Last weekend, I visited Lake Tahoe, NV to enjoy some nature, but ended up all 3 days at the casino :(
As I lose money, I always start counting how much money the dealer has.. Here I am playing with $5 chips and the dealer has $10,000.. $20,000, $100,000... sitting in front of me. Then I sometime wish the lights go out so I can just take one $1000 chip.
Well guess what.. as I was playing at a craps table, the lights went out!
In the movie Oceans Eleven, when the lights go out, chaos breaks loose. Everyone smacks everyone trying to get all the chips they can
So when this happened, I was ready. I was just looking around to see who's going to jump in first... Well I was a bit disappointed. What actually happens is.. everyone including myself covers their own chips and the dealers are told to not move.. and then the pit boss comes out with a flash light and returns everyone's bets. It's quite uneventful. The ATM machines are still running and slot machines return with the original credits.
One cool thing was that the lights went out when we crapped out and when the dealers were cleaning the chips, but apparently she didn't clean my chips yet.. so she thought it was my bet and gave me back the money I should've lost. Felt a little guilty, but there are plenty of times the dealer made a mistake and gave me less chips or just didn't give me my winnings so.. ok..ok.. no justifying.. I was evil. I walked off with the money. Sorry Harvey's Lake Tahoe.
The other day, I was taking a nap and I hear this cracking sound but no big deal. Probably just the dog biting on his bone.
Lesson learned : don't leave anything on the floor. The dog will pick it up and chew on it.
There's suppose to be a picture there, but the lcd is damaged :*( The phone doesn't vibrate anymore either.
I searched on ebay / Craigslist for a replacement, but they were all $200+. At that much I was thinking of making the jump to AT&T and buying a refurb iPhone.
Walked into Verizon today and they told me they'll give me replacement for only $50 :)
It must be the free El Decor magazine subscription I got, but I'm starting to buy furniture. I use to just buy the bare essentials from Ikea until now.
Let's start with this useless giant clock from Crate and Barrel. Extremely useless, but it's so big you can see the minute hand moving, I had to get it.
Something was empty in the living room with just 1 sofa, so I found this Crate and Barrel Petrie chair. Of coarse I found it used on craigslist :) Got it for less than half the price :)
and the sofa was upgraded from an Ikea Klippan to a Crate and Barrel Axis sofa. Now I can lie down on my sofa. Once again, I found this for cheap on craigslist too :) Wasn't quite half, but almost 40% off and the condition was new too!
and the bed sheets have been upgraded! When Macy's had the 20% off, I looked for a bed sheet that was on sale and stacked the coupon :) I know Macy's still making a good profit off of me, but boy, it feels like I got a great deal!
The dog pretty much uses my furnitures like it's her's but I got her something too :) Had to pay retail for it and she hates it:(
I apologize in advance for a bit of a sensitive post.
Although the puppy from the previous post peed and farted everywhere in the home, from spending almost every hour together for a week, I fell in love with her.
... Guess what, the previous owner came back from a trip and decided to not put her up for adoption.
I was upset, but what can I do right?
I gave her back to the owner because I figured longer I have the puppy, it'll be harder for myself.
The last 3 days have been very depressing. The home is so quiet now :(
I've been wanting a dog for a while and my brother mentioned one day he had a dog that needed a new home at the vet hospital he works at. Well one thing led to another and here she is!
She is very cute and very well behaved. She literally snores and farts left and right. It's ok, it's smelly, but shes cute.
I'd hate for her to sit at home alone for 8 hours everyday. I really want to keep her, but I have to think for the dog/puppy too. Might be happier in a home with other dogs or kids to play with.
I told my brother and apparently the previous owner may want her back.
In the last 3-4 days, I built up an attachment for this dog and would be a bit depressed to see her go, but I think it's the right thing :(
Maybe I'm aging, but tearing junk mail started to hurt my delicate fingers so I finally gave into a junk mail shredder from Staples for $20 shipped after rebate Playstation controller put beside to compare size
The unit is pretty heavy for the size and can serve as weights for training. Build seems to be very quality. The only complaint I have is that the shredder makes a high pitch banshee like sound when shredding paper, but it beats having to rip junkmail by hand.
Recently used all my vacation hours and visited Japan.
Here are some differences I noticed
1. Many "useless job opportunities in Japan". Elevator girls, crosswalk guards everywhere, people standing in front of cash exchange machines, people everywhere to just be yelling the obvious, etc.
(pic not by me)
They can all be easily automated
2. Elmos are a rip off in Japan. ~$70 US + limit 1 / customer.
3. No tips accepted. I always scratch my head when they work so hard to please you. What's the incentive?
4. people love lines. not exactly true. But the tip to finding a good restaurant here is to find a restaurant with lines since they don't have yelp here so this forms lines at a few restaurants and keeps others empty.
