit straight into my veins!!
• I get in line for the entrance around 15 mins before opening. So many girls around are wearing their school uniforms—why? Are they required to? Do they just like wearing their uniform on days off? Whatever the reason is, again, these girls know pull them off!
• Finally enter around 9:40. I immediately pay for an express pass for Journey to the Center of the Earth ($9.92) and snag a 40th Anniversary Pass (similar to old Fastpass…those were the days) for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for around the same time.
• I wander around for a bit--the park is so beautiful! I pass by Soarin’ which has a THREE HOUR wait already.
• I’m hungry, so I get in line for a gyoza bun (delicious) and iced oolong tea (bad—tastes a little like Coke?) ($5.29). When I leave, the line is nearly an hour long. Insanity!
• Stand in line for Aquatopia for about 45 minutes. It’s a cute ride, but wouldn’t have waited that long under normal circumstances.
• More wandering! I get a kick out of the Cape Cod/New York areas—so cute!
• I’m hungry again, so I mobile order fried chicken (which is basically a breaded chicken thigh—so good!), fries, and a black tea ($8.47). While I eat I’m able to book a new 40th Anniversary Pass for the Nemo simulator ride around 4:30.
• By the time I finish eating it’s time for 20,000 Leagues and Center of the Earth. Center of the Earth is incredible but about 30 seconds too short in my opinion. 20,000 Leagues is possibly my fave of the day? It’s so atmospheric—you really feel like you’re underwater.
• I check out the Little Mermaid-themed kids area. Gorg! It started raining so it’s nice to hang out somewhere dry. I hear an instrumental of Part of Your World and get emo thinking about Howard Ashman.
• No time to be sad! Time for another ride! Temple of the Crystal Skull has a single rider line, so I skip the 150 minute wait. Really wish more rides here had them!
• At this point I’ve ridden everything on my list (that are open, at least—so many are closed for maintenance!!), so I think about buying a weeknight passport for Tokyo Disneyland. Is it ridiculous to spend an additional ¥6200 for only 4 hours at another park? Perhaps! But I’m on vacation, the wait times don’t seem too horrible, and it’s supposed to rain for the rest of the day so hopefully people will leave…I think it over while I look for a place to buy an umbrella. (If only I had my old one with me! Fly high, queen!)
• Find a poncho ($5.95) and reach the level of delulu where I say fuck it, let’s go right now! I cancel my Fastpass for Nemo. I keep getting an error when I try to buy tickets through Disney, so instead I buy it through Klook ($72.18).
• Get to Disneyland at 3:00 pm sharp! I have 6 hours to cram in as much as I can. This is my Super Bowl. First stop is Roger Rabbit! 40-minute wait turned out to be close to an hour.
• I’m peckish and notice a popcorn stand has no line, so I get a bag of pistachio popcorn ($2.65). It just tastes like kettlecorn.
• I scarf my popcorn down while waiting in line for Pinocchio—it’s only a 25 minute wait and I’m a sucker for classic dark rides.
• It’s at this point that I must make a big decision: do I aim for Splash Mountain, Monsters Inc, or Beauty and the Beast? The latter has the longest line at 180(!) minutes, but is top of my must do. Hmmm. I go to Gaston’s Tavern to mull this over and get a beef stew meat pie and an apple-caramel churro ($8.47).
• I decide that I do not value my time, sanity, and wellbeing and get in line for Beauty and the Beast. It ends up only (only! 😫) being a 2 hour wait. 100% worth it! A beautiful dark ride based off one of my fave Disney movies…how could I not love it? So many cool animatronics.
• I have an hour and a half left until close, so I scurry over to Monsters Inc. with the hope of fitting in maybe one more ride after. The wait ends up taking the full posted 80 minutes. Oh well!
• Walk to the Monorail to take the subway back. My dogs? They are barking. My legs? Also hurt. Everything hurts.
• On the walk from the station to the hotel, I pass by a konbini and grab a curry bun, strawberry ice cream, chocolate cake, tea, and water ($6.15). I immediately lay on my bed and enjoy my dessert horizontal. Feels amazing to be off my feet!
• As soon as I’m done eating I pass out. Good night!

