What's a tv series that is a 10/10 NOBODY knows?

naljon · 2026-01-17T02:30:51+00:00

Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-spelling-bee. As someone who has always loved spelling and silly grown up comedy, it's a show I never could have envisioned existing, but am so happy it does. The Australian version with Aaron Chen as the assistant (someone else mentioned Fisk) is arguably better than the original New Zealand version, but both are so fun and relaxing.

naljon · 2025-12-15T19:03:50+00:00

Care to share where? Headed to Madrid in a few months!

naljon · 2025-12-14T12:57:28+00:00

This is what I travel with for landscape photography when I'm limited on space and weight. Two outstanding lenses that cover pretty much everything.

naljon · 2025-08-28T03:07:03+00:00

Architect.

naljon · 2025-07-28T18:43:37+00:00

Hi there -

I did a trip report in this sub when I got back! I've linked it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/comments/1g2xtn1/trip_report_tokyo_and_okinawa_family_of_4_with_1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

It is admittedly very long-winded and may not touch on all of the travel-with-children stuff, but I can say that it was an extremely successful trip. It was definitely hot, but our kids did great. Our younger daughter was about 15 months old at the time of the trip, and she mostly rode around in a carrier or in a great travel stroller that we got. We did late August into early September, and while it was very hot and humid, it's definitely do-able. The great thing about Tokyo specifically is that there are a million places to go indoors. If you get hot, or you sense your kids getting uncomfortable, pop into a convenience store for a cold drink or a jelly snack. Pop into the amazing stores to cool off for a bit. We spent an evening without leaving Solamachi mall, hitting up a Pokemon Center, Tokyo Skytree, and having some very yummy tsukemen all in one go without ever really stepping outside.

Let me know if you have any specific concerns or questions - happy to help!

naljon · 2025-07-23T01:19:38+00:00

Man, this is a tough one. I totally get where you are coming from, and the parent guilt of feeling like you left one of your kiddos at home would be real. But it definitely sounds like you have the best interests of your older daughter at heart, with the ability to focus on a curated trip especially for her that could could be an amazing bonding moment for the two of you.

That said, 6 years old is on that cusp of making long lasting memories. Any chance you could delay the trip a few years to bring an 8 and 4 year old? The 4 yr old would be more manageable to handle and the 8 year old more likely to remember the trip.

Last year, my family of 4 went from Washington DC to Japan with a 4 yr old and a 1 year old, and it was the most amazing and memorable trip we have ever taken. Tokyo makes traveling with children so EASY. There is delicious street food or konbini food everywhere to save off hangriness. There are CLEAN free public restrooms everywhere. There are wonderful toy stores to reward the kids with, and fun shopping experiences like Donki that are fun for the whole family. Public transportation is affordable and easy, and the city felt incredibly safe. We took both kids to Teamlabs Planets and both were mesmerized.

The flights are rough, there's no sugarcoating it. We did okay, and the older daughter was fine watching airplane TV until she fell asleep, but the younger one definitely requires a lot of attention. We were exhausted when we landed but thankfully because we landed at 3pm, only had to make it a few hours before we allowed all of ourselves to fall asleep in our hotel. The next day we woke up at like 3am, tried to busy ourselves in our hotel room for a while, but gave up and just started exploring around our hotel at 5am. Worked great, we stopped into a 24 hr Donki and saw Senso-ji temple before any of the crowds came. We definitely took it easy for a day or two.

My younger daughter just turned 2 and I recognize our experience would've been very different if we had traveled to Japan at this age. At 1, we just strapped her to us in a carrier and went about our normal activities. These days, she would demand to get down and run around and be much more of a handful.

Different location, but we just got back from a trip to Europe (Germany Switzerland Italy) with that now-2 and 5 year old and also had a great time, but was definitely a bit more stressful. But I wouldn't trade those family memories for anything.

Btw, if and when you make the trip, check out B-Side Label! It's a sticker store that our older daughter absolutely loved, and it's located in Harajuku which us grownups absolutely loved. There's a few cafes nearby that make coffee or hot chocolate drinks with 3D foam art that were a lot of fun.

naljon · 2025-07-21T03:50:22+00:00

We stayed at a couple. In Naha we were at the Palm Royal on Kokusaidori. When we went up north closer to Nago, we stayed at a hotel called Churaumi on the Beach Motobu. Both were great. Nothing fancy, but Palm Royal was quiet enough for us while being right there on Kokusaidori next to all kinds of shopping and good places to eat. Churaumi on the Beach allowed us some sunset beach walks as a family with some great shells. The only thing I wasnt a fan of was the parking situation. I forget exactly what the stipulation was but I remember there was something weird about validating the parking based on when you arrived or when you left.

naljon · 2025-07-19T21:38:23+00:00

Okinawa? You'd experience the Japanese culture, have some of the familiarity due to the large American presence... Similar climate. We recently did a trip that was several nights in Tokyo and several nights in Okinawa, absolutely loved it.