5. Sushi is cheap in Japan! Well at least compared to US
6. Fruits are expensive in Japan. This melon here is around $29 USD, but many can be found for $100. Strawberries, watermelons.. ridiculous. It's not especially good or anything either. I bought strawberries that were about $0.75 a piece and they tasted exactly the same as Costco strawberries
7. Almost all bathrooms are nice and by Toto. First you sit down and the seat warms up, secondly, they have this button to air out the smell so even you don't have to smell your own poopoo, thirdly, they clean your butt for you with warm water (you can adjust the strength and even adjust the location it sprays), fourthly, you can select how big you want the flush to be. This saves water and toilet paper
8. Driver is "usually" on the right side
9. Almost every home is equipped with filtered water
10. Yoshinoya is the same in Japan. I heard many times that Yoshinoya in Japan is so much better and they do present it better and give you more options, but when it comes down to beef bowl vs beef bowl, it's the same
11. Cars have clear corners in Japan. US requires you to have amber in your corner lights.
12. In Japan, New Years is the biggest holiday. At the start of it, Japanese families usually eat "osechi ryori." Each part of the osechi means something. Like seaweed symbolizes happiness for the year.
13. Love hotels can be spotted everywhere. It's a hotel that let's you stay for 3-4 hours or more if needed. It only costs like $40 and they call it "service time" or "rest time." This one I took a picture of has some special theme
14. Many people are browsing on their cell phones, PSP, or DS. You sit on a train, 50% of the people'll have their cell phones out and browsing
15. Mister Donut is hot in Japan. Apparently it's a company that started in Texas, but spreading like virus around asia
16. Japanese Postal Service
17. A few restaurant differences. Many have this machine outside of the restaurant where you choose what you want to eat like a vending machine and get a ticket. Give this ticket when you enter and they'll start making the food. Also keep in mind the menus are usually at the table. First time, I sat at the table and just waited for them to give me one. I also one time handed them the menu after I was done ordering and they gave it back to me.
18. Amazon.co.jp gives free shipping if you order over $15 USD. =P They also ship EXTREMELY fast.. probably because Japan isn't so big.
19. Japan has Chinatowns. Yes. Strangely things are very expensive here.
20. Green Pearl Tea in Japan is the best! I always heard Pearl Tea in Japan is good and I suspected it to be the same as Fantasia, but this pearl tea gave me the same reaction as the food critic from Ratatouille when he ate ratatouille.
21. There's a lot of foot traffic, so many people perform on the streets
22. 7-Eleven and other convenience stores have great food! I think I ate at 7-eleven about 10 times.
23. Avoid trains during rush hour... I found it funny at first how they packed people into trains and I was still laughing when I was being pushed into the train but that turned into pain and fear really quickly. Never again.
This is exactly what happened
24. Supermarkets will lower the price of their food when it becomes about 30 mins ~ hour away from closing. I got ehse sushi/yakitoris for 40% off!
25. Every service treats you like a king. I walked into 7-eleven and bought a drink and they would bow and thank me like I did them a huge favor. I also asked a janitor which train to take and he was extremely helpful.
(pic not by me)
26. Openly sexist. Yes. Places would charge differently depending on your sex. This all you can eat place charges 1260 yen if you are a women and 1575 yen if you are a man.
27. UFO catchers are hot in Japan. Almost every block where there are couples/kids, there is a UFO catcher store and they are made extremely well. It's easy to win, but usually takes a couple of tries to win.
At first, I just didn't get it.. I kept losing my money, but then I watched this youtube video and I became pro.
Here are some of my winnings =P
28. Pachinko is hot in Japan as well. It's pretty much a legal casino. I lost about $10 and just didn't find it exciting so I left it at that.
29. Japan has a lot of temples.. and they take your money left and right if you are gullible enough. There will be a place for "love" "education" "career".. etc. etc.. and you feel the need to throw money for each subject so everything will be well.
30. Green Tea is hot in Japan. Remember "Maccha" is the word for green tea
31. Oshiri Kajiri Mushi (Butt Biting Bug) is apparently hot in Japan right now. Don't ask.
I can go on and on.. but definitely visit Japan once in your life time! :)
The rest are some random moments I've had in Japan
old cemetary
Fujisan
View from hotel
Greentea Ice Cream
Omote san doori
Ramen Museum
Kid about to step on dog's feet. Crazy timing. I was just trying to take a picture of the dog and this kid walked in. His mom bowed to the dog after this... pretty funny.