💸 DAY TOTAL: $119.08
DAY 10:

• Wake up around 8:30. It’s supposed to rain all morning, so I take my time getting ready and do some strategizing—I have a LOT of souvenir shopping to do! SOTD is Deux from Trudon which is very calming.
• I pull ¥10,000 from 7-11 ($66.89) as I’m low on cash before I head towards Senso-ji. Big temple! Very cool! I get a fortune (¥100) (just okay) and more charms for family (¥2000).
• Walk along Nakamise-dori. Very crowded and mostly full of souvenir stands, but thankfully there are very few people on the side streets. I decide to get some key chains for my brothers (¥1450) before walking back up towards Senso-ji to get a goshuin (¥500).
• Lunch time! I go to Tatsunoya for a delicious & very filling pork katsu set (¥1300). It’s served with yellow-orange paste that I assume is miso, so I take a huge glob of it, then realize when my nose starts burning it’s wasabi. Ouch. My sinuses have never been more clear.
• It’s finally sunny, so I walk to Sumida Park, which apparently is great for hanami, but I wouldn’t know as most of the sakura haven’t bloomed!!!! Oh well. The view of the Sumida River is great though!
• My feet are already killing me, so I go back to the room to drop some of my stuff & do a quick hot soak. While I’m on my phone I see Beyonce is in Shibuya doing signings for her new album??? So random. Tempted to go as I’m a big fan, but time is precious.
• Off to Kappabashi-dori! I get a bunch of ceramics and some chopsticks ($73.15), some for me but mostly for others.
• Drop shit in room, add ¥1000 to my Suica ($6.62), and off to Harajuku for more shopping. In hindsight, really wish I swapped my hotels for the first and last third of this trip! This 40 min subway ride is not it.
• Go to Kiddyland to find Sonny Angels. They are out.
• Walk to Pop Market to get a figure for a friend ($11.12). I ask if they have Sonny Angels in stock. They do not.
• Quick break from the search! I go to Onitsuka Tiger and get a pair of Mexico 66s for myself ($106.85).
• Back to souvenir shopping. Pick up some makeup for me and other random souvenirs for friends at Loft—still no Sonny Angels! ($61.86)
• Big haul of KitKats and random souvenirs at the Mega Don Quijote, Sonny Angel-less. ($106.07). Jesus fucking christ! Will have to bring back something else for the friends who requested them.
• Finally take the subway back to the hotel. I’ve reached a level of foot pain where I’ve transcended the concept of feet. I check my step count and see today surpasses my temple-hopping day in Kyoto. Insane. I pass through Senso-ji on my walk from the station—so pretty at night!
• Finally get to the room and realize I am ravenously hungry. I decide on ramen and gyoza from Kibitaro (~¥1700). Pretty good!
• Final konbini stop (~¥1500) of crème brulee ice cream, a matcha waffle, egg sando, salmon onigiri, green tea, and a bottle of water. I soak my feet again (not up for a full-body bath) and eat my dessert very sadly. Can’t believe I’m leaving!
• Pack most of my stuff and try to stay up as late as possible before finally succumbing to sleep at 3 am.

💸 DAY TOTAL: $432.56
DAY 11:

• Good morning! Time to get ready for the airport. I don’t get out of the hotel until 8 am, but I'm not stressed--I have plenty of time!
• Take forever to find the elevator entrance for the Asakusa Line, hop on the subway, think after an hour hmm, doesn’t seem like we’ve reached the airport yet…then look at the map and see that we PASSED the airport and I’m halfway to Yokohama. 😭😭😭 Unlike my train from Haneda, I needed to transfer at a previous stop. Google Maps did not tell me this! What the fuck!
• I get off at the next stop, lowkey freaking out as I board my flight soon, get to the airport 45 minutes later, and am at my gate shortly after as checking my bag and security took all of 5 minutes. Thank god.
• As I have some extra time, I grab some last-minute souvenirs ($61.54) and spend my remaining bills at 7-Eleven (~¥2000)—I still have a bunch of coins, but I'm counting this as a win—and get to my gate just in time for boarding. I am so sweaty and stressed. If only me from a few hours ago knew what was in her future.
