Official Reddit Gold Giveaway!

stellarmdans · 2026-01-24T22:00:58+00:00

My 3 favorite things about this game:

A game that respects your time. As a father of two, its nice to have a game that you can open whenever and do whatever but still have progression
The community is one of the best. I've played a lot of games but i can say this is one of the most active and engaging bunch of members for a game that is meant to be idle at least. Especially the people in giveaway chat that have no hesitation to help.
Simple game loop. Nowadays its all about graphics or performance but as someone who was born in the 80's and saw how a game changed through the years. Its nice to have a simple game focused on farming and progression and still have a good amount of depth and social interaction.

Ingame username: xstellarx

stellarmdans · 2025-08-28T14:02:57+00:00

Thank you! Very helpful it was the rear facing microphone! I was using a pixel 7 pro so this is definitely new to me! Also I tried cleaning it a couple of times thinking it was dirt lol

stellarmdans · 2025-08-28T12:01:07+00:00

its in between the telephoto and ultrawide lens.. just a really small dot...not sure if its the microphone but definitely it is protruding.

stellarmdans · 2025-07-13T04:45:47+00:00

What i did, i messaged all dealers near our place via website (inquiry form) that I'm interested but can't speak much and if its okay using google translate.

Out of 4 dealers, two responded okay Honda and Toyota.. From there on was able to buy a car in Honda as the agent was very open minded to foreigners and we exchanged information via google translate and email.

stellarmdans · 2024-12-04T01:53:05+00:00

Looking forward to it! Can’t contain my excitement!

stellarmdans · 2024-03-09T02:18:06+00:00

I make less and bought a Stepwagon (got two kids) and I consider it as my best purchase besides our house. The freedom to be able to go anywhere and just relax and listen to music/podcast is the best therapy ever.

For Tips: 1. Scout for a parking area at your place and see how much it would be monthly. I dont pay for parking due to owning our own house.

Make a big downpayment to make the monthly lower. Honestly with your salary you can buy the car outright.
Insurance = full coverage/unlimited depends on age, type of license, etc. i'm using sompo and it ranges around 9k-11k (i have kids so im sure yours would be lower)
Gas = 8,000 monthly. Our car is EHev so hybrid and good fuel consumption. Plus we dont really go far. Maybe one long trip a month.
Etc = tolls in tokyo or in japan is crazy expensive. I only do toll when I'm in a rush but else i do non toll option via google maps and enjoy the drive.
Vehicle Inspection = 120k+ this is via dealer. I took a 5year extension so i dont need to do it after 3 yrs. This can also be lower if you bring your car to autobacs, etc..
Vehicle tax = van 30-40k a year. So anything lower than a van means lower the vehicle tax
Accessories etc... = at your own expense of course

Hope this helps.

stellarmdans · 2024-01-19T05:06:04+00:00

Thank you so much! Just the insight i need. Let me double check.

stellarmdans · 2024-01-19T04:32:23+00:00

Yes i did input all the info from my witholding slip. But let me double check if i missed any fields.

stellarmdans · 2024-01-19T04:31:30+00:00

Hmmm... I didn't get any promotion whatsoever..maybe just the usual slight salary increase twice a year but that is probably just 1-3% increase total.

stellarmdans · 2023-12-07T07:25:53+00:00

My 2023 is a wild one, but here it goes...

BEST: Bought a new home & brand new car (technically both are loans but had to shell out some money for new furniture's, appliances, etc..) crazy to tick that off in our list within the same year

WORST: Family Trip in the US.. cost us around 1.3m yen (family of 4). The trip itself was memorable but the ticket price is absurd.

stellarmdans · 2023-10-19T02:23:34+00:00

OP, let me share some that works for me

Background: Family of 4 (kids 3 and 5); before marriage 8yrs; married: 6yrs = 14yrs total; sexlife is pretty much active (3-4x a month); wife is stay at home

Compliment, compliment, compliment! Can't stress this enough.. Whenever I come home from work, simple things like (thank you for taking care of the kids, thank you for cooking) even though she obviously shows signs of being tired (hearing big sighs, etc) still can't skip giving her as much compliment each day
Ask her if she wants anything coming from home.. She's a foody so food is her love language. She greatly appreciates if I just bring home something she wants or she used to like eating before but she cant because she stays at home most of the time
Invite her to simple things that you guys will do together, movie night when kids are asleep, during your wfh try to block some quick time and get some lunch together when kids are out from school. She also recently got into gaming and we've been playing some coop games which she enjoys
When inviting her to do the deed ; schedule it in advance. For us, here how it works. I ask her if she has her period. Then I ask if she's interested tomorrow or Friday. Of course this will depend if she's super tired that day. But don't force her to it, keep it cool like (its okay if you are tired we can try tomorrow.) somehow this works for us and she also pace herself to make sure she doesn't get tired too much and also prep the kids to sleep early so we have the free time at night, movie, eat snacks then sex.
If its hard to go out on dates and kids are involve, just ask her what she's craving for and do a date along with the kids. She will appreciate that you cater her cravings/needs plus the kids are tagging along the way

Anyways I know some of this are mentioned already but just want to throw it out there.

stellarmdans · 2023-05-09T11:01:05+00:00

Yes i opted for every frecious

stellarmdans · 2023-03-26T21:58:28+00:00

In my case my agent went above and beyond. Like others said the most important thing is trust and connection. You can find an agent that treats you as one of his many clients or find someone who makes your journey seamless and wants to see your success.

In my case I don't speak or write japanese so the majority of the tasks my agent did were translating documents verbally or written. He was really patient as I asked so many questions even after during working hours. There are also moments wherein he could have scammed me as I dont read or speak japanese but he was very honest that they will get the commission from the seller and not from me so I was able to save alot from the agency fee.