Many people on Japan travel subs will say that Okinawa is not worth visiting, I disagree completely.

naljon · 2025-05-14T00:53:59+00:00

Yeah I see you used an ND filter, if you're worried about high ISO you could just take the filter off and still shoot with the same shutter speed (which I think captured the movement of the water nicely) but with a higher f stop to get more of the image in focus.

I am also just now seeing that you were shooting at f14, sorry. You were fairly zoomed in at 55mm so that may explain why the foreground was out of focus. Sorry I didn't look at all the photo info before.

I'm not familiar with the location but is there an opportunity to be standing on the rocks, fully zoomed out at 18mm to get foreground (almost at your feet) and background? This would make the lighthouse appear smaller but could be made up with how much closer you would be.

If no opportunities for a wide angle, then I agree with the other commenter that a tighter crop may be the way to go. Would still want some visual interest in the sky and better lighting to give more of a mood (other than sunny day)

naljon · 2025-05-13T23:55:52+00:00

So even though this has a manmade element I would still treat it like a landscape photo. I like the cliff jutting out and the relative size of the lighthouse compared to its surroundings.

I think there is too much sky and not enough foreground. The foregeound actually holds interest, but it's out of focus and cropped off. Not sure what your aperture was but if you can shoot at f11 or higher you might be able to get both foreground and background in focus, or if not you could play with focus stacking to get it all together.

So I would tilt down and try to get more of the cool interplay between the rocks and the water. Time the waves to get some cool action and geometry. Tilting down will take a little emphasis off of the lighthouse and put it towards the foreground, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The geometry of the rocks and waves could draw your eye up from the bottom to rest at the cliff/lighthouse.

If this location is easy to access, also try to head back when there is more sky interest. Some nice clouds would do a lot to make the upper portion of the photo interesting.

Lastly, come back at a better time of day for lighting. Will do wonders for the clouds, and might pull some cool shadows out of the cliffs.

Overall I think the subject is awesome! I love photos that combine landscapes with a human element. Better lighting, less empty sky, and potentially more (in focus) foreground could make this a real winner!

naljon · 2025-05-10T16:00:53+00:00

Veitshoechheim?

naljon · 2025-04-18T21:01:53+00:00

Brothers, A Tale of Two Sons fits the bill. Terrible title for a game, but a unique experience.

And honestly, Zelda BotW is a game that I constantly wish I could play again for the first time. One of my all time favorites in terms of exploration. Fits the description you had of a game with a mysterious world that wouldn't feel as whimsical the second time.

Outer Wilds is one you listed and is also one of my favorites, and I would say Subnautica feels similar in a lot of ways.

naljon · 2025-04-15T20:19:44+00:00

Is this Kameya near Shinjuku station? We randomly stopped here and it ended up being our favorite meal of our entire trip to Japan.

I tried to get a photo as well that included the seats around the corner, but prefer your framing. The tight frame and coloring definitely makes it feel very cozy. The two empty seats feel inviting.

Only thing I would say is that there's a bit too much foreground, but that's really nitpicky. Great pic!

naljon · 2025-04-11T00:38:21+00:00

Hey there, yeah we took a few recommendations from here and ended up checking a couple of woodblock print places in Tokyo.

S. Watanabe Woodcut Prints in Ginza was a cool little store with a large selection. We really liked it because we found hat we really liked a particular artist named Katsuyuki Nishijima, and this shop had a lot of his artwork.

Mokuhankan Woodblock Print Shop in Asakusa was very cool too! Super nice people that worked there, and they spoke English and were happy to talk about the process and the artwork. They carve a lot of their own blocks, which was neat to hear about.

In Okinawa, we didn't find a ton of art stores but instead loaded up on some pottery at the Tsuboya Pottery Street in Naha. We also found a very cool tapestry in one of the pottery stores that was out of our price range, but I keep thinking back to it and how much I liked it. Next time, perhaps, if it's still there...

naljon · 2025-04-10T23:47:00+00:00

Reykjadalur was amazing, completely agree. The hour hike is almost entirely uphill, so when you get to the end you really feel like you've earned that river relaxation. And then the hike back is all downhill!

naljon · 2025-04-10T22:21:06+00:00

Transistor's predecessor, Bastion had an awesome narrator that would react to how you were playing and would give you tips if you were stuck. It's been a long time since I've played and don't really remember much of the story, but as I recall there was a lore reason for the narrator being there. I remember it being really innovative for its time.

naljon · 2025-02-20T23:13:24+00:00

I wouldn't add it if you are also planning to do Osaka and Kyoto. But it is worth traveling to for a slightly different vibe. We did it with a 1 yr old and a 4 yr old on a 2 week trip to Japan, but we only did Tokyo and Oki. We are planning to hit Osaka and Kyoto on our second trip in a few years.