• Time for the long flight back! I’m seated next to a VERY chatty West Point student which helps make the time pass. I watch a bunch of movies and take mini-naps.
• Land 12 hours later and it’s 11:00 am…again! Feels like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Breeze through customs, grab my bags, and take an Uber back to my apartment ($0 —thank you parents!). Seeing the familiar surroundings is so strange—it’s really sinking in that this trip is OVER! Happy to be home, but sad to have left.
• Get home and as my roommate isn’t here to help me stay awake, I immediately fall asleep while watching the new Drag Race ep.

💸 DAY TOTAL: $61.54

Trip Totals

Transport: $1792.63
Accommodation: $850
Food + Drink: $319.16
Fun / Entertainment: $239
Shopping: $737.26
Other: $244.66
GRAND TOTAL: $4,182.71

Reflection

I gave myself a big budget for this trip, but WOW did I spend a lot! It was worth every penny, but it does make me wonder how much I spend in my daily life that I would rather put towards travel. I don't have a dedicated travel fund but will have one going forward. (At the same time, looking at other people's savings on here makes me think I should nix the travel fund entirely in favor of contributing more towards retirement...or I could just do both lol.)
It's weird--while this trip had a lot of emotions behind it, once I was there I mostly felt...normal? I had several friends joke that this was my "eat pray love" moment, but it wasn't the trip itself that ~changed my life~ (it probably did, but not in a way I can immediately recognize); it was the booking & planning of it--choosing to take time (and money!) towards traveling. Even though I felt uncomfortable talking about it, it was nice to (somewhat) let go of the idea I had that people (including myself!) think I'm frivolous, or unserious, etc., for doing this trip and doing it alone. Money is very emotional!
If you got to the end of this, thanks for reading! <3

Here is my list for Ohio's executions that I made for my personal death penalty project. As a fair warning, many of the listed crimes are extremely depraved by nature, and I don't shy away from any of that in my entries. I'll probably do Delaware tomorrow.
The executed 56:

1. Wilford Berry Jr. (1990-1996, lethal injection): Berry and his accomplice shot dead their employer, 52 year old Charles Mitroff, while robbing a bakery they worked at.
2. Jay Scott (~1961-2001, lethal injection): Scott robbed a Deli at gunpoint, and fatally shot the owner, 74 year old Vinnie Price. He also took part in the robbery that killed a security guard, 66 year old Alexander Jones. While on death row, Scott had stabbed another inmate, held two guards hostage with two other death row inmates William Zuern and John Byrd, and set his cell on fire. His childhood was troubled, and had theft convictions dating back to when he was 9 years old.
3. John Byrd (1983-2002, lethal injection): Byrd and his partner robbed a convenience store, and kidnapped the night clerk, 40 year old Monte Tewksbury. Tewksbury was robbed of his wedding ring, wallet, and watch. The pair stabbed him and left Tewksbury for dead as they ran off with the entire register. While mortally wounded, Tewksbury called his wife. She and a customer tended to him until an ambulance arrived, and he succumbed to his injuries en route to the hospital. As mentioned under Jay Scott's section, Byrd assisted him and another death row inmate, William Zuern, in abducting two guards to force demands from the prison staff.
4. Alton Coleman (~1960s-2002, lethal injection): Coleman and his girlfriend went on a nationwide crime spree that involved the abduction murders of at least 8 mostly females and a few males. His verified and speculated victims include 79 year old Eugene Scott, 44 year old Marlene Walters, 30 year old Virginia Temple, 25 year old Donna Williams, 15 year old Tonnie Storey, 9 year old Vernita Wheat, Virginia's 9 year old daughter Rochelle, and 7 year old Tamika Turks. Walters' 45 year old husband and Turks' 9 year old aunt survived the attacks that killed their wife and niece respectively. Most of the killings were done through strangulations and beatings with blunt objects. The murders were very diverse, and they ranged from home invasion robberies, carjackings, abductions through force, and enticements. Before embarking on his killing spree, Coleman had several burglary, theft, and sexual misconduct convictions. Also sentenced to death in the states of Illinois and Indiana.