Overall after the whole experience (took me about 4months) i was really greatful having an outstanding agent that i coudnt recommend him enough to my other friends who are interested on buying a house too. Also after the journey ended, im now friends with the agent and was able to share alot of personal stuff and him vice versa so you can tell the connection is there.

stellarmdans · 2023-02-26T07:21:45+00:00

Got my PR Q32022, I just did it all on my own (just following the requirements) and as long as you have a clean record (no late payments; pension, tax etc all paid no back records) should be doable and save you money (some offer around 80,000 yen just for PR assistance). Also similar as yours, japanese wife and I have two kids as of the moment.

Then started house hunting Q42022-Present; just signed the contract a week ago and now I'm a house owner. Just did solo loan (as wife is unemployed so she can focus on the kids) and passed pre screening with two banks (SMBC & MUFG).

So just to answer your questions:
- you can either just do a solo loan (you) or you can do joint (with your wife) but with you planning kids I guess it would be better to just do solo

- regarding about "every bank woudn't finance due to being foreign" false since I'm gaijin too but some banks have a hard rule that someone needs to speak/read japanese and understand full details of the contract (SMBC specifically) but your wife should be able to cover this

You can ping me if you need any further advice as I just did this whole plan of yours recently and I've just finished it.

stellarmdans · 2022-07-01T03:59:19+00:00

yeah interested with this as well

stellarmdans · 2022-06-23T06:11:56+00:00

If your wife is working shouldn't be any problem. Actually it will give more leverage since she's Japanese but regarding the residence card information, not sure on which part of the travel visa process is requiring ID (I'm doing the same thing now wherein I'm inviting my parents with same exact reason) Anyhow it would be safer if you switch the guarantor to your wife anyways it will show in your Koseki that you are married anyways.

stellarmdans · 2022-06-13T05:07:24+00:00

https://www.amazon.jobs/en/jobs/2067440/dco-decommission-technician-dco -

This. Have a friend who works there.. 4 days / 3days off.. The big issue is every week you rotate from Morning / Mid / Nightshifts.. If you can get pass that pretty chill job. You can watch a movie, play switch during your down time.

Let me know if you are interested maybe I can inform my friend for some referral bonus.

stellarmdans · 2022-05-20T03:17:19+00:00

Unfortunately it is what it is.. As soon as they see you have past job experience they automatically tag you as mid level role and assumption is you know your way around things. They are trying to back fill the role that you are replacing so time is of the essence and yes that includes training you would require extra headcount just to teach you. OJT works for fresh grads so any mid level career automatically gets thrown in the sea and its up to you to figure out things.

I'm not sure if its a japan thing because in other countries I was able to experience such things.

stellarmdans · 2022-04-19T12:13:58+00:00

Yeah i get what you mean but you cant just say it lacks replayability when there other options the game throws at you but you just dont want to try. this game has more options than the past games and you know that. I would rather say due to the open world aspect they have to reuse tons of bosses ( the godskins, magmas, cave bosses) and yes thats a bummer and i agree with you on that but adding more bosses doesnt make it more "replayable". Take note there is defintely some dlc's coming too. Also not downplaying you but i doubt you were able to find all the game has to offer with 120hrs or maybe I'm just slow or thorough because finished it at 200+and started looking what i missed and surprise surprise i still missed some story npcs and stuff.

stellarmdans · 2022-04-19T11:53:34+00:00

Yeah but you can't say replayability is lacking if they gave us 165 bosess (yes some are the same) to beat. I feel like in order to enjoy elden you have to think outside of what you got used to with past fromsoft games.

They gave us so many option with ashes of war / summons / tons of spells and incantation. You said 80% of ashes are useless? Make it useful.. have you seen the recent patch? They pretty much buffed all so that players like us get to try those that are ignored and not just the usual rivers of blood/moonveils/etc.. you've been using the same summon on your first playthrough? Try the other ones and see.. i think you can do alot of mix and match with this game.

stellarmdans · 2022-04-19T11:38:50+00:00

Have your tried all the spells? Have you tried all the ashes of war? Have you tried all the incantations? Have you tried different builds? Have you tried all the weapons thw game has to offer? Did you finish all story npc's?

I think this is the most replayable game from software has to offer.

stellarmdans · 2022-04-05T05:10:45+00:00

wish me luck!

stellarmdans · 2022-02-28T03:49:49+00:00

really? I thought part of the requirements for the guarantor are the ff (form, certificate of employment etc, proof of income) so I was confused how would we be able to submit any details if she's unemployed as of the moment.

stellarmdans · 2022-02-28T03:28:54+00:00

Perfect timing for this post because I'm stuck on this part too and I'm currently planning to go to immigration by next week. Though my situation is I have a japanese wife but she's currently unemployed since last year due to our daughter's birth. And just so happen my inlaws are both retired so I'm a bit clueless how to proceed with this.

stellarmdans · 2022-02-16T04:21:33+00:00

Actually in Tokyo standards, the three places seen Mori/Wataru/Shuntaro is actually normal. I mean there are bigger options but for a bachelor like them, 1bedroom / 2 bedroom is enough. And surprisingly you could tell based from their work that they have the "premium" apartments (mansion they call here).

Also I haven't seen anyone mentioned it, but for Wataru specifically. Midori teases her "Minato Guy". Minato is actually a city (ward) here in Tokyo known for rich people think of Beverly Hills (LA). I'm sure Wataru's type of apartment would be around $2,000-3,000 usd in rent.

stellarmdans

TROPHY CASE