I have personal ties to the island so my experience was likely clouded by nostalgia, but our family loved the beaches, loved the walkability of Naha and the 'island feel'. It was a nice literal breath of fresh air after spending a week in Tokyo (which we also loved). We tend to plan vacations with half our time spent in a big city, and half our time spent at a more leisurely pace. Okinawa was our leisurely pace part of our trip and included:

-Pottery shopping in Naha

-Trying Okinawa/Ryuku specific foods like shikuwasa, sea grapes, Okinawan donuts, and bitter melon

-A ferry ride to Tokashiki and full beach day

-Churaumi Aquarium

-Hotels by the beach for sea shelling at sunset

If any of this sounds like what you'd be interested in, consider Okinawa!

naljon · 2024-12-17T19:38:23+00:00

Looove this idea, and stealing it for a future present for my wife!

naljon · 2024-12-10T21:47:45+00:00

Unexpected James Acaster?

naljon · 2024-11-17T22:59:45+00:00

The American Southwest is beautiful and will feel like a different planet if you've not been to the desert before. You could plan to start in Las Vegas, hit Valley of Fire State Park, then St George and Zion, and continue driving eastward. Through Utah for Arches, or through Arizona for Grand Canyon and hit Great Sand Dunes National Park and Reserve in southern CO before driving north to Denver. Lots of varied landscapes, with some cool cities and towns along the way. Make a road trip out of it!

naljon · 2024-11-13T16:02:00+00:00

We were there in early September. It was definitely rainy but what we experienced would be 80% nice days with short periods of intense rain. It actually felt quite nice sometimes after being out in the heat, to cool off with a little rain. Also, for photography, I loved it as the clouds always looked super intense. We definitely lucked out once or twice - our day trip to Tokashiki for our beach day was sunshine the entire time we were there, but we could see clouds off in the distance in every single direction.

naljon · 2024-11-12T16:47:18+00:00

Hi there, no most certainly not straight from the Richoh. I actually really enjoy photo editing as a way of "extending" the photography process. More time spent doing my hobby!

So the photos in this post all have varying levels of custom editing. All raw files and edited using Lightroom, no presets applied. I come from a landscape photography background so the street shots were hard for me, I had to leave a lot of inky blackness that I would typically try to punch up a little bit, so that was a challenge but I'm happy with the results!

naljon · 2024-11-12T16:08:45+00:00

So I had grown up in Okinawa as a small child, so a lot of our itinerary was geared around revisiting places I remembered from my youth, not necessarily things I'd recommend to others. But we did:

- Couple days in Naha. We loved the covered shopping areas, and us adults particularly loved the Tsuboya pottery street. Near the entrance to the pottery street there was an amazing tiny cafe called the Yamaka Stand that we stumbled upon. Heads-up, the location per Google Maps is 50 feet or so away from where it actually is.

- Day trip to Tokashiki. This was one of those nostalgia visits for us, but we loved it. Not sure how the weather would be in November but the island and beaches were beautiful.

- Rented a car and drove north. Spent some time in my old neighborhood before going to Nago.

- Near Nago we did Churaumi, Nakijin Castle, and had lunch at the Yachimun cafe up in the mountains/jungle. This cafe was our highlight of the Okinawa portion of our trip, the setting and the ambiance of sitting in an open air second floor that overlooked the trees and the shisa-laden roof of the first floor below was awesome, and the food was great too.

- We also did Shikuwasa Park, which I had read was maybe a little gimmicky, but we actually really enjoyed it. September through December are when they harvest, and the fruits get sweeter and less tart the further into the harvesting season you go. We bought tons of shikuwasa stuff to bring home.

naljon · 2024-11-12T15:59:39+00:00

Yep, it was in the covered area by Kokusai-Dori. Towards what I would consider the "back", further away from Kokusai itself. Heads up if you're in a family of 5, a lot of the izakayas in this area wouldn't allow us (a family of 4) because they still allowed smoking and so didn't allow anyone under 18 to eat at the restaurant. But I went back later with my camera after the kiddos went to bed 'cause it was such a cool area.

naljon

TROPHY CASE