5. Robert Buell (1981-2002, lethal injection): Buell abducted, raped, and strangled at least three girls, 12 year old Tina Harmon, 11 year old Krista Harrison, and 10 year old Deborah Smith to death. All three of them were lured or pulled into his van by force while walking alone on the sidewalk. Only convicted of Harrison's murder and satisfactorily credited with Smith's death in his lifetime, Buell was posthumously linked to Harmon's murder by a DNA test in 2010. In addition to his 3 verified murders, Buell had sexually assaulted at least two women.
6. Richard Fox (~1983(?)-2003, lethal injection): Fox lured 18 year old Leslie Keckler with the promise of a job interview for his restaurant. He made an attempt to rape Keckler, but strangled and stabbed her 6 times when she fought back. Fox had several complaints of sexual harassment from his staff, a conviction of assaulting another women in circumstances similar to Keckler's murder, and is suspected in the suspicious "suicide" of his estranged wife Kim.
7. David Brewer (1985-2003, lethal injection): Brewer lured Sherry Byrne, the 21 year old wife of a college friend, into a motel room with the promise of selling her stero speakers. He raped Byrne, stabbed her 15 times, and hung her body with a necktie.
8. Ernest Martin (1983-2003, lethal injection): While robbing a drug store with his girlfriend, Martin shot and killed the owner, 70 year old Robert Robinson, with a gun he pickpocketed from a security guard a month earlier.
9. Lewis Williams Jr. (1983-2004, lethal injection): Williams broke into the home of 76 year old Leoma Chmielewski, shot her dead, and stomped on her body. He than ransacked it for anything of value, but none of the reports on hand to me mentioned any items that were stolen.
10. John Roe (1984-2004, lethal injection): Roe abducted 21 year old Donette Crawford in the parking lot of a convenience store, shot her in the back of the head, and drove off with her car and purse.
11. William Wickline (~1971-2004, lethal injection): Wickline strangled and dismembered a married couple, 28 year old Christopher and 25 year old Peggy Lerch, in a dispute over a drug debt. He also was confirmed to have strangled and decapitated a rival drug dealer, 34 year old Charles Marsh, in West Virginia, but was unable to be charged for it due to his death sentence in Ohio. Wickline has been suspected in several other murders, and had previous convictions for burglary, drug dealing, and pimping.
12. William Zuern Jr. (1984-2004, lethal injection): Zuern shot and killed 24 year old Gregory Earls for testifying against his father that was convicted of drug dealing. As he was awaiting trial for Earls' murder, Zuern stabbed Phillip Pence, a 26 year old corrections officer, to death while he was searching his cell for weapons. While on death row, Zuern assisted the above mentioned Jay Scott and John Byrd in kidnapping two guards to extort concessions from the prison staff.
13. Stephen Vrabel (1989-2004, lethal inection): Vrabel fatally shot his 29 year old girlfriend Susan Clemente and their 3 year old daughter Lisa, and stuffed their bodies in a refrigerator for a month. He turned himself and the remains over to the police after confiding his crimes to a priest.
14. Scott Mink (2000-2004, lethal injection): Enraged that his parents, 79 year old William and 72 year old Sheila, stole his car keys to prevent him from seeking out drugs, Mink beat, stabbed, and strangled them with a claw hammer, kitchen knives, and an electrical cord. He then stole their credit cards and used them to buy cocaine.
15. Adremy Dennis (1994-2004, lethal injection): Dennis and his accomplice robbed 29 year old Kurt Kyle of $15 outside a bar and shot him to death.
16. William Smith (1987-2005, lethal injection): Smith and 47 year old Mary Bradford were out dancing at a bar together, and decided to spend the night at her home. Although they initially engaged in consensual sex, Smith raped and stabbed Bradford 10 times when he discovered his cocaine missing. He left Bradford to die of her injuries on her bed, and stole 2 televisions and a stereo set from the home.
17. Herman Ashworth (1996-2005, lethal injection): Ashworth was drinking at a bar with 40 year old Daniel Baker, and the pair walked out together into alley. After Baker allegedly made sexual advances, Ashworth beat him with a board. Baker was kicked to death in the attack, and over $40 was stolen from his wallet.
18. William Williams Jr. (~1976-2005, lethal injection): With the help of his underaged girlfriend, her brother, and two other teenagers, Williams abducted 4 rival drug dealers, 23 year old William Dent, 23 year old Theodore Wynn, 21 year old Alfonda Madison, and 20 year old Eric Howard. The victims were bound, strangled, and shot. After Williams was arrested, he and 3 other men broke out of jail and tried storming the juvenile jail that his accomplices were held at in an attempt to kill them for testifying against him. Although Williams and his accomplices took hostages, they surrendered without issue. Williams also had past convictions of bank robbery, assault, breaking and entering, and cocaine trafficking.
19. John Hicks (1985-2005, lethal injection): In search of money for cocaine, Hicks robbed his mother in law, 56 year old Maxine Armstrong, of $300 and her credit cards, and strangled her to death with his bare hands and clotheslines. To eliminate any witnesses, he smothered his stepdaughter, 5 year old Brandy Green, with a pillow, duct tape, and his hands, and dismembered her body.
20. Glenn Benner II (~1985-2006, lethal injection): Over the course of several months in late 1985 and mid 1986, Benner kidnapped two women, 26 year old Cynthia Sedgwick and 21 year old Trina Bowser, that he was acquainted with. Sedgwick and Bowser were both raped and strangled to death with their own clothes. Benner was also responsible for the non fatal abductions and sexual assaults of at least 3 other women. Two were attacked while jogging and biking, and the third was victimized in her own home.
21. Joseph Clark (~1960-2006, lethal injection): Clark shot dead two clerks, 23 year old David Manning and 21 year old Donald Harris, in the robberies of a convenience store and a gas station. His execution was controversial, as it took the executioners 90 minutes to find his veins. Clark also had an extensive criminal record that dated back to when he was 14 years old, and his previous arrests include burglary, theft, autotheft, and assisting a sexual assault.
22. Rocky Barton (~1991-2006, lethal injection): Barton shot and killed his fourth wife, 44 year old Kimbirli, in front of his daughter and uncle during an argument and turned the gun on himself. He survived with facial disfigurements. Barton had a long history of extreme domestic abuse. In one incident, Barton beat one of his previous wives with the butt of his shotgun, stabbed her, and cut her throat. The former wife survived and Barton served 8 years of incarceration for attempted murder for the attack.
23. Darrell Ferguson (2001-2006, lethal injection): Ferguson stabbed his step-uncle, 61 year old Thomas King, to death and stole two television sets and a radio that were sold to buy cocaine. The next day, Ferguson broke into the home of a couple, 69 year old Mae and 68 year old Arile Fugate, that were his former neighbors, and stabbed and stomped on them to death.
24. Jeffrey Lundgren (1989-2006, lethal injection): Lundgren controlled a splinter group of what is now the Community of Christ church. He orchestrated the abductions of the Avery family (consisting of parents, 49 year old Denis and 46 year old Cheryl, and 3 children, 15 year old Trina, 13 year old Rebecca, and 7 year old Karen), his followers that fell out of Lundgren's favor to due to disputes over finances. The Averys were all lured into a barn, tied up, gagged, and shot in the head as part of a ritualistic sacrifice. Lundgren and his followers also made plans to seize the Kirtland temple from their parent church, but backed out after they embezzled $40,000 for the scheme.
25. James Filiaggi (1993-2007, lethal injection): Filiaggi and his ex wife, 27 year old Lisa Huff, divorced after only 9 months of marriage. He targeted her and her new fiance in a prolonged harassment campaign, which included threats over the telephone and acts of vandalism. The harassment escalated when he assaulted Huff's fiance while he was visiting their daughters. Two days later, Filiaggi chased down Huff from her home to a neighbor's house and shot her dead. He also made an attempt on her stepfather's life as well, but he was fended off with pepper spray.
26. Christopher Newton (2001-2007, lethal injection): Newton was originally incarcerated for burglarizing his father's home. In prison, Newton strangled and asphyxiated his cellmate, 27 year old Jason Brewer, with a sheet and a cloth gag in a fight over a chess game they were playing. Allegedly, Newton licked Brewer's blood off his hands, a detail that he bragged to investigators about. Brewer was also serving time for burglary when he was murdered. Due to Newton's obesity, the executioners had a difficult time finding the veins to administer the fatal drugs to, and thus his execution took over 2 hours to complete.
27. Richard Cooey II (1986-2007, lethal injection): Cooey's teenage friend was throwing concrete off a bridge, and one piece struck a car that two college students, 21 year old Wendy Offredo and 20 year old Dawn McCreery, were riding in. Cooey, the teenage friend, and another friend drove by Offredo and McCreery's wrecked car, and enticed the two women into their vehicle with the promise of helping them. Cooey held the pair at knifepoint and tied them both up. He and his teenage accomplice raped, stabbed, and beat Offredo and McCreery with a billy club over the course of a 3 hour long assault, while his third friend backed out. The attack ended when Cooey and his accomplice strangled Offredo and McCreery to death with their shoelaces.
28. Gregory Bryant-Bey (1992-2008, lethal injection): Bryant-Bey stabbed 48 year old Dale Pinkelman in the chest while robbing his Collectibles store, and murdered 61 year old Peter Mihas while robbing his restaurant in a similar fashion. He stripped both Pinkelman and Mihas of their pants and socks, and stole Pinkelman's car.
29. Daniel Wilson (1991-2008, lethal injection): Wilson abducted a friend, 24 year old Carol Lutz, while they were drinking at a bar together. According to prosecutors, the kidnapping was motivated by Wilson's anger at Lutz rejecting his advances. He locked her in the trunk of his car, and set it on fire with Lutz trapped inside it.
30. John Fautenberry (1984-2009, lethal injection): Across the states of Alaska, New Jersey, Ohio, and possibly Oregon, Fautenberry murdered 4 men, 47 year old Don Nuttley, 45 year old Joseph Daron, Jr., 39 year old Jeff Diffee, and 27 year old Gary Farmer, and one woman, 32 year old Christine Guthrie. The victims were all individuals that Fautenberry picked up as he was working as a truck driver. Most of his killings were done through shootings, but one victim was stabbed 18 times. Fautenberry then robbed their bodies, usually taking money, but his theft of an ATM card proved to be his downfall when he used it after a victim was reported missing.
31. Marvallous Keene (1992-2009, lethal injection): In a 3 day crime spree, Keene and his accomplices murdered 6 people between the ages of 16 to 38. Half of the victims, 38 year old Sarah Abraham, 34 year old Joseph Wilkerson, and 18 year old Danita Gullette, were shot dead in robberies. The remaining half, 19 year old Richmond Maddox, 18 year old Marvin Washington, and 16 year old Wendy Cottrill were shot and killed by Keene's gang out of fear of them being police informants.
32. Jason Getsy (~1992-2009, lethal injection): Gesty and 2 other men were hired by a landscaping contractor to kill a business rival. They tracked down the rival in his home, and shot him and his mother, 66 year old Ann Serafino. Serafino died on the scene, while her son survived his injuries. Getsy also had a negligent homicide conviction when a 14 year old friend was killed playing Russian Roulette with him.
33. Kenneth Biros (1991-2009, lethal injection): While partying at a bar with her uncle, 22 year old Tami Engstrom became heavily intoxicated, and Biros offered to give her a ride to help sober up. He took advantage of an inebriated Engstrom, and beat and strangled her to death. Biros then sexually mutilated and dismembered her body. Pieces of it were scattered all across Northeastern Ohio and Northwestern Pennsylvania.
34. Vernon Smith (1993-2010, lethal injection): Smith and his accomplices held up a convenience store and forced the owner Sohail Darwish, a 28 year old Palestinian immigrant, to open the register. Despite Darwish complying with his demands, Smith shot him dead. He and his accomplices stole $400 in cash and $50 in food stamps.
35. Mark Brown (1994-2010, lethal injection): Brown and a partner walked into a store owned by a family of Arab immigrants to buy cigarettes. They shot the two shopkeepers present, 32 year old Hayder Al Tuyrk and 30 year old Isam Salman, dead.
36. Lawrence Reynolds (1994-2010, lethal injection): Reynolds broke into the home of 67 year old Loretta Foster while he was drunk. He tied her up, beat her with a tent pole, and made an attempt to rape her. Foster was then strangled to death with rope, and Reynolds stole $40 and a blank check from her home. Foster had previously babysat some of Reynolds' younger siblings.
37. Darryl Durr (~1988-2010, lethal injection): Durr kidnapped 16 year old Angel Vincent from her home while her parents were away. Vincent was tied up, raped and strangled to death with a dog chain. Durr was a serial sex offender, and had two other rape convictions that enabled the investigators to link him to Vincent's murder.
38. Michael Beuke (~1983-2010, lethal injection): Beuke abducted and robbed 3 men that picked him hitchhiking. He shot all 3 of his victims, but only 27 year old Robert Craig was immediately killed. Another victim, 28 year old Gregory Wahoff, was crippled for life, and died in 2006 from complications relating to his injuries. Allegedly, Beuke committed the robberies to pay for a lawyer for a then upcoming trial against drug trafficking charges.
39. William Garner (1992-2010, lethal injection): Garner was robbing the home of a woman who undergoing treatment at the emergency room. Her children, 13 year old Rodriczus Mack, 12 year old Denitra Satterwhite, 10 year old Deondra Freeman, and 8 year old Mykkila Mason, her niece, 11 year old Markeca Mason, and Rodriczus' friend, 11 year old Richard Gaines, were all sleeping in their beds. To eliminate witnesses, Garner used the electronic outlets to set the house on fire. Almost all the children, save for Rodriczus, were burned to death.
40. Roderick Davie (1991-2010, lethal injection): Davie stormed a veterinary company that he was fired from months earlier. He fired on 3 of this coworkers, and killed one, 38 year old John Coleman, and wounded another. When he ran out of bullets, he grabbed a folding chair, and used it to beat another coworker, 21 year old Tracey Jefferys, to death. The wounded third coworker was beaten and poked in the eye with a stick, but was spared when Davie fled the scene.
41. Michael Benge (1993-2010, lethal injection): Benge beat his girlfriend, 38 year old Judith Gabbard, to death with a tire iron while they were arguing. In an attempt to deflect attention from himself, he gave her ATM card to some random men, and told investigators that she was robbed and killed by them.
42. Frank Spisak Jr. (1982-2011, lethal injection): An aspiring Neo Nazi, Spisak shot 3 black men and boys and a white man he mistook for being Jewish, in his personal campaign to cleanse minorities. 3 of the victims, 57 year old Horace Rickerson, 50 year old Timothy Sheehan, and 17 year Brian Warford were killed, and the 4th victim, 55 year old John Hardaway survived his injuries. Spisak also fired on a woman for making derisive comments about the Nazi party, but she escaped unharmed.
43. Johnnie Baston (1982-2011, lethal injection): During an armed robbery of a sporting goads store, Baston shot the owner Chong-Hoon Mah, a 53 year old South Korean immigrant, dead and emptied the cash register.
44. Clarence Carter (~1983-2011, lethal injection): Carter shot and killed Michael Hadnot (age unknown), a drug user that stole drugs and incriminating documents, on the behest of his drug gang. While awaiting trial for Hadnot's murder, Carter got into a fight with another inmate, 33 year old Johnny Allen, and beat and stomped on him to death. Carter had a violent criminal history, which included several assault charges.
45. Daniel Bedford (1984-2011, lethal injection): Furious at her rejections of rekindling their former relationship, Bedford fatally shot his ex girlfriend, 25 year old Gwen Toepfert, and her boyfriend, 27 year old John Smith, in their apartment.
46. Reginald Brooks Sr. (1982-2011, lethal injection): To get back at his estranged wife for filing for divorce, Brooks shot their 3 sons, 17 year old Reginald Jr., 15 year old Vaughn, and 11 year old Niarchos as they were sleeping in their beds. Family accounts mentioned that Brooks was often violent with his sons and ex wife. In one reported incident just two weeks before the murders, Brooks got into an altercation with two of his sons over homework, and he threatened their lives after they subdued him.
47. Mark Wiles (~1983-2011, lethal injection): Wiles worked as a part time farm hand for couple Charles and Carol Klimas. He was fired after they suspected him of stealing $200. A year after he was let go, Wiles broke into their farm to rob it, and found himself confronted by Mark, the Kilmas' 15 year old son. He stabbed the boy 24 times, stole $240 from the home, and left the body for his parents to find. Wiles served a 4 to 24 year sentence for an unrelated burglary after he was fired by the Kilmas, but was released shortly before he murdered Mark.
48. Donald Palmer (1989-2012, lethal injection): Palmer had set his sights on robbing 43 year old Charles Sponhaltz, a former boyfriend of his ex wife. As he and his accomplice were staking out Sponhaltz's house, his accomplice ran into Sponhaltz's car as he was pulling in. The three got into an argument and shot him dead. Palmer also fatally shot a random driver, 41 year old Steven Vargo, when he pulled over to see what the commotion was all about.
49. Brett Hartman (1997-2012, lethal injection): Hartman had a sexual relationship with 46 year old Winda Snipes. When she refused intercourse at her apartment, he bound Snipes to her own bed, stabbed her 138 times with a butcher knife, and cut her hands off.
50. Frederick Treesh (1994-2013, lethal injection): Treesh and his accomplices carried out a heist on an Ohio adult bookstore. As they were binding the customers and employees, the security guard, 58 year old Henry Dupree resisted and was shot dead by them. A second victim, the cashier, was also hit by gunfire, but he managed to live through his wounds. Days earlier, they held up a Michigan video store owned by 39 year old Ghassan Danno and his brother, a pair of Iraqi immigrants. The group shot both of the brothers during the robbery. Danno was killed and his brother survived his injuries. Treesh's crime spree also included several bank robberies and sexual assaults.
51. Steven Smith (1998-2013, lethal injection): In his apartment, Smith raped Autumn Carter, his girlfriend's 6 month old daughter, and suffocated her with a pillow.
52. Harry Mitts Jr. (1994-2013, lethal injection): Mitts was enraged that his black neighbor, 28 year old John Bryant, was seeing a white woman, and shot him to death in front of his girlfriend when they returned home from grocery shopping. He also shot and killed a police officer, 40 year old Dennis Glivar, that responded to the scene. Glivar's colleagues wounded and subdued Mitts in the following shootout.
53. Dennis McGuire (1989-2014, lethal injection): McGuire kidnapped a pregnant woman, 22 year old Joy Stewart, as she was walking to visit the home of a friend's mother, and sodomized her. He strangled and cut Stewart's throat, and dumped her body in the woods where it was found by hikers. His execution was controversial, as witnesses recounted him gasping for air and that his death lasted for 25 minutes rather than the planned 8 minutes. McGuire had other convictions unrelated to Stewart's murder, but the details were kept vague in my sources.
54. Ronald Phillips (1993-2017, lethal injection): Philips molested and physically assaulted Sheila Evans, his girlfriend's 3 year old daughter, on numerous occasions. The girl's mother assisted him in the abuse and even pinned her down to be raped in a few of the incidents. Evans was killed when her head was slammed against a wall.
55. Gary Otte (1992-2017, lethal injection): In the span of a day, Otte broke into the apartments of 61 year old Robert Wasikowsk and 45 year old Sharon Kostura, and shot them dead. He stole a combined total of $470 dollars, Kostura's car keys, and her checkbook.
56. Robert Van Hook (~1975-2018, lethal injection): Van Hook went to a bar popular among Cincinnati's gay residents, and seduced 25 year old David Self. He convinced Self to take him back to his apartment on the pretenses of hooking up. When they were inside, Van Hook strangled Self, sliced open his body with a kitchen knife, stuffed the weapon and a cigarette butt inside it, and took off with Self's jewelry. Van Hook had been robbing and assaulting homosexual men since he was 15, which undermined his gay panic defense for Self's murder.

I've always been a big fan of masago and salmon roe, and have had a few types of caviar at nice restaurants. I recently had trout roe for the first time and loved it, I was looking online at some places to buy them and I see a ton of different varieties. I'd like to try some different things but there are a lot of options and buying a little bit of all of them is just prohibitively expensive.
What are some good varieties?
Also who's the best purveyor?